Rule #53: Knowledge is power…Wield it like a blade, secure it like a treasure…it is your most sacred weapon.
Flash. Masked doctors. Flash. Whirring tools. Flash. A thousand sorrowful eyes just watching from the dark. Flash. Pink. Flash. Blood. Flash. Heart-pounding fear. Flash. Birds. Flash. Alone. Flash. Not alone. HE was there, adorned in a splattering of blood that covered him from head to toe, bird mask firmly in place and pink fuzz bristling in a breeze that she couldn't feel. Why was it so dark in here? Where was everyone else? What was going on?
"Don't you see?" Oishii chuckled darkly, beady eyes swimming with mirth. "You'll never be a hero! Killer! Murderer! Villain! You'll never be free! So come with me now, come with me little one and I'll show you a world of your wildest imagination!" As he spoke images of her past kills came into view, all bloodied and mangled with many sporting flies and other assortments of decomposition that had her stomach roiling at the sight. A pit of wrongness sailed the roiling seas within her gut like a dingy on the high seas; there but forever to be tossed about by the large waves.
"Don't you see, To~ru?" He sang, her name falling from various lips in a morbid kind of choir meant just for her. "We're alike, you and I, we're liars, thieves, killers! Look at the blood that stains your hands and mine! Look at the pretty carnage we created! Isn't beautiful, my little one—?"
"—NO!" Toru awoke with a violent gasp, sweat beading on her brow and nausea swimming in her stomach. The sight of former teachers' corpses still present in her mind had her running for the en suite to deposit the remnants of last night's dinner and bile into the toilet bowl at which she clutched with white knuckles. She was forever thankful that she had slept with her hair tied back the night before, so she didn't have to worry about any stray chunks becoming stuck; although a shower would still be in order.
A couple of days had passed since her whole ordeal with Oishii and the kidnapping, and she was still understandably very shaken up about it. The nightmares were rough and she had spent the first night hunkered down with the other girls in Momo's room under the guise of a sleepover. Honestly, she was terrified to sleep alone—what if they came back? What if they wanted to finish what they started? It had been nice enough even if all six girls were crammed into the giant bed like sardines in a can. Who knew Ochako floated in her sleep too?
As far as the invisible girl was aware, her classmates only had a vague understanding of what had happened to her, either heard from those who were naturally early risers and had therefore witnessed her tearful return. She couldn't help but feel a flush of embarrassment whenever she thought back on how she had cling to Aizawa like he would disappear and wept into his stomach, wailing as if someone had died. Honestly, it was a wonder she hadn't woken anyone else with her cries. Aside from this, she had been very tight-lipped about the whole thing, wanting nothing more than to shove it into a box and push it to the back of her mind never to see the light of day again.
But Kage had mentioned (during her recovery) that due to the Yakuza's involvement she may have to give a testimony at some kind of hearing or other. It was harsh, but as heroes they were expected to throw off situations like this one, exchanging for the next one like it was an old coat. It was a lot easier in theory. It was enough to send her stomach curling again.
"Toru? You there?" Jiro peered around her door, bed hair running amok as she rubbed tiredly at her eyes and scrunched her nose up at the smell emanating from the toilet. Apparently, the commotion Toru had unknowingly created that morning was enough to rouse the girl from sleep. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, y-yeah" Toru winced at how her hoarse voice cracked.
"Are you sure? Are you sick? Maybe you should stay home today?" She bent to place the back of her hand against her friend's clammy forehead with concern shining in her eyes.
"Yeah—no—I—I'm fine" She stammered, moving to flush the toilet. "Bad dream. It's nothing"
"Are you sure? Do you want me to get Aizawa? You could—"
"—I'm fine!" Toru snapped before softening her voice, catching Jiro off guard at the sudden change. "I'm fine, it's nothing, I'm fine"
"If you're sure…?"
"I am"
"Okay…But I'm still telling Aizawa!"
"Alright…" Toru sighed tiredly as she leant her head against the towel rail behind her, watching the musician pad back out of her room with a bit of a strut in her stride.
The invisible girl closed her eyes with a heavy sigh as she thought about they day ahead. Although she wanted nothing more than to stay in bed all day and try to regain what sleep she had lost to her nightmares, she had been instructed to meet up with the other work studies' students at the agency in order to deliver her testimony about the Yakuza just as Kage had predicted. It had been hard enough to do on the night (or morning) once she had been rescued, blood replenished and waded through more red tape than she thought was possibly necessary. Did they really need to know what she was wearing when they grabbed her? Shaking the thoughts from her mind, she shakily hauled herself to her feet and stumbled towards the shower for a well-needed wash.
"Oh! Hey! Good morning guys!" Ochako brightly greeted Midoriya and Kirishima as she pushed open the door for both Tsu and Toru to follow after. "You going in today?"
"Yeah" Midoriya nodded as the trio joined the pair of boys out on the front path. Toru warily eyed the path leading to the main campus as thoughts of kidnapping and betrayal flittered through her head. She did her best to ignore them, but she was still jumpy nonetheless.
"Huh, so are we" Tsu hummed. "That's kinda weird"
"Hey, us too" Chimed in a pair of local Pros beyond them. "Wanna walk to the station together?"
YES! Toru screamed internally, hands gripping tight to her backpack straps as she shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"Ooh! Yes please!" Ochako squealed, "I mean, if you don't mind?"
"We appreciate it!" Midoriya agreed.
"What's with all the heroes?" Kirishima side-whispered, not quite getting it. It appeared that even though Toru had some kind of idea as to what was going on, her classmates had no idea whatsoever.
One awkward train ride and equally awkward elevator ride later (granted only by a swipe of her access card strapped to the lanyard bouncing around her neck), the quintet of first years and the Big Three found themselves standing amongst a hoard of sharply dressed Pros Heroes in the assigned conference room, aptly named The Pit. Despite the name, The Pit was a large conference room on the upper most floor of the building, one that was usually left for business meetings involving the Board. Or so Toru had been told, she hadn't actually ever stepped foot into the room, nor onto the floor for that matter. The gaggle of students stood out as a stark contrast in their school uniforms amongst the multitude of colours already within.
"Hey!" Nejire whined as she danced her way over to her mentor, Ryuko (the dragon heroine) whom she spotted upon entering the room. "What's the scoop? What's going on? Talk to me Ryuko! I mean, I know you said there's a meeting, but what's it about?!"
"Patience, Nejire" Ryuko soothed the girl who clung to her like a child.
"You too, Aizawa-Sensei?" Ochako puzzled upon spotting their perpetually drowsy professor.
"I'm confused" Tsu agreed, "Why're you here?"
"I was called in last minute for this thing" Aizawa replied easily. "I think I've got a rough idea of what it's about"
"You should too" Ryuko piped up, turning to the pair of first years. "Remember what I told you girls?" The pair shared a conspiratory glance between each other as recognition bloomed across their faces.
Across the room, Toru found herself cornered by both Alpha and Kage whilst Snipe was milling about somewhere else in the room. "You ready for this, kit?" Alpha queried, placing a heavy paw on her shoulder as Toru shifted nervously on her feet and clutched tight to her backpack straps.
"Nope" Toru replied, popping the 'p'. Even to her own ears, the reply sounded slightly hysterical.
"Wait, Toru!" Kirishima, who had been standing nearby with Amajiki and Fatgum, interjected. Toru couldn't help but jump at the sudden and unexpected address. "Do you know what this is about?"
"Um…" She blinked dumbly and nibbled at her lip as she glanced back at the two detectives over her shoulder, unsure of what she could or could not say. Thankfully, she didn't have to worry for long as Ryuko turned to Sir Nighteye who stood like a proud peacock at the front of the room.
"—We're all here, Nighteye" Ryuko spoke up after she had finished counting heads. "Let's get started.
"Thanks to the information provided by all of you, our investigation has processed substantially" NIghteye reported stiffly, his combover barely moving as he strode forward with an air of self-importance surrounding him. "We've invited you all here for a joint conference to share the intel we've acquired regarding the Yakuza group, Shie Hassaikai and what we believe they might be planning" At the mention of the Yakuza, Toru could feel several pairs of eyes directed her way and she could only assume that they belonged to the very seniors who had escorted her to Yoshiwara all those weeks ago.
"Hold on" Kirishima turned to Fatgum in confusion. "I feel like I'm missing something really important here. Shie Ha—what now?"
"Some bad guys are planning to do some bad things" Fatgum summarised for the red head, "And they've called a meeting so we can talk it all out. Trust me, you two are very much involved"
Huh? Toru puzzled, her gaze following Amajiki's sad gaze to the bandage on his forearm, which lay partially hidden beneath his school shirt.
Soon enough, the gathered heroes found themselves squashed together around a series of tables that had been pushed together to create a large U-shape, so that they could all see the projector screen at the other end of the room. The students had been separated into their various work studies, leaving Toru nestled between Kage, Alpha and Snipe. She had almost expected Shindo and Minho to be there, but assumed that the HBI hadn't been able to persuade Nighteye (or the other heroes) into agreement on the matter, leaving her alone amongst her peers.
"Alright! Let's begin at the beginning!" Bubble Girl chirped from the front of the room where she stood next to Centipeder and Nighteye. "For the past couple of weeks now, those of us at the Nighteye Agency, have been conducting an investigation into Shie Hassaikai; a small but organised group of criminals"
"What prompted this?" The question floated up from the back of the room.
"An accident involving a gang of thieves called 'The Reservoir Dogs—"
"Oh yeah, I heard about that!"
"—The police thought the whole thing was an accident, but there were a number of details that didn't add up, so we began tailing them"
"In my capacity as a Nighteye Agency sidekick, I began following leads to see what I could uncover" Centipeder spoke next. The screen behind him clicked through several slides showing what he had found. "I found that in the passed year, the members of Shie Hassaikai had increased contact with others outside of their organisation including other groups whose business dealings are less than reputable—"
A few familiar faces sprung to mind at that. Bitch-sensei. Oishii. Lovro. Dr "Shiro" Yanagisawa. Takaoka-sensei. Yoshiwara. The list just went on. Toru bit her lip and scrunched her hands in the pleats of her skirts, doing her best to not burnt through the material or alert anyone to her sudden dilemma. This was not a scab she particularly wanted picked.
"—There aim seems to be expanding their organisation and enriching its coiffures. Shortly after our investigation began, they made contact with The League of Villains through Bubaigawara Jin, a villain named Twice. They were wary of being tailed so I was unable to follow them; but with the help of the police, I confirmed that an altercation had occurred between the two groups"
"That'd be about the time they decided to reach out to Tsukauchi and me" Gran Torino interjected, his soothing grandfatherly tone sounding odd given the situation. "Figured we'd be able to assist given The League's involvement"
"Where is Tsukauchi?" Came the next query.
"Follow-ups with some other eye-witnesses, y'know cop stuff. Sorry kid, I didn't see something like this coming"
"Huh?" Midoriya hummed.
"I've got a bad feeling about this that says things are about to get ugly"
"I don't care if they do, I wanna help!""
"Hold up!" Mirio piped up from the greenette's right. "You know him?"
"Oh Gran Torino? I did my internship with him!"
"…Go on, Bubble Girl" Nighteye nudged, after giving the greenette a side-eye full of disdain.
"Ah~! So!" Bubble Girl jumped right back into it, "After all that went down, we posted a notice on the HN requesting assistance—"
"—I think we can skip that" Centipeder interrupted the needless information.
"Sorry!"
"What's the HN?" Toru quietly asked Snipe.
"Stands for Hero Network" Snipe replied. "It's an online server that's only accessed by Pros. Y'all can see what every hero in the country is up to and ask for help from 'em"
"Does anybody wanna tell me why a bunch of high schoolers were invited to this conference?" Rock Lock demanded sourly. "I don't care if they are from UA, if we have to keep stopping to explain this, we'll never get to the actual plan!"
"Don't say that!" Fatgum retorted as he jumped to his feet, sending his chair flying. "These kids have important information to pass along!"
"Er…we do?" Kirishima puzzled, more than a little confused.
"I wanna go home!" Amajiki anxiously whined, head bowed at the sudden attention. In turn, Toru remained silent but shifted in her seat and thanked whatever Gods that Fatgum hadn't pointed her out as well.
"Anyway~" Fatgum sang, "I see a lot of new faces, so let me introduce myself! Nice to meet'cha! I'm Fatgum! Ha! Who wants candy?" He tossed out a handful of individually wrapped sweets to the audience as his speech seemed to have silenced Rock Lock for the moment at least. Something fro which Toru was thankful for; there was something about the earthen hero that just rubbed her the wrong way.
"Hassaikai's movements are hard to track" Nighteye continued dully. "But we suspect one of their main sources of income is illegal drug sales, so I requested help from heroes who have expertise in that area"
"Hagakure can attest to that" Kage spoke up from her left, as all eyes then turned to the shrinking invisible girl sandwiched between the detectives and the sniper. Across the way, Toru noticed how Kirishima's brows furrowed at the wording. "Following her kidnapping, we were able to capture one of their small laboratories"
"Kidnapping?!" Kirishima's eyes blew wide, an image that was shared amongst her classmates at the sudden reveal. In regards to the two girls, a look of realisation spread across their faces as they connected the dots following her ordeal—what the reluctant sleepover was really about. "Are you okay?!"
"Mmhm" Toru hummed through tightly-pressed lips as she nodded jerkily, trying to assuage any further worries. No one was convinced.
"What were you able to ascertain from this?" Nighteye leant against his folded hands, looking pensive with eyes sharp.
"Er" Toru began hesitantly, sparing a glance towards her mentors. "I only found out two names. There was a blonde guy with one eye that they called Se—Setsuno and—" She audibly swallowed a gulp. "—And Oishii was there"
"Oishii?!" Nejire gasped in disbelief, brows flying towards her hairline at the news. "You're sure?"
"Uh h-huh" Toru nodded, her voice wobbling only slightly. "But, they uh, called him Leech"
"I feel like I'm missing something, here" A miscellaneous voice floated up from the back of the room, "Who's this Oishii fella?"
"He's a classmate of ours" Mirio replied absently, brows furrowed in thought.
"But he's so sweet!" Nejire refuted, "Couldn't he have, I dunno, been deep undercover?"
"He was pretty convincing if he was" Toru retorted, a little annoyed that her senpai wasn't accepting her truth. "Had a bird mask, death threats and everything"
"…Oh"
"As far as we've been able to ascertain, they were grabbing kids off of the street to test this drug on them. Some of 'em even had their blood taken and added to it" Snipe ended as Alpha placed a comforting hand on Toru's shoulder.
"That's right!" Fatgum nodded along grimly as he brought up his own mentees' experiences with the group and the drug. "I've brought in my fair share of drug dealers back in the day, and in Red Riot's debut fight, he proved he could too! Tamaki was shot and the bullet contained some kind of drug I'd never even heard of before. One that destroys Quirks"
"Destroys Quirks?!"
"Whoa—what?!" Mirio jumped to his feet, fear and concern written across his face. "Tamaki! You're okay, right?!"
"Yeah…the stuff wore off while I slept" Tamaki sighed warily. "Here, look, I've got this cow hoof and everything"
"Guess we know what you had for breakfast!" Mirio smiled with relief at the large brown hoof that had taken over his friend's arm.
"I'm glad to know the effects aren't permanent at least" Rock Lock reluctantly acquiesced. "So this stuff doesn't zap a Quirk for good?"
"No" Agreed Nighteye. "But Eraserhead has some further insight"
"It doesn't seem to function exactly like my Eraser does" Aizawa began. Toru's lips twitched upwards when he began to go full-on lecture mode with tone unchanging. "Since I'm not actually attacking the Quirk directly. What we call a Quirk is in actuality, an extraordinary addition to the human body. Those additions are collectively referred to as 'Quirk Genes' and I can shield those genes, temporarily blocking their expression. But I don't actually damage them"
"But after Tamaki here was shot" Fatgum continued, "We brought him to the hospital and they found that his Quirk genes had sustained damage! Fortunately, they seemed to have healed on their own and he's back to normal now"
"What do we know about the substance he was shot with?" Nighteye pursued.
"Whatever it was, didn't harm the rest of his body. Nothing but his Quirk was impaired in any way. The guy who shot him, clammed up and now he won't say a word! And the round that hit Tamaki was totally spent! However, Kirishima, bravely protected Tamaki from a bullet which then bounced off of his own body and should provide us with a viable sample along with whatever was found in that lab. And when we analysed the substance from the bullet, we discovered something that made me sick to my stomach—it contained human blood and cells!"
