7. Doctor's Office

Midoriya's pediatrician is nowhere to be found. The man completely disappeared from the law's radar. The house they've been permitted to search through holds a family of four who never even heard of the man called Osamu Takahashi. Their statements are taken by Detective Tsukauchi, and the man confirms non of them has lied.

They don't waste any time to plan a raid to the doctor's office. His secretary is already in a state of panic, and Shouta finds out why soon enough. Not only has her boss never showed up for his appointments of the day, but his personal office has been turned inside out during the weekend.

Drawers are pulled completely out of the desk, overturned and emptied of their contents on every available surface. Papers are scattered everywhere, and with a quick look Shouta decides they're mostly administration files, though he spots a few patients folders amongst them. None of them seem relevant to the case at first sight, but Tsukauchi demands that every single one of them is gathered so they can look through them all thoroughly back at the station. Better make sure to not overlook a single piece of evidence that might have been left behind.

The computer's screen is intact even though it lays face first on the ground, apparently having been swiped off the desk in a hurry to gather whichever files the doctor either destroyed or brought with him. The computer itself, however, has been completely destroyed, probably with a bat or something similar judged by the dents on the outside casing, and upon further inspection, the hardware is missing. Gone, with all of the secrets it probably holds.

Eraserhead does his job with a level head. He helps the search team as much as he can, offers his educated opinion as a pro hero, and discuss the possibilities with the detective.

Aizawa Shouta, on the other hand, is completely livid.

"I don't like this," he states with the most impassive voice he can muster. He's in the passenger seat of Tsukauchi's car. The backseats are filled with cardboard boxes full of papers and in the trunk lays the busted computer from the doctor's office.

Tsukauchi stays silent, but his grip on the steering wheel turns his knuckles white. They stop at a red light. There's almost no traffic at this hour of the day; on a Monday afternoon, most people are either at work or at school. The silence stretches and tension builds up while they wait for the light to turn green. It's Tsukauchi who breaks it, chancing a side glance at the Erasure Hero.

"I don't either. The other children –"

"Fuck!" Tsukauchi startles hard as Shouta lands a fist on the dash with his sudden outburst. The light turns green, but the car stays unmoving in the tension. Shouta bows his head and keeps his eyes close as he breathes through the anger. He wants the feeling to go away. Being furious won't help him solve this case.

"Aizawa," Tsukauchi starts, but Shouta interrupts again.

"Sorry, that was uncalled for." He hears himself say, but his voice leaves his mouth cold and biting. It doesn't sound remotely remorseful.

"It's fine."

"It's not," he argues. Another car honks hard at them as it passes them by, which spurs the detective to finally press on the gas just as the light turns yellow.

"There has to be something within all of those files left behind," Tsukauchi reasons after a beat of silence. "Obviously, the man gathered what he could in a hurry. With all the papers and folders lying around, he must have missed something."

"Let me help you go through them," Shouta demands.

"You've done enough, Eraserhead."

"I can't just do nothing," he grounds out through clenched teeth. Beneath the anger is a feeling of uselessness, and with nothing to do he'll only feel guilt at being powerless to help his kid.

"Take care of your student, he'll definitely need the support." Of fucking course he'll take care of Midoriya, it goes without saying.

"It's not enough." They're almost back at U.A. where the detective is meant to drop him off. It's just around the corner.

"It will have to be." Shouta turns his glare on the man. His quirk is not active, but he puts all his frustration in the stare. It must work because Tsukauchi sighs in defeat and slumps a bit in his seat.

When Shouta leaves the detective's car, it's with a box full of files to look through.