MHA: Dark Matter

[Naomasa Tsukauchi's Pov ]

Tsukauchi had a headache.

Tsukauchi wanted to sleep.

Sighing heavily, the man glanced at the corner of his computer monitor at home.

2:14 AM.

"It's already two in the morning. I need to rest. I have to go to police headquarters tomorrow morning to report on the investigation into the Hero Killer incident and the League of Villains."

Naomasa was not working alone on this case, but he was the one supervising the entire investigation and reporting on it. And now he couldn't sleep. His mind feverishly analyzed and reexamined one piece of information after another, trying to find connections between them.

The riots began that evening at eight o'clock with the appearance of four Nomu. At almost the same time, Stain attacked the professional hero, Native. Soon after, students from U.A. appeared and miraculously managed to defeat the S class villain.

Meanwhile, ten heroes, including Endeavor and Gran Torino, tried to subdue the Nomu. And in the middle of their battle, Ticci Micc and his unknown opponent had burst in.

Thanks to the testimony of several witnesses, it was determined where the fight between the villain and the unknown assailant had begun. The warehouse itself was searched, and damaged medical equipment was found, along with a tunnel leading to unmarked rooms beneath an office building belonging to a research company that was part of the Tosaka conglomerate.

When questioned about this matter, the company's management deflected, placing the blame on the company's president, who was already dead. As were many other company employees who held executive positions or were leading specialists. Ticci Micc had been spotted at the murder scenes of several of them.

The black haired man frowned again. The League of Villains' and the Hero Killer's goals were clear to him. But what were Ticci Micc's goals? And what were the goals of the side that was hostile to him and presumably connected to, or actually was, the Tosaka conglomerate?

Of course, one could assume the villain simply liked to kill and had a grudge against this company. But his past actions didn't fit that assumption. Previously, the villain had not been known to kill civilians who were in no way involved in hero or villain activities. Among law enforcement and hero society, only the hero Snatch and the police officers with him had died by his hand.

Even during the attack on the U.S.J., Ticci Micc could have easily killed all the Class 1A students, but he didn't. This selectivity in choosing his victims was somewhat reminiscent of Stain's twisted idealism. Stain also only killed certain people whose deaths were dictated by his principles.

The detective was also troubled by the words of the unknown villain whose body was found the next day.

"A mutt that ran away from its masters has decided to bite them. For such insolence, you will be punished when I return you to your place. To your cage."

These words indicated that Ticci Micc had previously been part of this organization, perhaps even as a prisoner. That would explain the villain's apparent motives in this situation. But it also hinted at the supposed power of an organization about which almost nothing was known, except for its enmity with an S class villain and some connection to the Tosaka conglomerate.

Any items in the underground facility that could have served as evidence were either not useful or had been destroyed. The unknown villain, who had been given the nickname "Aristocrat," had appeared out of nowhere, much like Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Any information about this man in any form was completely absent from police archives and Japan's citizen registry.

That was frightening. The appearance of such powerful villains, just as his friend Toshinori was beginning to weaken, did not bode well. It seemed that all the major hidden forces sensed the imminent departure of the Symbol of Peace and had already begun to act.

Glancing one more time at the corner of the screen displaying the time, Naomasa sighed and closed his documents and turned off his computer. He needed sleep. He also needed to look somewhat presentable for his superiors.

[End Pov Naomasa Tsukauchi]

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I felt great. The memory of Mei's embarrassed face brought a stupid grin to my own. I confirmed this by looking at my reflection in the mirror.

Back then, in the U.A. workshop, we hadn't gone beyond hugging and passionate kisses. I didn't want to ruin anything with my haste, and Hatsume was a little afraid of going further. However, this incident gave our relationship a very unusual tint.

While working on gadgets and "babies," it didn't show at all. But in our free time, when we were alone, we often hugged and moved on to kisses. My body demanded further action, and my mind went blank, mesmerized by her unusual yellow eyes.

Only a small worm of fear and doubt gnawed at me from the inside. Would she accept a killer like me? Was I worthy of this? Could I protect us and our relationship?

Excitement, infatuation, lust, joy, fear, and doubt were driving me mad. These new and unfamiliar feelings attracted and repelled me at the same time. They swirled and shifted places.

To calm myself down, I threw myself more intensely into training and studying. There was almost no time left for ordinary entertainment, like listening to music or reading light literature.

My training regimen allowed me to distract myself from negative and distracting thoughts. And I finally found time to talk to Midoriya about his fight with the Hero Killer.

When I met him after school, he looked extremely thoughtful. My eyes didn't miss the several new scars on his hands. They reminded me that my own wounds healed almost without a trace. Except for the fight with that creature, number forty one.

At the start of our conversation, I had to snap Izuku out of his reverie. Then we got into a very lively discussion. We hadn't talked properly in a long time.

Listening to the details of his internship and his most recent heroics lesson, which had been more like an obstacle course where the obstacles were the city buildings themselves, I told him about my own studies, the funny moments in classes where Mei had made her presence known in at least half of them, and shared my observations about the heroes who had participated in the Hoshu City incident.

Only when the topic turned to Stain did I sense his slight nervousness. His story about his encounter with the villain was quite strange, as was his account of how Endeavor had defeated the Hero Killer.

Accustomed to lies and with experience in acting, I easily saw through his deception, but I didn't let on. However, I was intrigued by how they had actually defeated the S class villain. I even joked about how funny it would be if a dangerous killer who had murdered seventeen heroes and crippled twenty four others had been taken down by three first year students from U.A.

His awkward laugh made me suspicious.

So I jokingly asked if they had actually defeated Stain before Endeavor arrived. His answer made my eyes widen.

Having spent a lot of time studying Midoriya's character and personality, it was easy for me to tell that his "no, of course not" was a lie.

The realization that my clumsy joke was true made me struggle to compose myself. The only sensible explanation that didn't shatter my belief in my ability to judge other people's strength was that Stain hadn't wanted to kill them.

And looking at All Might's successor, I understood why. The Hero Killer only killed and maimed "fakes." And Izuku, although still weak, insecure, naive, and inexperienced, possessed something that many professional heroes lacked.

The desire to save people, regardless of his own life and health. And I couldn't call that desire "fake."

********A/N*******

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