Ch: 1 the disappearance of Mei Hatsume
Some have conscience, some others have con science. Beware you are not conned.- Vincent Okay Nwachukwu
(Hatsume's pov - Hatsume's private workshop - 0132 03JUL54)
The smell of solder and flux filled my nose and lungs as I finished the final touches on Iidas' arm baby. It wasn't hard adding a hydraulic system that would increase the force of his attacks or the extra reinforcements, just time consuming. Rework really. I rubbed my eyes with my right hand, the forty eight hour inventing (maintenance and altering really) marathon was starting to get to me. My hand was shaky, where was my soda? When did I last eat is a better question honestly, but the work never ended. But it's funny, back in school I'd have loved to have this. Endless commissions and requests to make the most amazing babies possible. But I'm not really creating new or unique babies anymore, am I?
I looked over at the request pile sighing. No now I'm just maintaining and updating. The trusted support technician in the whole Commission. Stuck doing busy work, no real effort or creativity in it. I reached for my soda to keep the shaking down when I heard a faint whooshing sound and before I could look, I felt something stab my neck, I froze. My body seized, and before I knew it, I closed my eyes and my world went dark.
(Shinso's pov - Hatsume's private workshop - 1345 03JUL54)
After the two weeks that passed since Mineta's photos were outed I was now convinced of two things. First Midoriya had a hand in leaking the photos, and two. It was an omen of things to come. In the time since I'd last seen the green haired detective large scale protests had broken out over the Commission as the public demanded justice for his victims and a cracking down of hero applicants. More so to ensure they wouldn't abuse the public trust.
It went uglier after that. Yakuza attacks increased, and consolidated control over various neighborhoods and regions. The MLA dug in, using the fact that each woman of having been allowed to use their 'God given' quirks to defend themselves then Mineta would never have had so many victims. If anything it was the current administration's fault for being too scared to strike down the old quirk regulation laws that allowed these horrible acts to happen. Never seen them so popular. But as the MLA grew gaining support from the more powerful quirk users and hero's the Yakuza gre stronger among the quirkless and other looked down on groups. A smart man would be preparing for the worst, yet I was thankful that Midoriya from what I've seen was more interested in justice than joining the Yakuza gangs. I shuddered thinking at what a man with his abilities could do if he decided to switch sides.
But as I stood with other hero's in the Hatsume workshop I was quickly reminded that there were other forces at foot.
The tape was clear, a warp gate opened behind Mei around two in the morning when a dart hit her neck paralyzing her then knocking her out. Afterwards long fingers came out of the gate grabbed her and dragged her into the portal to parts unknown, without a trace.
The League had made its move while the Commission was still reeling from Mineta's outing, and as we scambled they only grew spreading their message of a new society. Endeavor once said we were fighting a war for the sake of japan's future, to keep it free from those that would burn it.
If that's true then we're losing. Badly.
Still we have a job to do as we searched for any sign of who took Hatsume and where. Yet after three hours, we had nothing, no answer to give to either our supervisors, or more importantly in my mind, her parents. My heart broke remembering how Miss. Hatsume cried over her missing daughter, her soul shattered wails, pierced my mind as her husband simply held her, his dead eyes staring at us, cold and unresponsive. I watched as Commission agents dragged them to a secure location in parts unknown. I sighed, we've spent so much time here all of it wasted. I felt an enlarged hand grab my shoulder. "We'll find her *kero* we just need to keep looking."
I smiled at her grabbing her hand. "I…I know just wish we could find something, feels like we're wasting our time here." As I was saying that the door that went up the stairs opened and we heard footsteps approaching, from who we assumed was another hero that was being sent to investigate.
My eyes widened when I recognized the voice that spoke, followed by his wild green hair and his coat. "I find it's good practice to listen to your intuition in a situation, it'll rarely lead you wrong."
Froopy and Creati looked at Midoriya , Creati already preparing for a possible fight, unsure if he was trust worthy enough. Froopy readied her tongue for a lightning quick attack. I spoke up. "Midoriya? What are you doing here?"
He raised his hands in a surrender motion as he smiled towards me. "Ah Shinso it's a pleasure to see you again. As for why I'm here I think it's obvious that we're both to work on this case, you for the Commission and I under employ of the victim's parents." I nodded as he spoke and took a few steps while offering a hand to shake. Upon seeing this Creati and Froopy began to relax.
Creati spoke up. "Mindwipe, who is this?"
I looked over at her and began the introductions. "This is detective Midoriya he's the one that cracked the Mineta case." At that my two compatriots looked at Midoriya with Creati bowing in thanks, making his face develop a slightly red tint.
"It was nothing, I was happy to help. Now." He pulled on the gloves on his hands. "I was informed you had a security tape of the night in question?"
I nodded and watched as Froopy retrieved the tape and played it on Mei's computer, as soon as it began so too did his muttering as he analyzed each facet of every detail he saw. I could tell Creati and Froppy were a bit weirded out by this (honestly I was too) but when he suddenly stood thanking us I wondered if he perhaps caught something we had missed. My suspicions was confirmed when he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an electronic device, raising a finger to his lips he looked at us as he began to walk around the room bringing the device close to certain surfaces and items, it wasn't until he went to the pile of hero gear that needed repairs that his odd contraption showed its use. When he brought it close to a pair of mechanical gloves, the device began to give a soft pulsing noise, Midoriya then looked at us and spoke. "I'm afraid you've been asking the wrong question."
"*Kero* what do you mean?"
"You've been asking where she went, which is a fair question, one we will find the answer to. But I'm afraid it's blinded you to the obvious."
Creati raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Care to enlighten us then?" With that he reached towards the gloves and began to study it before reaching towards one of the knuckles on it and removing the fabric off, I heard Froppy croak and Creati gasp when we realized what exactly Midoriya had revealed.
"How did a warp quirk user know where Mei Hatsume was? A famous drawback of teleportation quirks is the inability to teleport to a unknown location, after all it's why the American Bullion depository has yet to be robbed." He then pulled the small electrical emitter from the glove, an obvious beacon. "Thus we've answered the how of the matter, the villains knowing young Miss Hatsume was the primary technician of the Commission snuck a bug onto one of the items sent to her, allowing them to know the exact location of her workshop."
I then spoke. "But how does that help us find her?"
He then looked at me eyebrow raised. "Because now we know this isn't a simple abduction, after all why not take her family? Or better yet why not simply kill her? No now we must come to the heart of the matter, the why. Indeed I surmise that a greater game is simply beginning."
I swallowed my hesitation but Creati beat me to the question. "What…what do you mean?"
He then looked at us seemingly confused before answering. "It's quite simple, why would the League of Villains abduct Miss Hatsume if not to use her skills as part of their plan?"
Why indeed?.