Wrath's Contractor 7 (Patreon)

I left Max and Himiko in Kyoto to study and train with the rat-like mentor alongside his four color-coded students, while I made some other moves. While I could attempt to capture more people, I decided against just slapping anklets on potentially valuable people for now. Instead, I began to focus on some of the case files that Deadlock had given me. The deaths without any apparent cause were the most curious to me, and the sort of thing that my Company created backstory would focus on.

I spent hours poring over the case files, trying to find any connections between the victims. Most of them were elderly, living alone, and with no known medical conditions. There were no signs of foul play, no evidence of break-ins or struggle. It was as if they had simply fallen asleep and never woken up.

But then, one file caught my attention. It was the case of a young woman, only in her thirties, who had died suddenly in her sleep. She had no known medical conditions, and the autopsy had revealed nothing unusual. But there was something else that caught my eye - a note in the file from one of the detectives who had worked on the case. It read:

“The neighbors told us she'd been having bad nightmares lately.”

I immediately made a mental note to find out who this husband was and talk to him. But first, I needed to do some more digging. I went back through the files, looking for any connection between this woman and the other victims. And then I found it - a name that appeared in several of the files as a witness or neighbor.

I did some more research and discovered that this person was a nurse who worked at a local hospital. I knew that I had to talk to her.

“Is everything okay?” Ayame asked, looking over my shoulder at the case files.

“No, something's not right,” I replied, closing the file and turning to face her. “I've been looking into these deaths without any apparent cause and I think I've found a connection. There's a nurse who appears in several of the files as a witness or neighbor. I need to talk to her.”

“Do you think she's involved?” Ayame asked, concern etched on her face.

“I don't know yet,” I said, shaking my head. “If we were in the Empire, I’d be able to use more immediate means of interrogation, or pass it off to either Imperial Intelligence or another Sith who specializes in information extraction. But here, I have to rely on more traditional methods. I'm going to pay her a visit and see what she knows.”

Ayame nodded in understanding before heading back to the kitchen. I glanced up at her retreating form, pursing my lips in consideration. We would need to get her some measure of capability, beyond mere culinary capability. Her personality would not be the most conducive to straight combat, but there were other avenues that our retinue could shore up.

Letting out a sigh, I put the thought aside for the time being. We did not have nearly enough Credits to purchase something of that manner, and I strongly suspected that the points from Deadlock’s capture alone wouldn’t be enough.

[hr][/hr]

The hospital that the nurse, Midoriya Inko, worked at was located in the heart of the city. It was a large and modern building with sleek glass windows and gleaming metal fixtures. As I walked through the lobby, I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. The Force was...on edge for lack of a better word.

Still, I made my way to the reception desk and asked to see Midoriya Inko, showing the receptionist my Hero License. She gave me a once-over before picking up the phone and making a call. After a few moments, she hung up and gestured for me to wait.

A green haired woman, who was strikingly familiar for some reason, came to the lobby a few minutes later. She had a motherly aura about her, though she looked younger than I expected. Probably in her early to late thirties.

“Hello,” she greeted me with a warm smile. “I'm Midoriya Inko. Please come this way.”

We walked down a hallway and then turned left into an office area. A small room was situated in the corner with a long table and several chairs. Midoriya Inko opened the door and motioned for me to enter.

“Please, take a seat,” she said. I did so, and she sat across from me, before she asked, “Is something wrong? I’m sorry, my daughter is a big fan of Heroes, but I’m afraid I don’t recognize you.”

I gave a slight nod, “Good, that means I am doing something right. I am an Underground Hero investigating a number of murders. Several of the victims were patients of yours.”

Even before arriving, I’d doubted that Midoriya was the killer. The surge of emotions through the Force simply confirmed it, as far as I was concerned. Still, I wanted to be thorough, just in case.

“That’s horrible,” she said, sounding genuinely upset.

“I was hoping to ask you some questions about them,” I said, trying to keep my tone neutral. I listed off the victims that had been treated by her before asking, “Did any of them ever mention having bad dreams or nightmares before their deaths?”

Midoriya Inko frowned in thought, “I can’t say for certain. Some of my patients did mention having trouble sleeping, but it’s not uncommon for hospital patients to experience that. I don’t recall any of them mentioning nightmares specifically.”

I nodded, taking note of her answer, “Did you notice anything unusual about them or what they were in for?”

She shook her head, “No, they were all in for a number of different reasons, the only thing I can think of that they could possibly have had in common was that I only saw them on evenings when I had to stay late.”

That was also noted, and I pursed my lips under my mask in consideration. It wasn’t much, but it was the only thing I had to go off of. Standing up with a silent sigh, I said, “Thank you for your time.”

“Wait!” Midoriya Inko called after me, stopping me in my tracks. I turned back towards her, and she gestured for me to sit again. I did so, waiting to see what she had to say. “I always make sure to do everything I can for my patients, and even if it meant staying an extra hour or two every night to check up on them, I would. If I can help with finding the person responsible for these crimes, I want to. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

There was a lot more I could ask, but I decided to hold off on those questions until we knew for certain it was our culprit. For now, I needed to focus on gathering information.

“Yes, there is one last question I would like to ask you. Do you know anyone who might have been angry at the hospital? Someone who didn't like the medical treatment they received here?”

She shook her head, looking sad that she couldn’t help any further. I stood once again, started to exit the conference room, only to pause. If the patients that had been attacked were only visited in the evenings…

“When is the next shift you have that is in the evening?” I asked her, a hunch beginning to form.

[hr][/hr]

A few days later, Max and Himiko were back in the Apartment for the weekend, and I received a delightful surprise upon updating the two on how my time had been spent while they were receiving training.

“If you get a chance, put one of the anklets on Midoriya Inko the next time you see her,” Max said bluntly.

“She is a simple nurse, what makes her so valuable?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“In the grand scheme of things, not much,” he admitted with a shrug. “It is more her relation to her daughter, whom we have already met.”

I thought back, finally placing why the nurse Midoriya had seemed familiar, “Ah, the girl who wanted a signature, at the beach.”

He nodded, a wide grin stretching across his face, “Even ignoring the fact that we could use every Credit that we can get, do I need to spell out the fact that once both mother and daughter are bound, we will have the ability to have mother/daughter threesomes practically on call?!”

I gave him an unimpressed look, somewhat annoyed at his primary reason for desiring to capture the nurse.

“That is hardly a reason to put an anklet on her,” I said, shaking my head. “But I do agree that it would be beneficial to have her under our control. I have a hunch that she might be connected to the murders I am investigating, and we could use her to gather more information.”

Max raised an eyebrow, intrigued, “Oh? What makes you say that?”

“A number of the victims were only visited in the evenings, during Midoriya Inko's shift,” I explained. “I feel that there is a connection. I have reviewed the hospital's security footage, but have yet to find anything that seems relevant.”

“What do you plan on doing next?” Himiko asked, looking over the case files on the table.

“Her next evening shift is in two days, during which I will watch the exterior of the hospital,” I explained to her as I stood. “I suspect that something will happen that will stand out, if not I will speak to Deadlock, and see if he has any other possible leads.”

Max’s brow furrowed in confusion, “Who is Deadlock?”

I looked at Max in surprise, “He is one of the primary Hero Course teachers at UA. There is a chance that he will be your Homeroom teacher should you pass the Entrance Exam. I assumed that you would know of him.”

He shook his head, “In the story, the two Hero Course Homeroom teachers were Vlad King and Aizawa. I’ve never heard of a ‘Deadlock’, in any franchise.”

Turning to Himiko, I asked her, “Are you familiar with Deadlock?”

She shook her head, and I shrugged, “It is probable that he is one of the individuals whom you were warned would be different from the source material you are familiar with.”

“Yeah,” he muttered under his breath, half sarcastically. “As if the people who were kicking my ass the last five days weren’t evidence enough of this world not being the manga version.”

I raised an eyebrow, and he explained, “The teacher you got for us, and his current students, are from a forty year old franchise that started as a comic book referencing another comic book before being made famous by a cartoon.”

Max was the recipient of three stares, of various levels of skepticism. I wasn’t going to say it, but I had little comprehension of what he’d just said. I assumed that ‘comic book’ was a physical tome of some kind, but I wasn’t sure what the ‘comic’ descriptor said about it. As for ‘cartoon’, I had no idea what that was.

Still, I pushed that aside. There were other matters to focus on. Stretching, I took a moment to loosen my muscles as I moved to the main living quarter of the apartment. My neck made several popping sounds as I rolled it, before I turned to face Himiko and Max.

“Max,” I said, making him start slightly. “Come here.”

He did so, only to go flying back as the heel of my palm slammed into his sternum. He fell onto his rear, coughing, before forcing himself to his feet, giving me an incredulous look.

“The fuck was that for?!” he asked.

“Remember yesterday’s lesson?” Himiko asked, making Max’s face turn red even as I sent a curious look her way. She happily explained, “The oldest brother made some comment about a fight not being fair, so Sensei kicked his feet out from under him, held his walking stick across his throat and asked, ‘Was that fair?’ He said no, then Sensei asked, ‘Did I win?’”

“A good lesson,” I said with a nod, before returning my focus to Max as he got his breathing under control. “Now, show me what you have learned.”