Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Sunday night's never-ending debrief from the police and Sir Nighteye finally wrapped up with three important determinations. Yes, the fight with Mr. Inoue was self-defense, and therefore legal. Yes, the non-powered scuffle between Goro and me was not a matter of quirk law at all – and was self-defense. And yes, Alpine's claiming me as a student-hero on break from school and under professional supervision was just barely within the law so I would probably have been covered if the first two issues had gone the other way.

Once that was settled, Mr. Yanagi insisted that we needed to set guards in case the madman I had let escape decided to seek revenge on the Temple that night. And he felt only he and I were capable of standing watch.

I wanted to argue with him, but he was probably right. I agreed to take the first shift. I was a teenager. I'd rather stay up late than wake up early. It was a quiet night that I spent playing with my new spirits. Nothing happened – other than my getting a text from Jin that he was coming in on the 1135 train.

Monday morning the Twins were off to school. Mrs. Yanagi insisted I put in some study time. Just because the school was closed was no reason I couldn't work from the textbooks or online resources. I even checked in with Kodai, Rin, and Shoda.

[Back in Shimane-ken. Recovering, but still sore. How are you?] Kodai sent.

[Keeping busy. Seeing what my sisters have been up to while I was away. Getting some practice in.] I replied.

[I'm getting ready for the Sports Festival too. I'm worried that depending on the events and rules chosen, it may be too artificial to allow me to really showcase my abilities – again.] I guess she thought I was practicing for the Festival. The truth is I'd almost forgotten about it. Too much else on my mind

[That's a fair concern. I know your quirk has some limits, but you may want to see if you can push those boundaries any. For instance, how big an object can you shrink? A car? A building? What about part of an object? Can you shrink a doorway or a door in its frame? Or grow the frame around the door? Can you resize someone's clothes? While they're wearing them? There are a lot of possibilities.] I suddenly started thinking of her power as something like Vista's. Depending on her limitations and imagination, she could do a lot more than throw barrels and carry shrunken gear.

[Interesting ideas. I'll try some things out. Take care.]

Rin was more taciturn. [I am well. Hope you are well. Am working and practicing.]

Shoda was more interested in the events around the three attacks and the impact they might have on U.A.

[My father has some contacts in government. There is concern that U.A. students may be less safe outside of school grounds.]

[What about the USJ? That was the biggest attack.] I asked.

[They consider the USJ off-campus as it is outside the wall. While the giant got over the wall, they think it is easier to fortify the campus than protect all students separately.]

[Are they thinking about making it a boarding school? Or at least giving the option?]

[My father says they are considering all options.]

[Whatever that means.]

[Exactly.]

The news, when I finally looked, was still going crazy about the U.A. Attacks. There was a lot of speculation as to who was behind the League of Villains and the Ravagers. There were some people who believed that the giant that attacked the main campus was actually Gigantomachia – a legendary hench-monster for a mythical secret underworld warlord whose name is lost in the confusion of the Interregnum and Restoration. They suggested the beast might be serving a new master who was trying to bring the underworld under one rule again. Others assumed this Shigaraki was the leader of the whole gang. Some were even pointing at Endeavor trying to knock All Might out of the number one hero spot. Critics pointed out that the number two hero's son was actually a student in the USJ attack as a counter argument.

None of that made sense. The Ravagers, despite the fact that they were toying with us, seemed a lot more professional than the reports made the majority of the League out to be. I had trouble putting them in the same gang.

Mrs. Yanagi agreed to drive me to the station to pick up Jin. "How are you feeling after yesterday?" she asked in English. She is the first person that seemed concerned about the impact on me rather than the impact on the investigation.

"I don't know if you've heard much about my background," I started. "I come from a world with powered heroes and villains. I was involved in combat in one form or another for more than two years. I've been in dozens, maybe hundreds, of fights. This was nothing new to me. The details were different. But the basics, they're very familiar."

"How old were you in your previous life?" she asked.

"That's the thing. I died at eighteen. I never really got to have a life." I sighed and looked out the window. I'd had an impact on the world, but that's not the same thing.

"You were a child soldier? That's horrible."

I chuckled. "In some ways it was no different from the program we're in now at U.A. The government ran most of the teams. They tried to keep minors out of serious combat while training us and using us for public relations. Not a lot of difference there. And, like the attacks last week, sometimes the Wards – that's what they called the teen heroes – were targeted by the villains." And from the advertising and coverage I was seeing on the net the U.A. Sports Festival was as big as the Superbowl was in the old days. This world took advantage of young people with powers too.

"That was why Reiko called you – your similar experiences?" she asked.

"You may not want to hear this," I paused. "or at least not from me. Would you like to talk to Reiko?" I would rather not get in the middle of this. But, if asked, I'd give my opinion.

She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "I would love to have a serious discussion with my daughter about why she made the choices she did. I hope we can do that very soon. But your friend is going to be getting off the train in ten minutes. I don't think we have the time now."

"I think her explanation will be hardest on your husband," I offered. "You may want to think about talking to her first so you can facilitate the conversation between her and him."

"Thank you," she said.

We pulled into the station four minutes before the train was due. There were several cars in the small lot. Mrs. Yanagi parked and we went to the platform entrance.

"I have to warn you, this guy is a bit unhinged. I don't really know what to expect here. If he gets violent, I'll restrain him before he hurts anyone – even himself."

"I appreciate your protectiveness, but let me talk to him first," She smiled lightly. "People with no problems don't usually seek our help. We are used to working with troubled souls."

I was still concerned.

Emily, I want you to take the lead with this guy. You're nicer. I'll play back up if needed.

You should not present such a negative view of yourself. You have a great many positive traits, as you have shown in just the last few days. But that is a discussion for another day. I will do my best to make our guest feel welcome and safe. He truly does need our help.

That should work. You keep him calm. I'll keep an eye on him.

"Are you having an argument? I think they're having an argument. It might be more of a discussion. I like how well they get along." I reached out with my shadows and found that the blond man had somehow snuck up on us. He was closing from my right, stepping out from behind a vending machine. I double-checked – the train was nowhere in sight.

"Jin," I turned to face him – gently prodding Mrs. Yanagi to move behind me. "You're early. And without the train."

"Not too early. Here it comes now." He was right. The train was pulling into the station. "Sometimes it's better not to get caught on station cameras. You know how it is. They never get my good side."

I sent my shadows to check and found all the station cameras – except for two by the main entrance and one by the ticket machines – were pointed at the train and platform. We were not covered where we were standing.

"Thanks," I said. "I didn't check on that. Bad habit to forget." I wanted to ask him how he had gotten off a moving train, but could think of a dozen ways someone without powers could do it. Given his duplication quirk he had a lot more options.

I thought we had decided I would 'take the lead' I believe you said. Emily sounded miffed.

Right. Sorry. He surprised me. I don't like surprises.

"I think they're still arguing," Jin said in an aside to Mrs. Yanagi, who was watching all this with a neutral – or maybe professional – expression. "At least they're quiet about it, unlike SOME people. Is he talking about me?"

"Welcome Jin-san," I parroted for Emily. "We hope that your stay at Haitsuki-ji is a beneficial one."

"I think the nice one won. I like the mean one. No, the nice one's better. I wonder who else is in there. Two is the loneliest number…" Jin's face flashed through a half-dozen emotions as his voices shifted.

"This is my mother, Yanagi Hayami. She'll be one of the people helping you."

Mrs. Yanago bowed, but said nothing. Jin nodded and waved, then did a little shuffle step.

"I think it would be a good time to beat the traffic," I cut in. "Do you have any bags?"

"And she's back! We don't need no stinkin' bag'es." I was a little surprised the last was said in heavily accented English.

"That's probably a good idea," Mrs. Yanagi suggested. "The car's over this way."

I watched Jin as he managed to duck unobtrusively between two other men so that the camera's wouldn't have any images of him as he exited the building. More evidence he was used to working outside the law.

I let Emily drive our mouth while I examined Jin through my new spirits' senses. The wisps, which I kept small and invisibly colored, offered more conventional vision than the awareness of the shadows. It even seemed to extend into the spiritual realm enough to see something glowing in living people, and animals to a lesser extent.

Looking at Mrs. Yanagi, I saw a single shining multi-faceted crystal, like a beautiful blue diamond. In my own head – seen from outside – I saw two gems, one ruby red and one deep purple. The purple had noticeably fewer facets. Jin's crystal was cracked and chipped, with each chip a different color from the citrine yellow of the core.

I was seeing souls. And I could see what Emily meant by fractured.

I got a bit lost in this new revelation and lost track of what was happening until we reached the Temple.

"We'll get you settled in the guest quarters," Mrs Yanagi said. "Once you've had a chance to wash up and change into a yukata, I'll bring you to my husband for the initial examination."

"Will you come with us?" Jin asked me – or maybe Emily. "Not to change clothes of course. Gotta take me to dinner first. But to the examination. Cold hands!"

Emily?

"Yes, of course," she replied. "If that is your preference, I would be delighted to oblige."

"She talks pretty. What did she say? Thank you." Jin nodded. His face was cycling though emotions at an increasing rate. As we got out of the car his eyes were darting around, taking in everything. Looking for escape routes or ambushes?

When we passed through the Temple gate, he stopped and sighed heavily. Then he straightened, throwing his shoulders back. It was the same transformation I'd seen when he put on his mask in the alley.

"That's much better. Ooohhh…good drugs…," he said. "I think I'm ready for that bath."

Two hours later I watched as the Yanagi family walked in circles around Jin. They were dressed in white and dark blue multilayered robes and were chanting in unison. Emily refused to translate.

I could see the spiritual energy moving between the family and Jin who was kneeling in the center of the tatami floor. Periodically one or the other of the adults would reach out and touch him. When they did there was a flash of either physical or spiritual light. The physical came from Mrs. Yanagi, the spiritual from her husband. The Twins seemed to be feeding their parents energy.

I could feel hundreds, maybe thousands, of spirits pressing at the walls of the sanctuary, but they couldn't enter. Even my entourage of poltergeists, shadows, and wisps were forced to remain outside – though I could still control them and use their senses. Through the eyes of my wisps I could see each that flash of light seemed to be doing something to Jin's damaged soul crystal, but I couldn't make out the details.

I thought this was moving really fast. But when Mr. Yanagi had first seen Jin as he entered the sanctuary ninety minutes before, the priest had freaked out.

"What did you do to your soul! It's almost shattered. That shouldn't be possible, not while your still alive."

"Well, I might not – technically – be alive. Night of the living dead!" Jin said, sheepishly if I was beginning to judge his mercurial expressions correctly.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Yanagi asked while her husband got red in the face. He seemed to take whatever was wrong with Jin as a personal insult.

"Easier to show you. Bad Idea!" Jin held his hands out and gray sludge poured out of them into a copy of himself, dressed identically. As the copy's form stabilized, Jin pulled a thin flexible metal strip from somewhere and decapitated the copy before anyone could react.

I had him disarmed, pinned in the air, and wrapped in monofilament before he could move again.

Then the screaming started.

The girls had been peeking around the corner. Their parents had kept them home because of the danger posed by the escaped Inoue. They must have been attracted by their father's raised voice. Seeing a man lose his head and collapse into a vanishing pile of goo was not what they were expecting.

"What did you do?" I growled. In English. Emily was gone. I tried again in Japanese.

Of course, I couldn't understand his answer. I looked to Mrs. Yanagi. She looked at me in confusion and horror.

"Emily has retreated due to the violence. I can't understand Japanese right now. What did he say?"

"He said that is his quirk – making duplicates of anyone or anything. He duplicated himself and killed it." Her tone was shaky but strengthening. No one here was a stranger to death – only to the violence of the act.

Emily, I need you to come out. We can't help Jin if we can't talk to him. It is safe. Please come out.

Mieko barked something in Japanese starting with 'Big sister'. I couldn't get the rest, but apparently Emily did – and wasn't too happy about it.

Please tell her to shut up.

Tell her yourself. I countered. I really wish I knew what she'd said. I didn't think Emily would help me ask her.

"And she's back. I still like the mean one." Jin said.

"You've done that before," Mr. Yanagi demanded. "Killed yourself like that."

"Many, many times." Jin confirmed sadly.

"You're a fool!" the priest yelled, flecks of spit flying from his lips. "Every time you copy yourself you imbue it with a piece of your soul. And every time you kill a copy you are damaging your soul – chipping away at it. You must stop. Never do it again. If you continue your soul will shatter. That is a fate far worse than mere death."

"Help me. That doesn't sound good. Oopps." Jin was churning through voices and expressions. I think he was scared. I was scared for him. He'd been unknowingly committing slow suicide.

"Let him down," Mr. Yanagi told me, his voice soft almost without intonation. He was shaking his head slowly as he watched the 'patient'.

"Jin," I said firmly. No response.

"Jin!" I raised my voice and shook him for a second.

"What!" he snapped then calmed down. "What?"

"Are you done with the surprises? Are you going to be nice and completely non-violent for the rest of your time here? And let these nice people help you?"

"Yes," he replied. I could hear the strain from keeping the other voices quiet.

"Alright then, but I'm watching you." I unwound him and set him on the tatami.

"I told you she's into us. Chicks dig the scar, man." He nodded solemnly.

After an hour's interrogation and scouring of references by the parents, they came up with a starter ritual to help restore some of his soul's integrity and start it towards long-term healing. Jin agreed to try it.

As part of the ritual Mr. Yanagi locked all "foreign" spirits out of the sanctuary. I was concerned that might include me. It didn't.

As they family came to the end of the chanting and walking widdershins, or whatever. I saw Jin flop to the floor. The family stopped – panting heavily. Mrs. Yanagi moved, slowly, to check on Jin.

"He's sleeping," she said. "I'd imagine that was harder on him than on us. Reiko, can you carry him back to his room? I don't know how long he'll sleep. You may need to watch over him while the rest of us rest."

"Sure, as soon as the wards are down so my poltergeists can come get him." I said, trying to smile to show I was sort of joking. Being cut off from my power was making me nervous. I was in Mr. Yanagi's stronghold and didn't fully trust him not to try to exorcise me while we were all here.

He chanted a little and burned a piece of paper. Suddenly my spirits swirled around me again, like puppies happy to see me. I breathed easier.

Jin was out for almost twenty hours. Mr. Yanagi put him in the guest quarters in a small building nestled against the compound wall. They had once been cells for junior priests or pilgrims to the Temple. Some time ago, they had been refurbished to include four traditional bedrooms, a dining area, and a bathroom.

As I sat watch over Jin, I could see the small fissures in his soul crystal closing. Most of the chips had bonded with the gem, though there were still scars where they had merged and their different colors were still present, leaving the yellow jewel with a mottled look. Mr. Yanagi came to relieve me after midnight.

"You did well to confine him when he attacked his double," he said. "You have the reflexes and instincts to be a good hero."

I nodded, but said nothing.

"What was that about Reiko retreating when the violence occurred?" he asked.

"Sir, I think you and your daughter need to have a serious talk. What happened is just a small part of her story. I don't think you are going to like hearing it, but it is important – for both of you – that you do."

"I don't like the sound of that, and I am not fond of being dictated to in my own home by anyone, much less a foreign teenager."

I frowned and started to respond angrily. Then stopped and said calmly. "Happy about it or not, you need to have that talk or you'll lose your daughter forever."

"Hasn't that already happened? You're here in her place."

"She's not gone yet, but …" I stopped. Stupid, headstrong man. "Ultimately it's your decision – until that choice is taken away. I would suggest talking to your wife, but you might take that as some sort of attack on your manhood too. Good night."

I walked away. That could have gone better.

Thank you for standing up for me. As you say, it is his decision whether or not to face the new reality, Emily replied.

What happened back then? I thought you were getting better.

I have never seen anyone killed before. That was too much.

Yeah, ok. I can see that. I hope you never have to see anything like that again, but I kinda doubt that'll be the case.

In the morning, Jin was asking for me.

"How are you feeling?" I asked. His face was as calm as I had ever seen it. No extraneous twitches or grimaces. Using a nearby wisp, I examined his soul crystal. It was almost whole, though still marked with multiple patches of color.

"I can't remember when it was last this quiet in my head." He paused, nodded then shrugged. "I've gotten used to leaving room in my speech for the other voices to sound out. I could hear a few stirrings in my mind, but nothing that made it to my mouth. I think the others are still there, or at least parts of them are. But for the first time in years, I know who I am."

"And who is that?" I asked. It was a good thing to help someone who needed it. Now we had an unknown parahuman in the compound and I need to deal with that.

He mused for a moment, sipping his tea. I had brought a breakfast tray with me from the house. "To be honest – I'm not quite certain. I know who I was. I was a fool who used his quirk to take advantage of people. Who was too lazy to find an honest way to make a living. Who enslaved other versions of himself. Then mistreated those slaves until they revolted, leading to a bloody nine-day long massacre."

I was surprised he was telling me all this. Maybe he needed to get it off his chest and I was the closest thing to an understanding listener. "You were a villain."

"Yeah, but it wasn't ideological or megalomaniacal. It was a lifestyle choice. I just found it easier to steal than to work. I was an idiot."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know." He looked lost. "Do you have any idea if this will last?"

"I was talking to my father while you were out. He said your soul was like a wound that was stitched up. You could tear it open again pretty easily. Especially if you split your soul again by duplicating yourself or by killing – yourself or anyone. Apparently, murder is bad for the soul."

"It sounds like that has you worried about your own soul," he said. "I get the feeling you've got quite the backstory too. It takes one to know one." He smiled for the first time that morning.

"There's certainly more to me than meets the eye," I muttered. "And I guess it depends on the soul's definition of murder. Killing is not always murder."

"Sometimes it is though." He frowned and sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I wonder what happens when I duplicate other people. I knew what happens in general. I'm asking if I'd split my soul if I copied you. Or if I'm splitting your soul. Or there are no souls involved. This expletive's confusing."

"That it is. Might be best to copy stuff rather than people for a while at least."

"Yeah, might be."

"Depending on the limits of the quirk, you could make a decent, honest, living producing various things. Food for instance – if it disappears after eating, it's diet food. If it doesn't …"

"My copies last until they're broken. They break easier than the original, but they're not made of paper. Not sure what that would mean for food."

He picked up a piece of toast off the tray and examined it carefully, going so far as to sniff it. Then he poured the grey gunk out of his hand and it formed into what looked like a perfect duplicate. He sniffed at the copy then offered it to me. "Feeling brave?"

"Sorry, already ate," I replied.

He shrugged then took a bite. It reverted to grey goo, then vanished like smoke. "Nope. My dream of flogging instant gourmet meals is gone. Up in smoke as it were." His voice held some of the whimsy that his alternate identities seemed to engage in so frequently. Perhaps that was really part of the whole person.

"I'm sure we can think of something,"

"Why are you helping me?" His tone was serious, and a little desperate.

"My partner," I pointed to my head, "the 'nice one', is just that. She's a good, helpful, caring person at heart. She saw you were in need and thought her family were uniquely qualified to help you. I'm not nice, but I try to help when I can. I'm here to see that you don't hurt them while they help you. I also wanted a favor."

He looked at me quietly for almost a minute. Then nodded. "What favor? I owe you more than one."

"She," again I tapped my head, "is a native Japanese speaker. I'm not. I need help to learn the language. She helps translate. But I need to learn it for myself. You're the only one, other than our family here, that knows about the two of us. You live in my neighborhood. I was hoping we could get together regularly for me to practice conversing without her help."

"Yeah, alright. I can do that. It'll be almost like having a friend." His smile was brittle, like a wrong word from me might make him cry instead.

"Another thing our father said," Emily decided to join the conversation. "Was that you needed to start meditating, to concentrate on finding the peace within you to help your soul heal and strengthen. He even suggested you might want to take up Tai Chi or yoga to help bring your body and spirit back into alignment."

"Ohh … the nice one!" he smiled.

"Not if you do not try to learn this. It is important for you," she said. I added a growl at the end for effect. She bullied him into a lotus position then started talking him through the basic mediation exercise.

We were at it for almost an hour. Eventually Jin seemed to relax into it. Afterwards he and I went out into the courtyard and sparred for an hour. He was good – experienced and faster than I was, until I boosted with poltergeists. When I started using my quirk he duplicated a six-foot measuring tape and used it like a weapon.

"Get him!" Miyoko cheered as I managed to turn one of his attacks back on him.

"No! Not the face." Mieko yelled when I caused a bunch of leaves and sticks to blind him for a second.

The Twins had joined us shortly after we started the spar. I could sense that both Mr. and Mrs. Yanagi were also watching from their normal places in the kitchen and the sanctuary. The parents kept the girls home from school while Inoue was on the loose. They thought it wasn't worth the risk to have them out of the compound.

Jin liked the audience and started fighting more theatrically – leaps and flips interspersed with roundhouse kicks and dramatic poses. Eventually we were all laughing instead of fighting. Then the girls wanted their turn sparring. They had been training in aikido with Emily and their father since they were little, so they had some moves.

It turned out to be a pleasant way to spend the morning. After lunch, Mrs. Yanagi insisted we all sit down for schoolwork while she had a counseling session with Jin.

At 1500, Tokuda and the tax lady showed up at the door. From their faces, I could tell it wasn't happy news. They waited until the parents were in the room, and the twins were sent elsewhere. Jin disappeared when they arrived. He was watching from the roof of the guest quarters.

"Inoue Kisho has committed suicide in the courtyard of his family home." The government official stated.