Chapter 18 – Lost Boy
A/N - I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully, I will get another one out in the next day or two. We are getting close to some events in the story that I am super hyped about (and might have already written lol).
Again, I can't thank you all enough for the likes, favorites, and comments. Knowing that so many people are following and like this story helps to keep me motivated and not let it rot on my computer :) You guys are really the MVPs for this fic!
If anyone has any questions about Aine's backstory or anything I haven't explained in the fic so far, please feel free to ask in the comments below and I will do my best to answer. If it is something coming up in the fic, I will let you know but otherwise I will be more than glad to answer any questions!
-LOTS OF LOVE -
Kahelle
It was Emma's turn to blink in disbelief, "What do you mean, Aine? I thought you would be glad to see us."
Aine sighed as Shouta set the box down on the coffee table. "I am….I am glad to see you. It's just, with everything going on with the Commission being associated with me could cause a lot of problems for you both."
Emma smirked back at her with a devilish grin, stepping back and crossing her arms "You really think I came here on a whim without any plans to cover our asses?"
"Emma….that's kind of your MO." Aine rolled her eyes before looking back at the blonde.
"Fair enough! I promise this time we did take precautions, not just for our sakes but to keep the heat down off of you as well." Emma's voice dropped to a more serious tone, "According to the embassy, we are both here on business."
Christopher leaned against the wall next to the door, his hair had shifted to an amber tone "I have already been talking to a support company here in Japan about bringing some of my designs over for the last couple of months. They were very eager to have a face-to-face meeting to go over said designs and discuss logistics."
"And I'm here to do research on the evolution of Japanese laws regarding vigilantes and heroes during the rise of quirks, or at least that is the story I told the firm and the embassy. The information is pretty restricted outside of Japan so it made sense and will work as a perfect cover." Emma practically beamed as her grin grew into a proud smile.
"I'm almost afraid to ask." Shouta half-leaned against Aine's couch, "A cover for what?"
Emma gave a short squeak as she clapped her hands together, "Why, acting as legal representation to exploit any loopholes I can find to get the Commission to back its grubby paws off of our Aine!"
"Emma, that's…. I mean thank you….but….how would that work? I'm not a German citizen."
"But Dochloite is! Well….not a German citizen but a registered German vigilante which means," she placed both hands on her hips, "They are under the jurisdiction and protection of German law, even when abroad."
Aine clicked her tongue, "Pretty sure the abroad part is only if you are on an active mission. I seriously doubt the government is going to magically create a mission for me to have been on since I left Germany almost 5 months ago."
Emma's eyes flashed in excitement as she stepped back over to the friend, "That doesn't really matter though because it means that they are not a Japanese citizen and so…"
"Dochloite isn't under the Commission's jurisdiction." Shouta stood, "But how would that work since Aine is a Japanese citizen. Once the two names are connected, it would put both personas back under the Commission. We could be starting back at square one again."
"Thus where the research comes in. We applied to be here for at least 2 weeks so it should give me time to do some digging."
Christopher walked over to the box, "In the meantime, we brought you a few things you left behind in the apartment as well as your gear."
Aine joined him at the box, pulling out personal items that she had planned on asking them to send her when she got to Japan. At the bottom of the box, in a hard plastic case sat a metallic tinted visor. She smiled to herself as she turned the eyewear over in her hands.
"I did a few upgrades to your suit as well as the weapons. Go ahead and try it out!" Christopher's hair morphed into a bright yellow.
She put the visor over her eyes and switched the button on the side. The visor extended into a metallic mask that completely covered her face before what looked like a swarm of insects erupted from the sides. In a manner of seconds, the "swarm" covered her entire body in a full bodysuit. The maroon color of the fabric was so dark it was almost black. After looking over to make sure there was no damage to the suit, Aine reached into the box and pulled out a silver-colored rope-dart as well as a small familiar silver cylinder.
"Toss the rope dart at your hip!"
Aine followed Christopher's instructions and watched as the rope instinctively wound its way around her waist like a belt. The end with a weight and the blade end hung on either side of her hips, dangling just enough for her to grab them easily but not enough to get in her way. She turned the cylinder over in her hand before touching the rounded edge to the back of her wrist where it attached as though connected to a magnet.
Inside of the mask, numbers and readouts began to open in a HUD showing the same vital information as her monitor.
"You've been busy!" the voice that came from behind the mask sounded nothing like her own voice thanks to the built-in voice changer. She flexed her hands and moved her arms, it felt like ages since she had last worn her suit. Aine hadn't realized she actually missed getting into it.
Christopher huffed a small laugh, "Well, when your top consumer leaves the country you end up with some time on your hands." he teased, his hair shifting again to a leaf green.
Aine laughed as she put the weapons back in the box and hit the switch on the side of the mask again. The suit seemed to shatter into billions of pieces and retreated back into the mask. After the last piece disappeared into the mask, it shifted back into its original form. She carefully placed the visor back into its case.
"Your hair, is that your quirk?" Shouta asked as Aine excused herself to take the box into one of the other rooms.
"Oh this?" Christopher pointed to his hair that now had a tint of pink running through it, "Yeah. My hair changes depending on how I'm feeling in the moment. It's pretty useless." he laughed.
Emma hooked her hand through his arm, his hair turning to dark blue at her presence, "I don't know about useless. I don't ever have to wonder what you are feeling." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Oi! I would tell the two of you to get a room, but I don't even know if you have one yet." Aine teased as she reemerged from the back rooms.
"We were planning to just get a hotel for the few days we are going to be here. In fact, we saw one not far from campus." Emma gestured with her other hand.
"Ok. I'd ask you to check in with me just to let me know you are ok, but the Commission is watching all my communications. If we are going to pull this off, we can't tip them off in any way."
Emma nodded, "Agreed. How about we keep contact through Mr. Dark and Mysterious over there?" she looked at Shouta with a grin, "I'm sure he could keep you updated on what's going on."
Shouta gave a short nod in agreement even as he looked at Emma in annoyance.
"And maybe after this is all over with, we can all go on a double date in the city!"
Aine choked on air while Shouta barely registered a reaction, "I'm sorry, what?" Aine managed to spit out.
Emma pointed to her and Christopher, "The two of us…." she pointed to the two of them, "and the two of you. Out exploring the city. I've heard Japan can be extremely romantic in the late fall."
"How did you…"
"Oh honey! It's a hidden talent of mine! Besides, even though he is a few years older I recognize him from that picture you had." Emma grinned at the two of them.
"With the situation, I trust that you understand how important discretion is regarding Aine and I." Shouta's voice was smooth and, even though his eyes were looking straight at Emma, weighted with the severity of the statement.
Emma made a motion of locking her mouth, "Your secret is my secret."
After everyone had left, Aine worked on putting away the personal affects from the box. When she had left Germany, it had been so quick that she had only taken enough to fit into a backpack. Her plan had been to send for the rest as soon as she had settled in.
She picked up a picture frame with a very worn photograph inside. It had been taken not long before she had fled Japan, and internally she thanked her past self for deciding to leave it behind at the last second. Aine hadn't even realized Hizashi had taken the photo until he gave her a print of it. They had all been getting ready for their weekly movie night. She and Shouta were on the couch with a blanket, her head on his shoulder with his arm around her. He was saying something into her ear, and she had the precursor to a laugh on her face. Nemuri was sitting cross-legged on the floor with a blanket across her lap. A pillow and bowl of popcorn was not far away. Hizashi's face was prominent in the foreground of the picture with his lopsided grin.
It was not a special event, just their weekly routine, but for all that time she had been gone it had felt like a lifeline to home. She placed it on the nightstand next to her bed and returned to retrieving the rest of the books and other items from the box.
Once everything had been put away, Aine turned her attention back to the files sitting on her bed. Sitting cross-legged on top of the comforter, she opened the first file.
The longer she looked at the files, the angrier she got. Sasaki had absolutely no reported incidents and all of the reported incidents with Midoriya had come from a singular teacher. Every single one had been dismissed or most likely ignored. Aine made a mental note to bring this up to Nedzu and possibly Emma as she put away the files to start getting ready for bed.
It was unusual for Aine to sleep in on a day off but after picking up an extra patrol last night she had been absolutely exhausted. The news of a top hero student being kidnapped in Japan had the underworld and authorities alike on edge. In a preemptive act, the order had gone out for the pro-heroes to increase their presence at hero schools all across Europe. That left it up to the registered vigilantes to pick up the slack. Aine wouldn't complain about the extra money in her pocket, even if it meant a few sleepless days and nights.
She grabbed herself a bowl, pouring cereal into it as the sounds of the newscast Christopher and Emma were watching trickled through the spacious apartment.
"What are you guys watching?" she asked as she rounded the corner into the living room. Smoke and debris littered the ground on screen, it appeared to be a massive hero battle – not surprising, Christopher often watched hero news from around the world to stay up to date on the latest support tech.
Both of her roommates' eyes were glued to the large TV screen on the wall, "It's motherfucking All Might! He is fighting the villains who kidnapped that high school kid in Japan." Christopher pumped his fists in the air as he watched the action on the screen.
Aine laughed, "I thought Japan was the only place where people lost their shit over All Might."
Christopher looked at her in disbelief, "How could you NOT?! He may be #1 in Japan, but you know if there was a worldwide ranking system he would DOMINATE there as well!"
Emma elbowed him in the side, "Easy there, fanboy. Anyways, it's not just All Might, it looks like most of their heroes were involved but now that the student has gotten away it's down to just the two of them."
Aine looked to the TV screen seeing the villain and All Might trading blows, something felt familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it, "Who's the guy in the mask?"
"I didn't catch his name. It's hard to hear it, let me turn it up." Christopher grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.
As the villain's voice filtered through the speakers, the bowl in Aine's hands crashed to the ground.
Aine walked as though hypnotized towards the TV screen, the rate of her breathing almost erratic as she watched the hero and villain battling. Her eyes darted between the two of them, completely oblivious to the concerned calls of her roommates behind her.
The final blow caused a hurricane of wind that knocked out the camera stream. Aine held her breath for what felt like an eternity before the static cleared showing All Might still standing – still alive – and with a victorious fist raised in the air. Aine's hands flew to her mouth in disbelief as tears began to stream down her face.
Emma and Christopher were at her side, but she didn't see or hear them. All she could see was the arm raised in triumph and the reason for her self-imposed exile defeated on the ground. She couldn't even hear the words he spoke as the footage continued.
"It's over….It's really over…." her voice hitched as her breathing quickened.
"I…I can go home." Her legs gave out from under her, and she sat heavily on the floor; eyes still fixed on the form of All Might as Emma fell beside Aine wrapping her in a tight hug silently crying – knowing exactly what this meant now for her friend.
A release of pent-up fear, hopelessness and yearning flooded through Aine as the images of those she had missed for all of these years floated through her mind.
She broke down and sobbed.
"I….can finally….go home."