Chapter 85 (Vigilantes)

Cross-Examination (尋問) is the eighty-fifth chapter of Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court's My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.

Summary
The chapter starts off with Naomasa Tsukauchi interrogating and questioning individually Moyuru Tochi, Rapt Tokage, and Soga Kugizaki in the aftermath of Kazuho Haneyama's admission to the hospital. Moyuru and Rapt tell conflicting alibis to why they were near the spot where she and The Crawler fell, while Soga keeps his mouth shut and glares at the detective.

Naomasa tries to reason with him saying that they are not treating him and his friends like criminals and that he knows that Kazuho is not a typical villain, but that he needs information to work with. Soga simply replies that if he wants answers then he should talk to Pop, and asks if she is out of surgery. Naomasa confirms this, and that Midnight asked him to give them the updates.

Before the interrogation, Naomasa went to the maximum security hospital where Kazuho is admitted. After being bioscanned and checked by an officer, he met Midnight and Kazuho’s mom inside. Impressed by the high security of the hospital, he discussed with Midnight if is really necessary for Kazuho to be there. She replied that Soga and his friends were pretty insistent. Since Kazuho was admitted the Hospital received inquiries from unidentified individuals and the alarms started going off. Midnight tells him that she would like to transfer her to an even more secure and isolated facility, but unfortunately she is in no condition to be moved.

Back to the interrogation, Naomasa informs Soga that the Queen Bee has been successfully extracted, but that Kazuho has not yet regained consciousness and will probably suffer long-term consequences. He also tells him that Midnight let him know that it was him and his friends who saved Kazuho's life, so he chooses to believe that. In return, Naomasa wants to know were Koichi is.

Soga rolls his eyes and tells him that he wastes his time looking for Koichi, and that what he must do is protect Kazuho from the person who wants to kill her. His reply makes Naomasa run out of patience and belts out screaming at Soga, saying that this is not the time for vigilantism as several people have died because of the incident. Soga just replies that if the bodies are weighing on him, maybe he and the police should do their job properly.

Naomasa remains silent for a moment, until Soga asks him to bring in detective Tanuma. Naomasa complies, and calls Tanuma in, who tells Soga that he knows about his involvement with Trigger a few years back. Tanuma notes that Soga has a different feel to him compared to back then, reminding him of a certain ally, grabbing Soga's attention.

Upon the mention of his former employer Knuckleduster, Soga brings up an analogy that he told him about. Soga explains that Knuckleduster saw that the way the world works is like a pair of cheap socks, saying that holes are bound to open up at some point. Swapping out for new pairs wouldn't work either, as they will get holes too, so the only thing they can do is put another pair of socks on top of the old ones. Tanuma chuckles at the analogy, and later lets him and his friends go.

Naomasa is bewildered that Tanuma let the thugs go, while the latter tells that it's better to pit troublesome people like them against actual villains. As the three former villains walk away, they see Naomasa and Tanuma looking down at them, but they continue walking away. Naomasa tells that he will continue watching them, as well as The Crawler, while Tanuma nonchalantly pokes fun at his uptightness.

Meanwhile, Koichi is watching the news on his cellphone, seeing that Endeavor is credited for taking down Pop☆Step, although public reception on his actions were met with some controversy due to the crudeness of his attacks. The news also informs that several heroes on the scene were wounded or killed, and are thought to be the actions of an accomplice of Pop☆Step's.

Koichi internally monologues about how he was always bad at reading the room, and that he was always great at accidentally annoying others, who would often beat him up or say violent things to him. He explains that that is usually just in the heat of the moment, and that once talking everything out, they would calm down. But Koichi notes that when he was confronted by that person on the roof, he felt serious, although Koichi admits he didn't get most of what he saying. Koichi wonders that if there is someone genuinely out to kill him and Kazuho, does he have a chance at stopping them?

Back at the warehouse, Soga explains that Kazuho's hospital is on total lockdown, and that the only way in and out is through the ground level entrance. Since they don't want the villain getting that far, he says that they will have their own security checkpoint outside. Moyuru nervously asks that if they encounter the actual villain, wouldn't they still be dead. Soga explains that there would be no need to fight, so they can just run away, and that the entrances will lock, the alarms will go off, and the police would be informed.

Soga, Rapt, and Moyuru decide to secure the hospital by setting up an outer perimeter checkpoint outside to catch anybody suspicious. They question a man, who is claiming to be there for an A.C. repair job. They ask him to open his toolbox but he protests so Soga gives a signal and blast shot the toolbox out of his hands, revealing a camera. Soga states he is with the media, and the fake repairman begins to panic and looks around about who just fire a blast at him.

Koichi is camped out on a nearby roof, being the one who shot the blast with great aim. Koichi takes a sigh of relief when Soga confirms him that the man is not a threat. Koichi resolves that since someone is seriously trying to kill Kazuho, he should get serious at stopping him too.

Chapter Notes

 * Naomasa interrogates Soga, Moyuru, and Rapt about their role in the incident with Bee☆Pop, but Tanuma lets them go.
 * Kazuho has been taken to an extra secure hospital in order to be treated.
 * The Queen Bee has been successfully removed, but it is believed Kazuho will suffer long-term effects from her time being controlled.
 * It's revealed that Koichi has told Soga, Moyuru, and Rapt about Number 6, and they begin to take watch at Kazuho's hospital.

Trivia

 * The chapter was initially titled Inquiries (取り調べ) but was amended in volume release.