This is just a flashback chapter to Tsukauchi and Midoriya's first meeting. I'm sure you all had questions about how they first met. Plus i want to torture you all in delaying the following chapter. 'cause i'm evil.
The dark gray skies weren't letting up anytime soon. The harsh rain that fell onto the glass windows and the pavement didn't seem to slow down either. A crash of thunder was so loud that it was as if it had happened near their ears. It was followed by another long roll of thunder, never seeming to come to a stop as flashes of lightning started to brighten up the dark sky. The storm seemed to be an omen, one that screamed danger! but no one paid it any mind. Not the heroes, not the villains, not the police, and sure as hell, not the civilians. A pity that no one wanted to pay attention to the warning, then again, who ever did pay attention to the warning signs? Humans always had something else in mind and they decided these omens wouldn't be anything of importance. Only a handful people actually took Mother Nature's warnings and headed into their homes until the rain let up. These people had decided that they could finish whatever they had planned could wait until the next day.
A lone boy with green hair walked through the rain, head down with his hood up, and sunglasses covering his eyes. He kept walking, not caring about being soaked to the bone with the chance of becoming ill. His grasp on the plastic bags tightened, doing his best to ignore the presences of people—both living and dead. The skies grew darker, the winds grew harsher, streaks of lightning brightened the skies, and the sound of thunder came crashing down on them every few minutes. It was getting worse and worse. He had to get out of the storm but he didn't really care to. He just needed to get home and then he'd be fine and he could write down whatever he noticed in the hero-villain fights.
The slapping of footsteps on wet pavement caught his attention. They were rapid, getting closer and closer. Dread fell onto him like a curtain. The twelve year old moved out of the way, leaning against the brick wall of a building. The source of the footsteps stopped right beside him. A man with dark eyes and dark hair, wearing a trench coat stood right next to him with an umbrella. His eyes were kind but that didn't mean the boy was going to trust him. He glanced around to leave, hoping to be able to get away, but the man squatted down to meet his gaze with a small smile. The rain pelted the water resistant cloth, keeping the two from getting wet. "I'm Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa," he introduced himself.
A—detective? The boy blinked widely behind his sunglasses as he took in the male's appearance. He took another step back, only to hit the wall of the building. "I should go. I don't need to get sick," he said, ducking under the "detective's" outstretched arm, but he didn't get too far when he loosely grabbed his arm.
"That's why I'm here. Come with me to the station until it lets up. You know where it is, right? I know you don't trust me but come with me so you're out of the storm." He brought out his badge to show the boy, who reached out to grab it and the man let him.
The boy returned the badge after making sure it wasn't fake and followed the man. Just because the badge wasn't fake, didn't mean he trusted him yet. He had learned that even the police could be bad people after a close encounter of it. He followed with his guard up, rubbing his arm with his free hand as he finally started feeling the chill of the cold water sinking deep into his skin. Not long after they left the side of the building did they arrived to the police station. The detective must've noticed him through the windows as he walked by. It wouldn't be hard to notice him, especially since a lot of people had made their way inside at the sign of the storm worsening. The green-haired boy never once spoke, walking up the steps and pulling out his phone to text his mom that he would be in the police station to wait out the storm.
"Tsukauchi, who's the kid?" questioned one of the policewoman who had noticed the child who had followed the detective in. He was shivering and clutching plastic bags full of groceries. He must've been headed home when the storm had hit, they noted.
The boy pushed his hood back, revealing his green, curly hair. He moved his head up, meeting her eyes through the dark lenses of his glasses. "I'm Midoriya Izuku," he introduced himself, heading over to one of the chairs away from the criminals. He placed the bags down as he took off his soaking wet hoodie and took the blanket offered to him, wrapping himself up and curling into himself. The twelve year old boy kept to himself, staying quiet as he watched the policemen and women do their jobs.
The detective came by a few times, trying to spike up a conversation with the child but it kept ending when his colleagues would come by and take him away for a few things. The next time he came back, Izuku was falling asleep. The small boy sat up and stretched as he felt the man sit beside him. "You okay? The rain is letting up now, if you want I can take you."
He shook his head. "I'm fine with walking. I'll be heading out in a bit," he murmured. He stretched a bit as he met his eyes over the rim of his glasses. "What's the case you're working on?"
"A kidnapping."
"Oh, I heard about it on the news. The little kids, right? They turn up dead a few days later. The man you're holding isn't the one doing it, but he's still a terrible man."
Tsukauchi stared at the boy beside him, the one wrapped up like a small burrito halfway asleep. "How old are you?"
"Twelve. The guy has been staring at me for a while now. He's into kids—gross—but he isn't the one." He yawned as he glanced at the man who was outside the interrogation room. They had yet to put him into the room, for whatever reason.
"How do you know?" he questioned, deciding to see what he had to say. Maybe he knew something.
Izuku sat up straighter as he stared at the ground. He took off his glasses, peering around the room. "The man has a scar, right here." He pointed to the end of his temple and moved down. "One of the kids, I had seen them leave with a man with a scar. I didn't know if that was their dad or not, until their parents came onto the press conference asking for their child back. I should've said something but who would believe a twelve year old?"
"I would." He watched the sudden snap of his eyes land on him with full out attention. "I can know when someone lies. It's my quirk. I'm basically a human lie detector."
He earned a snort with a soft smile. "I can give you a small description, but I can't guarantee how accurate it is."
"It'll be fine."
It was two weeks after that encounter when everything was seeming to get worse and worse. It seemed that after having helped the detective with the kidnapping case, more and more Ghouls started to pile up more and more, crowding at the edge of his vision. He couldn't leave his room at one point with how bad one of his panic attacks had gotten. He had fallen incredibly ill with the blooming fear, the continuous stench of rotting flesh. He would be found by his mom, throwing up whatever food he had eaten prior to it, curling in on himself.
He had to get out of the apartment—he decided to leave a small note and headed out. Open air but it did nothing to alleviate the pungent order of rotting flesh. He ran quickly, his eyes wildly scanning the crowds—no Ghouls, please, a place with no Ghouls. He wasn't looking where he was going and ran smack into someone. "I'm sorry," he apologized frantically. With his hair messed up, sticking everywhere and his wide, wild eyes, he was sure he looked like a crazy maniac.
"It's okay, Midoriya," came the oh-so-familiar voice. He met dark eyes that held kindness. He ran into Detective Tsukauchi. He didn't trust his voice, so he nodded and made the movement to walk around him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Lie. "I just need to be alone. I don't want to talk about it." He wasn't let go. "Detective please, let me go. I should be fine soon."
"Come on. We should get some tea. I don't trust you being alone in such disarray. Okay?" He nodded. Midoriya has expressed an interest in police cases, so Naomasa had decided to tell him about a few—those that didn't have such gory details, light ones. He had proved to be helpful with the cases.
He'd like to see him join the force when he's older.
* * *
It didn't happen the way he wanted it to. Midoriya Izuku was an unofficial investigator for the station by the age of thirteen. He had stumbled upon murders or had found bodies, he would call Naomasa and tell him about them. Naomasa was starting to worry for the boy, but it was all helpful. He was worried for his mental health, but it just seemed that he was used to it all—something that set off warning bells but Midoriya had reassured him while keeping the truth hidden. He spoke to the boy every time he had the chance, telling him he didn't have to keep helping them but he just received a small smile and the same phrase. "It's okay. I want to help." It seemed that no matter how much he tried the boy wouldn't stop. Some heroes expressed their concerns but were shut down when the kid would tell them they could deal with it or forget about it because he was helping. Some heroes weren't happy with that response but they stayed out of his way as he did his job. The kid was determined. Having been told many times that he was quirkless and can't become a hero, the boy had been adamant on helping however he could. Naomasa sighed since it was sort of his fault that Midoriya was in this whole mess, but he also felt relieved since most of the cases that Midoriya worked on were solved quickly, the longest was a month.
"Hello Midoriya," he greeted, walking over to the boy. Fourteen years old now, the boy had grown so much from the last time he had seen him, which was about two months ago. A cold January day, he had been called in for a recent murder. The husband of a woman who was hysterical at seeing the scene of her husband's dead body on the ground. The woman had called about it, wanting them to search for the killer. She had personally made the police station her home, visiting every day and bringing by a few snacks or even home cooked meals for some of the officers
It went on for a few days until they had decided to call the young boy in to see if he could spot something they couldn't or hadn't. A need for fresh eyes. No harm could come from that, right? They had no idea just what chain of events will come from this.
Midoriya smiled and nodded to Tsukauchi with a few words. He greeted the other officers with a smile and went up to the table with the files. He looked over them with a small hum, propping his head on his palm to get comfortable. He went over the notes, making a small conversation with Tsukauchi. They both came up with ideas, Tsukauchi using his skills as a profiler and detective to help piece the clues together. A few of the officers came in when Izuku would call onto a passerby and ask them about their opinion on something that had caught his attention. It went on like that until the woman came in. Midoriya smiled at the woman in politeness. The redhead returned it solemnly. "Who is this?" she questioned with curiosity in her hazel eyes which were trained on Tsukauchi.
"This is a friend of mine's son," he lied. "Midoriya Izuku meet Hikawa Achara."
The green-haired boy met her gaze and something was in there. Something that he hadn't seen in any other's eyes. A look of someone who had seen a lot over the years, something old. When their gazes locked together, there was a flash of purple in Midoriya's eyes—something that Tsukauchi didn't catch, but Hikawa did. In a rush, thoughts and memories crashed into her mind. The Child of Death? The one who took Death away from me? This is him? It's a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya Izuku. Death will regret throwing me aside and it starts with this meeting between Champions.
i don't know what to put here? Halp? nah jk
questions? i'll do my best to answer.
any ideas you want to see? I'll do my best to use them. I cannot guarantee that they'll be put in.
Should midoriya purposely kill Hikawa or accidentally? and how?