Chapter Text
“You may have saved a child, but there’s still more than you can count out there, I did nothing to her compared to some people. You hero won’t understand, helping everyone is impossible. She’s one of our only chances to heal humanity from the sickness of quirks.” With those words, Kai Chisaki was taken away for good, he would rot in prison for what he did for the rest of his life. Eri was saved, finally out of the claws of that monster of a man. This still had a price, Sir Nigheye had just died a few hours ago and a UA student lost his quirk to save a tortured and abused child. Aizawa had hoped that no unnecessary harm would come in this mission, some of his students were involved after all. All he could do for now was to wait for the little girl to wake up as he sat on a chair in front of her hospital room. He was tired, and needed coffee, but the last words Kai Chisaki, also known as Overall, said just left him in a contemplating state. He couldn’t save all those children, there were more children, Overall knew more about what was happening in the underground. It was almost like a challenge, like he was saying ‘I’m not the only one, go on and try to catch all of us’. Of course Aizawa knew about human trafficking, he knew children were massively impacted in this ever since the appearance of quirks. But what Overall tried to tell was that it was a much bigger problem than anticipated, he had to investigate, to at least try and get as many childrens as he could out of an environment like the one Eri used to be in, he hated to see kids suffer for adult’s sake.
Seven, seven different institutes of possible child trafficking contact were found in the base, there was note about future children and ideas to experiment on, Eri was their first try, if they succeeded then they would have bought more children. Bought, this word felt strange when used in this context. Here was the proof, and seven more tracks to search, Kai Chisaki had contacted those seven “institutes”, there was a link, some replies or at least proof a reply used to exist. Who knows how many of those he had contact with ? The only one they found track of were the ones who replied, who had a direct link. Unfortunately some were far, too far for them, two in Yokohama, a closed off city ever since quirks appeared, and two others were overseas, which only left three in their perimeter to work with.
One note of Chisaki caught his attention in particular, it says “78 ; Powerful, but expensive. In the —---- Orphanage, call the collector when we have the necessary funds.” No address, no phone number, just a name for the seller. Eri wasn’t awake yet, she had a fever, he looked back down the paper as if it would magically manifest more information. He sighed, he had to be part of the next operation, he looked back to the window from Eri’s confinement room, he was worried. That's when the man felt a buzz coming from his pocket, he took out his phone to read the message ‘hey Aizawa, I hope you are recovering well. When the hospital discharges you, can you please come to my office ? we have found more things I hope to discuss with you.’ Aizawa sighed, the hospital already discharged him, his injuries were only minor compared to his student’s and the little girl’s. He stepped up and walked toward the exit, as he was walking down the hallways he shot a few glances toward his students and coworker’s room.
The ride back to UA was fine, when Eraserhead had replied to Nedzu, his boss sent him a driver to get to UA safely. It was calm, the driver didn't try to make much small talk and he was left to his thoughts. Once he was in front of the gate, he scanned his keycard to enter the fence, walked to the main building’s entrance and made his way to Nedzu’s office, his mind was calming as he reach the door, before he could knock, the door opened, revealing a small mouse-bear-cat like creature, Nedzu spoke ;
“-Ahh, Aizawa, it’s great to see you out of the hospital, come in. Nedzu, the small creature spoke happily, but Erasurehaed knew it was just a matter of seconds before the creature’s manners changed to serious one.
-It’s great to see you too, Nedzu. The man spoke carefully as he stepped in the room, some other heroes who participated in the Shie Hassaikai fights were present, only those who left almost unscattered or were also discharged were present. So now in the room were only Gran Torino, Aizawa, strangely All Might and of course Nedzu.
-Take a seat. Now I will explain to you three why I asked you to come here. As you know we found notes and part of reports about other children's Kai Chisaki was planning to buy, again ‘children to buy’ felt strange, it felt wrong, like those words didn’t belong together, but Aizawa kept listening. we found more notes regarding one child in particular ; 78. The location said is in Yokohama, but this is a matter of time before All for One takes this kid. Here you can read it as I project it on the board. “78 ; Powerful, almost perfect, he might grant Immortality with his regenerative capacities. The LoV want him but neither do we or them have enough funds to buy him and properly experiment his powers. The Collector has a great interest in him and we cannot put it aside. As for his durability I believe-” The rest of the document has been burnt, but it already said a lot. Nedzu continued Although the kid is in Yokohama, I might have a way in for us to investigate. I am sure, All Might, that you understand why you are here. If this 78 kid has an important ability to regenerate a body, and the League of Villains is actively trying to get him, that means they have a plan and are trying to get All for One back. I will try and get a hold of my contact to get us in Yokohama, for now you can go. And just as quickly as the meeting started it ended.”
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Fukuzawa was peacefully sitting in his office chair, waiting for his tea to cool down a bit and reading the latest reports he got from his employees. This morning he had heard about a fight to save a young girl outside of the barrier, the criminal apprehended by those so-called heroes seemed familiar, but he didn’t think much about this story until Haruno had redirected a call to him.
“-Yes ? Fukuzawa Yukichi of the Armed Detective Agency, what can we do for you ? The middle aged man spoke, his tea was now at the perfect temperature as he blew a bit at the surface of his tea.
-Fukuzawa, it’s nice to talk to you again, I’d like to say this is a call made as an old pal who just wants to talk for a bit, but sadly this isn’t what I’m calling for. A familiar voice spoke through the phone.
-Oh and what matter has made the director of UA call me this nice morning ? Fukuzawa said, pleased to hear Nedzu’s voice.
-I’m sure you have seen the news about the fight this morning, I’ll give you some details later but I have a request for your services. You see, the group of Yakuza we arrested have been experimenting on a child, now she is safe, but in their base we found documents about other projects they had. They were in contact with two entities in Yokohama which they were planning to buy kids from. As we know one of them is the Port Mafia, but we don’t have much information about the second, even though this project seems to their main priority along with another group of villains, so here is my request ; I would like for you to let a small group of heroes with me to have a first meeting and a collaboration to save those kids and arrest these group of villains that seems to make their way in Yokohama. What do you think about it ?
-Nedzu, you should know by now that I would do anything to save a child, of course I accept, but since the child you want to save is from Yokohama I have one condition, that the kid is placed under my care and is not forced out of his homeland.
-It’s understandable, I am looking forward to our meeting.
-I do as well, Haruno will call you back for a date, farewell Nedzu.
-Goodbye, Fukuzawa.” And with that the call ended, but now he had something more important to do, contact Mori.
Now Fukuzawa had to calm his mind, he checked his emails and saw that Nedzu already sent him more information, he read it and drank his tea. Having a clear mind in this sort of thing is important, he checked the information about the boy, not much but his employees would do with it, the first thing was to get the localization of the kid and as much information they could get from the orphanage. Fukuzawa ordered the documents, sent them to print with a note to give to Ranpo, he sat up once his tea finished, and walked out of his office. On his way out of the agency, Fukuzawa ran into Ranpo, who strangely enough, already had the file that just finished printing, he looked up to Fukuzawa and asked ; “So, who’s dead in this case ?” Ranpo had a curious look on his face, he answered “Nobody yet, we are going to work with some heroes from Musutafu, and potentially the Port Mafia, I’m on my way to see Mori. Look at the case, tomorrow or in three days maximum we will have a meeting.” Ranpo seemed satisfied enough for now, Fukuzawa could continue on his way out of the ADA, the Port Mafia headquarter were a bit far from the agency but not far enough for Yukichi to drive, he would walk instead.
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The Port Mafia Boss’ office, it was dark, gloomy, there were blood stains from the previous boss that were left unwashed on the wall. The faint light from the tall window was the only source of light in here, it was starting to get dark, the sun was setting, and after a long day of work Dazai was in here for some unknown reason. The Boss called him at the last minute and now that he was in, they were waiting, for what you ask ? Like Dazai had any idea, the old man just called him in, like that, no explanation. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, someone knocked on the door, Mori answered and finally something happened, Dazai was getting bored to death in here !
As Fukuzawa walked in the room, Mori smiled, a genuine one with a bit of poison lurking behind. Fukuzawa took a seat at the opposite of Mori, and Dazai just stood there, they weren’t in the meeting room after all. Fukuzawa started.
“-Mori, you know I was surprised when I heard you let so called ‘villains’ into Yokohama. Nedzu, the director of UA, you must know him, he called me. He and some heroes will enter Yokohama soon, I will not lie, I am here to ask you for information regarding the Collector and request an alliance against a common enemy. Fukuzawa spoke harshly, there was some kind of tension between the two.
-Alright, and what can I benefit from this alliance ? My dear Dazai here is the one who has the most information about the Collector, I could have called Nakahara, but I don’t think he is necessary. Mori answered, he was still smiling, a fake innocent expression on his face.
-I see, you planned it already. Was having those ‘Yakuza’ arrested already in your plan, isn't this confidential ? I know this boy is your right hand, but shouldn’t we talk privately ? Fukuzawa raised a brow as he looked at the boy, he was thin, very thin, a lot of bandages were covering a major part of his body, not to mention how exhausted he looked.
-Oh my, do you want to talk about our love life now dear ? You know we can still move in together like we used to~ Fukuzawa looked flustered but quickly changed his expression to a mix of severe and disgust. Ok, ok I got it, we’re not moving in anytime soon, but this collaboration might be good, we hoped Shie Hassaikai were different from all those ‘villains’ but they failed. We haven’t truly collaborated, just gave them a few contacts as they had an interesting potential. The LoV would have been needed to deal with anyway. Dazai, you and Chuuya will be working on this, inform him for me, you can leave the adult talk now. Dazai did just as he was told, not without a few complaints of course.
-Ougai, who is this boy exactly ? He seems to be in quite bad health… Don’t tell me you’ve been torturing kids again. Fukuzawa had a severe look on his face.
-No, no of course not, you know me- That’s why I’m worried for him- Fukuzawa interrupted. I just met him as his doctor, most of it was done by himself, the rest by work. He’s fine, for the last two years I’ve been doing my best to keep him alive. Besides, he’s been doing better for a year now ! I was right about making him and Nakahara work together, just like the old man. You would know if we get back together.
-Quit talking about that. I’ll think of it after this case is closed, after all we never truly divorced.
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It was cold, too cold in his little cage, Atsushi, usually known under 78, was shivering in the cold. He was cold but all he had was his tail, he wished the tiger from his dream could lend him her fur, but all she let him have for now was this tail and his enhanced senses. Atsushi hugged his knees tighter, he wanted to lie down but was forced in a sitting position by those chains. He wanted to go, to be free, but he was stuck in this cold cell. His doctor didn’t want to see him today, he found himself happy about it, but nobody came to see him today, sure no one laughed at him, or hurt him, but he didn’t get any food either. Atsushi felt cold and hungry, he felt like he was all alone, no one would come to save an orphan like him. No one would come to save someone who’s even their own parents abandoned, he had no right to cry about it, no one would come and he deserved it. As the sun started to set, he felt the usual nighttime dizziness taking over him, he wondered for a moment if she would come see him in his dreams tonight ? And as the light of the sun disappeared to only let in the faint light of the moon, Atsushi felt the warmth of fur envelope his body, he also felt the hunger who was eating him from inside intensifying, his body started to shift as he fell into unconsciousness.
Atsushi only remembered from after when he woke up, at two in the morning, the unpleasant yet familiar sensation of hunger had disappeared. He only remembered dozing into sleep then waking up here, out of his cell, his cage, he had disobeyed, if the fact he was now in front of the library was any indication. He gently pushed the door open, he couldn’t go back to his room, he knew for a fact that after escaping, he couldn’t just walk back to his room and act like nothing happened. The library was big, like really big, but he had already read most of the books that were accessible for his height, he could jump to catch more, it would wake up the headmaster and only make his punishment happen faster. Atsushi wandered a bit, he wandered to the back area, it was locked, but he strangely remembered the place as he looked into the small window. He had never been in this room even though it was strangely familiar, sometimes Atsushi barely remembers, he mostly has memories of his dreams with the nice tigerlady.
Atsushi remembered that once when he sneaked out of his room when he wasn’t attached, he caught a glimpse at the other kids watching TV, Atsushi was never allowed to watch TV, and the other kids seemed excited. As he remembered the sweet memory of observing the other kids, the rest of the story quickly came to his mind. Another kid snuck behind him as he was watching from afar and pushed him, causing Atsushi to stumble and fall, the other kids who were watching TV heard of the commotion and came running. That’s when Atsushi’s hair had been cut like that for the first time, yes he successfully watched a bit of TV, but now he would forever have this haircut and the scars from the punishment he received after breaking two rules. This memorie left a bitter taste in his mouth.
The time passed as Atsushi reread one of his favorite books, and soon the headmaster would come to wake him up only to be met with an empty cell, broken chains and a child to find. It didn’t take him long to know where Atsushi was, and as a new day started in the orphanage, so it did in the rest of Yokohama and Japan.
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Only a few heroes were mandated for this mission, after all Yokohama wouldn’t let too many heroes in and this was also a mission linked to All For One. That is why, only Midoriya was following them as a UA student, the hospital discharged him today and as Aizawa wouldn’t be here for the little girl if her quirk got out of control again, she was with him as well. Luckily, Nedzu had informed him he knew a good doctor in Yokohama, apparently she seemed to have a healing quirk. So here they are, in a car going to the closed off city, Aizawa had with him All Might, Midoriya, Gran Torino, Nedzu and of course Eri. The driver was an agent of the people they will be working with, he was a medium sized man, black hair, black suit, sunglasses, he had not talked once after greeting them, much to Aizawa appreciation.
The ride was about two hours long, at some point they stopped and got controlled near the barrier, Eri was sleeping in his arms. Earlier she had woken up, but she still had a fever. They got into the city and finally got to the place, it was a simple building, it was less extravagant than the one in Musutafu though. When they entered, the smell of coffee welcomed them. The first floor was a cozy coffee shop, which was good for Aizawa. The barista quickly noticed them and started talking to Nedzu, he had already come here. Then they took an elevator to get to the agency floor, they walked out of it as soon as they reached the right one and went down the hallway. Aizawa had to admit, this place felt warm, cozy, then they finally reached the door, a metal plate attached to it with the words Armed Detective Agency engraved in it. The door opened.
“Hello, welcome to the Armed Detective Agency, I’m Haruno, how can we help you ?” A young woman in her twenties greeted, but before the heroes could answer, someone interrupted them. “Oh, Nedzu, it's been a while, Haruno, can you tell the president our guests are here ? Did you bring me any sweets we don’t have here ?” A young man asked, strangely enough he knew Nedzu personally, and talking about the rat, he handed the boy a bag of sweets. The boy thanked Nedzu before their hosts came, of course to be around the same height, the principal of UA had to climb on Aizawa and get himself into his capture weapon. A man with a strong presence came, he was wearing a green kimono and had medium gray hair that fell on his shoulder, the man nodded to everyone before shaking Nedzu’s hand.
“-Nedzu, it is a pleasure to see you again. As for this case, I believe you know I have contacted Mori, and therefore we will work together. The rat nodded before speaking as well.
-Yes, it is great to see an old friend again. I am aware of the truce you two had, and as you contacted him, I assume he had precious information about our enemy ? Nedzu asked.
-Oh I believe it is time to introduce both of our parties. I am Fukuzawa Yukichi, the founder and president of the ADA, Ranpo, Akiko, Katai. Please introduce yourselves. Three people came out of their occupations, the boy from earlier came back, a lollipop in his mouth, a tall woman with short dark purple hair and a butterfly hair clip, and a teenager with black messy hair and round glasses approached.
-I’m Edogawa Ranpo, soon to be the best detective in the world because of my ability, Ultra Deduction !! The young man said in a childish yet serious tone, still eating his lollipop.
-Akiko Yosano, I’m a doctor and of course a detective. This little girl seems sick, do you want me to take care of her ? The woman, who seemed a little too young to be a licensed doctor in Aizawa’s opinion, asked, glancing at Eri.
-Yes, I would like you to treat her if it doesn’t bother you, she’s just out of the hospital. Aizawa said he couldn’t hide the concern in his voice.
-Alright, President, should I do a full treatment ? Akiko glanced worrily at Eri’s bandages as she took the girl in her arms.
-I think it would be better, I think her guardian will agree for a full recovery, what do you say ? Fukuzawa now looked at Nedzu, he was thinking, but seemed to agree as he nodded to the girl, she left with Eri in her arms. And this is Katai, Fukuzawa showed the teenager from earlier, he is our most recent member, he is a bit shy.
-Hello, Katai, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m principal Nedzu. This is a teacher from UA, Eraserhead, he gestured at the mind he had climbed on earlier, Gran Torino, All Might and Midoriya, a student from class 1A. The rat showed all of them before adding,Oh and the girl you saw is Eri, the one I talked about in the document I’ve sent you Fukuzawa. He looked at the man one again before Fukuzawa gestured for them to follow him to the meeting room.”
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It was annoying, Dazai had to go to the so called Armed Detective Agency, there would be pro heroes… He’s the Demon Prodigy damn it ! And of course he had to go with Mori out of all people, it seemed ridiculous, the Port Mafia Boss and his right hand man, working with detectives and heroes from the outside. If Dazai didn’t learn that Mori had a husband and was so desperate to get back with him, he’d say the whole deal wasn’t worth the trouble. But here he is, in a car going to the ADA. Wait, if Mori and his husband get back together, does that mean he and Q will have two dads ? Mori was already pestering him trying to be his father, but if he gets back with his husband… Oh no, Mori will probably try to get them all to live together, Dazai likes the privacy of his shipping container, oh and if Chuuya learns about it… he’ll tease Dazai till death, and this wasn’t a way Dazai considered good enough to die. Kouyou will probably snitch to Chuuya if that ever happens, Dazai has a new mission ; Getting Mori and his husband as far as possible from each other so Mori is less annoying.
Finally, they arrived at the ADA headquarters, all Dazai could say was that it was more comfortable than his shipping container, that’s for sure. Though it was way less fancy than the Port Mafia’s, it still had something of its own, Dazai didn’t find the word though. The elevator was cramped and he had to be even closer to Mori than usual, great, this day was starting out nicely huh. When they entered, only a few secretaries were in sight, Mori presented them and they were redirected toward the meating room. They found themselves in front of a group of people Dazai knew weren't from here, and some agency members. There was a teen around his age and a child, Dazai won’t be questioning that today, the heroes's mentality was one of the most absurd thing he heard of lately.
“-Mr president, our other guests are here. A girl said. She was pretty, but Dazaii didn’t really care now.
-Mori, I see you brought the executive from yesterday, welcome to you two. As you can see our allies already arrived. The old man from yesterday, Fukuzawa if he remembers well, greeted them as he gestured for them to take a seat.
-Fukuzawa, Nedzu, it’s a pleasure to work with you two once more.For those in here who don’t know me, I am Mori Ougai, the leader of the Port Mafia. Now Dazai, please introduce yourself. Dazai didn’t want to, but if he had to work with everyone in here, he might as well have a bit of fun.
-I’m Dazai, one of the five executives in the Port Mafia. He said blankly, he just wanted the meeting to start already. That is when they finally sat down, taking a seat across the heroes, next to the Agency members, that it finally started.
-This meeting is for an important case, our enemy is known for his massacre a few months back. Our objective is to put a stop to the collector’s plan as well as rescue a child who seems to have a great ability. He made a pause to watch everyone in the room and put the information they got on a board, he turned now to watch for Mori and Dazai. The Port Mafia ended the conflict in a night and have more information than anyone on our enemy, now please Mori. he stopped talking, Mori displayed a smile before speaking.
-Thank you Fukuzawa-dono, it is true we were the one who ended the Dragon Head conflict. We, as well as every major force in Yokohama, have lost a lot in this feud. We thought Soukoku had killed the enemy, but it seems like we need one more strike to completely defeat our opponent. He had that sly smile on, Dazai hated it, but he knew it was time for his part soon. Dazai here knows him better than anyone, would you mind sharing our intel, Dazai ? He sight.
-Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, 29, ability unknown in the details. He is responsible for the suicide of ability user, we don’t know if this affect on quirk user. His motive is boredom, and he is being led in his ideas by the demon. He is especially powerful, a very clever opponent, but he should have been weakened by our attack three months ago. I will give more details if needed, but now why would he be interested in a child ? Dazai asked, wanting the information from the other end.
-Well here is what we have.”
Nedzu started to uncover their findings from the last meeting, something was bugging him, immortality ? He most definitely had an ability and not a quirk, but something felt… strange. Something in his mind told him to relook into his own memories, his eyes glanced at the other teenager, as well as the little girl, he had to ask Mori later.
Suddenly he remembered a conversation he heard between the rat, not Nedzu, and Shibusawa, a mysterious ability user, he had taken interest in this ability. Dazai had done some research after hearing this conversation, but he couldn’t draw a conclusion for now, if he was right, this kid was really important for Yokohama as a whole, and maybe more. But he was distracted from his thoughts by a hand grabbing at his shirt, the girl, right, Dazai tried giving an empty, scary look that made his goons flinch, but the girls continued to grab his shirt tighter. Her little hands were annoying, she was now looking at his bandages, he didn’t need any question on it today thank you very much, he tried giving her more of a raging look, to make her squirm away. It didn’t work as well, now he knew he could just break the kid's hand to make her back away, but he needed to keep a good impression for future business between the mafia and those outsiders. Wait, why was the girl hugging him ? First she wasn’t scared of his demon Prodigy act, then he tried the angry look that always made his subordinates listen, now she was hugging him ? Doesn’t this kid have any basic survival instinct ? Well, he’ll have to deal with it for now, Chuuya would be laughing his ass off if he saw it, good thing he will never know. After a while, the meeting ended and Dazai just wanted to get home, do a night of research and maybe find a nice bridge to jump off- But of course once Mori had finished talking to his diplomatic acquaintances, he had to question Dazai on his thoughts. He would not be skipping his work this evening, and he had a small mission with Chuuya tonight, well he hoped annoying Chuuya would bring up a better mood for tomorrow.
With this, the heroes first day in Yokohama ended, they would have a good rest to start planning operations tomorrow, and, is that a teenager beating the shit out of a gang, alone ? Welp, it will be a problem for tomorrow.