Chapter Text
Day 3: Tuesday
The heroes gathered in the common room at 6, the loud tapping that woke them up again was passed off as an alarm of some kind. Yokohama was quirkless, they had no villains, what else could it be? The day started the same way as the previous one, Bakugo left early, All Might left late, they all sat round a booth in the cafe and talked about whatever was new.
“Yokohama is partially run by ‘criminals’. Are ‘criminals’ villains? Is Yokohama run by villains like the rumours say!?” Midoriya rambled as he studied his compilation of notes from the day before. “If that’s the case, we have to free the citizens! We can show them the glory of heroes!” His childish aspirations were echoed by the group, the students over-eager and the teachers filled with worry and pity for the people.
“One of the rules was to not get involved…but doesn’t that make the detectives villains for conspiring with the main villains? And the Ministry too?” Aizawa pondered that, his brain not functioning enough to fully process his students' words. “Then we’ll just have to treat this like an infiltration mission.” The students lit up, excited by the prospect of more missions. “Yeah! Will free this villain run city!”
– – – – –
In the agency, a genius detective sat up on his desk, turning to the doctor beside him. “Those heroes are more idiotic and monstrous than the people here. They think their scheming would be enough to fool any of us, let alone me!” The doctor smirked, understanding what the detective was alluding to.
“Those rules were there for a reason, can’t believe they forgot the second part of Kunikida’s instructions”
They laughed, at the idiocy of Outsiders and at the image of Kunikida trying to explain the rules to emotionally-5 individuals.
“It’s a shame I have to babysit them today. We could’ve gossiped so much instead.”
“I’m a genius for realising you could play you day off as ‘learning the streets’!”
“Hey, learning which shops are scams is very important!”
“Sure it is.”
“Those costumed idiots I talked to were pretty dumb, huh?”
“Obiously! Who would openly threaten an agency member? I thought Aku terrified them enough!”
“They’re just idiots.”
They went back to ‘work’, awaiting the arrival of the heroes.
– – – – –
The League of Villains watched as a tall, purple haired woman strutted towards them, a large doctor’s bag dangling from one hand. She grinned maliciously, looking far more terrifying than any quirkless has a right too. She didn’t scare the League. They were far too overconfident to fear someone deemed powerless. They were far too overconfident to notice the danger in her gait.
She walked up to them, still smiling threateningly.
“You’re the first group that hasn’t run away at the sight of me.” They grinned in spite of her gaze, relishing in the supposed weakness of the inhabitants of Yokohama.
“Are we? Those other groups must be rather weak and cowardly then.”
“Cowardly? Or smart? Certainly weak by your standards.” She placed a hand on Shigaraki’s shoulder.
“You must want to heal your…mentor. That can be done here, don’t underestimate us.” Shocked faces stared back at the woman, surely it wasn’t that obvious that All For One (or the potato head to some) was the mentor of at least their leader. Child-like glee erupted from Shigaraki, the thought of saving his mentor that helped him see the heroes for what they were - dirt painted gold - filling him with a desire to keep these people alive just long enough to take advantage of their benefits. He wasn’t going soft, right?
“They can? Take me to them. Now. Or you will see the wrath of the League of Villains.”
She looked stunned for a moment, confused at something.
“Your the League of Villains!?” She laughed for a while, doubling over and yelling at the ground and sky. “Do you know how dumb, cringe and plain idiotic that sounds!? You couldn’t have an ounce of respect for my poor ears! Or for my eyes for having to see those abhorrent ‘costumes’! You’re just screaming failed fashion designer who wants to rebel against the critics who rightfully shot down your career.”
They angered quickly, activating quirks and shifting into an ‘intimidating’ formation. Not a fighting stance, offensive or otherwise. She dropped the bag, clasp falling open at the impact. An array of weapons was revealed, mainly blades, though a chainsaw or two was seen. “I came here to analyse your squad, not fight. Thanks for the info.” She picked up the bag again, turning away and walking back to wherever she came from. “Be sure to thank whoever let you in!”
They weren’t let in, they took down the barrier themselves. Some pitiful barrier couldn’t keep them out.
– – – – –
The seven walked up the stairs to the Agency, chatting amicably. The students would be accompanying Yosano, who took All Might away for a bit.
“She’s terrifying, watch out. She saw that I was using my quirk immediately and tortured me until I turned it off. She may be quirkless, but she’s a threat.”
The students listened to All Might’s story with rapt attention, in awe of how weak his voice sounded, like even whispering a short recount was too much to bear. They were in shock at how heartless someone has to be to torture the number one pro. They didn’t think of how she wouldn’t have known he was the number one hero, how she was trying to correct a rulebreaker who heard the rules and failed to act in accordance to them, feigning oblivious. They didn’t think of how he’d insulted them, time and time again, and called them weak.
The teachers were being lectured on the importance of the tripartite system they had just been introduced to, hoping the many questions of injustices would be answered. They couldn’t see why criminals would be trusted, given such a high status in the city, They didn’t realise how quiet the last two days had been, no evidence of violence or attacks when there would have been five back home.
They walked into the office, so sure they would meet the same sight of all detectives slacking off again. Instead they saw only half of them, doing what could pass for work. Akutagawa was filling out reports and getting instructed by Kunikida as to where they should be filed. Yosano was sitting next to Ranpo, going over a case that just popped up. Sakunoske was absent, the Tanizaki siblings were absent, and Miyazawa was absent. Fukuzawa stepped out of his office, calling the teachers to the meeting room and instructing Yosano to deal with the kids.
“If you have any questions, they can be asked in this session; there will be less content today. Feel free to take notes.”
The heroes did as they were asked, pulling their notebooks out as they did yesterday. Fukuzawa saw their list of notes, seeing their theories. There wasn’t anything largely incriminating, just the facts they had been told to reveal. Whoever sent that email knew how the brains of heroes worked. Fukuzawa didn’t know whether to fear that or feel bad, a respectable person shouldn’t have to be in the presence of an Outsider for so long.
The heroes began to ask the questions that had been keeping them awake.
“Why are the Villains given so much authority here?”
“To reflect how important their role is. The Port Mafia serve as peacekeepers among the underworld, without them the city would face many more incidents. They keep the minor gangs at bay, and don’t interact with civillians, allowing for peace. The less respectful gangs often cause destruction for all parties, this system keeps damage and crime rates to a minimum.” The heroes were in mild shock, again. Villains were the ones destroying the peace, they couldn’t keep it, they committed crimes selfishly, not to keep the city whole.
“Does everyone know this?”
“Yes. We have all been taught at some time to both fear and respect the Port. They will retaliate tenfold if provoked, but even the gang that fights them the most can see how valuable their presence is. I suppose it’s much like you,” He points to All Might. “You cause much destruction in order to make your nation a slightly less violent place.” All Might? Do damage? “The only difference is that the Port is much more effective, hence why you still face countless attacks a day and we only have one a month or so.” They claimed to be better than All Might. That was impossible, All Might was unbeatable, almost god-like. There was no way a quirkless villain organisation could be on par with him.
“The public fear the villains. That doesn’t sound very healthy.” Fukuzawa stayed silent at Aizawa’s comment. To the heroes, he was at a loss for words. In reality, he was sticking to his rules, as the heroes should, being such sticklers for the law.
“If the villains were to attack the city, how much damage would they do?”
“With their current boss? They could destroy the world if he so chooses.”
Destroy the world. Why were they working with such power? It would be much safer if they were locked up. Every one of them. They didn’t see how this would only serve as a catalyst, how doing so would give the Port a reason to destroy. They only saw the threat, and the most abject way of dealing with it.
“Then why don’t you lock him up? Or the entire organisation?”
“Because that would give them a reason to retaliate.”
The heroes didn’t see how the boss could possibly retaliate from prison, when they were sent there, they didn’t come back. They didn’t see how in a quirkless society, intelligence gets you further than brute strength. They were used to a world where physical barriers required physical force to overcome them.
“In giving them a reason to retaliate, the security of our city would be compromised.”
The man before the heroes felt no self-worth, wishing to not wake the sleeping lion for the sake of his surroundings, not himself.
“How many gangs are there in Yokohama?”
“Countless. Most aren’t an issue, but we keep tabs on them nevertheless.”
A city full of villains, yet peace is maintained. It was a foreign concept to them.
“Your time is almost up. Any other questions?”
“Why did the government agree to this?”
“They too understood the value of uniting Yokohama’s underworld, the greatest threat to peace here. If they hadn’t formed the tripartite, the conflicts in the ‘night’ would only have negative repercussions, and destroy the relative peace in civilian society.” How could this society be deluded so far into thinking that villains were capable of peacekeeping?
“Can you describe any of the villains you’ve met?”
“By ‘villains’ do you mean specific members of the Port?” Aizawa nodded sharply. “No. That would breach our agreement.” Aizawa couldn’t help but be disappointed at that, information was of utmost importance to underground heroes, and finding out some details on the villains would be useful for when they get taken down.
Fukuzawa noticed that all their questions revolved around the Mafia, understandable given their limited understanding of the city, but still upsetting. They should at least be smart enough to know more about their supposed allies as much as their enemies. What strategies could be made without knowing the capabilities of your side? He did also have some information on the Mafiosos, but that was for their lesson in a couple of lessons time, which he wouldn’t have to teach if the letter was anything to go by.
“How long have the villains existed for?”
“Longer than the records I have access to.”
That was a lie, he had full clearance for any and all files and records, lasting since well before Abilities started existing. The heroes looked to be building plans as to how to take down the ‘villainous organisation’ that had been ‘holding the town hostage’. Calling Yokohama a town was quite the insult.
“Is this all you’ll be teaching us on this topic? I don’t see why we have to be here.”
“That’s all. You do have another ten minutes or so for questions though.”
The heroes got up to leave, seemingly having exhausted their curiosity. Fukuzawa watched them leave before calling Oda to the meeting room.
“You’re reporting today, correct?”
“Yes, Ango wanted daily updates on how badly the heroes are messing with our city.”
“Tell him they have no interest in the Special Abilities Department, and that they are under external orders to gather info.”
“I told him that yesterday, it was becoming almost painfully obvious, with their eagerness to bring up their notebooks all the time.”
“They forgot about the myriad of other devices they have. Good. You’re dismissed, and tell Akutagawa-kun he can go talk to that company Kunikida mentioned yesterday, the illegal dumping one.”
Oda left the room as Fukuzawa debated how he’ll spend the rest of the day. A cat cafe should suffice.
– – – – –
The heroes had stopped in a park, Yosano had been dragging them around the city on a shopping spree whilst occasionally providing commentary on why some streets are better for whatever product she was looking for. They’d dutifully taken notes when she’d asked, noting down the locations and names of places to go to and places to avoid. They’d gone to a convenience store for lunch, each student picking out a couple of things to eat and taking it to the park they were now in.
“This crap was useless. What are we meant to do with all this shopping bullshit? It’s not like we’ll use it ever again!” Bakugo yelled, once they had found a spot to sit relatively far from where Yosano lounged under wisteria terraces.
“Those shops looked really cool though! And Yosano’s so awesome looking!” Uraraka defended the detective, enamoured by her confidence and style.
“This was fun and all, but I did expect more…proffesionallism from these detectives.” Yaoyurozu added. She also idolized the woman’s confidence, but wanted to gain connections with the Commission more. It’s what her parents told her to do. Todoroki nodded along and ate his cold soba.
They saw Yosano get up to join a red haired woman in a pink kimono, they stood in front of some kind of memorial, seven plaques with a photo collage and rose bushes surrounding each one. The students finished eating quickly, in the hopes that they could gather more information. Midoriya took a few pictures of the two, making sure the plaques where fully visible in each shot.
“Yosano, what are you looking at?” Uraraka prompted, she got on fairly well with the doctor, despite just starting to talk. She was one of the ones who defended the agency when the heroes first arrived, or tried to defend them. Yosano may as well give her a chance.
“Ah, this is a memorial for those lost in a particular invasion about six years back.” The heroes had never heard of such a thing. Could it be related to that war? “It was funded solely by an important benefactor, apparently to win someone’s hand.” The red haired woman laughed at this, seeming inappropriate given the situation.
“Why are you laughing? People lost their lives!”
“Yes, I’m aware of that, more so than you, however the prospect of something as melancholy as this being a reason why he married?” She laughed again, a forlorn look suddenly tking over her expression. “It’s been four years, huh. I wonder if he’s still pushing me away.” She looked empty, her eyes seeing things only she could. Yosano stepped in to hug her, planting a small kiss on the back of her neck.
“Yeah, four years. Doesn’t mean you have to wait four more.” They broke apart again, looking equally despaired. “We’ll drink, tonight, to them and to their future.” The woman smiled softly. “And to us, for making it out.”
“Who are you? You seem close, but don’t seen like a detective.” Midoriya broke the sentimental moment with his questions, notebook out already.
“And who are you? I don’t recall seeing such…bright people before. You’re those Outsiders Akiko mentioned, right?” The greenette stared for a moment before remembering he was in the middle of a conversation. The woman tightened her grip on her parasol, twisting the base of the handle slightly.
“Oh, uh yeah, yes we are. I’m Midoriya Izuku. Quirk–” She cut him off.
“I don’t need to know what your quirk is.” He started apologising profusely, face turning red. “My name is Ozaki Kouyou, I work in the Red Light District, Akiko is my roommate.” Yosano was the one laughing now, roommate wasn’t as correct as ‘bedmate’ but the heroes didn’t need to know that. She thought back over the last four years since Kouyou appeared crying on her doorstep, unlike herself. She’d been ‘kicked out’ of the Mafia by the boss, and had been told to “live the rest of you life as me and chibi couldn’t, you deserve it as one of the few competent people around here.” Her ‘brother’ didn’t put up much resistance either. Kouyou had since resumed her work managing the Red Light District and working as a freelance information broker on the side.
“We go way back, met six years ago during this,” she gestured to the memorials “incident. Decided to room together after rent got sky high.” They had met six years ago, when the forest had been burned down and crushed, and Yosano had to heal some of the casualties. They’d intermittenttly connected, talking about struggles over wine. Then two years later, the succession happened, leaving Kouyou out of her workplace and without stable income.
The heroes wrote down only the ‘important’ bits, the incident, the ‘thing’ four years ago. Uraraka’s attention caught on one of the names on the plaques.
“Lippman. Mina was gushing about him the other week, she said he’d mysteriously vanished six years ago and his massive fan following has been trying to crack the mystery ever since. He’s an actor, right? Or was now…I guess.” The two women exchanged glances, slightly concerned. “He was.” Kouyou answered. “He was quite the charmer.”
It was suspicious that the Quirkless city had a memorial for an actor from the hero world, that they claimed they knew the reason for his death when half a million rabid fans couldn’t crack the case. They didn’t know or realise he was from Yokohama, that they had a mysteriously good method of keeping secrets. How they hadn’t gotten the second one, only Dazai knows.
The plaques were all surrounded by a series of ridges, morse code to be exact. “Here are those who died to stop a nightmare”. The heroes couldn’t read it, couldn’t tell it was code. The Yokohamans had that line engraved in their memory somewhere. They all knew someone lost in that incident. They all visited this park once a year.
They left soon after that, Kouyou walking off to get back to her job and Yosano deciding to continue her shopping trip.
“By the way,” Midoriya started, remembering their warning, “All Might said you…tortured…him” The word was said unsteadily, shaking.
“No, I didn’t. He needed warning of what would happen if you broke the rules. I just brought up a couple of things he thought were secrets.” That wasn’t ominous at all. She looked relaxed about it, like spilling secrets was something natural to do, like she wasn’t betraying someone’s trust. “He musn’t have taken it well, honestly I didn’t torture him.” She sounded incredulous, like the idea of such cruelty was laughable and insignificant. To her it was, with her ability and her past, such methods of torture felt natural and a part of life, she didn’t understand why the students had gone as quiet as they had.
“But-but you still betrayed his trust!?” Midoriya was horrified, the doctor didn’t think what she’d done was bad, let alone torture.
“Anyway, this is the Art Museum, it’s small, but quite interesting.” She walked briskly down the street, moving on to the next store and next piece of trivia.
– – – – –
The League of Villains stalked into a warehouse, it was dusty and filled with empty crates that had long since been ransacked by petty criminals. It was fitting for the League, they considered themselves rejects, the lowest of the low, the scum that the heroes think of as worthless. They weren’t aware that they were stepping into a city that was lower still than them.
“This seems like a good place to make our base.” Shigaraki scratched his neck obsessively. “We’ll stay here for now. Scout for a few days then strike and burn this impudent city to the ground.” He didn’t see the cameras pointing at them, his little posse didn’t either. The red light blinked, turning slightly to keep the group in full view.
“Sensei, this is a perfect spot for you to continue your healing, correct. We’ll stay long enough for you to be at your best!” Shigaraki addressed the potato looking man on a stretcher next to him. The man turned his head to see the covered face of his accomplice. “It is adequate. See to it that this League determines every bit of what Yokohama can do. I shall not have you enter unprepared only to get thrashed, you have disappointed me enough times.” Shigaraki whimpered, his scratching ceasing long enough to place both gloves hands onto his mentor’s chest. “Of course, master. You helped me see the truth, I’ll pay you back.”
The red light blinked again before turning off. Whoever was on the other side sick of seeing the inane schemes of petty criminals. Kurogiri hovered by the potato’s bedside, adjusting monitors and equipment around him.
The rest of the league gathered round one of the crates to play cards. Toga and Twice were showing each other their cards and making half hearted strategies that were too out there to work, Mr. Compress toyed with his cards, trying to make himself look like more of a magician than he already did, Dabi reacted to every hand, occasionally burning the crate or cackling at his cards. Dabi lost the game.
– – – – –
Aizawa and All Might walked around the city, sticking to open areas and sunny streets, the detective’s rules echoing in their ears. They visited some of the more touristy locations, still there despite the city being closed off.
They’d gone on the Ferris wheel by the port, its location in the Cosmo world theme park not deterring the adults. It’s a good idea to search the city from a vantage point, and the easiest place they could think of was here.
The city almost glowed in the waning light, the sun reflecting off the buildings and painting the city in a warm golden hue. They should get back soon, their students would be returning from their day and would want to go over the day's notes.
A dip in the skyline caught All Might’s eye, a large crater situated on a separated island, a large dark fantasy looking building casting long shadows over the crater’s bowl. The old architecture contrasted subtly with the metallic glint of the houses beneath, although they looked more like shacks, pieces of iron and cloth hung just enough to block out the weather. It reminded him of the previous day’s lecture, the war of over a decade ago ending with an explosion that caused mass casualties. Could this be the aftermath?
The pair walked out of the theme park and back to the agency, mulling over what they’d learned thus far and buzzing with new questions to ask tomorrow.
– – – – –
The cafe was busy that night, the heroes barely made it in time for the last booth, the other patrons talking quietly enough to make their chatter clearly audible. In the corner, a man with flame red hair sat with a fedora pulled low over his eyes, a coffee held like it was his only source of warmth. His phone lay face up on the table, the screen showing a contact photo of a dead fish, the hang up button altered to look like a knife slicing through yet another fish when activated.
Him and his ongoing call went unnoticed, enough to allow the person on the other side to listen close to their theories and ideas. The silence in the cafe went unnoticed as well, the group of Outsiders clearly not knowing how far their voice travels with background noise, let alone without it.
Points were discussed, notes poured over, theories shared then dismissed or shot down as impossible. A short list of findings was presented at the end of it all.
Yokohama:
- Run by the tripartite, which consists of the government, ADA and Port Mafia.
- There was a war around a decade ago
- There are other cities like Yokohama
- The detective agency does more community service work than detecting
- They have ‘criminals’
- Heroic companies do villainous things
- Mafia could destroy world
- Many criminals
- There was a major incident six years ago where many people were killed
- Yosano adores shopping
- Something happened four years ago
The man in the corner got up to leave, silently paying his bill and walking to his hot pink motorcycle, how it wasn’t taken note of was miraculous. The heroes continued their friendly debates until Bakugo decreed it was time to sleep and got up. It had been an uneventful day by hero standards. They expected the rest to follow suit. Somewhere, a man wrapped in bandages smirked and shifted his pieces on a chess board. Some expectations should be exceeded, after all, he was doing this for his Odasaku. No price was too great.