I heard murmurs fading in and out of the background. My eyes felt irritated. Dry and deadpanned. Exhausted from the drive over and feeling psychologically drained, my mind began to glitch out on me. Staring at the grey wall that blurred into a kaleidoscope of other dull colors behind the young detective interviewing me, all that ebbed in my head was Kai. What will he say to me when he sees me again? Especially after years of losing touch and parting the way we did...will his hate for me grow even more?

I want this to end. I think I have built a solid case to grant visitation. Any more of this nonsense is simply pervasive.

"Miss Satō..."

How much more do I need to tell them? I've never been the talkative type and I sat uneasy after two hours of unloading my past with two complete strangers. My familial ties...they know. The inner workings of my quirk...they know. Even my university and monotonous work life...they know.

Divulging any personal matters with them about Kai made my insides churn. Both the nameless guard and Detective Tokumaru have been relentlessly penetrating my mind with such needless questioning, it seems overkill at this point. These memories have already been overwhelming to deal with as it is, but, strangely, I continue playing into some odd cat and mouse interview. Why am I speaking so freely around them? It's not like I need to confess every detail. Do I?

"Miss Satō?"

"Oh," I erratically stated as I snapped myself out of the peaceful silence, "yes, I am sorry. What was your...question again?"

"We were in the middle of asking you if you noticed any villainous tendencies in Chisaki when you two were in school? Were you at any point fearful of your life around him?"

"Why would you ask me something like that?"

"Miss, this is strictly protocol. Work with us and you'll be able to see that freak soon enough," coldly remarked the guard.

Displaying such curt arrogance, labeling Kai without truly knowing him, only made me despise this man more with every fiber of my existence. People truly are disgusting.

"We were kids! What more do you want me to say? And being kids - whether born with a quirk or not - tend to get themselves involved in mischief, or do you two not remember what it was like being that little and naive? Take my word: he was never the type to give off 'bad guy' energy," my gaze drifted to my lap. Tears began to well up in the corners of my eyes.

"Not a single moment went by where I didn't feel safe around him. He always came to my defense when I was flung deep into the valley of my personal 'rock bottom'. How could I possibly vilify a man I haven't seen in almost four years? Not to mention, every memory...or well, almost every memory, I shared with him has been generally positive," my voice began to exponentially get louder. I slammed my hands into the table, allowing for the floodgate of tears to open wide, I yelled, "what more do you want from me?!"

From the corner of my eye, the guard appeared to be "battle ready", on the verge of restraining me. However, the detective quickly halted him.

Both men paused and allowed for the conversation to breathe in a moment of silence.

"While I do sympathize with your emotions, to be perfectly frank with you Miss Satō, that 'man' you willingly choose to speak fondly of is the reason why many good men and women on the front lines of the Hassaikai battle have been critically injured. What I want you to understand is that, I do not doubt for one second that Chisaki potentially had redeemable qualities to him. However, you need to come to terms with the chaos he has created in the wake of this latest debacle. The quirk dismantling bullets he fashioned are now missing with all signs pointing to the League of Villains now having them in their possession. This alone should be unsettling for you."

"Why is that detective? I have lived 21 years of my life convinced this ability was some sort of sick joke that tainted my name. The day of tomorrow if my quirk were to be stripped from me, I would praise that hero, villain, or supernatural force that provided me my sweet relief! You have no clue what it's like to be a social reject in every aspect of the word!"

Detective Tokomaru sighed heavily - from what I can assume to be a result of annoyance and longing - while exhaling a long stream of smoke from his mouth. His messy mop top of dark, peppered hair swept over his dreary green eyes as he shifted around his inner coat pocket. Scarred fingers pulled a small picture out and slid it on the table faced upwards and continued, "tell me, are you familiar with this victim here?"

My eyes widened.

"Wait! This...this can't be true. Kai's father? What happened to him?!"

The guard leaned over the table grunting and growling menacingly. Even though my quirk mainly requires physical contact to be activated, through extensive training and self-experimentation, my eyesight developed a meta-ability where I am able to gauge a person's physical condition through the delicate veins displayed in their iris. Due to my heterochromia, my left grey eye functions as normal; however, my right crimson eye mutated over time to detect illness on a cellular level within other living beings. Needless to say, this guard's eyes have some... abnormalities...I cannot explain.

"That bastard put the leader of the Hassaikai in a coma that he has yet to waken from! According to rumors within the organization, there were 'creative' disputes on how the group should have conducted business...hence, the old man's current condition. Oddly enough, however, the only member to actively come to Chisaki's defense was Prisoner 9800523 Hari Kurono, also known as Chronostasis by the yakuza."

Hari? Besides me, he was the only other kid that associated with Kai. How did he get involved with this mess? Wait...

"Just to make sure we align our facts properly to the intel we currently have, did you ever witness any abuse within Chisaki's household that could have provoked him to render his boss comatose?"

"No, in fact, every time I visited, it seemed to me that him and his father had a very close relationship. Kai was his shadow and wanted to do anything and everything to impress him. He studied harder than anyone I ever met, had a fascination with science and a curiosity that some considered to be radical but never outrageous. I would argue to say 'brilliantly methodical'. But every time I saw those two interact, I lived vicariously through their affections...I was never really close to my own family. It wasn't until years later that I discovered Kai was orphaned by his real parents and taken in by the Hassaikai."

"Then why do you suppose Kurono is the only one out of this militia that is standing by the young head?"

"Kai and I met Hari in high school. We were all close friends back then."

My voice began shaking which seemed to send a deep reverberation down to the pit of my stomach. The palms of my hands began to secrete my quirk activating agent which acts simply as a sweet smelling "health depleting sweat". When in close range with others, if inhaled, can stimulate the transmission of my ability. Though slow acting, it can still be a challenge to navigate around once triggered. Oddly enough, this anomaly only happens as a "flight or fight" response without any conscious attempts on my behalf. Smelling the sweet aroma, I knew this conversation was having a physical toll on my body.

Of all days to forget my gloves.

"Hmm, interesting," the detective began scribbling notes down in a small black book. "Mind diving into how you two met Kurono a bit further for us, Miss Satō?"

This was no longer an "interview". This was an "interrogation". I understand now. You men see a woman who has been devoid of emotion, losing the one person most important to her, and yet, you continue to callously wring her of every last drop of information she can muster. If there has been one thing I have always hated, it has been those who falsely believe in a blind sense of justice. Authoritarians bound themselves to the law simply because it saves their skin when they inevitably fall from grace. Those who dare to tread against the status quo ultimately get vilified for being a victim of the very society that was meant to protect and serve. I am not implying that heroes or villains are innately righteous or evil - and quite frankly, I can care less - however, I am bothered that no one actively advocates or acknowledges the corruption that lies in the "grey" parts of society. Speaking out with a different narrative and acting upon those ideals labels someone as a renegade or outlaw. As a woman who has placed her faith only within the polarizing answers science and research can bring, one thing lingered heavily in my mind: the fall of hero society needs to happen and usher in a new order that will erase the exploitation of those who have been falsely mistreated.

"Do I even have a choice in this matter, detective?"

Tokomaru smirked, now contorting his grimace into a deviant sign of victory over my "emotional vulnerability". That fucking bastard.

"I think we both know that answer, Akane."