Jaku City

Rumi And Yu’s Yet Unnamed Hero Agency

“I haven’t done this before. Anything I should know?”

“Just push it in. Don’t worry, I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”

“I don’t know. It’s kind of big. I’d hate to hurt you by accident.”

“You’re not going to hurt me. It’s the way this is supposed to work. Just shove it in and let’s get it over with.”

“HAHA, will you two stop flirting and get to work? I didn’t fly halfway round the world to listen to my brother and one of his girlfriends talk sexually to each other.” Twinkle said to them, tossing a banker’s box of papers over John’s shoulder into Anan’s Black Hole Quirk.

The three of them were in the basement of the soon-to-be hero agency, throwing crates of garbage into Anan’s Quirk, saving them from dumping fees. She was standing a bit behind them, letting the pair of siblings feed her the garbage so she wouldn’t accidentally damage any shelving.

John blinked a few times, then guffawed at her comment. He hadn’t even been thinking about sex, just worried that her Quirk wouldn’t destroy it fast enough. However, Anan chose that moment to start blushing heavily, her visor on her spacesuit wide open for once. 

“Accidental flirting aside, you didn’t come here for me either, Twinkle. What is so interesting about the Takeyamas that a strategic asset from home is now in Japan?” John asked, still not believing the woman was here. He continued to throw boxes at Anan, so they had to nearly shout to be heard over her Quirk. Cathleen did the same, but continued to banter with him.

“Nothing really. I was invited by Hinata while we were attending a conference, and here I am.” Twinkle replied. She had a shit-eating grin on her face, which John’s memories told him that she did when she was blowing smoke up his ass.

“Un hun. Next thing you’ll tell me is that you’re getting hitched to one of them.”

“Maybe I am? Would that matter to you?”

“No. Do what you want. I just don’t believe you came here on a whim.”

“Well, if there was a super secret thing happening here, do you think I’d be blabbering my head off about it first chance I get?”

“Hah, no. You would be evasive and make crude jokes to deflect.”

“Bingo! So stop asking me why I’m here, and I will stop making comments that seem to turn your girlfriend three separate shades of red.”

“Why do you keep calling her my girlfriend?”

“Isn’t she? Why haven’t you denied it yet?”

“Because getting into an argument with you is like slamming my head against a brick wall. Scratch that, I would probably do more damage to the wall than make any headway with your insanity.”

“Ahh, bless your soul. Attacks on me again. Brings me back to old times. You going to complain about how I use my Quirk next?”

“Naw, hon. You already proved you’re as hard as a marble and just as smart. I’ll let that old chestnut be.”

“Aww, aren’t you just sweet! So, are you actually going to start doing hero patrols soon? You know, if you can’t run with the big dogs, you should just stay home on the porch.”

“And you could start an argument in an empty house.”

“See Anan? He’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s got the best personality.”

“Sorry, Anan. She is a bit rude, but that’s not her fault. She just doesn’t know any better.”

“Hush your mouth!”

“Bless your heart!”

“WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF!!!” Anan shouted, clearly annoyed with the pair of them.

“What?” They both said simultaneously.

“What? What even is this?” Anan asked, not understanding why they both seemed confused when she stopped them.

“Just us reconnecting after a decade or so,” Cathleen replied, then slapped John on the back way too hard. “We have talked like this since we were kids.”

“Yep. Twinkle was always a bit of a tomboy, following my buddies and me around. This is just the way we talk with each other.”

“By insulting each other? Backhanded compliments?”

“Yeah.”

“Pretty much,” John replied, then noticed something white where Cathleen’s hair parted. “Hey, Twinkle. Your roots are showing.”

“Crap! Wait. Are you messing with me, Johnny boy? I’ll beat you senseless if you are.”

“Scout’s Honour.”

“Damn it. I need to fix this. I’ll be back.” She replied, then darted out of the basement.

“You two have a really odd relationship,” Anan said when she left.

“Yeah. This was pretty tame compared to normal. Still, she is up to something here that doesn’t involve just attending a ball.” John replied, continuing to feed Anan stuff off the shelves.

I should have waited to tell her. Now I need to lift all this myself.

“Are you worried for her?”

“Worried for her? Hardly. I’m more concerned that what she is actually here about is going to have some negative effects on us, mere mortals.”

They stayed in silence for a few minutes longer as he continued to toss boxes off shelves towards her. Wracking his brain as much as he could, the only reason he could think of why she was even here was that All Might was on vacation, while this League of Villains was a threat. Which didn’t make much sense: villain attacks saw a short spike for a few days, but were already falling off. 

I mean, they will probably start up again, but unless she is staying here for weeks, I can’t see that being the reason.

“John, are you busy on Sunday?” Anan asked, bringing him out of his rumination.

“A bit. I was planning on going on a patrol with Rumi and Yu for part of the day, then coming down here with Mei and Momo to help them set up their workshop.” John replied, not bothering to include his own training time. “Of course, this all depends on what happens at the ball tomorrow.”

“I see. How about the following weekend? I know school is out at lunch on Saturday.”

“Right now, I’ll be busy Saturday afternoon, but otherwise I’m free. What did you have in mind?” He replied, thinking about his training time with Midoriya.

“Rumi mentioned you have an interest in Japan’s castles. I was wondering if you wanted to come tour some with me?”

John really did want to tour some of the castles, though more for a somewhat current understanding of their condition and that of the surrounding lands. He wasn’t under any illusions that it would be a perfect representation of what he would find in the High School of the Dead world, but if the castles were being maintained here in the future, they were probably being maintained there as well. 

“I’d love that, though I thought you were heading out to the countryside?”

“I am, but I can meet you there.” She said, then stopped her Quirk so she didn’t need to shout over it. “Listen. I really want to get to know you better. You’re the man who saved me so many times, and I can’t stop thinking about you, but I barely even know you. I want to change that and see if these feelings I have for you are real or just me building up an idealized person in my head. So please, John, let’s go on a few dates together.”

John sighed. He didn’t even need Scouter to know that Rumi had a hand in this. Apparently, both his rabbit women wanted him to have a harem. “I’m with Rumi. That isn’t changing. I know she has some big ideas, but are you good with sharing me with multiple women? I’m a busy person to begin with, and while I’ll try to make time for everyone, there are just not enough hours in a day to spend with everyone as they deserve.”

Not to mention, I haven’t told her my actual secret yet.

“I know. I’m pretty independent myself. Just sometimes, it would be nice to have someone around to attend events with, have dinner together, maybe a little romance here and there. I’m often called out to assist with disasters that can take days or even weeks to resolve. I’d just like to know what it’s like to come home to a busy house full of life, rather than my empty apartment. I don’t want to become the crazy cat lady in my thirties, but the way things are going for me, that is what I’ll become.”

“So you think joining a poly relationship would fix that?”

“Well, yeah. Most of the guys I’ve dated in the past didn’t like it when I disappeared for days or even weeks at a time. I could literally be cleaning up a nuclear accident, and they would think I was out cheating on them. Plus, I’m taller than a lot of guys, which can be off-putting. It’s hard to be the ‘protector’ in the relationship when she towers over you and has no problem lifting a couch. If they only knew how much of a pacifist I am, they would have realized I wanted a protector.” She said with a smile, then gave him a hug. “If nothing else, you have proved you are my protector, my Twilight Knight.”

“Okay, Anan. You win. Let’s get to know each other better, and see where it goes.” He said, then leaned over and kissed her.

“AH HA! I knew she was your girlfriend!” Twinkle shouted from the stairwell, a bag from a local pharmacy in her hand.

“Good lord, Twinkle! Enough already! If I have one woman or three, or even a dozen, why would it matter to you?! Are you jealous or something?”

“Naw. Just wanted you to be honest with me, that’s all. Now, let’s get to clearing these shelves!”

“God, sometimes I just want to smack you.”

“Go ahead. I’ll even let you have the first dozen hits. Be aware that after the twelfth one, I’m going to pick you up and spank you in front of all your girlfriends.”

“So you’re saying I get eleven free hits and can walk away without consequences? Deal.”

“Will you two please stop bickering? This can’t be healthy for your relationship.”

John took a deep breath. It really wasn’t, but his new memories told him why he held such animosity towards his sister. He blamed her for not being there when their parents were attacked, when he ended up having to defend himself from that villain. Of how their younger sister still blamed him for murdering her boyfriend in front of her, even though it was clear that John was defending himself. This all happened to this body years ago, but when he inherited the memories, he also inherited the deep-seated resentment the memories contained. 

God, this body kept the scarring on his body to spit in Cathleen’s face every time they met since then, to remind her of the cost of being a hero. I didn’t think too deeply about it before, since I never expected her to show up here in Japan, but now that she is, I should probably take the time to examine my memories more and move on.

That said, it wasn’t all undeserved resentment. She did flaunt her position even before their parents died, often bullying him when they were younger with her Quirk.  

“You’re right.” He said to Anan, releasing her from the hug, then turned to Cathleen. “Truce for now?”

“Aww, is my brother whipped already? If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen!”

“No Twinkle. Not whipped. I just realized I have better things to do with my life than live in your shadow and play our silly games. So let’s stop doing this and move on. Otherwise, feel free to leave, and don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.”

She just looked at him for a moment, a curious expression on her face. “Who are you and what did you do with my brother?”

“I’m a multiverse-travelling wizard who took over his body just to come become a school counsellor in Japan.” John deadpanned.

She blinked a few times, then bellowed out in laughter. “Hah, hah, good one. Fine. I’ll play nice.”

They continued cleaning up the basement in relative peace for the next hour, then went out for ramen across the street with the rest of the women instead of cooking another massive dinner.  Afterwards, Cathleen grabbed John and brought him to the roof of a nearby building, out of earshot of any possible eavesdroppers.

“Okay, you got me alone, Twinkle. What did you need to tell me?” John asked.

“Listen, I need to tell you something.” She said, sounding more serious than usual. “Something super important that I haven’t told anyone. Not our sister, not my bosses, no one.”

“Wait! Why? We aren’t close. Why would you want to tell me your secrets?”

“Because we used to be close, but something happened after our parents were murdered that changed things, and drove the wedge between us further. When I got my bearings, we had become practically strangers, so I never tried to make amends with you. However, over the last couple of days of reconnecting with you, I realized I made a mistake. I should have told you. I should have recruited you to help me.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Listen, John. I’m not the sister you remember. After your parents died, I was transmigrated into Cathleen’s body. My real name isn’t Cathleen Bates. It’s Carly Linda Wayne.”

“Carly?” John said. He was very, very, confused. How could this woman in one of his DEN worlds have the same name as his long-dead youngest sister from back on Earth? “Born in 1956, Dallas, Texas? Died in a car accident in 1977 outside of Fort Worth?”

“I don’t really remember how I died, but… Wait… John? John Suzy Wayne? 1946?”

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