Chapter Text
November 1st, 20XX
Musutafu, Japan
4:03 PM
Bespin Junior high
The sun shone brightly on the school as the lights turned warm due to the nearly setting sun. The students of Bespin Junior High talked amongst themselves as they finished the after-school cleaning, making plans for the weekend with each other, or announcing family outings and vacations to the beach.
Yuki Todoroki, known at school at Yuki Himura was not a part of these conversations. Commonly ostracized by her classmates due to her quirkless status, she was left outside the sphere of conversation. Many people paid her no mind, others sneered at her as she walked by and took off her indoor shoes preparing to leave the building. A girl with long pink hair, and moth antennae approached Yuki wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in tightly. “Hey, Himura-chan! Let’s hang out after school okay?” The girl’s tone was not a jovial happy one, but one that sounded teasing, and mean as she forced the smaller girl to stay in the arm lock.
“N-No thank you, Gako-chan.” Yuki said softly, trying to wrestle herself out of the larger girl's arms, but the girl quickly put her in a headlock, “Aw, come on! We have some much fun when we’re together don’t we?” Gako teased, as Yuki gasped in the headlock trying to wretch herself free. Students stopped and watch not bothering to help the girl as she struggled to release herself.
“Gako-Chan is being really handsy with Himura today..” Someone in the crowd whispered.
“Himura should just give up and go with her. It can’t be that bad.”
“Nah did you hear what happened last time Himura went with Gako? Gako’s crew shared that video all over the school of Himura in her underwear. It was sick!”
“Shit really?... Where?” “Dude, come on…”
Gako roughly began to pull at Yuki’s long red hair, making it messy as she laughed, “Come on, let’s have some fun at the karaoke place Himura! You loved it last time!”
“Please, let go you’re hurting me.” Himura’s voice was weak sounding as Gako laughed, “Fine, have it your way.”
Gako let go of Yuki, pushing her and making the girl stumble into the shoe lockers and to the ground, Gako laughed and many in the crowd did as well, either out of fear of being ostracized themselves or out of shared malice. Yuki stared at the ground refusing to let the tears well up in her eyes, she slipped on her outside shoes, and grabbed her bag, slipping it onto her shoulders and exited out the front doors, and out the front gate.
November 1st, 20XX
Musutafu, Japan
5:32 PM
Todoroki House
The sun had begun its descent, casting long shadows across the city as Fuyumi returned home from her job as an elementary school teacher. Exhaustion weighed heavily on her as she stepped through the front door, and began to take off her shoes when she noticed something odd. Yuki’s bag and shoes were nowhere to be found, usually at this time, Yuki would be home from school. Her brows furrowed in confusion Fuyumi called out, “Yuki! Are you home?”
Stepping into the foyer she looked around for any sign of Yuki having been inside the house since morning. “Yuki?” She called out once more, walking over to Yuki’s bedroom she opened the door and peered inside, finding nothing but the dark messy room Yuki liked to reside in. Scratching her head she was left wholly confused.
Not yet completely worried, Fuyumi entered the kitchen hoping to find a usual note Yuki would leave on the fridge if she was planning to go out that day, but found nothing. Anxiety began to claw at Fuyumi’s chest and her throat tightened. Where was Yuki?
Pulling out her cell phone Fuyumi dialled Yuki’s number and put the phone to her ear, hoping she’d hear the sound of her sister picking up, “Hello,”
“Oh thank god you’re okay Yuki I-”
“This is Yuki, please leave a message at the beep and I’ll uh…get to you when I can?”
It went straight to the answering machine and Fuyumi’s heart dropped. Frantically, Fuyumi dialled her brother Natsuo's number, her trembling fingers struggling to press the buttons. "Natsuo, I’m sorry to call this suddenly but," she spoke rapidly when he answered. "Yuki's missing. I can't find her anywhere.”
“It's probably nothing Yumi, have you tried calling her?” Natsuo asked, the sound of his chair scooting back sounding over the receiver. “I did, it went straight to voicemail. Can you call her? Maybe it was just me.”
Natsuo nodded, before responding, “Alright, I’ll call her and then call you back.” Natsuo hung up and Fuyumi was left stewing in anxiety, she physically had to stop herself from bringing her hands to her face to chew on her nails, a nasty habit she had been trying to break for years.
Finally, her phone rang again and she scrambled to answer it, but it wasn’t Yuki it was Natsuo. “I called but I got voicemail too. That’s not normal right?” Fuyumi let out a choked noise and grasped at the shirt on her chest trying to catch her breath. “Oh god…Natsu, what if something bad happened?”
Natsuo sighed deeply, his sister’s anxiety weighing heavily on him, "I'll be right there, Fuyumi. Maybe I’ll find Yuki on my way over and I’ll give her a ride.” Fuyumi bit her lip.
“I feel something horrible has happened.” She admitted, “Try not to jump to conclusions. Have you called Endeavour yet?” Natsuo always refused to call their father his name, or dad, usually he preferred Endeavour. “No only you.”
“Alright, if Yuki isn’t home by the time Endeavour gets home, we’ll report this.” Fuyumi nodded, “A-Alright.” She hoped Yuki would come home soon as she hung up her mind raced, considering every possible scenario. Had Yuki run away? But why would she leave without a trace?
Natsuo sighed deeply after Fuyumi hung up the phone and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His girlfriend, Nezuko a girl with a soft demeanour and mousy ears on her head looked at him with furrowed worried eyebrows as she cooked dinner and he began to slip on his jacket, “Is Fuyumi-san, alright?” She asked, coming to his side quickly and resting the spoon she was stirring with on the counter.
“Yeah, she’s fine. Yuki didn’t come home from school, and she isn’t answering her phone so I’m gonna drive around the neighbourhood and get her.” Natsuo explained, kissing Nezuko gently on the cheek, “I’ll be back soon, alright?” He promised, “Take your time, family is important.” She assured, smiling at him and Natsuo chuckled, “Alright, see ya.” He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his keys heading out the front door.
Natsuo hated the family home, it always reminded him of his childhood. Those times with Touya, and how they played in the yard, and the horrible times of his father’s abuse and Touya’s death, his alter still standing in his bedroom like it had every day for ten years. The home was in a wealthy neighbourhood, one with lots of traditional Japanese mansions like their own, and Natsuo felt like a criminal like he didn’t belong here while he squinted in the darkness for his little sister walking down the sidewalk. He hoped to see her long red hair swishing behind her, still wearing that stupid navy seifuku her school designated as a uniform. But as he drove up and down the streets he didn’t see a soul.
Arriving at the Todoroki house empty-handed, Natsuo couldn’t help but feel the same overwhelming anxiety that Fuyumi was feeling. A foreboding feeling of fear, like something, was horribly, horribly wrong, and the more he tried to shove the feeling down, the worse it got. Knocking on the front door Fuyumi swung it open instantly, like she was waiting by the door for him to arrive since he got off the phone with her.
“Do you have her with you?” She asked panicked as she peered around Natsuo but found nobody. He sadly shook his head.
“No, I couldn’t find her.” He saw Fuyumi begin to shake, and he walked inside the house grabbing her into a hug and holding her as she began to sob, “Oh god, what if something bad happened? What if she’s lost and alone somewhere? Oh god..” She sobbed, overwhelmed with anxiety and fear, Natsuo rubbed her back kindly.
“It’s okay Yumi, she’ll be home soon, I’m sure of it.” Natsuo prayed he wasn’t lying.
“Is Shoto home yet?” He asked, and Fuyumi shook her head, “No, he has after-school training today. He’ll be home in an hour.” Fuyumi sniffled, “God what if he doesn’t come home too?” She worried aloud, and Natsuo quickly nipped that in the bud, “No, no Shoto and Yuki will come home and then you’ll laugh and feel silly when this is all over, I promise.”
6:14 PM
Entering the foyer, Shoto Todoroki took off his loafers, covered in sweat from a long training session. He noticed an extra pair of shoes at the door, and Yuki’s missing pair and backpack. He set his own bag down and walked into the living room with a furrowed confused brow, seeing Natsuo on the couch with Fuyumi he spoke, “Oh…Is Natsuo coming to dinner tonight?” He asked, and Natsuo and Fuyumi jumped a little.
“No, sorry lil bro.” Natsuo got off the couch and to Shoto putting a hand on his shoulder, “Did you see Yuki on your way home?” He asked, praying Shoto had seen something, but the aloof boy merely shook his head.
“No. Should I have?’” Fuyumi’s soft sob on the couch made Shoto confused, and worried, “Is…Something wrong?” Natsuo’s lips pursed.
“Yuki hasn’t come home yet, Fuyumi’s worried.” Natsuo explained and Shoto nodded, “Oh, should we…call the police?”
“No, not yet. Let’s wait till Endeavour get’s home…maybe he’ll find her on his way home or she’ll come on her own.”
Shoto nodded, “Alright.” Leaving the living room Shoto headed to his own room to get out of his school clothes.
Anxiety pools in Natsuo’s stomach, but he knows he needs to continue to be a voice of reason to Fuyumi as her own anxiety consumed her. He hoped he was right, that the promises he was making would be fulfilled, and Yuki will come home unharmed having just forgotten the time at the library or arcade or something and they’ll all laugh and have dinner and Natsuo can go home to his girlfriend.
7:02 PM
Enji pushed open the front door, his muscles ached after a long day of hero work, and he desperately wanted to grab the ice pack out of the freezer and rest it on his burning head..and maybe everywhere else to elevate the burning feeling in his skin and blood. He constantly overused his quirk, leaving him foggy-headed and winded after long days like this. Kicking off his large boots he trudged into the kitchen and noticed no food being made. His brow furrowed, usually, Fuyumi had dinner prepared by this time, was she ordering food?
He grabbed an icepack out of the freezer and placed it on his boiling head as he leaned into the freezer trying to soak up all the coldness inside. On days like this, he wished he still had Rei to cool him down when he was overworked, her frozen hands worked wonderfully on the knots in his back and neck.
“Dad?” Fuyumi called outstanding in the doorway as her father rested on his haunches leaning in the freezer and letting all the cold out.
“Yes, Fuyumi?” He asked, his eyes shut as he tried to focus on lowering his body temperature. “Have you seen Yuki?” Enji’s brow furrowed, Yuki? He rarely noticed his youngest child, she was of no use to him due to her being quirkless, meek and stayed out of his way most days.
“No. Why?” He pulled his head out of the freezer to peer back at his eldest daughter, she was nervous and fidgeting her eyes red and puffy from crying.
“Did you two fight?” He asked and Fuyumi shook her head, “No it’s just…she never came home after school, and it’s late.” Enji’s eyes widened…never came home?
“Did you call her? Maybe she’s out with friends.” Fuyumi nodded, “So did Natsuo, and Shoto when he got home. Natsuo even drove around the neighbourhood trying to find her.”
“Natsuo is here?”
“Yes.”
Enji pulled himself out of the freezer embrace standing up straight and towering over his daughter, he pulled the melting icepack off his forehead and turned fully to her. “And you’re definitely sure you cannot find her?” His voice wavered a little, but Fuyumi didn’t catch it. “Yes.” She choked, and Enji sighed deeply, “I’ll call it in.” Fuyumi’s sob broke the silence as Enji called the police.
7:36 PM
The sun fully dipped behind the horizon as the sound of approaching cars filled the air. Fuyumi, Natsuo, Shoto, and Enji gathered in the living room, anxiously awaiting the police’s arrival. Natsuo sat far away from Enji on the other side of the couch, next to his sister to console her, Shoto sat between Enji and Fuyumi staring off into space, brows furrowed as he tried to recall any information that might be used for the investigation. Enji’s arms crossed tightly over his chest, his icepack gone and a large frown on his face, inside his head he tried to place the pieces together himself. Yuki either ran away…or was kidnapped…and if she was kidnapped…he didn’t want to think about it.
A knock at the front door broke the silence and Enji quickly stood up and opened the door, detectives and police poured into the house, their presence filling the space with a mix of anticipation and worry. Enji quickly moved back into the living room, where the family was quickly approached by two lead detectives, Enji recognized them both, but not by name. The man he recognized as someone All-Might considered a friend, the thought made him roll his eyes, but the woman he couldn’t place.
The lithe short-blonde-haired woman stepped forward, “I’m Yoshi, Kei. I’ll be one of the lead detectives on this case. This is my partner Tsukauchi Naomasa. we'll do everything we can to find Todoroki-chan and bring her home safely.” Enji nodded.
“Thank you.” He said simply, “Now, who first noticed Yuki was missing?” Detective Yoshi asked, and Fuyumi raised a shaky hand.
“I did. I came home and Yuki wasn’t here yet. She usually is home by now...I-I don’t know where she could have gone.” Fuyumi sniffled letting out another choked sob, “I just…I feel like something horrible is happening, I don’t know why.”
Yoshi placed a hand on Fuyumi’s own and squeezed it, “We’ll find her, we promise. You did a good job calling us when you did, many believe the myth that you need to wait twenty-four hours to report a missing person, usually by then it’s too late.” Letting go of Fuyumi’s hand she stood up straight once more.
“What is her usual routine? Tell me everything you know, rather you think it's important or not.”
Fuyumi cleared her throat, “She attends Bespin Junior High, she’s in class 3-C. She goes to school at 7:30 AM and gets home at about 5 PM. I get home not too long after.”
“Any friends? Places she could have gone if she ran away?” Yoshi was dutifully writing notes, as Tsukauchi stood behind her examining Fuyumi deep brown eyes.
“She...she hasn’t mentioned any friends. She likes going to this arcade near Tatooin Station, but I called and they said she wasn’t there.” Fuyumi’s throat was tight as she spoke, could she really not recall any friends? Did Yuki really not mention any to her? Was she a horrible sister for not knowing this stuff?!
“Do you have an up-to-date photo and description?” Yoshi asked, glancing at Tsukauchi he nodded at her ‘truth’ Fuyumi truly didn’t know much about her sister it seemed.
“Yes, I do.” Fuyumi quickly opened her phone scrolling through the photos and holding it out. It was a school photo, Yuki in her navy-coloured seifuku, her face blank as she stared into the camera with brown-grey eyes, her long red hair was slicked down but spiked up at the end, and she looked around the age of thirteen.
“She’s thirteen. One hundred and fifty centimetres on the dot, and forty-eight point five kilograms. Brown-grey eyes, red hair. It's naturally spiky, but she usually has me slick it down for her before school. Her uniform is a navy seifuku, and she sometimes wears a black hoodie over it.” Fuyumi rattled off almost quicker than Yoshi could write down, obviously frantic in her testimony.
“Alright. Where were you all today?” Yoshi hated asking this question, it made her feel like she was interrogating them, but as far as she knew…they could be responsible for the girl's disappearance.
“I was in school, I attend Musutafu University. I get let out at about 1 AM and went home. When Yumi called me, I called Yuki but she didn’t pick up. So I drove around the neighborhood but I couldn’t find her.” Natsuo explained, and Yoshi nodded as she wrote, checking with Tsukauchi who nodded once more ‘truth’.
“Anyone who can vouch for that?” Yoshi asked and Natsuo nodded, “My professors, classmates and my girlfriend Tesso, Nezuko.”
Yoshi turned to the boy staring into space, she recognized him from the sports festival, he was brutal, holding back nearly the whole match till that green-haired kid made him go nuts, nearly destroying the whole arena from what she saw on TV. “Todoroki-Kun?” Shoto looks up surprised, “Oh, sorry.”
He clears his throat, “I saw Yuki this morning during breakfast, she was acting normal I guess. We walk to school together because we take the same train, but we split off after the train. I trained late today and got home only an hour ago so…about 6-ish?”
“Anyone to vouch for that?” Yoshi asked. “My teacher, Aizawa-Sensei, and my classmates.” Yoshi nodded at his response.
“Endeavour,” Yoshi spoke and Enji was broken from his staring. He had been staring at her the entire time, trying desperately to figure out where he recognized her from. “Sorry…This is just..a lot.” He said quickly.
“I went to work at 6 AM, I didn’t see Yuki at all today, I woke up too early. I got home only thirty minutes ago to Fuyumi telling me Yuki hadn’t come home. My witnesses are my sidekicks, some police, and the media who all saw me working today.”
Yoshi nodded, quickly writing this down. Enji seemed standoffish, and wouldn’t stop staring at her, which made her deeply uncomfortable.
“Is her mother home yet?” Yoshi asked, she had noticed no mother was present. But she had seen some photos in the hall of a beautiful white-haired woman who looked strikingly like Fuyumi, and Yuki.
“She doesn’t live here. She’s in the hospital.” Enji interjected quickly, checking with Tsukauchi Yoshi realized he was telling the truth. That put an odd spin on things, nothing had been mentioned in the news about Endeavour's wife being ill and in the hospital, it sounded like something the media would go crazy over. She can picture the headlines now.
But when Enji said those words, a shift in tone seemed to punctuate the room. Fuyumi stared at the floor, Natsuo grit his teeth and buried his nails into his palm, and Shoto looked away once more, drifting off into space…Interesting.
“Is it possible her mother could have taken her?” Yoshi asks, perhaps this was a parental abduction? It was incredibly common, more common than a stranger abduction.
Fuyumi shot this idea down without a second thought, “No! Mom would…Mom would never. Also, the hospital would call us if she discharged herself.” Tsukauchi nodded once more ‘Truth’.
Yoshi was left without a leg to stand on. Seemed like the whole family had an alibi of some sort. Maybe their intuition was wrong, maybe she’d appear by tomorrow or had just run away. A sick mother makes children do crazy things, they think running away will make things better. Yoshi knew that personally…
“Detective?” A police officer entered the room, hat in hand. “We’ve uh…had a breach.” Yoshi’s eyes bulged in surprise, as did the rest of the family. “Already? It’s barely been an hour!” Yoshi yelled, “I’m sorry ma’am, they must have been listening to a scanner.” Yoshi rubbed the bridge of her nose, “Fuck, fine! Tell everyone to switch to a private channel!” The officer nodded quickly rushing off to spread the word.
“I’m so sorry. Breaches don’t usually happen this fast. For your own sanity, I suggest you steer clear of reading any news until Yuki is found if you can. They can be rabid.” Kei bowed deeply, with Tsukauchi as she apologized showing true remorse.
“Already?” Fuyumi was surprised, she knew the news would travel fast due to it being a hero’s child, but within the hour? That was insane! Enji sighed deeply, “This was to be expected.”
Yoshi’s radio cackled, and she switched channels, “Yoshi, here. How bad is it?” She asked, walking to the corner of the room, the radio crackled with static as a voice was heard briefly on the other end, the words making her sigh and nod.
“Alright, put up a perimeter. If any reporter gets past you arrest them for obstruction of justice.” She sighed, giving a look to Tsukauchi, “I gotta go out and wrangle the rookies. I’ll be back, continue with the report for now.” She quickly left the room.
“As she said,” Tsukauchi spoke finally, “I’m Detective Tsukauchi, Naomasa.”
“I know who you are, you’ve worked with All-Might, correct?” Enji said and Tsukauchi is shaken for only a moment before nodding, “Yes, we’re good friends.” Tsukauchi cleared his throat flipping through his own notebook for a clear page.
“Have you called the school back and asked if she attended today?” Tsukauchi wondered if she even made it to school, perhaps she never even got to school today. That would help give them a timeline of events.
“She went. If she skips, they call us.” Fuyumi said and Tsukauchi nods, “Does she skip school often?” Fuyumi looked cagey, and bit her lip, “Not really…” A non-answer was hard to get a read on with his quirk, he was better with yes or no’s to determine truth.
“What do you mean by not really?” He asked, and Fuyumi sighed. “P-please don’t be mad Dad.” She begged turning to Enji. This made his eyebrow pull up, a grown adult woman begging her father not to be angry like she was still a child was certainly odd. But she did live at home, and seemed to be a caretaker of sorts for the children of the family, perhaps she was just worried he’d kick her out.
“Speak, Fuyumi.” Enji’s words were harsh, and Tsukauchi’s eyes squinted as Fuyumi did the softest of flinches at his harsh tone.
“She skips sometimes…The school calls me when she does, but she always comes home after.” Fuyumi explained and Tsukauchi nodded. She was telling the truth it seemed.
“So she definitely attended class today?” Fuyumi nodded at his question, “Yes, definitely.” Tsukauchi wrote this down. So whatever happened must have occurred after school.
Natsuo was on his phone, squinting at the screen. He sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose and typed a message quickly. Tsukauchi wondered who he was texting but his answer came before he could ask. “The news is outside the house. Nezuko is watching the report now.” He said and Fuyumi rubbed his shoulder, “I’m sorry,” She wasn’t sure why she was apologizing, she just felt like she had to.
Tsukauchi cleared his throat catching the attention of the family once again, “I’m gonna ask you some more questions about Todroki-Chan now. Do you know if she does any drugs? Smokes?” Fuyumi’s eyes widen and she quickly shakes her head no, “No, of course not! She’s thirteen!”
“You’d be surprised, ma’am,” Tsukauchi said, writing the information down. “Does she have a history of running away previously?”
“No, I mean…not fully? Sometimes she goes to Natsuo’s house to stay for the weekend.” Fuyumi spoke quickly, and Natsuo nodded agreeing. “Does she tell you when she does this?”
“Uh..I…No…I usually find out when Natsuo calls me and tells me she’s staying over.” Tsukauchi nodded. This was interesting. She seemed to have a history of running off, but always stayed at her brother's house…what is she hiding from at home?
“What is her quirk?” Tsukauchi needed this information for the report, even if it didn’t really matter in the long run. “She’s quirkless.” Fuyumi added, and Tsukauchi paused for only a second before writing it down, “I see…”
“Does she take any medication or have any illnesses?” Tsukauchi asked next, Enji quickly spoke, “No, she doesn’t.” He spoke as if the mere suggestion was some affront against him. Like it was insulting to insinuate his child was anything but perfect, Fuyumi looked away fearful to speak it seemed.
“Todoroki-San,” Fuyumi looked up meekly, “Please, just call me Fuyumi.” She suggested with a forced smile. “Your reaction was different than your father, why is that?” Fuyumi bit her lip, and Enji stared at her, “Fuyumi, speak.” Once again the same barked command as if she were a dog and not his child.
“I…I took Yuki to the doctor. She wanted to get put on birth control so…so I got her some…she also takes medicine for anxiety that her doctor gave her…” Enji's jaw tightened, “Birth control? Fuyumi she’s thirteen!” Fuyumi stared at the floor tears brimming in her eyes, “B-Birth control is for a lot of different things! I don’t think she’s actually having sex or anything! That’s not like her.”
“How long?” Tsukauchi wondered when this started, from how it sounded to him Yuki was a shy child and didn’t have any known friends. Perhaps that was just a ruse to her family though, maybe she had a boyfriend on the side who she ran away with.
“Since last year,” Fuyumi admitted meekly, “Jesus Christ, Fuyumi…” Enji rubbed his face, clenching his fists tightly. How much was he missing? How much didn’t he know? What did he really know?
“Look at this,” Natsuo said, showing his phone to the family, Tsukauchi leaned over to peer at the screen. A gaggle of news reporters stood outside the gates of their house, police officers having to physically hold many back from entering the premises.
The news reporter Natsuo was watching held a microphone tightly, speaking on mute as subtitles were below her, “The youngest daughter of pro hero Endeavor, has gone missing. This tragedy strikes a family already haunted by the death of their eldest son, Touya Todoroki, years ago. Please continue to watch as more news comes in.”
“They don’t even know her name yet, and they’re just running with it,” Natsuo said disgusted by the vultures in the media. Enji’s fists clenched tightly as he stood up quickly, “I’ll be back.” “Sir!” Tsukauchi called out but Enjis stormed past and out the front door, Tsukauchi grabbed his radio.
“Endeavour’s leaving the house to confront the reporters, try and wrangle him back in!” He yelled out over the crackling static. Enji stormed out of the house, his eyes blazing with fury as he made his way towards the front gates and towards the reporters. They all seemed to scatter at the sight of him, like ants fleeing from a flame.
"What do you want?!" Enji bellowed at them. "My daughter is missing and you're here hounding us for information? Have some decency!"
The reporters stumbled over each other in their haste to get away from him, but one brave soul stepped forward and held up her microphone.
"Todoroki-Sama," she said tentatively. "Can you tell us anything about your daughter's disappearance?"
Enji glared at her fiercely before snatching the microphone out of her hand, "No comment!" he spat before throwing it down onto the ground and stomping back inside without another word.
Tsukauchi watched on anxiously as Enji returned to his family's side, seething with anger and frustration. The media could be so heartless sometimes - he couldn't blame Enji for losing control at that moment.
"We need to find Yuki," Fuyumi whispered tearfully, "I know," Enji replied firmly. "And we will. I promise you."
Tsukauchi cleared his throat once more to gain the attention of the family, “I’d like the contact information for your main doctor.”
“Oh, of course.” Fuyumi quickly scrolled through her phone reading off the number and name to Tsukauchi who quickly wrote it down. He sighed reading through his notes. To anyone else it’d look like a runaway at first glance…but he felt something weird about this case, he just couldn’t place it.
“Do we have permission to search the house?” Tsukauchi asked, and Enji grits his teeth and nodded, “I’ll allow it.” Tsukauchi nodded, “Thank you, Endeavour.” He pulled out his radio once more, confirming their permission to search the home.
The first location to search is Yuki’s bedroom. It was cluttered, and many books piled around, and band posters hung up on the walls. A small desk sat near her bed, with headphones and books piling atop, and a soccer ball lamp sitting on her bedside table next to her thin bed. A guitar was propped up on a stand near her bed, sloppily painted red with messy white wiggles that could be flames. A hamper sat in a corner, and a bookshelf held a dusty soccerball directly propped in front was a portable AC unit, and in the opposite corner of the room was a floor-length mirror.
Yoshi looked over the room, smiling a little up at the posters, she finally left the front lines of wrangling reporters to help her Tsukauchi search the room, “She’s got taste, I’ll give her that. These are all metal, and rock bands.” Yoshi smirked and Tsukauchi chuckled.
“She seems to play the guitar,” Yoshi noted, strolling over to the well-worn guitar. “This is old, must have gotten it years ago.”
“Doubt Endeavour bought it for her. Was probably her brother or sister.” Tsukauchi noted and Yoshi nodded, “Definitely.”
“She likes soccer too it seems.” Yoshi added, looking over the soccer lamp, “Nah, she doesn’t play. This ball is covered in dust.” Tsukauchi corrected, “Maybe it's one of her siblings?” Yoshi wondered aloud, “We’ll ask.” Tsukauchi continues searching.
Spying something odd behind one of the posters, Yoshi peeled back the type peering behind. “Look, it’s a hole. Someone punched right through the plaster and covered it with a poster.” The hole was small, Yoshi wondered if Yuki did it, and if so, what made her so angry she punched right through a plaster wall?
“Looks like the kid has anger issues,” Yoshi added, setting down the poster, and covering the hole once more.
“If you were a young girl. Where would you hide something you didn’t want your parents to find?” Tsukauchi asks, smirking, Yoshi snorts, “Well when I was a little girl. I hid stuff everywhere.”
“Well, what about a normal little girl.” Tsukauchi prefaced, “Under my pillow…or under my bed.” Yoshi quickly checked under Yuki’s pillow and found nothing, getting onto her knees and peering under the bed her eyes widened.
“Tsukauchi, get down here.” He strolled over and knelt down, “Please don’t make me get down further,” He begged half-heartedly before Yoshi yanked him down by his tie. Under the bed was what could be best considered a nest. A bundle of blankets and pillows, a pair of headphones, and most importantly, a notebook was hidden underneath.
“It’s…a little safety nest?” Tsukauchi wondered aloud, and Yoshi grabbed the notebook, pulling it out, she glanced up at Tsukauchi.
“When I was little I used to make nests like this…Do…do you think Yuki’s being abused…like I was?” Tsukauchi knew of Yoshi’s past, and many people in Japan did. It was once dubbed the worst child abuse case in Japan before an even worse case broke the news.
“I don’t know.” Tsukauchi hoped it wasn’t as bad as Yoshi’s abuse had been. A hero couldn’t do something like that…could they? Yoshi looked away before filling the silence with the sounds of pages as Yoshi opened the notebook.
They peered inside and found a diary. Flicking through the pages quickly the detectives found pages dating back almost a whole year before. “It’s a diary,” Yoshi stated the obvious.
“What’s the first entry say?” Tsukauchi wondered as Yoshi flipped back to the front, and began to read aloud.
“Dear diary,
I hate this place. I hate the teachers. I hate the students. I hate my mom AND my dad. I hate everyone.
Every day, I get bullied. They call me names, make fun of me, and push me around. I don't know why they hate me so much. I've never done anything to them.
Nobody cares about me, nobody cares at all!!!!
I wish I had a quirk…I wish I could kill them all…”
Tsukauchi whistled, “That’s dark stuff for a kid to say in their diary…Could…Could she have run off and joined the League Of Villains?”
Kei shook her head, “I don’t think so. But it's not out of the realm of possibility.” She flipped through the pages more, squinting her eyes as she read.
“Listen to this one,”
“Gako-Chan showed everyone that video!!! I hate her!! I wish I could rip her stupid antenna off. She’s such a bitch.
I told Dad I was being bullied, but he brushed it off and told me that I needed to stop being weak and act like Todoroki. I tried to confront Gako-Chan at school, but she punched me and made my nose bleed.
I don’t want to bother Fuyumi, she does so much already. I have to grow up and settle this myself as Dad said…”
Yoshi’s voice trialled off as she read the harrowing account, looking up at Tsukauchi he sighed, “That sounds like Endeavour.” Yoshi flipped through more.
“The most recent entry is from a couple of days ago,” Yoshi said, and quickly read through it.
“Why won’t anybody help me? Is this the result of hero society? Am I not worthy to be saved? I wish I were dead…If I was dead, I can be with Touya again. I miss him. I miss Mom.”
“Touya? The dead older brother?” Yoshi asked concerned, and Tsukauchi nodded, “Horrible thing. He had his father’s fire quirk, but no fire immunity. He burnt himself alive about ten years ago.”
“Jesus,” Yoshi whispered to herself softly. “He was burnt completely to ash, we only found his jaw bone.” Tsukauchi continued further, “Is it possible Yuki…committed suicide somewhere?” He pondered and Yoshi sighed, “It’s…a possibility. But she shows love for her sister in these entries. If she killed herself, she’d at the very least leave a note for her sister to find.”
In the depths of their anguish, the Todoroki family had unwittingly become entangled in a web of mystery. The search for Yuki would not only lead them to the truth behind her disappearance but also force them to confront the shadows of their past, unearthing painful revelations that threatened to tear them apart…