2 THE SUPERVISORS
The Tokyo Intelligence Directorate was an imposing building, located in the heart of the city. It was a solid-looking and massive structure, twenty storeys high. Shinsou spent a few minutes looking at it, before entering and going to the second floor, where the general office was.
He presently found himself in a room with several other new recruits. The Head of Recruitment spoke briefly to them, saying that most of them were general recruits who would go through a year's basic training before the decision would be made as to whether they were competent enough to function as covert operatives; otherwise, they would be posted to other sections. Each of them had already been assigned to a supervisor who would oversee their training. A few of them, however, had already been recruited with a particular assignment in mind, and these would be given customised training instead. They would find out who they were once they had met their supervisors.
He then distributed slips of paper to the recruits with the names of their supervisors on it. Shinsou looked at his. It said, "Seijiro Nakajima, room 10-15".
He was a bit disappointed. He had been hoping to be assigned to Aizawa, who had left Yuuei several months earlier to take up his new post at the Directorate. Shinsou knew, of course, that his chances of getting Aizawa were slim, since there were so many people working there, but even so ...
He left the general office with the other recruits. There were seven of them, and they had looked at each other, but had not spoken much. He took the elevator to the tenth floor. When he got out, who should he meet along the corridor, but Aizawa.
"I'd heard that you got in," said Aizawa, after they had exchanged greetings.
"I thought that I might get you as my supervisor," said Shinsou, "but I've got a Seijiro Nakajima, instead."
"Well, you're in luck, then," said Aizawa, "I must admit that I haven't spoken to him yet, only passed him along the corridor a few times, but I've heard that he used to be one of the best agents the Directorate has ever had."
"Used to be?" said Shinsou, sceptically.
"When he used to go out in the field regularly," explained Aizawa, "He's older now, over fifty, and has taken on a more supervisory role. He doesn't look as fit as he must have been in the past, but I expect you should still be able to learn a lot from him."
Fortified with this information, Shinsou eventually took his leave of Aizawa and continued down the corridor, looking for room 15.
He had to knock several times before he heard a muffled voice say, "Come in." The first thing that hit him when he opened the door was the strong smell of whiskey.
The office was a small one, which seemed to make the whiskey fumes even more overpowering. Nakajima was slumped at his desk, and Shinsou took one look at him and decided that Aizawa must have been mistaken. His supervisor was a large man with a craggy face, and he reeked of alcohol; there was an empty bottle of whiskey sitting on the desk, and the glass reclining near his hand was half full. A row of unopened whiskey bottles on the shelf behind him indicated that his inebriated sojourn was far from over.
He looked blearily at Shinsou, as if trying to recall who he was. Shinsou was about to introduce himself, when the barrel-bodied man spoke.
"You're Hitoshi Shinsou," he said with an effort, his speech slightly slurred, "I've been expecting you."
Whatever hopes Shinsou had entertained that some mistake had been made, and that the intoxicated individual slouched in front of him would tell him that he had come to the wrong room, were dashed.
Nakajima was regarding Shinsou dazedly; his eyes appeared to have difficulty focusing.
"Yes, I requested for you, Shinsou," he said thickly, "when I heard about your Quirk, I realised that you were just what I needed. You've got five months to learn Korean and karate perfectly, and then you're coming to North Korea with me."
"What?" Shinsou stared at him in disbelief. He hadn't meant to be rude, but just when things looked as if they couldn't possibly get worse, they had. "Go to North Korea – with you?"
"Correct," said Nakajima, absently.
"Learn perfect Korean in five months?" said Shinsou, trying to get things clear.
"Correct," said Nakajima, again.
"Impossible," said Shinsou firmly, "I've heard that recruits here normally learn a foreign language for two years before being proficient enough to use it out in the field."
"It's possible," said Nakajima, waving a hand vaguely at him, "We'll postpone some of your other basic training, and give you more time for Korean language lessons."
"And I thought that recruits here get to try out different martial arts before deciding which suits them," Shinsou argued.
"No, no," said Nakajima, wagging a finger at him, "This is important because your Quirk isn't a combat one. I've chosen for you. Karate. The lessons have all been arranged, already."
"But a skill like that takes years to master!" protested Shinsou, "I can't attain any sort of reasonable proficiency in five months!"
"Go up to the eighteenth floor, room six," said Nakajima mechanically, not taking any notice of him, "Kaneshiro's there. He'll oversee your training."
"Who?" said Shinsou, blankly.
"Takeyoshi Kaneshiro," said Nakajima, nodding impatiently, "junior supervisor." He waved at Shinsou to leave.
Shinsou, however, didn't move.
"Why are we going to North Korea?" he asked.
"What?" said Nakajima, looking at him foggily.
"Why are we going to North Korea," repeated Shinsou.
"I'll tell you another time," said Nakajima dismissively, picking his glass up and downing its contents, "It's too early to tell you now."
"I'd prefer to know now," said Shinsou firmly, staring balefully at his drunken supervisor.
Nakajima was beginning to look irritated. "I just said – " His face went blank.
Shinsou's expression was cold.
"Tell me why we're going to North Korea," he ordered.
"There's a ship called the Shiramine Maru operated by Chongryon which we suspect is smuggling weapons and technology from Japan into North Korea," said Nakajima, staring blankly ahead, "We want to collect evidence of this. If it's true, the Japanese government will probably ban the ship."
"Chongryon?" said Shinsou, puzzled, "What's that?"
"Chae Ilbon Chosŏnin Ch'ongryŏnhaphoe," said Nakajima, succinctly.
"What?" said Shinsou sharply, "Explain that in Japanese."
"The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan," Nakajima translated, "it's one of the organisations for Zainichi Koreans here in Japan."
"Zainichi Koreans?" said Shinsou, baffled.
"Long-term Korean residents in Japan," said Nakajima, nodding with conviction.
Shinsou gave up.
"Why did you choose me for this?" he asked.
"Your brainwashing Quirk is ideal for what I want to do," answered Nakajima, "We need to pose as members of the ship's crew. I need you to brainwash the Chongryon officials into employing us to work on the ship. You can brainwash the Chongryon officials on board into revealing where the weapons are hidden. And if they become suspicious of us for any reason, you can brainwash them into leaving us alone."
Shinsou decided that he needn't find out any more. It was one thing to learn rudimentary Korean, but if he was brainwashing Koreans he needed to speak the language well enough to issue instructions in Korean, and to become that fluent in five months was impossible for him, especially since he wasn't particularly gifted at learning languages. Moreover, it was madness to think of going out in the field with a supervisor who was an alcoholic, especially when you were a brand new recruit. When the field was a country like North Korea, it was sheer suicide.
He left Nakajima in his brainwashed state, and went up to the eighteenth floor to look for the junior supervisor.
Room six, thankfully, appeared normal and devoid of anything like alcohol fumes. It was bright and airy with large windows, much bigger than the office on the tenth floor, and two thirds of it consisted of empty space which Shinsou instinctively guessed might be used for combat training, or sparring. The other one third consisted of several desks and chairs. There was only one individual seated at one of the desks.
Shinsou went up to the individual.
"Kaneshiro-san?" he said.
"Yes," said the man.
Shinsou's first impression of Kaneshiro was that he was too young and good-looking to be a supervisor. He couldn't have been more than thirty, probably in his late twenties. He was tall and extremely handsome, with long, black hair that fell past his shoulders. He was wearing a slim-fitting black top and pants, but if one put robes on him, he could have passed off as the dashing hero in one of those period martial arts dramas.
The second thing Shinsou noticed about Kaneshiro was that he didn't smile much. He was serious and stern, and when Shinsou bowed and introduced himself, he extended a hand instead of returning the bow.
"Well met, Shinsou," he said in a businesslike tone, giving Shinsou's hand a firm shake, "I have here your training timetable. We can go through it now, and I'll let you know what is expected of you."
"Well, yes, Kaneshiro-san," Shinsou said firmly, "before we go into that, I want to request for a change of supervisor."
Kaneshiro raised his eyebrows.
"I just saw Nakajima," explained Shinsou, "He was dead drunk. I don't think he's in his right mind, at all."
"I am afraid a change of supervisor will not be possible," said Kaneshiro matter-of-factly, adding blandly, "and brainwashing anyone, even the Director-General, into assigning you a new one, won't work either. Once they wake from their brainwashed states, they will simply rescind the order, not to mention place you under disciplinary action for brainwashing your superiors."
"But he's a drunkard!" said Shinsou indignantly, "How can the Directorate employ someone like that?"
"So long as he successfully completes his missions, there is no reason for the Directorate not to employ him," Kaneshiro said calmly.
"He told me that I'll be going to North Korea with him," protested Shinsou, "It's suicidal to follow anyone like that to a country like North Korea! And he told me to learn Korean fluently and to be proficient in karate in five months! It's impossible!"
"Why is it impossible?" asked Kaneshiro, looking keenly at Shinsou.
"I might be able to pick up basic Korean within that time frame, perhaps," said Shinsou, "but it won't be good enough for me to use my Quirk, will it? And that would only be if I was going to work on it full-time, but I've got to complete the rest of my basic training as well at the same time, don't I?"
"We've postponed some of your training till after your assignment," said Kaneshiro, consulting the timetable in his hand, "Defensive and evasive driving techniques, for example, you can do later. And you'll only look at firearms for now, for your weapons training. You'll be having more frequent sessions in karate and Korean."
"I'm not agreeable to it," said Shinsou abruptly, "and I'll go and see the Director-General about it, if I have to."
"Out of the question," said Kaneshiro, flatly. He stood in front of Shinsou, looking intently at him.
"Your main supervisor doesn't matter much, when it comes to your basic training," he said, "I will be overseeing your progress, and your various instructors will be conducting the training. I can assure you that they are all extremely competent."
"Well, I'm being short-changed," said Shinsou obstinately, "The other recruits get a year's training before they're sent on assignments. And they get supervisors who aren't glued to a whiskey bottle all the time. Those studying languages take it for two years, and martial arts takes a lifetime to master! Not only that, but the other recruits will get to try out a range of different martial arts before deciding which suits them best. I'm having karate forced on me – "
"Hitoshi Shinsou," said Kaneshiro, interrupting him, "why did you become a hero?"
Shinsou frowned. He felt that Kaneshiro was trying to change the subject.
"Why does anyone become a hero?" he said, evasively.
Kaneshiro folded his arms, and waited.
Shinsou scowled.
"Because," he said, with a hint of anger in his voice, "People have told me all my life that my Quirk is a villain's Quirk, and I wanted to prove them wrong."
He stopped short. He didn't know why he had said that – he normally wouldn't have mentioned to anyone how he had been constantly misjudged for most of his life because of his Quirk, much less to a stranger.
"Why did you join the Directorate?" asked Kaneshiro, quietly.
"One of my teachers at Yuuei recommended it as being suitable for my Quirk," said Shinsou, annoyed. "After seeing Nakajima I'm having second thoughts, though."
Kaneshiro nodded slowly.
"Nakajima used to be one of the Directorate's greats, you know," he said.
"So I heard," said Shinsou dismissively, "but that was obviously a long time ago. He's gone to seed now. I think that I might do better in a hero agency, after all."
"We're all human and can fall along the way," said Kaneshiro piously, "He might surprise you in the end … you might find out that there's still much you can learn from him. Besides, as I said, I'll be the one overseeing most of your training."
Shinsou frowned. Kaneshiro looked at him.
"Do you think that I'm not up to training you well?" he said, "Let's fight. We won't fight Quirk to Quirk, because neither of us has combat Quirks. Let's fight physical combat."
He proceeded to set a timer to indicate the start of their match, and placed it on the table. They then went over to the open space at the centre of the room, and faced each other. The junior supervisor had a multi-thonged whip in his hand, and Shinsou eyed it warily. He had acquired a combat skill while in Yuuei, of course, and he worked out mentally how he was going to tackle his opponent.
The timer went off, and before Shinsou could react, Kaneshiro had moved. Shinsou had never seen anyone move so fast; he dodged Shinsou's attack, and at the same time lifted his whip with lightning speed and brought it down on his new trainee. In a flash the thongs had coiled themselves around Shinsou, and the more he struggled, the tighter they became.
Kaneshiro stood before him, holding the whip, and regarding him calmly.
"Hitoshi Shinsou," he said coolly, "Make your choice now. The Directorate, or leave and choose a hero agency."
Shinsou hesitated. He stared angrily at Kaneshiro, but remained silent.
Kaneshiro removed the whip thongs from his new trainee, and looked carefully at him.
"You said that you became a hero because you wanted to prove people wrong about you having a villain's Quirk," he said, "What you didn't mention is that you have the heart of a hero, and that this heart cries out to make itself known. Am I right?"
The room seemed very quiet, all of a sudden. Shinsou was staring at the junior supervisor, his face pale.
"Yes," he said, slowly.
"You won't leave the Directorate and join a hero agency," stated Kaneshiro, looking intently at him, "because you're up to the challenge here. You want to prove yourself ... I can see it in your eyes. There are hundreds of heroes in hero agencies. Can they do what you can do here in the Directorate? Why be like the masses when your unique calling is here?"
Shinsou returned his gaze. The room continued to be very quiet; one could have heard a pin drop. Finally, he spoke.
"I'll stay," he said, abruptly.
Kaneshiro smiled for the first time.
"Good," he said. He wound the whip up neatly, and tucked it away at his belt. He then handed Shinsou a copy of his timetable. "Let's get down to business, then."
Shinsou shook his head slightly, as if to clear his mind, and bent over the timetable.
"First, I'll go through your standard training," said Kaneshiro, "You'll be learning how to use a range of weapons, but we'll start with firearms first. You'll also learn about different types of explosives, including how to make improvised explosive devices.
"At the Support Lab there's a basic package too, including various types of spy cameras and how to install them. Then there will be sessions to build up your mental strength, especially as you'll be going out on assignment sooner than the other recruits. You'll be given tasks where your cognitive ability in stressful situations will be tested ..."
Shinsou was still scrutinizing the timetable.
"Next, there's training for your assignment in North Korea," continued Kaneshiro, "Two hours of Korean language lessons, three times a week. I'm fluent in Korean, and I'll be speaking to you in Korean from the third month onwards. Let's see how far you've progressed, by then."
Shinsou privately doubted that he'd be able to do more than string a few ungrammatical sentences in Korean together even after two months, but he nodded with a resigned expression on his face.
"And karate lessons," Kaneshiro went on, "You'll have a private class with the instructor at first, three times a week, and then we'll see how fast you progress. You'll sometimes join the other classes because you need to spar with different types of partners in order to become proficient. I'll be sparring with you, as well."
"I already have a combat skill," said Shinsou, rather sullenly, "Why would I need to use a martial art in North Korea?"
Kaneshiro shrugged.
"Nakajima-san has ordered it," he said, "He's known to have an uncanny ability to guess what is required of a mission, and I would trust his judgement on this."
"Is that his Quirk?" enquired Shinsou.
"No," said Kaneshiro, "His Quirk is one of the main reasons why he was such a successful agent. He can make himself invisible at will, and not only that, he can make other objects or people invisible if he wants, by touching them."
Shinsou was amazed. He realised that when it came to stealth work, this was an extremely powerful Quirk. No wonder Nakajima had done well as an agent, he thought. He wondered what had happened to bring him to his current inebriated state.
"Anyway," Kaneshiro was saying, "Nakajima's wanting you to learn karate may not necessarily be about defence. They learn taekwondo, over there in Korea. Who knows who you'll be dealing with, over there? They may challenge you to a duel in martial arts, and sometimes it will be to earn their respect, more than anything."
He noticed Shinsou's expression, and added, "Learning karate will be a profitable thing, whether you use it in North Korea or not. I will give you two months to master the basics, and then I am going to spar with you. Show me how good you can become, by then."
Shinsou still felt a bit annoyed, but said nothing.
"Now, disguises," Kaneshiro went on, "The covert operatives here all know how to disguise themselves, but in your case it's vital that you're good at it, because the use of your Quirk depends on people not knowing who you are. You're going to have two hours' acting lessons three times a week, including practising putting on different disguises and makeup."
"Makeup?" said Shinsou, aghast.
"Yes, makeup," said Kaneshiro, staring coldly at him, "What's wrong with that?"
"That's for girls!" protested Shinsou, looking revolted.
There was a pregnant pause, and then Kaneshiro looked reprovingly at Shinsou.
"It's all in your mind," he said sternly, "In the movie business, male actors put on makeup all the time. Don't let your prejudices hold you back. Don't think like a student any more. When you have a job to do, do whatever it takes to get it done. You can do it if you want to, and do it perfectly."
Shinsou was looking mutinous.
"When you need to do something, just do whatever you have to, to get it right," said Kaneshiro, fixing a steely gaze on his new recruit, "If you're roughing it out and sleeping on the ground, just do it, and don't complain. When you go out in the field, you have a job to do. Never turn down an opportunity to learn anything. You never know when it might help you. You have to be up to doing the job more than a hundred percent, or you might not survive. I want you to have this mindset. If you have to learn Korean or Chinese, just do it. Imagine yourself in Korea, struggling because you didn't manage to master the language."
He stopped, and looked expectantly at Shinsou. The latter returned his stare for a few moments, but then finally nodded.
"Aim high and aim for the stars, young Shinsou," said Kaneshiro sternly, "There's a fire within you to prove yourself, isn't there? That you're better than all the other heroes? Set yourself a high standard, even if no one else sees or knows. You know it. I expect this from you. Don't disappoint me."
"Yes, Kaneshiro-san," said Shinsou. He was now looking rather subdued.
"I'll now bring you to see your various instructors," said Kaneshiro, after looking at Shinsou for a moment, "You have five months. Try to become proficient enough not to be killed when you go out in the field."
Shinsou took one last look at the timetable, before keeping it away.
How am I going to master all this in five months, he thought.
Kaneshiro seemed to be reading his mind. As they made their way down the corridor toward the elevator, he asked Shinsou if he was renting a place in Tokyo.
"I'm still looking for accommodation nearer the Directorate," Shinsou answered, "I'm currently bunking in with a friend."
"Don't bother," said Kaneshiro, "On the top floor of the Directorate there are some rooms with beds for staff working overnight on urgent projects. You can bunk in there for the next few months, if you want. It'll save you the commute. New recruits like you, who only have a few months to prepare for an assignment, usually end up doing this."
Shinsou was surprised to hear that such an arrangement was possible. He felt heartened, at any rate, to hear that others had been in his situation before. He wanted to ask whether those recruits had survived their assignments.
"What sort of urgent projects?" he asked curiously, wondering if Kaneshiro would tell him.
"Usually forging of documents by the Support staff," replied Kaneshiro, "There might suddenly be a case where we need to smuggle someone in or out of a country on short notice, and if the covert operative doesn't have a convenient Quirk to get him out – teleporting, or invisibility, or phasing – he'll have to do it the traditional way. He'll need all the correct documents – passport, certificates, and so on. You have to make the documents look really genuine, such as a bit creased or aged, or in a certain country only a certain type of ink or stamp or paper might be used; that takes a lot of time and skill to produce, so the Support staff will work on it for hours. You often can't just disguise the person … you need the correct accessories to carry the disguise off."
Shinsou was intrigued.
They had taken the elevator down to the fourth floor. Kaneshiro glanced at him, as they made their way out.
"Any other questions?" he asked.
"Yes," Shinsou said, suddenly recalling his conversation with Nakajima, "What are Zainichi Koreans?"
Kaneshiro paused for a moment, before replying.
"That takes a while to explain," he said, "why do you want to know about them?"
"Nakajima mentioned them to me," said Shinsou.
Kaneshiro had stopped walking. He stood there, looking at Shinsou.
"Well, you know that at one time, Japan colonized Korea, don't you?" he said.
Shinsou, who had not paid much attention during history lessons, only vaguely knew, but he nodded.
"Korea was considered part of Japan at the time, and the people living there were considered Japanese citizens," Kaneshiro continued, "As a result, many Koreans came over to Japan to live and work.
"But after the Second World War, Japan had to relinquish sovereignty over Korea. By that time, there were Koreans who had been living here in Japan for generations. They had settled here, and many of them were more used to speaking Japanese than Korean. And yet, after the war, the Japanese government didn't take these Koreans in as Japanese citizens. They were to register themselves as Korean citizens in the new Korea, although they continued living in Japan. They therefore have the status of foreigners, and are referred to as Zainichi Koreans."
"I see," said Shinsou. He hesitated, and then asked, "and what is Chongryon?"
Kaneshiro looked quizzically at Shinsou.
"Has Nakajima already briefed you on your assignment?" he queried.
"Yes," said Shinsou, casually.
"That's unusual," said Kaneshiro, looking rather suspiciously at Shinsou, "we normally only brief the recruits about their assignments much later." From his expression Shinsou knew that he suspected that he had brainwashed Nakajima. He tried to keep his face expressionless.
"Well, some years later the Korean War took place," said Kaneshiro, now looking thoughtfully at Shinsou, "You've heard about that, haven't you? And the country was split into North and South Korea. The Koreans living in Japan had to decide whether they wanted to be affiliated with the North or with the South. There are two organisations in Japan representing these two groups – Mindan for those who'd registered with the South, and Chongryon for the North."
"I wouldn't have thought anyone in their right mind would have registered with the North," remarked Shinsou.
Kaneshiro looked at him, his expression inscrutable.
"In those days, right after the war, no one knew with certainty what the government in the North would turn out to be like," he said, "and at the beginning, Japan had actually developed the North more and given it better infrastructure than the South, because it was closer to China and Manchuria whom they were trading with. North Korea also had a more welcoming policy for Koreans living in Japan at that time than South Korea. Besides, there were Koreans in Japan who originally came from the North, and still had relatives there. It was quite understandable then, that they decided to register with the North."
Shinsou felt rebuked, for some reason. He decided that he had better read up more about the topic on his own before making more critical comments.
"What are they like, Chongryon?" he asked.
"Chongryon basically sees itself as a North Korean organization here in Japan," answered Kaneshiro, "When it was first established, its objective wasn't to help the Koreans here settle down to life in Japan; instead its aim was the repatriation of all Koreans here in Japan back to a unified Korea.
"Chongryon therefore subscribes to the ideology of the North Korean government. They oppose the integration of their Korean members into Japanese society. For example, they discourage their members from marrying Japanese citizens. They run businesses here in Japan, and the North Korean government also funds them, and so they are able to run their own schools here which teach the North Korean syllabus, and they have their own university here. Some of their officials are even members of North Korea's parliament."
"I see," said Shinsou. He was trying to assimilate all the data. However, since Kaneshiro seemed willing to impart information, he decided to ask one more question.
"What is there to know about this ship run by Chongryon, the Shiramine?" he said, "Nakajima only told me that it is suspected to be smuggling weapons."
"Chongryon claims that the ship is for leisure purposes for their members," said Kaneshiro, "It is supposed to bring passengers for a cruise around the Sea of Japan over a period of two days. However, we suspect that the ship is actually going to North Korea. It switches off its transponder once it goes out to sea, so that it can't be tracked. It is probably bringing Zainichi Koreans to North Korea to visit their families, but what we are more concerned about is whether other things like weapons and technology are also being smuggled to North Korea."
Shinsou nodded, and then remained quiet, thinking. He felt that he had obtained enough information for the time being, and decided not to ask any more questions until he had gotten all the current data sorted out in his mind.
"Anything else?" asked Kaneshiro, after a silence of a few minutes.
"Yes," Shinsou suddenly remembered something else. He felt that he really wanted to know the answer to this. "Kaneshiro-san, what is your Quirk?"
Kaneshiro looked surprised.
"As I said, like yours, mine is a non-combat Quirk," he said, "I have a form of clairvoyance. I can touch something, and know what is inside. I can touch the outside of a building, for example, and know if there are hostages inside. I can touch the outside wall of a room, and know if there are explosives inside. I can touch a box, and guess its contents."
He paused, and looked thoughtfully at Shinsou.
"I can also touch a person," he said quietly, "and know what that person's character is, what he's made of, inside."
Shinsou looked at him, startled.
No wonder the junior supervisor had wanted to shake hands; he had wanted to size his new recruit up. What had he seen, Shinsou wondered. He looked sharply at Kaneshiro, but the handsome face was impassive.
They continued down the corridor, and eventually reached their first stop, the Support Laboratory. The entrance consisted of a set of tall, white doors, and Kaneshiro pulled one open. "After you," he said politely, letting Shinsou enter first. But the supervisor's impassive expression then disappeared, and there was a knowing smile on his face which Shinsou didn't see, as he followed the new recruit through the doors, and into the cavernous hall of the Support Lab.