The battle unfolded as Eris sidestepped another laser blast from Eyesore. Now not only did they need to apprehend this surprise addition to the prison, but now they had to restrain Inyoku who slivered around the rebounding lasers after getting hit from behind by one of them.
Dahlia had already taken Mizaru away by this point, which eased the warden.
However, now she watched as Tai and the prisoner ran in, dodging the lasers and sometimes, not. "Guess I'm not using 'that' move right now…" she huffed as the red eyed guard called out.
"Is this person from Limbo?" he asked, sliding back.
"Yes," Eris shouted back, "it must be another lurker like the one Shi reported."
Tai narrowed his eyes at the drone who fired more lasers as Inyoku was slapped away, only to lunge back in right after. "Capture or eliminate?"
Eris remained silent, dodging the lasers as she kept Eyesore in her line of sight. "I prefer that we capture them," she began, sighing. "Just follow my lead."
"You got it!"
As the warden and guard attacked Eyesore, managing to whack the drone around as it was stuck looking into the warden's eye, Eris saw from the corner of her eye, Inyoku throwing a punch her way!
Removing eye contact, she intercepted the inmate's attack as both jumped away from each other when a rainbow laser fired between them seconds after. "Aw, you blocked!" The rattlesnake's tail wagged back and forth slowly.
She really didn't want to deal with an inmate right now.
As she was about to use her quirk, the snake jumped back into the fray. "I'll be back! I'm saving the best for last!" he grinned, clashing with both Tai and Eyesore.
"Yukiko, can you get a clean shot on the intruder… and Inyoku?" the warden asked as she saw Yukiko shake her head.
"It's too risky to use my quirk now," Yukiko sighed as she watched the two battle with Eyesore, "with the both of them being too close to Tai, he'll just be caught up in my quirk's line of sight."
Turning to the warden, she continued. "Not to mention those lasers will eventually hit them too. Tai and Inyoku might sustain serious injuries if multiple lasers still hit when they're frozen."
"Especially if they keep rebounding enough to the point it'll be strong enough to pierce through their bodies." the warden huffed, "it's alright Yukiko, go and assist with the inside team or help Dahlia with Mizaru. Both of them are injured."
"Roger that," and so, Yukiko left but not before something came into Eris' earpiece.
"This is Bunri," the voice came in, "I just received word from Osamu about a possible traitor that needs a background check."
"More?" Eris frowned, "what do you mean?"
"An inmate is insisting that Anayama, Sarutobi and Kirigaku are assassins, more so Anayama…but we can talk about that later." Bunri finished as Eris' non-eyepatched eye widened. "However, it could just be an inmate trying to shift blame, though we can't take chances after Limbo."
That was true, but Bunri continued. "It's been a while now and I just tried contacting Osamu. I'm afraid he might be in trouble. I'm going to contact the raid team now about it."
"I'll head over now then," Eris ended the conversation as she turned to Tai. "Tai, I'll leave both of them to you!"
The sun emitting guard could only grin. "You got it boss!"
As the warden ran towards the co-ed ward, only three remained behind. Tai, Inyoku and Eyesore.
As the three stood around in this moment, this single moment, it began as Eyesore fired more lasers from their multiple eyes. The rainbow lasers bounced around as the white haired snake and the blonde haired sun thrower charged the drone.
However, as they charged the drone, Tai put his hand behind Inyoku-Yui's head…and slammed him into the ground!
As the red eyed guard rushed towards the drone, Eyesore definitely didn't see that coming, nor did the prisoner who quickly got up as quick as they could as they shouted, "HEY!" getting back on his feet to narrowly dodge the bouncing lasers as he chased after Tai, the guard smirked as he closed in on the drone, lasers bouncing around even faster as the drone fired more.
Eyesore fired the next round too late as Tai uppercutted the drone, right where their chin eye was! It sent Eyesore crazy as it began to flail now that its eye was punched!
When Tai looked back as he continued his assault, he mused, "an inmate trying to keep up with me?"
"Wait your turn!" Rattlesnake snarled back. "Once I take this guy down, you're next!"
"You think you can take this guy down? You? Don't make me laugh, inmate!" Tai shouted back at the slivering snake. "This fucker is mine! You can barely land a scratch on them! Leave this to the ones that can actually do a damn thing!"
"I'll show you! It's on!"
And then both of them hit the drone! At the same time!
The drone was attacked from all sides by the pair, it was barely having the time to break away from the two as they attacked one after the other.
Eyesore was having trouble keeping up!
Tai and Inyoku seemed to get faster as they rushed the drone. It even had trouble aiming the first direction of its shots! It was almost as if the two were in a sync that not even them were aware about. It was just the way they fought as they raced each other to take down Eyesore.
Accidentally teaming up a few times in the process.
The amount of lasers was slowly down. Eyesore's eyes were going crazy, looking every which way in order to even dodge. It had to focus on dodging, it all it had now.
Eyes that looked in five different directions, making sure to take in all its surroundings. Soon, Eyesore began to dodge more and more effectively. Glancing around like a chameleon, it saw it all. All that was around it!
Tai and Inyoku attacked, but no hits landed as Eyesore dodged with ease now.
Multiple eyes working in tandem, Eyesore backed off and once a decent distance was made, the drone stopped.
Then, looking in one single direction, it fired its lasers! Only to get punched straight in the face immediately after!
"When you fire, you actually can't see for a second," Tai grinned, sending Eyesore down to the floor with a single punch. "Most people will notice when you do it enough."
The Shiro family's killer wasn't that far behind! Striking the drone as well while the five eyes were focused on Tai.
"See? Even the inmates can catch on!"
The snake bared his fangs briefly at the guard as Eyesore went down, but then, multiple rainbow lasers fired. As many as it can fire. Hitting both guard and inmate, both were hit a few times as Eyesore got moving to the best of its abilities. The injured drone only had one thing on its mind now.
As if something changed.
"Return."
"Oi!" Inyoku shouted at the fleeing drone. "WE'RE NOT DONE YET!"
As the lasers barraged the pair, the guard's red eyes shot over to the snake. Though the snake was flexible, his reflexes didn't stop all the bouncing lasers. The duo made their way out of the laser fire, dodging any laser they could as the lasers bounced away.
In fact, the large barrage that hit them barely stayed for long.
"The lasers are bouncing down the halls…they must really need to get away if their aim isn't as precise anymore. It definitely wasn't like how they fired their laser beams to attack us, trap us and defend themselves by cutting us off and ricocheting around the area." The snake narrowed his eyes at the escaping Eyesore now that he was free from the lasers. "Still, I'm not letting you get away!"
The snake chased after the drone, whose eyes where their ears would be, spotted the duo. It only stopped running when a fast flying sphere of flames went past it and blocked its path. Tai smirked as the drone realised. It was trapped.
And Inyoku's fangs seemed all the more sinister.
Just before he could move, the now free Tai made his own move.
Tai reached out to Inyoku, who was confused at the guard's sudden action. "Eh?"
Grabbing the snake's tail with both hands, Tai swung the convict like a baseball bat right at the multi-eyed drone. Whacking Eyesore back, Tai kept a tight grip on the snake as he decided to go for a quick game of hammer toss!
Spinning around as he threw Inyoku right into the stumbling Eyesore!
"So long, Inyoku!" Tai grinned as the impact of the snake took the drone to the ground.
Eyesore, now on its back, was about to fire five point blank lasers right at the snake that knocked it down…but the criminal had other ideas as he sunk his fangs into Eyesore's body. The drone began to flail as it felt the venom seep into its body! The silent drone released a scream as he whacked and kicked Inyoku until the snake-eyed convict was finally pushed away.
Inyoku was about to charge back in after rolling on the ground. As the injured inmate got back on his feet, he stopped as a warm wave of hot air emitted from behind him. It excited him!
That meant one thing!
Looking over his shoulder, Tai raised his hand above him, palm pointing towards the sky!
Seeing this, the snake slivered away while Eyesore fell to their knees, the poison already circulating their bloodstream.
Tai held his hand above him as a miniature red ball of flames appeared, floating above his open palm. He only grinned as his miniature sun began to grow. Growing larger and larger. It was large enough to engulf a person, multiple people at that and the heat of the large red sphere radiated throughout the prison.
And then, his grin growing increasingly sadistic, Tai threw it.
"Catch."
Eyesore watched as the now much, much larger miniature sun came crashing down towards them!
"DANGER! DANGER! ABORT!" Eyesore's thoughts didn't help much as the red sun consumed them as it let out a feral scream. An absolutely horrendous screech of agony.
The drone was completely engulfed by the much, much larger red sun.
As the sun crashed into the ground, burning the sole victim inside to cinders, Tai let the flames disperse in a violent fashion as the mini-sun's flames bursted out like waves.
"Too hot to handle?" the blonde guard asked. "I guess I can't ask you about Limbo, now."
The drone, completely burnt, laid on the floor.
Eyesore steamed as its body was half of what it used to be. Gone were its legs, gone was most of its side, arm included. It looked like it shrunk too. It really was burnt to cinders…almost.
"Come on," Tai walked forward, ready to stomp down on the drone. "Are you really that weak? I made sure to stop it before it erased you whole…bloody weakling."
Out of nowhere, a tail whipped violently at the deceased drone, crushing the burnt head with ease.
Inyoku's tail slumped as the drone laid lifeless.
Without much else to do, Tai brought his foot down. If it was dead, no point holding back.
Inyoku and Tai looked down at the drone without looking or saying a word to one another.
Out of the blue, the two lashed out at each other!
Punching each other in the face. Not directly on, but close.
As Inyoku and Tai punched each other in the face, the two just grinned at one another.
Breaking away from one another, the injured inmate and the less injured guard stood apart for a good moment.
The only thing that broke the silence was the rattling of Inyoku-Yui's tail.
Both of them put a foot forward and broke into a sprint, right at each other!
At this very moment, as they charged at each other, they made their move! A simple punch at each other, neither opting to dodge as both were hit.
A barrage followed next as the two attacked each other. Inyoku's flexibility and reaction speed allowed him to sliver around some attacks, but not all as he was suddenly punched in the face. Tai kept up his assault, grinning as Inyoku hit him a few times.
Engaged in both dishing out the attacks and taking what the other threw out.
The next attack that landed was an uppercut that sent the inmate into the air!
The snake, hit into the air by an uppercut, flipped around in the air until he landed back on his feet, creating another small distance between the two. The standoff was just as short as before when the two continued what they started, this time escalating their attacks.
Rushing at each other yet again, Inyoku bared his fangs, spinning around with his tail while Tai held his hand out to the side, creating another small sun.
The red sun burned brightly as the heat waves were all around them as the rattlesnake's venomous fangs dripped said venom onto his rattle as he spun around.
The venom coated rattle of the snake's tail spun at such speed that some of the venom splashed around, but while the majority of it was still on the rattle, Tai's sun burned even brighter, growing just a little bit larger too.
The gap closed, Inyoku struck with his new super-move.
VENOMOUS TORNADO!
Finished spinning, feet planted themselves on the ground to stop the spinning as his Venomous Tornado struck at the guard who brought their hand with his sun closer, as if he was going to slam the sun into the convict.
At this moment, Tai's Miniature Sun and Inyoku's Venomous Tornado connected! The sun hit the end on the swinging tail coated in venom and perhaps the liquid helped the snake out somewhat.
Each continued to push against one another in order to come out victorious!
Then, as if cancelling each other out, Tai's sun released itself into scorching embers while Inyoku's strike missed as it came to the end of its swing.
But neither let up.
There was a chance. An opportunity.
Another punch was thrown by both as they used the incredibly close distance between them to land their follow up attack!
And then, the sound of pain.
Inyoku wheezed as Tai's fist planted itself in the criminal's stomach while Inyoku-Yui's strike grazed the guard's chest. The guard pushed further as Inyoku felt like the wind was knocked out of him.
Yet, as the fist was removed by the guard and the convict dropped to their knees, incredibly exhausted…
Nothing stopped the smiles each had on their faces.
Muika just stared at the corpse that laid before her, empty eyes staring right at her. It was the sight that the other guards arrived at.
"Why? Why?" the younger sister of the now deceased man just stared at her lifeless brother with a big hole in his chest. "I was too late…"
Muika's visions were uncontrollable.
She might see a vision and tell others about it, but when it occurred? She didn't even know. It could have been right after the vision or hours after it. Since it happened randomly, she couldn't even use her quirk whenever she wanted, she could only wait until it flashed before her eyes.
Her plan was to get to the location of the ward, that she got clues from the surrounding area of said vision, and change what she saw. Preventing the future she saw.
However, while she managed to get to the ward, it seemed she was too late. Maybe if she got the vision earlier, things would have been different. The only thing that changed was that he wasn't instantly killed by having his heart ripped out.
The end result was the same.
He was dead.
The last thing she ever said to him was when he came to her office replayed in her mind. Comparing him to their parents.
"I'm sorry, Osamu…" she sniffled, teardrops hitting the older sibling's face.
"I didn't mean it…" she was unable to get the words out as the others got closer, the world might as well be silent, or perhaps Kikazaru was there. Muika was so focused on her oldest brother that she was unaware of Eris giving orders to guards that were there, clones running off, more and more faces from the raid of Limbo rushing in to see the sight.
Yukiko who returned once Dahlia and Mizaru got out safely with the actual Bunri, Alexios and Hokori who came from the infirmary, Shi who escorted Sae out behind enemy lines. Seimei and Suimin that came from Limbo after all the traitors were dealt with.
They all saw the sight as Seimei tipped his hat, looking at the body in the younger sibling's arms. "..." he didn't say a word as he placed a hand on the shocked harpy's shoulder, patting it in a comforting manner.
Shi shook her head when the inmate was about to speak. Now was not the time as she escorted the inmate away as Bunri released more clones, ordering them to clean the area. It was still in a ward with inmates.
It wasn't long before Tai entered with Inyoku over his shoulder as he saw the lifeless corpse of the quirkless guard. Staring at the body for a moment, he huffed and walked off with the inmate on his shoulder.
Muika felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, making her stand as others began moving Osamu's body, putting him in a bodybag and soon, on the stretcher. Not once did she take her eyes off him.
"Take Muika home…" Eris ran a hand through her burgundy coloured hair, her shimmering gold eye going from Alexios to the former guard on the floor.
Alexios could only nod as he talked to Muika, slowly taking her away from the ward as she kept staring at her brother. It was like the light left those red eyes of hers.
As the warden looked down at the red eyed older Yomaura, she didn't say a word as she closed her sole, uncovered eye.
A moment of silence.
…
When that moment passed, she opened her non-eyepatched eye and looked at the others as Osamu was ready to be taken away.
"Take all the captured traitors and lock them up, also have the inmates that were in Limbo locked up too." she commanded, "it's time to clean up the mess these traitors made…and take Osamu to the morgue."
Now that Limbo's traitors had been dealt with, it was time to clean up the prison.
The ones in charge zipped up the only unconcealed part of the guard, his head, and once putting him on the stretcher, they began to take the quirkless red eye guard out of there.
As Osamu's body was taken away…it was finally over.
"Muika has been sent home and we have issued breaks to the guards that didn't betray us with Bunri and other staff offering to stay behind for the funeral too." Seimei said as he looked over to his fellow warden as both went about their preparations. "What are we going to do with the inmates?"
"Lock up all the inmates for the time being. We better let their family know about Osamu's passing and arrange the funeral arrangements." Eris crossed her arms at her desk. "There's also been some disturbing news too, that we need to talk about."
"About what Osamu told Bunri?"
"Yes," the burgundy haired warden sighed out. "Because of that and our traitors, I will be remaining behind."
"Will you be heading after them now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he picked up a phone.
"Not too sure. I have the inmates that know about the assassins to some degree on extra security, we don't know if they might take the chance to silence them or not. I should question all of them as soon as possible though." she looked up from the funeral services she was preparing and going over. "We also have all the traitors behind bars and the inmates that partook in Limbo to interrogate too. It's going to get busy."
"We also need to make sure the partially eaten bodies of the inmates are also sent to their families and related funerals. Carna and Lambert are currently checking the bodies to see if there is a connection between them and the body that Shi discovered." he then pulled out a worn note. "Plus we found this in a room in Limbo that they set on fire."
When Eris looked over the note, she read: "Single-Types? Multi-Types? There's also what looks like order numbers, something about features if that feline part is to be believed for that order…what's going on here?"
"..." Eris frowned in thought, thinking back to the other thing Osamu mentioned. "Osamu also reported something else. Apparently his killer, the one that ripped Koneko's arm off and evaded capture too, was targeting those with quirks rather than the clones or Osamu himself."
"...and Koneko's quirk…is feline…" Seimei said with slowly widening eyes. "If that's true, then what are they doing?"
He then pointed to some other parts that could barely be made out on the ruined paper. "Look at the feline order again. It barely makes out something about requiring something else. And the other order number that only says long reach and control type."
As the male warden looked at his colleague, he continued. "If that's true, about targeting people's quirks, what are these orders for?"
Another mystery. "Not to mention the eggs…are they a part of Limbo too then?"
In a single day, so much had happened.
That also brought up the next point.
"The Mastermind of Limbo is still loose, they managed to avoid capture." Now that stunned them a little. "Not only did we catch the traitors that were there, we lost way too many guards from both Akita and Limbo. We still have guards to question to see if they're a part of Limbo or not. Again."
Eris huffed at the memory of that one Limbo guard she questioned. "They have a way to bypass my quirk…so we need to re-question everyone."
"When we searched them to see if they had anything on them, we found only packets of what seemed to be mints." Seimei added, "also, Shimaru found a vial on site where the 'bombing run' took place during cleanup with some liquid remaining in it. Carna and Lambert are going to test both when they're finished with the autopsies…though they will take a while. Right now they have to treat so many inmates…"
With Carna and Lambert flat out treating the inmates and how they were going to do the autopsy right after and then testing the mints and remaining green liquid, they really needed a vacation when all this was over.
"...and also, the bodies of Gousen and Rhys were found too. One supposed to be at the funeral home…and our vanished inmate now dead and dismembered, just like Rhys' corpse…" Seimei added, causing the other warden to stare at him. "Carna and Lambert are also running an inspection of the bodies too."
"So what are they doing with them? Abducting Gousen to dismember them and taking a corpse and doing the same to it?" Eris couldn't help but sigh as she wanted to slam her head against the desk.
She resisted the urge.
…for now…
"Since you're staying behind, should we question Anayama now?" the black haired warden asked. "While they might know about the inmates knowing, they might not know that we know. Another possibility is that they might suspect we know and refuse to silence them unless they want to confirm they are assassins by going through with the silencing. Another question to that is, if they are, are they working with Limbo or are they separate?"
"Speaking of Limbo, we need to talk to Shi's inmate team and of course Limbo's fighters. They might have seen more people involved in Limbo than what we do know."
"I'll make sure to get someone to watch Anayama, just in case. Introduce team patrols to keep him locked down until you can question him properly." Seimei said, hopping on the phone.
It was going to be really busy for them and the low numbers of Styx.
Right now, they had something else to do. Osamu's funeral.
They continued their preparations for the funeral, and first, they had to make some calls.
Over a week had passed since the preparations for Osamu's funeral and now, it was time. Away from the prison Styx, a group gathered as they entered to attend the funeral.
Everyone who attended from family and friends to work colleagues were dressed in black as they entered where the funeral would be held as Osamu laid in an open casket.
Muika just stared as she followed behind some Styx work colleagues. It would be the last time she saw her brother's face before he would be cremated.
She looked at the coworkers who did come. Seimei, Alexios, Dahlia, Shi and a few others. She was surprised to see Tai there to be honest as he stood with Iwa, Kika and a patched up Mizaru. The rookie even showed up, and from what she heard from Osamu, her brother was one of the ones to show him the ropes.
The mourning sister obviously noticed how some from Styx were missing.
It…was a prison after all.
She managed to talk to some of them, even other people Osamu knew from high school to university, friends he made along the way and other people in his life. However, as they gave her their condolences, she spied a group she didn't want anything to do with.
Her family, mainly her parents, but also her two older siblings. Shinsei and Noriko.
She didn't know if her parents saw her or what, but her siblings definitely did as they walked over to her. "Oh no…"
Muika was already bracing herself for the dreaded conversation.
The only saving grace was that the pair looked miserable, something she noted after she left home.
When they reached her, they didn't say a thing, only looking at each other for a moment before addressing her. "Muika."
"W..What…are you doing…h-here?" she stuttered out as her siblings easily cornered her…even though she had plenty of space to leave.
"I was the only one that received the invitation," Noriko revealed, making Muika double take. Noriko managed to smirk at her sister's surprised face. "Don't be so shocked."
"W…Why?" the youngest stuttered.
"If you must know, it's because of my quirk," her older sister told her while she enjoyed the surprise. "I have to say, your warden is a cheeky one. Using the invitation with the high risk of getting Dad to come to the funeral to get us to come, very sneaky."
"Mhm, it was a guaranteed arrival thanks to that." Shinsei added.
"Huh?" she was…completely lost.
Shaking her head, the older sister's smirk started to fade. "I was invited because of my quirk." she revealed to her younger sister again. "However, Dad wants nothing more than to bring you back because you still have some use unlike Osamu and to stop you disgracing and embarrassing the family name."
"The moment she got the invite, Father didn't want to let the opportunity slip by," Shinsei continued. "He really wants to bring you home."
"It's the reason why we're here." Noriko took over again as the youngest was wrapping her head around it all. "Your warden wanted me to use my quirk and because you'd be here too, Dad dragged us all here. Normally, Dad would never allow me to go or even the whole family to go to Osamu's funeral at all, but thanks to you, here we are. As I said, your warden is a sneaky one. That's one way to assure that I'd get here without fail."
"A guaranteed arrival for Noriko without fail by using that invitation." Shinsei thought as he gave a short lived smirk at his father being the one manipulated for once. "Those wardens of yours are really clever, Muika."
Noriko then bowed the way she was taught. "Now if you excuse me, I have to speak to your warden. Once he is free of course." Noriko wasted no time as she left the conversation, leaving Muika as a shocked, sputtering mess.
When she turned to face her older brother, he already started.
"The only reason I was brought along was because Father wanted me to bring you home if he couldn't." Her older brother sighed. "In his words, to bring you back before you disgrace the name like Osamu even more. Just like Noriko said."
"I'm not coming home, no matter what."
Shinsei, with a sad look she usually saw when she saw them out and about after she left, simply sighed. "Muika…don't you remember my quirk?"
Her eyes widened at that.
"No…"
There was a common jab, rumour and accusation at the Yomaura family under Kansuke's rule from other rich families and business rivals. In fact, many of the modern clashes the Yomaura family had was thanks to Kansuke. The common jab that many brought up was their children and how they might not be his…or his wife's. Kansuke had a quirk that influenced suggestion. Shina had a quirk that allowed her to bend small objects without touch, with her mind basically.
However their children, excluding Osamu being quirkless, lacked any of their parents' quirks. This is what many pointed at to jab at them. Spread rumours and accuse them. Jabs and rumours that either Shina cheated on him or that Kansuke got other women pregnant and took those children in as recognized heirs when they showed quirks.
Now Quirk Mutation wasn't unheard of, a child having a completely different quirk from their parents due to an incredibly rare mutation was well, incredibly rare. It did happen, but the chances of it were so incredibly rare. But three children having completely different quirks from their parents and each other? It was suspected as foul play. It wouldn't be the first time some rich family or hero arranged quirk marriages or some wealthy folk having bastard children to get desired results.
The only saving grace that stuck a cog in that common accusation was the fact that Muika inherited the quirk of her great grandfather. Whose quirk actually worked when they wanted.
Unlike hers.
Something she wished she could do, but no matter the training…nothing improved.
Now, there was nothing to prove that Shinsei and Noriko weren't that lucky mutation, but since it was so rare, it might as well not be even in consideration.
It brought up thoughts for the youngest child, the runt of the litter. She had no real idea if Shinsei and Noriko were full siblings or half siblings after she herself heard the rumours and accusations. It could have gone both ways, with both her parents doing the same thing. Kansuke sleeping with another woman to get an heir and Shina doing the same with another man. "I don't want to even think about that..." but, Shinsei's quirk was closer related to their father's quirk in a way…
Noriko's quirk was more bizarre in the unconnected side of things which made it stand out all the more.
It could be a possible evolution of a quirk changing when passing down to their children.
Shinsei's quirk could be counted as that, but with how different it was from their father's quirk, the same rumour and accusation was brought up with him.
But they were just rumours and accusations of smaller rich noble families.
What was Shinsei's quirk that made people think that he wasn't the child of Kansuke or Shina?
The power to slightly adjust people's memories!
However, that was more of a thing he said to make his quirk seem way more powerful than what it was to other people. While it did adjust people's memories slightly, it was more akin to making people misremember certain memories.
An example being like making someone misremember a doctor's appointment, what they did as a kid, etc. It was still enough to use it in his favour though.
He called his quirk: Misremember.
"You're gonna change my-"
"No. I don't plan on it. I'm not a kid anymore." Shinsei scoffed at her. "I'd rather not waste my charge on something trivial like this either."
"Charge…?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You think I can do it any time I want? Rewiring a person's memories is time consuming, draining and requires a lot of focus. Even slightly changing a person's memory for even a second takes a lot of effort. Not to mention, not every memory is kept in long or short term, some are completely forgotten where no recollection of events can bring back. It's like changing the memory of someone's lunch five years ago that they don't remember at all unless the change in memory is so drastically different. Not worth it."
"...so that's why you were always sick for weeks…" she mumbled softly. Out of her whole family, Shinsei always seemed to be the one to be sick for weeks, even months at a time.
"All because of his quirk?" and she thought her random visions were bad. Wait.
"I see you're catching on."
"W…Wha…"
Shinsei shook his head. "While Noriko and I can use our quirks whenever we want, they're not perfect. Limitations and all that…but, you're more worried about my quirk, aren't you?"
"My memories…how much…how much did you…?" she gripped her head. It was impossible.
"How much of your memories did I change?" he asked the question she tried to ask. "Well, if we ignore the fact that I can only adjust small parts of a person's specific memories and that…I'd say, a fair bit…I was really bedridden for a long time."
"When? Why? What?" she fired out as her brother just glanced up in thought.
"In general? Well, when I wanted to vent without consequence, yeah I definitely let out some frustration on you and Osamu while he was still there. I also used it to get sick days out of it, which was the main thing I used it for. Sometimes, Father did want some memories changed or small conversations misremembered, family or otherwise, though it was only a handful of times due to accusations and that…" he paused, humming. "Though sometimes, when I want to put a big ol' middle finger up at the old man, I also change them around to get back at him."
"Wha…what did you change?"
"For most of them? I was just a kid, Muika. A lot of them I didn't think very much about. I mainly just used it to get sick days from school though, so very minor memories like what you had for breakfast and that. However, I think you know the main answer to that."
"...teasing me, pulling pranks and telling Mum and Dad about my feelings about them via my memories…was…was that it?"
"Correct. The main thing I did with my quirk was tease, vent, snitch and get sick days." he nodded. "I had no reason to change your memories of their harsh treatment and what we did to you, especially when it's years worth of horrible memories. I can only change one memory at a time with minimal second long changes and at the time, making things seem worse for you was not worth it. I'd be sick in bed for years if I changed all your memories to make them worse. Don't think too highly of yourself."
She gulped. "What about Mum…and Dad?"
"I'll admit, I did do it to our parents too, but that was mainly to keep them off my arse and well, Noriko too." he admitted, "still doing it to this day, luckily I don't get sick as long anymore…but still draining as hell and well, Father's memories are really hard to change even just one of them, change one memory slightly and he has twenty other memories to continue drilling us about…not even worth it, if even it makes him better for half a day…"
When he turned to her, he came clean. "Let me be real. Yes, I used my quirk on our parents and you. Even Osamu sometimes. Yes, I used my quirk on our parents to get me out of trouble and out of the firing line. Yes, Noriko was treated better too because of it thanks to their original, unchanged memories. No, it didn't mean that they loved Osamu or treated you better before I used Misremember. No, I didn't completely change their memories, my quirk only allows for small adjustments. I CAN'T CHANGE ENTIRE MEMORIES."
Calming himself down a bit, he continued after raising his voice a little when he saw Muika's expression. He still hated how people, especially Muika, ignored the part of his quirk where it could only change a memory very slightly. It was called Misremember for a reason. "Sorry, but it really only allows me to change a second or two of a single, tiny memory." he glanced away. "We were all treated harshly due to the family business, status and ridiculously high standards of perfection, but all those memories of living at home and how harsh it was, that was all real. I had no major involvement with them."
"...I only teased, pranked, snitched and got sick, that's all."
Muika sweated, she couldn't help it as her hands shook. "You said to get back at Dad, what did you cha-"
"When I was a kid, it was minor memories like lunch or whatever, stuff that wasn't important to stay at home, as I told you before, but…" he started off, seemingly ignoring her at first. "What were your happiest memories in that house?"
"When I got a letter and started talking on the phone to-" she froze. "Wait, no. It can't be. No way that was manipulated to give me happy memories. He must be trying to trick me, to take me back home because of Dad!"
Not wanting to be tricked any longer, she called out to those times when they looked miserable after she left. "But…you looked miserable when-"
"Miserable because you thought you had a few good false memories and that it made things worse for all of us because of it, maybe. You did leave without a word. Father really didn't want you thinking about him after the first phone call." he scoffed as Muika's eyes now seemed to stare into space.
"But yeah, his treatment was pretty rough after you left. That's enough to be miserable as it is, so you are a little right about that. Anyways, who do you think Father came to after suggesting you to stop? It was an easy out to get back at him, so I-" Shinsei stopped once he realised Muika wasn't paying attention.
There was one thing that her brother did note though. She looked awful right now.
"You need some time to yourself…so…I'll…see you later…" Shinsei gave a nod as he walked away, leaving his sister alone as she gripped her head. He did offer one last thing before he was gone for good. "When it comes to how you were treated in that house, I didn't change a single goddamn thing about it."
"So the only reason why Dad is here…is because he wants to bring me home…" Muika just watched as Shinsei walked off somewhere. Right now, there was an important question for her to ask. "...just how much of my memories…are real?"
It had to be a ploy, right?
The memories of what she remembered at home, the stuff the guards said at work, the words Penthus told her the other day, what bombshell Shinsei just dropped on her and the memories of Osamu. It all came flooding back into her as she gripped her head tighter at Shinsei's reveal.
Just what was real anymore?
Elsewhere, while Seimei talked to some old friends and acquaintances of Osamu, he talked with the temple's priest about the arrangements. "And just for a few moments with him with her, it won't take long."
"I understand, I'll make sure to give you the necessary time. Just let me know when." the priest nodded and left, preparing to give the warden some time.
Seimei felt a major headache come his way soon after when he saw Kansuke and Shina head his way.
"...Tokugawa…" Kansuke's stern look was enough to say it all.
"Yomaura," was the dry reply from the warden.
The two stared at each other for a long time, or at least it felt like it.
When they sent out word of Osamu's funeral, there were some names that he really didn't want attending. These were those names. Not only because it was two affluent families meeting once again and would probably slam heads together, but he knew the story about them quite well.
Osamu was thrown out as soon as he was discovered to be quirkless. Of course, they couldn't just throw him away at the young age of four without heavy backlash that would ruin the reputation of the so-called affluent family they worried about for so long, but they took the first chance they could to do it without worry of losing status or reputation.
"I didn't think you'd turn up, actually, I don't know how you even knew about it." Seimei crossed his arms as the stern looking man just scoffed. "So who slipped? You got an invitation? Who'd you steal it from?"
"Clearly I have better things to do than just attend watching the garbage truck do its rounds."
"Oh? That's cruel. What happened, Kanny?" Seimei smirked, "did Tomiko outclass you again? Are Noriko and Shinsei not the proper heirs you were looking for now that Osamu and Muika left you in the dust? Or are you still angry that two Yomauras are working under a Tokugawa?"
The Yomaura family was one of the affluent families whose ancestry stretched into the old periods of Japan's history with the earliest recording of the family name being from the Edo period. However, the family's name only really got traction when quirks surfaced.
However the Yomaura's had competition from other powerful names such as Helping Hand's Sagimaru, the Tsujihara family and the now lost Shiro family and more. However, that wasn't all, those were just a few. One other family stretched back into Japan's past as well, a family that was always one step ahead.
The Tokugawa family.
There was no long standing rivalry between the two despite how far they went back in Japan's history. None whatsoever.
It was just in more modern times, both families clashed. Such as a time where Kansuke Yomaura was about to buy the rights to a small company going bankrupt…only for Tokugawa to get to it first. It was stuff like that and other issues that were too boring to talk about, such as whenever they met for formal events.
Personalities didn't mash well.
However, the day Osamu joined Styx, after learning a Tokugawa was the warden there, that's when things ramped up a bit. It was mainly from the Yomaura side of things as the Tokugawas didn't much care for the Yomaura's cries, treating them (more specifically the current head) like toddlers. For Kansuke, it was the greatest shame, someone using his name under a Tokugawa…it only got worse when Muika joined. Which really heated up the Yomaura family's dislike for the Tokugawa family.
That was two people bearing the Yomaura surname working for a member of the Tokugawa family.
It was mainly business related, but for Kansuke and his family name under Seimei's paycheck, that really dealt a blow to his family. He couldn't handle it. To make things worse, the Tokugawas were mostly unaware of the Yomauras for quite a while, only knowing them from small business ventures and forgettable formal events, until Kansuke made it personal when Osamu joined the prison. More so when Muika joined. That was the real reason that it got personal and why he was here today, staring at Seimei Tokugawa.
It really only started thanks to Kansuke.
All thanks to Kansuke making it personal with his complaints about his children under another affluent families' name. It was only made more personal when Muika joined. While he hated Osamu still dragging the family name with him, he didn't much care for what he did or made much fuss, only making comments about the name and whatnot. When Muika joined out of the blue? You could imagine all the complaints and constant demands to send her home, hence why it got so personal in so little time.
The face Kansuke made was enough to make Seimei grin as Kansuke Yomaura stormed off for a bit, leaving his wife Shina with the member of the Tokugawa family.
Out of the two, if Seimei was locked in a room with one of them that he had to choose, he would pick Shina every time. She was…a bit better compared to her husband. Not that much though.
"It was quite a shock to hear that he passed away," Shina began, not looking concerned at all. "It's quite inconvenient, all things considered."
The look he gave her was enough to make her double back, or double down. You'd never know.
"Please don't give me that look, it's not like that."
"I find that hard to believe."
"At the end of the day, he was my flesh and blood. My child." that sounded a bit more motherly. "It was just a shame that he was the defective one." and there it was.
"It would have been great if Osamu inherited a quirk, perhaps his father's or mine, but perhaps they weren't compatible." she sighed, "I don't know much about how quirks work or how a person is born quirkless, a remnant of a long forgotten age, but I suppose it doesn't matter now."
"I hope you don't mean that it doesn't matter because he's dead."
Getting a sideways glance while she peeked over at the temple, she continued. "Do not jump to the conclusions of my husband. It's true that Osamu wasn't…what we wanted, let's say. Quirkless can bring problems, you've heard how some people are treated because of it. The family name is the same, especially if that is a firstborn heir that is meant to take over the business."
The Tokugawa remained silent as Shina kept going as they looked at one another in their unofficial staring contest.
"He was useless to the business, bringing nothing to the table. He was incredibly lucky to not be thrown out as soon as he turned four when he showed no signs of a quirk." she huffed, crossing her arms gingerly. "He was lucky he got to stay with his family until he was old enough to be kicked out without consequences. You can't say the same to other people who were found out to be quirkless."
"..." he couldn't say that he hadn't heard of people being thrown out of families because they were quirkless. While his family never did such a thing, though there were no quirkless individuals in the family. As a warden of Styx, he saw it for himself in the inmates.
An example being a new arrival not that long ago who ended up hating heroes. Li.
"It still doesn't change the fact that his death came by surprise that night."
Seimei said nothing at that.
As she turned to face the coffin that Osamu now laid in, she sighed. "He is still my son."
Seimei just stared at Shina as she looked at the casket much longer than what he expected. As she turned back to him, Shina gave him that polite smile she usually had.
"Now," Shina faced the prison's warden, a polite warm smile persisted as she struck up a conversation, sweeping some hair behind her ear, "how is Tomiko these days?"
Seimei sighed as he continued the conversation for a while.
However, as Seimei was stuck talking with Shina, Muika had the misfortune of running into her father. Out of all of the people here, of course it was him.
He already picked her out and was already on his way with the permanent look he had on his face.
Muika hated that look, it was the same as always. Full of disappointment in her.
"It was only a matter of time," he scoffed, "now. Are you done playing your teenage rebellious phase? Are you ready to come home? Or do you insist on working with filth like that quirkless garbage."
"He's not garbage!"
Kansuke's frown somehow managed to frown even more. "What's this? Has that useless man you swear is related to us been that much of a bad influence on you? It seems we have to correct that when we get home."
"Get home? I am not going back there just so you can…you can…treat me as some…some…thing to blame your failures on!" she was starting to stutter again. "And my brother is n…not useless!" Just the glare of her father was enough to bring her back to her childhood.
"Useless? Of course he is. He has done and brought nothing good to this family the day he turned four. Clearly a failure of a proper heir. Brings shame to the Yomaura name, yet he has the nerve to keep our family name solely to drag it through the mud." Kansuke wasn't done there though, "but perhaps he's finally useful for once in his pathetic life now that he's dead. Perhaps his ashes could make for a good ashtray? Or a nice paperweight for my office?"
Muika could not believe what she was hearing. "He's your own son! How heartless are you?! He shouldn't be the one in that coffin, you should be-"
She was taken off guard as she was suddenly slapped by her father! Quite a painful one too as it still stun. "Don't be childish," Kansuke scolded with his usual stern tone. "What have I told you about talking back?"
An old feeling washed over her as her father glared at her. "S…Sorry…" she meekly apologised, looking down at the ground.
"I thought we raised you better than this." Kansuke shook his head. "I should have taught you better, you've done nothing but hurt this family. Don't you have anything to say? Anything to say for what you've done?"
It was then that Muika thought of something. "Is he using Suggestion? No…no, he wouldn't…I should just go back home." she thought, "I hurt my family, I'm such a bad daughter."
Meekly, she almost whispered out, "I'm sorry…I'm really sorry…"
"Now come on!" her father grabbed her wrist and yanked her away, towards the door. "You have wasted enough of my time with your little prison play. It's time to go home."
However as Kansuke dragged his daughter away, complaining about Noriko's disappearance as he signalled for Shinsei and Shina, Muika's eyes drifted over to the room where Osamu was…and the picture of Osamu for the funeral.
Osamu…
"Stop looking at that useless trash, where the hell are your siblings…Shina should be here by-"
Muika's eyes widened, as if she just woke up. He wasn't here for the funeral at all. She knew that, deep down, but to see it was a different matter. Suddenly putting in some resistance, she stood up to her father. "No. Go by yourself. If you didn't come for this funeral, just leave."
The glare that Kansuke shot her way was enough to make her retreat, making herself as small as possible. When Kansuke was about to drag her away…
A hand gripped down tight on Kansuke's wrist. A hand that gripped down tight enough that it released Muika's wrist but also hurt like hell.
"Your name wasn't on the list. I heard of party and wedding crashers, but not funeral crashers." The voice was playful, in the worst way.
Kansuke glared at the man gripping his wrist, a red eyed menace. Yet another person who easily resisted his Suggestion.
Kansuke's Suggestion.
It only influenced the power of suggestion, kind of like a very weak mind control. All he could do was make a suggestion for someone to do something, like selling a business to him for example. It was another source of accusation for him too, suggesting people to do things his way, making other businesses and families point in his direction. Yet, while his quirk did work on a few people…
Some people like Seimei, Sagimaru, other few strong willed individuals from Underworld Prisons, prideful families, heroes and the man from Styx gripping his wrist were too strong for his quirk to work, they were essentially immune.
No matter how he used Suggestion, they wouldn't budge nor would they consider it.
Kansuke's quirk didn't have many opportunities to be used with how many strong notable individuals there were. It was fortunate for him that there were some people out there his quirk could be used against.
Now, with a person like Muika, Kansuke's quirk was incredibly effective. Muika wasn't exactly the strongest willed person and with her upbringing, Kansuke's suggestions were more like orders.
And there were plenty of smaller unnamed nobodies he could influence.
But, for the first time, she resisted.
"Bloody hell, Styx." Kansuke growled at his daughter's sudden resistance. "Unhand me you barbarian."
"Oh! Sure thing, you are left-handed right?" Tai began to twist Kansuke's right wrist, "I'm not too sure I can yank it off with just my hand though."
Kansuke knew, he had no choice. "...fine. Let me go and I'll leave."
As soon as Tai released the man's wrist, all he said was: "Run."
Muika watched as her father left with Tai going in a different direction almost instantly, back to other guards of Styx. "Uh…thanks…" she called out, but one question she really wanted to ask was.
Why?
Well, it was more multiple questions that revolved around why. Why did he help her out? Why was he here? He wasn't exactly friendly with Osamu most of the time, aside from their nights out.
Was it a work thing? Styx did hold some dangerous inmates even after opening their gates to regular criminals.
"Some of them might be rough around the edges, but I trust them."
That was the first thing he told her when she first arrived at Styx for her job. A job she only got because he begged the wardens and because she was qualified for the open position that they needed.
"But does that apply to Tai, Osamu?" she asked her brother in thought, Tai was out of sight now. Granted, she didn't know him well, but she did know that most of the time, Tai didn't like him. Such as that one time Osamu got mad at him for the harsh comments on his sister, her, which led to a 'mess with her, face his wrath' situation.
Something that Tai mocked her brother for ever since. Mocking his weak pathetic wrath and showing him what true wrath was…
The end result wasn't pretty when Osamu was turned into a ragdoll instantly.
She had no time to think about it when she noticed the people around her move from their conversations towards the temple. It was time.
Seimei and Noriko walked away from where Osamu was held in the temple not long before things got underway as the warden talked to the priest.
Everyone was getting seated shortly after when the priest began to prepare. It was time for the funeral.
…
As the funeral went under way, it felt like it went by too fast as Muika went from sitting to standing at her brother's casket, offering the last white flower into his coffin.
While she saw Shinsei and Noriko give their brother a flower along with their mother, who didn't have a flower, she just stood there, looking down at him with her blank expression. Muika clearly saw her father just sitting there, only standing once once it was over, giving him one look, probably only to make it seem to others that he wasn't heartless.
At least her mother pretended much better.
"We're done here," Kansuke scoffed, already walking off with Shina. Her other siblings, Noriko and Shinsei lingered behind, giving each other a look and back to Muika.
It was a look just as miserable as she was when she still lived there.
When their father called out, they quickly followed right behind him.
She didn't envy them at all.
"Muika," she heard the voice of her boss. "Will you be fine staying here overnight?"
Looking from Seimei to her brother's casket, she meekly muttered out, "yes…I…I'll be fine…"
"Very well then," Seimei Tokugawa closed his eyes. "We'll be heading off shortly."
"W…what about work-" the long, ultra-violet haired counsellor barely finished as Seimei raised his hand.
"Muika…it's okay, take some time off to mourn," he said, patting her shoulder for a bit. "I know it's tough, losing someone as close as family…what you do now, it's up to you. Take some time off, it might also be difficult coming back to Styx after that…so I understand if you have a different decision of what you want to do."
Muika watched as her droopy red eyes followed the warden until he was out of sight.
As she remained to keep vigil with her deceased brother before his cremation, she had to think. "I understand if you have a different decision of what you want to do." she had to admit, while she lived like a hermit until today, those words were something she thought about too.
Keep working at Styx…or find a new job.
It took her too long to realise she was shaking the entire time, lowering her head as she let the tears come out now that her family was gone.
She would stay with her brother, until he was ready to be taken away.
…
Meanwhile, as Seimei walked outside, he glanced up to the now darkening sky.
Death was common in Styx.
It went both ways for inmates and guards.
Seimei met up with the rest of the officers of Styx. "Are you all ready to return?"
In unison, they all replied. "Yes."
"Then let's return to Styx. We have a lot to do now."
While Muika would be remaining behind, staying by her now lost brother's side, for the rest of them…
It was time to return to Styx.
The third arc of Guilty Act is now complete!