Capítulo 2264: 6
Chapter Text
"So that would be two Pork Cutlet Bowls, madam?"
"Yes please," replied Inko Midoriya. "Oh, and could we get extra meat for one of the orders?"
"Of course." The waiter took note of the order on his notepad. "Would that be all?"
"Yes, thank you!" replied Inko. The waiter walked off afterwards.
"Uh, mom?"
The woman turned toward the voice. "Yes, Izuku?"
"Why exactly are we here again? This place looks kind of… expensive."
The boy wasn't wrong. The Corner gave off a rather high etiquette vibe, its candlelight tables and high-strung attendants demonstrating what kind of atmosphere the restaurant withheld.
"I already told you! I just got promoted at work. I thought we could celebrate at a place like this."
"But couldn't we have just gone the usual place? We are just getting Katsudon, after all."
"Oh, you're no fun Izuku. There's no harm in going to a place like this every once in a while. Plus, the meat here is of a higher quality!"
"I suppose. Even if we haven't been to this part of the city before."
"Ah, enough of that. Enough of that," said Inko. "How was school today?"
Izuku grimaced at that. Kacchan was in one of his more grumpier moods today. The bruises on his leg were enough to prove it. "It was alright," Izuku replied. "Just the usual, you know."
"But your going into your last year of middle school soon! Surely there's something interesting happening in class?"
"Not really."
Inko gave him a long look. "If you say so," she stretched out. "How about Katsuki, then? How's he doing? I haven't seen him in awhile."
Izuku grimaced again, at that. He still hadn't told her about the way his relationship with Bakugou had changed.
Best not to add to her worries. She has enough on her plate.
"He and his friends just played games with me—" as in, chased me down and roughed me up, "— during lunch. The usual."
"Hmm..." hummed Inko. She had picked up on her son's dejected attitude towards her questions. He'd been like this everytime she mentioned school, but she didn't want to push. She decided to shift her manner of questioning. "And your training?"
Izuku perked up at that. That he could talk about. "It's doing great mom!"
Inko smiled at that.
Izuku continued. "Aside from training with Kawabata-sensei, I've been practicing with my quirk, trying to increase my range an—" he stopped, having noticed something at the edge of his said range.
While he may have told his mother about his quirk just last month after he told his sensei, Inko didn't exactly know everything Izuku was doing with his quirk. In fact, at the current moment Izuku was scouting out the currently unfamiliar part of the city for anything illegal or illicit. As it turned out, he'd found another criminal hideout not too far from where he was.
"Honey?"
…
"Uh, mom?"
"Yes?"
"I… I, uh… Some of my bugs are getting kind of hungry. Would it be alright if I…"
"Oh! Of course. Of course. Besides, I'd much rather have you feed them in the restroom than out here with the food. Go on ahead."
"Thanks mom!" He grabbed his bag and ran off towards the restroom. Once he got in, he began to check for any occupants. The various flies he sent in scoured the stalls - a rather indecent method, but a necessary one - and deemed them empty.
Good.
He turned around, opening the door to the restroom and sending out a couple of scout flies, just in case. He didn't want somebody barging in on him while he was getting ready, and he'd rather have a ten second warning beforehand if it was unavoidable. He turned again, this time placing his attention on an entry point.
Initial scouting had revealed that this restaurant had discrete access to the outside via a bathroom window. He taken to practice for searching for such things whenever he went somewhere new. He had just started doing it some time ago; constant vigilance in the case he needed to act with his quirk.
He moved toward the window, unlatching the pane while letting in the cool nighttime air. Izuku took a deep breath of fresh air, just lowering his head seconds before thousands of insects came swarming inside, gathering around Izuku.
Reaching into his pack, Izuku retrieved a black, lightweight cloak that he had asked his mom to get from a costume store. He'd made sure with his bugs to remove any trace of methodology that could trace the cloak back to him or his mom. Stray DNA was eaten up, as well as the label for the costume store.
A couple of near close calls made him realize how easily his bugs could be discovered – and thus subsequently connected to him. The cloak acted to remove any connections between him and his vigilante persona. Now that he was less cautious with his quirk, he needed to preserve his secret identity. After all, any news of a vigilante with a potential bug mutation quirk would be quite problematic.
As the fliers swarmed into the cloth, two small lights resonated in his hair. They were fireflies; he always carried two within the hair that now reached just past his neckline.
The fireflies placed themselves within the hood of the cloak, acting as two rudimentary eyes that glowed a luminescent yellow. The figure then rose into the air, emitting a slight buzzing sound. The now floating cloak was devoid of view beyond the shadows casted upon its openings, appearing almost as if all that filled the cloak were its piercing eyes. It stayed still for a few seconds, before zooming outside the open window.
Izuki smiled and nodded. Task done, he closed the window, leaving the bathroom and returning to his table.
He spotted his mother upon turning a corner. "Oh, Izuku! The food came while you were gone. I made sure yours had the extra meat. Are your insects all well fed?" asked his mother.
"Yup!" responded Izuku. "The lesser insects acted food to the more important ones. I may be a few short now, but that's how life works. Everything's in order.."
Inko blinked. "Ah, that's… good to know… Um, and your training?"
"Oh! Where was I…"
"You said something about range?"
"Oh yeah! I've increased my range to up to three blocks!"
Three blocks, the outer edge of where he had found the villain hideout. Just out of sight of the building, his cloaked figure grabbed for a phone booth, dialing for the police.
"That's pretty large, isn't it? Three whole blocks of coverage?"
"Yeah, I—"
"Hello? Who is this?"
"I have found a villain hideout at this location," reverberated the feminine voice of his bugs. "Track this call and follow—"
The insects abruptly stopped their flow of sounds. They sensed something strange nearby.
A figure appeared within his sphere of influence, slowing closing in while jumping from rooftop to rooftop. His few scouts found the figure was mostly covered in black, with a loose, long cloth running from his neck. His face—"
"And I can sense what the insects can see and hear. It's especially helpful for surveillance and spying and stu—"
The insect-filled figure turned around, just as the black clothed jumper arrived on a rooftop that oversaw the scene. The dozens of bugs in the immediate area took discrete looks at the rooftop figure. Further observation revealed the long cloth to be a sort of scarf. The figure had long hair, almost in the current style and length of Izuku's own. But most prominent were the pair of distinctive yellow goggles that covered his eyes.
Eraserhead.
"Uh-oh."
Each stared down the other, waiting for either one to make a move first. The robed figure's yellow orbs pierced into the Erasure Hero's own black lens. Each seemingly edged the other to act. After a few short seconds, Eraserhead jum—"
"Izuku? Something wrong?"
"Huh?" Izuku asked, shifting attention back to his mother. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you were just making this face. And you sounded worried of something. You okay?"
"Oh! Yeah. Yeah. I'm just…"
Izuku turned his figure down a wayward alley. Eraserhead was in hot pursuit, trailing behind what would seem in his perspective a suspicious, levitating figure.
The cloaked insects simply glided over various obstacles, surpassing large dumpsters and various debris that otherwise hindered the pursuing hero. It was enough to throw the hero of Izuku's trail quite effectively, but not entirely.
Quick glances with other bugs saw Eraserhead's eyes glowing an eerie red and his hair floating upwards, even as he ran. Izuku knew that the hero was using his quirk. No doubt the hero would think from this encounter that he was chasing a rather oblique mutation type. As long as they both kept their distance, Izuku would be fine. Izuku couldn't let the hero see what was under the cloak, and he couldn't prevent that in hand-to-hand combat (or the lack thereof, i. The manner of his fake body).
Izuku began to think, various exit strategies coming to possible fruition in his head. He began to send insects all over, but was careful to ensure his actions were kept under wraps.
" Want dessert, Izuku?"
"Uh… yeah. Need to stay a bit."
"Alright, what do you want? The Ice Cream Fudge Brownie? Taiyaki? Moch—"
"Taiyaki. Or whichever takes longer."
He was having a craving for red bean paste. So what?
Inko rose an eyebrow. "Okay?"
There. An opening. Plan F.
The insects skidded the corner of the alley and onto the street. They took a immediate veer left, creating a rough five second window to commence a retreat. The thousands of bugs of his fake body abandoned the cloak, crowding and streaming their way into an open water drain. The insects left without a trace, leaving behind nothing but the cloak that concealed their presence.
"That's a shame."
"What is, Izuku?"
Said boy jumped in his seat. Shoot, that was out loud. Again. Need to fix that…
"Uh, nothing. Just a shame that we could only have one dessert," he said as he bit into the fish-shaped cake he was holding. That was a nice cloak though. I'll have to see how I can get another one without mom getting suspicious.
"We could get mo—"
"No!" Izuku exclaimed. He recoiled, having noticed the way he accidentally yelled. "I mean, no need to spend more here. We can spare ourselves from the, uh, higher expenses here."
Besides. I need to get away from here. I'd rather not stay so close to Eraserhead, just in case. I need to take note to be cautious around this area at night. It's probably directly in lieu of Eraserhead's patrol routes.
"Are you sure you're okay, Izuku? You're muttering again. And you've been acting weird all night."
"I— Yeah. Just… tired, I guess."
He looked back towards the storm drain. Eraserhead was there, currently examining the cloak Izuku's insectoid shape had left behind. The Erasure Hero was holding the cloth, then scanning the landscape for his target. The man tsked and sprinted away, rejoining the solitude of the rooftops.
Another close call. I need to be more careful. Even more so now since I'm no doubt under Eraserhead's radar.
Izuku looked out the window of his mother's car. He glanced up, towards the rooftops. He watched as the blurry shadow slowly faded away into the night.
"Officer Iwasaki."
Said officer rose his eyebrow. It wasn't often that a pro hero - especially an underground one - went out of their way to show up to the station at their own volition. He voiced his confusion.
"Eraserhead? What brings you here?"
The hero simply answered back with nonchalance. "An update. On one of your long-running cases."
"Oh?" Something noteworthy enough for Eraserhead to take note of? Perhaps its Stendhal? Or maybe Arkswan? "Let's get to one of the debriefing rooms first."
Both police officer and hero walked towards the debrief room, both silent before behind closed doors.
"So," asked Iwasaki, bringing out some blank pieces of paper and an inkwell, "what do you have for us?"
Eraserhead handed Iwasaki the cloth that was over his shoulders. He opened his mouth, uttering a single word, "Snitch."
Iwasaki's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Snitch?! You sure? I— wait, is this her cloak?"
Eraserhead nodded.
Iwasaki combed over the cloak. "It's rather… mundane. Nothing special about it, really." Iwasaki waved his hand over it. "No traces of ink, either if that helps. Can't track it by the supplier. You sure it's her's?"
"Completely. I arrived just as she making one of her infamous calls. That was about… two hours ago from now."
The officer blinked. "That would be the one at that club, with the secret basement hideaway… Wait, where were you then? We stormed the place with Death Arms just earlier."
"Mhm. I fell in pursuit with the suspect. We strayed pretty far from the scene and, I've got to admit, she's one slippery vigilante. Turned me around once or twice. She escaped. All I got was the cloak. I decided to finish my patrol rather than go on a goose hunt."
"Alright, I suppo— Wait, so you saw what she looks like under it, then, right?!? That's good, very good!" Iwasaki began to use his quirk, the ink transforming into words onto paper, clear and organized as any computer would produce. "We can finally set up a description of her after all this time. Just give me a brief rundown of what she looked like and I can—"
"I didn't."
Iwasaki's scrawl abruptly stopped. "...Didn't what?"
"I didn't see her. Snitch was long gone by the l found the cloak."
"Oh… shoot," came Iwasaki's dejected look. But that soon changed, turning to intrigue. "But… why would she leave it behind, then? There wouldn't be a need, with such a clean escape. Why leave behind something that could potentially lead us to her?"
"That, Iwasaki, is what I intend to find out."
Shota Aizawa stepped out of the station. Upon reaching the bottom steps, he immediately spotted a flare of spiky, blonde hair to his left. He sighed.
"Hey! Shota! How's it going?!" exclaimed the figure.
"I'm fine," Aizawa said. "Why're you here?"
"Agh, that hurts!" yelled Hizashi, clutching at his heart. "Can"t a friend simply visit a friend?"
Aizawa simply started walking.
"Shota, wait up!" Hizashi whined. Upon catching up to his friend, he asked, "So?"
"So what?"
"Tell me! Ole buddy, old pal, why'd brought you in there? You usually never end up directly speaking with the police."
"I had an update for one of their long-running cases." Aizawa answered. "Most of the information on the case is within the police database, due to the nature of the case. I needed to see what else they had so I could find a lead."
"Oh? How so? What's got you so interested?"
"Snitch."
"Ah, her! The mysterious Snitch! She's quite a case, ain't she?"
"She is. I encountered her on my patrol."
"You did?! Where's she at then? Police custody? Or was her quirk too volatile for that?! Is she being watched by other heroes, maybe?"
Shota simply gave his friend a flat glare.
"What?!? She got away? How?! This is like, what? The first time someone has escaped from you?" Hizashi asked incredulously.
Another stare. "Third. There was both Quill and Arson."
"Ah, I remember them. Both mutation types. Huge pains to fight…" Hizashi tilted his head toward Shota. "You think Snitch is one?"
"Not sure. But I believe it's possible."
"And why's that?"
"I tried erasing her quirk. It didn't work, she just kept going. However she was levitating, it was either through a mutant quirk or some sort of device, if the faint buzzing I picked up on is anything to go by. Besides, she was able to notice my presence before I came into view. That points towards a sensory quirk."
Hizashi shrugged his shoulders. "Well, you've got to admit, at least it was a vigilante this time, eh? Less likely to retaliate in lethal force towards heroes, and at least doing good rather than crime."
Hizashi took an exaggerated pose, eyes scrunched in deep thought and his hand rubbing his chin. "You didn't see anything that could hint towards a possible mutation? Body parts?"
"Never got a view under the cloak."
"Hands?"
"Covered by the sleeves."
"Face?"
"Two yellow eyes, that's all."
"Well, how about her fee — Oh! So Snitch does levitate! Just like Emi told us!"
Aizawa's eye twitched ever so slightly. He sighed again. "Yes, it was as she said."
"Sweet! I've got another reason for a get together! Wait until Emi hears about this."
"Please don't. I like speaking to her on my own terms."
"Hmm…"
Aizawa looked at his friend.
"Mmm… Fine. But only because you asked nicely. On the other hand, there's stil— Hey! Where you going?!?"
Aizawa, again the Erasure Hero Eraserhead, was jumping up the sides of two buildings until he reached the top. His goggles glinted in the heavy moonlight, capture device ready at his neck.
"I'm gonna take a look around. Never know, I might stumble upon Snitch again."
"But you've already been at it for 7 hours! You need to sleep, you know! It's not healthy if you don't!"
Aizawa nodded his head. "Fine. I'll only be out for another hour. But one thing's for sure, I'll be keeping a closer eye out for Snitch. This case isn't going to be forgotten until it's solved.
With that, Eraserhead blurred away into the night.
"Wait!! yelled Hizashi. "We still haven't talked about whether or not you're gonna accept that job opening!"
Hizashi Yamada stared after his friend as he grew smaller in the distance. He sighed. "Ah well, we'll go over it tomorrow. Nemuri and I can gang up in him then."
With that, Hizashi placed his hands in his pockets and walked on home. That is, until something else came to mind. "Ah shoot! I still need to finalize everything for tomorrow's show!" And his brisk pace turned into a sprint towards his home.
Notes:
And done! Hope you all liked it. Oh, and for those of you who are wondering about the "villainous nature" (finger quotes, to emphasize) that Izuku sees in his of bugs, well… ;)
Anyways, see you all next time in [Chapter 7: Conflict]!
Update: 5/9/21 - So, Izuku as a vigilante. Indeed, it doesn't make all too much sense for what little he's done. So I'll give you a rundown of what's subject to change in the revamp. So, first off: remember that event when Izuku stopped a thug whilst having his bag over his head to hide his identity? Well, just pretend for now that he was actually wearing the same cloak he's wearing in this chapter (and that he had fireflies for eyes as well!) After that, Izuku may or may not have continued rescuing random people in distress with the same getup (just when the opportunity presented itself, of course. So, total... seven times?) And thus, we have a valid explanation for vigilante status! Yay!!!
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