Chapter 2: Trail
The competition between Class 1-A and 1-B had come to an end. The result was a victory for Class 1-A, causing the aspiring heroes to celebrate. In fact, they came out on top in most of the contests against their rivals from the other hero class. Considering how competitive the nature of their aspiring professions was, it brought out the best in them.
Not everyone in Class 1-B accepted the loss with dignity. Over time, Neito Monoma grew more on edge. He spent great amounts of effort to hype up his classmates, while simultaneously putting down and insulting their rivals from Class 1-A. Not to mention, Neito was frustrated with the shortcoming of his own Quirk: Copy. Specifically, when it came to Izuku Midoriya, and the fact that Neito was unable to store his Quirk. In his efforts to push his own limits, Neito sought ways to improve his own power so that he could acquire Izuku's Quirk.
Each year, the students progressed in their capabilities. And each year, any unresolved problems worsened. That was the demanding nature of Plus Ultra. A great glory for those who overcame their shortcomings, but a painful burden for those unable to break through.
Ochaco's days at school had changed dramatically. She continued to study and improve her training, but her mind was constantly elsewhere. Now that she was a third-year student, graduation was on the horizon. Less than two terms away from that day, but she saw no reason to celebrate. Not with Deku absent.
Part of the challenge was that Ochaco didn't tell her classmates that she hired a private detective. The nature of his work entailed secrecy. Besides, Deku's disappearance had already taken a toll on everyone close to him. Ochaco was content to take on the burden of finding him herself, so that the others could focus on their own lives. That was the ideal way of handling this, for the time being anyway.
At the end of each day, Ochaco was always eager to contact Jin. If he found any leads, she would be there in a flash. If not for the fact she had to attend school, she would have been with him daily, searching for possible leads. She was eager for the winter break to come, just so she could be fully available for the search. Guilt stung at her constantly, and she hated coming up with any excuses for her lack of availability. In the beginning, she had assured herself she would be part of the search as well. She was not planning on hiring someone to do all the work for her. Any time she wasn't part of the effort, it made her feel unpleasant.
This case was her greatest focus now, more so than her own aspirations of becoming a pro hero.
Ochaco promised her entire savings over to Jin Okami if they were able to find Deku. All the money she earned through work, plus the funds provided by her parents. It was painful to let it all go, and she knew it would take years to atone for it. But for Deku, she would do it.
It was Saturday now, which meant Ochaco had the next day off from school. After returning to her dorm, she went to her usual routine of contacting Jin, hoping to hear something promising. His answer was that there was still nothing.
By now, it had been three weeks of nothing.
Despite the response, Ochaco wanted to go search some places. Although reluctant at first, Jin agreed to come down to the U.A. It was the natural place to search.
Once it was later in the evening, Ochaco walked just outside the campus to meet with the Wolf. She spotted him, standing motionless at a street corner with his hands in his pockets. As she got closer, she saw him bring out a small pill bottle. He consumed one before returning the bottle to its pocket.
Moments later, he turned to face Ochaco. "Where shall we start?"
She had been prepared to start things off with a greeting, but as usual Jin was right to business. "I guess… you aren't allowed on the campus. So, we'll need to search just outside the property. There are places where Deku has trained around here."
For whatever reason, Jin looked disinterested. "Anything more specific?"
All Ochaco could do was shrug in disappointment. She was beginning to realize just how difficult this really was going to be. It was a tremendous challenge to identify the realms where searches hadn't already occurred, and where someone with Jin Okami's ability could be utilized. Unfortunately, the possibilities were incredibly vast, especially right now while they had no leads to go on.
"Do not let it discourage you," he told her, being uncharacteristically thoughtful. "Just concentrate. Think of the location where Deku was most often situated with lots of other people present, to improve the odds of identifying a useful interaction."
With that in mind, Ochaco spent several moments weighing it. Training happened routinely, but the competitions had more students present. The issue was that competitions only took place on campus. Luckily, something came to mind. "One time, we had a competition, with the other hero class. After it was over, a bunch of us went for a hike through the hills off campus."
Jin raised an eyebrow. "When was this?"
"Not sure. At the end of our second school year, I think, so last February."
"Was there snow?"
"No," she said, starting to recall the events of the day. "Just rain."
"Always rain," Jin said with a sigh. "Washes away evidence. But that doesn't completely spoil things. Just show me where you all exited the campus, and we'll start from there."
If Ochaco had a word for the process, it was 'tedious.' From the moment the two of them began to trace the path, Jin was moving incredibly slow. He told Ochaco to inform him of any item in the vicinity that could have belonged to one of the students, but he was still checking every questionable object he laid eyes on. On numerous occasions, he had to take a break, often drinking an unknown beverage from his canister. Ochaco was worried that it was alcohol, but she was reluctant to inquire about it.
An hour passed, and Jin took a seat under a tree. As he sat there, he leaned back against the trunk, stretched his arms, and began to examine the surroundings.
While she waited for him, Ochaco noticed something else. Jin had an electronic device strapped to his left wrist: a tablet. Sure enough, he even switched it on and started watching something on the screen. "What are you thinking?" Ochaco asked, standing a few feet away.
"Deku sat down here previously," Jin brought up.
It was hard to believe he had that kind of power. But Ochaco knew it was legitimate. The details Jin brought up from his visions was proof of that. "I can't even remember everything from that day," she mentioned, wondering why it was so difficult for her.
"Selective memory," he said with a slight grin.
"What's that?"
"People don't remember routine or trivial behavior. It's the more meaningful interactions that deliver the more concrete memories." Jin motioned off to the right, where a boulder rested at the base of a Sakura tree. "Katsuki Bakugo laid waste to this rock."
"So, you know all of our names?" Ochaco asked, slightly concerned.
Despite his mysterious persona, Jin held his left wrist forward, revealing his tool. "I can see visions, but that doesn't mean I know the identities of everyone I see. Having this helps me save time with my research."
At hearing that, Ochaco vaguely recalled one of Bakugo's many outbursts. Considering how hot-headed Bakugo was, it must have been alarming for Jin to bear witness to his behavior.
And yet, Jin withheld his emotions so well.
"What else do you see?" Ochaco asked.
"You said you wanted to help, right? You don't see anything around here that one of them dropped? Some remnants of their presence here that day?" Not even waiting for a response, Jin returned to his feet and slowly scanned the ground near the boulder.
After a few moments, Ochaco recalled a few things. Deku tried to congratulate Bakugo on winning his match that day, and that led to Bakugo launching a blast toward him, which destroyed the boulder nearby. As if it had just happened, Ochaco turned her vision to the ground just beyond the boulder. And there she saw a piece of Deku's faceguard. "Over here!" she called out with excitement. She reached the debris first, picking it up and rushing over to Jin.
Instead of taking the item in his hand, Jin pointed to the ground. "Just set it down. It's easier." From there, he stared down at the piece of metal, running his Quirk.
This time, Ochaco watched the Wolf closely. She noticed that his blue eyes didn't even change in any way while we used his Quirk. The first person she thought of was Professor Aizawa, because when he used his Eraser Quirk his eyes grew red. Why didn't Jin show any signs from his Quirk?
Then Ochaco searched his body for other clues, and she noticed that his hands were in his pockets, as they often were. Was there a reason for that?
Two minutes passed, and Jin finally sighed, breaking the silence. "I'm getting too many other visions. This debris must have been here for years."
"I don't understand…" Ochaco revisited her memories of that day. She thought a piece of Deku's armor broke off that day, but it must have been another day instead. "Maybe there's more items around. He has green hair. There could be some strands." Selective memory was a real thing.
Although he looked doubtful, Jin didn't question it, and resumed searching without any complaint.
The search lasted over an hour, turning up no results. Ochaco felt her body tense up in frustration. Considering three weeks had gone by, she had been sure more clues would turn up by now. Even after assuring herself that this wasn't going to be easy, it still stung to make no progress. Eventually, Ochaco plopped down on the grass, letting out a loud sigh. Perhaps she really was in over her head.
Meanwhile, Jin had stopped walking around. He was busy on his tablet, studying the different student profiles. It would take him time to gather his thoughts on this case, but he had plenty of that. "You are able to identify your classmates, correct?"
Ochaco lifted her head up curiously. "Yes, I know all their names."
"I have an inquiry." Jin quickly walked over, holding the tablet so that Ochaco could view the screen. "There is one student with blond hair. A male. Do you know who that would be?"
She thought it over. "Aoyama and Ojiro have blond hair. Kaminari's hair is blond, but a bit darker."
"Those are kids in your class?"
"Right." Then it came to her. "Wait… do you mean Monoma? He's in Class 1-B… but he does have blond hair."
Instead of responding, Jin held his left arm closer to Ochaco, urging her to use the tablet. "Please find his profile."
Despite being somewhat puzzled, Ochaco followed the instructions. Under the database for Class 1-B, she found Neito Monoma, Seat Number 18. Complete with his mischievous smile and blond hair.
"I see." Jin nodded as he weighed his thoughts. "You are friends with him?"
"No," Ochaco clarified. "I mean, he's in the other hero class. Monoma is always trying to badmouth Class 1-A. He constantly tries to turn everything into a contest. It's motivating for us, but he does sometimes take things too far." It was strange explaining Monoma's behavior out loud to someone from outside the school. To everyone else who regularly observed him, his behavior was routine. However, Jin Okami probably found his actions to be unusual. Even so, did that really make him suspicious?
"What about Midoriya? Were the two of them friends?"
As always, having to talk about Deku made Ochaco get extra serious. "Not really. He did talk about Deku a lot, though. He wanted to find out about Deku's Quirk, but he could never successfully copy it."
"Copy?" Jin was confused.
"Oh, yeah. Right." She had to remind herself to explain everything. "Monoma's Quirk is called Copy. He can copy the Quirks of other people. However, it doesn't work on people with Quirks that store up energy to be used, including Deku's."
"What is Deku's Quirk?"
All she could do was look away. "Well… no one really knows for sure how it works. He calls it 'Super Power.' It boosts all his physical abilities, but he can also fly and do all kinds of different attacks as well."
As expected, the Wolf found that to be uncanny. Despite having a whole database on these heroes and their Quirks, the one subject he needed more information on was unknown. "There's something missing here. But that could explain the fascination with Midoriya. If Monoma was intrigued by this power, others could be too."
"Why did you ask about Monoma specifically, though?" She still wanted to find out where he came in. It was hard to imagine that Monoma could be involved in this, but she was desperate for answers at this point.
Jin lowered his arm as he walked past Ochaco and toward where the damaged faceguard was still resting in the dirt. "I saw quite a few visions around here. It was difficult to find anything that stood out. But eventually, I did zero in on one particular observation: This student with blond hair was routinely looking toward Midoriya. No… he was always looking his way. Any time they interacted, this student asked Midoriya about his Quirk. He asked many different questions, with varying approaches. This was clearly something he was interested in learning."
It was a startling revelation. She had never even noticed any of that. However, Jin managed to spot it, after reviewing the visualizations. Trying to imagine how that worked inside his head was nearly impossible. Somehow, he accomplished all of this just by studying the area where both classes were meeting after their competitions.
Then Ochaco had to also consider something else that was important. "Neito Monoma is just a student though," she said. "He's just a kid, like the rest of us. Just because he was a little… jealous of Deku, maybe… it doesn't mean he would wish harm upon him."
"How would you know?" Jin crossed his arms impatiently. "You said yourself you aren't really friends with him. It's not as if the two of you are close. You don't know him that well. Can you really make assured declarations of his nature with so little knowledge of him?"
Although it was humbling, Ochaco saw the point. "Fine. Maybe you're right."
"Maybe you are right," he said anyway. "It's simply that we cannot yet make that assumption. This is merely a potential lead, not a confirmed one. And right now, we need something. This is that something, at least for the time being." With that said, he peered out toward the U.A. campus, holding his hand over his face to shield his eyes from the sun. "The next step is having a conversation with this Neito Monoma."
"Wait a minute. How are we going to do that? I already told you, I can't get you onto the campus."
"It need not necessarily be on campus," he explained. "And anyway, I never said anything about it being me." While Ochaco grimaced at the distinction, Jin turned his gaze back to her. "You are going to have a talk with him."
