Compulsion

Chapter 41: In Broad Daylight

The Mount-Lady Agency was silent. They weren't one of those agency's that received calls often, but the silence that over took their office wasn't one out of inactivity. There was a large screen in the office area that was usually kept on a news channel. Ichimoku was always keeping an eye out for some segment that was aimed at his boss – it was his job to be on top of it; to prepare a response if necessary. So, as per usual, when he and the workers came in, he switched it on.

A single segment was playing across all channels. When this type of news breaks, it's certainly talked about for hours as a tragedy: another Hero dying for the cause of bettering society. However, he didn't die in battle, he didn't die of natural causes, he didn't die quietly – out of sight, in some alleyway where few would ever see it.

His body was on display upon the doors of his own agency in Hosu City. Witnesses had said it was non-existent one minute and then, suddenly, there in the next. They said he was strung up in wires and ropes. They said he had a tomahawk buried in his chest. Long after the police removed the body, they showed that there was graffiti upon the doors behind him.

"FALSE HERO"

It wasn't too long before calls began to fill the office. There wasn't a preexisting relationship for the gossipers to leap at, so the calls were mainly the local police stations. Not because something had happened, but in preparation for what will. With such a violent crime hitting the populace's screens, there were going to be a great deal of people panicking over every little noise. Heroes were expected to double their patrols and On-Call Heroes were officially called. Thus, Ichimoku went to work, getting a route ready while connecting with other nearby Heroes to lessen the overall workload.

As her workers glued themselves to their phones and computers, Yu remained before the screen. She felt a spark underneath her skin – static bubbling. Her breathing forcibly slowed as she brought her arms close to her chest. Fingernails pushed against the tips of her gloves as her hands clutched her biceps.

"That could've..." She shook her head. "No... No...!" Her jaw tightened, "He was just—" Her eyes widened when she heard the elevator doors' ping. A quick turn and she saw her sidekick step forward.

"You've all seen it too," he muttered while walking over. "I saw it on my phone..." He didn't quite focus on her – almost immediately glued to the screen like she was.

"Hm..." she hummed in acknowledgement. "Wait, come on, Yu... This is supposed to be a learning experience, isn't it...?" She shook her head. "Um, we're patrolling today. When situations like these pop up... it's basically all hands on deck."

"Understood," he said. When his eyes met hers, she blinked. "I'll suit up."

Midoriya then walked around her, moving to a changing room. "What the hell...?" she thought. "Isn't he scared at all...?" Her head lowered. "If he isn't scared..." She gritted her teeth and shook her head. "It's just a patrol... It's just an everyday patrol... in broad daylight..." Her hands balled into fists. "We'll be fine... Everything will be fine..."

-XXX-

"Do you think this could be the work of the Hero Killer?" was what the reporter asked of the police officer.

Izuku cocked a brow as he exited the changing room in costume with his helmet tucked underneath his arm. The officer wasn't going to speculate – especially, not on the day of discovery. "Chasing down a story or just trying to generate more attention...?" He noticed that Ichimoku was speaking to Mount-Lady or had, rather, as they were both paying attention to the screen again.