Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 166:
"You have five minutes." The guard in front of Midoriya Izuku said to the eighteen year old about to step into the visiting room behind her.
"Five? I think-" Midoriya hesitated. He tried to show a strong look though that showed he was confident in what he was about to say, "I think it might take longer to get the information I need him to tell me. It's very important that we know everything he does… so, could I get some extra time?"
Tachibana Miyuki hummed, then she looked over at another guard in the room with her who flashed her a grin at her look. Doruno turned away and made a whistling noise that he was not all that good at but got the point he was trying to convey across. Deku spun in surprise towards the male guard and then back to the woman in front of him who gave him a small smile herself, "For one of 1667's friends, I guess you could get that extra time."
"1667?" Midoriya wondered.
"Heh, it was Sazaki's inmate number here," Tachibana replied. "You know, we've never 'retired' a number at this prison before that. Like a sports team," she specified in case Midoriya did not get what she meant by it.
They retired his number? Midoriya thought with a bead of sweat rolling down his face. "Oh, well um, thank you-" he was glad to get that extra time anyway, but the Tartaros guard in front of him stepped forward and got within his comfort zone with that step. "Ummm-"
"Speaking of," Tachibana started. "If you get that extra minute or three or five, how's the kid been doing? Alright we're hoping, yeah?"
The way Tachibana worded it made it out like Deku had the choice of how long his extra time was going to be here. As much as he wondered what that meant for the regulation codes at the prison, he decided to use it and nodded with a hesitant smile on his face. "He's good. Real good actually. I'm seeing him tomorrow actually, so I could give him a message if you want-"
"That's fine," Tachibana replied with a shake of her head, smiling more herself now behind her helmet's visor. "As long as he's doing alright. He was a real mess when he got in here, you know?" Midoriya paused and his look turned more genuine as he looked at the older woman in front of him. He shook his head showing he did not know, and Tachibana lowered the corners of her lips a bit as she wondered if she misread their relationship. Saw some stuff about the two of them on the news a couple nights ago actually. Didn't look like they were too friendly, though they were hanging out together. "So, did he tell you what he spent that year he was gone doing?"
Midoriya's eyes opened wide and he looked at the woman seriously to see if she had this information for him. Then he paused, and he said, "If you mean, his time in Arcasia-"
"He did tell you," Tachibana said with a laugh, relaxing again at the young hero's response.
"Yeah, he told me," Midoriya repeated in an unenthusiastic voice as he was not as thrilled about hearing that story.
Doruno chuckled and shook his head at the green-haired boy who glanced his way in confusion at that guard's reaction. Tachibana smirked herself too, and she said, "I felt the same way there Deku. Story sounded like the craziest thing I had ever heard, and I was positive he was lying about all of it… at least for a couple of days." Midoriya stared at her in confusion for how she could change her mind so quickly, so she continued, "After a few months it was impossible not to believe him. See we had shifts watching outside his cell, and your friend spent five months telling us every last detail of every day he spent on Terra. All about the history of that world, its different races-"
"The Ages," Doruno mentioned with a lift of his head.
"And the wars," Tachibana finished. She paused for another moment and then asked in a lower voice, "Have you seen what he looks like?" Midoriya opened his mouth, but she cut him off, "I mean, what he really looks like. Underneath."
I already saw him back in the locker room when he came back from the League. After seeing that, it couldn't shock me anymore. "I need to get in there," Deku said, getting more serious again which had Tachibana return to a more professional demeanor.
"Alright, I'll give you a knock when you've got a minute left," Tachibana replied, also without giving him a time limit for when she would let him stay in there.
Midoriya nodded his head in a grateful way and then stepped up to the heavy mechanical door in front of him. "Bring the prisoner in," he heard the woman say behind him, and he waited with his hands balling into fists at his sides.
Things have been going on in the shadows, Deku's eyes focused on the door in front of him that he heard clanking coming from behind. The door opposite his own opened up to allow the prisoner inside, and Midoriya took in a deep breath and loosened his fists as he thought about what he was going to say. The ability to create Nomus was supposed to come to an end with his arrest. He was caught by heroes and has been in Tartaros for a while, but these recent reports are unsettling. Lemillion says we've been too distracted by Zach, and we all agree. Whatever it is he's doing… it can't wait! The moment we give Zach some wiggle room, he'll put his plan into action! But we can't ignore this either! I can't! I need to take care of all of it. There's a lot resting on my shoulders now, and I need to be ready before graduation for what I'm going to be doing as a hero. As All Might's replacement!
The door in front of him made the same clanking noises he heard before, only a lot louder as they were coming from right before him. His eyes focused straight ahead as the door opened, and then he felt his stomach churn and his heart pound at the sight of the man sitting in the middle of the room just on the other side of some thick glass. Midoriya stepped forward as he saw the guards behind him looking at his back and waiting for him to go inside so they could close the door. He stepped inside while facing the short and chubby man on the other side of the glass who had a bushy mustache and some light stubble around his chin and cheeks. The man stared at him through small, squinted eyes that looked damaged around his eyelids with some scar tissue above and below them.
The older man appeared in his fifties or sixties, maybe older. He smiled under his bushy mustache while watching the young man approach the glass. "Daruma Ujiko," Midoriya started. "An alias, I've heard. Do you want to give me your real name?" The older man across the glass from Midoriya chuckled and he leaned back in his seat where he sat cuffed and alone.
"Midoriya Izuku," Ujiko began. "I am pleasantly surprised that you came to visit me. Even All Might has yet to come. I thought he would like to meet-"
"You were the League's doctor who created the Nomus for them," Midoriya said. His expression was harsh and his eyebrows narrowed down towards the bridge of his nose. His forehead wrinkled in confusion but he continued to glare at the man before him who he had never met before, despite feeling a strange sense of recognition from him. I saw him in pictures from when he was arrested. That's all I know him from. Midoriya tried to convince himself and steadied his churning stomach for a moment to get an even more serious look on his face. Catching him was a huge story, Endeavor's huge victory after the High-End Nomu was the one that scarred him so badly. Reports of the Nomus haven't gone public yet, but the spottings all resemble what appears to be a new Nomu, and multiple accounts can't be a coincidence.
Midoriya stepped forward and took a seat in front of the man who appeared to be willing to talk to him. I have to push my questions. He's going to try and get to me, being someone so close to All For One. "How many Nomus are still out there?"
"Coming to meet me all on your own?" Ujiko wondered, like the two of them were having completely different conversations. "I'm impressed by your drive, young Midoriya."
Don't call me that. "How many Nomus did you complete that were not caught by heroes? How many are still in Shigaraki's hands?"
"You say Shigaraki's hands?" Ujiko wondered. He rose a bushy white eyebrow and examined the boy's face in front of him closer. "And how do you know the Nomus are not being controlled by my master?"
Midoriya hesitated, and Ujiko grinned much bigger in the next moment at the look on Deku's face. "Deku Deku Deku…"
I don't need to be here. Midoriya cursed in his head for thinking that, but it came quickly at the new look on this villain's face. Lemillion, Scorchle, and Bakugo are following up different leads. Someone has to have something by now- but that doesn't mean I can give up this quickly. "Ujiko," Midoriya started harshly right as the man was speaking condescendingly towards him, saying his name three times like he was tssking at his young opponent. Deku's eyes stayed harsh and his expression stern as he asked, "Was the lab that Endeavor destroyed not the only place the Nomus were?"
The doctor chuckled at Deku who ground his teeth at the man's look. He's insane. He doesn't seem upset about being thrown in prison, but that's just a-
"It wasn't Endeavor who destroyed my lab and captured me," Ujiko responded. He chuckled again once but with a darker look on his face and yet still smiling as he faced the young boy who he recognized just as Midoriya had recognized him. "Sure, Endeavor and those who came with him were the physical members, but they found me because of the information they gathered at various different bases that were all attacked in the week after Reaper made his move and killed Kurogiri."
"This isn't what I came for," Midoriya snapped.
"Isn't it?" Ujiko wondered back. He asked it in a knowing voice, one that made Midoriya question his own intentions and why it was he volunteered for this task out of the different leads their agency was following up that afternoon. Daruma Ujiko leaned back forward, "I can see you want to know the truth. It's written on your face. So let me tell you the truth," Ujiko paused for a second and then smirked more at the kid on the other side of the glass who decided it was better to let the villain talk so he would hopefully give up important information, as asking him directly about the Nomus was not working so far.
"Sazaki's out of prison already from what I hear," Ujiko started. Deku kept his mouth shut instead of immediately going back on his last decision, though he did question if he made the right call. Ujiko continued to make him feel that uncertainty as the doctor went on, "Any Nomus the League may or may not have salvaged from my work, any plans the League has, do you really think they're important in the endgame? Deku, it's Sazaki who's going to bring this world to its knees." He said it fully confident and like he knew something Deku did not, and the doctor kept that expression on his face even while a more twisted smile tugged at his face.
He's messing with me! I know that's all he's doing! Deku yelled it at himself and then glared at the doctor with an angrier look. "Nomus they might have? What kind could they have? The normal ones or is this one a new type? How many could have gotten away? Are they like the High Ends?"
"There was once a boy who developed an unstable Quirk, and he killed his family with his own hands," Ujiko said it and Midoriya's hands clenched on the counter in front of his seat. I'm getting nowhere! He's just going to talk about Zach this whole time to mess with…
Daruma leaned his head forward towards the glass, and he whispered through it at the teenager, "Shigaraki and Sazaki are much more alike than you think."
Midoriya Izuku's heart leapt up in his chest. His eyes that he lowered angrily while getting ready to stand and leave, lifted slowly up to Ujiko and stared into the knowing eyes of All For One's personal doctor. What does he mean by that? The boy- he was talking about Zach! Wasn't… he? Did- I don't… Midoriya started breathing heavier, while the man leaning in towards him nodded his head and gave him a grin at Midoriya's own shocked expression. "Shigaraki never told Sazaki," Ujiko continued in a low voice. "He never admitted it to himself either, but Tomura always drew the comparison between them and I knew it. I saw it."
Deku was frozen with sweat all over his face. "No one went to save him," Ujiko said to the boy frozen before him. "Even though he was Shimura's grandson, All Might's master's own relative, the greatest hero did nothing. No heroes did anything. No people, tried to help him."
The comparison between Shigaraki and Zach? Midoriya thought with his heart pounding in his chest. I haven't- I, I have though. How could I not, make that comparison between them? Between their Quirks though! It was just, between their Quirks… Except we all thought, Zach would become a villain. Everyone thought it at least once. Everyone who knew his Quirk- and at VTS I thought! I would have understood too, why he would have become one. I would have understood for Zach, but not for Shigaraki. They're not the same though!
"They're not the same," Midoriya started.
"You're right," Daruma replied. Then he smirked more and added, "And that's why Shigaraki hated Sazaki so much." Midoriya's eyes widened again and he stared at the doctor in confusion as the older man continued, "From the start, even back when Shigaraki pushed that hatred aside and accepted the need for Sazaki, accepted how he could be good for us, Shigaraki never liked him. He hated Sazaki from the start." Ujiko chuckled darkly this time, some anger on his face as he mentioned, "He would come to make a few bad decisions because of that hatred, but after he killed Sazaki's new family and tortured him, when he saw Sazaki still trying to be a hero, his hated only grew more. 'Nobody came to save him.'"
Ujiko rose his head and looked intensely through the glass back into Midoriya's eyes. "Shigaraki once told me that. Actually, it was more just Shigaraki saying it to himself, muttering it under his breath in confusion. He scratched his neck so hard it looked like he would rip through skin." The crazy doctor smirked out at the teenager who was thinking of Shigaraki and could feel a scar on his back searing in pain. He imagined his mother's scared face, and Wonderlass' smile as she died, and then he pictured the man standing in front of Zach as he hung by hooks. He saw Shigaraki cutting his friend up, and he saw the way Shigaraki looked at Zach the same way they all did when Zach yelled those things about how the League would be stopped by Class A, about how he was Lifebringer.
"Just like Shigaraki," the doctor continued lower. "No one came to save Sazaki while he was strapped to that chair. Sazaki believed that heroes would. That Deku's Class A would. And they never came. They never came for him. And what's more, is Shigaraki saw that Sazaki knew it. The same things he thought about his entire life: 'Surely a hero will…' 'Just leave it to the heroes to…' Everyone thought like that, and they left him to suffer after what had happened to him."
Ujiko smirked out at Midoriya whose heart thudded in his ears at the similarities, and Deku gripped down on his knees while yelling at himself that this wasn't why he was here. I want to know more about the villains though, but I need to focus on the Nomus! He's doing this, just to trick me or something. Why else would he tell me all about Shigaraki? Why else…
"It might be the most damage Sazaki has ever done to him," Ujiko said while still smirking out at the other teen. "That he had broken Shigaraki's faith in those phrases. 'Just leave it to the heroes to…' Not everyone thinks like that. Sazaki, came to understand that heroes wouldn't always come. Instead of becoming like Shigaraki though, he decided to be there when heroes weren't."
I'm not listening to this anymore. I don't need to. Midoriya shook his head and got up from his seat. I'm not going to get anything about our mission here. "Seeing as I'm not hearing anything about the Nomus," Midoriya said, a last-ditch attempt to get the guy to change his mind and talk about his Nomus. Maybe even just so that he would stay longer, he was offering up the man the chance to give him something that would make him stay there. "I can tell you're just trying to mess with me, seeing as you haven't been out of prison for a long time."
"I hear rumors in here though," Daruma replied while looking up into Deku's eyes. "I know what Sazaki was up to that entire year. Not the stories he convinced the guards that some of the prisoners heard and passed around, but the reality."
Midoriya had turned around from Ujiko while he was speaking. He turned around but as hard as he tried to walk away, his feet would not let him. The reason I'm trying to get out of here so quickly isn't because I'm not getting anything about the Nomus. It's because, of this. Once he had accepted it, he could not hold back and knew what he needed to ask. In a low voice, Deku questioned, "And what is that reality?"
"That Sazaki is a shadow," Ujiko replied at the teenage hero's back. "No longer man, he is a beast of an ideal. That evil will be punished. There is no way around it!" Ujiko rose his voice and he leaned forward closer to the glass, "Most men in here would never have done the things they did, if they knew some-thing like Sazaki would appear in this world. The idea of him spread across all corners of the world and subdued the darkness. Reaper, Lifebringer, Sazaki… He's a cork that every villain and every hero wants to get rid of. A monstrous hero! A dishonorable villain! The king of the anti-heroes! It's impossible for one person to be all these things. But a concept, a concept everyone understands from the time they're children, a concept that would exist in every setting with every person who may try to cause harm. That could do it! One thing we all know is coming from childhood. Something that scares us all, unites us all in the singular fear, no matter how hard some try and pretend like they're not afraid of it!"
Midoriya walked away. He was ready to leave now and done listening to this maniac. His expression was dark as he slammed a knock on the door, but as it opened he heard the man behind him yelling at his back, "Death! Deku! And you cannot defeat it! No one can!" Midoriya's fists clenched harder at his sides in fury, an even darker look covering his face as he stepped out of the interrogation room.
Daruma smirked as the door closed behind Deku and guards came in to take him away. Focus on each other, you fool. The doctor looked smug as he thought that he succeeded, and he was right to look that way, as in the next room over there was only one person on Deku's mind.
Zach is Death! I can't wait any longer! I know better than anyone how dangerous he is, but I tried to ignore what he had really become while he was gone. Not any longer. I need to end this now!
Midoriya walked back towards his dorm after dark with two of his classmates. They had all eaten dinner together, and his expression was dark as he walked just behind the two who he was afraid would be able to tell something was up if he walked alongside them the whole time. He could fake a smile or a calm expression each time they glanced back at him during the conversation, but he did not know if he could keep it up the whole time. Already Midoriya felt he was struggling, because the line of conversation was one he intended for them to talk about even though he had done so in a roundabout way, like Zach would have done. The thought managed to make Midoriya's expression straight again as he looked back and forth from the shorter Mineta on his right to a taller Sero on his left.
"I'm not saying I would want his life!" Mineta defended loudly back at Sero who had given him a stern and guilt-trippy look at something Mineta just said. "But think of how cool it's been! I don't think anyone's ever done anything as cool as half of what Zach's done. All that stuff about Terra and his time as a space marine!"
"Okay yeah," Sero admitted with a lift of his right palm. "The stuff about space was pretty freakin' dope." He looked back at Midoriya, "I know Zach said you guys don't really talk much about his time while he was gone, since you refuse to believe any of it…" Midoriya sweatdropped at how Sero started that, but then he shook his head 'no' as Sero asked, "But you hear about any of the space stuff he did?"
"It was the second world he went to, right?" Midoriya asked. His tone was hesitant and sounded disingenuous, like he knew but he did not really care if that was the answer since he did not believe it anyway.
"Yeah," Mineta replied, ignoring the tone he heard while he looked back himself at Midoriya. "But I'm not just talking about that stuff either," he added, looking back at Sero too and then to Midoriya again who was not believing the stuff that was just in the stories. "Dover too, and Bobo Cambri, and that hottie he partied across America with!"
"They weren't partying," Sero countered. Then he hesitated and Mineta's bouncing eyebrows, and he admitted, "Okay, Zach said they went to one halloween party."
"He only told us about one family-"
"Who's Bobo Cambri?" Midoriya wondered. "That's that boxer you all watched fight, right? The Italian…"
"He's Zach's friend," Mineta started. He glanced at Sero after starting that in the same carefree tone happy to be the one knowing more than Deku about all this. Sero was looking back with less of a carefree look though at Deku the way he was speaking, and Mineta hesitated himself before continuing while facing forward, "He's just a boxer who Zach met, back when he was in Italy."
Cambri. I've heard that name. When I was in Italy, they talked about the Cambris! Who were they? It was the heroes with Pasta Donna talking about them. Another villain group? If Zach met with these people and is willing to talk about it with the others, it's when he's pretending to have "returned" from the other dimensions. Midoriya nodded along and just stayed a part of the conversation as it shifted a bit, moving off of Zach subtly which Midoriya noticed but pretended not to despite seeing a look from Sero he felt a wave of guilt over as he was almost getting caught here. I will find the proof I need. I'll destroy so many relationships doing it, but I can't let this go. I can't let him carry out his plan while I just sit here pretending like I don't have the means to stop him. I have everything I need. And I'm going to do this!
I'll record tonight. I'm sorry Zach, but I have to do this. On Friday, Midoriya spent his whole morning on his computer and phone. He spent his time throughout school investigating as well, as much as he was trying to make it look like he was into his normal classwork as usual. He was taking off from his internship that afternoon though, having already requested with Lemillion the night before when he talked to Sero and Mineta about their plans for tonight.
The Piccianos were known as a more violent group up until around eight months ago when the former boss, Alfonso Picciano got arrested. Ramosi is known as more of a business tycoon and philanthropist than a mobster, but the Picciano family is still listed here as the second most powerful in Italy. Or it has the second most numbers, so why are all these articles on the search engine just coming up positive? Midoriya went from the hero website full of shared information across borders, to the screen above his phone where he had several tabs opened up about news on the Picciano family working with Italian heroes.
Midoriya closed out some tabs and refocused on the research he was doing for a senior project Class A's students would have to present individually in a couple of weeks. He was in the library and Midnight sensei was walking around, and she had seen Midoriya doing some careful research so she barely glanced towards his screen for a second before moving on with a nod that showed she did not think she needed to tell him anything. Deku's eyes darkened for a moment at hiding something like this, but his eyes shifted around the library at his other classmates sitting around him doing their independent research. As much as Zach must be careful when talking to us, I have to be even more careful. It's more likely one of us will go tell Zach what I'm doing than any of the people he talks to ratting him out. 'Ratting,' like it's something so bad. Turning him in! That's what they'd be doing.
Rome is 7 hours back from here, Midoriya thought while checking something online. Michelangelo is the least likely to hold a grudge against me for capturing a villain… even if it was AoD. He was insane, and Michelangelo accepted my decision! Midoriya thought again of the woman with light powers and the man in the magician hat who he could see giving him such harsh looks after he had caught that soldier in dark armor. He remembered those two talking about the Cambris with Pasta Donna, while he and Tokoyami were next to them observing the heroes who spoke mostly in English when they were around. If Zach wanted everyone to come over and see Bobo Cambri, he wanted to get the opportunity to tell them he was in Italy. He wanted them to look into it and be convinced that he really was. So the proof won't be just on the surface. It's a trail he's left, but if I dig deeper I'll see what really happened. What he was really doing there, and not just that he was there and made a friend out of an Italian boxer.
Midoriya waited until after classes so that he could be sure the person he wanted to call would be awake halfway across the world. Then he called the number listed on the hero website which got him in contact with Michelangelo who was luckily at his office and not currently fighting villains or on patrol. "Deku," Michelangelo greeted the young man who he was surprised to have called him. His tone was as it normally was though as he spoke English to the teenager he was speaking to for the first time since the boy left his country. "What can I help you with?"
Deku told Michelangelo what he was dealing with. He mentioned his investigation into his old classmate Zach Sazaki, about the boxer Bobo Cambri and his sketchy family, and how he knew Zach to be Death. "…He's planning something here, and I have to find the evidence to convict him before he carries it out. I know accepting Zach's help would have been a crime at the time he was in Italy, but I need to know any activities Lifebringer was carrying out there. My investigation is solely surrounding Zach's identity as Death, or other criminal activities he perpetrated during the time he was missing last year."
Midoriya spoke clearly, in his best English voice that he had been practicing ever since seeing how well everyone else could speak English when he went abroad the first time. He felt he was right already in calling Michelangelo as there was no lingering grudge in his voice against the incident Midoriya had caused by capturing one of the AoD which resulted in a lot of flack for Italy allowing him to escape. "You are correct, Sazaki was here last year. In fact under a year ago, around eight months ago to be exact."
Midoriya grimaced and his left hand clenched hard at his side at the sound of that. It's a coincidence. There were lots of changes across Italy over the past year and a half. Gangs rising, falling, the biggest ones all collapsing after killing so many heroes. I get why Zach would show up. "What did he do there? Is there anything that connects him and the Cambri mob family-"
"Although I agree that what you are trying to do is real hero work," Michelangelo interrupted the boy who shut his mouth quickly at the older man's stern and booming voice. "Do not get involved with the mafias here in Italy. They have changed and are still changing for the better."
Deku's face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you mean? What happened?"
Michelangelo lifted a hand and rubbed his forehead for a few seconds. These Japanese, always pushing in where they're unwanted. However, without men like them we would not have gotten so far. Though the same could be said, about that other Japanese boy. "Hahh, Deku," Michelangelo began. "You should get in contact with Metallore if you want to know about Lifebringer's activities in Italy. I hope this helps."
"Ah- yes. Yes it does. Thank you very much," Deku finished. He could tell Michelangelo wanted to be done, and he was happy for the information he already got and would rather end on good terms than upset the older man any more. I shouldn't involve myself with investigating the Italian mafias, Midoriya thought after hanging up the call. They understand their own situation far better than I do, and I could create a worse situation if I get involved carelessly. However the same can be said for them. I need information on Zach, because he's here in Japan now. They need to help me, and I need them to understand that. Metallore… We've never met, but this is as good a time as any.
Midoriya sighed and he lowered his phone to rub his own forehead for a few seconds. He scrunched up his face and stared down at his desk in a confused and frustrated way. "...Lifebringer's activities in Italy?" He says it like Zach was actually there just as himself. It sounds like he was still being a vigilante, but if he wasn't being Death then- He is Death! Midoriya wiped the doubt quickly from his mind and shook his head around as he sat back up in his seat. Metallore has a strong sense of justice. Whatever happened that made him accept Zach's involvement in Italy, I need to find out if I'm going to get anywhere with this investigation before tonight.
Midoriya searched through the hero website and got a more serious look on his face again. "If we can take down the Gazpaccio and a few others, the worst villains we'll have to worry about are guys like Don Cambri. Hardly Porzoni or Influx."
"Oh come on, Cambri's a tough bastard. Can't catch him on anything illegal."
"Cambri's an old man though, and the most powerful villains who emerged and surpassed guys like him have all fallen just as fast as they rose…"
What they were talking about made him seem like a small time villain, but also one who had been around for a long long time. That meant there had to be a lot on Cambri, at least of suspected crimes, over the years. Bobo is Zach's friend, and he's the son of a man who was charged with being involved in some of the worst crimes there are. They couldn't get him on any of it, but those cases I looked into were bad. Bad enough that he should be deep in a prison somewhere and not becoming some celebrity appreciated by the Italians!
Zach found the phone number he want while he was thinking about Cambri, but he stopped himself before calling up the hero whose face appeared on his screen above the phone number and address for his new agency headquarters. He looked at his computer screen on his desk and felt some hesitation at the story he was reading during his idle moments. The title of the piece translated into Japanese had a positive tone, and the picture was of the old Don Cambri and his younger wife along with a team of twelve people and a manager behind him. He and his wife had started a charity Quirk-baseball league that's first season was starting that spring, and the games were going to be televised with the proceeds going to a foundation for orphan kids. The piece was on how Cambri got a license for the league to be allowed to use Quirks, a new phenomena Italy was trying out after seeing it work out well in America with Quirkball having much higher viewing than traditional sports did.
Maybe there's a reason those trials never got anywhere. Maybe, he really wasn't guilty? A guy who did those things suddenly turning this good, seems more unlikely than prosecutors just trying to pin crimes on a mobster like him… but then again, I don't know anything about this. I have no idea why he's doing this, and it could all be an act. He could feel he's being forced to do it. That smile is faked, Midoriya grimaced but he closed the tab anyway so he would not have to see the guy's bright smile in front of his team of ball players. He had worked to start the league, but he was also the owner of one of the clubs and looked to be a proud owner at that.
The phone started ringing in Midoriya's hand and he got a serious look on his face as he remembered to make this serious. Metallore isn't much older than I am. I have to talk to him like an equal, and get him to respect me enough to believe that what I'm saying is what's right for everyone. Zach may have told him otherwise, but if everyone listens to Zach we'll never get him on anything! The phone clicked in the middle of ringing, and Midoriya heard a response over the line that did not sound like a receptionist or anyone else going to hand the phone off. "Metallore. This is Deku, a hero from Japan. I'm investigating Zach Sazaki and I have been told that you could help me."
The line was silent for a few seconds. Then a voice responded, "I know who you are, Deku. It's nice to meet you, if not in person." Deku hesitated instead of responding with a pleasantry of his own. He had gotten serious straight from the start, and the fact that he was waiting had Metallore getting more serious himself as there was a sense of immediate urgency in this conversation. "How did you know that I could help you?"
Midoriya hesitated himself this time. "Michelangelo told me to give you a call. I called him first," Deku replied. I shouldn't lie. If he's wondering how I knew, than it's likely not many people knew about the connection. Which means I'm part of the secret now. "I promise to keep what we talk about between us. The fact that I'm receiving this information from you won't be passed to anyone else." He assured his fellow hero of it and Metallore hummed over the line in a thoughtful way at how the younger hero was trying to convince him that this would remain a private conversation.
"Alright, Deku. Let's talk."
"Thank you," Midoriya replied. He used Italian for that thanks, but Metallore told him not to worry about it and that they should speak in English. Deku accepted and his English voice stayed intense as he questioned Italy's number 1 hero about the things he was investigating. "…I know Zach was in Italy. He doesn't deny it, but I want to know exactly what he was doing with the Italian mob known as the Cambris. I've seen what Emilio Cambri is doing publicly in Italy right now, but could his charities be a front? A non-profit where the money going missing wouldn't be taxed-"
"I've been working closely with Cambri and the other mafia families," Metallore replied. "You don't have to worry about anything like that. All those stories you have seen are true."
Midoriya frowned more and lowered his eyes to his desk for a moment. He wanted to ask about the criminals, about how Metallore was just working with them even if they were doing better things now. "While Zach was there, did you see any proof that he was Death?"
Metallore frowned himself on the other end of the line, as he had wished the talk would have continued longer on the mafia families rather than shifting to Sazaki so quickly. "So you're still doing this, huh," Metallore mentioned in a low voice. Midoriya's eyes widened for a moment at the statement, but Metallore was not saying it as a scolding. He did sound more reluctant to speak than Michelangelo who was just a very stern and serious individual that Midoriya remembered from his time in Italy. He almost asked Metallore what he meant by 'still' since the two had not met, but he realized that what he had done in Italy must have been known to all the Italian heroes.
"I told Michelangelo what really happened with your friend Sazaki and the mobs here in Italy," Metallore admitted after a couple seconds. "I wanted to keep it between the two of us, as this information would now be considered conspiracy in our country. But, you need to know, Deku," Metallore decided it and his voice got more serious which had Midoriya sitting up and taking in a sharp intake of breath. "If you're going to be the one watching over Sazaki to make sure he stays within the rules back in Japan. Deku, when I found Sazaki here in Italy it was not just with the Cambri family…"
Midoriya paced back and forth across his room. His expression was angry and his pacing was more like stomping back and forth as so much bounced around through his mind. No matter the results, Zach's actions are inexcusable. Fighting in Italian mafia cage matches? Joining the Italian mob, even if it was to try and change it from inside! He actually joined the mafia! That's insane!
Midoriya reached his wall (considering the rooms were small), and he just turned around and marched back across towards the other side. He was friends with murderers and thieves. Metallore says they all still consider him one of the "family." And unlike the other families where you're part of just one, he said Zach's a member of every family! It's like he went undercover with them and just ended on good terms instead of finding out some illegal activities and turning them over for them. If you weren't going in to catch them, then what were you doing there in the first place? Who were you working with? Metallore's convinced that many of the positive changes in Italy are because you helped change things, but to get in with the Italian mobs what did you have to do? What kind of person were you to manage something like that even while they all knew who you were? I don't even understand how they could come to trust you knowing what you've done to other villains.
The green-haired teen paused after he turned in his dorm room again. He clenched his teeth and he glared towards his door, then he looked down at his fists and he gave them a frustrated expression. I'm learning too much to just keep it all to myself. I need to question Zach about it. I can't wait until we're alone, it has to be now! And I have to bring it all to Lemillion, whichever comes first. Midoriya started towards his door, and his look got more frustrated as he turned his doorknob. The fact that Zach didn't do it as Death is aggravating. He used the fact that they all thought he was Death to get them to listen, which is a possibility if Zach just realized that Death was so similar to him… but no!
Deku got angry as the thought he just had was almost like proof that Zach wasn't Death. He was out there being a vigilante without a helmet and armor even before he returned. While Death was still going around bringing people back to life and he wasn't here, just like Death continued doing so when he was here. It looks like an even clearer coincidence, which is why he did this! It's why he did this thing in the first place and why he used it by telling the others- by having them come over for that fight day just so he could get them to hear about it! It's all his plan!
Midoriya walked downstairs with his footsteps slowing down the farther he got from his room and the less confident he got about what he was doing. Where am I going? Where first?! I, need to pick somewhere. Something, to follow up with… As Midoriya walked across the first floor, he spotted Sero sitting on the armrest of the couch but having just turned off the tv with the remote he was lowering back down. Sero turned his head as he saw Midoriya standing not far from him, and Midoriya turned and made a bee-line for his black-haired classmate.
"Hey Midoriya. That what you're wearing tonight?"
Midoriya glanced down at his clothes and hesitated at Sero's question. "Um," he began. "I'll probably change beforehand." He rose his head back up and got an interested look on his face instead that made Sero give him a questioning gaze as to what Midoriya wanted to ask him. "Earlier when we were talking, you guys mentioned Bobo Cambri? Right?" Midoriya asked it, his voice sounding uncertain about it.
Sero stared at Midoriya oddly wondering where he was going with this. He rose up an eyebrow and asked Midoriya, "Zach's mob buddy?"
Midoriya's eyes widened in surprise, then they narrowed in a more serious way that Sero would respond like that. "Do you know about it?" Midoriya asked quietly. His own eyes shifted either way but the two of them were alone on the first floor of their dorm for now. He looked back to Sero and continued to check the information he just got off what Sero knew, "I found out that Zach had joined the mafia in Italy, and he changed them from the inside to-"
"Have you been doing some investigation on this or something?" Sero asked, interrupting his classmate.
Deku froze. He stared at Sero with a hesitant look that grew nervous as Sero's darkened and got angrier at him. I knew he was acting off! Damn it! Sero's fists balled at his sides and he glared at Midoriya right in front of him in a much harsher way as his nails started digging into his own palms. "What are you doing?" Sero asked, his tone disappointed and disgusted at the same time as he glared at his classmate who was surprised by how harshly Sero just said that to him. "Is this for Lemillion?" Sero wondered, "Or are you just doing this on your own trying to get Zach arrested again?"
Midoriya opened his mouth to respond but was at a loss for a words as he tried to. This time, it really was just for me. For everyone though! Just because I wasn't ordered to, doesn't mean it's not my responsibility to deal with Zach. "You don't understand, Sero," Midoriya started.
"No, I don't," Sero replied. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and continued to frown at his classmate in front of him, "But you didn't need to do whatever it is you did to get that information. Zach already told me all of that." Midoriya's eyes widened though he knew something must have happened for Sero to already know as much as he did.
"He did?" Midoriya asked. He stared confusedly at Sero for a few seconds, then he racked his mind wondering why Zach would just say it.
Sero glared even harder at Midoriya seeing how hard it was for him to figure this out. He gave Midoriya a harsher look and said, "Zach told all of us on fight day. He would have told you too if you had gone." Midoriya opened his eyes even wider while staring at Sero, as he knew that Kirishima and a lot of others had gone to that day as well. Sero countered his growing look of disbelief, "Really distracted us from the fight, as everyone wanted to know all the details. We didn't all agree with what he did or how he was doing it," Sero narrowed his eyes at his classmate, "but he wasn't hiding it."
Sero's voice was steady and not quiet like Midoriya had started whispering when he began the conversation. "Zach went out to be a vigilante and make a difference. That's what he said."
"What about the other worlds-"
"This stuff he did," Sero cut Midoriya off. "He did after, when he said he came back." He frowned deeper at Midoriya again but then lost the dark look at his classmate getting all thoughtful and hesitant again, and looking pretty guilty too after being called out. Sero lowered his voice into a grumble, "I thought you and Zach were on better terms now." Midoriya rose his eyes back up and saw Sero's pissed off look directed at him though also understanding as well. Not everyone in the class was okay with Zach, but Sero was most upset because he thought Deku had been more like him. "Zach seemed surprised when you didn't come to fight day, and I thought you were going out some days to go see Zach on your own."
"I am," Midoriya replied instantly.
This time, Sero's eyes narrowed much more and his face bowed forward a bit. His black bangs shadowed over the tops of his eyes for a second. Then he rose his head and looked up through the shadows into Midoriya's wide eyes at how dark Sero's look was which made him feel like he just answered wrong somehow. Sero got much more serious in that moment though, and he told his classmate in a low voice, "Don't Raijin Zach."
Midoriya's eyes opened much wider and hurt filled them. Sero saw Midoriya's hurt expression and started to ease up, but only did more when Midoriya said in a pained voice, "I'm not pretending. When I see him it's not like, that… I'm really trying to be friends with Zach again. I just- there was just-"
"Sorry," Sero interrupted. Midoriya's stammering was making him feel bad now and he grimaced for a second at the assumption he made right there. "I just wanted to make sure," he added while turning away. I needed to. "I didn't really think you would do something like that, Midoriya." Sero said it in a certain tone to assure Midoriya he really meant it, but his eyes focused over towards the stairs as he said it aloud. Todoroki though, Sero wondered to himself, though he shook his head with a smile reappearing again after only a couple seconds.
"But, Zach told you guys everything?" Midoriya wondered.
Sero looked back to his classmate who could be asking for one of two reasons. Either Midoriya wanted to hear more about it from Sero, or Midoriya knew more about it than he did and was wondering if Sero had heard even the worst parts that Zach left out. So Sero decided to assume it was the first option, and he said in a more carefree tone, "I could tell you what he told us. Like I said, he wasn't hiding it. As much as it wasn't legal, nothing he did while being a fugitive technically was."
Midoriya sweatdropped and gave Sero a hesitant nod. Sero held up his hands defensively, "Not that I'm saying that whatever he did all falls under one broad category or something, I mean," Sero lowered his hands as he did not know why he was getting so defensive all of a sudden. He sighed and just shrugged his shoulders while looking at his classmate and good friend. Then Sero's voice got softer before he started, "I really don't want him going away again, Midoriya." He looked into Deku's dark green eyes that grew wider on that statement. "So, I don't know, don't take this information and go try and get Zach arrested with it? K?"
"…Yeah, I know," Midoriya replied. This time, his look was sincere and he was not hiding his true intention behind it. His eyes lowered at the thought of how he had done that earlier, something that felt so wrong, just so that he could catch Zach- which also felt so wrong now.
"Alright then, well Zach went to Italy back in the spring after he came back…" Sero walked back over to the couch and sat on the armrest again. Midoriya stepped up in front of him and listened as Sero recounted what Zach told him and the others at their "fight day." It had made the day awkward at the end, and Sero mentioned how it seemed to him like Zach didn't talk about his stories while being on Earth as much with his Shiketsu friends. "…Kirishima got pretty mad about it too," Sero added with a tilt of his head accepting that too. Really wanted them to become cool that day. Didn't really work out like I'd hoped.
"I don't understand any of this though," Midoriya started. Sero gave him a questioning look, and Midoriya said, "It doesn't sound like Zach to go so easy on villains, don't you think?" He frowned more as Sero did not seem to think the same, and he continued, "Why didn't he just investigate with the free reign he had? He could have searched them without warrants the way he was doing things, and he could have fought them and turned them over- I don't see why if he was going to do things illegally anyway, he'd join the mobs instead of just fighting them."
"Zach told us that too," Sero said. "You weren't the only one wondering," Sero added, as Zach did not explain it unprovoked. He had defended himself strongly though, and Sero repeated it back to his classmate. "He explained that he didn't just fight the mobs, because they were smart. They didn't get caught for crimes for a reason. The mafias knew how not to leave evidence behind. They weren't villains going into hiding after each attack, they were a public group that never got caught for anything even if everyone was suspicious of them. So why did Zach just call up a meeting with them at first? To try and change things by working the people who needed to change. Why didn't he just arrest them? Because what would he do? Knock them out and call the cops where they are?" Sero asked it and Midoriya curled the bottom right corner of his lips down more.
Sero nodded at what Midoriya was thinking, and he said aloud, "What would they be charged with? Nothing. It's not like he went to their bases and caught them red-handed committing crimes and recorded them doing it. He called them to him, and so he worked them in a different way by trying to make them change their ways. I've never heard anything like it, but Zach does come up with crazy stuff like that." Sero paused and then got back more into what Zach had told him instead of saying his own thoughts on how crazy it was. "He showed them that they were not allowed to deny him, as another mafia family got caught right after he brought his proposal, and it was the guys who straight out denied him and left the meeting before Zach could fully explain. Zach told us he tracked them, and he sent in a tip when they were committing a crime just to prove he had no power to tell them 'the way things are now,' and he got them arrested."
Midoriya's eyes opened wide again, and Sero got up off the armrest at the sight of it. "Why was it he arrested them and not the others? I don't know. Why was it he came up with this plan in the first place? He told me the other day when I asked, that the prisons are all overcrowded anyway. In May? The biggest problem the world had was overflowing prisons and so many captured villains with nowhere to send them. Zach said he mentioned that too in order to scare the others, and it worked. He said the way he did things worked out, and whether or not those other mobs were conducting illegal activity in the shadows, they aren't anymore. Crime doesn't pay, Midoriya." Sero said it with a laugh, and Midoriya could hear in his voice that it was something Zach had told him too.
"He told you, all of that?" Midoriya asked softly. He didn't just mention some vague actions in Italy. He told them, everything? That's not-
"Yeah," Sero replied. He lowered his smile a bit and added, "No need for interrogation or to investigate. He just told us all of that, and you know, I'm actually glad you looked into it." Sero added that with his smile rising back up, and he put his hands behind his head as he said in a relaxed voice, "Because it confirms that I didn't have to investigate myself after all. I didn't want to doubt him, and it turns out what he said is exactly what happened." He gave Midoriya a carefree look and then walked forward and past his friend's back. He smacked a hand back into Midoriya's shoulder as he passed him, "Meet up down here in a couple hours. Might want to wear something warmer, I hear it could snow around midnight."
Midoriya sat at his desk again. He sat down with his right elbow on his desk and his forehead pressed into his hand that gripped around it with so many thoughts rushing through his mind. I know he's Death. I know it and yet evidence just piles up otherwise. If it didn't though, then no one would accept the coincidences were just that: coincidences. Midoriya rubbed his forehead and he shifted his eyes over to the clock at the top right corner of his computer screen still open in front of him.
Death's still out there bringing people back to life. Or at least enough people are claiming he is, in several different countries now, that it's common belief there is a second person out there who can revive the dead. That's not impossible. Zach's reasoning for it makes sense too. Someone could have seen him get control of a Quirk that wouldn't have been trained before, and that led to this person training their Quirk to the same level. There were Army of Death operations continuing through the time Zach was in prison too, so either he somehow managed to control from inside Tartaros or someone else really did take command. Would Death really just hand over his power- Would Zach? All Zach ever wanted was to be able to change things. The big picture. And he would have had so much power as Death.
Midoriya rose his head and stared at his computer screen that had hundreds of tabs of research open on the internet. Even right when the Army of Death appeared. Midoriya flipped to a video player he had open with the first ever clip of the group, and that tall figure standing on the walls of Hatto's palace taller than Zach was even when he finally came back over nine months later. I already knew he was going to become so powerful. That day, I knew he had found what he was looking for. A way to do what he thought was right without having anyone stop him or make the rules for him. That's all he wanted! Did he really throw himself in prison to escape from All For One? The way Ujiko responded made it seem like he knew already. Yet he was thrown in shortly after the Lifebringer Incident, so he couldn't know! He knew All For One though. He knew him better than most, just like he seemed to know Shigaraki better than anyone. Shigaraki and Zach are alike… So why was it that their circumstances turned Shigaraki evil and made Zach into, Death? No, a good person. That's what I… I think that, don't I?
The young hero in his final term of high school before he would become a pro leaned back in his chair. He put a hand up to his mouth and muttered into it, "If I really thought he was a good person, would I be trying this hard to stop him? To thwart his plans that have to be huge. They're massive for him to be playing the long game this long. What if he really was willing to accept six years in prison before carrying out his plans? That's Faith level of… beyond Faith." Midoriya reminded him of what Lemillion said happened in Tartaros, and he ground his teeth at the thought of Zach doing what was reported. I wanted to see Faith in there. I, I didn't want to though. I should have. I needed to, in order to strengthen my resolve. By looking at something bad he did? By finding the worst thing and basing my actions solely off of that? Judgements are based off crimes though. Based off the bad things a person does, not off the good. Punishments may come less severe due to a person's actions, like Zach only getting 6 years for multiple murders, but- but what?
Zach wasn't just not Death after he came back. He wasn't Death back when he was in the US with that girl, Darling. They were traveling around being a vigilante team I've heard, and that clip we saw of them at a convenience store in November was real! And now Zach was in Italy in May?
Midoriya flipped to another tab while that video played on mute in the background. Orzoni family investigated for racketeering and tax evasion. Don Orzoni and twenty-three others arrested. He looked at the date on the article and felt his hand curling tighter over his mouse at the date that worked so perfectly with Zach's story Sero had told him. Then, Midoriya's hand loosened and his body slowly leaned back from his desk. There's no way Sero knows more just from what Zach told him alone. Zach left out the parts he wanted to leave out. But, I also didn't hear this much at the start. And there's someone who must have known more than he said when we first spoke.
Deku did not hesitate as he pulled his phone back out. I have to be stern. I need to make sure he takes me seriously! His phone call got picked up and he opened his mouth wide with an angry look on his face, then he paused and closed it slowly while saying, "Metallore?"
"Deku. Do you have something else you need to ask me?"
"Well I…" Deku's voice sounded less sure of himself. He lowered his voice and for a moment he closed his eyes tightly. Is this really right? In his head flashed the look on Lee's face, and the terror in his voice at the idea that Zach was coming. He saw a wall of darkness outside of Desusuta that blocked him from watching how Zach fought against the Subspace Devils. Faith's face appeared in his mind, and what Zach did to him echoed in his head in Lemillion's voice. His eyes opened up with his lip steadying flat and his expression getting stern again. "I need you to tell me the truth this time," Deku said, his voice no longer unsure and instead as serious as could be. "Metallore, what was it Zach did in Italy? I need the real truth, not what I can investigate on my own, or what I could have discovered from others in Italy who saw Zach."
Midoriya paused and then finished, "I want the in-depth reality that I know you must've already investigated." He wouldn't have let Zach do what he did without trying to find out what all his ulterior motives were. Metallore's the best hero in Italy, and whatever Zach did, he knows more about than anyone. Midoriya stared straight ahead and got ready to say how he was not going to take 'no' for an answer.
"Deku," Metallore began. "What I told you before was the truth. As I said, Sazaki met with the Dons of the mafia families here in Italy and worked with them in order to change their ways. He really did get in with them through reviving Don Cambri's mother, and his actions that I witnessed were legal however sketchy." Metallore paused, then he added in the same steady English voice, "And since he left, this country and its people has been benefiting greatly from his actions without any knowledge of what he did to help us. Whether or not I was wrong to let Lifebringer escape, I am certain that what he did here has helped Italia."
Midoriya frowned deeply and rose his free hand to the other side of his head as where he was holding his phone. And I'm investigating him for something like this? Zach helped people! That's what he does. As deep as I dig, I'm just going to find him helping more and more where he never wanted to take the credit. Midoriya opened his mouth to relent and say that he was sorry for questioning it as Metallore mainly repeated things from the first talk they had.
"I would like to say that his actions caused a lasting effect, but not everyone changed for good after the short time he was here," Metallore continued. Midoriya nodded along and listened closer as he heard Metallore's tone shifting strangely. "Out of the mafias Lifebringer reformed, only the Garbaldi family have broken his codes since reforming. Don Garbaldi was arrested…" Metallore paused, and he held his phone away from his head for a moment with a look of frustration spread over his face. The reluctance pushed aside for duty though, and Metallore pulled back the receiver slowly to his mouth, "And although I promised not to tell anyone, the one who informed on the Don was the same man who had become his second in command a few months back."
"What are you talking about?" Midoriya asked confusedly.
"He had apparently been an Italian vigilante who Sazaki went to in order to figure out who the mobs were, and where they were, and the two agreed that the way to get the mobs to change was to join them." Metallore paused again then continued in a low voice to the younger hero, "I could see back in the first meeting with them all, at the 'picnic' Sazaki organized with the mafia dons, that his buddy Gino was already secretly working closely with Garbaldi. At the time, I thought that he was probably informing on what Sazaki was doing. I suspected Garbaldi paid him a lot."
Gino? Is that just another of the "friends" you made out there Zach? You joined the Italian mafia together? No one else has mentioned this guy at all. Metallore does know the most! Midoriya wanted to ask a question, but Metallore continued first and he allowed the Italian hero to tell him as much as he could.
"Gino was also the go-between for the mafias and the heroes. Sazaki led me to that picnic without my knowledge or the dons' knowledge that he was doing so. He wanted to make sure that heroes were watching over the mafias to ensure that they did change after he had left, but he also told Gino to watch me closely to make sure I did not illegally spy on all the family members while they were not doing anything illegal." Metallore did not know how big Deku's eyes already were on the other side of the line, but he paused anyway for a moment at the mention of what Sazaki had really put in place. "The system was meant to have all these failsafes so that it would not collapse easily. And he established it in only a few days. However, I saw there were flaws in it. Gino being the go-between but also being closer to one mafia family was going to be a problem. Garbaldi having him on his payroll meant that he thought he was safe to go back to doing things the old way."
Metallore's voice got darker and he lowered it, "But Gino was staying with Garbaldi because he and Sazaki apparently knew that Garbaldi would be the least likely to change after Orzoni, who they already had to get arrested because he wouldn't get in line. Lifebringer expected it from the beginning, and so months earlier they planned for Gino to get in with Garbaldi. And Garlbaldi wound up going for something, like they thought he would." Deku's left hand lowered from his head that he was scratching and he placed it on his desk. His eyes that were huge narrowed for a moment, but he still felt a bead of sweat rolling down his face that slid farther down as Metallore continued. "Gino was somewhere else watching me at the time of the crime, but some other heroes 'happened' to be in the area the crime took place. They caught Garbaldi along with a couple other higher members of his gang…"
The Italian hero speaking to Deku kept his voice near a low whisper, "This is why you need to keep this a secret. Because, Don Garbaldi still trusts Gino, Gino told me after he went to visit the incarcerated Don in prison. He let Garbaldi know he had things running still but back to Sazaki's standards. Gino contacted me to inform me that the rest of the Garbaldi family will be getting back in line. Garbaldi is going to be in prison for a while, and in the meantime Gino now has control over possibly the most powerful gang in Italy. The Piccianos are next closest, but even with Garbaldi gone his family is still huge and has massive influence over the less glamorous sectors of our society."
"A vigilante in control of the biggest mafia family in Italy?" Midoriya questioned.
"He's not a vigilante-" Metallore started it but he shook his head for a moment. "He's a full on mafioso now. Some have even started to call him Don Gino, because of the amount of influence he has over the other families. He's been adopted into the Garbaldis and continues to make life better for its members even without them being able to commit crimes anymore. He's dedicated to changing things for the better in Italy through the use of the mob, and many mafia members are becoming more like celebrities as they work to make our country safer in a time with few Italian heroes remaining." Metallore's voice became more stern as he spoke to the younger boy who might try to do something with this information without understanding the circumstances. "Jupiter was killed, as were many other of the top Italian heroes soon after the League of Shadows' raid. King had the old strongest Italian mafias hunt them down, and Michelangelo survived two attempts on his life. It was a dangerous time, and now we have peace. Until the country has more heroes to protect it, the Italian mob is helping prevent other villain groups from rising in Italy and all Italians know it."
A full-blown mafioso, yet he's working with heroes closely? Except… the other members know that's what he's doing. That was his job under the old Don and he's still doing it. How can they trust him then? Unless, they're really not doing any illegal activities anymore? Some might be trying to hide things from him, but what if he turned on Garbaldi and managed to get him arrested while he wasn't around, in order to get that position?! What if this is all just a ploy for him to get in with heroes and the mobs? This guy, could be the worst villain of them all! Even Zach might not have realized what his real plans were. The amount of power he has though, it's crazy!
"Metallore, whatever the situation in Italy is," Deku shook his head around for a moment. "I need to know about Zach in all of this too. Did he do anything with the mafias that could help me? Anything you've heard since he left that leads you to believe he may-"
"Deku." Metallore said it firmly and shut up the boy younger than him by a couple years. He took in a breath and then spoke calmly to the Japanese boy, "What Zach Sazaki did here allowed Italy to maintain one of the lowest crime rates over the past eight months, from being a nation with one of the highest back only a year ago." Deku's hands curled tighter in anger and frustration. He wanted something else other than hearing that positive sentiment about Zach, but then Metallore finished on that darker note Deku had been hoping for, "Though I still believe it is your job, Deku, to suspect him and watch him closely."
"You do?" Midoriya asked. It came out in surprise and he didn't really mean to say it, but the sudden dark shift on Metallore's voice and that statement seemed to contradict all the things the Italian hero was saying about Zach.
"Yes. Because, I do not know if Gino is really just a vigilante from here. I don't even know if he's Italian." Deku's face covered in confusion, and then his eyes started opening huge as his breath got harder to escape his throat. "There were no reports of him anywhere before the change," Metallore continued. "Maybe he was just in the shadows, but he was working with Zach Sazaki…" Metallore paused and was silent for a second just like Deku was on the other side of the line. The older hero continued after clenching his teeth hard, "And they even acted like they had only just met, and Sazaki seemed closer with other members of the mafias after only a short time with them. Ramosi Picciano, and Bobo Cambri, Sazaki had made real friends in the mafia other than Gino who I really thought was working for Garbaldi."
The tone in Metallore's voice sounded regretful, like he was asking himself how he did not realize it sooner. His dark tone got lower as he said to the boy on the phone with him, "But despite all that, my theory now is that it might have just been a ploy to get Gino planted in Garbaldi's ranks… So that when Garbaldi ultimately betrayed the new ways as they knew he would, Gino could rat him out and take charge. So that instead of just an informant in the Italian mob, they'd have the leader of the mob himself."
Metallore paused and then spoke in a soft and uncertain voice, "I don't know why the mafia listened to him. To Lifebringer. I couldn't figure it out at the time why they had changed so suddenly and without a fight. But I know what I suspected, what I feared might be possible, was what the mafia Dons probably feared too. Zach Sazaki was Death." He stated it and the boy on the other side of the line grit his teeth so hard while his eyes shook at what the Italian hero continued with. "He was there to force them to change. And maybe, he left one of his soldiers behind to take care of Italy for him. And maybe, that soldier is still loyal to him, if it ever came to it."
"I'm warning you now, Deku. I appreciate what Sazaki did for my country," Metallore said. "But there's a good chance that all the criminals- or former criminals in Italy would follow Sazaki's commands without knowing they were from him. I'm almost certain Gino was working under Sazaki and not with him. And I know Sazaki was not in Italy for very long, and he threatened to take me down so that he could escape because there was more he needed to do, in other countries that needed his help…" The twenty year old man got eerily silent. Then he spoke very quietly as he warned, "There is a chance that Sazaki has more power than anyone in Italy. I haven't told anyone except Michelangelo about this, since I needed guidance about what to do, and since then we both agreed to keep it quiet the origins of Italy's change."
"Deku, I ask that you keep it quiet too, but do not give up on surveilling Sazaki because of the good he has done." Federico Jackson, or Metallore, rose his voice and said in an assured voice, "Sazaki, has been influencing the world for a long time now. I don't know what he's doing to change Japan, but even while he's over there, countries all over the world reported what he did to the Subspace Devils. How he survived a gunshot wound to the chest right after getting out of Tartaros. The rumors and myths and legends about him are getting backed up by what people are seeing him do in public. So Deku, be careful."
Deku's eyes widened at the genuine concern he heard from the older hero on the line. He was already staring forward in shock trying to accept all of this, but his eyes shifted to the side at his phone as Metallore finished, "As powerful as I've seen you are, if even a few of the rumors I've heard of Death are real… there might not be anyone who can stop him."
Zach stood in front of his bed looking down at two shirts splayed out on it. "Hmmm," he picked up the blue one and shrugged his shoulders. Whatever, he turned to the mirror in his bedroom and held up the shirt in front of his torso. Mina said it looked good. Why not? Zach pulled it aside for a moment to unbutton it and put it on, but his eyes lingered back on the mirror. He picked the shirt up and put it over his head, blocking his vision from the mirror. Geez. Pull it down. Zach thought it in a joking, teasing way at himself as his shirt was still in front of his face and enough buttons at the top were undone that it should have been easy to slide it all the way over.
He tugged a little, but when he got it down he was already turning and he walked over to his door without another look back at the mirror. Zach's phone buzzed in his pocket again then twice more. He glanced towards his bathroom but then turned and headed over towards his kitchen. There are going to be snacks there. Super overpriced though once we're on the island. Should bring some snacks too after eating. Zach glanced towards his front door and out the windows next to it where the blinds were partially opened. It was almost dark with little natural light remaining outside, though Zach glanced back at a clock over his kitchen counter on top of the stove. Used to be pitch black around now. Been a while I guess. Not long enough though. I need to graduate, but time's moving so slowly right now. Then again there are things I can do only while we're still in school. Like this. Like tonight.
He pulled out his phone and checked the texts he had been receiving for a bit. Zach sent a quick reply to Sero and then to Ashido who had double-texted him saying when they were heading out for the train station. They're a little closer to the island. I can leave for the train in 10 and still make it there before them though. Check around to see if anyone knows my plans and is going to be waiting for me. Zach thought it casually while going through a cabinet in his kitchen. He pulled out a couple of protein bars, as well as a thing of ramen that he started to make for a quick dinner. Should eat the healthier one right now. I didn't know it was vegetarian, but I'll have some protein in those bars I eat at the fair. Might not be a lot if I have to split. Midoriya'll probably bring some snacks too though, even if Mineta's going to ask for sure. The others it's a toss up.
Zach smiled while his food was cooking, and he pulled out his phone again and turned to a message thread that he had not sent another one to in a while. He scrolled up a bit with a satisfied look on his face. So nervous about nothing. Things are still fine. They're how they should be.
"Hey Momo. I don't know if you've heard but we're going to Inazuma Island for the carnival/fair thing they have going on there. Do you want to come?" I'm glad I didn't ask 'Are you coming?' It sounds more like I invited her- even if she already knew?
"I heard. That sounds fun and I would be happy to join you." Did she mean 'you' as in me? Or was she talking about the plural 'you?' Like she was talking about all of us? Things are only weird if I make them weird! Stop overthinking it! She just accepted because it sounded like a fun time and she wants to, she's not as weird about hanging out as I am. I'm making it awkward when it doesn't need to be. Just stop overthinking already.
Zach pulled his cup of ramen out of the microwave and he blew on the water he had filled the cup with beforehand that was now steaming hot. He left it on the counter as he grabbed some chopsticks, but his mind lingered back, Sero didn't mention her coming beforehand. Neither did Mina, and the two kept texting me when someone else said they would. They didn't text me after Momo texted she would though, unless they knew because she mentioned that I said it to her, in which case they knew I knew already? That's not it. I know why, those two don't say anything…
If she won't come unless I ask though, does she even want to come? Or does she just want me to invite her? Or does she feel obligated? Zach's lips curled down at the corners and he tssked while stirring his ramen and breaking up the noodles. I don't like this distance growing between us. I didn't think it would be there when she was the first one I saw in the hospital. He could see her face when he woke up and looked at her. Sitting at his bedside, the only one there inside his room with him. Then he saw her walking away the last time they were talking and his forehead wrinkled up as he started eating. I've made things worse since then, I guess. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but maybe tonight I can change it.
On the fifth floor of a dorm complex in Heights Alliance, Momo Yaoyorozu stared at the phone in her hand and the messages on it. Her bottom lip was pursed in and her expression nervous as she stared at his final message to her that she did not respond to. It was the end to the conversation. I'm not just ignoring him. What he wrote sounded like- like he wanted to just save the rest for tonight? Does he have something to tell me? The truth?
Momo lowered her phone and she brought her left hand up in front of her face. She pushed her thumb and index finger outwards on her forehead while shaking her head into her hand. That's not it. I just want him to. I want him to talk to me, be more serious even though he is every time we talk! He acts so serious, even though I know he's lying. Her teeth clenched briefly behind her lips and then opened up with a heavy breath escaping her lips. Yaoyorozu dropped her hand from her head and sat back on the side of her bed for a second, I don't understand why you would act so serious telling me those lies. You can tell that I don't believe you, can't you? You know that I can see through them. And yet he still sounds serious, while he looks me in the eyes and lies to my face.
Yaoyorozu's heart ached but only for a few seconds. I want to believe him, but I know for certain that he is lying to me. I cannot just accept that. I will not. It panged her heart to do, but she pushed aside that aching feeling and got a more serious look on her face. That look faltered after a moment though, and she looked down at the clothes she was going to wear under her jacket for tonight. I'll still go tonight though. And I'll give him another chance- one, one more chance. Yaoyorozu felt hesitant on thinking that, but she nodded to herself afterwards with a sadder look forming on her face.
Kyoka might be right. Maybe Zach really can't help it, maybe he's just… not a liar but- or maybe, a liar really is what to call him. Yaoyorozu stood up and shook her head around. He's not. There should be something else. A reason, right? But even if there's a reason he's lying to me, even if it's not just to hide your identity… I would have been fine if you wanted not to say anything but all those stories! Straight lies that you act like are real. I can't take it anymore. Don't try to do the same tonight. If you do- if you do…
One last chance.
A/N Thanks for reading! Midoriya meets up with Daruma Ujiko in jail, but instead of getting information on the reports of Nomus he just hears the doctor's speech on Zach. He looks to investigate Zach's past more, and he learns from Metallore (and Sero) what Zach was doing back in Italy. Zach's old friend Gino (Typhoon as Zach called him when he mentioned installing him into their ranks that chapter), is now practically running the Garbaldi "crime" family, and Metallore's got a theory on some grand conspiracy that he tells Deku. About how Zach's the most powerful man in Italy, without even being there... Meanwhile, Zach's wondering what to wear as he goes out on Friday night with some friends! XD Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review below telling me what you think, predictions, or questions about the story!
Raven Mordrake chapter 165 . Jul 3
Midoriya says that cheating people is wrong but that the police do not deceive the public by making them believe that it was Endeavor who defeated Stain when in truth they were Izuku and the others?
Yeah that's true. Then again, Midoriya was a lot younger back then and hadn't really developed his hero ideals as strongly as he has now. Plus he had made the mistake there (he and Iida both scolded since neither even had provisional licenses), and as a kid in his first semester he had to feel pretty forced to do what the police chief and the older heroes said rather than taking a stand to not lie and tell the truth, which totally would have sounded like he just wanted the credit for beating Stain to himself. There are things that he has secrets of too, like that and like his One For All secret, but we've seen the guilt he's got for holding that back already in the show where he felt he had to tell Bakugo, and he almost let it slip to Uraraka here when she was calling him out on the same hypocrisy you mentioned. He struggles with his own, but Zach does it to a much different extreme and continues to do it more and more instead of the isolated things Midoriya's got. Anyway, thanks for the review!
papaprep chapter 165 . 5h ago
was reaally expecting a chapter today..
Well seeing as this was 5 hours ago... here's your chapter for today! XD