"Mariko Tsujihara."
The meeting room was rather quiet as Seimei spoke the name a certain set of rumours were all about.
Seeing as Eris and Mizaru already knew what the meeting was truly about beforehand, that left the four remaining in the room to get with the program. "Oh dear," mumbled the white-coloured garbed Yukiko, "so this is about her."
Iwazaru leaned forward while the wings-for-arms woman crouched on her seat. "I've heard that rumours about her were coming back up again. Only within the male ward though," Dahlia added, tapping on the table.
"Sounds like the fresh inmates wanted some hope, or perhaps someone was particularly cruel to them!" chuckled the bird woman.
"Hm," hummed the blindfolded prison guard, "the fact that they're asking around about the rumour...I hope they don't get any ideas in their head..."
At this, the guard right next to him with the lower half of their face covered, nodded.
"So who's the one going around asking about rumours?" inquired Yukiko.
"Considering the rumours have only just resurfaced, safe to say an inmate that arrived not too long ago," the warden waved his hand. "Only one new arrival that we had recently would want to get any piece of information about the rumour."
It was very obvious who it was. Didn't even need to ask around to figure it out.
"Remko Akko," mumbled Dahlia, "the newest Prison Break Magician, as some news outlets have decided to call him."
"A stupid nickname. He's behind bars for good this time," mumbled Yukiko.
"I assume when you see it on headlines for newspapers or websites, it's bound to catch people's eyes...right?" the gentle Mizaru tilted his head as the white coloured uniform guard sighed.
"I suppose so..." she reluctantly agreed, turning her gaze elsewhere.
Suddenly, the voice of the cape wearing warden silenced the chatter. "It doesn't matter what title he has or what he did in other prisons before arriving here at Styx. He won't be able to escape."
"Of course. Our security is much tighter and we've taken more than necessary precautions." Dahlia said, looking at her fingernails for a bit. "It would take a fool with a death wish to try and attempt another escape."
"Yeah!" cheered the bird girl.
A nudge from Iwazaru got the walking stick using guard to speak up after a little yelp. "I think we're getting off track. We're here about Mariko, not an inmate we have under control."
"Thank you, Mizaru." Eris smiled at the two. "Yes, this inmate isn't remotely a problem. The important topic here is Mariko."
The room was silent, if only for a moment until the blue, lens-like eyed Yukiko rolled her hand. "Please, continue."
"As you know, the rumours about Tsujihara have been quite popular within Styx," the warden began, "though, as most of you are aware, a simple rumour like that normally isn't supported by us. Especially intentionally spreading one that dissuades the inmates."
A couple of the guards looked down, like Iwazaru and the grey feathered harpy (who's smile also started to fade).
"So...are we acting now?" the seemingly unkempt, freckled guard asked as her posture straightened.
The eye-patched woman nodded. "Indeed. That is why we're holding this meeting in the first place." with a serious look in her one visible eye, the seriousness held within was shared all around the scattered table. "The missing prison, Mariko Tsujihara, is going to be dragged back to Styx."
Grins and nods went about the table. A good sign indeed.
Mariko Tsujihara.
That name carried a sort of presence among the guards and inmates of Styx. It varied depending on who you asked. It was spun as either a tale of hope, giving inmates a sliver of a chance of escaping one of the best prisons in the world. A sliver of hope that the guards quickly demolished.
The other was used to dissuade the inmates. That the mysterious Mariko was held in a completely different cell away from the wards, restricted to only her cell much like the others in solitary confinement.
However, to most of the guards, that was a different story. A story that shamed them, a reminder of their failures.
The fact that a prisoner was able to escape Styx.
"We do have to give her our thanks for one thing though," Seimei softly sighed. "Thanks to her, we've not only increased security, but we've been humbled. Otherwise, we'd probably be as cocky as those...miscreants from Tartarus."
"So how are we going about this?" coughed Mizaru, gaining the attention of the wardens.
A smile slowly appeared on Eris' face. "She might have broken out of the river, but she's still in the grasps of the underworld. She hasn't left quite yet."
"With how much time we've given her, perhaps she's paranoid about us appearing at any moment?" sung the harpy. "Let's go drag her back!"
The white haired woman shook her head, reaching out and making the standing harpy sit right back down. "We still need to plan how we're going to go about this. She would know some of our faces."
Said harpy woman pouted for a second as an idea hatched in her mind. "Well, while it's very risky...we could take maybe one or two prisoners and use them as bait...?"
"That's...a risky idea indeed," the blind guard mumbled softly. "It could backfire immediately with having them run off too. Even with tracking devices placed on them."
"I agree with Mizaru," coughed Dahlia. "I can see where you're going with it, but using inmates to catch an escapee? Too risky."
As Yukiko swept some of her long, white hair out of the way, she decided to add her two cents to the mix. "It would have to be some very trusted and perhaps manipulated inmates in order to make that work. As others have said, it is risky to use inmates for it, but a trusted face could lower her guard."
"Enough. We'll gather a small group of guards that we trust to handle the situation first. We'll do that after we conclude the meeting." the male warden bowed his head a bit. "For the inmates however, that is another story. Suimin, afterwards, if you truly believe the idea can work, we can discuss it only after we set up the necessary guards that are going on the operation."
There, the bird woman saluted.
"Speaking of which. There is one last thing, before we end the meeting. It's about our other problem." Eris' voice echoed throughout the room. "About who tampered with the body but more importantly, who let Vito out."
Dahlia raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that there's two different parties involved?"
"No," the quick response came from Seimei, "but it's better to treat them as two different groups instead of one. At least for the time being."
Nodding, Eris continued, "while most people who attended the meeting do have an alibi, we have decided that it would be best to at least screen you and other guards just in case. If we have a breach in security, I will have to use my quirk on all of you."
"That sounds perfectly rational," Yukiko said as she popped a tic-tac or mint into her mouth. "Go ahead."
"Can I have one?" the harpy begged, holding out her foot-talon.
"No. This isn't school."
Dahlia rolled her eyes at the scene, turning towards the wardens while Iwazaru and Mizaru sat patiently side by side. "We're ready when you are."
Eris gave her a nod. She hoped that none of them were responsible or had a hand in either situation as an accomplice. But, with the way things were, this was a needed act and one that would either pin the culprit or reveal any further information about them. Especially with what she had learned from Vito.
Maybe they might learn something more about either situation or whatever Vito had told her, but she really hoped that they had no hand in it as she prepared to use her quirk.
Muika sat where she usually worked. In the counsellor's office.
It gave her something to do while her brother was healing from his injuries from the fight. Thankfully for his armour, he should be released rather soon and if Lambert's word was true, then that should be tomorrow.
So, as to not burden her brother, she sat behind the desk, looking over the files of various prisoners she had access to. As her droopy red eyes read the current batch of documents again and again, she couldn't help but think back to what had happened.
Not only was her brother injured in the brawl, but many prisoners (those in the male ward at the time) had also been injured, both minor and major, and some have even died. Thankfully, Osamu wasn't one of those unlucky few.
Though, when she saw some of the prisoners taken to the infirmary, the ones who survived anyway, she couldn't help but feel for some of them. As a guard (though counsellor in her case), she was there to help the prisoners. So seeing them cling to life wasn't something she was fond of seeing.
"How many times has Osamu seen something like that?"
Sadly, that was a question that she wouldn't be able to ask or receive an answer to. She was pretty certain that she didn't want to truly know either.
But now, time was just flying by as she focused back on her task.
As she read through the files, there were some prisoners she didn't have access to initially.
She still didn't.
And for good reason too.
When she first took the role of being the prison's counsellor, she was informed that not all prisoner records were given to her. It was mostly for her own safety and the fact that she wouldn't even be interacting with a couple of the inmates. One such example was Vito.
A bunch of prisoners from around the prison who were too dangerous for her to have a session with or that they weren't let out of their cells at all (probably because they too were dangerous). It checked out with the files she did have being full of prisoners that were free to roam in their wards and some that she interacted with.
She appreciated the safety precautions and she was sure that Osamu appreciated them much more.
"..." the thought of her brother stuck in bed quickly obliterated her other thoughts. Doing her best to clear her head of those kinds of thoughts, she pulled out a bunch of reports and documents on the convicts she had access to.
At least she could help these inmates...
Muika suddenly jolted in her seat when a beep from her phone went off, causing her to let out a little squeak as she bit her tongue in the middle of it all. After calming herself down, the phone went silent.
A quick look told her everything she needed to know. A scheduled session was about to begin. The ultra violet haired counsellor began to get everything in order, rushing herself as she did.
Of course, this just made a bigger mess as she dropped a stack of papers onto the ground.
Muika couldn't help but sigh at what she made.
She got down onto her knees, already cleaning up the mess. She couldn't mess up now, not when Osamu was stuck in the infirmary for just a little while longer. She had to pull her weight while her brother was still recovering, to make him proud.
And so that he wouldn't have to apologise for her mistakes...again...
That incident showed just how much those inmates were in pain and how much they help they really needed. So, for now, all she could do was help the inmates the only way she knew how!
While many inmates within Styx were on the best behaviour after the recent events and most likely when the warden also patrolled around the ward, there were a few that got back to what they did best.
Fight.
A small group had started fighting each other.
"Tch. These idiots never learn," a dark grin belonging to a rather violent guard spoke as they walked forward.
He had no idea why these fools were fighting, but he didn't care about that as he walked into the chaos, holding his hand out to the side.
By the time that the fighting prisoners finally noticed him. It was too late.
A small ball of flames radiated quite the amount of heat, right as the guard took a swing at the nearest inmate. "I got to put you pieces of trash back in line, where you belong!" the dark grin seemed to widen slightly.
While the prisoners backed away as the miniature sun was floating in the air, Tai's foot slammed down onto the fallen prisoner's head.
"Oh god, it's him!" one of the prisoners muttered out as the fight ceased immediately, the heat continuing to rise.
As another inmate backed away, Tai scowled, removing his foot from the inmate and threw a punch. Another prisoner went down easily, way too easily as they all crumbled under his tiny, tiny sun.
"How pathetic. You convicts boast your strength but ultimately crumble under the tiniest bit of applied pressure."
They groaned, of course they did. What else could they do under the miniature sun and his own physical abilities? Dance? Fight back? Curse him? Probably curse him. That sounded something they could be capable of, if they weren't suffering under the weight of his own sun.
"Damn...you..." groaned one prisoner.
There it was.
"Urgh…"
Feeling that they had enough vitamin D, a flick of the hand eradicated the sun. "Now. Stay in line or next time I'll burn you to cinders."
The inmates, weak and down on the floor, sweating intensely could only make equally weak groans. They were just glad that it wasn't so hot anymore and who could honestly blame them.
As Tai walked off, making sure to walk over one of the inmates, pulled out his buzzing phone. "What?"
"Hello to you too, Tai." sighed the voice on the other end. "Listen, I have to inspect some packages that arrived today but a fight has broken out near the cafeteria...or will break out. It's too much work so you can deal with it."
"Don't tell me what to fucking do! You don't sign my paychecks!"
The voice paused. "You're already on your way...aren't you."
A grin flashed across the guard's face. "Oh absolutely. I'm going to show those bastards their place in the pecking order!"
"...please don't kill them..."
"I'll think about it."
The co-worker was already regretting their decision.
Tai ended the call right then and there as he kicked the doors open to the male ward's cafeteria wide open, shifting only a couple of eyes from the brawl onto him.
Wasting no time, the guard rushed forward. He was going to bring these fuckers back down to Earth!
When the prisoners and guards make a mess, who cleans up that mess? The janitors!
The trusty janitors that are more than ready to clean up whatever mess that's left behind (except for the body parts on some occasions).
It was a pretty relaxing job, considering that it was mostly a nightly routine, though it was mostly during hours when all the inmates were locked away. Sometimes, that was a rather precise time. An example of which are the really early hours of the morning, or a couple of minutes or around an hour or so after all the prisoners were locked away.
This was for one specific reason. The nocturnal inmates. Whether that was because of prisoners who were still getting used to time differences or convicts like Rin who was more active during the night like the vampire he was.
Granted, there were areas that could be cleaned during the day such as parts of the solitary confinement areas, guard barracks, offices, etc.
Either way, they kept the prison clean and up to shape.
"Huh." A mop hit the floor as the janitor that held it gave a little yawn. His red eyes peeked through the mop of brown hair (that somehow never blocked his vision despite its length) at a mobile phone. "So that's my schedule for the week...alright."
Realising that he had a job to do, Penthus picked up the mop and got back to work. All the while keeping his thoughts to himself as he looked over to a cell guarded by two guards that refused to move from their spot. "Still can't believe that Vito was able to run amok. That's definitely not like Tartarus at all."
Was this why Styx was second best? He wondered about how they would function if the worst inmates in Styx were unleashed. Sure, they managed to recapture Vito pretty quickly after his release, but that was quite the major slip up on their part.
Then there was the part where some random inmates tried to attack him during the whole incident while he was tagging along with some guards. Luckily his quirk came in useful then...
"Tartarus' record is still better if this stuff keeps up. Ah damn it! I'm wasting time!" Picking up his trusty mop and bucket, he quickly shot to a different section to clean. His paycheck was on the line here!
As he hurried past one of the security cameras, he put mop and bucket down, already preparing the mop for another section of floor. At least there wasn't much to do before his shift was over.
"Tsujihara...?"
Touya nodded, "that's right."
"So that's who the rumour is based on..." Remko closed his eyes briefly. "Hold on. You mentioned that guards take trays out to her?"
As he saw Touya walk off, Remko frowned a bit as he quickly followed before the more experienced prisoner sat down. "They do. She might be secluded, but she has to eat at some point."
The older prisoner watched the silver armed inmate pace around for a short while. "Then why did they make the rumour that she escaped?" the newer inmate wondered, looking directly at the sunglasses wearing Touya, expecting an answer.
"I don't know why some other inmates kept the rumours going, but it really depends on where the rumour originated from. From our position, I could see why it would persist despite the guard's actions."
"I guess...that's true, but what do you mean about origin?" That definitely took him back a bit.
Remko watched as a smirk appeared on the blonde haired inmate's face before he was greeted with the same, polite tone as before. He didn't really like that smirk. "Well, there are two different possible origins for the rumours, I thought I'd mentioned it before? Ah well. I suppose it won't hurt to cover the bases." he mentioned, getting into a more comfortable position. "There are two base origins for these rumours. One from the guards, the other from the prisoners. Each has their own purpose."
"Hope and Despair, right?" the sarcastic tone from Remko almost made his smirk widen.
"Correct. The rumour from the guards was made to be that of despair to any inmate wishing to break out of here. You can possibly see how the guards could use a rumour like that to dissuade us from trying to break out. A tale to break our hope."
Remko tapped his foot, "and the one that is spun around the ward would just be one of a hopeful escape to hold onto?"
Touya nodded, that same smirk still on his face. "A rumour made and shared to give hope that one day, a prisoner could also break out of the prison. Sort of inspiring for those down in the dumps-"
"Hold on," Remko rudely cut in. "So where did this rumour come from in the first place?"
A simple shrug was all he got. "Beats me. Perhaps that this mysterious Mariko person got sent to solitary confinement and one of the prisoners or guards decided to use that as a perfect excuse to create a rumour about something soul crushing or something to give people hope to get back into the world instead of spending slowly passing years behind bars."
"Is there anywhere I can get more information on this Mariko person?"
"Well, to put it simply. If you ask the guards, there's a chance that you'll get your face punched in. So I doubt they'll help."
As the androgynous looking inmate almost decided to share some of his known profanity, he managed to stop himself, barely. "...then what else?" the underlying anger seethed through clenched teeth at the other's tone.
"I believe there's an information broker in prison, but the only way you can meet them is in the co-ed ward, and you have no way of getting in there."
Before he could even ask why, the answer was already upon him. "Trust from the guards is one thing and since you're a rather new convict here, it will take quite a while for you to build trust."
"Ah." That didn't look good when he thought about his own record. They wouldn't trust him at all...
"Damn it." Guess he had to figure something out for himself then. Though, as he had inspected the ward he was stuck in, it definitely beat all of those other prisons he used to be in by a long-shot.
It might not be possible...
"Oi. Thanks Touya. The rumours were kinda helpful."
As the older prisoner watched Remko walk off to who knows where, he lifted his sunglasses up, his orange eyes that looked to have flames within, peered out into the distance where Remko once walked off into.
"Heh."
After that little distraction with Chikuha, Sae was surprised to see Ashita lead Yua and her to somewhere they could investigate.
It was a place where she herself had only been a small handful of times. During the days when she was a rather fresh face in the prison, the time before she even had access to the co-ed ward.
Since then, Sae never returned to the prison's church. With the co-ed ward, there were less chances with running into some...familiar faces she'd rather not deal with at all. The memories of this particular place however were comforting, peaceful.
It was a rather modest place, though to call it a church specifically might have been the wrong way about it, but whatever. It was split though, much like the wards. One area for each ward while the chaplains could easily move between.
"To think that we'd begin our search here..." thought Sae, as she looked around the all intents and purposes church.
"So where do we start?" Yua asked, looking over towards the dyed haired inmate.
Ashita, however, was looking around the church. "Seems that Eiri isn't in right now."
The shortest out of the three raised her eyebrow. "Who?"
"One of the chaplains, or to put it simply here, a nun." Surprisingly, this came from Sae. "But that isn't important right now. We should be focusing on the search."
The slim and usually distant prisoner had walked off, heading to the back of the prison's church.
"So are you just going to let her walk around like this for a while?" Yua asked, looking up to the info broker.
"For now. I was going to at least talk to one of the chaplains here to see if anyone of note came by, but it seems that's off the table!" The cheerful laugh made Yua turn her attention back to Sae, who walked around checking the pews.
"So what she's doing is useless then..."
Ashita shrugged. "If she doesn't find something, then sure. I'd rather stick to the plan of laying low and keeping an eye out for any slip ups."
While watching Sae, Yua had to agree that keeping a low profile was probably for the best if the one they were supposed to be looking for was in the wards they had access to. "It seems that the search here, seeing as this Eiri person is missing, is done."
"Oh? Where are you going?"
Yua only had one thing to say as she continued on her way, "informing Sae that this search no longer holds any value."
A sly yet playful smile appeared on the white haired inmate's face. "Got a plan, I see."
"Naturally."
As Yua went ahead and told Sae that her search was fruitless in that same stoic yet polite tone she always had, the trio came together once more, ready to go over their new plan.
"So what's the plan?" Sae asked with crossed arms.
Yua walked past the two, heading back to the ward. "Doing what Ashita suggested. Keeping a low profile and looking for any odd signs from either the inmates or the guards. If the person we're looking for acts when there's a dead body, it would be better to keep an eye on our fellow inmates for a while."
It was a good thing that Shi had updated them on the situation. Right now their goal was simple.
Just find out information about a second person involved in the murder who tampered with the body. At least that's what Shi told them about. Yua had a feeling that Shi was holding something back from them, she knew that Ashita and probably Sae also picked something off about it too. Like there was something else that needed investigating but couldn't be given to them.
Perhaps that too was directly related with their current investigation? While they'll help with looking for some person who messed around with a corpse, maybe they'll look somewhere else or they had a different kind of target to find?
But, it might have just been something only the guards could handle. So she dropped it. It wasn't handed to them so it wasn't their problem.
Right now wasn't the time to be lost in thought though.
"Let's go."
"He's our man, he's the best-" a sudden click of the remote had changed the channel from some music program over to whatever the next channel was broadcasting.
"Need a clean shave? Get a plus ult-" another click from the remote changed the channel once more. "There will be cold showers on the-"
With one last click, the screen shifted once more.
"A new documentary about the rise and fall of the pro hero Returner is said to be in the making," said some random tv personality sitting on a nice and way too clean, white leather couch. "It's been quite a few years since then, but it's a shame to see someone like that fall from grace."
Another face on the couch nodded. "Yeah. It's a real shame, but we should also mention that this documentary is to remind people of that time. Especially for those out of the loop on the whole situation."
The first person on the couch shifted into a more comfortable position. "You would think that a hero wouldn't have fallen the same way he did. He was supposed to be a hero, but I think we should let the documentary tell the rest when it releases."
"Haha, right! We don't want to ruin the efforts of the team behind that production for those out of the loop. It does make me wonder just what caused it in the first place...so many people say different-"
A raised hand clutching a remote turned the television off. "As much as I would like to sit and relax like you are now, break's over. We got work to do."
Hokori, who had been listening to the program turned around to see that one drinking guard who he finally learned was called: Dion Meade.
Even with the height difference along with the fact that he was sitting while the guard with the remote was standing, the hat still blocked the fox's view before realisation sunk in. "Where are we going?"
Placing the television remote down, Dion stretched. "We're going to inspect some trinkets that have been sent into Styx."
"Trinkets?"
"Yeah, just some gifts meant for prisoners. We're going to be checking the contents of said gifts for contraband."
Hokori stood from the desk, fumbling as he did, "just the two of us?"
"Nah, Shi's going to be there too. Both of your noses are going to come in handy," yawned the guard. "The quicker we get this done, the sooner we can kick back some more."
With a wave from the more experienced guard, the new guard on the job began to follow as they left the break room.
Another yawn came from Dion, "you sure seem excited..."
As he looked over his shoulder, he was greeted to an energetic fox with a wide smile and eyes that almost seemed to sparkle. "Of course! I'm ready to help out any time!"
Dion instinctively reached for his gourd that was no longer there, grabbing nothing but air. "Ah...that's right. Well, at least you're up for any task, no matter how boring it can be."
Soon the two came to a room and upon entering, the fox spotted the jackal sitting at a desk, arms crossed as she waited. A simple turn of her head, her eyes glared into the two, though it was more towards Dion than him.
"Late."
"Hello to you too, Shi."
Whether Shi huffed or snarled, it was hard to tell, but regardless she focused herself back onto the table.
Hokori took a seat at the table as the other two got to work. Getting packages and diving into their work. One taking it seriously, the other taking their sweet time.
The rather new guard of Styx went through a few packages before he came across one that appeared to be a painting. It wasn't something fancy, it was definitely painted by whoever sent it in.
The fox's eyes rolled around the canvas as he inspected the painting in his hands. His eyes moved over to a darkened part of the paint which looked like a small lump. Reaching forward, his fingers ran over the darkened area, feeling the bumpiness of what was probably way too much paint.
"Something the matter?" he heard Dion ask as he snapped back to reality.
"Oh! Um," he glanced between the painting and the guard, Shi also joining in by sending him a look, "it's just that this painting's lump is kind of weird, but that could just be too much paint."
Suddenly, a box cutter slid over the table. "If it's suspicious. Check it out."
"...what?"
"Just cut it open." sighed Dion, already leaning back in the chair. "It's important to go with your gut."
When Hokori looked over to Shi however...
"I agree."
Gulping, Hokori grabbed the box cutter, bringing its blade up to the dark paint lump. "But...what if it's nothing and just way too much paint?"
Dion pulled his hat down further, "we can just say that it was ruined in transit."
Looking to Shi, it seemed she still agreed. "You two could have at least pretended for my sake...if this is just a painting accident, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do!"
Suddenly, the box cutter got to work on the lump and it wasn't long until Hokori spotted something...smooth hidden underneath. "Wha?"
Whatever it was, it was smooth and had a bit of a shine to it. Not only that, it appeared to have a cylindrical shape to it as something wet and purple sloshed around inside it.
A whistle came from Dion while a snarl came from Shi. "See? It's good to trust your gut," the drinker mumbled as he reached for the smooth and purple presumed liquid. As he pulled it out, it was in fact a syringe!
A syringe filled with some unknown liquid…
"Ah, drugs...well bottoms up."
Without missing a beat, Dion dropped a small amount of the drug into his mouth as Hokori gave a shocked scream.
"Why...why did you do that?! What if it's dangerous?!"
Shi's hand reached out and kept the fox in place. "Calm down." she muttered as Dion placed the mostly full syringe down. "That's quite the amount they tried to smuggle in."
Dion wiped his mouth, looking at his co-worker after he put the syringe down.
"It's Boost."
Hokori's ears perked up. "Boost? What's that? Is that the drug? Wait! Before that! Are you fine?!"
"God kid, no need to yip so loudly, but I'm fine. I wouldn't have done that if I wouldn't be fine. Quirks and whatnot," shaking his head as Hokori gave a silent apology, Dion continued. "Boost is a drug that has been circulating, mostly around underground shady networks and markets. As it's rather simple name implies, it grants whoever takes it a boost to their overall performance."
"Dangerous drug," mumbled Shi, shaking her head.
"It lasts long enough to be useful, but short enough that you run out when you need it the most." Dion continued, looking over the drug. "It can even power up some quirks in different ways."
Hokori inched away from the syringe a bit. "You sure know a lot about it."
"Not the first time we've encountered this drug on the prison grounds."
"Wait...boost quirks?"
Dion nodded with a stretch. "That's what they are meant for, at least from all the reported uses. The whole performance thing is just a bonus. Though, the effects can vary sometimes..."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, take for example someone who has a quirk that can shoot a ball of fire at someone. Taking the drug can either make the flames hotter, bigger or both for instance. Either way, it boosts it."
Shi slammed her hand onto the table. "Enough useless chatter! There's more to search through."
"Sorry!"
"Oh yeah, Hokori, who was that package for and from?" Hokori blinked at Dion's question as he looked around for anything that indicated such.
"It...doesn't say who sent it or the address...nor who its for..."
A snarl came from the jackal, "damn it. It's probably for those in villain groups like the yakuza or mafia. It doesn't narrow it down."
Dion, leaning in his chair shrugged. "The important thing is that we found it."
"Don't fall asleep!" Shi slammed her fist down again. "We got a job to do."
"Oh. Sorry for asking but, did it boost your quirk? Or what did your quirk do?"
The fox only received a shrug from his senior guard. "Who knows, maybe one day you can see it in action."
It didn't take long for the three to continue with their inspection as Hokori smiled to himself for such a good job before their task soon came to an end.
As the remains of the inmates were loaded up into the vehicle, Zugai got behind the wheel. "Ready to go?"
Bunri and his clones gave a thumbs up. "All loaded and ready to go, Zugai!" he smiled as his clones decided to evaporate.
Alexios just nodded with a smile, taking a seat next to his fellow guard.
"Then let's get to work!" with a turn of the key, the engine roared and off they went. During the drive, the skull headed driver fiddled with the radio, broadcasting some tunes with the occasional ads and other programs in between.
Bunri took to this silent part of the journey by pulling out his phone and messing with some game while Alexios watched the scenery pass by.
It was quite the peaceful road trip. A shame about the whole dead bodies being transported in the back.
As the song on the radio faded out, Zugai reached out to turn the volume up following the news report. "Search of the Mares of Diomedes is still ongoing after a local robbery. Police advise to reach out with any information to either the police or the nearest hero."
"Seems things are getting lively huh." mused Zugai, focusing on the road.
"In other news, pro-hero Icarus was seen in action today. No one had seen the hero in action for quite some time-"
The volume lowered thanks to Bunri reaching over. "Anything else on?"
Fumbling with another station, the radio's speakers got to work. "-We're here to lend a helping hand!" came the motto of the Helping Hand company before another ad replaced it. Something to do with soap that removes an extra 0.1% of germs or something.
"Just ads..."
Zugai just laughed. "It is a catchy motto though."
Alexios turned his attention from the window, "didn't they release or announce something recently?"
"Did they?" Bunri blinked at the news. "Can't say I really heard anything on my end. What about you, Zugai?"
The skull headed prison bus driver looked into the rear view mirror. "Yeah, I've heard something on it. It played on the news for a bit. While the Helping Hand company has been dabbling in medicine and technology, especially hero support gear, they're focusing on their main front."
"The orphanages..." Alexios paused for a bit, shifting himself so he wasn't leaning on the window. "What are they doing with that?"
"The same thing they're always doing, helping young kids without homes and families." shrugged the driver as she came up to a stop sign. "It isn't something new or grand, just informing that despite their hands in two different fields, the whole orphanage thing is their main goal. Though that Sagimaru guy mentioned that they had something in mind to reveal when the time was right. So it was more of a tease than an announcement or reveal."
Bunri went back to his phone, boredom plastering his face. "So it was just a boring interview then."
Alexios on the other hand, was the opposite. "Knowing how Sukuinote raised the company from the ground up, I'm quite interested to see what this new development he's planning will bring."
"It'll probably be an expansion of the company, right?" Bunri pondered as he flicked through his phone. "Ah damn it."
The muscular, olive skinned guard took a moment to think. "Possibly. Perhaps they'll expand overseas?"
Suddenly, the driver's voice alerted the two. "We will be arriving at the morgue any time now. So get ready."
With that, she turned the volume back up as she went through the stations, coming across a song she didn't mind listening to. Alexios took this time to once again, look out the window as they slowly approached their destination.
Yet, as they drove, his mind went back to what the warden had told him.
What benefit would this mysterious corpse tamperer get from this? Just what were they tampering with about the bodies in the first place?
"At least no one tried to get close to the bodies," Alexios sent a glance over his shoulder into the back of the vehicle, where all the bodies of the inmates were loaded up in body bags. Inmates and criminals of various backgrounds and varying crimes. "I'm sorry. If there is an afterlife, I hope that you might find some peace there."
Funnily enough, they soon came to a stop. "Okay, we're here. Get ready to start unloading." A click of the seat-belt and Zugai was already out of the door.
"Here already?" blinked the muscular guard as he hopped out. "Come on Bunri, we got a job to do."
"On my way."
The three quickly got to work.
The woman with short silvery hair stood in front of a mirror in some very cheap apartment, specifically in its bathroom as water drizzled down the sink. She looked into her reflection, reaching up and touching her choppy bob cut, remembering the time when her hair was long.
She shook her head at the thought as she turned the tap off, already done with its purpose.
"It's time."
She stared at her reflection, telling it that it was indeed time. The run in with those heroes was a close one and if they had noticed her, then her time was limited. She couldn't risk it now, not after the effort she had put in to get here.
She had to pack up shop and move. Well, she was already packed, all she had to do now was get a move on. It was a scenario she was both prepared and worried for. Now the problem was some destination.
While she could go anywhere she wanted, she needed a place that wouldn't be checked out as much, or perhaps, a place with low villain activity, even if that might be under the noses of various heroes.
There was also the question of whether to go some time tonight or the following day.
She left the bathroom, the thoughts getting the better of her as she crashed onto the provided couch that she thought about taking with her. At least no hero would know where she lived...yet.
As she lied there on the couch, she couldn't help but find it a bit funny. Out of everything, a life of crime was what she was the best at. Her special talent. Even now, she continued despite her current situation. Bringing the risk to her.
"First thing in the morning, I'm out of here."
For the rest of the day, she supposed she could spend one final night in this cheap, empty apartment.
It wasn't like she was going to be paying for the rent in the first place.
She got up, heading into the tiny kitchen as she prepared her mostly stolen meal while another ad played on the TV.
She would not get caught again.
She will not get caught again. She wouldn't allow it, not after all the effort she had put in. The lack of media presence worried her a bit (more so nowadays), but she wouldn't fall for a trap if that was the case. Heroes, possibly the law and probably some bounty hunters or whoever were looking for her after all.
Ah yes, for she was (to her knowledge) Styx's greatest shame. The Elusive Inmate of Styx or the Ghost of Styx, whatever other titles that could be applied to her in the prison she used to stay in.
The One That Got Away.
Mariko Tsujihara.