Crimson Murders

Chapter Forty-Five

The loud roar of thunder and the flash of lightning, it's all deafening. Naomasa wishes for this night to be over, to let the battle end and for his friend to go home without anything but the memory of defeating the villain who killed his mentor. His perception changes when he stumbles upon the body of the teen who he has known since the boy was the mere age of twelve. The detective blinks widely, grabbing the boy and holding him close. He ignores the cold rain that soaks them to the bone. The loud sirens and flashing lights are all that Tsukauchi registers at that horrible moment as he rushes forward with the boy in his arms. The drizzling rain soaks him to the bone as he holds the boy close to his chest as he weaves his way through the crowd of heroes, heading straight for the ambulance. The boy in his arms is the same boy whose heart had been ripped out and is healing—slowly. Burst into dust and reformed near him, Tsukauchi is not sure how to explain it. He places the boy on a stretcher as the paramedics start honking him up to machines. The heart monitor is a flatline and the medics are left staring at the cavity in the boy's chest. They watch the skin stitch itself together. They're so used to it that it doesn't affect them, but Tsukauchi isn't. He isn't used to seeing people die and heal like it was nothing—immortality quirks or even reanimation quirks are rare and he had never dealt with them before. He turns away with slight revulsion at the sight, nausea playing at his stomach. There's one thing about seeing a child die and revive after a gruesome death that Naomasa cannot stand. Murders, decomposing bodies, he can stand those. He's seen them all around him ever since he got into this field.

Their plan went perfectly. Beetle had taken Bakugou to the hideout for a small amount of time so that the news would at least get a shot of them rescuing the boy and not accuse them of leaving the explosive teen there to rot. It was all according to plan. Well, if that plan had included Midoriya getting his heart ripped then yes, all according to plan. As he lays the boy on the stretcher, he knows exactly what he is out cold and shows no signs of waking up any time soon. That isn't all too reassuring. Not one bit. Once the boy is settled, the paramedics place him in the ambulance and speed off.

Naomasa drives Bakugou back to the nearest hospital—the same hospital that the speeding ambulance they're behind is heading to, the blond is silent as he stares at the vehicle in front of them with a dark and somber expression on his face. "Is something wrong, Bakugou?" questions Detective Tsukauchi as he spares the boy a glance. He seems oddly quiet for someone who yells a lot. Then again, this has been a traumatic experience for the both of them. They all have gone through harsh times, so it would make sense that the blond isn't acting the same as he usually would.

The boy doesn't answer. His glazed eyes are set on the vehicle in front of them and on the vehicle only, deep in thought. Whatever he's thinking about, Tsukauchi won't find out any time soon. The detective settles for the silence but it does not stay that way as he would've thought. "He died again, didn't he?" he whispers so softly that Naomasa almost didn't hear him. "The nerd, he died again."

"From what I saw, yes." This night and the past few days have been heartwrenching (Naomasa winces at that poor word choice when his mind is filled with images of the cavity in Midoriya's chest) and mindnumbing. So many questions and plans, it all fried the detective's brain but it was all for the safety of everyone. The documents that Beetle had been able to find is going to be a key role in the upcoming future. Tsukauchi tightens his grip on the steering wheel, deciding to ask. "How much do you know about that exactly? I don't think we covered your knowledge on his inexplicable inability to die."

"Just that he's immortal apparently and that it caused his eyes to turn into the way they are." Bakugou tears his gaze away from the vehicle to stare at the detective with a knowing glare. For another moment, he does not say anything. His scrutinizing gaze is only on Naomasa as he gathers his thoughts. Finally, after a few minutes, he finally speaks, "There's more to it, isn't there? Something about all of this is linked to the bitch, Crimson Artist and to those two bastard men that came and said something about death. All of that shit has something to do with fucking Deku's so-called immortality, doesn't it?"