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Tsunagu isn’t sure what to make of it, really. There’s been whispers about U.A.’s ability to protect it’s students floating around since the USJ incident, and, really, most of those had died down once the dorms were implemented. Heroics in general means that hero students will always be in danger, more so than others, but to be attacked so… brazenly is concerning. Twice, by then, had U.A.’s first-year hero students been attacked, and the dorms were seemingly the best and only solution. And it worked, for a time, of course, because the students were being watched at all times. Tsunagu doesn’t know how… comfortable such a thing could be, but he’s not going to question Nedzu.
(No one questions Nedzu, not if they want their sanity intact.)
And then, Midoriya Izuku, bone-breaker extraordinaire, goes missing. Right under U.A.’s nose, presumably, and no one has any clue where he might be. The Hero Commission is running Hawks ragged trying to find the kid, to the point where Tsunagu is actually a little concerned. It almost seems like a coverup, and a quick one at that, a panicked response to turn people’s heads in another direction. The news is far from good for U.A.’s already declining image, although they’ve managed to salvage it, and the Hero Commission is helping. That, in itself, raises more red flags in Tsunagu’s mind. These were the people who were willing to throw U.A.’s teachers under the bus after the Training Camp Incident, and it doesn’t line up.
Something is going on behind the scenes, and he doesn’t like it one bit.
~
Rumi doesn’t know jack shit about the kid, just that he’s utterly insane, and missing. Breaking all his damn fingers during a school sports festival seems excessive, but she’s not a teenager anymore, so maybe that’s what the little shits are into nowadays. No one has any damn clue who did it this time, which ain’t exactly comforting. The League of Villains at least was polite enough to introduce themselves over and over again, and they always made a huge-ass show of it, flaunting around how “flawed and awful hero society was, oh no!”
Yeah, the system is far from perfect, and Rumi’s gotten enough shit over how she acts from the Hero Commission, but at least she ain’t a damn villain. Poor Hawks is already running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to find the kid. It’d be funnier if she weren’t actually a little concerned about him. The Commission always controlled him, and Rumi knew that better than a lot of people, mainly from her getting him a little drunker than she intended and him spilling a few secrets about how he was raised. Yeah, Rumi damn near stormed the Commission, and Keigo had to talk her down multiple times before she finally gave up.
She settled for just keeping a close eye on them, and for now there’s nothing else she can do.
~
That’s more than a little concerning, Tsunagu thinks when he sees a U.A. student who should be in class (or at least on campus) pulling papers out of a bag at her side and taping them to the doors of a nearby hero agency. It’s a new one, he knows, and he’s embarrassed to say he’s not sure who it is, but that’s an issue for another time. He recognizes her as Yaoyorozu, hero name Creati, and she’s the top student in her class, if he’s remembering correctly. So what on earth is she doing? She’s not in her school uniform, nor her hero costume, and it makes little sense for her to be here. Tsunagu is trying to make up his mind on whether or not he should call U.A. and let them know when she heads towards his own agency.
She either doesn’t see him or doesn’t care, head held up high and proud. He follows, giving up on his idea to tell someone else. He’s a pro hero for gods’ sake, he can take care of this on his own.
She stops in front of the agency’s door, and Tsunagu takes it as his chance.
“Miss? What are you doing?” She freezes, spinning on her heel, but she’s tense, like she’s ready to run. She’s got a paper in her hand, and Tsunagu takes the chance to read it over slightly.
It’s official Hero Commission reports. Reports that could cause an entire political upheaval if the public saw any of it at all. Those reports are private for a reason.
“How on earth-”
“We’re doing this,” she interrupts, barely wilting under his stare. “We’re doing this, and you can’t stop us. Read it, and figure it out for yourself.” She’s confident, her face set in bold determination. He reads more closely. It’s a report on Endeavor, of all people, and it’s-
Gods. It’s awful. Tsunagu doesn’t consider himself a particularly violent man, as much as a pro hero can consider themselves peaceful, but something about this makes his blood boil. How could a man who considers himself a hero do such things?
Silently, he takes the paper, pulls some tape from the dispenser she has, and pastes it on his door. Her eyes widen, and he nods to her, walking inside to go about his business for the day, anger still simmering in his gut.
~
What. The. Fuck.
Who the fuck does the Hero Commission think they fucking are? Locking a kid up, sending out one of their heroes to go on a wild goose chase to find him, send the entirety of Japan’s heroes into a flurry of fear, and having the fucking audactiy to call themselves a “Hero” Commission.
No fucks given, her Twitter wasn’t hacked, but fuck it, she shares the link to Hawks’ stream just because she can. And she watches, and sees how pale Midoriya is, how haunted he looks. Isolation will drive a guy mad, and if the Commission’s goal was to create a fantastic fucking villain, then congratulations! That’s what they’ve done! That’s not even half of it either, because some goon is threatening to shoot innocents because they had the audacity to try and break out a kid who’d done literally nothing wrong.
Rumi slams her computer shut, and stalks off towards the nearest train station, fists clenched. If they want a fucking riot, they’re getting a fucking riot if it goddamn kills her. She’s still in her hero costume, and she gets looks, but she’s too angry to care. No one comes up to her, more focused on the insane news (or they’re put off by the murderous aura surrounding her).
There’s already a crowd forming in front of the Hero Commission, and that explosion kid from U.A. is clearly here because she can hear him and smell the nitroglycerin. That, and fucking All Might, in all his skinny, scarecrow-like glory. He looks about ready to break down the Hero Commission’s doors himself, but he goes after blasty instead.
Good. Rumi’s got a far more powerful kick than him, and she needs something to take her anger out on.
~
Should Tsunagu be stopping citizens from breaking down the Hero Commission’s door? By his heroic duty (and technically be law) yes, he should. He should be working against them, pulling them back and helping to stuff them into police cars. He should be asking his PR team to make a statement against what Hawks and Eraserhead have done. He should be doing many, many things.
He’s currently doing exactly none of that, except for pulling people out of the way so they don’t get trampled on accident. Mirko is here too, and she’s angerier than Tsunagu has ever seen her, and he’s seen her mad. A couple of people are trying to get to the doors, with Hero Commission officers blocking their path. She could easily push past both of them, brute force her way in, although there’s a chance they’ve got guns.
It’s simply more efficient to yank them away, pulling on threads and letting Mirko do the heavy lifting. He’s not a heavy hitter when it comes to things like this, after all.
One powerful kick is all it takes, and people swarm like sharks smelling blood, ready to take the Commission down by force.
Mirko’s got this, he knows. He’d rather focus his efforts on the more pressing matter of finding Endeavor before the man can leave the country or go into hiding. Justice will be served, even if Tsunagu has to do it himself.
~
The doors give in easily. She’s not a pushover, far from it. There are people everywhere, and while she’d normally be happy to let them go wild, the Commission is clearly not above using lethal force, and she’s not about to let that shit go unchecked. But Commission goons are not half as well trained as pro heroes, and especially not against someone in the top ten. Kicks and cartwheels are easy to dole out, and she’s got the stamina to make sure she gets everyone she can see. She’s not even fully sure what the civilians are looking for, but she knows what she’s after. There’s a server room, everything that the Commission keeps offline, but still digital, is in there. A few missing hard drives or computers is the least of the damage that a bunch of pissed off rioters will do.
She smirks as she storms down, people following her.
~
Endeavor doesn’t patrol today. His two children (who aren’t assumed dead or currently a fugitive) are out of the house, which Tsunagu made sure of before he even started forming a plan.
”Hello, Natsuo speaking.”
“It’s Hakamade Tsunagu- Best Jeanist. I wanted to make sure you and your sister are safe.”
“Wha- Oh, yeah, we’re both at Fumi’s apartment. I don’t think he knows where it is.”
“Good. I wouldn’t suggest going home anytime soon, not unless I call you again.”
“Believe me, you don’t have to tell me twice.”
It doesn’t surprise Tsunagu when he sees the man swearing into a phone, barking about something or other. Tsunagu blocks out the actual words, slowly forming a plan. It’s a little sad, Mirko would be good help right now, but she’s a little busy, and she’s not exactly subtle. Besides, Tsunagu wouldn’t put it past Endeavor to burn her alive if she came too close.
Something moves behind him, and Tsunagu whips around, finding Eraserhead. He’s perched in a nearby tree, and Tsunagu wouldn’t have heard him if it weren’t for the rustling of branches. Eraserhead clearly spots him, but nods towards the house, jumping down when Tsunagu nods back.
“Direct attack won’t work. Sadly, he’s too paranoid for that. We’re both decently subtle, but neither of us are heavy hitters.” Eraser’s voice is soft but hurried. He’s worried Endeavor will get out of this, too.
“Can you erase his Quirk? I’d likely be able to take him down, but he can easily burn through fabric…” Eraser nods, then pulls out handcuffs from his belt. Tsunagu has no clue how he managed to hide something so bulky in there, but it’s best not to think about these things.
“If you can hold him in place long enough, I should be able to strongarm him into the handcuffs. No clue what we’d do from there, though. Police aren’t about to admit they missed this for so long, and the Hero Commission likely won’t exist for much longer.” Tsunagu thinks for a moment, frowning.
“We’d be throwing Japan to the wolves even more than it already is, but we’d likely be able to call up the International Committee of Heroic Affairs and have him tried there. They’ll probably be dealing with Japan anyways,” Tsunagu said, and Eraser nodded slowly, still frowning.
“True, but how to get him there? The Hero Commission was technically Japan’s representative on the Committee. There’s nowhere they aren’t connected, and we can’t just throw the bastard in jail.”
“I know. But we also can’t let him just get away with this, any of it. My best guess is that the Committee will be in Japan, trying to do what we’re doing right now, within a few hours. We can’t wait that long.” Eraser swore softly, cracking his knuckles. Tsunagu looked at Endeavor again, who was moving towards them, even if he was sure the man couldn’t see them.
“We do this now. I’ve got a paralytic we can use, keep him down for a bit while we figure out what to do long-term.” Tsunagu took a deep breath. Eraser handed him the handcuffs, and activated his Quirk. Tsunagu watched as Endeavor’s facial fire flickered out.
~
Rumi watched the initial hearings, even if she usually couldn’t give less of a shit about them. The International Committee was always on Japan’s ass, and at least she knew why now. Whether they knew about Endeavor or just had suspicions, she couldn’t be sure, but she did know that they weren’t fans of the lack of rehabilitation programs. For a country that prided itself on being safe, Japan had few.
Rumi never made one herself, never supported them, but never spoke against them either. She wasn’t soft or the emotional type. She liked kicking villain ass, not comforting them and talking about past trauma. She did that enough with Keigo, thank you very much.
She watches them closely, watched as Endeavor was led away in handcuffs by Jeanist, as the Committee gave a pardon to Todoroki Shouto so he could testify. Effective, although she wondered what might happen to the rest of those kids.
Only time would tell.
