Heroes in the Dark chapter 40

Tokoyami rubbed his arm begrudgingly where a small cut remained after Toga had taken all she needed. Looking around her room, it was in much more disarray than his was, as though a struggle had taken place not long ago. Her instruments for blood collecting, which had been carefully packed in her backpack, were now scattered on the tops of the dressers and shelves. The perpetrator herself was tucking away a new jar of freshly extracted blood with a light smile on her face, but it felt like a forced happiness. She'd agreed to this, but some bitterness over what she'd lost was still eminent. It was still frustrating that he'd had to trust her when she'd approached with a sharp needle and could only sit patiently while she stole his blood. But he was the one to initiate this, had wanted this, so whatever regrets this would bring in the future, he had no right to complain.

Even though she hadn't taken too much blood, he still felt lightheaded and a bit nauseous. After all, this day had dragged on long enough. He was exhausted by this point, both mentally and physically. After everything, he wanted to slink back into his room and take a much-needed rest. But that could wait a little longer. He could push himself a little bit more. Otherwise he'd never be satisfied.

Toga was picking up around her, humming to herself while she cleaned the blood off her utensils. Most of it wasn't his, but it was nice that she had the decency to keep a somewhat clean space with how messy her line of work was. That's something that Overhaul would probably appreciate. He should try spending more time with her instead… that would give me a break from the both of them.

"… … …" Dark Shadow was being unusually quiet.

Tokoyami could readily tell that his quirk was upset at the outcome. He'd expressed as much, but had still gone ignored. He knew his quirk was trying to look out for him, but that was no longer such a feasible goal, especially with how increasingly insistent Tokoyami had become about putting himself in harm's way. If Dark Shadow didn't want to justify his actions with a response, that was fine. He could deal with that issue later when his position wasn't quite so perilous. After all, he'd been able to fortify their relationship just fine in the past, at times where they were more or less at peace. But now just wasn't that time.

Tokoyami allowed himself to close his eyes, blocking out the darkness surrounding him for the sake of indulging in his own contemplations. He took a deep breath to settle his tattered nerves and waited to relax so that he could at least fool himself into having some semblance of control.

A breath rustled the feathers on the side of his head, and a tantalizing voice whispered: "Falling asleep on me, are you? To think that you of all people would leave yourself so vulnerable."

Tokoyami didn't budge, or even open his eyes. Her taunts truly meant little to him now. "There's nothing you can do to me now that's any worse than what I've already experienced. Your words, and even your actions, I've grown used to them."

Toga clicked her tongue and backed away, disappointed. "You were much more fun to deal with before all this yakuza stuff," she pouted. "But who knows, maybe we can change that. After we finish up in this place and meet back up with the League, we can celebrate our accomplishments~ It's such a damn shame that we hardly ever get to come together except for these dreary missions, you know…?"

Tokoyami grunted in response and, giving in to his weariness, lied down on Toga's disheveled bed. His muscles ached at the movement, and sinking into the soft mattress he was overcome by the demand to rest.

Toga gave him a curious look, but much to his surprise didn't harass him for his actions. He could go back to his room, of course, but he didn't want to lose track of Toga lest she decided to go off on her own without him. Instead, turning back to her task, she said "I'll let you know when I plan on leaving," and left it at that.

Tokoyami must've drifted off at some point, without even thinking. He awoke to an unfamiliar figure touching his shoulder, and sprang up from the bed in an instant with Dark Shadow's claw poised to attack. At the same time, he cursed his carelessness. But at least his body no longer cried out for rest.

"Rude! It's just me~"

Tokoyami squinted at the foe. It wasn't Toga… but it was, and realizing this he dispelled the shadow claw. She'd already turned into Setsuno, complete with his clothes and trademark plague doctor mask. Squinty eyes peered out at him from behind the blonde bangs.

"I would certainly hope that you'd be ready after taking a nap on my bed of all places. And then when you finally do wake up, your first instinct is to attack me? I swear, the nerve of some people!"

She meant it in a teasing matter, of course, but truthfully he had every right to be on the defensive even if Toga had appeared as her regular self. Every last person down here should be regarded with a sense of caution. So far it didn't seem like he was doing a particularly good job of that, though. No amount of caution could've aided him in all the troubles that were weighing down upon him. Although perhaps it might've been better if he hadn't fallen asleep in enemy territory. His face burned with embarrassment underneath his feathers.

"You can't fault me for my actions in this wretched place," Tokoyami snapped, becoming defensive. "In any case, it's clear you're prepared to leave. What time is it, and how can you be certain that now is the best time for this?"

"Doubting me so soon?" Toga purred in a voice that wasn't suited to her. "If you must know, it's almost 10 – late enough that most people are out of the halls and done with the day, but not late enough that certain things aren't still going on in the shadows. I found out that Overhaul tends to work late into the night, so if he, say, requested for one of the Expendables to bring you to him, then nobody passing us would have any reason to question us, right?"

Tokoyami had to keep himself from fidgeting as the weight of what they were trying to do was finally starting to settle upon him. "What are the chances that we'd run into Overhaul? If that happens, we're screwed."

Toga rolled her eyes. "I'll come up with something. It's fine, isn't it? He values you for some reason anyway, so I doubt you'd get in much trouble."

"What about Chrono?" Tokoyami pressed. He just had to wipe his fears from this plan. Only then could he be a part of this without regret. "He'd usually be the one to retrieve us for Overhaul. He's aware of everything that goes on in this place. And if he were the one to catch us, I don't think he'd be quite so forgiving."

"Pft, where's this coming from. Chrono is supposed to be someone we have to watch out for now? You worry too much. We probably won't even find anything good tonight, but we might as well make the most of it, you know~?"

"I-I'm not suggesting we back out, I just have every right to be cautious given the circumstances. It's a bit daunting to be putting ourselves out there without direction, don't you think? We should have more of a plan…" Tokoyami was already berating himself for his impulsiveness. All it took was a short segment of sleep, and suddenly the encounters he'd had previously today felt ultimately foolish. How had he dug this grave so deep?

Toga's shoulders drooped, and her eyes pierced into him, daring him to look away. "I thought you had a good reason for wanting to do this? You already made your decision, right? You must still be half-asleep. Here, I'll take the initiative for you. Just let me do the leading, okay? I only want you for your assets. Try not to mess this up for me, please~"

Toga opened up the door to her room and peered into the hallway, checking to make sure nobody was there to see them, before stepping out into the hall and beckoning for him to follow.

Tokoyami made sure his cloak was secure around his neck and checked that the passcard was right where it was supposed to be before following in the false yakuza's wake.

Already he had become accustomed to the pathways that ran to his room and the immediate surrounding area, but the further they drifted from there, the more the unfamiliar walls seemed to press in. He tried to keep track of certain doors and indicators, much as he had since first arriving here. Some he could swear he could recognize, but even that was an uncertainty as everything bled together into the same likeness. No matter how many times he tried to focus, it was disorienting. But looking over at Toga to see if she was facing the same issue, he noticed the small slip of paper of paper in her hand. Watching, it appeared she only made a mark on it when they met a crossways in the halls. She was having no problem keeping track of their path, by the looks of it.

Sometimes they'd slow down, and Toga would inspect a random door. She explained that some halls were dedicated to housing yakuza members, so they had to be careful about what doors they opened, but those places were closer to the main entrance. The further away from openings to the outside they were, the better the chances of finding something promising. Toga had convinced him to open a few doors – one was merely storage for cleaning supplies, while another was a small computer lab. None of which were particularly useful, unfortunately. Perhaps the computers might've contained some useful information, but neither of them had the means to access it. So they'd moved on.

Tokoyami was beginning to grow weary of the ceaseless wandering and monotony of it all when a voice sounded nearby, directed at their presence. They had been lucky up till now to not encounter someone this late in the evening, but that had never been destined to last.

"Hey, Toya! Fancy seeing you in these parts."

Tokoyami and Toga froze in their steps, turning to see the individual that was headed straight for them. This had been a very likely inevitability, being called to like this, but Tokoyami wasn't sure if Toga was equipped to handle the situation. There was no room to be doubting now, though.

"What can I say? I got a job to do," Toga responded coolly as a young man wearing a cheap respirator mask came to a stand right in front of them.

The yakuza put a hand on his hip, a humorous glimmer in his eyes. "What, not gonna get mad for calling you by your first name? See, I knew we were friends!" Toga's finger twitched. She didn't like it when people pointed out the flaws in her façade. "Nah, I'm just messing with you. I just didn't expect to see you here, since usually it's the other higher ups that visit this quadrant. But anyway, you're still on the job, huh? I'm not sure how well this whole Expendable thing is working for you if it means running around so late at night for the Boss. I'm guessing it has something to do with, uh, that kid…?"

"Yeah, can you believe it?" Toga said to the passerby in a convincing manner. "Overhaul's always asking for weird things at these hours. I'm supposed to be taking this little birdie to the lab."

He knit his brow in confusion. "Aren't you awfully far from the main lab, though? That's where he spends most of his time, right? Although I guess he must be doing something right if he's getting these results."

Toga shook her head and waved a hand, as though everything were intentional while she struggled to make convincing dialogue with the vaguest possible descriptions. "Nah, not there. We're going to the other one where those other tests are conducted." Toga swallowed. "It's around here, right? I don't come to this part of the facility often enough and…"

The color drained from the yakuza's face, and his voice lowered to a whisper. Tokoyami tilted his head to hear better. "Shit, you're going there? I'll tell ya, I hate going near that room. I don't envy you one bit. Where the hell does the Boss keep finding subjects for these things – it can't be voluntary, yeah?"

Toga took a small step back, but dismissed it with a laugh. "Tell me about it. He sure knows how to pick 'em, huh? But I'm having a bit of a bitch finding it. You know how that is."

He returned the laugh, but it felt nervous and forced. "Yeah, yeah. You really gotta pay better attention to directions. It used to be that you can just find the secluded lab by following the screams. They had to put a new door in that was sound-proof, ya know? But every time someone enters or leaves it, I always hear what's on the other side. I'm stuck patrolling this quadrant, but I've never seen what's in there… A-ah, but you wanted to know where it was, right?"

Toga was maybe a bit too eager to move on from that topic. "Yeah, for sure. The sooner I can drop this kid off and get back to bed, the better."

"W-well, you made it pretty far. I'm sure you could've found it on your own… but you don't want to be wasting the Boss's time by looking lost. It's down that hall, go down the third right and take a left and another right – it's the door that's slightly off-color from the others." Toga nodded and mumbled a thanks. But right as they were about to head off in that direction, he piped up again. "But hey, er, make sure to take better care of yourself. If you're running yourself ragged, you'll end up not like yourself, you get me? Try not to let the Boss get to you so much this time, and I'll see you around later."

Toga looked him up and down suspiciously, seeking out any sort of ulterior motive, something that seemed painfully obvious to Tokoyami but that the yakuza must have missed. "Yeah, sounds good. You too."

They followed his directions, leaving him behind quickly. After their first turn in the corner, Toga stopped to listen for footsteps, but nothing could be heard pursuing them. This time, at least, the chance encounter had been in their favor. Toga let out a breathy sigh. "Now isn't this fun? We actually managed to make some headway~ I had hopes, but to think that we'll be finding some good stuff tonight makes it more worth it than I ever could've imagined. Heehee, aren't you excited to know more about these labs?"

Tokoyami shot her an agitated glare. "Be more respectful," he growled. "You have no consideration for the pain of others being afflicted in this hellish world?"

"O-ho? Scathing, are we? Those words seemed more like scare tactics than anything, so why are you letting it get to you so much. Could it be you have an idea of what's going on~?"

Tokoyami brought his cloak closer in around him. "It's nothing I have confirmed, if that's what you're asking," he grumbled.

"So then you're saying there's no point wasting our time here," Toga concluded. "Well, come on then, let's go find this promised land." Taking one last peek around the corner to ensure they were in the clear, they continued following the directions given to them.

It felt like the hallways were dragging on much longer than before as Tokoyami took note of every door they passed now. The fluorescent overhead lights felt dimmer than before, as if they too were hesitant to light this path and the place it lead to. Every time a noise would sound – a creak of pipes or water dripping – he was put back on edge. His muscles were beginning to hurt again just from being so tense and uneasy.

A different sound assaulted his eardrums, closer than he would've preferred – the unmistakable slam of a door not too far away. Toga cursed under her breath and stopped in her tracks, listening intently. Tokoyami stopped a few feet behind her, observing the different halls that channeled back into this one. It was hard to be sure exactly which direction it had come from with how much it reverberated.

Without hearing any follow up, Toga crept further down the hall and began to turn down the hall that had been indicated to them in the directions. From the safe distance Tokoyami had put between them just in case, it felt odd seeing the form of Setsuno trying to be quiet and sneaky. These thoughts were cut short when a voice sounded.

"What do you think you're trying to do?" It was an accusatory tone, laden with disgust that put Tokoyami's feathers on end. He couldn't see who it was Toga was facing, but for the tip of a traditional plague-doctor mask peering around the corner. Hopefully that meant that the opposite was true, and that whoever she faced was unaware of his existence in the hallways. He'd remained far enough from Toga that, with breath held and footsteps quiet, he slowly began to back away from the encounter.

Toga had to keep herself from glancing back at his retreating figure, lest she give him away, but he could feel her frustration at a distance. This must be infuriating for her, having to stand by and make excuses as her ticket to Overhaul's secrets slipped away and her ploys were challenged. "O-oh, Nemoto, I wasn't expecting to see you in these parts. What brings you here?"

There was a distinct pause. "…I asked you first. What do you think you're trying to accomplish? You can't possibly think you can pull the wool over my eyes," he sneered. "Are you trying to hide something from me? …Is there someone you came here with?" The beaked mask dipped further into view, and Tokoyami hastened his retreat instinctively.

"No, don't be ridiculous. I'm just on a quick patrol of the area by myself. Is that so wrong?" Toga asked, her tone soothing and innocent.

There was a slam as something hit the wall. "Everything you just said, you're lying to me!" Nemoto screeched. "I'm alerting Overhaul of this, of you and whoever is with you. Your lies won't save you then!"

Tokoyami ran.

Various thoughts filled his head – of getting back to the safety of his room, but not knowing how, of what would happen if he were brought before Overhaul yet again, of the contents at that room, so agonizingly close yet barred by the henchmen of this facility. He tried to think of what directions he would need to reach that room now, without running into anyone else. Yells echoed down the hall, following him and yet remaining distance. He had no idea if Nemoto, that Precept that kept so close to Overhaul's side, was capable of anything significant, but he wasn't about to take that chance. And surely Toga had meant for him to get out of sight when she'd so brazenly uttered that poor lie. It would've looked even worse if he had stuck around long enough for Nemoto to see around the corner.

But now he wasn't sure where his feet were taking him. It was – it was the third right and then –

No, no, you're backpedaling, so if you go left here instead –

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow exchanged frantic thoughts as they struggled to come up with a plan to compensate their unfocused path. But above that, he questioned why they had to run into Nemoto of all people. They'd been warned about him, but they didn't have any plans for what to do if he were the one they ended up finding in this vast labyrinth.

He thought that maybe it would be best if he were able to lay low in a random room. At least until enough time had passed that he could suspect that they had left the area, for what it was worth.

Sounds echoed down the hall from where he came, and he recognized the voice of Setsuno – of Toga – complaining loudly. She couldn't be having much fun in this. He glanced back for just a second, hastening his pace, but met an unfortunate stop when, unbeknownst to him, a door had opened from in front of him and a large man had entered the hallway directly in his path.

Tokoyami rammed into him, stumbling back in surprise and only barely catching himself to keep from tumbling to the floor. The large man didn't even budge, looking down at him with a concerned expression. "Ah, it's you? Are you okay…?"

Tokoyami shook his head, trying to rid himself of the loose thoughts that were plaguing him, and looked up to greet the obstacle that had come to block his path. To his dismay, it was another Precept… but he recognized him, knew just a bit of what he was all about, so maybe it wasn't so much a loss for him as he feared. "Hojo!" Tokoyami whispered, urgency in his voice. The hulking yakuza bent down slightly to listen, confusion etched into his face. Clearly he was just as confused to see the crow-headed child here. But at least he seemed willing to listen without question. "Please, I've done nothing wrong, but you can't let them find me here. If they ask about me, tell them I'm only trying to get back to my room!"

The lines of Hojo's face deepened into a scowl. "I don't know what you're…"

Footsteps sounded behind him, catching up in his wake. "You have to hide me!"

The Expendable looked deeply conflicted, but he opened up the door he'd been about to close wide enough for Tokoyami to slip through quietly like a shadow. And then he let it shut behind him, hiding him inside.

Tokoyami tried hard to settle his wildly beating heart. The room was a void of darkness, the lights turned off, and it made his thoughts begin to panic as the shadows closed in on him. He forced a deep breath, wrapping his cloak around him closely for comfort, and told himself to calm down while he listened to what was going on outside. The last thing he could possibly imagine doing was trusting one of these Expendables – these people were subservient to Overhaul, their loyalties palpable. It was foolish to think that any one of them would ever make any attempt to cover his tracks. But he had no other choice.

The sounds of footsteps and shuffling heralded their arrival right outside the door. One of them was breathing heavily.

"Setsuno? Did something happen? Did you get in trouble with Nemoto…?"

The only response from Toga was a displeased tsk. But Nemoto answered instead. "Good, Hojo, you can follow me. I don't know what's going on but we're going to have to file a report to Overhaul. Those damned League villains are up to something! Would you know anything about that? Did you see someone pass by here?! I expect adequate answers for Overhaul's sake!" he demanded, seething.

Hojo was a second too slow on answering as his mind tried to make sense of what was happening. "Uh, yeah, now that you mention it. The bird, Tokoyami, was here. He said he was trying to get back to his room?"

Silence hung between them for what felt immeasurable long before he responded. "…So he did. Then maybe this second infiltrate isn't as much of a problem as I thought. But no matter, we should check on all their locations. I can't believe we gave them the freedom to do these sorts of things. They should really be on lockdown for straying so far from their rooms at this time of night, under these conditions!"

Toga mumbled a curse, and Hojo tried to speak up. "A-ah, but what does any of that have to do with Setsuno?"

"Are you dense?!" Nemoto sneered. "It's not him, it's the blood-drinking girl. I don't know what happened to your companion, but that's why we need to figure this out. Now come on, it'll be good to have you along in case she tries to get away from me. Not that that would do her any good in this place."

"Nemoto, I—" Hojo started to say. And maybe he was about to give away Tokoyami's precarious location, but thankfully the Precept was the impatient type.

"You can give your part when we come before Overhaul. Whatever it was that you were doing, this takes priority now. Is that understood?"

Hojo said something under his breath that Tokoyami couldn't pick up, but before long it was readily apparent that they were taking their leave. Somehow he'd managed to evade notice and stay under the radar this time, even though it would've been so easy for Hojo to give him away. Perhaps it was pity? Or maybe he just really didn't like giving such victories to Nemoto, since it was his group in the cafeteria that had warned them about him in the first place.

Either way, it seemed as though Tokoyami's position was secure for now.

The room he was in now was narrow, and as his eyes adjusted he could make out the forms of large filing cabinets. He didn't think this room would be of much use, but while he waited a few more minutes to ensure that the Precepts had made ample distance away from him, he decided to poke around.

Finding a light switch, he inspected the room. Most of the cabinets had locks on them, and all the other ones held stuff that seemed of little importance. Old receipts, outdated documents… some of these dates were older than him. This place just felt like a trashcan of papers that couldn't be properly thrown out without consequence. Some of the papers looked like they might have been important at one point, but he couldn't make sense of them. He recognized some things, like a large file that contained documents for Trigger transactions, but going through those made him feel uneasy, and he gained no knowledge from doing so.

Tucking them back carefully, so that it might look like they'd never been touched, he crept over to the door. Putting his head to the cold steel, he listened… and heard nothing. Tokoyami opened the door slowly and poked his beak into the hallway, checking to make sure that it was empty. There was nobody in sight. He was utterly, thankfully, alone. Even Toga was no longer around. That also meant that getting back to his room would be nigh impossible… but I can deal with that later. For now, I know where to go.

And you're sure that this is what you want?

Tokoyami clenched the fabric of his cloak in his fists, as though it were the only thing he could hold onto. He didn't want to think about it too much, or else he might start doubting his actions again. It's fine, isn't it? And then he slipped back into the hallway, turning off the lights of that room and closing the door quietly behind him. He began walking back the way he came, tracking his steps back to where he'd been before they'd run into Nemoto. He repeated the directions in his head, keeping his wits about him so that he wouldn't be ambushed like that again. But nobody else made their presence known to him, and he slipped through the halls without confrontation this time. Whatever it was that Toga had to deal with was her problem now.

After this right… it's just two more turns. We're almost there.

Maybe we'll be lucky and it won't be what we're looking for?

No… not this time. I think this might be exactly what we needed to see.

…There's a difference between wanting and needing. Fumikage, don't you think that some things are better left in the dark?

Tokoyami rounded the last corner in the list of directions, alone but not alone. And sure enough, a door near the end of the hall was slightly different, a brighter white then the rest, like they'd recently had it replaced. He approached the door, uncertainty in every step, but there was no way he could turn back now. If that's what you think, then doesn't that only serve to place it under my jurisdiction?

The door loomed directly before them, silent in all it contained locked behind it. Whatever secrets it contained, he had no doubt that it had something to do with Eri. Toga was none the wiser, but that stray yakuza that had directed them here had all but confirmed his suspicions. And truthfully, he was glad that Toga had taken her leave right when they had neared their goal – he didn't want to be responsible for the knowledge he held.

Before Dark Shadow could condemn his actions, Tokoyami withdrew the master keycard from his pocket and unlocked the door with a shaky but determined hand. Looking one last time down the hallways to check that he was alone, he slipped into the room that contained Overhaul's lab for testing.

And into a place that he was never meant to see.