"..."
"A hero hopeful should know better."
Bang!
"This is what happens when you don't follow the rules."
"Midoriya-kun."
"What are you-"
Bang!
"This is what happens-"
"follow the rules."
Bang!
Bang!
"don't-"
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
"follow the rules."
Bang!
"This is what happens-"
"Midoriya-kun!"
Izuku's head snapped up, looking into the worried eyes of Tsukauchi.
"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
Tsukauchi hesitated for a moment, he opened his mouth to say something, before snapping it shut again.
He shook his head and cleared his throat before saying, "The police down here in Shizuoka are getting a team put together. Luckily, your phone had been auto-recording your conversation with Akatani. That was more than evidence to move on him."
Bang!
Izuku twitched.
"We also have a few local heroes on their way. There's not a ton, since the crime rate is so low here in Shizuoka, but it's something. It should take a few hours or so before they're in position."
"A few hours?"
"Yeah, a few hours."
"Tsukauchi-san, we're less than ten minutes away from the bastard."
"The bastard and who-knows-how-many members of his family, Midoriya-kun."
"What if he gets away?"
"We won't let that happen."
"If it does?"
"It won't, trust me."
"Last time I did that, it got my mom killed."
Tsukauchi flinched slightly.
Izuku stared on.
"I'm sorry, Midoriya-kun."
"'Sorry' won't bring her back."
"And rushing straight into danger will?"
"..." Izuku's glare was smoldering. Tsukauchi's was steely.
The staredown was only broken by the sound of someone clearing their throat off to the side.
The pair turned their heads to see the officer that Tsukauchi had initially brought out to help.
"Excuse me, um, Tsukauchi-san?"
"Yes?"
"We need to see you inside the station for a moment. A few things came up with the… operation."
"Ah, I'll be right there."
He turned back to Izuku with a look that said, in no uncertain terms, "We'll continue this later."
"Tch..."
"what happens when-"
"don't"
" follow the rules."
"should know better."
"follow the rules."
"don't"
"What happens when you-"
"don't"
"follow"
"the"
"rules"
Bang!
Fine, I won't.
And so Izuku hopped out of the car and began to leave the lot.
He didn't get more than several steps before being stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Midoriya-kun."
"You won't stop me, Tsukauchi."
"Not planning to. Get in the car."
Izuku turned around and looked in the man's eyes, seeing a flash of gold.
He was back in the car in seconds.
"What made you change your mind?"
Tsukauchi took a moment to answer.
"I'm sorry."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I- I bungled that situation. I don't know what I was thinking. I could've done- I should've done things differently."
"Tsukauchi-san…"
Izuku took a breath.
"Tsukauchi-san, what made you change your mind about waiting?"
The detective sighed.
"Midoriya-kun, if we were to wait, we'd be waiting forever."
"Huh?"
"According to the officers here, it's a bit of a delicate subject. Not only are there more Yamikumo Clan members than there are officers here, they're also holed up in Sunpu Castle, a place filled with civilians. What if they take hostages?"
"..." He hadn't thought of that.
"There's a lot of protocol that needs to be followed for an operation as big as that. And that's ignoring the fact that we wanna get heroes on the scene too. Paperwork, tactical planning, coordination with prefectural headquarters. It would take days, most likely. We don't have days. I'd go so far as to say that we don't even have hours. So, I figure that the easiest way to do this… No 'easiest' is a bit misleading. The quickest way to do this is just the two of us going in and fighting our way through."
"Won't they just shoot on sight?"
Tsukauchi shook his head.
"Not likely. Well, if it were just me, then definitely. But with you there, they'd probably keep their hands off of whatever guns they've got."
"What makes you say that?"
"Tell me, Midoriya-kun. What did Akatani say to you the night that he fought you?"
"That... I would be coming with him."
"Not that he wanted you dead or anything like that?"
"No, nothing like that."
"Then that's it."
"I'm not following."
"If he wanted you dead, he would've done it then and there. He wanted you for something. And I feel like this little 'game' of his might've been something off the cuff."
"Apparently some of our intel was off."
"Hm…"
"I was supposed to have you come with me and we were gonna take a little trip."
"You know, Tsukauchi-san…"
"But you can call me Mikumo Akatani. Seeing as we'll be spending a lot of time together for the foreseeable future."
"I think you might be right."
They turned another corner, Izuku hardly even noticed the time passing, before seeing their target.
Sunpu Castle.
They were there.
Izuku and Tsukachi stopped a ways down the street from the castle.
Well castle park would be more accurate. The place was an attraction for tourists and locals alike.
That was hardly important though.
What was important was the group of men in black who stood near the Higashi Gomon, only parting for a black car to pass through and over the bridge.
Izuku stared through the windows, Akatani wasn't there.
Good.
"Midoriya-kun, are you ready?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, let's see if we can get in through one of the other entrances and surprise them."
"No, we go in straight through the Higashi."
"...I had a feeling you'd say that."
"I don't hear a 'no'."
"Would you listen if you did?"
"Probably not."
"Well, there you go. I'm trusting you, Midoriya-kun. Let's go get them."
Despite the situation, Izuku found the corner of his lips twitching upward.
"Yeah, let's."
Tsukauchi shrugged off his overcoat and suit jacket, leaving only his vest on and the two were off towards the gate.
As they walked, Tsukauchi rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, showing off a strong pair of forearms.
"We need to figure out where Akatani is."
"Well I figure those guys know."
"Why don't we ask, then?"
"Sure they'll answer?"
"Maybe if we ask really nicely."
"Alright. I'll follow your lead, Midoriya-kun."
They weren't far from the men in black when Izuku called out to them.
"I assume you're with Akatani?"
The men didn't say anything, not to the approaching pair at least. Instead, they whispered to each other and pointed, coming to an agreement about something, if their nods were any indication.
"I'll take that as a yes. Here another question for ya: Where is he?" The pair didn't stop their approach.
Tsukauchi spoke up, "If ya speak up now, we won't beat ya into a coma."
Nice bluff, Tsukauchi-san! Nice Kansai accent too.
The men at the gate clearly didn't appreciate his bluff… or accent, for that matter.
Several of them began to charge the duo, with the others hanging back.
"Don't kill the kid!"
"Let's do this, Tsukachi-san!"
"You've got it, Midoriya-kun!"
The pair charged right back across the two, meeting at the middle of the bridge.
Izuku found himself standing in front of one of them, one that wasn't much taller than he, and took the initiative.
He jumped up and…
Thud!
The guy was rattled after receiving a devastating hook to the chin.
Yamikumo Clan
Thud!
"Ahhh!"
Splash!
Off to the side, it seemed that Tsukauchi had handled two of the members that charged him with one lying on the bridge and the other splashing around in the moat.
That left one more, a heavyset one who he was grappling with. Grappling with and losing the grapple.
Let's give him a hand.
[!]Cooperative Heat Move: Essence of Foul Play
With a speed that he was only vaguely aware was unnatural without a quirk, Izuku was across the bridge and swinging from the heavyset man's neck.
"Tsukauchi-san!"
"Get the hell offa me, brat!"
He tried shaking Izuku off of him, but the boy just held on tighter.
"Get offa m-ack!"
Crack!
Izuku's knee ended up in the man's right rib cage, likely breaking something if the noise were any indicator.
Thwack! Crack!
And Tsukauchi drove his elbow into the man's nose, definitely breaking it.
"Thanks, Midoriya-kun!"
"Don't mention it." He turned towards the group at the gate, "Now, who's next?"
And the group charged.
Tsukauchi took a grounded stance with his arms in front of his face and torso.
Izuku just took his usual stance, left arm loose at his side, right arm crossed in front of him.
Izuku was vaguely aware of a few bystanders a ways away from them, gawking at the sight that they just had witnessed. But that didn't matter.
They were ready to rock.
Part one of two. Hope to see you guys next time.