This is an informative chapter for unspoken questions. Um, there might be a few ships but they will be background and I am not shipping Midoriya with anyone but if you guys like comment your favorite ship and I may end up putting one in.
Izuku never realized it before. Heck, he never really stopped to think about it. It's been weeks almost a month since the incident, but he just now has been able to sit down and think about it. He didn't even know why he was thinking about this in the first place. Maybe it was the book he was reading not too long ago? The Lovely Bones. He's read the entire book twice already. After seeing the movie before reading, it was hard to get into the book at first but it got better. He doesn't know what brought him back to reading it again. Then again, he doesn't know answers to a lot of questions. With that thought in mind, he sighs as he rereads the line that brought the question, "You don't notice the dead leaving when they really choose to leave you. You're not meant to. At most you feel them as a whisper or the wave of a whisper undulating down." The thought that followed, it seemed inevitable. He had locked it away. He forced it down, not wanting to even think about it. Coming close to dying and actually dying are two different things. Five minutes. He's given five minutes to fully heal from the death alone. He bookmarked the place of another quote.
"What did dead mean, Ray wondered. It meant lost, it meant frozen, it meant gone." That's just how he felt that night. For two minutes, he felt cold, frozen in place and unable to move. He wasn't gone but he could have been. If not for Death, he'd be gone with them to the afterlife. As he reads about the girl who was murdered, he can't help but feel for her and for her family. The book is old, but he enjoys reading old books. It's sad but the way the story is set, it's good. He feels horrible for her family who has to deal with the aftermath of her death; he feels horrible for her to watch this all happen. In those five minutes, he is not aware. No, not like the girl in the story, Susie. She is aware after everything. At first she doesn't know, but she can still see. In the first two minutes, it's dark. Izuku, while in death, is surrounded by darkness. He sees nothing. He doesn't get the chance like she does, he's stuck in his own body and waiting for it to heal back to its natural state. It just all depends on the injuries sustained to it. He can force it to heal faster but it takes too much energy and his heart takes the backlash from it. It's only happened once but he could feel it.
At the three minute mark, he can feel his heart beating again, the feeling coming to his muscles. That was how he pushed himself to get up and continue. Every new injury he sustained, it pushed his healing back and his heart continued to pay for it. One time experience and he learns. People learn from their mistakes after all. By the three minute mark, that's something he stays at. He never allowed his body to fully heal when it was needed. He was basically a walking corpse at that moment. Barely back from dying and is up and about. Honestly, the backlash is so terrible, it's agony and torture mixed together with the hint of Hell. He knows that he must've scared his friends, if not psychologically scarred them for the next few years. He found out about Iida's nightmares that he had for a while now, watching him die and never get up. He was lucky—that was Iida's line of thinking. If he hadn't met the person who gave him those three chances, he wouldn't be there.
"Izuku?" Another problem. His mother. Not that he's saying she's a problem! It's just that her attitude towards everything about him and his life is changing. He understands that she wants to keep him safe and all, but no, there's something else. Almost like maternal instinct dialed to eleven—almost possessive. She feels like he might be trying to leave her too soon or—or something, she doesn't want him to get hurt or leave. That's it. That's all. That's his argument towards his paranoia. He just hates to see what may happen if he does accept the Grim Reaper's proposal.
Izuku leans back and blinks, breaking out of his thoughts. He's driving his mother insane. He can tell; he's just surprised it's taken this long for it to have happened. "Yes Mom?"
"Are you still working on that same case?" she asks feeling exasperated when she sees him over the desk. There's a book in his hands and files off to his right, gruesome pictures hidden behind the cover of the flaps of the yellow folder.
"No. This is a different case." Glancing up, he spots something in her eyes. There's something that doesn't seem right at all. The shiny glisten in her eyes, signaling tears and the thin line of her lips, there's the look of fearful stress. One that she has when she is scared and stressed. "Is something wrong? Mom, if you don't want me to work on these things, then—"
"No. It's not that. I promise. I—" hesitation is apparent but with a shaky sigh, she continues, "I want to know how long the training camp will be." She crosses the threshold and sits down on his bed, trying not to stare too long at the pictures on the wall that depicts what her son is doing. Too young. Too apathetic. The life he's gone through is not the one she has wanted him to have. Because of this, she blames it on Death and on the detective who lets him help with the cases. If the two cared for him, like she does, then they would not let him be near all of these things. All of these horrifying and saddening events that he has gone through his entire life, they would never have happened if they never had gotten involved. Her son is lost and scared, and she's scared that she will lose him.
"Oh, a week. Don't worry, I'll text you during it." He smiles reassuringly and earns a nod from her. She gets up and wraps her arms around his shoulders. She presses a small kiss onto his forehead then leaves to cook for them. Once she's gone, he frowns. Something is not right, but I'm just being paranoid, right? He shakes his head to clear himself of the feeling and started working again.
This case was one of the worst cases ever. Seeing intestines being shoved down the victim's throat and finding out that the killer forced the victim to eat whole fingers was even more so. He read somewhere that something like this had happened in America once and a long time ago. Sickos who try to justify their actions on eating humans. Midoriya doesn't have a problem on cannibalism but when people do crap like this, then this is where he draws the line. He doesn't care about cannibals, they eat what they believe is good—just like how humans eat vegetables or meat because they believe it's good. He won't eat other humans himself, but if someone wants to do that then, they can go ahead. Yes, he has to find murderers and all but what do people think Ghouls do? They eat humans. At least he knows that the Feeders eat souls of dead humans (sometimes of living ones); Corpses, when given permission, feast on the flesh of the living; Shadows find the eyes great morsels, something about them being delicacies; and Humans eat the hearts. Reapers don't eat so there's something. That is why Midoriya cares nothing for cannibals, humans will become cannibals in the afterlife if they become a type of Ghoul. Well there's one more Ghoul type: the Animal Ghoul. They are not humans turned Ghouls, but those are terrifying, and Izuku does not want to ever meet one since according to Beetle, they're feisty and cannot be commanded by anyone unless it is Death or even a higher up Reaper. So if he is to ever meet one of those, he needs to be careful with them.
"Tsukauchi, if anything these attacks seem to be odd. The autopsy showed that the recent victim had dirt underneath their nails, but the ones before that, they had asphalt. They changed their location of torture." He sighs, rubbing his forehead and pinching his cheek. "Okay, so where's the nearest wooded area? They'll make it dis—" he stops. "Oh my god. The park. The one where the first body was found. That's where. I remember when I was younger, I remember crossing a river and there was a building. It was creepy and I always felt like I was being stared at."
"Alright. We're going to send a small squad to check it out."
"Wait, I'm going with." He stands up, gripping the phone. He wants to help and this is the best way. The cannibal is getting out of control and if he can help, then do be it. He will help the police on this case. He isn't going to let another Crimson Murders case happen again.
"Izuku—ngh, fine. You can come but do not engage at all, hear?"
"Yes. I hear. Call me or shoot me a text when you get here."
"Alright." Then the dial tone comes. He sighs and hopes that the boy won't do anything stupid. Tsukauchi looks up at the ceiling with a frown. This kid is really worrying. How can such a person ever exist? One who cares too much but at the same time not at all. He frowns when the shadows start growing, creeping down the wall. Something isn't right. All of his instincts are screaming at him. He needs to leave! He has to stay out of there! He can't—he can't breathe. In a hurry, Naomasa gets up and heads to the door. With fear and anxiety, his breathing gets erratic, his vision tilts, and his hands are trembling harshly. The curtain of death has befallen and is being wrapped around him like some blanket, getting tighter and tighter. The display is getting worse. Everything is being shifted, the temperature dropping in degrees. A sharp gasp is drawn out when a red liquid starts dripping down the walls, painting it with the angry color. Almost like a scene straight out of a horror movie. He gets out of the office quickly and makes his way to the front. Someone screams from another room and he glances over at a few people who start rushing over to where the scream originated.
What is going on? Am I imagining it or are the others seeing it as well? Naomasa and a few of the officers watch the blood drip down. "Nao?" asks a deputy. "What is that?" At least that answers my question. I'm not going mental, so what is going on? What type of quirk can cause this?
"I don't know. Everyone, it's best to eva—" he cuts off when one of the criminals screams and falls to the ground choking on his own blood as the red blossoms on his shirt. It seems that they must've been stabbed by something. The occupants stare in confusion and fear as symbols appear on the walls followed by the words: THE CHILD OF DEATH WILL DIE IN HORRID AGONY. Then everything is gone and one criminal is dead, leaving those words burned onto the wall. One symbol, he remembers one symbol. Two curves, a straight line, and two dots. He quickly drew it and tore the page, putting it in his pocket. He needs to see if Midoriya knows the symbol.
"The Child of Death? What the hell?"
Questions erupt amongst them, but the only one who knows the truth is quiet. Tsukauchi is standing there in silence, his mind shutting down as he thinks. Izuku? Does that mean—? Tsukauchi runs out of the station and finds his wheels slashed, windows shattered, seats torn up. He questions the people around but no one saw anything. What the hell is going on? He doesn't stay to find out, telling one of the officers to take him to the Midoriya's apartment while explaining a few people that he has a lead on the Cannibal Case and that there needs to be a squad that will need to check it out. "I will be one of the members, but I'll have to do a few things first. Meet at the edge of the park—there's a wooded area and Midoriya has a hunch that the cannibal will be in the trees."
Arriving at the apartment complex, he heads straight for Midoriya's door. He doesn't bother sending him a heads up. He just needs to know what the hell is going on.
"Detect—"
"What is this?" he asks, cutting his greeting off. He holds up the paper for him to see what's drawn on it.
The look on his face is enough. He knows. "That's a moon glyph. Why do you ask? And where did you get that?"
"Midoriya, what does it mean?"
He takes the paper and frowns. "It means death. What happened? Why are you asking me?"
"Something happened at the police station. Someone wants you dead."
Midoriya frowns, rubbing his forehead. "I think I know who."
Tsukauchi doesn't get a moment to ask as he disappears into the apartment. He smiles at Inko who seems to force one into her face. With a small wave and a nod, she walks into another room. That's odd. That never happened before, usually she stands and speaks to him but this time she walked away without so much as a glance over her shoulder. A few moments later, Izuku comes back with a bag and a large book. "Come on." He flips through the pages. "I had gotten this not too long ago, it's on witchcraft. I read about symbols, sigils, a few spells. Death said that Champions need to learn them. Were there any other sigils, or anything that happened?"
"Shadows grew. Blood dripped down the walls. Then one guy died." He pressed the ground floor button, watching the doors slide close. Midoriya shifts a little, frowning as he busies himself with the book. "There was writing. It burned onto the walls. It was, 'the Child of Death will die' and—"
"Child of Death? If it's me, then I can't—no, wait I can. Repeatedly."
"Which goes to the 'in horrid agony' part. It hurts, doesn't it? Dying?"
"Like being melted in molten lava and then ripped apart." He sighs, rubbing his head. "No one but a Champion knows that. And, how many different sigils were there?"
"A lot." He looks at the page that's being shown to him. "These."
"Fate. Truth." He stops as he reads throughout the page. "Different immortal beings. This person was a Champion. But no, no older Champions should be alive right now."
"What do you mean?"
"Champions die about ten years after they lose the title of Champion. And if they're lucky, a few years after a new Champion of the being they serve is first approached." He runs a hand through his hair. "So far no new Champions have been found and if anyone are Champions, they'll have been born five years ago. But to attack a Child of Death? We Champions of Death, we do not have anyone that would try to kill us."
"How come?"
A dry laugh comes from his throat. "Why would anyone try to kill Death's children?"
"So whoever is after you is suicidal?"
"No. The person after me is Crimson Artist. She is a complete psycho." He looks at the book. A frown painting his face. "I've seen someone with something familiar. They had two books, one on satanism and another on witchcraft." He glances to the left. "Crimson Artist must've been a Champion. Maybe a Champion who has yet to kick the bucket. Fortunate one there."
"So who do you think Crimson is?"
Midoriya stops, his breath hitching at the sight. His eyes are on something that Naomasa cannot see (these are the times where he doesn't like this kid). "Go. We need to go now." He shoves him out the lobby and drags him to the car. He nods to the driver and smiles a little. "Officer, good day."
"It's nice seeing you. Now to the park?"
"Yes. The cannibal is knee deep into those woods. There's a building—a house maybe, but I remember going into it once. It smelled horrible and I couldn't be there anymore for how terrifying it was, so I ran." He hides the book in his bag.
The conversation is not over, Tsukauchi thinks as he makes eye contact with Izuku. He needs to know more about Crimson Artist since she's after the boy, and if he can, he'll do his best to protect him from her. He doesn't want him to get hurt and if he can, maybe he can have Eraserhead or even All Might to know about the predicament. The two are close to him after all and they can help keep an eye on him during school.
Izuku is thinking now. He will have to ask Death about this because the whole thing is getting out of hand. Tsukauchi is really worried for Izuku's safety. Other questions, I'll answer them in the comments. There is something important that I need to say, but I cannot think of it.