Chapter 47 : Interrogation, Fractured Trust, and the Cherry Blossom Token

I awoke in a painful haze. The world was a sterile white and the monotonous beep of a machine I didn't recognize. My entire body felt like it belonged to someone else, a bundle of dull pain and an exhaustion so deep it felt like a physical weight. I tried to remember what happened, and the flashes came one after another: the chaos at the auction house, Ryukyu's roar in her dragon form, the threatening black sword, and finally, the wave of fire that engulfed me. I had instinctively checked my arm. No burns. No scars. Just smooth new skin and a faint, silvery web-like pattern beneath it. My super-regeneration had worked, but it had taken everything I had.

The door to my hospital room opened before I was even fully conscious. Two men entered. One wore a typical detective's trench coat, with a face that looked tired yet sharp. The other wore a neat, expensive black suit, with the cold, emotionless aura of a bureaucrat. I immediately recognized the first from my memories: Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, All Might's associate who possessed a lie-detector Quirk. The second... he must be from the Hero Public Safety Commission. This was bad. This was very bad.

"Good morning, Tatsumi-kun," Detective Tsukauchi greeted, his voice calm but lacking any warmth. "We have a few questions for you regarding last night's incident."

The interrogation began. This wasn't a casual conversation; it was a verbal minefield. I knew that any direct lie would be detected. I had to dance on the line of truth, using words that were technically accurate but misleading in context.

"What is your relationship with the murder suspect known as 'The Ghost'?" Tsukauchi asked.

"I have no relationship with her," I replied. It was true. We had no relationship in this world.

Tsukauchi looked at me for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. Why did you protect her from Pro Hero Ryukyu's attack?"

"I wasn't protecting her," I said, choosing my words carefully. "I saw that the attack would cause significant structural damage to the glass wall behind her, which could have endangered the evacuation team below. My action was to mitigate collateral damage." A lie of intent, but technically debatable.

"You jumped in front of a torrent of fire for 'damage mitigation'?" the man from the Commission asked with a cynical tone.

"It was a split-second decision in a chaotic situation," I replied calmly.

Tsukauchi continued. "How did you know her name? Audio recordings from Ryukyu's communicator caught you calling her 'Akame'."

This was the most dangerous question. I took a deep breath. "I don't know how I knew. My sensory Quirk... when she was near me, I felt a wave of information, feelings, emotions. The name... it just popped into my head. I shouted it without thinking." This was the strangest and most unbelievable truth, but it wasn't a lie. I truly didn't know how I could remember her from another life.

Detective Tsukauchi looked at me for a long time, his expression filled with confusion. His Quirk must have told him I wasn't lying, but my story made no sense at all. The man from the Commission looked deeply unsatisfied, but without proof of a lie, there was little he could do. They left after a few more questions, leaving me with the cold feeling that I was now under a much more serious radar.

After they left, the door opened again. This time it was Ryukyu. She entered alone, closing the door behind her. If the officials' gazes had been cold and probing, Ryukyu's was far worse. It was a searing mixture of anger, disappointment, and a deep, profound guilt.

"I risked my reputation and the safety of my team to bring you on that mission," she said, her voice low and trembling with suppressed emotion. "I gave you a direct order. And you didn't just disobey it—you actively aided the enemy and foolishly attacked me in the process!"

"I didn't attack you!" I protested.

"You placed yourself in front of my attack! It's the same thing!" she countered, her voice rising slightly. "I could have killed you, Tatsumi-kun! Do you understand that? I almost killed my own intern!" The guilt in her voice was so thick it made me feel even worse.

I looked at her, seeing the usually composed top hero now at her limit. I had to give her something. Something more than the technical answers I gave the police.

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely. "I'm sorry for making you worry and for disobeying your order. It was inexcusable." I paused, gathering my thoughts. "The explanation I gave the detective... it was true, but incomplete. When I sensed her presence, I did feel her sadness. Her burden. But there was something else. I felt that she, like me, was an anomaly. Her power felt... ancient. Just like mine."

I looked at her directly. "I believe that if we can reach out to her, if we can talk to her, we might be able to stop these killings without further bloodshed. My actions last night were a gamble—a very foolish one, I admit—to open the door to that possibility."

Ryukyu stared at me for a long time, the anger in her eyes slowly subsiding, replaced by a deep weariness. She was a hero used to seeing the world in black and white, heroes and villains. I had just presented her with a situation that was entirely gray.

"Fine, Tatsumi," she said finally, her voice tired. "I will give you one last chance to prove your crazy theory. But make no mistake. The trust between us is fractured." She stood up. "From now on, you are no longer just an intern. You are a key asset in this investigation, but you are also under 24/7 surveillance. You won't go to the bathroom without one of us knowing. Every action you take will be monitored. And you will use that strange connection of yours to hunt this 'Ghost' for us. If you deviate from this path in the slightest, or if I smell another lie, I will personally hand you over to the Public Safety Commission. Are we clear?"

"Clear," I replied without hesitation. I had no other choice.

After she left, my friends were allowed in. The atmosphere between us was incredibly awkward. "Tatsumi-kun, we're glad you're okay..." Uraraka began, but her voice trailed off.

"We saw you do it, Tatsumi-chan," Tsuyu said bluntly. "We saw you take the hit for her. We're your friends. We trust you. But we don't understand. You have to tell us something, kero."

I looked at their worried and confused faces. I wanted so badly to tell them everything. About my old world, about the Akame I knew, about Incursio. But how could I? It would destroy our friendship, or worse, make them think I was insane. So, I gave them the same version of the story I gave Ryukyu. I could see in their eyes that they weren't fully satisfied. They knew I was hiding something. An invisible wall had now been erected between us, and I felt utterly alone.

That night, after everyone had left, I lay in the darkness, my mind racing. I reached into the pocket of my ruined uniform, which had been placed on the chair beside the bed. My fingers found a small, cool, and smooth object. The wooden token Akame had given me.

I took it out and examined it in the dim light of the medical monitor. On one side, there was a carving of a cherry blossom blooming under a crescent moon. I turned it over. The other side appeared blank. But I felt something. A faint, dormant energy within it. Driven by instinct, I channeled a tiny bit of energy from the 'dragon's heartbeat' in my chest into the token.

Instantly, the blank wooden surface lit up. Not with a bright light, but with faint blue lines that formed an image. It was a map. A map of a part of the city I didn't recognize, with a single blinking dot in a secluded park. This wasn't a tracker. This was a message. A location. An invitation.

I stared at the glowing map, which slowly faded back to plain wood after a few seconds. The choice before me felt incredibly heavy. Ryukyu had given me one path: hunt her as an asset of the heroes. Akame, on the other hand, had just given me another path: meet her as... something else. I was trapped between my current world and the echoes of my old one.

I gripped the wooden token tightly in my palm, its smooth surface feeling cool against my skin. The decision I had to make next would likely determine the fate of more than just my internship.