TW: MENTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF CHILD ABUSE. IT WILL ONLY INCREASE FROM THIS CHAPTER FORWARD
Saitou Hibiki.
At this point, Present Mic knew a few things. She was a teenager. She ran an illegal medical clinic catering to the criminals of Musutafu. Her quirk allowed her to diagnose and switch injuries with other people. And now? Her name. There was definitely a lot more he needed to uncover, but with a name, he had something he could actually use .
"Hey Shou," Hizashi called over from his computer. "I think I've narrowed it down to the right Hibiki."
Aizawa Shouta was on the other side of the teacher's lounge. He had chosen to stay late to keep his husband company while the man scratched this mental itch of his. "About time, too. Before you know it, you'll have to leave for the show."
"Oh I'd never be late for that. You know me!"
Ah yes, Put Your Hands Up Radio was tonight. Not that he would forget, exactly, he loved his show! It was just easy to lose the time with his mind occupied like this.
"Yeah, I know you. That's the problem."
Something still wasn't right. "It seems that her basic records are sparse. I get that she's young so she wouldn't have any marriage registration or property ownership, but it just has her date of birth and her quirk. Even the quirk we knew was wrong, but at least it's wrong in a way we already knew about. That and the process of elimination are the only reasons I'm sure this is her."
That made Aizawa frown and come over to look over Hizashi's shoulder at the screen. After a moment, he mentioned the elephant in the room. "Her parents aren't listed. Even if they weren't in the picture or disowned her for whatever reason, they should still be there as well as the current legal guardians. But nobody is. She's not recorded as an emancipated teen either."
"It seems strange that this would be a clerical error. For this to have happened, someone would have had to make her record at her birth and then forget to add her parents."
"Shouldn't they have noticed when her quirk was registered?"
"Mhmm. So the information was never entered which then went unnoticed, or it was removed at some point. But I have no idea why someone would do either."
"So," Eraserhead asked as he sat in the chair at his desk next to his husband's. "What's your plan now?"
Mic sighed. "I need to find out who the parents are because unless I have their information this case will have hit a dead end. Normally, I would want to try to use the date of birth and ask the hospital everyone who was born on that date and then for the parents of those children."
"But?"
"But I would need a warrant to access information like that. I would prefer to keep that as a last resort."
The paranoid voice in his mind was telling him that on the off chance Saitou's parents' were removed from her records deliberately, someone might have an interest in keeping it that way. By making an inquiry known by requesting a warrant for that information, it might alert them. There was no telling how desperate someone might get. Of course, the chance was small, but not impossible. It was smarter to prepare for the possibility and plan around it rather than bulldoze through and be caught by surprise when it would be too late to do anything. It might take more elbow grease, but he had other options available to him.
The blond rubbed his temple already knowing this was going to be a headache. "The only thing I can think of is to go through obituaries since those might give us more detail about family than a death certificate would. According to Tanaka, Hibiki's mother died when she was young. Presumably, that would mean that the mother died before she met Tanaka. I didn't think to ask when the two of them met because I didn't think it was important at the time, but we know it had to have been before Tanaka lost her eyesight since she mentioned Hibiki's reaction to that event. I personally know that happened when Tanaka was seven because I've talked with her about that in the past. That would be the latest possible date for the death with Hibiki's birth being the earliest."
"That's still about seven years to work through."
"Right. And on top of that, we can't even assume that the mother had the same surname since it could have happened out of wedlock, but at the very least we can be sure that she wouldn't have been too old to have had a child. Since the hospital Hibiki was born in and the school she attended with Tanaka were both in Kurosanto, it seems reasonable to start there and hope the family didn't move around in that time frame."
Aizawa then turned and logged onto his computer. "You start from the beginning of that time frame and I'll go from the end, then we can meet up in the middle. Since you know some of these details better than I do, I'll keep a list of my maybes so you can better eliminate them later. Let's see how many we can crank out before your show."
"If I win, we're eating at that American-style diner you never let me go to."
"Because I can barely qualify that as food, which is big coming from me . Even All Might refuses to eat there and he loves all things American."
"Well, I think it has plenty of charm."
"You can't eat charm, Hizashi, but fine. If I get it first, you're making dinner."
"Deal."
Hizashi was on year three and he could just feel his eyes glazing over. He only had an hour left before he had to leave so it looked like he wasn't going to get this cracked before the show. He was moments away from reminding Shouta that he wasn't all that great a cook and so should be aiming his sights pretty low, when a name caught his eye.
Shiho .
That was the other name that X-Ray had given him. He was sure now that "Tanaka" referred to Rin, as they were best friends. However, he hadn't had a clue who this Shiho might be.
What if Shiho was the mother? Could it really be that simple?
The obituary was short but it was everything he needed.
"Shou! I found it!"
"What? Really?"
"Look at this!"
Not bothering to actually get up, Aizawa scooted over to see what his husband was referring to.
Saitou Shiho, taken from us at the tragically young age of 28 as a casualty of the Akato Station incident last Thursday. Beloved friend, wife, and mother, Shiho had achieved her lifelong dream of serving her community by becoming a trauma nurse. Her friends and coworkers recall her great dedication to others and great love for her family. She is survived by husband, Hideki, and daughter, Hibiki.
The timing, the age, the names they knew, it all matched up. It was impossible that this wasn't it.
Eraserhead seemed to linger on it for a few moments before he made his true thoughts known. "Okay, we'll eat at that stupid diner! But I reserve the right to choose when. I want to make sure I don't have a patrol right after the inevitable food poisoning."
"As long as you don't deflect for more than a month!"
" Fine ," Shouta huffed, but he seemed to want to avoid thinking of his future suffering. "Okay, where do you want to go from here? Research-wise, I mean."
Oh. Right. He only had an hour left. "The best way would be to research the father and the mother. Follow those lines of inquiry. But I don't think I have enough time before I have to go. I might look into this Akato Station incident. The name sounds familiar, but I don't know much beyond that. It might be important. So I guess the question is if you wanted to start on either of the parents or leave that to me for later?"
Shouta wasn't too keen on even more database research. He preferred more hands-on methods of information gathering. It's part of what made the two of them a good team. It was just that at this stage, it wasn't like there was anything else that could be done.
"I'll at least get you a headstart and work until you leave."
"Thanks, any bit helps!"
Hizashi scrawled the names and Shiho's date of birth so his husband can get right into the search. They needed to make the most of this time while they could.
Researching the Akato Station incident turned out to be a double-edged sword. Apparently it was a defining moment in the town's history so there was plenty of press and information. But Yamada knew very well that the more press there was, the easier it was for things to get distorted. As it was, it seemed the story was that four employees of the regional rail line went rogue and worked together to intentionally crash a train into another one already stopped at Akato Station. The station was near the city center and the collision occurred at the peak of rush hour. It was clear that the perpetrators wanted to cause the maximum carnage with their act as possible. With over 50 deaths and nearly twice that injured, it was certainly devastating.
All four employees who were confirmed to have caused this tragedy either died in the collision or committed suicide shortly thereafter to avoid the media circus. An additional man was arrested on suspicion of involvement, but after his release due to lack of evidence, an angry mob of distraught family killed him. The various news articles Hizashi found disagreed on whether law enforcement were complacent in some way since their response was unusually slow.
He was working through the police and hero response reports for that mob attack when Aizawa interrupted his train of thought.
"Hizashi, I think this is going to be a lot more complicated than you thought."
"Were their records deleted too or something?"
"The opposite. The mom's is pretty normal. I've found out her quirk is a minor healing one and took the highest-level license for medical quirk-use. The license paperwork showed that she worked as an ER nurse at the Kurosanto General Hospital. Then the marriage documents showed she was indeed married to Hideki, and it was about three years before their only daughter was born. The only police reports I found with her name attached were as a witness."
That was pretty standard. The only thing Hizashi could possibly have to follow-up on would be the quirk-use license. Most people who had occupations that their quirk would be useful for had to apply and take an industry-regulated course to allow them to actually use their quirk. They were only valid for use at the workplace which had to also sponsor and manage their employees' quirk usage. However, those in the emergency services could apply for licenses that gave them more freedom due to the impromptu nature of emergencies, but were subject to more rigorous training as a result. Hero licenses were of the same vein, just had different rules and regulations than medical quirk licenses. For Shiho to have had the highest level, she would have had to be very accomplished in her subfield and the accompanying coursework.
"So what about the father?"
Shouta sighed. "That's the problem. 'Zashi, he's a pro hero." He turned his computer screen so that his husband could see.
Hizashi swiveled his chair to look. " Noci? He looks like he only operates in Kurosanto."
But that name looked familiar. Looking back at his own computer gave him the answer. Noci was the same hero who was first on the scene to the mob attack. He was also reportedly nearby Akato Station when the collision happened in the first place. Not only that, but if his wife was among the dead, that would certainly have made this a very personal case. With the potential conflict of interest, the entire mob attack report was thrown in an entirely different light. With this in mind, he scooted his chair closer to Shouta's computer to read Noci's official profile far more closely.
"Wait Shou, does he have an incident report?"
Accolades and achievements were always prominently displayed on these profiles, but the evn on the law enforcement database they were using, the incident report was usually very difficult to find and only accessible to higher clearance levels. It was usually meant for internal investigations or personnel transferrals. If an agency or a police station wanted to take in a hero, it was important they know what kind of employee they would be taking on, and what kind of liability they would be facing. Most things were technicalities. All damage to property or injury to suspects had to be reported. For some of the heavy hitters, like All Might in his heyday, that could really add up. However, the incident report also contained information on any investigations or accusations made against them as well as violations and misconduct. A hero's incident report was all their official dirty laundry so naturally it was important to have security for it.
Hizashi personally didn't have the clearance to access these reports, however, a while ago, a friend who did gave his clearance password to him on grounds of convenience, but never actually changed his password afterward. Mic had known better than to look a gift horse in the mouth and just kept quiet about it. After all, it saved him from a couple of team ups that would have been difficult for even him to navigate. And he got along with most anybody. So he was going to keep using this password until he was told otherwise. The slap on the wrist that would come from this slight abuse in power would be worth it.
Especially now. When Mic entered the password at the prompt, both men swore under their breath. The resulting sheet was long . Usually only nation-wide heroes had this kind of report since they were taking on villains that tended to cause heavy damage so they would have to do some of their own when tackling them. But for a local hero? This was pretty nuts.
"Most of these look like injury reports for suspects." Hizashi murmured as he scanned the document. "I mean… it comes with the job but this looks…"
"Excessive." Eraser finished. "Though, wait... The phrasing seems strange. Look." He pointed to one example.
Simulated: Fractured left shin, broken nose, three lacerations to the upper right arm.
Nearly all of the other examples also had a section on 'simulated' injuries whether actual injuries occurred or not.
"Simulated? Can you go back to what his quirk was again?"
The incident report was minimized and the profile returned.
Pain transferral: Any acquired physical pain can be stored for up to four (4) hours and given whole or in part to another person through skin contact. The pain is analogous to the original injury without the physical damage. Quirk user experiences dampened or reduced form of pain while it is stored. Stored pain can be eliminated at any time without a recipient.
The entry gave Mic some thought. It was clear why it would be a useful quirk for hero work. Pain was something that was very difficult to work through and can make anyone stop in their tracks. A rampaging villain may be brought to their knees if they honestly felt like they were being stabbed without having to get the logistics or red tape of actually severely injuring someone. But the limitations of the quirk meant Noci would have to have the pain himself first.
"It would make the most sense," he started thinking aloud as he was prone to do. His husband was very used to this. "If he had to feel pain, he would have to have had those injuries within four hours of giving them to those suspects. The question is, how can he work like that? Be that injured? That would affect your ability to fight, right? Four hours isn't a long enough time for recovery from any useful injury."
"Unless you knew someone with a healing quirk."
"Like his wife…"
But his wife died years ago. He would have had to find someone else. Perhaps an acquaintance at the hospital, someone at his agency, the police station, or…
No! That was a thought he really didn't want to consider. Some people were monsters and abused their power, but that would be too far. And from a hero! Hizashi couldn't make accusations like that. Not unless he was absolutely sure. He especially didn't want to do anything that would alert Noci he was investigating this because if that worst possible scenario was true, he needed to proceed with the utmost caution.
He had to make sure all the sunny forest paths led to dead ends before he would be forced to walk the one plunged in shadows and ghosts.
"Hizashi, you have that face." Shouta pulled him out of a thought spiral again. "You're really worried about something. A hunch."
The man hesitated. "I don't even want to say it out loud. Not while there are any other possibilities. There would be no turning back once I start making talk like that."
Aizawa considered this and turned back to his screen. It's possible he had the same suspicions as they both had the same facts for this case. But if he did, his face betrayed nothing as if agreeing with his partner to stay quiet on the matter. He then looked at the clock.
"You have to leave for your show."
Startled, the blond quickly confirmed this fact with his own look. Dammit! Just as he was getting somewhere. He quickly started closing everything and logging off his computer.
While he was gathering his things, Shouta spoke up. "Look, whatever it is, these simulated injuries are key as are the timing of it all. I'll get these all onto a spreadsheet with their dates and times if any are listed. I don't know what we can compare them with, maybe buried in each case report itself or something."
"Shou, that's going to take you hours! You don't have to do that!"
"My agency is mad at me for not taking required time off and are basically forcing me to stay home for the next couple of nights. If I do this, then we don't have to go to that stupid diner. Deal?"
As much as Mic wanted to protest, he knew this would save him a lot of time. Someone would have to spend hours copying and pasting data and he himself had three jobs that could each be a single, fulfilling career for most people. If his husband was going to offer, then he wasn't going to let that opportunity go.
"Deal. I'll see you later!"
Eraser waved him off with an affectionate dismissal as he stuck a thumb drive into the computer.
"I want to, once again, thank all of our experts for coming in this week! We're going to be taking calls after a short music break so please, if you have any stories about survival, or questions in general, don't be afraid to ask! Just as another reminder, if you or a loved one is experiencing domestic violence, please contact any one of the hotlines we will be listing on our website. If it's an emergency, contact emergency services. While I am a hero, I don't think I could get there as fast as you need me to."
Mic then hit a button to mute his microphone. Moments after, his switchboard operator on the other side of the glass wall started the music playlist the two of them had previously and carefully prepared. His show was usually a fun environment, but once a month he had special episodes to highlight different social issues. Last month was environmentalism, the one before that was stress in the workplace, etc. Instead of a music-dominated show like he usually did, they only served to give him breaks between segments during these shows. They typically started with an introduction by himself, perhaps with a personal story or two of his own if he had any, listing the charities the show's revenues for the night would be going towards, interviews with a few experts on the topic with all of them entering into a joint discussion, followed by a call-in segment where people could share their own stories or ask questions. He always ended his show with a winding down segment of music that were either calming or just generally feel-good songs.
The call-ins this time around were going to be particularly rough just by nature of the topic so tonight slightly strayed from the norm. Usually, when people called in, they were screened by interns so that way they could determine if it would be relevant or a good enough story to tell live. The callers would then be put on a queue to connect with him live. But for a night like this, the callers were just going to have to leave a message for him. This was actually industry standard for a show as popular as his, but he liked having an actual back-and-forth with his fans. That's why he did the show as his hero persona in the first place. It was just that this topic was so sensitive, they were going to have to screen the messages carefully to make sure that they can air it on the radio. The higher-ups wouldn't like people going into gorey details and all that so it was best to take the extra steps even if he personally felt this was the most important time to speak directly with listeners.
Yamada stretched his legs during the small break, though he was mostly waiting for the queue to have at least a couple messages that were ready to go. A couple of songs in, he got the heads up from his director that all was ready to go. After the current song he turned his microphone on once more.
"Alright, listeners! We're back on the air and I'll be taking calls. Just as a reminder, due to the nature of the topic for tonight, conversations may be sensitive for you, but just remember that these conversations are important to have. Alright, first caller, you're up!"
"Hello, Present Mic. I have a question."
His eyes widened at the recording. That voice! That was X-Ray! Or more accurately, Hibiki since her voice wasn't being modulated by the mask she wore at the Bunker. Frantically, Mic signed to his director to see if it was possible to pull the phone number this call was made from. Using sign language was faster than writing things down, so it was easier to quietly communicate with his staff during the show since both his switchboard operator and director knew it as well. For her to have called him was a huge deal. This time, she was actively seeking contact, not the other way around. And to call during a show with a topic like this? It made Tanaka's fears far more credible which in turn made Mic more determined to get to the bottom of things. From what little he had, it was looking like she was more a victim than a villain in this case. This case was getting personal in a way he hadn't anticipated. The man could see she needed help and was determined to give it.
There was a pause that was artificially cut into the recording so that they could give the illusion everything was live and used that to respond. "Thank you for calling, little listener! What did you want to ask?"
"What do you do if nobody will believe you?"
"It takes a lot of courage to talk about painful experiences, especially if they are still happening. There's little that can crush that courage faster than not being believed. A lot of abusers are skilled manipulators and they can manipulate not just you, but also your support circle to undermine you when you do get brave enough to talk. The best advice I can give is to not give up. There will be someone, at least one person, out there who will believe you. At the very least, the hotlines we have linked on the show's website are full of people ready to believe you and help you get somewhere safe."
He knew that this was a recording, but no doubt X-Ray was listening. That answer would undoubtedly help many people, but he knew it would mean nothing to her. Hizashi knew she felt completely and utterly alone and that these general helplines could do nothing for her. He had to do more.
"And I can tell you right now, I'll believe you. No matter how crazy your story might seem, I'll take it seriously. I've already personally witnessed some pretty absurd things in my work as a hero. You can't surprise me. If I'm your last option, I'll do it in a heartbeat."
As he spoke, Yamada noticed his director trying to get his attention, then signed that he had the phone number he was looking for. Good. He just hoped that the girl didn't call from a payphone and that this was a number he could actually call back. He needed to try to establish contact again. He had to. But not at this moment. He had a show to do.
"I hope that helps, dear listener! Don't give up hope and keep fighting! Now, let's take another call!"
An hour or two of calls later and he was at the wind-down portion of the show. There wasn't much of anything left on his end of things, he just needed to be awake enough to close out the program at the end. Which meant he had time for some calls of his own. Of course, there weren't many people he could call this late. After Hizashi sent his husband a quick text that he would be home soon, he left the booth to ask his director for that number X-Ray called from.
"Hey Mic," he said, with the slip of paper in his hands. "Why do you need this number? You know I'm not supposed to use my quirk this way, but you seemed desperate."
Hougen Atomu could have gone into law enforcement if he wanted to. After all, his quirk allowed him to trace signals, including tracing unlisted phone numbers which was incredibly useful in investigations. But instead, the man wanted to work in entertainment, not that Hizashi didn't borrow his services from time to time. There was something admirable about that, to follow your own dreams despite the pressure to follow the profession that would benefit from the use of your quirk best. That was a societal issue all on its own. Perhaps one for another episode….
No, Hizashi was getting off track now. "All I can say is that it's part of an investigation I'm working on. She's never contacted me before so this is a pretty big deal."
"Fine," the man conceded and handed Mic the slip of paper. "As long as you know that if this gets back to me-"
"I'll take the heat for it, I know, I know. Same as always. Thanks." It wasn't like Mic asked Atomu for these favors often; this was only reserved for last-option scenarios. It just meant that in the rare instances he did need Atomu to use his quirk, the stakes were usually pretty high.
Number in hand, Hizashi stole away into a private room to make his call. He didn't want there to be any risk of anyone or anything listening in. Sure, it was cramped in the broom closet, but he didn't expect to stay there too long. He used his burner phone to dial the number once he settled himself leaning onto the small space in one of the corners between two shelving units.
Technically, he had three or four phones at any given time. First was his personal phone that was only to be used for personal affairs and business that was separated from his hero work. His other regular phone was the one he used for official Present Mic business. That was the number his radio station had as well as his hero agency and the various employees and managers he needed to run his life. PR managers, support gear and costuming discussions, his work schedule, all that was on there. He liked keeping these two phones separate because it was easier to compartmentalize his persona if it had its own phone. He could also, should the need arise, turn off his work phone but still have his personal one available so he could actually take time off. If he ever did in the first place.
However, he also tended to have at least one or two burner phones on him at most times. He was usually given one on a case-by-case basis. It was a pretty simple process. That way his investigation handler could reach him in emergencies. Often he took the time crafting a personality and had an advanced tech team make it seem like his character actually existed in the real world long before he really did. That way if a particularly nosy and untrusting mark decided to snoop through his phone, nothing could give him away. These were always returned at the end of the mission and its log data was entered into evidence. But if he wanted a phone that police didn't know to take from him, one that could be used for edge-cases, he had to get his own burner phone.
That off-the-grid burner was what he used to call the number he had for X-Ray. Now that he knew that an active hero might be involved in this case in a bad way, Mic wanted to be able to determine exactly what information would be handed over to the rest of the team. It wasn't like he didn't trust his own team, but he had to proceed with the utmost caution now. He needed to have more information before he went to them with his findings. The implications as he had them now were dangerous, so he had to make sure of them before making them known. These were the kinds of things that could end careers, founded or not.
Taking a deep breath, Yamada dialed the number and waited.
After several rings, the phone went to voicemail. He expected that since Hibiki was pretty reclusive and already rehearsed it in his mind. He wanted it to be clear that he knew who exactly he was speaking to, but not in any incriminating way. Just in case this was a number to a public phone rather than a private one.
"Hey, hey, hey, little listener! This is Present Mic. I was concerned about the call you made to the show earlier. This is a secure, private phone of mine so you don't have to worry about your information getting anywhere it shouldn't. If you ever wanted to talk, you can call or text this number at any time. I'm here if you need me, Hibi-chan!"
Using that honorific for her might have been a bit excessive, but it got the point across. Hizashi figured that there was likely one person who called her that. So by letting Hibiki know he knew that nickname, he was also letting her know that he'd talked with Tanaka. Hopefully that would work in his favor.
Either way, it was now out of his hands. Hopefully she will respond, but that wasn't anything he could control. He returned to the recording booth even though there were a few songs left. It was better to remain there and not lose track of time. That happened before and it was super embarrassing!
Just as he sat down, he felt his phone vibrate. Incredulously, he checked. It was his burner. Hibiki texted him.
Can you prove it? How do I know you are who you say you are?
That was fair, he supposed.
Idk if there is something only the two of us know. I could give a live shout out ? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
No shout out
Uhhhhhhh selfie? With something you want me to write?
Fine. Handwrite the answer to the question: What was the first thing I said to you?
I might have been out cold, would it be ok to do the first thing I remember you saying?
That would be fine.
K one sec!
It took a little bit to remember. That was back in the Bunker. Wow, that felt like it was ages ago. He couldn't quite remember the exact phrasing, but he could only hope it was good enough.
You were talking to the guy who brought me in: How many times have I told you the difference between the normal call button and the emergency call button?
Despite a strange look from his director, he took the selfie and texted it along with a message saying he was going to end the show real quick so he was putting the phone on silent. He didn't want the sound of the vibration interrupting the recording. That would just be unprofessional. But it was only going to be about 15 minutes anyway. Hopefully she could wait that long. Hell, she was probably listening to it. It was a breeze though. He'd done it so many times it was nearly autopilot at this point. Closing thoughts on the night's show, suitable reminders, announcements regarding next week's show, English word of the night, and the final goodbye. Easy.
As soon as the equipment was all shut off, he checked his phone.
Alright, I believe you. I want to talk, but not over the phone.
So… in person? When and where? Was she really setting up a meeting herself? This was a pretty big deal. It must really be urgent. He found himself hoping everything was okay with her.
As Hizashi waited for a response, he took both the pages he had used, both the one with Hibiki's number and the other with his selfie response and slipped both into the shredder in the office. There. No trace.
He was just finished gathering his things when the response text finally came in.
There is a children's park close by. I'll send you the address. It's public but not too crowded that we would be overheard. An open area so both of us can see enough to be sure there won't be an ambush. I'll send you the address. Can you be there as early as 10 am tomorrow?
That was really short notice. It had to be really urgent, to be sure. Hizashi doubted he would get a chance like this again, so he agreed.
I think I can manage that. I might be tired though!
That's fine. See you then.
See ya!
The only thing left was to go home and prepare for the meeting. That and break the news to Shouta. He knew for a fact that his husband was going to absolutely hate this.
"This is an awful idea and I can't believe you were stupid enough to agree to it." Aizawa was doing his best to convey his anger quietly so as to not wake up Eri in the next room. Unfortunately, he was very good at that.
"Look, I know. It's just… it just sounded really important. I couldn't just say no!"
Shouta sighed as he plopped onto their bed in about five different kinds of exhaustion. "This isn't one of our students or even a random citizen needing help, Hizashi. This is a criminal who knows you're after her, has untold connections, and a dangerous quirk. This sounds like a classic trap."
"Shou… It's not like I haven't considered that." He gently sat down next to his husband. "You must feel it too. There's something about this case that just seems wrong and I need to find out what. I know there's a risk, but I think I have to take it. If I don't, I might never get a chance to talk to her. At least not unless she's behind bars."
"At least don't go alone."
"If I go in with backup, I will lose all trust she has put in me. And I get the feeling that's hard to earn in her case. Besides, I don't think I can get anyone so last minute."
There was a moment of silence before Shouta responded. "I could do it."
"Shou?"
"I could be your backup. I've done undercover work before. You know that. I know the situation, I know how you work, and I would be able to be there despite how soon it is."
The two stared at one another. Eraser was deadly serious, unwavering in his intent to not accept a refusal. Hizashi had to admit that there was little he could really say to that effect anyway.
"Okay. But if we're going to do this, we need to plan this very carefully and for as many contingency plans as we can think of. I don't think we're going to be getting much sleep."
"Do we ever?"
"Fair point."
It really had taken most of the night to prepare. With so many unknowns there was a lot to account for. The biggest point of contention was how to get Aizawa there in a way that looked natural. It ended up being the riskiest part of this plan. Since it was specifically a children's park, it wasn't like Eraser could just be a hobo to be ignored. If anything, that would raise even more suspicions. No, he would have to come with a child. And since none of the stand-ins available to the police for sting operations would be able to make it on such short notice, they had only one option. Their own daughter.
Yeah, there was a lot of debate about that option. But there was nothing for it. So that led to many more discussions and amendments to their contingency plans. They also managed to get Yagi to hang out at a cafe a block away as a safe zone. If things went south, the first priority would be to get Eri out so she could make a break for that cafe. They even had an alert text prepared to send to the retired hero so he could start his way to the park to meet her part way and escort her the rest. Hopefully that wouldn't come to pass.
All four of them met at the cafe beforehand to run through the plan over some breakfast. Hizashi and Yagi were dressed fairly normally. It had been a few years since All Might retired and the man was finally starting to enjoy relatively normal peace out in public. Present Mic on the other hand, benefited from the fact that his hero look was drastically different than his civilian one.
Poor Shouta had the most changes. As an underground hero, he didn't have as much of a presence for his hero work than the other two. However, as the homeroom teacher for UA's most notorious hero class to-date, he had a lot of press time. Those students had already graduated, but only in the last year. It was going to take some time before he could regain some anonymity. Luckily not much was needed. Shaved so they could apply a fuller fake beard, though it was still closely-trimmed, makeup to hide his scar, and then fake glasses to round everything out.
Mic looked at his watch for what must have been the hundredth time. It was getting close to when his husband and daughter would be heading out. It was better if they were already there before he himself arrived. He just needed to reassure himself one last time.
"Okay Eri, what will you be doing today?"
The little girl, for her part was excited to be part of something important, especially since she wasn't in the center of it. "Play like normal and pretend I don't know you! Just like when the paparazzi find you!"
"Good."
The one time Yamada was actually thankful for those nosy assholes. At least Eri knew how to act casual and indifferent toward him when needed. He didn't want her publicly connected to him lest her privacy was violated.
He continued. "And if I or your father give you the signal?"
"Run back here as fast as I can. Don't look back. Don't stop. You two are heroes and know what you're doing so I just need to stay safe." She said it like this is the billionth time she has had to say it. And well, they did make sure to have her say it often enough that it would be instinct should the need arise. So she wasn't exactly wrong .
It wasn't just this instance either. Considering her past and their current professions, the threat of danger had been a constant possibility in their minds as a family. Made plans for the worst-case scenarios, safe places, what to do if those safe places were no longer viable, how to recognize danger, following directions in an emergency, how to recognize someone who could be trusted. They may have been going through these instructions for years, but this was the first time she was going to be walking into such a situation intentionally. It made them all a bit nervous.
"Good, good, good." He let out a sigh that wasn't so much a relief, as it was a release. "Alright, have fun sweety!"
He watched his family leave, and continued watching until they turned the corner, out of sight. Part of him wanted to run after them, but he had to keep their connection to him on the down-low. That was kind of the point of all of this. So instead he turned his attention elsewhere.
"Thanks for helping us out on this, Toshinori. I know it was so last-minute. I really owe you one."
The older man waved him off over his mug of hot tea, the book he had planned on reading lay on the table between them. "The pleasure is all mine. It's been a while since I've been asked to help out with a case. Besides, I could tell this is probably one of your core cases."
"Core case?" That wasn't a term he'd heard before.
"One of those cases that, regardless of societal importance, feels vital to you . One that speaks to the core of your being or feels like it defines you as a person. A lot of the time, you don't realize it until later, but not always."
"Have you been reading philosophy books in your spare time?" Hizashi asked dryly.
The pair laughed, though he did have a point. Mic's personal investment in this case was way higher than normal. He could only hope that it didn't bite him in the ass later.
They made small talk for about fifteen minutes, hopefully it was enough time to allay suspicion, but he really did have to leave now to make the meeting time. The park was fairly small, but was how Hibiki said it would be. There was a small playscape in the center with benches and picnic tables available with the remaining space open. There was another couple with a young boy there besides Aizawa and Eri. It definitely gave his family more believability, but it meant there were more people to worry about. He supposed that was the point of meeting in a public place. Accountability.
Hibiki was also already there. She sat on a park bench on the farther edge, but still in easy view of the playscape. The teen was stiff, probably too stiff, but considering the situation, that made sense. Her back was to him so he circled around a bit so she could see him approaching. Didn't want to surprise her or anything. As he approached, the girl scooted over to one side of the bench to give him room to join her. Even still, he felt the need to ask first.
"This seat taken?"
"Go ahead." She was hugging herself tightly and spoke quietly.
It was very out of character for the teen he'd gotten to know over these past few weeks. But maybe this was more real than he had ever been permitted to see before. He sat down, but made sure there was enough space between them so she wouldn't feel crowded. If he could make her comfortable, then maybe she would open up fully.
The pair sat there in silence for a few long minutes. It was hard for Hizashi to fight the urge to start, but since she was the one who wanted this meeting, she had the right to speak her piece. Finally, she caved.
"I lost a patient last night." Her voice was small, vulnerable, scared . "I mean, it wasn't the first time. It's inevitable. I have someone come in every once in a while with injuries too severe for me to help. I let everyone who comes in know that I'm not a miracle worker, that I do what I can. It hurts, but my conscience has always been clear."
This wasn't what he was expecting at all and the situation brought with it a whole host of other problems. With an admission that she was responsible for someone's death, intentionally or no, that put this case in a completely different legal category now. Before there was some concern about this, but not a high priority. It was easy to convince himself that it was more like an advanced first aid station despite the knowledge otherwise. But now he couldn't ignore it. Now that he knew someone had died, multiple someones, apparently, he would now be complicit in any deaths that occurred from this point forward. He had to proceed very carefully now.
"So what was different this time?"
"Two patients had an emergency at the same time. I had to choose who to help first and just hope I was able to get to the other in time. I… I wasn't fast enough." Miserably, she covered her face with her hands.
As a hero, that kind of a scenario was a nightmare. No matter what you did, you were guaranteed to come out of it with a lifetime of sleep-destroying guilt. But it was something he was trained to handle. How to make a decision, had resources available to cope with it after. But Hibiki didn't have that. This was exactly why the Bunker shouldn't exist. Not like this.
However, it wasn't as simple as telling her to stop. She was protective of this place, that was clear. Hibiki clearly didn't much care for the legal issues here. If she did, the Bunker wouldn't exist in the first place. Her concern was far more a moral issue. The Bunker was as much a part of her as an arm might be. He had to make it her idea to end it. That was the only way this was going to happen.
"You can't be in two places at once-"
She looked at him with anger, but not directed at him, at herself. Hibiki didn't get loud, but he could tell she was trying to hold back and not cause a scene in public. "Maybe if I went to the other one first, I might have had time. Or if I made a bigger effort to find a few more people to work there, someone else could have been there to help me handle both."
Instinctively, Mic lightly grasped her shoulder to comfort her, but the girl flinched at the touch. He immediately removed his hand. He was a touchy-feely guy so this was going to be tough. But clearly she didn't trust him enough for that yet.
Instead, he tried to soothe her with words. "That's one of the toughest parts about the business of saving people. Things just go wrong no matter what you do. You could go through the what-ifs as much as you want, but it won't change the past. All you can do is learn from it and see how you can prevent it again in the future. But you're so young. You shouldn't have to be making these choices in the first place. This is the time you should be making mistakes, yes, but in an environment safe for everyone and with people to help you through them."
"You're saying I should shut down the Bunker, aren't you?"
Yamada sighed, leaning back to rest his head against the back of the bench, staring at the idle clouds in the sky. "I am, but not just because I'm legally obligated to tell you that. I get your intentions, I really do, even if I don't agree with your methods. But at the end of the day, what you're doing is extremely dangerous. You're not medically trained so you're putting your patients at risk, even if you warn them of that risk beforehand. You're putting yourself at risk because if you piss off the wrong person in that world, it would be really hard to protect you. But also it's clearly not healthy for you. You're so busy taking care of everyone else that I'm afraid you have no energy left to take care of yourself. That's on top of the unbelievable amount of stress you put on yourself. Being a teenager is already a stressful time. You don't need to be adding to it with this."
The poor thing looked like she was trying not to cry. Hizashi felt an almost visceral pain about that. As much as he wanted to just give her a hug right there, he knew that it wasn't the right time in their relationship yet. He found himself gripping his knees to fight the urge. He glanced up to see that the other family had left. Shouta was playing with Eri as he was supposed to, but the two men met eye contact for a brief moment. Hizashi nodded in reassurance before his husband returned to what he was doing.
The girl broke him from his thoughts. "What am I supposed to do?"
"If you don't feel safe shutting the Bunker down, maybe I could-"
"No, it's not that. From day one, I've been telling people that I could pull the plug on the whole operation at any moment with no hesitation if I felt that the Bunker was threatened in any way. It actually helped everyone self-police themselves and only spread word quietly. I have a whole plan of action that's been ready to go since before I even opened it."
That surprised him. If she was so ready to let go of the Bunker, why was she still hanging onto it? There had to be something else.
"So what's keeping you from doing it? You know I'm investigating you and your doors are still open."
Hibiki hesitated and then looked into her lap, helplessly. "I don't know where else to go."
"Well… I know of some group homes-"
"A group home will put me in the system. And if I'm in the system, he can find me." Her eyes widened. She clearly said something she didn't mean to. Mentioned something she wasn't yet ready to discuss. However, it was gone quickly, hoping Mic wouldn't notice.
But he did. "You mean your father, don't you?" Mic carefully watched her expression.
Hibiki's face was neutral, but constrained as if she was deliberately hiding her reaction. "What do you know about him?"
"I talked with Tanaka. To Rin. He was the only family member she was able to talk about since your mother died when you were young. She noted that he was controlling as well. You also called me during my show on domestic abuse and asked what to do if nobody believed you. That's a pretty concerning sign as well."
She looked away. "And how do I know you will believe me?"
"I'm here aren't I?"
"I mean… it's my word against his. And he always has an explanation for everything. Besides, I'm a criminal and he's…"
"A pro hero, I know."
That startled her and she stiffened, staring at Mic wide-eyed. "But I… How….?"
"I have my ways. It's my job, after all. We're not all big brutes who punch the problems away."
"Then why are you still here? If you know he's a hero, why are you still saying you will believe me?" She was pale. Panicked. Did she think this was some sort of trap?
"I do have to trust my colleagues when we work together. But they're also not going to just get a free pass from me if I find evidence of wrong-doing. A hero taking advantage of their power and position can be just as dangerous as any villain."
Hibiki seemed to emotionally deflate and looked back to her lap. "Then it really still is my word against his."
"I wouldn't quite say that." Based on her reaction, her shocked expression, that was certainly news to her. "I haven't had the time to really go through it, I've only just started compiling it. But the pains that the criminals your father helped capture would have to have come from injuries he had to have experienced. But there were too many to imagine he wouldn't be impeded while on patrol. So where did those injuries go ? If I can find that link, then I have the key to unlocking this whole thing."
The girl looked at her lap again, silent, but she no longer looked dejected as she had moments before. Instead she was bewildered. Maybe even a glimmer of wild hope.
But before either of them could say anything further, a ball flew in from out of nowhere and slammed into the teenager's face. Mic attempted to check if she was okay, but she shied away from him.
But then his heart dropped. Eri was running towards them! She was already apologizing as she reached them. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I was playing and I didn't mean to kick it so hard and it didn't go where I wanted it to and it went this way and I didn't mean to hit you are you okay?"
Hibiki responded before he could. Surprisingly, her voice was soft and reassuring. "I'm fine. If you didn't mean it, I'm not mad at all. I'm not hurt. See?"
She got off of the bench and knelt down on the ground so that the small girl could better see. The teen put the back of her hand to her nose and pulled it away to show she wasn't bleeding. Shouta came as Eri was getting her ball back. Hizashi was torn. As much as he honestly didn't think the teenager would be a danger, his daughter wasn't someone he wanted to take that kind of chance. However, if he stepped in now, he might lose Hibiki entirely at such a crucial moment in the investigation, but more importantly in her development. If he failed here, there was a good chance that she wouldn't find another adult to trust who actually had her best interests at heart. This was a very fine line. The best course of action to preserve both concerns would have to be to trust that Hibiki wouldn't endanger a child, but be very prepared in case the situation turned. He would like to give the teen the best chance he could, but if things went south, he had other priorities. Hizashi shared a look with his husband to wait, but cautiously observe.
Hibiki had shifted a little away from the bench and spoke to Eri in a low voice, clearly wanting to have a private conversation. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to be able to eavesdrop without being obvious about it. But as he watched, Hibiki's expression had drastically changed once more. This time it was more serious and she kept stealing glances at Aizawa and looked at him so coldly that for the first time, Mic felt like there might actually be danger involved. But it seemed her anger always softened when it returned to Eri. The presence of the small child was keeping things from boiling over.
Yamada realized why. Apparently while she was playing, one of Eri's sleeves, normally buttoned up at the wrist to keep it in place, had come undone, showing the scars she had on her forearm. The poor thing had gone through a lot when she was the Yakuza's captive and was still struggling with self-image issues because of them. They had been working on it as a family, but these things don't go away overnight. So for now, she chose to keep them hidden.
The teenager must have noticed this and that must be what they were talking about. Then, before his eyes, she began to roll up one of her own sleeves to the elbow. There must have been dozens of scars in just that one section. Mic knew she had a lot from the rare glimpses he caught before and based on the ones on her face, but he never anticipated this. So many scars and of different types as well, but they were hard to discern since they often overlapped each other. Everyone was silent, though it seemed that Eri had become more stoic as she was encouraged by the teen to touch, running her small hands over the marred, rough skin sympathetically.
The girls were still speaking frustratingly quiet, but then his daughter's eyes widened and she exclaimed something he could hear.
"No! He didn't make these! He saved me from the villains who did this to me! He's my hero !" That outburst made Hibiki stiffen and go still, watching as Eri ran back to Shouta to give him a hug for emphasis.
It went downhill from there. Hibiki managed a few apologies, but was growing increasingly agitated. It seems that seeing the result of the successful rescue she should have had years earlier, the one she had been denied all this time finally caught up with her and overwhelmed her. Hyperventilating, she stood. Panicked.
"I'm-I'm sorry, I have to go." She turned tail and ran. Eraser started to move as if to give chase, but Hizashi put a hand up to stop him. No, that would make this worse.
Both men finally let out all the tension they had been holding. Aizawa sat down on the bench next to his husband. "That was too close."
Eri however, looked a bit upset. "I didn't mess it up, did I?"
"No, no, no. You did fine sweety." To reinforce this, Hizashi pulled his daughter into his lap where she embraced him into a deep hug. Her horn, as small as it was nowadays, dug into his chin a little bit, but he was more than used to that and he barely noticed.
"Hey Shou, why don't you text Toshinori to let him know we're all done here?"
"Already did."
The blond then felt his phone vibrating so he attempted to shift Eri to get it. She got the hint and hopped off to relocate to Aizawa's lap instead.
He got to the phone just in time. "Hello?"
"I'm sorry, I hope you're not mad at me." Hibiki's voice was out of breath. No surprise since she'd been running.
"Of course not! Why would I be mad?"
"Because I ran off." She was definitely acting more like a scared child than she had in any of their interactions before.
"Shhh shhhh. Just breathe. We got through a lot today. You were very brave to say as much as you did. You know that right? I'm not giving up on you. We can figure out another time to meet if you want?"
"No! I mean… I don't know if I can do another meeting."
"That's fine. We can set up times we can call, or you can even text me any time you want. I may not respond right away, but I will respond. Is that okay with you?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Okay. Stay safe."
"Thank you, Mr. Mic. Bye." And she hung up before he could say it back.
Hizashi sighed once more and turned back to his family. At some point, Eri must have returned to the playground, but his husband remained on the bench. He likely told her to go play for privacy reasons.
"Sorry about that Shou. That all kicked off so fast. I'd never seen Hibiki look at anyone that way before. I was preparing to get between you two. We're not doing this again, but she hasn't run away from me yet. Just this situation for now."
Aizawa nodded solemnly. "How much of their conversation did you hear?"
"Not much, but what Eri said at the end clued me in enough to get the gist."
There was a brief pause as they watched their daughter on a swing. Shouta scooted closer to his husband so that they were up against each other.
"I think I get it now, Hizashi," he managed.
"Hm?"
"The case. She reminds you of Eri, doesn't she? At least in some ways."
The blond rested his head against his husband's shoulder. "Yeah… I guess she does."
"I don't think I'll be able to walk away now, either. Especially now that I've seen her for myself."
"The case has bitten you too?"
"I'm starting to think it's contagious."
"Maybe. I just hope we can actually help her."