Elusive Corruption

Close Call

The police station was starting to feel like your second home at this point, and you almost felt at ease pulling into the lot.

"Alright, Keiko, no games this time, okay?"

You couldn't tell if the officer was joking or serious, but judging by the grip he held on your arm you were leaning towards the latter. The sun bouncing off the freshly fallen snow on the ground caught you off guard and you squinted your eyes in pain for a moment before being able to see clearly.

The police station was busier than usual, presumably because of all the chaos that the first snowfall inevitably brings. People were bobbing and weaving down every hallway and multiple collisions were narrowly avoided as you were taken down the hall and sat in a chair.

You uncomfortably shifted in the seat immediately, not sure if it was the seat itself or the handcuffs that were causing your discomfort.

"You got any coke?"

It was obvious that your deadpan delivery of your question caught the officer off guard by the perplexed look he gave you.

"I mean the drink, not the drug," you throw in casually to lighten the mood a bit.

"Yeah, no shit,' the officer scoffed and turned to walk away in the other direction. He stopped a few steps away to give you a stern warning.

"Don't go trying anything here today, Keiko. We got the big shots in the building today, so anything you try will only come back to bite ya in the ass."

You had no clue what he meant and who these 'big shots' were, but something about the atmosphere told you that he probably wasn't pulling on your leg. You did however, know why every officer that saw you in this building knew about you and your reputation here.

For months the police have been trying to cut down on Vigilante activity, and you were practically number one on their list to bust. You didn't see what all the fuss was about a civilian using their quirk to help people, but to them it was extremely taboo if you did it without a license.

"Hey, is anyone gunna tell me why the fuck I'm here this time?" you blurt out as the cop across the room from you shuffles through some paperwork. He barely lifts his head to look in your direction, his gaze piercing right through you, almost causing you to shutter.

"You know why you're here, Keiko," his low voice echoed through the room, making you giggle in response.

"So ominous."

Your antic was quickly cut short by a sudden increase in commotion coming from the room you sat just outside of. You assumed it was the break room judging by the large TV and kitchenette everyone was gathered around inside.

"Hey Tanuma! The Hero Billboards are about to start!"

The officer at the desk across the room from you groaned and continued flipping through his paperwork for a few more moments before getting up and heading in your direction. He reached down to the handcuffs on your fist and assured they were securely fastened to the your chair. Then swiftly he made his way into the break room, leaving you in the hallway awaiting Detective Tsukauchi, the lead detective in your "case".

As if on queue the door to the office slowly creaked open and an all too familiar face headed in your direction, looking a little more stressed than usual.

"Hikari," he muttered quietly, as if it was intended to be a greeting to an old friend. "How are we doing today?"

You snickered at his question as he unhooked your handcuffs and lead you down the hall to his office. As you entered you noticed two other bodies in the corner of the room, one of which you were caught off guard by.

"Hikari, Officer Tamakawa and Chief Tsuragamae are here today because we need your help."

"Help?!" Your sudden outburst startled not only the officers but yourself as well. You found your gaze locked with the Chief of Police's, his face stern and stoic.

"Yes," his voice rang out, his gaze still locked with yours. "Please, take a seat."

You sat in the chair cautiously, still uneasy about the entire situation. "If you're looking for my help, why am I handcuffed then?"

"Well, we had to get you hear without causing suspicion."

You tilted your head, encouraging him to continue.

The Chief came over to your side of the desk, undoing your handcuffs and placing his hand on the files in front of you. He slowly opened one, revealing a set of photos showing a certain Vigilante outside of a convenience store, carrying what seemed to be an injured person out to a vehicle. The Vigilante had a mask covering her mouth and nose, so her true identity could not be pinpointed by police, but you knew who you were looking at in the photos.

"Now, we know this was you Keiko," he said slyly. He looked to you for confirmation but you kept your reaction blank. You couldn't give yourself away and admit to something that would incriminate you, so you kept quiet as he continued.

"However," he continued, "Since we cannot prove it, we've hit a bit of a dead end. That being said, in order to make this little 'investigation' go away, we need your cooperation with something else."

He quickly shut the file and shuffled through the other ones on the desk, picking one with the letters "LOV" on the front and opening it up before you. Inside you saw pictures of faces you had only seen on TV, each stack of photos accompanied by intel papers on each individual. You gazed over the file uninterested until he got to the last bundle of photos. This one was missing intel papers, but he picked up the sparse bundle of photos and spread them out in front of you.

"This individual has been spotted on multiple occasions in close proximity to your Grandmother's home," the Chief continued. He handed you a picture and you held your best poker face as you pretended to examine the photo. "You recognize him at all?"

If only he understood how well you recognized his face. You fought off the urge to reminisce about the times you've had with the man in the photos and instead tossed the photo back onto the top of the pile.

"Never seen him around, is he with the League of Villains?"

The Chief grimaced at the name that left your lips. The League had been causing trouble for the police force for quite some time and you knew it, but you had to play dumb for obvious reasons.

"Yes, we have reason to believe so. He is the only one who remains a mystery to the force. Every lead we have runs dry after a bit, and the only eye witness accounts we have of sightings are within about a two mile radius of your Grandmother's home."

"So what do you want me to do?"

Detective Tsukauchi took over the conversation at this point, leaning closer to you from the other side of the desk. "We need you to keep an eye out for us, and report anything you see promptly."

You smirked at the audacity of the situation they had you in, "So, is this blackmail?"

All three of the officers in the room sighed nearly simultaneously, but Tsukauchi replied to your question with what seemed like sincerity.

"Not necessarily. Hikari, I know you do what you do because you feel its the right thing. I know you mean well, even if we technically classify your Vigilante work as 'illegal'. We need to catch these guys and get them behind bars before they hurt more people, and you can help us with that."

You rolled your eyes to avoid making eye contact with the detective. You didn't give him any sort of acknowledgement of your cooperation, but his slide a business card over to you regardless. He also tossed you a clear bag with your personal belongings you had on you when they took you in.

"Please, if you see or hear anything, call me."

You reached in the direction of the card when you felt your phone vibrate inside of the bag, its screen indicating you had 13 missed calls and 7 text messages. You snatched up the card and stood up from the seat you were in abruptly.

"So does this mean I can leave now?" Tsukauchi nodded and within a moment you were halfway out the door. You heard the Chief question him on if he was making the right decision with this, but you didn't stick around long enough to hear his answer.

You swiftly made your way out of the police station, and as you passed the break room you saw a flash of fire on the screen and the origin made your blood boil a bit. All your hatred for the hero system and the way society views them came bubbling to the surface and you increased the length of your strides as to get out of the building quicker.

The cold air hit your face as you emerged from the building, and you stopped on the last step and took a long deep breath in. You held it in for a moment, savoring the feeling in your lungs.

Your moment of serenity was short lived as three squad cars zoomed past you on the street nearby, in the direction of Central Fukuoka. Commotion increased rapidly as your gaze followed the squad cars, but a sudden loud crash brought your eyes to the Umai building in the distance. You could only watch as the top of the building crumbled, and you immediately took off running in its direction.