"Whatever you do. Don't lie." His grip tightens. "Don't lie about anything . If you don't know what to say then let me answer." Their eyes lock and there's just something so desperate and fearful that flares through them, begging for the younger boy to understand.
Izuku can only nod in response, shocked by the way the teen was reacting. Reo searches his eyes for something. Whatever he sees there must satisfy him because he gives the green-haired boy's shoulders one last squeeze before he drops his hold and steps out of his room.
Midoriya tails Tsukauchi through the apartment, nerves rising after Reo's vague warning. Is this his mom's brother? His mom's quirk forces you to tell the truth I wonder if his uncle's is similar? Izuku eyes the seventeen year old warily as they get closer to the front door. Is that why he told me not to lie? Will something happen if I do? Will it activate something?
Reo glances behind him quickly, another silent warning in his amber eyes before they reach the front door and the boy pulls it open. "Oji-san! Mom just told me you were coming."
"She always forgets to mention me to you." The man is blocked by Tsukauchi's figure, but his voice sends something slithering at the back of the boy's mind. There's a soft laugh, "Sometimes I think that's her actual quirk." A hand ruffles the boy's black hair as Reo slides to the side, letting the man through the door as he steps out of his shoes. "Oji-san, this is my friend Midoriya Izuku. Midoriya this is my uncle Naomasa."
The green eyed boy lets out a startled choking sound. "Detective Tsukauchi."
"Midoriya-san." The man looks just as startled to see the boy there as Izuku does. "I'll be honest, this is the last place I would've expected to see you again."
It'd been over a month since the detective had shown up at their dojo asking questions about his vigilante persona. Wait. Sweat beads along the boy's brow. Did I lie during that? I'm sure I did. Can he tell when I lie? He sends Reo a worried glance. Is that his quirk? Is that why you told me not to lie?
"I can certainly say the same," he manages, choking the words out with a nervous smile, hoping the fear does show in his eyes.
Reo looks between the two surprised. He doesn't ask anything, but the boy's question is obvious enough.
"We um... We met at my dojo a few weeks ago."
Naomasa nods. "He made quite the entrance."
Midoriya flushes. "I assume it wasn't the... best first impression." The man chuckles. "It certainly made you memorable."
Being memorable is a bad thing. But, it's been a month and I haven't been arrested yet, so whatever his quirk is it must not have tipped him off to me being Piper. I could still be a suspect though. Reo sends him a worried glance from the corner of his eyes. But, he doesn't seem like someone who just walked in and saw a vigilante suspect standing in his sister's house.
"Well!" The seventeen year old says loudly, clearing the previous conversation. "That makes introductions easy. Now I think mom should be just about done cooking! So, why don't we head in?"
"Someone's excited," Naomasa says chuckling, "Did your mom make Obaasan's hayashi rice?" Reo winks, shooting the man a set of finger guns. "That would be correct!"
If Midoriya wasn't busy swallowing back his nerves he'd have been swallowing back laughter at the boy's showy display he was putting on. The seventeen year old glances at Izuku, worried as he leads the older man into the kitchen.
"Mom! Uncle Naomasa is here!" The detective shoos Reo towards his own seat as he sits down.
Misaki sets down a large bowl of rice next to the pot with the mixture of hashed beef. "Makato called and said she wasn't coming so it's just us again."
Midoriya's nerves are slowly unwinding. If I think about it logically, if he even so much as suspected me after that first meeting then he wouldn't be acting so relaxed right now. Izuku takes a seat next to his friend, only giving the teen a subtle nod when he mouths a, "you okay?" at him. And, it's true. At least for now.
"So, Reo introduced you to Midoriya-kun then?" The woman asks as they all fill their plates.
Naomasa makes a noise of agreement as he takes a helping of rice, "We've actually met before during an investigation."
The woman's brow rises, passing the beef hash ladle to her son. "I hope it wasn't because he was caught climbing through a window?"
Midoriya splutters, faces flushing a beet red as he looks up at the woman wide eyed. She only grins at him mischievously. There was never any doubt that she and Reo were related, but this dissolves any and all arguments one could ever have against it.
When his friend looks over at him he wears a similar grin, though his is much more strained. Reo's mother is leading the conversation into dangerous territory.
Naomasa looks around the table, confused. "Am I missing something?" "Midoriya is the friend you caught sneaking out of Reo's window."
The detective pauses mid bites, looking between the two boys. "Oh," the noise sounds startled. "So, did you know I was Reo's uncle when we met at your dojo then?"
This is one thing I certainly don't have to lie about. "I thought you might be related when Officer Fujimori introduced you, but that was only because of your name."
Naomasa hums in response, nodding along. "So, how did you two meet anyway? You two are a few years apart, aren't you? Fujimori-san said you were only fifteen Midoriya-kun." Both adults look between the two of them. "Did you meet at school?"
In any other situation such a lie would be an easy out. All you would've had to do was agree."We met at school" is easy enough to pass off and people don't question it too much. But, at the moment they were sitting across from two human lie detectors. One of which was only on a touch activated basis, but the other, the more dangerous of the two, had unknown activation parameters.
Midoriya takes a sip of water, signalling that Tsukauchi should be the one to answer for them. Reo laughs, scratching at the back of his head. "He just kind of fell out of the sky!"
Izuku sputters, choking on his drink.
"Are you okay Midoriya-kun?"
Izuku coughs, setting his drink down as Tsukauchi pats his back a few times. "I'm fine," he wheezes, trying to catch his breath, "Sorry."
"It took a few weeks to get to know each other," Reo says, taking the spotlight off the younger boy as he tries to steer the conversation into safer waters, "But, we eventually became good friends."
"So, how long have you known each other then?" Misaki asks, taking a bite of her food.
"About... two and a half months now?" Tsukauchi replies, looking towards Midoriya for confirmation. He only nods in agreement, taking another sip of water to help him recover.
After that they fall into casual conversation between their bites of food. Things about what school he goes to and a few things about Muay Thai.
"Midoriya, have you ever participated in any Martial arts competitions?" Naomasa looks genuinely curious.
The fifteen year old looks up from his bite of rice. "No, sir. I joined the dojo to teach me how to fight so I could become a hero. I never saw the point in pointlessly hurting someone for a medal."
"So I take it you applied for a hero school then?" Misaki asks, squeezing into the conversation.
Reo shoots him a worried glance, the boy knows it's a touchy subject, knows it's a painful topic for his friend.
Midoriya's lips pull into a sad smile at the question. "Yeah. I did." Izuku takes another bite of food, preventing the man from directing any follow up questions as they all go back to eating.
Naomasa is mid bite when his phone buzzes, he pauses at the noise. "Sorry." He slips a phone from his pocket, looking at the screen as he stands up. "This is work, just give me a moment." The detective slips down the hall, his words inaudible over the clinking of silverware against porcelain. He comes back a few moments later, a harried look on his face and the edges of his lips tilted
down. "Sorry everyone I'm afraid I'll have to leave early."
Reo's mom looks up from her food, slightly vexed. "You haven't even finished eating."
"It's Piper," he replies, shoving his phone back into his pocket, "Evidently someone just spotted him a few blocks from here."
Midoriya stills. Rice halfway into his mouth. But, I've been here for the past half hour? He and Reo share a worried glance as the man swipes his keys off the table.
Misaki huffs, "Makato couldn't make it and now here you are leaving thirty minutes in."
"You know I'm the lead detective on the Piper case, I've got to be there. I'll make it up to you though. I'll drag Makato here myself next time if I have to."
Misaki's scowl softens. "You better. I'm going to hold you to that Mr. Detective."
Izuku had managed to slowly calm himself down throughout their dinner, no longer as worried about being caught lying about something important. But now, Midoriya freezes, heart spluttering in his chest. His case? What the hell is he talking about? Is that why he was at the dojo? Because Piper his case? Midoriya's eyes zip towards Reo, something... sour welling in his chest, lapping at the base of his sun, threatening to extinguish its flames. He calmly takes another bite of beef, chopsticks trembling ever so slightly between his fingers.
The meat tastes like rot in his mouth. He feels like throwing up.
Naomasa nods in the boys' direction. "It was nice seeing you again Midoriya-kun."
Izuku swallows food bite, nodding absently. "You too Detective."
After the man leaves the three finish eating in relative silence. Misaki leaving shortly after in order to catch a night shift at the hospital, the two boys left to clean up the remnants of dinner.
They wash dishes quietly, Reo sending his friend worried glances thought out the entire ordeal until he finally speaks. "Midoriya, are you okay? You seem kind of out of i–"
He cuts the teen off, gently setting the plate in his hands down. "Why?" The word is quiet, a raw, barely there whisper.
"Why?" Reo repeats, confused. "Why what?"
Midoriya tries to keep his voice down, but his sun hurts . "Why didn't you tell me your uncle was the Detective trying to hunt me down!" Midoriya hisses, eyes blown wide with fear and adrenaline and... betrayal . He can't help the tears that burn at the corners of his eyes, the pressure from trying to hold them back bringing with it a headache.
Tsukuachi's eyes widen with sudden realization. "Midoriya let me explain." There's hurt in the teen's voice but the vigilante can't hear it over the sound of crackling flame. The sun in his chest flares with anger, flames licking up the sides of his ribcage. It blackens his bones and sizzles his flesh, fat popping like hot oil as his insides are scorched. Smoke fills his lungs and his throat and his head, making it hard to breath, hard to think. Izuku turns, not letting the other boy finish. He walks from the room and back into Tsukuachi's room, grabbing his bag from the floor and striding towards the window as Reo calls for him to come back. Tsukauchi reaches out a hand, gently taking hold of the younger boy's forearm. But, Midoriya jerks himself away, throwing up the window and slipping out.
Reo doesn't try to follow him.
Izuku knows he should be worried, this was a ploy. This entire friendship was a ploy . He should be worried because Tsukauchi knows that he's Piper, and he knows his name, his face, knows who is mother is. He should be worried that this is where his vigilantism would end, where is life would end. But, all he can think of is the betrayal burning hot in his chest. The flames crackle with the voice of his inner demon.
He grabs his shoes and his pipe from the fire escape and climbs the ladder to the roof up, not bothering to tug his sneakers back on.
"How did you expect anything else? Who would be friends with someone as useless as you?"
His tears burn like acid in his eyes.
"You, who is so easily manipulated.
You, who cannot think for himself. You, who is no more useful than a parasite."
He makes it to the roof, looking out over this small part of Musutafu through blurred eyes.
"How did you fool yourself into thinking that you could save the world?"
Bakugou's words comes back to him then, the demon taking up a twisted version of the blond's voice.
"Do the world a favor and rid it of your uselessness. Just take a swan dive from the roof."
The buildings along the skyline before him are silhouetted by the coming of twilight. The distant chatter of people and cars and life barely able to reach his ears from here. His tears extinguish the rampaging flames of his sun, his anger suffocating beneath a wave of hurt. His chest cavity floods with pain and countless indescribable emotions that slosh up the sides of his charred rib cage. It's hard to breathe again, lungs unable to expand. It's hard in a way that he'd become all too familiar with growing up.
Midoriya chokes back a sob, pressing a hand over his mouth. I can't do this now.
He shakes the voices off as best he can, still drowning under his emotions, but trying the best he can to collect himself as he swipes at his eyes. He sets his bag down to pull out his vigilante gear and quickly changes, trying to redirect his thoughts. It's not quite dark yet, he'd been expecting to stay at Reo's for longer, but...
His chest flares, heart cracking like sun baked clay.
Tsukauchi's belt sits on top of all his other gear and his hands shake when he picks it up. He takes in an unsteady breath before setting it to the side and pulling everything else out, he'd save that for last.
After he pulls his gloves on, Midoriya glances down at the belt, conflicted. He can't deny that it'd be useful in emergency situations, but he also can't rule out the possibility that the grenades are rigged or being tracked.
Midoriya thinks that, at the very least, Tsukauchi wouldn't want to see him hurt. If the police show up at any point all I have to do is ditch the belt. His fingers tremble as he goes to buckle it around his waist.
He's high on a cocktail of pain and betrayal and doing a patrol right now feels dangerous, feels like he's about to drive a motorcycle under the influence only the bike he's on is named "Piper". It's a poor decision, but his high strung nerves demand for a way to release their pent up energy. His sun sings with betrayal, calling for the enactment of justice in the only way he knows how.
But, he finds that there's no way for him to enact it. For the first time, when his mind desperately cries for the arrival of a villain, none show up. There's no one to save, no one to protect, no one to help.
"The world doesn't need you. It never needed you."
He's desperate to shut the voice up, desperate to prove it wrong. He curses, wildly swinging his pipe at an alley wall. The loud clang it sends out serving as a warning bell, signaling his rising emotions.
Tears of frustration curl at the corners of his eyes as he crouches. He sends a hand out to steady himself again the wall, gloved finger tips digging into the brickwork.
He was right about the motorcycle analogy.
Tears threaten to slip down his cheeks and he's barely suppressing the urge to cry when there's a voice from the other end of the alley.
"Usually I wouldn't come out this far, but the police seemed pretty desperate to catch you," the owner of the voice sounds tired, bored even.
Midoriya whips himself up into a defensive position. It's long past dark now, several hours having already passed since he'd left Reo's apartment.
"They called me out to this area to keep a look out for you." The man's stance looks casual, but the vigilante can see the way his muscles are tensed, body ready to move at a moment's notice. "I'll be honest though. I didn't expect I'd actually end up finding you."
He wants to swipe at the tears hanging in his eyes, but doing so would let the man know he'd been crying. He might take it as a sign of weakness.
The man's eyes glow red behind the slits of the goggles he wears and his hair floats like it's defying gravity. Piper's eyes widen in realization. It's Eraserhead.
During his time at the dojo, Midoriya had done his research on heroes who fought with non offensive quirks. At the time there had been a list almost as long as the offensive type, but none had stood out to him so much as the one that stands before him.
Despite having an amazing quirk, Eraserhead essentially fought quirkless and that alone had been enough to awe the boy. It had always given him hope for his own future as a hero.
They stand before each other now, two sides of the same coin, but both on opposite sides of the jail
cell Midoriya can suddenly see looming in his future.
While the hero's quirk is useless on him it in no way puts the man at a disadvantage. I need to get out of here, he has more experience fighting than I do. A fight with him would be stilted in his favor.
The hero's hands wrap around his capture weapon, almost as if he can hear the boy's inner thoughts.
Midoriya curses internally, this is literally the worst day I've had since that damned letter. His heart wrenches, mind whirling with past memories and possible escape plans. "I could've been in one of your classes."
The words surprise both parties, the vigilante's pied eyes widening as the hero raises a brow.
Izuku curses. "Seriously, how much does fate have to hate me for it to end up like this," the vigilante murmurs quietly, just loud enough for the hero to hear. "I was hoping we'd meet in a more civil setting." His eyes burn again, his free hand clenching in a fist as his side. I seriously need to get out of here. I don't stand a chance against him .
"Come with me and we can do that."
Piper glances up, a sad smile pulling at his lips. "You know I can't do that Eraserhead."
The hero sighs, "It was worth a try at least." Without any further warning the man sends his capture weapon out. Midoriya doesn't have enough time to dodge it, instead bringing up his pipe to take the brunt of the attack. It loops around his weapon, threatening to rip it from his grasp. The vigilante tightens his grip, the gecko like palms of the gloves he'd gotten from Giran helping him keep his hold.
Eraserhead uses the opportunity to get in closer, but doing so also shortens the distance between their weapons. The hold on Piper's staff slackens, giving the vigilante ample time to send the free end of the staff in a sweeping arc, flinging the capture weapon off and keeping the hero at bay.
Midoriya pants quietly, heart racing in his chest as he desperately attempts to analyze the situation. He's not just a hero. He has students my age. "It-It wasn't long ago that I dreamed of being one of your students," something in his chest twists, his rejection letter flashing in the back of his mind. "And yet," his voice cracks ever so slightly, a cocktail of fear and hurt rising to a boil between his ribs. I need to get his eyes off me. The boy pauses suddenly, choking on his next words. The smoke bombs. He makes eye contact with the man, red and green meeting crimson. "Dreaming got me nowhere." It's a harsh statement for him, so unlike his usual self.
Unseen, just outside the hero's peripheral, the boy fiddles with one of the smoke bombs at his hip, thankful beyond belief that he'd decided on wearing the belt. He keeps talking, maintaining the man's attention on his face. "The world's a cruel place as I'm sure you've realized," the boy says, "And, it crushed those dreams long before they'd even been given a chance," there's a pause, "I'd never realized how fragile dreams were." He'd been unstable the long before the man had walked into the alley and the words he's saying now are dredging up memories he'd rather forget. Memories of the letter resurfaces, the emotions from that day, the disappointment and pain, welling up to mix with his already confusing slew of emotions. They flood is chest cavity, constricting his heart.
There's just so much pain.
"It's the world we live in, we have to deal with it."
Eraserhead can see the vigilante's shoulder tense at his words. "You're right, and this... this is how I chose to deal with it. There are too many people that are born with the right heart, but not the necessary quirk, just as there are too many people born with the right quirk and the wrong heart."
He clenches his jaw, features twisting and Aizawa can see the hurt look that's painted in the vigilante's polychrome eyes, can see the open wound where the kid's heart should be.
"I just want to save people." There's a small pop and green smoke fills the alley, stinging the hero's eyes and cutting off his line of sight. Aizawa curses, blindly whipping out his capture weapon into the haze in hopes of it latching onto the boy. It doesn't. And, by the time the wind clears the smoke enough to for him to see, the vigilante is already gone. The only evidence he'd even been there the afterimage of their pained expression painted across the backs of the hero's eyelids.
"Shit."
Naomasa pinches at the bridge of his nose. "So after going through all of that it was a false sighting?"
Sansa grimaces. "Yes sir. Kono Yori is a plumbing apprentice with a company called Toshin Plumbing. A teen got excited when they saw him carrying a piece of pipe into an apartment building and made the call."
The detective sighs, running a hand through his hair as he begins pacing. "Our Muay Thai lead didn't pan out as we'd hoped. Out of all the people we ended up talking to, 47 matched Piper's physique, 29 had been involved in spontaneous vigilantism cases, and 23 either lied or had no sound alibi for their whereabouts on the 30th."
"Before that we had zero suspects though," Sansa reminds him, "It could've been anyone in the city at that point."
Naomasa stops next to the officer, taking in a deep breath. "You're right. It's not ideal but it's still something. We're getting closer." In his pocket his phone buzzes, answering it as he moves back towards his vehicle. "Musutafu Police, Quirk crimes division, Detective Tsukauchi speaking."
"Detective, you're playing lead on the Pied Piper case, correct?"
Naomasa pulls the phone away from his ear for a moment, checking the caller ID. "Eraserhead. I heard they'd sent you over to help, and yes I'm playing lead."
"Good. I just ran into Piper and I've got some things I'm sure you'd like to hear."