Chapter Text
"I'm sorry," a young middle school boy mourned, hunched over facing a brick wall.
"I'll make it quick," he whispered with a great deal of pain in his voice, then pulled his arm back slightly, towards his shoulder.
And that was all the warning I was given.
Even though he probably didn't notice me. No one would have done something so cruel and heartless in the presence of another human being. But maybe this boy was just so sick and twisted that he was beyond repair.
Either way, his warning wasn't enough. I could only lift my foot and call out in relief when I saw what he was protecting under his arm, "Oh! Thank you so much! That's my—"
~~~~~
"And then he beat my dog with his bare fists on the sidewalk!" Uraraka Ochako (13) shouted in distress at Naomasa Tsukauchi as the perpetrator, one Midoriya Izuku (14), sat across from the girl at the other end of the interrogation room table. Eyes watery and threatening to spill over while his leg bounced rapidly with a mind of its own.
Now, Tsukauchi has witnessed some traumatic events firsthand as a police officer, but with a quirk like lie detector, he should at least try to be honest with himself. So he had to admit, he was caught a little off guard.
In his brief moment of stunned silence, the despicable dog killer (who looked more and more like a scared, lost puppy by the second. Maybe this was a canine territory battle rather than a straightforward murder. He'll have to write that down in his notes) jumped in to defend his actions.
"What! I didn't kill any dogs!" True. Huh, so just an attack. Then where's the dog? That'd solve the murder issue.
Before Tsukauchi could ask, the boy continued in a panic, making full use of the silence. A good decision too, the girl had been berating him as a horrible monster for the past 30 minutes and he seemed too polite and ashamed to interrupt.
"He was hit by a car when I found him so I tried to help," The boy pleaded with tears streaming down his face like a garden hose on full power overflowing a shot glass. Looked painful, honestly...
"I promise you the dog is fine. Better than ever! I healed him!"
Tsukauchi was very confused, shocked, and concerned. If everything Midoriya said was true. Along with everything Uraraka said. Then, that can only leave one option...
"You kill dogs just to practice your healing quirk on them?" She screamed and her tears were let loose. For everyone's benefit, they should add a tissue box to the interrogation room. Even Tsukauchi himself found that thinking too much about how this young, sweet boy fell into committing such gruesome crimes just to practice the quirk he was born with was enough to make him cry. That's it. This is the line for this Quirkist Hero Society. And they've gone too far—
"No," Midoriya whispered in shock and confusion. He took a long moment to gather his thoughts, looking down at the table but never staring at one spot for too long. Then, he brought his elbows onto the table (wow, manners are dead, unlike the dog) and raised his hands. Everyone else flinched only for him to slowly bury his face in his hands and drag them down his face with a sigh, "Listen to me. My quirk only heals when I hit my target. It- basically, it's a way for me to transfer my energy into force so that force energy can be transferred into whoever I hit to heal them. Which in this case was your dog, Uraraka. But I always try to make it a quick hit, like ripping off a band-aid."
"Huh," Tsukauchi found himself speaking before he realized, that was an interesting twist, "I can clarify this is all true, Uraraka. However, Midoriya, there is still the problem of illegal quirk usage and even vigilantism can become an issue if you aren't careful."
"Thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine in the legal sense," the boy spoke as he reached into his bag to pull out an ID card of some sort, "I've had clearance to use my quirk without a typical license for a long time. Healing quirks are hard to come by so I was able to do some networking and studying to earn some kind of practice license like this."
"Excuse me," the girl interrupted looking back and forth between the two, "that sounds super cool and all, but where's my—"
"Sir, we found the dog. Funny story actually, Ingenium's brother was chasing it in circles a few blocks out. He said the dog seemed scared of the sirens and was running through the streets obstructing traffic," One of Tsukauchi's fellow officers spoke through the comms as the integration room opened and another officer walked through.
Tsukauchi didn't need to use his quirk to clarify. The dog was right there cradled in the officer's arms staring into Uraraka's sparkling eyes. Uraraka nearly knocked her chair over in a dash to comfort her pet. Of course, the chair started levitating before it could even hit the ground. If Uraraka's testimony was to be believed, she ended up throwing her gloves down at the presumed crime scene, ready to 'throw hands with whoever hurt her dog, even if it was god himself.' The officer offered her some thin latex gloves in the meantime so she could actually hold her pet and she frantically thanked her.
As the dog was returned to its owner, the speakers continued, "Oh, but the little brother thought it was a police dog in training. He ended up telling us off for not keeping an eye on him. Calling it irresponsible pet ownership."
"Hm," If Tsukauchi was honest, a misunderstanding with the brothers sounded better than dealing with a serial dog murderer, "So watch out for a complaint from Ingenium?"
"Yes, sir. I think that's the best course."
Could've gone worse.