Chapter 20: Deadlines
The lead Tsukauchi desperately hoped for turned into a dead end with the captured Yakuza men who came out of nowhere to attack Mirko at the hospital. Casualties were thankfully non-existent with the nurses and doctors yet it still left him with more questions than answers.
What did Mirko know that would garner a hit-squad on her? And why attack her now rather than when she was in a coma?
How did those two men manage to break free from the control?
He sighed into a thick binder filled with reports, sticky notes, and folders of paperwork. All of it pertaining to today's incident among the implosion deaths that happened around the city. Even those didn't make a lick of sense to him. It was another thing added to the pile of mysteries he'd have to solve.
Across from him in the crowded mess that was his office, sitting lazily in a rolling chair was Mirko sulking and gazing about the room in impatience. "Has to be that woman for sure. Probably 'nother one of her quirks I bet." Mirko grumbled with a mouthful and a cast on, idly chewing at a protein bar.
Tsuakauchi wanted to smack her atop the head with a thick bundle of papers for running off into danger like that. What if she'd been assassinated during her little chase? He'd lose out on valuable information and the life of a renowned Pro that a lot of people look up to.
"Could be. Can we please just get back to what you were saying back at the hospital?"
"Before we got shot up, ya mean? Pft, yeah, why not. Ain't got anywhere else to go right now." She straightened her posture and leaned her elbow onto his desk. "What'cha need me to say?"
"The third quirk you were talking about; an invisible–"
"Bullet. Yeah, I know." She sunk a bit into her chair, staring at her missing arm. "To think someone like that exists here in Japan, y'know? Twisted and maniac. Using their quirks for evil rather than good. Doesn't sit right with me."
"Mirko…" He said in exasperation, not wanting to get back into the argument that the Control Killer should or shouldn't be locked up, but rather be put on death row.
"I know, Detective." She sighed, taking his exasperated voice as a sign to not delve too much into that topic. "Eugh, where was I…?" She hummed as she sat back in her chair, musing to herself.
"She says 'bang' anytime she uses it, I remember that. Goes into a whole finger-gun gesture too." She mimicked it, aiming her hand at Tsukauchi with one eye closed. "Pow and bam… I lost an arm and thigh to it. If I were anyone else, I'd be a goner. Probably just fine mist like them implosions you've been looking into."
"So you're also on the assumption that the Control Killer is behind those deaths too?"
"Too much of a coincidence that they all happened to people with connections to Yakuza or were Yakuza." She snorted. "Even a kid could connect the dots with that simple minded execution. But one thing's for sure." Mirko's eyes narrowed. "That woman's got enemies with the underground lot. Enough so to send a message to rats and roaches who dare to mess with her."
Mirko continued with her tale. "And let me tell you those Yakuza were in a fight with her. She's likely messed around too much with the local mobs - disrupting the chain of command and routine. One thing leads to the next and rats will band together to swarm the big cat. Usually how criminals work. Nothing is really guaranteed in a partnership with them."
She laughed heartily with a grin. "Which means I may have a good lead."
Tsukauchi's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Might have to go diggin' round old pals of mine in my past though. Ask around to see if people know things that the fuzz like you don't."
"That's great… I take it you won't share those names with me?"
"Not unless you want to capture this evil mastermind, no. I really doubt any of my old buddies would appreciate you snoopin' around their stuff if you tagged along."
"Well, maybe you can take Hayakawa–"
"I'll manage just fine without a chaperone." Mirko retorted rudely. "Trust me, I'll be back."
Is that how she's going to go about this? Arrogantly?
"If it means you'll go to leaps and bounds for helping me, I appreciate the help. But… Let's continue the testimony if we can…?" He gestured for her to get back to the matter at hand.
"I really hate sittin' around, y'know."
"I know, but anything and everything helps. Just remember what you can." He readied his pen again, at the ready to jot down Mirko's words.
"Absolute control of the situation." Makima's devilish voice kept replaying when he rewound the footage back. "Absolute control of the situation." It was old footage from many months ago when she first made contact with him. The day it all went to shit, he thought.
Giran half wondered if her words alone could count as an incantation to summon her right to Kurogiri's bar. He peaked around the booth before steadying his paranoia for the task ahead. He jotted down many hypotheticals of how Makima's powers work.
What were the prerequisites of control for her?
He opened another tab on the laptop to several different camera angles found in Asuka's room where she'd been busted by Makima and the controlled Yakuza under her command. Most of them looked her in the eyes, so maybe that was it?
No… Despite her creepy ass eyes, it wouldn't be that. Too easy and predictable. Plus, Asuka wasn't put under some control or anything.
Instead she'd turned into a ticking time bomb and somehow found Giran amidst it all. None of that really put him at ease knowing that the girl may have just led a trickling trail right to him. Fear-mongering wouldn't help him right now, so he'd put that on a backburner. Let it simmer for a while.
He lit another cigarette and crossed out the hypothetical question on his green sticky notes he had on the table.
Did her quirk work like that Shinso kid? He remembered the little squirt's name that would've been the scapegoat for her horrific atrocities so long ago. The boy he thought was going to be the one-and-done deal between himself and Makima.
Pulling up the boy's file - he took note of the requirements of his quirk brainwash.
"Able to put someone under a state where they're forced to obey his commands. "Heh, if that doesn't sound like a Makima jr. to me…." Giran laughed darkly to himself while continuing to read the U.A. report. "...Blah, blah, exceptional grades, nope not interested…." His eyes widened at the quirk's activation. "Only applies brainwash should a person respond to anything the student says… Holy shit."
Did Makima's work like that? She certainly always ensured to get the last word in or made people blab on about stuff. But if that was the case, why didn't he feel like his free will was taken? She could've forced him to comply with all her commands.
He continued reading through the file to see if perhaps there were parallels between the two. "Able to have multiple people under control at once, but is unable to make the controlled perform higher brain functions…"
That bitch…. She needs higher priority people to act for her. Hah! Haha!
She's like a fucking tape worm that needs a host to operate fully! Sure she could maintain motor functions over people, like the shitshow that was making people kill themselves, but he hadn't seen anyone under her control really speak or operate beyond it.
Finally he was getting somewhere. He circled the idea down and jotted down several out-branching theories.
Does it not work on Pro Heroes?
Makima could've just as easily taken over All-Might and called it checkmate with the entirety of Musutafu there, but she didn't. No, rather, she couldn't.
The gears were turning in Giran's brain while he kept on ensuring the ideas were flowing in and offering reasonable explanations as to how Makima's main threat of a quirk works. If he could figure it out, maybe, just maybe, he can get an upper hand against her.
Sedation and possibly even knock-out gas may be a suitable option for taking her down temporarily. Hell, even a prolonged fight with someone of equal or greater physical strength like Mirko, apparently, could deal a wallop of hurt to her.
But Giran didn't have on-hand access to somebody like Mirko's agility nor combat prowess to survive a battle of attrition like that. He severely doubted that Tomura kid would consider lending him a Noumu or two either.
Crossing out the latter option, he'd have to resort to sleeping gas or maybe even tranquilizer darts of some sort. Something similar to what the Yakuza had for their dastardly plan that almost worked.
It'd have to be some top of the line military-grade type stuff. Something to put her out for a while til he figured out how to dump her off somewhere.
A remote island in the middle of nowhere would work. Maybe an endless abyss deep in the ocean… Tie her up in a submarine and have it swim to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
She's just a human at the end of the day. A really sick, twisted, and evil human at that. But nobody could withstand more than 16,000 or more PSI, much less swim back up in time.
Yeah… The only thing was to try and find a submarine in such a short time. He had to work against the clock because he feared that his deadline to death was coming up sooner or later. The faster he figures out a plan to deal with her, the faster he can finally be at ease with himself.
Only a matter of time, Makima…. He thought as he stared at her in one of the CCTV recordings he had on the laptop.
A knock on Tsukauchi's door signaled his cue to finally take a break from his workload after working on it for what seemed like forever. Signing documents, sending out notices, all of that could plunge off a cliff.
"Come in!" He said aloud, idly making some room on his paper-littered desk to plant his elbows on.
The sight of a slightly-disheveled Hayakawa entered the room with a curt bow and her own binder filled with what he could assume was her portion of reports and paperwork.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, Detective?" She asked with a smile, adjusting her glasses as she sat down in the rolling chair across from him.
"No, no, not at all." Tsukauchi sighed. "Finished up a hefty interview with Mirko - we got some good stuff. Not a lot, though, but it's going to lead us somewhere."
Hayakawa's eyebrows furrowed and she leaned forward. "Is that so? What did she say?"
"Just a few outliers that I hadn't really considered beforehand - the Shinjuku Suburb explosions for one; she pointed out that it was a planned stint. A thing to keep us at bay while our local underground criminals mess around with Mirko and the Control Killer."
Hayakawa hummed and listened.
He went into a long ramble of what could happen or what couldn't happen - blabbing on about Endeavor's meticulous questioning and form of investigation.
It soothed his heart hearing another person speak their mind about their own deductions as Hayakawa offered her input in a back and forth conversation with him. He couldn't get something like that with Sansa or the chief.
Yet the atmosphere of their talk soon turned awkward as he'd been dancing around the question in his mind.
"Something on your mind, Detective?"
"Yeah - where were you all this time?" He blurted out, palming his face in exhaustion. "You said you were going to explain that."
He didn't deign to tell her that he'd always check in on her cubicle, hoping she'd clock in at some point. Tsukauchi even made several texts asking where she'd gone. All of them left on delivered, which hurt a little to his pride as a co-worker.
Hayakawa's posture straightened as she parted some of her hair behind her ear. "Ah, yes. I said that, didn't I?" She chuckled lightly. "I was admittedly on a honeymoon with a special someone."
"I've been seeing him for a good few months. A few on and off dates that turned into something a bit more special." She said wistfully, as if recollecting a fond memory. "We were going to Tokyo to see his parents and to let me introduce myself to them. But then…" She took off her glasses, cleaning them with a black microfiber cloth that came out of her breast pocket. "Turns out he was a sociopath. A control freak you might say."
The room was quiet as Hayakawa shook her head. "He got jealous after hearing about my connection to you, Detective."
"Me…?" He pointed to himself in bewilderment. Him and her together…? It seemed highly unlikely.
"Yes. He assumed we were… what did he call it…" She pondered with a finger on her chin. "A work couple. Yes. That was it." She laughed. "I'd told him that we meant nothing to each other and that it was purely business."
Ouch…. Tsukauchi did feel a bit wounded by her frankness.
"Little did I know that telling him that we wouldn't work out as a couple anymore, he'd lashed out. Burnt my apartment to the ground in a way to get some revenge."
"I did wonder about that…."
"I'd assume it would've been the first thing on your mind. But you were more worried about my sake. For that I am thankful you do."
Hayakawa continued her story with a tired sigh of her own. "Still, I found out that the man I was dating was involved with Yakuza. He'd seemed to have asked them for help - whether they were old friends or not, he didn't anticipate them kidnapping me for their own gain."
"Then you were…." Tsukauchi's eyes darkened.
"More held onto for ransom than anything else." She assured him. "It was thanks to one of our undercover agents who were investigating the Yakuza's drug trade, Monika Kaniyashiki, was there to free me during her covert operation. We escaped hastily and I immediately made my way over to the hospital - I'd heard from gossip of the Yakuza men who held me hostage speaking of the stint."
She slowly pulled her hand away from his with a smile. "One of these days I have to treat you to a drink. No detective work; no talk of reports and emails; no mention of All-Might or the Control Killer… Just us."
"I'd really like that, I do, Hayakawa. But, it just seems inappropriate–"
"Nothing romantic, I assure you." She laughed and he deflated in relief. Thank the heavens and above for that. "After that last encounter, I doubt I can go back into the dating scene. This is just two friends in the workplace going someplace to de-stress and get a few drinks. Just us two. Like partners." She smiled, her eyes boring into his.
"Well if you'd started with that in the beginning and not turn it into…"
"A sultry confession in your office?" She gestured to his rather cramped workspace - papers and coffee cups littered his desk. "I'm sure you have plenty of admirers who are dying to meet you here." She joked and she made him laugh at that. "How's this upcoming Sunday sound? I've heard of this one restaurant by the beach that makes delicious takoyaki. My treat for the absences."
He looked at his calendar and saw that it was the day before the Festival began. Just shy of starting up at the crack of dawn too. If he got tipsy on that Sunday, he knew he'd hate waking up on Monday for sure.
A whole barrage of things involved that stadium were just a giant risk in general. He was going to ask Principal Nezu to begin scouting out around the stadium - making sure nothing was tampered with; have Cementoss work with support item crews to make a metal-detector system for the entry ways into the stadium. The list just went on.
But a night out of just getting drinks and taking a break from work did sound nice. "I suppose I can make time for that." Hayakawa beamed at his answer and leaned forward in her seat as he began writing it into his calendar. "Is that for the evening?"
"Yep. I promise you it'll be a night of just catching up. Nothing more, nothing less. Oh, and wear something casual-like. Something that won't draw crowds or have people swarming you for questions while we're out in public."
Something more casual….
"I'd hate to see you wearing your usual getup. We'd stick out like a sore thumb if I wore, say jeans and a cardigan, and you in your… suit."
"I'll keep that in mind. No promises though." He chuckled. "And… Hayakawa?" He said, stopping her from leaving the office with binders in tow. She was half-way out of the door with a raise of her eyebrow.
"I am glad you are back. I mean it." He coughed awkwardly. "That's all." Tsukauchi said with a grateful grin. "Was going crazy without having someone help me with the workload."
Hayakawa smiled warmly at him and nodded. "Me too. Makes me a bit sad we didn't think to take some time off to just converse and such."
"You make it sound as if I'm dying, Hayakawa. Let's not jump to that; I've still got plenty of life ahead of me."
"Just thinking of all the lost time is all. It goes by so quickly these days…" Her eyes stared behind him, as if she was lost in thought momentarily before she stopped zoning out. "I won't keep you." She nodded and closed the door behind her..
"Was this a date…?" He mused to himself, not at all expecting something as casual as a drink with Hayakawa out of the blue. Sure, she was nice, kind, and above all very intelligent. She kept up with him in all things detective-related. But he never saw her that way. No, he had better things right now than to focus on finding someone.
But it didn't hurt to go and get a drink. No, it wouldn't hurt at all. Like she said - just an outing between friends.
Friends….
A knock on his door brought him out of his overthinking and he looked up from his desk to see Toshinori in his grey suit - smiling tiredly at him. "Have I come at a bad time, old friend?"
Tsukauchi could only laugh lightly at that, gesturing to the mountain of papers surrounding his desk like a fortress on all ends. "Not really; I think I need a distraction from this."
"Well, I was going to ask if–"
"A cup of coffee?" Tsukauchi finished Toshi's sentence for him. "Yes please. Anything other than what I have on my plate right now." His back groaned with him as he rose from his chair and stretched his arms. "What brings you here anyways? Thought you'd be training away those students of yours in preparation of the Sports Festival."
Toshinori's face crinkled at that as he scratched the back of his head. "Turns out Aizawa's more than capable of teaching his own class - Vlad King included."
"Class 1-A certainly did raise a lot of eyebrows in the community with their fight against those villains a while back, so I'm not at all surprised they're still raring to go."
He walked alongside the lithe, slouched man - passing by cubicles of officers and workers in the station who worked tirelessly answering questions on phones, visitors, and more. Needless to say, work has been getting more chaotic.
Tsukauchi needed the break as he continued walking, taking off his jacket and slinging it over his shoulder, running a hand through his hair. "Thanks for swinging by; thought I was going to go crazy."
"Anytime. Hey, where's your… uh… buddy at? That quiet one?"
"Hayakawa?" His smile slowly faded from the memory of their earlier conversation.
"That's her name!" Toshinori smiled dimly to himself, pounding a fist into his palm. "She was always glued to your side, so I'm pretty shocked to not see her by you. Good gods, I think I met her a while back. I just never remembered her name I think. I am horrible…" He mumbled.
"She's been absent for a while, so that might be why. She's back though." The two kept walking down the busy street - bustling with activity of tourists, food carts, and promotional advertisements of the Sports Festival.
All sorts of people were here now that the Sports Festival was coming up fairly soon. Social media, news stations, and the like had been announcing its return like never before.
Further down the thoroughfare of downtown Musutafu, a Cometbucks was tucked away to a larger brick building that Toshinori pointed to. The large paned glass windows allowed the two to peer inside and see that it wasn't as busy as he'd thought. Thank the coffee gods for that - he'd hate to have to wait for so long for a simple black coffee.
While not a fan of Cometbucks by any means, Tsukauchi couldn't really turn down the offer as he followed his old buddy into the semi-busy building - customers speaking amongst themselves and the strong scent of espresso, coffee beans, and pastries filled the air.
Toshinori tapped his shoulder and pointed his finger at the billboard of various drinks; lemonades; and frozen beverages. Tsukauchi shook his head. "I'll just get a regular black coffee–"
"You sure? I've heard they've got some decent new limited time coffee blends here–"
"Just a black will do, thanks."
"Alright." Toshinori shrugged and pulled open his wallet, pulling out some bills as he planted it onto the counter and spoke to the barista.
Tsukachi wandered towards the back of the coffee shop - finding a booth and plopping down into it with a tired groan. The cushioning soothed his strained back when he sank into it.
After a couple of minutes, Toshinori found him and handed him his coffee and sat across from him. "So… What's new for you?" The sharply faced man asked with a sip of his oddly colored blend of a beverage. "Aside from work that is." He mended, stopping Tsukauchi from explaining all the workload.
"Got me there. Well…" Tsukauchi drawled with a test sip of his fresh hot coffee. "I think I got asked out on a date. Or… a date of friends?"
Toshinori nearly sputtered and hacked at his chest when he choked on his drink. He beat his chest and reached for a napkin to wipe away some of the drink that got sputtered out onto the dark, walnut table. "A date huh…? With who?"
"Well…."
"Don't tell me…. Your partner?" Toshinori's face balked and it nearly made him laugh.
"She worded it like an outing between friends. Nothing more, nothing less she said."
Toshinori sipped at his drink in awkward silence, not at all following up on what he just told him.
Tsukauchi looked at his old friend expectedly. "Isn't this the part where you tell me it's going to be alright?"
"It's going to be alright….?" Toshinori drawled out in a questionable tone.
Tsukauchi could only deadpan the man and droop his shoulders in defeat. "You're supposed to be telling me the woes; the hows; the tips…."
"Just be yourself? I don't know what you want me to say! It's not like I've had any time for that during my prime. I was always onto the next hunt; the next mission you might say. Too busy, ah… working than focusing on that romance stuff." He scratched his cheek and opted to peer out the glass window to his right. "Well, I suppose there was someone… Not romantic of course, but… she interested me." He murmured.
"Oh…? The Toshinori Yagi crushing on someone?" Tsukauchi grinned, taking a swig of his coffee.
"I'd only met her once actually." Toshinori retorted with a scoff. "Haven't seen, no… I did see her again." His smile faded. "Just on the wrong side of things."
"She also had someone she'd pined after too, huh…?" Tsukauchi said dimly.
"You could say that…. Needless to say I was, ummm… disappointed. Hurt. Really intelligent woman that seemed to be bottling up her emotions with no end in sight. We met on the Takoba beach when I was training one of my students for the entrance exam, and she just waltzed on by. We got to talking about my mentor Nana Shimura and how she inspired me. That people who had to be saved, needed not only their lives protected from harm, but also their hearts."
Toshinori fiddled with the colorful straw of his drink, swirling the contents as he continued. "She cried, Tsukauchi. She cried at my story for some unknown reason and, a part of me just… hugged her. I told her to not bottle up her emotions and added my number on some paper I had on hand." His smile deepened on that memory as Tsukuachi listened in silence.
"I am in no place to dictate what a person should do after what could be a horrific past, but whether she was emotionally unwell or not, she went down a path that I can't help but want to pull her out of. Or maybe make a fork in the road for her to follow so she can find a better purpose."
"I never took you for the deep type, Toshinori."
"Hah, well, figures I'd be stuck in a hopeless relationship that seemed one-sided from the start. Not you, though. I reckon you'll do alright. Just… be yourself. None of the detective stuff. None of the witty info you'd share as a man of the law. Just yourself. Besides, it's just an outing between friends; you should be fine. It's not like we can call this a date, can we?"
Tsukauchi rolled his eyes at the bland joke and took another drink. "Thanks… Do you remember her name at all or what she looked like?"
The man closed his eyes, trying his hardest to remember it. "Gods, I remember it started with an M, or maybe it was something else… Ma-hmmm…" He tapped his chin, pondering on the memory. "Maki… It was something Maki." He waved it off and shrugged his shoulders. "Just treat it as a regular outing, that's all my advice would be for you and your partner."
"I just feel like I'm going to make it awkward or something horrible will happen."
Tsukauchi couldn't really tell his old buddy that he got a weird feeling in his stomach. Whether it was a gut feeling or butterflies, he couldn't decipher it. The man would only grill him.
"Enough of that, though… How's your side of things going?" He wanted to change the subject, hoping Toshinori would take that cue.
The man nodded and took a long drink of his colorful beverage and breathed out a long sigh. "Most of my concerns are mainly stress-related. Most of which involve the Sports Festival and…" He tapped his fingers against the edge of the table. "Mostly the Sports Festival. That about sums it up."
"I understand - it's your protege, isn't it? The one that got injured during the USJ incident?" The memory of a beat-up kid sitting in bed with a steadfast heroic determination was both frightening and encouraging. A majority of what Toshinori could talk about was his newest student. The successor to One For All. A quirkless boy with the guts to prove all those who doubted him that even he could be a Hero.
His sister would get a kick out of writing a thesis about that probably - mostly of how it correlates to society and the adversities he and other kids face in today's world.
"The very same; can't help but worry for him. He's not fully mastered it but he's done amazing so far."
"I bet." He agreed and leaned closer. "Speaking of the festival, how does Nezu think of my recommendation for security?"
"The HPSC thing? He sort of gave the usual frown and danced around the suggestion last I recall during our staff meeting. Those guys do come off as intimidating."
"Better to be locked tight as an impenetrable fortress than not at all, I say."
"I highly doubt anyone would have the balls to do something as extreme as make a move on the Sports Festival, Tsukauchi."
"People said that about U.A. and then the USJ event happened. I am not taking any chances this time, Toshinori."
Tsukauchi wouldn't stand for it. There wouldn't be any other demented monster out there in the city besides the Control Killer who could attempt something so audacious.
He'd catch them this time with the whole cavalry of Pro Heroes right behind him.
AN:
The 'eureka' moment of Giran's reminds me so much of taking the ACT and having to work around questions. I'd be gaslighting myself into thinking I'd gotten a correct answer on the written sections. XD Giran, I love you, but man... Gosh.
And Tsukauchi - we got to take you out to find some new drip in a mall where you come out of the changing room in a variety of wacky outfits (with Pretty Woman playing on the speakers).
But here's the 20th chapter of A Twisted Influence! Hope you all enjoy the upcoming weekend and February!
P.S. Do you think Tsukauchi could pull off something casual or is he doomed to forever wear suits and business shirts :(