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Here’s an interesting little fun fact that I didn’t know until I was double-checking names of places for this story; Several names of locations in BNHA come from planets from the Star Wars franchise! Including Musutafu.
I decided to keep that tradition going by naming a few areas in my fanfiction after Star Wars planets.
A crime is Found and a concern is voiced.
Izuku had a schedule that he lived by for most of the year.
His day started with a family breakfast, then his mother, Nooroo, and he would walk Eri to her PreK.
Then he and Nooroo would separate from his mother and head for the station, taking the 7 am train to school. It was an hour ahead of when school actually started, but it helped him budget time in case of villain attacks.
He’d spend the time before class actually started in the school’s library, double-checking his homework (fresh eyes and all that) and reading the morning news on his phone. Once the first bell rang, he’d relocate to his classroom and set about unpacking his supplies for his morning classes.
(He wasn’t sharing a class with Katsuki this year. His mom had arranged it, after Nooroo had mentioned to her that the blonde was “rather fixated on a fierce but one-sided rivalry” with Izuku. The kwami was of the opinion that they needed space from each other to focus on their schoolwork for the sake of their respective grades. Izuku appreciated it, since he could finally get through his school day without worrying about his things being wrecked by his former friend.)
The class would break for lunch, but Izuku would eat in the classroom, sharing whispered conversations with Nooroo, who had been hiding in his bag and playing games on Izuku’s phone. (Nooroo enjoyed hidden object games and had found one he adored playing during the school day.) Nooroo would give back the phone so that Izuku could either have a turn playing the game or check if there were any emergency broadcasts that they needed to be aware of.
He’d also jot down basic notes about new Limelight hero cases or any criminals that were mentioned in the news that had managed to escape or were still unknown. No in-depth analyses, just basic notes to refer to later.
Then there would be the afternoon classes before he’d leave school for the day. Izuku would head out and go back home, either taking Eri to the local park after changing out of his school uniform or just going out to help around the neighborhood. Sometimes, making notes about things people had noticed or just listening as they bent his ear about something that was bothering them.
Or he would go to Sango-sensei’s classes that day. Eri was too little to participate, so she would stay home with his mother.
(That, or his mother would come to class while he spent time with Eri. No matter what, Eri wasn’t left by herself.)
No matter which it was that day, Izuku made sure to be home in time for dinner. After which he’d do his homework with something playing on the TV. All of them took turns deciding what it would be, so no one felt like they were giving something up. Izuku would research whatever thought caught his fancy at that time as well.
Old folktales, hero cases from the past, and ideas for magic he could try. Anything that struck him. He’d make notes and scratch out ideas for them, not just for his hero work but also just to mess around with his magic.
Then the sun would set. And Sasakia’s night would start.
He would slip out into the night, disguised just enough for people in the area to not realize who it was they saw, settling into one of his many hideaways and tapping into the power of the butterfly miraculous.
From there, he would either train his skills with the cane-sword he was granted or do some general training (just in case he decided to appear in person). Or a patrol of butterflies would take to the skies, seeking out people in distress or checking in on people he’d connected with before.
It was during one of those nights he found something.
Nooroo had looked up at him from the dim light of the moon after Izuku had slipped into his preferred hiding place for his work as Sasakia.
“Are we ready to get started for the night, Izu-bocchan?”
Izuku grinned at his friend.
“Yeah, I think now is as good a time as any.” Nooroo swooped over, hovering so that they were at eye-level with each other. “Nooroo, Light Wings Rise.”
Izuku felt the kwami’s power wash over him, warm and comfortable and familiar.
He didn’t know how Nooroo’s power felt to the previous wielders, but to Izuku, it felt safe. Like he was, somehow, being wrapped in a warm spring breeze. The sort that he remembered feeling on warm days that he’d spent during hanami picnics with his mother, sitting on a blanket with a basket between them and watching the petals flutter through the air around them.
Warmth, comfort, and safety; those were the feelings he associated with using the power of Nooroo’s miraculous.
(Sometimes, he wondered if Nooroo’s previous wielders felt the same way. If that had been how Nooroo felt to them. It was sad, he thought, if they had hurt his friend despite those feelings.)
Izuku let out a breath, the familiar sensation of his magically lengthened hair tickling the back of his neck. The faint spring breeze tugged at his capelet, the weight having become a comfort over the past two years.
His senses sharpened, the range that he could sense becoming sharper in response to the power flowing over and through him.
He didn’t even need to think, muscle memory making him start conjuring butterflies to use.
He could make plenty of his simple, golden butterflies. He could conjure entire swarms of them, even! But he could only make a limited number of butterflies capable of communicating with others, a minimum of Kamiko to speak with, before it became too much for him to handle. And, even then, Izuku just couldn’t maintain that many mental links at once.
Multitasking was far from easy, and holding more than one conversation at once was a headache at best. Too easy to stumble over his own words or accidentally address the wrong person.
So he was forced to limit himself, for coherence and consistency.
(And to prevent migraines. Because he always ended up with one when he pushed himself like that.)
It was easier to send his butterflies to where he was sensing emotions and have them passively gather intel so he could handle conversing with the people they landed on one at a time.
With a smooth swing upward, Izuku sent his conjured butterflies into the sky. He watched as the five butterflies, laced with just enough magic to find their way to strong emotions, swooped out over the city. All of them trailing after specific feelings he had in mind.
Fear, panic, and anger. They were the… Loudest emotions, he supposed. The easiest to feel and, as such, the easiest to find. He made them his “starting” emotions when he tapped into Nooroo’s powers for that very reason.
He closed his eyes, focusing on just what he could sense through his mental radar.
There.
Panic, meshed with grief and an undercurrent of horror.
One butterfly zeroed in on the source, following it to the person at its center until the connection could be made.
The magic of the butterfly kicked in, filtering the immediate knowledge of the person into his mind.
Unohana Sakura, a third-shift nurse at the general hospital. Went to the morgue to mourn because her childhood friend finally lost their battle against a chronic heart condition the previous day, which she’d had off. She had wanted privacy to say goodbye, but none of her coworkers tried to stop her from going down. The body was gone.
Izuku blinked slowly at that, something sick curling in his stomach. (Unohana-san’s fear was bleeding through to him.)
Why was the body gone? Where is she? Why isn’t she here? She’s supposed to be here!
Izuku shuddered, forcing himself to take a calming breath before the panic-that-wasn’t-his became too much.
“Unohana-san, you need to breathe. Can you try to breathe for me?” Izuku kept his magic-laced voice gentle as he spoke through the connection. Getting information could wait; Unohana-san needed his help first. “Deep breath in, hold for four seconds. Let it out over five. You can do it, I know you can.”
He kept going, repeating the soothing mantra until Unohana-san was finally able to think again.
“Who-who are…?”
“You may call me Sasakia, Unohana-san. I’m here to help. What’s happened? And what can I do to help you make it right?”
“Kana-chan… Kana-chan was supposed to be here. Her family hadn’t been able to collect her remains yet; they’re still in Kyushu. I- I just wanted to say goodbye.” He could feel the shuddering breath from her. “She’s gone. She’s supposed to be here, but she’s GONE.”
Izuku shut his eyes in thought, rubbing a thumb over the head of his cane. A missing body, the family was in a different prefecture and couldn’t have gotten back yet. Did someone else pick up the body? Perhaps a family friend?
“Alright. Is it possible to check if they may have asked someone else to pick her up? The computers would have a record if anyone had. Why don’t you check?” He kept his voice kind and gentle, trying to offset her fears with a steady tone. Unohana-san had verbally asked if the body had been picked up, but it was possible that the digital records had information that the person didn’t.
“Anzu-chan usually has a very good memory, but…”
He watched through Unohana-san’s eyes as she staggered to her feet, hurrying to the computer tucked away in the corner. She was a nurse and, shaken though she was, her codes were almost instinctive. She navigated the files with the ease of breathing, going through records quickly to try and find what they needed to see.
There was no pickup record.
Izuku’s analysis skills kicked in, mentally combing over the information he had.
The body was gone. There was no pickup record. No one had known if or where it might have been moved to. The body was gone, and no one at the hospital had known it was gone.
Someone must have taken the body. Bodies didn’t get up and move on their own, after all. Someone had to have moved it. But who? And how? If the staff didn’t know, then it had to have been done in secret. They would have had to sneak in to acquire it without the people in the hospital knowing, then.
The body must have been stolen. Someone stole a recently deceased body from the hospital. But why?
“Unohana-san, what can you tell me about Kana-san? Anything you can think of about her.” He could think of a few reasons someone might steal a body, but not one right out of the hospital. There would be too much attention if they took it then. So there had to be something about Kana-san that would make them take the risk.
“Uhm… Kana-chan had a heart condition. It kept her from being very athletic or using her quirk most of the time. She’d wanted to be a boxer, but her heart started to seriously act up after we turned fifteen, which meant she could never follow through with it. She spent a lot of time in the hospital because of it, it was really disappointing for her.”
There was a note of something there. Some tang of relief mixed with bitterness. Unohana-san had an opinion on that, whatever it was, but it was something she’d probably never wanted to voice. Even to herself.
Izuku made a mental note of it, he may need to circle back to that for answers.
“What was her quirk?” It likely had something to do with her goals, and potentially left something about her remains that would be tempting to a criminal.
“It was a form of shock absorption. She could take all kinds of hits, so she thought she could handle it since most boxing leagues focused on strength. She wanted to win on skill instead of raw power. But when her heart started having trouble, she had to give it up. No form of fighting was safe for her.” Ah, there was that bitter relief again. He could guess what it was about now.
Unohana-san had likely been relieved that her friend couldn’t put herself at risk for a sport, but bitter that it was because of something already endangering her friend’s health. That made sense.
But what an interesting quirk!
He’d have to make notes about it when he got the chance. Shock Absorption was a rare type of quirk, despite its simplicity. Being able to withstand and absorb physical blows was important in numerous sports, and something that both heroes and villains would love to have as a side facet to their quirks. Even if they couldn’t hit back harder than they’d been hit in the first place.
Such a trait would have likely stayed part of Kana-san’s remains. Like her organs. (No matter what age, illegal trades never fully faded. Horrific as they were.)
Oh boy. How to approach this…
Carefully. He decided.
“Unohana-san. You need to report this to someone. For the sake of records, if nothing else. I can raise an alert with the heroes for you, but there needs to be a record for them to find.” His voice was calm as he spoke. He needed his voice to be calm and his words agreeable. He couldn’t force Unohana-san to do anything, but there was only so much he could do on his end of things. “Please be careful, though. There may be someone watching for when it gets reported.”
Unohana-san’s breath hitched.
“You- You’re right…” Then something he wasn’t privy to seemed to click, and there was a sudden, new flare of horror and- anger? From Unohana-san. “Wait… I was so focused on- What if Kana-chan wasn’t-”
Suddenly, Unohana-san was a whirlwind of motion. Surging through the hospital morgue, she started wrenching open cabinets and counting, muttering almost too fast for Izuku to keep pace. Almost.
Kana-san wasn’t the only person in the hospital morgue. She had to check. She had to know.
His heart sank as her furious search and sudden combing through the archives revealed something he hadn’t considered. Kana-san wasn’t the only one taken overnight.
There were others.
The number was small, but there were enough.
Enough for this not to be an isolated incident. Enough that there was a record. Enough that Unohana-san, and he by extension, could find a barely-there pattern.
People who did not have living relatives. People who’d lived a life of poverty and had no one to come to. People with records that meant no one would care enough to come. Spaced out over months, almost out to a full two years, so no one would notice unless they were looking for something wrong.
Kana-san had been a break from the pattern. Because Unohana-san had been there to see her the next day. Because she had family who should have picked her up. Because, despite her chronic heart issues, she was personable. She was someone who would be missed.
Whomever took her had taken a risk, and now there was someone who’d noticed.
It was something they could point out. There was evidence, small and hard to find though it was, that they could present.
“Where do you want me to send your copies?”
“Sorry?” He jolted slightly, his connection flickering for a split second.
“You’re… You’re investigating this case now, right? That means you need to get a copy of the records for your case file. It’s procedure.”
“I- I apologize, Unohana-san, but I am afraid there is a misunderstanding. I am not a licensed hero. I’m an informant, a tipster. No more than that.”
There was a moment of silence, flickers of shock filtering over the connection as what he’d said sank in.
He would need to cut it soon. If his mental calculations were correct, one of his butterflies was approaching the route of an underground hero. And they would arrive at that point in their route very soon. He needed to update them on a case he’d already been helping gather information on. Then he would give the tip and direct them to the hospital and to Unohana-san.
“Okay. Okay. Where is a good drop-off point, then?”
What? He couldn’t have heard that right. Surely Unohana-san wasn’t being…?
“You’re helping with the case. You need a copy of the files to match with anything else you pick up. Even informants need to have their own notes for the things they’re helping with.” He could sense the determination in her. There was nothing he could say to change her decision, he could tell.
He took a deep breath, hands clenching and unclenching around the head of his cane. The only notes he’d had before were the ones he’d written by hand. No one had ever felt the need to give him actual printouts before…
He could think of a place that could work as a drop-off that would keep them both hidden. No one would look twice at a woman leaving something there or a teenager scrounging around later.
“Do you know where Takoba Beach is? There’s a gazebo at the end of the pier…”
Quietly, Izuku gave Unohana-san directions to the trash-strewn beach, telling her to pack the files in something water-tight to avoid anything damaging them before he could pick them up. Unohana stated that she had an orange spare plastic folder that snapped shut that she would drop it off in. She insisted that she had plenty like it and he could keep it for his own uses.
He finally let the magic sustaining the butterfly dissipate, ending his connection with the nurse and erasing the evidence that he’d ever spoken to her outside of the memories left behind.
He felt a ping from one of his other butterflies.
It felt like someone had actually grabbed that one. That didn’t happen very often, but it wasn’t wholly unexpected. There were enough people aware of him to know that catching a butterfly would let them speak to him. Even with how careful he was to keep the general public from knowing about him.
Izuku had learned that, when a person became an informant, they ended up building a network even when they weren’t really trying to. There were more minor villains and vigilantes than one would think, who were more than happy to feed information to someone like him to present to police and heroes. Especially since, by sending the information through him, the link wouldn’t be traced back to them.
His network wasn’t huge, but there were Enough people in it.
Enough to know what some big names in the underground were. Enough to have areas that he kept an eye on. Enough to be trouble if anyone ever got a face to match the mysterious Sasakia.
(And… It seemed like he was getting a nurse added to it? Was that what just happened? Or was this going to be a one-time thing? He’d have to wait and see.)
He checked his mental radar and compared it to his mental map. And suppressed a wince.
That was Farona, one of the areas of the city with the highest criminal and villain densities. He had a contact there, but it was one he… Found it rather tiring.
He checked the time. It would be a while longer until the underground heroes who used that route would finally arrive. He got the butterfly to land on a rooftop with a thought, trusting the light it gave off to draw the eyes of the heroes once they reached it.
He connected to the butterfly in Farona and suppressed a sigh when his gut feeling was confirmed.
Waniguchi Kira. Irritated about chasing a butterfly over several rooftops. Sore from a brawl the previous night. Waiting for a fight to get his anger out, but putting it aside to report something. He’s nervous about it.
Well, that was slightly different from usual.
Wanaguchi was a moderately reliable contact for him. He was loud and brash, and preferred to solve his problems with his fists and claws rather than with his words. His quirk made him have the appearance of an Alligator and human hybrid, and, as such, made him very physically intimidating. Which, in turn, made it easy for people to assume the worst of him. He was often involved in street brawls and bar fights because of it.
He wasn’t… Bad, per se. But he was a handful, even on a good day. He had a problem with authority of any kind and was quick to pick fights and lose his temper with anyone he thought was disrespecting him. Like police. Or heroes. Or the bartender of one specific bar in the area…
He had a lot of assaults and resisting arrests on his record. He wasn’t a career criminal, but he frequently got himself into trouble.
But.
He had a soft spot for kids and hated seeing adults who took their anger out on them. He was only too happy to rat out people like that to Izuku, or do a little breaking and entering to get evidence for him. And he was a little bit of a gossip when he felt like he was talking to someone who would actually listen to what he had to say.
And, as Sasakia, Izuku was very happy to listen. Even if he was usually worn out by the time he finished talking to him. Waniguchi was far more of an Extrovert than he was.
“Good evening, Waniguchi-san.”
“About time. Catching your damn butterflies is a pain, Sasakia. Meeting up in person would be easier…” The man grumbled.
Despite his constant complaints about the butterflies, he also understood why Izuku went to such lengths to keep his anonymity.
If a face got out, no matter how much was covered, it would give someone the opportunity to come after him. Either in revenge for a case he’d helped with or to get whatever information they wanted from him. So his complaints were just for show, a minor way to vent and get both of them talking.
(Not quite an ice breaker but fairly close.)
“If you were willing to put in such an effort, then surely it must be important. You are never one to waste time on something that doesn’t matter.” It was said leadingly, letting his contact have the chance to start the conversation and get his thoughts in order. He didn’t want to miss the heroes or risk upsetting Waniguchi if Izuku tried to cut their conversation short, so it was better to get into things sooner rather than later.
“Honestly, I’m not too sure what it is really. At this point, it’s small, as far as I can tell. But it sent up enough flags that I thought you’d want to know about it.” He could sense caution, a touch of nerves, and uncertainty that he wasn’t used to from him. Something that made Izuku straighten up instinctively.
“What have you heard?” He asked.
“There’s a recruiter going around, trying to get folks to join some kind of ‘League’ they’re part of. They’re talking about shaking things up, but… There’s a lot about sowing fear and chaos into the world. Challenging heroes and showing what real strength is and so on.” Waniguchi grunted out. He felt the discomfort from the man, seeing the city lights through a higher vantage point than Izuku could ever hope to grow to. “I like a good brawl as much as any other fight junkie, don’t get me wrong, there’s just something… Off about this lot. They’re making my scales stand up.”
Waniguchi huffed, his eyes narrowing at the skyline.
“I wanted to put them on your radar. Some of the guys, the nastier ones in the area, seem to like what they’re selling. And they’re talking about laying the grounds for something Big they’ve got in the works, but they’re keeping mum on what it is for anyone who’s not with them. That’s the most that I’ve got right now, I plan to keep my ear to the ground for more though.”
Izuku frowned in thought.
Waniguchi wasn’t one to go through the effort of catching one of his butterflies unless he felt like he had something. And he had sharper instincts than he gave himself credit for. If these people were setting off flags for him, then they were something to keep an eye on.
“Please do. But keep yourself safe. If your gut says something is wrong, listen to it.” Izuku said, voice firm as he tapped the end of his cane on the ground. He knew Waniguchi couldn’t hear it, but it settled his own nerves. ” If it seems like they’re keeping too close an eye on you, though, bail. I never want you to take the heat just to keep me informed.”
The reptile-man chuckled, something warmer in both his tone and emotions. Fondness, a little flattered, a tang of protectiveness.
“You got it. I don’t plan on getting caught yet. Sooner hand myself over to the heroes than let a bunch of schmuckes like that get me.” Waniguchi released the butterfly, severing his end of the connection. Izuku let the magic fade, causing the butterfly to disappear.
So there was a new faction of criminals trying to recruit. (Criminals, for now. He wouldn’t switch them to “villains” until he had more to go on.) That was something to put a pin on.
He hoped Waniguchi would actually be careful while keeping watch for him. The man was headstrong; it would be risky if he underestimated them or what they could do. But all Izuku could do was warn him and try to send butterflies to that area of the city more often.
Another ping on his mental radar, and Izuku knew it was time. He connected to the waiting butterfly with a thought.
Eraserhead, Aizawa Shouta. Tired from a long shift the night before. Still mildly frustrated from bratty students who didn’t listen to what he was telling them. Slightly wary due to Nedzu’s plotting, but not sure what it’s about. Covering for another Underground dealing with a broken leg. Curious about the hidden informant connected to the glowing butterflies.
Izuku barely held back his reaction at the information filtering through his mind.
Eraserhead. One of the more elusive Underground Heroes based in Musutafu, despite supposedly working at UA. (Which he may have just confirmed?? Oh, now he wanted to attend even more!) Izuku could admit, to himself at least, that he rather admired the reputation the pro-hero had built for himself in the underground. He’d never had the opportunity to connect with the hero before, having only heard of him from other underground heroes’ comments.
He was strict, no-nonsense, and very punctual. He made sure as few civilians as possible ended up tangled in his fights and ensured he was dealing with actual villains and not panicked civilians who’d lost control of their quirks. He could stop a person’s quirk from working, but the how was heavily debated.
And he had been the one to touch the waiting butterfly.
No fanboying, Izuku mentally ordered himself, fidgeting in place. Focus on the crimes you’ve discovered. He needs to know about them.
“Good evening, Eraserhead-sama.” He kept his voice formal, silently praying that he sounded calmer and less giddy than he felt.
He could sense the hero’s surprise, seeing the way the hero’s eyes narrowed at the innocently glowing butterfly resting on his fingers. (The man was wearing yellow goggles, with some kind of grate over them instead of lenses. An interesting choice, though he supposed he couldn’t point fingers.)
“Hm… So you’re the ‘Sasakia’ I’ve been hearing about.” Izuku stomped down on the thrill that went through him at that.
It was obvious, after being active for roughly two years now, that his name would have been spread amongst the underground heroes in Musutafu. Of course, the underground hero would be aware of him and his butterflies. Informants were important to keep track of, and his method meant people had to keep an eye out for them whenever they saw them. He didn’t exactly have contact info that he’d handed out.
Eraserhead had likely been warned beforehand that touching a glowing butterfly would connect them telepathically. He’d been aware that something would happen, at the very least, when he picked up the butterfly.
“Yes, I am. I’ve heard of you as well, Eraserhead-sama, and your dislike of long-winded conversations. So I’ll get straight to the point, I have a possible lead on a major case.” He could sense the way Eraserhead’s focus narrowed. He had the hero’s attention.
First, the case he already had information on. As did the heroes and police, once they finally knew where they needed to look for it.
“The Damasu group is the one that was organizing the robberies in the financial district. Based on the rumors and the patterns they’ve used previously, they’re likely planning to hit the Haito bank sometime in the next week. Check their previous arrest records and you’ll be able to confirm the pattern and find the member whose quirk has most likely let them succeed thus far.”
Izuku had a good guess which member it was based on the records he’d found that had been released to the public during past arrests. They had one member whose quirk made it difficult for people to recognize when they were lying, not unless the person objectively knew what they were being told wasn’t true. But he couldn’t say for certain with the access he had or the word-of-mouth he got from his contacts if he had the right person.
It would take evidence that the police already had to seal the deal.
“How certain are you that you have the right group?” The hero asked. As he well should, since this was their first time speaking and he had no real reason to trust Izuku’s word. Yet, at least.
“Roughly eighty-five to ninety percent. The previously recorded members of Damasu, the ones released from prison in the past year, have been leaving a money trail. They’re spending and flaunting wealth that their post-release jobs couldn’t allow them to make. Either they’re taking part in under-table exchanges, or they’re the robbers that the police have been hunting for. Either way, there needs to be eyes on them.”
He knew that from the way the people around them had been gossiping. Jealous and suspicious neighbors and friends, worried family, and angry crooks they knew but hadn’t recruited. But none of them had solid evidence or a good enough rapport with the police to report them. Which was where Izuku came in.
Eraserhead hummed in thought, closing his eyes and cutting off the visual feed Izuku was getting from him.
His eyes opened again to a phone in the hero’s ungloved hand, rapidly tapping out a one-handed message to someone in his contacts labeled “Naomasa”. Izuku had his butterfly climb to the back of the hero’s wrist, freeing up his other hand for typing.
There was a brief feeling of appreciation before the hero switched to using both hands. Sending his message, which received a response from the other person about checking the files for exactly what Izuku had told them to look at.
“What else? Flashstep stated that you usually have information on more than one case if the butterflies are sitting in one place. Or that something time-sensitive had happened.”
“That is true. This one is a tad strange, but something that needs to be seen too quickly. Earlier tonight, a nurse at the Ijustu Hospital discovered a body missing from their morgue. It wasn’t collected by the next of kin or by a personal associate. It’s simply vanished.”
Bafflement, confusion, a few layers of shock. Eraserhead didn’t know why a hero would be alerted about this, if he had to guess. But something told Izuku that they needed this information released to heroes, not just the police.
“It’s one of a string of body snatching that’s struck the hospital, but the first that’s been caught by a hospital nurse. Records found that several bodies have vanished from the morgue; they were never collected or given proper burials. They’re just gone. The most recent vanished overnight. The nurse who discovered it had a personal connection to the deceased and had gone to mourn, but discovered an empty locker instead.”
He remembered the horror and grief from Unohana-san, the sparks of determination in her chest once she started searching the computer archives. The possibility that someone had stolen a body to use it for parts, to sell in pieces against the wishes and grief of the family… There was anger, burning low but hot in his chest about that.
He was angry for them. For Unohana-san. For Kana-san’s family. For Kana-san herself.
He wanted to get justice for them, for Kana-san. He wanted to help them. And this was the only way he could do that.
“No one had been aware that the body was gone, nor was there any security record of an unauthorized person entering the morgue. The only way that could have happened would be if a quirk had been used, either to meddle with the security and staff or to enter the morgue without being detected.”
It was the only explanation he could think of that didn’t rely on magic. Nooroo had mentioned that there was magic capable of such things, but using a body for ingredients was severely frowned upon in the modern era. (At least, by the standards that the kwami had last been privy to.) Even in the ancient past, body snatching was met with extreme violence. No one messed with that unless they thought the reward was worth potentially being beaten to death by an angry mob.
The hero’s eyes narrowed, a deathly serious veil falling over his emotions.
He started typing to “Naomasa” again, relaying the information he’d been given.
Izuku knew that would take a moment longer to confirm, since he wasn’t sure if Unohana-san had the chance to make the call yet or if she’d decided to scour the hospital records more thoroughly for evidence before making the report.
“I’m afraid those are the only cases I have with something concrete for you, Eraserhead-sama.”
“And the rest?” Eraserhead asked, to Izuku’s surprise. “You have more than just two cases you’re looking into.”
Eraserhead wasn’t wrong, he was looking at multiple cases at the moment. But those two were the most important in his mind. The ones where there was readily available evidence to be compared against his information. He had a few things, but they were more rumors than proper cases at the moment. Things that even he wasn’t sure of the validity of.
He tapped the head of his cane against his chin, digging through his memory for something that had at least some substance that he could relay. He didn’t like handing over things that were purely rumor, he felt better if there was something credible that could be found to connect to it.
But Eraserhead wanted more than just the two cases Izuku had already provided. Possibly to test him with.
Underground heroes were a cautious lot, as he had learned. They were more paranoid than limelight heroes, due to the risks their quirks had if too many people learned about them. The lack of knowledge about them was both a shield and a sword to them. So any informant that appeared ended up being tested to prove that they could be trusted on some level.
And no Underground Hero trusted another’s informant on pure goodwill. They always got their information tested for validity’s sake. Izuku had learned not to let it bother him.
After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke.
“… There may be an illegal quirk fighting ring somewhere in the Vespera storage docks. Nothing I can solidly confirm other than whispers and rumors in certain circles. A few crooks here and there muttering about heading to that area. Some comments about bets and lost money, but it’s being kept under wraps. If it’s even real in the first place and not slang for something else that’s going on.”
Then there was another case he had. It was less criminal and more unregulated neighborhood watch, but it had a chance of getting bigger later.
“There’s a new vigilante running around the residential district, possibly. It seems like they’ve stopped a few attempted home invasions; they might have either a detection or shielding quirk. They would need one to be as efficient as they’ve seemed to presented themselves. Again, nothing for sure. I can’t even confirm if it’s a single person or several different people who’d been involved.”
Izuku paused for a moment. There was also Waniguchi’s tip, but he had so little on that… Just an incomplete name and a hunch that something was up. Except, like his contact, something in his gut was telling him that something was wrong with that situation.
He decided to take the chance and mention it anyway.
Worst comes to worst, he was priming them for something that would never actually be an issue, yet could potentially help them catch someone else down the line.
“There’s a possible new criminal group recruiting in the Farona district. I don’t have any names of possible members, or even a real idea if they’ve got a solid goal of any kind. Just that some kind of “League” is recruiting from the criminals in that area.” He let out a small breath, rubbing at his forehead. He was feeling tired; the strain from holding three conversations thus far in the night was starting to get to him. “That’s all the possible tips I have at the moment.”
There were probably more, if he was being honest with himself, but those felt the most comfortable telling the hero he’d connected to about. It was as much as he had to offer that could be checked.
And, if the glimpse of the clock on the hero’s phone was right, it was getting incredibly late. He needed to end his night and get to bed soon if he wanted to avoid being a complete zombie at school tomorrow. He wanted as few people watching him in his daily life as he could manage. Which meant having to hard-line himself some night to ensure he took care of himself.
He could sense the thoughtfulness from the hero. Most likely mentally going over what Izuku had given him.
Izuku gave the hero a few moments to think before speaking up once more.
“I’m afraid I have to end for the night, Eraserhead-sama. There are a few things I need to check in on, but I needed to relay the Damasu and Ijutsu cases as quickly as possible.” Which was why the butterfly was waiting for someone went unsaid. He was sure the hero would understand. “If fortune’s favor, it will be a peaceful night for you.”
The hero remained silent, but he could sense the calm in him. It didn’t seem like he was waiting for a proper farewell, so Izuku cut his connection to the butterfly.
He closed the magic to his last two butterflies as well. They weren’t pinging on anything more than the usual bar fights and sleep-deprived angry customers that wandered the night. Which meant it was better to conserve his magic and get to bed.
“Light Wings Fall.”
Nooroo’s power fell away in a flutter of lights, leaving Izuku standing in ordinary clothes as the kwami reformed as himself in the air.
“Izu-bochan?” The kwami asked, his voice soft and gentle. “Are you alright?”
It was a tradition (of sorts) that after every time he used the butterfly miraculous powers, Nooroo would ask him about how he felt. Izuku was good at dealing with the emotions of others and recognizing when he was feeling emotions that weren’t his own. Except, sometimes he needed to reground himself. To take a moment to go through his feelings and put them into words.
Making sure that the feelings were his and not remnants of other people’s emotions still affecting him. Very important when wearing a magical brooch that allows the wearer to sense the emotions of numerous people around them.
And tonight, Nooroo had asked a very good question. Was he alright?
He found out that someone had lost a precious person. That a family was missing closure. There may be a person whose last wishes were being discarded by strangers. He was possibly getting a new link in the hospital. One that was insistent on helping him start a physical case file. He was still kind of reeling from there, so he wasn’t actually sure how he felt about that yet.
Waniguchi’s information… Something about it made him want to keep a closer eye on that. Not specifically about what he’s said, but by how the man had reacted to it. For all his violence and bluster, Waniguchi had very good instincts when it came to recognizing trouble. If he felt like something was wrong, then there probably was. And that made him anxious, especially with how little they both had to go on.
He’d gotten to actually speak to Eraserhead. An underground hero that he’d admired ever since he’d started properly looking into the man. Because he fought quirkless, his quirk erased other people’s. That meant everything else he was capable of came from pure, hard-earned skill.
And, as a quirkless kid, why wouldn’t he admire that? Proof that a quirk wasn’t everything that went into being a hero. A sharp wit and hard work were vital, too.
“Mostly? I think… I’m angry for Unohana-san and Kana-san’s family. I’m worried about Waniguchi-san, and the ‘League’ he’s possibly found, and what they might be up to. And… I think I’m kind of excited about meeting Eraserhead.” He listed them out slowly, twiddling his fingers in thought.
“You are an empathetic person. I would be surprised if you weren’t upset about what’s happened to Kana-san. You worry for Waniguchi-san because you know he could be at risk. You are a good fit for the butterfly because you care about what happens to others.” Nooroo smiled gently at him. “The fact that we got to top it off with meeting someone you admire, someone you know will look into the things that worry you, is a stroke of luck. A very good one at that.”
Izuku smiled.
“Yeah. I guess it is. We should go home now. I don’t know about you, Nooroo, but I can hear my bed calling for me.” The little kwami laughed.
Shouta watched the gold and purple butterfly fade from existence, taking the odd feeling at the back of his mind with it.
So that was the mysterious Sasakia.
He hadn’t expected to end up meeting the mysterious informant when he took over Flashstep’s route for the week, let alone on the first night. But he would have been lying if he’d said he hadn’t been curious about the person in question.
Flashstep told him to keep watch for a glowing butterfly, since that was the only way to communicate with the tipster. And there was a pattern to that, as well.
If the butterfly was fluttering through the air, then he’d have to catch it to speak to the informant. If it was sitting in place, then it was waiting for a hero to pick it up so he could convey something. But if it dove down to you? Then there was an emergency somewhere that needed a hero involved as soon as possible.
To his luck, it had been sitting innocently atop a shop’s AC unit on the route.
He’d felt the psychic connection establish itself soon after he’d picked the little butterfly up. He was familiar with the feeling, having worked with the Wild Wild Pussycats before. So he hadn’t been too badly startled by the voice that spoke into his mind.
Sasakia sounded young, he wasn’t an adult. Shouta was sure of it. He sounded like a teenager, one who was trying to stuck to very formal language. (He’d never been referred to as “sama” before. That had been different.)
It didn’t sound like his standard way of speaking, though. Sasakia likely hadn’t noticed his small slips when he spoke. A slang word here and there, a drop in formal-ness in a few places. He was definitely somewhere in his teens, but trying to sound older and more composed than he actually was. But, unless he somehow met the young man in person, he wouldn’t have a better idea of where to place him. Maybe somewhere between high school and university age, if he was pressed to make a guess.
Then he’d gotten the information.
The Damasu group committing the bank heists. Body Snatching from one of the smaller, local hospitals. A potential illegal quirk fighting ring in Vespara. Some possible Vigilantes in the residential district. And a possible criminal group forming in the Farona district.
It was a lot of information: two solid cases, two potential cases, and one rumor.
His phone vibrated in his hand.
Naomasa – ‘The Damasu looks like a solid lead. They’ve got someone who could have gotten them in and out of the banks without setting off flags. We’re doing checks now. Setting up extra security at the Haito bank and making sure everyone knows who not to let in.’
Naomasa – ’The Ijutsu Hospital called about the Body Snatching. A nurse showed up with an entire file for the detectives. Says she knew the person who was taken during the past 24 hours. Getting things going on that as we speak. Have a couple heroes coming to investigate security not noticing.’
Naomasa – ’Sasakia’s keeping his reputation up with these. What’re your thoughts?’
He knew what the detective was really asking. He wanted to know what Shouta had picked up about the informant while talking to him.
Shouta – ‘Young. Under 20 at most. Trying hard to seem older and be taken seriously. Most likely male due to voice pitch. Cares a lot about strangers, was upset about Ijutsu hospital but trying to hide how much.’
Shouta – ‘Had a few other potential cases, but no solid evidence to point to yet. May check with contacts to see if there’s more.’
He had time to gather more about the informant. He couldn’t say for sure if he would speak to the informant again while covering for Flashstep, but he’d be keeping an eye out for the butterflies while patrolling.
But first, he had a fighting ring to look into.
Afterword: Wheee~ Some story seeds are planted and I got to show how Izuku works as Sasakia while still maintaining his daily life. I was originally going to write Izuku going through an actual school day, and then I realized it didn’t actually matter. No one actually needs to see what his last year of middle school was like when it’s just acting as filler until he starts UA. We just need the story beats.
I tried to plant some ideas for how the butterfly miraculous worked and how Izuku wove his magic into it. Like Izuku automatically knowing the Why for the emotional state of the person he’s connecting to. It doesn’t give him the full history of the person, just their names and the reasons for their immediate emotional state.
There won’t be a lot of lingering over the last school year, but I wanted some notes for things that I felt like would have been noted before they happened in Canon. The attack on the USJ, for example, probably had a lot of recruiting leading up to it. So I wanted to put it in while I had the chance.
I also made up some OCs to act as contact characters for Izuku.
Unohana Sakura: A nightshift nurse working at the Ijutsu Hospital, one of the smaller hospitals in the Musutafu area. I genuinely have no idea if I’ll use her again, but she may end up being a medical contact. I struggled with her name for a bit, until deciding to use the name of a Medical Captain from Bleach.
Waniguchi Kira: A small-time crook who lives in the Farona district. He has some standards, though, refusing to fight/seriously hurt kids. Might rough up a hero intern, but he’d pull his punches. Has a short temper and loves a good brawl. I actually based him on my interpretation of Killer Croc from DC Comics if he was able to live in a world where his physical mutation wouldn’t have isolated him from living a (relatively) everyday life.
I actually rather like Waniguchi, so I may use him again later for more than just some lore reveals.
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