Chapter 55: Makoto Hibikiya
"If the one controlling Nomu has a Quirk, that's one thing. But if it's a receiving device, then you police will have some work to do."
Kira watched as the two officers in the detention center diligently took notes. He took a sip of the tea Officer Sansa had provided for him and All Might and added, "You can think of Nomu as a Bluetooth device. The person holding the terminal will automatically connect to Nomu as long as they're within range, and they can control it to escape... If they're planning something bigger, they could just have Nomu lie low for now. When you interrogate it and deem it completely harmless, it could suddenly go berserk. Your lives would be in danger, and the enemies in the detention center could use that opportunity to escape."
"...Then what should we do?" A police officer swallowed hard at the tragic image of himself being flattened into a meat patty by Nomu and asked in a small voice.
"My advice to you is to put Nomu in a room that blocks all signals. Although there's a chance he could find an opportunity the moment you open the door, you can only trust your luck," Kira said with a shrug. "Of course, if you can find out where Nomu's receiving device is early on, you won't have to worry about this."
The two police officers exchanged glances and came to a silent agreement. They had to get their superiors to take this seriously and assign experts to solve this problem—for their own safety!
Seeing that their work here was coming to an end, Inspector Tsukauchi stood up and said to All Might with a smile, "As expected of a U.A. student. He helped us figure out the truth about this monster."
"Haha, of course! He's the class president of our Class 1-A, after all!" All Might laughed heartily, his heart swelling with pride for Kira.
"By the way, are you interested in making him a special consultant for the police, like you?" Inspector Tsukauchi suddenly said. "I think someone with his clear, logical analysis skills is a rare talent that we need. If he's willing to work for the police, he'll definitely achieve great things..."
"Tsukauchi-kun, you know, a kid like him..." All Might interrupted him. "...is definitely going to become a hero."
"..." Inspector Tsukauchi laughed self-deprecatingly. "You're right. That was a stupid question."
"All Might, can I go now?"
Kira walked over to the two of them, and they immediately stopped their conversation. "I want to go to the hospital to see Aizawa-sensei and Thirteen-sensei."
The two of them were seriously injured and had been taken to a private hospital specializing in heroes for specialized treatment.
"Ah, I won't go. I came straight to the police station from the hospital this morning," All Might said, waving his hand to indicate that he wasn't going to the hospital again.
"Kira-kun, do you need a ride? It's rush hour now. If you're going, you might not be able to squeeze onto the subway."
Kira thought about it. If he went to the hospital, he would have to change subway lines several times. He wasn't willing to spend that much money on a taxi. It would be convenient if someone could give him a ride.
Just as Kira was about to say "Thank you for the trouble," a scruffy-looking man burst into the reception room. He was taken aback for a moment when he saw All Might, gave a nod of acknowledgment, and then said to Inspector Tsukauchi, "Tsukauchi, when are you going to release Chenjie?"
He was wearing a messy t-shirt under a leather jacket, the sleeves and collar of which were studded with rivets. A bandana was tied around his long, shoulder-length hair, and his beard looked like it hadn't been shaved in a long time. He looked like a hippie from the 60s or 70s in America, or like a member of a biker gang that had been banned in Japan.
Inspector Tsukauchi paid no mind to his disrespectful tone. He just rubbed his temples and said with a headache, "Hibikiya-kun, I really don't have the energy to deal with your buddy. He's a criminal who attacked U.A..."
"With a garbage Quirk like his, how could he be a criminal who attacked U.A.?" the man snorted, as if he had no respect for the man he was talking about. "He must have thought his group of loser friends were going to a party somewhere and just tagged along. He would never have the idea of attacking U.A. or having any animosity toward All Might."
The man looked at All Might as he said this. "Since All Might is here, why don't you say something? Would you think that a person with a useless 'intuition' Quirk would be an enemy who attacked you?"
"Makoto-kun, I'm not sure about that either..." All Might seemed to be familiar with this person. He scratched his head awkwardly and said with a laugh, "By the time I arrived on the scene, the enemies had already been dealt with by my students and Aizawa-kun. I just cleaned up."
From their conversation, Kira could tell that the person he was asking to be released was a low-level enemy, and he had only had a brief encounter with Shigaraki and the others...
Inspector Tsukauchi's patience seemed to have run out. He coldly ordered him to leave. "Makoto Hibikiya, I respected you as a former Pro Hero, which is why I didn't tell you the truth. But now I understand that no matter what I say to you, it's just a waste of time. Don't you understand? Your so-called buddy, Jodo Chenjie, is a criminal who attacked U.A. In the end, what he did there doesn't matter. But he was at the scene, and that's an established fact. He will be imprisoned as a criminal for several years!"
Inspector Tsukauchi took a deep breath to calm himself and said in as gentle a tone as possible, yet with a serious voice, "Hibikiya-kun, I have already made it very clear to you. He will absolutely not be released. Now, please leave."
While the two of them were talking, Kira took the opportunity to ask All Might, "Who is he? Do you know him?"
"He used to be a Pro Hero. Now he's the lead singer of a band and the owner of a hero agency," All Might squatted down, covered his mouth with his large hand, and whispered, "His temper is a bit special. He can be a little irritable at times. I don't really like to interact with him either..."
Irritable? I didn't see that... But he did say a name that sounded familiar...
"Wait a minute," Kira suddenly called out to the dejected figure. "The person you're talking about, is his name Jodo Chenjie?"
He took off his bandana, looked at Kira with a scrutinizing gaze, and then suddenly clutched his stomach and laughed. "Tsukauchi, has your police department really become an appendage of the Pro Heroes? Are you so desperate that you're even recruiting brats who haven't even grown their hair out yet?"
"Inspector Tsukauchi, let me handle this," Kira said, stopping the inspector, whose expression had changed. He walked up to the hippie who had just mocked him and said calmly, "Mr. Makoto Hibikiya, if I'm not mistaken, the person you want to get out is the guitarist of your band, right?"
"...How do you know?" Makoto said in a hoarse voice. "Have you met Chenjie?"
Kira didn't answer him. Instead, he turned to Inspector Tsukauchi and said, "Inspector Tsukauchi, if the person you're talking about is named Jodo Chenjie, then while he may not be a good person, he's not a criminal either... He helped me."