House arrest.

It went from suspension from a case to house arrest in less than a week. Surveillance twenty four seven when she was at home, and ankle monitors when she left it. Even if the only place she was leaving home for was the station.

  "This is ridiculous." Nagisa stated, throwing down the files onto the counter and grabbing her cup of coffee instead, "I'm not going."

  "Nagi-san, you know that if you don't go you'll be proving their point."

  "Proving what Sara?" She asked, downing her coffee in one go, "That I framed a child stabbing me with my own weapon just so that I could...." She paused and waved her hand in the air, waiting for her friend to answer. Sara only shrugged, "Exactly, I don't know what they think my goal is either."

  "Nagisa...?"

  "Fine!" The ice haired hero relented, "But I am not happy with this... At all! We should be trying to find Ushio."

Sara shrugged again as they headed for the door, "They're trying—"

  "Really?"

  "...No... They're not." She admitted, "They're convinced that Ushio was a Blackmark agent who was trying to infiltrate the system."

Nagisa didn't want to believe that—it was true to some extent; Ushio was a Blackmark agent— but she didn't believe that infiltrating the system and killing her were her goals.

Sadly, that's not what the police believed;

  "Were you under the influence of any substances the night the villains attacked?"

Nagisa cocked her head to the side, "Really, Tsukauchi?"

  "I need an answer, Miss Sabito—"

  "Drop the formalities; no. I do not drink, smoke or do drugs." She stated and scoffed, "Is there a reason you're asking this?"

The detective sighed a bit before lacing his fingers together, "The fingerprints returned from forensics and only your prints were found. The team believes—"

  "The team believes I was mad enough to stab myself and leave myself to die." She stated, annoyed.

  "You seem tetchy."

  "You think?!" Nagisa snapped, "None of you want to believe me because of Blackmark. Do you even believe me, True Man?"

The dark haired man stayed silent for a bit before sighing and leaning in closer.

  "You're not lying; that much is certain, but the evidence and the witness reports are telling others a completely different story." Nagisa cocked her brow; nothing could shock her any further at this point, "It would've been impossible for the child to stab you as accurately as you were. That's because Ushio Glitch... That child was blind."

Quatsch! [rubbish]  Was the first thing that came into Nagisa's mind, but she forced herself not to speak it.

She decided nothing would surprise her at this point.

  "I'd like to say you're lying but you don't believe me—"

  "I said I know you're not lying." Tsukauchi clarified and Nagisa held up a finger.

  "That doesn't mean you believe me; you didn't exactly agree that I am telling the truth. So before I go," she said in a rush, "Are there any other unsettling things I should know of before I exit the hell here to be exposed to the one outside?"

Tsukauchi actually smiled for this, "I convinced the chief to have the twenty four seven removed, as well as the monitor... Can't say he was too happy about it, but I believe it was completely unnecessary."

Nagisa just nodded and walked out of the room after he took off the monitor. She ignored all the death looks she got from the officers present as she left; it wasn't something she wasn't used to. These people seemed fixed on hating her, whether she was working with the good guys or not.

Sara wasn't at her usual spot at the front desk; they were probably keeping her busy so that she wouldn't update her friend on the progressions of the case. She left her a note; going for a visit was all it said. She would understand what it meant.

Walking out of the building free from any surveillance didn't mean she was free from eager ears and eyes. Since she'd been let out of hospital, little bits of information on her life were released to the public; no doubt the professor's doing, but it was very difficult to go anywhere with reporters trailing; especially now that there were no police to stop them.

  "There she is!"

  "Miss Sabito, a word, please!"

  "You were working with the police until recently, what happened?"

  "Where is the child who was under your care for the past few months?"

  "Can you confirm that you are the Stealth hero Silent Sparrow; who was said to be present during the attack of the UA students at the training facility?"

  "How old are you ma'am?"

Nagisa stopped walking a bit at that question, cocking her head to locate the guy who asked that, "Is that really relevant?"

And can secret hero identities please be a thing again? She thought as she hailed a cab. These guys were relentless.

  "Is it true the child was part of a secret villain organisation?"

  "Is there more to fear than the League of Villains?"

  "Is it true you have history with some of the villains from the attack?"

  "W-Wait, she has history with the villains?" One asked the other, and Nagisa was hoping a cab would appear faster.

  "How would a relationship like that affect the hero society? Or do you already have a good idea—?"

  "Hey! This is my scoop, get your own!"

  "Free real estate boi!"

A cab, thank heavens! She praised as she entered the vehicle. One of the reporters touched her shoulder and asked a final question.

  "What exactly is your relationship with those involved in this case?"

Nagisa sighed and looked up at them, "Can you all keep a secret?"

  "Yes!"

Liars.

  "Good," She smirked as she removed their hand and closed the door, "Buh-bye!"

Sheltered from the assault of questions, she simply told the driver to go before reaching for her shoulder and plucking off the bug the reporter had planted.

  "Nice try..." She muttered as she crushed it and tossed it out the window.

She instructed the driver to drop her off a little ways from her destination. She needed the time to think and prepare, after all; visiting the grave of someone you love was never easy.

The family grave—her family grave—was isolated from all the others; hidden behind a hedge that encircled a small patch of grass. It was private, it was small, but it was secure and removed from all other graves to give a sense of peace and serenity.

She hadn't been there for a while, the white stone pillar with the engraving of the family name had grown creepers to keep it company. The name itself had dirt filling in the grooves, and dead leaves and petals from her last, long ago visit sat at the foot of the gravestone.

She sighed, taking her time to clear it out, clean it up, before sitting cross-legged in front of it.

What am I doing here? The dead can't talk back. She sighed then looked up to the sky and chuckled bitterly, "My life is a damned mess."

  "It sure is..."

  "You, for one day—it wouldn't kill you for one day—to just not make life miserable for me!" She snapped at the person behind her, "Give me a break you people!"

  "The professor did give you a day to rest; two in fact—"

  "Quatsch! Don't play that with me! Even while I was out, you bastards took the liberty to share my information with the public—a day to rest my arse!"

The person laughed, their hood prevented her from seeing their face, but from there was no mistake that he was from Blackmark.

  "Sperling... You turned it into Silent Sparrow; an attempt at a hero name." He mused, "A great attempt to become likeable by the public but a futile one nonetheless. Gratitude is more sincere when people know where you've come from—the professor was only trying to help you—they will soon be able to see the Deathstalker for what she truly is."

Nagisa stood, blade emerging from her right arm.

  "If you're cutting off loose ends; why don't you kill me right now?"

  "I know not to bite off more than I can chew—"

  "But the professor rarely cares about such." She countered, "Why is Blackmark taking their sweet time tying off this loose end. Get on with it then—"

  "The professor is trying something new, seeing as you are the first in the Organisation's entire seventy active years to escape and survive this long." They stated with a shrug, "He wants to see how long you'll last on your own—out of your element—and if you're lucky, when you've lost everything; he might take you back in."

The quick glint of metal in the sunlight was all he saw before he was on the floor beneath a furious Nagisa, blade to his neck. Her silver-grey eyes were almost the same as they once were five years prior; hints of death and cold evident within them, she was practically hissing poison through her teeth.

  "I am never going back."

He smirked at the shadow that appeared behind her without her noticing.

  "I don't think you have a choice."

  "...?!"

The sound of her phone's ringing drowning out the crickets is what woke her up. Her eyes easily adjusted to the light, and she noticed the sun had set long ago. Her head was aching, a piercing feeling running from temple to temple. The phone was still ringing. She managed to answer it.

  "Mm... Yes?"

  "Nagisa where are you?!"

  "Sara?" She sat up, looking around. She was alone, "Still at the grave—"

  "You need to get back home! Now!"

She stood, quickly walking out of the maze of gravestones and into the street, her pace quickly changing from speed walking to running.

  "Why—what happened?"

  "Nagi-san they went after her..." Sara spoke, panic in her voice, "Mrs. Fukisawa's been stabbed."