Gardening, Stalking, and Murder

- 76 -

-Inko- 

She puts the cups of tea on the table and makes sure the water is still hot before she sits down and waits, making sure to go through all of the steps of her plan. The house is still, the clock on the wall ticking as the minutes pass.

 She hopes that everything will go smoothly like she wants it to, if it gets bigger then in just this small town, she may have to call Hisashi, and that would end up a mess. There is a knock on the door, and she stands up, quickly going to the door. 

She doesn't want this annoying officer to knock so loud the boys wake up, that would only add extra steps that she doesn't need. She opens the door, and the man's disheveled face greets her. The darkness is consuming behind him, as expected at this time at night. 

Even the dim streetlights can't cut through to illuminate the dark street, and Inko can't see any of the lights in the houses on the street in front of theirs. She schools her face into a scared and worried expression as she steps aside, allowing the man in. 

"Thank you for coming on such short notice s-sir, its just-" 

The man steps inside and she shuts the door, his brown eyes looking down at her. 

"I didn't know what to do and... It's just all so..."

 She trails off, turning away while wrapping her arms around herself, making herself seem smaller. The man hums, responding. 

"It's okay Ms. Midoriya, take your time." 

As he says that though, Inko catches the hint of impatience in his tone. She nods softly, looking at him meekly. 

"Would you like to sit down?" 

The man looks like he wants to decline, but she can't have that. She goes over to the table, and sits down, hands on her lap. The man has no choice but to follow, sitting down on the chair opposite her. He taps his foot against the floor and takes out his notepad and pen. 

Inko looks over at him and begins to pour hot water into the teacups. 

"Would you like some tea? I-I'm afraid we might be here a while and I don't want you to be thirsty." 

The man eyes the cups warily, leaning forward to look at the contents. After seeing nothing, he leans back into his chair. 

"I really shouldn't..."

 Inko gives him a small smile before putting some honey into the tea and mixing. After she's done, she slides the cup over to him.

 "I insist."

 She clears her throat. This is the most important time. To stall long enough that the tea stews long, but not too long that he begins to get suspicious. She lets out a deep breath, making her shoulders relax and begins. 

"I... I was really worried when you showed up at our house, talking about the missing girl, so I decided to do some digging. Not saying that I'm like you sir, a police officer or anything like that of course!"