A/N: The three trainees establish their role in the case and arrive at the crime scene.


Chapter 2


Katsuki cracked his knuckles as they strode out of Endeavour's office. His own gear was impeccably maintained, as always, and his gauntlets at max power after the rigorous patrol they'd taken on yesterday. Beside him, Deku was mumbling as he messed around with his utility belt, while Half 'n Half looked slightly less dead than usual. He spun on his heel and grabbed the two roughly by their upper arms, dragging them to a quiet corner. There were some things they needed to get straight before the mission, and he wouldn't have these two losers messing up and making them look incompetent.

"Kacchan, what – "

"Shut up and listen." He supposed his tone was heavy enough, because they both gave him their full attention. "You heard what Endeavour said in there. This is some serious shit. We need to show them that we're just as good as any pro-hero out in the field."

Shouto blinked. "How do you propose we do that?"

"Deku. Where's your shitty notebook?"

Green eyes widened as the nerd pulled a mini version of his notebook, thick and spiral bound, from one of the pouches on his belt. "Right here. But -"

"Write and walk." Katsuki's eyes scanned the room carefully before he continued. "I picked up some stuff from the briefing."

It seemed that Deku had caught on pretty quickly. His eyes gleamed and he whipped the notebook open, scribbling down the date and the heading "Case Notes" while Icy-Hot looked curiously over his shoulder.

"First, the boat. Come on." They headed for the elevator while Deku constructed rapid bullet points. "That there's a fishing boat, and they were supposed to be out since 2am. You see what's missing?"

Izuku gasped. "There weren't any fish. But wouldn't the attack have maybe ... knocked them overboard?"

"Nope, what about the fuckin' barrels? That's usually where they put 'em. The barrels were stored upside down on the side. They hadn't even taken 'em out. Not to mention, fishing boats can get messy as fuck. All the equipment was stowed. Neat. None of the nets, lines, nothing had been used."

Shouto nodded. "So, their purpose for being out there . . ."

The elevator doors closed as Izuku frowned down at the notebook. "Yeah, so that's really suspicious. What about that recording?"

Katsuki frowned. As compelling as the recording had been, there hadn't been much he could glean from it. "Anything you picked up, Deku?"

"No … "

"Ah," Shouto pointed to the next empty bullet point. "The person who made the call, he said something about not being able to "see it coming"?"

"I mean, it has to be some kind of quirk right?" Deku shrugged. "One that could take out multiple people in a short space of time . . . "

"Yeah, it's gotta be some kind of quirk. Came outta nowhere too, you heard 'em screaming. So not just something you can't see very well, but fast too."

The elevator pinged and deposited them on the first floor, the wide-open prep area where other members of the agency squad had already gathered. Katsuki gave Deku a look and he stowed his notebook as Burnin' strode over to them.

"Ready, my little peons?"

"Who's a fuckin' peon?"

"Yeah, we're good to go, Burnin'!"

"All right," she cackled. "Now you guys stick close. I'll be the one in charge of you, since Boss Man will be occupied with all the regulation stuff. First orders of the day," she began to count off on her fingers," One. Don't talk to the press. At all. The cordon was pretty visible, so the vultures caught wind of something happening earlier than we woulda liked. Just ignore and speed walk. Two. Always keep me in sight. Ain't tryin' to babysit you guys, I know you can handle yourselves. But if anything goes wrong, and it turns out that unsupervised trainees were on site . . . well, pointy fingers will point. Three. What the police say, that's what we do. We're used to them being support, but this time, there's a delicate crime scene. They have specialized techs and personnel, and we can't compromise an investigation. We do what they say, period. Got it?"

Katsuki nodded once. He made a mental note to do some research into investigation and crime scene protocol later that evening with Deku and Icy-Hot. As much as he would never say so out loud, his two classmates had abilities that would come in handy if they wanted to ace their role in this mission. Deku was pretty damn good with organisation and analysis of information, while Shouto had perspective and a calm sense of objectivity. Katsuki had everything else, especially the balls and the brains.

Endeavour arrived a short while after, a roll call was taken, and they departed in the designated agency vehicles for the harbour. Katsuki remained alert and watchful of the environment, taking in the air of decay, the crumbling facades on buildings that had once been pristine, the watchful eyes that tracked their passage and finally, the smell of brine on the air. This was by no means a nice part of the district, but gentrification in recent times had seen a few night clubs, office spaces, trendy cafés and restaurants open up in the area. The cordon was manned by police in plain clothes. He also noted the presence Death Arms, Kamui Woods and Gunhead as well as some sidekicks he recognised from Best Jeanist's agency. Good choices, considering their specializations in physical combat and restraint.

The lead on the investigation team, a Detective Inspector Hosakawa, stepped forward to shake hands with Endeavour. He was short, slightly balding, with an affable smile and razor-sharp eyes. His gaze briefly flitted to the team Endeavour had brought along, including the three trainees. Katsuki crossed his arms and looked appropriately menacing when the detective glanced in his direction. He knew that his widely publicised Sports Festival fiasco and the abduction during the training camp had earned him some infamy.

Sometimes, when people stared and talked behind their hands, Katsuki developed a strange itch between the shoulder blades and a burning sensation in his throat. Sometimes, when he was on patrol, he would suddenly feel weird, like the eyes on him had turned into fingers that traced and poked and prodded where they landed. Those times, he would silently fall into step between Deku and Icy-Hot, letting their conversation wash over on either side of him, letting Deku's waving hands and Shouto's steady monotone form a barrier around him until his breathing settled. Not that he bothered to dwell too much on it. Those extras on the street who talked trash would never be better than him.

His attention was brought back to the present as Burnin' gestured quickly to them to follow. The white boom gate at the harbour entrance was raised, allowing them to pass through a large car park. There was a sign board indicating various restrictions and a windowed booth for presence of a guard that was now empty. The group walked seemingly casually, but they had spread out in a subtle formation from practice on patrol, the sidekicks taking the fringes and scoping the area carefully.

Katsuki felt a nudge on his arm and saw Deku jerk his head towards the trucks parked nearby. A stylized artwork of various sushi platters dominated the sides of each truck, along with the words "Shimazu Seafood and Produce". If fresh catch was coming in from the fishing boats every morning, then these trucks must have been parked here from pretty early on in the day. Deku muttered "Dash cam" under his breath and Katsuki grinned. Of course. With the spike in vehicle theft and heists in recent years, trade unions had made round-the-clock dash cams compulsory in all company-owned vehicles for the benefit of the drivers. The design company his parents worked for had to rush to have them installed to meet the deadline. He'd ask to view the footage a little later. Katsuki was sure that this was something they would be allowed to do.

The Detective Inspector, along with one of the Coast Guard team members from the morning patrol, was leading them through a gate marked "KEEP OUT" and along a side path to where the boathouses were located. The smell of fish, tar and decaying seaweed became stronger. They stopped outside the third boathouse in a row all along the inner harbour wall. It wasn't in great condition, with the corrugated iron walls battered and discoloured with time, but it looked sturdy enough. The Inspector waved them through.

"The vessel has been housed in here. Nobody has approached or boarded since it was towed in this morning."

Burnin' turned to the three of them, her expression serious. "Right, guys. This is where we take point. From here on out is a crime scene, so we remain on guard while Endeavour and the others sweep the boathouse and vessel. Deku, you take the left harbour wall. Shouto, we'll have you on the right. Bakugou, you take the roof. I'll position here, in the entryway. No-one enters or leaves."