Chapter 42

To be honest, I barely knew anything about the anime. I knew some of the characters, but that didn't matter right now, two of them were standing in front of me, Ryukyu and Nejire. They were also among the ones stalking me.

After finishing my food, I got up, ready to leave, when a drunk guy leaned on me. 'He reeks.'

"Could you let go of me?" I asked.

The 5'3" man looked up, paled, muttered an apology, and stumbled back to his table, seemingly celebrating his birthday by himself.

Walking out, I headed toward a train station. 'There should be a map there.' I wasn't planning on staying long. Since I'd put on the wooden pendant, I could feel it slowly absorbing some of my magic. I started feeding it more than it was taking, charging it faster. I guessed that once the white line around Buddha's face connected, I'd be able to leave.

But there was something I wanted to do before that.

Eri, the ball of trauma. I wanted to see if I could either take her with me or leave her in the hands of the heroes.

My plan? Follow rumors about the Shie Hassaikai, and if I meet any of their members? Just torture and kill them. Simple and hopefully efficient.

'Now, what to do about the heroes following me?' I thought, crossing another street and spotting a train station up ahead. 'Could be a hassle if I confront them.' But it seemed like I wouldn't have to, as Nejire, in her blue skin-tight bodysuit, floated down in front of me.

"Excuse me, sir!"

I turned to face her. "Everything okay, Hero?"

She stopped in front of me with a bright smile. "Yes! But could you tell me where you're heading, sir?"

I twitched at that. 'I'm not a sir.'

"Why do you need to know? Am I being suspected of something?"

Ryukyu had appeared next to Nejire, her presence adding a new layer of tension.

"Unfortunately, yes. It would be in your best interest to comply."

'My best interest?' I gave her a polite smile. "I'm afraid I don't have an ID on me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."

As I tried to walk away, Ryukyu grabbed my arm. "I've told you, I don't have an ID. Let go."

Ryukyu tightened her grip. "I'm afraid I can't do that. Please come with us, and don't make this difficult."

I sighed, deciding to play along. 'Who knows? Maybe this will be my way to get to Eri.'

Nodding to her, I complied. Ryukyu signaled to a pair of police officers that I hadn't noticed before, and they cuffed me before driving off.

Arriving at the police department was quiet. The officers didn't say anything, and neither did I. I was immediately escorted to an interrogation room and seated. Now cuffed to the table, I thought. 'How fun. If this takes too long, I'll just leave.'

I didn't have to wait long before a detective walked in. I didn't recognize him, and he didn't bother introducing himself. He sat down across from me, looking at me with frog-like eyes.

"Name, age, occupation, and where are you from?" His tone was flat, businesslike.

I tilted my head. "What am I being suspected of?"

He placed his hands on the table, clasping them together. "At this moment, you're being suspected of being a member of the Yakuza. I'll ask again. Name, age, occupation, and where are you from?"

I hummed in response, then asked, "Been catching many of them lately?" If they had been, that could work in my favor.

"That's none of your concern. Now answer the questions."

That answered my question. He twitched when I asked, though I was surprised he hadn't started yelling yet.

"Alright, I'll answer." I clasped my hands together and leaned back in my seat. "Sasaki Ryou. Age 18. Occupation is student. I'm from Kyoto."

The moment he left, I stood up and effortlessly pulled apart the quirk cancelling cuffs. I reached out with my senses, searching for the largest group of people, and whether any of them were cuffed or not. I found them.

I headed out the door and made silently my way to where they were. Soon, I arrived at a set of cells. Inside, I saw an array of different individuals, ranging from someone who looked like a bull to another who seemed entirely normal, save for a set of rat-like whiskers. They were all staring at me now.

"Listen up, everyone. I don't have much time, so I'll make this quick. I'm going to ask you one question. Is there a member of the Shie Hassaikai here, and if so, who are they? If no one answers, I'll kill one of you."

I heard laughter in response, so I summoned Muramasa and unleashed a weak "Cursed Slash" at someone random. They fell dead, split in half. The laughter stopped immediately.

"That makes one. I'll ask again. Is there a member of the Shie Hassaikai here, and who are they?" Still, no one spoke, so I killed another random prisoner.

"It'll be a shame if there's no one from the Shie Hassaikai here, or worse. If I end up killing them by mistake. That means the rest of you will die."

It took the deaths of twenty-seven people before someone finally spoke up. They were the last one alive in their cell, surrounded by the bodies of their former cellmates.

"The cell next to mine… it has a member, I promise!"

I walked to the next cell, and the response was immediate. Everyone inside started pointing at one person, the one with rat whiskers.

"Apparently, you're the member?" I asked.

He nervously nodded, getting pushed to the front by the others. He was at least two or three feet shorter than me, so I knelt down to his level. "I'm going to ask you a few questions, and I better like the answers."

He nodded rapidly, fear clear in his wide eyes.

"Where is their main base located? The one with the leader?"

He hesitated, then started crying. "I-I don't know!"

'Gross.'

I stood back up, summoning Muramasa, and sent a "Cursed Slash" at him. He screamed as his body hit the ground, severed and broken.

"That just wasted time. So now, I'll be wasting yours. I'll start by cutting off an arm and a leg."

Without hesitation, I did just that. Slicing through another prisoner's arm and leg, leaving them sprawled on the ground, wailing in agony.

"Now" I said, looking at the rest of the prisoners "who here is a member of the Shie Hassaikai?"