Hero of Hyrule

Requiem to a Reunion

"Yeah," Tsukauchi confirmed. "Sorry I couldn't be here then."

"Not your fault. I'm sure it was important," Izuku sighed. "I get that I was under suspicion and all, but why?"

"Why...?" Nezu repeated weakly, finding his voice again.

"Why the hell was I treated like that?" Izuku spat angrily, and the men recoiled slightly.

The tension in the room spiked. No one answered.

'Start somewhere,' Hikage told him. 'Get the ball rolling.'

"The isolation," Izuku mumbled. "You informed my class about my 'crime,' why?"

His former teacher looked away and Izuku's heart sank further.

"That was you?" he asked, and Aizawa almost shrunk at his biting tone. "Why? For their safety? "

"You were... they were loyal to you," he admitted flatly. "They could've come to your defense. Wanted to get ahead of that possibility."

Something painful stirred within Midoriya.

"Okay, let's move on to how I was apprehended," Izuku growled, annoyed. "My quirk was erased and I was ganged up on and beaten black and blue. Another of your genius ideas, I'm assuming?"

Aizawa was more resigned than Izuku had ever seen him.

"Didn't want you to suspect anything," he said. "We were working under the assumption that you were working with All for One, and didn't want to risk tipping you off."

"Fine," Izuku sighed. "I have a question."

"Go ahead and ask," Nezu nodded.

"My interrogation and incarceration—did the Hero Commission have anything to do with it?"

Tsukauchi noticeably stiffened.

"So, yes."

"How do you know that?" the detective asked.

"I had a hunch. I was moved straight to solitary confinement in Tartarus. My hearing was going to be held a day early," he recalled. "Nezu might be powerful, but he can't skip due process. So the question becomes, 'Who can?'"

"Oh," Tsukauchi said simply. It seemed obvious when he put it like that. "I was in Europe previously, and I'd just arrived back in Japan."

"Europe?" Izuku asked.

"London," Tsukauchi told him. "There was a serial killer running around. They got the guy, and needed me for the prosecution. The guy's lawyer managed to argue that their in-house lie-detector could have a bias; apparently, one of her relatives was a victim."

The detective grumbled.

"And then when he realized what was happening, he escaped, and I ended up staying longer than planned to help catch the guy again, and he had to go on trial again —" Tsukauchi sighed, cutting himself off. "It all worked out, though, and he's behind bars now."

"That's good. Important, like I said," Izuku gave him a small smile before shaking his head. "Sorry. Back on topic. Why were you so... certain that I was... I was a traitor?"

A beat of tense silence.

"It was... the sum of a number of things," Nezu started. "You seemed to attract villains, you were always on edge, always mumbling something. Those notebooks you kept, chronicling in great detail the abilities of your classmates and other heroes: specifics on their quirks, their strategies, their strengths and weaknesses."