So, a little later than usual for my updating schedule. Blame it on Capcom, I just got back into Monster Hunter World and you all can guess that I might have hunted one too many things to get myself a cool hat.
This one is going to play out a little different than the rest. The lyrics are Asazaki Ikue's Obokuri-Eeumi.
NINJA EDIT: If you read this chapter upon release and found something odd then you might wanna jump down to the end of chapter notes.
-.
July 24th, Machibuse Residence, 1220.
Hell.
Machibuse had arrived home around four hours ago, accompanied by a security team from the Ministry of Defense that likely had the building on lockdown. Everything was just how he left, and that meant that his bed still had to be replaced, a task he had postponed much like how he had yet to assemble the desk on his room or replace the floorboards he had ruined and now were hidden underneath a rug.
But having to sleep on the couch wasn't what kept him awake.
He was exhausted, both physically and mentally, yet he felt absurdly restless.
His life had turned back into hell once again.
Once again he had turned into a pawn in a political game he had no stakes in.
The League had escaped, and they knew his secret. The original cover-up had costed his grandmother her position as minister, and even if the ministry's resources were still available there was no way to ensure that the information would not leak. It was just a matter of time for it all to come down.
If anything it was now clear that it wasn't All For One, or anyone connected to the League for that matter, pulling the strings behind what happened. They wanted cooperation in exchange for information. Shigaraki wanted Machibuse as part of his core group; it would require too much effort on the League's end to feed the teen with believable information that excused them while keeping him so close.
The League had gained a massive leverage on him, on his grandmother and on the military as a whole. No wonder the Ministry of Defense wanted to keep tabs on him, it was a scandal primed to drag a lot of important people down. His sixteen ghosts now turned him into a walking time bomb.
And he would need to bear the burden alone.
He was trying to keep her out of his mind. The pain on his cheek had already disappeared long ago, but it was still hurting. Everything was hurting.
Machibuse quickly got up from the couch, he felt his Chelicerae ready to tear holes into the cushion.
Eyes now veered towards what was her side of the couch.
Suddenly he felt as if that couch had become an eyesore. They had shared their first kiss there.
He forced his eyes shut and took a couple of deep breaths.
It wasn't like his grandmother hadn't made precautions in case he needed to get off the radar. An offshore bank account, some fake documents… the number of people who knew about his ability to slowly change his appearance with consecutive doses of his Quirk was limited to his grandmother and some old honchos on the upper bracket of the military that were still her supporters… plus the girls from 1-A, Kaminari and Mineta.
At least now that he didn't needed to worry about leaving her behind it would be easy to just run away and hide. He would disappear, first back to Okinawa, and then… anywhere. Somewhere far where his secrets would not harm him or those he cared for.
But he needed to do something first.
One last time.
…
In search of a new land
Let's build a new house
By neatly gathering hay
To thatch the roof
By neatly gathering hay
Neatly gathering hay
To thatch the roof
-.
July 24th, Tokyo, Streets of Shinjuku, 1600.
Shoji Mezo's day had been on the duller side up until now. He calmly made his way from Shinjuku Station to the house where he had rented a room, coming back from the hospital and finally freed from the bandages that had his arms bound since after the attack on the summer camp.
There was basically nothing on the news besides the showdown that happened in Kamino last night, but he wasn't all that worried about his friends and their crazy plan because a message from Iida had arrived in the early hours of the morning, saying that the two kidnapped students had been secured safely and had been left in the custody of the police. Both had been wounded, but according to the message it wasn't anything too serious.
Still, Shoji had a feeling in his gut. Things would change a lot, not only for U.A., but for society as a whole.
Second semester was going to be busy.
Soon enough Shoji had arrived at the house where he was a tenant, a simple two-stories building as he wasn't one to need much.
"Ah, Shoji-kun! There you are! Everything in order with your arm? …Arms?" a voice came from down the hallway as he made his way inside. The landlord was a man in his late fifties, had a Quirk that made him look like a crocodile. A bit too chatty every once in a while but was a kind man.
Shoji simply responded by sprouting and extra hand from his previously bandaged arm, which he then used to give the man a thumbs up.
"Good to see… anyways, had to get into your room while you were out. Guess you forgot your cellphone, someone has been calling you non-stop for the last two hours or so. Left the little noise machine tucked inside your futon." the man told, clearly more annoyed than troubled.
"My cellphone? Mine has been with me the whole day." Shoji informed as he used his extra hand to fish the device in his pocket.
Both just were left in a confused silence for a moment.
Then a heavily muffled music got their attention.
Tsugaru music.
"There it goes again…" the landlord quirked an eyebrow.
"Guess I know what the problem is. Sorry for the inconvenience." Shoji bowed lightly as he made a beeline to his room.
Machibuse's bag ended up coming home with him after the attack on the summer camp, his cellphone came along.
With a sigh he picked up the device that he had failed to turn off over the last few days. Shoji didn't know the password, and even if he did, Machibuse had the damn thing set up in Okinawan. Shoji knew his friend was a morning person, but the seven AM alarms were not something he really welcomed on his summer break from school.
If the katakana were the same there in Okinawa then it was easy enough to tell that Yaoyorozu was calling… and looked like she had called a total of forty-three times already.
That definitely did not bode well.
Shoji picked up the call.
"Hakuba! Finally! I'm…" Yaoyorozu basically cried over the phone.
"Yaoyorozu, it's me." Shoji interrupted.
"O-oh… Shoji-san…" Yaoyorozu stuttered in realization.
Both were silent for a while.
"You sound distressed." Shoji pointed out.
Yaoyorozu didn't even know where to begin, she couldn't just tell Shoji why she was so apprehensive. He would ask, and one question would lead to another.
"What goes on between the two of you is not my business, but something is clearly very wrong. What happened?"
"Hakuba and I… no, it's all my fault, I ruined everything. I need to talk with him." Yaoyorozu admitted painfully.
Shoji took a deep breath. Once again he was doing their marriage counseling, and this time Jiro wasn't there to share the burden.
"Give me a few minutes, I going to his house."
-.
July 24th, Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya, Yaoyorozu Estate, 1615.
It took Momo longer than she'd like to admit to put the phone down. Yet she still looked apprehensively at it, waiting for it to ring.
She was having what had been arguably the worst day of her life. The trip from Kamino to her house took just under three hours, luckily the train wasn't too crowded for most of the ride so she managed to get a small amount of shut eye on the way. Somehow she managed to avoid her parents making too many questions, specially as her mother began asking about Hakuba.
Momo had only realized she was still wearing his dog tags when she reached her bathroom, she almost ripped the offending accessory from her neck on sight but stopped as she felt the ball chain tensing…
Hakuba had kept everything from her, his past actions and how deeply those actions affected him and those around him. He was murderer not unlike the Hero Killer, no wonder he was always seeming unease when Stain's name came up… even that, Hakuba referred to Stain by his given name, and that had brought up even more questions to Momo's mind.
And then, when he realized that his secret was in peril he decided that ending his own life was a better option than dealing with the consequences.
Hakuba was not only a killer, but a stone cold one given both what she witnessed at the Sports Festival and a very concerning message she received from Kendo while she was still waiting to regroup with her classmates after they got separated during the rescue. But… Momo still felt torn. She couldn't push away the feeling that she had made a terrible mistake.
He had tried to tell her who… what he really was. Perhaps there was something else he wanted her to know, perhaps if they had pushed it back on the day he offered her the truth then things would have played out differently.
Momo finally had gone through the contents of that envelope, but only part of it, actually. When Hakuba said that there was a lot packed in there he wasn't joking: U.A. documents, things related to the rental of his current apartment, costume drafts and even family photos.
The thing that accounted for most of the weight inside that envelope however was a dossier on the incident regarding the JDS Murakumo four years ago. A military ship that sank after a critical engine failure caused the hull to be torn open, taking the lives of eighty-seven of the one hundred and forty-six passengers aboard.
Momo was shocked to find out about two things:, Hakuba was one of the survivors of the Murakumo and that there was no truth the engine failure history that made to the news. It was all a cover-up for something far worse.
What happened on that day was an act of terrorism.
About half-way through the dossier Momo found something that almost broke her. This happened about two and a half hours ago now. This one little thing, completely out of place lost those papers was what made her realized the extent of the damage she caused and had her to start calling Hakuba's number non-stop.
The screen of her notebook displayed the audio player program, paused at 00:07 of the roughly minute long audio file stored in an old micro SD card she found inside the dossier, likely the thing ended up in there by accident as time went on and the contents of the envelope shifted around with movement.
Momo could only stare at the screen as she awaited for a call that might never come, nervously fidgeting with the dog tags still around her neck. That call was already taking painfully longer than she hoped.
With a drawn-out breath she got up and made way to her bathroom once more. If for some reason Shoji couldn't get Hakuba to speak to her over the phone then she needed to be ready to set out to meet Hakuba personally.
She now carefully took the dog tags off before proceeding with turning on the shower, just as she began undressing the sound of her phone ringing called her.
Shoji was calling.
Momo quickly ran back to pick it up.
"Machibuse is missing! There are about a dozen government people on his building and they only noticed him missing when I asked to get in!"
-.
Ninety Minutes Ago, July 24th, Tokyo, Edgeshot Hero Agency, 1445.
Machibuse calmly reached the imposing building that was Edgeshot's agency. Been a while since his last visit, but it sure felt like yesterday as he remembered his first day there.
With a sigh he pulled down the hood that masked his identity, as well as the plain surgical mask he had acquired on the way. Discretion was vital to his current mission as what he was currently doing effectively made him accountable for breaking the chain of command, but if this was really his last day before leaving then it mattered very little.
There were people who made this venture worth, and Machibuse wanted to at least say his thanks.
At least things in the agency seemed to be going as usual other than there were no reporters for a change, likely every news agency in Japan had their people covering the aftermath of the battle in Kamino. And as usual the Mazekeepers got a small smile on his face.
"Young White Rider! Glad to see you safe and sound…"
"…always a pleasure to see you, but what brings you around?"
Machibuse couldn't deny he was still absolutely clueless as to how those two did that; Kamihara had told him that the two were actually Quirkless, so that ruled out the possibility of some telepathy related Quirk allowing them to perform like that.
"I just wanted to thank Edgeshot. He is already back from daytime patrol, right?" Machibuse asked, his eyes focusing on the lift in between the desks for a moment.
Both the receptionists reached for their chins as if scratching their non-existent beards before looking at one another.
"The boss is here. In fact he just got back, you got that timing right…
"…but he has just begun a meeting with the police, discussing about last night."
"A lot has happened in Kamino, you know that better than any of us. That was quite a bind…
"…he will likely be done in an hour, so please, wait here if you don't mind."
Machibuse pondered for a second, but that was too much of a risk. The police knew he was not supposed to be walking around, at least not without an escort, and regardless of the police spotting him his mission was tight on time. He had made his escape through the balcony and climbed up just as the guy that checked on him periodically left, from the rooftop was easy to reach the side of the building opposite to his apartment and leap onto the adjacent building. If the check-ups were really every following the pattern he had noted then the guards would sound the alarm in about one hundred and twenty minutes.
"I am afraid I don't have much time today, not supposed to be out for long given what happened yesterday." Machibuse responded, slightly downcast. He had already given up on visiting Shoji, opting for simply leaving a note for him on his desk: A simple, honest "Thank you." would be enough between them, and having to escape Shoji in case he found out about this whole plan was a risk he couldn't take. He also had resigned to just go to U.A. as his next stop to have a final look at it, there was no way for him to be able to speak with Principal Nezu or any of his teachers without getting caught.
He didn't know where Shinso lived, and Hatsume was likely all the way back in Kyoto.
And visiting Chizome had been completely of the table from the very start.
With a sigh Machibuse decided to take his leave.
"Just tell Kamihara-san that I am very grateful… for everything."
…
At the stone walls
Let's celebrate the golden house
That was built
By a hundred carpenters
That was built
Was built
By a hundred carpenters
-.
July 24th, Machibuse Residence, 1625.
"What!? Missing!?" Yaoyorozu responded in clear panic.
It had taken Shoji some solid ten minutes just to convince the people guarding the building to let him speak with his friend, luckily he had brought Machibuse's bag with him, and his U.A. student ID was in there to back up his argument. He was greeted by an empty apartment when he got in alongside one of the guards.
"He escaped somehow! Must've climbed through the window or something!" Shoji answered over the phone, multiple eyes and ears sprouting from his extra limbs as he tried to find any clues.
The security personnel was absolutely at loss, they made sure to have every possible access to the street covered. One of them was calling people non-stop over the radio, others were quick to form groups to begin scanning the area.
"Kid! You said your name was Shoji, right? He left something for you!" one of the guards quickly called Shoji, handing him a folded piece of paper with his name written on it.
"Shoji-san! What happened!?" Yaoyorozu asked, overhearing the conversation.
Shoji took a moment to respond. All his extra limbs retreating back slowly as he stared at the paper.
"He is gone."
-.
July 24th, Musutafu General Hospital, 1625.
By now Machibuse was sure both the Ministry and the police were searching for him, he would need to be quick. He still had one last stop after this one.
Last time he had seen his Lieutenant she had been in critical state, unconscious from the gas wielded by the villain Kendo and Tetsutetsu had defeated. He had to at least check up on her condition.
Luckily enough the receptionist at the hospital didn't asked too many questions before telling him which room he had to go to.
Machibuse was luckier to have spotted detective Tsukauchi and Gran Torino coming down the hallway before they spotted him, both were very weary from last night, and Gran Torino's bandaged eye gave the teen a blind spot large enough for him to sneak past once the detective turned his head.
Likely there were more people from the police in the hospital, it was just a matter of time.
Soon Machibuse reached room 409. A quick knock on the door announced his presence before he made his way in.
Jiro was still asleep, by her side on a chair was a woman in her mid-thirties, and Machibuse didn't even needed to notice how she also had the Earphone Jack Quirk to realize it was the Lieutenant's mother.
Machibuse bowed lightly in respect.
"You are one of Kyoka's classmates, aren't you?" the woman asked, remembering seeing Machibuse's face on the news recently.
"Affirmative." Machibuse responded as he approached.
"How is she?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"She regained consciousness earlier this morning, just resting now… We are just waiting for some results on the last exams she went through today, maybe she doesn't even need to spend the night here if she feels better after waking up." the woman responded as she eyed her daughter tenderly.
That got a legitimate smile on Machibuse's face and a massive weight of his chest.
"You were one of the kidnaped students, right? U.A. said that you were the one that treated Kyoka and the other kids… she likely wouldn't have made it without your help." his Lieutenant's mother informed, bowing her head in gratitude as she spoke.
Machibuse calmly reached for the sleeping girl, ruffing her hair playfully without waking her up before turning to leave.
"Ma'am, please tell the Lieutenant to keep the shamisen if I don't come back for it. Captain's orders."
…
August draws near
But I have nothing to wear
I want to dress up
Brothers, lend me a sleeve
I want to dress the children and those I love
With the single kimono I own
I will wear vines
That I picked deep within the mountains
-.
July 24th, Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya, Yagoto Cemetery, 1800.
Momo ran.
She knew where Hakuba had escaped to.
It was all her fault. She betrayed him, that had been the most crucial moment to him and she pushed him away on impulse.
It was all her fault that he was leaving.
As Momo turned the corner she spotted a familiar face.
"So you have come." Machibuse Hakame spoke as she calmly watched the steps that lead to the hill where Hakuba's parents were from inside the black SUV she was in, smoke from her cigarette puffing alongside her words.
Momo didn't responded immediately, taking the pause to catch her breath.
"Fura called me from a public phone a few minutes after I was informed that he escaped. He is already set on leaving." Hakame informed, not bothering with keeping her façade up.
"To where? For how long?" Momo asked, barely keeping herself from crying.
"The United States is a little too obvious of a choice, and because of his actions during the I-Island Incident, namely using his Quirk on both Professor David Shield and on his assistant, the American authorities now have an entry on him… so likely it will be to Australia. Sparsely populated, calm, and he will be right at home with the spiders and snakes. Can't really say for how long, dear… could be for a year, two or he might never come back altogether." Hakame answered, now opening the door and stepping outside.
Reality was hitting hard now.
"Why are you letting him do this?" Momo posed another question, Hakame was clearly torn about the decision.
"Because this is all my fault. When I lost my son I promised myself that I would support whatever Hakuba decided to do with his life. I am the only family he has left, and I am already old… if I can do something for him before he is left truly alone then I will do it wholeheartedly." the elder admitted painfully.
Momo couldn't help but reach for the woman's hand.
"I really can't understand why you are so rough with him when you care so much about him…" she chuckled, lightly squeezing Hakame's hand.
"That's because it's easier for him to not blame himself if he can blame me without remorse, Fura is a little too self-sacrificing for his own good… Now go bring him back, for both of us." Hakame smiled, gently ushering Momo towards the stairs.
Momo took a deep breath and took the first step of the many she would need to reach the tombstones. The sun was already very low on the horizon, her only guess was that Hakame somehow got the cemetery staff to keep the doors open up until Hakuba decided to leave.
At first she had made her way up in a hurry, but the more she climbed the more she felt nervous.
But she had to push through.
She had to show Hakuba that he wasn't alone.
Momo now could see the naked tree that oversaw both tombstones.
There he was, sitting in silence with his legs crossed, as if waiting for the stones to tell him what to do.
"Suppose I have become predictable. Not a luxury I can afford now." Hakuba spoke without averting his gaze from the tombstones, clearly attempting to keep his voice and expression as neutral as possible as she approached.
He was hurting. Badly.
"Far from that… I just know you." Momo offered as she approached reluctantly.
"Now you most definitely do. Coward, murderer… monster." Hakuba's brow furrowed as he swallowed hard. His eyes finally turning towards her, a silent warning for her to not come closer.
Momo would have to choose her next words very carefully. It was the first time in her life someone had looked at her with eyes like those; there was no anger or bitterness, it was just plain dejection.
"Sorry Hakuba, I shouldn't have…" she began, now firmly rooted to her spot.
"Please don't be. You shouldn't feel sorry for speaking your mind. Now I would greatly appreciate if you left me alone like I deserve to be, Ma'am." Hakuba interrupted, now returning his eyes to the two tombstones he had come to visit. The demand punctued with the addressing rather than her name carrying echoed in the still air of that empty cemetery.
Still Momo refused to back away.
Rather, she stepped forward.
"This demand is not up to debate." Hakuba warned, still fixed on his spot but now visibly tensing up.
Momo kneeled behind him, her arms carefully wrapping around his shoulders as she pulled him back slowly.
"Leave." Hakuba's tone was getting much more intense now as she was forced to stop for a moment, the Chelicerae on his upper back pressed threateningly against her chest.
Momo just pulled him further without hesitation, the weapons back into his spine pulled back as if they were aware of who they were about to harm, retracting once the smallest pressure was put onto their tips.
"I'm not leaving you alone… not again…" Momo sobbed lightly, leaning her forehead against the back of his skull before nuzzling tenderly against his hair.
"Why?" Hakuba asked, his body stiff as piece of rebar from that contact but somehow she still guided him to her embrace without resistance.
"I was so scared I couldn't move at first, everything was happening so fast… then it all crashed when you begun forcing Bakugo-san to leave you behind… When I heard you speaking the truth… and then you said that taking your own life would be the solution… I… I couldn't take it, Hakuba…" Momo responded amidst the sobs she tried to keep down, now resting her head on his shoulder while still holding him tight.
Hakuba just remained silent as she slowly loosened her hold, one of her arms now reaching into her handbag for something. Something cold touching his neck caused him to shudder a little.
His dog tags.
"I guess that I always knew that it would happen someday… something bad would happen to you and I would be too weak to just be there for you when you needed me the most… and now I made you hate me because of it." she continued, her hands and fingers trembling, making it near impossible for her to clasp the ball chain around his neck.
Her last attempt fumbled, the small steel beads escaping from her grasp and sending the dog tags down to the ground after bouncing off Hakuba's lap. Momo was just left muttering to herself about how she kept screwing things up as she reluctantly leaned on his back once more.
Hakuba remained still as the tombstones, idly reading the information displayed on the tags. His silence was becoming absolutely goring.
His back as now beginning to feel wet.
She was crying.
He still didn't react.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry for leaving! I'm sorry for pushing you away! I'm sorry calling you a monster! I am supposed to support you and I did the exact opposite…" Momo wailed, her arms crossing over his chest holding him like a lifeline.
"I love you, Hakuba… I love who you are, and what was inside that envelope doesn't change that…" Momo confessed in tears.
"So you finally read it." Hakuba finally broke his silence. He still didn't turn to face her, but instead he held both ends of the ball chain for her to connect around his neck.
"You are much more than what those documents say. You don't deserve to be alone and I don't want to see you leaving because you believe that lie… I'm here for you now." Momo's hands were still shaky, but Hakuba's were steady and making sure that the task he proposed her was successful.
"And what will happen when my ghosts catch up with me? You know what I am, and I know you will never fully accept it." Hakuba asked, bitterness now clear on his voice.
"If that happens then you will not face them alone… it's not about what you are, Hakuba. It's not about if I accept what you did or not. I fell in love for who you are, I just want to finally understand this side of you... so this never happens again." Momo responded, finally clasping the dog tags back where they were supposed to be.
"You know that there is no telling on what can happen now that the League knows my secrets, don't you? It will also fall upon you and everyone else around me, and I can't allow myself to drag everyone down." Hakuba warned, partially turning to face her.
A small detail on that phrase got Momo's expression to twitch slightly. Hakuba had just said "secrets", a plural... there was something else she didn't knew. She couldn't deny that now she felt even more apprehensive.
Hakuba unfortunately for her was a little too keen on picking up on those things.
He took a deep breath.
"You called me a monster." Hakuba decided to take the conversation back to the issue at hand, Momo had lost too much, if not all, of his trust for him to tell her about his relationship with Chizome right now.
"I know I did... I just want to go back in time and call myself a monster now." Momo responded, her eyes locked into the ground in shame.
"I can also imagine that because of what you did now I will have to deal with a lot of questions from the other four that went on that stupid vigilante mission." Hakuba chided her.
"And from Shoji-san... I have not told him anything, but because of me he ended up at your apartment earlier today." Momo admitted, the weight on her shoulders now growing.
"And you still insist that I stay!? For someone trying to not leave me alone, those were some fucking impressive moves you pulled!" Hakuba now turned to face her, his composure finally giving out as an amount of poison he normally reserved for his grandmother seeped into his voice.
Momo just squirmed, taken aback by the outburst.
There was a moment of silence. That had been the first time he had ever lashed out at her like this.
"I'm sorry, Momo..." Hakuba spoke softly as he gently reached for her face, brushing away her tears with his thumb.
He still cared for her deep down, despite everything.
"No, you are right..." Momo admitted, eyes closed as she enjoyed his caress for what could have easily been the last time.
"Just... don't leave. I can help you rebuild those bridges. And maybe if I do, then someday you will want to rebuild the bridge that connected both of us." she added, her voice sad but now at least hopeful.
"You know better than anyone how long I take to trust people, and you have already lost it once." Hakuba warned, pulling his hand back from her cheek much to her dismay.
"I can wait. Take as much time as you want... I swear won't push you like I did last time." Momo accepted her position.
"Then I will tell you everything... every detail of what happened on that night four years ago. If what you feel does not change after what I am about to tell you then… then that will be the first step for me to say that I am not alone."
…
The full moon shines
Far and wide like the gods
When my lover comes to visit, I wish the clouds would hide it a little
…
..
.
AN: Thirty-six chapters in and here am I making a prologue to the OCs backstory. The wonders of storytelling…
This actually was the very first chapter I have ever written for this story, everything came from this one concept and the concept for Hakuba himself comes majorly from Obokuri-Eeumi, which is actually sung in Okinawan dialect and soundtrack to Samurai Champloo's most powerful moment around Mugen (who is a quintessential Okinawan character), and, to a much lesser extent, from RWBY's Like Morning Follows Night. I never actually watched RWBY, but the soundtrack is fucking amazing.
NINJA EDIT - 18 hours after the original upload: So, huh... I just got to reading the reviews for the first time after posting this chapter, and I got really confused about the difficulty of the situation you guys pointed out. It really felt weird because I actually changed the ending quite a bit with that in mind just before posting... turns out that I, amidst one of my bouts of endless wisdom, uploaded the old version instead of the corrected one so there was a bunch of dialogue missing at the end, something around five hundred words. And it is some very important dialogue actually, not only for this chapter to wrap up better but it is something I actually need to estabilish for the progression of the next arcs.
My apologies for that one, will see to not repeat the mistake again.