Right Where I Needed to be

Rule Number Four

"So you found him?" I ask Shinso through the phone.

"Yes, he's alive." He replied. "But he's been here for a while. He hasn't made a move to leave the city or anything. He's staying to himself and isn't causing any trouble."

"Keep tailing him for a few more days. If he's still in your line of sight for the next murder, then I'll have you come back and send reach out to the local heroes and ask them to make an arrest." I said with a heavy sigh. "If you or Hagakure are in any immediate danger, you leave immediately. You're lives are not worth this mission."

"Understood. I'll call you tomorrow with another update."

"Thank you, be safe." I said, pulling the phone away from my ear and ending the call. I didn't want to play the waiting game, but we had to. If Dabi was the killer, then he wouldn't be able to make another kill without Shinso and Hagakure knowing he was going to. He was across the country, too far to make it here for a quick kill and get back unnoticed by them.

We had to keep gathering suspects in the meantime. If Dabi wasn't the U.A. Killer, I was going to ask them to find Aoyama next. Other than those two, we had four other suspects. They were all people who hated heroes and claimed the world would be better off if we were dead. Two of them were in their late teens, one was in their early twenties and the last one was in their late twenties. They were all people from the dark web that Kacchan had given me a while back. They're all quirkless and have apparently been wronged by someone from U.A.. Something about them didn't feel right though, this felt more personal than that.

A knock on the wooden door pulled my focus away from the murder board. I walked to the door, opening it quickly. Since I didn't want anybody in here that wasn't cleared, it was hard for me to break the habit of telling everyone to come in. Hatari showed me a sad smile as he held up a file.

"Anything?" I asked, opening the door for him to step inside.

"No." He shook his head. "Even with Bakugo's help, we're still struggling." Hearing Kacchan's name made me flinch and it didn't go unnoticed by Hatari. "What's up between you two anyway?" He asked, setting the file on the table. "I mean, he knows his way around a computer and he's been a great help, but he's been working with me for five days now. He gets sad whenever I bring you up, but he won't tell me what's going on."

"Again, I'm going to ask to trust you with something." I said with a small sigh, sitting on the edge of the table. I didn't have anybody else to talk about this with.

"Anything." He agreed, taking a seat next to me.

"He kissed me." I blurted, keeping my eyes focused on the wall. "He doesn't know I'm sick and I don't know how to deal with it."

"So you're avoiding him?" He asked with a cocked brow.

"Other than the silent drive here and the silent drive home, yes." I shrugged. "He asks me everyday if we can talk about it, but I don't know what to say."

"Do you want to be with him?" Hatari asked.

"More than you know." I replied sadly. "I've loved him my whole life."

"Being sick usually makes people want to do all the things they've always wanted, not run away from them." He commented. He was right, but this was different.

"It's not fair to him. I can't be with him, knowing that I'm going to die within the next year. It will only give him hope for a future with me that he can't have." I explained. To me, it seemed simple.

"Or, you two could spend the next year being in love and doing everything you want to do." He countered. "You're dying, you're not dead. Don't let that ruin what life you have left. If you want to quit being a hero right now and enjoy life, then do it. If you want to tackle everything at the agency because you love it, then do it. Most importantly, if you want to be with him, then be with him. You don't want to miss out on the memories you could have because you're too scared to make them."