Shouta has no idea why he is involved in this. Granted his quirk is useful in so many cases. But what could be the case this time that the President and the Vice President of the country would personally meet him with the chief of police to request his assistance?
Once everybody was settled for the private meeting, the chief of police, Tsuragamae Kenji, started the discussion.
"the police recently had a lead about the identity of the notorious vigilante Karma - woof" the chief started.
Uh-huh. He didn't expect that. Karma was a well-known vigilante but was only involved with condemning and exposing corrupt government officials through illegal means and was never involved in violent acts, so most of the heroes were never bothered about him. He only became the most wanted because it's the big guns in the government that wants him caught. He suspects those big guns were just afraid to be Karma's next target.
Is the President and the Vice also afraid of him that's why they're here? He wondered.
Though as far as he knows, the President was well-known to be a hero of the masses and was never stained by any issues involving corruption. Maybe he's just being pressured.
"According to the intelligence department of the police force, they strongly believed that Karma has a small but effective range of network that allows him to gather and disseminate data with ease, but also the said network is stubbornly loyal to him that even our best Intel can't even gather personal information about him. We take that he must be backed-up with a prominent history in vigilantism or villainy which allowed him to amass loyalists behind him." The chief explained.
He adjusted his tie to feel more comfortable, mutter a mostly inaudible and strained "woof", then continued.
"He was also very careful not to reveal his quirk during encounters to avoid identity. But unfortunately, the last encounter with the police caught him off-guard and he had no choice but to use his quirk as means of escape"
Shouta leaned closer to the table at that. It's like hearing some conspiracy theories.
The intense silence of the attendees urges the chief to continue.
"The police present at the encounter didn't really see him use it but with all present variables considered we end up with one conclusion, Karma might have a teleportation or similar quirk" the chief declared.
With the chief's explanation. The room went silent.
"He must be a regular citizen then," Nedzu, the principal of the school where Shouta works as a teacher, interrupted the stern silence of the room. "Teleportation quirks are extremely rare to the point where a lot doubts its existence, he was well aware that if his quirk will be identified, then just one trip to the national statistics office and the police can narrow it down to only a handful of people. I even only knew one person with this quirk." Nedzu made a knowing look at the President.
The President nervously laughed at Nedzu's statement. It was only then Shouta noticed the stiffness of the man's demeanor, far from the bright and jolly image he projects every time he went in public.
Shota is getting more agitated every second, can they already spit out who Karma is? The suspense is killing him.
"there's no need to go to the statistics office, Nedzu-san," the vice president said like the whole ordeal was a big bad joke she would rather not want to hear the second time.
"she's right." The president supplied. "I have a special team that deals with investigating corrupt officials that were directly reporting to me. And by the nature of the offense and sequence of those officials being exposed by Karma, we have been suspecting that Karma might be related to our team."
Nedzu hummed at the President's explanation like he totally got it now.
Shouta's agitation morphed into something ugly. Normally he is a man of indifference, but the feeling of being the only one who doesn't get the whole exchange of information leaves a bad taste on his tongue.
He was in the middle of snapping when the president talked.
"Having a prominent lineage, some kind of teleportation quirk, and data that mostly my team only possesses, we arrived at one conclusion..." the president lost his voice like it physically hurts for him to continue talking right now.
"Karma is Izuku Midoriya, your son. Am I right Mr. President?" Nedzu continued where the president ended.
"my son has been acting weird this past year, I am sure he's hiding something" the plangent gentleman supplied.
Dead silence then followed.
The silence was only cut by Shouta snapping the pen he was holding. This is gonna be a long month for him.
***
"Denki, I think we should have to lie low from the radar for the meantime." Izuku confided his friend.
They are hanging at their hideout right now. Sitting cross-legged on the floor. A tree house in a secluded park that maybe only got two to three visitors every week. It was a perfect hangout for someone planning some notorious things like himself. The grave silence helps him think about things.
"No shit, man." His blonde friend replied. "After that shit they pulled out the last encounter! I didn't expect the police can catch up to our pattern that fast, it's just barely a year!" he complained.
"Plus we're going to high school", he complained further. "Unlike you, I need to study if I want to go to Yuuei".
Izuku nodded in agreement. Though he earned an annoyed glare because he was confirming his friend's shortcomings.
Denki was right, Izuku also didn't expect the police to catch up with their pattern that fast. After his first act, which went miraculously well for a first act, Izuku methodically spent months planning his succeeding acts. He even swallowed his pride and diligently courted potential allies to help him.
It's been almost a year since the second act, and honestly, Izuku didn't expect their active operations to last this long. It's not because he anticipated apprehension, but he expects that those crocodiles, as they call those corrupt officials, would cower and abandon their greedy operations. Izuku meticulously picked which crocodiles to catch and how to roast them. The kind of acts that he thought would serve as powerful warnings to those bastards and send them running with their tails between their legs.
But Izuku thought wrong. If anything, the acts only made those bastards angrier and more desperate to get rid of him. They even hire villains. Izuku was lucky that his disguise was witty enough and family connections are powerful enough to protect him and survive this long.
The last straw though was the last encounter.
Izuku miscalculated the number of undercover agents the police spared for his capture. Damn, those bastards really made sure his capture was the top priority for the police force then. And the police may also have assumed, they were right though, that he has spies among them.
Izuku learned his lesson not to underestimate the police force under pressure.
And then there's high school and also Yuuei.
"Mumbling Alert!" Denki announced. Damn, Izuku really can't control his mumblings when he's stressed. It's a miracle his acts were not busted by his constant mumbling.
"sorry Denki, I was just thinking..." Izuku trailed off, purposely, to have some dramatic effect. Denki's really rubbing off on him, he got a little extra nowadays.
"I'm listening, Izuku" his friend replied, eyebrows raised due to interest.
Izuku is really lucky to have Denki as a friend and an accomplice. He didn't expect to see someone about his age lurk on the darker side of the capital. Denki's father was a well-known information broker in the black market. Denki's just happened to be there when Izuku talked to his dad for some information for his first act. Of course, being a scrawny middle-schooler, he was immediately shrugged off by the broker. He was then forced to recite his family tree up to the deepest roots and declared that he will continue and uphold his family's legacy.
He even made a bet with Denki's father. Like literally, a million-dollar worth bet.
After the broker agreed with the bet. The cheerful blonde with a dark streak on his bangs that resembles a lightning bolt followed him on his way out.
"That was cool man." Denki said finally after trailing Izuku for a few minutes. "You really made my dad and his minions speechless by your declaration. You have guts. I want to be your friend."
Then the rest was history.
"you're mumbling again" Denki's slightly annoyed tone stopped Izuku from his mumbling. He forgot he has a grand plan to announce.
"Sorry" Izuku apologized sheepishly then straighten his posture to add effects to his declaration.
"As I was saying, I was thinking we should do a jaw-dropping act before we lie low for a few years for high school." He finally said.
"And?" Denki urges him to continue.
"And..."
Another pause for dramatic effect.
"I have a perfect idea which crocodile to catch."