Waking up on a plastic wrapped table instead of a polyester padded mattress makes all the difference in how fast or slow someone stirs. When Silvermane opens his eyes and comes out of his deep state of sleep, he instantly notices how hard the uncomfortable surface is beneath him. He makes an attempt to sit up – something restricts him – his bleary eyes blink when he sees there is more plastic wrap binding his body to the same table that he is laying atop.
There are several layers of the clear sheeting that Silvermane is sure he'd have a hard time tearing through it all even if he weren't limited to the physical strength of a child. But there are other kinds of strengths that children have. Such as emotional strength. He feigns fear by quivering his bottom lip, "Mother.. ?", he pretends to be as young as he appears for the sake of gaining sympathy points from his capturer.
"You may have the face of a child but you can drop the act.." However, he should know better that his capturer could care less. Behind him, a figure moves. Unrestricted. Freed. "You won't be fooling me … Silvermane.." That same police officer that pursued him during the raid on his home leans over the table to stare down at him.
Vertical pupils peer inside Silvermane's soul, seeing the villain for what he is beyond the child-like appearance of innocence. This cat headed cop seems to want to pounce on him. "..You have the face of a predator..", Silvermane stares back at what may as well be a hungry tiger rather than an orange tabby before giving his bindings another glance, "I suppose that would make me the prey then.."
Sansa Tamakawa – as identified by the badge pinned to the front of his police uniform – angles his cat-like head. Despite his law enforcement attire, he doesn't demonstrate a duty to serve & protect Silvermane – not when he produces a curved dagger. "It's that type of worldview that goes to show the kind of sins that you carry", Tamakawa taps the tip of the blade with a flick of a single finger.
Silvermane sees a glint of his own reflection within the shiny knife; he hardly recognizes himself anymore and how low he has fallen. He had climbed his way to the top of the Yakuza in his seniority. Now, he is back at the bottom in his childishness. But that doesn't mean he still doesn't have resources or means to escape these types of predicaments. "If it's money that you want.."
Tamakawa laughs. Bribery isn't going to work on him. He may be dirty, but he's not THAT kind of a dirty cop. "You only continue to prove my point", he swings the knife in his hand like it's a longer lengthened sword before aiming its end at Silvermane's face.
Silvermane's facial features tighten when he clenches his jaw. He can see that he won't be saving his own skin any time soon. Which only leaves one other concern. "Where is Eri? Where is my granddaughter?"
Tamakawa tilts his head to one side, a triangular ear flitting as he does. "You expect me to believe that you care about anyone beside yourself?"
Silvermane snarls, "WHERE IS SHE?!", spit flies from his mouth when he shouts at his capturer – not a question, but a demand to receive information – he shows his true self in his final moments as most often do.
Tamakawa is taken aback by the violent outburst. "..How.. convincing…" He pauses as though he is in a state of contemplation. He's not a monster. Not like Silvermane. He tells the truth, "She's safe", even if Silvermane is undeserving of getting clarity of any kind. "Contrary to what someone may think seeing this out of context, I don't harm or kill children."
Silvermane settles down, content with knowing Eri wasn't caught in the crosshairs of his criminal lifestyle. Back to himself and his own situation now… He gives Tamakawa another glance and places the man's name to a face that had been once covered by a mask, "You're that nut who shot at me back during the drop with–"
"Yes, we've already established that I've been gunning for you for quite some time now" Tamakawa casts aside the accusation with a careless wave. He may have traded in a gun for a knife, but there's no matter dwelling on the past now that he is able to finish what was started.
And yet, Silvermane still wonders the same question that just about anyone would ask. "..Why?"
Tamakawa's slitted stare skewers into a more squinted kind of glare. "Because you devour everything that is still good in this country", he leans over Silvermane until their noses are but a mere breath apart – and they can certainly feel eachother's breath against the other's face – Tamakawa smiles, "Even if all that you ate was table scraps for a while there… You got more greedy than a dog.."
Silvermane sneers in response to his captor's smirk. "Bark bark, bitch" And then, within such close proximity of Tamakawa, he spits in his captor's face.
Tamakawa initially reacts with a rise of anger – he nearly stabs Silvermane then and there. But then he collects himself. He produces a handkerchief from one of his back pockets so that he can wipe his face clean. "I can't risk having your DNA on me", he takes a few steps back in order to prevent another mishap, "Not just yet."
Tamakawa only returns to the table's side when it's to shove and stuff the handkerchief he used into Silvermane's mouth. "What are–", the villain's voice is muffled and stopped short by the makeshift gag.
"I could kill you right here and now but I'd have done that already if that was the plan", Sansa Tamakawa allows the villain to stay alive just a while longer … he cautiously & carefully ensures nobody will find or disturb the kill room before leaving. "No, Silvermane, I have something different planned for you."
Waking up to a good morning text from a girl other than his mother makes all the difference in how slow or fast Izuku Midoriya stirs from his sleep. It's still strangely shocking to consider he has started a relationship with somebody – much less Kyoka Jirou who he deems to be perfect in every way – so it's good to get a reminder like this every day. When he swipes the screen with his thumb, he sees that he did get a message from his mom too though – of course.
Izuku climbs out of bed, a yawn matching his movement by climbing out from his throat. Having a late start to the day, he figures it's better to multi-task and call his mother back as he gets ready to head out. It takes no more than two rings for her to answer. "Hey, mom! Just woke up!"
She doesn't sound quite as enthusiastic as he does when she responds, "You've certainly been catching up on your sleep lately" Izuku winces. He's being lightly scolded.
He has a habit of bashfully rubbing the nape of his neck during moments such as these, even if she can't see him doing so currently. "Well, I might have overworked myself as Spider-Man lately.." He stretches a bit and feels something pop as though his body desires to prove his point further for himself.
"Well, that's all going to change when I get home" His mom sounds as though she is reprimanding him on the surface, but he can tell that she's simply concerned for his well-being. He becomes concerned for HER well-being when she suddenly breaks out into a nasty coughing fit.
He hears the coughing fade – she's holding the phone away from her face – but he can still hear it. "Are you sure you're ready to come home yet?", he asks her about her health since they aren't supposed to be keeping things hidden from eachother anymore – it's not just him being Spider-Man that is important to tell the truth about.
He can imagine his mother bobbing her head before she strains her throat to answer him vocally, "I probably just caught something from another of the patients being brought in here – nothing some medicine won't fix."
Izuku makes a mental note that it may be a good idea to stock up on some of that medicine she may need. It's one of the few pit stops that he can make on his way to the hospital. "I'll be by to pick you up later then", he lets her know that he's on his way nevertheless.
She tells him, "Don't be late", and that makes him smile since she can now understand why it is that he would be late if that winds up being the case. It's nice to not have to make up fake excuses and lies anymore.
He makes a joke out of it, "I'll get my Spider-Man'ing in now rather than later", but he IS putting on his set of web shooters so it's not entirely a joke either.
"Honey, I'm glad that you're finally being honest with me about who you are, but I'm still not quite used to hearing about that side of you yet" Izuku pauses the process of attaching the support gear to his wrists when he hears his mom's voice drop a bit.
It's just as he feared. She's worried about him. But, he can at the very least alleviate her by letting her know some of those feelings are mutual. "Yeah, me neither.. But we're getting there, right?"
"Yes", he's relieved when he hears his mother's smile in the tone of her voice, "We are."
But whatever smiles they may have shared quickly vanish when he hears her break out into another round of coughs. Her hacking sounds more severe this time around. He hopes there's a nurse nearby to bring her a cup of water to help with it.
"I'm gonna let you go now to get some rest before it's time to leave the hospital", he figures it's also best not to keep her talking too much more since that obviously won't help with her throat.
"Alright", he hears how tired she is when she sighs. But she'll never be too tired to stop being a protective mother, "Behave yourself and stay out of trouble."
"That's impossible", Izuku teases her since he'd normally be the furthest thing from a troublesome teenager but his vigilante lifestyle does have a way of changing that these days.
His mom, on the other hand, doesn't take that joke lightly. "Izuku– !"
"Love you! Bye!", he quickly hangs up the phone before she can lock him into an unskippable cutscene of a lecture about his behavior. There'll be plenty of time for that when she's well rested and brought back home.
In the meantime, he finishes getting himself dressed for an outing. A backpack stocked full of spare clothes and his Spidey suit are all prepped and ready. Izuku hops out his bedroom window since that's a lot easier than going downstairs through the front door and having to lock it behind himself.
He figures there's nobody home in his neighborhood to spot him suited up as Spider-Man. What he fails to notice is an unexpected visitor hiding behind a tree down the street. Sansa Tamakawa watches with wide eyes as Izuku Midoriya dons a vigilante's attire.
Tamakawa had come by seeking Izuku for help. He had thought since Izuku is a photojournalist and since they had gotten relatively close to one another, that maybe there was something that could be done about exposing Silvermane there. Since Tsukauchi Naomasa had trusted Izuku, Tamakawa was prepared to do the same. Turns out Izuku has a closely guarded secret too though…
Tamakawa scratches behind one of his ears – but not in the way that would comfort a cat. He's more-so irritated. Betrayed. He wonders if Naomasa knew about this. But he wonders more if this is what got Naomasa killed. Either way, he intends to find out.
When Shota Aizawa is led into the small careroom, he expects to see the type of mess that children at such a young age make. What he finds instead is the little girl from earlier quietly reserved in a far corner of the room with only a coloring book moved out of place. She looks up when the door opens and instantly gets scared. He's not the most friendly looking person and he's sure that his prosthetic limb doesn't help.
Aizawa massages the surrounding area of his mouth, where unkempt stubble resides. He realizes that he still has an underground hero's aesthetic when not in the public eye of the press. To a child at this girl's age, he's probably creepy looking. He crouches down to appear not as intimidating but it doesn't really help him out much any more than it does for the girl.
After his nightly interrogations with Spider-Man yielded no results, he was left with only one option. The lead he happened to come across when assuming guardianship of Hitoshi Shinso. The little girl that belonged to Silvermane and the Yakuza Clan. Where she came from and what she knows is all that he has to work with. A child is more likely to slip on providing intel than street scum, but that's only if he can gain her favor.
"I'm sorry that I look so scary..", his voice is below a whisper – because for all of his experience with kids, he is not really sure about how to approach this one in particular. Part of him considers getting Spider-Man to tag along to pitch in more on that 'friendly' aesthetic, but convincing anyone to let a masked vigilante into a child care institution is difficult to pull off with or without a hero license or his principal status at U.A.
His eyes land on the drawing that the girl was in the process of creating and recognizes it as the shape of a cat. His mouth quirks a little, on the brink of a smile. He goes with that.
"You like cats?", he gestures towards the art with his good hand, "I do too."
The scared child looks down at the drawing, as though only now realizing that she drew it herself. She then covers it with her hands like she was caught doing something bad.
Knowing that she came from the 'care' of a criminal organization, Aizawa isn't all that surprised to see this type of reaction from her. "It's okay", he holds up his hand to show her he means no harm and insists on liking the cat picture, "It's a good drawing."
But the child does have a surprising sort of reaction for him afterall. "I.. I don't like cats.." His eyebrows raise. "Not anymore."
He's about to question why it is that she'd then draw a cat but he happens to notice the placement of her hands. They are covering the cat's head. But they're too small to hide it completely. He can see what he failed to realize sooner. The cat's eyes are shaded the color red as though it is an evil monster.
Aizawa is curious to say the least and worried to find out about it more to say the most, "..Why not?"
Especially when the little girl tells him, "The mean one took my grandpa."
Aizawa squints as he stares at the cat drawing. He pays attention to the colors that the child chose. The cat's head is orange. The body is blue. He finds that … peculiar.
"Took him where?", Aizawa's voice is distant and so he wonders if she didn't hear him when all he gets in return to the question is silence. "I need to know–" Suddenly, Aizawa has to cover his mouth in order to stifle a severe cough.
Eri turns away, shutting down on him all over again. The scary man just made loud scary noises. Aizawa silently curses over the unexpected and uncontrollable coughing fit that he just had.
Now, he is left still with the hunch he had when coming in and a new hunch to have for when he leaves.
He shoves his mask in the back pocket of his pants. The rest of his Spidey suit resides underneath the civilian attire that he changed into upon arriving at the hospital. An empty backpack hangs loosely, slung over a single shoulder of his. A paper bag with some medication that he picked up from a pharmacy on the way over crinkles in the grip of his other hand.
Izuku sighs. He notices that there's quite a lot of activity and commotion surrounding the hospital. More-so than usual, that is. He's relieved to travel via web swinging instead of commuting with a vehicle; parking appears to be more of a hassle than the norm, with all surrounding spaces all filled.
Drawing him from the momentary distraction, he's made more acutely aware of his surroundings by a buzzing in the back of his head. He feels that thing again. The sense that he's in danger. As his eyes dart left and right and his arm twitches ready to do what it naturally does whenever he feels this way – strike or block or swipe – he holds off.
Because, when he shifts to spin around, he's surprised to see Sansa Tamakawa. From the corner of his eye, he sees it, that momentary flash of surprise on the receiving end. They both falter. They weren't expecting to stop short with eachother so close.
Izuku has the added confusion as to why the police officer is even there or approaching him so closely no less. He starts to inquire about the strangeness of them running into eachother this way, "Ta–"
But the next flash of movement cuts him off. He ignores his impulse to react. That base instinct to block or dodge is pushed down. Because of that, his senses don't save him from being stuck with a syringe.
Izuku stares at Tamakawa with wide eyes. The pricking sensation where he was stuck by the needle makes him raise a hand to feel the injection mark. He had assumed Tamakawa was a friend and there would be no cause for concern despite the warning from his Spider-Sense – afterall, the danger sense had been wrong about Venom when it was the other way around.
Izuku doesn't pass out immediately. His increased stamina helps him maintain consciousness a while longer. But the drug does start to take effect. He becomes woozy. Izuku stumbles when losing his balance.
Through blurry vision, he sees a distorted form of who he had thought to be his friend. He wonders why Tamakawa is doing this, all while watching Tamakawa reaching to catch his falling body.
A distant echo starts to take form of a barely distinguishable word. "Kid.."
Izuku tries to drown out the probing voice with a groan. Somebody is calling to him from far away. Too far away. He's too tired to go the distance.
It becomes harder to ignore the voice when it closes the distance so that he doesn't have to. "Hey! Kid!" It calls to him louder now. The voice is clearer. The voice is right beside him.
Izuku's eyes snap open. He sucks in a sharp inhale of a breath. He sees that the voice that had been calling him 'kid' belongs to, well, a kid. His eyes squint as he tries to see through the obvious confusion that follows his awakening in such a way.
"Huh.. ?" Both boys are bound to a set of tables by plastic wrap like two captives.
Though the other boy seems more unbothered by it than Izuku, having already had time to process that apparently. "Well, good to know you're alive, at least.." He's instead still fixing his focus on the newcomer to this odd arrangement.
"What.. Where?" Izuku slightly struggles within his cocoon of plastic wrapping. It's something he could easily break out of with a flex of his spider strength – even with the weakening drug that is still residually in his system – it's a restrictive binding material nowhere near as strong as his or Venom's webbing. But.. He can't be too hasty, as to yet expose his identity unless he absolutely has to.
The kid with Izuku huffs but doesn't provide much of an answer to either of Izuku's questions. Instead, he grumbles more-so to himself with a complaint. "Creep said he doesn't kidnap children but look at us…"
Izuku thinks about this 'creep' to which is being referred and recalls what preluded his change of scenery from the hospital. He asks the other imprisoned kid, "Are you talking about Tamakawa?"
To which, again, the oddly behaving boy doesn't give much of an answer. It's a question that answers Izuku's question. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"He.." Izuku reflects upon his stupid decision to ignore his Spider-Sense, which is what led to his capture. He looks at the other captured child and wonders what the full story is to all of this beyond just himself. "Who are you?"
Still, the strange boy bound by plastic wrap provides a lack of answers. "..He's gonna be back any minute.." Instead, he shows some effort being put into resisting the binding material encasing his body. "We gotta try and get outta here before then."
Any crinkling of the clear sheeting ceases when an extreme bout of coughing comes from the room over. It's a hacking fit that reminds Izuku of his mother's if it weren't more masculine.
"Shit.. Too late", the kid quits struggling in his plastic wrapped cocoon and accepts that there's no point with their capturer present to stop him.
Tamakawa makes himself present. He enters the room, still coughing. His ears are back and his whiskers are overturned as he coughs into a fist.
The boy that Tamakawa had trapped before Izuku antagonizes the cat-like kidnapper, "Hairball?"
Tamakawa uses the same fist he was coughing into to point at the boy. "Watch it or I'll gag you again", his antagonization is much more threatening.
Izuku swallows before speaking as an attempt to draw the man's attention away from the other boy, "Tamakawa.. What's going on?"
Tamakawa turns to face Izuku. It worked. He approaches Izuku's tableside. "That's what I want to know too."
When Izuku's only response is an expression of confusion, Tamakawa holds up the empty backpack that had been on his possession during the kidnapping.
Izuku is still confused, "..What– ?"
"It's not in here", Tamakawa shakes the bag for emphasis before he tosses the bag aside, "So where is it?"
Still. Still Izuku is confused. "Where's.. What?"
Tamakawa looks over at the other boy that's present in the room with them. It becomes clear that there's something unspoken – unshared – that is deeply personal. Izuku just doesn't know what.
Tamakawa leans over the table. He stares straight into the eyes of the boy below him. "I know who you are, Izuku Midoriya."
Izuku feels a tingling sensation in his brain nerves. An indication of danger beyond just his Spider-Sense. Tamakawa may not be a physical threat like Venom, but the man had been at the hospital where his mother is. If Tamakawa was able to manage to get the drop on him, and if Tamakawa knows…
Izuku, unwilling to take any chances if it puts his loved ones in danger, prepares to rip free from his bindings. But then – what sounds like somebody knocking on a door makes everybody freeze.
Tamakawa whips his head back and forth, torn between going and staying. He makes his choice but not before whispering a quiet command, "Both of you best be quiet."
He answers his front door. But only opens it a smidgen of a crack. On the other side, he sees Shota Aizawa.
"Eraserhead..", Tamakawa blinks with wide eyed surprise.
The ex underground hero returns the shocked stare with a tired one, "I don't quite exactly go by that title anymore."
"Sorry" Tamakawa clears his throat before correcting himself, "Principal Aizawa" He gives a look over his shoulder before creating a smaller gap between them and the door's entryway, "What can I do for you?"
Aizawa notices this less-than-subtle adjustment and takes a step closer, "You can let me inside for starters?"
To which Tamakawa tightens the grip that he has on the barrier between them, "Now.. isn't a good time."
Aizawa raises a brow. "Why not?"
"I have company over", Tamakawa is surprisingly quick to answer.
Aizawa hums. He can't see through the small sliver of the door's narrow opening. "It'll just take a moment.." He inches closer.
"Can't it wait?", Tamakawa blocks the doorway with his body next.
Seeing that they aren't getting anywhere at this rate, Aizawa decides to address the issue of his impromptu visit then and there. He produces and holds up the drawing that he had retrieved from Eri.
"Can it?", his question is laced with another question – Doesn't the drawing have an uncanny resemblance?
What happens next happens fast.
Tamakawa slams the door shut. He goes for his gun that's placed on a stand nearby. Just as he reaches the weapon, Aizawa kicks the door down and breaches the room.
He turns to shoot. Aizawa cracks his capture cloth as though it is a whip – a trick of the trade taught to him by Midnight even if it is not the same tool of the trade – the gun is knocked from Tamakawa's hand. A stray shot goes off.
Hearing the ruckus, Izuku bucks forward from beneath his bindings. "What's happening?!" He prepares to tear through the plastic wrap that keeps him contained.
That's when Tamakawa and Aizawa turn the corner. Aizawa stalls when seeing Tamakawa's captives. That gives Tamakawa enough time to seize one of them as a hostage. Tamakawa holds a knife to the neck of the boy opposite of Izuku.
"It didn't have to come to this!", Tamakawa acts more like the cat part of himself than man now that he's being backed into a corner.
"It still doesn't.." Aizawa holds off on his pursuit. He tries talking Tamakawa down. "Drop the knife."
Izuku hopes that there's some part of Tamakawa that can still perceive them as friends. If so, he may have a chance at appealing to that side of the man. "This isn't you, Tamakawa.."
He grinds through gritted teeth a low growl. "You're acting like I was the one lying and keeping secrets! But it was all of you!"
Aizawa grits his own teeth. "Let the children go.."
Tamakawa's eyes flit from Aizawa to the boy that he holds a knife to, "This?", and he makes a scoffing sound just shy of being a laugh, "This is no child!"
Not even Izuku's spider reflexes would have been enough to stop what happens next. Tamakawa slices open the throat of his hostage.
"NO!" Aizawa dashes forward and swiftly brings down Tamakawa in one fluid movement.
A light emits from the bleeding body beside them. Slowly, the child reverts to an even younger adolescent. The boy becomes a baby. Shouts, screams, cries – a horrid sound fills the room like the wailing of a rebirthed death.
Izuku is too shocked to tear free from the wrapping around him anymore. He hardly gets any awe stricken words out of his mouth either, "Is that.. Is that the kid's quirk?"
Aizawa cradles the crying baby and makes an attempt to comfort him. He's just as emotionally moved by the absurd craziness of this situation. "That's just one of the many questions that we'll need to work on getting answered after this.."
Tamakawa heaves out a hefty breath. He may have been brought down to the floor, but he isn't unconscious. And so he is able to retake his knife. Aizawa shields the baby that he's holding when spotting the flash of movement. He doesn't expect the blade to be plunged into the wielder instead of him.
Aizawa watches as Tamakawa stabs himself. "What did you do?!"
Tamakawa topples over with the knife's handle protruding out of his chest. Through bloodied lips, he smiles. "I have sinned too.." His eyes lose their light as he says his final parting words, "I may as well end on that note if it has to be ended."
It could be considered the coward's way out, but Tamakawa chose to end things on his own terms. Which leaves a lot of questions unresolved for both Izuku Midoriya & Shota Aizawa. The two share a look as they acknowledge the bloody scene that they have been left to clean up.
It's fortunate enough for Izuku that the next step after his kidnapping was to receive an examination at the nearest hospital since that's where his mother is – and he had intended on going to see her originally, afterall.
Also fortunate for him, Aizawa suddenly became stricken with sickness upon their arrival at the hospital, and so any line of questioning – or interrogation – can wait.
He heads for his mom's room. Along the way, he passes by plenty of occupied spaces. The hospital is filled to its maximum capacity so that there are people even taking up the hallways.
When Izuku reaches his mother's room, he pales at the sight that he sees. She's paler than him, and slick with sweat. He tries shaking her gently since her eyes are closed and he figures she fell asleep – but she doesn't respond – she is practically comatose.
Outside, the sirens that surround the medical care facility grow louder and louder. Izuku hurries to a window and notices an increase in the number of ambulances that are pulling in. Even the drivers appear to be unwell as they struggle to support the people being delivered.
Izuku looks around himself at what seems to be a pandemic of some sort and wonders, what the hell is going on?
AUTHOR NOTES
And that concludes the Silvermane / Sin-Eater storyline! As you can probably tell, I got a bit inspired by Dexter more than usual with this chapter.
Now, onto reading reviews & comments!
Pikapowerz: The dynamic between Shinso & Midoriya moving forward ought to be a fun one much like Venom & Spider-Man had for awhile in the comics - unlikely teamups, disagreements, mutual understandings, etc. - there will be plenty of conversations for them to have! As for other villains, I can't promise too many goofy goobers at this point in the story, but I do want to try and shift back to a lighter tone for awhile after this halfway point.
Round 1 FIGHT: I'll keep that in mind! Thanks for reading! More adorable moments between Kyoka & Izuku to come!
Username6166: Thanks for binging the story and working on catching up! I welcome you and all other new readers of this fanfic!
theMAX360: At one point, I thought I could work in Ochaco's return, but there's so much going on and so much planned with what's to come that I'm just not sure if that would be any time soon if ever anymore. As for Silver Sable, I had toyed with the idea of doing something with Eri, actually - but I'm not too sure about that either anymore or implementing an OC since I want to limit any amount of OCs. Serious Spider-Man is something that I CAN say will happen again at some point though - though I'm not too sure about the scarring of his enemies stuff (you REALLY want him to deform every villain in his way, huh?)
CapoPerk: I had actually noticed some chapters missing time to time when I would post here to fanfiction and was wishing it was only a glitch on my end but that sucks to know now it's an actual issue. Hopefully it gets resolved soon but I do cross-post to ArchiveOfOurOwn under the same moniker if the problem persists!
Welp! That's it for now! I want to make the 50th chapter a special one, so I'm going to try and get it out on time next week but it could take a little longer to write - either way, find out then what all this confusing coughing is about!
-Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood author!