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|Susaku's POV:|
…
-Splat-
"Ugh, this is horrible… Just how many are there?"
"Judging by how many we have passed by now? more than a hundred for sure"
"Shit… That kid said some weird masked guy did this, right? Was he sure that it was not some kind of monster instead?... Ugh, this is not something that could have been done by a human"
"Hey, focus. Just ignore the corpses… They will be checked later by another squad. For now, we just need to find clues about that guy's whereabouts, as well as more information about this place, and report it later to the headquarters"
"We know sir. It's just… it's an unbelievable sight… Not once during my ten years of service at the police have I seen something even remotely similar"
"I know. I am shocked too. However, even if I'm curious right now, we still need to collect information about that excuse of a doctor, as well as where that mysterious guy went after doing this massacre"
"-Sigh…- That doctor… Who would have thought that such a famous and respected person would be running something so shady right below a damn hospital?"
"It's probably because a hospital is one of the last places where one would expect something like this to exist that he did it here… and because it is the best place to make people disappear by simply writing them off as dead as well…"
"… Eesh, it gives me goosebumps just to imagine how many people may be like that without us even knowing…"
"That is what scares you? I'm more worried that some psychopath capable of killing hundreds of armed soldiers all alone is somewhere outside wandering freely, without a care in the world, walking among u—"
"Hey you two, I told you to focus"
""Sorry sir""
"-Sigh…- Never mind that, look there. It seems like there's a room over there. Let's check what's inside"
""Yes sir!""
-Click…-
-Creeeaaak…-
"Oh god"
"Here too? Fuck, that guy didn't spare a single one"
"... And they didn't seem to have died at peace… Urp! I think I'm going to throw up…"
"Hmm… The suspect most likely held a grudge against the yet unknown organization operating below the hospital... Alright, noted. Let's just hope this helps the higher-ups a little to figure out the identity of whoever did this… Hmm?"
"What's wrong sir?"
"Did you find any evidence?"
"No, you two… Did neither of you notice that we are currently in a security room?"
"What?!"
"Woah, it's true! There are at least a hundred surveillance screens here… And these people, they must have been the ones who used to monitor everything occurring in this facility!… Huh? Wait, does that mean…?"
"Yes, officer, if we wanted to find evidence, then this was the best place that we could have come across"
""...!!""
"Alright, you two, enough of being surprised. Begin gathering intel through the videos recorded of this place, and maybe if you do well we will be able to leave this place earlier than anticipated"
""Aye Sir!""
-Sound of chairs being moved-
-Tack, tack, tack, tack tack!-
"With this, we might be able to figure out who our mysterious genocider is…"
-Tack, tack, tack, tack tack!-
"... Though, I would like to find that doctor first. To think that he would be experimenting with human lives right below a hospital… It makes me sick to just think about it…"
-Tack, tack, tack, tack, tack…-
"Uh… Sir?"
"Yeah? Did you discover anything worth reporting?"
"No… There seems to be a problem"
"What?"
"All the data and recordings of the day of the incident do not exist. As if coincidentally all the cameras that day stopped functioning"
"... Come again?"
…
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|Susaku's POV:|
…
-Snore…-
"..."
-Snoooore…-
"..."
-Snooooooooore!-
-Sigh…-
I woke up to the sound of someone snoring loudly right next to my ear.
Slowly, I turned my head to look at the culprit and saw my father sitting right next to my bed, in an uncomfortable hospital chair while having a big drop of saliva falling from his mouth as he slept soundly.
"..."
Once I saw him, I blinked blankly for a second, stunned after seeing him all of a sudden, before I turned to look to the front and stared at the ceiling hovering above me impassively.
"..."
Many thoughts ran through my mind as I stared at nowhere in particular in silence for a few minutes.
Thoughts like what occurred down there in that place, what my future was going to be from now on, or the things that I had to investigate now that I was finally free.
However, in the end, after several minutes of quiet pondering, they all culminated in a single phrase that escaped my lips.
"What a week, huh?"
Once those words left my mouth, I felt way lighter. As if I had just taken a great load out of my chest.
"... Ugh, damn it"
Unfortunately, my joy lasted only until I turned to look to my right, and noticed that a calendar over there showed that it was still Wednesday.
Somehow, after reading that, I felt tired all of a sudden.
"Hm—hmm… Huh?"
However, unlike me, someone else seemed to have recovered their energy at that moment.
-Yawn…-
After hearing my muttering, my father woke up from his nap, before he turned to look at me while scratching his eye lazily as he asked me with a still-dazed tone, "Huh?… Son? You are awake?"
To which I answered nonchalantly.
"No, I'm just talking asleep"
"Haha… Feeling funny, aren't we? Ugh… You should have woken me up if you were awake… Sitting here isn't good for my back, you know?" He said while stretching his back with a pained expression on his face.
His body wasn't feeling so joyful about sleeping on a hospital chair for who knows how long.
Upon seeing his pained expression, I scratched the back of my head, before I shrugged my shoulders as I explained myself.
"I woke up just now and was looking around the room when you woke up too"
Hearing that, Dad shook his head with a helpless expression, before he began standing up from the chair as he let out small yelps of discomfort every time his adult body complained to him.
"Is that so? Then I guess there's no helping it… Ouchie, ouchie… Damn, your old man is becoming an old man"
While he tried to stand up, I looked around in curiosity as I noticed that despite my father being here, my mother was nowhere to be found.
So, feeling curious, I asked him.
"Where's mom?"
"Your mother? She couldn't come today as she had to take care of her store. Though, she told me to tell you she would visit later at night… Ah! And talking about visits, Mr. Tatsuo called me and told me that he would visit you today as well. Though, he didn't tell me at what hour…" He said while scratching his chin.
Hearing that, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. That old man had not visited me once since I became hospitalized.
Three days had already passed since the day I escaped from that creepy laboratory and was then sent to urgencies, mind you!
One would have thought that he would hurry to see how his one and only disciple was after such a traumatic event.
…And yet, he was nowhere to be found.
So, it was obvious to see me surprised after hearing that today he was finally showing his horrible face here.
'Tsk… What a great sensei I have…'
Scoffing lightly in disdain as I remembered that old fossil, I turned to look back at my father and became surprised when I noticed that he was leaving the room.
"Where are you going, dad?"
"I'm gonna go get something for both of us to drink. Sleeping in a stiff chair dehydrated me more than I expected"
'I don't think that makes sense…?'
Not finding any logic in that comment but still not bothering to correct him, I nodded my head and watched as he left while saying "I will get you some juice".
After that, I was left alone in the room.
Recognizing that fact, I leaned back on my bed and turned to look once again at the ceiling above me without any expression in particular. Letting my thoughts run wild as I recalled the events of three days ago.
That day, after I managed to escape from that creepy laboratory, I came across a nurse from the hospital that was built right above it.
At first, I almost killed her because I thought she was part of that group of psychos. However, fortunately for both of us, I managed to stop myself right before I could do it when I noticed that she seemed to be clueless about me, unlike all the guys who had tried to prevent me from leaving.
This was also why, after confirming that she didn't have anything to do with the fucked up things that were going down in that laboratory, I asked her to call the cops.
There was nothing good in keeping a fucked up place like that in secret. Even more considering the bizarre things that were down there… Those weird and unsettling monsters with their brain exposed especially.
They were something that would be better exposed to whoever the authorities were in this country.
Anyway, in the end, and thanks to the nurse doing as I asked, the authorities arrived later that day and turned the entire hospital upside down. Transferring all the patients present there that day to other hospitals while an investigation on the laboratory below the hospital ran down, and bringing along several Pro-heroes to take a look at what was down there just in case things became dangerous.
Thanks to that, a whole commotion shook the entire country that day… Or so did the internet say.
I mean, after that day, I was also transferred to a hospital due to the injuries that I was carrying after escaping from that laboratory. So, being bedridden, it became a tad hard to keep up with what was happening outside.
But, as far as I managed to discover from the several news that I watched and read these past days, it turned out that that psycho doctor that I met while I was still imprisoned in that laboratory had been some kind of big shot in the world of medicine who was known for being benevolent and kind.
Who would have thought that under all that appearance of a goody-two-shoes, a psychopath of higher caliber would be hiding?
Thanks to that, from now on I will have trust issues for my whole life.
You know what I mean. For example, when I see a granny crossing the street, I will probably imagine that she is an evil and old mafia leader planning on destroying the whole city as vengeance for their grandsons being captured or somethin'.
Or, you know, when I go to the grocery store, I will probably imagine that the owner is in reality an evil scientist/inventor who has implanted nanomachines in the vegetables that will allow him to control anyone who eats them once he so desires it.
Man, I gotta receive therapy after this.
Unless the therapist is also the mastermind behind something shady…
"Damn, you can't trust anyone…" I muttered under my breath as I pressed my hand into my hair in anxiety.
Fortunately, during the small questioning that the cops did to me after I was transferred here, I sneaked in a small lie to drift the attention away from me.
When they asked me who had been the one behind all the murders down there, I made up the story that some mysterious masked guy who called himself a vigilante infiltrated the facility and started killing everyone in there with no mercy. As for me, I just happened to be rescued by him after he saw me trapped in jail.
Once I told them that, they believed me pretty easily.
And I don't blame them. Imagining that a kid of no more than 8 years old would have been the one to do all of that was not easy.
Even less with the Quirk that was registered under my name.
An eight-year-old kid with the power to alter the shape and color of the glasses on his head killed more than a hundred people? Sure pal.
The story about that mysterious guy was much more believable.
Thanks to it, I managed to pass as just the kid who was kidnapped by some evil guy, instead of the monstrous kid who killed more than a hundred armed people all alone.
And, considering that now I knew that any seemingly kind guy could perfectly be an evil mastermind who did all kinds of shady stuff behind the back of others, hiding the truth would surely help me to not get the attention of people like that.
If some psycho was already interested in the slightly higher physique that I possess, who knew how many more guys like that would target me if the truth about what happened down there went out?
Surely, not a likable amount.
Though, now that they had seen me get kidnapped, some of them will probably get curious about it…
"... -Sigh…- What a mess…"
Sighing in exasperation at how dire the current situation looked right now, I blinked tiredly as I stared blankly at the air in front of me, before I suddenly lifted my hand and started staring at it with a piercing gaze.
It looked human.
As did my entire body.
However, from it, a knife and a gun made from my bones had sprouted and killed the people down there.
Not only that, but at another time, a giant mouth had appeared in the middle of where my belly was and shot a tongue that pierced the hearts of others like arrows to an apple.
Moreover, after killing a big guy who had claimed would squish me like a bug, it didn't take me a second to acquire his entire appearance, including stature, constitution, and voice when I desired it.
Recalling all those moments, and seeing some strands of my red hair falling in front of my eyes, I felt a certain sense of familiarity.
One that could be simplified in a single word.
"Impostor"
Once I muttered that word, I fell silent for a few seconds.
"..."
Those… Were the abilities of an impostor, right?
The kill animations were there. The knife, the gun, the tongue appearing from a mouth in the middle of the belly, the neck twisting…
… The ability to change my appearance.
"... Hah"
It was simply too much of a coincidence.
And my appearance, while human, had a certain resemblance to a crewmate.
Not because I was round or something like that. I was actually quite handsome in my incredibly humble opinion.
Rather, it was because my red hair and my glasses created the perfect combination of red and light blue that usually reminded one of a crewmate.
Though, in my case, it was an impostor.
"Fuuuh…"
Noticing the absurdity of my thoughts and circumstances, I couldn't help but puff out a huge chunk of air from my lungs.
'Look at me, lying down in a hospital bed, remembering the killing spree I did a few days ago, and wondering if I have become some sort of impostor alien…'
It was a surreal situation.
Though, this new life was filled with those. So I endured it somehow.
On the other hand, there was another thing that was gnawing at me from inside, and that seemed way more important at the moment.
"Just why the heck did you even send me here?"
And that was the question, why was I sent to this world and with this set of abilities on top of that?
Considering how I fought down there, these powers were the perfect ones for assassination.
Taking other people's appearances, instant killing moves, a strong body above normal…
Why had that Impostor given me something like this?
Was it boredom?
Did it want me to kill something or someone in specific in this world?
…
I just couldn't figure it out.
…
However, I wasn't the type of person to worry too much about something.
"Whatever pal"
So like any reasonable person, I just decided to ignore it.
In the end, I wasn't going to get an answer, even if I asked.
And even if I got an answer, I would probably still not understand it. That omnipotent impostor spoke alien language, after all.
What's more, with all these new abilities, my path to becoming a hero had become way more easy!
This was a moment to celebrate!
Now, even 10 thugs would stand no chance against me.
Hahahahaha!
…Haha…
…Ha…
…
'A hero, huh?'
Suddenly, I couldn't help but stop smiling and ask that question inside my head.
The memories of what happened in that laboratory repeated inside my mind. Like a recording, from beginning to end.
"Quite the hero I will be"
And, involuntarily, I ended up blurting those words out.
"Want to be a hero brat? I bet you will suck at it"
However, before I was able to continue pondering over all that, a certain annoying voice came from the door, and made me grin slightly in response.
"I didn't think you were so blind already… Old age starting to catch up, huh?"
"Stinky brat, how would I not be blind if your stupidity is so bright that it blinds me?"
"As I said, that's just old age acting up"
"It seems like there's still some discipline needed…"
Smiling faintly as I bantered with the voice with my eyes closed, soon I opened them again and turned to look at the person standing at the entrance of the room.
"Took you long enough to visit me, old man"
"Call me master, damn it!"
Sawaya Tatsuo had arrived, and his mouth was as foul as ever.
…
-To be continued-
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(A/N: You know how this goes, I set a power stone goal for you guys, and if you make it I release the next chapter in line.
This time, the challenge shall be to reach 200. Nothing too crazy... I think
Let's see if you can make it)
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