My Hero Academia: The Dragon's Quirk

The basement of the safe house was cold, damp, and silent. The only sounds were the dripping of water from a pipe somewhere in the darkness and Kageyama's ragged breaths as he slowly regained consciousness. His head felt heavy, and the chill from the metal chair seeped into his bound body.

As his vision focused, he saw her. A woman in black combat attire stood before him, as still as the grim reaper. In her gloved hand, a syringe filled with a clear liquid gleamed under the single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Behind the woman, in the doorway, stood the armored monster that had cut off his escape.

"Where am I?" Kageyama growled, trying to hide his fear behind a mask of anger. "You think you can make me talk, you murderers? The Paranormal Liberation Front will hunt you to the ends of the earth for kidnapping a commander!"

In the adjacent observation room, separated by a one-way mirror, Hawks, Leone, and Tatsumi watched. "He still thinks he has a bargaining position," Leone muttered, crossing her arms. "He hasn't realized yet."

Akame didn't respond to Kageyama's bluff. She stepped forward calmly and placed the syringe on a small table next to Kageyama's chair, making sure it was clearly visible.

"Your name is Kageyama Tetsuo. Former lieutenant in the PLF's assault battalion," Akame said, her voice flat and emotionless. "Two months ago, you were promoted to commander of the Aokigahara research facility due to your expertise in security operations. Two nights ago, after your facility was infiltrated, you were removed from your post. You were beaten by your own comrades and thrown out like trash."

Each of Akame's words hit Kageyama like a blow, stripping away his arrogance layer by layer.

"You are no longer a PLF commander," Akame continued. "You are nothing. They will not look for you. They have already erased you. So, let's talk not as enemies, but as two people who know the value of information."

She pointed to the syringe. "This is a mixture of truth serum and a neurotoxin. Highly effective. It will break down every mental wall you have and force you to answer my every question truthfully. The side effects, however... are unpleasant. Severe convulsions, horrifying hallucinations, and the possibility of permanent nerve damage. I would prefer not to use it. It's inefficient."

She looked into Kageyama's now fear-filled eyes. "Give me what I want, and you will live. Perhaps you can even start a new life with all the money you stole from the PLF's coffers. Resist, and I will take that information from your shattered mind. The choice is simple."

In the observation room, Hawks gave a small nod. "She's good. She's not offering violence; she's offering a way out of it. She's giving him a false hope to fight for."

Kageyama trembled, cold sweat beading on his forehead. But his fear of the PLF was still greater. "If I talk... they'll find my family..."

The interrogation room door opened. Leone strode in, her usual cheerful smile now twisted into a terrifying, cynical smirk. She clapped her hands slowly.

"Family? Oh, that's so sweet," she said, circling Kageyama's chair like a lioness stalking her prey. "You really think the organization that threw you away like trash cares about your daughter in Fukuoka? You think they haven't been watching her since you first got your promotion?"

Kageyama's face went deathly pale.

"Listen here, sniffy," Leone continued, now crouching in front of him, staring into his eyes. "Right now, you have nothing. No organization, no loyalty, no future. The PLF has betrayed you. But we... we're offering you something. Something they will never give you: a tomorrow."

The combination of Akame's cold threat and Leone's brutal truth finally broke his defenses. His last hope had been crushed. He looked at the syringe, then at Leone's merciless face.

"Alright..." he whispered, his voice cracking. "Alright! I'll talk! Just keep that thing away from me!"

In the observation room, Hawks began feeding questions through Akame's earpiece. The real interrogation began.

"Who is in the main containment tube?" Akame asked, her voice returning to its flat tone.

"We... we don't know her real name," Kageyama answered, trembling. "We just call her 'Asset E'. She was found in a dormant state after an incident on a volcanic island. Her power is immeasurable. Dr. Garaki himself said she's the key to true 'evolution'."

It was the confirmation they needed. It was Esdeath. A chill ran down Tatsumi's spine.

"What is the Yozakura Clan's role in the facility?" Akame asked again, her voice tensing slightly at the name.

"They are partners. They provided the advanced containment technology for 'Asset E' and the Humarise devices. They also bring in... other 'raw materials' from time to time," Kageyama answered.

"How do you get into the main lab without triggering a full alarm?"

This was the key question. Kageyama, now completely resigned, told them everything. "There's a weekly maintenance schedule for the secondary reactor's cooling system. During that thirty-minute window, the energy and motion sensors in the main lab sector are deactivated to prevent false readings. It's happening tomorrow night, between 01:00 and 01:30. I have the master access code to disable the security doors during that window."

They had gotten the key.

Akame asked one last question, a personal one not on Hawks' list. "Kurome. Have you ever heard that name?"

Kageyama shook his head frantically. "No! I swear! I've never heard that name! I'm just a field commander!"

Akame looked into his eyes and knew the man wasn't lying. Her sister's trail wasn't here.

They had gotten everything they needed. Akame left the room, followed by Leone. In the observation room, relief mixed with the weight of what they had just done.

Tatsumi, who had watched everything in tormented silence, finally spoke. He looked at Hawks, his eyes filled with conflict.

"What are we going to do with him now?"

The question hung in the air. They had used the man, broken his spirit, and taken all his secrets. Now, he was a problem. A loose end.

Hawks looked at the monitor showing Kageyama, who was now weeping silently in his chair. He then turned to Tatsumi, his usually sharp eyes now showing the burden of the war they were fighting.

"That's a good question, kid," he said softly. "What should we do with him?"

The choice before them would define the moral limits of their alliance, and how far they were willing to step into the darkness to win this war.