"3 - 0. You suck at this." Rai glared at Rumi from across the couch, leaning backwards to see over Ryuji's hunched form.
"What do you even do besides play these shitty games?" The boy looked positively fuming when Rumi ignored him in order to set up another round. Instead of doing something spectacular or big, like Sparkler had attempted. Rumi elected to spend Rai's birthday morning doing something simple and comfortable, in this case playing video games.
"Aww, don't pout." Rumi laughed, selecting her character while looking over to where Rai was not pouting. "It's your fault for picking a rushdown character against a grappler."
"I don't even know what that means!" Rai selected Cammy, the character he'd received at random, while Rumi stuck to her tried and true main, Zangief. "Now that I'm thinking about it, you kinda look like Zangief." He commented. A controller was subsequently launched at his head, rebounding off of his skull like a gong. "Hey!"
Rumi snarled before Ryuji leapt out of his seat with a loud whoop, interrupting the soon to start argument. "Did something happen?" The hero in training hopped to Ryuji's side and looked over his shoulder. Rai settled on his other side after knocking out Rumi's afk character.
"What is it?" Rai asked.
Ryuji clicked a couple of buttons on his keyboard and brightened the screen for both of them to see. It seemed to be a basic webpage from the late 20th century, or a middle schooler's webpage assignment. "Is this supposed to be impressive?" Rumi shoved her face closer to the screen. "It looks like shit." She added.
Ryuji rolled his eyes and hovered over one of the buttons on the webpage, double clicking it. It led to a black webpage consisting of several chat rooms. Each seemed to be relatively active, with anonymous users holding conversations about drugs, weapons, and even heroics rarely. "Loki is an administrator of these chatrooms, and he made a puzzle for me to enter. I finally finished it."
"So?"
"I can talk to people through here! Like contacts and stuff. Look! Even underground heroes in Japan use it!" He gestured to another chatroom listed on the sidebar, labeled 'Eraser's bachelor party.' He opened up the chat room and there were two people exchanging messages to each other.
188943 has entered the room
625311: Who's that? Isn't this a private room?
188943: Administrator permissions ?
625311: Damn, I want me some of that.
334970: Back on topic please? Have you found any news of trigger?
Ryuji took a sip of his coffee when a message blinked on his phone, drawing the trio's eyes.
Loki: Please don't abuse your permissions, you'll keep them as long as you behave.
The older man picked up his phone and typed out a quick message to reply, ignoring Rumi and Rai scanning through several other rooms/
Ryuji: Why do I even have them?
Loki: Think of it as a gift for completing the challenge! And since Sparkler has them, you might as well too.
Ryuji pushed the two kids away from the screen so he could continue to monitor the trigger conversation, suddenly, another user popped into the chatroom and Ryuji could feel the annoyance emanating from his own phone.
876250 has entered the room
876250: Change the name of this room, it's not a group chat.
999999 has entered the room
999999: Go back to bed and get off your phone lel.
Eraser glared across the room at Sparkler, who was cheekily typing out another message. "I know the administrators have access to private rooms, but why do you?" The pro hero's gaze only hardened when Sparkler looked up at him with a wide smile.
"Hehe, sponsor privileges." He held out a victory sign and Eraser seriously considered moving all communication activities to discord, if it wasn't for the end to end encryption PChat provided. "Don't worry though, we don't take any information or anything. We just watch and interact sometimes. See?" He got out of his chair and skipped over to Eraser's hospital bed, shoving his phone in the hero's face.
The man leaned away with a scowl, his eyes narrowing as he read the messages being sent through.
999999: I've got info on the trigger case, already shared most of it with the hobo hero tho.
625311: Hobo hero FTW! Are you a friend of his?
334970: Please don't tell me…
999999: I'm a villain! The name's Sparkler!
625311: VILLAIN?!
334970: Calm down Emi, he's harmless. Sparkler, how is Eraser doing?
876250: I'm literally still here. The nurses said I'll be staying overnight since Chiyo can't get to me until tomorrow. I've got a broken collarbone and two cracked ribs, but nothing too bad.
625311: NOOOOO, HOW WILL THIS AFFECT THE WEDDING?!
876250: Before she even gets started, there is no wedding nor am I in a romantic relationship with 625311, let alone a platonic one.
625311: Don't worry, we're anonymous here so we can be open, babe.
334970: Wow, I can feel the glare through my phone screen.
999999: Imagine being in the same room as it, lol.
876250: I can't deal with this shit anymore
876250 has left the room
999999 has left the room
Eraser sent another glare at Sparkler, who was already returning to his seat when the door burst open. Sparkler jumped like a startled cat, while Aizawa merely widened his eyes at the disheveled appearance of another pro hero. "Oh hey, it's your roommate." Sparkler commented, before watching the crazed blonde run up and hug Aizawa tightly. "Maybe a bit closer than roommates." He corrected.
The blonde quickly scampered away from the other pro in his embrace, realizing there was another person in the room. He was wearing a black sweater and thin pajama pants with pictures of birds on them. Over his right shoulder lay a bag with several… packages? Inside of it. "Umm, who are you?" The blonde's hair was barely tied into a messy bun as he scanned Sparkler's form.
"A villain." The blonde's eyes widened as he dropped his bag and got into a fighting stance before Aizawa groaned loudly.
"Stop introducing yourself like that. Hizashi, this is Sparkler, the civilian consultant I mentioned. Shithead, this is Yamada Hizashi, also known as Present Mic."
Yamada snapped his fingers loudly, like a lightbulb had clicked on inside of his head. "Oh! The really annoying one that kept inviting himself to meetings!"
"How mean!" Sparkler seemed to recoil in pain as he held his heart and sank deeply into his chair. "It's not nice to talk about your friends behind their backs, Eraser!"
"You are not my friend."
"Such a tsundere."
"I know, right!?" Yamada picked up his bag and scooped up some of the packages that had fallen out. They looked like a kid's fruit pouch.
'Did he stop at a preschool before coming here?' Sparkler glanced between the two, and the villain noticed an unusual spark in the underground hero's eye. 'Why does he look like he's just found a lost lover?!'
Hizashi placed the bag next to Aizawa and let the man dig through it while he pulled up his own chair. "So uh, what do you do for work? I mean, you introduced yourself as a villain but…" Mic glanced between the other two in the room.
"Oh no, I am a villain. I just have stuff the government wants. It's kinda like an enemy of my enemy sort of thing." Sparkler explained, watching Hizashi hesitantly nod after looking towards Aizawa for confirmation. "Specifically on the trigger case, though I can't say anything more than that." Aizawa's eyes widened momentarily and the villain thought he'd just seen his favorite flavor or something, though Hizashi seemed to understand what that look meant.
"Oh wow, you've impressed him!" Mic acted like an energetic parent showcasing their child, coincidently while Aizawa placed the straw of a kid's mango fruit pouch in his mouth.
"How?"
"I didn't expect you to actually adhere to rules." The underground hero responded. "Truthfully, all I've seen from you so far gives the impression of a delinquent with a strong quirk and connections."
"Rude! But I guess that makes sense." The villain shrugged and seemed to give some thought to something for a moment before he reached into his coat and whipped out a card. He flicked the piece over to Hizashi, who barely caught it before it fell to the ground. "If you need my contact for an emergency or something, there it is. I'm kind of like a mercenary with high level connections. So if there's a big problem, like a villain that's too much to handle, give me a call and I'll come!"
Mic looked at the card in his hand before shoving it away in his pocket. "Thanks… I guess?" He responded, shifting uncomfortably while the villain stared at him.
"Why doesn't anyone care that they have my contact?! I'm an important guy, y'know!?"
"Maybe because you hand it out so easily. And also because you act like this." Eraser head retorted. "Don't underestimate Hizashi though, he's the number 112th ranked hero for a reason." Sparkler noted that the underground pro almost seemed… smug? While gloating about his roommate.
"Oh! I almost forgot! Do either of you guys know what I can get for a 6-year-old's birthday?" The villain looked towards the two heroes in the room, which glanced at each other before shaking their heads. Sparkler sighed loudly before leaving the room after a quick goodbye.
While the nonsense at the hospital was happening, Ryuji, Rumi, and Rai continued to scour chat rooms and pick up information. So far, they'd managed to even find where another trigger deal might be going down!
It wasn't exactly how Ryuji expected the day to go. He more expected Sparkler to drag them around until they were exhausted. Though, Rumi and Rai seemed to be having a ton of fun taking notes and collecting information. "Y'know, I didn't think this would interest either of you." The older man commented, looking between his two housemates.
"It kinda feels like we're spies or something, like in a cool action movie." Rai, the more childish one responded.
"I'm not interested, just seeing how many penises I can fit onto one page." -Scratch that- Rumi, the more childish one responded. Ryuji looked over to see her writing for the first time, and was not surprised when his eyes were greeted by dozens of mini genitalia dotted around Rumi's page. A soft frown settled on the older man's face before he looked back to the other, less childish kid by his side.
"And are you also drawing penises?" The boy shook his head in response, moving his arm from the page to reveal a list of names and numbers,correlating to what he saw people being referenced by on the screen.
Turns out, once you thought you were completely safe, you grew comfortable. Several people had already referred to each other with real/legal names or codenames, which could be traced to social media or any sort of online presence.
Ryuji's phone buzzed in his pocket and he drew it out, fumbling around with the passcode before clicking on his notifications.
Loki
Loki: I heard it's the kid's birthday. It ain't much, but here's a gift from me!
{Attachment: Y1-12 EnglishsyllabusAmerica}
Loki: That's the entire english syllabus summarized with Japanese notes and stuff I made. The American education system is pretty mediocre, but you can for sure start with this!
Ryuji: Rai says thank you, and is asking for your number so you can communicate. Do you want me to send him your contact?
Loki: For sure.
Ryuji tucked his phone away and looked up to see Rai fidgeting around with the keyboard in a random chat room. A chat room where a certain subject was being brought up constantly. Channel 3.
Usually, such mundane things would be kept to things like a discord server or a whatsapp group, so why were they talking about that sort of thing now? It was only then that Ryuji's eyes were drawn towards the name of the room. Boogey Busters.
Inconspicuous names aside, since most of the random rooms that popped up had those sorts of shitty/funny/random names, there was a flicker of realization in Ryuji's eyes when he remembered a conversation Sparkler, Loki and himself were having late one night. He wasn't privy to most of the details on the trigger hunt, but he was keeping track of busted warehouses, contacts, and funds. Some of those 'contacts' had been recorded talking about the 'boogeyman' during phone calls.
Bringing out his phone again, the older man excused himself from the living room as he prepared to call Loki. The ringtone played a few times before the man picked up, sounding as groggy as ever. "Hey Loki, Rai was meddling around on some of the chat rooms earlier and read up on a conversation mentioning the 'boogeyman'."
"Really now?" The man mumbled to himself for a few moments before organizing his thoughts to respond. "Ah yeah, I see. The stuff with channel 3, right?"
"That was mentioned somewhere in there as well." Ryuji confirmed.
"Rightyo, I'm going to put a pin in that one and investigate. A contact of mine actually has a daughter interning there, so it should be pretty easy to get a read on it. I'll keep you updated."
"Ok, I'll talk to you later."
"Cya."
Ryuji hung up the phone and returned to the living room to see Rumi and Rai eating the rest of the donuts left in the fridge by Sparkler.
"What the hell are you doing?" Aizawa stared across his hospital room at Hizashi, who was fiddling around on a tablet while giggling hysterically.
The blonde continued to laugh before flipping the screen around. In between gasps for air, he slowly managed to say, "the Sparkler guy, he sent me this video of you."
That piqued Eraser's interest, when had he gotten a video of him? Was it during a patrol, or had he followed him back to his house? The video answered all of his questions when his eyes settled on it.
"You've seen it here first folks, local underground hero spends his patrol chasing strays." Sparkler's mocking voice was clear to hear over the footage of Aizawa following a pair of Calico cats over the tops of roofs.
"That was a one time thing…" Aizawa grumbled, ignoring Hizashi's wheezes behind the tablet. "It isn't even that funny!" Present Mic continued to giggle sporadically, several notification pings echoing from his device as he slumped into the hospital chair. "Is he still messaging you?" The underground pro asked.
Hizashi froze momentarily before meekly shrugging. Aizawa's eyes narrowed and he looked over towards his phone, which had been on silent while he was recovering. Dozens of notifications from one of the group chats he was in lined his lock screen. He unlocked his phone with a sigh and opened the notifications.
U.A Teachers
Screm (Present Mic): {Video Attachment}
Shota's always tired because he's chasing cats, I have video proof!
Happy gas! (Midnight): OMFG That's so cute!
Moon Lord (Ectoplasm): Are they going to be added to your collection? Speaking of, what's the counter on it?
SUCC (Thirteen): 3 now, RIP RAISIN
Dracula but shit (Vlad King): I swear he keeps expelling his classes just so he can find cats
Screm: He's giving me a very mean look right now…
Awaiting Metamorphosis (Eraser Head): For good reason
Legal Coke (Recovery Girl): Get off your phone Aizawa. The blue light is bad for your eyes.
Screm: I'll be communicating for him!
Big Iron (Snipe): Mister logical out here chasing cats on patrol
Diggy Hole (Power Loader): I'm just surprised it took this long for us to have video footage of it
Happy gas!: That's because he keeps deleting it off of our phones!
Diggy Hole: Then who recorded this?
Screm: Sparkler, the villain that's acting as civilian consultant on the trigger case - Shota
Several people are typing…
Rat God (Nedzu): Ah yes, I heard about that!
Happy gas!: Villain?! ON A CASE!?
Diggy Hole: A villain on a case?
Screm: He's nice dw
Big Iron: Wow
SUCC: Is that safe?
Dracula but shit: Why hasn't he been arrested?
Moon Lord: Is he dangerous?
Dracula but shit: How did you know about it?!
Rat God: Simple! I asked Tsukauchi
Screm: He's dangerous but useful - Aizawa
SUCC: Why do I have a feeling you're downplaying him?
Big Iron: Yeah, there's no way you guys are letting some low profile criminal on a case. Is he an informant or something?
Diggy Hole: I mean… haven't there been quite a few cases where villains help?
Moon Lord: There have been.
SUCC: Like the hurricane rescue in Indonesia! All the local gang members and vigilantes pitched in with rescue efforts!
Happy gas!: Is he hot?
Legal Coke: We've also had some not so savory individuals help during large scale crises in the past.
Dracula but shit: Kayama, is that really the question you should be asking?
Happy gas!: I'm not getting any younger Kan
Screm: He's not hot, he's an ass - Aizawa. I'd give him like an 8.9 out of ten. - Yamada
Big Iron: That's a pretty high rating Yama. So is he an informant?
Screm: Sho's giving me the stink eye now lol
Screm: No he's just got connections and stuff. Sho won't spill the beans tho
Screm: he said it's classified.
Screm: I'll just ask him later, he gave me his phone number.
Happy gas!: Damn. All the hot ones are gay…
Screm: Are you saying I'm hot?! Sorry hon, I'm taken - Yamada
SUCC: I don't think that's what she meant
Moon Lord: Neither do I
Dracula but shit: Did he ask you to buy things like info from him?
Screm: Rude! He just handed the card over. Ask him yourself Nem. Here da numba
3-9948-1226
Happy gas!: Thx
Big Iron: What has the world come to where heroes are adding villains to their contact
Rat God: :)
Happy gas!: I'll call him during lunch
Screm: oh yeah, we supposed to be workin now. Thx for covering my period SUCC
SUCC: Np, expecting payback tho
Screm: Of course!
Aizawa rolled his eyes as Hizashi continued to read off the messages that were being sent through the group chat. He'd been in the job for nearly a year, enjoying the company of his friends and the students, even if he'd never admit it. Something he would freely admit though, was that he was not a people person, regardless of how extroverted his friends were. That's why he was extremely angry, though he didn't show it, when Nemuri messaged Yamada not an hour later confirming they were going bar hopping with the cause of most of his headaches over the past week.
"Why the fuck are we letting him near our house?" Aizawa seethed. He could sometimes swear he was the only sane one in his friend group, especially during times when they did stupid shit like setting up hangouts with a villain.
Speaking of Sparkler. As annoying as he was, he didn't act like the stereotypical villain. Infact, sometimes he even acted heroic, and he definitely wasn't the only one who thought so considering he had a hero license in his wallet. He'd gotten a peek at it when the man had bought an icecream cone for the both of them while they discussed the case. And why the fuck did he consider it normal to buy ice cream for a serious discussion? He'd never forget the looks he got walking through the station with an ice cream cone in his hand.
"We aren't letting him near our house, we're bar hopping!" Hizashi chirped back. "I know it sounds weird, but he actually seems like a nice dude, if a little quirky."
Aizawa shrugged, repositioning himself in his hospital nurse. Maybe it could do him some good to get to know the guy better, since they were working on the case together. It also never hurt to have high profile contacts, especially ones that can bend the HSPC around their finger like he did.