AN: I was going to add more to this chapter, but I felt like I reached a good stopping point and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer.

Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia.

Chapter 4

A young man in his twenties was strolling through the streets late at night. He kept checking his surroundings without trying to be too obvious to make sure he wasn't being followed. This required him to take many twists and turns to get a view of what was behind him. Eventually, he came across a run-down apartment building that appeared to be abandoned. It blended in with the rest of the impoverished neighborhood. He went down the alley to the side of the building until he reached a single metal door.

He knocked on the door deliberately a total of five times. He waited a few seconds until a thin viewing opening was slid open and a pair of eyes looked back at him carefully.

"The wolf howls alone,' The man said to the pair of eyes.

The opening shut again, and some locks could be heard tumbling. The door was opened to reveal a slightly older man with a muscular physique and a bandana around his head. The young man walked in without exchanging any words. He proceeded down a dimly lit stairway until he reached the basement door.

Before he opened the door, he reached for one of the respirator masks in a box next to it. Once the mask was secure, he opened the door to an area bustling with activity. There were tables filled with lab beakers containing unknown substances, some of them above burners. Other men wearing respirators were either cooking away with whatever was in those beakers, packaging the finished product, or moving boxes around.

This gang had started up shop in this building about a month ago. It was already abandoned when they found it. The blood on the floor indicated this may have been home to some kind of fight club before. It gave them a place to cook and live in the apartment units above. They were a small operation, but they liked to keep it that way. They may not be yakuza, but they were able to fly under the heroes' radar. The yakuza organizations were slowly being dismantled as more and more heroes popped up. A small gang like them wasn't that big of a deal. They were just some young guys in their twenties slinging drugs.

He made it to the other side of the basement and opened another door. He breathed in some fresh air after taking the respirator off and tossing it into another box. He went up some more stairs to the 3rd floor of the building. Going by that logic, it seemed pointless to go to the basement first, but that was the only way in. All other doors were boarded shut. They thought it was best to just keep one door unsealed so they can easily keep track of who's coming and going. He entered another dimly lit hallway with apartment units on each side. He had to step over garbage and empty bottles along the way. He heard some provocative noises coming from one of the units.

'I hope he has more than one girl in there.' The young dealer thought. He could go for some action. Eventually, he stopped at apartment 312 and rattled his knuckles on the door. The door opened slightly for the person behind it to peak out. They opened the door all the way once they recognized him. They figured a password was useless at this point.

"Naofumi my man! You got something for me?" A young man dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans was sitting on a couch in front of a coffee table with stacks of cash.

"Today was a good day." The man now known as Naofumi reached into his pocket to pull out a stack of bills and handed it to the gang leader. The leader had a smile on his face as he counted bill after bill. It was interesting how some things stayed the same even after these years. You'd think in the year 2221, all currency would be electronic, but no. People still used cash. How else were the black market, drug trafficking, and other illegal activities supposed to be conducted? The rise of quirks and more advanced technology didn't kill that either. It just evolved with it. Of course, that meant dumps like the neighborhood they lived in still existed. Things change but still stay the same.

"Nice work man! This is the most you've brought back yet. Keep it up and we'll be making it big in no time."

That was the last thing Naofumi remembered his boss saying. Right after he said that what appeared to be a hurricane ripped through the room knocking everybody out. Before he passed out, he swore he saw some huge mass of red, blue, and yellow in front of him.

The lights from the cop cars illuminated the area outside the abandoned building. A squad of theirs had stormed the building with a sole hero in the lead. The squad was merely to restrain the suspects and make sure the girls were ok. That one guy wasn't the only one getting some action. Since the police were right behind, the pro could avoid knocking out the girls. They would still be treated as suspects though since their involvement in the operation is unclear.

The side door burst open, and the police lowered their guns once they confirmed who it was.

"Fear not my comrades in blue! Everyone inside the building has been subdued." All Might stepped with his trademark smile while carrying the gang leader, Naofumi, and the bodyguard who had been guarding the leader's room. "You are free to proceed inside and wrap things up."

"Yes, sir All Might sir!" The cops saluted and made their way inside the building. Some stayed outside to watch the outside perimeter. All Might never ceased to amaze them. He and that squad were in the building for about 2 minutes. He could have moved faster, but he had to contain himself more in confined spaces lest he cause damage to the building. He also had to check all the individual apartment units. He strolled over to the cops and deposited the unconscious gang members where they could cuff them.

"Thanks so much for your help All Might," The police captain said as he walked up to the tall hero. It would have taken much longer to stop this drug lab without your assistance. I'm sure the Number One hero has more important crimes to attend to.

"We take on any case no matter how small sir." He emphasized the 'we' part. "Also, it would have taken me just as long to find these goons were it not for my partner." All Might looked past the police captain to look at the stoic man standing a few feet behind him next to a cop car.

He was a lean, tall man wearing a whitish-grey suit. All of his limbs were long from his pointy shoes to his spider-like fingers. The features that stuck out the most were his slicked-back green hair with his yellow streaks and his red polka-dotted tie. Aside from those oddities, he looked like an average Japanese businessman. A logical ruse indeed. For this man was Sir Nighteye, All Might's faithful sidekick. Beneath that business suit were strong muscles and behind those spectacles were razor-sharp, calculating eyes.

"And by partner, I mean Slenderman over there."

Nighteye slightly frowned. "Woooow. That's the first time you've used that one and it wasn't even that funny on your first attempt. How is that a joke? It's just a pathetic jab at my looks. You still owe me an actual joke for today." Nighteye was an interesting fellow. He seemed to always keep up the serious look, but he actually did enjoy a good joke. That fact alone seemed to be a joke itself despite Nighteye's disagreement. The man looked like he stopped laughing 15 years ago.

The police captain looked between the two in a puzzled manner. He wasn't worried about the situation inside. He was confident his men had it handled. "You two sure have an interesting partnership." It was rare that Nighteye actually accompany All Might on jobs. His quirk, Foresight was mainly useful for hero work that was planned ahead. Like tonight's job for example.

The local police have noticed an increase in drug trafficking in this area. Due to the poor state of the neighborhood and the high amount of criminal activity, it was anyone's guess as to where their base of operations could be. They probably could've cracked the case on their own, but the hero duo decided to lend a helping hand.

It was actually Nighteye's idea to help out. While All Might went out on his daily patrol looking out for purse snatchers, Nighteye was back at the office searching the news for possible cases they could assist in. Specifically, ones where his quirk would be useful. He had gone undercover in the seedy neighborhood dressed in some dirty jeans and a hoodie. He felt disgusted dressing like that, but his normal attire would attract too much attention. He chuckled at the thought that the underground hero, Eraserhead looked more the type to buy drugs. Yeah. He was a hypocrite. Before he was All Might's sidekick, he had been an underground hero. Like Eraserhead, it was better that people didn't how his quirk functioned. Eraser was the one who gave him the idea of dressing like a salaryman to make people underestimate him. The hyper-density seals he used to fight with were another logical deception he thought of on his own.

Once he had located a dealer, all he had to do was lightly touch the dealer's hand during the quick transaction and look him straight in the eye. As he strolled away from the dealer his quirk went to work. He was capable of using his quirk while walking around. It was sort of like daydreaming. Foresight allowed him to visually look into someone's future. He could look as far into the future as he wanted, but the ability's use only last one hour. Also, the further he looked into the future, what he saw became more flashing images than a continuous movie. He couldn't hear any sounds, but it helped that he could observe whoever he touched through a third-person view. It really was like a movie. Now he just had to fast forward a little to get to the good stuff.

He watched the man make some more deals, grab a burger at some fast-food joint, and take a long walk with lots of twists and turns. Nighteye purposefully went to the dealer late at night to catch him close to the time he was heading home. He soon got to the point where he entered the shady apartment building, pass through the drug lab, and hand his earnings to his boss. He got enough detail from his visions to pinpoint the building's location. He met up with All Might and the police and guided them to the location.

Back to the present, All Might didn't seem worried at all by Nighteye's behavior and responded to the police captain. "Don't worry about it Cap. He's just sore that I didn't give him his joke of the day."

"How many times do I have to tell you! Humor and laughter are needed to uplift the people's spirits! If you can't do that then you aren't doing your job properly," Nighteye rebutted forcefully.

"Really? Because most people laugh at my jokes. Maybe if you weren't so uptight about my playful jab at your appearance, you'd laugh more."

"Oh yeah? Is that what you do for the citizens of Japan. Make jabs at their appearances!" Nighteye was getting heated now.

"No, because no one else is a butthurt stiff that I've had to deal with for 4 years."

"Wow! Real mature! No grown man talks like that! You get that phrase from the Americans?!"

The police captain was further perplexed by the scene before him. Hardly anyone saw All Might and his sidekick interact. Hell, For the first 2 years of their partnership people didn't even know All Might had a sidekick. Even now, people just assumed Sir Nighteye was All Might's secretary, accountant, PR person, lawyer, or any other profession that warrants a suit and tie. Nobody that looked like that could be a hero, let alone All Might's sidekick.

After a few more biting remarks in their 'argument', All Might sighed and took a deep breath.

"Where do mermaids go to see movies?"

"Excuse me?" The police captain didn't think he could get any more confused.

Nighteye crossed his arms and looked at All Might with a neutral expression. "Where?"

"At the dive-in."

Everyone in the vicinity was silent at that moment. While All Might and Nighteye were busying talking, more cops had come out of the building with the suspects. They had tuned in when All Might started talking about mermaids and movies.

'Huh?' They all thought.

Nighteye still had that neutral look on his face.

"Heh." Nighteye's lips curled up a bit.

"Heh…heh." His lips were starting to tremble.

"Hahahahaha!" His mouth burst open as he let out a boisterous laugh. He held onto the police car and clutched his stomach like he was afraid he'd fall over.

Question marks seemed to appear over everybody else's head. Some of them let out a little chuckle at the punchline, but we're still focused on the suspects. Some of the suspects had woken up and the only thing they noticed was a businessman dying of laughter. What the Hell happened to them?

The police captain leaned over to All Might and whispered. "Is he ok? That joke was so ok, but I wouldn't call it outright hilarious."

"I know, but it's kind of his way of letting loose. He thinks having a good laughing fit is a good way to relieve stress. He'll be fine in a few seconds."

Indeed. Nighteye laughs slowed down shortly and he regained his posture. It was like it had never happened save for the smile that was on his face now.

"That will do," he said simply.

"I am in so much pain." One of the gang members said weakly.

All Might and Nighteye were able to regain their composure right after the joke and assisted the police with collecting the rest of the suspects. It looked like the two were behaving unprofessionally, but they were still aware of what was going on around them. If one of the suspects had somehow decided to act up, they would have handled it.

After they had been congratulated at the police station, they made it back to their office to fill out the paperwork. Both of them did, though Nighteye was noticeably faster at it. After they bid their farewells to each other, All Might made his way back to his apartment. It was close to midnight by the time he made it back. He didn't have to worry about waking anyone since he was the only occupant. Also, his neighbors tended to get home late too. His apartment building was specifically for pro hero occupants. Their building had extra security and the neighbors kept each other's location a secret.

He walked through the front door and quickly shut it behind him. Then, he slipped off his shoes and put on the cozy slippers near the door. He headed towards the kitchen to make himself something to eat when his phone went off. He glanced at it and answered like normal. It wasn't peculiar for him to get a phone call this late at night.

"Hello, Naomasa." The two of them hadn't spoken since the whole school bullying incident. All Might occasionally got a call from Tsukauchi when he need help on a case or just to talk.

There was a silence on the other end. That wasn't a good sign.

"Naomasa are you there?!" Toshinori was fully alert now. What if his friend had been badly hurt or captured?

"I almost didn't call you."

Toshinori was relieved to hear his friend's voice, but he was still concerned by the tone of his voice. This wasn't his friend just wanting to talk or needing help with a case. This was something else.

"Naomasa. I'm here. Just talk to me."

"I'll get to the point. Did you hear the news story about the hero, Knockback suddenly announcing his retirement 3 days ago?"

"I did. I'm following you." Toshinori had heard the news. He was surprised by the sudden retirement but didn't put too much thought into it. Knockback was still considered a rookie hero with only a year on the job. He was quickly rising in the rankings though with his powerful quirk.

"For some reason, that just put me on edge," Naomasa continued. "I know lots of rookie heroes decide to quit when they realize they're in over their head, but this is different. Knockback had already been working for a year and he just decides to retire with no explanation. That's what really struck me. He hasn't said a word about why he just decided to quit."

Toshinori was listening intently. This was odd. When a hero retired, it was because they wanted to start a family, been severely injured out, or experienced something truly horrific. That last one seemed most likely given the silence from the pro and the police.

"I couldn't get this out of my head. I knew there must have been some kind of incident so I drove out to his city and questioned the local police. They wouldn't budge on the subject for hours. I hope you'll forgive me. I may have mentioned your name to give me some leeway. Said that you thought it was somehow related to a case you worked." There was a pause.

"Naomasa, I forgive you. Did the police give you an answer?" Toshinori was getting more worried by the second.

"Knockback. His quirk is gone….He doesn't have it anymore."

Toshinori collapsed to the ground.

AN: Thank you Shade1998 for the quirk idea! Let me know if you guys have any other ideas for more quirks.

Thank you for reading! :)