Chapter 16: Spike
"Tendo, start driving." Himeno ordered the woman in the driver's seat before reaching for a tablet, making a few inputs, and handing the device to Takumi.
The screen displayed CCTV footage of the day Reika picked Takumi up from school in her Mercedes three months ago, the quality wasn't the best by any stretch of the imagination, but it was enough for the HPSC to deem it worth using.
Takumi paused, his emotionless silence weighing over the vehicle's atmosphere. Naturally, Himeno had checked his quirk registry before approaching him. The possibility of things escalating into violence had been on the table before she even left the HPSC's doors to carry out the orders of her unit's Section Chief.
"You're not quick enough, Ms. Shihai." Takumi remarked idly, his quirk noticing Himeno readying her fingers to reach for her firearm. "Don't worry, I have no intent to commit assault on a HPSC officer."
Startled, Himeno's firing hand tensed up. Her breath intake elevated a few notches as she prepared to use her quirk instead. An action which inadvertently revealed the nature of her quirk to Takumi.
'Posture analysis: shoulder alignment asymmetry detected. Left-side relaxation inconsistent with neutral stance. Flag: non-injury related asymmetry. Hypothesis queue updated: 22% of hidden functionality bias in left side.'
'Spatial behaviour tracking: distance maintained 18cm beyond standard interpersonal norm. No defensive indicators present. Flag: extended interaction radius.'
'Motor Pattern Analysis: irregular intervals in left-hand micro-movements detected. Flag: Phantom feedback loop.'
'Conclusion: possible extension-type quirk sourced from left hand. Range estimate based on positioning: 1.5m - 2.3m.'
For the sake of not revealing too much, Takumi chose to be quiet about Battle Algorithm's analysis on her quirk.
"I doubt I need to state this since I trust the HPSC's investigative capabilities, but I have no affiliation with the Shiranui-kai or any of their activities." He placed the tablet on Himeno's lap, his posture purposefully softening to give her the indication that he truly didn't plan to do anything aggressive. Which only marginally lessened the agent's paranoia.
She exhaled. "We're well aware of that, you wouldn't be living in a place like Aoba Heights or be reliant on a full-ride scholarship if you were yakuza-affiliated." Her gaze sharpened. "However, that doesn't necessarily mean you aren't Reika Shiranui-affiliated. She did reach out to some of her associates at the Local Municipal Office for you after all, didn't she?"
Takumi couldn't help but let out a despondent sigh, he knew sticking his nose in the Shiranui-kai's business, even if it was for Power's sake, wouldn't end well for him. Lo and behold, the organization he wanted to meet least had showed up to his university in a bulletproof SUV.
He adjusted his glasses. "Do you have an arrest warrant for me? If not, I'd like to be let out."
Now that the HPSC was here, all Takumi could do was work towards achieving the best possible resolution. That said, he found it rather odd that a small-time yakuza like the Shiranui-kai had landed themselves on the HPSC's radar. In Naruhata of all places no less, the ward that received the least amount of government attention by a landslide.
"We have no intention of arresting you, Kisaragi." Himeno's lusterless eyes relaxed a little. "On the contrary, we were hoping you'd be able to help us out with an ongoing investigation."
Takumi felt tempted to scoff. "You want an untrained civilian to help you with detective work? It seems the commission's fallen on hard days."
Himeno refused to entertain his provocation. She swiped the tablet, the screen now displaying an evidence photo taken of some sort of medical vial, the contents of which was half-filled by an odd-looking viscous beige liquid.
"It's called Spike. A black market quirk boosting drug that's been circulating throughout Naruhata recently."
"And? There's at least a thousand of those running amok here at any given time." As a local, Takumi had seen people inject themselves with all sorts of unauthorized substances. The users of which usually ended up with live police rounds in them, or short-circuited brains and bodies as a result of the booster's side-effects.
'Just another Tuesday in Naruhata', was the common saying.
"This one's different." Himeno emphasized her tone. "The lab results showed its boosting effect was at least 50% stronger than the latest top illegal drug. Some of the compounds used in it even resemble the seriously lethal stuff they have over in the states."
Compared to the nation sitting across the Pacific, Japan's drug circulation problem seemed like complete child's play, and it was definitely in the HPSC's interests that reality didn't take a turn for the worse.
"You believe the Shiranui-kai's involved?" He made the obvious conclusion.
"Not necessarily." Himeno took a drag from her cigarette, rolling the window down and blowing a puff outside. "There's a chance they're involved in distribution, but hunting down the distributors isn't my assignment. I want to find the person sourcing Spike."
To his dismay, Takumi could already tell where this was going. "You want me to use my 'connection' to Reika to find a lead through her intel." His words were a statement, not a suggestion.
"Would you look at that? It seems you aren't a scholarship student for nothing." She leaned to her side, not a trace of emotion in her voice. At least any of the positive kind.
"What if I refuse?"
Himeno let out a slow, contemplative breath. "It'd be a shame if J-LIS were to change their minds about how they issued your 'little sister's' paperwork, wouldn't it?"
There was no outward anger in Takumi's reaction. He merely hummed, musing over his instinctual aversion to the HPSC.
"Assuming I decide to help, I'd only do so if the commission were willing to give me certain assurances."
She shrugged languidly. "I can't make any guarantees, but for the sake of conversation you might as well name them."
His gaze steeled. "I want an officialized contract between myself and the commission, barring you from using that CCTV footage you just showed me, or any other speculations about my relation to Reika Shiranui or the Shiranui-kai to interfere in myself, and my little sister, Fujino Kisaragi's life. That includes my education at NMHU, my future work as a pro hero, any work-study programs, grants, and part-time or full-time income sources. Applying to both myself and her."
There was a small pause.
"Of course, that contract will only take effect until after I've made my inquiry to Reika Shiranui as you've requested, regardless of whether or not my findings are to your satisfaction."
It sounded awfully demanding, but in layman terms, Takumi simply wanted the legal right to tell the HPSC to 'piss off' once he upheld his end of the bargain. It wasn't immunity from the HPSC as a whole of course, they wouldn't even grant the Symbol of Peace himself that luxury. It was just putting on a lock on using anything Reika-related to pressure him.
If Takumi ended up doing something stupid afterwards, that was on him.
Himeno scratched her temple while letting out a resigned sigh. "Even if I can see the logic in your request, I don't have the authority to make contracts on behalf of the commission. I'd have to ask my Section Chief for that."
"I'm sure he or she will find my demands reasonable." Takumi crossed one leg over the other. Unless they were approaching him with a hidden agenda, the HPSC had no reason to refuse. He wasn't a critical asset to them, once he had served his purpose, he would have no further use in the investigation.
"I'll probably need a day before I can give you an answer on that."
"That's fine," Takumi nodded his approval. "It doesn't sound like this 'Spike' drug will be leaving anytime soon."
The SUV continued its trip until arriving at its guest passenger's apartment complex, the reinforced doors unlocking so he could step out.
"We'll be in touch, Kisaragi." Himeno's eyes trailed over Takumi's face as she tossed a bud out the door before closing it, the armored vehicle driving off into the distance.
Now free of the agent's company, he clicked his tongue in disapproval. Official business aside, he had noticed something peculiar about Himeno, namely her eyes.
They seemed lifeless on the outside, but to Takumi's quirk, they radiated with an overwhelming, perhaps even nauseating level of mourning, grief, and loss.
The woman was in pain, a lot of pain. The accumulated notes of cigarette ash and tobacco stains beneath her fingernails a clear sign of an overused foul coping mechanism.
He had no idea what she was going through, but it was clear that whatever was affecting her wasn't something an active duty agent should be carrying with them.
'Seriously, what is the commission thinking? Sending out someone in her condition? They really have fallen on hard times if that's who they're relying on.'
Granted, it wasn't any of his business hence why he chose against saying anything. If that's how the HPSC wanted to operate, they were free to do so. As stupid as he believed their modus operandi to be.
///
.
Once the return trip to the HPSC's headquarters began, Himeno shifted her attention to the woman driving the SUV.
She appeared to be about the same height as Himeno, and only marginally younger than the Senior Agent. Her hair was dark brown in color and fashioned into a messy ponytail with long side bangs that cascaded over her shoulders. Like Himeno, she was clad in the HPSC's standard attire, and similarly, possessed a distinctive feature on her face in the form of a horizontal scar across her nosebridge instead of an eyepatch.
Michiko Tendo. A Junior Agent on a temporary transfer to the Quirk Crime Investigation Unit. The unit that happened to have the highest casualty count in the commission, and as a result, a unit that suffered from being short-staffed on a regular basis.
"Tendo." Himeno's eyes listlessly peered out the car's window. "What did you think of him?"
Tendo glanced at her superior through the interior rear-view mirror. "I think his confidence was a front to make his demands sound more convincing."
Tendo usually kept to herself around her superiors, happily acting as their yes-woman no matter what, but with Himeno, she understood she had the right to be a little more loose-lipped than usual.
"Yeah? You can tell?" It was hard to tell whether Himeno was trying to sound condescending or posing a genuine question.
Honestly, it was hard to tell when she meant anything in general.
The junior between them pressed her lips together. "Well… it's not that I can 'tell'. I just think it's the obvious assumption considering the circumstances. He's just a kid after all, he has no reason not to be nervous when approached by an agent out of the blue."
Himeno reached into her coat, pulling out a pack and lighting a fresh bud. "That's what I expected him to be like too."
"Past tense?" Tendo queried.
"I couldn't read a damn thing about him," she sighed. "It was like trying to pry a reaction out of a boulder. From start to finish, that kid's eyes were completely blank. He even talked like our whole conversation was a prerecorded transcript he had read beforehand. Kind of like how our bitch chief does."
Tendo flinched, her shoulders slumping. "I don't think you should be referring to the chief like that…"
"Why not? She acts like a bitch so I called her one, it's basic logic." Carefree, she blew another puff out the window. "Not that it matters, as long as she finishes this case up quickly I don't plan on complainin'."
She wanted nothing more than to head straight home and drink the stress away.
Like usual.
///
.
Mano Kazuki was one amongst the abundant homeless population of Naruhata. He had already maxed out his stay durations at all the nearby homeless shelters, and most of the soup kitchens he knew of had closed down due to a lack of funding. A tale not a single resident of the ward would be surprised by.
Some time ago, there was an elderly priest who offered to let people stay at his church, a pleasant gentleman as far as Mano's middle-aged memory could recall. He even rationed out basic meals and camping equipment whenever he had the opportunity to, and there were a few times Mano had seen him volunteering with his kid at some of the soup kitchens he used to frequent.
Apparently, that priest had passed earlier in the year, making his services no longer available to those who depended on them.
Thus, Mano went right back to square one. He scouted out a fairly remote back alley and set up a makeshift tent for shelter with whatever leftover materials he could scrounge, and lit up an obviously unregulated trash fire to keep him warm and help him cook or reheat the scraps and wandering rodents he found.
This was his life. His cruel, unfair life.
A life he couldn't see any way of escaping from. Once someone fell as low as he did, getting back up became a herculean-task with a heavy emphasis on luck.
"O-to! This is no condition for a human being to be living in! None at all!"
To Mano's confusion, he heard a gravely, eccentric voice called out to him from the alleyway's entrance.
He rolled over in his grime-laden sleeping bag, his eyes met with the sight of an immensely bulky man with slicked-back blonde hair. The man's pupils were sharp, lizard-like, and unnaturally spaced out across his face, as if he had some kind of genetic defect. He was sharply dressed in a pristine, spotless white suit and black dress shirt, like a gangster with a good fashion sense.
Mano's malnourished body hardly had the strength to raise his voice high enough for the man to hear, so he simply shot him a half-lidded, questioning look.
What on earth was someone with such expensive-looking attire doing in a random alleyway like this?
"But fret not my unfortunate alleydweller! On behalf of the Yukimura-saibō, I, the mighty, handsome, dashing Yamori Jason, have come to grant you a new lease on life!" Jason spun around all eccentric-like, making Mano wonder if he was on some kind of substance.
It would certainly explain why he was here of all places.
"What? What's with the silence? The blank reception? Show some fanfare will 'ya! You're about to be blessed after all!" Jason rushed towards Mano, starling the man as he crouched down and brought their faces uncomfortably close to one another. A predatory smile flashing across Jason's face. "Oh well, if you can't understand the hype I'll just have to help you out!"
"Mm! MMM!"
Mano panicked as Jason's gorilla-like hand clamped down over his face, effortlessly hoisting him up into the air as if he weighed no more than a feather. The homeless man doing everything in his limited power to kick and flail himself free.
"Let's see, let's see. Where did I put it again?" Casually, Jason rummaged around his suit with his free hand, Mano's efforts to resist virtually nonexistent to him. "Aha! Here it is!"
Jason pulled out a syringe from one of his inner pockets, its tube filled with a viscous, bubbling beige-colored substance.
"Alrighty then! Showtime!"
Without hesitation, he stabbed it into Mano's neck, pushing down on the handle and injecting him with the odd liquid.
"GAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Instantly, beige veins bulged all over Mano's skin as he started to twist and writhe uncontrollably, as if a million fire ants had been let loose under his flesh.
"Mhm. That should do the trick." Jason chuckled as chrome-colored scales spread all over Mano's body, the man's figure morphing unnaturally into a four-legged, reptilian form the size of a van. Any traces of humanity on the man's figure lessening with each passing second. "Oh, I nearly forgot! The boss said I need to be out of your line of sight before you finish transforming!"
Jason knocked his temple as he dashed away.
"Te-hee! Silly me! I almost messed up the boss' experiment!"
…
"SCREAAAAAAAAAAACH!"
Exactly 30 seconds later, a gut-wrenching scream loud enough to reach the ears of citizens wandering the nearby commercial district could be heard.
…
"H-Hey! Look there!"
"What the hell is that—?! W-Woah! It's coming this way!"
"Quick! Somebody call a hero! There's a villain here!"
And another 15 seconds after that, disaster befell the district.
///
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