4 THE CAFE

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It was dark when Shinsou returned to the café that evening. A bell jangled as he entered the door, and a waitress who was cleaning the tables in the front room looked up to see who had come in.

She bowed to him and said, "I'm sorry, sir, but we don't take orders after eight – thirty."

"It's only a few minutes past that," said Shinsou.

The girl looked into his face and quailed slightly.

"The manager isn't here tonight," she stammered, "Let me ask my colleague."

She disappeared into the kitchen. Shinsou went over to the door to listen.

"It's only just past the time, we can still entertain him," Misa was saying, "We've turned people away before, and they were hungry. One told me there isn't any other place near here where they can get a meal."

"But all the other customers have left, and so the chef decided he could leave as well," said the other waitress.

"If he's not fussy, it'll be OK. They've trained us to prepare some of the meals," said Misa.

"But my mother is sick. I need to leave early. If we turn him away, we can get all these dishes done and leave. Anyway, it's your last day, why bother?"

"If you'll help me a bit with the dishes, I'll serve him."

"We should turn him away. He's scary-looking. He was here during lunch too."

"Oh, not those beer people again?"

"No, the guy with the purple hair."

Shinsou could hear footsteps, and he retreated a few paces from the door. Misa poked her head through, and her eyes widened slightly when she saw who it was.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, sir," she said, coming out and leading him to a table.

"I hope this isn't too inconvenient," said Shinsou.

"No, no, it isn't," said Misa, setting the menu before him.

The kitchen door opened, and the other waitress came out. She had changed out of her uniform into her usual clothes, and was hurrying toward the entrance.

"I'm sorry, Misa-chan, I have to go," she panted, "My mother just called, she wants me to go home at once."

Misa walked over to the kitchen door and looked in. Dirty dishes were still piled at the sink.

Her heart sank. She quickly took Shinsou's order, and prepared the food. She had placed it in front of him and was halfway back to the kitchen when he said, "Don't go. Stay here and talk to me."

Misa stopped and turned around. Shinsou was looking coolly at her.

"Don't go," he repeated, adding persuasively, "I'll help you wash the dishes if you'll stay and talk."

She couldn't help feeling amused at his offer. She hesitated a moment, then walked back to his table. Never mind the dishes, she thought, after all, I may never have another chance to talk to him.

She seated herself opposite him, and there was silence for a few moments as they stared at each other across the table. Then Misa said, "I couldn't possibly let you wash the dishes, sir. But I don't know what you'd like to talk about. Perhaps you could let me know what you're interested in."

"I'm interested in you," said Shinsou, with disarming frankness, "We can talk about that."

"Me?" said Misa, taken aback. She sat back in her chair. "There's nothing much to say about me."

"Oh, but there is," said Shinsou smoothly, "I was here during lunch. That's a powerful Quirk that you have."

"So is yours," she said, without thinking.

Shinsou was caught off-guard for once. He shot her a swift look of surprise.

Misa, seeing his expression, hastened to explain. "I recognised you the first time you came in. I saw you long ago, on TV. At the Sports Festival."

Shinsou relaxed. "The Sports Festival? That was so many years ago."

"Yes," she said, a little sadly. She had been ten at the time, and she and Hideo had watched it together.

"Most people who know about my Quirk are usually more wary when talking to me," remarked Shinsou.

She looked at him. "I didn't think of that," she admitted.

"Aren't you afraid of what I could make you do?" he asked, with a small smile.

"What could you make me do?" she asked cautiously.

"Well," said Shinsou, a gleam in his eye, "what if I were to force you have sex with me?"

Misa looked at him. She knew he wasn't really serious, and she somehow also sensed that he was testing her. She said simply, "Shinsou-san, you're an attractive man. You wouldn't need to use your Quirk if you wanted to get a woman to make love to you."

Shinsou seemed amused by this answer.

"I should like to see more of your Quirk," he said.

"My Quirk?" Misa thought it was a peculiar way to want to be entertained, but she got up, phased through the wall of the café, came back in, and then stood in front of him with a questioning look on her face.

"Can you phase objects as well?" asked Shinsou.

"Yes." She picked a chair up, and carried it through the same wall and back in again.

Shinsou nodded slowly. "What about people?"

At this, she came up to him and offered her hand. He looked at her a moment, then took it in his. He felt a most peculiar feeling, as if the space within him was now occupied by someone else as well, and moreover someone who had some unknown measure of control over his body.

She looked at him. "Does it feel strange?"

He gave her a wry look. "Is some part of you inside me?" he asked.

"When I phase an object, it becomes an extension of me," she explained, "I can activate or deactivate my Quirk in each part of it. For example, if I were to phase us through the wall, I would not put the soles of our feet completely into phasing mode, so that we could still walk on the ground and not fall downward."

He had expected she would walk both of them through the wall again, but instead she said, "Let's go up!" She sprang upward, pulling him with her. They were moving upwards, through the roof of the café, and suddenly it was dark and the night sky was around them, the wind was blowing, and the town with its lights lay before them.

Shinsou was astonished. He looked at the surrounding landscape, and then turned to her. He could see her face near his, watching him in the moonlight.

Then they were slowly falling … down, down, until they were going through the roof of the café again, and the brightness of the café lights hit him as they left the darkness outside.

She let go of his hand. He stood for a few moments, trying to recover from the surprise of the experience.

He looked at her curiously. "I wouldn't have thought you could fly."

She laughed. "Well it's not really flying, more like levitating … walking on air, controlling the molecules of air around you …"

"Impressive," he said softly.

She smiled. He indicated that she be seated, and as he took his place opposite her, asked, "Do you like your job here?"

Her smile faded. "Well, you were here this afternoon," she said quietly, "I haven't got a job any more."

"Yes, I saw that," he said, "Well, I have a job offer for you."

She looked at him in surprise.

"I hope you realise that I'm speaking in confidence," Shinsou said, "I work for the Intelligence Directorate in Tokyo. We've been looking for some time for someone with permeation abilities like yours."

Misa tried to understand that. "Like mine?"

"Yes," said Shinsou, "It's a bit difficult to explain in detail now, but we collect intelligence on various criminal organisations. That means we often have to infiltrate their premises. We need someone who can get people in and out of buildings stealthily."

Misa sat still, looking at Shinsou and trying to absorb what he was saying. A job, out of the blue, dropping into her lap.

"We will provide training, of course, and there will be a probation period," added Shinsou.

She was frowning slightly. "What exactly does the job entail?"

"Basically what I mentioned," said Shinsou, "You'd be phasing people in and out of various places without being detected. You'd probably have to reconnoitre and familiarise yourself with the place before the actual operation, of course, and do other preparation work, familiarise yourself with the Quirks of villains you might encounter, and so on."

She was silent, thinking. Shinsou, seeing she was preoccupied, proceeded to consume his food, which had remained untouched till then.

Something suddenly occurred to her. "How much is the salary?"

Shinsou mentioned a sum.

She nodded, then was lost in thought again.

Shinsou said at length, "We need help from someone like you badly, Arakawa-san. I hope you will seriously consider the offer. We've been having a deadlock in a particularly urgent case, and you might be able to help us break it. It would be saving lives, ultimately."

Misa gave him a quick look, and then said slowly, "How do you know my name?"

"I've been looking for you," answered Shinsou, "We checked with the Quirk Registration Office for all those with permeation-type Quirks. So far we've not found anyone who can help us … they can phase through walls, but some can't phase other objects through walls, much less people."

Misa stared at him for a few seconds. Then, she sighed.

"If you're from Intelligence, you must have checked my background," she said.

"Yes," said Shinsou.

"Then you must know my situation," she said, "You know …I never asked to be a hero. I've never been happy being a hero. It was a lot of pain and drudgery. My father … I can't even talk about him. And our village – it's not like elsewhere, where people think it's wonderful to be a hero. The villagers are simple people, farmers … they don't admire us. Heroes were just functional … we were supposed to get rid of villains. There was no honour or glory in what we did … it was like … like … it was like …pest control!"

She laughed, rather bitterly, at the absurd comparison, but Shinsou did not smile. He looked at her soberly, and continued to listen intently.

"When I left Iideyama I decided I didn't want to do hero work any more," said Misa, "It's true that this morning I was thinking about changing my mind … I need a job that pays more than what I've been getting. I was planning to study for my high school certificate … yes, I'm twenty and I still haven't got it. But now, suddenly confronted with an actual job offer … I need a little time to think about it, think about whether I really want to do hero work again …"

"Certainly," said Shinsou, "I'll be around a couple of days more. Here's my card. Call me, whether it's a week later, or a month later, even a year later."

She accepted his card, and sat, staring at it for a while.

"You know, when I saw you at the Sports Festival, all those years ago," she said slowly, "that was the first time it hit me, how much people elsewhere might desire to be a hero. It never occurred to me. It was a revelation. That's why I remember you so well."

Seeing that he had finished his meal, she stood up and began to clear the table.

"I'll help you with those dishes," said Shinsou, rising as well.

"No, there's no need, I can do them," said Misa.

"I insist," said Shinsou, adding, "You know I can make you let me."

Misa stopped, and looked up at him.

"You're a dictator!" she said, accusingly.

He gave her a small smile.

"I am," he said.

There was a pause as they started on the dishes, and then she said carefully, "If I accept this job, will I be working with you?"

"Yes," said Shinsou, gravely.

They looked at each other for a few moments, and then both suddenly laughed.

"Well then, I have got some serious thinking to do," said Misa, shaking her head.

She was silent after that. Shinsou, watching her out of the corner of his eye, noted that her expression had become sad, and wondered what she was thinking.

He wasn't sure how it happened. It seemed to flow out of her, like a shimmering liquid, which then crystallised into a form in front of her: a young man, smiling, wearing what looked like a hero costume, holding his hand out to her. An image of Hideo Kusano.

Misa went dead still. Her face became ashen. She dropped the plate she was wiping, and automatically held her hand out to the young man.

"Hideo," she whispered. She touched his hand, but then the illusion began to dissolve.

"No, don't go,"she said, a hint of panic in her voice; but the vision had disappeared. She stood in shock, staring at the place where her brother had been standing. Then she slowly turned, and looked at Shinsou.

"Did you do that?" she asked, very quietly.

Shinsou was also startled. He put his hand to the back of his neck.

"I don't know," he whispered, "I've never done it before."

Misa was trembling. She went over to a table and sat down, and leaning her elbows on the table, held her head in her hands as if she was in pain.

"He looked so real," she said softly, "As if he was really there."

Shinsou went over to her. "Misa –"

She shook her head.

"Please leave," she said, without looking at him.

Shinsou looked at her for a moment, then turned and, without a word, went out the door.

.

.

"Hello," said Aizawa, "Aizawa here. Who's that? Shinsou? Where have you been all this time?"

"I found her," said Shinsou, "It looks promising. She can phase people through solid objects."

"Good," said Aizawa, "Did you offer her the job?"

"Yes," said Shinsou, "She's considering it."

"Try to be persuasive, Shinsou," said Aizawa, "We need her rather badly."

"I need to know what other sweeteners you can include, then," said Shinsou.

"Like what?"

"From what I gathered from her neighbour in Iideyama," said Shinsou, "She was left penniless because her house was razed to the ground. If you could arrange for some cheaper accommodation, it might encourage her to accept the offer. Tokyo is expensive."

"Cheap accommodation?" said Aizawa, "There isn't any near the Directorate."

"There are some rooms on the top floor of the Directorate," said Shinsou, "with beds for staff working overnight or on urgent projects. She could take the small side-room for a while."

"I'd have to raise the matter with management," said Aizawa, "She could pay a token sum for a period of time, but they might not agree to it until she's passed her probation. However, you can tell her we'll push for it."

"OK," said Shinsou. He hesitated, and then said, "There's something else I should mention. She seems quite traumatized by the death of her brother. It might affect her performance at work."

"Well, we'll be giving her the usual psychological assessments," said Aizawa, "Has she shown any signs of being unstable?"

Shinsou paused.

"I somehow drew an illusion of her brother out of her mind," he finally said reluctantly, "it sent her into a state of shock."

He thought he could hear Aizawa muttering at the other end.

"How did you do that?" said Aizawa.

"I don't know," said Shinsou, "It just happened."

"When was this?" said Aizawa.

"Just now," said Shinsou.

"Well, where is she now?" demanded Aizawa, "Where are you?"

"She's in the café where she works," said Shinsou, "I'm in a car across the road from the café. I'm going to wait until she leaves to make sure she's all right."

"I told you not to frighten her," said Aizawa.

Shinsou was becoming irritated.

"I'll fix it," he said shortly, and ended the call.

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.

Shinsou had hardly put his phone away when he saw the man. The street was deserted, with the exception of the shadowy figure skulking outside the café, making its way down an alley to the rear of the building. Shinsou recognised him immediately: the tubby man who had been bullying Misa earlier that day.

In a flash, he understood. It was that man's Quirk, he thought. He must have been looking in the kitchen window, trying to think of a way to get back at her because of what she had done to him during lunch.

He got out of the car, and drew his whip out. He had had a different combat skill in the past, but had opted to use the whip when he began working in the Directorate, because he was often in disguise and the whip was compact and could be hidden easily somewhere about his person.

The whip was multi-thonged. He flicked it out, and the thongs effortlessly coiled themselves around the man, slamming him against the wall of the café. The man let out a squeal of protest.

Shinsou casually slammed the man against the wall a few more times, then let him slide to the ground. He then placed his foot on the man's neck, pinning him down.

"What are you about?" he said coldly, "Are you trying to enter the café and hurt her? Haven't you done her enough harm already, today?"

The man made a gurgling noise in his throat as Shinsou pressed his foot downward. The whip thongs were still coiled about his tubby body, and he struggled to free himself.

"It's unfortunate that someone as malicious as you has a Quirk like that," remarked Shinsou, "Is that how you normally use it? Waiting till your victim looks unhappy and then letting them see their object of sorrow in concrete form?"

He lifted his foot slightly, and the man gasped.

"Don't – hurt – me –" he wheezed, "Meant – no – harm – only pay – back – humiliation – lunch – "

Shinsou pressed his foot down again and pulled at the whip. The thongs tightened around the man's body, and he thrashed about desperately.

Shinsou removed his foot, and pulled the whip thongs off the man.

"Get up," he said, coldly.

The man slowly rose to his feet, wheezing and clutching his throat.

Shinsou flicked the whip again, and before the man could move, the thongs had enwrapped him again up to his neck. Shinsou slowly pulled at the whip, tightening it. The man's eyes bulged in horror.

Bending forward, Shinsou brought his face close to the man's.

"Take some advice from me, my friend," he said menacingly, "Forget that you ever came across that waitress inside the café. For you have not, and it might be that if you ever harass her again, there will be a reckoning to be paid for your treatment of her. I shall not forget you, I assure you."

He loosened the whip slightly, and the man, finding his throat free, began blubbering.

"Mercy!" he wept, "I promise! I'll never go near her again, I swear!"

Shinsou removed the whip, and the man fell to his knees, still weeping and wheezing.

Shinsou lifted the whip threateningly. The man gave a small whimper and shot to his feet, eyes bulging in horror. In a split second, he had turned and fled down the alley to the road.

"That should get rid of him," thought Shinsou. He tucked the whip away and walked round to the front of the café. The lights were still on, but there was no sign of movement. He waited for a few minutes, then pushed the front door open, making the bells jangle in protest, and went in.

Misa looked as if she hadn't moved at all. She was sitting, as still as stone, her eyes closed, her head in her hands.

Shinsou placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Misa," he said.

She continued to sit still for a few moments longer, but then her lips moved.

"I'm in pain," she said indistinctly, "Help me. Help me, Shinsou-san."

Shinsou sat down next to her. I haven't tried this before, he thought.

"Talk to me," he said quietly.

There was a pause, and he wondered if she understood him. Then she said softly, "Yes."

Her eyes immediately opened and her face went blank.

"Take a deep breath," said Shinsou, "Relax. Feel calm. Forget that you saw your brother. Feel peaceful."

She sat there, her face blank, but she had become less tense and her breathing seemed easier.

There was a small couch in the corner of the kitchen. Shinsou said, "Stand up and lean on my shoulder. Walk over to the couch."

She was not very steady on her feet, but they managed to reach the couch.

"Lie back on the couch," said Shinsou, "Close your eyes. When I place my hand on your shoulder, wake up."

He waited until she had done this, and then released his will. He gently put his hand on her shoulder.

She started slightly, and opened her eyes. She stared uncomprehendingly at Shinsou for a few moments.

"Oh," she closed her eyes again, and then sat up. "Shinsou? … What … what happened?"

"You fainted," said Shinsou.

"Fainted!" she said, "No, it isn't possible … how could that happen … how embarrassing. I'm sorry."

"How are you feeling?" asked Shinsou.

"A little groggy," she said.

"Well, rest there for a bit," said Shinsou, "I'll do the dishes."

"No, you're a customer, I can't let you do that," said Misa.

"That's an order," said Shinsou, "You know I can make you do it if I want to."

Misa gave a small sigh. She lay back on the couch and closed her eyes.

"Dictator," she said, under her breath.

Shinsou smiled. He started on the dishes, but after a minute she sat up and came over to help him.

"I didn't give you permission to get up," he said sternly.

"I feel all right now," she assured him, "I can't let you do all this alone."

She was silent after that, drying the plates and keeping them away once he had washed them. Finally he said, "A penny for your thoughts."

"I was wondering," she said, "if, after seeing me faint, your job offer still stands."

"It does," said Shinsou.

"Well, then …" she paused. "I think that … I would like to accept."

Shinsou could hardly believe his ears.

"That's good news," he said, "but …are you sure?"

She nodded.

After they had kept the last of the plates away, Shinsou said, "I'm driving you home. Don't argue. The car's outside."

"All right," said Misa meekly, "Thank you."

The block of apartments where he dropped her off looked extremely old, the rooms small and slowly decaying. As she got out of the car and thanked him, he asked,

"Was there anything in particular that made you decide to accept the job?"

Misa hesitated for a moment, and then said, "You washed the dishes for me."

Shinsou was wondering if he had heard her correctly. "What?"

"And you helped me when I fainted," said Misa.

He looked at her, not comprehending. "You're accepting the job because of that?"

"Well, I might as well give it a try," said Misa, "It's true I desperately need a job, and the pay is better than anything I've ever had. Besides, you might discover in the end I'm no good and that you don't want me after all."

Shinsou still didn't quite see it. "So, what has that got to do with the dishes?"

She looked down at the pavement, cradling her bag against herself.

"You know, so far in my life, I've not been treated very well at work," she said quietly, "I just thought that since I now have a chance to have a job where I might actually be treated like a human being for a change, I ought to take it."

Shinsou looked at her for a few moments. Her face looked pale in the moonlight.

"So … you're taking the job because I was kind to you," he said.

She nodded.

"I wonder if Aizawa will believe this," said Shinsou.

She looked puzzled. "Who?"

"You'll find out," he said, and then he smiled. "I'm glad you'll be working with us, Misa-san. See you in Tokyo soon."

.