Chapter 34

Chapter 34

By Saturday morning we were down to the last tasks of the project. UA families were scheduled to start arriving around noon for a large celebratory cook-out. It was 0815 and I had already been on site for four and a half hours.

When the Project Committee had chosen the Ferusia Koen Renewal, things moved fast. Kamihara-sensei informed the UA leadership. I wondered how much pushback he got but I wasn't in a position to ask him. After securing the Principal's approval, he worked with his contact in the National Diet to fast-track the necessary permits. The student committee mapped out the tasks and started appointing people to the necessary positions. They split the project into three major divisions – the park, the community center, and administration/logistics.

Someone put my name down for security coordinator. I was not given the option to refuse. Mind you this insistence was done by my own classmates. All the positions, leadership on down, were filled by first year students. The teachers watched and coached but, other than construction and safety, they did not take leadership roles. I was curious why Class 1-B students were placed in two of the most important roles – roles that in the past had been held almost exclusively by Business course students. I was still amazed and a little concerned about the respect, almost reverence, heroes were given in this society.

Thursday morning, at 0700 a bus with my initial security contingent showed up at the Mosuaizuri bus terminal. Kan-sensei, Midnight, Present Mic, and Ibara as Committee chair, accompanied me, along with Juzo, Agoyamato, Manga, and Rikishi Heiwana.

Rikishi was a first-year business student who stood over nine feet tall, with bulging muscles and thick, pebbled grey skin. His face was stretched, almost equine, with an elongated upper lip hanging over his mouth, muffling his speech. He was probably the strongest person in the first year – except for Izuku when he was really trying – but was a pacifist, who had no desire to use his mutation quirk for violence. I had recruited him to my security team, explaining "Sometimes, having a really big guy in the room can keep any trouble from starting."

"Very well, but if a fight does start, I am leaving," he insisted, his voice a pleasant baritone.

"That's fine. For the most part I'll have you in the office managing the rosters and keeping track of hours, if that's alright."

"I would certainly prefer it to patrolling." He smiled shyly.

The teachers were wearing their costumes. Ibara was in her PE uniform. I and the others on my security team were all wearing a uniform I had designed and asked the support students to fabricate on Wednesday. The basis was the PE uniform, with grey lightweight torso and groin armor, knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves. They were not perfect but were functional and similar enough in appearance that the security people would stand out but still look part of the UA contingent.

I wanted helmets, but the Committee thought that would make them look "too militaristic."

"There are advantages in intimidation," I argued. "It can prevent violence on occasion."

"This is not meant to be an invasion of the neighborhood. We are going there to help." Ibara replied.

So, no helmets. Nor was I allowed to issue any sort of weapon, not even batons. I was wearing the same uniform, but wore my utility belt and scarf wrapped around my waist. I had a total force of 12 first-years, including myself. Even with the help of students and upper-years, I doubted it would be enough. I knew Mosuaizuri.

When we arrived at the park entrance, we found someone had warned them of our approach. Several of the young gangsters – known paradoxically as the Ancients – had lined up to block our way. Kan-sensei grinned and held out a hand in front of me, stopping my advance.

"You can't come in. The park is ours." It was the pink bat girl. She was backed by eight dangerous looking thugs. My shadows told me there were at least ten others hidden nearby. I used a geist to tap Kan-sensei on the back of his shoulder – five sets of two.

"Have you read the notice?" he asked politely, pointing to one of the postings on the brick gatepost. Notice of the park reclamation had been posted yesterday all over the area. "Under the authority of the Greater Tokyo Council and the national government, this park will be closed for renovations for the next three days. You're welcome to return on Sunday to enjoy the new facilities."

He smiled; his fangs seemed to grow. "But for now, you and your friends will have to vacate the park. Please don't make a fuss. It's early. I haven't had a drink yet. And I'm getting thirsty."

Bat girl's wings drooped. She stared at Vlad King for several seconds then looked at the other two teachers. She even spared a glance for me and Rikishi. Finally, she gestured and walked across the street. We all made way for her and her followers. They disappeared into a nearby alley. I followed them for a block with a few wisps, but they vanished into the warren of back passages and were quickly out of my range.

On the way back, the wisps saw the rooftop gunman in his accustomed perch. He had been there all week. I hadn't seen him anywhere else. I had let Jin know about him and assumed my friend was keeping an eye on him. Ando had suggested that I capture the assassins for interrogation, either by tracking them to their hotel or taking them when they attacked. I was gratified by his confidence but was hoping Jin could track this one to the others.

The gunman had me worried. While he only had a pistol, he made me think of snipers I had worked with back in Brockton Bay. I didn't think I could stop a sniper shot so I started keeping a shell of geists spread out to my limit with the idea they would sense a moving shot and any that could reach it would deflect it off its trajectory. I kept a denser cloud close in to apply maximum deflection. Obviously, this was not something I could practice easily. And poltergeists, while capable of some independent function, were not capable of retaining complex programming for autonomous actions. I really hoped I would not have to test the defense with live fire.

I posted two pairs of guards at the gate to help direct people away. I included Rikishi and Juzo in that group. Juzo was effectively my second in command of the security team. The teachers made a quick circle of the park making sure that signs were posted and that the gang had cleared out. The teachers would be around most of the morning but would not be making their presence known unless needed.

Unfortunately, they were needed not long after the rest of the first year showed up just after 0900. As the students got off the busses, people with picket signs started gathering across the street from the park entrance. "UA Out" and "This Park is Ours" were two of the common slogans. The picketers looked like regular people from the neighborhood, all with a certain aura of hopelessness and despair. The teachers gathered to observe as Kamihara went over to talk to the protestors. The situation remained peaceful though that may have been because the teachers remained at the gate.

While searching the area from trouble, I noted the gunman had disappeared from his rooftop perch. I looked, but couldn't find him in the crowd. I sent Ando and Jin messages informing them of the change. Perhaps the presence of the teachers had scared him off. Jin later told me he'd left no traces, except empty strawberry crème candy wrappers scattered on the roof-top. I never saw him again. Whoever he was, he got away.

The protests continued at a fairly low level for the rest of Thursday. That night some of the Ancients returned to the park and undid some of the work done – destroying new playground equipment and tearing up newly planted bushes. They even stoles some of the supplies and equipment left overnight. In the morning, I had to set a night guard rota that included at least one teacher and several second and third year students.

Jin and Spinner offered to keep an eye out overnight.

"This can be the first patrol of the Guardians – or the Redemption Watch, we're still deciding the name."

"The who?" I asked. Redemption Watch in Japanese was Tatari Keiei. I wasn't sure I wanted my name on his group.

"We're still working out the details but have you heard of the Guardian Angels?"

"No," I replied.

"They were a volunteer community safety organization that started in the US and came to Japan before the advent of quirks. People volunteered to patrol the subways and dangerous parts of town. They were recognized by the government and everything. I thought we could do the same. Our provisional licenses won't let us charge anything for heroing, or submit for rewards, but nothing says we can't defend ourselves and others should we happen upon any wrongdoers in our patrols."

"I'm not sure that's what those licenses are for," I argued.

"I checked the law. There's nothing against it. It's not vigilantism as we have licenses. It's just not pro heroing." His grin almost reached his ears. "I wanna see if we can take over the Bounty Heroes' old office. Maybe HPSC will donate it to our non-profit."

I opened my mouth, but couldn't decide what to say. Finally, I just confirmed. "So, you'll watch over my people at night? And leave the dragon out of this. He's working for me directly this time."

"Yes, ma'am!" He actually saluted me. I left as quickly as I could.

"What have I done?" I muttered.

Helped three people that needed help. Emily suggested. It may not be normal, but I think you did a good thing.

The protesters were back Friday morning, this time with a second group – the Face Border Clan – that carried signs calling out to "Preserve the Pure" with a pictures of heroes with non-human faces crossed out and "The Face of God" showing a pair of human standard faces. One truly offensive sign carried by several protestors showed Nezu, Cementoss, Kobayashi-sensei, and other UA teachers with mutated faces with cross hairs on them saying "Marked for Cleansing". There were even pictures of first year students like Kamakiri and Rikishi crossed out. Several pictures of me in cross hairs with "Just Retribution" were also displayed. There were at least forty FBC protestors.

I knew the FBC was a violent hate group. I'd hoped the numbers of the UA contingent would keep them away. It looks like I was wrong. There were still no signs of their elite fighters, but I worried it was only a matter of time.

Friday was more raucous, with the demonstrating groups yelling at each other as much as at us. A third group of Mosuaizuri citizens supporting our efforts started building during the day. Media finally arrived to start recording everything and interviewing anyone that would speak with them. They just added to the chaos.

Inside the park, the students were working hard. The initial clean up was mostly finished. I had helped when I wasn't working security. My spirits could find and pick up every bit of trash in a large area very quickly. It was disturbing how many used needles and broken bottles there were. After discovering this on Thursday, Ito-sensei had insisted I clear each area of the bio-hazards and sharp debris before the other students were allowed to enter to clean up the rest of the trash.

"That's not right," Kodai said, looking at the mass of materials I had accumulated. They were all going in a reinforced bag.

"No, it's not. But it's also not that unusual. You probably see this sort of stuff in big cities and poor areas around the world." Once I had the trash contained, Kodai touched the bag and shrunk it.

"Where does it go now?" I asked. I had not been part of planning for trash disposal. I knew Kodai was playing an important role in reducing the bulk of the garbage collected. But her power wasn't permanent.

"The support students have access to heavy duty incinerators and can capture any harmful byproducts of burning for later specialized use or disposal. Or so they say. Shrinking the trash means more can be burned quickly."

Power Loader was supervising the team of support students who were gutting and rebuilding the Community Center from the inside – installing the newest technologies in ways that discouraged the gear being stolen or sabotaged. Cementoss was making building construction and road repair quick and easy. Lunch Rush even showed up to make sure the two hundred students had a good mid-day meal.

Mei was using some sort of hydraulic press to hold up the ceiling while Cementoss created cement pillars to permanently carry the load.

"Those are nice," I said, pointing to the devices.

"My babies! And they have another setting," she replied excitedly. She grabbed one not currently in use and dragged me to another room. The was an interior cinder block wall marked with a large red X.

"Watch this." She set the footer of the press on the floor and leaned the tip against the wall, forming a forty-five degree angle. "Stand back!" She dropped her goggles over her eyes and pressed a button on her gauntlet. The press extended rapidly, tearing half the wall down. She hit another button before the tip of the press reached the ceiling. "Ta-da!"

"Very nice." I reached over to lift the device. It only weighed around thirty pounds. I had no idea how she packed so much power into such a small machine.

"Hmm… But the next version is going to be handheld, if I can work out the leverage issues. I'm wondering if I can gravity lock one end, but only when activated. Hmm…"

I saw her drifting into tinker fugue and floated a sandwich into her hand. She ate it automatically, never pausing her mid-air doodling. I found out later her glove captured the movement of her finger and recorded it as computer code of some sort. Way too tinker for me.

I watched as Ibara spent some time wandering the park using her vines to shape other plants, reinforcing saplings, and creating frames for growth.

While I can find no spiritual element to her quirk, Emily observed. She displays a reverence for nature that I find admirable.

She always seems nice, but I can't help wonder if she's judging me when she looks at me. I assume she's not a full-fledged pacifist, but her in-class persona comes across as regretting necessary violence.

Is there anything wrong with that? Emily inquired.

Not as long as she's not deciding I'm a villain because I do what needs to be done.

Perhaps you could talk with her about it sometime?

Maybe. But not today. I continued my rounds.

Saturday morning the students were putting the final touches on their project – those last little bits that always take so long. The demonstrations increased in size and intensity. Somehow the Face Border Clan had gathered eighty or ninety people, this time including their elite champions that I had fought before. The Ancients and their supporters numbered at least another hundred, though the pink bat girl and her backup bullies were not among them. The pro-UA counter protesters added another fifty to sixty to the incipient riot.

That was when the UA families started to arrive. They crowded the public busses or drove their private vehicles. The family celebration was due to start at noon. I had to arrange a cordon from the Center where the bus depot and the public parking lot was to the Park entrance. It was only a block, but it was filled with protestors. Kamihara-sensei was spending a lot of time calming parents who wanted to get their kids out of there.

Kan-sensei, Midnight, Cementoss, and Hound Dog were at the gate along with me and Shoda. The rest of my security group was manning the cordon.

"And now more of them are coming!" Hotspur, the leader of the Face Border Clan's Champions railed to the crowd, her voice full of loathing and contempt. "Did you see them? Consorting with monsters and demons. And they will bring more impure to infect our home. Drive them out! Drive them out!"

The people carrying the horrible signs threatening any mutant took up her chant.

"They're stealing our park!" yelled one to the Ancients, a boy with antlers and hooves not much older than the first years. "All those families. Drive them out! Drive them out!"

Another group took up the chant. The people loosely on our side lacked the organization to effectively counter-chant, though they tried for a little while.

"I think this is getting out of hand," Shoda muttered to me. He was looking at the angry crowd worriedly. "A lot of these protestors looked more like street toughs than shopkeepers or salarymen. Who knows what quirks they have? This could get ugly fast."

"If it does, I want you to get the students and families into the community center and lock it down, just like we planned. It's the strongest defensible shelter. Leave the protestors to the teachers. Our job is to protect the people who don't have license to defend themselves or others."

"But we don't have licenses either," he pointed out.

"That's why we run and hide. If they attack us once we are forted up, we can defend ourselves. We get 1-B to be the first line of defense. We have at least some training if it comes to fighting."

"Right." He looked around even more nervously.

"Don't worry …" I began, only to be cut off.

My long-range spirit shell detected an incoming shot. Before I could react, they followed my earlier order and deflected the round as it raced towards me. I pushed Shoda out of the way and the round passed between us, ricocheting off the concrete. The crack of the gunshot echoed over the crowd.

"Now they're shooting at us!" Hotspur cried; her voice amplified by a speaker on her belt. "Get them!" She started rushing towards the gate. I blew my whistle three sharp blasts, then repeated it, signaling the students in my security group to fall back on me.

The teachers moved forward. Cementoss was raising concrete barriers to hold back the crowd, leaving openings my people ran though.

"Get everyone to the Community Center," I barked as they arrived. "All first years and families. Keep them moving. Shoda, Rikishi, Agoyamato in front, Rin and Shinso in back. I'll bring up the rear. Don't use your quirks unless personally attacked."

They nodded and took off. Juzo, Kamakiri, and two other students were sleeping off the night shift. Manga and Abe, a support student, were manning the control room. I started passing orders to them through the earbuds.

"Control, we have a riot at the gate. Pulling all noncombatants to the Center." I took a second to survey the area away from the gate with my spirits. I saw a gang of Ancients, led by the pink bat girl coming through the woods towards the gathering point. "Inform the teachers and upper years we have incoming in sector seven. Looks like twenty hostiles."

"Confirmed," Abe replied, his tone calm. "Twenty hostiles in sector seven."

The rest of my team was doing a good job rounding everyone up. The students were accustomed to following orders and their families moved with them. I sent Shinso to gather stragglers as I spotted them from the air. I knew he could 'convince' them to follow if necessary.

Behind me, my wisps saw the FBC Champions had broken through the cement barrier and were engaging the teachers. The result was never in doubt. Cementoss managed the battlefield, keeping the protestors not only away from the park, but separate from each other as well.

Touchstone, the FBC tank, was a large muscular man with curly brown hair and a matching beard. His costume was basically bike shorts, a head band, and sandals, leaving his hairy chest and bulging pectorals on display. "Die Abomination!" the man screamed as he closed with the literature teacher, swinging a haymaker.

"No need for that." Cementoss liquified the roadway, swallowing the brute. He resolidified it with just Touchstone's head above ground. Midnight quickly blew some of her soporific pheromones in his face, putting him to sleep.

"You are not pure!" Hotspur, a red-headed woman in a black bodysuit cried as she swung towards Hound Dog. An electric charge was building around her hand. The counselor, moving faster than any unenhanced human, leapt to catch the swingline above the villain and used it to sling her into Manacle, her chain-wielding teammate in the biker leathers. The two crashed together and did not get back up. Blowback fell to blood-fouled wings and Frostbite was soon snoozing.

The fight took less time than it took to describe it.

I reached the Center to find the Power Loader, Present Mic, and the Big Three had gone to hold off the incoming gangbangers. Five against twenty – the gangsters never stood a chance. Present Mic opened with a howl that stopped the gang in its track, hands clutching their ears.

"Please, sensei – may we have the honors?" Hado asked, batting her big eyes at him.

"Alright," her replied. "Extra points to the one that takes down the most."

"You're on," Togata said and dove into the ground. He was wearing his costume under his uniform, so when he reappeared among the toughs, he was still dressed. He was cutting through them like a buzz-saw – striking with elbows, knees, fists, and feet. Hado and Amajiki had to move fast to catch up. Between her spiral blast and his bull horns and chicken wings they managed to subdue half the crowd.

"Points to Lemillion!" Present Mic declared. The other two congratulated him.

Power Loader released a swarm of coin-sized drones that flew to each villain and expanded into metallic zip ties. "I could have saved you the trouble," he said, shaking his head.

Parents and students were hesitating at the entrance to the building. "Go in," I yelled. "It's safer inside. You know how tough this place is now. You just built it!"

That got the students cheering and, more importantly, moving again. The central auditorium could fit the roughly four hundred people with room to spare. I sent the other guards to lock up the other entrances and two to stand by the main door, looking for threats.

I walked into the auditorium and saw the Project Committee gathered. I went to them.

"What's going on?" Chikuchi asked. She was agitated. Her hair was unkempt, and she kept pulling at her ponytails.

"The Face Border Clan and the Ancients decided to attack. There's a riot at the Park entrance, but some of the teachers are getting it under control. Other teachers are wrapping up the …" I stopped.

I felt four figures moving though my sensor cloud. While they were invisible to my wisps, my shadows and geists were all over them as soon as they entered the auditorium. Three men and a woman, all wearing high tech stealth suits. They were moving slowly to avoid bumping into anyone. I could see that if they did not move carefully their suits had trouble bending the light around them. Two, including the woman, were carrying high capacity machine pistols, and wearing hatchets and knives. Two men were carrying two hand axes each and had pistols and knives on their harnesses.

After the fight in Hosu, I started carrying small tungsten slivers in my bag and utility belt. I used my geists to fly several of these to foul the mechanisms of the guns. None of them should fire. Once that was done, I found the quick release catches for the harnesses and posted spirits ready to release them.

"Excuse me," I said as I held my hand to my ear and stepped away from the Committee. I moved on a tangent from the line between the approaching assassin and the crowd. I needed some space. All the teachers and upper years were busy, and none could make it here in time to stop these killers. It was up to me.

As I moved, I had more geists grab eighteen-inch strands of monofilament from my belt and move them along the ground and up a nearby wall. I needed them ready but unseen. I also prepped some flash powder and some capsaicin, just in case. I wanted to take these guys alive, and preferably unharmed. I knew Ando had questions for them. I did not know enough to be able to interrogate them effectively.

I stood with my back to the approaching assassins and waited, ostensibly talking on my earbud. They took the bait. With a scream, they rushed towards me. The gunners brought up their pistols and fired – or tried to. As planned, the weapons jammed. Wasting no time, they dropped them and drew their axes. The men with axes already in hand each threw one at me. My spirits caught them easily and turned them back on the throwers.

The attackers were fast, strong, and well trained. The axe men batted their own returning weapons out of the air. To avoid them drawing more weapons with their free hands, I ordered the battle harnesses released and stripped away. This tripped the assassins up monetarily, but they quickly danced out of the way. One even managed to grab a pistol.

I used the distraction to clamp geists on all four necks, initiating the blood choke. While they were somewhat tougher than normal, and their necks were armored, the armor wasn't sealed, and my spirits could slip through to get to the necessary spots. I had twelve to fifteen seconds before these guys should be out.

They surprised me by performing synchronized acrobatic flips to close the distance to avoid any other attacks. While they were in the air, I launched my scarf at the closest and used the monofilament to restrain the others. I secured ankles to belts and one person's hand to another's foot. In the air, they had little leverage to resist. They landed in what looked like a particularly nasty game of Twister. I yanked weapons from hands and menaced them with their own blades until they passed out.

While the rest of the students and families looked on, I removed all items but their clothes, and those I searched thoroughly, then bound them more securely. I finished just as Kan-sensei came into the auditorium.

"Yanagi-san, are you alright?" he asked.

I took three steps towards him when my cloud detected another incoming round. There were fewer spirits indoors, and I had not been able to rotate them like I had in the Hosu City battle. They were tiring and were not able to deflect the shot fully. I felt my eyepatch burn cold as the round grazed my upper left arm, just under the armor. The impact, glancing though it was, spun me around, blood spraying across my teacher.

I fell but rolled into a crouch ready to continue the fight. Seeing a bullet hole in one of the windows in the vaulted roof, I sent my spirits shooting through it to find the sniper. He was in an upper floor window several blocks away, well out of my range.

As I watched, Zerox and Spinner burst into the room and quickly subdued him.

"Yanagi, you're bleeding" Kan-sensei stated, obviously trying to calm me.

I examined the wound with a few spirits. Just a flesh wound. It was already throbbing but was barely worth bandaging. "I'm fine," I assured him. "We need to secure these assassins for questioning." I had my spirits sending Ando a message with a short clip of the attack.

"Taken care of," he said. I saw he had already cocooned them in a blood sheath.

At that point everyone in the room decided they needed to know what was going on right now in their loudest possible voices. It got even louder as other teachers joined the assembly. There was crying and wailing. I think I even heard some teeth gnashed.

General post battle chaos.

I let the teachers handle it while I checked with my team and sent spirits to scout the area. No one else was hurt. The riot seems to have dispersed, for the most part, and local police were finally arriving – along with Slidin' Go – to handle clean up. The media was having a field day.

The teachers moved the crowd back outside. I was pleased to see a number of students moving out to repair the damage done during the riot. Good initiative. I sent some security to watch over them.

Rin came over and sat next to me on the clean new bench. "Nine Head Dragon?" he asked. I nodded.

"They call them a claw," he said. "A five person hit squad. You did well to survive them, much less capture them."

"We'll have to talk," I said. "Later."

He nodded and left.

Just after 1300 the Principal, followed by Kan-sensei, walked up to me.

"Yanagi Reiko," the Principal said in his high-pitched voice. He handed me an envelope. "I am sorry to do this. If you wish to talk about this, I can meet with you at any time before the formal hearing on Tuesday at 1600. Details are in the notice." He looked at me, offered a shallow bow, then walked away. Kan-sensei was angry, something I had seen often enough in class, and bitterly disappointed, something I hadn't seen. He nodded and followed his boss.

I opened the envelope. At the top of the page, it said, 'Notification of Intent to Expel.'