Detective Midoriya

Chapter 20

Izuku felt the sweat bead on his forehead, intermingling with the blood that was drying on his face. The cuts really did sting, but he had to concentrate - this moment was crucial.

"I need another card."

"You can't just disintegrate the cards you don't like," Magne complained.

"No one said that was a rule," Shigaraki said petulantly. "But I do need another card."

With a sigh Kurogiri handed another card to Shigaraki before feeding Toga another bite of sushi - she had been chained up in Izuku's place after she had rushed him with her knife, "decorating" him with a wound that was still bleeding profusely, despite Kurogiri's best efforts. Izuku was fairly sure it would need stitches, but for now, he had to make do with the butterfly bandages they had on hand.

"Remember, if we win this hand you stay with us forever," Toga said, eyes hyper-fixated on the blood still framing Izuku's face.

"I never actually agreed to that, but let's see what you've got," Izuku said.

He watched intently as they each laid down their hand before breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're all terrible at poker. I've got a royal flush."

"That's not fair!" Twice whined, pointing at Izuku. "Teach me your ways."

"How is an upstanding teenager like yourself so familiar with poker?" Mr. Compress asked.

"We play it at the police station on break. You have to get good at it or you'll be cleaning toilets for weeks. The police officers are ruthless," Izuku explained.

Spinner was clearly thinking deeply. "From what you tell us, it appears that your police officers stand up to Stain's heroic ideals, yet they are scorned by the public. Interesting..."

"Can you turn this way a little bit, Izuku? I can't see the dried blood very well since you moved," Toga asked, a wide grin spread across her face even though she was still chained to the board. "But now that we're lovers, can I give you a nickname?"

"No," everyone else in the room said in perfect sync, and Twice added, "But you can call me whatever you want, babe."

"So since I won, what do I get?" Izuku asked, mainly to break the silence.

"What would you want?" Kurogiri asked.

"Information?" When he saw the uneasy looks the League members traded, he backpedaled. "Not about your plans or anything. I can't know very much about your organization or the detective will know I'm not telling the whole truth. I just like analyzing quirks, and you all have interesting abilities."

"Why not?" Shigaraki mused. "We still have an hour before we agreed to leave."

"Does anyone have a pen and paper?"

In a different part of the city, Naomasa had a veritable army assembled and they were coming up with a plan.

"So we bust down the walls and grab the kid," Deatharms shrugged. "They haven't sent any kind of ransom, and it's not like a quirkless kid would be worth anything else to them."

"You make a point," Tsukauchi said, feeling his ulcer in full force. "It's an incorrect point, but if that's the case, then your services won't be needed. Thank you for your time."

"I just meant-"

"There is a missing child. He's probably scared and hurt, and he deserves just as much diligence and respect as anyone else in his position does," Tsukauchi said sharply. "Midoriya Izuku has people who love and worry for him. If anyone else has any issues or they would like to make light of this situation because the victim is quirkless, now is the time to leave."