Learning to Trust


"I don't need a friend who changes when I change and nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.
Plutarch


Chapter 25: An End to Shadows

Naomasa had left the office late. He was supposed to leave at six, which really meant closer to seven-thirty anyway. But he'd been busy looking into some details he'd questioned from a recent report he'd had to log. Then he'd spent a little more time tabulating the list of missing women from the timeframe that Toshi had given for his students' missing mother—a task made more difficult by the fact that he was still waiting on Toshinori to give him particulars of the missing person. Plus he had the last batch of All Might's paperwork to get filed before it became delinquent. Again.

Naomasa sighed affectionately, a tired smile twitching his lips as he remembered the guilty look on his friend's face when he'd handed over that final pile of papers before heading off to Musutafu. Guess you can't be good at everything, can you, Toshi? And there are worse flaws for a hero to have…

While all of these things had slowed him down, certainly, what had really thrown off his timing had been the small yellow post-it stuck to an envelope that he'd noticed on his desk just as he was about to head out the door. The note was in Sansa's handwriting and merely read: Naruhatu.

Inside the envelope was a holodisk and a flash drive along with one more short note in different handwriting: Use old login and password. Secondary password: LdCldKitty3. This is all I have. Do what you want with it. Don't send him to me again.

It wasn't signed, but Naomasa didn't need to see a name. Aizawa. He winced on behalf of Toshinori. It sounded like Toshi might have been right about Aizawa's opinion of him after all. That probably hadn't been a great conversation. Aizawa was hard to read face-to-face, and terse handwritten notes certainly didn't help, but even so, Naomasa had worked with Aizawa long enough to be able to tell when he was irritated, and that he probably meant it when he said he wanted nothing more to do with their mutual acquaintance.

But why? You're a good man, Toshi. And Aizawa is generally more laid back than he appears. How on earth did you manage to piss him off so quickly?

His eyes skimmed the note again, and he noticed a quick final line that he'd missed during his first read-through, jotted at the end: Just try to keep him alive.

The detective's eyebrows raised at that. Then again, maybe you made a better impression on him than either of us expected…

Naomasa tucked the envelope in his briefcase to review later, clicking it shut. He grabbed his hat and popped it onto his head. Then he picked up his tan trench coat and, after a moment of deliberation, slung it over his shoulder before walking out the door.


The train ride to Naomasa's apartment wasn't particularly long, but at this time of night it could be a rather lonely, boring ride. Today, for instance, there was no one in his car besides him and a young woman sitting in the seat across from him, reading a magazine. He tried to follow suit and entertain himself—not to mention distract himself from his thoughts about the Shifter case—by scrolling through his phone, but the obvious lack of All Might in the daily headlines just caused him to start worrying about his friend again. He honestly wasn't sure which worried him the most—seeing him in the headlines when he was ill or injured… or not seeing him in there for the same reason….

How much longer can you keep pushing yourself like this, Toshi? You're going to drive yourself into an early grave…. He sighed at that, trying to ignore the way his stomach churned at that thought. But it's a little late for me to be worrying about that now, isn't it? That big boss battle of yours, took more out of you than a lung and a stomach. It's like he took away your will to live.

Naomasa rested his phone on his lap and dropped his face into his hand, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. It really is far too late to be thinking about things like this…. But his mind kept cycling through all of the little odd things Toshi had said since they'd met—always spiraling back to his time limit.

"I can't fight for more than five hours a day now." Trying to fight too soon after his bout with meningitis and sepsis had dropped him down to just under four on a good day, but now sometimes as low as three.

What did this recent illness cost you?

He huffed in irritation. And why do you keep acting like you're not going to be around much longer? In the past year, Naomasa had noticed that Toshi no longer made long-range plans—including refusing to schedule appointments for very far in the future. He seemed to have set two years as his cut-off. But when asked about it, he immediately pulled up the mask and tried to play him like the media, dodging the question and changing the subject.

Up until now, Naomasa had been letting him have his way, respecting his friend's right to privacy. His lips pressed into a thin line. But not anymore. When this thing is over, we're going to have a long talk. And one way or another, you're going to tell me everything.

"Anyway, what's the point of being your friend if I can't call you out on your bullshit?" he muttered under his breath. "Someone has to…"

"You tell him," purred a smooth voice from nearby.

Naomasa's head jerked up at the unexpected sound and he nearly dropped his phone. As he fumbled with the device, he saw the young woman's pale eyes studying him calmly, a smile curling her red lips. She adjusted her glasses. Now that he was actually looking at her, she seemed familiar somehow.

"Detective Tsukauchi, isn't it?" the woman continued, as though reading his mind. At his apparent look of confusion, she laughed warmly. "We've met before," she continued. "But I guess I look a lot different out of costume." She winked at him.

Suddenly it clicked. "Midnight!" he exclaimed, a hair louder than he'd intended. He hushed his voice, continuing. "Sorry about that. It's been a long night. And I haven't seen you face-to-face since the case in Naruhata. How are you doing?"

She smiled at that. "Not too bad. How are you?"

He just shrugged, unsure quite how to answer. While he had worked with Midnight once or twice in an official capacity, he was far from familiar with her. Finally he simply answered, "Tired."

"Too many cases?"

"Too many cases. Too many villains…"

"Too many friends and their bullshit?" she supplied quickly, quirking an eyebrow.

That brought a small smile to his face. "No," he chuckled. "Only one."

"You and me both."

It wasn't until she said those words that he realized that she looked fairly tired as well. "I'm sorry."

She leaned forward, "Want to talk about it?"

His eyes widened at that, and then narrowed. "What?" he asked suspiciously. Since when do you bond with police officers?

Her eyes dropped. "It just sounds to me like we're having a similar situation. Since we've got a little time here alone, I thought maybe we could brainstorm together. Two heads are supposed to be better than one, right?" She ran her manicured nails over the edge of the magazine she'd been reading. It was one of those trashy tabloid magazines that spouted out conspiracy theories. Naomasa couldn't read the headline, since she had it partially rolled in her hands, but on the cover was All Might's smiling face. He could only imagine what the magazine's contents were.

Naomasa straightened in his seat and sighed, turning to glance at the alert for the stop. "I doubt our situations are that similar…"

She ignored him, jumping right in. "I'll start. A lovely older gentleman from Might Tower—Yagi Toshinori—is visiting my work on behalf of his employer. Perhaps you know him. Don't you work fairly regularly with All Might? I'm sure you must know most of his inner circle by now."

Naomasa's head snapped up at that as all kinds of warning sirens went off in his head. She knows…

She nodded, her own eyes narrowing just a touch as she studied him. "Yes. I thought so. He's the sort of person who stands out, and I seem to remember you spending a lot of time working with that agency." Her grip tightened on the magazine, as she twisted it in her hands, eyes dropping again. "Anyway, the man has some serious health conditions, as I'm sure you know, but he's stubborn and insists on doing everything himself. He's going to work himself to death, and frankly… I'm not okay with that. I want to help him, but every time he seems like he's about to open up and let someone offer support, some new obstacle causes him to close off again. I haven't known him for long, but I've gathered this isn't a new quality of his, and it's unlikely to change. I'm done waiting for him to be ready to trust me. So, I've decided that I'm going to help him now, whether he wants it or not."

Naomasa opened his mouth and was about to speak right when the train speaker declared the announcement for the stop before his. He paused, snapping his mouth shut again. But what if she doesn't know? What can I really say without endangering his secret? I need to get rid of her. "I… I'm sorry about your situation. It sounds very frustrating. But I'm not sure what you want from me—"

"Like I mentioned before… I thought we could brainstorm some solutions. I really feel like we are experiencing an alarmingly similar situation."

"Do you?"

"Yes. I do." She unrolled the magazine, flipping it open, so he could read the cover. The headline was a ridiculous claim that All Might had been injured sometime in the past, or at least was terminally ill, and that he would be retiring soon. Her face barely changed expression except for the slight raising of her eyebrow. "Want to talk about your friend? Or have I already about summed things up enough for both of us?"

Shit.

The loudspeaker announced his stop just then as the train slowed to a halt. Naomasa stuffed the phone into his pocket, taking the excuse to escape and gather his thoughts. Grabbing a pole, he moved to stand. "I'm sorry, Midnight," he replied, shaken. "This is my stop."

"What a coincidence," Midnight replied. "It's mine, too." At his blank expression, she added coyly. "I don't have to be at work early tomorrow, so I have lots of time to kill…"

He sighed in resignation, beginning to make his way to the door. "Where are you headed?"

The door slid open and Naomasa stepped out into the station.

Midnight followed. "Wherever you are."

He paused at the stairs, considering. "There are things I can't discuss, you know."

"Then we'll discuss what you can. I understand privacy."

He began walking, and she followed close behind. "You mean to tell me hat yu came all this way to talk to me—a virtual stranger—about your problems with some mutual work friend?"

They walked through the nearly empty station together. "No," she replied. "I've come all this way to save our mutual friend. You seem to be my best chance to get through to him. And I will take whatever help I can get."

"What makes you think he'd listen to me?"

She chuckled quietly at that before answering. "He's mentioned you."

Naomasa snorted at that, but she shook her head and continued.

"No. You don't understand. You're the only person outside of UA that he's mentioned by name. He respects you. And I get the impression he trusts you."

He stopped and studied her. Her eyes were clear and her expression earnest. What was more… he wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that Toshi actually reciprocated his concern. Wanted to believe that there were other people trying to keep Toshi safe. Because even though he did everything he could to help the man… Tsukauchi Naomasa was only one man, and not able to do much for him all the way in Musutafu. If he knew that both Midnight and Aizawa had Toshi's back, then he was far more comfortable with the idea of All Might working at UA.

But can I risk breaking his trust? What if she's just guessing about him? She might not actually know anything.

She met his gaze steadily.

Can I risk not trying?

He glanced around the nearly empty station. Still too many people to risk such a conversation. "Just answer me a few quick questions. Yes or no. Nothing else, got it?"

She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Depends on the questions, but I'm game."

He nodded. "Let's walk and talk." They began moving again.

Let's try this. Simple questions. Just like at work… Stay focused, Naomasa.

"Your real name is Kayama Nemuri, correct?"

She sideeyed at him in confusion. "I—yes."

True.

"Do you work as a teacher for UA?"

"You know I do—"

"Yes or no answers, please." His voice was flat and professional. "Do you work at UA?"

"Yes."

True.

"Lie for the next answer, please."

"What?"

"Just do it. Yes or no… are you quirkless?"

"I—Yes?"

He winced as a jabbing headache caught him behind the eyes. False. Got a read. He nodded. "Thank you. Please go back to sticking with the truth. Yes and no only. "I'm guessing you didn't really need to use the train, did you?"

"No."

"Did you track me down to follow me?"

"Yes."

"Did you know which station I stop at?"

"Yes."

"Does anyone else know you are here?"

"No." The headache throbbed again and his head jerked up. "That was a strange thing to lie about, Midnight," he responded softly. "If you want me to trust you, then you're going to need to trust me, too. Is the other person here?"

Her eyes widened. "No. It's just Mic, but he's running his show this evening, and he's not going to say anything." A flash of curiosity lit her eyes. "How did you know that? Is that your quirk?"

Naomasa smiled tiredly, but didn't answer her. "First answer just one more question for me, Midnight. Do you have Yagi-san's best interest at heart?"

With that question, the confusion cleared from her eyes, replaced by a powerful determination. "Yes," she replied firmly. "I do."

True. He nodded, finally allowing himself to smile tiredly at her. "Good. Let's find somewhere private to talk. It seems we're on the same page after all."


Yamada glanced up at the clock of the radio station as the song drew to a close. Almost midnight… He smiled faintly at that realization, even though a worried crease formed between his brows. On that note… Midnight must have found her target by now. Wonder how that chat's going. She seemed pretty sure that Aizawa's contact would want to help Yagi. His pale green eyes narrowed as he switched songs thoughtfully. And we're going to need help of our own if we're going to help him… Especially now that his tiff with Eraser made things worse. He was finally going to accept help on this case, and now we're back to square one because of Yagi's damned insecurity and Aizawa's paranoia. What the hell?

He drummed his fingers on the table and tugged his phone from his pocket to quickly check his messages. Nothing from either Eraser or Midnight. Not that he was surprised. Eraser had barely spoken with him since their rooftop conversation the day before. Midnight was probably still talking with Officer Tsukauchi.

And Yagi…

Who knows what he's up to? Hopefully getting some rest and rethinking his decision to go it alone and only use us for backup. Doubt it though. He's worse than Aizawa at taking care of himself, and that's sayin' something.

The song faded out, and Yamada activated his mic, pushing worries out of mind and putting on his show voice. "All right, peeps! That last song—'Spiral Tower'—was jammin'!" he crowed. "Now, you know what time it is! Let's get our first caller on the line!" He pushed the call button. "Hello, there!"

"Hello," replied a cool voice. "I have a request for you."

"Of course! What's your name, caller?"

The voice chuckled softly, causing the hair on the back of Yamada's neck to stand on end. "You don't need that information. I just wanted to request my song. It's a golden oldie. I'd like to hear 'The Final Countdown.'"

"'The Final—"

The voice took on an eerie singsong quality. "Twenty-one… thirteen… eight… five… three… two… one… Let's dedicate this song to fallen heroes, and many more to come."

With that, the phone went dead.


Author's Note: Thanks so much for your patience with my very delayed updates. Things have been crazy lately, and I haven't had nearly as much time as I usually have to write. It may be slow going for awhile longer, too, until things settle down. Apologies for future delays in advance!

I appreciate you sticking around and reading/ commenting though! Thank you! And thanks to Krisington, Haptronym, and lolo popoki for betaing this chapter! It needed it!

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,
Sirius:)