Ch. 5: Noh Holding Back
With a quiet pop, Seigo warped into the abandoned warehouse he took Eri to, which scared the little girl as she did exactly what he said and didn't move so naturally she was less than a meter away from him. Seigo himself nearly jumped at the sound of Eri's cry of fear before switching on Full Spectrum to see in the dark warehouse. His heart sank as he saw the look of pure fear in her eyes as she stared at him like he was here to kill her with a knife. Seigo then quickly remembered how Tai would handle a scared child.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. Calm down," He quickly said in a gentle voice before taking a few steps back and lowering himself to one knee to seem less threatening, "I'm not going to hurt you." Seigo held his hand out to Eri whose eyes looked at it with the same fear as before as she took a few steps back only to bump into an open crate of packing peanuts. Seigo dropped his hand with a sigh as he realized that this wasn't going anywhere 'She wasn't afraid of me before but she was afraid that Overhaul was going to kill me… she must be worried about getting attracted to me or something... or she doesn't want to see me die. Considering how quick to kill Overhaul was before, how many people has she seen be killed by him?' Seigo went to put his hand on his chin to think but realized he still had his mask on. 'This thing probably isn't helping matters,' Eri watched as Seigo removed the mask and pulled his hood down so Eri could see his face. Seigo gave a warm smile before holding his hand out again. "I won't let Overhaul hurt you anymore and I won't let him kill me either. I am here to help you so please let me."
Eri let out a small gasp before letting the words sink in. Seigo could see the tears start to form in her eyes as the only warning before she ran up and latched onto him, small hands digging into his hoodie for dear life. Seigo chuckled softly as he slowly rubbed her back to comfort her. Tai used to do that for him whenever he was upset. "There, there, it's going to be alright-"
Bio Scanner would always flip on automatically at the sign of a significant threat and it did so again as Seigo recognized that Overhaul was nearby. He quickly tagged the back of Eri's neck and picked her up to carry her in his arms, causing her to let out a quiet "eep", and ran towards the wall closest to where Overhaul was, noticing that he and his group of cronies were just standing out there. 'Sooner than I expected,' He rolled up his sleeve to look at his watch. It had only been about six minutes by his guess. 'Way sooner than I expected. Must be giving orders to his subordinates. That means I need to be fast about this. Let's see: Seven signatures in total. That has to be Overhaul, the four expendables, and this "Bloodhound" but who's the last one? Bloodhound has to be how they found Eri so he has to go before I can move her away. After that, I know exactly what I need to do,' Seigo ran to the crate from earlier, still holding a confused Eri as she wondered what was going on.
"Eri, I'm sorry to leave you alone again but I need to take care of something. I need you to stay in this crate and not make a single noise, no matter what. Do you understand?" Seigo quickly ordered as he tried to lift Eri into the open crate but she just gripped him tighter.
"Please… don't go…" The fear and pain in her voice nearly broke Seigo's heart but he knew he didn't have time for this. He quickly tagged the inside of the crate and warped Eri into it, causing her to fall into the crate of packing peanuts, accidently knocking a few onto the floor.
"Don't worry, I only need to take care of one thing and then we'll be out of here and safe from Overhaul," Seigo said with a confident smile before pointing to himself and reciting a quote he heard on TV from the Number One Hero, "They won't hurt you anymore now that I am here!" Seigo quickly put the lid on the crate before putting his hood and mask back on and hiding himself behind some crates near the door. The group started to fan out, surrounding the building in different ways, with Overhaul and one other walking towards the door. Except for one. One guy was hanging back as if bringing him inside was a risk.
'That could either be Bloodhound or Nemoto. If I don't get rid of Bloodhound before anyone else, Eri will be in constant danger and we won't be able to get away from Overhaul forever. Whoever it is, they're near one of my markers that I placed when I found this place as a good base… time to start the show!'
As soon as the door opened and Seigo could see Overhaul and a man in black cloak, bowler hat and plague mask, he warped out to behind whoever was outside, though it didn't take a genius to realize it was Bloodhound after one look at the guy. Dressed like a typical Yakuza but he had the head and hands (or rather paws) of a bloodhound. Seigo quickly jumped forward and warped the two of them out of the way, making sure to mark Bloodhound beforehand.
Now in the middle of a forest outside of Tokyo, a now panicking Bloodhound started to look around to see nothing but trees. He quickly sniffed the area, now picking up Seigo's scent. He quickly assumed a fighting stance before shouting into nothing,
"Who are you?! Where did you take me?!" Seigo couldn't resist what he was about to say as he was hiding behind a tree with his trusty bat.
"It doesn't matter. I've already marked you for death," Before Bloodhound could react, Seigo quickly warped repeatedly around Bloodhound, striking him with the bat with each warp. Pop, ding, pop, ding, pop, ding, in sequence so fast that the "fight" was only about four seconds but Bloodhound looked like he'd just been savagely attacked by a group of bat-wielding thugs. The now barely conscious Bloodhound looked at the masked face of Seigo.
"I made sure to avoid vital areas so you won't be dying today. When you get to jail, tell them 'Noh' sent you. Oh, and apologize on my behalf for everything today." With that, the Yakuza passed out and Seigo quickly tied his paws together before warping him to the police station. He then warped back to his warehouse hiding space to see Overhaul holding the terrified Eri...
"Eri, you will tell me how you managed to get out. You know what happens when you make me have to go into filthy places like thi-" before he could finish his threat, Seigo warped Eri to his hand before warping her away to the storage facility. With Bloodhound gone, he'd pretty much already won but there was still something else he had to do. Overhaul turned around to look at Seigo but couldn't get a good look because a smoke bomb had been set off next to him, filling his vision with smoke. "Shin, find who's doing this!"
"Ye-Oaugh!" Nemoto was stopped by an elbow being driven into his stomach and being warped back to the forest for another quick beating. The smoke quickly faded away leaving Overhaul alone.
"Shield!" A yellow barrier was quickly formed around Overhaul as he surveyed the room before it too disappeared. After a few more seconds, a wall was busted down as a giant beast of a man broke in with a small doll thing riding on top of him that was holding a gun. A small pop was heard near the back of the room now that Overhaul and company were looking for it. Walking out from behind the crates was Noh, the thief that had been a thorn in Overhaul's side for far longer than the Yakuza boss liked. There was only ever a vague description of the thief but Overhaul could tell from the one thing that was consistent: The kitsune mask.
"So, you were the one that stole Eri... that's a handy warp quirk you've got there."
'Dammit… I was reckless. He knows I have a warp quirk from me taking Eri right out of his hands. This is bad… Now I can't rely on any other quirks or he'll figure more out. I just hope no one figures out how my warp works-"
"I take it works from all these crosses on the ground?"
'Oh, come on!' Seigo had to remain still to hide his body language so he didn't show his frustration. While he took down the three people he figured would be the most trouble dealing with, he didn't have any more plans for the rest of them. But he needed to stay. The heroes needed to stop Overhaul and to do that, he needed to keep them there… if they were coming at all. He hoped they would since he basically dropped four criminals at their doorstep. Overhaul took a quick look around as Rappa finally arrived to complete the four remaining Shie Hassaikai members.
"Bloodhound's gone, boss," the voice came from the small doll on top of Katsukame's head. It was all black with stubby legs, creepy long black fingers and a white plague mask stitched on like a stuffed animal.
"You took out my tracker, my shield and my voice. You knew exactly where to hit us to make things harder for us. You really are impressive, Noh. Why not join me instead of having to make me kill you?" Overhaul offered, words betraying the cordial tone. "You would no longer have to steal from drug dealers ever ag-"
"No thanks, I've seen what you have planned for Eri and I want no part of that," Seigo tried to make his voice seem higher in pitch to confuse whether he was a boy or a girl, though it was harder to hide his anger at Overhaul. "You'll forgive me if I don't want a little girl having her blood turned into bullets."
"Ah, that explains it: You broke into my computer in the lab or maybe Chrono logged in and you took him out. That means Chrono's gone too," there was almost a hint of sadness in his voice. Almost, "Great, now I have to disinfect the lab again."
"You don't care about your own men?"
"Everyone in the world is expendable to my goals. Take the men next to me: all are willing to die to realize my goal of a world where the disease of quirks has been cured."
"Except that's not what you want, is it?! You plan to force both villains and heroes to become reliant on the drugs you make from Eri's blood so you can rule them both! You don't care about ridding the world of quirks; you just want to make chaos and profit off of it!"
"Watch your tongue, brat!" the plague doll threatened as he pointed the gun in his hand at Seigo. He had to be ready to move at a moment's notice or be shot. It looked like a revolver so it could be a normal gun or Overhaul may have already created the bullets. He didn't know how long they had been at this operation because he didn't get a chance to ask Eri.
"I wouldn't expect a kid like you to see the bigger picture," Overhaul's voice, despite it being full of anger, stayed a calm level tone, never once raising his voice, "Though, how did you get into our compound? Did you mark that idiot of a caretaker and use him to get in? There's no way you could have known what was going on or when the right time to warp in was so there must be more to you than meets the eye… Maybe you can sense what's going on through your markings?"
'I wish it was that easy. He's smarter than I thought, though. Even if he's just making guesses, he's gotten a lot right. I could really use a hero right about now...'
"I know how you operate," Overhaul began, causing Seigo to gulp quietly. "I had a feeling you were somehow involved but I didn't think you had a hand in this. I didn't think you'd make it past everyone, but, now that you've shown yourself, I know exactly what you're waiting for. You're waiting for the heroes to come and start a fight between us so they would have to arrest us, right? It's what you've done every time before now,"
'Why does he keep figuring things out? I didn't think he'd realize there was a correlation between my appearances and the police. Can't I just make a plan and have it work fine?'
"YOU LITTLE WORM! Do you think you can trick the Shie Hassaikai and live?!" the talking doll shouted incredulously as he pointed his gun at Seigo
"Let me kill him! I haven't had a good fight in years!" Rappa let out a bloodthirsty laugh.
"I got woken up early for this runt?" Katsukame sighed as he cracked his knuckles.
"Mimic, come down here," The doll, Mimic, jumped down next to Overhaul, still pointing his gun. Overhaul pulled off one of his gloves and put his hand on the floor, disassembling the top layer and reassembling it to create a wave of spikes heading towards Seigo, forcing him to warp to one of the higher catwalks. Seigo noticed that he also destroyed all of the marks that he had placed on the floor, removing his ability to close distance. "Katsukame, Rappa, I can fix him if you kill him but make sure to not let him touch you or I'll have to kill you to get rid of the filthy marks he leaves. He's the only way we'll find Eri."
"Aw man… but I want to kill him…" Rappa said, disappointedly.
"He tells me where Eri is and I'll even make it so you can keep killing him," Overhaul quickly disassembled the spikes to rubble to allow his bruisers to charge Seigo.
"Nah, one is enough," Rappa quickly rushed forward and jumped up to the catwalk and firing punches towards Seigo, forcing him to back up. Katsukame followed up on the retreating Seigo by punching the catwalk where he had been, missing due to Targeted Warp taking Seigo away.
"He can warp faster than you two! Stop being obvious!" Mimic shouted as he searched for Seigo who seemed to vanish.
"Where did he go?" Katsukame asked, irritated at the moving target.
"Come back here and die like a man!" Rappa screamed towards the ceiling, enraged by the perceived cowardice of Noh.
Unbeknownst to them all, Seigo had hidden in the shadow of the door that Overhaul used to enter the warehouse earlier. He needed time to think.
'Good thing I decided to overdo it when I marked every square meter of this place… I'm running out of ground to stand on though. I might need to run away soon if the heroes don't hurry. Let's see: I could take out Mimic really easily if Overhaul wasn't near him but as long as they're near each other, approaching them is a stupid idea. Those spikes came out fast and I'm not here to do a reaction time test. Rappa is dangerous but he seems to lack any strategic thought beyond "hit the thing really, really hard!" and Katsukame is… pretty much just a bigger, slower version of Rappa but if he grabs me, it's over for me. All of this is on top of the fact that THE HEROES STILL AREN'T HERE?! What do you want me to do, beg?!'
Suddenly, without any warning, a wall exploded into the warehouse, causing dust to fly everywhere and surprising Seigo enough to pop out of the shadow and turn on thermal vision. He could see a large, muscular shadow in the dust cloud.
"Your time is up now, villains!" Seigo's heart almost skipped a beat at the sound of the man's voice. A voice he knew all too well. "Why?" As the dust cleared, Seigo had to suppress the urge to squee as he recognized the red, white, and blue costumed man as he straightened up from his punching pose. His blonde hair was slicked back except for two bangs that stood straight up in a "V" and a smile as wide as his face could allow. "Because I AM HERE!"
"ALL MIGHT?!" Everyone in the room suddenly looked ready to hose their pants except for Seigo who looked ready to bust out a notebook and ask for an autograph. He then quickly realized that he was no longer merged with the door shadow and hurried to merge with it again before someone noticed him.
"Mimic, why wasn't I informed he was in town?!" Overhaul demanded as he removed his second glove.
"I didn't know either!" Mimic said as his hands started to shake as he pointed a gun at All Might. "One of our guys must have dropped the ball and missed him somehow!" He tried to pull the trigger but was stopped by Overhaul.
"Save them. We can't waste the ones we have," Overhaul faced the action again as All Might walked forward.
"Finally… A REAL CHALLENGE!" Rappa roared as he jumped towards All Might and started raining punches at him… only for all of them to miss due to All Might's superior speed.
"HAHAHA, YOU CALL THOSE PUNCHES? THIS IS A PUNCH! New York..." All Might, faster than the eye could see, buried an absolutely brutal punch into Rappa's stomach, "SMASH!" sending him flying the length of the warehouse before crashing and getting lodged into the opposite wall, out cold. "Quality beats quantity! Next time, put your back into it!"
'He's so cool!' Seigo watched with awe as All Might took Rappa straight to Dreamland with a single punch. The confidence on display from the Number One Hero, feeling more emboldened and that everything would be fine as long as All Might was here. Katsukame tried his luck next and threw a huge punch towards All Might that the Symbol of Peace caught with one hand.
"Overhaul, sir! Run awargh!" Katsukame tried to warn his boss but got the same treatment as Rappa, only getting launched into the ground this time. Overhaul quickly put his hand to the ground and assembled a dome around him and Mimic, blocking them from view.
"Don't think you can get away that easily!" All Might broke the cement dome like it was paper mache, only to find nothing. "They vanished? They must have used Chisaki's quirk to disassemble the floor and escape underground. I'll have to inform the police outside about it… And what about you, Noh?"
'EEP!' Now it was Seigo's turn to crap his pants as All Might started walking towards where he was. He must have saw him in the brief moment he was out of the shadow. There was a crate between All Might and the shadow, so Seigo emerged just out of All Might's view as to not give himself away. Beforr All Might could see him, Seigo warped away from the scene. He was here way too long anyway.
Naomasa listened intently to the story, now understanding the full events of that spring morning. He took a sip of his water before speaking.
"So, now that we know what happened concerning Overhaul, I suppose he never did find you again?" Naomasa took note of Seigo's current mood. He seemed a bit on edge like something was eating away at him.
"If he did, he never showed up. With Bloodhound gone, any chance of finding Eri left with him. I knew about the quirk cuffs so I knew that with him in custody, Overhaul would never find Eri again."
"At least until his sentence expires," Seigo looked down at the table. Apparently, he didn't consider that, "Just being in the Yakuza wasn't enough for him to be arrested. Him assaulting an officer is what did that."
"And the others?"
"They're in Tartarus for different reasons," Seigo let out a sigh of relief. He must have been concerned about the members he took out. "Chronostasis for killing a police officer that was interrogating him for info on Overhaul," Seigo's gasped as he heard the news. "The officer had the ability to read the memories of people he placed his hands on. We could never find out what he was hiding, but your story explains that now..."
"He couldn't let anyone know about Eri or what they did to her," Seigo finished as Naomasa nodded.
"It would seem that way. Speaking of Eri, where is she now?" Naomasa knew this was the most important question to ask right now and so did Seigo. He quickly turned away from Naomasa, unable to look at him. "I see. So, you won't tell me?"
"You can't force me to speak. I can't lie if I don't answer the question."
"A fair point but you do realize that your future is a very limited one if you don't cooperate fully with us?" More silence from Seigo as he seemed to be weighing his options. "I'll give you a moment to think about it. I need to use the restroom," Naomasa picked up the report from Tamakawa and left the room, leaving Seigo alone. He turned to the guard that would be guarding Seigo, "If he needs to use the restroom, escort him if you could." The guard nodded before walking in. Naomasa turned around to see that waiting for him outside was Tamakawa himself.
"Tsukauchi, sir, I have an update for you," Tamakawa said with a salute and an… uneasy look on his face...
"At ease, Tamakawa, no need to be so formal," Naomasa reassured with a chuckle. "You're among friends here."
"Well, it involves the parents of Izuku Midoriya," Naomasa's smile faded in a flash at the topic. The officer in front of him not looking too good didn't help matters.
"What's wrong? You couldn't get in contact?"
"Actually, it turns out that the Midoriyas don't even live in this country anymore…" Naomasa needed a second to internalize what he was told.
"...What?" he spoke after a long silence.
"We had an officer in Musutafu go to the address on file this morning, no one was home. We called the cell phone of Inko Midoriya on file, no response from anyone named Midoriya so it must be a recycled number. It wasn't until we sent a second officer to the apartment an hour ago that we finally got the story from the landlord as well as a friend of Inko Midoriya. Last year, after Izuku's case was considered closed and the motion was filed for him to be considered dead in absentia, Inko Midoriya suddenly... 'shut down' and because her husband, Hisashi, couldn't quit his job or they would lose their income as well as numerous other things like his pension, the decision was made for her to leave for the states to live with her husband so they wouldn't have to pay for two homes," Tamakawa finished explaining. Naomasa closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself.
'It's not all bad. Just because they aren't in the country doesn't mean this is a huge problem. As long as we contact them about their son, they'll just fly over or maybe just send them a picture and have them confirm him that way,'
"So, did you make contact with the Midoriyas or not?"
"We've got a friend of the family, Mitsuki Bakugou, attempting on our behalf. Apparently, Inko had to change her number earlier this year so we were running off of outdated information which matched the problem we were having earlier. She's one of the few people in the world with the right number because Inko's parents are both dead and she has no other family that we know of. We're currently looking into Hisashi's info to find his place of business but we're having poor luck on that front too. Get this: he got a new job so the company we called doesn't know where heis either. The Midoriyas, in various ways, are swiftly becoming the HPD's biggest pains in the ass and a lot of the guys want to just give up on that front because they just don't think it matters." Tamakawa finished his long-winded rant about the Midoriya family's inability to be contacted and his frustration with other officers.
"We're contacting the kid's parents to identify him. How does that not matter?" Naomasa asked incredulously.
"That's what I was saying but nooooo, they think the kid is on his way to a correctional facility anyway so it doesn't matter to them." Naomasa realized then that no one had been informed on whatever Nezu was plotting. He just hoped no one started a riot if what Naomasa thought Nezu was planning was found out. "Right now, it's me and two other officers actually trying to find these two," Tamakawa's bad mood was starting to affect Naomasa as he felt just as angry at the poor work ethic on display but he did a better job at hiding it.
"Well, do what you can. I'll speak with Chief Tsuragamae later to see if he could do anything. We just have to hope that Mitsuki Bakugo comes through for us. Is there anything else?"
"There is one thing and it involves Endeavor," Tamakawa replied, causing Naomasa to sigh into his hand.
'Oh, joy, just when things couldn't get any more annoying, the walking fire safety violation shows up,' Naomasa respected the man's work ethic… but that attitude of his… "What did he want?"
"He wants to know why no public statement about Noh's capture has been made. Only that 'we've captured a villain that was terrorizing the streets'."
"What, he wants glory? If we were going to make a statement about it, we'd be giving credit mostly to Eraserhead since he was the one that stopped Noh. All Might and Endeavor actually did more damage to Hosu than Noh himself, funnily enough," Naomasa explained. 'Also, because All For One is connected, that means this is classified to hell and back. Only 10 people in the building have been informed that Izuku is Noh. The rest have been told he's just a thief for now.' He had to think of a way to get the giant flaming hero off his back before he causes more problems.
"This is what you'll tell him: We haven't made a statement yet because we're looking for accomplices and we don't want to give away that he's been captured."
"Understood, I'll see if that will placate him for a while."
"It should. He knows how it goes," Tamakawa saluted before heading back to work, leaving Naomasa to finally use the restro-
"Tsukauchi, come here a minute," Or not. Naomasa was stopped by the deep voice of Yagi calling from the doorway of the observation room.
"What's the matter?"
"It's Nezu. After he read the report, he stormed off towards Chief Tsurugamae's office!" Naomasa would ordinarily dismiss such a claim that someone like Nezu would do such a thing as 'storm' towards the chief's office but his quirk told him otherwise. Still though…
"Are we talking about the same Nezu?" Naomasa asked, unconvinced of such a thing.
"When it comes to quirk experimentation and exploitation like what happened to Noh and Eri, Nezu tends to take it personally since he's been there," Eraserhead explained, still staring towards Noh on the other side of the one way glass before finally breaking the stare to look at Naomasa, "Why do you think he's going so far for this kid?"
Seigo was lost in thought, trying to make a decision on one question: Could he trust Detective Tsukauchi? What would happen to Eri if he did? Would she be made a lab rat again? Or would she just be given shelter until she could control her quirk. What would they do after that? Put her up for adoption so he could never find her again.
If he doesn't trust him though… he'd be sent to a correctional facility for who knows how long and the chances of seeing her again plummet.
Seigo continued to weigh his options before the door opened to reveal the detective returning from his bathroom break.
"Sorry about that," He apologized as he sat back down. "Not sure what my wife put in my breakfast but it didn't seem to want to agree with me there," His attempt at a joke to lighten the mood fell flat as Seigo just stared at the detective. "Right, so have you thought it over?"
"Can I ask a question?"
"Shoot."
"What would happen to Eri if I told you where she is?" Naomasa's eyes visibly widened at the question, though he had expected it would come up.
"The principal of U.A. has been listening to everything you've said since last ni-"
"The principal of U.A. is here?!" Seigo interrupted with a shout, surprising Naomasa. "The Principal Nezu?!"
"Is there more than one Principal Nezu?" Naomasa had to remember that Seigo was considering entering a hero school. He would of course know about Nezu. "Anyway, as I was saying, he's been listening to everything you've said since last night and was outraged when he heard about what the Shie Hassaikai were doing to Eri. Do you know about Nezu's past?"
"I heard he was an extremely rare case of an animal with a quirk but not much beyond that is public." It took a second but the gears finally clicked for Seigo, "He was experimented on?" Naomasa nodded to Seigo's question, "Okay, but, what does that have to do with anything?"
"Nezu is currently petitioning to the Chief of Police to have Eri turned over to U.A. so they can take care of her," Naomasa leaned closer with a warm smile and spoke in a calming voice. "I get that you don't trust the police but can you put your trust in someone who has been in the same place that you and Eri have been? Being used for someone else's gain?"
Seigo had to admit that it was tempting. So very tempting. Nezu at least knew what it was like to be a science experiment for someone else's profit. He could be trusted… maybe.
"I want to hear what's going to happen from Nezu and the police chief before I say anything,"
"And if they agree to have U.A. take Eri in?"
"If she's no longer going to be used like she was before… then I'll talk. I'll tell you where Eri is," Seigo held his hand out as if for them to shake on it, which Naomasa took and shook, though he had to check his palm to make sure there wasn't a mark on it. Thankfully, the quirk cuffs still worked.
"Then we have a deal. I don't think the chief will turn Nezu down but I know you want to hear it from the horse's mouth so we'll change subjects for now," Naomasa suggested, with Seigo nodding in agreement. "This was your second to last job, correct?" a nod, "That means that the last one was last night?" another nod, "That's a year and a half since the fight with Overhaul. What was with the huge delay? Why the long drought if you were desperate for money?"
"Two reasons. First, I was afraid that you guys had found out about Targeted Warp from Rappa and Katsukame who were there during Overhaul's breakdown of it so I knew I needed to lay low for a long time. The copycats really started to rise during this time which didn't help since it it's kinda hard to fade away when everyone's using your name. The second was because I became more committed to actually entering a hero school and looking for Shigaraki that way so I focused on training as well as looking after Eri so there was little time to be Noh but then something came up."
"And that was the last job?"
"I had found an information broker named Trackdown who agreed to give me All For One's location in exchange for something."
"What was this something?"
"He wanted information that he didn't know about. Could be anything so I told him about Shigaraki and Kurogiri, their quirks and affiliation to All For One Thankfully, he didn't know about them so he considered it a fair trade. After that I found out he was in Hosu, I made all the necessary preparations."
The cool November afternoon air blew across the beach as Seigo was carrying Eri in his arms as he walked down the stairs. He agreed to meet with his friends who knew about Eri and needed to talk to them in person so they all agreed to meet at Dagobah beach. It honestly impressed him how much it had changed from April. It was coated across the whole beach in garbage but Uraraka did it. She managed to clean the whole beach spotless. He wondered if she got All Might's quirk yet before a voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Sei!" Seigo turned to see his three friends walk towards him. Tsuyu, who he had known the longest, Uraraka, the bubbly brunette that was chosen by All Might to be the next Symbol of Peace, and maybe Seigo's most unlikely friend...
"Tsu, Ocha, Mino!" Eri shouted as she saw the three friends. They were all dressed for the fall with Tsuyu in a green coat and scarf, Uraraka in a well-loved pink hoodie that had a few tears in places and "Mino" wearing a purple jacket. "Mino" was a tiny, stubby guy only coming up to people's waists in some cases with purple balls sticking out of his head. "Mino '' suddenly got really down at hearing the nickname.
"Eri, I told you to stop calling me ''Mino"! I am not a fish! It's Minoru!" Minoru's attempts to beat the idea of just using his normal name went about as well as it always did. Poorly.
"Frankly, I think it fits perfectly. You're small like a minnow anyway and you tend to smell like dead fish sometimes," Tsu spoke, not missing a beat.
"Yeah, who asked you?" Minoru muttered, sulking a little. "And I smell fine! It's called 'Ocean Male' scented body wash."
"Guys, guys, let's behave. No need to get so flustered over a nickname." Ocha reassured in a cheery tone. "We're all friends, right?" The other four nodded, "Then it's our job to help a friend when he's in need!" Ocha raised her fist in the air with energy, getting everyone to cheer up.
"So, what's it this time? It's rare that we actually all get together like this and you sounded pretty serious over the phone."
"Well, you three know my living situation and it's going to be getting a bit more complicated for a little while." Seigo lied. He didn't want to worry them with what was really going on with him, "I need one of you three to take care of Eri for a few days," The three reacted with surprise.
"Take care of her? Like how? Hide her in our house?" Ocha was the first to speak, the most surprised of the group.
"Why do you need to get rid of Eri so quickly, ribbit?" Tsu inquired calmly with a finger on her chin, trying her best to understand what was going on.
"I'm sorry but…. I can't say why…" The three looked at Seigo for a moment. There was an awkward silence
"Well, then I'm not going to force it out of you," Minoru spoke, seeming the least surprised by this turn of events. "Your business is your business. However, I don't think my mom is going to let me keep another kid in our small apartment. Especially since my mom forbids me from having girls stay the night. Says it might taint me,"
"I think it might be too late for that," Tsuyu dryly pointed out.
"That's what I said but she won't listen," Minoru said with a shrug.
"My family definitely doesn't have enough money. They'd love to have her, honestly, but… we've barely got enough as is," Ocha said with a whine. It was written on her face that she couldn't have Eri over and it hurt her to admit it.
"That just leaves my family… I know Samidare and Satsuki would love to see her. Let me just call my mom real quick," Tsuyu walked away from the group for a second to phone her mother.
"Say, Sei, why did you call us all the way out here? Wouldn't have been faster to just call and ask us?" Minoru asked, a bit skeptical. Seigo gave a nervous laugh before answering.
"I just thought it's been a while since we all hung out, what with everyone's training to get into U.A., so I figured this was a good enough excuse,"
"That sounds great! I haven't seen Eri in forever with how busy I've been,"
"Well, why don't you hold Eri?" Ocha jokingly gasped at the suggestion.
"Can I? What do you think, Eri?" Eri answered by reaching out towards Ocha. Seigo then deposited Eri into the warm and friendly arms of Ocha. "Want to go play in the sand, Eri?"
"Yeah! Let's go!" Ocha let Eri down and had the five-year-old drag her further down the beach. Once the two were out of range of the others, Minoru dragged Seigo down to his level to whisper.
"So, why'd you really drag us out here? More Noh stuff?" Minoru was the only person who knew who Noh was. Not Seigo's choice, though. Minoru was the only one who figured it out on his own.
"It is. I've found where Shigaraki is,"
"So, you're going after him?! Are you stupid?! I thought you gave this crap up when you rescued Eri but now you're really going through with it?!"
"Don't worry. I just need to lead the police and heroes to them and it will work itself out like always!"
"We're talking about the bad guy to end all bad guys here! You told me all about All For One and how he's 'the most powerful supervillain in Japan' and you mean to tell me that you want to send people to fight this guy?! I know how you work, Sei. I've helped you before and I know this is a bad idea like I know that Ochako over there is a total babe. You can't do this."
"I need to make sure this guy is stopped, Minoru. He can steal quirks so maybe he can give them too. Since Shigaraki was sent by him, he knows the reason for all these quirks I have. I need to know why," Minoru was getting really tired of Seigo by the look on his face.
"Fine, but when this goes belly up, I'm not going to be the one to explain to Eri how her brother is a total idiot who can't let the past go or how her brother is a lying sack of shit when he said he was done being Noh," Minoru looked genuinely hurt about this. "And I'm certainly not going to explain how my best friend went and died for nothing." Minoru, with tears in his eyes, stormed off up the stairs.
"Minoru, where are you going?" Tsuyu asked as she was done with her phone call, concerned as she watched her friend stomp away.
"I'm going home!" Minoru shouted as he walked away, trying not to betray the fact that he was crying.
"What did you say to him?" Though her face was as blank as ever, Seigo had plenty of experience by now with reading Tsuyu's emotions. She was annoyed.
"Something stupid," Seigo admitted while scratching the back of his head shamefully, "I'll apologize to him later when we've both calmed down. He probably doesn't want to hear it right now anyway. How'd it go?"
"They'd be happy to look after Eri!" Tsuyu answered with a smile, earning one from Seigo as well, "They even offered to let you two move in with us if you wanted. They don't like the fact that you're still homeless."
"You know I can't. The people who killed Tai are still looking for me,"
"And so, you plan to go to the most high-profile high school in the country?" Tsuyu asked, finger on chin.
"It's perfect because it's high profile. Who would be stupid enough to attack it head-on for one student?"
"Well, maybe. In any case, you better make up with Minoru soon. I don't like getting phone calls after you two fight where he's crying into the phone saying you hate him and he has no friends anymore like me and Ochako don't exist,"
"So, you do think of him as a friend?" Seigo said with a smirk.
"Very distant friend, maybe," Tsuyu turned to walk to where Eri and Ochako were playing.
Later that night in Hosu, Seigo was walking down the streets, looking for the address that he was given. Seigo's heart was beating at a near uncontrollable level. He knew Minoru was right and this was a bad idea but still… He couldn't leave it be. Once he confirmed that All For One, or Shigaraki, or Kurogiri or any combination of the three were there, he could call in the heroes. He hoped they'd be enough.
As Seigo approached the address on the paper he was given, Bio Scanner flipped on. 'Threats,' He started counting all of them in his head. One, two, five, twelve, twenty, forty, way too god damn many. Though one of them was one he recognized.
Shigaraki. He happened to be near another few threats all gathered in a room away from where the main conglomerate of them were. Seigo pulled out his calling card that he had prepared beforehand and sent it to the Hosu police. He just hoped they would respond. While he waited, he needed more evidence of what they were doing. It was a large building that was wide compared to the taller building surrounding it. He noticed that the building had a fenced off alleyway next to it. Seigo warped one of his rocks to his hand and looked around. Seeing no one, he threw the rock through the gaps in the fence and warped to the other side. He followed the alley until he found what he was looking for. A window leading inside. It was taller than him but he had prepared for this. Warping in a step ladder and climbing up it to get a good view. What he saw next, shocked him. Disformed human beings… if you could even call them that anymore, floating in various tanks. Each one was different from the last. Some had beaks, some had extra limbs, some the size of All Might and others smaller than Seigo himself. All had one thing in common though… the exposed brains. Seigo was so shocked by what he was seeing that he wasn't paying attention to Bio Scanner.
"Well, would you look at this," Seigo gasped as he turned to face the raspy voice. He saw Shigaraki in a black jumpsuit, red sneakers, and hands gripping him all over his body. Kurogiri was there as well, dressed like a bartender in a suit and tie though no jacket. Seigo at first felt fear seeing the two of them but he could suddenly hear his heart beat in his ears. Pounding louder and louder. He could feel himself becoming enraged, offended by their existence. He could hear their voices but they seemed muffled like they were talking through water. His vision suddenly turned red until he couldn't even see anything anymore. He blacked out, only hearing one thing inside his head beneath what sounded like static.
KiLl ThEm. ShIgArAkI. kUrOgIrI. aLl FoR oNe. ThEy MuSt DiE.
"You blacked out again? Isn't that different to what you told me this morning?" Naomasa became concerned as his quirk didn't register a lie when they were talking about the recording and what happened after Seigo finished listening to it.
"Blacked out is probably the wrong way to put it," Seigo admitted, "It was more like I was swallowed up in my own head and was no longer aware of what was going on. I could hear some muffled noises like someone was talking but I couldn't tell you what they were saying. It was like I was drowning in boiling water until it just suddenly stopped and I felt myself black out for real."
'That must have been when Eraserhead erased his quirk...'Naomasa theorized.
"Next thing I know, I'm in the back of a police transport with these cuffs on my wrists." Seigo had to make sure not to let anything slip about the one voice he could make out. It sounded… familiar in a way but he couldn't make out who it sounded like. "As far as what was going on, I haven't got a clue."
'So, he wormed around my quirk's weakness by not realizing the two incidents were related because of how different they were,' Naomasa sighed as he looked at the clock. It was almost seven now. The story was over. While he could ask about the crimes against the Trigger factories but it wouldn't really net them anything that he couldn't find out from the files Seigo had collected. There were only two things left.
"Did anyone know that you were Noh before you were arrested? Any accomplices?"
"I never told anyone I was Noh and I did all my jobs on my own," Not a lie but it doesn't answer the question straight. Naomasa felt unsatisfied but decided not to push it for now.
"If you'll excuse me then, I need to honor my part of the deal we made."
Naomasa walked to the door, only to find Nezu and Chief Tsuragamae waiting for him just outside the door. Naomasa stood aside to let the two into the interrogation room with Nezu taking the only chair in the room, leaving the other two to stand. Nezu had in his paw two sheets of paper which he set down on the table.
"Hello, Young Saichirou!" Nezu exclaimed cheerfully, "I'm Principal Nezu of U.A. or often known as the guy you can't quite make out if he's a mouse, a dog, or a bear!" Seigo tilted his head slightly.
"Wait, you mean you're not a badger?" Seigo asked innocently but it prompted Nezu to howl with laughter.
"That's a great one! I've honestly never heard anyone call me that one before!" Nezu quickly regained his composure as the Chief of Police stepped forward.
"I am Kenji Tsuragamae, Hosu's Chief of Police, woof," Seigo had to resist the urge to ask the dog man about the "woof". "You know what we're here to talk about, yes?"
"Eri."
"Correct! I didn't have a whole lot of time to have this made but here is the agreement regarding Young Eri," Seigo was handed a sheet of paper signed by both Nezu and Tsuragamae. "In exchange for handing Eri over, we will agree to have her taken to U.A. where she will receive the best care money can buy as well as teach her how to safely use her quirk. I can personally guarantee that we will neverresort to methods like Overhaul and only treat Eri as she deserves to be treated. Like a normal person." Nezu spoke with such sincerity and enthusiasm that Naomasa could tell that it was getting through to Seigo. He stared at the paper long and hard before looking back at Nezu.
"What happens to her after all that?"
"She'll be free to stay if she wishes as long as she needs to. We'll even allow her to go to school at U.A. if she becomes of age while staying. Given the circumstances regarding her quirk, we believe that she needs a safe haven and U.A. would be the best place for her." Seigo stared at Nezu's black eyes, trying to see if there was a deception. No matter how hard he looked, Nezu's welcoming smile never faded.
"I'm going to need something to write on,"
"You're holding something to write on," Nezu pulled a pen out of his breast pocket and handed it to Seigo who flipped the paper over and wrote down an address as well as a phrase.
"This is the address of my friend Tsuyu Asui. She's taking care of Eri for me. Eri will know I sent you if you say this," Seigo handed the paper back to Nezu who read the phrase to himself.
'Big bro's a poopy head and so he sent me to make every day perfect!' Nezu's smile widened at the message.
"That's adorable! You really do care for her, don't you?"
"Just be careful. She grows on you fast." Seigo said with a happy smile as he moved to return the pen.
"Keep the pen, you'll need it for this next sheet."
"Next sheet?" Nezu quickly set the Eri sheet to his left before picking up the new sheet of paper to his right.
"Yes, indeed!" Seigo read the paper he was handed.
Sworn Testimony and Sentence of Izuku Midoriya (Aliases: Seigo Saichirou, Noh)
I, , on risk of perjury, swear that all testimony recorded on video during interrogation is the truth. I agree to waive a trial by pleading guilty to all charges leveled against me, such as:
Illegal quirk usage
Larceny
Kidnapping
Vigilantism
Resisting Arrest
I, , in exchange for pleading guilty and offering intelligence regarding criminal and villain activity, the following will be enforced:
Must attend a high school while on probation until graduation.
Must wear a GPS locator anklet at all times with certain exceptions applying (showering) via specialty key in possession of legal guardian. Time removed must not exceed ten minutes.
If no legal guardian claims me, I will be placed in the care of a probation guardian until a legal guardian arrives or graduation.
Under house arrest until school begins with exceptions. Permission to leave can be granted by legal guardian or probation guardian at their discretion with exceptions.
Surrender all assets acquired from illegal activity to be donated to the Widows and Orphans of Villain Attacks Fund.
Rules may be added or modified at assigned probation officer's discretion.
I, , acknowledge that any of the following will result in being sentenced to a correctional facility for a minimum of five years:
Expelled from high school and cannot transfer to another in a minimum of 60 days.
Having criminal charges pressed.
Probation officer's discretion.
I, , agree to all of the above and accept full responsibility for my actions, past, present, and future.
Seigo finally finished reading the paper in front of him before looking at Nezu. It was a hell of a deal: In exchange for obeying their rules, he'd be given a second chance.
"There's no way you got all this done in a few hours," Seigo remarked in disbelief.
"You'd be surprised what can get done with a little man power and knowing the right people. A judge has already agreed to the terms thanks to the Chief here vouching for this. That sheet of paper is now as legally binding as any court document. Unless you want to go through the whole mess of dealing with the courts for roughly the same outcome?"
"No, thanks, this is a… way better deal than I thought I was going to get. I really don't deserve this. But I have a question," He knew better than to dream but there was a small part of Seigo that was ready to burst at the thought that sprung to mind.
"Yes?" The principal of U.A, smile only widened with the question.
"It says I have to attend a high school," Seigo himself was smiling shyly, almost scared, "Does that mean…?"
"For the first time ever, a teenager on probation will be allowed to take the U.A. entrance exam!"