"You want me to establish contact with the League of Villains?" Deku asked, making sure not to allow any emotion into his voice. "To what end?"
"I want to talk with their leader to further the cause," Overhaul said. "Is that going to be a problem?"
"Not at all," Deku said easily, settling father into the role. "I must say, though, I'm a little disappointed. I've been here for almost a week, and you haven't even thought to ask what I can contribute to the cause other than my sword. I'm more than a pretty face, you know."
His hands were steady when he pulled a small notebook out of his fanny pack, handing it to Overhaul. A part of him regretted it, but this would ultimately cement his place in the Shie Hassaikai. It was filled from cover to cover with analysis of Overhaul and the Eight Expendables. A notebook that size meant that it was really a pitiable attempt at analysis, just the bare bones of what he was used to doing by now.
It was just enough to further prove himself as a valuable asset. "That's just a taste of what I can do. I'll have contact with the League of Villains within the week. Don't bother following me, it will end poorly for anyone who tries."
Deku left the room without another word, knowing that he would be long gone before they were done paging through the notebook, let alone understanding the full ramifications of the analysis in there. He remembered exactly where the front door of the compound was, and his only barrier to exit was one of the underlings that he'd come across on that first day. It wasn't much of a barrier, though, as Izuku only had to arch a single eyebrow to send the man scurrying away.
The sunlight felt wonderful on Izuku's skin - he knew he could have left the compound at any time, but he'd stayed inside if for no other reason than to give them no reason to doubt him. He'd been feeling a bit stir-crazy couped up in the compound. He could only train so much, and his analysis skills were already fairly exhausted. Checking his burner phone for the time, Izuku smiled a bit to himself - the timing was perfect. He just had to get rid of his tail, first.
Mimic, or Irinaka Joi, probably thought he was being discreet. Izuku knew plenty about the man's quirk, like the fact that it would have been child's play for him to fuse himself into the bouncy ball that had been following him for at least a block, pretending to be an abandoned child's plaything.
He played oblivious for another block until he spotted the perfect solution in a back alley. Deku plucked the bouncy ball off of the ground and hissed, "I warned you not to follow me." Then he threw the ball at the ground with all the force he could muster, watching in satisfaction as it arched into the dumpster, landing amongst half-rotted food.
"Next time it won't be a warning," Izuku said harshly. "I get that you guys don't trust me, and I definitely don't trust you. I'll be back when I've made contact."
It was highly unlikely that any of the Shie Hassaikai would attempt following Izuku any further - if they could even find him, that is. He found himself smiling, genuinely smiling for the first time in days.
His legs carried him across Musutafu, darting through alleyways and around buildings, finding himself at a rundown ramen shop. It was Tuesday, after all, and it was twelve-thirty on the dot. He slipped inside just as the only customer said, "I'll have a bowl of shoyu ramen."
"Tonkotsu for me," Izuku said, drawing the attention of both the customer and waitress.
The elderly woman's eyebrows furrowed. "I'll take your order in a moment if you'll wait to be seated-"
"No, he's with me," Detective Tsukauchi interrupted, a broad smile breaking across his face. "I just wasn't sure if he could make it today."
Izuku took off the medical mask so the detective could see his matching grin. "You know the academy teaches us not to be predictable for safety purposes, right? Coming here every Tuesday kind of undermines that."
It caught Izuku completely off guard when Tsukauchi stood, surging forward to wrap his arms around the boy. Stunned, Izuku just stood there limply, getting hugged until the detective backed off, looking Izuku over. "You're okay, right? No injuries?"
"I'm fine, I haven't been hurt in the least," Izuku promised, and it was true if you didn't count when Hojo had slashed him. But it hadn't even scarred, it was gone before it had even become life-threatening, so it didn't count.
Tsukauchi gripped his shoulder tightly. "You keep yourself safe, got it? I don't care how you justify it, you're my first priority. Keep yourself safe, if not for you or me, then for your mother."
Lingering traces of his Deku persona were the only thing keeping his from crying all over the detective. "I promise I'll do everything I can to keep myself safe."
"So why are you here? I trust you weren't followed."
"To prove myself, Chisaki sent me on a mission," Izuku said, settling in further. He started in on his story, telling Tsukauchi everything that was important, passing him a notebook much like the one he'd left Overhaul - this one talked about each of the members, but unlike the other, it gave specific weaknesses and explicit details on which heroes would be most effective against each member, as well as some tactics for police officers to use on certain member of she Shie Hassaikai. (He didn't want to leave the officers out of the fun. Izuku would pay to see Saito throat-punch one of the Eight Expendables.)
They talked through their meal, and Izuku only paused when he got to this morning's events. He masked his hesitation to address it by shovelling a huge amount of ramen into his mouth, taking the time to chew it before he said, "Chisaki sent me to try to recruit new people to the cause."
Tsuakauchi stared Izuku down - he could sense that there was something Izuku wasn't telling him, but he also knew that trying to get an answer from the boy wouldn't be a very productive use of their limited time together.
"Will you be safe?"
"I'm in no danger from these people," Izuku promised. Tsukauchi was going to have to be content with that - the boy told the truth. Whoever these recruits were, he hoped that they would help Izuku if worse comes to worst.
"I trust you, Midoriya," Tsukauchi said heavily. "Come back safely, kid."
"You got it, boss," Izuku said, saluting the detective with a grin. With that he replaced his mask and slipped out, disappearing onto the street. Sometimes Naomasa regretted letting Eraserhead train Midoriya in stealth techniques.
Izuku knew his final destination, but he had a few errands to run first. A letter slipped under his house's front door, a gift cart to Nakamura's favorite restaurant placed under the windshield wiper of his squad car since Izuku had missed his birthday, and a box of candies for Kimiko was dropped in the mail, all things Izuku did without issue or discovery.
The most difficult task was going to be getting information for Sir Nighteye. He had a few things he wanted to tell the man himself, but he didn't risk going into any hero agency while undercover, it would be asking for disaster.
He loitered in the general area for a while, mostly killing time at that point. But after a while it appeared that Nighteye wasn't in the area, and sadly Izuku didn't have access to Nighteye's schedule like he did for the heroes he worked with regularly. Sir Nighteye should have been the primary recipient of the information, as he was the one spearheading the whole debacle, but Izuku still couldn't bring himself to trust the man fully. He had also left the notebook with Tsukauchi to ensure that the police officers weren't going in blind. He scribbled down the pertinent information in yet another notebook, mostly details like what heroes not to include in the raid when the time came.
His mind was sifting through various methods of delivery when he noticed he had his second tail of the day - one of Nighteye's sidekicks, a U.A. student who went by Lemillion. Someone Nighteye hadn't thought it was important to introduce Izuku to.
For someone with a foresight quirk, Sir Nighteye wasn't great at planning. It was clear that Lemillion thought he was a suspicious individual, and Izuku wasn't sure he could shake him off his tail - he wasn't Eraserhead, and Lemillion could walk through walls.
A slight commotion arose a few blocks away - there was going to be a villain attack fairly soon. Lemillion stayed focused on him, a grin stretched across his face.
It was clear exactly when Lemillion decided to make his move - well, it was clear to Izuku, but it would have caught a number of people off-guard. "Hey there, you look a little lost. Can I help you?"
"I'm fine."
"That's quite the sword you've got there," he finally said, lengthening his stride to match Izuku. "You don't see that many swords in public."
"Listen, Lemillion, I'm a busy man. We can stand here and discuss my sword ad the legality of it, or you can take the notebook I have for Sir Nighteye and go deal with the things going on down the street. Your choice."
"How do you know Sir? And wha-"
A scream pierced the air, and Lemillion spun around to survey the situation.
"Make sure this gets to Sir Nighteye, and only Sir Nighteye," Izuku said, pressing the notebook into Lemillion's hand. "And come at the villain down there from his left, he's partially blind in that eye."
"What-" When Lemillion turned around again, Izuku was already gone. He probably could have found Izuku again if he had really wanted to, but there was a villain to see to.
It seemed to Izuku that he had waited long enough to accomplish his purposes - the majority of them shoudl be there by now. He wasn't too far away from the League of Villains' hideout, and there was a really good place to stop and get sushi from on his way there. .
This wasn't the same building that they'd brought him to when they'd kidnapped him al that time ago, that one had been compromised during that operation. It had taken a while, but they had found another bar to fit Shigaraki's aesthetic, and an old warehouse they usually saved for striking a deal.
Thankfully this bar had better lighting, though when Izuku stepped inside most of the lights were off, and he was greeted by the familiar sound of Shigaraki yelling at whatever video game he happened to be playing at the time.
Kurogiri sighed. "Dabi, will you go inform Shigaraki Tomura that if he disintegrates another gaming system, he will not get a replacement?"
"No thanks, I'd rather not deal with the tantrum," Dabi said lazily, not even looking up from his cellphone.
"Do you think Izuku is going to make it this week?" Toga asked, idly sharpening her favorite knife. "It was boring without him. Can't we just recruit him already?"
"I already told you I won't be joining the League," Izuku said, finally alerting them to his presence. He really did enjoy his stealth training with Eraserhead.
All eyes rested on him with varying degrees of shock. Toga was frozen, knife half-raised while Shigaraki cursed, trying to hide the fact that he'd just disintegrated the gaming controller. Only Kurogiri maintained his composure, moving forward to accept the sushi platter he was carrying. "It's nice to see you, Midoriya. I'm glad to see you are unharmed, there was some concern on your behalf when you failed to come to last week's poker night."
"That's actually part of why I'm here. I've got some business to discuss with you guys," Izuku said, unconsciously shifting from one foot to another.
Shigaraki finished kicking the dust from the controller around so Kurogiri hopefully wouldn't see it before he sauntered over to where Izuku stood. "You're sure dressed up, aren't you, Deku?"
"The only way he could look better would be if he was covered in blood," Toga said with a dreamy sigh, her amber eyes fixated on him - it was unsettling, but mostly because of the knife that still gleamed in her hand. "Oooh, is that Stainy's sword?"
"It's mine now," Izuku said, unsure of where to start his whole explanation.
"But where were you last week, Midoriya?" Mr. Compress asked curiously.
Izuku took in a deep breath. "I've been at Overhaul's compound."
Before he could explain further, Shigaraki screeched, accidentally disintegrating a TV remote control. "You refuse to join us, and join Overhaul instead?!"
"I thought we were friends, Izuku."
"Weren't you with the police or something?"
"I am a police officer still!" Izuku shouted over the panicking League.
"What?"
"I'm undercover, I'm pretending to be a part of the Shie Hassaikai. I've been in the compound for the past week trying to gain Overhaul's trust so I can get more information for when the heroes decide to carry out the raid."
Spinner let out a tense breath. "I knew you would not stray so far from Stain's principles, Midoriya."
"Suuuure," Izuku said awkwardly. "Anyway, Overhaul sent me here because he wants to discuss something with the League of Villains. I'm supposed to contact you within the week."
"Oh, he's deigning to speak to us?" Shigaraki asked, a wicked smile spreading over his face. "This has possibilities."
He couldn't fully suppress his shudder at the thought of Shigaraki and Overhaul teaming up - the world wasn't ready for that. "But I'm with Overhaul because the heroes are making their move soon. If all goes according to plan, the Shie Hassaikai will be dissolved."
"This sounds like we're dangerously close to breaking our agreement, Midoriya Izuku," Kurogiri said, studying him intently.
Izuku sighed heavily. When he'd been invited to that first poker night a few weeks after the kidnapping, they had been forced to come to an agreement; Izuku and the League of Villains could keep up a tenuous relationship if they all promised to follow a series of rules. The foremost of those was that neither side was allowed to divulge any sensitive work secrets, or ask about them. The League agreed to keep their actions out of Izuku's jurisdiction, and they wouldn't give away any information about what they were planning - Izuku wouldn't have been able to handle the guilt.
Similarly, Izuku couldn't tell them police or hero plans, or weaknesses. If he were ever in a position where he had to arrest one of them, supposedly there would be no hard feelings. He desperately hoped that after the kidnapping he would be forbidden to have anything to do with the League, and this wouldn't be an issue. He did value his friendship with the group of weirdos, they had sort of adopted him. They also gave him good intel on other criminal organizations, especially if they were annoyances to the League.
Izuku largely justified it by claiming the League as a source of information. But no matter how many times he told himself that, he couldn't deny the fact that when the door opened and Twice called, "Hey, Midoriya is back, we missed you! Go away, I can't win if you're here!"
Kit's Corner
It had been a fairly big bust for them. It had taken weeks, but Saito had finally managed to bust this drug ring, finding the leader of it all making a deal in a local bakery.
The terrified shopkeeper kept wringing his hands. "I swear I had no idea this was going on! I just treated them like I did any other customer!"
"We're aware, sir," Nakamura said as comfortingly as he was capable of. "We will be by with more questions later, but for now just relax. If you have any questions or concerns, you can always call the station and ask for me or Officer Saito."
Saito nodded firmly before her eyes landed on a cake, a very specific birthday cake that made her mouth and her eyes water.
She cleared her throat. "Although, we do want to take every precaution necessary to make sure that none of your baked goods have been tampered with."
The shopkeeper paled while Nakamura's glare seared Saito's skin. Gesturing at the cake she continued, "We simply need to run a few cakes - tests, we need to run a few tests, just to make sure this wasn't laced with anything."
"Take it!" the shopkeeper cried. "Do you need anything else?"
"This should be sufficient for our tests," Saito said, bowing to the man and seizing the cake, rushing out to the squad car before her partner could strangle her.
When he made it out, Nakamura hissed, "The criminal didn't even have any product on him."
"You can never be too sure, Nakamura. Now drive."
The cake tortured her the rest of the way to the station, but when they finally arrived she carried it in triumphantly. "I have the strawberry cake from that bakery on fifth! You can all thank me now."
Murmurs of appreciation sounded across the station as they broke out plates and forks. It was the best local bakery, and the cakes were really too expensive to justify buying them when it wasn't a special occasion. Partway through the impromptu party, though, a sniffle sounded.
"Sasaki? Are you okay?" Sohma asked, patting his junior on the back.
"I just… this is Midoriya's favorite kind of cake."
The room quieted almost instantly as the officers slowed their cake consumption, contemplating the current state of their youngest comrade.
"Why's it so quiet in here? Hey, cake!" Detective Tsukauchi smiled delightedly, serving himself a piece before looking around. "What's up with all of you?"
"We were simply worrying about Midoriya, sir," Kondo said, eyes softer than usual. "He's not really one to avoid danger."
"Oh, I just got back from lunch with him, he's actually made it this far without getting injured," Tsukauchi said, feeling lighter than he had in weeks. "Is this from that bakery on fifth? This is the best!"
The room was largely silent save for the angry stomps of Saito, followed by the clamor caused by her slapping Tsukauchi's cake out of his hands.
"What are you doing, Saito?!"
"You had lunch with Midoriya and you didn't tell us?!" she demanded, eyes blazing. "We've been worried sick about him, and you couldn't even tell us to meet you for lunch?"
"Yeah, we could have made Mori watch over the station during lunch!" Sasaki spat.
"Hey!"
A/N: I'm alive! This chapter is mostly fluff, but that's because Detective Midoriya turned a year old today! I wanted to give you guys a fun chapter, so it came off a bit disjointed, but I did my best between all of my classes. The plot is getting serious in the next couple chapters, but it will always be balanced with some happy absurdity.
Y'all will notice that Izuku's Analysis was replaced with Kit's Corner. I wasn't enjoying the analysis as much anymore, and this way I get to include some of Kit's brilliant ideas for little scenes. Kit, as per usual, thought that the majority of this particular chapter was a bad idea, but that's never stopped me before. Thank you all for supporting me in this past year, it's been a wild ride so far. I hope I can keep delivering a story that you all enjoy as much as you do now. Here's to another year (maybe) of Detective Midoriya!