[====]-[===]-[====]
Yoichi didn't think it was physically possible for him to put into words just how much relief he was currently feeling. Standing under a stream of boiling hot water, all he could do in this situation was groan in satisfaction, feeling the tension of his muscles lessen, and enjoy the moment whilst it lasted.
In the past three months he had spent on the run, all he had dreamt of—besides bringing an end to the war—was having a hot shower. But, as more and more hired guns began to appear with the intention of taking his head, such simple amenities, like having a shower, or brushing his teeth, became nothing more than a distant desire.
He had tried to push his luck once, in the very beginning. But, as was usual with his rotten luck, it had only ended with him having to kill a man whilst wearing nothing more than a towel. He still hadn't figured out who should have felt more humiliated in that moment.
"I still place my money on the hired gun—Kunieda? I think his name was?" An identical, almost perfect copy, of his own voice rang out from outside of the shower stall.
Yoichi couldn't help but sigh in frustration. "I'm trying to relax in here. Could you please stop reading my mind for once!"
"Your mind?" His clone scoffed, rattling the door of his stall. There was no doubt in Yoichi's mind that the copy was leaning against it. "We're one in the same person. Your mind is my mind, and my mind is your mind. I don't do it on purpose."
"Then learn to ignore it. I deserve some peace and quiet."
"Hey, I'm in complete agreement. So, why are you still talking?"
"You started it!"
"But I'm you, so really, you started it."
Yoichi had to try his best to refrain from screaming in frustration.
Whilst there were plenty of other Quirks he could have used to create a clone of himself with. They all paled in comparison to the Technique—Ultimate Move—he had created as a lonely child. Essence of The Shadow, allowed for one of the seven shadows he always had displayed around his body to come to life as a perfect replica of himself. Meaning, not only did they think, act, and move like him, but they were also able to use all of his Quirks and Techniques.
It made the Technique he had created as a bored child one of his most powerful for that simple fact alone. In the war, only one of him was considered enough to face entire armies. But seven of him? Just the sight of them all together had once brought a battle to an end, before it could even occur.
All of that, without mentioning the most important factor. Due to the years he had spent perfecting the Technique, the energy consumption required to keep it running was practically zero.
Though, it did have one serious downside to it. He had to deal with a literal copy of himself.
"Just..." He sighed tiredly, moving to start washing his hair. "...Just shut up and protect me."
His shadow blew a raspberry in response. "Bodyguard duty? Come on, that's boring, let me go out and wreck some havoc down in the Guild."
"No." He grumbled, scrubbing at the dried blood stuck in his hair.
Yoichi knew he could have just let his hair fall out and then forced it to regrow within a few seconds. It would have been the easier option, compared to cleaning his hair with just one hand and using various other Quirks, but he chose not to on purpose. Now that the war was over, he needed to start bringing some normality back to his life after the past two years. Doing something as normal as simply washing his hair, was a good first step, he had decided.
"Why not? Its not like anyone is stupid enough to try and attack you in here." His shadow loudly complained. Yoichi could practically imagine the grin on his face, as he spoke next. "Unless, of course, that incident with Kunieda, has made you scared to shower alone..."
"I am not above drowning you." Yoichi threatened, tugging at a knot in his hair as more bubbles began to coalesce around his body.
"You didn't answer the question..." His clone sang teasingly.
"I know. I was just letting you know the price you'd have to pay to get the truth out of me."
"Eh, there's no need to make such threats. You know I'd let you do it, simply for the fact that watching you drown yourself would be amusing."
"There's something wrong with your head."
"Well, only one of us is talking to himself right now, and as your identical clone..."
Yoichi sighed, not even bothering to offer any reply. Instead, he quietly prayed to any Gods that might exist, to hear his plea's, and grant him patience.
"...Tch, fine, spoil my fun."
"Shut up already."
[====]-[===]-[====]
It took Yoichi the better part of an hour to get himself entirely cleaned up and looking presentable. A rather long time, sure, but when he finally did step out of the shower room, he felt all the better for it, feeling almost lighter, in a way that he hadn't felt in a very long time.
Heat flowed freely through him, hissing out into the air all around him, as he made his way through the back of the Guild to where the main hall resided. Before he and Makarov had split ways, the Guild Master had told Yoichi to meet him at the bar, where he would be waiting to speak with him.
Yoichi would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't curious.
"Yoichi!" Makarov shouted, as he stepped out into the main hall, instantly getting his attention. Turning, he couldn't help but raise a brow at seeing the Guild Master sitting on the bars countertop, nursing a large bottle of wine. His cheeks looked a little red, though Yoichi wasn't sure if it was due to him being tipsy, or if it was because of some other reason. "I didn't know your hair was white!"
He couldn't blame the man for not knowing. He had accumulated so much dirt, grime, and blood on his hair over the past few months, that he himself had wondered at times if it would remain stained forever.
"I was born with it," He replied, brushing his hand through the white locks. His hair had grown long, reaching to his lower back and ending in curls. "The maroon was just from...bad hygiene, I guess you could say."
"I see, I see," Makarov nodded his head hurriedly, an easy and cheerful smile on his face. "Join me?"
Yoichi nodded his acceptance, taking the seat beside the old man with a small, satisfied sigh. It felt good to just sit down for a change, in some clean, and casual clothes, and not have to worry about being stabbed in the back. With the use of his Quirk, Inventory, he had been able to summon a spare change of clothes from the pocket dimension he always had following him. Now, he wore some faded blue jeans, a long sleeved black top that covered his body like a second skin, and a pair of new trainers he had found months ago but never had the chance to wear before.
"How are you feeling?" The Guild Master gently asked, turning away from the Guild to look at him.
"Honestly? No idea," He admitted with a shake of his head. "So much has happened so quickly, that I haven't had the chance to process anything yet."
It was true. He had gone from battling Tomura for nearly an entire week, to then not only winning but surviving the whole ordeal. Just for it all to be in-vain, as he got displaced in an entirely different world so very different to his own. If it were anybody else in his situation, they would have already gone insane. The only reason his sanity remained somewhat stable, was because all he had known in his life was chaos.
"That is understandable." Makarov told him. "Just know that you are welcome to remain here for as long as you need to."
"Thank you," Yoichi said, bowing his head slightly.
"No need to thank me," Makarov said, waving his hand, with a chuckle. "Its simply the right thing to do."
'He would have made for a good hero.' Yoichi couldn't help but think. The man had a good nature, and with his magical ability, he would have easily risen through the charts to become one of the top ten of any country he was a part of. It was something to be respected, he thought.
"Is your arm causing you any problems? I know how intense the pain can sometimes be."
Yoichi shook his head again. "I'm nullifying all of the pain my body is currently experiencing, so at the moment, no."
"Your nullifying...pain?" Makarov asked, blinking his eyes. "I thought your, um, ability, was something similar to Gildarts Crush, with some control over fire."
Thinking back to the two times Gildarts had showcased his magic, Yoichi couldn't blame the Master for thinking that both of them shared an identical power. The only real difference Yoichi had noticed between them, was that Cleave adjusted the power of its cutting strength depending on its targets toughness. Whilst Crush worked to simply destroy everything it came into contact with.
"No, my abilities, as you call them, are far more diverse." He revealed, showing his palm, and generating a spark of emerald lightning. "Really, I'm not entirely sure of what I can't do anymore."
That wasn't him being boastful of his strength either. His father had been around since the dawn of Quirks, and in that time, he had accumulated a large collection of them. It was a stock-pile of Quirks that both Yoichi and Tomura had each come to inherit at different times. One that only grew further, as Tomura went on to take nearly every Quirk humanity presently had, whilst Yoichi sought multiple audiences with the dead, to take away their Quirks.
It was a disgusting thing, what Yoichi had to do to accomplish his goal of killing his brother, but it was something he had deemed as a necessary sacrifice.
By the time they faced each other, both of them wielded a few billion Quirks each, and now, after Tomura's death, it had all fallen into Yoichi's hands.
In other words, he wasn't boasting about his strength. He was being truthful, because he really did have no idea of what he could do.
"That's...and you said you were weakened?" Makarov asked aghast.
Yoichi nodded his head. "Yeah, right now, a gust of wind would probably be able to take me out."
The joke had its intended purpose, as Makarov responded with a small chuckle, the edges of his eyes crinkling.
"You should get some rest then," The old Master said a moment later, sipping from his wine glass. "I would offer you to get some sleep in the dormitories. But, I have a feeling you wouldn't be able to relax properly in such a loud place."
Yoichi nodded his head. The man wasn't wrong in the slightest.
"I thought so," He said with a smile. "As such, I was planning to offer you the guest bedroom in my office. It'll be away from the main hall, so it'll be quiet, and only I would have the keys to it, so you wouldn't have to worry about anything."
"That actually sounds amazing," Yoichi said, letting out a sigh of relief.
Not that it meant he wouldn't be using Essence of The Shadow. Makarov might be the only one with access to the guest bedroom. But Yoichi hadn't survive for so long by blindly trusting in the words of others. It wasn't to say that Makarov was someone bad—he had actually shown himself to be quite the opposite. Yet, his trust-issues still acted up, not allowing him to believe so easily in others.
He had made that mistake before, and he had suffered for it, with wounds and scars that still ached to this day.
"Could you show me where it is? I would really like to just go to sleep no-" Yoichi's words were cut short, as the doors to the Guild were smashed wide open, and an oppressive, almost demonic presence, washed over the entire Guild.