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The Abyss (chapter 4)
🕑 Added 2024-09-10 16:09:55 +0000 UTC“Do I even have to ask if you tampered with evidence?” Detective Tsukauchi asked, his already cramped office even more cramped with them in it.
Nobuto returned an easy smile to the straight-backed older man, maybe in his mid-to-late thirties. “No need. I admit it. Though it wasn’t technically tampering with evidence,” he commented. “I only copied it.”
The detective stared for a long moment before deciding to look over the information he had handed over again.
Pulling out a piece of paper from his desk after, Tsukauchi wrote something down and handed it over to him. “Assuming anything you see or hear here is strictly confidential, is it possible that this is the same location?”
He didn’t need long to shake his head no, but… “You had another source?”
“Someone matching this Dabi’s description was seen entering a property in Kamino, Yokohama. We have been operating under the assumption that this is their hideout.”
“Two locations, both in Kamino Ward,” he mused out loud after the detective had finished.
“How confident are you about this information?” Tsukauchi asked plainly.
Nobuto wiggled his hand. “Ninety percent, maybe.” He trusted Manami, but the kind of wizardry she had to resort to wasn’t foolproof. “It’s probably the best you’re going to get with nothing but a network address.”
“We had considered trying to break the encryption, but we didn’t have a century to spare,” the man muttered as he rifled through some more papers. “This complicates things,” Tsukauchi finally admitted.
“I will assist however I can,” he offered.
It was immediately shot down. “The Safety Commission wants this to be a show of force. To have students there would put that to doubt,” Tsukauchi explained.
He didn’t argue. The HPSC would do as it will.
“Also, I suggest simply asking next time,” the detective continued. “It is not unlikely that we would have approved your request and given you the network address anyway.”
“It isn’t impossible that All For One has people loyal to him in the government or even here,” he replied back. Even if it wasn’t the best excuse.
Tsukauchi grimaced. “We are trying to keep this entire operation quiet exactly for that reason. Fortunately, All For One has been inactive for a long time, leaving him with few resources with which to lean on anyone.” He proceeded to place all the papers inside a cabinet before he continued. “The threat of force isn’t as effective when he hasn’t shown his face in years in fear of All Might.”
Nobuto nodded. It was a reasonable assessment. “About the job offer, I might have to refuse. Principal Nezu has offered a great deal more for me to stay at U.A.” He didn’t mention his spinster of a sister threatening to cut him off.
“Of course he did.” Tsukauchi ran a hand through his short hair in exasperation. “Could I convince you to assist with certain cases from time to time? It isn’t just villains like All For One that are dangerous.”
He kept the suspicion off his face. While his Quirk could help an interrogation or investigation, it had its limits. “If you tell me why,” he finally asked the man. “It isn’t like my Quirk is something unheard of.”
Nobuto knew for a fact that both the Safety Commission and the police themselves had access to a number of Quirks that forced one to tell the truth, pick up on thoughts and emotions, and more.
“It’s more than your Quirk,” Tsukauchi admitted easily. “I might not have lucked out with a Quirk suited to this kind of work like my sister had, but I got to where I am in spite of that. Let’s just say I am impressed by what I’ve seen so far, Kayama. It doesn’t hurt that you are resourceful either, as we’ve seen.” He shrugged his shoulders innocently then. “I might also just so happen to forget to tell higher-ups that you had made off with evidence.”
“Bribery? From a member of the Police Force?” Nobuto exclaimed with mock surprise.
“I have to work with what I have when Nezu decides to play his hand,” the detective told him with a self-deprecating smile.
He didn’t see any reason to keep him in suspense beyond being petty, and he was beginning to appreciate his candor. “Yeah, sure. You have my number already.”
Tsukauchi nodded. Not a particularly expressive man. “Excellent. Now, if you will forgive me, I have an entire operation to upend.”
He watched the detective leave the room, and he headed out the same way at a more sedate pace. There was still the small urge to stick his nose into this business further, but he knew when to call it quits. As much goodwill as he earned, annoying the Safety Commission would only be unpleasant, and not even Nemuri could help him there.
That wasn’t counting the fact that he would be nothing more than a speed bump if it really was All For One. To believe otherwise would be suicidal as well as arrogant.
He approached one of the vending machines at the station instead, taking a look at the options. Nothing he was familiar with, so he just picked the first thing that caught his eye. Soda wasn’t healthy, but it wasn’t like he indulged every day.
He had just left, made a left around the corner, and taken a sip when he was suddenly accosted, some of the carbonated drink going down the wrong way. He heard a few panicked apologies as he coughed it out. He gave the seven a glare after, all of them Aizawa’s students. Maybe he should have been more strict with them after all.
“I’m assuming you have a good reason for trying to give me a heart attack?” he asked them.
Minigenium stepped forward and bowed like he was a public official that was just found guilty of embezzling funds. “We apologize for approaching you like this, but we had no other choice.”
They all looked similarly embarrassed, all except for Mina who seemed to have found it funny.
Curiously, the three of them that had been there when the League had made off with their classmates were all here, though he also recognized Spiky Red and the rich girl, Yaoyorozu.
It was at least shaping up to be an interesting distraction. “Assuming I believed that, how did you even know I was here?” His Quirk easily pinpointed the guilty party, if only because she wasn’t even trying to hide it.
Yaoyorozu stepped forward, bowing almost as low. Not what he expected from a girl like her. “While it is no excuse for my own actions, I had witnessed you taking advantage of your Quirk to do something criminal.” Her cheeks turned very red as she continued, “I might have then used my bumping into you later to slip a small tracking and listening device onto you.”
Before he could ask, she quickly got into his personal space, her blush only worsening as she reached past him. Her shampoo similarly tickled his nose as she ran her fingers along the trench coat hanging off his shoulders until she found a small something, giving it to him almost like a peace offering after.
He turned over the button-like thing for a few seconds. “Cute.”
He could have easily broken it, but he decided to just place it back into the nosey girl’s palm instead. He also studiously ignored his conscience insisting that he didn’t have any room to judge her. What did it know?
“And did you find out what you wanted?” he finally asked.
Midoriya butted in instead, whatever embarrassment having been replaced with uncanny determination. “We have reason to believe you know where the League of Villains have taken Kacchan and Tokoyami. Please tell us. We—”
Nobuto interrupted him. “It is more accurate to say that I might have located the source of the instructions the Aoyamas had been receiving. Your classmates may not even be there.” He sighed again, trying not to be dismissive. “I understand your motivations, believe me, and I already passed the information along to where it needs to go. But the last thing the Pros need is you charging in and making their jobs more difficult.”
Todoroki cleared his throat, his hair almost looking uniform with the sunset behind him. “I wouldn’t have agreed to come along if that was the plan.”
Minigenium stepped forward again and said more or less the same, and the others were also quick to agree. All except for Midoriya.
He quickly gave a nervous laugh when he found everyone’s eyes on him. “Yep, same here…”
“That’s not very convincing,” Nobuto told him, which only drew another miserable laugh from the green-haired boy. He looked even more like a stalk of broccoli this close. “I still see no reason to support this endeavor.” Nobuto rubbed the bridge of his nose as they immediately protested, feeling an ongoing headache. “Forget what Aizawa would do to you. That man has skeletons in his closet and I don’t want to join them.”
They were quiet, glancing at one another until Mina put a finger to her chin. “We could tell him that we forced you to! Oh, or maybe we blackmailed you!”
Her enthusiasm wasn’t as infectious this time. “Give Aizawa some credit. And me. I already admitted to my nefarious actions, and despite your Quirks…” He looked them over. “I’d win.”
A few of them tried to protest again, but it was Yaoyorozu who stepped forward, seemingly having managed to get her blush under control. “We’ll follow your lead. Some of us just want to do what they can to rescue our classmates, even if it’s something small.”
He didn’t respond immediately, using the sleeve of his trench coat to clean his sunglasses.
“I believe you,” he finally said, “as funny as that might sound after you took advantage of me running on fumes at the time. It’s some of your classmates I don’t trust to not let their emotions get the better of them.” His eyes found Midoriya again, and the masochist tried looking behind him as if there was someone else there.
Still, some part of him still wanted to. How many of his questions could be answered if he could just get his hands on something sensitive? All For One had supposedly been around since the Dark Age of Quirks, and it wasn’t like Quirks that extended one’s life were unheard of.
“Yokohama’s not exactly a stone’s throw away either,” he continued, tacitly revealing some part of what they wanted to know. “And public transportation wouldn’t be the best idea right now.”
“What’s wrong with the train?” Spiky Red asked.
“Most of Japan tuned in for the Sports Festival. You all stick out like a sore thumb; Todoroki here especially. There isn’t a soul who doesn’t know who Endeavor is.”
The heartthrob’s expression soured at that, but he didn’t argue.
“Then we disguise ourselves,” Shoji spoke. He had been quiet until now, all his arms on his left side practically swaddled in bandages that held the faint odor of medicine. “It is something I have some experience with.”
Nobuto felt a great shame there, buried deep, and he didn’t need to guess why. He had known Enkh-Altan long enough.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Yaoyorozu admitted. Soon she was trying to fight a blush from reappearing again as she looked him over. “Though the same goes for you, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Mina piped up. “I’ve seen you on TV with Midnight, and I don’t think I’m the only one. Right, Yaomomo?”
Nobuto spared her having to answer as the blush won. “I could argue that there aren’t going to be as many people tuning into those channels as opposed to the Sports Festival, but I won’t. Instead I’ll say there’s a place not from here where we can find a change of clothes.”
A few of them seemed surprised at his sudden reversal. “I knew you’d come through,” Spiky Red cheered, smashing a hardened fist into his palm. “You wouldn’t have been there otherwise. It was so damn manly how you looked after our classmates.”
He easily ignored how it was his own bad habits that were why he was agreeing. “I just hope you take Yaoyorozu’s words to heart about following my lead,” he told them, “and if the worst is true and All For One is involved, you will immediately make yourselves scarce. The last thing I need on my conscience is one of you having your Quirk stolen.”
They all looked appropriately solemn at that.
“And if Aizawa asks, you found your own way there,” he added to nervous laughter.
Maybe thirty minutes later, he hummed as he looked himself over in the dressing room mirror. American-brand sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt he wouldn’t normally be caught dead in, and his dark hair slicked back instead of hanging loosely. It would do.
Nobuto sighed as he looked over some of the others as they left their own dressing rooms. Shoji and Yaoyorozu pulled off a muscleman and pop diva look rather well respectively, but the rest left him wincing. Mina at least had the excuse of having to cover up her distinctively pink skin and horns for how colorful her outfit looked.
“Midoriya…” he started.
The stalk of broccoli immediately shot back with a very exaggerated, “OI!” Kirishima gave him a thumbs up as he jutted his jaw out. “YOU TALKIN’ TO ME?”
No, better not to ask, he decided. “Keep it up.”
On the way to the train station, Mina sidled up to him. Despite all her initial bravado, Nobuto could tell she was nervous even without his Quirk. They all were. “We’re actually doing this, huh?”
He didn’t answer her immediately. “You didn’t think I would agree?” Her avoiding his eyes was answer enough. Looking ahead himself, he continued, “you have made it through two attacks these past few months. If it was up to me, that alone would have merited a Provisional Hero License.”
Mina glanced at him, but she quickly looked away.
“If I had told you no, you would have resented me, sure, but more importantly you would have been angry with yourselves. Especially if something happened to your classmates. I thought I would spare you that.”
She bit her nails absently, but he could tell she was still listening closely.
“Also,” he continued, “it doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you and your classmates for bugging me like we’re in some bad spy drama.”
“That was all Yaomomo’s doing!” she insisted, immediately throwing her classmate under the bus. “Yours truly only found out earlier today.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially as she continued, “between you and me, she’s not at all like the good girl she pretends to be.”
Nobuto glanced at the pale girl in her glammy dress as she spoke with Todoroki. "I'll keep that in mind," he told Mina. He hummed as he turned back to her. "That makes sense why you're both here then and not the rest of the girls in your class."
It took her a few moments to catch his meaning, and she pouted up at him for it. He chuckled when it almost immediately blended into a smug smile. "Maybe you're right," she said.
Mina reminded him in some ways of Nejire. They both had trouble respecting people's boundaries, if not in any malicious way. Although while Nejire was as blind as a bat when it came to romance, Mina was the opposite, and though she hid it better than Yaoyorozu, Nobuto certainly wasn't as dense as Nejire.
He didn't care to look deeper than that; he had some shame.
Taking the train to Kamino Ward in Yokohama was expected to take around two hours, so he decided to entertain himself by getting to know Aizawa's students better. Maybe there was something funny about the furball wanting to hire him on as a counselor when he already had a bit of a bad habit of profiling others.
He first poked at Minigenium, or Tenya Ida, seeing as he was Class 1-A's Class Rep. The overly serious boy wasn't hiding a dark and perverted side as some overly dramatic part of him maybe might have wished. Well, at least if one excused the very deep sense of pride that Ida had in himself and his family. After all, it was the incident at Hosu that brought about Nobuto's own newfound obsession with All For One and the Nomu.
It also didn't surprise him that the three U.A. students that had been involved were all on the train with him. Not that the Police Force had officially charged Ida, Midoriya, or Todoroki for overstepping their bounds confronting Stain, or Chizome Akaguro.
Nobuto could understand why so many were enamored with Stain's ideals. Of course many would love a hero who fought for nothing but justice and subsisted on nothing but rocks and the gratitude of those he saved, but they might as well be demanding someone fundamentally inhuman.
It was the common foible of perfect being the enemy of good, and history was littered with the victims of such thinking at the expense of everything else.
Kirishima on the other hand really was straight as an arrow. He couldn't call him Spiky Red anymore since he had flattened out his hair as part of his disguise. His passion for manliness and chivalry wasn't a surprise when he idolized a Pro like Crimson Riot. Nobuto could at least hope the redhead would not be meeting the same self-sacrificing end, however heroic it had been.
He was also very easy to talk to in comparison.
If Mina reminded Nobuto of Nejire, Shoji reminded him of Enkh-Altan, if without his friend's penchant for trying to get into every girl's pants. Treatment of heteromorphs wasn't as bad as it was in the past when they had been outright hunted down like animals by mobs, but he wasn't going to be calling it ideal. He also suspected that it was unlikely that Shoji would have flaunted the rules like this had he not felt immensely guilty over letting Tokoyami down.
The others started ordering something to eat after an attendant with berries for hair stopped to ask, and Nobuto went for a ramen bowl. He hadn't eaten since early morning, or really much at all the past few days. Another poor habit when he got obsessed.
He decided against trying to strike up a conversation with the others, Todoroki especially, not being too interested in delving into the numerous daddy and mommy issues at his core. Shoto Todoroki was the cool, calm, and collected sort. Or, at least, that's how he presented himself. Nobuto was content to leave it at that.
He could also admit that the red-and-white-haired boy band cutout was probably a sliver more handsome than he was. He was a realist like that.
Then there was Midoriya. If there was ever a poster boy for heroism, he was it. And if anyone lived up to Stain's ideals, it was him. The grossly masochistic stalk of broccoli would probably happily eat rocks if it meant him being able to save more people.
He had also officially been Quirkless until maybe a year ago, and while it wasn't impossible that he'dhidden his Quirk for years or that he was a late bloomer, Nobuto wouldn't be himself if he wasn't suspicious. And yet, the idea that All For One was involved seemed unlikely after Aoyama. Beyond that, Midoriya had been ready to give his life to protect Mandalay's nephew.
Lastly, there was Momo Yaoyorozu. His initial impression of her was clearly flawed. She was lucky that he was being considerate about her being worried about her classmates, otherwise he would be relentlessly teasing her about stalking him.
Nobuto finished slurping up the last of his noodlesas the train started to slow down. He looked around, seeing pensive faces. "I've thought of a game plan," he broached. "You will be following it to the letter, as promised. Your word as heroes should mean something."
They were all quick to agree, even Midoriya, and they walked out into Kamino Ward soon after.
He used his phone for directions. He had been in Yokohama twice at most, and only with Nemuri. They weren't too chatty behind him either, not that he could blame them. He was simply more practiced at hiding his own nerves.
They had reached one of the quieter neighborhoods when Mina tried to get everyone's attention. "Look, it's Aizawa and Vlad King! Principal Nezu is there as well!" She held her phone up as everyone crowded together, and Nobuto stopped to listen.
He didn't make any comments or protest at the treatment they were getting like the others did; it wasn't anything he didn't expect.
"They're treating them like they're villains," Midoriya whispered.
Kirishima was louder. "It's so bogus, man! We knew what we signed up for…"
The business with Yuga Aoyama and his parents hadn't yet been made public, it seemed. There's no shot the media would have passed up grilling them about that. Something his furball of a principal said had him chuckling, however. It drew everyone's eyes to him.
"They're using this broadcast as a way to trick them into letting their guard down. Shigaraki is almost certainly going to be listening in." He checked his phone again. "Also, we're close."
Their destination turned out to be an abandoned factory, though he stopped them again before they came anywhere close.
"You'll be finding a nice vantage point…" He paused, looking around at the nearby buildings before he found the right one, pointing it out to them. "It shouldn't be too hard for you to get on the roof. I'll be going inside to scope it out." He cut off their protests before they could start. "None of you have a method of staying unnoticed," he told them with finality.
They shuffled off after that, though he held Yaoyorozu back for a moment.
"If you could make me something so I can still keep in touch," he asked her. "Something to help me see wouldn't be unhelpful either."
She nodded, making a determined face as two small earpieces fell out of her forearm into her palm, and she handed him one. Yaoyorozu followed it up by pulling out what looked like night vision goggles from one of her thighs. It really was an amazing Quirk.
"Please stay safe," she finally said, fixing her dress.
"I will. Keep your friends in line," he asked, placing the earpiece she gave him into one ear as she did the same. Nobuto watched her follow after her classmates, waiting until she had walked a short distance before he tried them out. "And besides, you have some practice with stalking me already, Momo."
He knew they were working just fine when she stumbled slightly. "R-Right," she responded back quickly as she entered the building and out of sight.
Facing his destination with a small smile, he projected his Quirk as he stalked around the perimeter looking for a suitable entrance. He didn't see any guards, nor were there any signs of traps. There were even some windows.
Nobuto was beginning to wonder if it actually was abandoned.
After a momentary pause, he scaled the shorter wall around the complex, aiming for a soft landing on the other side.
Keeping quiet, he engaged in a little parkour to reach one the windows, taking out the goggles Yaoyorozu had given him. What he saw inside didn't surprise him, but it was still a good thing he had a strong stomach. Nomu.
He didn't have time to count them all as they sat in glass or steel vats, though one or two were splayed out on tables like macabre art projects. Nobuto had a dozen-and-one questions, but he should probably say something lest they get worried.
"It's the right place," he whispered. "There are Nomu. Dozens, maybe."
"Is Kacchan there? Tokoyami?" He winced at how loud Midoriya's voice was.
"Sorry," Yaoyorozu was quick to add as she took over. "Are our classmates there?"
"Not as far as I can see," he whispered back, "but that is probably for the best. This place is a horror show."
The windows were bolted into place, and Nobuto wasn't too keen on breaking the glass to try and climb inside. It would be just his luck if the Nomu all woke up exactly like in a movie and chased him down.
Back on the ground, he circled the perimeter once or twice, no easy way inside standing out to him. Breaking a door down would be even louder than breaking a window.
He was about to try and climb the roof when Yaoyorozu spoke into his ear again. "K-Kayama, the Pro Heroes are here. It's Mt. Lady."
Yeah. He could see that.
The walking skyscraper of a woman towered over the abandoned factory, and he watched as she brought her heel down with a thundering crash onto the building, making a bigger ruckus than Nobuto could have dreamed of making. He braced against the shockwave and the eruption of dust and cement, covering his nose and mouth with his arm.
Maybe he should have asked her for another gas mask.
"I'm going inside to look for them. Keep a low profile and keep me updated." He was hoping Yaoyorozu caught all that.
It took three tries for him to kick the back door down and push inside; the damage wasn't as bad around the back of the building still.
"Best Jeanist is here as well," she chimed into his ear again. "Also Mirko and Gang Orca. They're rounding up the Nomu now."
Detective Tsukauchi wasn't joking when he said this was a show of force from the Safety Commission, and that was just here at this location. He also breathed out a small sigh of relief at there being no sign of All For One despite the place being ransacked.
Looking inside a few of the rooms, he found a number of Nomu in various states of arrangement, but nothing he was looking for. There had also been three very human brains suspended in some kind of liquid, though he couldn't feel a presence from any of them. Small mercies, he supposed. To have been aware while in a state like that sounded like hell.
His luck turned around in the next room. A monitor lit up the darkness of the room, surrounded by medical equipment. Hooked up to the monitor was a computer.
His curiosity was about to get the better of him when he hesitated. What safeguards could a man who has had over a century to collect Quirks have?
The keyboard might very well try and bite his hand off for all he knew.
Wrestling with himself for a moment longer, he decided on just extricating the hard drive instead and hoping for the best. The chassis didn't bite his hand off, so that was a good start. Though it was strange that the monitor had been turned on at all.
He was halfway through retrieving the hard drive when Yaoyorozu spoke up again.
"There's a man in a suit among all the rubble. I think he's speaking with the heroes." Holding the hard drive in his hand, he focused on her words. "There's… There's this black mask covering his face. He's—"
Nobuto wasn't able to catch another word as his world suddenly exploded in a cascade of light and sound, and he absently felt himself lifted and thrown around like a children's toy.
…
His thoughts were all jumbled up.
…
His vision was a mess, and all he heard was static.
…
Time felt fluid.
…
Eventually, he started making some sense of the world again. A good portion of the ceiling had collapsed onto the room, he saw. He stumbled to his feet, and he soon found himself staring at a slab of it, not far from where his head had been.
His heart hurt from how fast it was beating, leaving him clutching his chest. Intellectually, he understood that he had just almost died. It was the rest of him that was slowly trying to come to terms with it.
He couldn't just die here. He was meant for more than that. He would not die. He would not die. He would not die. He would not die. He would not—
On instinct, he reached for his sunglasses, feeling that one of the lenses had cracked apart.
That explained some things. His Quirk was circling the proverbial drain.
Throwing the broken pair of sunglasses away, he replaced them with his old sunglasses from his pocket, leaning on what was left of the wall. Looking down, he saw his other hand clenched tightly around the hard drive still.
"Kayama- something- please-" It seemed like his hearing was returning. Kind of.
Nobuto coughed some dust out of his lungs. "I'm here," he got out painfully.
"All Might- fighting- what do- we-"
"We had a plan of action for what to do if All For One was here. Follow it." There wasn't anything else for him to say.
"Tokoyami- Bakugo- They're here- Midoriya has a plan-"
Those were definitely not the words he wanted to hear right now. Still, he didn't trust himself to try and instruct them on strategy right now. "Trust your instincts," Nobuto finally said.
As he stumbled out of the room like he had personally emptied a bottle of sake, he tried to make out where the exit was as another shockwave rocked the building he was still stuck inside of. It wasn't as bad as the last time, but it wasn't helping him find the exit either, that he was sure of. The prospect of being buried alive here, of dying, it all had his heart hammering in his chest again, sweat dripping from his brow.
After stumbling around for an uncomfortably long period of time in the dark as the sounds of fighting outside continued, he finally found the exit. Maybe he shouldn't have. It looked nothing like it had when he had gone inside, a scene of devastation greeting him.
He didn't care to look behind him right now either. There wasn't a snowman's chance in hell that this wasn't being broadcasted, and he could watch it when he wasn't at risk of becoming one of the casualties.
He was practical like that.
