11/07/2023

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you are the greatest!

The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 86 - For Their Own Protection

Nishita looked up as two officers entered the Cafe. One was male and one was female and they didn't have visible quirks. They looked around for a moment and then the woman nodded at her while giving her partner a nudge.

That wasn't good. That was too personal.

They took the few short steps to the counter.

"Are you Nishita Omimi?" the male officer asked softly.

She gave him a look but knew there was no point in denying it. They had obviously come looking for her. "I am," Nishita confirmed. She felt a coil of worry in her gut. She'd been physically ill when she'd discovered the bounty but then after a day when nothing happened, she'd relaxed.

She'd called in sick from work but had slowly come to realise that she wasn't in any danger. No one knew she'd gone. And even if they did, she'd used a false account name. That account had been created by a friend so the IP couldn't be tied to her and her friend had an alibi. If Dragon was upset about her original post, then there were other posts that were far worse than anything she'd said. And they were directly about him and he hadn't done anything about their posters.

So while attacking the villain lover wasn't exactly what she'd wanted to happen, she couldn't be tied to it.

So the officers were probably here for… Well, they were here for her but probably only to ask about the original post. Once she was appropriately horrified about the actions, they'd go away. They might come back, wanting more information and she could then give up the BS_Hater account, though they probably already knew about it. And her admitting to knowing it would show that she was willing to cooperate.

"Could you come with us?" the male officer asked quietly.

"Is there a reason, Officer?"

The female officer looked around the cafe. It was quiet at the moment and she was suddenly very thankful for that. "You are in danger, and we want to take you into protective custody."

That was not the answer Nishita had been expecting. All the fear she'd thought behind her returned.

"Ah, you know what we are talking about," the woman said.

For an instant, Nishita was tempted to say she had no idea, but that would be a lie. "I don't understand," she managed to reply.

"I feel this would be best discussed at the station," the male officer acknowledged but offered no explanation. "Can you call someone to cover for you?"

Nishita ran her tongue over her dry lips and nodded. Refusing would be stupid. "Uriko," she called.

The other girl poked her head out of the kitchen and Nishita watched as her eyes widened when she saw the Police. "I have to go," Nishita said, without offering any other explanation.

Uriko came out of the kitchen. "You aren't under arrest?" she asked curiously.

"No, she's not," the female officer said. "We just need your friend's help with a case," she explained. It was probably meant to be comforting but Nishita knew the lack of information would be fueling rumours.

"I saw something the other day they want to ask me about," she told Uriko. "Can you call Miseba to cover for me?"

Uriko gave her a measuring look but was apparently satisfied with the extra information. "Alright, I'll get Miseba," she agreed.

Nishita nodded and took off her name badge, cap and apron. Under it, she wore a pretty generic set of black pants and a black t-shirt. She gave the logo'd uniform bits to Uriko and gave the Police a nod to indicate she was ready. She hoped this was the right thing to do.

"Thank you," the male police officer said as they walked out of the cafe. His voice gave no indication of what he thought of her and Nishita resolved not to think about anything further. At least, not until she was at the station. What they asked then would tell her more and she could decide what to do. Until then, it was best to cooperate because while the Police might not be heroes, they had their part to play. And maybe…

Maybe this would all go away.

-ted-

Detective Tanjiro was impressed. He'd been impressed when the workers from All Might's agency had come around and basically taken over his case but he was even more impressed now. There'd been a modest efficiency with their work and now that work had paid off. The station's interrogation rooms were full. Three had been arrested, and four simply invited in under protective custody. He thought those would eventually be arrested but was nevertheless impressed.

For the most part, people were cooperating with them and the Police now had a list of accounts from a forum that represented those who had been present. They were missing BS_Hater and an account named Lèsè. Everyone they'd gathered so far said people claiming both accounts had been there but the woman behind the Lèsè account had an ironclad alibi. She'd been at work during the time of the attack. Her colleagues, her boss, even the camera's on her building confirmed that. They'd brought in NOUA's account holder as well, because it appeared as if her initial thread had started this business, though she hadn't been there.

The real one they wanted was BS_Hater and apparently there were heroes pursuing him even now. There was no question that BS_Hater was the account of the vigilant, Edge Dart, not with the way he'd evaded capture. But for now Tanjiro wanted to see what NOUA was saying.

He made his way to the observation room. It was a novel state of affairs. He was the most junior Detective but because he'd been assigned the case, he was deferred to. Usually Tanjiro would only be allowed in the Observation room if there was space. Today a space was made for him.

The woman behind NOUA was young and from what he understood, she worked at a cafe near UA, and posted what she overheard from the students online. It had given her a bit of a reputation and technically, she wasn't breaking any laws, though morally speaking there were some questions. Still, the students were in a public place when they conversed so anyone could listen in and from what Detective Tanjiro knew, NOUA had never really posted anything that bad. She'd just confirmed or denied some online rumours. Her real name was Nishita Omimi and even with just a glance Tanjiro could see that she was nervous. That was understandable. This was probably the first time she'd ever been in an interrogation room.

Tanjiro looked around. He recognised Officer Jinsha in the room with her. Jinsha was a good choice. For a long time he hadn't known what his quirk was. In the end, it turned out to be quite a simple one. He could tell when someone would answer a question, but more than that, he also knew what questions to ask that would garner the most information. It was a very useful quirk for a Police Officer because it meant he wasn't often stonewalled. Jinsha said it had taken a while to develop his understanding of his quirk but apparently, he could even tell now if the answer was going to be a simple yes or no or something more useful.

In the Observation room there were a few people Tanjiro didn't recognise. A blond man was sitting watching the questioning carefully. Standing next to him was someone Tanjiro did recognise. Detective Tsukauchi. He was the main Police Liaison for the area between them and the Heroes.

They'd moved beyond the routine questions, so it took a moment for Tanjiro to relate what he was hearing to the case. The next question was pointed and he was surprised Jinsha was asking it.

"Did you know what BS_Hater had planned?"

Nishita looked surprised for a moment. "Of course not!" she answered indignantly.

"True," Tsukauchi murmured.

The blond man nodded but his deep set eyes never left the room.

"What would you have done if you'd known?" Jinsha asked. Tanjiro was surprised at the question. They weren't meant to ask hypothetical questions.

"Reported it of course!"

"True," Tsukauchi confirmed.

Jinsha nodded and wrote something down. He didn't need to. All conversation in the interrogation rooms was automatically recorded and transcribed but it allowed him to take a break, and- Ah… to get instructions on what to ask next.

He looked up at Nishita and Tanjiro didn't like the half smile on his face. It wasn't that it was bad or anything but he thought it meant that Jinsha would be asking something that would implicate Nishita. "So you only know what happened to Ochaco Uraraka from news reports?"

She jerked back at the question and Tanjiro saw her bite her lip. The silence stretched and the smile on Jinsha's face stretched. Tanjiro stood with silent rebuke. He really should have known that not answering a question could be as incriminating as answering. It was possible Nishita didn't want to answer, for some reason, but it made her look bad.

Just as Jinsha was about to ask another question, she shook herself slightly. "I only know what is in the media," Nishita said clearly.

"Lie," Tsukauchi murmured.

It was what her silence had suggested and again Tanjiro had to reassess Jinsha's quirk. It didn't stop people from lying but combined with Tsukauchi's quirk it made a strong combination.

The blond sighed and Tanjiro thought there was a note of sadness in his tone.

"Would you like to answer that question again?" Jinsha asked. Someone must be relaying Tsukauchi's determination to him.

"I don't know anything more!" Nishita insisted.

"Ma'am, I know that's not true," Jinsha told her. She looked doubtful. "You are being monitored by several quirks."

"That's illegal!"

Jinsha shook his head. "While it is true that the Police are not allowed to use their quirks to arrest someone, if it requires quirk use, then that's a Heroes job, we are allowed to use our quirks in other ways. I have the limited use license to prove it," he added. The Police didn't advertise the fact that they could use their quirks, and most of them didn't. Only those with really useful quirks were allowed to get the license.

The observation room watched as Nishita took that in and then she bowed her head. "I was there," she whispered. "But I swear, I had no idea what BS_Hater had planned."

"Truth," Tsukauchi said.

Tanjiro was impressed that he was so calm.

The blond nodded and murmured something that he didn't hear. That was actually quite impressive in the confines of the observation room.

"Once it started, I had no idea how to stop them, so I did nothing," she cried.

There was no need for Tsukauchi to say if she was speaking the truth or not. Tanjiro might be a relatively inexperienced Detective but he knew there was a point when people were caught that they just spoke the truth. Well, some people did. Professional criminals knew to muddy the waters as much as possible. Nishita wasn't a professional criminal.

"Why didn't you call an ambulance?" Jinsha asked.

That caused Nishita to cry more. "I don't know. I wanted to. I know I should have but even after we left I just-" she shook her head. It was likely she'd gone into shock. But he couldn't let that reality distract him from what she had done, and had let happen.

"Can we confirm that she told people that she was Lèsè?" Tanjiro asked.

The blond nodded. "We'd best get that confirmed," he agreed. "Good thinking, Detective."

Tanjiro nodded and his curiosity increased. Obviously the blond was important since he was sitting. He didn't appear to have a disability but- Eh, in situations like this it was best to assume the guy was powerful, well connected, and be very polite. Even if it wasn't true, it meant he wouldn't make an enemy.

"So you told those BS_Hater gathered that you were the Lèsè account?" Jinsha asked a moment later.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell them the truth?"

Nishita shook her head. "I don't know," she replied.

Tanjiro didn't need the slight shake of Tsukauchi's head to know that wasn't the truth but it wasn't a big problem. It was probably some petty reason. When he'd first joined the Police, he'd been shocked by the petty reasons people did things. His first Captain had taken him aside and explained that it was normal. People were people. There were those who were noble, and good, and those who were evil personified. Most were in between and all people sometimes did things for petty reasons that they weren't proud of. You just had to accept that or you drove yourself mad.

The blond man stood. He was far taller than Tanjiro thought. "That's enough for the initial interrogation," he announced.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Jinsha was finishing the interview. Nishita hadn't been arrested yet, but Tanjiro figured she probably would be soon, as an accessory. Probably all of them would be. For the moment, what was important was that they were here, and safe from the bounty that had been put on them.

Finding that had been a nasty surprise. Tsukauchi had cursed when he'd read the bounty notice that Henshu had found. Then he'd immediately called someone. They'd also been concerned and Tanjiro was pretty sure it was their call to bring in those they'd found. He wasn't sure who 'they' were though but maybe the blond?

The man was heading to the door with Tsukauchi accompanying him. "We'd better find out how Nighteye is going," the blond said to the Detective.

"Surely he's already got the vigilante?" Detective Tsukauchi asked mockingly.

"Probably," the blond allowed, turning slightly. In the light, Tanjiro saw his profile and felt his legs go weak.

That man wasn't 'the blond'. That man was All Might! He felt himself fall against one of the walls and just let it hold him up as the observation room cleared.

Sure, Tanjiro knew that All Might's agency had an interest in his case because the resources to find those responsible had come from his agency. Tanjiro just assumed that one of the sidekicks was being given a bit of leeway in solving a case but… Actually he'd only ever heard that All Might had one side kick and that was Sir Nighteye.

He drew a shuddering breath. Once again he was reminded that this case was larger and more complex than he knew.

"It's a surprise, isn't it?"

Tanjiro's head flashed up and he looked to the doorway.

"Detective!" he greeted the other man.

Detective Tsukauchi waved off his greeting as he moved into the room and let the door close. "How can I help you?" Tanjiro managed to say, trying to gather his thoughts that had scattered to the ends of the world.

The other man gave a chuckle. "You are doing well, Detective," he said.

Tanjiro cocked his head slightly.

"With this case," Tsukauchi explained. "And I know it's a surprise to you that the Number One Hero is personally interested in it."

"A bit," he said diplomatically. There was no point in trying to deny he was surprised, not to someone who could tell when he was lying.

Tsukauchi acknowledged his reply with a nod. "Think about what this case represents, and what it ties to," he advised.

Tanjiro thought about that for a second or so but he already knew the answer. "All Might wants to capture Izuku Midoriya," he said.

"Quite so," Tsukauchi acknowledged. "He might be young but he has the potential to-" The older Detective sighed. "I've been a Detective for a long time," he said, looking down at the floor. "Izuku's kidnapping by his father was one of my first cases. It's the one I regret," he added. "If I'd been able to find him then-" He didn't finish. He didn't have to finish. Tanjiro knew what he meant but couldn't think of anything to say. How could he say anything to comfort the other man?

"Izuku has the potential to be great. A great person, hero or otherwise, or a great villain," Detective Tsukauchi said sadly. "It might already be too late, which is a loss for the world and if it is, then we have to capture him quickly because the longer we leave him free, then the more damage he'll do." He shook his head and Tanjiro could feel his regret.

"And there's a chance he won't be irredeemable," the Detective concluded.

Tanjiro nodded and wanted to say something supportive but he couldn't think of anything. He'd read the reports on Izuku Midoriya. Every Policeperson had. When he took the UA Student's quirks and didn't return them within a day or so he'd already gone past a point and now he'd allegedly murdered a woman in Niigata. Izuku might be young, but it was already too late for him. Except… That went against what All Might, and his agency believed.

Tanjiro worried his lip for a moment. "Maybe we can do something," he said. "After all, even a villain deserves to be saved," he murmured.

Tsukauchi gave a small snort of laughter. "They do," he agreed. "But sometimes, sometimes we have to accept that-" He didn't finish. He didn't have too. Tanjiro knew what he meant.

Sometimes, they were just too late.

-ted-

Well, the Police have found most of the attackers. And because they know Izuku is after them, they've brought them in. Edge Dart (Bokusen) is still on the run. So... what do we conclude? Izuku doesn't have to pay out the entire bounty! :D

Though at least some of the Police are also realising that Izuku isn't just a young, wet behind the ears villain, he's a full dedicated and resourced guy who is going to get what he wants, one way or another until he runs into something too big for him. But with his training, we know that running into something too big is not likely.

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!