Pulling the tape slowly from the side door, Akio ran his finger along the line, grunting approvingly he exhaled sharply. "Shouldn't have killed him," he muttered, the kid had been showing a natural talent for auto restoration. His phone vibrated, seeing the number, he jumped up and raced to his office. Unlocking the drawer, he pulled out the other phone and dialed quickly. "Sensei?"

"They found her," the normally soft lilting voice blurted out in excitement. "She's in the hospital, waiting for you," an almost hysterical giggle came over the phone. "I'll send the details."

"Perfect!" Akio felt a rush of relief run through his body. "Sensei, dead or alive?"

"I'd like to know why she deflected my quirk." There was silence in the pause, "but I think it would be easier for you to kill her."

"Yes, I agree," excitement popped through his brain, so much was going their way. "Did you see the video footage of the woman? Great progress."

"I did, I was pleased. The doctor is as good as his reputation, hopefully he'll be finished and be able to start the transfer very soon." Another long pause, shifting Akio waited, but the silence dragged.

"Sensei?"

"You killed the boy." Akio gritted his teeth at the sudden change in subject.

"I did Sensei," no apology in his tone. "How did you know?"

"They found the body," Akio sucked in his breath at the words. "Thankfully it appears there is no evidence tying his death to you but," the last was word drawn out in the dead quiet that followed, "we need Uchiyama Nana, now we have nothing to push her with son."

Tears stung his eyes, the tenderness of the admonishment was overwhelming, Akio blinked rapidly. "She's in deep Sensei," he cleared his throat. "I - I think she needs to save her own skin at this point." For the first time in many years, he felt unsure of his actions. "He was going to fence more shit on the street, I was scared he'd screw everything up!" He barked defensively. "Stuff that could-"

"I understand," the lilting voice cut him off, "but next time you need to discuss the matter with me before you act so rashly."

"I will," Akio mumbled.

"And once Suguta is taken care of, I need you to head north."

"Did you say north?"

"Our clever group found him."

"Him?" Akio wasn't following the conversation

"The disappearing appraiser."

"Kaneko?" Akio rushed out. "Who found him? Where'd he go?"

"The new Pro Hero unit is turning out to be quite helpful, they think he's heading to a ship in the Northern port."

"Todoroki and Bakugou?" Akio spit out venomously. "They got fucking lucky! Sensei, I would like permission to kill them."

"Why?"

"Because," his fingers itched to snap the life from them both. "According to Yusa, the blonde guy followed Kaneko to the bar after they interviewed him. I'm guessing they might have connected him to Sawa if they found his body."

"It's possible, killing them might prove difficult though Akio, you are quite talented but they're formidable foes, especially if they engage their quirks."

"They'll never have time," Akio smiled to himself. A squeak on the other end sounded unsure. "Don't you trust me, Sensei?"

"I have great faith in you," a quiet enveloped another long pause. "Very well," the words were spoken as a sigh. "Once you have terminated Suguta and Kaneko, you may kill Dynamite, but leave the younger Todoroki alive. I may need him."

Grinning wide Akio opened his drawer pulling out a pack of cigarettes, shaking one out, he popped it in his lips. "It'll be my pleasure to do so, Sensei."

Sitting in the captain's office, Shouto glanced up from his notebook watching him pace the floor, fists clenched at his sides. Looking back at his book he stared unseeing at the page.

"Fuck Aizawa," Katsuki kicked a chair pushing it sideways across the room. Yanking it back into place he sat down, his fingers tapping on the table. "Just a train ride up, I mean how much would it cost?" Shouto was quiet, staring at his notes. "Aren't you angry?" He growled.

"What do you think?" Shouto's voice was tight.

Studying him closely, he snorted. "Your face," he smiled wryly, "cold as ice, you're ready to rip someone's head off."

"That would be nice," turning the page, Shouto kept reading mindlessly. The thrumming of Kat's fingers on the table drilling into his head. "Do you mind?" He tried to keep his voice calm.

"Sorry," he gripped his fingers and pushed, popping his knuckles.

"That's worse."

"Shit, I need to do something, sitting here while he gets a formal denial from Commander dumb shit is the pits." A chuckle broke from Shouto, he dipped his head down hiding his smile. Katsuki grunted, grinning. "Gotcha," he pointed at him, "broke through that damn mask." Standing up he sat in the chair next to him, bumping his shoulder he pointed to his book. "Anything interesting?"

"No, nothing we haven't hashed or re-hashed every night," letting out an exasperated huff, Shouto snapped it shut.

"Let's do the Nerd thing and compare notes."

"The Nerd thing?"

"You and Deku, you two were always comparing notes when we were working on cases together."

Giving him a sarcastic glance Shouto smiled, "what notes? I think you left the notebook that you used once at my place."

"Nah, I keep them right here," Katsuki tapped his head.

Chuckling, Shouto flipped open his book. "Okay, smart man, let's see what you remember." Scanning his notes, he read to the second page. "We didn't hit on anything until we visited Kaneko, then we found out about the museum and how he coordinated the sale of everything."

"And the scandal," Katsuki tipped his head back thinking. "We haven't really thought about that, isn't that how Nakama Arisu took over the National Police? They threw out Oh Kaede."

"Yeah," Shouto unfolded the small blurb he'd kept from their visit. "He was suspended because the government sold off all of the items that had been confiscated and then, according to Kaneko, the same people sold or rented the items back to the museum at almost triple the original prices."

"So, the government sweeps through our agencies, takes all of our stuff, throws our asses out on the street and then sells everything off, only to get ripped off buying it back." Katsuki clicked his tongue, "fucking idiot bureaucrats."

"No wonder people were making forgeries, with so much being bought and sold, it could've easily gotten mixed up."

"I wonder though, about the cleanup Uchiyama talked about," Katsuki watched Shouto flipping through the pages.

"She said that they found the equipment down in the central ministry offices in some storage unit after Nakama was appointed."

Standing up Katsuki began to pace again, "okay, let's think through this. If they took everything directly from the Pro Heroes, why was there any counterfeit stuff even mixed into what the government confiscated?"

"Damn," Shouto looked up from his notes, "why would there be counterfeits in the haul?" His brows furrowed, "how did those pieces end up in there?"

Grabbing his phone, Katsuki logged into the system. "What was that password protected file?"

"The counterfeit case? You can't get in."

"Don't want to get in, just want to look at the file."

Taking Katsuki's phone Shouto punched in the name and it popped up in the menu, he handed it back to him. "Nothing to really see."

"Yes, there is," hitting the settings tab, a layout of basic information showed on the screen.

"What the hell is that?"

"Matsuura showed me how to research when a case was created and who created the file." He showed Shouto the screen, "this case was entered about three months ago. It looks like our resident asshole logged it into the system."

"Monoma?" Shouto made a face, "why wouldn't he say anything to us? He knew we were investigating this case."

"Really?" Katsuki scoffed, "I don't think he really gives a shit about us."

"Yeah, but do you think he'd share anything about it now?"

Twisting his lips, Katsuki shrugged. "We can ask him. He's probably still angry about Kiri, but it wasn't like he didn't have a chance to take him down himself, it was a fair fight."

"You wanna call him?"

"Now?"

"Why not? The timeline's perfect and if he really did create the case maybe he remembers something."

Looking up Monoma in the system, he grumbled dialing his number. "Why me? You're the nice one."

"I am?"

Glaring at him, the phone clicked, "Neito here," Monoma's voice was all business.

Pausing a moment, Katsuki's brain worked as he tried to figure out what to say. "You don't like us, I get it, but we need your help on something," he rushed out in a single breath.

"Who the fuck is this?"

"It's me, Bakugou, don't hang up." He could hear Monoma swear on the other end of the line.

"Fine, what do you need?"

"Really!? You'll help?" Katsuki almost laughed out loud in surprise. Clicking on the speaker button, he gave Shouto a thumbs up. "I've got Todoroki here with me."

"Great, two losers," Neito chortled, "don't get your hopes up."

Clenching his jaw, Katsuki tried to keep his voice even, he needed this asshole's help. "You created a file a few months ago, it was a counterfeit Pro Hero case and it turns out it's linked to what we've been tracking down."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Neito snipped. "I've never worked on a case like that."

Katsuki tapped on his phone screen going back to the system. "Are you logged into the case profiles?"

"Yeah, I'm updating some notes, hang on, okay, give me the id number."

Reading the case identifier to him, Katsuki waited, hearing his fingers tapping on the keys.

"What the fuck? Never seen anything requiring a password."

"Don't need it, just hit the settings button for the set-up information."

"I know how the fuck to use the system Dynamite, I've been doing this longer than you." Neito moved to the settings page. "Shit, now I remember this case. Yeah, it was assigned to me but then it was closed before I ever worked on it. They caught the person." He scrolled through the details. "It doesn't make sense though, they should've logged it under the arresting officer, not sure why they left it under me."

"You don't remember anything about it?"

"Barely," he snorted. "Some idiot dropped some counterfeit pieces onto a few major shops but he got caught right away because the forgeries were so bad. That's all there was, still, I need to talk to the Commander and get my name off of this, shouldn't be me."

"Any reason why they would leave you on the case if it wasn't yours?"

"Lazy," Neito sneered, "sometimes the cops don't want to go through the trouble, it's happened before, it'll happen again."

"Hey Monoma," Shouto leaned closer to the phone, "do you remember the person that was arrested?"

"What? And make your lives easier?"

"Are you shitting me right now?" Katsuki was ready to finish the job Kiri had started.

"Yeah, Bakugou, I'm fucking with you." He sighed. "Look, I've been ordered to play nice but, in this case, I really can't help you. I didn't do anything. It'd just been assigned to me when I got a call from the arresting officer that it'd already been closed. Never even looked at it again." Neito chuckled, "hell you must be really desperate if you're calling me, good luck with this case."

"Thanks, I'm sure you mean that with all your heart," Katsuki clicked the end button forcefully. "Play nice, my ass, that was anything but helpful," Katsuki quipped sarcastically. "What a prick."

"I don't know," Shouto made some notes, "maybe there's something else under his name? We only had the case number before, now we have Monoma tied to the file." He tipped his head, "maybe we could use the system filter and look at his other cases?"

"To find the same protected case?" Katsuki opened the filter button. "Hold on, check it out, there's a filter for evidence."

"Evidence?" He leaned over as Kat typed in Fat Gum, two case links popped up. "Shit!" Shouto grabbed at the phone, pointing to the files, "there's the new one we just entered, but look at that one! Look at the date!"

"It's dated three months ago."

"Open it!" Shouto pushed at him.

"I am!" Clicking on the case there was a picture and brief description of Fat Gum's zipper, it was hyperlinked to the same other items, all labeled with Monoma's case number ID.

"This is it, fuck!" Shouto laughed, practically crawling into Katsuki's lap to look at the phone. "Whoever set up the password security for that case forgot to lock the evidence files."

"So, those pieces were part of a criminal investigation and were logged as evidence here?" Katsuki smiled as Sho blocked the phone, he ruffled the white side of his hair. Blushing, he jerked back.

"Wait, if that's true, how did the central ministry end up with them? Why aren't they in the evidence lock-up still?"

"Yeah, how did they end up there?" Katsuki scrolled through the list of evidence. "Maybe someone ordered them to be stashed there to hide something?"

Shaking his head, Shouto sat back. "We can't jump to conclusions, maybe they got sent there by accident?"

"Then the file was accidently protected? No way, this is a cover up." Katsuki bounced his knee as he sorted through their ideas. "But why?"

"I wish he would have seen the perp. It would've been helpful to figure out the connections."

"Why not assume it was Sawa? The stuff was with him."

"Or somebody was trying to make it look that way."

"We have to make an assumption at some point, Sho." Katsuki gave him a look, "follow it and if it doesn't take us anywhere and make a new one. Right now, Sawa's the best fit and if it was him-"

"Uchiyama," Shouto finished.

"The mom?"

"You said make a guess, who else would have the kind of political power to get a case locked down?"

Grinning Katsuki pounded him on the back, "I like it, she'd have motivation-"

"And access to the system-"

"Then cover it all up-"

"By donating everything to the museum." Their voices falling over each other Shouto laughed, a thrill pulsed through him, this connection with him was so incredibly powerful.

Jumping up Katsuki snapped his fingers quickly, his thoughts keeping pace. "Okay, okay," he pointed at him, "Sawa stole the fucking pieces or had them made, sold them on the market."

"Then he got caught," Shouto continued, "and was arrested. Uchiyama pulled strings to get him free but needed to hide the evidence so she donated everything to the museum."

"Until Kaneko figured out that they were all counterfeit and blackmailed her? Or reported it to the old bat at the museum and she's blackmailing her?"

"I'm not sure about the blackmailing part," Shouto grabbed his phone, "but how did she get the evidence checked out?" Clicking on the hyperlink, he scrolled down through the information, his eyebrows shot up.

"Well?" Katsuki tried to read the phone upside down.

"Monoma," spinning the screen around, Katsuki's eyes widened.

"That prick, why didn't he say something?"

"Say what? That he checked out evidence illegally?" Chewing on his nail, Katsuki shook his head slowly. Shouto gave him a quizzical look, "no?"

"Too convenient, he got left on the case then his name is on the checkout log? I know he's a jerk and hates us, but he really works his ass off for this job. Why would he do something like that?"

Nodding, Shouto thinned his lips, "So maybe someone kept his name in the case log purpose?" The door opened and Captain Aizawa walked in, his face drawn.

Spinning around, Katsuki clicked his tongue seeing the look on his face. "Let me fucking guess, no chance."

"Not even in hell, Bakugou, sorry," he threw their request on his desk, a large red denied stamp across the bottom. "Turns out the Shimizu corporation owns the one ship sailing out and they're in tight with the NPL and defense ministry, they've got jurisdiction on the ship and agreed to arrest him on sight."

"The defense ministry?" Shouto glanced at Kat, "what do they care about this?"

"He was working for them officially." Shouta sat down at his desk heavily, "only as a consultant but the museum technically reports up to Uchiyama Nana."

"Shit-"

"Fuck-"

Black eyes snapped between the two. "What?" Chills leapt up his spine, he was afraid of their answer based on their reaction.

"The file Captain, the one that was password protected, remember when we first asked?"

"Yeah, and Arisu gave me an earful to stay away." The two of them looked at each other again, brows raised. "Spit it out already!" Shouta's nerves were buzzing.

"We found a back door into the file."

"A back door?"

"Easier to show," Katsuki pointed to his computer, "turn that on and do a search under evidence for Fat Gum." Waiting for the Captain to input everything and hit search, the two links popped up. "The first link is ours, but the other one is the very first case that connects back to Nakama's protected file." Reaching down, Katsuki hit enter on the second link. "See here? You can see all the evidence tied together."

"In a nice neat bow," Shouto smiled grimly. "Someone needs to be fired for doing sloppy work."

"Or given a promotion," Katsuki chuckled.

"Okay, so what?" Shouta shrugged.

"So what?" Katsuki sat on the desk. "How does police evidence end up at the defense offices? Uchiyama Nana's son, Sawa, stole those pieces, was arrested and then mom covered the whole thing up. Somehow, she got someone to check everything out under Monoma's name and then hid it by donating the stuff to the museum for a fast-disappearing act."

"But she didn't expect Kaneko to figure out it was all fake."

Steepling his fingers, Shouta whistled softly under his breath, "so, how did Sawa end up dead?"

"That's the mystery," Katsuki rubbed his neck, "everything makes sense up to that point. Captain," he pushed, "we really need Kaneko."

"You do," he fidgeted with the paper on the desk. "The ship's security officer promised to send him down as soon as they had him in custody." Shouta frowned, "I don't like it either but by this time tomorrow, he should be on his way back here."

"Then maybe we get some answers," Katsuki nudged Shouto's shoulder, "call Four Eyes, see if he can set up another meeting with his boss, maybe we could talk to her directly?"

"Tenya!" Shouta lunged to his feet. "Crap, I forgot!"

"Shit!" Katsuki shot backwards out of his way.

"What's up with Lida?" Shouto paused at his tone.

"He's missing, or at least that's what Matsuno said, Uchiyama's assistant."

"What do you mean missing?" He pulled out his phone and dialed Tenya's number, the phone rang until his voicemail picked up. "We just saw him."

Lida Tenya's phone, please leave a message and I'll call you back.

"You did?" Shouta sat back down. "When's the last time you saw him?"

"Drinks, last night. Then I left early to tail Kaneko."

"He and I stayed a bit longer after Katsuki left but that was it, we both went home." Shouto held up his phone, "nothing, not even reading the text I sent."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"I know," Shouto slid his phone into his pocket. "We'll swing by his apartment tonight and see if he's there, maybe he got sick or something running around in the rain."

"Maybe," Shouta tapped on his desk. "It sounds like he may have gone into work early. According to Matsuno, she found his stuff under his desk and a coffee mug he'd pulled off the shelf, but no Lida. Both he and Uchiyama came into work early, but when she asked her, she didn't seem to even know he was missing. Went as far as to tell her to replace him."

"Wow, okay, if we come up empty with Lida, we'll call Matsuno. We need to set up another meeting with her boss anyway to dig further into those pieces."

"Just be careful Todoroki, she's lost her son, it's possible she won't be taking visitors."

"Well, she needs to talk to us, she is definitely moving from clueless bureaucrat to suspect number one." Katsuki tugged Sho's sleeve, "let's head over to Lida's apartment now." Turning back to Captain Aizawa, he pointed to the denied request. "If you hear anything on Kaneko let us know."

"Let's take the train over to his place," Shouto followed him into the hall just as the main lobby doors opened, Denki walked through, his eyes lit up seeing them.

"Are you going to get him?"

"No, got shut down, but the ship's police are going to arrest him and send him back hopefully tomorrow," Katsuki groused.

"Shit, that sucks, where are you going?"

"Lida Tenya's place, Captain wants us to check on him."

"The group of us are going to dinner, maybe you could come? Bring Lida too, I haven't seen him since the Midoriya thing." Katsuki's face flinched. "Oh, um, sorry," shifting he moved past them, "I'll text you where we end up, if you want to meet up."

"That sounds good," Shouto gave him a thumbs up, "we'll be there, not sure about Lida."

"You'll be there," Katsuki gruffed as they moved through the lobby.

"You won't come?"

"Fuck."

Walking out of the building, Shouto stepped behind him, glancing down he smiled appreciatively at his pants pulling tight across his ass. Reaching out, he gave his ample butt a firm squeeze. "Playing hard to get?"

Whirling around Katsuki blocked his path, red eyes snapping fire, "for someone that nearly took my head off with the 'on the clock' shit, you like to push it Sho."

Laughing, Shouto bit his lip, "technically we are off the clock."

"But five damn meters from the front door?"

"Sorry," he grinned mischievously. "I think I understand why you did it before, something about you makes me want to tease you." Stepping closer, he lowered his voice to a husky whisper. "Come to dinner with us, I'll let you pay my part of the bill?" He saw the surge of desire flare in his eyes. Tipping his head, he laughed, "or maybe you want me to pay?"

"I'll pay," throwing an arm over his shoulder, Katsuki cocked a smile as he dragged him into his side and began heading into the after-work crowds, "let's go find Lida first."

Popping her head into their shared office, Ochako smiled. Kiri was staring hard at the computer, slowly scrolling through their notes. "See anything?" He looked up, surprised.

"Oh, hey. No, nothing new, but reminding me we never talked to everyone about the brain thing," he tapped his head, "especially Bakugou."

"I think they're going up north to try to arrest that person who worked with the museum."

"They are? Okay, I'll text him to connect with us when they get back," he dragged his teeth over his bottom lip. "I wonder if he'd be willing to get a scan, it would be interesting if he had any of those black spots."

"You had a strange dream too, why not you?"

Scrunching up his face, Kiri laughed, "shit, didn't think of that, but I don't have any changing memories, just the dream."

"That's right," Ochako frowned slightly. "I don't know, all of those people were from the ministry complex, when would Bakugou ever have contact with them?"

Looking back at the computer Kiri shrugged, "he and Midoriya helped on a lot of cases with the ministry offices through Endeavor, even when they had their own agency. He sent them a lot of work, maybe then?"

Leaning on the door frame, Ochako could hear the other detectives begin filing out of the division. "Are you joining us for dinner later?"

"Yeah maybe. First, I'm going to swing by the hospital to check on Suguta one more time," he looked at the clock, "visiting hours are over soon and I want to see if she's awake."

"Want company?"

"Don't ever tell a woman she looks tired," her voice horrified.

"Oh," Kiri tried to think of what to say, "I'm sorry?" She burst out laughing.

"I'm teasing you Eijirou!" She winked.

Too stunned to speak, Kiri just nodded lamely. "Oh, okay. You, uh, you don't really look tired, you know. I was just, well, just saying that."

Waving her hand at him, she giggled harder. "It's fine Kiri, seriously, just messing with my favorite partner." Laughing, she hit the door on her way out, "I'll see you at dinner tonight."

"Yeah, see you." Rubbing his eyes, Kiri turned off the computer and packed up his stuff heading out of the precinct and into the crowds that were flocking to the station. Putting on his headphones he waited as the train pulled into the station. The crowds were thick and heavy, moving as a singular force he was swept into the train. Standing in the packed car, he managed to get a handhold to keep from falling as the train jerked over the track. His fingers moved to the music pouring in his ears, he'd always appreciated the old 1970's rock bands from England. The train moved through its stops quickly, emptying as fast as it had filled by the time it reached his stop. Heading up the stairs, it was already dark as he emerged from the station. Crossing the street, he entered the lobby of the hospital and made his way to the front desk. Checking in he made his way to Suguta's wing. The nurse at the counter smiled, recognizing him.

"From earlier? Crime investigator, right?"

"Right," Kiri looked down the hall. "Any chance she woke up?" The nurse shook her head. "Bummer, I was hoping to tell her Boots was okay."

"Boots?"

"Oh, someone that took care of her," turning, Kiri started to leave.

"Wait," picking up some writing paper and a pen, she handed it to him. "Go on into the room, write a note and leave it by the bed. That way if she wakes up, we can read it to her and she'll have some good news."

Taking the writing supplies, Kiri smiled wide, "that's a great idea, thanks." Walking to the end of the hall, he opened Suguta's door slowly, "Candy?" He could barely see into the dark room, lights from the various machines flashed, briefly lighting up the bed, the outline of her body visible. Stepping in further, he reached for the light switch, a sudden searing pain lanced up his arm, the green light of one of the machines reflecting off a steel blade. "Fuck!" Kiri stumbled back surprised, hot blood running down his arm. The knife flashed in the lights again as it flew straight at his chest. Hardening his body instinctively, it bounced off of him and clattered to the floor. Peering into the dark, he jabbed his now sharpened hand directly into the place where the knife had been flung, a grunt echoed in the room as he found soft flesh, he jerked upward, the grunt turned into a muffled yelp.

Hearing his knife fall to the floor, Akio swung around to pull his other one out of his boot, the man lunged at him, swinging in the dark. His fingers, sharp and hard, dug into his side, sliding upwards they opened a deep jagged gash. He couldn't stifle the pained gasp as he cradled his wounded side with his arm and dropped down low. Swinging out his leg, he swept behind the other man's knees. His foot collided with what felt like solid rock. "Shit," Akio's boot bounced off harmlessly, kicking again he gritted his teeth using all his strength, this time the leg collapsed.

Hearing his knife fall to the floor, Akio swung around to pull his other one out of his boot, the man lunged at him, swinging in the dark. His fingers, sharp and hard, dug into his side, sliding upwards they left a deep jagged gash. He couldn't stifle the pained gasp as he cradled his wounded side with his arm and dropped down low. Swinging out his leg, he swept behind the other man's knees, trying to knock him off-balance. His foot collided with what felt like a solid rock. "Shit," Akio's boot bounced off harmlessly, kicking again he gritted his teeth using all his strength, this time the leg buckled.

Jumping back, Kiri tried to see the other person but they'd blended into the dark shadows. Suddenly a hard boot shot out, connecting with his leg. Snapping himself tight, he smirked at the grunt of pain as the foot hit his hard skin. Peering at the wall, he tried to find the light switch. The booted foot smashed into his knee again, this time with enough force he felt his leg give, spinning he landed flat on his back, gasping as the breath was pushed out from his lungs.

Akio heard the crash as the other person fell. Scrambling sideways, his hand felt the handle of the knife on the floor, grasping it, he squatted low and pushed up against the wall. He kept his other hand tight against his wounded side, hot blood soaked into his hoodie. He had to get away, and fast. Seeing the reflection of the machine lights on the metal door handle he lunged silently, holding his breath, he stopped briefly at the door. Waiting, he could hear whoever was on the floor getting up. Moving fast he opened the door and shot into the hallway. His exit route memorized, he darted across the hallway and pushed through the double doors into the long corridor. Hunching over, he tugged his hood as far over his head as possible and headed straight for the stairwell. Pushing the door open quickly he let it close behind him. Empty. Bolting now, Akio leapt down the stairs, stopping at each landing listening, ignoring the waves of pain that dug into his side. It wasn't until he was nearing the bottom of the stairs that he heard the doorway slam open above. Hurrying to his car, he yanked off his hoodie, bunching it up against his side as he jumped behind the wheel. Heart pounding, he started the engine and drove out of the garage as quickly as possible. Glancing in his rearview mirror, a large red-haired man popped into view, running and spinning, clearly looking for him. "Who the fuck are you?" Akio muttered to himself as he made a right out of the garage.

Racing through the garage Kiri looked for anyone, the place was empty. "Shit!" He yelled, his frustration echoing in the open space. He'd seen the door open in the room and the person run, but by the time he'd managed to get out himself, the hallway had been empty. "Dammit," he ran his hands through his hair. Feeling wetness dripping down his arm he glanced at his skin, it had returned to normal and the cut was now gushing blood. Wrapping his hand around the wound, he let out an exasperated growl and headed back up the staircase to Suguta's floor. Stopping again at her room, he peered inside and flipped on the light. She lay quietly, the machines beeping rhythmically. Sighing, he headed back to the nurse's station as he pulled out his phone.

Stretching out his legs, Katsuki nursed a beer watching as Sho compared notes with the group. "Did I miss anything?" He teased, kicking him under the table. Of course, he didn't turn around but instead moved his shoulder to block his view of the group. "Two tone brat," he chuckled, kicking him again, "you know I didn't."

"Oh shit," Ochako picked up her phone, reading her text.

"What's wrong?

"Kiri was attacked by someone in Suguta Ren's hospital room," she looked up wide-eyed. "He's with the Captain giving his report."

"Why was someone in Suguta's room?" Denki popped a fry into his mouth.

"He didn't say, but," she breathed out, "why else?"

Katsuki leaned forward, "to fucking kill her Denki." There was a brief pause as everyone stared at each other, then group leapt to their feet at once.

"I'll pay the bill," Momo was already flagging down the server, "let's get back to the precinct."

"Wait, I want to go to the hospital," Ochako grabbed her notebook.

"Why?" Shouto grabbed his briefcase. "I'm assuming there's a guard in her room already." Her round cheeks turned a deep pink.

"I just do," her body stiffened defensively.

"I'll go with you," Katsuki threw some money at Momo. "I'm sure it's safe but no reason to go alone." He stopped at the menacing look she leveled on him. "Not because I don't think you can't fucking defend yourself," he snapped, "but because I wanna check out the room. Has forensics arrived on the scene yet?" Her face softened.

"Sorry," she mumbled, her fingers flying over her phone, she waited for another text. "Sounds like they just went over, we might be able to catch them if we hurry." She smiled appreciatively, suddenly the thought of having someone with her sounded better.

"We'll round up with Kiri and the Captain. I'll text you once we're done," Shouto waved, heading out with Momo and Denki.

Going the opposite direction, Katsuki walked silently next to Ochako to the train station, the crowds lighter now that it was past dinnertime. His mind churned through scenarios.

"Why her?"

Looking at Ochako, he realized she was talking to him. The train roared into the station. "Well," he waited until they were settled into the half-empty car, "that's a good question. From what I was hearing tonight, it didn't sound like she had a lot of information. Just a guard at the ministry, right? Yet someone considers her important enough to kill."

"I think it's what she might remember."

"What do you mean? Might remember? I thought her memory is fucked up from the brain cancer."

"No, the doctor said the memory thing could be because of a quirk that was used on her."

"Wait, a quirk? What?"

"I was waiting for Kiri to talk with everyone about it tonight," she glanced at Katsuki, his face pinched in his usual scowl. "We met with the doctor and she believes Suguta was hit with some kind of memory quirk."

"What's a memory quirk?"

Sighing, Ochako thought about how to explain. "I guess there's this book, Kiri said it was one that Izuku had, and it lists all the quirks ever recorded."

"He had a million books, but sounds like something he would own."

"It's controversial, but there's a memory quirk in the book, I guess it's possible to erase another person's memory and replace it with something else."

"Shit, that's fucking powerful and what do you mean controversial?"

"Well, there's no one that has officially claimed to have the quirk according to the doctor, so there are some that don't believe such a quirk exists."

Laughing sarcastically, Katsuki smiled wickedly. "Well of course not, would you tell anyone you had that quirk? If they knew, I'd pop them," he tapped her head. "Especially if I was in a position of power."

"You're right," she peeked at him, "glad you're on our side because you'd make a hell of a bad guy." She paused, "but, that's not all."

"More?"

Ochako grimaced, "this doctor thinks she found actual physical evidence of the quirk being used, and Kiri thinks it's been used on you, maybe others." She bumped his shoulder as an incredulous look crossed Bakugou's face for a moment, then his face crumpled in laughter.

"Me?" Katsuki barked out laughing, "why the hell me?" Thumping his head, he smiled, "my brain is working fucking perfect."

"Aren't you having strange dreams about Izuku? Weird memory flashes?" His laughter died instantly. He crossed his arms giving her a dark look.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Sorry," she patted his arm lightly, "I'm not trying to dredge shit up for you, but the doctor said there were two other people that suffered brain trauma that had similar stuff going on, strange dreams and flickering memories. When she ran a CT scan, she found these patterned dark spots that match the same ones on Suguta's brain. She thinks that they were all hit with this quirk." The train entered a tunnel and the car went black, Ochako could feel Bakugou's arm tense under her hand. He was quiet. Biting her tongue, she waited until they pulled into the station by the hospital.

"Why does she think that from black spots?" He finally spoke, his voice tight.

"It wasn't the spots entirely." Ochako tried to remember everything they had talked about earlier. "The two patients both suffered a head injury and afterward they began to experience strange dreams. Both of the patients claimed to have memory shifts. They would see the memory in their mind but it would shift suddenly to something else in the exact place." The train slowed to a stop, the doors sliding open, they moved with the flow of people towards the exit. "The doctor thinks it's a limitation of the quirk, that the new memory has to be almost exact physically in some way to really stick and somehow the injury causes a kind of reset in their brain so that original memory begins showing up." Everyone slowed at the escalator entrance.

Grabbing her arm, Katsuki pointed to the stairs, "faster."

She moved to the side and they began to quickly ascend. "Kiri said you're seeing Izuku in different ways? From that day? I'm not sure if you've had a head injury recently but maybe something else is triggering the new memory? If you get a CT scan." She finished softly.

"Stick me in one of those tubes?"

"I guess," Ochako bit her lip, "sorry I've never had one before, is that what they do?" He went quiet again, sighing, she decided to drop it. Kiri had always been closer to Bakugou, maybe he'd listen to him.

"Okay."

Swinging her head around, she stumbled on the stairs and grabbed the railing. "Okay?"

"Don't fall," he stepped in behind her, "then you'll need one of those too, for a broken head." Blushing, Ochako focused back on the stairs. "One condition."

Waiting until they were at street level, she stopped at the cross walk to the hospital. "What's that?"

"You know this doctor?"

"I do, so does Kiri, well, we talked to her." He kept his gaze on the signal in front of them.

"I hate being stuck inside of shit, I get really freaked out," his ears burned a bright red. "If I can have all of you talking with me, distracting me, then maybe I could do it."

"Us?" Ochako looked at him as they crossed the street.

"Yeah," he suddenly smiled at her, "you aren't such bad extras after all." Bumping her lightly, he laughed at her look of surprise.

"I - I'm not sure if we can all be there, but we can ask, why don't we see if the doctor is here once we're done with Suguta?" Ochako led him into the main entrance and through the lobby. "She's on the fourth floor." Once they were on the elevator Ochako glanced at him, "you've changed." He leaned back on the wall and grunted. "Is it?" She fidgeted with her jacket, "is it because you lost him?" The sharp click of his tongue echoed in the small space. Staring down at the floor blushing, Ochako wished the doors would open soon. What had made her say that?

"Yeah, I guess so," her head snapped up, round eyes wide. "When you lose someone so close to you, it fucks you up, all I can think about is who's gonna be next." He scowled as the numbers lit up on the elevator panel.

"Oh, Bakugou," Ochako felt her heart lurch in her chest. "It was a fluke, I mean none of us are going to-"

"That's what he thought." The elevator slid open, Ochako stared at him, not moving. Grabbing the door to keep it from closing, he waited, finally she stepped out.

"I guess you're right," Ochako felt the familiar numbness spreading through her body. "I always told myself it would be me. I never thought in a million years it would be anyone else, especially him," she choked on the emotions swelling in her throat.

"Easier to think of yourself being killed than a person you care about."

"You really did love him, didn't you?" Tugging on his arm, she pulled him into a fierce hug, pressing her face into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, for all of us," she whispered. His arms came around her body, warm and comforting. He buried his face into her shoulder. They stood holding each other in the quiet hallway, taking solace in each other.

"It's been four fucking months," Katsuki swiped at the tears on his face. "You'd think I'd be getting used to this."

"Running one hand over his blonde spikes, she was surprised how fluffy they were, his hair always looked rough, like him. "Soft now, like you," she mused quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing," she shook her head and sighed heavily. "I don't think it'll ever change, we loved him too much." His chest rumbled deeply as a pained noise sounded from his throat.

Mina rounded the corner stopping short at the scene in front of her. "Hey, uh, you two okay?" Jerking back Bakugou and Ochako pulled apart awkwardly, both looking away at the same time.

"We, just, um," Ochako stammered.

"Just?" Mina rocked back, eyeing Bakugou, who's cheeks were covered in a bright red blush. "I thought you and Todoroki were together?" His red eyes widened as the blush turned a dark crimson.

"What!?" You and Shouto?" Ochako cocked her head. "I always thought-"

"Shut it," Katsuki snarled. "You too Raccoon Eyes, stuff your nose in someone else's shit." Stalking past them both, he wiped his face dry. "I'm assuming this way?" He looked down the hallway where Mina had just come from. "Fucking extras," he muttered.

"Excuse me!" A nurse jumped up from the desk as a large blonde man strode past. He flipped his suit coat showing his badge clipped to the inside.

"He's with us!" Mina ran up to walk alongside him, Ochako trailing behind. Stopping at the doorway blocked by cones, Sero was with another man, both focused on the ground discussing something. "That's Igarashi, the head of the forensics team." Mina leaned on the other side of the doorframe.

"I didn't think you went in the field," Ochako whispered, poking her head around Bakugou, she tried to push him over.

"They're short staffed so the head of the division had to come out, he figured we should learn so," she gave an excited giggle, "we got to come along."

"Mina," the older man looked up, "get some extra collection bags for us, be careful walking in here, there's blood by the door that needs to be marked still." Moving to a large wheeled cart, Mina pulled open the lid of a large utility box, pulling out several small bags, swabs and labels, closing up the lid. She waited by the door, just inside the room.

"They found a vial and a syringe on the floor, no prints but looks like someone was going to inject her with something." Mina pointed to the collection area that had several bags of items.

"Oh! Poor Suguta!" Ochako covered her mouth. "What if Kiri hadn't come? Shit, if only I'd insisted on coming with him."

"Don't," Katsuki shot her a dark look. "You can't change anything at this point, let's focus on what we can do and that's catching this person." Peering at the droplets on the floor, he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture.

"Hey! Who are you?" Igarashi jumped up, stepping carefully towards the doorway.

"Sir, this is Bakugou Katsuki, one of the criminal investigators with PHCI, as well as Uraraka Ochako, she's the partner of Kirishima, the investigator who was attacked in the room."

"Where's Suguta?" Ochako noticed the empty bed.

"She was moved," Igarashi regarded Mina for a moment, finally he held up a gloved hand and waved at them, "nice to meet you both. I guess you're new, so just to let you know it's protocol to log any pictures you take so that we have a record of anything from the scene, even personal photos."

"Where was she moved to?" Ochako looked down the hall.

"To a secure wing in the hospital," turning he went back to Sero and squatted down. "That's been photographed so go ahead pick up that piece, you never know if it's debris from the fight." He watched as he carefully picked up a hair with tweezers and placed it into a small bag.

"Where's that room?" Ochako interrupted them.

Glancing up, Igarashi motioned towards the front impatiently, "go ask the nurses," he focused back on Sero.

Frustrated, Ochako turned to Katsuki, "I'm gonna go find Suguta, are you staying here?"

"I wanna see how this perp escaped and then I'll meet you." Looking both ways down the hall, he poked Mina in the side. "Hey, do you know which way Kirishima chased him?"

"No but Kiri's statement is uploaded in the system, I just got a notification."

"A notification?"

"Sure," Mina held up her phone, "when you're in the case file settings, there's three dots on the side, just hit those and one choice is notification, it will auto notify if anything on a case is ever updated."

"That's fucking amazing," Katsuki immediately opened up the protected case and created a notification. "This really is a slick system."

"It is, they spent a fortune developing it. I heard there's even other countries studying the technology to implement in their own police departments."

"I got it pulled up," Ochako scrolled through the statement. "According to this, after the perp escaped from the room, Kiri ran into the hallway but it was empty and there was no blood trail to follow. He went to the nurse's station but they hadn't seen anyone go by their desk. The nurse told him there was a stairwell down that way," Ochako pointed to a set of double doors at the end of the hallway. "I guess that's probably the way he went," she started walking as Bakugou's arm suddenly snaked around her body dragging her backwards. "HEY!" She yelled as her head collided into Mina's chin.

"OW!" Mina rubbed her jaw as pain shot up to her mouth, she struggled to pull her head out of the crook of Katsuki's elbow. Tightening his grip, he pulled them together until their faces were smashed together.

"Oi, calm the fuck down and listen." Katsuki squeezed them both, "Shouto's sensitive about the dating thing, so keep your fucking mouths shut." Letting them go, they both stumbled back.

"Bakugou!" Ochako raged, her forehead throbbing. "You ass-"

"Please," he clenched his jaw. "I'm asking for him, not me." He turned and headed down the hallway.

"Oh," Ochako glanced at Mina, her anger quickly melting into a giggle. "Did he just say please?"

Letting out a whistle she nodded, "Yep, I think he may like Todoroki more than I realized."

"Huh, I always thought he and Izuku liked each other."

"Pfft!" Mina let out a laugh, "that was ages ago, you're so clueless." She smirked at her knowingly, laughing harder as her face turned bright red.

"Mina! More bags!" Igarashi yelled from inside the room, holding out his hand.

"Get to work," Ochako snapped, storming down the corridor, "and I'm not clueless! Just busy working unlike someone I know," she hissed over her shoulder.

Katsuki pushed open the door as Ochako marched past him. "Did I piss you off that bad?"

"No!" She bit out, "It was Mina, just being her normal self."

"Annoying?"

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes, looking back at her phone, she led the way to the stairs. "He went in here." Digging into her purse she pulled out a tissue and carefully grabbed the handle.

"Fingerprints?"

"Maybe? I'm not sure." She pushed open the heavy metal door to a concrete stairwell and peered over the railing, she could see a few flights down.

"So, Kiri ran to the nurse's station first, then came back down the hall to here." Katsuki looked around the landing, "has anyone searched this area?"

"Bakugou," Ochako looked up from her phone, planting a hand on her hip. "We're both on real time here, I know what you know."

His brows shot up, "oh yeah, you're not like Shouto."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snipped, still grumpy at Mina.

"I dunno, he always seems to know what's going on, even shit nobody else does."

"Fine, I'll text him, let's see what he knows." Tapping out her message she waited until a text popped back from him, her face wilted. A harsh laugh erupted from Bakugou.

"Told you, what did he say?"

"No one's done anything outside of the room and Captain told him to give us the all-clear to search the area," she huffed.

"It's okay," he laughed, "I hate it too."

"I never realized that about him."

"Who would? The guy barely says two words."

"Not lately, he's been talking up a storm," she teased lightly, "maybe he's happier?"

"I said zip it," holding up a finger menacingly, he snagged the tissue from her hand and opened the door back up.

"Are you leaving?"

"Nope looking for marks or blood, anything to give us a clue that he went this way."

Ochako looked down the stairs, "I'll take the wall and the left side of the stairs, you take the railing and the right side?"

"Sure," he continued looking at the door closely. The two of them started to make their way down the stairs methodically.

"Look there," Ochako ran down to the landing of the third floor, a large bloody smear streaked along the wall.

"And another there on the railing," Katsuki snapped a picture and sent it to the forensics team. Descending the last two flights, they finally emerged into a parking garage. "Nothing else," he looked around the garage disappointed, he'd hoped for something more.

"Sounds like they're shutting down the stairwell to take pictures and collect the blood samples." She looked up from her phone to see Katsuki disappear down the main lane, walking around a large pillar she watched him trot out the exit and look up at the building. Walking up to the parking gate, he pushed the button on a black box sitting by the gate. There was a crackling echo of someone on the other side talking. After a couple of minutes he finished, seemingly satisfied and ran back. "What was that about?"

"This is an employee parking area, you can only get in here with a monthly pass."

"Oh! Maybe they track who goes in and out each day?"

"Unfortunately, no, I talked to the parking manager and he said they don't track the daily traffic, just the actual passes sold, which is over one thousand."

"Damn, that would've been nice."

"Yeah, but we know whoever did this had access to a pass and had it planned out."

"Wait," Ochako pulled open the stairwell door slowly, holding it for him, "this means they also knew she'd been brought into the hospital."

"Yep," Katsuki followed behind her, still looking around for anything they may have missed.

"Of course, we didn't keep it a secret, her family was notified, nurses, doctors, police, it could be any number of people."

"Agreed, but I think this person has a connection in our department or a related division."

"You do?" Ochako stopped and stared at him.

"I do and right now I got my money on the mom of the dead kid, Uchiyama Nana."

"The Defense Minister's Assistant? Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not. She keeps popping up in everything, and now Lida is missing from her office." Ochako turned and punched him.

"Who's missing?! Tenya? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Just found out ourselves," Katsuki side-stepped her and started up the stairs. "Captain has a missing person's report from the woman that works with him. Shouto and I went to his apartment and he's not there, at least not right now."

"Maybe he went somewhere? How do you know he's missing?"

"I don't," he continued up the stairs.

"Hey! What kind of answer is that? I'm serious."

Flicking her an annoyed look, he smirked, "what did you say earlier? I've got as much fucking information as you right now." Glaring back at him, Ochako reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, eyeing her, he chuckled, "are you calling him?"

"Yes," she sniffed, waiting for Shouto, his voicemail answered. Shoving her phone back in her pocket, she muttered under her breath and raced up the stairs. As they rounded the third floor, they saw Igarashi working on the blood that was smeared on the wall, he smiled at them.

"Thanks for finding these two marks, we'll get these processed with the other samples right away. Did you find anything else?"

"No evidence, just that this leads to the employee parking garage."

"Okay, that explains it, usually someone always tries to get past my cones, no one even knocked on the door. Our perpetrator picked a quiet place to escape."

"We're going to find Suguta and check on her, how long before you can process everything?"

"We're making this a priority, Commander wants answers and fast, that's why I'm here." He glanced at his watch, "I already sent Mina and Sero back to the lab to help work on what we gathered out of the room. I hope in the next few hours."

"Thanks," Ochako ran up the last flight and stepped through the blockade waiting for Bakugou to join her. "Let's go find Suguta and maybe find out when Doctor Chito will be back in the office."

"Right, the brain thing," Katsuki grimaced, "can't wait."

The bar wasn't too busy for a Thursday night, outside of the regulars getting stoned on the cheap house drinks there was a group of office mates working over the jukebox. They'd been pumping money into the damn thing for the last two hours as fast as they'd been downing bottles of shochu. Yusa closed her eyes and rubbed her temples as the same song blared again. They were singing loudly and off-key to the tune.

"Can I refuse to give them any more change?"

She laughed softly, opening her eyes and smiled at the new bartender. "No, but I'm escaping for a bit." Patting the bar she winked, "it's not often that bookkeeping is better than hanging here."

"Wimp!"

Laughing harder Yusa slipped into the back hall, closing the door to muffle the noise. Sighing in relief at the quiet, she grabbed the banister of the staircase and swung herself around, leaping three steps up at once. Her fingers sliding up the smooth wood hit a cold stickiness. Jerking her hand away quickly, she stopped, staring at the tacky blood on her fingertips. "Fuck," she breathed out walking slowly up the stairs, her eyes trained on her office door. Pausing she pushed her ear against the cool wood, she heard a cough. Reaching into her back pocket, she tugged out her switchblade hovering her thumb just above the release button. She tried the doorknob, it was locked. Stepping back, she looked over the railing, there was no one down below. Moving to the side of the door, she used her foot to knock. There was movement, squeaking as someone got off her couch, a shuffling noise over the wood floor.

"Who is it?"

"Akio?" Relief flooded her senses, putting her knife back into her pocket, she slapped the door. "What the fuck? Open up." Chills pricked her skin, "why are you locked inside?" In all the years they'd been together he'd never hidden from her. The lock snapped and the door hung slightly open, peeking inside she saw him hobble back to the couch and sit, a painful wince crossed his face. Closing the door, her eyes fell on his bloody shirt. "Shit, Akio, what the hell happened?" Walking to a large cabinet that dominated the back wall, she pulled out a plastic medical box.

"I need your sewing skills," he rasped, closing his eyes as pain gripped him.

"Tell me you didn't go after Dynamite."

"Fuck you."

Sitting down next to him, Yusa studied his torn shirt, the ripped edges were starting to stick to the gaping wound that ran up his side. "First I need to cut this shirt off," she tugged on latex gloves and pulled out a pair of scissors. "What did you run into? It looks like something ripped your side open," she worked her large shears up the fabric carefully pulling it off the congealed blood. He let out a loud gasp as she lifted the last bit stuck to a jagged piece of flesh.

"Dammit," she clenched her jaw, "you know I fucking hate doing this shit."

"But you're so good at it," he leaned back, his waxy skin sweating profusely.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," biting her lip, she used disinfectant to flush and clean the wound. His breathing was ragged and shallow, glancing up she could see his eyes were squeezed shut. "I don't like how little blood is coming out, how much did you lose?"

"Not enough, I'm okay, I used my jacket to stop the flow." He lifted his hand weakly pointing to a bag by her desk. "We'll need to burn it."

"Painkillers?" She held up a small glass vial filled with liquid. Closing his eyes again, he shook his head back and forth slowly. "I'll give you some antibiotics then." Pulling out another vial she prepped the syringe and injected his arm. "At least you won't die of an infection."

"Just from your shitty nursing skills," he quipped.

"Fuck you, I haven't killed you yet," she tore open a packet and pulled out a sterilized needle and thread as she studied the opening in his side. "Seriously Akio, I'm not sure I can sew this," laying her hands on either side of the wound she tried to line up the gash. He let out a strangled moan. Ignoring him, she moved her hands until she was sure it was straight. "I need you to hold one side," she waited until his eyes opened and he looked at her, they were dull.

"Do what?"

"Here," lifting his arm, she guided his hand to the backside of the gash. He sucked in several short breaths. "Hold tight there or you'll be crooked." His hand flopped down.

"I'd love to be your assistant but I can't," his eyes closed again.

"Shit," getting up, Yusa dug through her desk. Holding up a bottle of superglue she thinned her lips, "use what you got in a pinch." Sitting down she began to glue his ragged skin together.

"Hell is that?" Akio hissed at the sharp stinging, trying to see what was in her hand.

Not looking up she chuckled, "it's not medical grade glue but it's basically the same stuff, your body will just soak it up." She began to glue as many of the ragged pieces together as possible and waited for them to affix. "I just need it to hold everything in place for me so I can sew the larger gaps." Setting down the bottle, she studied the wound, not great but at least everything was as straight as possible. Starting again at the top she began suturing the skin back together. Listening to his breathing she stopped when it sounded too shallow, waiting until it returned to normal before moving to the next stitch. Her arm ached as she kept working, pulling out needle after needle each time she ran out of thread. "This is so fucking big," she whispered as she tied up the last piece. Letting out a deep breath, she let her shoulders finally relax, the tension throbbing in her neck. Securing a large bandage around his torso, she touched his forehead, "no fever, that's good."

"Mmmm," he mumbled, his head lolled to the side.

Cleaning up, she shoved everything into the bag with his bloody hoodie. "I'll burn this in the dumpster outside, no rain tonight so it will go quick." He didn't respond. Looking over she could see his bare chest lift and fall, he was alive. Pulling the blanket folded on the couch over his body, she headed out of her office, once again glancing over the staircase. The area below was still empty, the muted sound of music drifted up from the bar. Moving down the stairs quietly, she opened the back door, glancing around the alley, night had settled in and blanketed everything in darkness. Grabbing the large box of matches and lighter fluid she kept in a cabinet by the door, she walked to a metal trash can at the end of the alley. Throwing in the bag, she doused it with fluid and struck the red tip of the match, it flared for a moment, eating the sulfur and wood as she dropped it onto the jacket. Black smoke curled as the flame licked across the soft material. Striking several more matches in a row, she tossed them onto different parts of the bag and jacket until it was engulfed in the flames, thick smoke pushed her back as yellow flames shot up out of the can, sparks spit out into the night air, dying quickly. Staring at the dancing embers, she watched until it slowly burned down. Grabbing a long metal pole leaning on the wall, she stirred the ashes, drenching the remaining bits in more fluid and lighting them again, waiting as the fire finally destroyed everything. Heading back into the bar, she grimaced as the same music still sounded from the front. Poking her head through the door, she grimaced, it was as if time had stopped here, the regulars were at the bar drinking, the group still shoving money into the jukebox, laughing and singing as they downed more alcohol. Ducking back out, she went up the stairs and into the office, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. Akio was laying on his back, blanket pulled up to his neck, eyes closed. Standing over him she held her hand over his face, she could feel his hot breath.

"Not dead." Akio opened one eye. She snatched her hand back quickly.

"You fucking scared me," she sat down at her desk and swung back and forth in her chair. "You gonna tell me?"

His hand covered his eyes, "I was just getting ready to inject our missing lady with my special mix when the door opened." He shifted, wincing as he moved. "Someone came in and I saw him reach for the light so I sliced his arm and threw my knife at his chest." He thumped his heart, "it was a fucking bullseye, saw it perfectly and it just bounced off." He flicked his fingers, his arm falling back to the couch. "When the knife fell, he lunged at me, I went to block him but his hand came under my arm." He frowned, "I swear Yusa, it was like a rock sliced me open. I knew I had no chance, so I ran."

"Smart," Yusa bumped her chin on her fingers, "but that's why you're here and alive."

"I know when I can't win, I only fight when I have the advantage. Piece of shit heroes and their fucking quirks," Akio bit out.

"You're sure it was a quirk?" He opened both his eyes and stared at her.

"This shit?" He motioned dramatically to his side, "You think someone's hand can do this normally?"

"No, no," shaking her head, she chewed her lip. "Now what?" He closed his eyes again.

"I've got a few hours to rest then I need to get up north to kill our buddy Kaneko."

"Kaneko went North? How'd you find him?"

"Sensei did, the asshole heroes tracked him heading to a ship port. My guess is that he's thinking about going international."

"Well, be careful," standing she rubbed her hands on her jeans. "I'm going back down, been gone too long. You need me to wake you up?"

"Yeah, I gotta take a late train so give me three hours." Pulling at the blanket, he crossed his arms over his chest.

Watching him for a few moments Yusa tried to shake how much he looked like a corpse lying there. Finally leaving the office, she went back down to the bar. Waving at the bartender, she began washing glasses, her mind on the man upstairs. Akio was always level-headed but for some reason these heroes had him rattled and that wasn't good. His temper clouded his judgment and while he normally kept it under control, she worried he was letting his anger sway his decisions. They needed him to stay focused, it was probably good he was heading out of town to kill Kaneko. Finishing the last glass, she dried her hands. She only stepped in to help when Akio was backed into a corner and based on the wound in his side, he was in one hell of a corner right now. Fingering her phone, she debated what to do, finally she dialed the number and hung up. If Sensei needed her, then she'd get a call back.