Naomasa Tsukauchi needed a coffee.
His sister would disagree, because it would be his fifth one, but after interviewing several dozen Villains and traumatized teenagers, he figured he deserved it. He even talked to Aizawa, and that man had only just woken up from a medically induced coma.
Thankfully for his sanity (or what was left of it), he only had one person left, and he was both dreading and looking forward to it.
He been subjected to many interesting stories about the boy, from Villains and Hero students alike, but he was a detective, and it was his job to be impartial. So Naomasa ignored the memories of frightful criminals and weary teenagers, and stepped into the hospital room.
Izuku Midoriya was not what he expected.
Lean, with a smattering of freckles and a face young enough to pass as much younger than he was, the teen was plain enough that most people wouldn’t give him a second look. Naomasa knew he was throwing stones in a glass house on that front, but it didn’t make it any less true.
“Are you Izuku Midoriya?” he asked, more of a formality than anything.
The teen quirked a tired smile. “That’s me.”
Lie.
Only years on the police force and hours upon hours or interrogations prevented Naomasa from reacting. So close to peace. He lamented.
Naomasa gave a practiced smile. “I’m Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi and I’m here to talk to you about the U.S.J. attack.”
“I figured.” (-)
Naomasa took out his pen and notepad. “Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?”
…
For someone who was apparently lying about his name, Midoriya was a very honest witness. Everything he said lined up with up with the other witnesses, to the point where Naomasa was beginning to wonder if he’d imagined his Quirk going off. But no, helpful as the Midoriya’s speculations about Shigaraki were, it wasn’t long after he described his engagement with the Nomu did he lie once more.
“He said it had multiple Quirks,” Midoriya said, a faintly disturbed look momentarily crossing his expression. “That’s why it was able to go toe to toe with All Might for so long. He was pretty convinced that All Might was supposed to be weakened as well.” (-)
Naomasa fought off a sigh. His idiotic friend was not doing himself any favors with his reckless behavior. Toshinori could have easily grabbed a few of U.A.’s teachers instead of rushing off by himself, but no, the oaf had gone alone and shortened his Hero time even further.
“While All Might was fighting it, Shigaraki crawled over to Aizawa-sensei and Kirishima to try to-I don’t know, finish the job?” A sharp exhale. “Anyway, he didn’t manage to disintegrate him anymore than he already had.”
“Do you know why? You said he had a five-point activation Quirk, correct?” Knowing if it activated on will or with anything he touched would be essential knowledge if the man was captured.
“No idea.”
Lie.
Naomasa refused to stutter in his writing.
“I got distracted by the rest of the teachers arriving and Shigaraki grabbed my calf.” A half-hearted gesture to his leg. “And then I passed out.” (-)
According to Cementoss, he’d been very close to Toshinori right before he’d reverted to his skinny form. Better safe than sorry. “Did you notice anything else before that?”
“Nope.”
Lie.
This was going to be a mess.
Naomasa smiled blandly. “Just a few more routine questions for those involved in incidents like these. Please don’t get offended.” They weren’t, but with Midoriya lying about who he was and several other things, they were more than justified.
Intelligent green eyes watched him closely. “Shoot.”
“Were you aware of the attack before it happened?”
“I had a bad feeling right before they showed up, but nothing other than that.” (-)
“Have you ever broken any laws?”
“Yup.” (-) Naomasa froze, unsure how to proceed in the face of just blatant honestly when- “I’ve definitely jaywalked before.” (-)
The detective let out a laugh he didn’t feel. “Were you in any way involved with the Villains?”
“Nope.” (-)
“Are any of your family members Villains?”
“Not as far as I know.” (-)
“Were you a target of the Villains?”
Midoriya shrugged. “They were only after All Might, the rest of us were collateral damage.” (-) A slight chill makes its way down Naomasa’s back at the callous way he talked about his own life as well as those of his classmates. “Though I might have made myself into one.” (-)
“Can you expand on that?”
A humorless smile made its way onto Midoriya’s face. “After I knocked him back from Tsu, he said I was interesting. Considering he’s a glorified man-child, I may have made myself into his next favorite play toy.” (-)
“Do you know why?”
Something akin to dark amusement flitted through his intense green eyes. “He said he liked my smile.” (-)
That was a can of worms he did not want to get into.
“Last question.” He said instead of going to the nearest bar and drowning himself in whiskey like he wanted to. “Have you lied at all during this meeting? Deceiving law enforcement is a serious crime.”
The expression on Midoriya’s face was so genuine it sent a shiver down his spine. “Of course not.” He lied. “I’m a perfectly normal law-abiding citizen.”
There hadn’t been even the slightest indication of unease or hesitation in Midoriya’s answers, nothing that hinted at a lie or falsehood in his posture or tone. If it hadn’t been for his Quirk, Naomasa would have had absolutely no idea he had just lied to his face. That spoke of someone who did so often, and who had done so in tense enough situations that he could do it to a cop in the middle of an interview.
At the very least, he didn’t seem to have anything to do with the U.S.J. attack, so that was one more dead end. As bad as it sounded, if Midoriya had been a spy then he’d probably be able to lead them to Shigaraki and make this whole situation a lot easier for them. Instead, they had a suspicious teen with seemingly no connections and a Villain group with no leads.
Scratch the coffee, Naomasa was getting scotch.
…
Izuku didn’t know how, but he had fucked up.
The detective was good at masking his emotions and tells, but reading people had been the difference between survival and death for too long for him to not realize. Tsukauchi had been pleasant, but as the interview went on, he had become more and more tense, and his eyes had sharpened. Izuku didn’t know what it was, but something he had said had made him suspicious.
And people who were under suspicion had a tendency to end up dead.
He considered making a break for it-leaving now and laying low until something bigger came along and took precedence, but that would just confirm that he was not what he appeared to be. His papers would be scrutinized and found to be forged, and if they were smart (with Nedzu as U.A. principal it was practically a guarantee.) they would be able to trace him from his most recent place in America. His mother’s body strewed on the concrete, motionless and cold. That would raise more questions and make more people aware of it, making the possibility of spies reporting to Them bigger and then he’d really be on the run.
Being on the run had been his default mode for the majority of his life, and even though it had only been a few months, he simultaneously wanted to move stay in once place too long and you end up dead and stay. Stay with those tentative roots he had established and risk capture, risk exposure.
It was then that Izuku remembered.
Oh fuck.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.
His exposure and capture became a lot more imminent if he didn’t return Aizawa’s Quirk holy shit he forgot he still had it.
He was 97% sure Kirishima didn’t see him using it when he saved Aizawa-if he had he was pretty sure the detective would’ve asked many more uncomfortable questions-but he had completely forgotten to give it back.
Yes, he had passed out, but like, Aizawa probably thought he was never going to get his Quirk back! He needed to fix this, preferably right now.
Ignoring the pain in his calf, Izuku pushed himself to his feet. After he had come to his senses, they had forgone the restraints and he was mostly left unattended unless he pressed the button on the monitor, which would bring a nurse to him.
He couldn’t sense Aizawa by his Quirk now, but Present Mic had been in the hospital numerous times, and didn’t take a genius to figure out why. Only he and Aizawa had been injured, so if he estimated where he’d been spending most of his time…
Izuku stood in front a closed door, hand hovering over the knob.
Please be asleep please be asleep please be asleep please-
Two dark eyes darted towards him as he stepped into the room.
Fuck.
“Hi, Aizawa-sensei.” His smile was more of a grimace.
Aizawa looked like shit. One side of his face was heavily bandaged and he had an arm in a cast. It was hard not to replay the scene of Aizawa’s broken body in his mind, but he did his best.
“Midoriya.” He sounded even more exhausted than usual. “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”
Izuku let the door close behind him, thankful that Present Mic wasn’t here. That would make things a lot more complicated. Unlike when he took a Quirk, which he could do from a short distance, giving one back required skin contact. Thankfully, when he was giving a Quirk back to its original holder, it was a smooth process and didn’t take nearly as long as taking it or giving someone a Quirk that wasn’t theirs.
“Probably.” He said with a shrug. “I just-wanted to see you. They told me you were fine but-” Izuku cut himself off. “Yeah.”
If he wasn’t hyperaware of everything going on around him, he would have missed the slight softening of Aizawa’s expression. “How’s the leg?”
He winced slightly. “…manageable. They can’t heal it completely because of Shigaraki’s Quirk, so they’re leaving it for now. I’ll have a brace for about a week and have to have a checkup in two, but other than that it’s fine.”
Aizawa nodded, going to pick up his coffee.
Here’s my chance.
Carefully activating Minor pull and Air lift, he very gently pushed the cup just enough to cause it to tumble to the ground without arousing suspicion. Hopefully.
China shattered and hot coffee spilled everywhere.
“Oh!” Izuku purposely jumped at the noise. “Here I’ll get some paper towels.” He rushed over to the counter and began sopping up the liquid, avoiding the broken parts of the cup.
Aizawa reached over to grab his forearm, his movements telegraphed. “Kid, it’s fine.”
He pulled Erasure to the surface and let Aizawa touch him, putting the Quirk back where it belonged. A part of him ached as he let it go, but he firmly pushed that part of him to the back of his mind. He’d only taken it to save Aizawa’s life, he reminded himself. It would be selfish and wrong to keep it.
Mine mine mine mine minemineminemine-
Izuku stopped laying down the paper towels and allowed himself to be led to sit on the side of the bed. A cleaner was called in, and he felt mildly guilty about making more work for the poor man, but his relief disappointment at giving Aizawa’s Quirk back was greater than any negative emotions he could harbour.
“I don’t know if anyone’s told you, but everyone present at the USJ attack is getting mandatory therapy.”
It took all of his self control to not flinch. “Ah.”
Izuku didn’t have anything against therapy, really he didn’t. It was a wonderful thing that helped people cope with any mental health issues they faced, it was just that any therapist worth their degree would realize he had a hell of a lot more trauma than just from the USJ attack. Like a lot more.
Aizawa watched him with unreadable eyes. “You put yourself at risk during the USJ.”
“Existing was a risk at the USJ.” Tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop it. If Izuku didn’t know better he could have sworn Aziawa’s lips twitched.
He tensed as an unfamiliar light approached the door and opened it.
A stern woman in scrubs entered. “What are you doing up?” she demanded.
Izuku froze. “Uhhhh.”
“We started a sweep of the hospital looking for you. Considering your episode, you would think you’d realize what leaving without telling anyone would entail.”
Part of him wanted to snarl that his ‘episode’ was the consequence of being hunted his entire life, but his common sense prevailed. “Sorry.”
She let out an annoyed hmph. “Don’t do it again. You’ll be cleared tomorrow so just be patient.”
He pushed himself to his feet, sparing a glance at Aizawa. “Bye, Aizawa-sensei.”
The man’s dark red light shifts languidly as his dark eyes pin him in place. “Take care of yourself.”
It almost sounds like a threat.
Regardless, Izuku nods and allows the nurse to escort him back to his room.
He ignored the feeling of emptiness where Erasure once rested.
…
It said a lot about his situation that Kurogiri didn’t so much as twitch when Shigaraki threw a stool at the bar wall.
He supposed it was fairly impressive considering that he was doing it from a seated position-they did not have a healer on hand besides the Doctor and he could only do so much-but considering that he was throwing a hissy fit he felt justified in his exasperation.
“That cheater!” Shigaraki growled. “All Might wasn’t supposed to win! The Nomu was his equal!”
All for One’s voice is soothing. “All in good time, besides, you learned something didn’t you?”
As always, Kurogiri is amazed at the Villain’s ability to calm Shigaraki’s rampages.
“Yes.” Shigaraki muttered. “Yes yes yes yes yes. I did.” A lesser man would have shied away from his unhinged grin. “I found someone interesting.”
“What are you going to do about them?” All for One asked, voice inquiring and smooth.
The glee in Shigaraki’s eyes is a terrible terrible thing.
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