Work Text:
CLASSIFIED, SECRET
Case #7624083 August 28th, 2217
Page 1
Transcript #1
Personnel: Akugiko Koki, Nomura Umiko, Shikuhara Tanako, Shimizu Oji, Watanabe Harumi, Gesho Einoshin, Hatagashira Mikuri, Yumamoto Kyako
Akugiko: Alright, turned on.
Nomura: Got it.
Shikuhara: Hey, there’s people out here.
Akugiko: What do you mean there’s people—
Shikuhara: They’re a complete mess—they must’ve escaped, but our guys are probably still inside.
Shimizu: They didn’t run?
Shikuhara: All their vehicles and everything are still here.
Akugiko: Gesho, Hatagashira, stay and help the victims. The rest, after me.
Time Skip (4 Minutes), Nothing Audible
Akugiko: Go
Time Skip (5 Minutes)
Shimizu: What the fuck…
Akugiko: What?
Shimizu: Everyone’s [unsteady breathing] everyone’s dead on the second floor.
Nomura: That’s what I feared. We’ll call—
Shimizu: No, you don’t understand, it’s not victims, it’s qui—it’s the traffickers. Every single one of them is here.
Akugiko: You can identify all of them?
Shimizu: [pause] Kind of.
Akugiko: What do you mean kind of, kid?
Shimizu: They’re…F-fuck.
Akugiko: [mutters] Why the hell did they let you on this case?
Shimizu: They’re impaled. All of them.
Akugiko: Go help this kid out, guys, Jesus fuck.
Time Skip (7 Minutes)
Watanabe: Holy shit
Yumamoto: They’re all impaled through the head or chest. I can probably identify them if I get up close.
Watanabe: Careful, a post-mortem quirk could go off.
Watanabe: Must’ve been a jailbreak and someone wanted revenge. Can’t blame them.
Yumamoto: No, I think it’s…Never mind.
Akugiko: Spit it out, you might as well.
Yumamoto: Just some underground shady villain, that’s all. It’s kind of a ghost story, mythical, but everything matches her kill style.
Akugiko: Who? …Who?
Yumamoto: The Winter Ghost.
Akugiko: Are you fucking serious?
Yumamoto: Come up here and see it for yourself, maybe then you’ll take us seriously.
Watanabe: At least keep it off the field, Kyako.
Yumamoto: No, I don’t think I will.
Time Skip (3 Minutes)
Akugiko: Wow…[sigh] Gesho, Hatagashira, you hear me? Ask them if they saw who killed the traffickers, kid’s thinking we just stepped into that urban legend the intelligence community and commission’s obsessed with.
Hatagashira: Oh, that’s lovely.
Gesho: Yes, boss.
Time Skip (2 Minutes)
Hatagashira: they didn’t see anyone, and they promise us it wasn’t one of them—my quirk’s never wrong. None of them have run off.
Akugiko: What the fuck?
Shimizu: Now you get it.
Akugiko: Oh, shut it.
Watanabe: Sir, there’s something on this wall over here.
Akugiko: Oh, great, writing on the wall. Always got to read that.
Watanabe: No, you don’t understand, it’s actually writing on the wall.
Yumamoto: Sir?
Akugiko: What’s it say?
Watanabe: ‘You Deserve This’ in all caps. ‘You Deserve This’.
“So that’s the Winter Ghost, huh? No wonder there’s so much chatter about her—she’ll freeze your ass off.”
Enji says nothing at Hawks’ remark, continuing to walk with him as he ponders about her abilities aloud after their conversation about the Nomus. Plus his new injury: a scar to his face, sparing his left eye from permanent damage.
“But,” Hawks casually continues, “fire melts ice, so I guess that went as well as it could have.”
“I’ve heard stories about her,” Enji deadpans. “Some say she’s not a villain.”
“She’s more vigilante than villain. But after what happened to Silk and Fujimori, she became less of an open secret and more of a bigger headache for everyone. People only knew for sure she killed them because of her catchphrase.”
Enji turns his head, concern etching on his face. “Catchphrase?”
“Yeah. She’ll paint ‘You Deserve This’ on the walls or something. Pretty vengeful, huh?”
Enji looks back in front of him, maintaining awareness of their surroundings. “She joined the League of Villains. That says enough.”
Hawks looks like he wants to say something for just a fraction of a second but shuts his mouth like a perfect mousetrap.
“Is something wrong?”
Hawks gives him that youthful, relaxed smile he makes like clockwork. He can’t tell if it’s either a way to distract, keep him off his back, or if it’s a genuine sign of his often carefree-seeming attitude. “Not at all!”
Governor Of Shizuoka & Silk Found Dead In Home
Oct. 5th—Fujimori Wakui was found dead after midnight in his Shizuoka mansion along with Number 20 Hero Kusahaki Sayaka, otherwise known as Pro-Hero Silk. Many are mourning, including both their respective families, but others are saying ‘good riddance’ because of what else was found inside his home.
Reports say that Fujimori had multiple email threads open at the time the computer was found, including one corresponding with a contact at the prestigious U.A. High School for his upcoming visit for the annual NHHS Awards Ceremony. An anonymous source says there were sexually explicit conversations discussing teenagers on password-protected emails and on his phone, one of them in his thread with the U.A. contact.
‘He’s always been a little off, to me, personally,” a neighbor, Takari Beru comments. “I liked his policies, but if what they’re saying is true, I’m happy he’s dead—Silk, too, for that matter, taking advantage of the hero industry like that. It’s so disgusting.’
‘Silk’s a good-hearted hero, I bet she was there as soon as she realized something was wrong—she’s pretty close by,’ is what heroics analyst Daiyama Rinka thinks. ‘A lot of people have been telling me it’s an affair and that they have this child-pimping ring’, but her home’s blocks away from his and she’s always up—I don’t think the woman sleeps, too busy patrolling. Both of them were murdered. I hope they both rest in peace.”
‘Justice was stolen from us,’ Himoto Kouki says. He’s a direct beneficiary of Fujimori’s bill for more foster care and orphanage funding. ‘Are you kidding me—no wonder he’s run on a platform like this, making child welfare such a priority, because he wants the exact opposite! I never got adopted, but if I had, maybe it would’ve been to people who weren’t being vetted and were monsters like Fujimori! No one will ever get to see the look in his eyes when he realizes he’s fucked, he’s going to prison, and anyone who’s his victim should be furious.’
The new governor, Gushinaki Uma, will be sworn in on Friday. Silk’s public funeral takes place hours later. She leaves behind an unnamed husband and daughter.
The name, the Winter Ghost, can be perceived as false. She’s not much of a ghost if she can almost kill you. She got her licks in and now, she’s gone. Like a ghost should be. Is one not enough?
She crept up on him, stealthy like a panther stalking prey. The Winter Ghost shows little emotion and even if she did, most of her face is covered by a voice-modulating mask, emulating this haunting electric voice when she does speak. Large steel-gray eyes show almost nothing. They narrow, they get curious, they do not ignite with fury, nor do they show tantrums bleeding through. They have patience. Patience is what makes her different from anyone else in the league in addition to her lack of motive and how frequently she goes rogue. She’s rarely seen with the league. Her membership is an assumption.
Her patience is how he got an ice burn. Enji was strong, but she waited him out. Hawks and Miruko had to back him up, forcing him to swallow his pride, something he needed to learn to do a very long time ago. One down, plenty more to go.
The Winter Ghost has a perplexing list of kills. She’s killed five heroes, no sidekicks, and no civilians. Some report her showing up when notoriously greedy companies’ warehouses are destroyed. During villain attacks here and there, young children are on record talking about a scary-looking woman saving them from debris and even the villain themselves. A damning HPSC report says she left a bloodbath prior to a human trafficking raid they were conducting. Commission heroes arrived to find every last victim freed, fifteen men impaled to their deaths either through the heart or skull. The leader of the group’s branch got both. She left a message on the wall, little marks of blood accompanying bold black letters: her rumored catchphrase.
Their work was done for them. They kept this to themselves.
The Winter Ghost is a case study in something very important and under-discussed: do not let vigilantes do your job better than you.
Except, she’s not a vigilante. The Winter Ghost hunts like a mercenary, kills like an assassin, yet saves people like a long-time hero. Untraceable, unreachable, founding her very name. To top off having seen those incidents on TV, she protected people from the destruction the Nomu brought to Fukuoka mere minutes before coming after him.
So, what is she then? The Winter Ghost is a villain with a little side gig as a vigilante—retiring from being guns for hire to become something bigger with the League of Villains. Her motive doesn’t cleanly align with them based on actions, but she still joined them.
Enji serving her more space in his mind does no good. If it keeps nagging at him, he could pull up her file later, but he needs to figure out what Hawks meant by handing him that book.
████████ ██████
Age: ██
Sex: Female
Birth Date: ████████ ████ ████
Blood Type: ██
Location of Birth: █████████ ████████ ███████████ █████
Family: ████████ ███ █████████ ████████ ████ ████████ █████████ ███ ██████████ ████████ ████ ██████████ ████████ ██████ ██████████ ████████ ██████ ████████
Alias:██████ ███ ███████████
Quirk: ██████ ███ ███████████
Height: 160 CM
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Black with red roots
Eye Color: Gray
Distinguishing Features: None
Associates: █████ ████████ █████ ███████ ██ ██████████ ██████ █████ ███████ ██ █████████
Organizations: League Of Villains
Places Of Residence: Unknown
Previous Jobs: Unknown
Education: Unknown
There’s simply no information about the Winter Ghost. Everything on her is classified commission information, according to his assistant. Redacted to oblivion.
His curiosity ends there. He bets she’s a rogue agent, turning on them because of all the shady dealings and corruption you don't have to really know about to know happens.
A means to an end is a means to an end. What is and what isn’t at the commission, however, Enji doesn’t know, but ignorance is bliss. Ignorance keeps his conscious a little cleaner, still trying to clean up his daughter’s cold blood from the plate.
He can’t help being reminded of Fuyumi with the Winter Ghost’s fierce ice, sprawling through streets, and soaring like skyscrapers. His loss, his failure. Sekoto Peak became an artic forest, and that forest is his child’s grave.
After dinner that night with his family and Shoto’s friends, Enji prays at his daughter’s altar. For his family, he’ll do better. He has to.
CLASSIFIED, TOP SECRET
Date Filed: December 2nd, 2208
Filer: Tsutsumi Kaina, Lady Nagant (HID #6929476)
Case ID #8587731
Persons Involved: ████ ███████ ████████ ██████
Responding Police: None
Case Date: █████ ████ ████
Case Type: Incident (Other)
Summary:
Lady Nagant encountered a vigilante with an ███ █████. ████ █████████ ██████ ███ ██ ██ ████████ ███████ ██████████ ████ ████████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ██ ████████ ██ ██ █ █████ ███ █████ ██████████ ███ █████ ██████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████ ████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ ██ ███ ████████ ████████
When Nagant tried to apprehend her for further questioning, They fled the scene before she could bring her to a police station for questioning. She hasn’t been seen since.
Filer’s Summary:
A villain with a powerful hypnotism quirk got ahold of me. His directions were for me to shoot myself in the head. ████████ ██████ saved my life by ███████ ████████ ███ ██ ███ which broke the quirk’s effect. She quickly left the scene before I could talk to her. I haven’t seen her since.
Revised Summary (October 13th, 2213)
████ ██████ ███████████ █ █████████ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ████ █████████ ██████ ███ ██ ██ ████████ ███████ ██████████ ████ ████████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ██ ████████ ██ ██ █ █████ ███ █████ ██████████ ███ █████ ██████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████ ████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ ██ ███ ████████ ████████ █████ ████ ████████ ███████████ ██████ █████ ██ █████████ ███ ███ ███████ ████████████ ████████ ████ ███ ████████████████ ████ ████ ██ ██████ ███ ████ ██████ ████████ █████ ██ ██████ ████████ ████ ██ ████████████ ████████ ███ ███ ██ ████ ██ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ███████ ████████ █████ ███████ ███████ ███ ██████ ███ ██████████ ███████ ███ ███ ███ █████████ ███ ████ ███████ ████████ ███ ███ ██████ ██ █ ██████ █████████████████ ██████ ███ ██ ███ ███ █████████ ███ ███ ███████ █████████████ ████████ ████ ████ █████ ███ ████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ █████████ █████████ ████ ████ ██ ███ ███ █████ ████████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ █████ █████ ███████████ ███ █████████ ████████████ █████ ██████████ ████ ██████████ ██ ████ ██ █ █████████ ███ █████████
After Lady Nagant’s arrest, her protégé, Hawks, took over the relationship with ████████.
Filer’s Notes:
If chosen to apprehend, proceed with extreme caution.
(See Page 3-10 For Transcripts 1, 2, & 3)
Natsuo doesn’t talk to him when they get home that night, shaken up from being taken hostage and spilling his guts on the road for everyone to see. For one of the first times in his life, publicity isn’t anywhere near the top of the list of things he worried about at that moment, or even after. He needs to keep that streak.
Toya isn’t any better. He lashes out at him, pouring with bitter sarcasm as he seethes, angry as much as Natsuo is if not more. The only one who’s peaceful is Shouto. On the outside, at least.
The new home will be built, open-plan, conducive to interaction, and his family will move in. Enji knows Fuyumi would’ve loved a home where they could be a family together. Just not with him in it.
He doesn’t pray at her altar. Enji considers what could’ve been, honors her memory, and moves on.
CLASSIFIED, TOP SECRET
Case #3381764 April 8th, 2218
Page 1
Personnel: Takami Keigo (Hawks), Todoroki Enji (Endeavor)
Private Comms Line Opened: Hawks—Endeavor
Hawks: Endeavor—
Endeavor: What is it?
Hawks: I need you to listen to me very carefully—
Endeavor: Just tell me!
Hawks: you’ve got The Winter Ghost coming your way right now and you need to prepare, she has it out for you, she’s more unstable than I thought—
Endeavor: Understood—
Hawks: [yelling] no, you don’t understand, she is going to hunt you down and kill you—only you right now—Endeavor, she’s—
Endeavor: Hawks? [pause] Hawks, come in.
Shoto wakes quietly. It takes a moment to realize someone is speaking.
Feet away from him is Dad on the ground propped up by a wedge of ice, explaining the harsh cold all around them, and in front of him is a short figure dawned in a black tactical suit with familiar dark hair. Their captor’s breathing resonates in a way that could haunt someone when they're trying to sleep at night.
Knives of ice stick out of Dad’s chest, right where one of his lungs is.
They’re surrounded by ice. A fortress of pale blue, scraggly and created with no restraint. It just keeps going and going and going and…
Dad disappeared from the field, unreachable by comms. So did the Winter Ghost.
Just as he realizes who exactly they’re up against, she turns around. What were supposed to be gray eyes might as well have been black with hate.
The Winter Ghost’s gaze rests on him for a few seconds, leaving Shoto confused as to why she isn’t trying to kill both of them right now—finishing what she started.
She turns away, kneeling in front of Dad. There’s a moment of pause, silent outside his own heartbeat in his ears. “I learned a lot out in the real world. It’s how I could do this. Make my own world. I…could stop fighting. Stop saving. Stop killing. I could go back to the basics…I could play house.” There’s the slightest stumble in her electrically modulated voice. “I play the…the disgraced big sister. Toya—”
Shoto’s breath hitches.
“plays the son always challenging authority. Natsuo the forgotten little boy…And Shoto. Perfect,” she says his name with emphasis, sounding as if she’s spitting into her own mask.
No longer is Shoto frozen by ice—but by shock. Why does she know their names—how—
“And in this little world I’ve created,” The Winter Ghost continues calmly, “safe in ways a child should always be, I remember when I considered becoming a teacher.” The inside of the dome grows degrees colder, the sun less visible with ice being spun across the ceiling. Shoto can see his and Dad’s breath in the air. “I even learned the songs and read the books that little kids are read, and I practiced…Eventually, even though I got older, I…adapted them. Because no matter how much better my little world is, I’m still the only one in it. Songs make it seem less lonely, even when you will be alone for the rest of your life.”
He hears The Winter Ghost inhale. She sings low with this delicate tinge of sweetness, smooth like slowly tracing a finger across silk. “Shoto, Shoto, what do you hear? I hear you singing crystal clear.
“Father, father what do you see? …I see my daughter looking at. Me.”
That’s the moment Dad’s world falls apart. And he does absolutely nothing about it, but neither does Shoto.
The one dot of light on each side of her mask turns off, lowering off her face. Shoto can only see the side of her face, almost paper-white. “You can see me now.” It sounds like Fuyumi when he thinks about it. Much older and much, much darker. “Your best dream. Your worst nightmare.”
“Fuyumi died,” Dad rebuts shakily.
“Do you not see Mom in my eyes? Your broodmare?” Dad says nothing. Shoto sees a storm of shock and panic in his eyes, inflating and deflating his chest like pumping balloons. “After Sekoto, I accepted everything, and I left. You were never gonna change. I know you never will.”
The more she speaks, the more their environment grows colder.
It’s Fuyumi. There’s no way around what’s right in front of him. His sister’s alive and right here.
“Do you know why I was so bent on getting you to come see me at Sekoto Peak?” The Winter Ghost—Fuyumi—brings her face closer to Dad’s, gently dipping her head to the side as she stared at him. She’s milking in his expression for all its worth. “What does every child want? What could’ve I wanted more than anything in the world, hm, something I thought you might just give if I impress you?” She takes her hand and uses it to hold Dad’s cheek. It doesn’t caress or freeze him.
“I wanted your love. You can’t give love,” she says factually with air-lightness. “You can’t even give human decency, and that’s an innate quality.” For all her ice, an inferno sparks in her voice—dangerous. “Deep down, I’ve been waiting for this for years—I’m not going to waste it now.”
Her thumb swipes his cheek. “You deserve this. I will see it through even if it means I watch you writhe and choke on your own blood.” She removes her palm.
A sword of ice, fatally sharp, is conjured from her arm and hand. “If we can’t be a family on Earth no matter how hard I tried, then maybe one day, we’ll be one in hell.”
Shoto shatters the ice around him, launching, but she counters with a wall of ice. He sets fire to everything around him, melting the ice the best he can—but it’s not enough because this dome is like an iceberg.
It all finally implodes, making Shoto dizzy. Adjusting to the sunlight, his eyes find Dad face down on the ground feet away, about to be slaughtered.
Shoto gasps, and before he knows it, he’s face to face with his sister with their completely helpless father behind him.
“Get out of the way, Shoto.” Fuyumi’s voice is patient. It’s a husk of the sister who tucked him in at night, made him his meals, and hugged him when things were tough. It’s the voice hardened from all the tears she cried over their father, all the wailing from when Mom was sent away, the years she’s spent surviving alone.
“You’ll have to make me.”
“Shoto.”
“I won't let you!"
Fuyumi goes still, eyes unnervingly unmoving. Her head slowly tilts. “After everything I did for you…T—to protect you…”
“What’re you talking about!?” Shoto growls.
Time goes by. Too much time. He doesn’t know how to deal with how silent she’s gone—somehow much scarier than if she was raging like a machine.
Fuyumi’s lip quivers. “Fine.” Her head goes back into place, her spine goes ramrod-straight, arms lift to offense. The mask comes over the lower half of her face, whirring shut with a mechanical hiss. Frost coats her cheeks, steam billowing out from behind her mask. “So be it.”
She attacks.