Out of Your Mind

39

The next morning, you woke up to an early call from the detective.

"Detective..good morning" you say with a yawn.

"Ms. [L/N], I apologize for waking you. But we got the DNA tests in for Nomu." You sat up quickly, much more awake than a couple seconds ago.

"Oh! What's the verdict?"

"You were right, he was engineered. And with your insight, we have a much more clearer understanding to him. The department thanks you for your help." You felt proud and relieved that you weren't as rusty as you thought. But there was something on your mind.

"I'm glad I still got it. But I'm sure it would've saved you time to just text or email me, why the phone call?"

"So here's the thing, we need your help on another matter.."

"I'm listening..."

"We have reasons to believe that the Hero Killer that struck in Hosu may have some connections to the League of Villains, but the problem is that not only is it out of our jurisdiction, but we need definitive proof so we can reach out to the precincts there."

"I'm a little confused, what do you need me for then?"

"The brass here was really impressed with your work and your past working here made them think that you'd be perfect person to-"

"-to spy for them. Seriously Naomasa?"

"I'm not necessarily a fan of this either, but we have our hands full and the precincts in Hosu are being quite stubborn. They claim that the Hero Killer's strike was an isolated incident and didn't reflect on the crime rates in their city." You rolled your eyes, of course, men and their pride.

"What do they expect me to find..legally at that?"

"That's the other thing, we're not quite sure. Anything that could potentially tie him to them might be enough to convince them, but let us worry about that." You pinch the bridge of your nose. You can't believe you almost convinced yourself how much you missed working with the police. This is part of the reason you left.

"There are operations that take literal months to find this kind of information, Detective."

"Yes we know, and we're fully prepared to compensate you for your help."

"That's not it. I have a job, with kids. Some of them rely on me to be there almost everyday."

"[y/n], I seriously apologize for this. I understand it's a lot to ask, but we also know you are capable. You have experience in the force and as a former pro.." you had half a mind to hang up the phone, how dare he?

"Ah, so you're dragging the past into this? That's a pretty low blow. You can't guilt trip me into giving you potential months of my life for a shred of evidence." He gives a small sigh, you don't think he's frustrated with you, but this is probably not how he imagined this conversation going.

"How about this. Just take the rest of the week and see what you can find? We have something that might push you into the right direction, but if it leads to a dead end then you can just go home?" You're quiet for a moment and weigh the pros and cons. He obviously doesn't know this, but you've already asked your aunt if you could use her home so you could spy on Iida, maybe this is the excuse you need to keep him from doing something he might regret later.

"Fine, Detective. But you only have me until the end of the week. If I can't find anything then the department will have to find another way" He sighs with relief this time.

"Thank you. I'll send you over the details for the lead, will you need living accommodations?"

"No, I have a place I can stay.."

The real trick was telling everyone that you were leaving for a couple days without telling them what it was for. You went into work that day, and had a meeting with Nezu, explaining everything and he gave you permission to take the rest of the week off and good luck on your mission. As for your cover story, you told everyone that your elderly aunt was sick and since she didn't have any children, she asked if you could help her uncle around the house as the hospital sets up a nurse that could come to her house daily. You've had stronger cover stories in the past, but at least this one justifies your staying in your aunt's home.

You: if the hospital can't set something up by Friday, I might have to cancel our weekend plans 😢
Aizawa💤: that's ok. you're doing a good thing here 😘

You felt a pang of guilt surge through your body. You promised yourself that you'd come clean to Yua and Shouta when all of this was over. That's another thing you hated about working with the police, all the lying and holding back. UA was not only a breather from all the crime you dealt with, but a clean slate. Any relationships you may have held were destroyed due to lies and stress of work, something you don't wish for yourself again.

You packed a small duffle bag with clothes and toiletries and book bag that held your information for your lead, snacks for the trip, and the mind crown you affectionately nicknamed "Cerebra" that you used as a pro hero.

You took the fur balls over to your neighbor's who happily agreed to babysit them. You packed your car and your dogs and headed to a friend's ranch just outside the city to drop them off. From there you made your way to your aunts home. It was right outside Hosu, you could either drive in, or take a train that takes you straight into the heart of the city. You got there quite late in the afternoon and after you settled in, you decided to find some food. You drove into the city, and unfortunately parking was a big hassle, so you made a mental note to take the train tomorrow. When you found a place to park and eat, you opened the file for your lead.

According to an anonymous source, the Hero Killer was seen going through a portal and from the way it was described, it sounded a lot like the portals used at the USJ incident to transport the thugs in. Your task was to find the source, go through their memories, and confirm what they saw. You then will meet up with the students that were at USJ and see if what the source saw is a match. Supposedly this may be enough to at the very least get Naomasa down there to discuss the details with one of the captains in Hosu.

The anonymous source is thought to be a local drug dealer that's a known informant amongst law enforcement. Another drug dealer recognized him when he gave his statement about the Hero Killer, and since then he's been in hiding. Because you're technically unofficially going undercover for Naomasa, you won't have any backup and you have to pose as someone trying to score some drugs.

In your experience, the best time to try and find people like that is late at night, so you kill some time in the restaurant. While you lounged in your booth, you saw Iida and Manual the Normal Hero walk past. You quickly got up and ran out the restaurant, leaving everything in the booth and followed them.

You activated your quirk and his aura stuck out like a sore thumb. The kid had so much rage and anger that you could easily identify him in a huge crowd of people. If you didn't think he wanted revenge back them, you definitely knew he wanted it now. But unfortunately there was no way to stop him from doing something stupid without blowing your cover, so once they turned the corner, you sadly made your way back to the restaurant.