In this chapter:
Eagerness comes in many forms
6 – Investigator's passion
The yellow tape flapped a little in the wind in front of Midoriya, taunting him to cross over to the other side. This artificial boundary separated him from the scene he was dying to investigate. He took a deep breath and tried to not show how excited he was to enter and start working. As soon as Present Mic was done talking with the police he could cross over to the investigator's world. They had their permissions and everything, but since they were now in co-operation with the police and the whole operation was masked as a field trip, some procedures had to be followed. But could it happen a little faster?
Fidgeting, Midoriya looked up at the burnt and crumbling building that stood at the other side of the yard. It had definitely seen better days… The yellow tape twisted in the wind again, like it was smirking at him. It would have been so easy to cross if he wasn't following the rules. When Present Mic took his time chatting with the hero in charge, he almost started wishing he wasn't.
"Midoriya-chan."
Midoriya jerked and looked to his left to find Asui looking at him curiously. "W-what?"
Asui tilted her head at him and smiled. "Your face is like an open book to read right now. You must be really eager to get investigating, huh?"
"O-of course!" Midoriya replied, blushing a little, embarrassed how obviously bad he was at keeping a straight face. He shook it off and turned back to look at the building with a frown on his face. "There has to be something here. I'm just um… really itching to see can I find that something or not. You know what I mean?"
Asui nodded and followed his gaze. Her attention keened on the rough edges of the almost loose bricks around the second floor corner that marked the gaping hole in the wall. "For starters, I do wonder how that hole in the wall came to be?"
"It really stands out from afar, huh?" Sero said and shaded his eyes from the sun to see better. "That looks like something hit the wall with a small cannon."
"I'm pretty sure sensei doesn't carry a cannon around though," Uraraka laughed a little nervously, all jittery from the waiting and the thought of the place she was about to enter. "He… doesn't, right?" She looked at Kouda for confirmation, who quickly shook his head in response.
"Do I want to know what you're talking about?" Present Mic asked as he walked closer and raised the tape up in front of them, opening them a gateway to a different world and wiggling his finger as an invitation. "We're set, ladies and gents. Are you ready?"
Team A
Supervisor: Present Mic
Members: Midoriya Izuku, Asui Tsuyu, Kouda Koji, Uraraka Ochako, Sero Hanta
Mission directive: Investigate hideout 3, observe and record the activities of heroes
The five of them one by one entered the kidnappers' third and final hideout. Like the first hideout, it had once been used as office space for a small construction company. The big yard had only a few weeks ago been lined with heavy vehicles until a villain had fled her chasers here and been cornered inside, resulting in a fight and a fire that had left the place in the state it was now. This was the place where the SOS from Aizawa had lead the heroes to the previous morning and where the kidnappers themselves had been found defeated and caught. The neighbouring structures around the building had been damaged by the fire as well and were mostly emptied out. As far as the police so far knew, no one had been there to witness what had happened. A small group of policemen and a couple of heroes remained to investigate and secure the premises now. And their little group was there to join the effort.
Asui chuckled as Midoriya's face lit up when they crouched under the yellow tape. She hopped closer to the damaged building alongside her classmates and couldn't shake one thought off her mind. "I imagine Bakugo-chan is quite jealous right now."
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"This assignment is boring as fuck!" Bakugo barked at his teammates for the umpteenth time while they followed Midnight up the stairs of an apartment complex. Not only did he think this mission simply wasn't explosive enough, he didn't appreciate the mere fact he was involved with anything called the B team.
"Come on man, you could at least try giving this investigation thing a chance," Kirishima replied and punched Bakugo to the shoulder. "I mean I'm excited to see−"
"Well, be my guest, but I'm not!"
Ashido laughed and ran past them up the stairs, catching up to Midnight at the stairhead. "So sensei! Why do you have the key?" she giggled a little. "Did you get it from Aizawa-sensei? OH! Did you steal it?!"
Midnight gave her a naughty smile. "That's adult territory," she replied and then subsequently laughed at the I'm-not-sure-I-needed-to-hear-that −expression Jirou and Kaminari gave her. "I have one because Eraser thinks it's more practical that way. I believe mostly he was tired of me and Mic disturbing him by knocking and forcing him to get up and open the door. Also Mic broke his lock once to get in and he didn't like that."
"Oh?" Ashido said and leant closer, sniffing a cool story hanging ijust out of her reach, skipping backwards up the next set of stairs in front of her teacher. "What's this?"
"Hey, Mina," Jirou said cautiously, coming up to walk beside Midnight. "Are you sure we should be asking about personal things?"
"Aww, come on. This is a prime opportunity!" Ashido replied and grinned at her friend. "Don't lie, you want to hear some juicy details too, right." It wasn't really a question and before Jirou could either deny or agree, Ashido turned back to Midnight. "Come on, tell us tell us!"
"Maybe, if you're good," Midnight promised. "Now careful in the stairs young lady."
Ashido whirled around to hop up the stairs normally and was first one on the top floor, with Jirou a few steps behind. "So we're there?" Jirou asked, looking around.
Midnight nodded. "Just a little down this corridor." She stopped to look behind her and tapped her whip against her shoulder. "Come along now, boys. Chop chop."
Bakugo grumbled something under his breath but immediately jerked up, momentarily forgetting his disdain about the whole assignment, and dashed upwards when Kirishima challenged him and Kaminari into a race to the right door. On his way past the girls, he swore to get Kirishima revenge for the head start. It might have been a hint to how itching for action he actually was. Meanwhile, Kaminari ran after the two, audibly confused about what was the door number again.
Midnight looked after them, satisfied with their eager spirit. Some might call them noisy or unruly, but she was quite happy with what her team had become. She looked down at the last person coming up the stairs. "You too. Hurry up now, we're on the clock."
"You people have no class what so ever," Aoyama noted as he waltzed up the stairs with grace, but slightly hastened his steps to Midnight's satisfaction.
Midnight turned to follow the three who had raced away and Ashido who had followed them. Jirou had remained waiting beside her, which made the girl seem quite a model student in this demographic. The four others were now at different parts of corridor and arguing who had the right door. "Young'uns, remember there are neighbours. I have enough material to gag you all if misbehave ."
Team B
Supervisor: Midnight
Members: Ashido Mina, Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugo Katsuki, Kaminari Denki, Aoyama Yuuga, Jirou Kyoka
Mission directive: Investigate Aizawa's apartment and hideouts 1 and 2
"Bakugo-kun has the right door. Now gather around. Let's go in and see if we can find anything."
"HAH! I told you I was right!"
Midnight fiddled with the lock for a second until it opened with a click to let them in. Ashido was the first one to peak in through the crack of the door and she slipped inside as soon as the gap was wide enough, eagerly looking around her. Kaminari came in after her and immediately raised his eyebrows.
"Wow," he said and looked around the empty entrance way and the mostly bare shelves on the wall nearby. "I can already tell there is not much going on in this apartment."
"What an uncool house," Aoyama stated as well as soon as he stepped over the doorstep and walked in with a new personal mission in mind to add some glamour to the place.
"That does not surprise me honestly," Jirou said, searching for a light switch from the wall and continued when she found it and their view of the place brightened. "I mean, I didn't expect sensei to care much about décor or anything."
"Yeah but there's literally nothing here!" Ashido complained from ahead, already sniffing around curiously. "My kitchen would never be this clean. Or unused more like! There's barely even anything in the fridge!"
Bakugo huffed and leant to the door frame, not looking eager to go much further in. "I told you this would be boring." His words were followed by a loud clonk and a thump from the kitchen and a resounding oops from Ashido.
"Exactly what are you doing in there? If anything breaks, you can explain it to Eraser yourself," Midnight said, pulling Bakugo in with her and closed the door behind them. She then stopped to look around her as well. "It feels like such a long time I was here. You are right about the décor part. In Eraser's defence, ever since UA became a boarding school he hasn't spent much of his time in here either."
"Didn't you already ascertain that Aizawa-sensei hasn't come back here?" Jirou asked from the teacher as they walked further inside. "How did you check that?"
"From the landlady," Midnight replied and was about to elaborate when they were cut off.
"Oh wow… Hey miss Midnight!" Kirishima called from the living room. "I think sensei might have been here recently though!"
As they hurried to the living room to see what Kirishima was talking about, they were treated to a sight of countless printed out papers spread on the couch and around a laptop on the coffee table in front of it. A few maps were also spread partly on and partly off the table, like they had been haphazardly moved aside. The laptop was closed but was humming slightly and flashing a light on the side telling them it was on.
Kirishima scratched his head as Midnight came into the room and picked up one of the papers on the couch to show her. "I mean, at least these don't look like our essays or anything. Or if they are, I think I'm in for a big F…"
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"Can we talk with the kidnappers?" Tokoyami asked the detective as they walked through the police station and then closed his eyes. "In a dark interrogation room. With a one-way window and a bare wooden table…"
Tsukauchi looked over his shoulder. "I'm afraid it won't be that simple. You're still children, so with the pretext were working with, letting you just chat with villains is questionable. We would have difficult time explaining it to the people who don't know you aren't here to just tour the station." He scratched the back of his ear a little. "Sorry about that. I know you are here to get proper work done. I do plan on arranging you to view an interrogation, if just possible, and if you have questions, I can ask or pass them on for you."
"Appreciated," Tokoyami replied and nodded.
"I think I'd be pretty nervous just viewing one," Hagakure stated, but pepped up to clarify. "But it would be the good kind of excitement! You know what I mean?"
"Uh, I think so?" Ojiro guessed and offered the girl a smile. "At least it would be a learning experience."
Tsukauchi smiled at them and opened a room to an empty meeting room they had reached. "After you." When all the students had walked past him, he followed them inside and closed the door. "I've reserved this room for us to use as we wish. Tell me if there is anything you need or want in here. I will be with you most of the day, unless something comes up."
"Thank you, detective," Todoroki nodded, looking around the room with his classmates.
The big table and the chairs around it filled most of the available space. A computer had apparently been prepared for them to use on one end and on the other side a huge TV hang on the wall. Otherwise, the room was clean and bare, save for the orderly arranged pens and papers on the table and a basket of fruit, presumably meant to be their snack.
"Detective," Shoji spoke up after a little silence of the students thinking what was the first order of business and Tsukauchi waiting for them to say something. "Speaking of interrogations, has the other villain regained consciousness? We were told he was still in intensive care."
"Ah, right. No, unfortunately not." Tsukauchi shook his head and searched his phone for a moment before raising it up for them to see. They leant closer to see the basic medical report on the phone screen as Tsukauchi continued. "Your information is not old. The man has yet to recover from poisoning and is still in the hospital. Under a watchful eye of course. The other villain has been in a condition to be worked with but…"
"He has yet to talk, right," Tokoyami said and leant back away from the phone. Crossing his hands, he closed his eyes. "It's troublesome indeed."
Tsukauchi nodded in response and handed his phone to Todoroki when asked to see the medical report better.
"Detective," Ojiro spoke up and turned the adult's attention to himself. "We appreciate this chance and… I know this must be highly irregular for you as well. But I promise we will do our best to help. For Aizawa-sensei− um no, I mean Eraserhead as well. We will follow your guidance. What should we start with?"
"Hmm, yes." Tsukauchi replied and nodded again. His expression told them that he was taking them seriously, which was an encouraging detail to notice. "I trust principal Nedzu and have agreed to be in full co-operation with this plan going forward. I trust you all give it everything you can. After all, I believe this is somewhat of a personal issue to you is it not? Your teachers have surely send you here knowing and believing in your capabilities as well. Don't worry. I'm sure that with everyone working together on this, we can find your homeroom teacher. I have a few things we can start with so why don't we get to it without further ado?"
"Oh, oh, detective?!" Hagakure spoke up and raised her hand like in a classroom. "Can we meet the rescued child?"
Tsukauchi looked a bit troubled for a second before replying. "That might be difficult," he admitted. "The parents have been very unwilling to let us cause the child any further stress. We interviewed Eita-kun at the hospital before his parents took him back home. After that, all our questions have gone through the parents."
"Oh. Hm." Todoroki tilted his head a little in thought. After a moment of quiet, he looked back at Tsukauchi and the others. "I might be able to help with that."
Team C
Supervisor: Tsukauchi Naomasa
Members: Todoroki Shouto, Hagakure Tooru, Tokoyami Fumikage, Shoji Mezo, Ojiro Mashirao
Mission directive: Interview related parties and observe and record the activities of the police
Todoroki sat quietly by the table, holding his phone on his palm in front of him. Everyone else sat or stood silently around him, waiting and listening to the sound of the connecting call. After a few rings the beeping sound cut off and a man's voice sounded through the speaker. "Hello?" the voice sounded vary, but given the current incident, it was understandable to be suspicious of a number you didn't know. Todoroki hadn't had the number on his phone and he had first contacted his sister to get it.
"Kobayashi Akifumi-san, correct?" Todoroki replied. "Good afternoon. I'm−"
"Are you with the media? We're currently not accepting interviews," Kobayashi Akifumi interrupted with a strict voice. "I will arrange a press conference at a later date so if you wish to ask something. On work related issues please contact my secretary. And if you're trying to sell something the answer is no."
"Uh, no, I'm not with the media," Todoroki said quickly, not wanting the man to cut him off. "This is Todoroki Shouto. It has been a while."
Kobayashi Akifumi was clearly surprised to hear who he was talking with and the tone of his voice completely changed to something less businessman-like. "Shouto-kun? My, well, yes. It has been a while. How are you doing? Have you and your father been on any better terms lately?"
Todoroki frowned. This conversation was threatening to go off the planned direction fast. Also he really didn't feel like talking about this. "Things are fine. Thank you for asking," he added, hoping the answer was vague enough to hint the other not to ask more. "Akifumi-san−"
"Ah, my apologies. You must have a reason for calling me other than to just exchange formalities," Akifumi replied, clearly noticing this wasn't a good moment for small talk. "I'm afraid this isn't the best time for me, but I will hear you out. What can I do for you?"
Todoroki sighed inwardly in relief. "I know you're going through a lot right now. I have been following the news about last night."
"Ah…" Akifumi didn't sound surprised, more like he had expected the conversation to go there, but somewhat hoped it wouldn't.
"I'm sorry for your hardships," Todoroki offered his condolences, slightly worried the conversation was about to get awkward. "Is you son alright?"
"Yes," Akifumi replied. "Eita has been recovering well and we took him home from the hospital to make him relax a bit better. He is in the room next door. Would you like to talk with him?"
Tsukauchi, who was standing on the other side of the table and listening, looked relatively surprised Kobayashi Akifumi even offered to hand his son the phone. It would have been out of the question he had been the one talking. Tokoyami gave his classmates a thumbs up as well, marvelling in the power of the Todoroki name.
"No, that's alright" Todoroki replied, trying to think of the best way to approach his next suggestion. "I was wondering if I could come over to visit."
"What?" Kobayashi Akifumi sounded surprised and confused now, but he quickly collected himself. "I'm sorry, but now is really not the time. I'm sure you mean well and I appreciate the thought. It's just you see, we're avoiding bringing up possibly hurtful details about last night around Eita. He is still very young and we're hoping this whole ordeal wasn't too traumatizing for him−"
"The hero who saved your son was my teacher," Todoroki quickly continued before the man had time to voice more objections. This reveal clearly had Akifumi even more surprised. "We're performing an investigation of the case as a part of our school activities and hoping we could come talk with your family. There are some questions we'd like to ask from you and Chizuru-san. We can keep it minimal around your son. I'm sure Eita-kun would be interested to hear more about his rescuer as well?"
Akifumi was speechless for a while as he processed what he had just heard. "Eraserhead is your teacher? Goodness, well… first of all, do offer him my thanks for me. He seemed to be in a hurry last night and I didn't get a chance."
"Oh, um… yes. I will. He was… needed back at the kidnapping site," Todoroki replied, trying to read the signals Tsukauchi was sending him to talk his way around the subject smoothly. "As soon as possible."
"I see. But well… Hmm…"
Akifumi was clearly troubled by the request and took his time to consider it. Beside Todoroki by the table, Hagakure was fidgeting with anticipation. When the man on the phone took his time, she started to lean closer in, making little noises that resembled the words "say yes". Shouji gestured her to be quiet and Ojiro nudged her to return to her seat and let Todoroki concentrate on the call.
Akifumi sighed a little. "You said this was part of your school activities? You are enrolled in the UA right?"
"Yes," Todoroki replied. "Our teachers want us to learn about investigative work and cooperation with the police." Tsukauchi grimaced at the mention of the police and gestured Todoroki to elaborate before it became an issue. "Ah, no police would come with us of course. Just me and some of my classmates. So can we?"
Akifumi grunted a little, sounding displeased, but his answer brought a smile to their faces. "Yes. Eita would no doubt want to hear more about Eraserhead. I think it would be good for him to get something exciting to think about. And…" he sighed. "I do not want to get in the way of the education of Endeavour's son."
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Yaoyorozu piled all the paper documents in her hands onto neat categorized piles beside the computer she had on the table. "Takabe Masaru, known as a villain by the name Jungle, mutant type quirk gorilla," she listed professionally as she put the document she had been eyeing aside. "A man known on the street as a brawler with minor acts violence under his belt, he was properly added to the police database after an assault case four years ago, from which he was convicted to community service and agreed to pay compensation. A minor villain, in retrospect."
"All villains big or small must answer for their actions against law-abiding citizens!" Iida reminded her from the adjacent table while furiously typing away with his computer. He was busy making a coherent, easy to read list of all the key points surrounding the case. It would be ready for use and available to all, with an easy to read typeface and immaculate graphics. "Or property!" And proper punctuation.
"Sure but you've got to admit it could have been a lot worse villain to be dealing with," Sato said and set a plate of cookies and a slice of dry cake on Yaoyorozu's table. "This is all I can gather at this short notice. Will it do?" he asked as Yaoyorozu's eyes slightly but visibly lit up.
"Of course!" Yaoyorozu replied immediately and eagerly took the plate. "Thank you."
Sato scratched the back of his neck as his class' vice president inspected a cookie. "You know, I've been thinking. The reason− and I mean, I need more this kind of experience so of course I don't really care, but is the reason you asked me to stay with this group because you wanted sweets? Did you not get enough to eat at lunch or something?"
"What? No, no, it's nothing of the sort!" Yaoyorozu immediately denied, while catching half of the cookie that broke when bitten into and threatened to drop on the floor. "Sugar is an important fuel for the brain. It helps keep up concentration and… look, it's just science. The cerebral cortex reacts to the sweet taste and activates the reward system that releases more dopamine to the brain which then increases the neurotransmissions and… it…" She got slightly flustered at the raised eyebrow she was getting and lost her train of thought for a second. "It helps us think! Besides. This way we can stay motivated and cope with stress. We have a lot on our shoulders here after all. So why don't you get to work too now that you're back?"
She definitely just wanted to eat something sweet, Sato concluded, but decided not to argue.
"Hey, didn't you bring us any?" Mineta complained from behind another table. He was in a slightly bad mood because his desk wasn't in a proper angle in comparison to Yaoyorozu for a proper view. He was ready to bet All Might had arranged that intentionally.
As Sato proceeded to defend himself that ladies always came first and started to bring more cookies out for the others as well, the door to their room opened and All Might stepped in. With him another person entered, whose presence had all the students surprised.
"Principal Nedzu?!" Iida exclaimed and stood up to salute. "Sir! What brings you here?!"
The principal trekked closer and spread his hands like as a greeting. "No worries. I am just here to check how you're getting started. Looks like you're adapting to the new type of mission quite well! I knew you wouldn't be too flustered or panic. We're counting on you and brought you something special to help you along!"
All Might cleared his throat (wondering if it was okay to just interrupt the principal so they could get on with this a bit faster) and walked to the students. "Yes. The earpieces as promised. There is one for each you, young ones. No fighting!" he said, handing each of the students a small black headset with a microphone.
"Why would we fight over some radios?" Sato wondered semi-aloud while taking his piece and attaching the device into his ear. The sound of it connecting to the network All Might had set up crackled a bit uncomfortably and he fiddled with the controls for a moment to make it stop.
"Are you all connected?" All Might confirmed and nodded satisfied as the students one by one responded to his thumbs up. "All is right! Any incoming calls from your classmates to the number we set up will now be directed to one of you. But remember we are a team! Do not forget to discuss with everyone and ask for opinions and advice."
"Yes sir!"
"I will begin the research and search for links or clues the police might have missed," Yaoyorozu said, already typing away with her computer. "Mineta-san, you will handle the news, yes?"
"I said I'd do it, count on me! I know how to find the most juicy articles−"
"No side-tracking on the job, Mineta-kun!"
"Jeez, thank for the vote of confidence."
"What did you expect, dude?"
Team D
Supervisor: All Might
Members: Yaoyorozu Momo, Iida Tenya, Mineta Minoru, Sato Rikido
Mission directive: Act as mission control, gather and analyse information, and observe the media
Suddenly Yaoyorozu paused her typing and looked up at All Might and subsequently the principal who All Might was just lifting up to his work desk. "I almost forgot. Sensei, can we discuss the issue around the SOS message?"
All Might raised his eyebrows at her. "Is there an issue with it?"
Yaoyorozu nodded and clicked a couple of buttons on her computer to bring up the message to their joint screen on the front of room. "Yes. I am confused as to why this message was send at all."
They all looked up at the front screen to read the short message sent from Aizawa's phone early in the morning. The message included a location, a short description of the situation with some instructions and a promise to wait for backup to arrive.
Principal Nedzu hummed a little and nodded. "Are you referring to the timestamp?"
Yaoyorozu nodded. "Yes sir. In the amount of time between the message being delivered to when backup arrived, it would have been impossible to defeat both of the villains and reach the police station where the boy's parents were." She brought up the a map of the right area to the screen. "I cannot make a sure estimate of Aizawa-sensei's speed, however, even reaching the station in the required timeframe should have been difficult. There simply isn't a reason for this message to exist."
"Ah, yes, that's what you were talking about," All Might said and was about to continue when the principal talked over him.
Nedzu sat down on the edge of All Might's desk and looked like he intended on staying a longer while. "We have a theory on that. The other villain's quirk appears to allow short ranged jamming which could have delayed the message enough to make the times match. It seems likely that Aizawa-kun was forced to combat, either because he realised backup wouldn't be coming, the situation changed to require immediate action or the villains somehow found him."
"Principal, sir, don't you have other work to do?" All Might asked to which Nedzu assured that he was on the top of his schedule.
Yaoyorozu wasn't satisfied. "However the message still doesn't make sense. Aizawa-sensei had no reason to send it as is after defeating the villains since the situation clearly would have changed. Even if we consider the message was sent on its own, why didn't he send another with updated information? And what reason he had to leave the villains unguarded and take the boy away in the first place without informing other heroes of his actions?"
"Indeed, Aizawa-sensei is a rational person and this string of actions appears highly irrational," Iida said as well and sprang up his arm raised up high to make his next statement. "I believe it is safe to assume we are missing important pieces even surrounding this message!"
All Might grunted quietly and nodded. "I'd say there is no mistake about that. I have this feeling… call it a professional hunch, that to answer why Aizawa-kun left without waiting for help, we have to further explore the possibility of a third villain."
In the next chapter:
Progress is made in both the past and the present. Also Midoriya mumbles a lot.
