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It all started, and ended, with a serial killer. He was not well known due to his choice of victim. He went after quirkless people. The police hadn’t caught wind of the killer until months after he first started killing. Not because he was good at covering his tracks, but because no one had thought the disappearance of a quirkless person was special. Everyone near that person assumed that they were dead, but always thought they took their own life instead of being brutally murdered.
Aizawa sighed a deep sigh. He had been working on this case along with the Trigger and, unofficially, the “Viridian Case” as well. He looked at the file for the Quirkless Killer’s latest victim, Hajime Osamu. The was a 36 male, in good health if a bit malnourished, and he was ,of course, quirkless. Hajime was never reported missing since he was unemployed and had no family. They only found him because his body was dumped under an overpass with the Quirkless Killers mark branded into his arm like all the others. It was a Q inside a circle and x-ed out. The body was...gruesome to say the least. The QK had always used different methods to kill his victims but always left that mark. It was the only way they knew that there was a serial killer. One of his first victims had her throat slit open, fingers cut off, and her shins skinned. They only got worse after that. He once used someone's body as a canvas, carving intricate images into delicate flash. It was not a pretty sight. He was just glad that hi- the kid hadn't caught wind of the person killing so many people in such gruesome ways. Shota knew damn well that if Viridian had heard of the QK, he would go after him without a second thought. And while Shota knew that the vigilante would more than likely be able to hold his own against the killer, he also knew that he would have zero regards to his life against this homicidal maniac.
“Eraser.” someone called, snapping Shota out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a beige coated detective in front of him.
“Naomasa.” he greeted curtly, the familiar throbbing of the beginning of a migraine starting behind his eyes.
“Any luck?” the detective asked hopefully.
“Nope. I got nothing.” The detective sighed as well.
“Eraser, we’ve been working on this case for months. The other officers don’t really see the importance of this case.” Naomasa paused. “We might need to shut this case down.”
“No.”
“Eraser, we are getting no-”
“That wouldn’t matter in any other case and you know it. If this had happened to a majority group, that killer would have been caught a long time ago and you know it.” Shota hissed. Naomasa was taken aback. He had never seen the hero like this.
“Hell, there's a goddamn identical case, apart from the fact that the other killer targets heroes, and you know goddamn well who I'm talking about.” Shota was seething. He knew that what Naomasa was saying would be the most logical course of action but he couldn’t stand the fact that so many innocent people were dying for something they couldn’t control and no one else gave two shits about it.
“Look.” He took a deep breath, “I know that we are probably the only people who care about this case. But I was determined to solve this one, even if I have to do it myself.” Naomasa gave a kinda sad chuckle.
“Eraser, you couldn’t do this alone even if you wanted to. You’ve got too many people who care about you too much to let you do that to yourself.” Yeah Shota knew that. He opened his mouth to reply when a frantic looking woman rushed into the precinct. Her face was flushed from exertion and tears.
“P-please-” She gasped. “You have to help him- He’s gone missing-” Naomasa stepped forwards.
“Ma’am? Ma’am you need to breathe from me okay?” The woman took deep breaths, trying to settle herself. When Naomasa finally deemed her calm enough he started talking again.
“Alright ma’am can you tell me what’s wrong?” She looked close to crying again.
“M-my son. He’s gone missing.” She said, wringing her hands. “He’s 15, 166 cm, green hair and eyes.” Naomasa nodded.
“Quirk?” she shook her head.
“He’s quirkless.” Shota felt horror sink into his bones.
“Ma’am, did you see this symbol anywhere?” He showed her the QK’s brand. She nodded.
“I went to Izuku’s room to check on him. His window was open and there was a slip of paper pinned to the sill with a throwing knife. I didn’t touch anything and just came straight here.” She started sounding nervous, probably wondering if she should have brought the note in.
“That’s just fine, perfect even. It means that evidence hasn’t been tampered with. If we could go to your house to get it?” She nodded, obviously glad that someone would try to find her child.
“Yes of course.” SHe started walking out of the precinct. The two men followed behind her.
---
Turns out that they wouldn’t be needing to hunt the kid down. The killer had sent them a link, leading to live footage with the kid. They managed to trace the signal, rushing to get to the scene. The kid hadn’t woken up yet so he was still a liability, preventing the police from rushing in and getting him out. Shota was staring intently at the screen when he noticed something. The kid was awake but silently sizing up his captor. That analytical gleam in his eyes seemed all too familiar. The way his lips moved rapidly but silently, the way his hands twitched as if he wanted to write something down, the flicker of his eyes as he took in his surroundings and looking for any type of weapon, the way his eyes narrowed when he saw a long pipe. Oh shit Shota thought I know this kid. But from where? He looked back at the kid, trying to acern more clues when it hit him. Those eyes were insanely familiar. This kid was… “Viridian.” Shota whispered, unheard by all others. Movement flashed on the screen, recapturing his attention. The kid was pretending to stir. The other cops immediately started grabbing their gear, preparing to storm the warehouse.
“Wait!” Shota called. “Don’t go in. the kid had got this handled.”
Naomasa looked at him incredulously so Shota beckoned him over, whispering something in his ear. Naomasa’s eyes widened and called the other officers off as well. So they sit back and watch as Viridian did his thing.
“W-where am I?” the kid asked, acting on par. The man didn’t say a thing but just glared hatefully at the kid.
“Um sir?”
“Shut it.” he snapped. The kid fidgeted. Shota peered closer to see what he was doing. He was untying himself.
“Listen, I have a grudge against your kind. ” he growled. The kid flinched at those last two words, like he'd heard it a million times in a million hateful ways.
“Look kid. I’m actually doing you a favor here. The quirkless never make it far in the real world so I might as well end it for you before reality punches you in the face. No matter what your teachers and classmates might have told you, you will never get anywhere in life.” The kid barked out a harsh laugh, surprising everyone.
“Oh trust me I know. My classmates almost kill me everyday and the teachers either do nothing or encourage it. I’ve been suicide baited so many time in the last week, I have enough red spider lilies to open a shop! I know damn well that reality is a bitch. Hell, I have so much incriminating evidence against every single person in that school to end their careers and or put them in jail!” The man looked taken aback.
“So go ahead.” The kid spat. “Go ahead and kill me. I know no one would care.” The man seemed hesitant now. That was his first mistake. The kid let the ropes drop and rushed to the pipe he saw earlier. He faced the man, body falling into a practiced stance. The man was silent for a moment before bursting out in howling laughter.
“Y-you actually t-think you c-can,” He wheezed. “You actually think you can beat me.” the kid stared unimpressed at his captor.
“I mean I’ve taken down a giant mole man with a can of soup, a giant violent crab man with marbles, and a parasite that hides in the eyes of its host and kills them when it gets caught.” He shrugged. “So yeah, I think I have good odds.” he grinned as the man started laughing harder.
“Sure kid.” He laughed. “And I’m All Might!” The man slid into a fighting stance, a very sloppy stance but it was one nonetheless. He charged the vigilante, who easily sidestepped and raised an unimpressed eyebrow. The killer growled, charging him again and swinging his fist. Viridian sidestepped easily again and even tripped the man. He was clearly getting frustrated. This went on for several minutes. The man trying to attack and Viridian lazily sidestepping. Shota could tell that he was not underestimating his opponent by the wary look in his eye. Then Viridian lunged. He shot forward at the man, bringing his makeshift bo staff down on the man's ribs. He winced and coughed, a testament to how hard the kid hit him. Viridian proceeded to rain a flurry of blows down on his captor until the man was down on his knee, heavy bruising showing on the exposed skin.
“You never underestimate a quirkless vigilante.” Viridian said, bringing the pipe down one last time on the man's pressure point. Shota finally signaled for the stunned officers to enter the warehouse. He approached the kid who was standing off to the side, pole still in hand.
“Good job Viridian.” he said. The boy nodded, as if on instinct, before his eyes grew wide in horror.
“W-wait no I’m n-not-!” Shota just laughed.
“I’d recognize you anywhere kiddo. You just saved a lot of lives, you know.” The kid frowned
“But I wasn’t able to save his other victims.”
“None of that, kid. No one knew who he was or what he even looked like. Some things are just out of your control and you, of all people, should know that. But, I'm going to tell you something I’m sure you don’t know.” Izuku tilted his head in interest.
“You did good, kid.”