Chương 24: Eri-chan
"Is this her?"
Tsukauchi looked through the glass at the girl Nighteye had brought in, who he'd said was named Eri. Officers had already taken samples of the blood covering her, but they hadn't had time to clean her off yet, so most of it had already dried to a dirty brown and was starting to flake. Recovery Girl was on her way to take a look at her, since they didn't know if Eri would be safe in a hospital because of her ties to the Yakuza.
As soon as Eri had mentioned that Overhaul and all of his men were killed by Mastermind, Nighteye had sent his sidekicks and a whole team of police officers to investigate the base, only to find a bloodbath. There hadn't been a single person left alive, with the exception of Eri, and Overhaul himself had obviously been tortured to death, Mastermind's signature M carved into his body over a hundred times. The police were still in the process of taking pictures of the scene before they could remove the bodies and they had already had to set up a perimeter to keep out the media, who had flocked to the compound as if they'd smelled the blood.
Tsukauchi sighed and walked into the interrogation room, Nighteye and Nedzu right behind him. He hated that they had to interrogate this little girl who had obviously been through too much in the last 24 hours, but anything they could find on Mastermind put them one step closer to discovering his identity, which was essential to resolving the high stakes hostage situation he had set up.
"Hello, Eri." He spoke softly, sitting down across from her and putting his files for both Mastermind and Overhaul down on the table. "My name is Detective Tsukauchi, this is Nedzu and you already know Sir Nighteye. Is it alright if we ask you a few questions about how you ended up on Nighteye's roof this morning?"
Eri nodded, her wide eyes scanning the room in a clear display of hypervigilance. Seriously, Tsukauchi knew that Mastermind was depraved, but traumatizing a child? That was a new low.
"Who left you on the roof, Eri?" He asked.
"He, um, said his name was Mastermind."
True
"What did he look like?"
"He was short and, um, he had pretty green eyes. He smiled a lot too, I think. He had a mask covering his mouth, but, um, his eyes were smiling."
True
Tsukauchi looked at Nedzu and Nighteye who returned his glance and nodded. It matched what they knew of him, so it probably really was Mastermind, but why would a villain, especially one as powerful as Mastermind, drop a little girl off at a hero agency when he could have just kept her for himself or sold her off?
"Do you know why Mastermind kidnapped you?' Nighteye asked with a frown.
Eri looked confused, "He, um, didn't kidnap me. Mastermind-sama saved me."
True
Nighteye's eyes widened and Tsukauchi knew that he looked much the same.
Nedzu seemed to be the one who maintained the most composure in light of this new revelation, "What did he save you from?"
"Um, Overhaul...he was a bad man. He told me I was sick and that's why he hurt me."
True
Eri was starting to tremble and Tsukauchi realized that she was more terrified of Overhaul than she was of Mastermind. The child was obviously traumatized, but the question now was who was responsible for that.
Nedzu hummed, "Do you know why he saved you?"
Eri nodded, "Mastermind-sama, um, he said that he wasn't trying to save me. Um, he'd already killed all the, um, the bad men by the time he found me."
True
"Did he tell you why he killed Overhaul and his men?" Nighteye asked.
Eri frowned, "Um, I think, um, he said…" Eri's frown deeped as she tried to remember. "Mastermind-sama said that Overhaul had, um, threatened someone close to him? I think he killed him so he couldn't hurt them anymore."
True
Tsukauchi rapidly scribbled that down in Mastermind's file. Maybe they could find people who Overhaul had threatened and it could lead them to Mastermind's identity. It was a thin lead, since Overhaul had undoubtedly threatened a lot of people as a Yakuza boss, but it was more than they'd had in months.
"Did Mastermind tell you anything else? Maybe why he decided to leave you with Sir Nighteye?"
Eri fisted her hands in her dirty nightgown and bit her lip, "He said he was like me…" she whispered.
True
"What do mean?" Nedzu asked patiently.
Eri stayed silent for a long moment and Tsukauchi was starting to worry that they'd pushed her too far when she started speaking again, "Mastermind-sama said that, um, that people hurt him too. He said that, um, strong people get, um, get hurt sometimes and he said, um, that I was strong too, just like him."
True
She looked up at them. "Was he telling the truth? Do strong people get hurt sometimes, too?"
Nedzu took her hand and smiled, "Yes, even strong people sometimes get hurt by others. It wasn't your fault that Overhaul hurt you and it doesn't mean you're weak. If people were weak simply because others chose to hurt them, I wouldn't have ever been able to become a hero, because they hurt me too."
Eri's eyes brightened and there was a knock on the door, "Is everything alright, dearies?" Recovery Girl poked her head through the door, "I'm here to take a look at that little girl."
Tsukauchi nodded, "I believe that we've asked all the questions we had about Mastermind." He turned to face Eri. "Although, we'll probably have to ask you more about Overhaul and his operation. But that can wait for another day."
"Alright then! Everyone out!" Recovery Girl said sternly as Eri started to shake and she rapped Tsukauchi on the head with her cane, "I need to check on the patient and you all are going to make her claustrophobic. Out!"
They quickly complied, leaving Recovery Girl to comfort Eri and examine any injuries she might have. As soon as they were outside, they stopped and looked at each other.
"Mastermind was most likely a victim of abuse as a child." Nedzu said. "If not at the hands of his parents, then likely at the hands of teachers or peers. This abuse might explain why he goes after heroes, since it is likely he wished heroes would save him, but they never did."
Tsukauchi nodded, "I'll run a list of domestic violence survivors with green eyes. That'll at least give us a start, since it's most likely the violence happened in the home, and then we can expand the search if that doesn't turn up any leads."
"Make sure you cross-reference that list with anyone with connections to the Yakuza." Nighteye said. "Mastermind only got involved with this because Overhaul threatened someone, which means he does have people he cares about. Whether they know his identity is still up in the air."
Nedzu clapped his hands together, "Perfect! I do believe we are closer to catching this monster now than ever before!"
Tsukauchi tried to rub the budding headache out of his forehead, this case was terrible. Nothing for months and then their best leads come from an unlucky little girl. He needed a break, "Hey Nedzu, how is your search for Todoroki coming?"
Nedzu frowned and shook his head, "Not well. The league has practically disappeared since we took down All for One and there are no leads on any of the members. I hate thinking of one of my best students being held captive for this long." He shivered slightly. "But the alternative is worse. At this point we are having to confront the possibility that Todoroki may be dead. With Shigaraki's disintegration quirk to dispose of the body, we would never even know."
Tsukauchi sighed, "Do you have any leads on why he was taken? Has Endeavor received any ransom demands?"
Nedzu shook his head, "We still think that is most likely why he was taken, but perhaps they are waiting for things to calm down a bit before they enact the second part of their plan." He sighed. "Endeavor isn't helping the investigation either. He simply blames us for letting his son get kidnapped and then not being able to find him. He doesn't seem to care that we have zero leads and he puts everyone on edge, always hanging around and saying hateful things whenever he is at UA. Having a student kidnapped is a nightmare scenario and something I hoped never to have to deal with when I became principal, but it's even worse that the victim is so high profile."
"How are the other students dealing with it?" Nighteye asked.
"Not very well." Nezu frowned. "We have every member of class 1A meeting with Hound Dog weekly, but they still feel Todoroki's absence sharply. I believe they have started mourning him. The last time I checked, they had set up a small memorial on his desk. They change the flowers every few days. Other than that, they have been adjusting well to the dorm system and there haven't been any more major incidents, so it's going about as well as we can hope for."
"It'll take time." Nighteye said sadly. "Hopefully we will find him soon. If what we just learned leads us to Mastermind, perhaps he'll be able to lead us to the league."
Tsukauchi nodded absently. He couldn't let himself get his hopes up that they would find All Might's killer, not when Mastermind was so slippery. Who knows, Todoroki had a strong quirk, so maybe he would be able to escape and find his way back to them. But Eri's words echoed in his head as he said goodbye to Nighteye and Nedzu and sat down to do paperwork on the Overhaul massacre.
Even strong people get hurt sometimes.
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