Chapter Text
The Academy had said there had been a massacre, but Kento feels every scene he walks into is a massacre. There was yellow tape blocking off the entrance of the looming building, although it’s slowly being replaced by the red tape associated with the Tokyo Prefectural Mutant Academy. Personally, he thinks it would be more discreet to leave the yellow up, which announced a crime scene and to proceed with caution whereas the red tape yells dangerous mutant. The smell wafting out is awful, but Kento knows it will be worse inside where it’s concentrated despite the open doors. After one big inhale of semi-fresh air, Kento schools his expression and walks in, heading straight to Yaga who’s talking to a pair of detectives.
Instead of a greeting, Yaga waves off the detectives and turns to Kento with a grim expression. “Kento, thank you for coming on such short notice. Listen, I know this is getting close to overtime, but we think it’s the same perp.”
He almost feels his eye twitch at the thought of working another late night, but it’s true, the scene is similar to the others from earlier this week. The pool of blood, the dents in the wall, and the bodies…
Those never get easier to examine. But it’s part of the job and there will only be more if they don’t catch the person responsible for this. He pulls out his glasses, gingerly placing them on his face before drawing in closer to a nearby corpse. The man’s face is contorted in fear, eyes wide and mouth agape. His neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, which Kento knows wasn’t the cause of death. The man was killed by a mutant, no ordinary human would have the ability to do this. There is no murder weapon or signs of a scuffle, this attack was completely one-sided.
“Any witnesses?” He asks as he removes his glasses, looking back at Yaga. “Or trail leading away from here?”
“No witnesses, but the cameras have been out for hours. This mutant is good at what they do, it could have even guaranteed no traces were left here, but it wanted t--”
“Leave its signature! And a big fuck you to this agency.” A lively voice interrupts from behind Kento, who doesn’t flinch, but the corners of his lip twitch downward. “This is what? The fourth time it’s happened and I know Nanami here likes to keep it to less than seven incidents, isn’t that right?”
Suddenly, there is a weight draping itself across Kento’s shoulders and if he weren’t accustomed to it, he would have fallen underneath it. The arm slithering around the crook of his neck tightens, long fingers curling around his Adam’s apple. A shock of white hair appears in his peripheral. The question was meant to provoke Kento who only furrows his eyebrows.
“Gojo, I do recall telling you that I hate being interrupted,” Yaga replies instead, sternly looking at the leech hanging off Kento. “Besides weren’t you asked to help around Kyoto?”
Kento tries to shrug off Gojo’s arm, rolling his shoulders, but the arm tightens more. The movement scrapes against the material of his blazer, a shifting noise that would normally be barely perceptible, but Gojo puts Kento on edge. Yaga frowns, aware of their tense…acquaintance.
“Utahime had it covered. Besides a little birdie told me Nanami needed my help.” Gojo lets go, only to swivel in front of Kento, finally looking at him face to face. Or face to chest. It’s difficult to make eye contact with Gojo due to the couple of inches he has over Kento and the dark shades he wears to block his eyes. “Wouldn’t ya agree?”
“No.” Kento peers around Gojo at Yaga, frustration clear in his face. “You were saying?”
“Gojo summed it up well. The mutant is leaving this much disorder because they wants to claim these incidents as their own. They don’t even have to worry about a copycat either, we haven’t released any of the details about these incidents.” Yaga raises one shoulder in defeat. “Even with the evidence, we aren’t any closer to narrowing down who it is.”
“Like cat and mouse! But humans are the mouse.” Gojo adds his input although nobody was talking to him. At least Kento wasn’t. “So you need me before it decides it’s tired of going after small fry.”
Kento knows he’s right. The first killing had been considered manslaughter, nothing premeditated. Or at least that had been the case until the Academy was called in after the cameras revealed a faint shimmer in the room. The shimmer could only be associated with a mutant and this case had to be handed over to the Academy to solve. The second time this mutant was involved, the number of victims had leaped to five, all distorted in gruesome manners. By the third time, the mutant had done a better job at camouflaging themselves. There was no shimmer on the camera, only humans dropping, resembling previous victims. There had been twelve victims and the Agency was stretched thin with detectives contacting family members and increasing patrol. The Council urged Yaga to send younger mutants on the field, but he delayed that by unofficially assigning the case to Kento.
Kento had almost refused, worried that it would interrupt his training with Yuuji and Nobara. Alas, the young recruits were on the scene, and Kento’s eyes slid over to them. Their usual lighthearted bickering is replaced with a hushed conversation and their expressions are stormy. The pair is talking to another new recruit, Fushiguro, and it all becomes clear. The inside source was probably one of his mentees who let Fushiguro know about the spike in incidents and knowing Gojo, he was probably eavesdropping on the young man’s conversations at the time.
Insufferable.
But damn it, Gojo’s right. There was another increase in the number of victims, this time there were twenty victims. The mutant had decided to be merciful, leaving the other floors of the office building unbothered and only going after anyone who had the misfortune of being on the first floor. “I don’t need you. There are others who I could ask.” That is true, although they both know Gojo is one of their best. It’s a matter of pride: Kento refuses to ask for Gojo’s help and that’s exactly what Gojo wants.
“I don’t care what you decide on, but figure something out. Sooner rather than later.” Yaga cuts in as the two size each other up before walking away to handle the gathering of civilians outside of the building. He starts waving them off, trying to placate them, but Kento knows someone will inevitably get a peek and he desperately wishes someone would start working on clearing up the corpses.
Left alone with Gojo, Kento resigns himself to check the time. The minute hand on his watch ticks. 5:45 pm. He needs to wrap this up now if he wants to make it in time to catch the game show with the charming host. Gojo’s head is turned to face him, but Kento knows his eyes are everywhere but on him. Instead, those frightening eyes are taking in the traces of cursed energy, flickering between the detectives compiling evidence and the building’s perimeter. Something to do with his Six Eyes technique, Kento still doesn’t understand it. “I wasn’t kidding earlier, Nanami, this is only going to get worse.”
“I know.” Kento grits his teeth and looks over at his mentees. He dislikes Gojo, but he can stand to tolerate him if it means catching this mutant. With every incident, Yuuji and Nobara’s cheerful dispositions wane and he can see how quickly they are being forced to grow up. Of course, they decided to pursue a career in the non-human. Still, usually, that meant handling misdemeanors like a mutant who would use their ability to walk through walls to steal. Not murder. “I also know we don’t work well together not after what happened last time.”
When the distant look in Gojo’s shaded eyes dispels, Kento straightens up under his stare. A sardonic smile adorns his face. “I remember.”