There was no other explanation. The girl had disappeared.
Shouta bit back curses, letting them settle at the back of his throat in a low growl. He shouldn't have tried to chase her into that bar. What he should have done was wait on the rooftops, scout out the surrounding area for anyone who looked suspicious. It was illogical, what he did; fueled by the panic of seeing her fall from the top of a building, he'd been desperate to catch her and unwilling to give up the chase prematurely.
Idiot. Brat. Problem child. Fuck, but even with that lapse in judgement she shouldn't have been able to pull this kind of vanishing act. The streets were empty, so a child wandering alone should stick out. And yet she was nowhere to be found.
Even the success of that night's raid, something he'd been looking forward to for months, left him feeling restless and unsatisfied. Sure, they'd caught the villains. But Sparrow was still out there.
"You seem distracted." Tsukauchi sipped at a coffee as he stared into the interrogation room. Past the one-way mirror, one of their suspects was wiping sweat from his brow as he fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair. Grimly, Shouta recalled how eager this man was to start a brawl with a fourteen-year-old and wondered if they should turn up the temperature.
"Hello? Eraserhead?"
"What do you want?"
"Ah, there you are." Tsukauchi hummed, taking another large gulp of coffee. "Still thinking about Sparrow?"
"It's not my case."
"You do know my quirk is Human Lie Detector, right?"
"It's not my case. That's the truth."
Tsukauchi sighed, setting his mug down on the desk. "Sure. Fine. I get it. But are you going to stand there moping all night, or are we actually going to question this guy? At this rate he's going to leave a puddle of sweat on the floor."
"I think he can squirm for a little longer."
"What is it with you? Just because Sparrow got away—"
"Not my case."
"Right. Anyway, I don't see how her disappearing has anything to do with this guy."
"He was going to fistfight a child."
Tsukauchi sighed, picked up his coffee again, and chugged it in one go, slamming it down when he was finished. Shouta only raised a brow at him.
"A little dramatic," the hero commented dryly. Tsukauchi scowled.
"You're insufferable, do you know that?"
"Yes," said Shouta, turning back to the suspect.
"Look." Tsukauchi pinched at the bridge of his nose, eyes squinting to betray his exhaustion. "I don't know what you think we're gonna get from this guy. Just because he got a little aggressive with your—"
"Not my case."
"Okay. So he got aggressive with Sparrow. From what I understand, that's kind of a side effect of her personality."
"He's the only lead, right now," said Shouta, suppressing a yawn. Ever since his uncertainty about Suzuki he'd been unsure of how to proceed with catching the vigilante. The fact that this man had had any interaction with her was enough to pique his interest. Also... "Do you think we can turn the heat up in there?"
"Yes, we could do that. Just like we did the last three times you asked. I feel like it'd be a little counter-productive at this point; he's not going to answer any questions if he's passed out on the floor."
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."
"She broke your finger?"
"Yeah," said Reckon sullenly, cuffs clinking together as he waved his bandaged hand. "Snapped it, just like that. Stone cold bitch, like I said."
Eraserhead stood from his seat with a sigh and nodded at Tsukauchi. "I think we're done here."
"Great." Tsukauchi closed his notebook with a snap, leading Eraserhead out of the interrogation room and locking the door behind him. Crossing his arms, the detective leaned wearily against a wall. "Well, that was a whole lot of nothing."
"Kid's strong. And ruthless."
"And we didn't know that already? She beats up muggers for fun."
"This wasn't fun, though." Eraserhead rubbed at his dry eyes with a barely repressed yawn. "She was there for a reason. What was it?"
Tsukauchi shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"Please, don't insult me like that."
Rolling his eyes, Tsukauchi threw his hands up into the air. "It's too late for this. Or should I say early? Anyway, if you really want to pursue this I can question some of the others about whether they've seen her around before. Maybe she's been scoping out the place, too?"
"Maybe," said Eraserhead doubtfully. "Or maybe this really was her first time there, and it just happened to be the night of the raid."
"Terrible luck, then."
"Yeah. Seems like a pattern." It wasn't the only concerning pattern being formed, but it was the only one he could find much amusement in. He seemed to be running into that vigilante an awful lot, much to her chagrin.
Staring thoughtfully down at his notebook, Tsukauchi's smile fell. "All jokes aside, Aizawa. If the kid was playing poker with villains, that's something to be concerned about."
"I'm well aware."
"As in, change of direction, something to be concerned about. Do you know the statistics on vigilante to villain turnover? Most people who take to crime fighting are dissatisfied with their lives in some way. When it turns out beating up thugs in dark alleys isn't as fulfilling as they thought..."
"She's not a villain." Where the fuck had that conviction come from? "She's a child."
"We don't know that. Did you hear what the perp was saying? Seventeen? That's plenty old enough."
Shouta scoffed. "She's not seventeen. I'd say fifteen, at most."
"And where are you getting those numbers from?" Tsukauchi's voice was colored with frustration, eyes narrowed down at his notebook. "Her own words? Besides, even if villains of that age are rare, they're more common than vigilantes."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing, really. Not yet anyway. I just..." Tsukauchi sighed, closing his notebook again and tucking it away. "I'm not going to question your judgement; you've helped us out of enough jams to earn that, at least. I'm just warning you that the next time you two meet, she might not turn tail and run. Do you understand?"
"I'm a pro hero, Tsukauchi. I know how to handle myself in a fight."
"And if she pulls a gun?" asked Tsukauchi, exasperated. "You gonna dodge a bullet, Eraser? I'm not asking much, here, just to be careful. This situation is delicate, and it could turn ugly."
"I know," said Shouta with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to stem the looming headache. "I know. I just... I have a gut feeling about this one. There's something off."
"All the more reason to be careful." Tsukauchi had worked with enough heroes to know how much they valued their intuitions, although Shouta had never put much stock into it before. In fact, he'd found his colleagues' persistent reliance on "gut feelings" and the like to be frustrating and reductive; usually if something felt off there was a real, tangible reason as to why.
And yet here he was. "Trust me, I'm being careful. Worry about yourself. Didn't you say something about getting home before sunrise?"
"Don't remind me." Tsukauchi let out a weary sigh, rubbing a hand across his face. "Fine. I'll take your word for it. Just... don't get murdered, okay? The paperwork's kind of a nightmare."
"I'll do my best," said Shouta with the hint of a smile. "I'm heading out; you should too."
Tsukauchi nodded, and the two of them gathered their things before heading towards the front of the station.
"You're worried about her," said Tsukauchi suddenly, pausing at the entrance. It wasn't a question.
Shouta shrugged, pushing the door open. "She's capable, but there's only so much a child can do for herself. There's plenty cause for concern."
Tsukauchi nodded, following after him. "Well, let's hope she doesn't get into too much trouble in the meantime."
With a scoff, Shouta pulled on his goggles and mentally mapped out a patrol route that would take him home. "I think that's a lost cause, at this point. That child is incapable of staying out of trouble."
Not them wanting to arrest a child
#fuckthepolice