Reijirou saw Luke and Sand walking out of his office at the Saionji Mansion and sighed.
Things couldn't have taken a worse turn.
First, the dream revelations that had been helping out every next day, had suddenly paused months ago. However, with his experience of going without getting a revelation for years, it hadn't troubled him much.
But then those Meta Puppets attacked the single event he had allowed Luke to attend.
Reijirou's heart had given out, knowing that both Luke and Momo were at the same place. He hadn't even talked things out with Yaoyorozu regarding the future of this world and how both children were crucial for the survival of humanity.
Others dubbed it as a crude attempt at assassinating key figures by a Villain.
Reijirou, on the other hand, was almost sure they had come for Luke and Momo.
As if that hadn't been a disaster already, second, Mr. Principal saw Luke using his Quirk on the bird.
Even after he had constantly rejected that Luke didn't have a Quirk, Nezu wasn't someone he could fool easily.
Sure enough, Mr. Principal met him weeks ago, along with… All Might — the last man Reijirou wanted Luke to associate himself with.
All Might was the strongest Hero on the planet.
And associating with him would put Luke in the highlight, a thing Reijirou dreaded as much as people getting to know about Bioalchemy's secret.
That's why, after thinking over it for nights, he had admitted that Luke had activated his Quirk during the incident — for the first time.
Nezu, of course, demanded the boy to be sent to UA High. He had even suggested sending Luke on recommendation.
Reijirou rejected it outright, without explaining why.
With all that was happening, he must do everything to keep Luke out of the limelight.
However, the unthinkable had already happened. Luke would be going out of the Blue Site's haven.
What if he got himself accidentally killed? What if he lost his Quirk? What if…
Sigh! Reijirou let out another breath, leaning back on his chair.
If he couldn't control what would happen to Luke from hereon in its entirety, then the only way left was to make sure that the boy survived the future to come.
Get stronger! Become strong enough to survive anything! Become strong enough to overpower anyone!
And for that to happen, the boy needed to change; both in personality and morality.
That's where Sand came into the picture.
Reijirou hadn't failed to notice how Luke had been focusing on increasing his stamina, while also learning martial arts from Sand. However, unlike others, he had also noticed the constant signs of gloom that flashed on the boy's face now and then.
Reijirou had been to the best and the worst of the places on the planet.
And he had seen that gloom only once — on the faces of soldiers about to go on a Suicide Mission.
Reijirou couldn't fathom the reason behind that gloom.
Luke was merely a boy. He hadn't even been to any place other than home and the Blue Site. Then why…
Still, if the boy possessed such an emotion, then it was better to put it to use.
Reijirou closed his eyes and let his shoulders relax. He just hoped that as Luke hadn't hesitated to help the boy, jumping off the floor, in the same way, he wouldn't hesitate to…
… kill as well.
…
Midnight,
Nishinari, Japan
Luke walked behind Sand, wearing a black hooded robe.
Nyx was perched on his shoulder, eying the dark corners and covering her beak now and then because of the smell of alcohol and urine.
Sand was still in his sand clothes, his brown eyes holding no emotions.
Luke still didn't know what was going on and what he was doing here — at midnight.
This zone was famous for its Villain activities, but the activities never reached the intensity for Heroes to storm it en-masse.
That's why, Nishinari remained a haven for Villains who wanted to lie low.
Taking a turn into a slimy alley, Luke frowned. Every step he took made his bones itch. There was a constant frown on his face that refused to go away, his left brow drooping on its side in annoyance.
— The threat to get filth on him had never been higher!
Is that why father sent me with Sand? Luke asked himself, skipping a step to not let his foot land on a puddle.
This morning, his father had called him and let him know that some changes were coming to his lifestyle.
First, the weekly visits to the Blue Site would become monthly.
Second, he may tell others that he had activated his Quirk, but he wasn't allowed to tell the true nature of Bioalchemy to anyone.
Third, he was allowed to join UA High, if he promised to never become a Hero after graduating.
Luke had never heard of so many contradicting conditions, but he could guess where his father was coming from.
Not to mention, as long as Luke got what he wanted, he didn't mind just nodding at his father.
Still, the question remained.
Why was he here in the middle of the night?!
Taking out a handkerchief, and putting it on his nose, Luke activated his Spirit Vision briefly to look at Sand. He saw Purple — a sign of spirituality taking control of the coldness…
Suddenly, Sand paused and snapped his head back at Luke. "What were you doing?"
Luke canceled the Spirit Vision, shocked. "… nothing."
Sand's eyes narrowed. "I felt it before, too… when you punched me during our last session. Is it something related to your Quirk?"
Now Luke was shocked beyond measure. Others could feel him using Spirit Vision on them?!
No… he had been practicing Cogitation and Spirit Vision for many weeks now. This was the first time someone confronted him regarding it.
Perhaps… they all did, but never found the source of the oddity, Luke thought. But as I am the only one with Sand now, I basically let him confirm his doubts based on our last training session.
Blankly, he nodded at Sand.
The killer's stare relaxed as he turned around. "You failed to mutate other lifeforms, right?"
Luke licked his lips, following the man. "Yes," he replied. "It's only working for Nyx, I guess."
After finding out that Luke had successfully caused a controlled mutation in Nyx, they had put him through extensive experiments. However, Luke made all mutations explode, always passing out in the process.
Sand nodded, taking another turn.
There were many people around them, donning tattoos, eying them like prey. But one look at Sand's face made them think twice before stepping toward them.
"In my spare time, I handle the government's dirty work," Sand suddenly said, putting his hands inside his pockets. "That's one of the ways your father maintains a hold on the politicians.
"There's a man, code-named — Brain Thief. He can control other minds by maintaining a three seconds eye contact, for five minutes. Meanwhile, his own body can't move.
"After infiltrating the high-level circle of government by manipulating a politician's daughter into marriage, he has stolen key state secrets.
"Basically, he is a spy. We are here to take care of him."
Luke suddenly paused dead in his tracks.
Sand sighed. He turned around, shaking his head. "Look, you need to learn how this world works…"
To Sand's surprise, who just wanted to console the innocent boy, Luke had stopped for something else entirely.
Luke lifted his right hand and unwrapped the pendulum chain from his wrist.
He let the topaz pendulum fall and repeated a question seven times in his mind before opening his eyes and finding the gem rotating clockwise slowly.
It means there's some danger, but it's not life-threatening, Luke nodded to himself, rolling the pendulum around his wrist again.
Then he looked up and found Sand staring at him, his mouth open.
*********************
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