Todoroki walked down the street, and Izuku followed. He watched him as he weaved through the crowds and around the corners. He walked closer and closer, eventually walking right beside him. "Hey, Todoroki."
"Hey," Todoroki said blankly.
"I saw your fight. You were amazing out there. You definitely should've won." That wasn't completely untrue, he wanted him to be second to Kaachan.
Todoroki stopped and looked at him. "Aren't you Akatani's friend? Shouldn't you be celebrating his victory?"
"That doesn't matter. You lost and I'm here to cheer you up. Come on, let me buy you dinner." He had to get him to think it was a casual conversation and get him where he wanted.
Todoroki thought about it for several minutes. "Fine, anything to keep me from going home." He gestured for Izuku to walk and followed.
Izuku took out his phone and texted his contact. He put it away before Todoroki noticed. "So, how's your home life?" Todoroki kept his blank stare. He didn't talk. "My dad's not around. When I was told I was quirkless, my parents got into lots of arguments. Eventually, my dad left. My mom said differently, but I knew it was my fault." Todoroki reacted slightly.
Izuku was slowly piecing it together. Todoroki had problems with his father that led to him defiantly not using his fire. He just needed to confirm. He brought them both to the station and onto a train.
They were on it for a while, they got into a bad neighborhood and got off. "Midoriya, where are we going?"
"The best ramen place in the world. It's so cheap they practically pay you."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Don't think about it." He led them through the streets and to a certain building. It was the League of Villain's hideout. They walked in and sat at the bar. "Get us a couple of bowls." He smiled at the guy behind the counter.
It was a man who was part lizard. He had Kurogiri's outfit with an apron over it. Izuku didn't know him, but he was part of the League of Villains. He was looking at Todoroki as he walked into the back.
"Why was he looking at me," asked Todoroki.
"He must've been looking at your scar." The area around Todoroki's left eye was red, it looked like a burn scar. "Where did that come from, anyway?" Predictably, he didn't get an answer. But he would get one soon enough.
The lizard man returned with two bowls of ramen. It was the packaged stuff, they had to make it on short notice. He placed it in front of them with a couple of pairs of chopsticks. He stepped back and glared at Izuku. He felt the bloodlust coming off him.
"This smells weird," said Todoroki. "And this just seems like what they sell at convenience stores."
"That's just a unique recipe," said the lizard man.
"Yeah, it's probably nothing." Izuku took a few bites of his food. It tasted the same as any other ramen he had. Todoroki hesitantly took a few bites.
They both ate in silence for a few minutes. Todoroki's behavior changed, he had a depressed look and was hunched over the counter. "Agh, what was in this stuff?"
"I don't taste anything weird." Todoroki's bowl had a drug in it. He texted the details while coming over. He used this to get the name of another quirkless guy. He still had to do a favor for Tomura later. He took out his notepad and bloody pen. "I have a few questions. What is your relationship with your father?"
"Awful, he wants me to surpass All Might with my 'perfect quirk.'" He talked like he was drunk, with no inhibitions.
He answered all his questions without resistance. His family life was worse than Izuku thought. Endeavor forced his mother into a marriage to make a kid with a strong quirk. This led to Todoroki's birth. His father's abuse was so awful it caused his mother to have a brief psychotic break and burn the left side of his face because it reminded her of her husband so much. She was institutionalized after that, and Todoroki never used his fire again. He would've said more, but he passed out, falling out of his seat.
"Uhh, excuse me." Izuku talked to the TV. "Would he remember this?"
"He should forget ever meeting you after the festival." The guy behind the TV was watching the entire thing. "I'm impressed by how you got the kid of the number two hero to come here. Why would you ever do this?"
"I needed a good story."
"So you drugged a potential hero? You're a very villainous reporter, aren't you?" Was he?
"Hey, I did what was necessary." To avoid saying anything positive about Akatani. Eh, it was worth it.
"Hey, I don't need to know why you do anything." A portal opened and a folder fell onto the counter. "Here's your next victim. She's a nice girl, I can't wait to see what you do."
Izuku looked through the folder, she went to the same school as Izuku. She was about as popular as him, as in not popular at all. "What about Todoroki?" He put the folder in his coat.
"I can have Kurogiri portal you both outside his house if you like."
"Okay." The portal opened. "Thanks." He dragged Todoroki through. It closed behind them.
The Todoroki household had a large field with traditional Japanese buildings. He took Todoroki to the nearest building, took a picture of him, and left him there. He carefully avoided the security cameras as he slipped out the main gate of the estate. They'll never suspect he was there.
Todoroki would never remember what happened. His father would take him in, thinking he was passed out drunk. He wanted him to be the perfect hero so he would bring him in and gaslight him into forgetting completely. That was the type of guy he was. It was perfect for Izuku.
He made it home and started writing the ultimate Endeavor hit piece.
Naomasa Tsukauchi was finally having a good day, he stayed home until late to watch the U.A. Sports Festival because his friend All Might was presenting the medals at the end. Then he saw it, Mikumo Akatani, the first quirkless hero student. He was the proof that quirkless people weren't completely worthless. He was the antithesis of everything quirkless groups stood for. If someone would want to kill any quirkless person, it would be him. He took note of that.
He stood up and cheered at the end. He was rooting for Akatani and a tie was the last thing he was expecting.
When the broadcast ended, he started getting ready for work. He took a quick shower and got his detective clothes on. He made sure he had his keys, phone, and wallet. He made his way out of his house. His phone rang, he answered. "Hello."
"Come down to the sports festival." It was Midnight. "I found another body. I think it's the quirkless killer."
"Okay, don't let anybody leave. I'll be there soon" He hung up. He should've expected this, it's been a few days. He put the phone away, got in his car, and drove to the stadium.
He made it through the police perimeter and walked to where they kept the potential witnesses. It was the people who were sitting nearest to where the body was. The students of class 1-A. They were given a room away from the rest of the eyewitnesses. He walked in and greeted the class.
"Why are you keeping us here," asked Yaoyorozu. She made it exceptionally far in the tournament.
"That's classified. Don't worry about it. We'll be out of your hair in no time and you can get on with your day." He took out his notepad and pen. "Is everyone who was sitting with you currently present?"
"I can answer." Yaoyorozu stood up. "Todoroki and Midoriya were sitting with us. They left after the medals were given out." That was before the body was found. He'll have to question them later.
"Thank you. We will be questioning all of you individually, while you are questioned you will be placed in separate rooms. Let's begin." He left the room and gave the order to start.
He chose to question Akatani, the others most likely had nothing to say, but it was standard procedure. They were let into a standard room with a table, Akatani took a seat and Naomasa sat across from him. He was fiddling with his nails as he waited for Naomasa to speak. "What's going on," he asked.
"I'm about to tell you something that you can't tell to anyone." He had to tell him to have this make sense. "Do you promise to keep what we say here a secret?"
"Yeah, sure." He wasn't taking this seriously. That would change quickly.
"I believe your life is in danger." That changed his mood, Akatani was now fully paying attention. "A serial killer is targeting quirkless people. I have reason to believe they'll target you."
"I can see that." Akatani sighed and looked at the ceiling. "What do you want to know?"
"Do you have any enemies? Someone who hates you in particular." He shook his head. "How about close friends." Akatani laughed. "What's so funny?"
"I can't imagine any of them killing someone. They're all trying to be heroes."
"None of your classmates are suspects. Do you know anyone else? How about that Midoriya kid, he wasn't part of the tournament but he still sat with your class."
"No, not him. He's my friend, and he's training with me and Snipe. Pretty soon, Shinsou would join us." Naomasa remembered him, he got far by using a unique strategy, and he went completely unnoticed until the final event, where he lost to Akatani. He noted that Midoriya is considered his friend. "And he's quirkless, why would he hate quirkless people?" That complicated things.
"Just make sure you keep track of who you spend time with. I have a few other questions." He didn't learn any more information. He was away when the murder most likely happened. He sent him away and got the other witness he wanted. Momo Yayorozu walked in and took a seat. She was trying to make herself as small as possible. "Listen, kid. There's no reason to be nervous. Everything is fine." It killed him to lie to her. "I just need to know if you saw anything unusual during the final part of the festival." They examined the body and estimated his death to be around that time.
"I don't know."
"Just think, did anyone act unusually? Did they leave frequently, were they gone for a long time?"
She had a flash of recognition. "I guess Midoriya was acting strange. He acted differently than when we first met him, and when Akatani won his match, he left for a long time. When he returned, he said he took a wrong turn finding the bathroom." That was strange, wouldn't he be there to congratulate his friend? He also wasn't there during the award ceremony.
"When did you first meet this Midoriya?"
"He came to our school to interview us after the U.S.J. Incident. He's been writing articles about us ever since. They aren't great, but they're not the worst thing I've read. Nobody hated what he said about them."
Izuku Midoriya, a quirkless journalist who just happened to be away while someone was being killed in the nearest bathroom. He also just so happened to not go there by pure coincidence. He wrote all of this in his notepad. "Thank you, Yaoyorozu. You were very helpful." He dismissed her.
Naomasa put away his notepad and called All Might. "Yagi, I have a suspect, but it's far-fetched, we need more evidence. I want you to tail one Izuku Midoriya."
"Are you sure about this? We don't have any hard evidence."
"I'm not, that's why I want you to tail him. If you find anything weird call me immediately."
"Ok, I'll do as you say." He hung up.
Naomasa ended the investigation and let everyone go. He was barely able to get away with not releasing any info on the killings as he left. It was getting harder not to let the public know. They're asking more questions. He had to come out with it soon or there will be an incident. He just needed a little more time. If he could get the culprit, all the anger from the public would be targeted, and managing it would be much easier. Now he had Midoriya, he was finally getting somewhere.
Author's Note
Naomasa's back, everybody rejoice! Is anybody excited? It doesn't matter, but what does matter is, the Sports Festival is done and Izuku is in danger of getting caught. he also proves how bad he is by taking advantage of Todoroki. Will this lead to any consequences? I don't know, I'm just the writer. See you next time.