Chapter Four
Special
The jail cell was lonely...
The police hadn't touched him since they set him in there, ignoring his blubbers and cries to go home and explain himself...
But Katsu's words fell on deaf ears...
After three days, Katsu had wasted all his tears, now just staring at the concrete floor with his hands folded and head hung low.
His lip stopped quivering on day one. And his tears and cries ended somewhere mid day two.
He heard someone's footsteps, and said footsteps grew louder.
Maybe a psychologist.
Or...
Maybe they were letting him out.
At the very thought, he rose his head.
The police officer looked at him in a mix of pity and sadness, "You're coming with me."
Katsu rose his brow.
"Where am I going?" He muttered, sniffing. He didn't dare grow his hope...but he was starting to.
"To a room next door. We've got some questions for you."
Katsu frowned and nodded.
"Okay..."
He allowed the officer to put the cuffs on him, immediately feeling dark and like a criminal...
The officer grabbed his shoulder and led him to a room with a table and two chairs opposite each other. He set him down, and attached the handcuffs to a small loop in the middle of the table, to prevent himself from trying to escape.
Katsu watched the officer leave.
He was alone.
Katsu slightly tugged at his handcuffs and when the table wouldn't budge, he sunk his head on the table.
He turned his head, looking at a reflective glass.
The poor boy sighed and just stared at his reflection...
How far he had fell.
How did this happen?
A week ago.
"Did you know that Napoleon ordered a week of mourning when Washington died?"
"I do...because you told me Yesterday."
"Well, then did I also tell you-"
"That Napoleon is the only reason the French have the highest win/lose ratio? Yes...now be quiet!"
"Then-"
"SHUT UP TASAI!" Katsu slammed his hands on his desktop, "Why are you even in my room?"
"Cause I feel like it," Tasai shrugged, and started twirling around, arms open, "You're room is very spacious and clean. Probably because Kazumasa cleans it all the time. You're very messy."
Katsu was eating a bag of cheetos, and wiped his fingers on his polo shirt, "Shuddup. You're no better."
"No, I'm very clean! When Paul comes to clean my room he just dusts it because I don't make messes. OO! Did you know that dust is mostly formed of-"
"Human skin..."
"I told you that?"
"Yes..."
"Really? I don't remember!"
Katsu let out a chuckle and sighed, "No you didn't. I already knew that. I was just messing with you."
Tasai smiled.
Katsu smiled back and was back on his laptop.
"What are you doing?"
"Researching All For One," Katsu replied, "Dr. Von-Taben-"
"Taven."
"What?"
"You pronounced it wrong. It's Von-Taven."
"...Okay...Von-Taven was discussing-"
"Oh was he discussing that nonsense about artificial quirks? Me and him LOVE to argue about that."
Katsu looked away from his laptop, the screen frozen on a picture of All Might standing over the villain, "It's not nonsense...I like what he said."
"But it's impossible."
"So? Why not dream?"
"Because dreams are just dreams. Why bother dreaming of something when it can't happen?"
Katsu laughed.
"What? What are you laughing at?" Tasai scowled.
Katsu smirked, "Nothing! Just...well...I dream of being a hero."
"Yeah just dreaming."
Katsu stood up, "Yeah, you're right. Just dreaming."
He began to walk out of the room, hiding the fury on his face.
Until...
"Wait a minute, get out of my room!" Katsu pointed at the door and then glared at Tasai.
An hour later, Katsu was practicing his kata.
His father crafted Tasai his own Bokken when he turned ten, and when Katsu turned ten, he received his own as well. Toshi loved to tell stories of their ancestors, and how they were related to Samurai of old imperial age. They were directly related to Takeda clan through his great great Grandmother on his father's mother's side.
He brought it up a lot at parties.
He was in the training room, a room with more traditional style then the rest of the manor. The floor was of Goza mats, and the wall was lined up with Japanese weapons, wooden and real, to the simple Tanto, to a Naginata of deadly sawed edges.
Katsu raised his Bokken, his smirk staring down the dummy as he lifted the wooden blade over his head, in a widened stance and locked elbow form.
The training dummy stared him down, not caring about it's imminent destruction.
Katsu grunted.
He slammed it down on the dummy's head, the sword bouncing off and denting the dummy's helmet.
His hands stung, and he raised his sword again, in a jabbing motion, stabbing the dummy.
He barely made it through.
Katsu would be disappointed, but it was a wooden sword. He had it for two years, he knew what the sword would and would not do. It couldn't cut or stab.
It was a toy after all.
But a toy that had uses.
"Do you intend to stab the dummy into submission?"
Katsu smiled brightly, hearing Kazumasa's voice, he lowered the sword and looked to his caretaker, with his older brother in tow.
"Well...it's good for me," Katsu smiled, "Helps me get some anger out."
Kazumasa looked at the beat up dummy and chuckled, "Yeah I've noticed."
Tasai looked at the dummy and sighed, "You still use the Bokken? I graduated to use the REAL blades a couple weeks ago."
Katsu sighed, "Mastery over the basics is Mastery of one. The basics are basic, and If I'm good at them, I'd never need the advanced stuff."
"That is...not at all true," Tasai shook his head.
Katsu shrugged, "Makes sense to me."
Kazumasa grabbed a spare Bokken and twirled it around, smiling at it.
"You used a katana before?" Katsu asked Kazumasa.
"No..." Kazumasa sighed, "I was more familiar with gunplay."
"Cool," Katsu smirked.
"Hey, what's your quirk?" Tasai asked Kazumasa.
Katsu immediately glared at Tasai, and went back to beating the dummy up.
Kazumasa raised a brow, "Is that important?"
"I'm just curious, there is nothing wrong with asking."
"Your brother is sensitive to this talk."
"No he's not! We we're talking about how Van-Taven wants to create artificial quirks. He loved to talk about it, as stupid as the subject is. You can't just-"
"SHUT UP TASAI!" Katsu yelled turning his anger from the dummy to his brother, "HE'S A GENIUS! He knows what he's talking about, and if his theory works, there will be NO such thing as quirkless anymore!"
The room was silent until Tasai raised a brow, "Why do you care?"
"Because I-"
"OOOOH!" Tasai interrupted eyes widening and grinning, "You think he can create you a quirk! Is that why?"
"Yeah..." Katsu mumbled.
Kazumasa was about to suggest that the doctor may be on to something, when Tasai laughed, "Really? He's crazy, can't even sleep. As stupid as you, but worse."
"I'm not stupid!" Katsu argued.
"I've seen your grades, your English sucks! Your math is average, and everything is below that!"
"And you?"
"Straight A's!" Tasai bragged, "Say something in English!"
"Uhhh..." Katsu stumbled, "I have giant cat chocolate?"
Tasai laughed, "You know what you said?"
"I said you're a pile of shit!"
"Language!" Kazumasa stepped in, "Tasai, lay off of him."
Tasai smirked, "Why? It's fun messing with him."
"You're messing with the guy with a sword," Katsu raised it in a reminder, and then chuckled, "Unless you'd like to put your OBNOXIOUSLY large ego where your mouth is."
Tasai scowled, "I do not have an ego. I have pride. There's a difference."
"No there's not."
"Ego. A person's sense of self esteem or self importance," Tasai smirked wide, "Pride. A feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired."
"You HAVE no achievements! You've had EVERYTHING handed to you on a silver platter from dad!"
THAT...
That made Tasai mad.
"Fine...where's a bokken?"
"Behind you asshat!"
"Language!" Kazumasa reminded. He had no intentions of stopping this fight, the two needed to sort their differences out the old fashioned way.
Tasai grabbed a sword and held it in a stance, the blade's handle inches from his chin as he held it beside his head.
Everything screamed at Katsu to just swing wildly at Tasai, beat him into submission, but even Katsu knew better. Despite everything he hated about his brother, he was still family.
This was just friendly sparring.
Tasai let out a vicious grunt and started his approach, swinging downward while Katsu raised his wooden blade to block it, and as it made contact, Katsu attempted to counter with a sweeping motion, while Tasai leered back and dodged.
Katsu resumed his stance, and circled Tasai.
He gulped.
"This is just friendly sparring...right?"
Tasai glared.
"No mercy."
Katsu bit his lip.
Tasai went again, this time lifting his leg to kick Katsu, to which he actually succeeded. He closed the distance and swept the blade towards his chest, to which Katsu parried and shoved Tasai back with the sword handle. Tasai pushed back as the two were in a stand still, but Tasai was bigger, stronger. He pushed Katsu back and kicked his feet tripping Katsu.
Katsu hit the ground by his back, and rolled out of a punishing jab from Tasai. He stood up and swept downwards, Tasai dodging.
"What's going on?!" Toshi asked as he entered the room, and turned to Kazumasa, "Kazu-"
"They are settling their differences the old fashioned way," Kazumasa shrugged, and turned to the father, "What? Are you gonna try and stop the kids swinging sticks?"
Tasai nodded in acceptance.
"GO TASAI!"
Kazumasa frowned.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
Tasai, hearing his father's praise, grinned, and struck viciously to Katsu's side, who blocked too late to stop it, and felt the sharp pain in his side...
Katsu growled as he held his blade back up...
Tasai deiced to work on his banter, circling him, and growled, "Stings doesn't it? Being second best to me."
"YOU'RE NOT BETTER THEN ME!" Katsu screeched, swinging wildly as Tasai parried with ease. Tasai attempted a jab to Katsu's side, but missed by mere inches when Katsu deflected the blow to the side, and struck upwards, slashing up Tasai's chest and hitting his chin, staggering him back.
Tasai scoffed, and raised his blade to parry a swing from Katsu, pushing the blade the other way, and jamming the grip of the blade into Katsu's cheek.
Katsu stumbled back and rolled away from a descending strike, and then when he was back on his feet, Katsu rammed his shoulder at Tasai. Tasai was pushed back, but he gave a brutal punishment to Katsu's kneecap, and then hit his head.
Tasai raised his blade in a defensive way, clearly egging Katsu on.
But Katsu decided to feint a strike to the left, and when Tasai took the bait, Katsu wildly swung in a circle and struck the blade out of Tasai's grip.
Katsu smirked.
Tasai was FURIOUS.
He grabbed the wooden blade and thrust it out of Katsu's grip and shoved Katsu backwards.
"That was a cheap trick!"
Katsu rubbed his jaw, "So was the grip punch!"
"When are you gonna fight fairly!"
"You just said No Mercy! You weren't fighting fairly!"
"DAD! KATSU WAS-"
Katsu had enough, shoving Tasai two feet back, "SHUT UP!"
Tasai complained louder, "DAD!"
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
"ENOUGH!" Toshi yelled, causing both children to look to their father in a soft fear.
"Katsu! Go to your room."
"Bu-"
"Go. To. Your. Room."
Katsu scoffed, "What about TASAI! He's being a baby!"
Tasai smirked as Toshi scoffed.
"You're brother is sp-"
Katsu didn't hear another word, as he had tuned him out as he stormed up to his room.
Toshi sighed as Kazumasa grumbled.
"Wow...you handled that perfectly," His sarcasm dripped with annoyance.
"Hey, you want to be helpful Kazu? Stop taking Katsu's side EVERY damn time."
Kazumasa glared at Toshi, "Then perhaps you will?"
Toshi and Kazumasa stared at each other, only for the former to bow his head, "Forgive me sir..."
"Get out."
Dr. Von-Taven woke up to his door opening as a female scientist entered the room. She sighed and put her hands on her hips.
"Still trying to change the world before you sleep huh?"
"Hey...what are you doing here?"
"I came to check on you...you haven't been seen in days," the female in a lab coat replied, "This can't be good for your health..."
Edgar groaned and started to stand up, "I'm okay..."
"You don't smell like it."
Edgar sniffed his coat and coughed.
"Edgar, as your colleague," she started.
"I am close, VERY close-"
"AS YOUR FRIEND," She reiterated, "You've been in this room for a week, I insist, you HAVE to get out!"
"There's nothing of interest. Out there. In Japan, On Earth, to me at all," Edgar looked away like a child.
Sofya sighed, "Dinner at seven?"
"Wonderful."
"The Bistro's?"
"My favorite."
"Without your blueprints and data charts?"
"No."
"You HAVE to socialize, Edgar!" Sofya scowled.
"And what, have coffee with you while we talk about how mesmerizing the other's eyes are? Pass..." Edgar grumbled and started looking at his skeletons and x rays.
She curled her lip in annoyance.
"No...I'm not asking you out on a date."
"Really? Shame, I might have said yes if you asked.
"Edgar..."
"Sofya..."
She scratched her hair, "You look like one of your skeletons Ed...when have you last eaten?"
"...four?"
Sofya raised a brow, "What, Four hours? Four days?"
"Four," Edgar replied with certainty.
"Well then you're DEFINIETLY having dinner with me."
Sofya sighed and before she could work out the details and insist more, the door was opened again.
"Sofya Petri! We need you in the Conference Room. You too Edgar. Get your ass in gear."
"Yes sir, Mr. Nobu," She nodded as Edgar groaned, their supervisor leaving once again.
"Four more minutes..." Edgar rubbed his eyes.
"Come on! This is probably important."
"Herr Sofya, it's a conference...they aren't going anywhere..."
Sofya scoffed, pushing her blonde hair out from behind her back, "Follow."
"Yes, Banditi," Edgar mumbled in what little russian he knew.
Sofya pressed her left palm onto the door access point, and the door opened, and Edgar straightened his lab coat collar. The two walked across the Muteki Tower's labs and specimen rooms, noticing monkeys in cages and volunteers getting their work hours by polishing the floors and windows.
Edgar stumbled as he walked, not used to the light from outside his lab. Sofya noticed and chuckled, "You're limping...and squinting."
"The lights are dimmer in my room..."
"And the limping?"
"I've been sitting all that time."
Sofya held the door open for Edgar, as he walked inside the Conference room.
Surrounding the room were black boards and screens detailing human DNA and Quirks, thoroughly completed by either the two doctors, or other scientists, while in the center was a long table stretching across it...
Where Mr. Nobu and Edith Void sat.
Mr. Nobu sighed, "Edgar Von-Taven...Sofya Petri. Both top of the Biologics and Research divisions..."
Void chuckled, "They certainly...look special."
Edgar turned to Sofya who also looked just as confuded. To lighten the tension, Edgar chuckled, "I crack the genes, she gets me the data..."
Everyone laughed...
While Void laughed slightly harder and louder.
Long after everyone else had finished the chuckle, she was still going...
Which unsettled everyone.
Sofya sweat dropped and nervously chuckled, "Why are we here?"
Nobu sighed, "Well...due to the recent partnership of Void Industries and Muteki Technologies..."
Void cut him off, "You two work for me now. You're reassigned to my Research wings and Genetic Synthesizing."
"Synthesizing, you mean creating? Creating genes?" Sofya raised a brow, "Cloning?"
Void did her loud laugh again and shook her head, "No...no...no...Copying."
"That's...the same thing," Sofya questioned this woman's intelligence.
Von-Taven shook his head, "That doesn't make sense...I'm...I'm onto something! I just need the time to prove my theory is correct!"
"I know, I know, I've heard it all before Edgar," Mr. Nobu scoffed, "But he wants this to become TOP priority."
"He, You mean Muteki?" Von-Taven asked, "Why am I assigned? My place is here in Japan! Not some wasteland like L.A or New York!"
"This can't have come out of nowhere," Sofya deduced, and snapped her fingers, "Muteki ordered this?"
"You got it," Void chuckled.
"No, no no!" Edgar shook his head, "I'm not going! I refuse to!"
Nobu sighed, "Edgar-"
"NO! I'm not gonna hop on some boat to America just to start cloning sheep!"
"A human boy, actually," Void mumbled.
"My place is here! I CAN CRACK IT! I swear!"
Nobu raised his voice, "Edgar-"
"Unfortunately, your work will have to wait," Void sighed, "But don't worry...I'm sure Muteki wouldn't mind me taking some of that research for studying...think about it Edgar...you leading a team of the best researchers in the world to crack the secret of the quirk? Why...it'd be better then slaving it all alone..."
Edgar scoffed, "I KNOW YOUR GAMES WITCH! You sell your information to the highest bidder whether they be hero, or VILLAIN! I've seen your gears used by the likes of Spinner or Dabi! I will not allow my work to become tainted by the likes of you, you American Capitalist PIG!"
Void seemed to take great offense to that, and before Nobu could protest, Edgar had stormed out, cursing and shouting in German.
Sofya sighed, "I'll talk to him...maybe I can-"
"No"
Void stood up, straightening her purple and green suit, "Your research begins now Doctor. I will have Muteki straighten him out."
"Mr. Muteki is not your puppet-" Nobu sighed but was cut off once again by Void, who shushed him and turned to Sofya.
"You begin work at a storehouse in Tokyo. The researchers will allow you so long as you remember the code name, Daedalus"
Sofya nodded, "Thank you..."
Void nodded and turned to Nobu, "Now then...Sushi?"
Back at it again...
This story is gonna kick it's uploads a LOT more now.
Enjoy.