Chapter 7: Shadow Under Korusa
Izuku sat in his seat in the First-Class train car, looking at the file folder on his lap. He was on his way to Korusa City as the acting representative of the Todoroki Family. The more he thought about that, the less he actually believed it to be happening. He had been on this train for hours, and the feeling had not lessened the entire time.
As the train pulled into Korusa Central Station, Izuku thought back to the conversation he had a couple days prior…
"I need you to go to Korusa Memorial Hospital, to supervise my wife's annual mental health assessment."
"...Pardon?" Izuku asked after close to ten seconds of stunned silence.
"My wife," Endeavor continued. "When Shouto was seven, she had a…mental breakdown, and I committed her to Korusa Memorial. They're known for having one of the best mental health facilities in the nation, yet her breakdown was so severe she's been there this entire time. According to Kamiji, she's shown drastic improvements these past couple years, so I'm hoping this will be the time she can come home. As the assessment will last around half a week, I'd like you to talk to her, as well. Kamiji has told me Rei enjoys having long conversations, so if you could provide her with such it will be of great help. Once you return home, you can take the remainder of the week off to rest from the travel and stress."
"Alright, but still, why me? If neither Shouto nor Burnin' can do it, wouldn't it make more sense for one of your other children to do this?"
"My daughter is busy with her work, and Natsuo…I haven't seen him since he moved out while Shouto was still in school. I don't think either of them could make it. Plus, neither of them can read people like you can. Your insight could be useful in determining if she can be released." After he said this, Endeavor pulled a file folder from a drawer and set it on his desk, along with a black card and a…a badge?
"This is her file detailing past evaluations," the hero continued, "along with my personal multipass card and a badge from the Agency. So long as you are on this assignment, you will carry the same authority as I do." Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but Endeavor cut him off. " As I said, I trust you implicitly with this task, Midoriya. Do not think you are any less." He turned and took a few steps to look out the window, leaving Izuku to gawk at what he'd been given. For the duration of the assessment, he, a quirkless paper-pusher, held the same verbal power as Endeavor . Before he could say anything, Izuku heard the massive hero give a deep sigh.
"I miss my wife, Midoriya."
—
Izuku disembarked the cab in front of the Hospital. He'd squared away his hotel room for the next few days, and was ready to get to work. He gave a sigh at how he couldn't try any Firing Attempts on this job. This assignment was far too important to risk sabotaging.
Along with the files, card and badge Endeavor had lent him, Izuku had a bag slung over his shoulder. This bag was his "Night Shift Kit," given to him by Hatsume Mei as a graduation present. It held a bunch of tools that Mei had built but couldn't find any hero student who'd want them. These things had saved him a few times even after working for Endeavor.
"Excuse me," the green man called out to a passing doctor as he stepped into the hospital. The doctor greeted him warmly, and his eyes widened when Izuku presented the badge. "I've come as a representative of Endeavor. I'm here to help supervise Todoroki Rei's annual assessment."
"W-well, you're a bit early," the doctor (his name tag ID'd him as Dr. Shion) stated.
"That's fine," Izuku pocketed the badge. "If you could please direct me to Todoroki Rei, that would be nice for now."
"Oh, um, this way!" Shion gestured down the hall. Izuku followed him, glancing around the place. The building was clean and well-kept. The other patients they passed seemed genuinely happy and comfortable. Made sense, with Korusa's reputation and all, but Izuku still kept an eye open.
Which is why he was able to spot other workers giving him glances. Why he was able to hear small snippets of conversation, with the name 'Endeavor' coming up fairly often. Izuku guessed it was a big deal to get a representative of a hero coming in. Especially the current No.1 Hero of Japan. They probably thought he himself was some small, unknown but well-connected hero or sidekick. Izuku almost snorted at that.
Shion didn't take Izuku to the elevators, but did take him to a huge armored door. The doctor swiped his card before the door swung open. Izuku must have guessed this wing of the hospital was reserved for people related to heroes. As he stepped through, Izuku noted the air smelled different. The old, nostalgic smell of an airborne quirk inhibitor. Likely to keep patients from hurting anyone during a breakdown. Though he did find it weird it was limited to the heroic relations wing.
"Here she is," Shion said after a few minutes of silent walking. He gently knocked on the door before opening. "Missus Todoroki, you have a visitor." As Izuku stepped in, he got his first look at Todoroki Rei.
Todoroki Rei was sitting up in her cozy-looking bed. It was clear she had been looking out the window before turning her attention to the door. Despite her age (Izuku knew not to ask, but could guess based on Shouto), she still held a fairly youthful countenance. Her hair was long and shimmering white. Her eyes were brown, holding a clear and cognitive expression. As Izuku approached, he could see a tiredness and guilt in her eyes. While her body looked healthy with a good complexion, her posture was as though she had an immense weight on her shoulders. And yet despite these, she still gave Izuku a small smile as he approached and tried to sit with some semblance of dignity.
In the past, Izuku had heard people compare Endeavor to a king, standing tall and regal. If Endeavor could honestly be compared to a king, then his wife was nothing short of an empress. One who had seen the best and worst in humanity.
"I thank you for letting me in," Izuku bowed a bit as Dr. Shion left. "I'm Midoriya Izuku, and I'm here representing your husband for the assessment."
"...Still refusing to come, I see…" Rei sighed as she looked away.
"What? No!" Izuku looked back up in shock. "Endeavor straight up told me how he regrets not being able to attend these over the past few years, and informed me he would try to come at the end of the assessment to pick you up."
"Oh, he's so sure I'll be released this year?"
"He has high hopes," Izuku sat in a nearby chair. "Anyway, while I'm here as his representative, I'll also be here to give you someone to chat with. Ask me anything, I'm an open book."
"...What's your hero name?" Rei asked innocently. Izuku stared for a bit, then probably startled Rei when he started laughing.
"Me? A Hero? That's rich," Izuku wiped his eyes. "Sorry, ma'am, but I'm no hero. I'm just a quirkless analyst who's good with paperwork. Somehow that's impressive enough that Endeavor decided to assign me for this." To Izuku's surprise, Rei's smile only grew larger and more genuine at his words.
"It's nice to see that part of him hasn't changed."
"Pardon?" Izuku asked. It was another minute or so before Rei spoke up.
"The Enji I knew never thought less of quirkless people. In fact, he always held them in high regard."
"...Pardon?" Izuku repeated. Unfortunately, before Rei could answer, Dr. Shion returned.
"It's time," he announced.
—
"...and because he still has two strikes on his Last Chance application, my Agency is stuck with him until he does something stupid," Fatgum whined with his glass of soda.
It was the night of Kamiji's nightly get-together with a few of her fellow heroes. Not many showed up to these, usually Fatgum, Ryukyu, Bubble Girl and their sidekicks. They always arrived out of uniform, and the meetings were usually nice and casual. Sadly, the main topic for tonight was a…violent sidekick who kept getting shunted around different agencies.
"Oh god," Kamiji Moe groaned. "How did he even graduate UA?"
"Apparently he scored just enough to pass, and reined in his temper just enough to graduate," Fatgum's morose sidekick (whose name Burnin' never got around to memorizing) replied. "Once he got out, though…"
"I just hope he stays far from my agency," Ryuko sighed while sipping her martini. "He almost crippled one of my girls back during their first Sport's Festival, you know. I thought for sure Nedzu would have expelled him after that."
"If he comes to Endeavor's Agency, I'm gonna castrate him with my heels," Kamiji growled. "I ain't letting him get within 1 meter of my boyfriend."
"About that," Awata Kaoruko, aka Bubble Girl, spoke up from around Ryukyu, "what is your boyfriend like? You haven't told us about him yet."
"He is wonderful, " Moe giggled. "Soft, sweet, and easily flustered. And he's a freaking genius, too. He recently showed me this notebook he'd worked on where he analyzed my quirk, and oh my gosh he figured out so much just from observations, a few things even I didn't know about! If I knew he was even half of that, I woulda dragged into my bed years ago!" That declaration made Fatgum and his sidekick do a spittake while Ryuko and Awata snorted.
"Already in bed, huh?" Bubble Girl laughed. "Mind sharing that-"
"Nope!" Moe laughed. "His bedroom performance is private. Plus, I think he's embarrassed by it 'cuz he doesn't remember how it happened. Poor dude mistook my vodka for his soda, and he definitely can't hold his liquor." Then Moe's face fell a bit. "He also jabbers a lot when he's drunk."
"He spoke too much?" the dragon heroine asked, to which the fiery heroine shook her head.
"No, it was what he spoke about that got me…"
—
"That concludes the first day of tests," Dr. Shion stated as his assistants helped Rei up from her chair. "It'll take a few hours to go over the results, so we'll do the next batch tomorrow."
"It was interesting to watch the tests," Izuku stated. "Wondering why you drew blood, though."
"Some of our treatments can have altered effects depending on someone's quirk," Shion replied. "We drew her blood today to check the effectiveness of her meds. That way, if she isn't cleared to leave, we'll know how to adjust her dosage for the coming year."
"I see. Anything else, or can she return to her room?"
"No no, you can escort her back. Thank you for your time." Izuku nodded and moved to take Rei's hand. The older woman seemed tired after that run of examinations, and she was grateful for Izuku's support. And she'd have to go through two more days of this? Izuku guessed they were being thorough, but some things still felt excessive. Izuku wished he could have looked into the papers they were filling out to see how Rei was doing. All he got was Shion muttering 'blue' and occasionally 'green.' He assumed those were good things.
"Hopefully the next few exams won't be too painful," Izuku smiled as he held Rei's arm.
"They always ache a bit," Rei responded. "I'm tired."
"Want me to carry you?"
"You're helping plenty, already." The two walked in silence until they reached Rei's room, and Izuku gently helped her into bed. "I think the only good parts of today is your company and the fact dinner's pizza."
"Glad I could entertain," Izuku laughed. "These tests usually run for three days, right?"
"Unfortunately. Wouldn't be so bad if they didn't keep drawing blood."
"...Pardon?" Izuku asked. Rei just said something worrisome.
"They always draw my blood at least twice during these exams. Leaves my arm itching. And that's excluding the fact it feels like they take some of my blood every few days."
…That was very worrisome. Drawing blood every few days? It was like they were taking blood after letting only the minimum amount of safe time pass. Why would they do that?
As he thought this, he remembered something from the past. Back during the latter half of his first year, Midnight had adopted a young girl named Eri. She was the victim of some yakuza jerks, who had apparently been using her blood to make some sort of anti-quirk drug.
The parallels were too similar for Izuku's comfort.
"I need to go check on some things," Izuku announced. "Are you going to be alright if I leave?"
"I'll just nap until dinner," Rei smiled. "Thank you for the concern." Izuku nodded and rushed out of the room.
Midoriya Izuku was no hero nor detective, but he was an excellent paper pusher.
So he was gonna push some papers.
Four Hours Later…
Long after visiting hours had ended, Izuku was in the records room. The room was dark, the only light coming from a dimmed phone screen. That was no problem for Izuku though. Part of his "Night-Shift Kit" was a pair of super-efficient night vision goggles. With these goggles at medium setting, the light from his phone screen was enough to essentially illuminate the room like it was noon on a sunny day. This made it easy for Izuku to perform his task without disturbing anyone that might walk past the room.
Izuku was sitting at a table covered in Todoroki Rei's medical records. All of them. Over thirteen years of records. Folders upon folders, each detailing every exam, health session, even individual notes taken by the nurses. That was a lot of paperwork.
And Izuku did not like what he was finding.
According to the explanations Izuku found online, colors were used to classify one's mental health status in the current society. The early records contained what he expected. Rei's mentality was marked All Red, meaning she was in dire need of help. As the years passed, the exam records marked her mental health improving bit by bit. What made Izuku tense was that, according to these records, Rei was scoring mostly Blues and Greens by the time Izuku was in his first year at UA. She had not scored anything below Green for over five years.
"She should have been released over five years ago," Izuku whispered as he paged through one of the latest folders. "Why are they even keeping her here?" He used his goggles to take pictures of the reports. Endeavor needed to see this.
After taking the first few pictures, Izuku heard someone running down the hall outside the room. He turned to the window of the room and saw Dr. Shion run by. Why was he running? With growing suspicion, Izuku quietly snuck out of the room and followed the doctor. Izuku peered around the corner and watched Shion slip a keycard into one of the walls. To Izuku's greater surprise, the wall opened and Shion rushed inside before the wall closed behind him.
"...Mental hospitals don't need hidden passages," Izuku muttered. He looked around the ceiling, and was further surprised to see there were no cameras looking down this particular hallway. There would be no recordings of that hidden door. That was one way of defining 'plausible deniability.' Izuku rushed to the hidden door, and he saw the small slit for the keycard obscured by the black stripe painted on the wall. The green man took the keycard Endeavor gave him and slipped it in.
boop
Nothing. The wall didn't open. On one hand, Izuku was shocked to find a lock that the authority of Japan's Number One couldn't open. One the other, Izuku wasn't shocked to see a lock that was possibly owned by villains would reject a hero's authority. Thankfully, he had something else for this.
Another part of his "Night-Shift Kit" was a special device Mei had made. While she couldn't create a device that could act as a universal master key, she did create a device that could scramble the lock to make it read the next keycard as a master key. Izuku had had to use the device a few times while working at Endeavor's Agency to grab some stuff he'd forgotten, and his card stopped working after his shift ended. He slipped the thinner part of the device into the key slot while swiping Endeavor's card through the reader on the device. There was another beep and the door slid open.
Past the door was a dark, spooky stairway. It led down, into a basement that Izuku was pretty sure wasn't on any floor plans. There was dim light at the bottom and Izuku could hear voices. Dr. Shion was talking to someone frantically. The analyst took a step through the door, determined to see what was going on.
Under any other circumstances, Izuku would have been content to step back and report to the heroes about what was going on. He himself wasn't a hero, so it only made sense. Today, however, it was personal. His desire for heroics was little more than embers dying in a cold fire pit. After hearing the regret in Endeavor's voice and seeing the pain in Rei's eyes, those embers burned like a torch. He would still report to the heroes, but only after learning everything he could so that the heroes could not be delayed by bureaucracy.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Izuku slipped his phone into his shirt pocket and hit the Record button. He probably couldn't get any video with how dark things were, but he could certainly get audio. Plus, his goggles could still take pictures.
"Sir," Dr. Shion whined, "I'm serious about this! The guy Endeavor sent this time is smart! His questions during the exams were both inspiring and worrying! I don't think we'll be able to fool him!"
"He's just some secretary," the other man (a doctor whom izuku didn't recognize) lackadaisically waved his hand. "What could he possibly do?"
"According to one of our nurses, he spent a lot of time in the records room. We're not gonna tell him the results of the exam, but the fact we are legally required to keep accurate records could be our downfall. Plus, we've held onto Todoroki Rei for over fifteen years by this point. Our usual turnaround for patients is less than a tenth of that. We might need to start thinking of how to proceed without her."
"...If it comes to that," the other man said as he and Shion walked away, to the right from Izuku, "try to take a few more blood draws. I feel we're getting close. Now, what about the others?" After a few steps, the two doctors walked through another door, and Izuku could no longer hear them.
"What are they working on?" Izuku whispered to himself as he turned the corner. They walked to his right, so Izuku turned to the left and-
Izuku gasped in horror and froze like a scarecrow. He saw what they were working on through an open doorway, and it was almost beyond belief. It took him almost a whole minute to recover enough to take over a dozen pictures with his goggles just to make sure he got something . Without another word, he ran back up the stairs. He had his evidence, now he needed the heroes.
—
Kamiji Moe gave a snort as her phone rang. Normally phone calls this late at night went to voicemail, but any number from the Agency was kept loud in case of emergency. She blearily read the ID, and was surprised at who was calling.
"Izu, babe," Moe yawned, "it's not like you to-"
"Crypts of Shuwa."
…Kamiji Moe was no longer sleepy. Pro Heroes used codes to report villainous activity over unencrypted lines. The code Izuku just used was one that was created decades ago, but was primarily used during the years involving the League of Villains. Moe was less curious about how Izuku knew that code and more concerned at the fact he invoked it.
"Details," Burnin' ordered.
"I can't say anything concrete over my phone, but you, Endeavor and every hero you can get to come to Korusa Memorial. There is villainous activity and Rei is in the middle of it. I'm staying at the Pension Flambard. Meet me there and I'll show everything I got. Sooner the better."
"You got it. Are you safe?"
"Far as I know, they don't suspect me at all. Please hurry." With that request, Izuku hung up. Moe wasted no time dialing Endeavor's emergency line. She had used this line less than three times during her tenure as Endeavor's Second-In-Command, and each time had been vital. Because of that past record, the phone only rang twice before Endeavor picked up.
"Sir," Moe reported, "Midoriya Izuku just reported Crypts of Shuwa at Korusa Memorial."
—
The following morning, Izuku walked down the hall of Korusa Memorial with a purpose. He knew what was going on, and was determined to do his part in saving Rei. Thankfully, his part was much easier. With a knock, he stepped into Rei's room. The woman sat up and gave a weak smile.
"Good morning, Midoriya. Sleep well?"
"I didn't," Izuku admitted, "but I do have good news."
"Oh? Am I actually getting out later this week?" Rei joked.
"No," Izuku smiled as he sat next to her bed. "You're getting out today. " Rei gave a confused expression and opened her mouth to ask, but stopped when something out the window caught her attention. She looked and her eyes widened when she saw who was coming.
—
Endeavor stormed into the hospital with a worse-than-usual glower on his face. It was clear he was doing everything he could to keep from burning the ceiling with his flames. He ignored the startled patients and nurses, with Burnin' walking behind him with an equally-intense glower. After them came more heroes, scattering through the halls as Endeavor approached the front desk.
"S-sir?" the nurse at the front desk stuttered. "W-what can I do for-" She stopped speaking when Endeavor slammed a few papers onto her desk.
"I have received a tip concerning possible villainous activity in this hospital," the Flame Hero explained. "I have come to investigate." Without another word, he stormed away, heading towards the hall Izuku described.
"E-Endeavor!" Dr. Shion shouted as he came running up a minute later, barely catching up with the hero. Endeavor seemed to ignore him, maintaining his forceful walk down the halls. "I've heard why you're here, but I assure you there's nothing going on here!"
"Nothing?" Endeavor stopped and turned to the doctor. "Can you say, in your honor, that nothing illegal is going on?"
"O-of course!" Shion nodded. "I swear, our facility is-"
Endeavor raised his hand towards the nearby wall and activated his quirk. Shion squeaked from fear, and watched in horror as Endeavor melted the hidden door that led to the basement. Ignoring the scared man, Endeavor stomped through the doorway, leaving Shion to be grabbed by Burnin' and dragged down the stairs. The doctor struggled and tried to convince them there was nothing, but both heroes ignored him. Upon reaching the bottom, Endeavor turned left and slammed the door open.
Behind the door was a large, well-lit room. Filling the room were nine large glass tanks, four on opposite walls with a single large one in the middle. Inside of each tank was a different monstrosity. Some were furry, others scaly, and none of them pleasant to look at. The worst one, however, was in the middle tank.
In the middle tank was a large and long creature, like a chitinous anaconda. About halfway up its length were four arm-like limbs ending in bone scythes. Further up were a pair of fanged mouths, but none of these were the creepiest part. At the top of the creature was a humanoid head with long hair.
A humanoid head that looked exactly like a younger Todoroki Rei.
Endeavor stared at the tank with growing fury. He had seen the photos Izuku had taken the previous night, but seeing the vile abomination with his own eyes was a whole new level of rage. The room turned unbearably hot as he turned to face Dr. Shion, who was now quivering from fear in Burnin's grasp.
"Explain yourself."
—
It had been three days since the raid on Korusa Memorial Hospital when Izuku found himself standing in Endeavor's office. He had been called in the instant he arrived at the agency. He hadn't even gotten time to make Endeavor his morning cup of Forced Evolution Virus. He was standing in front of Endeavor's desk, and the hero in question was looking at Izuku. His usual glower was absent, which honestly made Izuku more uncomfy than usual.
"...Sir?" Izuku nervously asked after a tense minute of silence. Endeavor stood up, walking around the desk as he began to speak.
"Firstly, the villains working in that hospital were doing their own brand of chimeric weapons, similar to the Noumu made by the League of Villains years ago. However, as none of them had the Boogeyman's quirk, they made do by attempting to copy people's quirks in their creations through consistent blood experiments. Their main focus was copying my wife's quirk due to her ice quirk being as powerful as my own fire quirk.
"Secondly, the villains may have been working out of that hospital, but they didn't run the place. Dr. Shion and his boss, a man known as Dr. Kiritsugu, were doing all this work under the nose of the actual hospital staff. They and their other subordinates were the ones who were keeping my wife's records hidden to keep her under their control. Speaking of my wife, she was released from the hospital the day of the raid, and has been spending these past few days resting at home."
"Sir?" Izuku asked again. Endeavor was now standing right in front of the quirkless man, looking down at him.
"How close those villains were at succeeding will never be known," the hero continued, "but they were stopped because of your own diligence, and willingness to go above and beyond." Then the hero rested his hands on Izuku's shoulders. "A while back, I overheard your argument with my son. I heard how All Might told you that you couldn't be a hero. Your actions at Korusa Memorial prove his words wrong. Make no mistake, Midoriya Izuku. You are a hero to me, and everyone in this agency. And we are proud that you are one of us."
Izuku didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. Enji's words got to him, seeping into his very being, burning past the depreciative mud that covered his mind his entire life. When it finally sunk in, Izuku couldn't help but start crying. It wasn't the waterfall tears that made his mom the poster child of flood insurance. His tears were the quiet, solemn tears that only came from the eyes of a man with a dead dream. Endeavor said nothing either, simply giving his shoulder a reassuring pat. After several minutes, Izuku stepped away.
"S-sorry for crying like that," he apologized.
"Don't bother. You earned it. Just like you've earned the respect of every hero in this agency, and what you've done for me personally is something I can never forget. It will take me some time to think of a reward that can even come close to what you deserve, but for now you've earned a significant pay raise, and you can take the next two days off as paid vacation. Go rest, Midoriya. A hero needs their rest."
Izuku was again stunned. Incapable of speaking after that, Izuku just nodded his gratitude and exited the office. As he stepped out, Burnin' stepped inside, smiling at her short boyfriend before turning to her boss.
"That man is a credit to this agency," Moe beamed.
"After everything he's done," Endeavor admitted, "I find myself tempted to write him into my will. With Korusa wrapped up, have you made any progress in your other assignment?"
"You bet," Burnin' smiled. "After hearing what happened, Arithmancer himself stepped forward. He'll be here tomorrow to run that internal audit."