『ARC THREE: AGENCIES AND CRYSTALS』

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Wringing his fingers to and fro, Akihiko applied all of his attention on the scratches and chips that coated the edges of his fingernails. His joints cracked, the air pockets in between his bones popping with the contraction of his fingers. Miniature cuts littered his cuticles which were evidence from what had occurred on Saturday night. Seemed like so long ago but that was not right. It happened merely a day ago.

Like before, dull pangs rattled against his skull but at this point, they were to be expected. But this time, they were light and delicate as if a feather was brushing against his head rather than something hard and stiff. With one hand, he pulled his legs closer to his chest. The dark blue blazer he wore wrinkled from the movement but he did not really care.

Exhaustion had seeped into his muscles and engraved itself into his bones. Even the small movement of his fingers caused pain to run up his nerves but that was bearable. At times, his eyelids would flutter shut as the sweet song of sleep began to lull him away. His head would begin to droop but he managed to snap himself awake just before he fell unconscious. Raising his gaze, he figured placing his attention on something else would help him stay awake.

A breath of air slipped past his lips as he focused his gaze on the screen lying before him. The images moving across the screen were current shots of the game of tag. It still resumed despite him being stuck in one of the extra waiting rooms, unsure of what to make of this situation. The fabric of his socks slipped across the grey sofa he sat upon as he tried to adjust his positioning to get more comfortable. His shoes laid forgotten on the ground.

For a moment, his eyesight grew blurry and he squinted. Akihiko tilted his head, trying to shake the blurriness. In the process, a strip of amethyst fell onto his face and covered his right eye and vision. A huff left him as he raised a hand and used a finger to push it away and back into place. Unbeknownst to him, his right eye was glossed over with the shine of purple gemstone. The other stayed the same shade of periwinkle.

It took him a minute to realize something was amiss. Gazing through his crystallized eye, a light lavender coated whatever he stared at whereas his normal eye witnessed everything as it should be. Blinking once, he raised his hand upward and momentarily looked at his palm. Wrinkles decorated his forehead. He lifted his head when the sound of something breaking entered his eardrums.

His fingers curled tightly around the fabric of the blazer as he expected something to go wrong. His breath escaped him. On his right side, hairline fractures threaded through reality. They were thin and white, the lines running across the space with intricate details that matched the weaving of a spider's web. The slow noise of glass breaking trickled by with no evidence of going any faster. Akihiko's lips parted as he mouthed a soundless word of confusion.

All of a sudden, he felt his muscles tense before relaxing. Like something was not quite right but was instantly swept away. Just as he was about to stand, the feeling of something slithering across the fabric of his shoulders made a shiver run up his spine. Two arms wrapped around his shoulders. They kept him seated and he quickly noted that they adorned the same blazer. A shaky breath left him as he threw a glance over his shoulder.

Lavender and violet sparkles floated across the air momentarily before a streak of white flashed across the gemstone. Slick and curled strips of amethyst hair bounced slightly with the tilt of the person's head. Their dark violet lashes barely covered their eyes but the glow of multiple hues of purple still swirled within their irises. The person who had latched onto him was none other than himself. Or a better fit would be a replica or mirror image. The only difference that presented between the two was that Akihiko still had one eye of periwinkle.

An innocent smile slipped onto the mirrored image's lips like he was trying to show that he would do no harm. Once the image was certain he had Akihiko focusing on him, he lifted his arm and pointed a finger directly at the screen. Bewildered, the teenager hesitantly shifted his attention. At this point, the cameras had cut to a scene that displayed Junpei and Tanami. His sister's pale hand was veiled in a bright green light while she swept her arm across her body. Pointed shards of jade cracked in existence and flew forward as instructed. Behind her, Junpei had brushed aside his dark curls to press a finger to his earpiece. Although the speakers could not pick up his words, his mouth moving meant he was talking to someone.

Three overlapping voices pulled him away from the screen. "Careful."

As if something had crashed against the crystalline view of his right, the cracks flared. Splinters ran across that version of reality before collapsing. Just like that, it fell apart. The mirrored version of him was no longer present. He was alone in the waiting room once again and he did not feel as exhausted as he did before.

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Flashes of colors were strewn across the multiple screens that displayed footage from the game of tag but it was from an hour ago and not current. A separate screen was showing that. With the multiple hues shooting across the screens, the color reflected off of Tomohiro's white eyes. The video playing was Akihiko and Shimada's fight earlier.

A panicked expression was painted across Shimada's face as he forced his feet to push him back. A long and sharp spiral of black tourmaline flew at the teenager. His amber eyes widened slightly as his instincts kicked in. In response to the crystal spiral coming his way, he bent backward and threw himself into a backflip. He used one hand to keep his balance before his feet connected with the ground. He skidded slightly to break his fall. Unbeknownst to Shimada, two spirals had snuck behind him.

Without any warning, they slammed against his calves and forced him off of his feet. For a couple of moments, he was in the air. Akihiko's hand raised as the crystals poised themselves above Shimada. Akihiko's palm faced the ceiling as his fingers were curled slightly. The spirals instantly positioned themselves above Shimada's fallen form. With the flick of his wrist, his hand relaxed and the spirals fell. Since the crystals were no longer being controlled, their sharpened points embed themselves into the olive-haired boy's clothes. Shimada's brows knitted as he attempted to move his arms. It was useless as he was pinned to the ground.

Akihiko walked at a calm pace, one foot in front of the other. He knelt down, putting all of his weight on his toes. He tilted his head, an uncharacteristic smile sliding onto his lips. If you gazed close enough, you could see the look of annoyance cross his face before it reverted back to the calm and unnerving one. His lips pulled down into a frown as his finger pressed against them. He wanted Shimada to stay silent. His eyes glanced upward, revealing an amethyst gaze.

Tomohiro linked his fingers and placed them in his lap. He slightly cocked his head. This time around, the amethyst that coated Akihiko's eyes had returned but it was different. Although it looked like his son, this was not the same person. It was someone else. He just was not sure who.

Not long after, Kagemi appeared. The two from Team Alpha conversed for a while. However, the strange thing was the fact that Akihiko's eyes had reverted back to their original color. The moment Akihiko averted his attention, Kagemi slipped one of the two metal batons from the holsters on his belt. Akihiko barely managed to command one of the spirals to cover him as it pressed up against his forearm. A look of irritation flashed in the crystal's eyes just before the periwinkle faded.

A ruse was put into play. Whatever that person did, it could make his eye color change into the original. Meaning he could easily fool those who did not know Akihiko well. It was good that Kagemi managed to figure this out quickly but this did not change the fact that the crystal was very, very good at controlling his Quirk. Kagemi would be at a disadvantage because his Quirk was useful to Akihiko's. He would practically give him more material to work with. It was easy to see that Shimada would not fare well given the earlier battle.

Briefly, Tomohiro shut his eyes and tried to calm the developing headache. Why did everything seem to occur on the same day? First the painite with the bar and now this. Except this time around he could not decipher what was going on. It was easy for him to connect the dots but this seemed to be a more complicated puzzle where he was not granted easy clues to use. The rest of the footage seemed useless to witness as Kohei had stepped in to deal with the situation.

"Why did you let this occur? Why stop him now?" the ink-haired male questioned as he rested his cheek into his palm.

Kohei shifted in his own seat, leaning forward and propping an elbow on the armrest of his chair. "I asked Akihiko to come to my office and the rest of it was a blur. When I talked to Kura afterward, he said I had an abundance of extra endorphins in my system and my brain waves were slowed."

"Amethyst is a natural tranquilizer."

"Exactly. From what I can concur, whoever Akihiko touches- whoever that thing is at least- he can temporarily infuse the mystical properties of a crystal to a person." Kohei's eyes lingered on the screen a while longer. "I felt calm and at peace but- it was like I was in a daze. Going through the motions that I would usually but it wasn't me. It was the effects of the amethyst leaving me blindsided. I snapped out of it a minute or two before this happened in the maze."

A sigh left Tomohiro. He rubbed his temples with his index and middle fingers to stop the ache of an incoming headache "This evolution is proving to be more troublesome than I thought. Where is Akihiko now?"

"I had Kura leave him in one of the extra waiting rooms. He can't get out even if he wanted to. It needs a passcode to be open. If we want to know more we should probably question the source rather than staying here in wonder." Kohei suggested as he began to get out of the chair.

As much as Tomohiro preferred not to agree with that idea, it was the only way they could somewhat get some answers. Just sitting there and pondering was going to get them nowhere. Pushing himself up by placing his palms against the armrest, he momentarily placed all his weight on his good leg before hooking the crutches underneath his armpits. Once he was certain he would not fall, Tomohiro made a small gesture to tell Kohei to lead the way. They both left the surveillance room.

The continuous sound of a clock moving at the end of the corridor at a rhythmic pace was the only noise that Tomohiro's ears picked up. Even the sound of his crutches barely pierced his eardrums as his mind focused on the hand moving every second on the clock. The nearly inaudible vibrations of Kohei's footsteps on his right were like muffled taps. With each step, the door to the waiting room drew closer.

His heart pounded in his chest, faster than it normally would. It was a bit peculiar. He was usually calm and collected but right now, he had no idea what to feel. Something was wrong and he could not fix it. A lot of situations like that were arising this year. This one was just another paper added to the stack. Another problem but hopefully this one had an answer. His fingers tightened around the grey handles of his crutches. Gosh, that was frustrating.

A blur passed across his vision, forcing him to come out of his thoughts. He barely caught the sight of Kohei dialing the passcode into the panel. The blond's fingers curled around the metal handle before pushing it down and the lock clicked. Lightly pushing the door open, the two adults entered the waiting room, unsure of what to expect. However, the two were Pro Heroes. The unexpected should practically be written in the job description because nothing ever goes as it seems. Did not make the fact that this was his son and he was not sure how to handle this situation. The only reassuring thing about this was that nothing was going wrong with Tanami. He was not sure how he would deal with both of them having separate problems with no idea how to help.

Breathing in lowly, Tomohiro tried to make his heart rate drop to normal. It did not work but fear did not work like that. He nearly chuckled but bit his tongue to stop himself. It was not the time. He needed answers. He just was not sure if he was going to like them. The ink-haired male stepped into the room first, taking in the decorative choices of Mizu. Light grey paint coated the walls which complimented the white tiles scattered across the floor. A beige sofa was placed in the center of the room where Akihiko was sitting in a criss-cross position.

He was hunched over and his fingers were intertwined in his lap. He did not raise his gaze to meet their own. Like the teenager did not even notice they entered the room. A couple of loose strips of amethyst fell onto his face as the tips rested on his cheeks. Unlike usual, Akihiko made no move to brush them away just like he had no reaction to them entering the room. It was strange but everything was an oddity today. The crystal just stayed still, unmoving and unresponsive.

Tomohiro's nails dug into the material of the crutches. Placing the ends of the crutches in front of him, the adult walked further into the room. For a moment, he pondered on what to do next. His voice slipped free from his vocal cords and relayed a gentle tone. "Akihiko?"

The boy in question did not even make a move at the sound of his name. He stayed in the same position on the sofa. Tomohiro pressed his lips together but they did not stay that way for long. His voice called out in a sterner tone. "Akihiko."

It was not until then that the adolescent began to move. Both of the Pro Heroes barely managed to see the brief movement of Akihiko's lips. It was short and slight with no noise escaping his vocal cords. Finally, a heavy sigh left the teenager. Bringing his head up, he tilted it in their direction. His eyelids opened to reveal the amethyst pattern that was starting to show up more often than either of them liked. The lavender-haired boy's lips curled up into a smile as his eyes softened. It did not look like he was thrilled to see them. Like he was merely smiling to soothe their fears and hide his frustration.

"What do you want?" Three voices resonated at once. They overlapped with each other. One talking faster, one talking normal, and one talking slower. Despite this, the two adults were able to understand the question just fine. They also picked up the sharpness lacing the edges of his words.

"I want to speak to Akihiko," Tomohiro stated swiftly. It was the first thing he could think of. He wanted to know if Akihiko actually knew this was occurring.

"Why? It is not like he will give you answers. I was barely explaining things when you came in." The last words were slurred but still vibrated when spoken. A look of irritation crossed Akihiko's face as he scoffed like his time was being wasted. "You could have waited."

Kohei shut the door behind them slowly. Once the lock clicked in place, he lightly pushed past Tomohiro and maneuvered his way to one of the few chairs in the room. He sat down, form sinking into the cushion. His fingers tapped against the grey armrest while his golden eyes locked against amethyst ones. "What are you exactly?"

A hum slipped from the crystal's lips as he briefly closed his eyes. It was like he was simmering on his next words, wondering if it was alright to speak or not. "Reflective Crystallization."

The answer was short and precise. Silence followed after that answer as the two adults tried to make sense of those two words. Neither was able to come up with a sound conclusion as it was a bizarre but not farfetched response. They knew it was the Quirk but they did not expect for him to respond like that. Tired of standing and leaning on his crutches, Tomohiro sat down on another chair. He carefully propped his crutches on the side of it and the sound echoed. He did not miss the slight wrinkle of Akihiko's nose.

"Was Reflective Crystallization always sentient?" Tomohiro questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest.

With that inquiry, Akihiko's face contorted into one of minor confusion. It was quick to fade as the tips of his lips quirked upward. The crystal pressed his fingertips together and spread his fingers. "I am not certain. Perhaps? It becomes confusing whether it is the past, present, or future. Whether this is reality as well. It is hard to distinguish which is true and which is false. What is an echo or a remnant of déjà vu? Much too complicated. I try to show what I can. Before it was not needed at least."

Leaning back into the chair, Tomohiro narrowed his eyes in a calculating manner. Those couple of sentences were tricky and made sense at the same time. He was talking about amethyst's clairvoyance properties but that was seeing bits of the future. How was this evolution able to see parts of the past as well? It could certainly do it considering the vision Akihiko witnessed at the agency but it was confusing? What was this evolution?

"Why are you needed now? Why appear now?" The ink-haired male questioned. He still needed answers and he was going to get them one way or another. "Why not show yourself beforehand?"

The teenager removed his fingertips from touching each other. Instead, he moved his hands into a different position. He opened his hand to present his palm and pressed curled knuckles into the thick skin. "It is a simple answer really. Someone is messing with the flow. It is becoming hard to distinguish what is true and what was true. There is something wrong but I do not know what it is exactly. Thus, I must protect the host from any harm until he learns."

"Learn what exactly? What is wrong or-?" Kohei's words were cut off by Akihiko speaking.

"What is wrong and how to use mystical properties. Having a couple of limited crystals will do no good in the long run. They may be needed at one point."

"You have no clue as to what is wrong? What about the painite left behind at the bar? Do you know who left that there?" Tomohiro inquired. His knee was beginning to ache from all the movement of today but he kept his expression neutral.

"Painite? Painite is not good for us. It is good for opening up chakras alongside amethyst but not in our case. Painite forces his chakras to open when they are not supposed to yet." Akihiko's nose scrunched up in disgust. "And two, I do not know. If I did, I would not have convinced Akihiko to go there."

"You convinced him?"

Akihiko pressed a hand to his chin and glanced sideways. "Well, not really convinced. I could not speak to him as I am speaking to you now before. You can thank the painite for that. Amethyst has various properties to choose from. I just chose the most appropriate one to make him tag along. Again, it was not my intention to make him go somewhere with painite though."

"Will Tanami develop this?" the ink-haired male questioned.

The crystal shook his head. "No, does not work that way. We may produce the same results with our Quirks but the process is different. It would not make much sense for her to develop this. I wonder what she will develop?"

"Why did you use amethyst to make me relax when I called Akihiko to my office?" Kohei placed his hands in his lap.

"I needed to confirm something and Akihiko was not cutting it so I decided to step in."

"Did you?"

"Did I what?"

Tomohiro raised a brow. "Confirm what you needed?"

"Unfortunately, no. Some stepped in before I could do so." Akihiko sent a pointed stare at his teacher.

"The way it looked, you were going to cause more than a simple injury to Kagemi and Shimada." Kohei pointed out.

The lavender-haired male shrugged. "I was not going to kill them. He would not like that. I still have to follow most of this host's wishes after all."

"Have you taken over Akihiko's body or has he given you consent?" Tomohiro curled his fingers in a fist.

"He can see and hear this conversation."

"Has he given you consent?"

Akihiko rolled his crystallic eyes and sighed. His lips pulled down into a frown. "Not really. But there are times that I need to come in such as now. Do you really believe he would be able to answer your questions? He's still shaken over the whole matter. I had to put his conscience to sleep during that match but he kept waking. Do you know how annoying that is?"

Not exactly. Sentient Quirks existed but they were not commonly found. The fact that Reflective Crystallization was possibly sentient before any of them were aware of it was unnerving to say the least. However, the only reason it appeared was because the host was in danger but it was not sure from what exactly.

"If Akihiko was not in any danger so to speak, would you leave?" the blonde asked.

"If I am not needed then I am not needed. I think I would just be dormant unless I am needed again."

"Can we speak to Akihiko now?" Tomohiro was beginning to feel his headache getting worse. He would need to take a painkiller later.

"Very well," and with those final words spoken, Akihiko shut his eyes. When he opened them again, periwinkle irises and diamond pupils were revealed. The boy blinked wearily like he was just being woken up from a nap. He shook his head and his hair clinked together from the movement. "Oh, that is going to get old..."

Tomohiro pushed himself off the chair. Steadying his balance, the Hero pressed his hand against the side of the sofa to keep himself upright. His brows knitted together in concern. "Akihiko, how are you feeling?"

"Could be better but it? He? I do not know- gets confusing." the teenager took in a deep breath. "I could not follow entirely."

"Well, it is definitely confusing. Doesn't seem like he is going to go any time soon." Kohei closed his eyes.

"I know," Akihiko echoed. His heart was beating heavily in his chest and he tried to bring his breathing back to a normal pace. "I know."

He does not really know.

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Author's Note

Finally some answers! Sort of. But anyway, that completes chapter thirty-seven. Next chapter features the arcade where Akihiko and Junpei speak. I wonder what's going to happen.