『Arc One: In Plain Sight』

"Do you feel better now?" The words were glazed over with sincerity and deep concern.

Cashire cradled the box of tissues he had swiped from the dresser. He plucked a tissue free from it before offering it over the sniveling girl. Worry swirled inside his orange eyes, although his expression appeared blank.

The question was phrased so Tanami could easily have answered 'yes,' but the crystal preferred to nod. The girl had her head downcast, hiding her eyes with her bangs so Cashire could not see the redness in them. She rubbed her left eye with the ball of her palm and used her other hand to grab the tissue. Without another word, she blew her nose into the tissue before crumpling it.

Dropping the box of tissues onto the light aqua comforter, Cashire pulled at the cuff of his blazer to straighten it out. It might have seemed pointless, but the tiny beads of rose quartz that decorated the fabric was another story. He flicked at one of the light pink spheres only to receive a clink instead. His lips pulled into a deep frown before he shook his head. His orange eyes flickered up to look at Tanami, who was hunched over and rubbing her eyes. Remnants of tears still managed to slip over her tear line, leaving behind wet trails on her pale cheeks.

Cashire felt as if his ribcage was constricting his chest rather than expanding with every breath he took. A blossoming pain he could not describe encased his heart. Wistfulness, pity, guilt? None of the emotions he could put a word to match what he felt. All he knew was that he found it hard to swallow.

I feel like shit just hearing, seeing, and touching you, yet I truly believe this pain is nothing compared to what you're feeling, Cashire thought. He inhaled deeply before releasing a heavy sigh. However, he did not feel any lighter. It would have been nice if he did.

"I'm assuming you're not going to tell me what caused you to break down?" His voice was steady yet carried a bit of compassion. Cashire wondered if he should act stern, but he knew being hard would not be helpful now. The last thing he needed was for Tanami to be annoyed or shut him out suddenly without any further explanation.

Being gentle was the best option right now. However, another sensation nudged at the base of his stomach. The slight churning of irritation began to make itself known. He was not made at Tanami due to her mental state. He might be less compassionate than others, but he knew when people hit their breaking points. He was frustrated that Tanami had allowed this to fester for so long that this happened. If she had just said something, anything, then maybe this could have been prevented.

It was a few seconds before the crystal ultimately decided to shake her head. Instead of trying to poke and prod for an answer, Cashire hummed in response. His brows twitched a little. There was no use in trying to force an answer out of the girl if she did not want to speak. He was not even sure if he wanted to try and get an answer anyway.

He glanced at the digital clock on the wooden desk across the room—8:36 am.

Class was going to start in less than ten minutes. The edges of his lips threatened to curve up into a smile, but he resisted. Well, there was no need for him to try and make it to class now if he would arrive halfway through homeroom. Sure, Kohei-sensei would call Roisin to ask about his absence at the end of the day, but that was a later problem. Who needed an education anyway? Not him.

Besides, he had to attend to someone much more important than some stupid Hero school. Biting down softly on his thumb, he lightly chewed his nail. Thoughts fluttered through his head, ideas and words clustering together before falling apart with a bit of logic.

Cashire was never good at comforting others and had no idea how to start doing it. Neith and Roisin were the ones to comfort him when he was younger, never the other way around. He was never overwhelmed by fate's crushing weight, although his own was lost within the stars and the people who started it all. He may bear the name of Chamaeleon from someone who was considered great, but he just saw it as a title.

Caeli, on the other hand, was not seen in the same way as Chamaeleon was in his eyes. Caeli was carried like a torch that a Hero passed down. That was the main conflict between their differing views. Tanami was raised in a society that adored Heroes, and she was no different, and Cashire was raised by four people he considered siblings. His parents were long dead, killed by Namiko when he was only a year old, and then that madman killed another two of his siblings a couple of years prior. They were loved differently, and their lives could not be farther apart. And yet, they walked on the same path forward for who knows how long.

A sigh left him, and he rubbed the back of his neck. His muscles were becoming stiff from his hunched posture. Neith was definitely going to lecture him later. He flicked his gaze toward Tanami.

Well, one thing he knew for sure. There was no use in staying trapped within the confines of a room filled with misery. He doubted the dreariness would make Tanami feel any better. Now that he's actually taking a good look around the room, was it always so bland and empty in here?

Small crystal statues were placed atop the dresser alongside a lamp and a couple of pencils. The bed had a few decorative pillows but no stuffed animals like Neith or Roisin. The walls were painted a soft lavender; however, it was much too light even to call it purple. It was almost white compared to the palest of purples that flashed within Tanami's amethyst hair.

Clicking his tongue, Cashire shook his head. The puzzle pieces were starting to click together. It was not like they ventured out of the base much during the day. He was the only one who did so, considering he had to attend school. If anyone else went out, it was during the dead of night for any missions. Hell, he did not go out unless he needed to. Socializing was a pain, after all.

All in all, neither of them would benefit from lazing around in disappointment and sorrow. The suffocating feeling of snakes sinking their fangs into his skin never left despite him grabbing ahold of his frantic mind.

A flash of pink blinded Cashire for a second. His head dipped before he was met with the spherical beads of rose quartz still clinging to his sleeves. He dug his nails into one of the beads before twisting. It took a couple of tries before it popped off with some resistance. A stray string was left behind, but why would he care? He could always buy another blue blazer. Pinching the sphere between his index finger and thumb, he held it up to his eye before dropping it. "Tanami."

The girl in question had laced her fingers and placed them in her lap. She sniffed a few times before breathing deeply. To Cashire, it appeared like a forced action. An attempt to convince herself that everything was fine and that the glass castle had not come crashing down. It was good that Cashire could easily spot a lie whether it was spoken or not.

"What is it?" She replied. Her voice trembled, yet it did not break. Vulnerable yet still clinging to what was left of strength.

"Well," the boy leaned his cheek into the palm of his hand. "Since I'm not going to school today. There's no point in staying here–"

Tanami sniffled once more. She shook her hand as if dismissing the idea before Cashire finished speaking. "No, no, no. I've already wasted enough of your time. You're late to class because of me. Maybe you'll still make homeroom if you leave now. But you might get detention if you don't have a sick note or something."

Brushing a strip behind her ear, the crystal finally seemed to gain the courage to raise her head and meet Cashire's gaze. Dreary periwinkle connected with bright orange, and the two could not be further apart in emotions. Staring at her face, Cashire could easily see the exhausted lines creasing her skin and the light dust of weariness hanging underneath her eyes. Even her hair seemed to dim with the weight pulling her shoulders down.

"Just because I can forge a doctor's note doesn't mean I want to. Plus, I'll have to look up the train schedule and hope it's close to the time I get to the train station. Nope! Too much work! It's not like there was anything interesting going on today besides—" Cashire almost bit his tongue when he remembered that Class Alpha was supposed to visit the support course today to adjust their Hero costumes. He could not say that. He did not want Tanami to appear more dejected than she already was. "I think it was supposed to be something about algebra. I don't know. I can always have Roisin help me with my homework anyway."

"Ditching class isn't good," Tanami snapped back, but her tone held no malice. It seemed like she also realized this because her eyes widened for a split second. She frowned before snapping her fingers in his direction. "I know you don't like school, but this isn't a big deal."

"Oh, you breaking down crying isn't a big deal?"

"No, it isn't."

Chuckles rumbled through the brown-haired boy's chest, although he did not find her answer amusing. It was not long after that those chuckles morphed into laughter of disbelief. "No, it isn't? You're a dumbass, then. Try as you may, but the second you let your emotions overcome you when you're doing something in the black market or out on a mission, someone will get hurt! Me, you, or Neith, I don't know who, but someone will. You want to make your consciousness even heavier?"

Tanami's eye twitched, and she clenched her hands into tight fists. The girl swept her hand across the air, and the familiar noise of crystals crackling into existence pierced the atmosphere around them. "Why do you care so much? I thought you said that you didn't like being with others. Mister I could care less about people! Stop meddling with my business!"

"See what I mean?" Cashire's arms spread out, gesturing to the small pulses of light threatening to solidify around them. His lips pulled back into a snarl. "It's one thing to get emotional and bottle up everything. It's another to let them run rampant! Calm down, and stop being such a brat! I know you didn't want to come here, but do not take it out on me!"

"I—you—ugh! I don't know, okay!" Throwing herself off her bed, the crystal suddenly threw her hands up in the air. Her gaze solidified into a harsh glare. "Stupid Arcane raised the prices of her Trigger because some guy named Delphic but the entire market's stock but then some Villain named Lux tried to steal from Arcane, so I had to deal with them! So that was already horrible! Then, who knows why I found Junpei in the convince store when I went to buy snacks!"

The girl angrily jabbed at the discarded plastic bag filled with treats to prove her point. "I know you like telling me everything at Mizu, and I know Junpei won't say anything but still! What if something goes wrong? What if that line in the paper crane is broken because of something happening? I know... I know it's been a year since we've heard from or seen Junri, but I can't help it!

"What if she's just waiting for me to mess up so she can do what she wanted to do? That crane has restrictions for both of us, but what if I mess up and ruin everything? I... I don't know what to do."

The frustration that decorated her features melted away, revealing a look of defeat. A heavy sigh tumbled from her lips. Her eyes fell toward her feet, inspecting the scuffs and scrapes on her shoes. "I'm sorry for yelling. I didn't mean to take it out on you. I'm just... I don't know, tired? I have no right to be angry at you when you're just trying to help. Gosh, I'm truly horrible, aren't I?"

"No, you're not. You're overwhelmed. There's a difference between being an asshole and a dumbass. You're the latter." Cashire pointed out with a fixed glare. A smile dared to creep up onto his lips. "So I don't need an apology."

Although his words sounded like an insult, and frankly, Tanami should have been offended, she laughed instead. It was heavy, pulled down with exhaustion and dread, but amusement roughed the edges of her laughter. A feeble attempt at cleansing the weight on her shoulders, but it was something, and Cashire counted that as a win.

The brown-haired teenager furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Wait, someone bought the entirety of Trigger in the black market? The Shallow, the Deep, and the Abysm? Who has that much yen in hand?"

"Yakuza? Mad scientist? Insane billionaire?" The crystal plopped back onto the bed, and the mattress dipped. "I don't know the answer to that either. All Arcane gave me was a name. Delphic. I told Roisin, so she might be asking around."

"Most likely, but you don't need to stress about it, right? You're not alone. I know we don't make up for your real family, but you can lean on us."

"Yeah... sorry about that."

"No apologies! Say them too frequently, and I'm going to stop believing them." A huff escaped Cashire as he narrowed his eyes at the other teen.

"All right, I understand. No need to glare at me." Finally, the girl appeared to be slowly letting go of the tension that clung to her body. She tapped her fingertips together in contemplation. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me either. Just talk before something like this happens again. Either me, Neith, or Roisin. Promise?" The teenager raised his hand and extended his pinky in her direction.

"A little childish, no?" Tanami smiled softly and rolled her eyes. However, she still hooked her pinky with his own. "Promise."

"Great! Now since I'm ditching and you don't seem to be getting any sleep any time soon, let's go out!" Cashire stood up and swerved on his heels. He held his hand out to the girl.

"Wait, what? Why?" A baffled expression was drawn over Tanami's features, but she still allowed Cashire to pull her up.

A mischievous grin slithered onto his face. "Might as well have some fun, right?"

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Tanami did not have a picture-perfect understanding of how Cashire Quirk works, but she knew she could wander around without anyone or anything recognizing her. It was much more comfortable than putting in contacts, coating her hair in dreary crystal, or wearing a wig. It saved her a lot of hassle. She still had her hood tugged on. She probably did not have the energy to change her appearance anyway.

Not that she cared much anyway. Her appearance was probably horrid, considering she did not even bother to clean herself up. From Cashire's perspective, she assumed her eyes were stained a light red, leftover trail stains from her tears, and perhaps a little sickly. But once again, her appearance was the least of her problems. It was not like Cashire complained about it anyway.

A part of her still felt the lingering effects of those harsh shadows forged from guilt shackling her down, but the heavy pulls tugging her into the depths of the abyss loosened and creaked. As if the metal that crafted them suddenly transformed into glass, and slivers were cracking them ever so slowly. The semblance of a smile threatened to decorate her face with warmth.

She chuckled softly at her predicament. Why did she let it come this far? Why did she let her mind erode until all sense of reason faded into a jumbled mess? The memory of magenta eyes flashed before her, and Tanami could only brush away that fragment. Junpei was not the reason this happened. It was just the cherry on top.

She propped her elbow onto the white table and leaned her chin into her left hand. Although Junpei is a major thorn and annoyance, I can't blame him. It was somewhat refreshing to see him once more. It's surprising to know how he was created, however—a human created by a doll and paper crane. Quirks are truly miraculous and terrifying indeed.

Tanami was dragged out of her thoughts by the simmering steam coming from the meal before her. A few more plates and drinks were left at her table, and the crystal barely registered Cashire's bored 'thank you' and the waitress' retreating steps. It was not that she did not want to listen, but Tanami either focused on her thoughts or what was in front of her.

Her teeth ground together. This is what Cashire was saying. I can't lose my focus. Something terrible can happen at any time. Villains have been on the rise these last few weeks. There are not enough Heroes to deal with them because some Heroes have been dropping dead for no reason. The only clue left behind is hardened energy in the form of stars.

The girl's brow furrowed, and she quickly shook her head. She whispered, "no, no, not important right now. If those Heroes died, doesn't that mean they weren't strong enough to combat what happened to them?"

Harsh, Tanami knew, but right now, she did not care. The quality of good Heroes has been dropping, and Villains have been getting the upper hand. She still respected a lot of Heroes like her father and his agency, those from Mizu, Deku, Creati, Lizardy, and even the fallen Lady Nagant. Little people knew about her, but the underground had much information the Hero Commission concealed. It was a pretty entertaining week reading about all the hidden misdeeds committed by the Hero Commiss—

There she goes again. Tanami pressed her lips together and discarded the hurricane of thoughts and musings that filled her head with nonsense. All right, no more thinking!

Her head dipped to see the plate of okonomiyaki in front of her. Lazily, she picked up a piece of meat and cabbage with her chopsticks and shoved it in her mouth. The savory taste of beef flooded her taste buds and drowned out the cabbage. Tanami chewed slowly as her gaze rose to see Cashire's order of green tea rice and amazake. She wrinkled her nose.

Who eats rice with fermented sweet rice? The thought appeared in Tanami's mind and settled on the tip of her tongue. Lucky for her, the words were swallowed alongside her food. Instead, she forced herself to scan the restaurant that they occupied.

Unlike the modern restaurants found in the center of Kyoto, this small restaurant on the outskirts was more traditional. Izakaya was the right word if she remembered right. Although unlike the lively and fun-filled environment an izakaya should have, this one was peaceful and quiet except for the thumping of footsteps on the tatami mats. Very few customers loitered in the area. With her peripheral vision, Tanami counted a family of four and two couples seated at the booths across the room.

To Tanami's joy, no one dared to take another look at her and Cashire. Social Veil was performing its job perfectly, masking them from reality but keeping their presence just enough that they would at least be served. Unrecognized yet visible at the same time.

She bit down on the pancake. After a year, you think I would have a good handle on what Social Veil is supposed to be.

"Well fuck."

Tanami picked her head up at the words spoken by the other teenager. Her hand stayed poised in the air while her chopsticks remained close together like she was picking something up. She raised a brow. "What?"

"Oh no, not you." A slightly panicked expression decorated Cashire's face once he noticed Tanami's confused one. He shook his phone to display the object of his annoyance. "I did miss an important announcement for class. But whatever. I can deal with it tomorrow. There's no point in me showing up to class two hours late."

The orange-eyed male placed his phone down and lifted the ceramic cup to his lips. He sipped the amazake before continuing to speak. "Someone will end up messaging me the details, and no doubt Kohei-sensei will give me the rundown. Now stop frowning and eat your okonomiyaki."

Opening her mouth to speak, Tanami quickly silenced her words by shoving another piece of meat and bread into her mouth. She probably was frowning. Arguing about it was worthless. Plus, the dish was quite good, and she was not about to waste it. She's not paying for it either, so even better.

"Do you think that Neith is still fighting those birds?" Cashire questioned. A glimpse of a smile was seen before it was hidden by him sipping his amazake.

"I think zie is probably still trying to figure out whether or not zie can turn them into stone. Didn't you see zir sitting dejectedly on the floor while cradling the broom? Zie was glaring at those crows so hard I thought they would flee." The crystal pointed out.

"Oh yeah. It was so funny watching zie pout." A mischievous grin slipped onto his face. "I say that's karma for her for trying to steal my onigiri yesterday."

Tanami decided it was best not to say that she was the one who took the onigiri before leaving for the black market. It will not hurt him not to know.

"I don't think zie can turn them into stone. Zie can encase them in st—" the boy's words abruptly stopped when his phone vibrated. His lips pursed as he became more annoyed at the little device. Despite this, he picked up his phone, entered the password, and began to read the message that popped up. He blinked twice before glancing over at Tanami. "I'm grounded for the rest of the month."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Author's Note:

It's been a long time since there's been an update to this book. Hopefully, I'll be able to update sooner rather than later. I've been a bit more inspired to get this book moving along. I tried to make this chapter a bit lighter because the last chapter was a bit heavier.

Character Spotlight:

Name: Cashire Sakurai

Quirk: Social Veil

Likes: Puzzles