Archive of Our Own ^beta

Nedzu loved puzzles. His quirk, high-specs made it difficult to find any sort of puzzle that challenged him. Most of the cases he is tasked with as a hero only last a short time before the perpetrator is apprehended and Nedzu is back to being bored. That isn’t to say he wishes for the villains he helps catch to be free longer, he merely wishes he could have a puzzle that lasted longer without negative effects. 

Which is why his current case is so exciting. Nedzu had not been expecting much from Dective Tsukauchi when he called unexpectedly, it was not an entirely rare occurrence for the detective to call him. Nedzu was surprised to hear Aizawa on the other line with Tsukauchi calling him to bring him in on a case. The fact that Aizawa was willingly bringing him in on a case spoke volumes. Nedzu was shocked at the news that a vigilante and informant knew about All Might’s small form. It was impressive and worrisome. 

Nedzu was impressed, the individual’s skill in quirk analysis rivaled Nedzu’s own abilities. Indicating the individual either had an intelligence quirk like his own or the individual was naturally extremely intelligent. Tsukauchi already had intelligence quirks noted as possibles so that information was not very helpful in terms of tracking the individual. 

In the end Nedzu could only try to get into this Omnipotence’s head. The information the police had was scarce and unless they took in this Dabi character for questioning and got some useful information there was not much else he could do but wait.

Then one day Nedzu got a system alert. Someone was trying to infiltrate UA servers. Odd, it was rare for anyone to try hacking into UA as it’s security was notoriously impenetrable. Following the alert to the source of the intrusion Nedzu found a poorly constructed virus. He almost dismissed it entirely when something caught his eye. 

Looking further into the code revealed a message. “Guess I really managed to spook Tsuka if he brought you in on the case. Let’s have a chat, Nedzu-san.” A link followed after the message. Now some may have ignored the link as a potential trap, but Nedzu was too intrigued, his puzzle had reached out to him, something Nedzu had not predicted in the slightest. 

So Nedzu clicked the link. It opened to an online checkers board with a box opened to input a name. Nedzu typed “RatGod” in and the board came into focus. Nedzu’s opponent had donned the name “AllKnowingNuisance.”

The chat built into the site chimed indicating a message.

AllKnowingNuisance: Nedzu-san! I am pleased you joined. 

RatGod: Well, not many invite me to a checker’s match by trying to hack my servers.

AllKnowingNuisance: No I suppose not

RatGod: I am surprised you chose Checkers. With the level of analysis and plans Detective 

    Tsukauchi sent me, I would have expected you to be a Chess player.

AllKnowingNuisance: I do not play Chess

RatGod: oh?

AllKnowingNuisance: It is against my religious beliefs

AllKnowingNuisance: Now then, shall we begin?  

After the first incident Nedzu had semi-regular Checkers matches with the vigilante. They’d have a brief conversation before starting the match and then during the game only comments about the game were made. Once over, Omnipotence would bid Nedzu farewell and leave. 

It was a peculiar situation. Nedzu had yet to get any information from these chats that could aid in the investigation. The second Nedzu asked something wrong the game would start ending the conversation. 

The looks on Aizawa and the detective’s faces when Nedzu informed them of the checkers matches was a memory Nedzu would hold dear for years. 

So Nedzu continued on, he kept digging and thinking between his other responsibilities. It was thrilling to him to be actually stumped on something. Especially something like catching a helpful vigilante. 

It was during one such moment when a ping from his computer tore Nedzu’s focus away from a recent plan written by Omnipotence. One of Nedzu’s many programs found something of possible interest. Clicking the notification, Nedzu took in his screen.

“Well this is unexpected.”

Nedzu reached for his phone without taking his eyes off his screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tsukauchi Naomasa stared at the case file in front of him. Surely, if he stared at it long enough it would reveal some crucial information to him. Maybe he should listen to Sansa and actually go home to sleep instead of camping on the sofa in his office. 

“Naomasa.” 

Speak of the devil.

Naomasa lifted his gaze to the door where Sansa stood, looking at him expectantly. 

“Yes?” 

The cat headed officer looked at him for a long moment, “Your phone is ringing.” 

Naomasa blinked. Suddenly his brain processed the ringing coming from the device on his desk. “Oh, thank you Sansa.” 

“Thank me by going home to sleep after that call.” 

Naomasa nodded in agreement as he answered the call. “Detective Tsukauchi.”

“Are you watching the news detective?” The voice of the UA Principle filtered over the line. 

“No?..should I be?” Nedzu calling was not a good sign for fulfilling his agreement to Sansa.

“It would be advisable.” 

Searching for a moment to find the remote under the mass of papers on his desk, Naomasa turned on the TV in the upper corner of his office. “Which channel?” 

“Any of them.” 

Oh

O h 

That... is not a good headline. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shouto stared at the TV in shock. Endeavor wasn’t home so Fuyumi had convinced him to come out of his room. The TV had been playing in the background as they worked on a puzzle together. So both of them noticed the sudden change in the news. 

They saw the recorded video of a masked figure call out the corruption in the hero commission. Shouto watched as piles and piles of evidence were on display. He watched as a child solider program was exposed and that was apparently where Hawkes came from. 

Then came the mass amounts of coverups the HPSC had done. The figure specifically pointed out how many of them were for Endeavor. At the end Shouto was reeling at all the information, and the figure hinted that they did not share all their evidence. Merely enough to spark action. 

Shouto unlocked his phone. He may not understand social media very well but even he could find people’s reactions. Shouto scrolled as Fuyumi talked to Natsuo on the phone. Posts upon posts crying out in rage at the Hero Commission for their misdeeds. People were taking up the cry for reform, rallying around the masked figure. Then he found it. Threads upon threads talking about Endeavor. Shouto didn’t come across a single positive post. For the first time in years a small smile graced Shouto’s face. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey.”

Keigo turned from where he was sitting on the edge of the roof. Pyre was making his way over and joined him. 

“Hey.” 

“How are you doing?” 

Keigo sighed, “People know now, I knew it was coming but I still don’t know how to feel about it. I guess I feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, if the commission survives they’ll hunt Omni down with a vengeance.” 

Pyre nodded. “That’s all true, but remember Omni had a lot more evidence than what was publicly released and since both Tsukauchi and Nedzu are on Omnipotence’s case they’ll be a part of the commission investigation.”

Keigo thought about the times the commission complained about the Principle and how he was a pain in their side, twisting regulations and orders around. Poking his nose into commission affairs. 

He then thought of Ingenium, one of his closest friends and a great judge of character, who often spoke very highly of the detective. He was a bit biased but still, Keigo knew Tsukauchi valued truth and justice.

Hawkes could have faith in the investigation with the two of them at the helm.  

“Besides if all else fails I can quite literally burn the commission to the ground so they can’t touch you again.” 

Keigo snorted at his friend and shoved him lightly. 

Yeah, he’d be okay.