Learning to Trust
"Many a man may look respectable, and yet be able to hide at will behind a spiral staircase."
-P. G. Wodehouse
Chapter 29: Behind a Spiral Staircase
Tetsu sat, feeling uncomfortably small on an uncomfortable, grey plastic chair in the detective's office at the police station. He had been at the station for over an hour now, and, late as it was, found himself growing sleepy. Still, he had a lot on his mind, and he was trying to stay awake by listening to the distant conversation of police officers and heroes through the door that Yagi had once again left half-open for him.
The talk with the detective had been far less stressful than he'd expected, just like Yagi had said. But Tetsu couldn't help but think that the reason it hadn't been so bad was because of Yagi, himself. The tall, frail man had asked if he could sit in on the questioning. Tetsu had appreciated the thought, but he was smart enough to know that the question was for his own benefit—so Tetsu wouldn't feel so isolated. Obviously no police officer was going to let some secretary—even if he was All Might's personal secretary, and the detective's friend—sit in on an interrogation.
Surprisingly, the detective had simply motioned for Yagi to pull out a chair, while he closed and locked the door behind him.
The questioning had been fairly straightforward and hadn't lasted long, which was good, because Tetsu had been distracted by then by a thought that had been nagging at his mind for awhile about Yagi. And every interaction with the man seemed to bring that thought back to mind with more force. It had been playing in the back of his mind during the entire, short interrogation.
Now, as he sat back in the detective's office, half listening while police officers answered phones, got coffee, and complained about Endeavor, the thought began running through his mind again.
How important is Yagi at Might Tower?
It didn't matter, really, except that something seemed odd about this whole thing. Tetsu had generally just put it to the back of his mind, assuming that he just wasn't seeing the whole picture, but now, watching Yagi actually interacting with police and heroes—even if they were mostly just the teachers from his school—Tetsu couldn't help but notice that something seemed off.
Yagi, for one, was like a different person around them. Tetsu had noticed it during the brief time he'd seen the man with Present Mic in English class. He'd held himself in a way that had commanded more respect while he'd been there. Usually the man just folded in on himself, brushing things off and generally avoiding eye contact. But there, next to Present Mic… he'd stood straighter and had spoken more confidently, directly addressing everyone.
It was the same here. Tetsu couldn't help but notice that Yagi seemed more at ease standing in a police station, chatting with Midnight and Present Mic than he was interacting with kids in a school. Not to mention the fact that the police all seemed to know him. Even the cat guy had greeted him like they had some history..
And really… even if you are best friends with the detective… he shouldn't let you sit in on an investigation.
Tetsu's eyes suddenly widened. Unless you're already a part of the investigation…
It made sense—Yagi's work with the Fibonacci numbers, his sudden presence in the school, his comfort around heroes and police—Yagi wasn't an office worker getting information for All Might.
He was getting it for himself—for his own case.
Yagi definitely worked at Might Tower—he'd been in the directory in the clerical section, just as he'd said, so he wasn't likely to be part of the police force. Then how could he even be working on this case? Was he a sidekick or something? It wasn't unheard of for sidekicks to do agency paperwork when they weren't helping with a job, so that could explain the clerical title. Tetsu's dad was one of the few remaining employees who had worked at Might Tower back when Sir Nighteye had been there, and according to him, Nighteye regularly was doing clerical work when the janitorial staff came in to clean the offices.
But still… that couldn't be right. All Might had only ever had the one sidekick. His father complained all the time about how All Might should get someone to replace Nighteye, because now All Might basically did everything by himself. They apparently weren't even allowed in the main office anymore to clean, leading to a lot of speculation that the hero was working very late every night, and causing everyone to worry that All Might would needlessly wear himself out.
And for that matter… why would All Might be doing all of that work if he had a clerical employee like Yagi-san?
A clerical employee who has his own importance in an ongoing investigation… but isn't a police officer, or a sidekick…
Tetsu fingered the bag that had been holding the device that had injured Yagi. The device that Tetsu was now certain had not been targeting Mirio. A strange knot formed in the pit of his stomach.
You went to UA, Yagi-san. And you said, yourself, that the request to All Might should have gone to you…
Could you be…?
Tetsu abruptly stopped twisting the bag. He could feel the blood drain from his face, and he felt sick.
My device…
The first conversation he'd had with Yagi flashed abruptly into his mind.
Yagi had just grinned at him. "You might want to skip the part about using All Might as target practice… You never know who might find out."
"Oh, shit…"
Toshinori yawned, halfheartedly covering his mouth with his large hand. He tugged his phone out of his pocket and glanced down at its face to check the time—nearly three in the morning. He was going to have to go home to take his medications in a couple hours. Should have just brought them with me, he thought. But honestly when he'd left his apartment, he hadn't expected to be out so late.
His sharp eyes focused on the call record while his phone was out. Still nothing. He shoved it roughly back into his pocket.
Aizawa hadn't answered when Toshi had called—he was probably out patrolling—so Toshi had just left him a message. He hoped to hear back from Eraserhead soon, though. If Aizawa would agree to join them, they'd have a distinct advantage over the Shifter—one they sorely needed. Toshi didn't know exactly what Aizawa's full quirk capabilities were, but if he could even just erase Shifter's primary quirk, it should deactivate any others that had been activated. If not, even taking out some of Shifter's stolen power would be a huge help… especially if Trigger were involved.
Borrowed, he corrected himself firmly. Quirks can't actually be stolen anymore. The pain in Toshi's side seemed to flare up in response to that thought, and he winced.
He reached over to absently rub at his aching scar, accidentally catching the oxygen tube with his pinky, and tugging it out of place. He huffed in annoyance and replaced his nasal cannula, making sure that he hadn't also yanked the tube out of the portable oxygen canister tucked in the small medical bag he now carried, courtesy of Officer Hinata.
Toshi glanced over at Naomasa, still a bit amazed that his friend had actually sent one of his officers to Toshi's local residence just to grab his oxygen. I'm sorry for worrying you. The thought slipped automatically in his mind, but this time, he stopped it. No. Young Tetsuya was right. Not using my oxygen is what makes you worry. And you're going to worry anyway—just like I worry about you. It was such a strange realization. Toshi had always cared a great deal about his friend, but he just hadn't expected that to be reciprocated. Because why on earth would someone like Detective Tsukauchi actually want to be associated with a walking medical emergency like him? He smiled faintly. But apparently he does. And who am I to question the detective?
Naomasa had been alternating between drinking coffee and updating Toshi on the rise in villain activity in Minato in the past few weeks while they waited for Officer Takahashi to use his enhancement quirk to make out the markings on Shifter's new calling card. Toshi found he was only half listening.
He took another sip of his cold tea and tried to pay attention to what Naomasa was saying, but it was hard to focus. He shot a glance back at his friend's office, hoping that Young Tetsuya was doing all right. He couldn't even begin to imagine how hard all of this was on him. The questioning session had gone well, but he was just a kid who wanted his family back. I hope I can fix some of that—even if it's just to give you some closure, my boy…
"Toshi?" Naomasa's voice snapped Toshinori out of his distraction. "Are you okay?"
Toshinori's blue eyes snapped over to Naomasa's. His friend looked as exhausted as he felt. Toshi managed a small, tired smile. "Yeah," he replied quietly. "I'm fine." He yawned once more, unable to help himself, and then pulled out his phone quickly again, glancing at it. Still no calls. He checked to make sure that his ringer was set to vibrate for what felt like the twentieth time before stuffing the device back into his pocket.
Naomasa didn't miss that. "Still nothing from Eraserhead, huh?"
"No. He's probably patrolling. I just hope he listens to the message tonight. If we can figure this out, I'd like to try to get a jump on Shifter before she makes her move."
Naomasa's eyes darkened at that. "Toshi," he replied in a low voice, "are you sure you're right about Shifter's identity? The last thing we need is to be on a wild goose chase because of a few coincidences." His dark brows furrowed and he placed a staying hand on Toshi's shoulder as the older man began to bluster. "I'm not saying I don't trust you, Toshi. You're generally right when it comes to these things. But you've been sick and you're exhausted."
"Naomasa, you questioned him. You know that young Tetsuya was telling you the truth."
"Yes," the detective admitted. "But that only tells me that the boy wasn't lying. It doesn't tell me that he's right. He's scared, and fear clouds our judgment. I have a hard time using my quirk when someone's emotions aren't controlled. You know that. He wants to be wrong as much as he wants to be right. I don't blame him—the boy needs to know what happened to his mother, and we will do what we can to give him that closure—but that need also is clouding his judgment." His voice lowered. "And you also have a personal reason to want to close the case with that boy's mother. Don't you think it's possible that you're both just seeing connections that aren't there?"
Toshi roughly tugged at his long bangs. "I wish I was wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But the timing, the location of her disappearance, her quirk… it can't just be a coincidence. I would love to find the kid's mother and return her unharmed, but I'm not sure it will even be possible even if I'm right—especially if I'm right. That's why I want Aizawa here so badly. If he can erase her quirk—as well as whatever quirk she's borrowing—we have a chance at getting her into custody without harming her. And if she is acting under the influence of that Naruhata drug or perhaps even someone else's quirk… well, that's the best case scenario I can see right now. At least then it wouldn't be completely her fault."
Naomasa just sighed and took a sip out of his own mug. "Fine. It isn't like I have any better leads at this point, anyway. At least it gives us a starting point." He made a face at the last dregs of coffee in his cup, and began walking to the coffee maker, motioning for Toshinori to follow him. "And you're sure the name is Mizutani Katsumi? I have Sansa checking all of the missing person files from that time frame, but we haven't found a single report."
"The kid said her name's Katsumi. What other name would his dad have reported her under?"
Tsukauchi lowered his voice. "Is it possible he only reported the disappearance to your agency?"
Toshi flinched at that, and he could see the instant regret in Naomasa's face. Quickly, before the detective could feel too bad for rubbing salt into that wound, Toshi replied, "No. Young Tetsuya specifically said that his father filed a report with both the Police Force and Might Tower. There has to be a record somewhere in your files. Maybe his dad waited to be sure she hadn't been delayed. She was working pretty far from home, and the boy said she was fairly distant after the death of his sister, so it might not have been such an unusual occurrence for her to just stay in Jaku late with little to no contact. Could you have Sansa check out a few weeks past my illness? Young Tetsuya said the absence happened around then."
Tsukauchi nodded. "Of course. I—"
At that moment, Naomasa's office door, which had been slightly ajar directly across from the coffee maker, opened further, and a tentative indigo head peeked out.
Toshinori felt for the kid. He looked positively sick, and couldn't even make eye contact with him. It probably didn't help having us talk about his mother's absence—and All Might's failure to do anything to help—right outside the door.
"I'm sorry, kid, but you need to stay in the office," Naomasa said gently. "I don't mind you keeping the door open if you want, but I can't have you wandering around."
"Are you okay, my boy?" Toshinori asked gently.
The young man flushed and kept his eyes fixed on the ground. "Yeah. I just… I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to listen, but I overheard you." He squirmed awkwardly as both sets of eyes focused on him. "I—My mom's name is Katsumi, but she didn't take my dad's name when they married." He flushed, glancing back up at Toshinori. "I'm sorry. I didn't think to tell you. Her name is Toga Katsumi."
The two men exchanged a look. "Well," Naomasa said with a sigh, "that explains why we couldn't find her." He motioned a woman over, and, pulling a notepad from his pocket, jotted the name down. He then showed it to the boy. "Is this correct?"
At the boy's nod, he handed it to the woman. "Please give this to Officer Sansa. Tell him that I need him to check this name instead of Mitsutani. Can you do that for me?"
She nodded and left.
"Now, kid, I need you to—" Naomasa began. He wasn't able to finish however, because at that moment another officer, older with silver hair and thick glasses, approached.
"Detective Tsukauchi… Yagi-san," the man greeted politely with a small formal bow for each of them.
"Officer Takahashi," Naomasa replied, the boy momentarily set aside, as he turned to his subordinate officer. "Do you have anything for us?"
While the detective was preoccupied, Toshi motioned the boy to come out and stand beside him.
Shyly, the boy complied, and Toshi rested what he hoped was a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.
Takahashi pursed his lips, glancing first at Toshinori and then at Tetsuya, before replying. "Do I have permission to discuss it openly, or would you prefer we do this privately?" His words were polite, but again, he eyed the detective's companions.
"Yagi-san is a part of this investigation, Takahashi-san. He's working directly with All Might, and is here in his place. He's fine."
He glanced back at Toshi, and sighed at the frail hero's steady grip on the boy's shoulder. "Yagi-san, the boy should be in my office."
Toshinori didn't say anything, but he also didn't move. He knew the detective already was sure of Toshi's stance.
The detective ran his hand roughly through his short dark hair and sighed, shooting a sour look at his friend. He turned back to Takahashi, "Give us a moment, please." He sharply motioned Toshi to follow him.
Toshinori sighed, turning to the boy and gently squeezing his shoulder. "I'll be right back. Please stay here with Officer Takahashi." He glanced up at the officer who nodded slightly.
"Sure," Tetsu replied.
Toshi patted him gently on the shoulder and approached his friend who waited for him several offices away near the door to the interrogation room. "Naomasa—"
But the detective didn't give him a chance to finish. He motioned for Toshi to enter the soundproof room with him, and shut the door. Then, before Toshi could say anything more, he just huffed in frustration, and to Toshinori's surprise said simply, "Give me one solid reason, Toshi. Something better than your gut feeling. I'll let the kid sit in, but I have to know that it isn't just because you feel guilty about something you had absolutely no control over."
Toshi blinked at him. "It isn't that." At Naomasa's incredulous look, he raised his hands in defense, clarifying, "I do feel guilty. I don't deny it. But you know me, Naomasa. Am I going to risk a case to make myself feel better?"
The detective stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You have a point. So why then?"
"If it's true that Shifter is his mother, then he is the only one in this room who knows anything about her. No one has been able to work out Shifter's little puzzles until it's too late, because we never even know where to start. But this kid recognized a reverse Fibonacci sequence with one number wrong, because his mom and sister used to play with those numbers. There are things that only he may notice, because it's his family. Currently he's not staying with his father, so Nezu probably could keep him on campus and away from devices for a few days if you're concerned he will leak information to anyone. But honestly… he doesn't seem like he has anyone to tell. There's a reason he contacted me of all people. I'm the only person he's really been talking to."
The detective nodded thoughtfully. "Fine. Nezu should be calling us as soon as he gets our message, so I'll touch base with him about the kid then. But he stays with you until I say he's cleared to be alone. Do you understand?"
"Of course… And Naomasa?"
The detective met his eyes."
"Thanks… for understanding."
Naomasa just snorted at that. "Don't thank me. Do you understand what you are agreeing to?"
"What I—?"
"You will stay with the boy. You're not handing him off to someone else. That means you are out of this fight. You said Aizawa wanted you out of this fight? Well so do I. So that's my deal. The kid gets to help if you both stay here and stay out of it."
Toshi opened his mouth to protest, but Naomasa wasn't finished. "No. Before you say anything, think about it." He began to pace. "You're not going to be any use to us as All Might. You know that. The best you could give us is maybe twenty minutes or so, and you risk relapse or worse. You're not going to be able to help us like that. But if you back down now, then we can guarantee Eraserhead will be in the fight, which we both agreed was critical for any plan to work. And honestly, you've managed to crack more of this case in your downtime than my team. We don't need All Might. We need Yagi Toshinori and Eraserhead and the rest of your hand picked dream team out there."
Toshinori said nothing.
Naomasa approached him, resting his hand firmly on Toshi's shoulder. "And that kid out there needs Yagi Toshinori. All Might didn't help his mother, but Yagi-san might. That kid doesn't care about All Might, but he sure as hell seems to care about you. It's the only reason I let you sit in while I questioned him."
Toshi glanced away. He had never seriously considered pulling himself from this fight—not even when Eraserhead had set his conditions—but Naomasa was right. He cleared his throat and replied quietly, "Fine. I'll pull myself from the case."
Naomasa squeezed his shoulder so hard that Toshi jumped, looking up in surprise. The detective was grinning at him. "No. Just pull All Might. You, I still need." He squeezed the old hero's shoulder again. "Ready to go out there and see what Takahashi worked out from that gift the Shifter left us?"
Toshinori smiled weakly and nodded.
But he couldn't ignore the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that relying on Yagi was going to let everyone down.
Tetsu was standing in awkward silence, sipping a bottle of water someone had grabbed him, beside the grizzled officer when Toshi and Naomasa returned, but they had also been joined by Midnight and Mic, who had been quietly looking over Shifter's previous enigmas while they waited for an update.
Toshi managed a weak smile for the two of them, but it must have been unconvincing judging by the concerned look Midnight gave him while Naomasa confirmed that young Tetsuya was allowed to join them.
She didn't get a chance to say anything though, since Officer Takahashi motioned for them to follow him to the evidence room then.
They crowded into the room, all finding seats except for Naomasa who stood at the front of the room with his officer. Toshi sat next to young Tetsuya. Midnight sat to Toshi's other side and Mic beside her.
The older officer turned on the holoprojector to show an enhanced image of the spiral pendant they'd found.
Tetsu had been drinking his water and began immediately to choke and sputter.
Naomasa shot him a strange look as Toshi patted the boy's back. "Is something wrong?"
"That's my sister's necklace!" he sputtered.
Naomasa leaned forward, shooting an interested look at Toshi, who raised his own eyebrows while still rubbing the boy gently on the back.
"Are you certain it doesn't just look the same?" the detective asked.
"I'm positive. The crack on the side is my fault. I remember accidentally breaking it and she had to glue it back together. She used to wear it all the time! Then my mom started wearing it after Kokoro…after she…" He couldn't finish.
Naomasa's expression softened a touch. "Can you answer one other question for me?"
The boy just nodded.
"You say that you remember that crack. Were there any other scratches or markings on the necklace that you remember?"
He shook his head, sniffling a little, eyes red and glassy. "No. None."
The detective nodded, then gently asked, "Are you sure you want to be in here? You don't have to be. We can talk to you later if this is too hard."
But Tetsu firmly shook his head. "No. Please. I want to be here." He sent Toshi a desperate look. "Please don't make me go."
Toshinori shook his head, keeping his supporting hand resting firmly on the boy's back. "No one is going to force you to leave. I promise you that you can stay as long as I am here."
The boy twitched a bit at that and immediately dropped his eyes to his lap. "Thanks," he whispered.
Naomasa just sighed and turned back to the other officer. "I apologize for interrupting. Please continue Takahashi-san."
The older man nodded. "It's difficult to read the markings on the shell, but here—" He motioned to some faint scratches on the surface— "You can just make out the word 'eliminate,' and over here—" He motioned to another spot— "is the word 'hero' or 'heroes.'" He motioned to one more area. "This one seems to say 'final.'" He sighed. "There's more, but I can't enhance it enough, even with my quirk.
"Sounds to me like someone's repeating that declaration of war from my show," Mic said, finally speaking up. "I'm guessing that word you can't read after 'final' is 'countdown.'"
Midnight was nodding, eyes narrowed. "That can't be all though. Why scratch it onto a shell? Why not just write it on a piece of paper?"
Naomasa studied the image. "It could have just been a way for Shifter to safely identify herself. Especially if she was confident that no one would recognize the pendant. It wouldn't be the first time she dropped clues that no one could figure out until too late. There's no way she could have known we'd have this boy at the station to see it."
"Maybe…" Midnight murmured. She didn't look convinced.
Neither was Toshi for that matter. "Officer Takahashi…" He hesitated a moment, before continuing. "Are there any numbers on the shell?"
"None that I can read."
Toshi glanced past Midnight. "Mic," he slowly mused, "If you're right and that last part references the final countdown from your show, then this shell is connected to the Fibonacci sequence. The caller's countdown was an incomplete set of those numbers." His brow furrowed. "And those numbers align pretty closely to the numbers of missing people from each district…"
At that, Midnight's eyes widened and she whipped around to look at Toshi, startling him so badly he coughed, and had to fumble in his pocket for a handkerchief. "Fibonacci numbers? I didn't even notice that. You're right! That's why those countdown numbers seemed so odd! You said they aligned with missing people?"
Toshi simply nodded as he continued coughing, his weakened lung struggling more than usual. He pulled the oxygen cannula off of his face briefly to wipe himself down before carefully replacing it. Midnight gently placed a hand on his arm, catching his eye. He managed a small smile and waved her off as he finally began controlling his breath.
She gently squeezed his thin arm one more time before turning to the detective and his subordinate. "Do one of you have those missing person numbers here?"
Tsukauchi nodded, tearing his own concerned gaze from Toshinori, and pulling a paper from one of the files in front of him. "Twenty are missing from Jaku… well, twenty-one," he amended, "if we count the Shifter as our first missing person on the case. Then thirteen from Nabu. Eight from Minato. Five are missing from Naruhata. And six have gone missing so far from Musutafu." He looked up. "That's what we've got so far."
Tetsu leaned forward thoughtfully. "That can't be right. The last number should be smaller, not bigger…"
But Midnight shook her head. No… no, it makes sense…"
She ignored the strange looks she got as she stood up and approached the police officers. "Could one of you bring up a map of Japan—preferably something with the victim's locations marked?"
Takahashi exchanged a puzzled look with Naomasa, but nodded. "It'll take me a minute, but we've already logged them in a separate file."
Midnight approached Naomasa. "Do you have the exact locations the Musutafu victims went missing on here?" She pointed to his file. At his nod, she asked, "Can I look while he gets that map online?"
Naomasa just slid the paper over.
After a quick glance over, she nodded, her red lips curling into a faint smile. "That's what I thought."
Before anyone could ask for clarification, the map popped up, blue pegs indicating the location of each missing victim.
Midnight stood back to look at it, tilting her head and tracing something with her finger.
"Uh, you wanna tell us what's going on in that head of yours, Midnight?" came Mic's voice from behind her.
She just chuckled. "So impatient…" She glanced back at them. I'm guessing you all know the Fibonacci sequence?"
Everyone nodded except for Mic, who just shrugged.
Midnight raised a dark eyebrow. "Seriously?" Shaking her head, she continued, "It's a sequence of numbers where each progressive digit is the sum of the two previous numbers. So, one, one, two, three, five, and so on. The numbers on your show were this sequence in reverse order… well, most of it…" She stepped forward. "Can I draw on this thing?"
Takahashi held up a finger for her to wait. After clicking a couple buttons, he motioned for her to proceed.
She stepped forward and began drawing small boxes on the map, growing progressively smaller and spiraling in on themselves. This is called a Fibonacci Spiral, and while it doesn't perfectly match the Golden Spiral you get from using the golden ratio… It's close enough. I'm guessing that's why your note was written on a gold seashell. The shell was your clue." She spoke as she drew. "See? The numbers of missing people match your numbers, just like Toshinori pointed out."
"Except for the last one," Toshi added.
She nodded. "Because the smaller numbers take up less space. They are neighborhoods in Musutafu, not the city itself. Look." She stepped away from her boxes, making a sweeping motion with her arm to show the spiral. "Every number is there except the final one."
Mic stood to look more closely at the map. "How did you even know that stuff?"
She smirked. "I told you that art history isn't a useless minor for hero work."
He stared blankly at her.
"Do you have any idea how often the golden ratio shows up in art?"
"Not really."
"Come on, Mic. This isn't rocket science…"
Toshinori had stood up and approached the map as well by then, studying the smaller breakdown of Musutafu. Tentatively he reached out and pinched at the map, zooming it out to get a clearer view of the last few numbers.
"Shit," Toshinori cursed quietly.
Both heroes quit their friendly bickering to look over at him.
"What is it, my man?" Mic asked. "What do you see?"
Toshi pointed at the last empty square that perfectly outlined a single piece of property in Musutafu. "If Midnight is right, then our last missing person will be taken from here."
One of Midnight's squares, was, of course, empty. The final one to complete the set.
Perfectly bordering UA.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to lolo popoki for the invaluable beta work on this chapter. It was difficult to write, and would have been even more so without this help. Also, thank you all so much for your patience with my slow update schedule. I appreciate your reading, reviewing, and waiting patiently. I hope you enjoy this new chapter!
Sincerely,
Sirius:)
