Chapter 01.
Momo was certain she would have a headache before the end of the day; it was quite an unusual occurrence for her, but she could feel the pounding on her skull coming. She massaged her temples, her eyes glued to the map laid before her. It was marked with little red dots, each indicating one of the places which had been attacked by an unknown new villain group. Understanding this group was a nightmare, for the attacks did not imply any type of pattern, whether it was the weather or geographical progression. She had even checked the moon and solar patterns, but it did not seem to match with anything. Even old-fashioned pragmatism failed to provide her with any indication. And thus, she had been reduced to tracing every single possible pattern and compare them to symbols in occult and religious books.
Sadly, Momo was not very knowledgeable in these areas – religions and cults were a fascinating subject, but she was a novice –, and the symbols had been to experts, hoping they would be able to help her finding something. Anything would do, as far as she was concerned. Detective Tsukaushi had requested her help on the case a few days ago, hoping her intellect and versatile quirk might be of use, and she had been working on it ever since. She was still a student, but the detective was officially working with Mirko, and Momo was interning with the pro-heroine.
She and her mentor had gone over everything that had been collected on the attacks, but there was nothing in the clues unveiling the mystery surrounding the events. The only reasons they even knew those cases were related was the modus operandi. Each time, every single person in the building target was killed by having their throats slit. Then, the building was ignited by someone lighting themselves on fire, killing themselves in the process.
It felt like something someone brainwashed by a cult would do, which was why they had reached out to several cults and religions experts, even high-ranking representatives of the religions, hoping someone might be able to provide them with some knowledge or even recognize the symbol. If there was a cult running around Japan slaughtering people and burning buildings, it had to be stopped as soon as possible, or it would claim more victims than most of the other villain groups in the country. If they kept doing so, they might rival the Paranormal Liberation Front's horrible record of victims and destruction.
The young heroine-in-training sighed and closed her eyes. Her head was pounding, and her ego was becoming more and more frustrated. She loathed being unable to find a solution to a problem, especially when lives were on the line. Every innocent put in danger by this group she could not arrest was a new weight on her shoulders, another soul she would mourn. People deserved to live happily, and there was nothing more precious than life. Momo shook her head; she could not let her own ego and feelings cloud her judgement. She had to focus on the case. There would be a time to mourn in the future when the villains would be behind bars. In the meantime, she ought to focus on her task.
The black-haired girl sighed and rolled the map before putting it on the shelf of her office, locking the furniture afterwards. There was no theory her brain could come up with at this level of mental exhaustion, and she needed some rest. Tomorrow would be another day, and she would contact the experts to know if they had found out anything which might help them in the case. Momo changed out of her hero-costume, putting on a white blouse, a deep red skirt, black leggings and deep red boots. She grabbed her jacket, purse, and left her office. She closed the door to Mirko's agency behind her. Her mentor had left earlier, having come in the office two hours before Momo.
Interning for the rabbit hero was one of her greatest pride, and her mentor's personality helped her with her self-confidence issues every day. She aspired to be able to embrace life-threatening situations with the same smile as Mirko and make the villains fear her as much as they feared the rabbit heroine. Moreover, she was the woman's first and only intern, and, despite the pressure it put on her shoulders, Momo was determined to be able to stand on her own like the white-haired heroine. Not having any sidekick was the greatest display of courage and strength a hero could showcase. It sent a clear message to any villains they fought 'I can handle you alone, and I have no need for help.' Momo smiled softly as she put on her headphones. She might never be able to be like Mirko, but it would remain her dream and objective.
The young woman reached the UA dorms fairly quickly, for it was quite close to the small agency and grabbed her phone, checking if she had any notifications. Her Instagram indicated that some new people had begun following her, and Momo smiled fondly. She loved her fans, who had discovered her with the sports festival and other cases she had been involved in. Girls would approach shyly in the streets, hoping for a picture with her or some advice on how to handle their own quirks. One had even told her Momo had been an inspiration for her because she too had a quirk related to skin exposure and had always suffered slut-shaming but, thanks to Momo, was now able to learn how to ignore those people
This moment had made the heroine's heart jump in joy, and she had kept in contact with the girl, Mako. With the memory of her favourite fan in mind, she clicked on the Instagram notifications, looking at the pseudonyms of her new followers. BrotherHiru and SisterHarumi, both pseudonyms followed by the same emojis; they had also begun following her at the exact same time.
Momo frowned slightly at the similarity between the names and the time coincidence. Maybe they were friends or siblings deciding to follow her at the same time, but an eery feeling told her it was not the case. The heroine swiftly made sure her flat was secured before clicking on the BrotherHiru's profile. It was filled with random pictures of a perfectly normal young man in his twenties. She swiped through the photos, searching for something that might explain the nagging feeling in her stomach, but there was nothing that seemed truly out of the ordinary. He also followed SisterHarumi, and they even had some selfies together. Momo sighed. The case was getting to her head. She was just an intern whose participation to the investigation had not been made public in any way, and no details had been released to the public; she had no reason to worry over two friends having matching pseudonyms.
She glanced at the picture on her bedtable. It was the only one she had from her biological family, now deceased. Only her brother, a two years old toddler in the picture, was not confirmed dead. Or at least, not for her. They had never found a body, and she knew he was alive. She knew what he had become too, but it was useless to think of it. He did not recall her, anyway, and she did not what she could say to him. Was there anything she could say to him? He probably would not care. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She could not allow herself to think about him. It did nothing but bring her unnecessary pain.
000
Momo mechanically checked her hair in the mirror as she and detective Tsukaushi were in the elevator of the Oda Nobunaga University of Tokyo. They were going to meet a professor of religious history specialized in cults, a certain Hadurin Maru. The elevator dinged, and both she and the detective walked out, instinctively glancing around them as if the villains behind these attacks would jump out of the walls to attack them. Momo knew it was objectively silly, but Aizawa-sensei to always be careful, and it was not about to change because she was in a university corridor and not in a villain hideout. Soon, they reached the door of the professor Maru, and detective Tsukaushi knocked on the door. Usually, Mirko would have been the one to accompany the detective, but she had been called by the hero commission for an emergency meeting, and Momo had been the one in charge of doing so.
"Come in!", a voice called out.
The professor was a man in his fifties with a beard. He was quite tall, standing at six foot two, and kept himself in good shape, but Momo got from him the same impression one would have from a kind grandfather. Somehow, he reminded her a bit of All Might. The man adjusted his vest as he stood up to shake their hands.
"Detective, Creati, it's a pleasure to meet you! Welcome in my humble office!", he said with a warm smile.
"The pleasure is ours, professor", Momo smiled.
"Yes, it's true", the professor sighed. "Please sit down, let's discuss what I discovered."
They complied as the older man took out a heavy file and two heavy books of one of his shelves and put them of the mahogany desk. Momo glanced at the titles; they all seemed related to cults, and various symbols were engraved on the leather covers.
"First of all, I need to say that everything I have is mere speculations because the symbol you've sent me is incomplete. If that cult had reached their goals, you'd know it."
"Why?", Momo could not help but ask.
"Judging from all the sacrifices, they're probably planning something very big which requires a lot of blood and lives. I can't tell you what, but it would without a doubt be a huge blow to Japan if they succeed."
"I see…"
"Don't look so defeated, Creati, I'm an expert on these people, and I've found some things that might help you. First, the symbol they're trying to create seems to be the Ashuva one. It's an old symbol, dating from the apparition of quirks, and was used by a small group believed to have disappeared by now. It's a mixture of various religious symbols coming from all the monotheist religions, which is why it's so hard to identify. They're convinced that quirks are actually a manifestation of their god's will to incarnate themselves in a human body to lead us to eternal peace. However, they have clearly evolved through time…"
"What makes you say that?" Tsukaushi asked.
"They never killed people in the past. They would sacrifice themselves in order to join their god or offer their own body, but they never caused such big massacres. Their beliefs must have drastically evolved for them to behave like that. These two books contain all the information we have about them and their previous actions. Even if their methods changed, maybe something will coincide with elements of the investigation in the future or that I'm not allowed to know. Please take them."
"Thank you very much", the detective replied. "Is there anything else you tell us about them?"
"There is. From what I researched about them, they've repeatedly tried to recruit people with creative and destructive quirks in their ranks. Since god can destroy and create at will, they might be trying to offer him these kinds of bodies."
"Creative quirks like mine?", Momo murmured, her stomach twisting in discomfort at the idea.
"Yes", the professor replied. "As for destructive quirks, I don't think quirks like Ground Zero's one would interest them. It's not the obliteration they would be looking for, although they might work with what they have. Sadly, this is all I have."
"This is already a lot", Tsukaushi replied, closing his notebook and running a hand through his hair. "We thank you for your time, professor."
"It was an honour helping you, detective, Creati. I'll continue my researches and contact you if I find anything related to the Ashuva cult."
"Prioritize your safety", Momo replied. "Cults are unpredictable, we can't know what they'd do to you if they were to find out you helped us."
He shook her hand.
"I'll be sure to do so, Creati."
000
Back at the police station with the detective, Momo found her mentor had returned, and she smiled brightly, hoping she would be able to help and offer her input. The young heroine smiled cheerfully at the sight of the rabbit heroine and waved at her. Mirko waved back, her eternal tough smile on her face. They all went inside Tsukaushi's office and shared what they had found out with Mirko, who listened to everything calmly. Once they were done, the white-haired heroine sighed.
"This shitshow's gotta end soon. The hero commission is freaking out and Endeavour's already on my ass asking for my participation when we raid the wackos responsible for this. I'll be in of course, but this cult thing is creeping me out."
"It won't be an easy raid", Tsukaushi replied. "Cult members are not like regular villains. They're fanatics and would rather die than being captured."
"I know. They're the worst kind of villains. Shigaraki might be a nutcase, but he's one with a clear objective. Once he's down, the others will fall like dominos. If you get a cult's leader, you'll just get the others angrier and more determined."
At the mention of the Paranormal Liberation Front's name, Momo shivered. She could perfectly remember the numerous times he had attacked her class, leaving destruction in his wake. Rumours said, since he had formed his new group, his quirk had become even more destructive. 'Wait… These factories…' she immediately thought, blanching at the idea creeping its way in her mind.
"They're targeting Shigaraki", she blurted out, and both Mirko and Tsukaushi looked at her with wide eyes. "The professor told us they're after destructive and creative quirks to find their god's perfect body. Shigaraki's Decay is the perfect of obliterating quirk they could be after."
"Oh fuck."
Tsukaushi fell into a short stupor, taking a few seconds to think about what she had just said. Momo felt her knees getting weak at the idea of someone using Shigaraki's horrible quirk. The original user was already a walking nightmare preparing himself to destroy society, but if a cult ever got his hands on him and his power, there was no limit to what madness they would be willing to do.
"You're a target too", the rabbit heroine suddenly told her, and Momo blinked. "Shigaraki might have the perfect destruction quirk, but you have the perfect creation one. Hell, your quirk's name is Creation! If they're trying to get their god or whatever, they will be going after the two people with the best quirks in creation and destruction. Shigaraki and you."
"They're luring me out by attacking public places", Momo realised. "The massacres are not sacrifices; they're trying to get my attention. I'm a heroine in training, so I will either work on this case either interest myself to it. I'm also willing to bet that if we look deeper into who actually owns the private facilities, it will be the Paranormal Liberation Front, to force Shigaraki to come out", Momo concluded, realisation dawning on her.
"We're going to need a lot of back-ups, and undercover work", Tsukaushi said. "Cults are never going to talk to law enforcement, and I can't go over everyone."
"We can't risk the undercover heroes", Mirko replied harshly. "It takes months to get into these circles, and years to get good, usable information. They would blow up their cases and get themselves killed."
"I know. I wasn't thinking about using heroes", Tsukaushi said. Mirko and Momo both tried to protest. "Do you have any other ideas? Because I'm listening. The clock is against us, we can't afford to lose any more time. Who says when they're going to attack a hospital? I hate it as much as you do, trust me, but if the PLF can help us save hundreds of innocents, I'll make them coffee myself."