Fukase's request had been cleared with the Boss. He could now stay with Oliver for as long as he wanted with the time limit lifted. The situation made him tense, wary, but Oliver was happy.

They talked more than ever. Fukase directed the conversation and steadily avoided topics that reminded him how tangled their situation was. He learned a lot about Oliver in the two days before the signal came. The kid liked talking, but he liked listening too, and Fukase found himself telling stories more than asking questions.

When he heard the tapping from the vent in the ceiling, Fukase could feel the tension lift off his shoulders, like the first warm breeze of spring after a long winter.

"Oliver. Please stand out of the way, next to the bed," he said, pointing. Oliver instantly obeyed, waiting to see why.

Fukase pulled out the desk chair and positioned it underneath the vent. He climbed up and carefully removed the grate. He then placed the grate on the desk, got on the chair again, and began taking things out of the vent. Oliver couldn't see what from his angle.

Fukase crouched down facing away from him and started arranging the things on the hard floor. After a strangely quiet high-pitched noise, Fukase hissed out a soft "sorry," then stood, taking a step back.

There was a whooshing sound, and suddenly the tiny room had too many people who immediately started to bustle around. Before Oliver could yell in surprise, Fukase clamped a hand over his mouth.

"These are my friends.They're going to help us escape, all right?" He uncovered Oliver's mouth and smiled. "We're going to leave this place and go somewhere safe together. Just stay quiet and do exactly as they say, okay?"

He patted Oliver's head, then turned to speak to a lean girl with short hair who was wearing the exact same uniform as him, next to which a girl wearing a purple beret shifted back and forth on her small feet.

A blond man stepped forwards with what looked like a crash test dummy slung over one shoulder. He laid the dummy down on the bed then crossed the room. A woman with long pale hair dyed a flaky-looking pink knelt down next to Oliver. A cloud began to form in the air over her head as she smiled gently.

"Hello, Oliver," she whispered. "My name is Luka. It's nice to meet you."

Oliver gave a shaky nod, too surprised at the sudden appearance of these people to make any rational thought leave his mouth.

The lady held up her hand and said softly, "I'm going to touch your face and your shoulders, is that alright?"

Oliver hesitated. The question seemed like a trick. Why would she ask if she could just do it?

"Don't worry. I'm a Lectrinn user, just like you. I need to touch you to make my ability work."

He didn't understand, but Fukase had told him to listen to these strangers. He slowly nodded his head. It was okay. He didn't trust this person, but he trusted Fukase.

"Please stand still. I need to get this right."

With her hand beneath his chin, Luka titled his head to the side, up, and down, then asked him to turn in a full circle after tapping his shoulders. The cloud above her head began to swirl, then silently flash different colors as she brushed her slender fingers over his hair, his ears, eyebrows, and lips with the lightest of touches. Oliver was almost surprised to find it wasn't uncomfortable. Luka finally nodded, apparently satisfied with whatever she was doing. She then stood, snatching the airy swirl with one hand and effortlessly casting it over the dummy in the bed.

Suddenly Oliver wasn't looking at a dummy anymore, but himself. A sleeping boy with the same face, same clothes, and same hair, who Luka tucked in with the blanket.

Oliver stared. Luka knelt down again and explained calmly, "My ability is called Mask. You can see how it works. That dummy is wrapped in a Mask I create based on a model. This one is programmed to imitate a sleeping human for 24 hours before it stops working and 'dies.' Your captors won't know the difference, and will believe you simply got sick and passed. That way they won't look for you when we leave."

Oliver couldn't stop staring at the Masked dummy. The similarities between a Mask and a Screen screeched a warning in his head, and he took a step away from the bed.

"That's Xin Hua." Luka coaxed Oliver's attention away from the dummy and to the girl with the purple beret. "Her ability, Clone Stamp, allows her to copy physical characteristics from one person to another. The girl who is going to take Fukase's place is named Flower. She has the ability Send, which is going to get us back home."

"Take Fukase's place?" Oliver repeated. He didn't like the sound of that.

"Yes." Luka said. "A Masking will only work once. If Fukase disappears the same time you do, it'll be too suspicious. So when he leaves with us, Flower is going to stay and pretend to be him. Don't worry about her. We have a plan to get her out at a later date."

She gestured towards the blond man, who had his tattooed arms crossed. "His name is Yuu. His power, Min/Max, allows him to manipulate size. That's how we snuck in through the ventilation system."

She took him over to Fukase and Flower. "Stay here," Luka said, and went to stand next to the door, her ear close to the doorframe.

Xin Hua worked quickly, duplicating the features Oliver knew from Fukase's face onto Flower's, muttering "I got this, I got this, I got this," under her breath. Soon the two looked exactly alike, only different in the way they held themselves. Oliver grabbed onto his Fukase's shirt sleeve. He could only barely tell them apart.

"Once we get back to our House," Xin Hua said, grinning and rolling her shoulders, "I'll get you back in your own skin, 'Fukase.' Bet you're looking forward to that!"

Fukase just smiled tiredly, and Oliver wracked his brain for what she possibly could've meant.

"Wait, one last thing." Xin Hua snatched up Fukase's hands, pressing each of his fingertips rapidly with her thumb. She then did the same to Flower.

"Fingerprints," Fukase told Oliver.

He nodded, though he didn't understand.

"Line up so I can Send you back quick," Flower said as she ran a hand through her newly red hair. Her voice had the same rusty yet melodic sound as Fukase's.

"Good luck, Fukase 3.0," Yuu said, slapping her on the back before joining the line. Oliver's head was reeling.

"Right then. C'mon, kid." Flower held out her hand to Oliver, expectant. Oliver frowned and stepped closer to Fukase.

"Take her hand," urged Fukase, resting his hand on Oliver's back. "I'll be right behind you."

"You promise?" Oliver looked up at him.

"Of course." Fukase nodded, his eyes reflecting his commitment. "I swear it."

Oliver hesitantly let go of Fukase's sleeve and as he took Flower's hand, she yanked it forward. The room disappeared with a loud pop, then he was pitching forward through space to the sound of a high pitched scream. He yelled and threw out his hands to catch himself but there was nothing to grab onto. He couldn't see his hands. He flipped head over heels and was suddenly standing in a kitchen.

It looked too normal to be real. The morning sun shone calmly through a window over a green laminate countertop and a sink full of used dishes and cups. The faucet dripped.  A refrigerator covered in magnets hummed behind him. He stared around in shock

A grey-haired woman sat at the table, and glanced up from her magazine.

"Hello Oliver. Welcome to the Yelkcots House."

He froze. Who was this person?

Then Fukase appeared next to him. Oliver quickly sidestepped before he realized who it was. He flung his arms around Fukase, scared he might disappear again.

But something was wrong. Fukase gasped and clutched his arm. Oliver could see where the sleeve was torn and blood smeared the skin.

"How did they know?" Fukase stared at the grey-haired woman.

"You're hurt!" Oliver immediately held up his arms, but pulled them back at assessment. A graze from a bullet. Approximate time limit of 32 days. Not worth your time, a voice whispered. He pushed it away. A bullet? "You were shot?!"

"I'm okay, don't worry." Fukase gave a strained smile. "It just grazed me."

Yuu appeared next to him, stumbling, and punched the fridge so hard Oliver flinched.

"She didn't let me fight, that little—"

A bloodied body materialized on the floor by Oliver's feet, the neck twisted at an unnatural angle and blood spattered on the floor from the mouth. Fukase slapped his hand over Oliver's eyes, but he had already seen.

Luka.

There was a scream, a strangled gasp, the sound of a chair scraping across the floor and a howl of rage.

"Those bastards!"

Fukase moved to pull Oliver away, but he broke away from his grasp.

She wasn't gone yet.

Before he realized what he was doing, Oliver's hands were in the air over the wound, and he made a grabbing motion, jerking his hands back and feeling the injury convert like a punch to the stomach.

He bent double and coughed, struggling to breathe. Luka had been a literal heartbeat from death, but he had pulled her back. Approximate time limit of twelve seconds. Eleven...

Luka jolted upright and gasped for air, her fingers clamping over her throat. Her neck was literally Unbroken. The grey-haired woman who had leaned over her jumped back in surprise.

Ten... Nine...

Oliver whimpered as a numbness spread through his body, pleading as Fukase took him in his arms. "Please. Please. Please help me. Help me!"

"What do we do? What's happening to him?"

"Where's Xin Hua?!"

"Luka, Jesus Christ!"

Eight... Seven...

"Outside," Oliver gasped, swaying in his feet. He couldn't let go of it inside the room, with all these people around. "Please. I need...outside. Now!"

Six... Five...

Fukase half-carried him towards the kitchen door, voicing baseless reassurances. Oliver saw a huge garden sprawling out as Yuu threw open the door.

Four... Three...

"Stay here. I don't want—I don't want to hurt you!" Oliver pushed off the doorframe and staggered out into the garden. He aimed towards a large tree at the center of the garden. If he could force the damage into one receiver—

Two... One...

He fell three feet short. Death slipped out of his grasp.

Zero.

In less than a moment, every living thing in the garden died.

Every petal of every flower, every single blade of grass, each and every bug hiding under rocks and plants and the tree, from its highest branch to its deepest root. He could feel the damage spread farther though, underneath the garden wall and into whatever laid beyond.

Oliver collapsed. He felt sick. A static-like stupor crept over his brain and he sat in the lifeless dirt, exhausted.

There was a low creak ahead and footsteps running from behind him.

"Oliver!"

"Watch out!"

He looked up and saw the giant shell of the tree leaning, groaning, snapping and falling but Fukase was there and Fukase was grabbing him and Fukase was pulling him out of the way as the tree thundered down, roots ripping up the earth, crashing into the ground where he had just sat.

It was only then, as the dust began to settle, he cried. Leaning all his weight onto Fukase, Oliver buried his face into his shoulder and sobbed. People were hurt because of him. Fukase was hurt because of him. He wanted to help, but was terrified. He had never once healed a wound like that. He had never unleashed this type of destruction before.

The others watched from the porch.

They watched a long time until Luka walked across the dead grass to the two boys. She wordlessly put her arm around them and guided them back to the house.

=•=•=

Instead of waiting until Luka's Masked dummy expired in 24 hours, the retrieval team set out right away. The attack was so unexpected, there was no way to know if Xin Hua was alive, or if Flower had succeeded in becoming the new 'Fukase.' It was best not to take any chances.

Fukase had changed out of his Ocahame uniform and bandaged his arm. Oliver had been given new clothes as well. He pressed close to Fukase, holding onto his jacket and peering around him as they saw the mission off.

Stress permeated the atmosphere due to the unforeseen attack, and Oliver could barely focus as Fukase tried introducing some of the Yelkcots House members to him next. Thankfully, Fukase noticed his discomfort right away, and took Oliver to another room before he became too overwhelmed. Not even half the introductions were over at that point.

Oliver was understandably anxious, as he hadn't been around a lot of people for a long time, and these people were very different then the ones he was used to.

No one in the Yelkcots House seemed to have any real power. They were all Lectrinn users with relatively minor abilities. Nothing that would be useful in a fight. Though apparently they were all good with the physical, trained fighters and marksmen and the like.

From Fukase, Oliver learned about the grey-haired woman who had welcomed him before. Her name was Miss Miriam, and with her Lectrinn ability Lock, she was in charge of the Yelkcots House. Her teams hunted down people with dangerous Lectrinn abilities or those who misused the accompanying energy. When someone was found, Miss Miriam went out to Lock their ability away, and if they resisted, drain them of Lectrinn itself. Sometimes there were people who came to her by their own accord, asking her to erase their powers and allow them to live a normal life.

Oliver hadn't seen Miss Miriam since they day he healed Luka and destroyed the garden. There was still guilt hovering over him, an anxious inkling telling him that once Miriam finally spoke to him, she'd see how terrible it was. She'd send him back to his family. He would have to leave Fukase's side.

Miss Miriam sat at a long desk, typing on a laptop which she closed as they came into her office. She peered through thin-framed glasses, then took them off, rubbing between her pale eyes.

"We will speak truthfully to one another, won't we?" she asked, gesturing for the pair to sit down.

Fukase began to answer, but she stopped him. "Not you. I don't want to hear a word out of your mouth until I'm done. Now, Oliver." She rested her chin on the back of her hand. "About your ability. Undo/Redo, is it?"

Oliver nodded hesitantly.

"Last morning, you healed Luka and ripped up my garden with a single release of Lectrinn. Let me guess." She brushed a finger across her lips in thought. "Healing Luka was the Undo, and destroying the garden was the Redo. Action and consequence. Am I correct?"

He nodded again.

"Your ability has a steep price. Makes sense." She looked him over for a moment, then a moment more. "Though, the cost could be more useful than what you're using it to buy."

Oliver stared at the desk. That wasn't true. That could never be true.

"Tell me." Miriam spoke again. "Why were you out on the streets that day, when those Ocahame buffoons picked you up?"

"Well...." Oliver stared at his hands, fists over his knees, then cast a glance at Fukase, who nodded encouragement. "I was running away. From home."

"Why?"

Oliver shifted in the chair, trying not to think too much about that day. "My brother. He was trying to make me hurt someone. He wanted me to kill her. I was so scared that I ran."

"Did you?"

"I—" Oliver looked up. "I ran away—"

"No," Miriam interrupted. "Did you kill her? I'm guessing you Undid some injury beforehand, and your brother wanted you to Redo the same injury tenfold on that person, didn't he?"

"That's....that's right."

"So did you kill her or didn't you?"

Oliver grabbed Fukase's hand under the desk. "I don't know. I don't remember."

"You were there, weren't you? Why don't you know what happened to her?"

"I really can't remember. I'm trying, but—"

"Someone's life was in your hands, and you forgot what you did with it?"

Oliver stopped speaking. He pressed his lips together and squeezed his eyes shut, hunching over. He looked like he was about to cave in on himself.

"Then why?" Miriam asked. "What was your brother's motivation? Who was that person?"

Who is that?

No one special.

"Why did he want you to kill her?"

I can't!

You can't or you won't?

"I.... I don't remember."

"Give me your hands." Miss Miriam held out her own.

Oliver reluctantly released Fukase's hand and winced when Miriam gripped his tight.

"You see," Miriam started, "We at the Yelkcots House have a little something called value for human life, unlike your murderous Eiros."

Oliver's head jerked up. "How—How do you know that name?"

"Let's just say I've had my eye on your family for a bit. Quite the piece of work, your mother was." She drew up his hands an inch higher. "We went to highschool together, you know. Everyone thought that sweet little Ann was so darling, until she started with those psychotic hypotheses about Lectrinn abilities and drinking human blood..." Miriam sighed. "She got married to the perfect enabler before she even graduated. A hit man. You know the rest."

Miriam scrutinized Oliver through cold, narrow eyes. When she finally spoke again, the words were so harsh Oliver thought she had said the opposite.

"You can stay."

Fukase bowed his head.

"You can stay on one condition. You must give me your word." Miriam gripped his hands so tightly they hurt, her rings digging into Oliver's fingers. "You may only use your powers when I say so. If you ever use your ability without my permission, or refuse to do so when I order it, I will Lock your ability away and return you to your family. You'll be useless to them without your power. I wouldn't like to know what Ann will do if she finds out her best work has gone to waste."

Miriam knew she would receive his promise by the expression of fear on his face.

"You'll have a home here until the end of time, if you promise me. Unless I tell you to, you will not use your power for anything. For anybody. For any reason."

The image of Luka, choking and bleeding on the kitchen floor rushed back to Oliver, and he croaked out, "Even if.... someone's dying?"

"Even then. Pretend to have a hand in the fate of others, and you're liable to get it burned."

Oliver looked back at Fukase, who gave a slight nod. He turned back to Miriam, and promised.

She squeezed his hands for a moment longer, then let go. She gave a slight laugh. "To think. A member of the Eiro Family under my roof. The irony is almost too much." She put her glasses back on and reopened her laptop. "You may go."

"Miss Miriam," Fukase started. "May I speak to you privately for a moment?"

"What? Oh, yes." Miriam waved at Oliver. "You can stand in the hall, Dear."

Oliver felt a chill creep up his spine. In the hall? Alone? Fukase turned to look him in the eyes.

"Can you stand by the door outside for a bit, Oliver? Please? I'll be out in five minutes, I swear."

"You promise?" Oliver's hands began to sweat.

"Of course. I swear it."

Oliver left the room as slowly as he could, opening the door carefully and quietly. The hall was deathly silent. He focused on his breathing. It quickened the moment Fukase was out of sight, but he kept his thoughts occupied, not spiraling, repeating Fukase's promise in his mind over and over to calm himself. He was just on the other side of that door. He'd be out any minute. He promised. It wasn't like he was gone forever.

Suddenly he could hear dampened shouting from inside the room. Worried, he pressed his ear to the door.  Was Fukase okay? The thick wood muffled the conversation, but he could make out the words.

"It doesn't matter that we don't pay the price!" It was Fukase. "He literally cannot function on his own!"

"Then don't leave." That was Miss Miriam. "I'll take you off the patrols. You can remain at the House all day to take care of him."

Oliver felt a little jolt as he realized they were talking about him. Of course, that's why Fukase sent him outside.

"The Lectrinn Effect is going to destroy him if I stay by his side!"

"It'll destroy him if you leave. Think about your situation."

"He'll end up like Rin!"

The voices went silent. Oliver jerked away from the door in case it opened. Rin? Who was Rin? When nothing happened, he stepped towards the door again and strained his ears to find the conversation had moved on.

"—anymore." Fukase was speaking. "No one deserves that kind of power."

Oliver leaned against the door frame, abruptly tired, facing down the hall. He could barely make out Miss Miriam's next words.

"You know what, boy? I believe I do."