VIII.
"Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides." - Andre Malraux

Unfortunately for Souta, his day went from moderately-OK to somewhat-bad in the span of a few hours. First, the jogging. Next, his sister. And finally, Hill. While his sister could put the fear of God in Hill by just existing, Hill could put the fear of zero procreation into him with a look. In a lot of ways, she reminded him of his mother whenever he did anything bad. His mother always knew, even if she was in another room. Just like Hill always knew when he was goofing off or doing something he shouldn't even if they weren't in the same building.

It was Hill who greeted Steve, Sam, and him when they returned from their very unenlightening conversation with his sister. And instead of doing the normal thing to not arouse the curiosity of their still-in-the-dark coworkers, she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into an empty room. Souta even saw Stark look after them with a raised eyebrow and a wolf whistle.

"What's your problem!?" he asked as soon as the door closed and she released him. And he couldn't help rubbing the spot she had grabbed; the woman had an iron grip and he bruised easily.

"What's my problem?" she mocked. "My problem is who you were just with!"

He winced. "So you heard already?"

And she crossed her arms, staring down at him as if he just asked how to kill a puppy. "Everything we do is watched by not only Stark, but by every agency in America. And none of them know about The Index or the Inhumans Project."

Souta winced again. "I know, but…"

"You can't justify this. If it comes out that we kept even a few secrets to ourselves when we turned ourselves in, even Stark's lawyers are going to have a hard time." She huffed. "And that's not even mentioning all the hysteria that will come from just proving those two are real."

He sighed and sat down. These were all things he knew, because they were the reality of his life since his sister returned. He ran his fingers through his hair as he attempted to think of something, anything, they could use to make this better when people started asking questions. Engineer Higurashi had no sister, no family, and was a third-generation Japanese American. Kagome didn't fit into this life.

"I didn't even know she was there… And I don't think she even wanted to actually meet me."

Hill sighed, and for the first time softened her expression toward him. She was the only other person who knew anything about everything that happened. And while he knew she rightly feared what his sister could and would do to her and the world, she also knew how much it had destroyed their relationship.

"I don't doubt that. She's never been fond of ruining your life."

"Even though she's good at it," he muttered. It probably sounded unkinder than he meant it, because it was just a simple fact of life that he was still trying to come to terms with. Only he didn't have the luxury of lifetimes like she did.

Hill said nothing to his words, likely pretending that she didn't hear anything. "We should probably think about telling them about some of it."

He sighed again, slumping further in his seat. While he had been debating and weighing his guilt for the last few weeks about not telling them, he didn't exactly look forward to telling them any of the truth. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't nice, and he had too many unresolved issues involving it to be willing to say anything about it. "Should we bring her when we tell them? Since she knows the most about it."

"No. No one here trusts her enough to bring her anywhere near these floors. And she knows it."

She had ruffled Souta's hair with so much practiced care and smiled so fondly as she told them, "Take good care of my baby brother, OK," that Steve couldn't imagine some – any – part of the entire scene being false. And yet –

"I can bring up his file, but I'm telling you the only family listed on there is a mother and father, and both are deceased," Stark said. "There's no siblings listed on his file."

Stark seemed more than certain of himself, and Steve was hard-pressed to argue against him on this. If there was one thing that Stark was these days, it was slightly paranoid. He probably memorized the files of every employee working with him in this global security venture of his. And he had no doubt that he had looked extensively into Souta's file before the kid even physically arrived at the tower.

"You weren't there," Sam said. "You didn't see them. You can't fake sibling bonds like that." And Steve nodded. While he had no first-hand experience, he knew enough about close family bonds to know that they just couldn't be faked.

"But backgrounds can. Especially when someone works for S.H.I.E.L.D."

Tony turned to look at him this time, frowning. "Yeah, but then you have to ask yourself why would they go so far for some kid? And it's not just because he's good at making things. Lots of people are good at making things."

Steve shrugged. "Who knows? Didn't you look into him before you hired him?"

"I did!" And Tony finally let the first sign of his frustration show as he ran his fingers through his hair then began to pace. "And he doesn't exist beyond paper. The only other thing that exists with anything involving any part of his name is a completely redacted file from something called 'The Index'."

Sam and Steve shared a look. Neither of them had heard of such a thing, but that wasn't so surprising given how S.H.I.E.L.D. had been set up. Steve was almost positive that only Fury and Hill knew everything that went on in the agency. "What's The Index?"

Stark threw his hands up in the air. "Damned if I know. The only other thing involving it, is just a list of names that exist nowhere else."

"The Index is a list of people and objects who may or may not have powers."

Even Steve jumped at hearing Hill's voice. They had been so focused on their own conversation that they had completely forgotten that Hill and Higurashi were just behind them in a room. The way Souta couldn't meet their eyes and clenched his fists told Steve all he needed to know about how much the boy wanted to be in this conversation.

"Ooohhh, so finally going to share more of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets?"

Hill narrowed her eyes at Tony. "Against my better judgment. But she's forced my hand a bit."

"She?" Sam asked.

"Kagome Higurashi… my older sister," Souta said. He wouldn't meet any of their eyes.

Hill glanced at him long enough for Steve to wonder about their connection and how much each of them knew about each other and the situation. "And as far as anyone is concerned, she never existed. And The Index has never had a candidate on it with actual powers or true ability."

"Which means… she's a big cover-up?" Stark said before Steve even had the chance to say anything more tactful.

Souta sighed. "Yeah. One of the first."

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