Looking at that mask, I could feel the dread seep in. Without a doubt, that man was who we were looking out for.
"Sorry about my daughter; she's been horsing around too much so she's a bit scraped up. Worries me sick!" Chisaki confessed.
Me and Izuku stayed in our positions, eyes widening. "Your hood and mask slipped off again! You sure you made it correctly?"
Mirio came from behind and flicked on Izuku's mask, quickly responding to the situation. I saw what he was trying to do. Our expressions showed exactly what we were thinking. If Chisaki read any further into what we were giving off, he would've known something was up and it would've compromised the job.
I stood up, still keeping a hand on the girl named 'Eri', and Mirio held a conversation with Chisaki. "That kickass mask; you must be from the Precepts."
"Yeah," Chisaki trailed off. "But don't worry about this old thing...I'm just sensitive to germs. This is the first time I've ever seen any of you. What are you here for?"
"A convention is happening nearby, and we just went out for food; we're on our way back now." I intervened and gave Mirio a look. The two kids began to walk away, and I was going to as well, if it weren't for the small hands gripping my coat anxiously.
I held onto Eri and looked at her. "Don't...don't go..." She cried, tears coming out of her fearful eyes. I held her in my hands and rubbed her back.
I was overwhelmed. "Your daughter seems awfully frightened."
"Oh, it's just because I scolded her," Chisaki responded. My mind worked at a fast pace. I needed to leave before things got worse, but I couldn't just ignore the pleas of a child.
I could hear Mirio as he put his hand on my shoulder. "We need to go."
"I gotta say, these aren't the type of bandages you can get from just 'horsing around.'" I said.
"She falls down a lot." Chisaki insisted.
Izuku stepped in. "A child this small, so scared she's shaking and won't say a word? I really, really don't think that's normal."
"Please don't go imposing your own ideas of what's 'normal' on other people's home lives." Chisaki criticized.
"It takes all kinds, right?" Mirio inquired.
I could sense Mirio's thought's, but I ignored. If we were to leave now, it would be more suspicious. I held Eri close to me. I thought to myself:
'Whenever I see a child tremble, there is no way I can turn away my eyes!'
"What are you doing to her?" I looked Chisaki straight in the eyes with determination.
The plague mask man scoffed. "I swear, people like you are so sensitive to the smallest things." He turned away and faced the alley. "It's embarrassing...I'd rather not talk about in public. Could you follow me over there?"
Mirio gave me a look. 'I hope you can handle this, (Y/N)-sensei...'
We walked into the alley when Chisaki began to talk. "To tell you the truth, I've been worried about Eri lately. No matter what I say, she does nothing but rebel."
"Worried about raising her...is it? That sounds rough..." Izuku implied.
"It is...Kids are hard to understand, let me tell you. It honestly makes me think...I could turn into a very different kind of person." Chisaki suggested, peeling off a glove. I could see him give a bitter glare, directed at Eri. She jumped out of my arms and ran straight to Chisaki. My eyes widened. "What now? Are you done with your little tantrum?"
She gave a small nod. "Eri...? What, are you..." I tried to ask.
"This is how it's always like. I'm sorry I ended up bothering you with all this. Again, sorry for the trouble." The two slowly faded into the shadows. "Good luck...on the job."
Izuku and I reached forward when I suddenly stopped ourselves. "We can't chase after them."
"You could see...the murderous intent he showed, in order to reel that kid back in. If we chase too far, it'll just make it harder to catch him. C'mon, let's respect Sir's orders."
~~~~~
3rd P.O.V.
Nighteye and Bubble Girl stood in an alleyway across a house with a tall fence and not a lot of windows. "You know, he may be small-time, but you gotta hand it to him--he really is a yakuza that knows how to survive. A tall fence, lotta windows...nice digs, huh?" Bubble Girl pointed out.
"A week and a half has passed since we began our mark. Today is unusual. Practically no one's coming in or out." Nighteye pointed out.
Bubble Girl's phone rang, and she picked it up, looking at a text Mirio sent her. "Whaa?!" She showed her phone to Nighteye. "Apparently Million...made contact with Chisaki!"
~~~~~
The whole group met up at a street corner, rain pouring down on the city. Mirio spoke up first. "I'm sorry! We had an incident! Never would've believed we'd end up bumping into each other on the street like he was the new transfer student or something...!"
"No, this was an error on my part. If I had endeavoured to see you three, I could've prevented it." Nighteye countered.
Bubble Girl replied, "In any case, I'm glad you're okay! If you'd made a wrong move and he'd gotten suspicious, it coulda been dicey back there."
"Actually, it wasn't all that scary," Izuku assured.
"Some days ago, a band of robbers on the run caused an accident with a truck that involved a few 'bystanders'. Those bystanders were Chisaki and the other Precepts. And yet, there were zero casualties." Nighteye declared. "The robbers reportedly passed out from excruciating pain, but for some reason were left with no wounds. On the contrary, even the various ailments they'd been suffering from, such as cavities or rheumatism, were completely cured. It's logical to think it's the work of Chisaki's Quirk, but nevertheless, since there were no injuries and the villains were apprehended, he ended up not committing any crimes in particular."
"But they say the stolen money got burnt to embers. The police just left it at that, but...they thought something's gotta be up, and so Nighteye's office started marking him." Bubble Girl noted. "I dunno what he's thinking, but he's definitely the type who doesn't play around."
Mirio called Nighteye. "Ah, almost forgot! Sir! Speaking of injuries, we've got some new intel! Chisaki's got a daughter!"
"Her name was Eri, she had bandages around her arms and legs..." I began.
"She was completely terrified! I don't know what's going on...but she wanted to be saved...If there's any way we could protect her..." Izuku mentioned.
Nighteye turned around to face Izuku and pointed at him. "Don't be so arrogant."
"...Arrogant?"
"Too much haste will ruin your work. If you chase him prematurely, he'll only be able to slip away more easily. You are not so special that you can save anyone merely by wishing it so. At the moment, we're also making a request to team up with another office." Nighteye answered. "First we must predict what it is he wants to do. After we've made our analyses, we must make sure we are prepared beyond any doubt. The world is not so kind that you can save others through your will alone.
"The cleverest villains hide in the shadows, and now is a good time as any for you to learn that sometimes, you must give it time. You may return to the office." Nighteye concluded.
On Monday, Izuku returned to his classes, but he could never concentrate. Once on training, Shouta had to fish him out of a simulation dealing with water.
"If you can't deal with both lessons and your internship, I'll make you quit." Shouta scolded him.
Later, Izuku went off to see All Might to talk to him about something. Life carried on as usual when I read a news article about a few of our agents working in the field while on a break.
"Agent codename Red Riot. Definitely Kirishima. Then Uravity and Froppy. Cute!" I scrolled through my phone while sitting in my dorm room when Shouta entered.
"(Y/N), we need to talk."
"Well then. Sit down." I said, gesturing to a chair. He took a seat, and I continued. "What do you need to talk about?"
"You saw Chisaki the other day while patrolling, right?"
"...yeah. I did. Wasn't the smoothest encounter."
"Well, the case on the Precepts. We plan on having a meeting at Nighteye's office with other agencies. I was gonna ask if you wanted to come along."
"Of course," I said without hesitation.
~~~~~
3rd P.O.V.
A few days later, Shouta and (Y/N) arrived at Nighteye's office. A group of agents she didn't know were there as well.
They all introduced themselves. There was Gran Torino, an old man in a white and yellow suit who probably would trick his students but appear senile at first, Ryukyu, a woman who showed humble and kind actions who wore a flowing qipao with dragon-like accessories, and Fatgum, who used to work in the police force but moved towards agents, and is generally a hungry and carefree person until things get serious.
We stayed in the waiting room, waiting for the Big Three and our students on internships to arrive. They finally came in; Midoriya and Miri, Kirishima and Amajiki, and Ochako, Tsuyu and Nejire. Midoriya was surprised to see Gran Torino, as well as Aizawa.
Everyone convened in the meeting room, where Nighteye started the meeting. "Thanks to all of the information you supplied, the investigation has progressed considerably. The small yakuza organization, the Eight Precepts...what exactly are they plotting? Along with the sharing of acquired information, I would like to consult with you all today. I will explain step-by-step."
Uraraka and Tsuyu walked up to Aizawa and asked him, "Sensei? Ms. (Y/N)? Why are you here?"
"They just suddenly called me. I was asked to join, so I came. It was brief, but I've heard about the situation. I also have a few things to say as well." Aizawa claimed.
"I'm here because I had a direct encounter with the leader of the Precepts, and because Shouta asked me to." (Y/N) answered.
"I'm a little outta loop here...Eight Precepts? What's that?" Kirishima asked.
"They've probably been thinkin' up somethin' terrible, so it's time for everybody to talk it out. You've also got quite da connection with them." Fatgum pointed out.
Everyone sat down at a large table. "Well then, let's begin." Bubble Girl announced, holding a tablet and standing behind Nighteye. "Since about two weeks prior, we at the Nighteye Office...have been independently observing a certain villain group, known as the Eight Precepts of Death."
A local agent spoke up. "What was the hook?"
"There was an accident involving a thief gang known as the Reservoir Dogs. The police cleaned everything up as just an accident, but there were many points that made no sense and we began to track them." Bubble Girl replied.
A man with a centipede for a head stood up. "I am a sidekick, Centipeder. I have been conducting the tracking and observation as per instructions put forth by Nighteye. Within this one-year period that I have been investigating, there has been a rapid increase in contact, both between members of the underground organization, as well as people outside of the group. They appear to be an organization moving with the attempt to expand and accumulate funds. Also, shortly after the commencement of the investigation, he made contact with one 'Jin Bubaigawara'; villain name: Twice. They were particularly cautious of being followed and I was unable to continue tracking them, but here I was able to cooperate with the police. They were able to confirm that during this meeting some kind of skirmish had occurred."
Gran Torino spoke up. "So it's related to the League of Villains...that's why you called me and Tsukauchi."
"Tsukauchi? Where is he then?" (Y/N) demanded.
"There was other information from witnesses, so he's checking on that."
The woman breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't seen her friend in a while. Gran Torino turned to Midoriya. "Listen, boy, I never thought it would come to this...you've been dragged into quite an annoying situation..."
"I don't think any part of this is annoying!" Midoriya insisted.
There was a little period of silence before Nighteye urged Bubble Girl to continue. "Uhhh, we have this kind of process! We wanted to request everyone's cooperation on AN."
"You can skip that." Centipeder pointed out.
"AN?" Uraraka asked.
"That's short for the Agent Network!" Nejire told her. "It's an internet service that only people with a pro license can use. They say you can see activity reports and apply for help from agents with useful Quirks nationwide!"
An agent, who had a key theme about him, said, "Hey, even if their U.A. trainees, what's with the brats? Can't talk with them around. We're burning daylight just getting to the real issue of what they're plotting."
"Enough outta you-these two 'ere are super important witnesses!" Fatgum exclaimed, standing up suddenly.
"The two...of us?" Kirishima.
"Enthusiasm...Smothering..." Amajiki.
"Besides, there's a ton o' people who're meeting for the first time, so better get to it! The name's Fatgum, it's nice to meet y'all!"
Uraraka and Tsuyu pointed out how round and cute Fatgum looked. Nighteye revealed his beliefs. "We have reason to believe that the Eight Precepts...have made the dispersal of unlicensed goods part of their livelihood. As such I have requested help from agents familiar with that kind of work."
"Long ago, we smashed those kinda things to pieces. Then yesterday, in Red Riot's debut battle(read ch 132-134, I am messing up so bad on converting this story arc...), Tamaki was shot by something new, the like we ain't never seen!
Fatgum took some candy in his hand and crushed it, letting it fall. "A drug...that erases Quirks."
"Erases Quirks?!"
(Y/N) looked to her left, at Shouta, and the people on his left looked at him too. Mirio stood up with a hand stretched out toward his friend. "What?! Tamaki, you're okay, right?"
"Yeah, After sleeping it came back. Just look at this splendid cow hoof." Amajiki showed a cow hoof.
"So breakfast was beef bowl today?!"
"If it recovers, no need to worry. Nothin' fatal." The key man, Rock Lock, said.
"No...I'll leave that explanation to Eraserhead," Nighteye instructed.
"It's a bit different from my Erasure. That's because I'm not attacking the Quirk itself. A special Mechanism, 'Plus Alpha', is added to a basic human body. That is a Quirk. These 'Plus Alpha' are collectively called the 'Quirk Factor'. Ultimately, I can only temporarily halt that Quirk Factor. I can't cause damage to it." Aizawa explained.
"Right after Tamaki got shot we took him to the hospital to get a look-see...that Quirk-Factor had taken damage! Luckily it recovered naturally and has returned to normal." Fatgum reassured. "And the analysis of the thing he was shot with? There were no other abnormalities in Tamaki's body! It was only, I mean only, the Quirk that was attacked! Not a peep from the gang that shot 'im! The gun's in pieces too! Plus they didn't have no other bullets in their possession 'sides the one they fired! However...Thanks to Kirishima riskin' 'is life to deflect the bullet, we were able ta obtain da contents of that one shot!!"
Kirishima reeled back in his seat, pointing to himself. "Wha- I did?! That came outta nowhere!!"
"As for what was inside, something truly sickening came out...it contained human blood and human cells."
Everyone had chills run down their spine. Hearing something so disturbing...how were they supposed to react?
"In other words...that effect is derived from a person...or, a Quirk. A Quirk to destroy other Quirks." Ryukyu remarked.
Agents were wondering how this information was linked to the Precepts. Fatgum answered, "The guy Kirishima captured! And the illegal substance he was usin'. That drug's distribution web's real complicated. It's gotten curtailed heavily nowadays, but it's sold wholesale across all levels by many different people, groups, and organizations. And now we can finally reach the source of it all! There's no evidence that the Precepts themselves are dealing the stuff but there's been contact between them and a middleman organization selling it."
"That's it?" One agent said.
"Recall the clash between villain groups that Ryukyu and her team cleaned up a few days ago. The boss of one of those gangs was with one of those middleman groups." Nighteye mentioned.
"One of the villains who gigantified only maintained it for a short while. They must have been inferior goods."
An agent dressed as a ninja asked about how this all connected, and Nighteye answered his question. "The Quirk of the leader, Chisaki, is named 'Overhaul'. It's a power that can disassemble and reassemble any target. A Quirk that can dismantle...to destroy and repair at once. That, along with the bullets that can destroy Quirks."
A cold wave of terror washed over the three people that encountered Chisaki and his daughter on that fateful day. The shine in their eyes faded as they could only think about the bandages on the arms and legs of the little girl they could not help. They lowered their heads, shadows covering their hearts, dreadful at the fact that they couldn't save someone.
Aizawa could see the bitterness, the heartache, in his partner and friend's mind. He almost reached out to grab her clenched fist and hold it in hopes to comfort her, but felt...nervous, to do something so intimate. He just hoped in his mind that she was okay.
"Chisaki has a daughter...though one without a birth certificate, so the particulars aren't clear. When these three encountered her, her arms and legs were wrapped in many bandages." Nighteye continued.
"It can't be...to do something so hideous..."
"Whaddya expect of this world of superhumans? All it takes is the thought and the son of a bitch can do anything."
"What, are you all talking about...?"
".........."
"See? We don't need any damn kids around. Slow on the uptake much...?" Rock Lock complained. "To put it simply, we're saying that they're prolly making bullets out of her body."
"We don't know if they're trafficking them for profit. At their current stage of development, they're not very close to completion. Be that as it may...if, hypothetically, they were using them as a test phase...and using them as a sample for presentations to gather comrades...there's no definitive proof. However, say they gathered allies all across the country and amassed the funds-what if the completed bullets could take Quirks themselves and completely eradicate them...? Many, many dark ideas spring to one's mind." Nighteye elaborated.
"Just imaginin' it's gonna make my bowels seethe with rage!! C'mon, we gotta search their hideout!" Fatgum yelled.
"So you're saying that if these three had been able to take the girl under protection, then this whole problem would've been resolved right then and there?!" Rock Lock voiced.
"I take responsibility for all of it, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't put the blame on them. Even though they didn't know about her predicament..." Nighteye replied. "They all tried their best to save her."
'Midoriya stuck out his neck and tried to protect her there, while Mirio made sure to think ahead...in order to secure her safety at a sounder junction, and (L/N) held the child in her arms and did her best to make sure she was calm.'
'Me...the greatest hero...!!? What a joke!!' Midoriya thought to himself.
'Me...save a million...!!? Yeah right!' Mirio shouted in his thoughts.
'I'm supposed to help children like that, those who need help, but I just...what help am I, huh!!?' (Y/N) implied.
Three chairs plummeted to the ground, hitting it with a thud.
"The ones who are most frustrated here and now...are these three." Nighteye declared.
"We won't fail you this time Eri!!"
Three voices chorused through the room.
"We'll protect you!!"
"Yes, and that will be our goal."