Arc 3 - Stirring the Crow Nest
Lanbosu Kin finally managed to lose the crows following him. They had followed him all over Musutafu, and with the police and heroes so agitated, he had to be extra careful to not be found out.
Psychometry didn't leave any proof of his vigilantism, but he didn't want to try his luck and face off heroes and police officers that recognized him as a vigilante. He had never been caught, but some had seen him covered in his cloak enough times to be able to get recognized just by it.
He grinded his teeth and cursed under his breath. Kin had noticed the strange behavior of the police and heroes, and decided to investigate on his own. After a while, he realized they were preparing for an ambush, and stayed close just in case, glad that he had taken his kendo sword this time around.
To his surprise, they ambushed Karasu! He managed to overhear a few officers, and stayed close, managing to close off Karasu just as they were fleeing from the heroes.
The vigilante hid in a nearby alley and jumped the villain, managing to avoid getting shot and hit them using the kendo sword. But then, the flying menaces flew right at him, and he was forced back, which Karasu took advantage of to destroy his sword with some sort of fire projectile.
It took Kin completely out of guard, not having imagined Karasu to have a fire quirk. He should have expected something related with the crows, and he cursed himself for losing his opportunity to take Karasu down like that.
Karasu was the only lead he had to find where Toga was, and he had missed the best chance he got at interrogating Karasu, and had lost his sword while at it.
Kin punched the wall, trying to cool down his anger, but only managing to hurt his hand.
"Agh! Fuck!"
Feeling his blood still boiling with rage, and with the police and heroes still looking for Karasu, Kin realized it was too risky to keep going after Karasu, especially with the crows still after him.
Karasu seemed pretty pissed when they had recovered their rifle and pointed it at him. Kin had faced villains before, but never any above a C rank, and definitely felt much more dangerous than any other one that he had ever seen.
He made his way back to his place, finding comfort in hearing less and less caws of the wedged flying menaces as he got to his places.
When he reached his home, he let himself fall into his sofa, getting off of his cloak and looking at all the damage that the crows did to it.
In a feat of rage, he made a ball out of the cloak, and threw it across the room. He covered his face with his hands, tired, angry and frustrated.
Thanks to psychometry he knew that Toga was somehow involved with Karasu, and now because of this incident and failed capture of Karasu, they knew that Kin knew something, so reaching them would be even harder.
Even though Karasu didn't seem very impressive when fighting in close quarters, Kin realized that their skills centered in long range, and that he had been extremely lucky to escape, probably only because heroes were already after Karasu and they needed to get away fast.
Still, he had also confirmed that the flying menaces were in fact back working with a new villain. When school comes back around, he'll need to convince Midoriya to get away from them.
Maybe Karasu got closer to Toga using the crows? He was focused on Midoriya since she's part of his class, and thus didn't pay much attention to whether Toga was also approached by crows. If that was the case, Midoriya may be in danger!
He didn't know where she lived, and couldn't get back at the school until the end of the summer break, so he couldn't get the number of her parents to warn her.
Kin grinded his teeth, tapping the floor with his foot repeatedly.
He wouldn't let another student get corrupted by Karasu and their flying menaces. He'll find Karasu again, and force them to tell him where Toga is, so he can confront her, and get her to justice before she hurts anyone else.
She was his responsibility, and thus catching Karasu as well, as the person that corrupted and turned his student into a villain.
Unbeknownst to him, he didn't lose the crows, and the cawing only stopped because the crows were luring him back to his nest. A pair of crows had followed him, and watched him go into his apartment.
He had gone against one of their own, and a crow never forgets slights against their family.
16 - Licking wounds
Izumi woke up grumpy, her hair a mess, a headache buzzing inside her head and with her back and sides complaining when she got up. She groaned while stretching her body and pet Wuji, who was still beside her on her pillow.
"How's the wing?"
Wuji purred and snapped his beak. Izumi sighed relieved, glad that he was more annoyed than in pain. She checked her phone and saw a message from Giran.
"Thanks for the warning. Got out with your crow before the heroes arrived. Client didn't have much luck though. Everything alright? Crows are unnerved but they said you got away."
Izumi released the breath she didn't realize she was holding after seeing Giran and Lave made it out alright. Then she promptly reprimanded herself for not having her breath under control.
"Good. I'm alright. Wuji got hurt. I'll bring him to the Hunter Cabin after getting some supplies to treat him well."
Having sent the message, Izumi put the phone down and rubbed her eyelids to force her eyesight to focus. What were more eyebags for her? She already looked like she had a permanent shadow under her eyes.
Izumi then went over to Wuji, and carefully started checking his wing. Having been treated by Izumi before, and trusting her, the crow didn't complain and let Izumi check on him.
His wing seemed broken as she had assumed the previous night, but there wasn't any blood. That was a good sign, but she didn't want to overlook any possible internal bleeding.
She palpated Wuji's side under his bad wing, and he let out a high pitched caw at that.
"Sorry! Did it hurt?"
Wuji let out the sound of tires screeching against the road, and bit on Izumi's finger.
Hurt.
"Aw, alright. Probably there's something broken there as well… sorry, had to check"
Wuji puffed on himself and his feather bristled. Izumi recognized it as him pouting and pet him gently on his head. That's when the door of her room slammed open, and Inko barged in.
"Who's there!? Izumi! You're back!"
She ran over with her arms spread open to hug Izumi but stopped herself after seeing Wuji as well. Izumi narrowed her eyes and repressed a sneer from forming in her face.
"What's that thing doing here?"
Izumi sighed through her nose, calming her heartbeat. Couldn't afford to get angry when she still was feeling a headache.
"He got hurt so I brought him here"
"You shouldn't have brought–" Izumi's glare made Inko rethink what she was saying, and wisely changed the topic.
"Where were you yesterday and the day before!? I was so worried when you didn't come home!"
"I was just out. Met with a friend"
Inko blinked, surprised, before her face dropped in that pitying look that infuriated Izumi so much.
"Izumi, crows aren't really friends"
"Caw!"
That angered Wuji, who cawed and glared at Inko with his only eye, making her flinch.
"See! Flying menaces are wild animals! Get it out of my home!"
Izumi kept her heart from speeding up in her anger, and merely glared at Inko.
"Sure, we were just leaving. Don't worry, I'll leave you alone"
Izumi got up, preparing herself to go out.
"Wait, no- don't go Izumi! Tell me exactly where you were and just throw the flying menace out the window! We can't have anyone know one was inside our place"
Izumi closed fists so hard that her knuckles cracked audibly.
"You can't have crows inside. Alright, I'll go then."
"No! You've left me alone without an explanation to go hang out with stupid crows for the last time! You are staying here and telling me exactly where you went!"
Izumi didn't respond, and worthlessly put her clothes back on, making sure to hide the bruises in her back and sides so Inko wouldn't get even more annoying.
"If you are worried about it so much, alright, we'll call some veterinarian or someone to take care of it, but you stay here!"
Izumi scoffed and Wuji cawed again, both annoyed at her.
"As if I'd trust a stranger with him. Especially someone from Musutafu where there's so many crow haters. I can take care of him on my own. Now move, I'm leaving since you also hate crows that much"
Izumi carefully put Wuji on her shoulder, and grabbed a big cardboard box and a blanket.
"I said you aren't going anywhere young miss! You'll do as I said for once in your life! I'm your mother, show some respect and listen to me!"
Izumi clenched her mouth shut so hard her jaw hurt. She could feel her heartbeat bumming despite keeping a nice and calm breathing, making her headache worse. On her shoulder, Wuji growled like a wolf.
Inko flinched, seeing Izumi getting angrier and at the way her and Wuji were glaring at her.
Inko froze up, and couldn't stop Izumi from getting out of the room and leaving her alone.
"S-stop! Let's have breakfast together and talk about how to handle the crow!"
"There's nothing to talk about. I can get something to eat outside"
Izumi walked towards the door, not looking back. She refused to show Inko that whatever she said affected her. Even now, she kept thinking of the crows as flying menaces, like any other human in this wretched neighborhood that she put the both of them in.
She said that she cared, but like anyone else, she was still looking down on her, and thought nothing of the crows, her friends, other than being trash that associated itself with villains.
She was surprised when Izumi mentioned being with friends, and quickly dismissed the idea and thought she meant just crows. If she knew she was friends now with Himiko, she'd try to push Izumi away from her as well.
It was bad enough that the media could report on crows being associated with Karasu now, she didn't want to even hear about what Inko had to say about the murder after that broke the news, and even less what she thought about Himiko.
"Izumi! Please! Don't go!" Inko ran after her, stopping right as Izumi was about to open the front door and leave. "I'm just trying to protect you! Yo-you are starting to act like your father!"
The hunter froze, her hand over the doorknob. She stopped breathing, feeling the world become quiet around her, until the loud drumming of her heart beat woke her up again.
She clenched her jaw shut harder, her eyelids twitched and she gripped the cardboard box harder, managing to control herself enough to not crush it.
She turned around, fire in her eyes, making Inko flinch and hit her back against a wall.
"Don't ever say that again. I'm nothing like him." Izumi breathed in and out, calming herself, and her anger turned into spite. "If anything, trying to use your 'authority' to control me is much closer to him than what I do"
Izumi turned around, ignoring Inko's gasp and strangled sob. She got out and closed the door with a slam.
Izumi breathed in and out, agitated, uncontrolled, her heartbeat still drumming inside her head and making her headache get worse. She felt her vision foggy, and blinked away tears.
She wiped away the tears, swallowing the lump in her throat as she breathed in and out, trying to calm herself. Izumi hated how Inko still seemed to find a way to make her lose her cool in a way no one else was able to anymore.
Wuji cawed softly, rubbing his head on Izumi's face. She turned to look at to read his body language.
"Izumi, are, much better, than, him, caw!" He can't hunt on your level.
Izumi chuckled, and let Wuji cheer her up. He even replicated a bunch of words to form a full sentence, something that was pretty hard for any crow other than Urusai and Yami.
She gently pressed a hand on his face and pet him close to her face. Izumi could see a few crows flying above them, watching them without coming so close as to be noticed.
The hunter smiled, knowing that even if her mother or the rest of humans didn't accept her, she'd always have a place with her fellow crows… and hunters.
"Thank you Wuji, I feel better now." Izumi said with a soft smile, pleasing Wuji, who puffed his chest and groomed his feathers. "Now, I need to carry you without bringing unnecessary attention from police looking out for crows, so could you…?"
Izumi opened the cardboard box. Wuji knew what she wanted, and hopped inside, before pecking the side to make some holes.
"It won't take long, I promise. I have to take some supplies and then I'll go straight for the shikanshen"
Wuji mimicked the sound of Izumi growling while pouting, but sat on the box.
"Thank you. You want the blanket?"
"Caw!" No necessary.
"Alright, please don't make any sounds unless something happens, you got that?"
Yes. "Nee-san"
Now it was Izumi's turn to growl while pouting.
"Not you too… Himiko-senpai has taught you such embarrassing things"
Wuji let some snappy low pitched caws as he giggled. Izumi smiled, unable to stay mad for too long with him, and gently put the cover of the box, and covered it with the blanket except for the holes that Wuji had made with his beak.
She moved around her right shoulder a bit, her back still hurting from the shot that the Nemean Vest had taken for her. She sighed, her breath under control and heartbeat steady and obedient.
Izumi then looked up at the crows in the sky. She raised a hand ignoring the pain in her shoulder and sides, and made an ok sign, winking at them, and went on her way to get supplies, and then to the Hunter Cabin, with the crows following after her.
She barely acknowledged the group of reporters running in the direction of Musutafu's Police Department, but she did let a smile escape from her lips.
It seems that the fact you failed has leaked to the media, heh.
"Is it true that the police led an operation to apprehend the Black Bullet Killer that resulted in multiple casualties?!"
"What do you have to say about the recent explosions and fires last night? Did Karasu provoke them while escaping from you?!"
"Could we get a word from the chief of police?!"
"What happened to Death Arms during the operation?! He hasn't been seen patrolling like he usually does and he was reported to deviate from his usual patrol route yesterday!"
A group of reporters of different channels, networks and digital newspapers pushed each other and shoved their microphones into the face of police officers as they tried to make their way past them, or get a word out of them.
The police did its best to hold off the mob of reporters trying to get a word and barge inside Musutafu General Police Department. They had come out of nowhere, seemingly knowing about the failed operation to apprehend Karasu that the police and several Pro Heroes had led last night.
Even more concerning was the fact that they knew about multiple casualties on their side and the apparent death of Death Arms, something that the police haven't reported still.
Inside the department, things weren't much clear. Detective Naomasa, who had been in charge of investigating the different cases of hero casualties where Karasu was involved, and Hitomei Wakuna, a man with light red skin and the representative of the Hero Commission in hero targeted criminal cases had come to meet the chief of Musutafu's police.
The reporters had come before them, so they had to be escorted inside. Naomasa looked around to the officers moving frenetically, answering calls and shouting orders and instructions to them. Some of them had grim looks in their eyes, as a few officers carried boxes with the belongings of their coworkers that had died in the operation.
Similarly, the sidekicks of Death Arms' agency were here, as their agency was considered unsafe with Karasu still out there, and without knowing if they would have enough with just Death Arms' death.
"Sergeant Hamada! What is the meaning of this?! The media is right at your doorstep!" Wakuna shouted, the tips of his hair lighting and heating up.
"Obviously we didn't purposefully announce last night's mess! We are still investigating how word got out, so stop shouting at me!" A small man with the head of an otter shouted back at him.
"Do you have any idea of the PR nightmare that this situation is!?" Wakuna kept shouting, Naomasa put a hand on his shoulder to try to calm him down, but Wakuna shoved his shoulder. "How the fuck does the media already know that Death Arms died?!"
"I just told you! We don't know! We are investigating it! And don't go around shifting the blame here! I lost three good men last night, and there's a dozen more officers in the hospitals with scratches in their face or third degree burns!"
"Please, sergeant, we understand your situation." Naomasa put himself between the two men, giving a look to Wakuna as he did so. "The operation was created in less than 24 hours, we all underestimated Karasu because we managed to finally get intel into their next job. There's a lot we still don't know, I–"
"I take full responsibility" Eraser Head got up from his seat, and got closer to the three men.
"Eraser Head. You set up this whole operation, of course you are responsible for this outcome." Wakuna sneered at him.
"Now, wait a moment Hitomei-san–"
"Eraser Head is one of the finest heroes I've had the pleasure of working with, Hitomei. I won't let you push all the blame into–"
"It's fine, Tsukauchi-san, Hamada-san. I ambushed Karasu and they got away from me when I thought I had them. I got sloppy and overconfident, and your men, good men, paid the price."
The sergeant scoffed, flicking his whiskers.
"We'll talk about this later on, Eraser Head, but first, did you get any clues on Karasu's quirk? With a bit of luck we'll be able to locate them using the National Quirk Registry." Wakuna said, still glaring down at Eraser Head.
"Yeah. We already suspected it could be some sort of animal control quirk, given this whole operation started because I saw that criminal setting a job with a crow. But when I got Karasu trapped in my Capturing Weapon, they whistled at some crows and were surprised when their quirk stopped working. After they got out, they whistled and gave more others to the crows, who attacked me. Kamui Woods, Death Arms' sidekicks and several other officers were also attacked by crows, so they can attest to that."
"An animal control quirk… or maybe just bird or crow control… That could be a potential information leak risk…" Wakuna grumbled and bit the inside of his cheek.
"Wait, you actually got Karasu trapped in your Capturing Weapon and they got out?" Tsukauchi asked, eyes wide, just now realizing that the distinctive support item wasn't on Eraser Head's neck.
Eraser Head nodded, showing the scarf, torn apart in several points, with clean cuts.
"How–?"
"One of the crows had a quirk"
Wakuna's eyes lit up after the revelation, and he looked at Eraser Head with an unreadable expression.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. It seems that whatever Karasu's quirk is, Erasure can't remove orders they already gave to crows before it got erased. I got attacked by crows while I had Karasu pinned down, and one of them had some sort of cutting quirk. They passed through my Capturing Weapon and cut through it effortlessly as if it were made of paper."
"That's not all, there was another crow with a totally different quirk as well." Kamui Woods said as he approached the other men. He nodded at Eraser Head, who nodded back to him.
"Another one? Quirked animals are supposed to be rare, are you certain?" Tsukauchi asked. Wakuna remained silent, unreadable. Eraser Head felt it strange, and noted it in the back of his head.
"Yes. Eraser Head reported that Karasu had a support item different from the rifle, something that exploded after throwing it with a white flash. Well, my group encountered something different. Karasu used the same support item to make a police car explode, and later, the cutting crow showed up. I'm still recovering from it."
Kamui Woods showed his hands, his fingers much smaller than they should be, as they were still growing back from being cut the night prior.
"After that, another crow showed up, one that seemed to both release and absorb fire. The road caught fire when it flew over it, and spread the fire out of Karasu's way, allowing them to escape, while putting more white fire on our way."
"A fire quirk!?"
"Yeah, I have ten of my men and women with third degree burns because of that damn flying menace!" Hamada sneered.
Eraser Head kept a close eye on Wakuna, who had a hand over his chin and was biting on one of his fingers, deep in thought. He had been unsettled ever since hearing about quirked crows. In fact, Eraser Head remembered Wakuna becoming annoyed when he was informed of the operation having been formed after confirming the rumor that Karasu got jobs from criminals talking with crows.
"I was on my way to make some calls to the Super Animal Safety Commission to see if we could get some answers to how to handle those quirked pests before you two finally came in–"
"There's no need, Hamada-san, the Hero Commission will take care of it. Karasu is still a problem that we need to take care of." Wakuna said, with a very serious face, different from his previous explosive and emotional outburst.
Eraser Head narrowed his eyes at him, finding it suspicious.
"Look, Hitomei-san, I've lost good people, no, Eraser, it wasn't your fault, but this case has gotten much bigger. The SASC must be informed if there's a villain using fucking quirked crows!"
"Karasu's targets are heroes, a lot of their clients have been caught and they always say that they employed Karasu to terminate heroes. The use of quirked crows is meaningless, they are the same as using any other animal or support item. If they were trafficking with them then it would be the SASC's business, but not now."
"Hitomei-san, Karasu killed police officers using quirked crows. Even if Karasu weren't controlling them, the SASC would have been called. I won't let my people's lives go to waste to not prepare against Karasu just because you said so." Hamada glared at the red man.
"Besides, we still don't have any idea about the strange material Karasu's bullets are made of. If there's more quirked animals involved that Karasu has access to, that could explain why we didn't find anything involved in the quirk registry. They could come from an animal's quirk."
Wakuna furrowed his frown deeper as Tsukauchi added his theory, displeased at the possibility.
"Excuse me for a moment."
He walked away from them and grabbed his phone. Eraser Head was now sure that there was something going on with the way he reacted when the crows and especially the SASC were mentioned.
Maybe I should inform Nezu about this. He knows the most about quirked animals, maybe he can make out something from this that eludes me…
Eraser Head thought, and walked away with his phone, to make a call of his own as the detective started going through the motions and interrogating and gathering information from everyone involved, to write down everything formally.
Getting in and out of the shinkansen with Wuji injured was harder since he couldn't hide on his own. Thankfully, the box she carried him in was great to keep him hidden, though Wuji was starting to hate it there.
Once they left the station behind, Izumi got the box stored in her locker there, and made her way to the forest with Wuji on her shoulder. She did her best to avoid people, and Wuji kept his face low to not make his very recognizable scar, well, recognizable.
Izumi ended up being lucky, with Konukoru being a bit dead and quiet, but still didn't lower her guard and went straight to the forest. She had already done that once, and she wasn't going to let the heroes catch her by surprise.
Back in Tia, Izumi and Wuji felt safer, and lots of crows started going along with them on their way to the forest. They asked how they were, seeing Wuji with his wing bandaged up, and Izumi reassured them that she was alright, and that she'd make sure that Wuji is alright too.
One of the crows that went over to meet them on their way was Kuro. Izumi ducked down, bending her knees and patting her head.
"Hey Kuro. Thanks for the help yesterday, is everybody else ok?"
"Caw!"
"I see, I'm glad." Izumi smiled, and then remembered something. "Oh, Kuro, you took away the rifle, right? Could you bring it to the Hunter Cabin?"
I left it there.
Izumi smiled again, rubbing her below her chin on her metallic feathers.
"Good girl."
They continued on their way to the cabin, finding more crows on the way, some of them being the elders. Izumi told them they shouldn't have bothered to come here from the Nest, but they shut her down.
"Some, of, our own, were, hurt. How, could, we, not, come, see, you?" Yami protested, backed up with Oji-san and more crows in and outside the council of the elders.
Izumi pouted, but didn't protest. The crows truly thought of her as one of their own, something that regular people had never done before. She was truly glad to the murder for giving her a place, and giving her the opportunity to give a place to Himiko.
The hunter reached the cabin, surrounded by a lot of crows and a few stomped cigarettes near the entrance.
"Yo, nice to see you nice and well, Izumi-chan."
"Likewise, Giran."
Izumi grabbed the chair and carefully sat on it to not strain her back (she had felt a bit of an ache when she sat on the shinkansen). Wuji got down from her shoulder and got into the table as Izumi lowered her body so he didn't have to hop too high.
Her rifle was also on the table. Izumi wasn't sure how Kuro had managed to get on the shinkansen to carry it here without anyone noticing it, but she was glad for it. She inspected it quickly but closely, now seeing the damage clear thanks to the daylight.
Lanbosu had in fact damaged the scope, and the handguard was dented. The barrel extension also seemed to have been damaged. Izumi sighed, not bothering to hide her annoyance, even with Giran here.
"Dammit, he really damaged it"
"Was it the cloaked hero you encountered?"
Izumi gave Giran a quizzical look, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't look at me like that. Your friends told me a hero ambushed you and hit the rifle. I also asked them to see if it'd be alright for me to leak the information about the operation to capture Karasu failing spectacularly~"
"So that was your doing, figured. I saw a group of reporters going towards the police department back in Musutafu. You work fast."
"Heh, of course. I was honestly surprised by how quickly they agreed to it. Thought they'd rather keep it secret."
"Because of the murder's involvement? The heroes and police already saw it, so keeping their failure a secret would only benefit them by avoiding public scrutiny over their failure. You did great Giran. We crows wouldn't let them get away scott free from what they pulled, it's in our nature to take revenge when someone wrongs us."
"In your nature, huh?" Giran analyzed her words in deep thought, and then continued portraying his calm attitude. "So, getting back on track, the cloaked hero, he busted the rifle?"
"Yeah, I'll have to get new pieces or a new one altogether… though making my own sounds interesting, anyway, forget that."
Izumi put the rifle down in a corner of the table and put her bag with the medical supplies on the table. She had gotten them with some cash from a previous job (sometimes Giran paid her with cash especially for her information).
She started looking over at Wuji again, undoing the bandages around his wing and covering his wing and right side with a soothing cream for the pain.
"Also, that wasn't a hero"
"Hmm? What?"
"The one that ambushed me and broke my rifle. It wasn't a hero, it was the hooded vigilante?"
"For real? He's been so quiet lately I thought he quit."
"Well, he didn't. He's been busy." Izumi said, as she grabbed a clean set of bandages and wrapped them around Wuji's side.
"Oh? You got some juicy info out of the exchange? Not bad."
"Yeah, well, it's very annoying, I found out who he is?"
Giran's smile dropped as his eyes slowly widened at the realization.
"Are you serious Izumi?"
"Yeah, you wouldn't believe who it is." She wrapped The broken wing in bandages, keeping it closed and tightly wrapped into Wuji's body, making sure to not do it too hard. "It's–"
"I came as soon as I heard!"
"Heard!"
Himiko barged inside, slamming the door open and startling the crows inside, with Urusai flying next to her and then going to rest on one of the shelves. Shiro gave him a tired look, as did a bunch of other crows.
"Heroes closed in on you, Izumi-chan? Are you alright? Oh, Wuji! What happened to you!"
Himiko perfectly dodged every crow on the floor on her way to get close to Izumi, and grabbed her shoulders tightly. The hunter made a face and Himiko softened her grip, looking over at her and Wuji with an expression that Izumi didn't know how to read.
She was frowning and her eyebrows pushed her usually sharp eyes down, making them look softer. The way they fidgeted, looking all over Izumi and Wuji was also very different from the playful stares she was used to from Himiko.
Izumi looked over at Urusai briefly. He must have told Himiko about what happened after being told by other crows. Word about one of the murder getting hurt spread quickly, and she should have imagined that he'd tell Himiko since they hung out together frequently.
"I'm alright, Himiko-senpai. Wuji on the other hand got hurt. His right wing seems to be broken, and his right side is in mild pain, but it's nothing serious. He'll get better after resting for a bit. What about you? You seem… distracted."
Himiko blinked a few times, stunned. She looked at the crows, as if saying "is this girl for real?". They had the nerve to look apologetic to Himiko, as if meaning "yeah, she is for real".
"Distracted? I was worried about you! Who did this to Wuji!? Who attacked you!?"
Now it was Izumi's time to blink at Himiko, surprised. She was… worried about her?
Oh, right, we are friends now, being worried it's normal…
"An underground hero named Eraser Head ambushed me and hurt Wuji, but I had to run from most of the heroes and police from Musutafu after that."
"I'm going to fucking kill him!"
Izumi stepped back, surprised by the anger in Himiko's voice and the way her entire face sharpened, showing Izumi the natural hunter underneath her.
"I…appreciate it, Himiko-senpai, but Eraser Head is a tough hero to find. The murder only saw him once before yesterday, and because he got near me."
"He's been on your tail before!?"
"He and a lot of heroes. I've kinda made a name for myself."
Izumi said with a smirk which Himiko returned with a pout.
"Well, if you guys find him, tell me as well. I wanna see him bleed out for what he did."
"Yes!" "Caw!" "Our pleasure" Came the responses from various crows.
"Good luck with that." Giran chimed in. "Eraser Head has been the bane of lots of villains. I feel no one has ever hired you to take him out because there's almost no one competent enough to know about him left."
"Well, there's you." Himiko said bluntly, making Giran snort and waved her away.
"When we find him, I'll make sure to tell you." Izumi said, turning around to keep wrapping Wuji in bandages.
"Good good. Ok, now tell me. How much did he hurt you?"
"He didn't do much, the helmet and the vest took most of the hits–"
"Caw!"
One of the crows pecked the helmet, which Izumi just realized had also been brought to the cabin, and didn't realize until now.
Himiko saw the crack on it, and zeroed her yellow eyes on Izumi. She demanded answers.
"Th-that wasn't him"
"So someone else got that close to you?"
"N-no! That's not what I mea–"
"Yes, hit, nee-san, the most."
Izumi glared at Wuji for ratting her out like that. Then, looked at Himiko, for some reason feeling the need to downplay how bad she was beaten. She still had her pride! Izumi didn't want Himiko to know how she had gotten her ass kicked by a teacher.
"It wasn't that bad…"
"Broke helmet, broke rifle, hit chest"
Wuji continued, and the rest of the murder had the nerve to caw approvingly and agree with him in front of Himiko!
"Hey! Stop that! Whose side are you on?"
"Izumi-chan"
Izumi turned towards Himiko, gulping down after seeing her serious face. The vampire held her down, firmly but softly to not hurt her, and looked over at Izumi. She couldn't escape her gaze, the uneasiness from before shaving completely disappeared in favor of a sharp, analyzing stare.
"Alright. Take off your shirt."
"Eh? What? Why?"
Izumi didn't mind Himiko seeing her topless (Izumi had seen Himiko like that before) but she didn't want Himiko to see the bruises.
"You know why. You aren't wearing your bulletproof vest or any binds on your chest. It hurts, right?"
Izumi curled her lips inside her face as if she would have done it after licking a lemon. Himiko had noticed, and even worse, seemed adamant to take a look at it.
Giran chose that moment to turn around and walk outside the cabin.
"Well, this seems above what I should be allowed to see. I'll be going then. Izumi-chan, tell me later about the identity of the hooded vigilante. Bye bye Toga-chan, crows~"
"Bye bye"
Izumi didn't even get time to protest, with Himiko still looking straight at her, not turning to say goodbye to Giran even as he left. Then, he left and Himiko and her stood in the middle of the cabin, surrounded by crows.
"Come on. I'm waiting."
Izumi sighed.
"You aren't going to take no for an answer, right?"
"Nope"
She sighed. "Alright, you win."
And with that, Izumi took off her shirt, revealing the battered state of her body after being beaten by a kendo sword and hit with a bullet, even with the Nemean Vest on.
Himiko made a face after seeing the purple spots in Izumi's sides, and even more when she turned over to look at her back.
"What's this one from?"
"I got shot. Don't make that face, I had the Nemean Vest on."
"I thought it was bulletproof."
"Well, it is, but the impact is still strong."
"I'm still angry that you got shot."
"Caw!"
"Gauged, eyes, off, attacker" The crows said.
"You did? Great job!" Himiko praised, petting the crows that said that. Izumi tried to hide the smile creeping on her lips.
"Alright, I'm going to finish bandaging Wuji up now."
"You do that, and I'll do you."
"Eh?"
"You don't expect me to leave you looking like that with the first aid kit open right here, right?"
"I, uhm, that was meant for the crows–"
"And aren't you Karasu? Now, stop complaining and let me help patch you up."
Izumi nodded, not wanting to get in the way of a determined Himiko, and let her grab the first aid kit. Izumi finished patching up and putting new bandages on Wuji first, so she stood still awkwardly as Himiko grabbed the MakeAnIce patches from the kit.
She snapped them, and cold started to leak from inside them. Izumi sucked in her breath when the cold patches touched her bruised skin, but kept her breathing steady and heartbeat slow so Himiko could put them on without a problem.
"So, who was that hooded vigilante?" Himiko asked, as she snapped another patch to put on Izumi's other side. "He's the bloodbag that did most of this, right?"
"Ah, yeah, him. Well, it's kinda funny. Not in a funny kind of way, but in an odd kind of way."
"Alright?" Himiko dragged her voice, tilting her head. "In what way exactly?"
"Well, the thing is, we knew him already."
"What!?" Himiko pressed a bit too hard on Izumi's shoulder, making her wince a bit. "Ahh, sorry. What do you mean we know that asshole?!"
"Hmmm, yeah, it seems that it's Lanbosu-sensei."
Himiko stopped, and got in front of Izumi with an unconvinced expression on her face.
"Lanbosu, from Railosu."
"Yes."
"The teacher. The doofus that tries too hard to be cool."
"Yeah, that one."
"You are telling me, that he was the one that beat your butt."
"Well, beat my butt, I forced him to flee. Discovered his identity where he knows squat about mine. I'd say that means that I won"
Himiko gave her a look, and then poked at a bruise right under Izumi's chest.
"Aw! Hey!"
"How could someone like him be a vigilante?"
"I don't know, but his quirk is dangerous."
"Dangerous? Can he avoid being shot at like the wolf that Giran talked about yesterday?"
"No, not that kind of dangerous. He can see events from the past from objects he touches. When he ambushed me, he knew that you had been with me as Karasu one time before, and asked about you."
"What? He was asking about me? Ew, weirdo!"
Himiko didn't let it show, trying to make light of the situation with a joke. But deep down, she knew what that really meant. Lanbosu had hurt Izumi because she was connected to her. Himiko was the reason Izumi got hurt. She wasn't going to let that slide. And Himiko knew where she could find her old teacher.
"Whatever you're thinking, please forget it." Izumi sighed.
"I wasn't thinking about anything."
"Hmm, any other time I might as well believe you, but not this time."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"
Izumi smirked and chuckled, making Himiko pout, but quickly gave up to the smile curling up her lips.
"I wasn't even thinking about anything bad. Just wanted to tell 'sensei' that I'm a-ok and that he shouldn't worry~"
"And I guess you'd do that while putting a knife in his throat."
"You know me so well Izumi-chan~ There, done."
Himiko patted Izumi's back lightly, having put a patch in the last of Izumi's bruises
"So what, you wanna hunt him down on your own? Can't I join in? Pretty please~?"
Himiko fluttered her eyelashes at Izumi while making puppy eyes. It would have successfully achieved its intended outcome on anyone, if it weren't for the manic grin and blush on her face, showing way too many sharp teeth.
"I wish, but the thing is, Lanbosu is close to me in my personal life. Can't risk bringing any more attention to myself after last night. They may link Izumi, the friend of crows, with Karasu, the crow villain."
Himiko blew a raspberry and let her weight fall into Izumi's lap.
"Bleh! I much prefer Karasu-chan. That's how you truly are yourself."
"Yeah, me too. But you enjoyed it when we went to the mall the other time, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, if it was known that Izumi was Karasu, doing that would be much more difficult. Also, it could jeopardize my job inside the Order of Orion and the SASC. They may be fools, but I get cool hunts out of them… Most of the time."
At the mention of the commission, a few crows looked at each other, cawing and getting closer. Oji-san and Yami looked over at the rest, and then went out of the cabin.
"Pffff, alright, I guess. But next time someone does this to you or Wuji, I want in on the revenge!"
Izumi smiled, the tension leaving her body as she relaxed at Himiko's words.
"Alright. I, no, we'll take it into account."
"You better!" Himiko said, getting back on her feet and puffing her chest, in proud determination.
Her eyes lingered down, at Izumi's body. She had been so worried over making sure she was ok, and thinking about sucking her attackers into mummies, that she didn't even pay too much attention to Izumi's battered body.
Now, without her tank top or her characteristic binders, she could see what a life hunting down heroes, moving around in the forest and working on a forge making amateur support items had made out of Izumi.
Himiko didn't even had the time to realize how good she looked with all those bruises, but the look of Izumi bandaged and patched up also made her cheeks heat up.
"Hmmmm~ I didn't realize how cute you look with all those patches~"
"Cu-cute?!" Izumi blushed, and had to shout at the crows to shut up when they started to repeat her words. Especially Urusai.
"Hmmm, yeah~ though I don't like that you got hurt, you do look great coming after a fight~ Should avoid being hit though. It's cute seeing you covered in blood, but I don't like seeing you hurt."
Izumi looks away, calming her heart to stop the blush on her cheeks. "Yes, I know. Whenever my target gets close I always struggle. Hand to hand… isn't something I've been paying much attention to. But this time it was close, and I can't be unprepared the next time a hero manages to get on my face."
"Hey, you are great at hiding your presence, and you've specialized in long range takedowns. Don't feel too bad about two idiots being lucky and catching you off guard! I bet that Stupid Head hero is being chewed off for letting you go!"
Izumi chuckled, cracking a smile and rolling her eyes playfully.
"Alright, yeah, that should be pretty embarrassing for him."
"Embarrassing? I heard there was a hero and police casualties from Urusai. That hero is going to get shouted at! You are great Izumi-chan. You can't be amazing at everything all the time! Do you know how impressive all that you've done is?"
"Ok, ok, you made your point, senpai. If you say I'm impressive, I guess I can't argue with it."
"You bet you can't! As my kouhai, you should listen to everything I say!"
"Everything I say!" Urusai repeated from Himiko's head.
Izumi rolled her eyes, letting Himiko sweeten her mood.
"Now, what kind of senpai would I be if everything I do is take on your amazing thoughtful gifts and freeload in your super sweet villain lair without giving anything in return?"
"Oh, you don't have to bother yourself, Himiko-senpai. It's fine, really, I didn't expect you pay back for any of it"
"I'll have none of it, miss 'I didn't think about telling you about my own birthday' Izumi!"
Izumi blinked a few times, taken aback by Himiko's determined drive to help her. She looked around, only to find the crows look at Himiko with approving stares.
You traitors! Izumi let her inner mind complain childishly.
"You said you struggled hand to hand, didn't you?"
"Uh-huh" Izumi nodded, slowly. Himiko flicked her hand, and the Black Knife appeared on it seemingly out of nowhere.
Izumi still didn't know how Himiko was able to do that trick without wearing clothes with sleeves.
"Well, I'm gonna teach you the basics! You helped me with tips about throwing my knife, then I'll help you out with how to use any of your weapons in close quarters!"
"I, uhm, not that I don't appreciate it, Himiko-senpai, but all you use is knives, and all my weapons are pretty different. How exactly would you know how to–"
Himiko locked an arm around Izumi, shutting her up as she shoved her forearm into Izumi's face.
"Oh my sweet Izumi-chan, you should know this by now. Our bodies are our weapons, and knives and guns and teeth and nails and claws and beaks are just our tools to spill blood in our prey! I'll just teach you how to use your body as a weapon at close range~!"
Even in Himiko's playful headlock, Izumi brought her hand to her chin, deep in thought.
"Hmmm, I guess you are right."
"Of course I am, my cute kouhai!" Himiko squeezed Izumi tighter, making her cheeks press into her face and squeeze her lips.
"You are getting into calling me that, huh?"
"If you are still going to call me your senpai, I'll also play along, Izumi-chan!"
Izumi smiled, and pulled herself off Himiko's arm. She put her shirt back on, ignoring Himiko's loud protest.
"Thank you, Himiko-senpai. I'll take your offer to help me turn my body into a close quarters weapon as well"
"Yay!" Himiko jumped from excitement with a wide grin on her face. "Heroes and that stupid sensei won't ever see you coming next time they get close to you!"
"Not that I'll let them get closer again"
Both girls grinned, and then broke off into soft giggles.
"Mister President–"
"Give me a moment."
The president of the SASC held his hand, to tell his secretary to wait as he filled a document. It wasn't even anything important, just having to officialize the seizure of a flock of sheep in Ilumu, in Hokkaido. A few had developed quirks, so the whole genetic pool they came from had to be analyzed and studied.
After making the secretary wait enough, Sagi finally brought his attention to her, with a fake soft smile.
"What is it?"
"We received important information from an incident in Musutafu." She handed him a folder.
"Musutafu? I thought we already had gotten every resource from there with Dōbutsu-san…"
Sagi opened the folder and started reading the papers inside. His eyes widened.
"Misuru-san, please call Dōbutsu-san."
"Yes, mister president."
The young woman with pale green skin bowed, and left the room. Shortly after, the phone in Sagi's desk lit up, and the president waited for the other line.
Down in the secret underground floors of the Super Animal Safety Commission's headquarters, Dōbutsu was analyzing a blood sample of a quirked dog that could see the ultraviolet spectrum, when the phone in his desk rang.
He sighed, annoyed, and went over to pick it up.
"Yes? What is it, Sagi-san, I'm working. Is Diana done with terminating STT-127?"
The animals in the cages around him ,pved as far away from Dōbutsu as they could.
"The metal repelling wolf? Giran told they have to prepare for that first. No, Dōbutsu-san, this is about something much greater."
"Much greater? Sagi-san I need that genetic material! What could possibly be more important than–"
"Quirked crows have been spotted."
Dōbutsu's demeanor changed instantly. His eyes widened for a moment before narrowing into thin lines.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. I've just gotten a detailed report from Musutafu's General Police Department. They even mention a sharp bodied raven and a flaming white crow."
"They've been spotted in Musutafu!? Those wretched birds! Have they been taunting me all this time!?"
Dōbutsu knocked over the blood sample he had been working on along with several other tools off the table, and stormed out of the lab room. He walked through the cold hall and into his office, where he held a bottle of booze in his drawer. The animals in the lab relaxed, though one small spider didn't stop looking at Dōbutsu until he left the room.
"Yeah. I know, but hear this. Apparently that new villain that has been getting under the Hero Commission's skin, Karasu, is the one controlling them with his quirk."
The thought of someone else controlling them other than him made Dōbutsu's blood boil, but at the same time, it felt reassuring to know that someone had brought them out of the darkness.
"An animal control quirk? Of course, they would never come out of hiding on their own. Those wretched, ungrateful pests are only worthy when they are being used. I assume you plan on taking over the operation because misuse of animal control quirks and quirked animals falls under your jurisdiction."
"As clever as always, my friend. It's always a pleasure to rob those uptight assholes of clout and resources whenever animals are involved."
"Just don't get any ideas. I'm the only controller this institution needs."
"Always looking out for yourself, eh? You needn't worry about that. Karasu has killed far too many heroes to be profitable to be involved with them. Besides, I'm sure the HPSC wants more from him than they let on, so terminating a potential liability like that sounds better. I'll make preparations to assemble the Order of Orion for one special job."
Dōbutsu could hear the smirk just from the Sagi's voice, and smirked himself, as he poured a cup of booze for himself.
"Wonderful. You were right, this was indeed much greater than I anticipated."
"Haha! I'm glad. I can't wait myself to finally see what your old partners are capable of. I expect great things."
"And you'll see great things, once I get my hands on them."
"Good. Keep your work. I have to make some more calls."
The president hung out, and Dōbutsu drank from his glass, a sinister smirk spreading through his face.
"Finally you've shown yourselves! This time, I won't let you escape, and I'll even kill that Karasu myself if I have to. I whispered into their brains first, you pretending copycat!"
Do looked up at the ceiling, remembering the good times, before All Might. Hundreds of crows and mutts under his will, mixing and mashing them until he got the perfect quirks, selling them to the SASC instead of working for them.
"Soon you will be mine once more, and I won't let you fly away ever again!"
Oji-san flew back to the cabin, interrupting Izumi and Himiko's conversation.
"Oh, Oji-san, you are back already?" Izumi tilted her head, looking at the old raven.
Feeling better?
"Yeah, Wuji and me are doing better now."
Oji-san nodded, a low rumbling coming from his throat.
"Meeting. Called. Come to Nest."
Izumi blinked, her eyes briefly going over to Himiko.
"Blood, sucker, come. Friend of karasu."
Izumi gaped. She expected the crows wanting to meet in the Nest, but she didn't expect them to allow Himiko to come. They were very protective of the Nest, Giran hadn't even gotten closer to it, and she had known him for far longer.
"What is it? Gramps wants to show us his nest?" Himiko said, tilting her head to make Urusai fall off of it.
"Not a nest, the Nest. They don't let anyone get near it, so they are trusting you quite a lot."
"Really? Oh~ you guys are so sweet~ Where is it~?"
Himiko beamed with excitement, and Izumi couldn't help but smile a bit.
"It's still in the forest, but we can take a shortcut through the tunnel."
"So it does lead somewhere!"
Izumi smiled, and then looked over at Oji-san, nodding to him.
See you there, chick.
The crow flew off, and Izumi grabbed Wuji, carrying him as her and Himiko went over the hidden door and to the tunnel going under the cabin, and went into the Nest's location.
Wow, today, this story makes makes one year. Crazy how far I've gotten, and that we still are at the begining of the story. Canon has even finished already! Sorry if you were expecting a longer chapter considering the wait from last chapter, but I wanted to do something special. I did something special for the occassion and made a cover based on the first volume cover of the manga..
What are your thoughts so far in the story? I'd like to hear everything, the good, the bad, what you enjoy the most and your thoughts on the new characters and the changes I've made to the setting. There's still much more to come!