Naomasa got out of his cruiser, closed the door and then faced the Hospital. He had arrived, and he would finally be able to close this horrible case once and for all.

Walking into the hospital's reception, Naomasa first approached the receptionist's desk, cutting the considerable line that was present there in the process. Then, while showing her his badge, the detective informed the receptionist that he was with the police department, that he needed to speak with a few patients and that he needed her to give him the room numbers of the said patients. Naomasa's employ of his power as part of the police department elicited a few glares from the people standing in line and more than a few insults were thrown his way but he stayed stoic despite it and, after receiving the room numbers from the receptionist, continued further into the hospital despite them.

Naomasa sighed as he walked through the hospital and saw just how packed and gloomy it was, he understood why the people in line were unhappy, they were absolutely in their right to be. Lots of families had gathered to see their loved ones and how they were doing in the aftermath of Izuku's rampage but they'd been forced to wait in reception, sometimes even for days. The teen's bulldozing through the sewers and through the city's ground sediment had caused the cave-in of the ground above, resulting in streets and buildings crumbling down into the newly created trench. Many families lived in some of those buildings and many cars had fallen into the trench Izuku created, the hospital just couldn't handle all of the injured or dying's loved ones all at once so for the past few days they'd been having to take them in waves throughout the day. But, no matter how much Naomasa felt for them, the sooner he would close this investigation, the sooner Musutafu as a whole would be allowed to heal from this tragedy. So, Naomasa had to do what needed to be done even if it meant he was cutting in front of waiting and worried families.

While walking through the hospital's halls and trying to hurry towards his interviewees, Naomasa's stride was halted when his eyes fell upon a certain room. There, while laying still on a white bed, was Death arms. Having already seen the report of his injuries, Naomasa wasn't shocked at their extent. He knew that the hero was barely alive when they had pulled him out of the wreckage, so he wasn't perturbed when his eyes fell upon the casts and contraptions attached to him that limited his movement. What did make Naomasa uneasy, however, was the hollow look in the hero's eyes. Caving into his curiosity, the detective walked forward so he could see a small bit more into the hero's room while still remaining undetected by him. Once at a good enough angle, Naomasa saw what Death arms had been looking at with such dead eyes: the news. Those damned reporters, Naomasa had already dealt with their incessant and shady reporting on his capability as a detective so he knew how ''critical'' they could be. More than once had Naomasa seen some upstart trying to advance their career via yellow journalism and by laying sole blame where it wasn't warranted: on the police, on heroes, on the government, on the HSPC, etc. This particular broadcast had, for some reason, decided to focus their attention on Death Arms himself; on how he failed to stop Izuku and on how he failed at doing his job as a hero by not preventing the disaster from happening in the first place.

Looking back at the injured hero, Naomasa couldn't help but feel anger flaring up inside of him. Considering the situation he was in, Death Arms had done all he could in order to do his job right, nobody could have expected Izuku to have the amount of destructive capability he displayed that day and yet they just want to ignore that fact and practically insult a man who puts his life on the line every day for the sake of protecting them.

''Bottom feeders.'', Naomasa thought as he looked back to the television screen. ''Nothing but a bunch of bottom feeders.''

Naomasa turned around, but before he could get on his way, he was met with a nurse.

''uhm, sir? Are you part of the patient's family?''

Naomasa stammered for a second and then pulled out his badge.

''Musutafu police department, I'm here on official business.''

''Oh! My apologies, sir, go ahead. I was simply coming to change mister Death Arms' IV bag.'''

Naomasa shook his head.

''no no, I am the one who must apologize. I shouldn't be here, I'll be on my way.''

''Oh. Well... ok.''

Tipping his hat as a sign of goodbye, Naomasa tried to walk away to save himself from the embarrassment of being caught snooping around where he shouldn't. His attempt would prove to be in vain, however, as Death arms called out to him.

''...Detective Naomasa?''

Tensing up at his name being called out by the heavily injured hero, the detective turned back and was met with Death Arms' eyes fixated on his own. No words were spoken between the two men but as they stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, Naomasa could feel the pleading emanating from the hero, he understood the unspoken message that was trying to be conveyed to him. Almost reluctantly, the detective walked into the dreary room and approached the hero's bedside, crossing the nurse in the process, who was trying to hurry out of the room after feeling the uncomfortable tension between the two men. Arriving next to the hero's bed, Naomasa's gaze finally darted away from him as he spoke up to the maltreated protector of order.

''...Yes?''

Death Arms didn't respond to Naomasa, opting instead to turn his head and look at the TV he was previously watching a news broadcast on prior to Naomasa's arrival, which prompted the said detective to take a look at what the hero was looking at for himself. The broadcast was now once again talking about Izuku while showing the famous picture taken of him weeping while he towered over All Might who was frowning while guiding him to be taken away by the police. Naomasa gulped uncomfortably as he faced the hero once again, Death Arms likely knew what he was there for and would want answers, the detective just didn't know to which exact questions and it made him uneasy. The detective went to speak but was interrupted by Death Arms going first. He had difficulty pronouncing certain words, Naomasa guessed that the hospital had wired his jaw shut so it could heal from the strike the hero had been made to endure from Izuku.

''...That kid, will he be held responsible for his actions?''

Naomasa sighed.

''That's not for me to decide, my only job is t-''

''You know what I mean.''

''...''

''...''

''Was he or was he not in control of himself? I've heard the theory of his quirk having gone haywire; Mt Lady was probably the first to pose it. So, was it? Was it his quirk's fault or was it his own?''

Naomasa hesitated. In his mind, he debated if he should answer Death Arms' question, would hearing the answer even help him? Eventually, the detective relented and after walking to a nearby chair and sitting down in it, he spoke to Death Arms.

''...I have nothing substantial now other than first-person accounts of the kid's normal behavior but right now it's looking like he wasn't in control of his faculties at the time of the incident. His mother described him as meek and shy prior to the incident, even All Might accounted that from the interaction he had with him prior to everything happening, he did not feel the kid was someone who would be able to do what he did. So, in all likelihood, what happened is likely to have been some previously undiscovered facet of his quirk being activated and brought to light following exposure to overwhelming emotional distress.''

Death Arms breathed in and out slowly.

''So you're saying seeing a villain taking another kid hostage is what caused his quirk to make him lose his mind?''

''No, it's... more elaborate than that, the green-haired kid knew the hostage. Specifically, he was a close friend, one he'd known since his early childhood and who was likely very important to him. So, seeing someone that close to him being suffocated by the sludge villain is what seems to have set him off... at first.''

''At first?''

''Uh, yeah.''

Naomasa paused for a moment, searching for a way to put his thoughts into words in a way that wasn't rude to the hero.

''Seeing his friend in danger seems to have been what set him off after the villain, but it couldn't have been what caused him to... add a trench to Musutafu. If he had displayed the amount of strength he displayed in the sewers when he attacked you, you'd... well.''

Naomasa hesitated and Death Arms finally turned to look at him, making the detective even more uncomfortable.

''...you'd be dead. If I'm correct, that young man's quirk was only partially activated by that emotional shock and was only truly sent into total meltdown once the sludge villain... saw his face.''

An inquisitive look crept its way onto Death Arms' face for a moment but was quickly replaced as he sighed in frustration and aimed an equally frustrated look at Naomasa, who had tried to continue his explanation but was interrupted once again by the hero.

''I'm sorry, detective, but I fail to see how that would've distressed him more.''

Naomasa raised his hand apologetically.

''Yes, sorry, i'll explain. From what little I could get from the kid, from what his mother told me and from All Might's warning when he first handed him off to us, it seems that the kid has from a very young age suffered from a severe and debilitating case of scopophobia, the irrational fear of being watched or stared at. Specifically, in him, it manifests itself as an overwhelming fear of anyone seeing his face, it's why he wore those face coverings when he broke out of that cruiser. He was already scared and stressed enough as it is but once the villain attacked him by forcing the hostage to throw an explosion at him, his mask and glasses must've not survived and the villain likely caught a glimpse of his face. Essentially, the kid had to deal with the stress of a close friend being put into mortal danger and his worst nightmare coming to life all at once, which is what I believe made his quirk go into overdrive.''

''...And so that's it. That's what caused all of this, what caused him to turn into that...''

Death Arms shuddered while his eyes darted to the picture of Izuku on the television screen and then back to Naomasa once again

''...that monster?''

Naomasa sighed.

''Again, nothing substantial but... I believe so, yes.''

A long silence permeated the air in the hospital room, allowing the two men to easily hear all the clicks and blips of the machines around them. Finally, Death Arms looked away from Naomasa and a shadow cast over his eyes as he tilted his head down. Feeling the need to say something and to wrap up their conversation in a polite way so he could carry on with his investigation, the detective got up and spoke up once again.

''Look, obviously I'm here because of the incident, sir. So, rest assured that we'll all be able to have the opportunity to heal soon enough. The case is almost wrapped up and justice will be handed out accordingly by the courts.''

''No.''

''...Excuse me?''

''No, there's no justice to be had here, none at all.''

Naomasa paused.

''How so?''

Death Arms gripped his bed sheets tightly

''...I think you already know.''

Death arms quickly turned his face so he could face Naomasa, the detective now seeing the tears rolling down the hero's face.

''That kid, god... Even if he is the largest player in what made this disaster happen, it isn't his fault. I hate it, I wish I could put the blame on him, I wish I could be angry at him but I can't, not if his quirk is what forced him into doing this, not if he had no control over it... Not if he must be suffering just as much as all of us are.''

Death Arms winced in pain and he looked down at the wound Izuku had given him in his intestine and at the colostomy bag that the hospital had affixed to his abdomen. Sighing, letting his head fall back and his eyes close, Death Arms continued.

''I admit that i can't quite forgive him for what he did, at least not yet, but if everything was truly out of his control, then I cannot condemn him either.''

Death Arms looked back to Naomasa one last time, his hollow look now back.

''There's no lesson to be learned here, Detective. There's no ''villain'' to be punished... no, this is just one of those events that leave nothing but a dark spot in the pages of history.''

Naomasa was stunned at the hero's words, he had expected unimaginable anger from the hero but... no. Sadness, sadness was all that loomed over the hero's heart, like an all-encompassing dark cloud. Finally, the hero sniffed and looked away from Naomasa.

''I'm sorry to have held you up, detective, I know you must be far too busy to have to deal with me. You may go.''

Naomasa tried to find something to say, something that might help the hero... but he couldn't. He wished he could help somehow, but he was no psychologist. Sighing, Naomasa tilted his hat in a sign of goodbye.

''Have a good day, sir, i wish you luck in your recovery.''

Finally, the detective left Death Arms' hospital room just as apprehensively as he had entered it.

Walking down the corridor and closer to his originally intended destination, Naomasa couldn't help but reflect on Death Arms and the interaction they'd just had. The detective had never expected anyone directly affected by the tragedy to not resent Izuku, let alone feel bad for him. The hero had plenty reason to hate him, but he chose to think of others before himself. Naomasa let out a quiet half-suppressed laugh, that sort of mentality is probably why he became a hero in the first place, it was just a shame that he had to be the one to stand in Izuku's way at the start of all of this. Naomasa couldn't peer into his mind to know what he was thinking but those empty eyes meant nothing good for his future as a hero. The detective hoped that he'd stay one after he recovered but... he honestly doubted it. The kind of comments that were made about him on the news while he was only doing what he thought was best were not the kind that you could just easily let roll off your back, Naomasa wouldn't be surprised if Death Arms decided to simply retire once he eventually recovered.

The detective couldn't blame him, he related to the hero's bleak feelings regarding the entire incident, he understood how they could make a man lose hope. Death Arms couldn't have given a more apt description of how tragic it all was, this was a dark spot Musutafu would not forget for a long time. It was all made worse by the fact that Izuku hadn't even acted out of any malice or villainous intention, even the perpetrator was a victim. Only, instead of having to deal with losing a loved one or having to suffer through grievous injury, he now had to live the rest of his life suffering from the blood that now tainted his hands. The former were horrible, tragic things to have to live through, of course, but the latter fate was a far different, special, kind of hell to have to endure.

At the very least, Naomasa was glad that someone shared his feelings regarding Izuku's eventual sentencing; punishment isn't the right course of action, Izuku isn't in control of his quirk or his phobia and desperately needs to be given the tools to learn how to keep them in check. If they don't, then it would only be a matter of time before another tragedy like this one happens again.

Finally arriving at his originally intended destination, Naomasa stood in front of the door to the hospital room of his first interviewees; Izuku's first two victims, the assaulted students. Before he entered, Naomasa pondered on how he should approach. Consistently, Izuku had shown an uncanny ability to... unnerve the people he interacts with, Naomasa himself knew the feeling and he knew how much it could perturb someone. But, to then be viciously attacked by the very source of that bogeyman kind of fear... it might put a grown man into a very perturbed state of mind, let alone an immature teenager. The two students would likely be in a fragile state, to say the least, so the detective would have to be careful with how he approached them in order to get the most information he possibly could. If they shut down or decided to employ their right to remain silent, then Naomasa would have wasted precious time. He couldn't afford that.

Furthermore, Naomasa also had to consider the fact that the students were almost certainly the ones who had caused Izuku to reach a high enough level of stress to partially activate his quirk. The injuries suffered by the students made it abundantly clear to Naomasa that they had done something, they just weren't similar to those that Izuku seemed to inflict when another person merely stood in the way or posed as an obstacle to the source of his stress, they were more so similar to those that witnesses described the sludge villain suffering. The ripped wing and finger injuries were what stood out the most to Naomasa, they were basically the same wounds that Izuku had given the sludge villain a few days prior, except that it had been done to the villain's eye instead. What they had done exactly, Naomasa didn't know but he could speculate. The likeliest scenario was that it had something to do with Izuku's scopophobia, but the logistics of how it happened is what had the detective wondering. His mother had attested that he didn't go anywhere without his face coverings and he even still had them on when the disaster occurred, only coming off once he was hit by an explosion, so he must've still been wearing them at school. Considering how intense Izuku's scopophobia seemed to be, it was also unlikely that he'd take them off at any point or let himself be careless enough so that his glasses or mask would fall off. So, how could they have seen or at least gotten a peak at Izuku's face? Naomasa didn't know, he didn't have enough to go off of. His suspicions were high, but to come out of the gate accusing them of things would ruin everything, so the detective decided against it.

Dusting himself off and patting his beige trench coat down so he'd look more presentable, Naomasa knocked on the door and waited for a response. Not too long after, the door opened and Naomasa was met with a woman shorter than him giving him an annoyed and inquisitive look.

''Yes?''

''Musutafu police department, I am Detective Naomasa, I have a few questions for the two boys in this room.''

The woman scoffed and wrinkled her nose in indignity.

''Well, you'll find that hard to do, neither of them can speak.''

''Could I possibly know why?''

''What, you came here without knowing how that bastard Midoriya kid assaulted them?''

Naomasa was set aback by the woman's remark, not only because of the strong language she used but also by the fact she knew who had assaulted the victims.

''...We do not get informed of how victims fair after paramedics have taken them to hospitals, only of their immediate injuries.''

Rapidly, the woman retorted.

''And you didn't make any deductions that some of them might render them unable to speak?''

Getting impatient with the woman, Naomasa responded with a curter tone.

''I didn't assume anything, no. May I ask who you are?''

''What's it to you? I don't need to tell you anything.''

Naomasa slightly furrowed his eyebrows, his patience running thinner and thinner the more the woman talked. Before he could say more, however, a man walked up behind the woman from inside the room and spoke up.

''Dear, who is this?''

The woman didn't attempt to look behind her and kept her eyes on Naomasa.

''He says he's a detective and that he's here to talk with our boy and his friend.''

Slightly widening his eyes in panic, the man nervously laughed and approached the woman, eventually setting his hand on her shoulder and rubbing it.

''Look... honey, go back to our son's bedside, he needs his mother with him right now. I'll take care of this.''

The woman squinted her eyes, seemingly in distrust of Naomasa, and then eventually relented, turning her back to the detective and returning to where she presumably was prior to the detective knocking on the door. The man coughed and moved closer to Naomasa.

''Sorry about that, this whole thing's got all of us quite riled up, you know?''

The man awkwardly laughed for far longer than he probably should've and then coughed once again.

''uhm, well, me and my dear wife that you've already met are the parents of the one that is still conscious over there, that's why we're here.''

The father turned back and pointed towards his son. He was indeed right, the winged boy was the only one that was awake out of the duo, the other boy was wrapped in several bandages, had an arm cast, and was lying flat on his bed without any sign of life other than the rhythmic beat coming from his heart monitor.

''I see, may I come in?''

The man raised his hands in front of him, trying to slow things down.

''Wait! I mean, what's the use, officer? We already determined together, as a family, that we won't press any charges, so what's the use of all of this?''

''Just because you won't press charges doesn't mean the family of the other victim won't, I'm simply here to get the facts so justice can be carried out correctly in the courts. Is there a problem with that, sir?''

The father gulped, a bead of sweat starting to roll down his forehead.

''N-no, when you put it that way...''

''Very well, then.''

Pushing past the father, Naomasa approached the bedside of the Injured student. Though he did look to be fairing better than his friend, the young man in front of Naomasa was in no way in good shape. His breathing was shallow and short as if breathing itself was laborious and the right side of his jaw was heavily bruised and scared, Naomasa guessed it was so as a result of surgery to fix his broken jaw similar to what they had done to help Death Arms. The injury that stood out the most, however, was the very same one that Naomasa had deemed most suspicious, his wing. Next to the teenager's bed was a tall support mechanism holding his sprawled-out wing in place using multiple metal wires and screws attached to it. At least the wing itself was fairly in good shape, Naomasa thought. There was significant bruising on it around where it was ripped off and where it looked like Izuku had grabbed it, but other than there, the wing looked healthy. Finishing his thought, Naomasa stopped a few inches away from the Hospital bed, his eyes finally meeting those of the student. Looking into them, Naomasa could readily see the state of fear he was in; his eyes were jittery, moving erratically to the side every now and then, and they were overly sharp and focused, as if he was constantly looking for any sign of danger.

Furthermore, when he had pushed past his father, Naomasa did also note that the teenager seemed to flinch at the sudden movement. Even as he approached, the student scooted away from the bedside and toward his mother, only stopping because of the pain caused by his wing being stretched as a result of his moving away from the support stand. Naomasa had to be careful, if the injured teenager perceived him as a threat, he could say goodbye to his interview. So, turning to his side, he grabbed a chair that was next to the hospital bed, brought it in front of him and sat on it, making sure that he was looking at his interviewee on the same eye level so as to make himself appear less imposing.

''Hello, I'm detective Naomasa, I'm with the police department. Could I ask you a few questions?''

The student seemed apprehensive but at least less afraid of Naomasa than he was before. He had grasped his mother's sleeve, who was still eyeing Naomasa with a sour look, in fear but had let go of her when he heard Naomasa's calm and collected tone of voice.

''You can't talk, right? Because of surgery?''

The student shook his head meekly, to the confusion of Naomasa.

''Then what... oh. It's your ribs, isn't it? You can talk, technically, but it'd be too painful.''

The student nodded.

''Alright, well we won't be able to get very far with you just nodding and shaking your head.''

Naomasa reached inside his trench coat and pulled out his notebook and a pen.

''Here, write on this.''

The student tentatively reached out and grabbed the writing implements, flinching once while doing so, seemingly because of his rib injury.

''Alright, let's start. Tell me what happened.''

Before the boy could do anything, the interview was interrupted by his mother rudely cutting in.

''Why are you even here, detective? With all the chaos caused by the monster of Musutafu, you'd think they'd be putting all their manpower into resolving that situation instead of sending a damn gumshoe after a recovering family.''

Naomasa, once again annoyed at the matriarch, turned toward her.

''The appropriate amount of officers and emergency workers are being sent to help with the tragedy, miss. You do not have to worry about that. In the meanwhile, life needs to keep going on and crimes other than the ones committed a few days ago need to also be investigated, I just happen to be the one they sent your way. May I continue my interview now, miss?''

The mother didn't respond, opting instead to turn toward her son and give him a strange glance once their eyes met, as if some unknown message was being relayed.

''Hmph.''

Turning back to his interviewee, Naomasa continued.

''So, as I said, what happened in that classroom? Specifically, how did you come to be attacked and by whom?''

''I already told you who did it, it was that damn spawn of that whore Inko Midoriya! Wretched people, they are. What she must've done with her privates when she was younger to have birthed such an... ugly freak, I do not know but I can take an educated guess.''

Having had enough of her, Naomasa raised his voice at the woman.

''Miss, if you interrupt me once again, I will charge you with obstruction of an investigation, please remain quiet!''

Worried of his wife talking back, the husband quickly rushed over and sat besides her, putting his hand on her shoulder and rubbing it once again to calm her.

''Please, dear! Just let the detective do his job and he'll be able to leave very soon.''

Apparently struggling not to open her mouth, the woman huffed and looked away in anger. Again, Naomasa faced the teenager, calmly gesturing toward the notebook as to urge him to answer his question. After scribbling down in it for a few seconds, he revealed what he had written to Naomasa: ''Izuku Midoriya''

''Very well, do you know why he attacked you?''

The student hesitated, to the great suspicion of the detective. In fact, he didn't even move for a moment, which prompted Naomasa to try to snap him out of his trance.

''Hello? Did you hear me?''

Blinking rapidly, the student nodded his head. Yet again, he went to write in Naomasa's notebook but before he did, he briefly glanced at his mother who had turned her head to look at him as well. Suspicious of this action, Naomasa activated his quirk in preparation. Finally being done, the student revealed his writing once again. On the notebook, he had written: ''No, we just came in to say hi and he suddenly freaked out and attacked us.''

...A lie. His interviewee had something to hide, which meant that he must've done something he wasn't supposed to, like causing the attack in the first place.

Naomasa sighed and crossed his arm.

''Your quirk is your wings, right? It's good that they weren't destroyed in the attack, our quirks often prove themselves useful in our future lines of work.''

Everyone in the room was now looking at Naomasa, seemingly perplexed at the sudden shift in the conversation.

''My quirk, for example, is very useful in my everyday job so I'm glad I've never been in a situation that would've made it so I can't use it anymore. Would you like to know what my quirk is?''

Apprehensively, the student nodded.

''My quirk allows me to know when someone is lying to me... so why did you?''

Everybody in the room lay frozen at Naomasa's reveal, the injured student even started to tremble slightly.

''I'm here to help, the more you lie, the more it looks bad on you, kid.''

The teenager kept staring in horror at the detective, unsure what to do next. His eyes had resumed their darting motion and his still shallow breathing was picking up in speed. Eventually, however, the student attempted to write on the notebook, Naomasa hoped it was to rectify his previous lie. But before he could, his mother once again intervened by snatching the pen and paper out of his hands and throwing them at Naomasa, making them bounce off him and fall onto the ground.

''ALRIGHT, THIS INTERVIEW IS OVER, GET OUT!''

Naomasa got up from his chair, insulted and angry that he was yet again interrupted by the vile woman.

''Madam, was I not clear enough for you!?''

Scared at how the situation might evolve, the husband attempted to calm his wife yet again.

''Dear, i-''

''NO, NOT THIS TIME. HE IS LEAVING THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW AND THAT'S FINAL, OUR SON IS EMPLOYING HIS RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT!''

''I do not think that's up for you to decide.''

Naomasa quickly crouched down and picked up what the woman had thrown at him. Once back up, he extended his arm toward the injured student, urging him to take them back.

''Son, if you want things to get better, you need to tell me the truth... now!''

Trembling more than ever, the student became stuck, scared stiff and not knowing what he should do. Before he could urge him more, Naomasa was interrupted by the snide laughter of the foul mother.

''Oh, you want to know what happened, eh? You want to know what my son did? What he did to Midoriya?''

The woman approached Naomasa and got up right in his face.

''My son did EXACTLY as I told him to, he put that hideous freak of nature in his place! He thinks he'll go to U.A. instead of my son? What a joke, there's no way I was going to allow that. I told him and his friend to attack him when he was away from that damn Bakugou brat and make sure he learned his place, make sure he knew he was worth nothing. I also told them to make sure they got a good look at his face that he's so scared of people seeing so he knew never to try anything so stupid ever again! I'm going to be the one living the good life because of my child's earnings, NOT THAT BITCH INKO!''

What vile, disgusting words. Naomasa was sickened to his very core, what possessed this woman for her to be so unbelievably wicked? Still tense, Naomasa turned to look at the injured student with a harsh gaze, activating his quirk all the while to make sure he didn't lie again.

''Is that true? Is that why he attacked you?''

Still trembling and now in a cold sweat, the student hesitated. In the end, the student relented and simply wrote down ''yes'' in the notebook but before Naomasa could respond to the answer, the injured student began writing again, this time with hands that trembled even more than prior and with tears starting to roll down his face. Now, all that was written down was ''We just wanted to get into U.A.''.

''...Was it before or after you saw his face that he attacked you?''

The student seemed to think for a moment before he wrote ''never saw his face, only his eyes'' and ''after''.

''and what was it he was doing prior to you seeing his eyes?''

The student once again seemed to be held up by the detective's question, not because of being in thought this time, but because the question seemed to have confused him. After a moment, the student wrote ''crying, curled up in a ball''.

Naomasa found it intriguing, the student's attestation gave some proper credence to his theory on how Izuku's quirk is triggered, it gave proof that Izuku needed to reach a specific amount of stress for his quirk to activate. Being attacked by a fellow classmate, while presumably in quite a violent fashion, wasn't stressful enough to trigger his quirk and it only did so once his phobia was involved. This would help whoever is given the task of helping Izuku control his quirk after his sentencing in knowing how to help, knowing the specific threshold to the amount of stress he can take would allow them to know in which ares he needs help in. Having attained what he had wanted to get from his interview, Naomasa quietly sighed in satisfaction. Before he could thank his interviewee or say any farewells, however, he was interrupted yet again by the boy's mother grabbing hold of his notebook and pen and shoving it into his hands.

''Was I not clear enough for you? This interview is done, leave before I call for you to be removed from our presence.''

''...Very well.''

Naomasa turned to the boy.

''I wish you a quick recovery.''

Naomasa turned back to the mother.

''And as for you, you are one of the most vile people I've ever had the displeasure of meeting, you have no one to blame for what happened to your son but yourself. I truly hope he won't listen to you ever again in his life. Good day.''

The woman's face flushed red in anger and her husband had to hold her back as she tried to hit the detective who, in response, turned, walked away from the couple and exited the room.

''YOU SON OF A-''

Naomasa shut the door, sighed in relief and walked away, glad that he wouldn't have to deal with the mother any longer.

''...what a despicable woman.''

He had seen and heard many blame themselves or other people for having caused the disaster to happen, he could confidently say that none of them were completely in the right and most were completely wrong since no one could delegate complete fault to any one person in tragedies such as this one. But, for the first time in a while, he truly felt like someone deserved at least part of the blame. Others might've contributed toward Izuku going on a rampage a few days prior, but it was all unintentional and unpredictable: All might going after the sludge villain instead of staying with Izuku, Officer Takahashi taking Izuku to the scene of the hostage crisis, even the boy he had just interviewed. All of these people could not have predicted what their actions might've entailed and even if the student's actions were reprehensible, he was only acting that way because his mother told him to. In the end, he only wanted to make her happy. The mother, on the other hand, her intentions were entirely selfish and self-centered. She didn't care what her actions resulted in, she was only in it for herself and to hurt others. She might not have known the full severity of the consequences of what she had done, being that she didn't seem to know that Izuku was the so-called ''Monster of Musutafu'', but Naomasa did not think it would've changed her attitude much if she did. Some people are just rotten until the very end.

...

After a few minutes of walking, Naomasa arrived at Katsuki's hospital room, the final interview he'd need to undertake to finally shut the case once and for all. To be honest, Naomasa was... worried about what he would find out. Izuku did not present any ability that would allow him to make those he attacked entirely disappear, yet they'd found next to no clues about what had happened to the bodies of his victims. All that was left of them after they'd investigated the crime scene was blood and the sludge villain's dark green goo. What could Izuku possibly have done to leave next to no trace of his victims? It truly boggled the mind and Naomasa had a feeling that he would not like what he would eventually find out about what happened to the rescuers and the villain. Getting back on track and removing the thought out of his mind, Naomasa went to knock on the door but was halted by a voice calling out to him.

''Excuse me, sir?''

Naomasa turned to look at the origin of the voice. There, not too far away from him, maybe 3 to 5 meters away to his right, was a fairly average-looking man of height maybe only an inch greater than that of Naomasa's with dark brown hair wearing a doctor's uniform. Naomasa, of course, assumed that the man must've been Katsuki's doctor and was suspicious of him coming in unannounced. So, as he had done many times in the last half hour, Naomasa pulled out his police badge and showed it to the man.

''Detective Naomasa, Musutafu Police department. I'm here to talk with the patient in this room.''

''...I see. Well I can't allow that, unfortunately.''

''pardon?''

''Sorry, I know it must be important for you to speak to him at the moment, it is about the disaster, right?''

''Yes it is.''

''Yeah... well specifically because of that, I can't let you see young Katsuki. As you must know, he was the one who was taken hostage by the villain with the sludge quirk, he's still trying to process all that's happened.''

''Is he too perturbed to speak to me, then?''

''Well no, not exactly. Katsuki is a strong kid, both in body and in spirit, he's not catatonic or anything, he's just trying to come to terms with things... in a sense. Even if I were to allow you to go in there, he wouldn't talk to you. He hasn't talked much since the day...''

The doctor seemed to have trouble saying what he wanted to say. After a moment, he sighed.

''...since the day Izuku broke his neck.''

Naomasa was taken aback. After he had learned that the woman who had greeted him at the door before his prior interview was the injured student's mother, he understood that the student could've informed her of Izuku and how he attacked him but this time, the doctor had referred to Izuku in his monstrous form during his rampage. How could he have known it was Izuku if that information hadn't been released to the public yet?

''...What? You mean Izuku Midoriya?''

The man looked confused for a short moment before he seemed to realize something.

''Right, your department hasn't given out his name, right? You have my thanks on that front, he really would not have deserved that. I'm sorry, I've yet to introduce and explain myself, haven't i? My name is Riku Sugimoto, I know Izuku Midoriya because I've been his doctor for the last 14 years. Even though he looked practically nothing like his normal self, I was able to recognize him in the pictures the press took of him in his... taller form. That's how I came to know he was the one at the center of this whole thing.''

Naomasa nearly face-palmed, why hadn't he thought about it sooner? Izuku's family or quirk doctor would've been the perfect person to talk to if he wanted to know what might've happened to the victims' bodies. If anyone were to know the in depth details of his quirk, it was them. Inko Midoriya had even mentioned him briefly during the interview Naomasa had with her and spoke highly of their understanding of the machinations of Izuku's phobia.

''Right, I interviewed Izuku's mother today, she mentioned you briefly.''

Naomasa turned away from the door and walked toward Doctor Sugimoto.

''Might we have a talk for a bit? I would need help understanding Izuku's quirk.''

Doctor Sugimoto chuckled.

''So do I, Izuku's ''quirk'', his ability... it's very strange. It's nothing like I've ever seen before. Look, if I were to talk to you about his condition, I'd be breaking doctor and patient confidentiality so before I say anything... do you think Izuku is innocent?''

Naomasa took a moment to think before answering.

''...I don't think he is completely exempt from any blame, but I think he is a victim in all of this too. His quirk doesn't seem to be in his control, he reverted back to his normal form in our cells and... I don't think it's an image that I'll forget any time soon. He screamed bloody murder for 5 minutes before it finally ended, I don't think anyone would willingly put themselves through what I saw. People have been hurt and died by his hands but, I hope at the end of all of this he'll be able to find help instead of the inside a locked dark room. My aim is to better his chances at getting that help, both for his sake and all of ours.''

''...I had heard the descriptions of him becoming the way he looked in pictures taken of him on the news but... god, I hope he's okay. Alright, since you have his interest in mind, I'll help in any way I can.''

''Alright. First, do you agree that he might've had no control over himself during his rampage?''

''Yes, I can definitively say so. Izuku, when he gets too scared, loses control of his faculties and shuts down. He gets panic attacks that he cannot pull himself out of if not aided by someone he trusts like me, his mother or Katsuki. When he was younger, for example, maybe about 8 or 9 years old, he and his mother were waiting at a crosswalk and he had one of his panic attacks, which caused him to run out into the street. Izuku knew the light was red but ran anyway and because of that, he was hit by a semi-truck with full force. If it wasn't for his quirk, he might've died because even after getting hit, once paramedics arrived, he refused to be taken into an ambulance and kept running away despite bleeding profusely from just about everywhere on his body. That's what these panic attacks do to him, he is unable to think or do anything rational during them. The only problem is... I do not know why he acted so violently during his rampage.''

''Why? From what Inko told me, there was an altercation between him and Katsuki when they were young where Izuku acted quite violently during one of these panic attacks.''

''Yes, I remember that incident. At the time, I thought it wasn't anything grand, simply a case of the adrenaline from the fear of getting his face seen by someone other than me and his mother for the first time getting to him. I thought the case was an outlier, an exception because of how non-violent his previous cases of loss of control were. Now, of course, it seems that I was mistaken. In any case, even if Izuku can at times react to negative stressful stimuli in a violent way, my point is that the severity to which he reacted during the disaster is entirely unprecedented. To hit somebody across the face is entirely different from killing someone, you must understand.''

''Yes, I agree. Might it have something to do with the fact that he knew Katsuki? The people he killed were all people he didn't know, so might his relationship with those who might cause him significant amounts of stress alter the outcome of how violently he attacks them?''

Doctor Sugimoto stroked his chin in thought.

''Now that you say that, yes, it definitively seems to me that it should. Me, his mother and Katsuki can all see his face for a few seconds without major effects on him because he deeply trusts us and allows us to do so. The mental strain of us seeing his face is far less than those of others looking at him and seeing his face. And, if Izuku did not DEEPLY trust Katsuki when they first met but still trusted him and attacked him anyway, it might point toward his attacks being far more violent against those he does not know or trust.''

''Good, those were my thoughts exactly, doctor. I'm glad to see I was on the right track. I'm assuming that the increase in strength observed would also follow this line of logic? As in, the strength increase when he was younger in the incident involving Katsuki Bakugo was not as pronounced as the one observed during the disaster because the stress levels were different?''

''Yes, it's not something we've tested extensively but I would believe so, yes.''

''Extensively? So you have tested it with him before?''

''Yes, it was not too long after the incident itself happened. He came around with his mother to test out if his quirk gave him more abilities when his face is observed, but nothing came of it. We tested it out together, I looked at his face for a few seconds while he squeezed a grip tester but no changes were found and we abandoned that line of testing. With this new development, I see now that I failed to factor in that the situation I put him in was not stressful enough to trigger a strength increase.''

''I see... well I think I have just one more thing to ask of you before I have to get back to the station, it's been nearly an hour and I do need to get going.''

''Yes, of course. Go ahead.''

''Has Izuku ever presented an ability that would allow him to... destroy things completely? As in leave next to no trace of something?''

Doctor Sugimoto looked to the side in thought and then looked back to Naomasa.

''No, he's never presented any such capability. I mean, the closest he's ever been to ''destroying'' anything prior to the disaster was during a specific endurance test we undertook a couple of years back. What we did was put Izuku and his mother in a room together with Inko holding a picture of Izuku's face that he had taken himself. Then, I instructed Izuku to turn his back so he wouldn't know when Inko would be looking at the picture of his face. The point of the experiment was to begin to desensitize Izuku to the knowledge of someone having seen his face, starting with this small baby step. The experiment failed, he began having a panic attack as soon as Inko's eyes landed on the picture and then he ripped the tablet Inko was holding out of her hands and smashed it on the ground until it was completely unrecognizable. The only thing we gained from the experiment, really, is that we learned that Izuku has the ability to somehow know exactly when his face is being seen even if it isn't in person because every time we tried to repeat the experiment, the same thing happened over and over again no matter the medium in which his face was depicted.''

Naomasa's heart sank when what the doctor had just said set in. In his head, the words ''no matter the medium'' kept repeating over and over again as he realized the horror of what he had done.

''N-no matter the medium? Even via a recording of his face?''

''Yes, we tried that too, same response.''

Naomasa started sweating and his hands started shaking, the video recording that the rescuers took of the sewers, he had ordered a constable to review it and it almost certainly would have a depiction of Izuku's face in it.

''Oh my god, what have I done!?''

Before Doctor Sugimoto could ask the detective what was wrong, Naomasa turned tail and ran as fast as he could away from him. Barreling down the hospital's halls, Naomasa kept knocking people over and out of his way as he rushed by, he couldn't allow one simple mistake of his cause yet another disaster in the span of a few days. If people died because of him, he'd never forgive himself, he couldn't let that happen. Ariving at the lobby, Naomasa pushed his way right through the line that was queuing in front of the reception desk, to the great anger of everyone in it, and ran to the front doors. Then, sprinting throughout the parking lot, Naomasa finally found his squad car, hopped in it as fast as he could and then scrambled to turn it on. Turning on his police lights, Naomasa was off as fast as his car would allow him to go. On his way, he came near to causing a great number of collisions as he took every turn as sharp as he could and as he took the longer stretches of road to accelerate to break-neck speeds.

Eventually, however, he arrived in front of the police station and hopped out of his cruiser before he could even turn it off, letting it be parked haphazardly in the street. Busting into the station, Naomasa could immediately hear the screams coming from the cells and, turning toward them to see what was going on, he saw a great majority of the station huddled near the entrance talking amongst themselves. Turning and running toward the nearest constable, Naomasa yelled at him to evacuate everyone from the station as fast as he could. Running toward the cells, Naomasa kept relaying this message to every person he could, telling them that everybody needed to leave now before Izuku went on a rampage again. A sweeping panic began, everyone who had heard Naomasa began screaming and running out of the station for their lives and everyone who hadn't heard him saw how everyone else acted and followed suit in fear of what they were running from. Finally pushing through the crowd, Naomasa entered the jail cell section of the station and saw a small group of three officers facing Izuku's cell while he was wailing and flailing all about with weapons drawn on him. All of them were barking orders at him, telling him to calm down and to stop gesturing about or else they would shoot him. Naomasa looked into the cell of the raging greenette and saw that he luckily still had his face coverings on and that his mother was sprawled out on the ground with blood trickling down her forehead and onto the floor. Decisively, the detective then yelled at the three constables and ordered them to leave immediately, to run away and to save their own lives. The group of officers, who were already scared out of their minds, didn't take long to decide to follow their superior's orders and left as fast as they could. Before the last one could leave, however, Naomasa grabbed him by the arm and dragged him with him toward Izuku's cell.

The officers fought back and tried to free himself from Naomasa's grasp, falling on the floor, pleading for him to let him go and asking ''why?''. Having had enough, Naomasa turned back, gave the man the harshest look he's ever given anybody and yelled as loud as he could so he could hear him over Izuku's louder and louder screams.

''DO YOU WANT HER TO DIE? SOMEONE NEEDS TO TAKE HER AWAY FROM HERE WHILE I MAKE SURE EVERYONE ESCAPES!''

Finally understanding the purpose of the detective's action, the constable swallowed a mouthful of saliva and steeled himself for what he was about to do, resulting in tears starting to form in the corner of his eyes. Naomasa let go of the constable, who then in turn got up from the floor, and turned toward the jail cell while pulling out a ring of keys and scrambling to get the ones that opened the door to Izuku's cell. At last, Naomasa shoved the key into the door's lock and the cell door opened. Both the constable and Naomasa had to dodge Izuku's flails as his skeleton pierced through his skin and as his reach became larger and larger but eventually they were able to drag Inko out of their and into the safety of the outside of Izuku's cell. They had no time rest, however, for as soon as they were out, they could hear the sound of Izuku's ribcage being pried open and all of his organs spilling out onto the floor, making the constable nearly faint in fear. Naomasa snapped him out of it, however, as he yelled at him to carry Inko outside, an order he was happy to comply with.

Now came the part that Naomasa was dreading most. He had little time so he needed to act fast. Running out of the cells, Naomasa sprinted toward the observation room and, once there, busted his way into it. The constable he had sent to review the sewer footage was still sitting at the desk when Naomasa entered and jumped in response to his sudden explosive entrance. Naomasa couldn't tell, however, because as soon as he had entered the room, he had shut his eyes tightly so as to not accidentally catch a glimpse of Izuku's face on video. The detective only knew of the constable's presence once he bumped into him on his way toward his laptop. Once Naomasa had his hands on it, he wasted no time and smashed it onto the desk until the screen and the keyboard could not hold each other together any longer and the hinges connecting the two broke apart, resulting in the screen unceremoniously hitting the ground. Tentatively and with great fear, Naomasa opened his eyes and they fell upon the computer screen broken and smashed on the ground. The detective would've sighed in relief but he still had one more thing to do to ensure that Izuku wouldn't escape into the streets of Musutafu. Without hesitation, Naomasa grabbed a hold of the constable by the arm, dragged him out of the observation room and then threw him into the questioning room, slamming the door shut and locking it once he fell onto the floor. Reversing away from the door, Naomasa could see how the constable was trying to open the door by jostling the handle, to little effect. The constable's efforts grew and grew and eventually, he ended up banging on the door asking what was going on and pleading to be let out. Naomasa couldn't, he wanted to, he wanted to save this man but he... he was already dead. He was the one Izuku was after and if he was to escape as well, then Izuku would too, and then it'd happen all over again... another disaster. More deaths, more damage to the city, more injuries, more families broken. Naomasa had to sacrifice this one life in order to save many more. It... It was all he could do.

Walking away slowly toward the station's entrance with a tears rolling down his face, Naomasa heard the sound of the monster of Musutafu finally being released once more. The detective heard the sound of Izuku's cell's bars being ripped from their foundation, he heard Izuku destroying the station's walls and finally, he heard the sound of the constable yelling in fear before being quieted by a single sickening crunch. Naomasa was at the door, he saw everyone who had been in the station and poured out onto the street, he saw Inko Midoriya whose head was being wrapped with bandages by a small group of constables. Strangely, he realized that no cars were passing by. Naomasa was exhausted, but as he heard Izuku's screaming and other disturbing sounds coming from the destroyed questioning room, he felt his sense of duty coming back. This was probably the only chance he'd ever get at getting an explanation as to what happens to all of Izuku's victims. So, wiping his tears from his face and with a new resolve, Naomasa slowly walked back to the cells and peered into the hole that had been created.

Pure horror was all Naomasa felt as he saw Izuku devouring his now headless fellow co-worker. He couldn't see all of it because of Izuku's tall body blocking most of it, but he could see Izuku ripping the constable's arm off and shoving into the his face, only for him to dig into him once more and pull out another chunk of flesh and viscera from the man and shoving it into his gullet again. The sounds were disturbing before, but now they were downright sickening: Bones crunching, flesh being torn apart, Izuku screaming through his huge swallows, blood spilling to the ground like a fountain. Lastly, and what led Naomasa to decide to get out of there once and for all, the detective saw Izuku's face mask and sunglasses on the ground. Quickly being taken hold of by terror, Naomasa turned away from Izuku in fear of seeing his face and meeting the same end that his co-worker had. Finally, Naomasa walked away and exited the station, rejoining the group of terrified constables.

''Sir! What happened?''

''Sir, are you okay!?''

''Did everyone escape?''

Naomasa couldn't bring himself to answer. Before anybody could go and ask more questions, Naomasa arched his back forward and threw up onto the streets, to the great disgust of all of those around him. Naomasa then kept ignoring the constable's questions as he walked away from them and sat on the curb, pulling out his carton of cigarettes once he sat down. Naomasa opened it up to retrieve a cigarette, only to realize that the box was empty. After staring at the empty container for a few seconds, Naomasa let it fall from his hands. It was over, and Naomasa was done.

Safety and his job still in mind, however, the detective forced himself to get up and prepared himself to tell the group of constables to block any streets leading to the station but he was interrupted by three large black cars approaching their destination rapidly. Eventually, all three cars stopped dead in their tracks right in front of the group and many heavily armed men in complex dark-colored combat gear poured out of two of them, leaving the one in the middle, which looked more like a semi carrying a large steel cube, alone and still running. Naomasa, after seeing that they were approaching the station and seemingly preparing to enter it with guns drawn, yelled out at them and ordered them to stop, to back away from the station. None of them answered or even acknowledged Naomasa's order. Having enough, Naomasa pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the group of black-wearing men, ordering them again to backdown.

In response, five members of the armed group turned around and pointed assault weapons at Naomasa, who didn't back down either. After a minute of standoff, Naomasa finally saw the markings on the chests of the armed men; HPSC. HPSC? What were they doing here? He had expected them to eventually take the reigns in the managing of the disaster once his investigation was over and done with but he hadn't called them over and he doubted that any of the constables would've contacted them in the panic of escaping the station. It would've taken far longer for a team of this size to be mobilized and arrive at their destination, so how did they know to be here? Why the hell were they here now?

''Men! Stand down.''

At the order, the five men who had their guns drawn at Naomasa stopped, turned around and resumed entering the police station. Naomasa, confused, looked around him for the source of the voice he had just heard and after not too long, he found it. A small being of bright white fur as white as snow stood in front of Naomasa with a megaphone accompanied by yet another of the heavily armed men in black combat. This, was Nezu, the principle of U.A. High. With a smile on his face, the intelligent rodent spoke to Naomasa.

''Hello detective... I guess there's a lot of explaining to do.''