Chapter 40: Chapter 40
The day for our summer camp had finally arrived.
I had to give the credit to Aoyama, the man knew how to hide his emotions. If he wasn't neck deep in the mud, he could've been an actor. For our entire ride, the only thing that gave him away was his erratic heartbeat.
I was sitting with Momo and she was excitedly talking about the new recipes she had recently learnt from a famous chef. Jiro was also listening to her with her chin rested on the back of our seats, completely ignoring Kaminari.
Mineta was tied down by Sero's tape, Bakugo was angry at something, Midoriya was chatting with Uraraka and Iida, while the rest were busy looking out the windows of their seats.
Aoyama, he was smiling as usual. Hagakure and Ojiro had absolutely no idea with whom they were happily chatting.
"Tozen-kun?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you even listening to me?!"
"I am. You don't like resins on the 'Chile en nogada' that you learnt to bake. You like the Wagyu A5, right? I think you'll have the resources to acquire a Wagyu A5 Picanha cut and dry age it. Then, make a steak. It'll be amazing."
Momo's eyes sparkled as she said, "Oh my! I've had dry aged steak before. It's wonderful! A dry aged Wagyu A5 steak? Mmmhmm.. I want to eat it now."
She began to pout and clutch her flat tummy. Jiro giggled and poked her cheek with her earlobe and I just smiled at her antics.
"Here, have some beef jerky."
"Oh! Thanks!"
"Can I have some, 'Tozen-kun'?"
I was too shameless to be flustered and replied to Jiro, "Sure, they are nicely spiced, so, careful if you have a weak pallette, 'Kyouka-chan'."
As expected, she scowled and scoffed before taking a piece of jerky with a flushed face. We kept chatting until we reached our destination.
I had lots of things on my mind. The feeling of holding Momo's delicate waist was one... Another was the feeling of being inside her. The carnal memories were a minor thing. My mind was mostly occupied by the talk I had with Nezu before I'd brought up Aoyama.
(APIBNHA)
"Come in."
"Nezu-sensei, something terrible had been happening right under our noses."
The chimera frowned and promptly placed his teacup away.
"Ever since I arrived here, I've noticed disappearances amongst the people with low socio-economic status, especially from the slums in the west. Shady men prawling thestreets is common, but, the gang members of 'Musutafu Savages' have been especially active around the slums. I visited the area's precinct and... It was extremely vexing to learn that they are doing absolutely nothing about it."
Nezu leaned back and said, "It truely is concerning. But, it's not ours to deal with. Heroes exist to deal with quirk related crime. Kidnappings, unfortunately, are still dealt with by the police force."
I wasn't going to back down, so, I pressed on and said, "Sensei, we already know that the 'Savages' comprise of criminals with mutation quirks. Especially those who have animal related mutations. If they are involved, of course they are utilizing their quirks to kidnap and move around to stay away from prying eyes of the law. We need to investigate before we rule them out as something non-quirk related."
"You're not the first one to try and get involved in police cases using that reasoning, student Asui. Most of the times, it is the right decision. Did you talk to the precinct captain? What did he say?"
An angry growl left my throat at the mention of that man. I said, "Sensei, it's nothing good. That precinct is as corrupt as a virus filled hard drive. The moment I mentioned the kidnappings, every single cop in the precinct grew wary of me. Everyone's heart rates shot up. I was then called to the captain's office and he told me, in mo uncertain words, that he was dealing with it. It's clear that they've sold their themselves to the gangs."
The frown on his face deepened and he asked, "How certain are you?"
"The precinct stank of alcohol and drugs. The smell of Marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine... It has seeped into the walls. Posters of missing children were strewn around, balled up and thrown into trash. As a provisional hero, it is within my powers to authorize a check on the finances of anyone I suspect of doing something shady. The captain doesn't come from wealth and nor does his wife. Yet, his 'uncle' who lives in 'America' is vastly wealthy and sends him tens of thousands of USD on a monthly basis. Sensei, that man has no uncles. His father was a single child and his mother was an orphan. And, I found this..."
I took out a small sealed bag with a bunch of pills in it and placed it on the table.
"What is it?"
"Sensei, those are methaqualone tablets. This drug was outlawed all over the world way before the era of quirks. Yet, I found these pills in a police officer's pockets who was stumbling out of their washroom. Look at the branding on the pills."
Nezu picked the bag up and brought it close to his eyes. His other hand clenched into a fist as he whispered, "Musutafu Savages."
"Sensei, they are ignoring all the kidnapping cases, their captain is payed in US dollars and the cops do drugs on daily basis while inside the precinct. They are corrupt to their core. They are using drugs that are produced by the 'Savages' and that gang's activity is the highest in that area. It all adds up."
Nezu placed the bag back on the table and picked his cup of tea to take a sip.
"This is a horrifying discovery you've made, student Asui. I can tell that you are invested into this and want to be a part of the investigation. But, you will be leaving for your summer camp soon. I will contact my friends in the City Hall, the Hero Association and the Commissioner of Police and discuss this with them. Leave it to me and go to the summer camp. When you return, I will involve you in the investigation."
(APIBNHA)
I trusted Nezu to do the right thing.
I couldn't tell him, or anyone, about my powers and methods. My psychic type abilities and the torture of Hyena, I was going to take their truth to my grave.
*Ting*
I pulled my phone out of my pocket upon receiving a text message.
'Dad?'
[Hey, son. Remember your uncle, Lithoba? He used to bring you licorice everytime he'd visit us. He'll be coming to Musutafu for something work related in two weeks. Show him around the city, yeah?]
'Uncle Lithoba? I remember him. His face scared the shit out of me when I first saw him. Being a human bullfrog is kinda unfortunate if you like a girl. Poor guy never got married. He's a lawyer. Two weeks, huh? I'll be back from the camp by that time.'
The bus soon came to a stop and we were asked to exit.
We had arrived at our destination.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone