Work Text:
5 +1 fic. Five times Naomasa thinks he sees a kid. One time he meets them.
...
1.
Naomasa stood just inside the crime scene tape staring unfazed at the sight before him. This was becoming too common and he was too cold towards this now. What could he do though? Someone had to investigate.
Sansa said as he returned from the body of the man, "It's confirmed, Nao. That Tanaki. I thought he was supposed to be under witness protection so this didn't happen."
Tiredly Naomasa said, "It's Okami. There is no way it could be anyone else. Why is he in Musutafu?"
"That's the question isn't it, sir?"
Naomasa was about to respond when a movement caught his eye. It shouldn't have been out of the ordinary. Just another curious bystander trying to get a better look at the body. Everyone knew what a body meant by now. It didn't matter the city or if it was broad daylight. If there was a body it was almost guaranteed to be Okami.
Even as he looked into the crowd Naomasa's brain immediately tried to push him to look away. It was such a jarring feeling he forced himself to look. To see a boy no more than sixteen with black hair and piercing green eyes. He wore a tattered plain black hoodie and jeans. There were bags under his eyes that could rival that of Aizawa. Every part of him was screaming that there was nothing wrong here and to look away. At the same time he felt if he even blinked the figure would be gone.
The results of a quirk? Why would someone want to hide like this? Especially in a crowd where if it wasn't for the unknown feeling he would have just passed over the boy.
Unfortunately for Naomasa he needed to blink and as he expected the boy was gone. What the fuck was that? Naomasa tried to step closer to the crowd to see if he just shifted position. But no he was gone.
"Nao? What's wrong?"
For a moment Naomasa hesitated then replied, "It... It's nothing. Let's get this cleared up."
Even as he turned back around he glanced once more into the crowd. One question permeated his kind. Who was that?
2.
Exhaustion filled him as he helped Aizawa handcuff the criminals that were unconscious. Fuck late night drug busts. This was supposed to be his weekend off. He was not supposed to be out here. Supposed to, meant nothing in their day and age. If it did then he would be working 9-5 Monday through Friday. Crime waited for no one and it was his duty to help protect the civilians.
As he finished up Naomasa felt a prickling on the back of his neck. It couldn't be. There was no way someone could be out here. They had cleared the building.
A quick glance at Aizawa told him that the hero didn't sense anything off. That meant they were okay. Right? Aizawa's senses were more intune to danger than his was.
When Naomasa turned he saw the boy again. Just standing there his green eyes alight in the darkness. A shiver ran down Naomasa's spine. There was something entirely wrong about this. Who was this kid?
Naomasa was startled by a hand landing on his shoulder and Aizawa asking, "Tsukauchi what is it?"
Just like before Naomasa blinked and the kid was gone. Was he even really there?
"Did you see someone there?"
"What just now?" Asked Aizawa as he looked into the darkness, "I didn't see anything. What did you see?"
Truth.
Naomasa frowned and answered, "A kid. He couldn't have been older than sixteen."
Aizawa stepped around him to peer into the darkness. There wasn't anyone there however and the night was silent.
3.
The bitter taste of coffee hit his taste buds. Three hours of sleep was the most he was getting at this point. Between the killer and the drug dealers he was working extreme overtime. Right now he was doing his best to stay awake and keep moving.
Naomasa stepped out onto the loud busy street. It was cold out despite it being summer. Scientists were blaming it on climate change. In the beginning he believed as did most of the world but now he was so sure. He was being watched. There was no way it was that kid again. It had been three weeks since their last encounter.
A familiar sensation washed over him as he headed towards the station. He was being watched. It couldn't be the kid again, could it? It had been three months since he last felt like this.
He turned around trying to search for where the feeling was coming from. Onyx eyes locked onto green a moment later. It was the kid again. He looked even more exhausted than he did months ago.
The crowd seemed to move around him like they couldn't see him. Was Naomasa having hallucinations? Maybe the lack of sleep was getting to him.
Only for a man with short cut white hair and brown eyes to bump into him. The man was wearing a black sleeveless shirt. How could the person stand being outside in this weather like that? He grabbed the boy and Naomasa unfortunately blinked. Like that they were gone.
4.
It was raining. The cold rain hit him as he stood staring at another dead body. Another killing by Okami who was hunting people he saw as criminals. Those who were pronounced as innocent in the eyes of the court. It was the one thing they all had in common.
Sansa asked shivering, "Are things going to stay like this, Naomasa? Will things ever get back to normal?"
Naomasa shook his head understanding what the other meant, "To be honest I don't know. The world seems to be dropping in temperature at an alarming rate. Heroes don't seem to want to do their jobs anymore. And then there is..."
Here he paused. He was unsure if he should tell his partner about what he had seen. A kid who could disappear like they never existed. A kid who was ignored by those around him.
"And?"
There was a flash of movement from the corner of his eye. The kid! But by the time he looked there was nothing there.
"It's nothing. Sorry."
5.
Months went by and there were flashes of what he thought was the kid. Nothing concrete and it was always out of the corner of his eye. Whenever he tried to get a better look it was gone.
Naomasa sat at the bar near his apartment. The air was smokey with cigarette smoke. All of the laws preventing it were pretty much ignored at this point. Skeptics became believers in the world ending.
Even he felt it now. His job was redundant at this point. With the world ending what was the point in catching criminals. They would just be out in a few days. The only one still out there fighting was Okami and he was making the streets run with blood at this point.
With a shake of his head he threw back the whiskey he was drinking. Warmth spread through him with the drink. It was the only warmth he would get. Even fires weren't enough anymore. It felt as if he could never get warm.
A blast of cold air tore through his thoughts as the door opened. Naomasa didn't bother to turn his head as he heard someone limp their way in. It was none of his business unless they caused trouble.
A gruff voice growled as a man smelling heavily of alcohol came up next to him, "Whiskey."
"Huh," commented the bartender, "Didn't expect you to come back, Quent. Don't tell me you're still hunting fairy tales."
Fairy tales?
The man a scruffy grey haired man growled out, "I tell you now as I did years ago. Wolves are still out there. They hide amongst us pretending to be man."
"Come off it, Quent," said another man, "Wolves have been extinct for over 200 years. The nobles killed them off searching for a so called Paradise."
That got a round of snorts from everyone. Every child was told of a kind of Paradise. It was a childish fairy tale that was best left forgotten. Paradise did not exist or it did, it did not exist for mankind.
"They exist," said Quent as he received his drink, "Oh they exist. They are out their walking amongst us. I have seen a new one in this very town."
"Sure you did Quent," laughed a few.
Naomasa rolled his eyes. There was no way that he could have seen a wolf.
Quent said in a low monotone drawing Naomasa's full attention, "I tell you now the words of Red Moon. From the great spirit was born the wolf, and man became it's messenger. In other words, the human race was created from wolves. So says the author of The Book of the Moon."
"What?" Questioned Naomasa fully looking at the man.
Quent with dead eyes said, "Man was born from wolves so the book says. The wolf I have seen takes the form of a boy of sixteen. Black hair and green eyes."
The kid? There was no way. Naomasa felt the feeling again. The one he had been missing for months. He was being watched.
Slowly so not to attract the others attention he turned to look out the window. There was a scruffy teenager who looked just this side of starving. Then the sound of a dog barking reverberated through the building. Quent was on his feet in a moment and the boy was gone. Damn it.
So he wasn't hallucinating. But then, why could no one else see him? No one but the drunk man who everyone thought had lost his mind? Was Naomasa losing his mind too?
1+
Naomasa pressed his hand into the wound in his side. This was a stupid idea. No matter how things may have seen Aizawa would have come with him. Sansa would have come with him yet here he was. Alone with no backup and no one knew where he was.
Okami, it turned out was a former officer of Tokyo's 3 Precinct. He was using his connections in the department to get information. It was how he had stayed one step ahead of everyone. He had activated his emergency signal but whether or not anyone would come was anyone's guess. So few cared anymore.
"You shouldn't have come here, detective," came Okami's rough mocking voice, "You might have loved to see the end of the world. Instead you will die here like the dog you are."
Tsukauchi growled out, "It's my job. I have to protect the people of my city."
The mocking laugh came again, "Then you should have brought your hero friend. At least he would have been here to save you. Or get you to a... Who the fuck are you?"
What? It seemed like the man was talking to someone else. Carefully Naomasa pokes his head out. What. The. Fuck? Standing there was the boy looking painfully thin. So he was real.
The boy said in a hoarse dry voice, "Let him go."
"Excuse me?"
The boy growled, "I said. Let. Him. Go. He is not yours, false Moon Child."
Moon Child? What?
"You dare call me a false Moon Child when you walk amongst humans? Do you want to die too? Come closer then. I'll kill you just like I killed everyone else who gets in my way. Or maybe I'll just kill the detective."
One moment the two were just standing there. Then Okami pulled out a gun and pointed it at Naomasa. There was a blur of movement and suddenly an animal too big to be a dog with black fur tipped with green jumped in front of him. Just as a shot rang out. This was followed by a yelp of pain and a thud.
Naomasa not realizing he had closed his eyes opened them. The animal, wolf? lay in front of him with a bullet wound entering its shoulder. A large puddle of blood was forking beneath it. To his relief it was still breathing.
His body moving on its own accord Naomasa lunged for the wolf. Immediately he began to put pressure on the wound just in time to hear sirens. Backup was finally coming as it should have been.
Okami cackled, "Isn't this great?! The almighty protector. Maybe this is enough punishment for you. Detective," Naomasa looked up, "Don't interfere again. Not if you want to live long enough to see the end of the world."
And like he was never there the serial killer was gone. This left him to deal with his approaching backup.