A Friend in Need

A shining black taxi wove through the mountains north of Kyoto. The gray light of predawn weakly illuminated the landscape. The taxi’s lights flickered on and off as its sensors caught a stray sunbeam one moment before losing it the next. Driving the taxi was an old man with tired eyes. The wavy white text of his quirk read:

Sitting in the back was a familiar young man in a video call with a dearly missed woman..

{“So, now I’m heading to her house to… I dunno, help? Any advice?”}

Christopher Cain asked. Faith frowned at the question. In the background of her feed were the white walls of an office break room. Christopher could hear the faint murmurs of conversation in the background. Apparently, she’d pulled on an all-nighter upgrading the company’s servers and was just about to head home to sleep when Christopher had called her.

{“She told you she’s not okay and that she needs help…”}

{“Right.”} Christopher nodded.

{“Then when you asked when and where she just apologized and told you to forget about it then stopped answering.”}

{“Right.”}

{“So, now you’re going to her house first thing in the morning because she’s an idiot.”}

{“… don’t know about that last part, but right.”}

“…” Faith bit her lip. Christopher perked up.

{“Do you know something?”}

{“I don’t know what I’m allowed to say.”} Faith admitted. {“I was told in confidence.”}

{“Okay.”}

{“Sorry.”}

{“Don’t be sorry, but… can you give me any advice? Without breaking confidence.”}

{“Listen.”}

{“Yeah, I know that.”}

{“No, I mean, when you said you were going there to help? No, you aren’t. She wants to be heard, not lectured.”}

{“So, I need to shut up?”}

{“Yeah.”}

{“… I can do that.”}

Faith smiled. {“You sure? You never skip a call~”}

{“I have this girl I love and I miss her.”}

Faith covered her mouth to hide her growing smile. {“You suck.”}

Christopher smiled gently. {“I really do miss her.”}

{“Shut up.”} Faith begged.

{“She just up and left me for the big city life in Seoul.”}

{“Maybe she’d’ve stayed if you asked~”}

{“There’s an idea, we could’ve gotten some coffee after my PT in the morning.”}

{“… after your PT.”}

{“Yeah.”}

{“Y-you’d shower first right?”}

Christopher grinned.

{“You’d shower first right?!”}

{“Who knows~?”}

“Ewww.”

{“Aren’t girls supposed to like the musk of the man they love?”}

{“That’s fetishists!”}

Christopher heard a sound in the background of Faith’s call. A sound similar to an amused snort. Faith’s face turned a brilliant shade of crimson. She switched to Japanese.

“I think one of my coworkers speaks English,” Faith whispered.

“So… everything we just said.”

“I’m gonna die.”

Christopher was silently grateful Faith hadn’t broken whatever confidence she held about Orochi’s situation. He hadn’t really thought of the other people eavesdropping, stupid of him.

“I’m gonna…” Faith whispered weakly. Hand over her face. “I’m gonna hang up, go home, and curl into a ball. I love you.”

The sight of Faith’s embarrassed face made Christopher grin wickedly. She was so worried that someone might’ve overheard their teasing. He couldn’t help but wonder how embarrassed she’d be if he made that a certainty.

“난 네 거야.”

Faith hung up before the last syllable left his lips. Christopher’s smile only grew. The sight of her face the split second before she ended the call would stick with him the rest of the day. He just wished he’d been fast enough to screenshot her--

{“Quite a girl you have there.”} The driver’s perfect English shot through Christopher like a bolt of lightning. He looked up, his mind was blank. He met the driver’s eyes through the rearview mirror. He was smiling.

{“I hope everything goes well between you two.”}

Christopher’s face invented new shades of red.

---

Christopher Cain stepped out of the taxi and looked at the large gate which guarded his destination. The massive iron gate basked in the red light of dawn, looking every bit like the gates of Hell.

Christopher frowned. He wasn’t able to see the mansion beyond the gate. He held his hand over his eyes to block out the sun’s light. Even so protected, he couldn’t make out his destination through the dense foliage in front of him. He suspected he was in for a long walk.

{“Are you sure you don’t want me to wait?”} The taxi driver asked.

Christopher waved the man off without looking at him. The color of his cheeks was mercifully hidden beneath the sun’s light. The taxi driver laughed heartily and began his trek down the mountain.

Christopher shook off his embarrassment and made for the imposing gate. At the right of the gate, nearly hidden from the road, was a small wooden guardhouse with a sloped tile roof and an open window facing the main road.

Sitting in the guard house was a very tired-looking middle-aged man working on a crossword puzzle. He looked up at Christopher and muttered a tired ‘hey.’ He looked back down at his crossword puzzle. He blinked. He looked back up again and stared at the new arrival in shock. He stared at Christopher for a solid three minutes before Christopher cleared his throat.

“I’m here to see Orochi.”

“Is she expecting you?” The guard asked incredulously.

“… maybe?” Christopher responded. He had said he was coming over today, but the idiot had left him on read.

“…” The guard’s eyes narrowed. “Name?”

“Christopher Cain.”

“Relation to Atsushi-san?”

“Classmate.”

“Reason for your visit?”

“Personal call,” Christopher answered cryptically.

The guard’s eyes narrowed more until it felt like Christopher was staring into a pit viper’s slits. Christopher frowned. He looked above the guard’s head.

Christopher felt like the quirk’s name promised something a lot more interesting than the ability. He felt Hitomi stir against his neck. She was agitated by the guard’s growing hostility. He mentally pressed her into calm.

“I’ll have to call the main house.”

“That’s fine.”

“Don’t move.”

Christopher held his hands at his side as the guard pulled out a satellite phone and dialed a number. It rang once, twice, three times.

‘Maaaybe I should’ve come a little later.’ Christopher thought as the sun finished its lazy rise over the mountains and began its long transition from the ruby light of dawn to the golden light of morning.

Christopher heard a faint click as someone answered the guard’s call.

“Hello?” The guard asked. He perked up when a man’s voice sounded over the receiver.

“~~~”

“Sir!”

“~~~~?”

“Well, no, not a problem per se, there’s a boy here. He says he’s here to see Orochi.”

“!!! ~~?”

“Uh,” the guard was briefly confused. He glanced at Christopher uncertainly. Christopher raised an eyebrow as if asking ‘the fuck am I supposed to do to help?’ The guard sighed. “Christopher Cain?”

“~!!!! ~~~~--”

“I don’t think he’s--”

“~~~!”

“Right away sir.” With that, the guard pushed a button next to his window, just out of Christopher’s view. The iron gates swung inward with a soft whine. The guard looked at Christopher again. The suspicion he’d had earlier was gone. It was replaced by something approaching… pity. “Good luck.”

Christopher said nothing as he walked past the guardhouse and towards the manor, though cold doubt crept into the pit of his stomach. Just what was said on that call?

Christopher walked the winding path toward the manor. Lillies lined the walkway. Massive orange and white Koi swam in peace ponds beside the path, they stuck their heads above water at Christopher’s passing, in the vain hope he’d be the one feeding them this morning. Brightly plumed birds sang in barren cherry blossom trees.

‘… bit excessive yeah?’ Christopher thought wryly as he finally caught sight of the manor.

The Atsushi Manor rested in a beautiful valley. The massive structure stretched out like a serpent basking in the sun. Long walkways connected different buildings in a maze of wealth. The dark tiled roofs caught the light of the newborn sun, giving them a burnished gold glare.

Christopher, nonplussed by the opulence of the sight, grumbled. He still had another kilometer before he finally hit his destination. With a huff, he began his long descent into the valley.

“I swear to shit if she turns me away after all this walking--”

VRRRRRRR The high-pitched whine of an electric engine interrupted Christopher’s thoughts. Stopping in his tracks, he spotted the faint white outline of a golf kart speeding from the manor up the path. A cloud of dust billowed behind it.

In the blink of an eye, the golf cart screeched to stop in front of Christopher. Driving the cart was an exceptionally handsome horned man that Christopher recognized from the history books.

The man smiled at Christopher. “Cain-san! I’ve been looking forward to meeting you!” The man stepped out of the golf cart and approached Christopher with an outstretched hand. He was Atsushi Yamamoto, the former number 5 hero of Japan and the first mutant to crack the top 10.

“I’m Atsushi Yamamoto!” He grabbed Christopher’s hand in a bone-crushing grip. “My daughter’s told me a lot about you.”

Christopher managed a smile through the pain. “Nice to meet you, sir. Sorry about the sudden visit, but I thought Orochi needed some company.”

“Oh? And what made you think that?” Yamamoto asked, not releasing Christopher’s hand.

“She asked for me,” Christopher answered.

“Ah.” Yamamoto blinked, troubled. “Hrm,” he released Christopher’s hand.

Christopher gratefully massaged the freed appendage.

Yamamoto studied Christopher a moment longer. He sized the young man up. It was like he was trying to decide if the boy in front of him was equal to the task of talking to his daughter. Eventually, he relented.

“Alright, let me give you a ride down to the mansion and we can wait for my princess to wake up.”

Christopher raised an eyebrow at the pet name but said nothing as they climbed into the golf cart. Yamamoto turned the golf cart around and set off towards the house.

Despite the blistering speed the golf cart had zoomed on its way to pick him up, Yamamoto seemed content to let the cart idly wind its way down the valley at a relaxed pace. It’d probably take them five minutes to make it to the mansion at this speed, but if Orochi was still asleep that didn’t matter.

“Do you know what’s going on with my little girl?” Yamamoto asked out of the blue.

“No,” Christopher answered truthfully.

“If you did, would you tell me?”

“Yes.” Christopher lied.

Yamamoto smiled. “You’re a bad liar.”

Christopher bristled. He was a pretty fucking good liar, thank you!

“It wouldn’t be my place,” Christopher admitted.

“True. If my daughter wanted me to know she’d tell me, though why she asked you and not me has me curious. Do you know why?”

“Not a clue.”

“Hrm, perhaps I may hazard a guess? I happened to hear about two students who got into some trouble a few months ago.”

“Did you? From whom?”

“From my nephew, Seiryu.”

“O-oh.”

“He told me a story of two Shiketsu students being where they shouldn’t be and doing what they definitely shouldn’t be doing. Would you know anything about that?”

Christopher looked away. He watched the passing trees. His mind was blank. He didn’t want to remember his most foolish night. “If I did?”

“… then perhaps you ARE the right person to talk to my daughter.”

Christopher looked back at Yamamoto, eyes narrowed. He waited for the man to continue.

Yamamoto did.

“She has been feeling… powerless I think. She has ever since her encounter with Feral. She wants to… regain her power. To feel in control. I don’t know how she’s trying to regain it, but whatever method she’s chosen, it’s made her feel guilty, conflicted.”

“After losing to the Five, you might know the feeling of powerlessness she experienced.”

“Assuming I’m one of the students your nephew told you about.”

“Of course.” Yamamoto allowed with a smile.

Christopher couldn’t read Yamamoto. He felt like Yamamoto knew more about what was going on with his daughter than he let on… and his reference to Christopher’s own transgressions painted a faint outline of what Orochi might be up to and why she was doing it.

Christopher looked at his hands. ‘… powerless huh?’ He’d certainly felt that way before.

Christopher tugged at Hitomi in her necklace form. Hitomi bristled but kept her peace. IF Orochi was feeling powerless, well, he knew that feeling well… perhaps it was better to say he used to. He didn’t feel powerless anymore--

Hitomi stirred.

--but he didn’t know what had changed. Maybe Faith was right, maybe the only thing he was here to do was listen.

“But enough of that!” Yamamoto exclaimed. He grinned mischievously. “How do you feel about family photos?”

---

Orochi woke. She stifled a whine. She put an arm over her eyes. Her worst fears from last night were realized! She’d woken up.

Her tails lay across her body haphazardly. Her rightmost tail blinked at her as she sat up. He yawned lazily before rolling away from her.

With a groan, Orochi sat up and popped her back with a loud crack. Her tails began to order themselves, weakly snapping at each other as they fell into position. Standing, Orochi briefly considered changing out of her nightgown. She dismissed the effort required as a halcyon dream and left her room.

Orochi walked through the halls in a malaise, heading for the kitchen. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the care one might give sand paper. She heard voices. Probably Mom and Dad talking over breakfast. A faint hope blossomed in Orochi’s chest. Maybe they’d be so engrossed in their conversation that they wouldn’t notice her sneak in. Maybe she’d be able to steal some cereal and get back to her room before--

“And this is when she wore her potty as a hat! Isn’t she adorable?!” Orochi’s father exclaimed. She raised an eyebrow, who the Hell would he show those old pictures to? Certainly not mo--

“… yes?”

Orochi froze at that voice. Christopher. What was he doing here?! The memories of last night came flooding back.

Chris, I’m not okay, I need help.
Where do you want to meet?
I’m sorry, I don’t mean to bother you.
I’m being a pest.
You’re not. Where and when?
Just… forget it okay?
No. Where and when?
Seriously, I’m fine, just being dramatic, you know me!
Want to meet at the arcade?
I’m fine. Seriously, thanks for caring.
Pick a time and place or I will come to your house.

Orochi had laughed at that last one. She’d needed a laugh. She’d silently thanked Chris again before rolling over and falling asleep. She’d thought that’d been a joke. It HAD to be a joke...

“Oh, here she is in Kindergarten!”

“Is her tail eating a shoe?”

“She had a big appetite.”

… It hadn’t been a joke.

Orochi nearly ran back to her room and locked the door. She couldn’t face Chris, not like this. Not after texting him that weepy shit and then trying to blow him off. Maybe if she stayed in bed all day he’d give up on her and go home--

“Oh, wait until we get to middle school! She was soooooooo cute.”

THE BRACES!

Orochi burst into the kitchen. Christopher and her father were sitting at the counter, a stack of photo albums between them. The dreaded Middle School album was in front of them. Her father grinned widely. Christopher wore the vacant expression familiar to all who’ve listened to a doting father for an hour.

Yamamoto began to open the middle school album. Christopher grimaced. Orochi moved!

In a flash, Orochi was across the room at the table. Her hand shot forward! Christopher saw her and sighed in relief.

“Hey Orochi how’re yooOOUU?!”

She grabbed Christopher’s arm and pulled him away from the kitchen table in a hurry.

“Huh?! Orochi! I was just going to show him a few more albums!” Yamamoto protested. She ignored him. She dragged Christopher out of the kitchen into the main hall without a word. Her father’s sighs were lost to her pitiless ears.

Christopher, the witless victim of the Atsushi family, let himself be dragged.

“Not a word.” Orochi hissed. Her right head glared back at Christopher and bared his fangs menacingly.

“Where are we going?” Christopher asked, foolishly risking four whole words.

“The gardens!” Orochi snapped.

“Uh…”

“What?”

“You sure you’re dressed for that?”

Orochi stopped dead in her tracks. She looked down. She wasn’t precisely indecent, her nighty covered all the important bits… but she wasn’t precisely decent either. She’d be embarrassed if it wasn’t Chris. She let go of Christopher’s arm with a sigh. “Wait here.”

“… what if your dad finds me?”

“Fight,” Orochi answered before disappearing into her room. Christopher was left to ponder whether Orochi was serious or not.

---

Christopher and a properly attired Orochi sat next to each other on a bench overlooking a small pond. The Koi swam happily, their bellies full. The two hadn’t said a word since Orochi finished changing. She was embarrassed over the circumstances that brought her friend to her home. He was thankful for the quiet after enduring an hour of fatherly reminiscing.

“… didn’t think you’d come.” Orochi broke the silence.

“I said I would.”

“I said you didn’t need to.”

“You’re a shit liar.”

“… okay.”

“…”

“…”

Christopher tried to follow Faith’s advice. He tried to wait for Orochi to talk first, to listen, but the minutes passed and there was no sign of Orochi doing more than feeling sorry for herself. Eventually, he broke.

“… you wanted to talk?”

“I don’t know where to start,” Orochi admitted.

“With whatever’s on your mind I guess.”

Orochi closed her eyes and took a ragged breath. “Why do you want to be a hero?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s on my mind.”

“…”

Orochi sighed. She’d figured as much. “If you don’t want to answer that’s fine.”

“No, it’s okay. My mom, she died in the line of duty.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks... I guess, I just wanted to do what she did? Maybe by doing that, I could hold onto a piece of her.”

Orochi nodded like that was convincing.

“Why do you want to be a hero?”

“…”

“If you don’t want to--”

“I don’t know if I do!” Orochi shouted. Christopher shut up.

Orochi started to rant.“My mom, my dad, my sister, my cousin, they’re all heroes. Great heroes. My dad was in the top 10! I didn’t choose the life, not really… I fell into it, and I thought it was for me, but then….”

Christopher didn’t speak, but the next word, the name was on both their minds. ‘Feral.’

“It was scary.” Orochi started to babble. She clutched her right arm with her left hand, blood flowed. “It was so fucking scary. I thought I could heal through everything. Gunshots, knives, everything! But then, that monster just kept tearing into me again and again until... I stop healing. I saw my guts hanging out of my stomach Chris and—and they weren’t going back in. They were just there. Bleeding. Hanging there. I was-- It hurt. I knew. I KNEW I was gonna die.”

“…” Christopher could do nothing but listen. She was incoherent, babbling, lost in memory and shame. A state of mind Christopher knew well.

“If Kaylee, Yui, and you hadn’t gotten there, I’d be dead. I had to be saved. I was THANKFUL to be saved. That’s not right, right? A hero’s supposed to be doing the saving right? She shouldn’t NEED to be saved.”

Christopher shook his head. “Not how that works.”

“It should be.”

“I—”

“After I got out of the Hospital.” Orochi interrupted. She was so worked up she felt sweat bead on her brow. Her breathing came in ragged choked sobs. “I ran into an old friend. My gang from back in the day. She was so strong. She didn’t need saving. None of my old gang did!”

The wind left Orochi’s sails as she finally came to her confession. What she was about to say she couldn’t take back. “So, I… I joined them again.”

“…”

“I joined them,” Orochi repeated.

“The gang?”

“Yeah, Hell, I went and became their leader again.” Orochi babbled, her words a tangled mess of loops and heartfelt meaning. “I thought, ‘Hey, these guys are strong, they don’t need to be rescued. Maybe… I can be strong like them. Maybe I used to be strong before I left. Maybe if I just joined them again!’” She looked at Christopher. “I’m not. I beat every member of my gang. I’m the leader, but I haven’t changed. Every time I think of that… monster, I’m scared. I close my eyes, she’s tearing into me. She’s EATING me. My guts, everything, just hanging from her claws and mouth. Treating me like a bottomless bucket of meat--”

Orochi held her head in her hands, she seemed to realize just how little sense she was making. She knew what she must sound like, a raving lunatic, a criminal, a fraud. “--and now I’m dumping it on you. Hoping you’ll rescue me AGAIN. I’m so fucking pathetic.”

The hydra heads closed around her, hugging her. That gesture from her own quirk just made her feel worse. Poisoned sweat beaded through her clothes. She knew she couldn’t be comforted by anyone else. How miserable can a girl be--

Christopher put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “You’re not pathetic.”

Orochi tore herself away and stood! The stupid fuck had forgotten about her poison!

“Chris--!”

“Your dad gave me the anti-toxin.” Christopher smiled thinly. The color had drained from his face. The poison was still having an effect on him, but it wasn’t severe.

“That’s not immunity! You shouldn’t risk--”

“You know what I saw when we ‘rescued’ you?” Christopher grinned wide. Orochi could remember the moment he saw her well, the look of fear on Christopher’s face as he saw her guts spilled over the ground. As he saw how pathetic a regenerator pushed past her limits looked.

“The people running away. Three dozen people were running down that street. People Feral hadn’t gotten to because you were there.”

Orochi sat down bewildered. She could see Christopher’s face when he got to her. When she lay dying in the street. That look of fear in his eyes had stuck with her for weeks after, but… was it fear? Now that she remembered him again, there was something beneath the fear. An expression she couldn’t place.

Christopher kept going. He was wobbling from the poison, and his mind started spinning, but his voice was still strong. “Whether you want to be a hero or a gang leader, that’s your decision, I can’t stop you, but I want you to know, on that day, that day you thought you were powerless, the day you had to be rescued? You were my hero.”