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Tsukauchi let out a long sigh as he waited for the press conference to start. After a full year of chasing after the newest Kingpin of the Underworld, they’d finally managed to do it. They’d caught Karma, or if were to call him by his real name, Izuku Midoriya.
The past year had been rife with sleepless nights, hero deaths, and an overall increase in villain activity. Tsukauchi had barely been able to rest with the amount of paperwork and investigation he had to do. The overtime had been hell. This all ends with the arrest of Karma though. This year, things should go back to normal, or as normal as they could be with one of the most dangerous villains now behind bars.
Tsukauchi felt good about himself for the first time in a long while. Things were finally looking up.
—-------
He shouldn’t have jinxed it. The media had all but salivated over the biggest story at the moment. Karma’s arrest had led to an immediate decrease in crime and any reporter would have noticed this shift. They’d have to be both blind and dumb not to. When Tsukauchi had walked on stage and stood behind the microphone, the pure elation he felt when addressing the crowd had been palpable.
“We are pleased to announce that we have Karma in custody and Japan can now rest safely, knowing that the villain cannot harm them anymore.” The press had also voiced their satisfaction at his words, camera flashes making his eyes burn as reporters did their best to capture this moment.
Where it all went wrong, was when Tsukauchi had to explain exactly who Karma is.
“A quirkless kid?” Angry mumbling suddenly broke out in the crowd and Tsukauchi was immediately nervous at what that would mean.
“Excuse me, Detective Tsukauchi.” A reporter asked, voice saccharine. Tsukauchi felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
“You said that the child that you’ve arrested is quirkless correct?” Tsukauchi nodded stiffly.
“Yes, but I don’t see why that’s a problem-” Another reporter interrupted him.
“The problem is that the kid is QUIRKLESS!” Though his voice started calm, by the end of his sentence, he was practically yelling. The reporters around him voiced their agreement.
“Yeah! What makes you think a quirkless kid could ever do anything like this?!”
“Just admit it! You found a scapegoat for all those crimes didn’t you?!”
“If you can’t find the villain then at least don’t lie about it!”
The press conference descended into chaos as each of the reporters started shouting at Tsukauchi. They could not believe, or even begin to consider that a quirkless kid could do so much damage! With no quirk to fall back on, for the kid to do everything he did, he would have to be insanely intelligent and powerful. Two things that could never be linked with a quirkless person, nevermind a child. A quirkless diagnosis was basically a testament to being a relic of the past, to be unevolved and useless. A quirkless person couldn’t become the Kingpin of the Underworld. They’d be eaten alive if they tried. Clearly, this was the heroes’ way of sweeping the entire matter under the rug and they would not stand for it. It was a serious matter. The Kingpin of the Underworld was a dangerous villain, he’d managed to kill multiple pro heroes after all! One of which was All Might! Yeah…there’s no way that the quirkless brat did all that. It was impossible.
The way that the police handled the situation only served to add more fuel to the fire. The public were in an uproar after the conference. To see the heroes and police claim that a quirkless kid was the main villain behind the year’s worth of horrific crimes was like a slap to the faces of all those who’ve lost something amidst the chaos. It was like some big joke, a lie meant to placate the public as the heroes stopped working on the case. It was unacceptable.
—-------
For weeks after the conference, the media investigated the boy that the heroes and police had claimed was “Karma” and they discovered a few facts that made them furious. Izuku Midoriya was a quirkless kid who’d been declared as “helpless and weak” by his teachers and mother, he was kidnapped at age 13 and has been missing ever since, the hero who’d been in charge of looking for him had declared him dead after one day of searching. He’d been bullied ever since he’d turned 4.
This was not the file of a villain, this was the file of a victim . It was common knowledge amongst the public that quirkless people were just weaker than those with quirks. It was a fact, so bullying them was seen as an act done only by villains. If students were seen harassing someone with a villainous quirk, it could be labelled as “training”, but a quirkless? That was just pathetic. What was the use of beating someone who couldn’t fight back? It left a sour taste in peoples’ mouths. Kicking a quirkless was like kicking a puppy. There was no reason to do it unless the intention was to cause harm to someone who could not fight back.
And the main perpetrator of Izuku Midoriya’s abuse…was a UA student. Katsuki Bakugo was the impulsive, brash, and violent youth that everyone had seen at the Sports Festival. No one had forgotten how he’d charged at his opponent, Shouto Todoroki even after the other boy had been knocked out. The clues strang themselves together, forming a web of information that only added to Midoriya’s innocence. He was a weak boy, clearly used as a scapegoat due to his inability to fight back. It made many reporters feel a twinge of pity for him.
That only brought one question to mind though. If the heroes and law enforcement were correct about Midoriya being the Kingpin…why was Katsuki Bakugo still safe? The Kingpin had a reputation. He’d kill whoever crossed him with no mercy. All Might and Endeavor had both fallen to his power, so what was a young hero student? If Karma had the strength to kill two No. 1 Heroes, why didn’t he kill his childhood bully? It didn’t make sense for him to simply forgive the boy for making his life hell. If Izuku Midoriya were truly Karma, the Kingpin of the Underworld, Katsuki Bakugo should not be alive. He should be splattered remains in a dark alleyway somewhere. The fact that he was alive, was a major point against Izuku Midoriya being Karma. Not that anyone thought he was. And that meant…Karma was still out there.
From that day on, multiple newspapers published articles on how the government and hero system had failed at capturing the true Karma, how they’d placed a quirkless child at the forefront so that they could wash their hands of the situation. The articles made an impact. A week after the first article was published, more stories came out from Midoriya’s ex-classmates about Katsuki Bakugo’s bullying and how they agreed that Izuku Midoriya was too weak to be Kingpin.
A week after that, civilians took to the streets to protest his incarceration. They held signs protesting the government “wasting taxpayer money” on imprisoning an innocent kid for their reputation. They screamed about the lies that the government was trying to feed them. This continued for months, and each week that went past brought more hostility from the civilians and worry from legislators. They knew that if they did not follow what the public demanded, they’d be out of office in the next election. They couldn’t let that happen.
Maybe that’s why they pushed the blame on Detective Tsukauchi and his team for the “mistake” in misidentifying who Karma was. They thanked the public for being so involved in such a big case and continued to placate them, releasing Midoriya in the process. They promised the public that they’d do everything within their power to make sure that the heroes would be well supported when they finally captured Karma.
—-------
A day after Izuku Midoriya’s release, there was a new headline. There was a horrific scene on one of the largest billboards in Musutafu. A blonde teen, Katsuki Bakugo was hanging from a rafter, bloodied and strung up with his intestines acting as a noose. His face was frozen in fear and agony as his eyes dripped blood down his cheeks, looking as if he were crying.
The billboard behind him was filled with photos. A younger Katsuki Bakugo smiled as he used his explosions to harm others, no empathy on his face as other students lay on the ground crying. The most shocking feature of this mural didn’t come as a photo though…big, bold letters were written in blood (probably Bakugo’s) over the photos.
“I’m back” It declares, and the civilians feel a sense of dread chill them from the inside. They’d just released a madman.
—-------
Meanwhile, in his new headquarters, Izuku Midoriya was giggling madly to himself as he watched the news stream his latest…work. It had all gone perfectly. By getting captured, he’d set the wolves on Bakugo’s tail, his ex-bully would not be able to hide their shared past with the vultures out hunting for blood. Going to Tartarus was inconsequential. He knew that the prison would not hold him for long, and the time he spent there would give him time to study the layout for his next plan. His childhood bully deserved everything he got. This plan had been in the works ever since Izuku had made his villain debut after all. He couldn’t just
kill
Bakugo. No, no, no! That would mean he’d die a
martyr
! No. Izuku wanted to ruin his reputation first, not that it was hard. But being a hero meant EVERYTHING to Bakugo when they’d been kids. Now, he’d NEVER be one.
Izuku thought it was perfect. Poetic justice if you will. If he couldn’t be a hero because of his
birth
. Bakugo couldn’t be a hero because of his
actions
. It was fair. Karma was like that.