A Pillar of Lies

Chapter 1: Flesh and Blood

The night was swallowed in a deafening silence, broken only by the desperate crunch of leaves beneath a boy's frantic steps. Through desolate woodlands, he moved like prey, panic clenching his chest. Sweat and blood mingling on trembling arms, his blue hair tangled and frantic, the air frigid and biting. His mind screamed for him to stop. But his body wouldn't listen. Reacting purely on instinct, the boy ran and ran and kept on running.

Abruptly, the distant rattle of passing cars shattered the stillness, snapping the boy to a halt. A sliver of awareness returned, but his thoughts remained fragmented, leaving him disoriented. Where was he? What should he do? Unable to think, he sought refuge behind a tree, back pressed against rough bark, granting a fleeting moment of rest. However that was all that was needed for exhaustion to settle in like a suffocating shroud, eyelids growing heavy with weariness. In that brief respite, a single moment of clarity pierced the fog as the boy whispered to the encroaching darkness.

What have I done…

-tdr-

A strobe of red and blue stung Naomasa's eyes. 'I'll never get used to that,' he hissed, squinting in a momentary haze as he shielded his eyes with the sleeve of his trench coat, slouching into the front seat of their chevrolet.

Eizo let out a haughty laugh in response. 'Don't you worry, partner. Get a few more years under your belt and you won't feel nothin.'

He glanced at his partner, whose grizzled face, half-shadowed by the flashing lights, held a creeping smirk.

'I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a good thing–' He grunted, stopping mid-sentence as he gazed upon the chaos beyond the car window. Gorges and fissures riddled the ground surrounding a collapsed suburban home. It looked as if an earthquake had hit, but it couldn't have; not with everything surrounding it being completely untouched.

Eizo slowly pressed on the brakes, bringing the car to a halt; stopping to look at the scene before him.

'This case …'

Eizo sighed, 'Yeah, she ain't pretty. We got a call two hours prior about a domestic disturbance. Few minutes later the phone lines really fired up. Folks been calling for a while now sayin that their neighbourhood has been attacked by villains.'

His voice shot up with immediate concern, 'What about the residents?'

Eizo sighed, 'The house is signed under Kotaro and Nao Shimura. I did some digging on the way here and found that their two children and parents resided along with them.' He paused. 'A rescue team was dispatched an hour prior but …'

'No survivors,' Naomasa finished for him.

Eizo nodded. Naomasa grimaced. This wasn't his first time working on a case like this, hell, he'd been through massacres straight out of nightmares. Not that it got any easier, no, … not at all, but something just didn't feel right.

'Shimura …' he muttered to himself. The name felt familiar. Did he know someone with that name? A friend of a friend perhaps? He put that thought aside; the case came first and if he did know them, it would be best he focused on solving it to uphold justice for those who died, and save the ones who are still alive, well, at least he hoped there were.

'Have we confirmed any deaths?' he asked.

'That's the weird part. A rescue team reported that there were no survivors or bodies found in the rubble. Instead, they found piles of flesh and blood scattered across the backyard.'

That was even worse than what he originally thought but it did narrow down the cause. 'You think it could have been caused by a quirk gone out of control? Or even a plot of revenge?'

Eizo pondered for a moment, his eyes wandering around the crime scene as he did. 'That's a good hunch partner, but theories will only be theories.' Shifting the gear into neutral, Eizo opened the car door, taking his first steps out. 'Anyways, I think it's time you put that quirk of yours to good use. I'll question the witness in the meantime.'

Just the thought of it made him sick. 'You can't mean …'

Eizo cracked a smile, 'Can't have such an astounding investigative quirk without a few downsides right?'

Before he could even utter a word in protest, Eizo tipped his fedora before disappearing as quick as the wind, hurrying through the swathes of policemen and out of sight.

Swiftly exiting the vehicle, Naomasa peered over the car's roof but Eizo was nowhere to be seen.

That b- 'We don't have all day, y'know!' Eizo called back to him from somewhere in the distance, promptly shutting him up.

Sometimes Naomasa couldn't believe the audacity of his partner, however, he had been right. His quirk, Informant, allowed him to gather certain information from anyone he touched. That could include their name, date of birth, vital signs, etc. The more information he had on the target the more information his quirk would show him. However, he didn't need direct contact with the target as long as he ingested some of their DNA. It was a useful but incredibly humiliating side of his quirk he sometimes wished he never had, but he did, and he'd make full use of it, even if he really didn't want to.

Naomasa pushed through the crowd of police and debris to the backyard, where a woman with black hair and formal attire was crouching over—he flinched for a moment as the rotting smell invaded his nostrils. His eyes settled on the piles of flesh clumped together by coagulated blood, forming a sickening, messy heap that must have once been a person. The sight was even more horrific than his partner had described, yet the woman stared directly at it—bewitched by the scene—photographing the piles from various angles, completely unaware of his presence.

For a moment, Naomasa stood there, surprised, but he quickly shook his head. He couldn't let unnecessary thoughts get in the way of his job. He took another breath before reaching out to the woman, tapping her shoulder to get her attention, but she swatted his hand away.

'Just a second,' the woman voiced, taking her time to get in another shot before turning her head around and as if delightfully surprised, stood up, brushing the dirt off her trousers, and smiled back at him. 'Well if it isn't the famous Detective Tsukuachi. Nice to finally be on the same case.'

'Officer … Shimoda?' He questioned, unsure whether he was referring to her correctly. He knew he had seen her in the office- no one could mistake those bright yellow eyes of hers- but he'd been increasingly worried at the thought he might just be bad with names.

'So you do know me? I'm surprised,' Shimoda grinned. 'Forensics don't get too much limelight in the precinct so I didn't think anyone outside my team would know me.'

'Ah,' he fumbled for a moment as his memory began clearing up. 'We passed each other a few times in the break room.'

Shimoda looked inquisitive, 'Is that so?'

Guess he wasn't as bad as he thought.

'Ah well it's not that big of a deal,' she dismissed, 'anyways, I've got a couple more shots to take before I head back to the lab, so-'

'Actually,' he interrupted.

'Yes?'

'Do you have any spare samples that I could, uh…' He trailed off, unable to say the rest.

'Ingest?'

'How did you-'

A small chuckle escaped her. 'Please. After last year's incident, everyone knows. And Officer Kaito? He hasn't shut up about how amazing you and your quirk is. I wouldn't be surprised if he's made his own fan club by now.'

Naomasa sighed, feeling somewhat frustrated. If he'd known Kaito was running his mouth, even with good intentions, he could've stopped the rumour mill before it spread so far.

She rolled her eyes at him as she rummaged through her rucksack, taking out two clear plastic bags. One held a blood-soaked cloth, the other a small blotch of dried blood. 'I've already sent off the other samples to the precinct, but I can collect some secondary samples for you to … evaluate.' She pushed the samples onto him, along with a pair of surgical gloves, 'Wear these too.'

'Thank you,' he sighed, his face full of dread about what he was about to do. He pulled on the gloves and went to unzip the bag with the blood-soaked cloth, staring at it for a moment, then looking back at Shimoda who was curiously watching the whole spectacle.

'Don't mind me!' she smirked. 'I'm just here for the view.'

He felt a pang of annoyance but pushed that away, focusing on the cloth. 'Here goes nothing,' he gulped before sinking his teeth into it.

The viscous metallic fluid seeped into every little crevice of his mouth as he held the cloth between his teeth. He tried to swallow, but the urge to vomit came immediately–his stomach heaving, his insides screaming to stop this madness. He took one last breath in from his nose and shut his eyes, using the last bit of his willpower to force the liquid down his throat. He was thrown into a fit of coughing, expelling the rest of the liquid out of his mouth. He felt sick to his stomach. The urge to vomit had only intensified but he focused his efforts on keeping the last bit of dignity he had.

That had brought Shimoda on the ground rolling in a fit of laughter. 'Could you at least have the tiniest hint of sympathy for me?' Naomasa grunted.

'Not a chance!' she cried, still teary eyed; her once immaculate suit crumpled and dirtied.

Then, finally as if to release Naomasa from his pain, his quirk activated, absorbing the blood in his stomach, filling his head with information about the target. His mind cleared as it did, allowing him to push his physical discomfort out of the way to refocus on the case.

He sorted the scrambled information in his mind, trying to find anything useful. The target was a male in his late 40s- he could only assume this was the blood of Kotaro Shimura- and his quirk neatly filled out the blank. He kept on checking, running through every little piece of information his quirk gave him. He noted the norepinephrine and cortisol levels. The two major chemicals that are released during a traumatic event, were soaring way beyond normal levels. Of course, he sighed, this had been expected. The abnormal situation would be Kotaro not being stressed as he was dying.

'Huh?' she looked at him curiously. 'Did you find anything?'

'No …' was all he could manage. Chances were this man was already dead, but that wasn't necessarily the case for the rest of his family. He opened the second bag and bit into the blotch of dried blood, munching on it like a bag of potato chips, and then swallowing. This time it had gone down much easier with no signs of queasiness. That would have been the case but a quick strike had hit his back, making him jump and feel sick all over again.

'What the,' Naomasa yelped, turning around to see his assailant. 'Eizo?'

Eizo was put in a fit of laughter, 'Lighten up will ya? It was only a light pat on the back.'

Eizo was back to his old self. Though, he didn't know whether or not to be pleased with the change in mood.

Shimoda's grin widened. 'Ah, Officer Tanuma, here to see the spectacle?'

Eizo shot a glance at Shimoda before grinning, 'I'd be an awful partner if I didn't look over him while he was in pain.'

He sighed again. Was everyone just waiting to see him suffer?

'But, I actually had some more details to go over with you,' Eizo said, turning his attention towards Naomasa.

Suddenly, his quirk activated, filling in information on their target, but he pushed it to the back of his mind to focus on his partner.

'What did you find?' Naomasa asked.

'Seems more like it mighta been an act of revenge from some villain,' he reported.

Naomasa had considered that possibility earlier, but it just didn't match up unless …

'One of their relatives was a hero,' Naomasa exclaimed, realising what Eizo was implying.

'As sharp as ever,' Eizo praised, 'Kotaro's mother in fact. Couldn't quite find her hero name, but she went by Nana Shimura.'

Suddenly, his heart sank as the memories of a passing conversation with a dear friend resurfaced. How could he forget the one person Yagi spoke so fondly of - his mentor?

'You alright there, partner?' Eizo asked, concerned. 'I didn't hit you too hard, did I?'

Though, Naomasa just zoned him out, focusing on the information embedded in his mind. If the victims were Nana Shimura's descendants, then he needed to find whatever he could to rescue them. And then it hit him– a meek pulse blipped through his ears. This kid… was still alive!

'Hey, if you need a breather,' someone interrupted, but Naomasa didn't pay attention. He flipped out his phone, dialling the one person who could help. The phone continued to ring for what felt like hours.

Come on All Might, pick up!

-tdr-

Menacing blood-red eyes gazed upon the squabble of men, watching from afar. His presence was enough to make any man tremble. Fortunately for them, there would be no audience today. A grin spread across his face as he viewed the work of his soon-to-be protege. Quirk manifestation was such a beautiful sight, and young Tenko's was no exception. He wondered just how his rival would react once he found out. Ah, that would truly be a sight to see.

He allowed himself a brief moment to admire Tenko's work, before his phone buzzed in hand, signalling that his most useful servant had completed his mission. He knew Kurogiri would not disappoint. As the thought passed he accepted the call, 'Kurogiri, have you found the boy?'

'Yes, master,' the sentient nomu addressed him.

'Excellent work, Kurogiri. Now bring me to him.' His plans were being executed perfectly, not that he expected anything less, but, the sense of urgency in his servant's voice did not go unnoticed. 'Speak, what has happened?'

'The young master has been gravely wounded. He's-'

'What?' Hisashi let slip, a rare hint of anger and confusion tinged his voice. He was sure that nothing like this could happen– at least not yet. He even stationed his faithful servant to watch over the boy, and still– All For One composed himself. 'Where is he now?'

'He is currently being treated by the doctor,' Kurogiri replied, his tone calm and professional in spite of the gravity of the situation.

'Good, take me to him; I'll handle the rest.' All For One hung up without waiting for a response, already formulating his next course of action. He had invested too much into his son to let him die now. Nor would he let all his efforts go to waste, not when everything was just beginning.

He paused, taking a deep breath to steady his mind, letting the annoyance dissipate, allowing himself one last glance back at the chaos before him. His soon-to-be protege could wait a little while longer. For now, his focus was on Izuku.

Black mist swirled before him, coagulating into an inky black portal, where two glowing yellow eyes came to greet him.

'This way, master,' it spoke.

All For One nodded, stepping into the portal as the world faded to darkness.

(***)

A/N: I've always loved reading AFO-Izuku fanfics yet good ones are so far and few. That's why I decided to make my own! I'd also like to thank the authors of Incident Zero and The Emperor's Dragon as they've given me the inspiration to start this.

I started this a long while ago but it's only now that I feel I can give this story idea proper justice, and have done some heavy editing to my original work, whilst creating a nice backlog of chapters.

I'll be updating weekly for the first 5 chapters, and then switch to every two weeks moving forward.

With that said, see you all next week.