Chapter 8: Luxerion
It's now 8pm and Hayato and Snow are nearing their destination. Hayato looks to his left and sees a sign saying "Luxerion in 5 miles". Hayato decides to nudge Snow's shoulder to wake him up and Snow does wake up from the sudden movement. Snow lets out a big yawn and starts to rub his eyes. "Saori was right, he is a light sleeper, must've gotten it from me." "Hey there sleepy head we're almost there."
"Good, I don't know how long I can stay cooped up in this car. Don't know how you're used to this dad." Hayato lets out a small laugh and thinks back to the day he left luxerion to go live in kowloon and that was just as long as a drive if not longer from Aptos to luxerion.
"To be honest I don't even know." The two sit in silence until Snow sees a large clock tower.
"Hey dad, that's the clock tower you were talking about earlier, right."
"Yep we're here." "I haven't been here in more than 10 years. I've accomplished so much and it feels somewhat therapeutic to come back here especially with Snow." Hayato and Snow enter the town and continue to drive until they reach the small house they'll be staying in. Hayato parks out front and both of them leave the car and grab their luggage from the trunk. The two walk to the front door and Hayato unlocks the door. "It looks the same as it did when I was 13." Snow starts to wander and notices the hallway with 3 different rooms,2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.
"So which bedroom is mine dad?"
"The one on the left you'll be staying in my room."
"Wait, you lived here?"
"Yep, this is the exact house I grew up in. I don't remember when but shortly after me and your mom got married I bought the house and employed a cleaning service to come here every now and then to clean the house up. To prepare for the day I came back here." Hayato and Snow both head to the aforementioned room and open the door. It's minimalistic with just a window, a dresser,a closet and 1 bed.
"Hey dad, you didn't have anything in your room for decorations."
"Well I did but once I left the house it was sold to someone else so they most likely auctioned whatever was here. Luckily I put the important stuff of mine and mom's in a storage unit." Snow places his luggage next to his bed and places his guitar on his bed. Before Snow could speak his stomach makes a low growl signifying he's hungry. Hayato hears it and can't help but laugh.
"Snow let me put my bags in my room and I'll go look for some food. Keep your phone near you in case I call or text you."
"Ok dad." Hayato leaves Snow's bedroom and heads to his bedroom and memories start to flood in from his childhood.
"I remember when I used to come here in the middle of night to sleep with mom whenever I had a nightmare. That's one weird memory to suddenly recall but a good one to remember. She was always there for me when I needed her the most." Hayato puts his luggage near the bed and looks over to the bouquet of flowers Saori gave him. "While out looking for food I could pay a visit while I'm at it." Hayato takes the bouquet in hand and heads to the front and let's Snow he's leaving. "Hey Snow I'm heading out,I'll try to find something to eat quickly."
"Ok dad, stay safe." Hayato opens the door and locks it behind him and he heads towards the cemetery.
"If I remember correctly the cemetery isn't too far from here." Hayato walks around the north district for a while seeing if any restaurants are open along the way and seeing nothing open. But he does reach his destination, the cemetery. "Restaurants are closed but the cemetery isn't, how does that make any sense. Might have to see if any 24/7 markets opened up here." Hayato enters the cemetery and looks for his mothers tombstone. "Should be around here somewhere." After a couple of more minutes of searching he finally found it. It reads"Aya Arisato,head of medical clinic and beloved mother,gone too soon."
"I remember having to fight tooth and nail for mom's maiden name to be inscribed on here and not his, but oddly enough changing my last name was simple." Hayato takes a couple of steps forward and kneels down to place the flowers and decides to tell his mother what he's done in the last decade or so.
"Hey mom I know it's been awhile there's so much to tell you. Not like you're here physically to tell you this but I know you're watching over me. I'm married and I have a son. I named him after the name you wanted to give me before you settled on Hayato,He looks so much like his mother Saori and I'm just overwhelmed with joy at being his father. This is probably how you felt all those years ago when you were here with me." Hayato starts to tear up and choke on some of his words.
"I've probably said this a thousand times but I miss you so much. I wish you were here with me right now. I still have so many questions for you and they'll never get answered." Hayato wipes a tear from his eye before continuing. "I love you mom and I hope wherever you are right now you're happy." Hayato takes his index and middle finger and puts the two together, kisses them and places his fingers on the tombstone. Hayato gets up and just as he's about to turn around someone calls out to him but not to a name he responds to.
"Soma is that you?" Hayato turns around and sees a woman in her 60s having a striking resemblance to Kisara. It's Sakura Tsunemori Kisara's mom.
"Sakura?" Sakura realizes who she was talking to it's Hayato and not Soma.
"Oh my god Hayato is that you? It's been sooo long since me and Batou have seen you. You look so much like your father I'm sorry to mistake you for him."
"No it's ok Sakura,really it is. I should be the one to apologize for not calling or visiting you like I should." Sakura took Hayato in when Aya passed away and acted as his adoptive mom.
"It's alright Hayato,Kisara has been giving me updates about you every now and again. But what brings you here to Luxerion?"
"I'm here with my son to tell him everything and for quirk training."
"How old is he?"
"15 I wanted to wait til he was older but he has the right to know, don't you think."
"You're right he does but try to ease it in not all at once."
"Noted. Hey Sakura, if you don't mind me asking, Why are you here in the cemetery?"
"Every now and again I come here to say some prayers to Aya." Sakura and Aya have been friends ever since she was pregnant with Hayato. Hayato and Sakura walk out the cemetery catching up. "So Hayato where are you and your son staying?"
"Where me and Aya lived. It would've felt wrong if I didn't stay there." Sakura and Hayato continue to walk until Hayato remembers he needs to pick up food for him and Snow. "Hey Sakura, are there any markets still open so I can get some food?"
"How about you two stop by our place and eat there? We usually have plenty of leftovers."
"Are you sure? It's pretty late and I don't want to keep you or Batou up longer than you need to be."
"Hayato you are always welcomed at our house,I'll meet you there go get your son." Hayato smiles at Sakura's response.
"Right, and you guys still live between the north and south districts right?"
"Yep,I'll see you there Hayato." The two go their separate ways and Hayato calls Snow to say he's on his way home and that he's found somewhere to eat.
Hayato and Snow are walking towards the Tsunemori household and Snow decides to ask a question. "Hey dad, how are you connected to this place?"
"Well Snow after my mother passed away Kisara's mom and dad stepped in and took care of me. They're my adoptive parents although I don't like using the word adoptive to describe them."
"How come?"
"Well I've always felt that the word adoptive was fake if that makes sense. I saw them as my real mom and dad as much as my mom was a real parent to me. Sorry if that's confusing."
"It's fine dad I think I understand. It's like how Kisara is a third parent to me. Whenever you or mom are sick or busy Kisara is always the first person to step in and help whenever."
"Yeah that's the best way to explain it." Hayato and Snow are now at the front door of the Tsunemori household and Hayato rings the doorbell and patiently waits for someone to open the door. The door opens and they are greeted by Sakura.
"Hi Hayato and you must be his son."
"Hi, my name is Snow Arisato. It's a pleasure to meet you ."
"Oh my, the manners on this one, too bad you weren't like this Hayato when you were younger." Hayato, slightly embarrassed, looks to the side to not make any eye contact with Sakura.
"Different time Sakura." Hayato exclaims.
Sakura lets out a small laugh and ushers the two into their home. She directs them to the kitchen and the two see a spread of rice,various meats and vegetables. "I didn't know how much to take out but considering you're here Hayato I knew it had to be a lot since your appetite has no bounds. Where you put it is beyond me. So eat up you two." Hayato and Snow take their seats and start to eat. In between bites Hayato looks around and notices the place hasn't changed ever since he left. Hayato then notices that Batou is not here in the kitchen or in the living room watching TV,curious as he is, Hayato decides to ask where he is.
"Hey Sakura, where's Batou? He's usually down here watching TV."
"He had to step out and pick up dessert for you two."
"He didn't have to do that." As if on cue Batou walks through the door and heads to the kitchen.
"But I did because I know there's one thing you couldn't resist growing up and that's the cupcakes you love so much from that one bakery in the south district."
"That bakery is still up all this time but who runs it now?"
"The owner's daughter can't remember her name. I think it was Ayame."
"Wow, here I thought Luxerion is gonna be massively different but it's remained the same for the most part. I'll do some research to see if my mom's favorite spots are still here." "Thank you Batou. I really appreciate it."
"Anything for my son. And who's this kid he doesn't look like you or Kisara-" Hayato quickly interrupts Batou from continuing his sentence out of sheer embarrassment.
"Dad, how many times do I have to tell you that Kisara and I aren't dating!"
"Oh I know but it's always nice to see you get embarrassed and defensive at the thought of it." Snow and Sakura laugh at the state that Hayato is in.
"Hi my name is Snow Arisato. It's a pleasure to meet you." Snow extends his hand out to Batou for a handshake and Batou shakes his hand happily.
"I take it back, he has manners, he's definitely not yours or Kisara's kid."
"When will this night be over?"
After the dinner and desserts Hayato decides to help Sakura wash the dishes. Sakura has had a question on her mind ever since she saw Hayato in the cemetery. What type of training will he put Snow through and what would his future entail. "Hey Hayato, earlier you said that you were gonna do quirk training with Snow. What exactly do you mean by that?" Hayato is a bit stunned by the question but realizes it's understandable that Sakura would ask.
"If you're asking if he'll join the "Family business",No he won't be like Soma or me in my younger days. I want better for him,ever since he was a kid he's wanted to become a hero so I'll help him achieve that goal." Sakura lets out a sigh of relief that Snow won't follow in Soma's footsteps. Once the two are done washing dishes they dry their hands off with the nearby hand towels. Sakura puts her hand on Hayato's shoulder and the two of them look at each other.
"Aya would be so proud of you Hayato." Hayato smiles and hugs Sakura.
"Thank you for everything Sakura." Sakura hugs back and the two make their way back to the kitchen and they see Snow showing off his quirk to Batou.
"This was the first thing dad taught me when I was younger. " In Snow's hand was a snowflake. Snow then dissipates the snowflake and clasps his hand together and pulls them apart slowly. Batou and Sakura are watching intently to see what Snow will make.
"So he finally did it." Once apart there was a rose made of ice.
"I learned this on my own. I was inspired to try and make a rose since those are my mother's favorite flowers."
"Wow Hayato, your kid's a natural."
"Yeah but he still has much to learn starting tomorrow morning. We should start heading out so you can head to bed early."
"Ok dad." Snow gets up from his chair and follows Hayato to the front door. Batou and Sakura are following behind as well to see them out. Hayato opens the door and lets Snow walk out first and Hayato follows before leaving though Hayato turns around to say his thanks.
"Thank you so much for letting me and Snow come over for dinner, Sakura and Batou,especially at this time." Hayato then gives the two a hug and they hug back. Hayato and Snow wave goodbye before making their way home. Some time passes and the two are back home and Hayato remembered something he should've done hours ago. "Hey Snow, before you go brush your teeth stay right there I need to call your mother and tell her we made it safe." Snow stands still while Hayato takes out his phone and dials Saori's number. "Please don't be asleep." after 2 rings Saori picks up and Hayato puts the phone on speaker. "Hi Saori."
"Hi mom"
"Hi you two I got worried that you two were still on the road."
"Yeah we made it here at around 8 or so and we went to Sakura's house to eat and it completely slipped my mind that I needed to call you sorry."
"It's alright as long as you are safe, it's fine. Well I don't want to keep you two up too late so goodnight Snow and sweet dreams."
"Goodnight mom." Snow then walks to the bathroom to brush his teeth before bed. Hayato takes the phone off speaker to talk with Saori a bit more.
"So Saori this place hasn't changed much since I was last here."
"Really? Well that's great, that means you have some spots for you and Snow to visit."
"Yeah…"
"Hey is everything alright?" "All of these memories are just flooding back into my head the good and the bad and it's overwhelming. How am I even gonna tell Snow about my past if I can't think straight."
"Hey everything's gonna be alright Hayato. One step at a time alright."
"You're right I'm just all over the place and I need to focus. Thank you Saori."
"I'm always here for you Hayato,everythings gonna work out the way you want it to."
"I love you Saori."
"I love you too Hayato,goodnight."
"Goodnight." Hayato hangs up and sees that Snow left the bathroom. Hayato opens the door to his bedroom slightly and sees Snow fast asleep. "Goodnight Snow, tomorrow's gonna be an eventful day to say the least." Hayato closes the door and heads to the bathroom to brush his teeth and changes into a night attire. After that he heads into his bedroom and goes to sleep.
It's now morning and Snow starts to wake up from the alarm on his phone that he forgot to turn off."Oh right forgot I had an alarm set for school." Snow turns off the alarm and decides to head to the bathroom for his morning routine. Once done he sees Hayato in the living room stretching. "Good morning Dad,when did you wake up?"
"Around 6 my body is still running on a work schedule. So I decided to go out for a jog and came back for a quick for shower. Speaking of which, the hot water works so you can shower now if you want."
"Thanks for the heads up dad." Snow walks back into his room to grab his towel and change of clothes for today. While in the shower Snow starts to think up what his dad might have planned for today. "I'd imagine that we go for breakfast first then probably to wherever to train. I'm curious what else I can do with my quirk. I know the basics of shaping things but I'm sure there are other applications for it." After the shower Snow dries himself off and puts on his clothes. He then takes a hairbrush and runs it through his hair making sure it doesn't get tangled. "How does mom do this every morning, especially with the long hair she has now?" After brushing his hair he hangs his towel on the rack to dry and walks out the bathroom. "Hey dad, what do you have planned for today?"
"During my jog there was diner not too far from here. We can stop by for breakfast,after that we start your training. So bring a change of clothes, don't want you sweating in those."
"Ok dad." Snow goes into his room and takes his duffle bag and puts a black tank top and a pair of sweatpants. Hayato does the same but also brings a pen and a notebook. Both of them meet at the front door with their bags and head to the car. Hayato drives to the diner and parks in the parking lot. Both of them walk out the car and head towards the front doors. They were greeted by a woman working in front of the house.
"Hi there gentlemen, would you like a seat at the bar or a booth?"
"A booth is fine." The woman grabs 2 menus and ushers them to follow her to their seats. She places one menu across from each other and both sit on opposite sides.
"While you two are looking over the menu, what can I get y'all to drink?"
"Black coffee for me."
"Orange juice please." "
Ok I'll go get that for you two and I'll be right back with your drinks." Hayato and Snow look over the menu and Snow decides to ask Hayato something.
"Hey dad, while you were washing dishes with I overheard your conversation and you said something about "family business". What did you mean by that?"
"Well sooner or later I was gonna have to tell you. So there's a lot you don't know about me,my past and my family. Right now Snow I am an open book so ask any question you have and I'll answer them truthfully. To start things off the "Family business" is something you want to stay far away from. What my father did and those before him isn't ethical at all. They were apart of syndicate of "vigilantes" but not only that,they were murderers as well. All trained from a young age to become a judge,jury and executioner." Snow is shocked from what he just heard and so many thoughts are rushing to his head.
"Why would they do that,who would want their family to do that,was dad a part of it,and for how long. None of this is making sense."
"I'm sorry Snow I shouldn't have unloaded that much onto you. We can pick this back up once we're in the car."
"But dad!-"
"I know you have a lot of questions right now but please not here. What I can tell you to at least ease your mind is that I have no intention of returning to that way of life nor do I want that for you Snow."
"I appreciate you saying that dad." The waitress comes with their drinks and takes their order,the two of them order and enjoy their breakfast. Although Snow's thoughts are still a mess from what he heard. He knows that his father is different now and maybe there was a reason he joined. Snow is left to ponder until they're done eating.
With breakfast finished Hayato pays the bill at the front desk and Snow is waiting by the door so the two could walk out together.
"Thank you so much and enjoy the rest of the day you two."
"You enjoy the rest of the day as well." Hayato and Snow walk out the door and head to their car and both enter at the same time. Hayato lets out a big sigh and turns to Snow. "Snow, ask away I won't hide anything from you." Hayato starts the car and starts to drive and Snow begins to ask questions.
"Dad, how long were you in the syndicate for and what for?" "For 3 years and initially I joined to avenge my mother but then stayed longer than I should've hence the 3 year stay"
"Avenge? Was she…." Snow struggles to finish the sentence but Hayato finishes it for him.
"Yeah she was unfortunately killed."
"But why,from what you've told me over the years, she was the one of the kindest people you knew. Why would someone do something horrible to her?"
"Sometimes there are people in this world that just want to do heinous acts for no rhyme or reason. During that 3 year period I believed in what the syndicate could do until all of the things I've done finally tolled on me and I couldn't take it anymore. I left and that's when Kisara's family took me in and eventually I told them the hell I went through,"
"When did you tell mom?"
"A year or so of being together." The two sit in silence until they reach their destination. Snow decides to break the silence.
"Dad, where are we going?"
"Where I trained all those years ago don't worry though It'll just be you and me." "
That's good to hear." Before they knew it they reached their destination, a building far away from Luxerion. The two walk out of the car and grab their duffle bags.
"Snow I…. If you want to leave or not even talk to me again I can understand. If I was in your position I wouldn't want to look at me either." Hayato was greeted by a sudden hug from Snow and Hayato hugged back.
"I would never want to alienate you dad. I know that you had a dark past but that doesn't only define you. What you've done now for me,for mom and the town of Aptos that's the person you are to me. You shouldn't beat yourself up. I love you dad and nothing will change that dad." Hayato holds back his tears from his son's words and lets out a small laugh.
"Both you and your mom never fail to make me cry from emotional speeches. I love you too Snow." The two separate from their embrace and look at each other and smile at one another and head into the building. Hayato goes in front of Snow to access a retina scanner and punches in a code in the keypad.
"Hey dad, is that necessary since we're pretty far away from luxerion?"
"Well we are on a hill so hikers might stumble upon it so it's best no one from the general public enters the building."
"huh ok." The two walk into the building and Snow has a look of awe when he enters the building. It's filled with a bunch of technology he's never seen before.
"Hey snow, come over here I need you to register your information so you have full access to the building." Snow walks over to his dad and looks at the console he's typing into. "So I need you to look into this scanner so you can enter and leave the building if I'm not around. And think of a 4 digit pass code that you can remember." Snow looks into the retina scanner and thinks about a pass code he should use.
"Would my birthday be fine?"
"Yeah we can do that, 1103."
"Hey dad, what's your pass code and does it have any significance to you?"
"It's 2501 and yeah it's pretty significant it's the number I was assigned when I joined the syndicate. I was the 2,501th member to join. It's also a pass code me and Kisara used in private to alert one another of something happening."
"I thought you hated the syndicate dad, why hold onto something like that."
"That's a good question Snow and to be honest I've never really had a reason. It kinda just stuck with me. Maybe I hold onto it because it's the day that changed my life for the worse and it reminds me of where I was opposed to where I am now and how grateful I am to be here with you." Snow smiles at that,knowing that despite what his father went through he pushed forward and finally found his way to Saori and him. Once Hayato sets up everything he gives Snow a tour of the building. The main floor was a common area, the top floor was a dormitory with multiple rooms. It hasn't been used for years but Hayato plans on refurbishing and using it in the future.
"Dad, what are you using the dorms for"
"Well I've always wanted this place to be a safe haven for people like me. But as time goes on there won't be many syndicates at all because they'll be disbanded or most likely be thrown into jail. The hero society we live in is starting to crack down on it and well I don't want to brag but I was the reason why heroes are looking into these syndicates."
"Really? For as long as I've known you're an underground hero how did this even come about?"
"That's where Kisara comes in and she decided that our first act in Libra was to get rid of these syndicates all over the world. And that's why we moved every 3 months. I would scout and find locations and Kisara would notify the heroes within that state/country where they were."
"That makes things so much more clearer,wow and here I thought you just really liked traveling."
"Well that was part of it and your mother always talked about going to various places like Italy so I killed 2 birds with one stone."
"Where did you even get the money?"
"Right I never told you that either. Well much to my dismay I never read my mothers will after she passed. It was only until I was 18 I read it and I inherited her wealth and let's say it's a pretty big number. I never flaunted the money around or anything because me and Kisara had planned to open Libra somehow and well know the rest. Any more questions?"
"Nope that's all for now." Hayato heads to the elevator and Snow follows. Hayato pushes the bottom floor button,the last part of their tour and the main reason why they're here in this building, the training facility.
Once down there Snow and Hayato walk out the elevator and Snow looks around and sees training equipment,support items and the one that scars him the most, weapons particularly edged one and firearms.
"Don't worry Snow we won't be using those, first go get changed over there and I'll give you a quick rundown of what training will entail."
"Ok dad." Snow heads over to the changing room and comes out with the black tank top and sweatpants he packed. Hayato is wearing a black shirt and white shorts. Hayato walks over to Snow and gives him a once over to see how he'll train his son's somewhat frail body to something that can handle the hero course. Snow, perplexed at his father's actions, asks him what he is doing.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
"See how I approach your training. I've got it. First we'll start with basic strength and stamina training but first what kind of fighting style do you want to learn?"
"Huh?" Hayato lets out a laugh from his son's reaction.
"You do remember how our quirk works right?"
"Yeah of course. It's a double edged sword. We use our blood to freeze and create ice. I'm just confused as to why I need to learn a fighting style."
"Well since our quirk works for and against us we can't exactly use our quirk whenever we want. So to circumvent that we mean me and the rest of my family members who've had this quirk learned a fighting style so we aren't completely defenseless."
"That makes sense. So what fighting styles do you know dad?" "
I know a couple but mainly I use krav maga. It's a self defense and fighting system developed in Israel,it takes a lot from boxing,judo,aikido and traditional karate. Me just saying that just gave me a great idea. I'll teach you systema it'll be a perfect fit for you. It works similarly to krav maga both are a cqc system but krav maga favors more brutal strikes while systema is focused on using your attackers momentum against them along with disarming."
"Dad, wait, you're going too fast. What's a cqc system?"
"It simply means a close quarters combat system,it's used to describe fighting styles that have a lot of overlap with other fighting styles."
"Alright that makes sense and I'm down to learning systema. If you think it's a great fit for me I have to try and learn it." Hayato smiles at Snow's words.
"That's the spirit but first we have to whip your body into shape. Come on, we'll start with basics like push-ups." And so Snow starts his first day of training. He's going to make the most out of this month as possible. Absorbing all of what Hayato has to teach him.
Author's Note: Alright one last chapter before the new year, all of the negatives this year has brought I hope you all had a great year and wish everyone a great start to 2022. So some notes I wanted this chapter to be about Hayato's backstory and Snow's reaction to everything. Sakura like I said in the chapter has a resemblance to Kisara obviously and Batou doesn't really need a character description since these two won't be showing up all that much. I won't be doing the whole month of training for Snow but know that he's going through similar body training like Izuku when he had to prepare his body for one for all. But the added bonus of learning a traditional fighting style I chose systema because I wanted Snow to be more about disarming and disabling opposed to Hayato who's about putting the hurt into his enemies. Snow will also be learning the basics of stealth and other various things from Hayato which will be touched upon in the next chapter. I think that's about it for now. I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the day and hopefully start off the new year the best way possible.
