Naomasa Tsukauchi walked into the hospital room. It's been a few days since the Hosu incident, and the heroes in training finally woke up. Tenya Iida and Mikumo Akatani were in their beds, they smelled like they had just gotten their bandages removed. Todoroki was beside their beds, he was there because Naomasa asked all the students to be together.
"Hello, I understand you all met the Quirkless Killer." Endeavor said so, he was extra moody for losing the guy as well. He gave a comprehensive physical description of everything except for the killer's defining traits. They now had his height, approximate weight, and skin color. "I need to ask you all some questions."
"We don't know anything about him. He was wearing a mask the whole time," said Akatani. He was lying.
"I think you do. What were you doing with him before the heroes arrived." It was a simple question to see if they remembered. Two of them did have mild brain trauma.
They all said they were fighting Stain in some way. This was the truth. He took note of that. "Why do you think he killed Stain?"
"He did what," asked Tenya Iida.
"The Quirkless Killer shot Stain in the head," said Todoroki. "He did it after Stain gave a speech about heroes. He talked about how they only wanted money, or they were selfish. He mainly insulted my dad. He finished by saying the only good hero was All Might. I think that's why."
"A lot more happened like you telling off the Quirkless Killer. He seemed shaken by it too," said Akatani.
"I got that part. What I need is the stuff only you know."
Iida put his hand up. "I have an important piece of information." He did not elaborate.
"Can you say it please?"
"Yes, sir. The Quirkless Killer tried to frame Akatani by pretending to be him. I would've believed him if the real Akatani hadn't arrived." This kid must be really gullible then.
"Putting that aside, what do the rest of you have to say?"
"Hey, wait. That's important," Akatani pointed out. "He had a nearly identical suit to me. Everything was the same except he had a mask on." Naomasa took a special note of that.
"Excuse my rudeness then. I've had a long few weeks. So why would he want to frame Akatani?"
"He hates the quirkless. Especially Akatani, it could've been a plan to discredit him. Try to keep him from being a hero." Todoroki gave this insight. Naomasa wrote that down, it made more sense than his theory of the Quirkless Killer thinking it was funny.
"But he showed up and ruined the plan. Anything else I should know?"
"When I got to the alley, I hit Stain with an icicle, that beat him. I then mistook the Quirkless killer for Akatani. He had a different voice, but I assumed it was because of his broken nose. I took him to get medical attention but then Akatani showed up and told me the truth. That made him angry, so he tried killing him. I assume you know the rest."
He did, Akatani stopped himself from getting stabbed and then got picked up by a Nomu. The Hero Killer saved him for unknown reasons, leading to his death. This led to a standoff where the Quirkless Killer got away. Naomasa was beyond pissed when he saw the news story that morning. But when they said Akatani almost died, he calmed down quickly.
He took everything down. It was more than confirmed that the one guy the Quirkless Killer wanted dead was Mikumo Akatani. "Is that everything?"
Iida said yes, he was telling the truth. So did Todoroki, it was also true. Akatani said yes as well, but it was a lie. Naomasa made no change in his demeanor as he thanked them and left.
He took his phone out and called All Might. "Toshinori, how's the girl?" He put him in there for when he was out of time as a hero. He was undercover as the girl's uncle. Nobody noticed him there. "I need some good news."
"No response. Young Suzume is still in a coma." At least she was alive.
"Thanks." Naomasa hung up. He left the hospital and went back to the station. He needed to work on several other cases.
The past few days were pure Hell for Izuku. He would wake up, feel indescribable pain, then pass out again. Breathing was impossible, his head was killing him, and death seemed more welcoming every moment.
He woke up on a bed. The place he sat was lit up in a spotlight, the area around it was swallowed by an immense darkness. There was a machine on his left with his heartbeat, an IV drip going into his arm, and multiple tubes going into his nose and mouth. The pain was mostly gone, he could finally move. His hearing was also back, the beeping of the heart rate monitor, the shuffling of the sheets when he sat up, it was all so clear.
"Ah, you're up," the TV guy said. He was in the darkness. "I have things to discuss with you." Izuku pulled on the tube in his mouth, but it didn't move. "Let me get that for you." It was ripped out and fell into the darkness. "I want to hear my most valuable asset."
"What are you talking about? Isn't Tomura your poster boy?"
"He's just a pawn. You're more independent, you can make plans on your own. The only thing he's done on his own is cause chaos that, if anything, only hurt him in the long run. We lost good Nomus because of him. If I met you before him, I would've picked you as a successor."
"In your dreams. I'll never work for a villain." He thought of his plans, he figured since he was there. "I just need one more favor and I'll be done."
"Okay, as long as you deal with your debt."
"What are you talking about?" They should be square, they only had two favors, and they were paid off.
"Look where you are. I valiantly work to heal your body and you expect to leave without paying? That's hurtful. If the heroes saw you at the hospital, they could link up the injuries and you'll be arrested. So I also kept you from being arrested. I also did it in only three days with a quirk that compounded recovery time. It makes you feel all the pain of recovery at once while also healing you quickly. You were lucky you didn't have any permanent injuries, those don't get healed by that quirk." He didn't need the explanation.
"How much do I owe you?" Izuku hated this, at this point he'd prefer dying from his injuries.
"I healed you, kept you from getting caught, and did it quickly. It was painful, so I'll give that to you for free. That leaves two favors left for you to do. So, what can I do to make it three?" Izuku could feel the man's smirk.
"Don't you have something you wanted to talk about?" He didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"But I have a feeling our goals line up perfectly. You want to know where that girl's being held, right?" Goddamnit, why was he always one step ahead? "Did I get it right? You have to tell me, those are the rules." This was all a big game for him, Izuku hated him.
"Yeah, you're right." He forced himself to say it. He wanted to throw up.
"That's great because I have a plan to get you there. When you arrive, do what needs to be done. We can't have her revealing your identity so soon."
Izuku assumed killing her. "But how do I get close? I'm a suspect." He had no reason to think that, but any competent police force should've found something. He's made too many mistakes. "A few of the killings were near my house, one could be traced back to a press conference I was at, and the last one was in a bathroom I was sitting next to at the Sports Festival. There are too many coincidences for it not to be me. Even if there's no physical evidence, it's enough to keep an eye out for me."
"Leave that to me. Just live your life normally." The way he said it put a shiver down Izuku's spine.