NOTE: This story isn't intended for sensitive readers. Readers on the lookout for trigger warnings are advised to give Singlehandedly a pass.

MUSUTAFU CITY POLICE DISPATCH: CHIKARA WARD, MOYASU DISTRICT

"THERE ARE REPORTS OF A SECOND EXPLOSION AT 3-8, MOYASU DISTRICT, BUILDINGS 33-41. ARE THERE ANY OFFICERS AVAILABLE?"

...

...

"ARE THERE ANY OFFICERS IN MOYASU DISTRICT RIGHT NOW?"

"THIS IS OFFICER SANSA. I'M NEARLY FINISHED SECURING THE COLLAPSE OF BUILDING 24 AT 3-11. STILL NO SIGN OF THE SOGAI-ZAI. HAS BLOCK 3-8 BEEN LOCKED DOWN?"

"YES, THE WHOLE DISTRICT HAS."

"YOU SAID SECOND EXPLOSION, WHICH OFFICER INVESTIGATED THE FIRST?"

"NO ONE INVESTIGATED THE FIRST. WE'RE STILL SPREAD TOO THIN THROUGHOUT CHIKARA WARD FOR THAT."

"UNDERSTOOD, I'LL GET ON IT WHEN I'M DONE HERE."

-o-o-o-

Officer Sansa needed another nap, though he knew he wouldn't get one anytime soon. The last time he'd slept was yesterday, it was only by the power of the massive number of caffeinated drinks he'd consumed since then that kept him going. This must be how Tsukauchi feels all the time. That poor man.

The ruins of the collapsed building in front of him were still highly unstable. He could hear the creaking and shifting of whatever semblance of the structure remained. There were no signs of anybody left on sight, at least any that were still alive. But even if there was someone trapped, there wasn't a thing he could do, he's there alone, and not capable of navigating the scene well enough to move things without risking making things much worse.

With a growl he tore a piece of warning tape off from the roll, using far more force than was needed. He had to make sure not to let his claws tear the tape further as he finished zoning off the scene, he was so on-edge he couldn't focus enough on keeping his claws in. The high level of sleep deprivation was the major factor, but this entire process drove him crazy, all he was ordered to do right now was investigate the bombing sights, section off the area, check for signs of the Sogai-Zai, and move on. Maybe try and save someone trapped in the rubble if he could.

Sansa strained his ears, one final time, trying to catch a sound of someone breathing or of the faint thumping of a beating heart. His hearing was far superior to the average person's when he wanted it to be. Was this unauthorized quirk usage? According to the legal definition, yes it was because it went beyond the natural abilities that stemmed from his mutation. But, like any other sensible officer who had a quirks that could help people without being noticed, he never hesitated to use it.

Just like the last several times he'd checked since arriving at the scene, Sansa couldn't pick up any signs of life. Though, faintly he did catch the sound of an explosion in the distance. But it wasn't in the direction of where he was headed next.

Screw the Sogai-Zai. The police, and if they were lucky enough to get one—a hero—in this district were being led on a wild goose chase. Yum, birds. I'd kill for a bird right now…COME ON, FOCUS!

Sleep deprivation and Sansa's quirk were never a good mix.

Getting into his vehicle and driving away from the scene was painful. There were a few corpses in the rubble, he'd been thorough in checking whether they were alive. He mentally noted, four corpses, likely civilians at the location, and not a single lead on the Sogai-Zai. They were all dead before I got there, there wasn't anything I could have done.

You could have been faster. Sansa's mind shot out; he didn't notice that his claws were digging into the steering wheel now.

Before today it was his understanding that the Sogai-Zai were in decline to the point of near extinction, like the rest of the Yakuza, the Sogai-Zai were following the trend the rest of Japan had seen over the last decade. The police and local heroes were speculating they would collapse soon, remaining members would probably leave the area and try and merge with the Eight Precepts. It had been the goal to crush them before that could happen, clearly, they underestimated the Sogai-Zai. We were so unprepared for All Might's death that it's allowing them to do—whatever it is they're doing. All Might was such a deterring force and we never even realized it. We set ourselves up for this.

There were no other cars in the street so Sansa, drove as fast as possible towards his next location, it was nearby. If this had been a couple hours ago, he would've gotten there even faster, but came up with nothing every time. By the time the reports of another explosion were relayed to him, the Yakuza would have been long gone—assuming they had been there in the first place.

At the scene of this other collapsed building, Sansa's tail subconsciously swayed as he surveyed the destruction, being careful to avoid disturbing the scene more than absolutely necessary. This building had been a bank, and while everything was under tons of rubble he wouldn't be surprised if all the valuables were gone. If the Sogai-Zai are carrying out a series of heists, they'll become a bigger problem than ever before.

Straining his hearing again, Sansa hoped to pick up sounds of a survivor. This effort was quickly abandoned when he saw a fabric of clothing peeking out from under a rock, and what looks like the end of a shoe. Deftly he navigated through the ruins into where the building had stood and laid the side of his head on the stone, ear pressed against it. No matter how much he pushed his quirk he didn't pick up the sounds of any heartbeat or breathing. Nothing. Sansa pulled himself away, there was another explosion further down the street, I need to look there.

This was clearly the second explosion. Smoke still rose from the ground; and still very recent. An entire strip of the street had been blackened by explosives. It seemed one had gone off close to a building, the wall was partially blown away. It was unusual to smell something other than smoke and dust from rubble—here was the scent overwhelmingly charred human flesh. He threw up a bit in his mouth but swallowed it back down. They always say you'll get used to it.

There was hardly anything to make out, scattered fragments of flesh, bone, among other things. It took some time to find but one of those thousands of pieces seemed like a fragment of a Kabuki mask. Prompting Sansa to continue surveying the area for other fragments, which was a pain because he couldn't touch anything. The more he searched the more suspicious he was that there were actually the fragments of two different Kabuki masks. Considering the two ashy indentations in the street and the abundance of human remains, there had to have been at least two dead? The bombs going off very close to their bodies. Most unusual of all, the Kabuki mask fragment suggested that among the dead here were members of the Sogai-Zai.

Now that's really puzzling. Internal conflicts within the Sogai-Zai were rarely heard about and never this out in the open, even if they were already taking unprecedented action during the daytime doing something like this doesn't make sense, unless this is just another distraction.

Either way, he'd found physical evidence of the Sogai-Zai and he had to report it. Sansa pressed a button and spoke into his radio, "This is Officer Sansa at 3-8 Moyasu district, that second explosion reported looks like it killed two people, from what I can see suggests they might be members of the Sogai-Zai, we should get forensics here ASAP."

It would take a lot more than the resources Sansa had in his police cruiser to block off an entire section of the street. He walked back to his car he'd parked it closer to the area of the second explosion. Instinctively he stayed off the road. Walking on an empty sidewalk in the middle of the city next to an equally empty road. Really impressive work by the Hero Commission to shut down all of Chikara Ward.

Passing by the entrance to a backroad, Sansa smelled something different.

Blood.

He stopped, and then took a few steps closer. The scent was stronger. Sansa reached for his radio again. No, no one could possibly come help. No one could get here fast enough anyways. Considering the current circumstances in Japan this was very reckless—stupid even, but the officer wasn't a complete idiot, he pulled his handgun from its holster, clicking the safety off. Officer Chibana was one of dozens of officers killed since All Might's death. Someone might need my help…or I may be walking to my death. Sansa made sure to keep his breathing even and more importantly—undetectable.

Soundlessly, he crept into the backroad. Not a person in sight. He kept going, there was a single alleyway. Aw come-on! A dead end? Sansa didn't see anyone down the alley either, but the smell of blood was strongest in this direction. Except, when he walked all the way down, he didn't find anything, tracing his steps back, Sansa saw a faint glow in between a tiny gap separating two dumpsters.

Sansa found an equally small kid there—a boy. Eyes wide open but not seeing and every part of him tense. Sansa clicked the safety back onto his gun. Putting the full-body glowing-thing aside for a moment, his eyes locked onto the boy's arm. It shone the brightest, but that didn't distract him from the sight of the entire arm being a bruised purple and disfigured. Countless lacerations left shining red blood contrasting against the purple. The whole shoulder, arm, and hand were unusually twisted. Sleeve blown away.

And he saw the arm grotesquely stich itself back together. Fingers jerking back into place, lacerations stitching themselves together, and purple bruises shifting into other colors. Gradually turning back to normal in the most wretched way possible. What? What the actual— Sansa had seen a lot, today was a good example. But nothing like this before, he fell to the ground and vomited. That's not, that's not what should. What the hell?

Once Sansa got over the nausea and got back up, he heard the faint ragged breaths coming from the body. It's a kid. Looking at the kid closely, tears flowed down the boy's face. The strap of a backpack in the kid's mouth, which was clenched together. Nothing had changed from when he'd first seen him. Every muscle of the child's body locked into place.

Sansa pressed the button on his radio. Ambulance, we need an ambulance. He tried to say something, but he couldn't even think of where to begin. The glowing was growing brighter, and the healing of the arm sped up. Soon enough, he couldn't see the boy at all, Sansa had to shield his eyes.

The blinding light lasted for some time, and Sansa was left incapacitated until it disappeared in a flash. He stood, looking down on the kid whose eyes could see him now.

The kid had green eyes. It matched his hair. The injuries that had been on the boy's arm were completely gone, he couldn't look away, it had been so horribly disfigured and now it was healed. When Sansa apprehensively reached forward after a couple seconds, the boy grabbed the straps of the backpack and pulled them over his head before standing up.

This shift was so jarring that Sansa was struggling to process it all. He's just okay now? That was what he thought when the kid suddenly took off. Wait when had he gotten over there? The fabric of the boy's shirt slipped through his claws.

Not much more than a block later, the kid was gone, nowhere in sight, not a hint of sound either. And Sansa? He was confused. Where do I even start? He had green hair, green eyes. Small figure, kind of dirty…What else? Sansa tried to think of any other defining characteristics; he came up with nothing else. In his shock, he hadn't observed anything else. Truly shameful, Sansa would be embarrassed to report this failure.

Back at his vehicle he sat down. Stunned. That kid might've been involved. He had been bleeding, glowing, and then he just stopped?! Blood…DNA! I can collect that much at least! Once the necessary materials from inside the police cruiser were retrieved, Sansa set out, hopefully, this would help him find the kid in the future.

-o-o-o-

Izuku's pain didn't fade away, it was there one second and gone the next. Thank goodness. It ended. It finally ended—is this going to be a regular thing? Izuku hoped not.

The sudden absence of absolute pain is euphoric. The world was brought back in incredible clarity, any discomfort was a minor annoyance compared to before. Now, he could see again.

There was a cat-man in front of him, whose ears were pressed flat against his head, and stood frozen, staring at Izuku's arm. It took several more moments for the boy to realize that the cat-man was a police officer.

He needed to get out.

The officer was still shocked. Izuku could take advantage of that. After slipping his backpack on, he took a few slow steps. The guy didn't respond. A few steps more, Izuku backed away…and then RAN.

The cat-officer recovered and started his pursuit faster than Izuku would have liked. But Izuku was in highly familiar territory and no longer injured. This'll be easy.

And it was. Even after his escape, Izuku didn't slow down, the thought didn't even cross his mind until he was at the shore, hidden from everything else by the mountain of garbage at Dagobah beach.

There was a faint irritation in his lungs. Izuku realized how hard he was breathing. He had sprinted all the way back. Like this morning, Izuku ran frequently, except the burn in his legs and lungs was insignificant. Not as if the pain were lessened than it would have been hours before, it just didn't bother him.

How long was I…out? I never fell unconscious… His arm no longer felt like it was being shattered and his side shot endlessly. I was able to run away. I guess my ankle was healed too. It would be incorrect to say his current level of pain is less than he would normally be if he had sprinted so far. It's just the sensation couldn't compare to what he'd felt earlier, this pain was fleeting. Izuku could already feel it fading and he could sense other things at the same time, making it easy to ignore. Before, when he was paralyzed by the pain, ignoring it hadn't been possible.

As Izuku crawled through a tunnel back to the clearing he noticed something else. He couldn't feel the sand under his forearm. Underneath his fingers, the sense of his hand and fingers touching the cool was dulled. Izuku quickened his pace.

Even with the increased friction, no feeling came to his forearm. Back in his clearing, Izuku sat on the ground instead of going into the bus. When he ran his hand through the sand, he could barely feel it. He picked some up and let it fall on his shoulder and down his arm. The feeling was dulled in some spots and nonexistent in others. Izuku couldn't comprehend it, he saw the sand drop onto his shoulder and upper arm, but he could hardly feel it.

Izuku reached through his right sleeve and touched the spot where his right shoulder used to be. Nothing. How did I miss this? I guess when you just can't feel it you forget. Grabbing another fistful of sand, Izuku pressed it against the skin. I don't feel a thing. Thinking further, Izuku touched the spot where his bullet wound had been. The entrance and then the exit. NOTHING. What's going on?

With enough focus he noticed the faint sensation of touch from his finger was touching something. Izuku poked the spot again, there was still some feeling in his fingers, but he couldn't tell he had poked himself aside from seeing himself do it. There was absolutely no feeling in the area.

On his left ankle, the feeling there was not gone, just dulled compared to the surrounding skin.

I…I can't... Izuku ran his hand through the sand again and again and again…Why can I barely feel it? He swallowed nervously. My throat doesn't hurt either. Izuku brought his hand up to his neck, he could feel that. That brief relief went away when he realized that wasn't the part of his throat that had been injured.

Izuku unzipped the backpack and took out a water bottle, it didn't seem like he was doing it. When he poured it into his mouth he could feel the water there and when he swallowed, it rushed down his throat until the feeling faded.

COUGH—COUGH—COUGH—Izuku's coughing devolved into gagging and he threw up.

WHAT? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? My throat was bloody from screaming, not from eating or throwing up. So it would make sense for the numbed area to be the part of my throat that I breathe through. When Izuku focused on his breathing, he choked on the air. He could feel his lungs expanding and contracting, but the feeling of air moving stopped at the throat and resumed in his mouth. He couldn't process the disconnect, and he hadn't noticed until he focused on it. The expanding and contracting of his lungs quickened, he knew he was breathing, but he couldn't feel it correctly.

As Izuku's hyperventilation grew more and more violent, he grew increasingly lightheaded. But only for a couple of moments before the buzzing energy intervened. It gathered around his lungs and it forced him to take proper breaths. Preventing him from passing out.

Izuku brought his hands—no hand—up to his face and clawed. His face could feel the pressure of his fingers perfectly fine, just not the other way around. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? AM I GOING INSANE? SOMETHING IS WRONG—SOMETHING IS SO SO SO WRONG.

With his quirk forcing him to take proper breaths, clarity began returning to Izuku's mind. And he realized how laughably simple the answer was. There was a clear connection to every area he'd lost feeling in, it had been in the area healed by his quirk. Now he'd lost most—if not all—of the feeling in those areas. Izuku sat in the sand, trembling.

He was covered in sweat again. Which was gross. The freakish 'not feeling' of his breathing was growing more familiar and so he could begin wrapping his head around his situation. First, I lost my right arm. Then, I fought those Yakuza. I crippled my left arm, I was shot—I KILLED THEM. The light energy healed me. LEAVING ME IN SO MUCH PAIN IT HURT SO BAD—And I…I can't feel things right. Or at all.

Izuku curled up, lying on the sand, he had thought not being able to hear was bad…turns out losing your sense of touch is much more horrifying. He did eventually peel himself up from the sand, only because he was really hungry again. Just like when I was healed after my arm blew up. Izuku brushed as much sand off himself as he could before going back inside the bus.

Dripping wet, Izuku changed into his final pair of clean clothes. Torn shorts and a long-sleeved shirt that was barely still threaded together. I'll need to find a new place to do laundry. Though it wasn't very high on his priority list, cleaning his clothes at a laundromat required money he shouldn't spend. I think I still have enough soap and a container somewhere around here to do it by hand.

There's so much to do. I need to write it all down. However, Izuku didn't have the energy to even try. And without even thinking he headed went straight to the box he stored food in. No. You don't get to eat right now. Izuku had already made a serious dent in his stores and the thought of decreasing what he had left made his stomach lurch up his throat. A shudder went up his back. Izuku preferred to stick with the hunger pains.

He was still absolutely ravenous. That kind of pain still felt awful.

-o-o-o-

He's not picking up. Tsukauchi thought. That damn fool isn't picking up.

Two articles were displayed on the two monitors on his desk. One from late Wednesday evening, one from nearly midnight. Being cut out of the loop, Tsukauchi had missed both, finding out this Thursday morning along with the rest of Japan.

It seems if I ever want to know anything about this ever again, I'll just have to stay awake and find the people who will at least speak to me .

Detective Tsukauchi punched the numbers into his phone again, an electronic voice responded, "The number you're calling is no longer in use, please—"

Tsukauchi ended the call and tossed his phone across the room. It cracked against the cheap concrete floor. Slumping further into his chair. Two headlines stared back at him.

"ALL MIGHT QUIRKLESS? AUTOPSY BLOOD WORK LEAKED!"

"NIGHTEYE AGENCY PERMANENTLY SHUTS DOWN IN WAKE OF SECOND LEAKS"

How did that—of all things—leak when Mirai's agency had the body? Tsukauchi wracked his brain. I'm sure he's asking himself that same question. But to shut down the whole agency for the foreseeable future? This is insane.

"There are other investigations than All Might's! You can't just shut everything down because one case goes to hell!" Tsukauchi wasn't speaking to anyone, "We're just giving up on catching the Shie Hassaikai and exterminating the remnants of the Yakuza in Japan?!" The station was already in such a state of chaos no one noticed his frustration.

After the brief set of emails he and Nighteye exchanged on Tuesday they hadn't been in contact. And now? Tsukauchi knew nothing except the few details reported. No one could guess what was going through Nighteye's head when he made that decision.

The only hope Tsukauchi held out for was that Nighteye had used his quirk and decided this was the best course of action. He accurately predicted All Might's death after all, but even then, his quirk isn't always accurate. The future isn't completely set in stone.

At least that's what he told himself. There had to have been something he could have done to prevent Toshinori's death in the first place. And if the news of All Might's death has already driven the public and villains into a frenzy, what would the reaction be to All Might's blood work coming back without a quirk factor? People with normal quirks still have a quirk factor after death.

Tsukauchi grabbed the printed off the report on Toshinori's blood. Pouring over it again, the shocking information was typically a section people often looked over:

QUIRK FACTOR: NOT PRESENT

Considering the truth behind All Might's quirk, there were only two reasonable explanations. Either All for One found a way to take One for All back, found All Might, and took the quirk before killing him; or the One for All quirk leaves the holder's body entirely when they die—leaving not even a quirk factor—and All Might was killed by... someone. But how could someone know how to do that? Not just anyone could've killed Toshinori.

Tsukauchi thought of a way that he could check. Nana Shimura! All Might's predecessor! There may have been a difference in her quirk factor after she died. That could tell us something. He immediately went to look into her death records, not even halfway into the process he remembered. There wasn't a body left. But there would have been a lot of blood, was it ever analyzed though? There may have been a difference in her quirk factor after she died. That could tell us something.

During this thought process Tsukauchi continued his search into the database, only to be greeted with the following: RESTRICTED

Tsukauchi gritted his teeth. Considering how satisfying it would be to go break the nose of whoever decided to restrict his access to such a degree. If this is the way things are going to be then so be it. The detective had other methods of finding this out. After picking up his phone, which was now cracked from the floor, he called one of the few reliable people left.

"Hey detective," Gran Torino grumbled, "have you used your sleuthing skills to get into contact with that idiot Mirai?"

"No, not yet." Tsukauchi took a deep breath, "Also keep in mind this conversation is likely being monitored, I'm being watched by the commission closer than I had thought."

"They're still blabbering about that 'conflict of interest' garbage?"

"Yes, but that's also a reason why I'm calling. Just one question, after Nana Shimura was murdered, did they do any blood tests?"

Gran Torino took a moment to respond, more solemn now, "The cause of her death was obvious. We didn't even have a body to bury. Nothing of that sort ever happened. Even in the lucky case there were samples of blood left today, we couldn't analyze 'em. It's been too long."

"Thanks anyway." Tsukauchi moved to end the call.

"Don't you hang up yet!"

"What now?"

"Tell me if you hear anything from Mirai."

"Give it time, it's very possible he used foresight and saw—"

"That man isn't a prophet, one vague prediction coming true doesn't change that. I swear he'll really see the future when I kick him into next week. The next time I see that self-righteous bast—."

Tsukauchi hung up. At least I got an answer. In this circumstance, the restriction ended up being a minor inconvenience. But the lack of resources at his disposal didn't bode well for the future. Regardless, not knowing whether Nana Shimura's quirk factor had changed after her death left him no closer in deducing the nature of Toshinori's leaked autopsy results.

Tsukauchi threw his phone across the room again.

The THUD against the wall and CRACK from when the phone hit the ground was satisfying enough.

In his increasingly agitated state, a third possibility crossed his mind. It was stupid, hope-fueled idiocy. But he thought of it nonetheless because, maybe Toshinori passed it on. Tsukauchi let out a breathy laugh, then there might be hope.

Except there's no reason to believe that…No that's wrong. AKATANI MIKUMO. He'd wanted to speak with that boy. Even after the detective had watched every piece of footage possible, the kid had a hood on, and cameras only ever caught glimpses of green hair and blurry shots of the boy's face. Only reports from paramedics confirmed the presence of a boy with green hair and green eyes.

If only I could access Toshinori's incomplete report of the entire Sludge Villain incident. The Commission had already denied his requests.

Tsukauchi put the successor theory aside for now. He still considered it the most unlikely of all the explanations. Akatani Mikumo was the only lead he could pursue only because the Commission didn't know about him. Considering Akatani Mikumo didn't exist according to all available databases, most of which might not be available to him anymore…

I need to find this person. I have to. The problem was he couldn't do it. Tsukauchi stood up and began pacing. I'm being watched too closely. Aizawa's been busy for days. Gran Torino and Nedzu…they've got their own things to do.

But who else could Tsukauchi trust? Finding someone reliable was imperative, evidenced by the shutdown of the Nighteye agency, traitors had infiltrated even the most seemingly reliable places.

For a moment he considered going to pick up his phone again and set up a meeting with his sister. No, the vigilantes would be preoccupied right now—just as much as the heroes. But they could stay on the lookout… Any excuse to avoid resorting to that is worth it. But who to trust?

The situation isn't so simple that I could use my quirk and test someone. Asking questions to the wrong person could tip off a traitor or the Commission that I know something they don't. Before the detective could consider the idea any further his phone rang, the screen was cracked but working. Sergeant Kumiko Ikeda was calling.

That reminded the detective, after being removed from everything related to All Might, he was currently tasked with investigating the explosive re-emergence of the Sogai-Zai.

Tsukauchi picked up the phone and answered, "How can I help you ma'am?"

"Yesterday, Officer Sansa came across an unusual bombing scene, the only one that deviated from blown-up buildings. I want you at 3-8, Moyasu District to review the scene yourself. Sansa believes members of the Sogai-Zai killed in the explosion, I want you to confirm the truthfulness of his report and the reports of forensics. You might as well be put to good use if the Commission wants you uninvolved with the All Might case, besides, I will not have leaks in this department." Sergeant Ikeda hung up after that.

Tsukauchi continued speaking to himself again as he got his things together, "Not even the time for a goodbye. It seems no one has time these days..."

Grabbing his hat and tan trench coat from their hooks by the door, he left. So Sansa found it…Sansa. They had worked together for years in Tokyo's Naruhata Ward. He couldn't be 100% sure of anything at this point, but maybe that cat is exactly the trustworthy person he needs to track down Akatani Mikumo.

Today I learned that ffnet doesn't like that I use asterisks as my breaks between scenes. I didn't realize that they weren't showing up so I added breaks to where they should be in previous chapters.

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