The Past

~~~2 Months prior to UA~~~

Mashirao Ojiro stood in front of the Hosu Chief of Police's work space, unmoving except for an occasional tail twitch whenever his eyes glanced over at the untouched phone sitting on the Chief's desk, mocking him.

The Chief looked up from his file and sighed at the tall, blond, twitchy tailed young adult in front of him.

"The Pros are pros for a reason. They will bring your friend home safely, woof." He said seriously, seeming to take pity on the sleep deprived man waiting for news.

Mashirao calmed slightly, taking the Chief's words to heart. "I apologize for my impatience sir, I just want to see my friend home safe after this nightmare of a week."

"I understand, woof, but-"

The Chief was interrupted by his door slamming open, and a rookie running in. Neither of them jumped, but the rookie did as he made eye contact with the irritated Chief.

"The mission was a success, they're takin' 'em to the hospital, Chief Tsuragamae!" The rookie shouted, standing straight. Only then did his eyes land on Mashirao, and the rookie immediately scratched the back of his head, slouching in shame at his mistake. "Er, I mean..."

"He is a friend of the first kidnapping victim, no need for alarm." The Chief spoke up.

The rookie looked relieved hearing this.

"But next time, be more careful, woof."

The rookie nodded.

"And knock dammit!" The Chief, Tsuragamae, literally barked.

As the rookie hurriedly bowed and turned to leave, so did Mashirao. He paused though, turning as the Chief put a firm hand on his shoulder. "You can ride there with me, woof."

Looking grimly at the file on his desk, he shook his head and grabbed his keys. "I have a feeling there is more to these two kidnappings than we first thought."

As they arrived at the Hosu General Hospital desk, the nurse glanced up at the Chief. Upon recognizing him, she immediately started leading them to a well guarded room.

"The male patient and female patient are in here, admitted by the Pro Hero, Ingenium." She immediately launched into the details for the Chief, before glancing at Mashirao and his slept-in suit, irritated, "Sorry mister, we're not accepting visitors or press-"

"He's with me." The Chief roughly said, challenging her to question him.

The nurse's eyes softened, and instead of responding, she opened the door for them.

"They seem to have both suffered from over use of their own quirk, though the extent of the overuse and the duration implies it was due to the effects of a different, unknown quirk. We're currently testing for drugs as well. The male patient is up, you can talk to him."

If she said more, Mashirao didn't hear it as he stopped short in the doorframe, staring at the fragile female in the bed.

It looked like Star- Olivia now, he reminded himself- alright, but she was grimy and covered in various bruises and scrapes. Her skin seemed paler than normal, and she had claw marks all around her ears that leaked red stains onto the blonde hair that was matted around her face.

Mashirao's stomach curled with guilt as he noticed the raw skin around her neck, wrists, and ankles. She was asleep, but still looked anxious, even in her slumber. Her nails also had dried red flakes on them, and-

The Chief pulled him into the room and closed the door behind them, distracting him from his observations momentarily, before his eyes were again trained on her battered body.

A voice spoke up from across the room.

"We had to sedate her Chief, sorry man. I know it's usually against protocol and all, but she kept screaming and..."

A hesitant pause, as if unsure if he could say it out loud. Mashirao guessed by the stretch of time that the voice chose not to.

"...covering her ears. The other one here seems to have injured his vocal cords. I was able to grab them both thanks to Eraser Head using his quirk to calm them down long enough to release them. He joined the rest of the infiltration team while I finished the evacuation, they were all a big help!"

Mashirao tore his eyes away from his friend, and noticed there were more people in the room. The voice belonged to the laid-back knight in white armor standing next to the other patient's bed, holding grape juice in his hand. The Turbo Hero: Ingenium, Mashirao recognized. Known for his speed and ability to reach victims and evacuate them from dangerous situations in record times, as well as for his joyful demeanor and many interns.

A patient around their age was in the second bed, purple hair greasy with sweat, and the darkest bags he's ever seen under his tired, empty purple eyes.

His lips were chapped to the point of splitting, and he also had bruising on his body and raw skin the same places as Star. Mashirao recalled them mentioning a second kidnapping, and assumed this was the other victim they were talking about.

Mashirao moved to his friend's bedside as the Chief walked over to the purple haired male.

"Can you talk?" Tsuragamae asked the drained man.

"..-ot.. we-" The young adult coughed, and tried again, "...I..."

The Chief pulled some candies out of his pocket and handed them to the patient.

The patient looked at them with weary eyes but took them anyway, the raw skin around his wrist becoming more noticeable with the movement. Mashirao swallowed at the sight.

"They are candies with an UA support hero's healing quirk, woof. Should be enough to heal your voice for now." Tsuragamae explained.

The purple haired patient nodded emotionlessly, and began to suck on one. The only indication that the candies did indeed work, were his shoulders relaxing ever so slightly. After a moment he tried again, turning to Ingenium.

"Thank you." He simply said, expressionless face turning somber. His tone held much more gravity than the hero was prepared for, and he stumbled in his reply, almost dropping his juice box.

"O-of course!" He quickly recovered, grinning, "Timely rescues are what makes a hero great! What's your name again, man?"

"Hitoshi." He then turned to the Chief, "Hitoshi Shinso."

The Chief nodded and took out a small pad of paper, clicking his pen. Mashirao assumed he was writing the information down.

"I am Tsuragamae, the Chief of Police. I am sorry I must ask this of you so soon, woof, but can you tell us about what happened?"

Shinso frowned and glanced over at Mashirao for the first time, noticing his protective stance in front of the other bed, "Her name was Star, right?"

Mashirao nodded his head slightly, surprised he knew her real name. The patient's gaze lingered on her, frowning. He seemed to wince, as if upset by a memory or thought. He looked back to the Chief, determined. "What do you want to know?"