Chapter 16: In Sickness and in Health
Hodo had been putting the pieces of an intricate puzzle together for the last few months. In front of her, the web wall as they had taken to calling it, showed the extent of Kingpin's empire. A chunk of which was now undergoing massive trimming, with Dangan's arrest a few days ago, the entire news network had gone into a frenzy. Chitosei had everyone going after everyone associated with Dangan…..which had led her to seek out the grand scheme of Hodo's story.
So her boss had come to her makeshift office and had been pouring over the information on display for the last hour and a half.
The purple haired woman smiled.
"This is good work Hodo." She praised before turning to her reporter. "But…..this is a lot." She gestured to the wall.
Hodo nodded, "I know, I've been trying to make it digestible." she said, approaching the wall and gesturing to the information relating to Mysterio. "We know from phone records that Dangan was the one delegating dirty jobs to Mysterio." She said, pointing to a copy of phone call records that showed a steady communication between the two over years. "However, he's the part I want to focus on today." She pointed to a picture of the smartphone which Dangan had.
Chitose hummed, "The phone, right. That intern girl mentioned how it was blocking calls to police and hero agencies." She recalled, they ran a story on it earlier today actually.
Hodo nodded, "Exactly, so apparently this isn't the only one. I reached out to the police to ask for details, but they said they were investigating leads about it." she explained.
"Oddly specific way of phrasing that." Chitose noticed.
"Right." Hodo agreed, "So I did a little asking around the desk sergeants in a few precincts? This isn't the first time something like this was reported." she revealed. "I have police on the record saying that they had reports of criminals committing crimes and people not being able to dial the police."
Chitose's eyes widened at the implications, and then smiled, "You have a list?" she asked.
"I already went through it, and you'll never guess who was there, at every reported incident, stopping these bad guys." she said, walking over towards the center of the board, and then pointing to a picture that Izuku had submitted. It showed the form of Spider-Man mid web swing towards the camera with one hand raised up to shoot a web. "The same guy who, according to Ryukyu's sidekick, protected Dangan from Bullseye, who is currently awaiting trial."
Chitose's grin somehow widened, "Spider-Man. He's been going after this thing the whole time." She realized. This was….beyond perfect, "Hodo, I want you to keep on this. But first and foremost I want to have the people who saw this happen interviewed. Pass the list onto some of our reports and get them on this." She said.
Hodo'a lips pursed together, "About that…..this Kingpin figure….they're still out there. And if we put our neck out too far…."
"They can't chop off the head that's screaming the loudest and has everyone's attention without drawing it to themselves." Chastise assured, recognizing the hesitation. Hodo still seemed unsure, crossing her arms over her chest but nodding in understanding. Chitose raised a hand, "If you're really concerned, I'll look into upping security."
Hodo nodded gratefully, "Thanks….that would help a lot actually."
Chitose retrieved her phone from her purse, "I need to make a few calls, but I want you to work on summarizing this. When you have something, send it to me and I'll parse through it." she said, Hodo nodded as her boss left her office. Walking down the hall she sent a few messages to her people, nothing in depth, just telling them to expect new assignments. She also put in a call to her head of security, saying they'd need to set up a meeting later to discuss security measures for some personnel.
By the time she entered her office, she made a more important call. "Hello sir? It's me."
'Curious, I was wondering when I'd hear from you.' A jovial voice answered, the blue skinned woman smirking at her code name.
"Re-Destro, I have some very exciting news that you'll be interested in." She replied to her leader. "One of my reporters has been looking into this Dangan scandal, and it goes even deeper than we realized." she informed, walking over to her desk with a proud stride. On the desk there was a photo of her with the man on the phone. He had a slim build with sharp features like his nose, with reddish brown hair that was pointed back.
Rikiya Yotsubashi, CEO of Detnerat, the parent company of her publishing house, and leader of the Metahuman Liberation Army. They were a steadily growing organization that quietly endorsed the philosophy set out by their founder, the original Destro who propagated the right for people to use their quirks freely without suppression of their gifts. Chitose was one of the leaders of the army, with her division being in charge of the media, suppressing certain stories and making sure that their activities weren't picked up by anyone with authority.
But it was also manipulation, nothing orwellian, no hidden messages to brainwash the masses, no quirks used to gently pull people to their side. It was more subtle than that, it was more common than that, it was more simple than that. It was propaganda, nothing overwhelming, a few articles highlighting a problem with the system here, or a endorsement of a small act of heroism by someone without a license there.The key, that she found, wasn't to shout the same message down to the masses over and over again, it was to consistently spread the idea to them, steering them to the conclusion that they wanted them to reach because it was the only right one to make.
And with this Dangan business, they were given a golden opportunity.
"One of my reporters has been digging into Dangan and this has much wider ramifications than we initially thought." she explained before sitting down behind her desk. "We have reason to believe that this is linked to the Kingpin." She heard a hum of interest on the other end and continued, "We're still working on the connections, if it turns out to be true then it'll be like pouring gasoline on a wildfire, but the interesting part is that our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been waging a private war against Dangan and the people he's working with."
She heard him bark out a laugh, 'HA! My goodness, you're serious aren't you?' he asked, it wasn't a rhetorical question, in fact he sounded elated by the news.
Chitose smiled, "Says the man who was ecstatic to see a masked vigilante be cleared of criminal charges." she wryly replied.
'What can I say? He's an inspiration!' Rikiya said jovially. 'That young man embodies our philosophy, he rejects the status quo that our overbearing institution has oppressed us with. And not only does he defy them daily, he does so for the betterment of society as a whole.' he said, Chotise rolled her eyes but continued to smile. He wasn't wrong by any means, this vigilante was the perfect example to point to for their movement.
"I'm having our people run through all the crimes that he stopped while pros and the police were unaware of them." she said, they hadn't gone to his defense because it was a surefire way to tip their intentions. But playing up his heroics now wouldn't only go big with the Dangan controversy, but would also undermine pro heroes and the HPSC at once.
'Aren't you worried about censorship?'
"No, with us relating the Context to the Dangan Scandal? We'll be in the clear. Who'd have thought Spider-Man would be such an asset to the Meta Liberation Army?" She asked rhetorically, looking on the screen of her computer where Izuku Modoya's last photo of the wall crawler was saved on.
Itsuka kept her breath even as she kept a brisk jog after All Might on his electric scooter, a set of weights in her hand she would move in tandem with her arms added an extra layer of challenge to the exercise but it wasn't something unmanageable. They had cleaned up the adjusted portion of the beach already, something Kendo had been silently kicking herself for deciding to do, and so they moved on to a five mile jog to build up her endurance. All Might, in his shrunken form, looked over his shoulder at her, carefully watching his pupil to ensure she didn't wear herself out.
Yesterday she had pushed herself too hard and ended up collapsing on the beach, her muscles still ache and she all but passed out when she got home last night but she was determined to reach her new goal. All Might was worried and was keeping a close eye on her because of it, however he couldn't deny her the chance to go beyond like this. If she was going to inherit his power, that meant being able to push yourself beyond your limits. "Alright, we can take a break here." he called out to her, pulling the scooter to the side of the street as Kendo slowed to a stop.
She let out a long breath before setting the weights down, All Might reached into the backpack he carried and retrieved a water bottle which he handed to her, "Thanks Coach." she said as some people walked past, they had gone into a walking heavy district of the area so they wouldn't have to worry about cars. Taking a swig of water, she let herself catch her breath for a few seconds, "How much more do we have to go?" she asked, having lost track of distance an hour ago.
"Just a few miles, after that I think you'll be good for today." he informed with a proud smile.
She smiled in relief, "Thank god. When I get home, I'm going to get some food, and then soak in the tub…..or maybe pass out in it." she admitted with a shrug. Slipping into a nice warm bath to ease her sore muscles sounded like heaven right now, and was more than enough inspiration to push her through the rest of the jog.
All Might sighed blissfully, knowing exactly what she meant, "Reminds me of when I was training." he told her.
Itsuka raised an eye at that, despite her admiration for him, Kendo didn't know much of All Might's life outside of training and his heroics. "What was training like for you? Did it take you as long as me?" she inquired.
He shook his head with a fond smile, "No, not as long, but I was actually a little older than you when my master found me. I was in pretty good shape as well." he explained.
Itsuka hummed at that, All Might had told her how when he had inherited One for All that he was able to use it pretty much instantly. The fact that she had to work her way up to that level made her wonder if it was because when she inherited it, it would technically be a stronger version of what All Might currently had. I bet Izuku would be fawning over all this. She thought with a smirk and a very subtle blush to how she referred to him by his first name, something she found herself doing internally.
"You know, you've mentioned your master before…..what were they like?" she asked. All Might's face became more somber, making her realize she had walked onto a somewhat sensitive subject. "If you don't want to talk about it All Might-"
He turned to her and flashed her a small smile, "Oh, no Young Kendo. It's not that, she's…..well, she passed away many years ago. But….well you actually remind me of her a great deal." he said with a more positive smile. "You're both very determined, and passionate about the effort you put into things." he said, causing Itsuka to smile at the comparison. "....also you both aren't afraid to speak your mind."
Kendo snorted, "You mean we both were fine with calling you out." she corrected. Her mentor laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "...I wish I got to meet her." she lamented.
All Might sighed, "Me too. She would have liked you." He lamented sadly. Nana Shimura was like a second mother to him, she had treated him like a son as well as a pupil, she had been his inspiration in more ways than one. As those thoughts swirled in his mind, he felt the echo of her hand on his shoulder. Blinking to himself, he lifted his hand to grab it before realizing it was never there. He looked at his own pupil, "Don't feel daunted to ask me about her."
Itsuka smiled at the offer, "Thanks All Might…..now let's-" she began before blinking and looking behind him.
All might turned and felt his eyes widened when he saw a woman with dark green hair walking down the street and looking at her phone. All Might was surprised because he was just talking about his master who had almost the EXACT same hairstyle, and Kendo because she knew her. "Ms Midoriya?" She called out.
Inko jumped and turned before smiling, "Itsuka!" She said as the young woman walked over to her. Kendo was about to speak before the mother approached her and wrapped her in an unexpected embrace, the affection making her smile.
"Woah there, I'm sweaty." she said, patting the woman's back who stepped away and smiled at her.
"I don't care. It's good to see you!" she said before noticing the skeletal man who was wearing a large track suit that barely hung onto his frame. "Oh, you must be Mr. Yagi, her trainer, Emi's told me all about you." She greeted with a short bow. The trainer blinked in surprise but quickly returned it. He remembered the young man he had met as All Might all those months ago, just as he remembered him from meeting with Kendo on the beach and her birthday party.
He returned the bow, "You as well, I've only met your son a few times but he seems like a fine young man." He said, recalling their first meeting fondly.
Inko smiled, "Why thank you." She replied pleasantly.
Kendo glanced around, half expecting to see her son tagging along on the Saturday afternoon. "Is Midoriya with you?" She inquired.
Inko let out a long, irritated, sigh. Oh no. Both mentor and pupil thought, instantly recognizing the dreaded 'mom sigh', All Might knew it from Nana, and Kendo from her own mother.
"He's currently at home sick as a dog." She said with a shake of her head, "Apparently, that night he went out with you and your friends? He tripped and cut himself on something, deeply mind you, and so instead of telling me he decided to stitch himself up and didn't disinfect it properly." She explained.
Kendo's jaw dropped, All Might said sympathetically, "That's terrible, is he ok?" he asked.
She nodded, "He's ok, he's running a fever of 40 C. I'm going to grab some antibiotics from the store but I also have some other errands to run." She explained. She looked over at Itsuka, and blinked at the expression she had.
Where she expected concern or fear for her son, she instead found Itsuka was….irritated. Her narrowed eyes and gritting teeth being an indicator of her mood, she glanced over to her trainer and watched as he wisely took a step away from his pupil. "Really? He just told me he got his clothes dirty and had to leave." she said in a sweet tone that betrayed her expression. She took a long, deep, calming breath through her nose, held it for a second, and then let it out in a long sigh. "...I'm gonna kick his ass."
Inko snorted out a laugh, "Please wait until he's better to do that."
Kendo looked in the general direction of the Midoriya apartment, doing some quick rounding up in her head and she turned to her coach. "Coach, would it be ok if I took a detour back to the beach?" She asked. All Might blinked in confusion as she turned to Inko, "I can run and grab some antibiotics for I-Midoriya and give them to him while you run errands." She offered.
"Oh! Oh dear no, I don't want to interrupt your hard work." She pleaded.
"Erm." All Might coughed into his hand, "It should be ok, but I want you to take a breather there Young Kendo. Last thing I want is to explain to your mother why you passed out from exhaustion at your friend's house."
"Pffft. You don't know my mom as well as you think." Kendo wryly replied, picking the weights off the ground, she gave Inko a smile, "I'll get him that medicine." She assured her. Inko smiled and nodded before the ginger haired girl took off in a jog. As she watched her go, Inko couldn't help but shake her head in astonishment.
"She's so driven." She told the coach.
All Might nodded with a smile, "She is." he agreed, "And I think your son has something to do with that. She told me how he's been nothing but supportive to her." he said, causing Inko to smile in pride of her son. She looked at the frail looking man, Emi had told her that Yagi was a good person whom they had grown to trust with Kendo's training.
And with Itsuka taking Izuku his medicine…..
She turned to him fully, "Mr Yagi, if you're free right now, would you like some coffee?" she offered, causing the weakened symbol of peace to look at her in surprise. "I-er-" he stumbled, not expecting the invitation from the woman. He normally would politely decline the invitation but….well with Kendo set on her training for the rest of the day, there wasn't any reason to.
And if he was being honest, Inko seemed like pleasant company. "I….I'd like that Ms Midoriya."
Inko smiled at him, "Please, call me Inko."
It had been a very, VERY, busy day at the Ryukyu Hero Agency. Nejire typically wasn't the biggest fan of paperwork, it wasn't exciting but then again it wasn't like it was meant to be. It was mundane, but it wasn't too bad. But with this whole Dangan scandal going on? Things had gotten kind of crazy, for one thing the Hero Public Safety Commission had people over working in conjunction with them, which was to say that they were giving them special forms and documents to go over.
It was really the typical stuff, not to speak to the press about certain details, if they wanted to look at evidence they would need to be liable for its condition, all that jazz. However when she was sat down by a tired looking man with graying hair for her recounting of events was when things got interesting. "Thank you for this Ms. Hado, I'm Mera Yokumiru andI'll be going over the events that transpired which lead to the apprehension of the Former Lead Prosecutor Dangan." Mera introduced and explained smoothly.
"Okie dokie." Nejire nodded with a smile. Beside her, the pro hero and her internship mentor Ryukyu stood with her arms crossed. The dragon hero was an adult woman with short swept back blonde hair that went down to her chin, a pair of yellow eyes that watched the guests to her agency with a curious spark in them. She also had a headpiece that covered one of her eyes with a claw like design and two wings that resembled a dragon's.
Her hero costume consisted of a red qipao with a golden trim around the neck and skirt, with a trim of greenish scales on the shoulder. Her arms had detached white sleeves on them which stopped just at her wrist, on her left leg there was a strapped on bag which held her phone and other important items, and on her feet were a pair of boots.
She couldn't help but snort with how Mera's energy seemed to drain even more upon seeing her intern's sunny disposition. She gave the man a knowing look, "I still have her initial report if you prefer, I don't think there's a need to do a recounting." She gently assured the man. Mera had been kind and courteous to them, something rare within the HPSC, and she wanted to be sure to return the goodwill.
The man let out a sigh, "No, in matters such as this we need to be as thorough as possible, and verify all the information provided is accurate." He explained before looking at Nejire who was kicking her feet back and forth while she hovered on a seat she made from the spiral energy. "Now then, your report says that you were out with friends?"
"Yep! My friend Setuna called me and told me she passed the recommended student exam! Which is awesome because boy that's super hard, so we went out to celebrate at a sushi arcade! It was cool, I got to see my friends and Set's little sister Sera! She's such a little cutie!" She squealed excitedly. Mera opened his mouth to ask her politely to move on, but she continued, "Anyhoo, Kendo went outside to talk to this guy we think she's crushing on? Midoriya, I don't know him, but I chatted with him a little and he's cute and kinda sputters a lot but he seems like a good boy. Anyway a few minutes later she ran back in and said someone nearly ran them over. She told me Midoriya ran after it to try and get the license plate but I think he ended up tripping and falling."
Mera absorbed that…..mountain of over sharing and nodded, "And that's when you contacted Ryukyu?" He asked the pro heroine.
She nodded, "Yes, she informed me of what happened and asked if I was close by. Thankfully I was patrolling and she wasn't far away from me. It took me about fifteen minutes to get there." She informed him helpfully. Nejire had taken the initiative last year and had gotten her Provisional Hero License, which allowed her to act as a pro hero without supervision.
Mera nodded again, writing down a quick note in the file he had, "And Ms. Nejire by the time you arrived at the scene, what did you witness."
The blue haired girl nodded, recognizing that this was the important part that needed the most attention. "Well when I got there I saw the car that Kendo mentioned had crashed on the road, and further down it, I saw Spider-Man with Dangan, the assassin guy, or well the copies of him, were attacking him and trying to get to Dangan." She explained. At first she thought the guy who was attacking Spider-Man was a pro hero so she decided to hang back, only to quickly realize that wasn't the case. "When I saw that he was trying to kill them, I used my quirk to hit him and his clones hard enough to knock them out but they just splattered everywhere, which I knew would happen because I saw Spider-Man hit them and something similar happened and last time I checked Spiders don't turn people into clay…..they don't right?" she asked.
"As far as I'm aware, no." Mera sighed, "And then you confronted him?" he asked.
Nejire nodded, "Yep! At first Dangan told me to arrest him, and I didn't know who he was at first and given that they were both being attacked, and Spider-Man was actually protecting him the whole time told me something was fishy." she recounted. "Spider-Man then explains how that Dangan guy was involved in a way bigger thing, like criminal mastermind big, he was using his power as a Prosecutor to make things go in the way of his boss's favor. Like letting criminals out early, or misplacing evidence so that they don't get thrown in jail. He also mentioned how they have some weird phones that block police calls, which he actually did prove when I tried to call Ryukyu after and nothing happened. I don't know every law but that sounds SUPER illegal right?" she asked.
Mera tapped away at the tablet he had in his hand, frowning slightly at the information being shared, "That aligns with what we discovered." he looked up at the intern and heroine, Nejire tilting her head curiously, "We recovered the phone and had programers look at it, we have someone who is able to block incoming and outgoing signals within a small radius, so no information could be sent out before we had a chance to crack it open." he explained. On his tablet he swiped over and pulled up the documents that detailed what the data extraction team had been able to uncover. "The phone contained a number of custom programs on it, one of these would connect to cell towers as normal phones would using radio waves."
He turned the tablet towards them to see, "When someone uses their phone, cell towers log the data but not the actual information that's being shared on the call. However whoever programmed this phone included a virus which would temporarily put the cell towers it connected to block any traffic that would go to emergency services or a Hero Agency, making it seem as though they were undergoing maintenance." he explained.
Ryukyu's visible eye narrowed, "That's sinister." she said in a low voice as her hand clenched her arm in anger. "....do we have any idea how many times this has been exploited?" she asked almost hesitantly.
Mera pursed his lips together, "As of now they're scrubbing through the cell tower network to see how often this exploit was used and…..last number I heard was about twelve times a day on average….for the past three years." he regretfully informed.
Nejire watched as her mentor recoiled in indignation, she did some quick math in her head and felt herself falter as well at the number that came up. "Thirteen thousand." Ryuku spat out, voicing the number that Nejire had come up with on her own, "That's how many crimes that went by under our noses without even realizing it." she shook her head shamefully.
Mera frowned as well, it was a statistic that was being collected as they sat here and it would only get worse until they tallied up the uses to the exploit. It not only made the Public Safety Commission look incompetent, it was a large blow to pro heroes. It wasn't entirely on the pro hero industry though, cell companies were the first on the chopping block for not noticing this sooner. But still, the public relied on both heroes and police to keep them safe and had failed without realizing it.
"I know this is hard to hear." He sympathized, "We'll have data available for hero agencies to review. This isn't all on you, this has happened across Japan, and none of us caught it." He said, trying to put the scope of this problem in perspective. The pro heroine frowned, not very relieved by the news whatsoever. "Ms. Hodo, you said you got this information from the Vigilante, Spider-Man?" she nodded, "He mentioned someone that Dangan was reporting to."
She nodded in a less enthused manner, "Yeah, he did. Someone he called the Kingpin. I mean I heard rumors about him but that's all I thought they were, rumors." she shrugged. The HOSC agent nodded, he couldn't exactly blame her for that, "After that, well he slipped away, and I figured it was more important to secure Dangan than to go after him." she explained, deciding to omit the fact HOW he slipped away unless directly asked.
Beside her, Ryukyu silently breathed a sigh of relief as she had instructed her to do so.
Nejire was a great intern just…..a little too good natured.
"You were right to do so." Mera said, scrolling back to his notes on his tablet. "What were your impressions of him?"
"Of Spider-Man? He was really normal and actually pretty confident when he was telling me all this stuff. But then when I got in face he was embarrassed and stuttery! Maybe he's around my age? But he's a good kiddo! A nice guy! A nice guy who just so happens to be breaking the law!" She proclaimed proudly, causing the others to sweat drop at the earnestness which she said it.
Ryukyu pursed her lips together, Spider-Man's arrest warrant had been rescinded after Dagan's scandal. And he was still acting as a vigilante, however because of it he was able to uncover something this major and fight against while they were all unaware of the Kingpin being anything more than a boogeyman. "Is there anything else?" she asked.
Mera shook his head, "No, that's pretty much what I needed. For the time being we're asking pros to increase their foot patrols around their territories and overlap with others. The cell phone blockers haven't been made public yet, so if you run across any of them be sure to contact us." he explained carefully.
The dragon hero nodded as Mera stood up from his seat and walked out of her office. Ryukyu sighed as she walked over to her desk they had set up in front of and sunk into her seat. Leaning forward on her elbows, she clasped her hands together and rested her forehead against her thumbs. Nejire recognized the pose of contemplation, Ryukyu looked up to her and sighed, "I'm sorry Nejire."
The blue haired girl blinked at the unexpected apology. "Oh! Um….you're forgiven! I don't know what you're sorry for but I forgive you."
Ryukyu snorted at the uncharacteristic for most, but mostly typical Nejire like response. "I'm asking for forgiveness because this happened under my nose, and because of it…..I can't even imagine how many people were wronged because of my negligence." she explained guiltily.
"Oooh." Nejire awed, "Well I know it sucks that we didn't know about this, but you do now and I think that as long as you try and be better that things will be ok." she replied. "Plus it's not entirely your fault like the sleepy guy said, no one else caught onto this so why should you feel solely responsible?" she added. Ryukyu smiled softly at her intern's disposition. She was right of course, without proper knowledge of the security breach it wasn't as though any of the pros affected could do anything about it. And she was also right that she needed to be better, they all had to be.
In an odd way…..they should be more like Spider-Man. He didn't have the resources that they did, yet he was somehow able to suss out this entire conspiracy. "Well then, there's no time like the present, how about we go on ground patrol today?" she asked.
Her intern's eyes sparkled with interest, "Yes! Awesome! I'm down for that! Plus I like flying around, it's much more fun than walking. I'm not lazy for thinking that, am I?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I really didn't think this through, did I?" Kendo said to herself, standing outside the Midoriya apartment door. She admittedly had let her irritation get the better of herself when she volunteered to get medicine for Midroiya, the fact he had flat out omitted that he had gotten hurt and had to leave to tend to it wasn't something she held against him. In fact she could see them all having a laugh about it after, but the fact that he had tried to keep it to himself just so he wouldn't bother anyone? That was what ticked her off enough to do this, but now standing outside her maybe-crush's door she was hesitating.
She shook her head, "Oh get over yourself, regardless how pissed you are he still needs medicine." she said to herself, setting the weights she had been carrying down by the door before reaching up to the frame of the door, her hand felt around until she felt the key Inko texted her about and retrieved it. They lived in a safe enough neighborhood and didn't really need to worry about thieves, so having a spare hidden nearby was a good idea.
Unlocking the door, she walked inside, "Midoriya? It's Kendo." she called out, moving her weights inside, shutting the door behind her and slipping her shoes off respectfully. The living room was empty and she didn't get a response, she glanced over at the shoe rack and saw the bright red shoes that Izuku wore everywhere. "Well he's home at least, maybe he's asleep?" she wondered to herself as she walked along the wall to the hallway, turning down it she saw a door with an All Might themed name placard.
She couldn't help but smile to herself, Cute. she thought before knocking on the door, "Mmmmrrrrggggnnnnnn." came a groan from inside.
"Midroiya, it's me….Kendo." She greeted again, "I ran into your mom, she told me you were sick so I got some medicine for you." she said. "Can I come in?" she asked.
"Mrgh….Kendo? Izsat….Iszat you?" she heard him ask.
She felt herself frown sympathetically, he sounded VERY sick, "Yeah. It's me." she answered.
"Ohh...hey." he said.
"Ok I'm coming in now." she decided, realizing that his brain might be a little too fried to be totally aware right now. She twisted the door handle and entered...….and then stopped when she actually SAW his room. As it turned out, the placard had been an indicator of what to find inside, because covering almost every free space of the room was something All Might themed.
The curtains, the posters on the walls, the figures that were on his bedside table and dresser, the comforter on the bed, it was all All Might merchandise. "....oh you big nerd." she chortled to herself before turning to the bed, her tittering dying down as she saw Izuku's head poking out of the top of a thin blanket, a damp folded towel having been placed on his forehead.
He wore a pair of shorts and a tee shirt with a fan in the corner blowing cool air over him, his eyes were bloodshot and half lidded, his face was flush with heat and she noticed him shivering ever so slightly. "Oh man you are sick." she said, walking across the room and digging into her hoodie pocket for the meds she got for him.
"Kendo….hey…..how's it going?" he slurred his words together slightly as she approached his bedside, taking a knee beside it so she was at eye level with him. Reaching her hand out, she lifted up the now room temperature towel and laid the back of her hand against his forehead.
She winced, "Oh wow that's a big fever." she noted, taking the towel off completely she watched as he turned his head to face her, his usually fluffy looking hair drooping around his head. Inko wasn't exaggerating when she said he was sick as a dog. "Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked.
He slowly blinked, "I'm…..kind of dizzy….when I tried standing up the room spun around all….weird…..I haven't had that happen since…." he trailed off, as though he couldn't remember or he didn't want to say. She noticed his wrist was wrapped in bandages and the skin around it was red as well.
Either way, Itsuka had gone from 'going to kick Midroiya's ass mode' into, 'Make sure he's ok' mode. Setting the bottle of medicine on the table, she took stock of what she needed to do.
New compress, probably some water for him as well, and then the medicine. She reached a hand to his head and brushed some of his hair out of his eyes, "I'm going to get some stuff but I'll be right back. Ok?" She asked him softly.
He slowly nodded, "Yeah…..ok Kendo…..hehe that's kinda funny to say." he giggled deliriously.
Kendo smiled a little, and patted his head comfortingly before standing up. Heading to the kitchen she had to search for a minute before finding what she needed and returned to the bedroom with a freshly wet towel, a glass of water, and a spoon. As soon as she set the glass down, Izuku tried to reach for it, only for Kendo to take his hand, "Hey relax, your hand is shaking so I'll give you that." She gently declined.
The young man nodded, and instead pushed himself into an upright position, wincing as his world spun around a little from changing the elevation of his head. "Ughghgh." he groaned. Kendo took the glass of water with and felt it up to him, his dry lips parted and she ever so gently tipped it so the water went into his mouth.
She only let a little go down before tilting it back, then repeating the process until the glass was empty. "There, feel better?" she asked, her other hand reaching up and brushing the water off his lips. Her thumb halted on his mouth as she suddenly realized what she was doing, I-Ok no, calm down. It's fine. It's totally fine. I'm taking care of a sick friend. It's going to be fine.
And then izuku closed his lips over her thumb.
NOT FINE NOT FINE!!!! Kendo panicked as her face turned even more scarlet than Izuku's currently was. She pulled her hand away and looked at him with mouth agape, "W-Why did you do that?!" she yelped.
Izuku blinked, "...you stuck something in my mouth…..wasn't I supposed to eat it?"
Kendo opened and then closed her mouth at the logic he was using, but she couldn't help but snort, "Oh god, Midoriya you...ok hang on let me get the Medicine." She shook her head as she grabbed the spoon and the bottle she picked up. She couldn't help but wince upon seeing the liquid slowly fill out the spoon. "Alright I'm not gonna lie, this is gonna taste gross."
Izuku face wrinkled as she lifted it up, he turned his head away from it, "No,"
Kendo blinked, "Wha-what do you mean no!?"
"I don't want it." Izuku pouted. If this was any other circumstance it might be funny to see, but Itsuka knew he had to take this stuff to get better…..so she drew on the irritation she had earlier.
"Midoriya." The green haired teen shivered at the tone and turned to her with a little fear in his eyes, "You are going to drink this. Now that can happen one of two ways. Way one, I use my quirk to hold you like a pez dispenser and force this down your throat." She told him, holding up her hand and growing it to full size, which to izuku was just a large show of her power and currently had over him. "Or two, you close your eyes, open your mouth, and think of a pro hero while I feed you this. Which is it gonna be?"
Izuku swallowed audibly before closing his eyes and opening his mouth.
She wasn't lying, it tasted bad, but he quickly swallowed it down so the taste didn't linger any longer than it had to. Sliding back down his bed, Kendo took the cold compress and set it on his forehead to cool him off. "Mmmmm….thank you."
Kendo sighed with a smile as she looked down at him from her kneeling position. "You're welcome."
Izuku was very clearly not processing things at 100% right now, kendo remembered getting a really bad fever like this when she was little and her brother staying home to take care of her all day. She glanced over at the All Might alarm clock and saw it was two in the afternoon. Well I technically got my training done for today…..as to hell with it. She decided, walking over to his desk, noticing a notebook with a crudely drawn spider emblem on the front, and pulled his chair over to his bedside.
She sat down next to the bed in the chair, Izuku watching through his haze, "…..that medicine was yucky."
She snorted, "I bet it was. Maybe next time you get hurt you go to the hospital instead of trying to DIY?" She suggested. Izuku frowned and nodded, like a child being scolded, which actually made her feel bad. "...seriously, why did you lie?" She asked.
He reached his hand over to his bandage, he didn't try and pick at it so she didn't stop him. "I…..I didn't want to ruin things...you guys were having fun…..you were all happy…..that's more important."
Kendo blinked, "...I….Midoriya that….no." She denied, he turned to look at her, "I don't even….why would you even think that?"
He blinked again before answering slowly, and it broke her heart, "Because…I don't want to be useless..." he murmured slowly. Itsuka's jaw clenched, completely taken aback by the reply. "I try…..I try to do good….i always do and…..I'd get hurt a lot growing up….and it worried my mom so much...I didn't want to do that again." he tried to articulate.
Itsuka stared at him in disbelief, how could he ever think...but of course he did. His self worth had been annihilated before he had any chance to form. Silently, she reached her hand out to his hand and grasped it, his fingers weakly wrapped around her hand more out of muscle memory than conscious thought. "You're not useless...I know just saying that may not be enough…..but I want you to know that." She told him.
Honestly given his state of mind he might not even remember her being here. But she still had to say it, she swallowed thickly as she thought of what to say next. "And every time you think that, I want you to remember something...you're really important to me." She felt her face warm and her heart pound in her chest. "Maybe...one of the most important people in my life."
He blinked owlishly at that, "Oh...that's nice."
Honestly if she wasn't so flustered right now she might consider recording this for later blackmail. "It is…..you're a really nice guy Midoriya."
"Aw. Thanks...I think you're really nice too Itsuka."
Kendo nearly swallowed her own tongue from the way he said her name. Not her family name, HER name. "I…..wha…" she shook her head.
Izuku in his delirious state, didn't notice the slip up, "Yeah you'd like….super cool….and strong. And…..you always try to make me feel better, even when I don't think I deserve it…..but you make me think I do...which is really nice." He bluntly revealed in his delirious state. He looked over at her shocked face and blinked owlishly, "What is it?" he asked.
"You…..you just called me by my first name." she said, unable to stop the thrill of excitement that slipped out.
"Oh…..I'm sorry." he apologized.
She shook her head and smiled, her cheeks still burning red, "It's….it's fine…..Izuku."
"...hey you used my name." he pointed out. Kendo couldn't help but snort at the way he responded, he gave her a wry smile, "I like it when you call me that...no one ever…..well my mom does but I've….never been close enough to someone else for them to call me that." he explained, his hand suddenly squeezed her's, she suddenly realized she hadn't pulled it away. "I'm glad you're my friend Itsuka."
She smiled back, her thumb running across his knuckles as he continued to hold her hand, "I am too Izuku." she replied. He smiled back at her softly, his eyes becoming more and more heavy, noticing his shrinking awareness and energy Kendo lifted a hand and ran it through his hair. "Get some sleep. You need it to get better." she gently told him.
His eyes grew heavier and heavier until they closed, a few minutes later his breathing was steady and his grasp had gone much more, but not entirely, limp in her hand. Pulling it away, she used the opportunity to run her hands over her face.
God damnit Izuku.
I come over here ready to kick your ass for lying to me. Then you get all sick puppy and I can't just not take care of you. And of course the only way you get to be…..well not confident, but casual, is with a high fever-god I can't believe the first time you call me by my name is when you're sick!! She thought in grumbling frustration. Bad enough that she had to deal with the fact that she had a thing for izuku without even realizing it but he apparently thought super highly of her in the same way she did him in the platonic sense.
Which…..well it wasn't bad, she honestly felt elated that he saw her like that, as a really close friend...but the question was if she wanted it to be more or not. She leaned back in the chair, and looked over Izuku's sleeping form. Given his state of mind he probably wouldn't remember this whole interaction clearly. If he remembered it at all...still, she was glad to know where things currently stood between them.
The Kingpin of crime did not like surprises.
Being surprised meant he hadn't taken something into account, it meant that for all his meticulous planning, all his intellect, he had missed something to indicate that someone was trying to get one over on him. It meant that he made a mistake, and in his line of work a mistake could mean a bullet to the head.
So the news of Dangan's scandal should have surprised him...and it did….but only mildly. "Can we get to him?" He asked the Rose and Tinkerer. The latter of which was visibly nervous, his eyes darting to his employer and the Rose. He knew well enough not to ask any stupid questions, but his nervousness only served to make his boss glower at him.
The Rose cleared his throat, "As of right now? No. The HSPC have him in custody at an undisclosed location. But even if we did know, it'd take an assault with our heavy hitters to come even close to silencing him." The second in command informed, there was no doubt that they would have some pros on standby in case something like this were to happen.
And if the villains they sent were captured then it would add only more logs to the pyre which the Kingpin would burn at. "But the fact that they haven't moved on us, any of us, that must mean that he's working on a deal with them." Kingpin noted. Dangan would get himself the best deal possible given what he knows, and with the value increasing with every news outlet that ran a story of the pro hero and HSPC blunder? That information became all the more valuable.The sooner they could put whoever was behind all of this behind bars, the sooner they could start sweeping this under the rug.
He glanced over at the old man, "Tinkerer you are compromised, however you still possess value to this organization and will be protected." he cooly said before turning to Rose, "You'll be fine, you never went by your name or showed your face to him." he sat back in his chair, "I on the other hand, he has my face and name. Me and the Tinkerer can no longer stay here." he decided, the words tasting bitter as his voice portrayed.
Tinkerer swallowed thickly, "Well if that's the case, then maybe this would be a good time to use the Time Dilation Accelerator." He suggested. "With it we could travel to a non extradition country we have a location in without any risk of the transportation stupidity catching onto us." He explained. The kingpin's Brie raised questionably, silently giving him the go ahead to continue. "I've finally managed to cloak the device so that the Future Foundation won't be able to detect us using it."
Kingpin nodded, "Very well, that will help us in the long run. Even if he gives them my name, they'll have to find me first. Suddenly being in the Chinese countryside with legal documents saying I've been there for the last five years will annihilate his credibility." The kingpin noted, he could run his criminal empire from a different country for a while, the Rose could stay here as his representative until the police ran out if leads to pursue.
It was inconvenient to say the least...but it was better than jail time. "It'll take time for the police to gather enough evidence, even if they get your name that's not a death sentence." The Rose advised, "So you have time."
The Kingpin nodded, "Yes but not much. Tinkerer I have an estate in China that I want to walk to from this office without taking more than a dozen steps, your machine can do this?" He asked. The man stiffly nodded, "Good, Rose once I'm secure and Tinkerer has his operation set up, we can use the device to transport equipment as needed to you directly." He added as well.
The Rose nodded, his mask hiding his expression, "I'll make sure things run smoothly over here." He said.
Izuku felt terrible.
He thought he had taken care of his wounds properly, but as it turned out exhaustion, blood loss, and a desire to just sleep wasn't the best combination when dealing with a deep gash. The wounds on his back were healed by the next day but as he quickly found out, a minor healing factor did not make one immune to sickness.
When he opened his eyes, they felt immensely heavy despite the rest he had gotten. Lifting his hand to his face, he rubbed the crust out of his eyes. Sitting up in his bed, the compress that was on his head slipped into his lap, lifting a hand to his head. It still felt warm but his head was much clearer now than it was earlier, which was saying something because he had the oddest fever dreams, between one where he turned into a giant spider and was walking through tokyo without issue, to maybe the most mundane of Kendo coming over to-
"Mggh…" a soft voice groaned.
Izuku froze, and like a statue being given life slowly turned to look to his left, sitting in his desk chair with her arms raising up over his head was Itsuka Kendo…..
Oh...
Oh that wasn't a dream….that happened…..
OH.
OH NO.
Whatever color had finally drained from his face returned with a vengeance, "K-K-K-K-K-" he stuttered, making Itsuka blink and turn to him in surprise. "Kendo! You-when did you….how are you-" he began, a dozen questions flooding his still somewhat slow mind.
She of course was much more calm, and simply smiled, "MAn you were out of it apparently." she mused, "I got here a few hours ago, I ran into your mom while I was training with coach Yagi and she told me that you were sick. She had some errands to run so I offered to bring you some medicine." she said, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck that was a little stiff, "I was going to head out after giving you it but…." she glanced away, "...I didn't want to leave your side while you were sick." she admitted.
The green haired vigilante felt his chest pound at that, touched that Kendo cared about him so much that she had stayed by his side in…..his…..
She was in his room...
There was a GIRL. In his ROOM.
He looked around at the All Might Memorabilia that covered the entire room. He was proud to be an All Might collector but suddenly he felt a spike of embarrassment. "I…..um….thanks K-Kendo…." he said stiffly, looking around with his eyes and not noticing the small frown Kendo had when he didn't call her by her first name like he had in his delirium. "Um…..So....I know I said I was an All Might fan….and…" he struggled to find the exact words to say.
Thankfully he didn't need to as Kendo let out a snort, "Yeah, you did. I didn't think that it was…..well, to this degree." she said in a teasing tone as she looked over the room.
He winced, "....is….is it cringe?" he asked.
Kendo looked back to him and shot him a smile, "I mean….maybe a little." she said, raising a hand and making a gesture with her hand for something small. But his head dropped in shame all the same, his blush not entirely out of embarrassment that a girl was in his room with him but more that his hobby was….admittedly a little cringe. "....I mean if it makes you feel better, I do have Persona figurines in my room." she admitted with a shrug.
He looked up at her, seeing no such embarrassment that she held over the fact made his own drain away. He sat upright in his bed a little too quickly and his head felt a few sizes too small, he groaned as he held his head, "Ugh….how long have I been sick?" he asked.
Her expression became a touch more concerned, "A few days, we were talking earlier but you were….well you were kind of out of it." she told him vaguely, her own face warming a little at the conversation they had earlier.
She had to admit, she was a little disappointed that he didn't recall it…..no, scratch that she was actually very disappointed. But what was she going to do, ask him if he recalled how they had a deep conversation about how much they matter to one another? While being careful not to admit to this crush she had developed for him? No, she couldn't do that, she knew how deeply he cared about her now though…..and maybe that was enough. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
He lowered his hand from his head, "Well my head aches a little, I feel a little warm but….outside of that, nothing." he admitted, looking down and frowning at the bandage wrapped around his arm where the cut was.
He had planned on resuming her pursuit of Kingpin as soon as his injuries healed, this fever however had firmly put that on hold until he fully recovered. She noticed him looking at his bandage and frowned, "I'll be honest, when your mom told me about what happened? I was pretty pissed." she admitted. He winced but looked at her regardless, "I was gonna come over and give you a peace of my mind…..but when I saw what state you were in? Well…..I think you learned your lesson." she said, trying to sound teasing at the end, but her face was not showing it.
He frowned but not at her, he was instead focused on his hand, Kendo recalled what he had revealed earlier. How he saw her and other's happiness more important than his own…..and how he felt like he'd be useless if he got in the way of that. She reached out and touched his shoulder, making him jump out of his inner thoughts to look at her, "I'm glad your ok. And that it wasn't anything serious." she gently said with a genuine smile. "And don't be thinking your 'ruining our fun' just because you got hurt. I mean I nearly got ran over by a car. That's what brings down a mood."
He chuckled at her attempt to lighten his spirits, which apparently worked. "Yeah...and I'm sorry. I should have told you….and my mom." he realized before groaning. "She's going to kill me."
"I mean first she's going to let you get better, thenshe'll kill you." Kendo corrected sardonically. Before he could comment on that addendum, the sound of the front door opening drew both their attention.
"Izuku? I'm home!" Inko called out.
Her son tried to get out of bed, but stopped when an expanded hand was placed over his chest, "Stay here, I'll go see if she needs help." Kendo ordered him sternly. He laid back down and nodded, Itsuka stood and left his room, closing the door to a crack before he heard her greet his mother, who sounded surprised but not unwelcome to the young woman's presence.
I don't deserve a friend like her. Izuku thought with a smile, looking over to his bedside table, he saw his phone was left charging all day. Well I might as well see what I missed. He thought, reaching out to his phone, his fingers sticking to it and allowing him to pull it into his palm. Opening the device, he activated his news application, and then stopped when he saw the headline…..and the headlines for the last day or so.
Oh....he missed a lot.
He then noticed he had messages from Hodo, opening the unread contact tab, he was met with a few messages from the reporter.
Hey kid, tried calling but you didn't pick up. Called Inko and she said you were sick with something.
I'll keep this brief, the story is picking up and the whole station is going on with what we've been looking into. Dangan's arrest ties him with Mysterio, which links him to the Kingpin.
My source gave me information about Lotus Exotics, they said that it's something to look into. When you get better, give me a call. We're going to start there.
P.S. Chitose wants more pictures of Spider-Man.
P.S.S. Please send more pictures of Spider-Man she's getting crabby.
P.S.S.S This his Chitose, I am not crabby, I'm, just excited.
-Hodo.
Izuku finished reading the texts and laid his phone against his chest, Lotus Exports was something she mentioned before. It was a shell company, or a dead end that was used by the Kingpin…..could it have a more direct tie to him? Either way, it was a lead, and with this Dangan controversy finally bringing the Kingpin's organization into light, now was the time to put the pressure on. He needed to find out who the Kingpin was, if he could do that he might be able to get the information to the police and then they could take him down.
He couldn't care less if he got any credit for this, it wasn't about that. Kingpin was like a cancer, hurting people's lives for his own benefit and greed. And for the first time, maybe the only time, he had managed to deal a serious blow to the organization. If he didn't capitalize on it, then Kingpin might be able to slip away into the cracks where he operated from.
It was time to take down the Kingpin of Crime.