Era

14

Shouta just hummed noncommittally, scratching at the stubble on his cheek.

"Eraser, I get it. He tried to rough up your kid—"

"Not my—"

"I swear, I will arrest you right now."

"You wouldn't."

"Don't test me." Tsukauchi sighed, staring forlornly at his empty cup. "If you want to ask this guy some questions then be my guest. But some of us do sleep on a semi-regular basis, and I for one would really like to get home and take a shower before sunrise, at least."

Shouta huffed. "Fine. Have it your way. We'll ask him a few questions now."

"No, I'm going to go refill this mug, and then we can start asking him questions. Okay?"

Shouta just grumbled under his breath.

"Not all of us can survive on juice pouches and concentrated spite, Aizawa. Us mere mortals do have to sleep eventually. I'll be back in a few; try not to break anything."

He left with a cheerful wave, and Shouta couldn't help but glare at the door long after it had closed behind the detective. And the man called him insufferable. Ridiculous.

True to his word, Tsukauchi arrived a few minutes later with a fresh mug of steaming coffee and a key to the interrogation room swinging around his finger.

"Ready to start?" the detective asked. Shouta rolled his eyes, motioning for him to open the door already and get it over with. Tsukauchi shrugged with a grin but did as he requested.

The suspect jerked up the moment they entered the room, awkwardly wiping sweat from his brow with his shoulder instead of his hands, as they were rather inconveniently secured to the table by a long chain.

"Hey, listen," he began. "I don't know anything, I had nothing to do with it, if it's money or drugs or whatever I don't know, so—"

"What do you know about Sparrow." Shouta kept his voice neutral as he slid into the seat across from the suspect, Tsukauchi splitting off to go lean against the wall next to the one-way mirror, scribbling down who knew what into his little notebook.

"What do I- what?" The suspect blinked bemusedly, expression shifting into snarling anger. "Are you talking about that little bitch who—"

"I asked you a question," said Shouta simply, resisting the urge to activate his quirk, if only for the intimidation value. He'd stay professional. "Answer it."

"Why do you care?" the man shot back. "What does she have to do with anything? She's just a little cheat. Wait..." His expression turned ugly. Well, uglier. "Is she a fucking snitch? Is that why there was a raid; she ratted us out? The little bitch just took her money and fucking ran—"

"Chiba Chihiro, also known as Reckon." Tsukauchi spoke simply and without expression, as if reading from his notes; although truthfully Shouta had no idea what he had written there. The suspect—Reckon—paled as Tsukauchi continued. "Two counts of illegal gambling, resisting arrest, aiding a criminal organization..."

"Maybe you should focus on your own problems," said Shouta, narrowing his eyes. "I'm going to ask you again: what do you know about Sparrow?"

"I don't- Look, that was the first time I'd ever seen her." Reckon looked confused, angry, and a little scared. None of that was particularly helpful. "This is the first night she's ever been there. She's just some kid, I don't know, maybe seventeen? She fucking... hustled us at the poker table. That's all I know about her."

"Nothing else?" pressed Shouta, leaning forward. "There's nothing else you can remember? Any details that stood out to you, things that seemed odd?"

Reckon shrank back in the chair, shaking his head. "Why do you care? She's just some bitch, I've never seen her around before. She took my money and broke my fucking finger."