Chapter 69

- Shoto, there you are

Dad had come to meet me as soon as I entered the VIP area.

I met his gaze as he scanned me up and down to make sure I was okay.

Check if I'm alright - he'd done so many times over the past few years.

He even ran two hands over my shoulders to clean them of imaginary dust, his lips gradually loosening and his shoulders sagging subtly. I let him, a not unpleasant feeling tingling in my chest.

I took the opportunity to study him (it had been a while since I'd seen him, as I'd done my best to avoid him since I'd received the million from the old hag; since he tended to need only one look to know if I was up to something, I'd decided it was wiser to stay away from him for the time being).

He had crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, and a few wrinkles had appeared at the corners of his mouth. I was even surprised to see a few gray hairs mixed in between the red ones.

It was normal, I was growing up and he was getting old - and a bitter taste filled my mouth at this ordinary observation.

- Congratulations, Shoto.

He offered me a slight, benevolent smile.

I looked away, shrugged, and muttered:

- Still have two round left…

He gave me a squeeze on the shoulder before letting me go, allowing me to finally see the VIP lounge.

The room was downstairs from the commentary booth, with leather chairs, a bar area with bottles behind glass, and someone playing piano in the background.

With the shaded windows preventing anyone from seeing what was inside, I felt more like I was in the private area of a nightclub than at the children's Olympics.

The rat must be making a ton of money between this, the ticket prices, the food and all the merchandising he sells.

I finally understood the real reason why he hadn't canceled at least the First Years Championship; it was a money factory, and Yuei had bottomless pockets.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two men in black suits coming toward us; one was older than my father, with all white hair and a lush mustache - he was almost as tall as him, and my old man was two meters tall.

The other, on the other hand, was in his mid-twenties, with black hair and black eyes - there was nothing banal about him either: his features were delicate, his jaw strong. He almost reminded me of a model.

- Shoto, wasn't it ? Your father told us a lot about you. I'm Go Gunhee, commander of the special forces of our army.

The army ?

I kept a neutral expression on my face as I shook his hand.

- And this is Sung Jinwoo, the man who will soon take my place.

I was only fifteen years old and nearly six feet tall, but even Sung Jinwoo towered over me

- Pleased to meet you.

The moment he touched my fingers, my eyes went to his shadow.

It undulated imperceptibly, and I felt as if the darkness itself was watching me.

- Interesting, he huffed.

I looked up at him; his eyes flashed, turning an intense blue for a split second.

This guy is dangerous.

My left hand twitched.

- Now that the introductions have been made, why don't we sit down and have a chat, Gunhee suggested.

*

- The incident with Kenzei Yasagi.

Kenzei.

I touched my mask with my fingertips.

Go Gunhee offered me a cup of tea, but I refused with one hand. I had a nasty taste in my mouth, the kind I thought I'd gotten rid of long ago - drinking under these conditions would only make it worse.

- We've had access to declassified files, and we're very impressed with the skills you've demonstrated.

- Declassified files ?

My father, who until then had more or less stayed in the background to let me lead the conversation at my own pace, suddenly straightened up.

- The Prefect locked them up at my express request.

Go Gunhee's lips curled into a broad smile, his unnaturally sharp teeth gleaming in the daylight.

- We are special forces, Enji. You know yourself that laws and morals apply to ordinary mortals, not to our division.

He took a sip of coffee, his friendly expression returning to his face; I was on guard now, realizing that even if Jinwoo was the greater threat of the two, the old man was not to be taken lightly.

And to think that my father was a member of this corps..

My respect for him soared through the roof.

- We also saw your prowess at the Yuei Entrance Exam. Quite cocky, isn't it?

I sat back in my chair and crossed my fingers on my knees.

If there's one thing my mafiosa grandmother taught me, it's to never let events get the better of you.

- Confident would be the word.

- Someone could have drowned in your ocean, couldn't they? Not to mention the lightning you deliberately attracted…

- I was in complete control of the situation.

Which was true; I had mastered my lightning as well as my ice and fire, if not to a superior degree.

Gun Hee and Jinwoo exchanged glances.

- How did you even manage that, Jinwoo continued, For the lightning, I mean.

My eyes crinkled imperceptibly; did they know ?

My father had confessed to me that he had destroyed all footage of that day himself - he had never watched the video after Kenzei's death, and that event was the only time I'd ever let myself be recorded using chakra.

I was worried at first, but five years had passed…

- It's one of my new abilities I've been working on for a while, I told them casually.

After fire comes lightning, then plasma. At least in theory.

Pretend to tell them what they already know, so they think I'm not hiding anything else.

- Interesting, Gunhee gasped. I've never met anyone with such a mastery of their quirk.

- His Quirks, my father corrected. His fire and ice are considered two separate entities.

- Could we have a demonstration, Shoto ?

I shook my head :

- Unfortunately, I'm still in the early stages; I'm having trouble controlling existing lightning, let alone the kind I'm supposed to be able to create myself... (Prudence would have told me to stop there, but these guys were the damn Special Forces - if there was an armed conflict with another nation, they were the ones sent into the field - and since I was interested in the prospect of joining them, I continued:)... but I can show you something else, if you like.

My cup of tea froze in front of me.

Then wisps of smoke rose as the tea returned to its liquid state.

I raised my hand; the surface of the burnished water rippled before the drops, one by one, began to float above the cup. Soon, the entire contents were in the air, a large bubble in the center and smaller ones floating alongside it.

With a quick glance, I saw Gunhee raise his eyebrows in obvious surprise. My father readjusted his position in the chair but made no comment.

- I've never seen anyone so in tune their quirk, Jinwoo observed calmly.

- This is just the beginning, I added. By the time I finish my studies at Yuei, I'll be much better.

- What are your estimations ?

I'd aroused Jinwoo's interest, judging by the way he scrutinized me.

- I'll be able to split the sea in two.

There was a long, long silence.

Jinwoo looked at me as if he couldn't tell if I was bluffing or not; I held his gaze without flinching.

I can do what I've just shown you with any water made from my ice ; it's only a matter of time before my mastery of suiton becomes as extraordinary as my lightning's.

Gunhee burst out laughing.

- What an ambitious boy ! Enji was just like you at that age when he was still in his 'I'm better than everyone else' phase.

My father shot an annoyed look at the old man.

Jinwoo smiled briefly as Gunhee laughed beside him and pulled a card from the inside pocket of his suit before handing it to me.

A phone number was written in gold letters on thick, grainy paper. There was no name or anything else on it. Behind it was the logo of a solar eclipse.

- We had simply decided to meet you for a brief evaluation, he began. However, given what we've just seen - in addition to the martial and technical prowess demonstrated at this tournament - I think it would be unfortunate if we didn't show you our interest. If, as you say, you're able to 'split the sea in two' within the next two years, consider your place in the Special Forces guaranteed.

Gunhee, who had regained his composure in the meantime, nodded.

- You'll have to go through a training period, of course, he nuanced, but since you're your father's son, that shouldn't be a problem.

Then he clapped his hands:

- All right ! Thank you for granting us this interview, Misters Todoroki.

Everyone stood up and shook hands.

I thought I saw the shadow of a smile on Jinwoo's lips as I made an obvious effort not to look into his shadow.

- Enji, it was a pleasure to see you again after all this time. Shoto, I hope to hear from you again in two years.

He gave me an open smile and I nodded.

Joining the Special Forces or becoming the godfather of the Italian mafia... being a hero had never seemed so boring as it did right now.

Everyone bowed in greeting and Jinwoo and Gunhee quickly left the room. My father waited until the door closed behind them before he asked me:

- What did you think?

- They made quite an impression on me.

And that was a hell of an understatement - if I'd understood things correctly, the Special Forces were this world's equivalent of the ANBU. I gloated at the thought of doing covert operations in uniform, with everyone whispering my code name with reverence and awe.

My father smiled at me:

- I was sure you'd enjoy this meeting.

- Thank you, by the way.

I lowered my mask to take a sip of hot tea.

- Since we have some time before the stadium is completely rebuilt, how about telling me about your recent activities ?

I almost choked.

- What do you mean ?

From the look he gave me, I knew I was done.

Bonus :

The two men got into their respective SUVs and sat in the back seat. If there was an attack (as crazy as it was to attack members of the Special Forces, it wasn't out of the question), the fact that they were separated drastically reduced their chances of both dying.

Their organization would be shaken up a bit, but that would be nothing compared to the chaos that would ensue if they both died and no one was left to lead them.

Their drivers started; Sung Jinwoo felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He lifted the receiver to his ear:

- Giving him our card was the right thing to do in this situation. Well done, Jinwoo.

Sung replied humbly:

- I thought it a pity that the NCB* could get a hold of him before we did. Even worse, that the Heroic Commission did.

Although the three institutions all worked for the Japanese government, they were all independent of a different branch of the country: the military, intelligence, and internal security. The Special Forces, the NCB, and the Commission were at the top of their respective fields, but there was a fierce rivalry between them, with each trying to prove its superiority over the other two. That's because of good old-fashioned ego, but above all because of the wanted separation of powers by the government.

- It would have been unfortunate, said Go Gunhee, But it's unlikely that he would have been interested in them: he's not a hero.

- So why join Yuei ?

- For the same reason you did at his age: he wants to get his Quirk license for public use.

Jinwoo became thoughtful.

- Because what he did in the hangar that day, I think it was due to a second awakening of his Quirk, Gunhee continued. He seemed to be in a second phase and fainted as soon as his father arrived. Not to mention that the medical records tend to support this version; he himself said he felt like he was sailing in a fog and could only remember flash after flash after his bodyguard's death. Perhaps he really just had the idea to make lightning and can only use it unconsciously at the moment…

The young man had come to the same conclusion as his mentor.

- As for the problems with the irregularity of his quirks, we'd better leave it at that. He has confessed to us about the lightning, which is a sign of his good will; and given his abilities - which we suspect he has - it would be foolish to antagonize him.

Gunhee agreed.

- Especially since, from what he's been willing to show us, his quirk makes him more than a little dangerous. An asset like that anywhere but in our hands is a threat, but if he voluntarily comes over to our side to serve Japan... Gunhee left his sentence hanging in the air: Jinwoo understood exactly what he meant. After all, a few years ago he had been the teenager with the dangerous quirk.

- What about the videos ? What do you want to do with them?

- I have all existing copies, Jinwoo assured. I'll destroy them when we get to the headquarters.

- Good.

The two men exchanged a few words before hanging up. Sung Jinwoo watched the horizon behind the tinted glass.

It was lucky that the Special Forces got to Shoto Todoroki first. If it had been any other organization...

*

*NCB = Naicho (Naikaku Chosashitsu Betsushitsu) Japanese Secret Service

Author's note :

I swear it is the last I use already existing characters... in this story at least.

Edit : Gunhee and Jinwoo are just OOC characters of whom I stole the chara design. Jinwoo is only able to control shadows. This is not a cross-over.

Power stones goal : 250 and we get the sunday bonus chapter.

This is the 3rd consecutive week with this goal. Let's see if we will make it to the fourth week.

P@treon : Nar_cisseENG where you can read up to 50 chapters ahead. 

See you in the next update everyone !