He was out with Mother!
He never got to go out with Mother!
Usually, he had to stay with Miss Senya, but Mother said that she was sick, and Mister Zetsu was going to be too busy for the day with Grandfather, so Mother had said that he could come along, as long as he promised to be well behaved.
He'd promised too, and Mother had even said that they could go and get ice cream for a treat, if he kept his promise.
He'd had ice cream before, with Miss Senya and Mister Zetsu, but he could never remember his mother taking him for it.
Ever!
This was so exciting.
He couldn't wait to tell Miss Senya all about it when she came back.
He made sure that his shoes matched, that his coat was clean, and that he'd gone the bathroom before he was allowed to go out. He washed his hands, using the Lemillion handwash that had bought just for him - you patted him on the head, and the handwash came out of his mouth, between his teeth.
It was so cool!
He made sure to dry his hands on the hand towel and not one of the big ones, before rushing down the stairs, only remembering to slow down when he saw his mother putting on her favourite black coat.
She smiled, when she was him, and told him to take her hand, as the car came around for them.
This was going to be the best day ever.
=== === === === ===
"Tsukauchi! Thank you for coming".
Despite the drive, Naomasa just smiled in greeting, briefly clasping hands with the other man, "Not at all Tanuma. Happy you think I can help".
"Oh, you'll be able to help alright", Eizo paused, as Naomasa removed his hat and his coat, before taking a moment to sign himself into their station, as the desk sergeant was polite enough to hang up his coat, which was already soaked through, "dealing with vigilantes is something of a speciality of yours".
"Yours too", he couldn't help but point out.
"Normally, yeah", he shook his head, "but these guys are something else".
"We're looking at a team then? Like Naruhata?"
"Could be", Eizo nodded, before he shrugged, "but honestly? We're not sure. Reports are disjointed at best, so we can't tell if we're looking at a team, or one man. My money's on team though".
"Why's that?"
"Because if even quarter of the things that have been said about him are true, then the guy would need about a dozen Quirks to be real. A team that dresses similarly makes more sense; helps them build a sense of unity too".
"It would help disguise individuals too", Naomasa mused, "if they all looked identical".
"That's what I was thinking".
"What else can you tell me, and where do you want me to start?"
"We've put a task force together, hoping we can end this thing before it starts making waves. The last thing we want is word of a vigilante problem. Briefing's just waiting on us".
"Lead on then".
Tanuma's Taskforce had been given their own work area on the top floor of the station, and Tsukauchi was glad to see that everyone was taking their work seriously. Things in Tokyo were never quite so serious, given the prevalence of pro heroes in the area, but he knew that Yokohama was suffering from a serious lack of them, and had been for quite some time.
He'd considered transferring over to the prefecture several times, after his friend had died. Toshinori had built a legacy as a "Symbol of Peace and Justice" and would've been disheartened to see other heroes and officers abandoning a city, simply because he'd died there, but every time he'd looked at the paperwork, there was a small part of him that just pushed back against working in the same place that his best friend had died.
Hopefully, one day they would see each other again, and Toshinori would understand his hesitance, and forgive him for it.
Still, as a recruiting tool, Naomasa had to admit that the new station was impressive. State of the art computers were found on every desktop, with interactive boards lining the walls, smart windows covering the building, and best of all, the new size adjustable coffee station from the DEKU-Luxe line of products.
He didn't need to say anything, as Eizo grabbed two cups, and shepherded him into the conference room. He nodded in greeting to a few of the other officers and detectives, who had swivelled around when the door had opened, but most were chatting amongst themselves, or jotting things down in their notepads. He settled himself against the back wall, as his friend made his way to the friend, and brought the file on the vigilante up on the board behind him.
"Okay, okay, settle down everyone", Eizo took a sip from his coffee, giving everyone a moment to quieten down, as he gently lowered the lighting, "right then, now that we're all here", he did a quick scan with his eyes to make sure that no one was missing, "we can begin".
He took another sip from his coffee, "Over the last several weeks, we've begin receiving reports about an individual or group of individuals, operating as vigilantes within the confines of Yokohama. Reports have varied as to the number of people involved in this operation, however what we do know, is that over the last five weeks, they have committed a combined seventy-eight counts of assault", he gave them a moment to let that sink in, before pressing on, "and those are just the ones that went reported. Now, during this time, the reports we have gathered have revealed certain patterns in this vigilante's timescales and methodology, as well as their skills and abilities".
The room was silent enough that the only other sounds were the faint hum of the computers, and the smattering of the rain against the windows, "Now, this individual or potential group of individuals, the exact number of which remains undetermined, has or have been careful to remain unpredictable, operating in different areas on a random basis, with no pattern that has yet been determined to be clear or discernible. What we do know is that they operate primarily between the hours of midnight and four in the morning and have been shown to be working themselves in what we would describe as an escalating motion".
"What does that mean?"
"Please save your questions for the moment, but I am about to elaborate", Eizo took a gulp of coffee, "he's working his way up, starting at street level crime and working his way up into the upper echelons. For example, three weeks ago, he took out a random mugger in Hiyoshi. He was high and desperate for a fix, so he decided to attack a few college kids and got a good scare and his arm broken in two places for his troubles. A few days after that, he took out that same guy's dealer, leaving her in the hospital with a severe concussion, and just last week, he destroyed the location which we believe was supplying that same dealer, as well as several others, leaving multiple perps in need of medical attention".
"Good fucking riddance", Naomasa heard someone mumble, but with the low lighting needed for the board, he couldn't make out who might have spoken.
"That's enough of that", Tanuma snapped, his eyes glaring in the general direction of the speaker, "there's a reason we have due process. It's supposed to be fair and unbiased, and that process doesn't include broken bones and internal injuries. Whoever these vigilantes is or are, they're going too far, and I won't see it ignored. Not here. Not in my city".
Naomasa nodded and was pleased to see that he wasn't the only one agreeing with him. He understood that sometimes, and only sometimes, the rules needed to be bent, but whoever this was, was smashing through them without a care in the world.
That was dangerous.
With a quick gesture, one of the female officers stood up, clutching a manilla file in her hands, as she made her way to stand beside Eizo, "Officer Okaya will now read a statement from one of the suppliers we arrested, which I hope helps give some context as to what we're all facing", he made a 'go on' gesture with his hands, "Officer, if you would".
"Thank you, sir,", she cleared her throat before beginning, "it was dark, but I still seen it - him - I mean, I don't know what it was. Some freaky Quirk, I guess. All I know is, I heard wings flap. I looked up and there it was, flying down from the sky. The wings must've been thirty feet across, and as it came into land, it roared, like nothing I've ever heard before. Mo, he tried to shoot it, whatever it was, but the bullet just went through it, like a shadow, like it wasn't even there. For a second, I thought maybe it was just an image, or something stupid like that, but then it moved. It was so fast, and so strong. It knocked on Jiwa in one shot. It had claws too, and these little things that flew out from its hands, like little darts. One of them hit me in the chest and I couldn't move, but I could still hear it. It wouldn't stop, not until it got all of us. Little Zozo ran past me, trying to get away, but this thing just reached out, and this rope shot out of its hand, dragging him back towards him. After that, all I heard was screaming".
As Okaya finished her speech, she stepped aside, allowing Ezio to take over once again.
"Right then, you all heard that. That was the most put together testimony we got, but I checked, and it lines up with everybody else's".
"So that's what? His own version of Fierce Wings, Permeation, Claws, Fiber Master, Super Strength and Super Speed? Are we sure these guys didn't just beat each other up while watching the Hero News Network and getting high? That's half the Quirks of the top ten, right there".
"I considered that", Ezio admitted, "but they were all tested and screened when we brought them in. None of them were high and only two of them had any amount of alcohol in their systems. The other nine were clean".
"So, one guy shows up, takes out a dozen guys and just so happens to have the powers of some of the strongest pro heroes. I'm not buying it".
"Could be a copy ability", one officer mused, "or maybe it's mental, like a manifestation".
"Might not just be one ability", another offered, "might not even be theirs".
"True. We could be looking for a team working in the background".
"Or one person and they have more than one Quirk".
"That's never been proven to be a thing".
"What about those creatures from a few years ago? Nomu, I think they were called".
"Never confirmed what they were. HPSC said they all had a strengthening Quirk, besides, apparently there weren't even people, just a bunch of animals that had been experimented".
"Right, yeah, because if we all know that the HPSC's known for one thing, it's their honesty".
"Enough", Tanuma rapped his knuckles against his podium, regaining everyone's attention, "I'm glad you've all got so many ideas, but what we need to do is to start crossing some of them out as possibilities. Now, assignments are all on your desks. Uniforms will help with the rundowns and canvassing. I've brought in Detective Tsukauchi to assist us, as he has experience dealing with vigilantes in the past. He'll be answering to me on this one, for as long as we need him. He's your point man. If you need anything from one of the uniforms, Okaya will be your point of contact".
Okaya nodded, bringing attention back to herself for a moment, and with the lights now once again brightened, it gave Naomasa a chance to get a good look at her. She had bright, almost obnoxiously so, red hair and amber eyes, which stood out against the blue hues of her uniform, but what he noticed most, was the expression on her face. She was resolute, firm in her features, but blank. She'd given no opinion on the vigilante(s?) during her reading of the report, and her face gave nothing else about her away, but he did note that she had been sat in the general direction of whoever had spoken up earlier.
He wondered if she could have been the one who had spoken.
"Tsukauchi, come, I'll show you where you'll be working. Everyone else, get to it already. I want this act brought down yesterday".
=== === === === ===
The suit worked better than he ever could've imagined.
The neuro-muscular amplification system made him stronger and faster than any normal man could ever hope to be, allowing him to clear the gaps between rooftops with ease, leaping from building to building. The black and grey colours of the design allowed him to blend in with the shadows of the night, the soundless silicone soles of his boots allowed him to move unheard, and when he finally reached a gap that was too wide to simply jump across…
He activated the devices in his heels.
The rocket thrusters embedded within gave him a boost, as he snapped open the suit's wings and flew across the distance.
With his features safely hidden behind the mask he wore, he grinned, momentarily enjoying the feeling of flight, before landing on an apartment complex, with barely a sound.
"Come on boys, almost there".
"Nearly got it".
"There we go".
Right below him, a trio were quickly but quietly (for the most part) acquiring what appeared to be two new video games consoles, a retro music player and a bag that he assumed was filled with loose cash and jewellery.
Extending his wings to slow his descent, he leapt down to join them.
Fear.
They looked up as his shadow passed overhead and caught their first glimpse of the Yokohama Vigilante. Instantly, the trio froze up, still carrying their goods, which gave him all the time he needed to stick the landing in the middle of them.
He picked the tallest one as his target; tall and wide, with luminous yellow hair, and simply growled at him, mimicking the 'Freezing Roar' Quirk he'd seen in Africa, and though he lacked the Quirk's actual ability, the tall one froze in place. With his movement momentarily halted, Izuku moved in close, striking swiftly with a solid blow to his throat.
Almost instantly, his hands flew up and he gasped for air, even as he fell backwards, tripping over his own flailing feet and slamming his own head into the concrete behind him.
His hair dimmed, reducing itself to a more natural, blond colour, while he lay slumped against the wall, unconscious.
Though his mouth remained unseen behind his mask, he was smirking.
He whipped around to face the other two, but he'd overestimated the power of their fear.
The trio were young; he'd been expecting young men, likely in their twenties, but while the tall one could've passed himself off as being twenty-one, the other two barely appeared to be sixteen.
They were just kids.
And now, they were scared.
Too scared to think properly.
The smallest one, whose face didn't even look old enough to shave startled at the sight of him turning around and called out for his, "Mommy". He wanted to run, but there was nowhere for them to go, and as he span around rapidly, panic setting in, he slipped, straight over the side of the building.
They were at least twelve storeys high, and at that height, a fall would be lethal.
And whatever else he was, Izuku had promised himself, had sworn to his mother, that he would never be a killer.
His suit's appearance may have caused the fall, but it was only thanks to suit's systems that he was able to cross the distance quickly enough to grab the kid's ankle and was strong enough to use it to hold him up.
"Grrrh", he grit his teeth for a moment, as the kid thrashed and flailed, before hitting the side of the building.
"WH- WHAT?! HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP!"
Before he could pull the kid up, the third one struck, his kick finding the large gap between his extended arm and his body, slamming into his ribs with a not inconsiderable amount of power.
The kick was good, good enough that he recognised it as coming from a trained fighter, but thankfully, the damage was minor.
The boy he was holding screamed like a girl when he grip loosened, but his friend apparently didn't realise what was happening, because he reeled back to take another swing at him. The suit would protect him from any real physical damage, Izuku knew, but the impact could be enough to cause him to lose his grip.
He couldn't allow that to happen, which meant he only had one shot at stopping it.
And his timing had to be perfect.
He waited, letting the kid pull all the way back, before he moved.
The leg swung forward as he twisted sideways, the foot only narrowly missing his back. His grip on the ankle tightened, as he grabbed the kicker's leg the same way and then twisted him around, throwing him off balance, and with a roar, pulled it upwards as quickly as he could. The kid's body followed the motion, his legs straightening out, dropping him on his head and knocking him out instantly.
With a sigh of relief, he pulled the third body, now finally limp, upwards and settled him beside his two friends.
The blood rushing to his head, combined with the thrashing and the screaming had been enough to cause him to pass out. He did a quick check that none of his ribs were broken, thankful that the dull throb he felt was most likely just a bruise, before sending an anonymous tip to the police and ambulance services.
Moving to higher ground, he watched from a nearby rooftop, as the boys were collected by the emergency services and sent away on gurneys, shaking his head as he listened in on the calls, which revealed that they were all minors.
He'd been lucky tonight.
He'd been picking people off on his other nights, targeting them one at a time and clearing the board, treating it like a chess match, but tonight, he'd leapt in, not bothering to assess the situation properly, overconfident as he was, in his own skills and the breadth of his near non-existent experience.
He was once again a novice, a rank amateur, and tonight, his overconfidence in his own abilities had almost gotten a child killed.
He'd been lucky.
=== === === === ===
Perhaps it was foolish of her to have not expected any trouble that day, but she was only carrying out her actual business for the day, dropping off a handful of contract documents, which needed to be signed and witnessed. She hadn't anticipated anyone bothering her and had chosen to make something of a day out of it.
With Zetsu unavailable to her, and Senya having called in sick earlier that morning, she was shorthanded on people that could look after Yojo for her. She could have delayed and offered her apologies to her father's business partners, but instead, she chose to simply take Yojo along with her. Her business shouldn't take long, and she hadn't been able to spend much time with him lately, and today would allow her to spend some extra time with him.
Senya was usually a godsend when it came to looking after him, as Zetsu had once been for her, but even the best employees needed to take the occasional sick day.
While her father primarily operated out of Tokyo, she was well-accustomed to seeing him fly around the world to meet with new investors and business partners, often taking him out of the country for weeks at a time. Now that the government finally having declared Central Yokohama stable, after the devastation that it had suffered a decade ago, quite a number of new businesses were popping up, lured in by the empty real estate and proximity to Tokyo. Her father had taken quite a number of local meetings over the last year, and she knew that there would be many more to come in the near future. She'd offered to take several of them off his hands, and would, she knew be taking several meetings of her own in the coming months, especially as she prepared to take over his business, but for now, she was content to enjoy her lighter schedule.
Yojo, she was pleased to see, was also comporting himself well. Dressed in a crisp white shirt and a red jumper free of loose threads, she had to admit that he did look adorable, as well as well-groomed. She'd heard him running down the stairs, making sure that he slowed down to a walk before she could see him, and remembered being the same way, when her parents had told her that she was joining them. His coat was black, and similar enough to hers that it looked like they matched, which she didn't doubt was intentional on his part, when he had been asked to pick one out.
Even his shirt and jumper were mimicking her blouse and blazer.
In fact, the biggest difference that she could see was their hair. While her own remained raven black and as glossy as ever, much like that of both her parents, Yojo's was a dark shade of blond. It had been brighter when he was born but had darkened slightly in the few years since. She had her hair pulled back in a professional ponytail, while Yojo had asked to have his styled backwards in a coif, nearly identical in appearance to the one worn by his grandfather.
She didn't doubt that it was her father's influence that had her son reading comic books in the back of their car, quietly thumbing through his favourite issues, as they drove from brief meeting to brief meeting. For reasons that she had never understood, her father abhorred children constantly using computers instead of printed pages, even if it was just to read what he would consider, "that lesser, lowbrow literature".
Still, he was at least polite enough to complain about it after dark, when Yojo had gone to bed, and wouldn't be able to hear him.
They got through all seven of her meetings before lunchtime was over, and she was simply happy that there had been no complications that she needed to send more time on, smoothing over and making corrections. Now, there were seven copies of signed contracts in her briefcase, which only needed her father's signature before they were made official.
She nodded to herself, "I think we've earned a treat".
She smiled as Yojo's face lit up in excitement, and he all-but ran back towards their car. Their driver for the day, a tall, thin woman with particularly long, bright green fingernails held the door open for them, and they slipped inside.
"Can you find the nearest Cream King please?"
"Right away, ma'am".
Between the gentle flow of the day, and her son's excited expression, she never considered something would go wrong after all of her work was done. She had her contracts signed, ready for her father, and all that was left was taking her son for a treat that she felt he'd earned, and one that she was looking forward to herself.
They came out of nowhere.
From where she was sat, looking out of the tinted windows, with the occasional glance back at her son, she could see that the colour of the traffic lights hadn't changed when the car darted forwards.
"Excuse me! What are-"
The next thing she remembered was pain.
The van hit them from the side, plain white, the vehicle of an average trader, hitting the side of her car. Unlike her son, she hadn't been wearing a seatbelt, but for once, that might've been a good thing.
Within the car's empty space, she had rolled with the impact, instead of being crushed by it.
Everything after that was seen through blurred vision, and the mother of all headaches.
She hit her head on the seat in front of her, before rolling to the floor. The door was wrenched open, and she remembered the relief she felt when she saw the driver pull her son from the car. He was safe. She vomited from the pain in her head, a concussion, she assumed, and tried to blink away her dizziness.
"Mother!"
"Yojo", she murmured, trying to force herself to stand, "Yojo".
"Mother!"
"Yojo!"
She yelled, gritting her teeth and forcing herself to sit up, ignoring her pain, as she found herself staring into the faces of her parents.
"Mother? Father?"
"Oh! Momo!"
Her mother threw her arms around her, almost crushing her, while her father's entire body had sagged forwards, "You had us quite worried", he admitted, "but the doctors said that you would be alright".
Doctors?
The accident!
"Yojo", she gasped, swaying on her seat, as all of the memories rushed back to her at once, "the driver got him out. Is her alright? Where is he? Why isn't he here?"
The two of them bowed their heads, and Momo saw an expression on their faces that she had rarely seen their before.
Guilt.
"Miss Yaoyorozu?"
A police officer was stood at the foot of her bed, with a head of shockingly bright red hair.
She blinked, confused, "Yes?"
"I'm Officer Okaya with the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Department. I'm sorry to rush you, but this is important. Can you describe exactly what happened to you?"
"Describe the accident?"
"If you can, please".
"The driver, I'm sorry, I don't remember her name, jumped a red light. A van hit us, it was white, if that matters, and I wasn't wearing a seatbelt, so I hit my head. I saw the driver get my son out, but all I remember then is waking up here. I thought I heard him asking for me, but that could've been in my head".
"And that's everything you remember?"
"Yes", she forcefully stated, starting to lose her temper, "now, can someone tell me where my son is?"
"Your father said that you used an agency driver today, not one of your regular staff. Is that correct?"
"It is".
"And you hadn't met them before today?"
"No. What does this have to do with what happened?"
"And your usual aide was unavailable due to personal reasons?"
"She called in sick".
"Okay, Miss-"
"Will someone tell me where my son is?!"
Officer Okaya looked chagrined, but nodded, carefully tucking her notepad and pen safely inside of her jacket, "Miss Yaoyorozu, yesterday afternoon at approximately one-seventeen in the afternoon, your vehicle was targeted by an unknown group of people. The exact number of people involved is also unknown".
"Wh- what? Targeted?! Are you sure?"
"Yes, we're aware of the driver that hit you, and at least three accomplices, including-"
"Senya", she breathed.
"-and yesterday's driver, yes. The job was rushed, sloppy, and we suggest poorly planned, but based on the evidence we've seen, yes, we're sure that this was a targeted attack", she sighed, before straightened herself up fully, "Miss Yaoyorozu-"
Her voice was quiet, as she asked, "And my son?"
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your son has been kidnapped".
=== === === === ===
Author's Notes:
It's weird how chapters compare in writing. I spent well over six weeks writing and tweaking chapter four, but less than thirty hours passed between starting and finishing the first draft of chapter five. I quite literally started it on Thursday afternoon and finished it on Friday night. Weird.
In the original draft, we started with Izuku's patrol, then moved into the police briefing, and finished with the section featuring Yojo's interaction. I intended to simply extend all three sections but found that moving them around and bookending the chapters with the Yaoyorozu mother-son duo was a much better read.
Yojo Yaoyorozu is Momo's son, "Yojō | 余剰" means "Surplus", (his entire family are named after numbers and other quantitative meanings), which is keeping in line with Momo's name meaning of, "Hundred". Yojo's Quirk hasn't come in yet, but having just recently turned four, it's expected to start showing up any day now.
Senya is a random name I chose, with no significance, while Zetsu, the Yaoyorozu Family's Chief Aide is named for the character of the same name from the Naruto series. His Quirk, "Separation", allows him to split himself into two beings, "White" and "Black", however each one only gets part of his personality. White is generally very timid and non-confrontational, while Black is aggressive and quite willing to engage in violence. As a result, Zetsu generally avoids using his Quirk, unless in extreme measures, which is why he wasn't with them today.
For those not aware, Eizo Tanuma is a police detective featured in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. He's a good cop, a little jaded at this point, but remains a good cop; and is now the Superintendent in charge of the newly built Yokohama Police Station. For those wondering, Naomasa is an Inspector, now currently on loan to the station.
Officer Shitsuka Okaya is an original character created for this series, based out of the Yokohama Station of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Department. Her family name comes from the words "oka | 丘", meaning "hill", and "ya | 谷", meaning "valley". The second part of her name, "ya", is shared with, "Midoriya", and the translation of her name, "hills and valleys", is the same as the name, "Montoya", which is of Basque origin. Renee Montoya is a police detective and vigilante first introduced in Batman: The Animated Series. Her first name, "Shitsuka | 質ター", is a combination of the beginning of "Shitsumon | 質問", meaning "Question", and "ta | ター", meaning "victor", which are references to Montoya's comic book mentor and predecessor, Victor Sage AKA The Question.
The 'Freezing Roar' Quirk mentioned by Izuku, is based on the 'Battle Roar' ability of Rumshi, the God of Destruction for the Tenth Universe in Dragon Ball Super. Anyone who hears it is paralysed, but as he has no Quirk of his own, all Izuku does is mimic the growl.
The in-universe milkshake and ice cream store, 'Cream King', is a play on the real life 'Dairy Queen' chain of stores, based out of the USA.