Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 117: Deals

Shouta kept his expression carefully neutral as Tsukauchi walked back into the interrogation room, this time accompanied by both Nedzu and a representative from the hero commission. Shouta almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw they'd sent Mera to handle it, thank god. He was too exhausted to question the why of Shouta's request too deeply. Plus, if worse came to worst, Shoutla could always bribe him with a new sleeping bag. Hopefully.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tsukauchi asked. "Withholding info like this is technically obstruction of justice."

"I'm just trying to do what's best for both society and viridian." Shouta answered carefully. "The kid was never the most confident to begin with, but with the circumstances of All for One's death, if Viridian doesn't have a guarantee that he'll be allowed to become a hero, he'll bolt before I can even get close, which could potentially cut him off from his civilian identity and just make things worse for everyone. So yeah, unless the commission makes a public announcement about his acceptance into the vigilante program so that everyone, including him, knows that we're serious, then I don't know anything."

Tsukauchi groaned, "Eraserhead..."

"It's alright, detective." Mera cut in tiredly. "We're about as tired of trying to track this kid down as you all are, so if Eraserhead thinks that giving a public announcement is enough to corner Viridian into becoming a legal hero, then my personal opinion is that it's one less headache for us to worry about. What do you think, Nedzu? You're the smart one."

"I think that I trust my employee." Nedzu said cheerily. "I am sure that Eraserhead must have a good reason if he is being so insistent on this and he, of course, knows the boy better than any of us, so I believe it's a reasonable request. Besides, I'm sure the commission doesn't want him to continue running around without a license, correct?"

"You can say that again." Mera groaned. "It wouldn't be as big of an issue if he wasn't so popular, but of course the stupid teenager had to go and make himself a meme, which risks inspiring copycats, which is something we would really prefer to nip in the bud as soon as possible. The biggest hold-up on our end is how it will look if we make the announcement and the kid runs anyway."

"Ah yes, that would be a tad awkward." Nedzu agreed. "But I am sure that Eraserhead is willing to guarantee Viridian's capture! Will that be an issue, Aizawa?"

"No." Shouta resisted the urge to grin victoriously. "I will personally make sure that the problem child is in our hands by the end of the day. If for some reason I fail, I'll gladly take the fall for it, but this is the best chance we have at finally catching him and I don't want to pass that up."

"And, of course, it will help keep the media from breathing down your necks." Nedzu smiled. "I have noticed some of the more intrepid reporters have already sniffed out that something happened last night. Letting them believe it was the capture of a popular vigilante is much more palatable than explaining the truth of All for One, I believe."

Mera shrugged and stood up, "Perfect, glad that's over. Eraserhead, make sure you congratulate the kid when you arrest him."

This time, Shouta did grin, "Don't worry, I will."

Izuku was feeling so many emotions that they all cancelled each other out and left him feeling almost numb. He heard mom moving around in the kitchen and frowned as he looked at the clock. Shouldn't she be at work right now?

The confusion was enough to get him out of bed and he hesitated for a moment before grabbing his eraserhead hoodie off the back of the chair and pulling it on. It was dumb, especially since ERaserhead would probably never want to see him again, much less work with him, considering that he was both quirkless and a murderer now, not to mention that it wasn't even cold enough to be wearing a jacket, but, well...there was a reason Mom called it his comfort hoodie and it couldn't hurt, right?