Capítulo 2296: 38
More police stuff now!
Also, a new poll! This time, I want to know if you guys want a holiday chapter for this story. A Valentine's Day one, more specifically. Keep in mind, this will take up the slot of the story's regularly scheduled chapter update on the Sunday after Valentine's.
That said, it won't be canon — it's much too hard to find a way to fit it in by Valentines with where I have my chapter events set up.
Why, may you ask? Why a random chapter? Just because, really. I just have an idea for it. On another note, I'm still not entirely sure about polls here on AO3, so feel free to vote in the comments or head over to FanFiction for the poll there.
Anyways, on to chapter 38!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Tsukauchi reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar looking black and grey object. "Mask on, Midoriya."
Izuku nodded, taking said mask and placing it back on to his face. After Izuku made sure it was securely fastened, Tsukauchi led him out of the interrogation room.
The pair immediately ran into a de-flamed Saya Asano, who was still standing patiently outside the door. As she drew sight of Tsukauchi, the red-headed officer slightly nodded her head in acknowledgement.
"Tsukauchi," she greeted, her face stoic and void of any trace amount of emotion.
"Ah, Saya!" Tsukauchi said, a small smile finding its way onto his face. "I heard from our friend here," he gestured to Izuku, "that you were using your quirk again."
"Now," Tsukauchi raised his hands, "I'm not saying that I don't appreciate the gesture, but I already said that your flames aren't needed for Izuku here. I'm ninety-seven percent sure that he won't raid the station with millions of bugs."
"And where, exactly, did you receive that estimate?" Asano asked.
Tsukauchi shrugged his shoulders. "Eh… Mostly conjecture."
Asano didn't respond back, opting to narrow her eyes at Izuku instead. The two shared a brief staredown before she turned and began to leave down the hallway.
She was already halfway down the hallway when Izuku's bugs heard her whisper a small reassurance to herself.
"I hope you're right, Tsukauchi."
Tsukauchi then patted Izuku on the shoulder. Izuku in turn snapped out of his bugs to face Tsukauchi.
"Don't worry about her, Midoriya," the detective encouraged. "She just takes a little warming up to, is all. You'll have plenty of time to do that now that you're working here part time."
The rest of their trip through the station wasn't what Izuku expected it would be. What Izuku thought would essentially be a walk of shame turned out to instead be a mix of hushed whispers and small inklings of gossip over who the supposed new hero gracing the station with their presence.
A quick question to Tsukauchi revealed that only a select few officers knew of Izuku's agreement to work for the force. The rest were in utter obliviousness over who he was; for all they knew, he was just another hero who'd come in to take on an investigation. In fact, considering the way hero gossip went, Izuku would be surprised if word didn't get out by tomorrow morning of his appearance at the station.
Eventually, Tsukauchi and Izuku reached their destination. An earlier check with his bugs had given him a clear image of the room. It was a fairly small space, furnished only with a single desk and a rather haphazardly filled board covered in a cliche jumble of pictures and red strings.
As is, the room only had one individual within it. Said individual immediately sprung up from her chair upon the opening of the door.
"Hiya guys!"
Izuku responded in kind. "Uh… hello, Officer Kaniya— Officer Kaniko." Seeing that he was now hidden from unknowing eyes, Izuku peeled his mask off.
"Midoriya," began Tsukauchi, "as the two of you have already met, I don't have to go through introductions, obviously. Though, I do have the pleasure of warning you that Kaniko is assigned to be your handler."
Izuku raised an eyebrow. "She is?"
"You betcha, Midoriya!"
Tsukauchi nodded. "I'll leave you two alone for now. You two have some things you need to talk about that I don't have the clearance for. Sooo…"
And Tsukauchi left the room, leaving Izuku alone with Kaniko. With little else left to lose, Izuku turned towards his newfound handler.
A broad smiling Kaniko held a hand out. Izuku took it, which led to Kaniko initiating a handshake that shook much too high and low than was necessary.
"Told ya that we'd be meeting again soon!" Kaniko cheered. "It's a pleasure to finally be working with you!"
"She's been expecting this. But how long has she been, exactly?"
"Right…" Izuku trailed off, his hand dropping as the handshake ended. "So, what exactly am I going to do?"
"Not much." Kaniko disclosed. "You'll mostly be waiting for orders until we actually have something for you, really." She moved around the lone desk in the room, sitting down in her chair and reaching down into a drawer to take out a vanilla folder. Izuku followed suit and sat in the opposite chair provided.
Kaniko opened the folder and began reading through its contents. "For starters, you'll be expected to undergo a couple of physical and mental tests so that we can take note of your capabilities. But it's kinda late right now, so that'll be for tomorrow."
She switched over to another loose paper, and her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh yeah! Aside from that, the only thing of note that's happening soon that'll be affecting you specifically is the Provisional License Exam."
Izuku stilled. "What about it?"
Kaniko adopted a small apologetic look. "You're not gonna be partaking in it. Sorry."
Izuku nearly stood up from his chair. "WHAT?!! But that's— But then— My license—!"
"Yeah, sorry about that, Midoriya." Kaniko said, her apology tinged with sincerity. "But don't ya worry!" Her tone changed in an instant.
"Considering your past experience, the higher ups think that the Provisional License Exam would actually be below your level. Therefore, they have something else planned that'll act in place of the exam. If everything turns out all right, you'll still get your license."
"I will?"
"Yup! You'll just have to complete a little… fieldwork. Ya know, an on the field practice scenario, if ya catch my drift."
Izuku took a breath. What Kaniko was implying meant that he needed to successfully complete and undergo a police outing, or something similar. However, whether that meant going on a ride along or going out to capture criminals, it didn't matter to Izuku as long as he got his license in the end.
"And I'll still get my license as long as I pass?"
"As long as the conditions are met!" Kaniko said. Then she shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever those are, anyways. I'm not the one setting them up."
Suddenly, Kaniko positioned her index and middle fingers into the generic gesture for scissors. She then rather abruptly began to cut out a portion of the paper she was holding.
Izuku was, obviously, quite curious. Thankfully, he had a fly on the wall just for something like this. He willed it to fly a bit closer, spotting the section of paper Kaniko was cutting out. The heading at its top read: How To Act Around Your Handler: The Do's and Don'ts. The whole section promptly fell into the trash.
The folder suddenly slammed shut. Kaniko then stood up and held out the folder in Izuku's direction. "Here ya go! It's for later."
Izuku steadily held his own hand out and grabbed the folder.
"Well, that's really all for now!" Kaniko exclaimed. "I'll let you go back to your dorms."
Izuku blinked. "That's it?"
"That's it!"
She moved to leave the room, and gestured for Izuku to follow. Izuku got up, and slid his mask back on before stepping behind her and matching her pace.
The two mostly walked in silence, the exception being Kaniko who hummed a cheery tune as they made their way through the station. In fact, it wasn't until they had reached the foyer that Kaniko spoke up again.
"Make sure that you get lots of sleep tonight! You'll be needing it!" She moved and held the door open for Izuku to pass.
"For the tests?" Izuku asked.
"Yup!"
They stopped on the curb. Kaniko continued humming, patting her legs in beat as she did so.
Izuku looked at her expectedly. He waited for something to happen for a whole minute. However, it didn't seem as if Kaniko was going to budge anytime soon.
"Uh… Are you not driving me?" Izuku asked.
"What?!" Kaniko exclaimed. "No! Of course not!" She said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We're just waiting for your ride," she admitted.
As if summoned, a sleek black limousine appeared from around the street corner and parked itself in front of the duo. The car's door went agape with a small click, swinging open to reveal a very stout, very carefree looking figure who was sipping on a cup of tea.
"Hello, Midoriya!" Nezu cheered. His arms spread out wide, causing a bit of tea to splash out of his cup. He then gestured for Izuku to come inside the limo. "Mind taking a seat with me?"
Izuku quite expectantly did a double take. "Principal Nezu?"
"Of course!" the principal exclaimed. His head tilted forward. "Unless you know another mouse-dog-bear thing?" Nezu asked.
One of Izuku's eyes twitched. He could tell that the principal was quite amused by the situation.
"No," Izuku said with grated teeth, "I suppose not."
"Didn't think so." Nezu turned, walking back inside of the vehicle. "Now, come."
Izuku followed Nezu without another word. Going inside revealed a rather spacious and luxurious interior. Two sets of seats faced each other from each side of the limo, with a table separating the two in between. A tea set was already set up on the table, something which Nezu wasted no time sitting in front of.
Izuku sat across from Nezu, going on to watch as his principal took another sip of his tea. Izuku was about to open his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud knocking on the limo's window.
The window rolled down to reveal a brightly smiling Kaniko. "Just wanted to say bye! See you later, Hive Lord!"
And just as quickly as the window had opened, it slid right back up, signifying the beginning of the the car's return trip to U.A.
However, as the car drove, a look of confusion appeared on Izuku's face as the car sped up. "Wait… Is that really what they're calling me in this costume?"
"You don't like it? I think it has a nice ring to it, really."
Izuku turned his head to find Nezu taking another sip of the steaming beverage that he seemed to obsess over.
Nezu gestured to Izuku. "Please, cut the connection with your bugs, if you will. I want your full attention on this."
Izuku tilted his head.
"Can he even tel—"
"Yes, I can still tell that you are connected to your bugs. We've been over this already, Midoriya."
Izuku froze.
"Microexpressions, Midoriya. Microexpressions."
Izuku sighed. Right. Just reading me. Not you, QA. Of course he wouldn't know of you… Right?
Izuku let go of his control, causing millions of bugs to return to their regular routines. He also went and removed his mask, exposing his face to the warm and tea scented air of the limo.
"Want a cup this time?" Nezu held out the offering cup. "It's a nice and classic Earl Grey. Freshly brewed when we left the campus."
Izuku warily looked at the cup. He was uncertain what exactly Nezu was playing at, and he wasn't sure what exactly he had planned. There was a whole load of things the principal could have in store for him. There was only one reason ge was, really.
In the end, Izuku took the cup; he'd probably be needing the energy for the upcoming talk anyways.
Upon seeing Izuku nod his head, Nezu gladly poured him his own cup of tea. "Splendid, splendid! A fine choice. You won't regret it.."
Izuku took a sip of the tea, appreciating the feel of the liquid's hot temperature in his mouth. He went on to watch Nezu from across, something of which Nezu was doing as well to Izuku. Nezu with apparent amusement, and Izuku with a downplayed wariness.
After a full minute of the back and forth staring, Nezu was the first to break the silence.
"So, how did you enjoy the trip, Midoriya? The police treat you alright?"
Izuku narrowed his eyes. He didn't want to play the principal's game.
"You knew all along, didn't you?" Izuku accused. "You planned this. The whole thing."
One of Nezu's eyes rose. "Whatever do you mean, Midoriya?" He sounded rather amused — it was apparent that Nezu wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was being coy.
Izuku continued. "You made sure that I would find the control room, that I'd get curious over a strange and out of place metal box. You made sure that I would take notice of it, banking on the chance that I'd jump at the opportunity to allow myself a method to leave U.A. undetected."
"Oh?" Nezu laughed. "Is that what you believe?"
"I know it's true." Izuku took another sip of his own tea. "I was unsure at first. At how the police caught on to what I was doing. They shouldn't have a way to know that I was hacking U.A. 's systems. They would have had to have somebody on the inside."
"The control room was perfect. Minimal risk of villains or stray students stumbling upon its location, and limited accessibility to beings your size and under. It all lines up perfectly in the end."
Izuku sighed. "My mind was just too clouded to care. Iwas stupid to think that you weren't watching me the whole time."
Nezu went to refill his own cup. "That's quite a story you've concocted up." He took another sip. "It's quite a miraculous coincidence that it's all true."
Izuku scrutinized the principal that sat across from him. "So you admit to it? That what I said is true?"
Nezu chuckled. "I like you, Midoriya. I really do. It's been a long time since the school's come along and picked up a troublemaker like yourself. But that's not all."
"You're different from them. The others. You're smart. And crafty. And you aren't afraid to step around a few boundaries if it means going out to stop crime. I respect that."
Nezu took another sip. "So I'll be straight with you. Yes, I did aid in your capture. Part of it is because I like seeing you riled up. I just love seeing a human like you squirm."
Nezu adopted another one of those manic grins, something of which unnerved Izuku greatly.
Nezu eventually continued with his speech. "The other part of it has to do with making sure you're still around by graduation."
Izuku furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Nezu let out a full belly laugh. "More tea?"
Izuku blinked. He looked down at his own cup to find it surprisingly empty. He'd somehow drinked all his tea up somewhere along the length of Nezu's talk.
"Sure," Izuku replied.
Nezu poured Izuku another cup.
"I'm not stupid, Midoriya. And neither are you. I know this, because I genuinely acknowledge your intelligence. You're smart for a human. And for somebody your age."
"However, that means that we both know that what you are doing is setting yourself down a path of self destruction. No matter how righteous your actions are."
Izuku let out a frustrated growl. "I know that, Principal Nezu."
"Oh? Then why do you do it? Why do you go out and fight crime, and nearly get yourself killed whenever you fight villains?"
He didn't. He only went out and fought villains as Snitch, the anonymous caller who alerted heroes and police of criminal safehouses and watched as criminals were swiftly handed justice.
However, there was still that small piece inside of him telling him that he was just denying the truth. While those urges may have been a part of it, they weren't the whole cause.
Izuku turned his head away, taking another sip of his tea. "Who's driving us?" he asked. "The person driving had to be informed about the situation. And that means they know that I'm going out and being a vigilante. Who is it?"
"Diverting away from the question, are we?" Nezu chuckled. He clicked a small button beside him and spoke into a small microphone. "Midoriya wants to talk."
The partition separating the passengers side from the driver's slid down to reveal a familiar disheveled man.
"You're doing one hundred laps later today, Midoriya," Aizawa drawled. His eyes were staring right into Izuku's soul from the rearview mirror.
"And another hundred for making me wake up at this godforsaken hour. It was supposed to be one of my few days off."
Izuku gulped, readily nodding his head. "Yes, Aizawa-sensei. Of course. I wouldn't expect any less for punishment."
"Good." His eyes went back on the road. "We'll be talking about your vigilantism and your other resulting punishments at a later date. I'm going to focus on not falling asleep at the wheel for now."
The divider slid back up, leading to Izuku turning back to face Nezu.
"So?" the principal asked. It was obvious that he hadn't forgotten Izuku's attempt on straying away from his questioning.
Izuku sighed. "I'm not going to tell you. I have my own reasons."
Nezu smirked. "Hmph. Alright." Another sip.
"I'm already being lenient with you, Midoriya. Don't break my trust. I see potential in you, and I still wish to cultivate it. It'd be a shame to see you blown away like mere dust."
The car came to a halt. Nezu stood up and strode over to the car door, opening it and gesturing to the outside. "We're here. Straight back to the dorms with you."
"Yes, Principal Nezu." Izuku took one final sip of his tea and walked over to the principal. However, just as he was about to exit the car, Nezu grasped ontoI Izuku's arm, dragging him down to his height.
"I'll be moving the control room's mainframe for now. No more rewriting of the school's security systems for you."
Izuku had expected that. "Of—
"But," Nezu interrupted, "I won't be doing anything about any of the changes that you already made. It'd be a waste of your efforts. So, feel free to take a nice stroll around the block every now and then."
"..."
"But please, keep it sparse. I'd still need to keep the police of your tail when you do, after all."
Nezu let him go. Izuku nodded and continued on his way, walking past an irate looking Aizawa.. Izuku shied away and let out a nervous laugh as Aizawa looked at him with a dead stare.
When Izuku got to the gate, the system let out a chipper beep that signified his still working unlimited access to the school. A discrete look back revealed a smirking Nezu and a further disgruntled looking Aizawa. Izuku quickly sped past the gate and towards the dorms.
When Izuku got to his dormitory, he steadily opened the door as quietly as he possibly could. A quick peek inside revealed the common rooms to still be dark. Letting out a deep breath, Izuku stepped inside and turned back to the door, slowly closing it with a small click.
"What are you doing?"
"Gah!" Izuku swerved around, startled by the voice and the sudden opening of the lights.
"Oh." Izuku breathed in relief. "It's just you, Todoroki."
"Yeah, it is," Todoroki confirmed, his face unreadable as usual. "Why were you out so late? You know we aren't supposed to leave the building past curfew."
Izuku gulped. "Umm… Well… I, uh…"
"Yes?" Todoroki's eyes shone with an inquisitive nature.
"I'll… tell you tomorrow?"
Todoroki's eyes narrowed. "Midoriya, I—"
"It's alright! I vouch for him!"
Both Izuku and Todoroki stumbled back from the sudden appearance of the principal in between them.
Todoroki immediately calmed, slowly blinking as if digesting the situation. "Principal Nezu?"
"Of course! Don't worry, Todoroki. Midoriya and I were just talking about some modifications I wanted to make to his curriculum."
Todoroki blinked. "At four in the morning?"
"Nothing to worry about!" Nezu said. "Besides, you're up because you wanted a glass of water. Is talking about education any different?"
Todoroki didn't respond back, raising an eye in disbelief instead.
"He'll inform everybody tomorrow," the principal said. "So off to bed, you two."
Izuku didn't need to be told twice.
"WHAT!?!!?" Ashido exclaimed, eyes wide in surprise. "What do you mean you aren't taking the Provisional License Exam?!"
She, along with the rest of the class (which included everyone but a still sleeping in Bakugou) were in similar states of surprise and confusion.
Izuku laughed, glancing at the various faces of his classmates around him. "Principal Nezu and I had a talk last night. He uh…" Izuku rubbed the back of his head.
"What are you going to say?"
Izuku lipped his lips. "He said that—"
"I have something special planned for Midoriya!"
Izuku recoiled from the spontaneous appearance of the principal. "Will you stop doing that!?!"
Nezu turned to Izuku with a satisfied smile. "No." He then turned back to the rest of the class.
"Midoriya has exhibited some rather intriguing qualities that I'm personally interested in. I have actually been observing him quite closely since the entrance exam. I just knew there was something special about him."
"And as it turned out, I was right! So Midoriya will just be carrying along with this new program set up for him. It's just the next step in his education here at U.A.."
"Whoa man, that's kinda cool!" Kaminari exclaimed. "You're getting recognition from the principal himself!"
The rest of the class's words of congratulations were drowned out by one boy's explosive exclamation.
"Are you crazy?!?" screeched a distressed Mineta. He lunged forward and grabbed onto Izuku's leg. "You can't do this to us, man! We'll be doomed! Without your overpowered bugs during the license exam we'll all be crushed!"
Izuku wasn't sure what to do with the anguished form of Mineta attached to his leg. He tried shaking the short boy with no effect. Izuku was getting a bit uncomfortable too, and was about to just attack Mineta with another swarm of bugs.
However, he didn't need to resort to such measures, and was thankful when Tsu went and dragged Mineta off.
"Thanks, Tsu."
"Of course, Midoriya," Tsu croaked.
"Anyways," Nezu continued, "Midoriya's going to have differing obligations from this point on. No need to worry, however. He'll still be regularly attending classes with the rest of you and such. He'll only be called away for specific dates. As is, that includes the rest of the remaining days you all have to develop your super moves."
"Well, that's all for now!" Nezu waved. "You all better get ready! You all still have a big day ahead of you!" He nodded his head in Izuku's direction. "Especially you, Midoriya."
The principal left through the front entrance, leaving everyone still in silence and disbelief.
"Wow, Midoriya," Yaoyorozu began. "You really must be working hard if you're getting Nezu's attention like this."
"Indeed!" Iida started. "It shows that the rest of us are quite still behind! If anything, I'm ashamed of myself for not striving forward enough! I must work harder!"
"I— It's nothing like that guys, I promise," Izuku said. "Nezu just sorta… liked my attitude, I guess. He wants to see that I develop right, or something along those lines."
"Still sounds like a prodigy in the making to me."
"Alright, everyone! That's enough for now!" Iida began. "We can congratulate Midoriya later. Like Nezu said, we still have Gyn Gamma to get to! So chop-chop! Get moving!"
———
Later That Morning…
"Hey bro, Bakugou! Where were you this morning? You didn't get to hear! Midoriya's taking part in this special program thing! He gets special training and everything! And it's being run by Nezu himself!"
"HE WHAT!?!?"
Notes:
And that's Tangle for you.
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