Chapter 112: Chapter 112

Jin’s POV
   Even though it’s Christmas, it still doesn’t change the fact that students around Japan have to go to school. Or it should have been. A huge blizzard has started ever since midnight, and it’s been continuing for hours. By the time it was near school hours, it had been declared that train stations and most importantly schools will be closed for the day. It’s going to be a good day for Jin-

   RING! RING! RING!

   Jin picks up his phone so that he could check who’s calling him. It’s Sergeant Wakaba. Jin lets out a sigh. So much for having a good day.

   “Good morning, Sergeant Wakaba. I take it that you didn’t call me to wish me Merry Christmas.”

   “Good morning, Minase-kun. I’m afraid not.”

   Another sigh from Jin.

   “So, what’s the trouble?”

   “The Ryuuzaki siblings and their subordinates are gathering around at the park near Shinjuku Train Station.”

   “Maybe they’re having a snowball fight.” Jin suggests.

   “Maybe. Then again, there’s also a chance that they’re planning to do something dangerous.”

   “Why don’t you just ask them?”

   “A police officer did just that. Let’s just say that he barely escaped with his life.”

   Jin shakes his head. It would seem that Tatsuma still hates the police force for what happened to his father.

   “Understood. I’ll go ask them instead.”

   “Thank you. Sorry for bothering you this early in the morning, what with the school being closed for the day and all.”

   “Please don’t mind it. As I’ve said several times before, this is part of my job.”

   Even though he said that, he still feels cranky that his day off was interrupted. They better have a good reason for this, or he’s going to bury them under all that snow. He got up from his bed and left his bedroom once he got changed.

   As usual, Nyri the Elder Dragon is glued to the television first thing in the morning.

   “I’m heading out right now. Deal with your breakfast yourself.” Jin tells her as he’s heading to the front door.

   “Sure thing. I’ll just order takeout again.” she replies without looking away from the screen. “Will you be back before lunch?”

   “It kind of depends. I’ll message you if I can’t make it back on time.”

   “Sure. And just so you know, you still owe me a luxurious meal.”

   “Yes, I do remember. Don’t expect it to be tonight, though.”

   “I’m not. I know that all the fancy places would be full of customers.”

   “I’m glad that you’re so understanding. Well, I’m off.”

   “Be careful out there.”

   And so, Jin left his apartment and headed to the park Sergeant Wakaba while wearing his armor. The distance between his apartment and the park was very close, which is why he could reach it in less than 2 minutes-

   “SORRY FOR THE WAIT, ALL OF YOU!”

   That was definitely Zheng Sheng Da, the really loud boy. Emphasize on the word “loud”.

   Now that Jin is closer to his destination, he could see dozens of people at the park, with all of them being teenagers who’re wearing thick clothes to combat the cold weather. He managed to find Tatsuma and landed right in front of him.

   “Gah! Where did you come from?”

   The younger boy was so surprised at Jin’s sudden appearance he took one step back.

   “What are you morons doing here this early in the morning?” Jin asks Tatsuma bluntly.

   The latter overcame the shock of Jin appearing out of nowhere pretty quickly and shrugged at the question.

   “We’re just hanging out and having fun.”

   “You are?”

   Jin looks around. Some of the gang members are holding snowballs, two are making a snowman, and one is lying on the ground.

   “Miko, don’t sleep on the ground!”

   “Am not~! I’m just making snow angels~!”

   “Well get up before you catch a cold!”

   “Just a little bit more~. You should join me too, Mii-chan~.”

   “Yeah, not happening.”

   Generally, there’s no hostile atmosphere, not even after Jin arrived.

   “Hmm. Guess it was just a false alarm…” Jin mumbles to himself.

   Tatsuma has a hostile look on his face in an instant.

   “Did a cop snitch on us?” he demands.

   “”Snitch” is too strong a word. More like informed.”

   “Doesn’t matter! They should just mind their own business!”

   “This IS their business.” Jin reminds Tatsuma pointedly. “Anyone would be concerned if a yakuza gang appeared in a public park.”

   “Like I told you, we were just here to have some fun!”

   “Right. And it would have killed you to tell the same thing to the police who approached you.”

   “I don’t answer to lap dogs who work for the Government!” Tatsuma says defiantly.

   “Careful. Remember that I work for them too.”

   “Oh, you know what I mean!”

   Zheng steps in between the two boys.

   “NOW, NOW! LET’S JUST ENJOY THE SNOW TOGETHER, SHALL WE?” he asks in his usual loud tone.

   “No thanks. I never cared for it.” Jin declines.

   He was about to leave when Fang, the soft-spoken girl, walked over to him. She points her finger at a half-made snowman. She then opens and closes her mouth a few times.

   “FANG WAS HOPING THAT YOU WOULD JOIN US TO MAKE ENOUGH SNOWMEN TO COVER THIS ENTIRE PARK!” Zheng translates.

   Jin lets out a soft sigh.

   “Fine, I’ll stay for a bit.” he relents. “But I’ll help with just one, okay?”

   Fang agrees by nodding her head a few times.

   “WELL THEN, LET’S DO THIS!” Zheng says while cracking his fists.

   All of a sudden, everyone is starting to roll up snow so that they could make snowballs large enough which will in turn be used to make snowmen. Jin is making one together with Fang and Zheng, the Ryuuzaki siblings are making one, and the others who’re present also formed groups of their own. After doing this for a while, Jin notices that someone is missing.

   “Say, where’s King?”

   “Oh, her? She had to celebrate Christmas together with her family in England.” Tatsuma answers.

   “You don’t sound like you miss her.” Jin notices.

   “Why should I? Things are so quiet without her around. The longer she stays in her home country, the happier I am.”

   Wordlessly, Jin looks at Zheng.

   “Well, mostly anyway.” Tatsuma corrects himself.

   “You do realize that she’s going to come back here the moment she’s done celebrating, right?” Jin asks.

   Tatsuma groans.

   “Don’t remind me. By the way, are you really going to do this while wearing that armor? It’s kind of out of place.”

   “I can’t help it. I need this to conceal my identity.”

   “Don’t you have magic that could help with that?”

   “Spells can be easily dispelled and nullified. The metal this armor is made from, it’s called adamantium, by the way, has anti-magic properties, so it’s more reliable.” Jin explains.

   “Huh. Still, you can just take it off. You can trust us with your real identity. We won’t tell another soul.”

   “If you’re worried about passers-by, I’ll make sure that they’ll see you as a hazy cloud with my ability.” Mika assures.

   Admittedly, if Jin was still back at Ifezan, there’s no way he would have done it. The first lesson he learned there is to trust no one, no matter how trustworthy they seem. Still, something made him trust this group of people. A tiny part inside him made him feel that he’s going to regret this later on. Ah well.

   Jin makes his armor disappear, thus showing who he really is. Tatsuma’s eyes got as wide as dinner plates.

   “You! I remember you! You were at the okonomiyaki restaurant!”

   Jin shrugs. “I was hungry.”

   “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. What’s your name, by the way? Your real name.”

   “Minase Jin.”

   “Nice to meet you, Minase.”

   “That’s Minase-SAN to you. I’m two years older than you.”

   “Ah, who cares about formality? Now let’s finish up this snowman.”

   Fang opens and closes her mouth while looking at Jin.

   “SHE WAS WONDERING IF YOU AREN’T COLD SINCE YOU’RE WEARING THIN CLOTHES!” Zheng translates.

   “No worries. I’m using a simple Spell to keep myself warm.” Jin assures her.

   Fang looked a lot more relieved after the assurance.

   “You’re making yours too big, Miko!”

   “Am not~! You’re the one who’s making yours too small~!”

   “Of course it’s supposed to be small! It’s the head!”

   “Oh, just pipe down you two. It’s just a snowman.”

   “Hey, don’t casually make an even smaller one than mine!”

   “No fair, Mi-chan~! I want mine to be the head~!”

   “The faster one wins, simple as that.”

   How rowdy, but somehow it’s kind of heart-warming. If things were different, maybe, just maybe, Jin and Shino might have gotten along like these three.

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   “Hey, is something wrong?” Tatsuma asks Jin all of a sudden. “You were kind of spaced out for a bit there.”

   That brought Jin back to reality.

   “Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing.”

   Tatsuma shrugs. “If you say so.”

   Fang has stopped moving her hands too. When Jin looks at her face, she’s putting on a slightly envious expression, not to mention a little lonely.

   “SAY, MINASE! I’M GETTING KIND OF THIRSTY! CAN YOU ACCOMPANY ME TO THAT VENDING MACHINE OVER THERE?” Zheng asks Jin all of a sudden.

   “Um, sure. And could you not blare up my family name like that? Someone might overhear it.”

   “MY APOLOGIES! DO ANYONE OF YOU WANT SOMETHING WHILE I’M AT IT?”

   No one does. And so, Jin accompanied the Chinese to head to the nearest vending machine.

   “Go on, pick anything you like. My treat.” Zheng tells Jin.

   Jin blinks a few times in surprise. He was absolutely not expecting Zheng to speak in a normal volume.

   “You were actually able to speak with a volume that won’t make people go deaf?”

   Zheng laughs at the question.

   “I’m really sorry about raising my voice all the time.” he apologizes. “I have a reason for it.”

   “It’s Fang, isn’t it?” Jin guesses.

   “Sure is.”

   Zheng fed some coins into the machine and looked at Jin while gesturing at it. Jin took up on his offer and pressed one of the buttons so that a bottle of green tea came out of it. Zheng chose a can of warm red bean soup.

   “Fang and I lived in China when we were still kids.” Zheng begins. “My family ran a local mafia gang, and her father was a doctor who specialized in acupuncture and Chinese herbs. Despite the huge difference in background, the two families always got along well. Me, Fang and her five brothers and sisters played with each other pretty much all the time. Those were the real fun times…”

   Zheng’s nostalgic expression turned grim and serious next.

   “Disaster struck when both Fang and I were nine. Fang’s family got caught up in a turf fight between my family and another gang. As a result, her father and all her siblings were murdered. The worst part is, all of them died right in front of her.”

   Zheng crushed the can of half-drank red bean soup with his hand.

   “I was there too. But I couldn’t do a single thing.” he whispers. “My parents arrived on time and rescued us both, but it was too late for her family. Fang was so traumatized by the incident she lost her ability to speak. For some weird reason, though, I could understand what she’s saying when she opens and closes her mouth.”

   “And you’re always talking really loudly because…?”

   “I figured that since she couldn’t talk, I should talk loud enough for two people.”

   “...You know, there’s such a thing as speaking twice as much. It’s a pain either way, but I prefer the latter. Particularly when my hearing is at stake.”

   Another laugh from Zheng.

   “Sorry about that. I’m not really a talker, you see.”

   “And? What’s the ending of the story?”

   “Nothing much, really. My parents figured that Fang should leave China to forget about the tragedy as much as possible, so they suggested that she come to Japan. Although she agreed to it, I can’t bear the thought of leaving her all alone, so here I am.”

   Zheng threw away the crumpled can he was holding and bought a new one from the machine.

   “Sorry for the long story.” he apologizes next. “You looked like you wanted to ask Fang whether she’s all right when she had that lonely look on her face, so I had to stop you.”

   Jin shrugs. “No apologies needed. You were just worried that I might trigger her trauma, that’s all. Still, it’s nice of you to care about her and all, but what about you? Didn’t you leave your own family in China?”

   “Ah, that. Well, I made sure to give them a call everyday, and I also go visit them in person at least once a month.”

   “Must be a real pain.”

   “Not at all. They’re my family, after all. I don’t want to jinx things and all, but you know our family business. Who knows what might happen in the future. Best to keep things nice and afloat while we have the chance. Anyway, let’s not keep the others waiting and head back.”

   “Right.”

   …“Best to keep things nice and afloat while we have the chance”, huh?

   After the two of them went back, their snowman was completed without any issue. Fang takes out her phone and snaps pictures of it happily. On a side note, the Ryuuzaki siblings were still arguing about whose snowball would be used as the head of their snowman.

   “Well, I’m leaving.” Jin says to everyone present.

   Tatsuma stops arguing with his sisters at once.

   “Already?” he asks.

   “Yup. I have something to attend to.”

   “Well, see you, then. Do come and hang out at our place once in a while.”

   “No promises.”

   He nods politely at Fang. The girl nods back and mouths something. However, Zheng didn’t translate what she just said. Even so, Jin could tell that she just mouthed “good luck” at him.

   …Does she have the power of mind-reading, by any chance?

   Before Jin leaves the park, he equips his armor again. And he made sure to report to Sergeant Wakaba. Once that’s done, he calls Meiko and asks her a favor. Thankfully, she agreed to it. He immediately flew to Kameda Shrine to get the things he needed from the half-oni. Finally, he flies over to Sanno Hospital where Shino is admitted to.

   This time, Jin flew straight to the window outside of her room while making sure that no one was looking. She’s lying down on her bed as usual. Her complexion looks much better than before, and she has gained some weight. And her eyes are red, proving that she had been crying. She also looks very lonely and dejected. Jin knocks on the window.

   She looked over, and her eyes got very wide upon seeing him. She got up from her bed and rushed to open the window.

   “What are you doing here?” she demands.

   Jin shrugs at the question.

   “I figured that someone wants company on this boring day.”

   “But, I can’t just leave here without people making a fuss!”

   “Hey, remember who you’re talking to? Just get changed into these.”

   He takes out the clothes he got from Meiko from his Vault.

   “Where did you get these?” she asks while eyeing them suspiciously.

   “From an acquaintance.”

   “And she just handed them over to you? Without asking any questions?”

   “Yup.”

   That’s precisely the reason Jin asked Meiko. Any other girls would still agree to lend him their clothes, but they’ll definitely be super annoying about it.

   Shino took the clothes and changed into them inside the bathroom. Jin waits patiently as she does so. Soon, she came out while wearing the clothes she just received.

   “It’s a bit baggy, but I guess it’ll do.”

   “Good.”

   Jin puts away his armor and casts Invisible on both of them. Shino gasps in surprise. Jin could still see her since he’s activating his Eyes of Truth.

   “Let’s go.”

   “Right behind you.”

   Once Jin placed a decoy to fool any staff that might come inside, the two of them left the hospital. Jin made sure to undo the Spell inside a quiet alley.

   As expected, the street is filled with pedestrians. Shino is taking in the views in front of her with sparkling eyes. Jin looks at the time. It’s almost lunchtime.

   “What do you want to eat for lunch?” he asks his younger sister.

   “It’s that time already? Hmm, how about there?”

   She points towards a M*sburger.

   “Sure. Let’s go.”

   As they head towards it, Jin texted Nyri to inform her that he won’t be back for lunch or even dinner and she’s to have those meals on her own.

   Once inside, they made their purchases and sat down with their food. Naturally, Jin paid for them.

   “What do you want to do after this?” he asks as he eats.

   Shino thinks about it for a moment.

    “I haven’t a clue.” she confesses. “This outing was too sudden, after all.”

   “Well, let’s just walk around first then. You'll be bound to think of something.”

   “Sure.”

   As they’re walking aimlessly on the street, they pass by quite a lot of couples, which is one too many for Jin’s liking. Shino notices his bitterness and lets out a snicker.

   “It must be pretty sad to be walking around here with your sister instead of your girlfriend!” she laughs.

   “Yeah, yeah. Keep laughing…” Jin grumbles.

   “That girl last time. Esty-san, was it? Don’t you two have a thing going?”

   “It’s complicated. I don’t want to bore you with the details.”

   “Either way, good luck with her.”

   “...Thanks, I guess.”

   As they walked, they ate, drank and played lots. Crepes stand, bubble tea shop, arcades, the Minase siblings went to all kinds of places. Jin is glad to see that circumstances aside, Shino is still enjoying herself.

   Soon, it’s nighttime, and they end their outing by having a simple dinner at a ramen shop. After lining up for almost two hours since pretty much everywhere is just as full of customers.

   “Thanks for the fun time, aniki!” Shino says happily as they head back to her room while being invisible once more.

   “Don’t mention it. Just don’t get used to it.”

   “And, um, well…”

   “Just spit it out.”

   “I’m sorry. For all the awful things I said and did to you.” she apologizes while looking really guilty.

   Jin scratches the side of his head.

   “Just, forget about it. It was all in the past. Good night and Merry Christmas.”

   “Yeah. Good night and Merry Christmas.”

   Jin may need a longer time to forgive his parents. He probably won’t even forgive them at all. Well, only time will tell.

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