Rule #48: Sometimes you just have to jump in the deep end to sink or swim
Two days later, in the time between owl's hoot and sparrow's fart whilst their peers still slept; the students involved with the Hassaikai operation were called in to action. Toru clambered from her bed with a yawn where she had been incessantly going over the information on the All Might hard drive as if it would yield any more clues. Not that that she would be able to discern them if she did. For all the "lessons" that Ritsu had given her in hacking, she was no expert, barely able to find the Dark Web without assistance. So there was really no way she was going to be able to interpret miles upon miles of glittering green code. That didn't mean she didn't try of course, but it had been so much easier trying to learn English than this!
Thankfully the vibrating of her phone had distracted her long enough from the glow of her computer screen, effectively turning her attention away. The first one had been a simple text: FOUND IT. But it still had the invisible girl sliding from her bed and into a pair of slippers before slinking down the hallway with cellphone in hand, mindless of the nightie she wore. Making her way down to the ground floor, Toru was met with the sight of her classmates in varying stages of upheaved bed hair and crumpled pyjamas. It always humoured Toru to note that Kirishima's natural state included straight hair that flopped about his face like the fur on a kitten. The fact that he used so much gel to style it upwards everyday into its gravity-defying style was just as amusing to the invisible girl, particularly as she had never really needed to worry about such things.
"All right" Kirishima muttered as his gaze roved over the each of them. "You too?"
"Mmhm!" Ochako nodded.
"We got it" Tsu croaked, voice thick with sleep.
"It's happening!" Midoriya nodded determinedly.
"Here we go" Toru murmured, flicking through the next series of messages that instructed them to wait until sunrise before gathering together at the assigned meeting point in their hero costumes. Breakfast, that day, was tense.
Standing in the Pit of the HBI that morning was a tense affair. Sir Nighteye had resumed his place at the head of the room behind a large desk which Toru was certain was used more for dramatics than actual desk work. Aside from that, where there had once been a U-shaped table layout, was now a large empty room just big enough for everyone to cram into so that they could be debriefed as one. It was not going well.
"Huh?!" Rock Lock gasped aloud, speaking the words most of them wanted to say. "They're keeping this Eri girl in their strong hold?!"
"And by stronghold you mean—?" Fatgum trailed off.
"—The headquarters of the Hassaikai" Ryukyu nodded grimly. "Their leader's residence"
"Tch! So you're telling me that all that time we spent investigating was for nothing, then?" Rock Lock scoffed.
"Not at all" Nighteye refuted "We gained plenty of new information as well"
"How'd you confirm she was there?" Demanded Fatgum.
"A member of the Hassaikai visited a nearby department store the other day. He purchased a toy favoured by young girls"
Wha—? Toru blinked dumbly at the sparkly pink doll box sat on the desk next to Sir Nighteye. It was stark contrast that had her fighting back giggles at the sight of this serious man with something so frilly in his hands. She wasn't the only one having a hard time looking at it, it was just so…pink.
"That's…pretty sparkly" Rock Lock stuttered, dumbfounded at the sight before him.
"Listen! Maybe the guy just likes cutesy stuff!" Fatgum retorted hotly. Toru eyed the large hero warily, wondering just what kind of secret hobby/obsession he was hiding if that was his reaction. "Different strokes for different folks, Nighteye! You wanna tell us what you're doing with one though?!"
"Yes" Nighteye intoned, hands still perched on the monstrously pink box. "I was there when he made the purchase and overheard his conversation with the store clerk. Using my Quirk I was able to ascertain that the girl was indeed located in Hassaikai's HQ"
"You ended up using Foresight anyway?!" Rock Lock demanded.
"If you'll recall, I said I'd use when our path was more certain"
"Whatever, this just means we have the data we need, right?" Fatgum asked.
"Yes and we know for sure when they'll be there thanks to our stakeout" Centipeder replied.
"Mmhm!" Bubble Girl chirped, flashing a pair of thumbs up at the group of heroes. "We also worked with the police & the HBI to get a warrant to search the place! Next step—!"
"—Is to barge in there!" Fatgum ended.
"Aw man! That's my line!"
"Hey Deku!" Ochako whisper-shouted from beside Toru, catching the greenette's attention. She flashed him a determined smile and a thumbs up that had the boy smiling in kind. Toru shifted nervously as she felt the mood in the room change from anxious tension to determined anticipation.
"C'me on, Midoriya! WE'RE ALL OVER THIS! LET'S RESCUE THAT GIRL! AND TAKE DOWN SOME BAD GUYS! YEAH!" Mirio decreed, going full ham in his arm-waving movements. "WE'RE GONNA DO IT! WE'RE GONNA DO IT! WE'RE GONNA DO IT! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!"
"Whoa! What's with those arms?!" Midoriya exclaimed as the pair drew attention to themselves, where they stood in the back of the room.
"…Now then" Nighteye stood tall, hand still perched on the toy box. "Let's begin"
At 8am on the dot, every single hero—Pro and apprentice—stood gathered together outside of the Hassaikai compound in a park that stood a block over. Even from where she stood in the shade of a skeleton tree, Toru could see the wicked tall fence and wooden panelled gate barring their way. Staring up at the pristine gates, Toru was struck with how different this compound looked from the one in Yoshiwara. Granted, the one she had briefly lived on was only supposed to be a recruitment centre of sorts and this one was said to be the home to all the head honchos; but that still didn't change the fact that a small seed of jealously sat nestled in her gut because of this. Why should only they get nice things? Toru pouted. Working cameras—that's all I'm saying!
"As y'all know, Nighteye was able to use his Quirk on a Hassaikai member" Snipe stood before the group with said hero to his left and (armed) police officers at his back. "Through it he saw several underground facilities and we believe them to be this Yakuza group's headquarters. We were also able to confirm that the girl we're trying to rescue is currently being held in one of the rooms there" He shuffled through his papers with a flourish that had Toru biting the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling. The invisible teen didn't know why she felt the urge to laugh—she knew this was a serious and dangerous situation, and yet unwanted laughter pulled at her lips.
"Although we were unable to map the entire layout of the underground hallways, we believe the man in question took the shortest route to our target. This is the best intel we have at the moment considering the Hassaikai's stronghold—it's the basis of this mission" Snipe continued. "Stay smart, these guys are dangerous and we can expect them to bring their Quirks against us with full force. We're now gonna pass out a list of the current Hassaikai members and their Quirks according to our registration databases. Commit this to memory. We don't want to give them time to hide. Our aim is to identify and apprehend all members as quickly as possible, whilst securing our target"
It's like their own villainous Tinder. Toru thought vindictively as her mind flickered back to the original list of students listed next to their Quirks. She revelled in the irony as she sneered down at the names she had had to scribble down after the reveal of her knowledge of the group. Some she knew, others she didn't. But of all the creepy Yakuza villains, a certain pink-haired teen in particular caught most of her ire. She was certain that if she glared any harder, the paper in her hands would catch alight.
"Things are moving fast now, huh?" Kirishima turned to his peers as they readied themselves for battle.
"You're energetic" Tamaki noted as he pulled his hood on and secured his many pouches. "Considering how early it is"
Don't remind me! Toru yawned.
"Mm! I'm getting nervous!" Ochako jittered into her hands as she shuffled in place.
"No joke" Tsu croaked. "First detective work and now we're cooperating with the police? There's so much I don't know!"
"Right?" Nejire smiled as she closed up the circle. "So official!"
"That's true, school's don't always prepare you for investigations like this. It takes some time to adjust" Ryukyu appeared over the brunette's shoulder with a smile.
"She's right" Toru nodded.
"You've done this before, Prism?"
"Ah, let's just this is not the first high security place I've broken into" Toru replied awkwardly, rocking back and forth on her heels as her thoughts drifted to the whole Tanegashima Space Center debacle.
"What?" Ochako puzzled.
"Ooh! There's a story there! Tell me! Tell me!" Nejire beamed excitedly.
"Er—" Toru blinked.
"—All the Pros seem like they're pretty chill huh?" Kirishima mused as he and Midoriya soon joined in the circle of apprentices. "So brave!"
"Oh thank God!" Toru muttered under her breath as the red head cut off that line of questioning. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell her friends about the exploits they got up to in junior high, it's just that now was not the right time for that kind of thing. Also, it had been very illegal, so there's that.
"Hey, I, uh, haven't seen Gran Torino around here this morning. You know where he is?" Midoriya wondered as his head swivelled looking for the elderly hero.
"Apparently he won't be joining us today" Sir NIghteye appeared over Midoriya's shoulder, much to the boys' surprise.
"Uh, sir?" Midoriya jumped in surprise as he turned around to find both Nighteye and Snipe standing there. Toru stood up straighter at the appearance of her (official) mentor.
"Tsukauchi's been keeping an eye on the League" Explained Snipe, "According to him, it looks like they're on the move. Fortunately, we have plenty of heroes 'ere so we can afford to send Gran Torino"
"I see" Murmured Midoriya.
"Maybe we can take down the Hassaikai and the League of Villains at the same time!" Kirishima beamed.
"Oh yeah! Let's go!"
"Not yet" Aizawa warned as he appeared next to Ryukyu, having been drawn over to the small crowd.
"Ah—Mr—Eraserhead, sir!"
"I'm teaming up with the Nighteye Agency for this. Do you understand me?"
"Yessir!"
"Now! Heroes!" This time it was Kage who took the stage, clad only in her kevlar combat suit and various weapons. "Things could get violent very quickly out there, if you encounter even a hint of suspicious behaviour or resistance—call for help immediately. We're up against gangsters who've avoided capture until now. It is imperative that each of you carry out your respective assignments and stay sharp in there. We will commence the operation at 0800 : 30 hours. Heroes! Move out!"
And so Toru marched on with anticipation toiling her gut, accompanied by the grinning and determined faces of her peers. Thirty minutes. They only had thirty minutes until the whole operation truly began and the safe that was the Hassaikai base was crackled open. She could only hope that the adults had back-up plans and failsafes in place because even she knew from experience that no plan survives first contact with the enemy.
At 8.30am Toru shifted nervously on her feet as she waited with bated breath for the search warrant to be read over the intercom and the gate opened so they could begin. She tugged at her gloves of her new suit for the umpteenth time that morning as she waited for the operation to begin, lamenting on the fact that she had yet to wear it in. Then again. She sucked on her lip in thought. This is the perfect opportunity to wear it in.
The suit in question hadn't particularly changed from its second addition; she still wore a two piece made of reflective material trimmed in pink with a matching boots and gloves. Only this time, an extra added feature had been added to the material—somehow they had managed to added resistance to UV radiation to the mix, something she was glad for. The note that had come with the express order (thanks in part, to Kage's incessant flirting with one of the designers) had explained how the material could withstand upwards of level 11 on the UV index scale, which was pretty good all things considering. The only thing was, with no way to properly measure what level of index she was using on the fly, Toru had no way to tell if the suit would hold up to her output or not. Only time will tell.
"Once they've read the warrant, then you're free to move" Kage called over her shoulder as she stood at the front of the pack with a platoon of armed police between them. "I'm counting on everyone to act swiftly!"
"What's with this chick?" Rock Lock complained. "Over here, acting like we don't know how to do our jobs!"
"You know that's not what she means, Rock Lock! Give it a rest!" Fatgum scolded the earthern hero as Toru felt herself grow defensive in favour of the detective. In the short time that she'd known and met the hero, all he'd done was complain and whinge about everything that wasn't done his way. Toru didn't like him and so made no effort to hide the tongue she was childishly poking out in his direction.
"Tch! The real problem? Is that these Yakuza are good at living in the shadows. They see all these heroes and the police? They might just disappear"
Up the front, Kage (who had stubbornly ignored all the backtalk going on behind her with practise)
moved to press the button for the intercom so as to present the warrant in question. It was calm, only a soft breeze blew and there was an electric feeling in the air like the calm before a storm. And then the gate exploded.
