Chapter Text
To put it plainly, Niijima Sae was not happy. If she were being honest, she would even say she was furious, though she didn’t typically lend herself to extreme displays of emotion. And the reason for her anger? Well, that much should’ve been obvious: the Phantom Thieves, of course.
She had been stonewalled time after time throughout the entirety of this case, and somehow that only got worse after they’d caught the supposed ‘leader’ of the Phantom Thieves. Sae wasn’t sure if she believed he was really only fifteen. She’d confirm it when she saw the one they caught for herself. Well, that was if she could get into the interrogation room in the first place.
“Excuse me, this area’s off limits.”
Sae’s hand was clutched around her bag as she approached the cold, isolated interrogation room of the Roppongi police department. The officer who’d spoken to her seemed like a nice enough man, but right now she couldn’t be bothered with niceties.
“I’m Niijima, from the public prosecutor’s office,” she said sharply.
“The prosecutor’s office? What business do you have here?” Another detective asked.
“I have something I need to confirm with the suspect. Let me through,” Sae demanded. The officer seemed more annoyed than before at being told what to do. “It’s fairly urgent, if that much isn’t obvious already.”
“Niijima-san, I believe this case is no longer in your jurisdiction,” the first officer sighed, thoroughly annoyed. “So if you don’t mind-”
“Hold on a moment,” a voice interrupted the officer, and Sae turned around to see another detective - this time, a man in a tan coat and matching hat. Behind him were two people Sae had seen before, but never properly met. One was an old man with a cane, and the other, a tall, thin, blond man. She recognized the old man as the guardian of one of her sister’s friends, if she recalled correctly, but the blond man… she’d only seen him in passing. Why were they here?
“You are Prosecutor Niijima Sae-san, correct?” The detective in tan asked, taking off his hat. “I’m Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. I just got off the phone with your director. We’ve worked something out, but only with proper procedure being followed. The boy has a right to have a parent or guardian present during any interviews or interrogations. His guardian wishes to be here.”
“His guardian?” Sae glanced down to the old man. “You mean the suspect really is…”
“A child. A child who is under my care, to be specific,” the old man said, giving Sae a firm look. “I’m Torino Sorahiko. I fully intend to be with him for this interview since his mother can’t be here.”
“And him?” Sae pointed to the blond. “Torino-san is the boy’s guardian, however…”
“Yagi Toshinori,” the man offered, his voice quiet but stern. He held out a business card that bore the seal of Might Tower on it. “Secretary to All Might. He’s interested in the case and how it progresses. I’ve been asked to sit in as well.”
“All Might?” Sae asked incredulously. Of all the things to happen to her while she was just trying to bring this case to a close… “What in the world could the Number One Hero possibly want with this case? He hasn’t lifted a finger to catch the Phantom Thieves or even spoken publicly about the case, and now he suddenly wants to sit in on the interview with their leader? I don’t understand.”
“I’m under no obligation to reveal details of my boss’ work,” Yagi said plainly, making sure she took the card. “But you’re welcome to call the number on the card during business hours to try and speak with him. Regardless, the fact of the matter is that I’ve been asked to sit in. Would you prefer me to call my boss and tell him I cannot?”
Sae grimaced. “No,” she shook her head. She knew when she’d been beat. Refusing the Number One would bring too much of a political headache down on her. “Fine. If this is how it has to be for me to get my interview, then so be it. To think, I’m in charge of this case and yet I was denied an interview initially… there’s no way I could be convinced of any of what I’ve been told without confirming things for myself.”
“Right. Well… please, go in,” Tsukauchi said, gesturing to the door. “But be aware that your interview with him will have to be cut short. We have yet to determine the method of which he did the things he did. As far as we know, he’s quirkless, and yet…”
“Quirkless? Then… you don’t think it’s a quirk at play?” Sae’s eyebrows furrowed. What else could this have been besides a quirk? “How else would he have…?”
“You can ask him that yourself, if you’d like,” Tsukauchi gestured again to the door. Sae made a ‘tsk’ sound and turned on her heels. The police were more uncooperative than they’d ever been. When she opened the door to the interrogation room, however, and saw the state the suspect was in…
“Izuku?!” Torino was at his side in an instant.
Midoriya Izuku was bruised and beat, with dried blood sticking to his skin and fresh wounds on every part they could see. He was also clearly out of it, sitting with his head in his hands. Next to her, Sae could practically feel Yagi’s fury rolling off of him in waves. His fists were clenched tightly as he turned to look at Sae and Tsukauchi. “Is this how all the suspects are treated here at this precinct, or just him?”
“I had no idea about this, Toshinori,” Tsukauchi shook his head vehemently. Sae didn’t comment, but that was interesting… the detective was on a first-name basis with All Might’s secretary? “I’ll look into it immediately, you have my word.”
“I’d heard about forced confessions before, but this is…” Sae trailed off. She watched as the old man gently lifted the head of the boy sitting at the desk, looking him over carefully and gently, like a parent would for a child that had fallen down. “Regardless, I still must have my interview. If you’d like to have him taken to a police hospital afterwards, that is your right.”
“Are you alright?” Torino asked softly, paying absolutely no mind to Sae. “How bad is it?”
Midoriya didn’t answer him. His head simply lolled to one side, though he seemed to gain some more awareness as he and Torino locked eyes. He blinked a few times, and then quietly, “... Torino-san? Is… Is that you?”
“Yeah, kid, it’s me,” he said gently, pulling a pack of tissues from his pocket and trying his best to clean up the dried blood on the kid’s face. The old man looked like he was awash with guilt, unable to meet Midoriya’s eyes completely. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner. Who hurt you?”
“‘S not so bad,” the kid mumbled, his voice slurring a little. “Had worse before. You’re not supposed to be here, Torino-san…”
Torino smacked his cane angrily against the ground, upset and emotional. “Don’t give me that, kid, of course I am! You know I am! I’m your guardian, Izuku! You promised me you’d… just… just look. How much more will it take to get you to trust me? I’m looking out for you. You’re bruised and bloody and beat to hell and back, and by the way you’re talking I’m willing to bet you were administered some kind of drugs - god knows what they were even for!”
Torino shot a glare at Sae at that, to which she simply crossed her arms over her chest. She had nothing to do with the boy’s state.
“It’s not…” Midoriya shook his head. “It’s not like that, Torino-san. I… I trust you. Of course I trust you, y’know I do. You’re one of the… few people I do trust. I just… It doesn’t change the fact that you’re not s’posed to be here right now… Yagi-san either…”
Sae didn’t understand, but Torino and the boy exchanged a very serious look with one another. Whatever went unspoken between them in that moment seemed to convince the man, who grumbled and swore several times under his breath. Then, with one more gentle checkup of the boy, “Then… will you be keeping our promise?”
“Promise, Torino-san,” Midoriya nodded slowly. “Promise.”
“Okay… fine. Come on, Toshinori, Tsukauchi, we’re leaving,” Torino grumbled angrily. Yagi seemed genuinely surprised, protesting the thought of leaving right now, but was made to leave anyways. “Let the prosecutor have her interview.”
When the door clicked shut behind her, it was only Sae and Midoriya left in the room. Sae sighed deeply - she was so tired of being left out of the loop, but she couldn’t afford any more delays to figure out what that had been about. She set her bag down next to the chair she was to sit in, took a seat, and pulled out the file she’d be needing for this interview. She had to admit, looking at the boy now, it was a little hard to believe that he was supposed to be the leader of the Phantom Thieves.
“So. Midoriya Izuku… I didn’t expect it to be you,” Sae admitted, opening her file to the first few pages. “Vigilantism, obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons… even manslaughter. You’re being charged with very serious crimes, Midoriya. I hope you understand the position you’re in right now. You’ll be answering my questions this time.”
Midoriya didn’t say anything. His head just drooped forward. The kid looked absolutely exhausted right now. He’d clearly been put through the wringer.
“Are you listening?” Sae asked, softer this time. “I can see you’ve been through a lot. This case isn’t in my hands any more, so almost anything could happen if you’re not careful. That’s why I need you to answer me honestly, understand? I don’t have much time to speak with you.”
Midoriya still said nothing. Sae crossed her arms and stared down at him seriously. “What was your objective? Why cause such a major incident? I was of the mind that this was done with the aid of quirks, once I realized this was more than a prank like others at the office assumed… but I couldn’t assemble a case for prosecution, because we could never find any actual evidence these things were done with a quirk. And now that I’m realizing the prime suspect is quirkless…”
Despite his dazed state, Midoriya’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. That touched a nerve. Sae’s mouth downturned just so - perhaps she shouldn’t bring up his quirklessness again if she wanted him to cooperate. Fine. She could play by his rules.
“I still can’t figure out your methodology, Midoriya,” Sae leaned back in her chair. “How exactly did you do all of this?”
“Of course you couldn’t figure it out…” the boy shook his head, finally speaking.
“I suppose that’s true,” Sae murmured, flipping to a different page in her file. “There’s no way most people, myself included, would be convinced of such a… ‘world’ just by reading a report. It’s outlandish, even with the advent of quirks. Well… at least you’re more coherent now. I suppose I should take my blessings where I can find them.”
Midoriya laid his head down on the desk and didn’t respond.
“When and where did you learn about that world?” Sae asked, pressing on regardless. Midoriya didn’t look up. “How is it that you can steal another’s heart? Start from the very beginning… tell me your account of everything, Midoriya. I need to know.”
At that, Midoriya’s head raised back up a little, and the boy winced, putting a hand to his head. She expected another silent treatment, but to her surprise, he actually spoke.
“You really want to know?” He asked. Sae nodded.
“Of course. I can’t make my case without it,” she said. Midoriya sighed deeply. He was quiet for another moment or two, looking as though he was collecting himself, making sure he could speak without keeling over where he sat. Whoever was with him before this really did a number on him. Even his school uniform was looking worse for wear right about now. To think that he was only a third year in junior high… Not even in high school… how had he done all of this? How had he gotten his hands on all of the equipment he had on him when he was arrested?
Most importantly, how did he do all of what he did without a quirk?
“For me, it started back when I was charged with vigilantism,” he said. Sae’s eyebrows rose… he was actually answering her. “The first time I was charged with it, I mean. Back when I had to move to Tokyo… I’m sure you have that in your files somewhere.”
Sae nodded. She had that much. “Of course. The sludge villain incident, yes?”
“Yeah. That. It began just after that…”