Chapter 38: Chapter 36: Final Step
(pic for the symbol that the Death Church will use)
1 week later
"Tada!" Atsuhiro gestured to the onlookers watching him.
"How did you do that!" A grunt grabbed his hair in amazement not knowing how Atsuhiro just did that trick even after knowing about his quirk.
Shin was watching this unfold on the side seeing Atsuhiro perform for the people in the main compound like he had originally instructed some time ago.
Over the past week Shin had been doing miscellaneous tasks to get ready for when he would essentially commit mass chaos.
There was only one week left until the assassinations would take place and on that very day Shin would detonate the bombs he had been getting ready to plant.
Shin had decided that he would detonate the bombs on the day of the assaination since he thought it would be more optimal to have so many things confuse Shie to let his suicide seem more realistic in the future.
Even though he had ideas of letting him simmer for a day or two and have the people around him see his sudden depressed state, Shin thought this idea seemed better for the image and idea he was trying to portray.
He wanted to paint a picture that when the bombs went off, Shie would have to decide on whether to save innocents while sticking to his beliefs or strengthen the Yakuza while playing into his role as oyabun, and in turn would make it easier for the Yakuza to see how the guilt slowly eat away at Shie before he would eventually take his own life.
Part of the reason for even using the Aquary brand was simply because Shin wanted to drop their stock after he would release footage of them disguised as workers to the media.
Hospitals, elderly homes, playgrounds, hero agencies, stores, and even government buildings weren't spared in Shin's area of effect.
The more casualties and the more people with horrified eyes watching what the Death church would ensue upon Musutafu meant more opportunities for Shin.
The longer the borders of Musutafu were closed off, the more power Shin would accumulate, and for all of this the optimal time Shin wanted was one month though he could manage with two weeks.
Another reason for having them being seen on camera and CCTVs would be because he wanted to scare the association into the idea that the church of death was a very collected and well organized organization.
The more fear the government and the common people had for the Church Of Death the better and in fact there were even some eyes gazing upon the group but for different reasons.
The Death's Gospel had actually gone viral though only as a meme which was a blessing in disguise.
Almost everyone thought of it as a well crafted joke or an ad promotion for an upcoming book or movie but the saying 'there's not such thing as bad publicity' applies here and Shin didn't care to correct them.
The more eyes on it the better, Shin actually had even made several trash social media accounts and created several memes in hopes someone would try and steal it or repost it since he wanted it to spread as much as possible.
Shin had also been hacking into every emergency broadcast network in preparation for Atsuhiro's dramatic speech which he would give before the attack since he said it would 'Make for an even greater show' and Shin actually agreed with him.
Though right now Shin had instructed Atsuhiro to spend all his free time in this compound to bolster his reputation.
The results of this were that the Yakuza had been slowly warming up to Shin and his colleagues, and thanks to his persistent efforts even the oyabun had started to drop his guard causing the Yakuza around to take note of it.
Koji and Hari were the only ones not buying it though Shin could understand since both of them had strong beliefs that didn't easily deter them.
Atsuhiro had been genuinely trying his best to get closer to Hari however the guy was like stale bread in a sense that his whole personality is based around serving Shie, even when Atsuhiro would evidently try to steer the conversation into a different direction Hari would still managed to mention Shie.
Koji's displeasure however was obviously due to the fact that Shin had been more persistent in his efforts with Araki.
Araki had gotten so used to his company that she even started to set aside tasks for him to help out with once he arrived at the garden, which didn't make Koji too happy.
Slowly Shin had been getting closer to her as she had eventually warmed up to him enough to subconsciously allow him into her personal space without showing any discomfort.
But as of late Koji had been stopping him from trying anything further which he could understand since he was essentially going to steal his future wife.
The only thing he didn't achieve so far in his plan was turning Hari willingly; however it wasn't too big of an issue since one touch could change his mind if he started to get in his way.
"My watch!" The grunt gasped in amazement seeing Atsuhiro pull out his watch from his sleeve that instead should have been on his wrist.
Atsuhiro turned the watch into a marble then threw it over to the grunt who caught it, however when it expanded all that appeared was a rock.
"Huh?" The grunt tilted his head though his eyes widened seeing his watch back on his wrist.
"WHAT!"
*Gasp*
The crowd all gasped in amazement not knowing when the watch returned to his wrist as Atsuhiro bowed.
"I am Mr. Compress and I hope you were entertained." Atsuhiro wholeheartedly smiled under the mask seeing the amazed people in front of him gaze at him with stars in their eyes.
"Wow, Mr. Compress is really talented." Araki complemented while walking up to Shin's side.
"I agree it's why I recruited him." Shin calmly replied as Araki took a seat beside him while pushing her skirt under her bottom.
"Where did you manage to find such a unique character?" Araki asked while pushing some dangling strands of hair that had fallen into view to the back of her ear.
"He broke into my residence one day." Araki flinched at his calm response before chuckling, thinking it was a joke.
"Oh? You're serious." Araki put her hand up to her mouth in shock seeing Shin not laughing.
"Well like you said he's a character." Shin shrugged as Araki smiled thoughtfully.
The conversation went stale as Araki's face showed another reason for coming to him but Shin only waited for her to speak of her intentions instead of prying it out of her.
"Doc, why do you wear contacts?" She asked out of the blue and Shin showed her a weird look.
"To see?" Shin tilted his head, acting confused though Araki only sighed.
"I mean why do you hide your real eye color?" Araki leaned in with a stubborn expression showing she would not take any answer except the truth.
Shin remained silent though kept smiling under his mask as well as internally at her finally asking him about this since it had been annoying having these contacts on.
"From past experiences." Shin gave a vague answer though Araki didn't budge and remained silent contemplating what to say next.
"Is it the reason you hide part of your face with a mask?" Araki pestered him and Shin showed a fake shy look.
"Maybe I'm self conscious." Araki showed a deadpan expression as Shin chuckled.
"Why? Does it bother you?" Shin leaned in as they suddenly became a breath away from each other.
Araki though wasn't embarrassed in the slightest at Shin's actions and reached for his mask though he grabbed her fingers.
"It's considered rude to-" She boldly ripped off his mask with her other hand interrupting him but Shin never stopped her as his smile became unveiled.
"There's nothing wrong with your face?" Araki tilted her head a little confused expecting to find a hideous scar.
"Thank you?" Shin laughed, deciding to take off his fake contacts as well.
"Better?" Shin turned towards Araki who had a pensive look.
Araki's curiosity had gotten the better of her when she discovered that he might be hiding a different eye color.
This curiosity only deepened as her thoughts made their way towards the mask that Shin always had on.
"Speechless? I guess that's what I get for being so handsome." Shin arrogantly spoke, rubbing his chin as Araki rolled her eyes.
"No apology? Invading my personal space while expecting me to be horribly deformed, I think I'm due for an apology." Araki flinched, realizing she might have gone too far as she slowly turned towards him, seeing his smile.
"I apologize-" Shin leaned in, interrupting her as he kissed her lips mid-sentence.
A little surprised Araki widened her eyes though before she could push him away Shin had leaned back.
"I forgive you." Shin stood up as Araki remained speechless.
Araki's mouth hung agape as she watched Shin put his mask and contacts back on, then after he finished he turned to Araki and gently lifted her mouth, closing it while rubbing her lips.
"Y-You." Araki finally muttered out as her cheeks gained a strawberry color.
"I couldn't help it." Shin shrugged as he let go of her smooth chin along with her soft lips.
"But you....kissed me." She squeaked out as she didn't really know how to approach what he just did as she had been teetering on the prospect of being angry though she couldn't bring herself to yell at him.
"That is true I did do that." Shin nodded in reassurance as Araki remained speechless once again at how shameless he was.
"You can't-"
"Why not?" Shin tilted his head leaning in closer making her flinch.
Shin saw her confused/angry/speechless expression and decided to lead the conversation while he had her like this.
"How about I make it up to you by taking you out, just the two of us." Shin smiled but Araki turned her head, finally regaining her usual composure.
"Nice try." Araki huffed, clearly a little upset he all of a sudden kissed her out of the blue.
"That's too bad I really wanted to get to know you more." Shin showed a distressed look.
"Shameless." She side eyed him while glaring a bit.
"Is that a no?" Shin asked as Araki remained silent.
"Doc I can't I-"
"Because you're engaged to Koji right? I'm not asking you to marry me but to let me make it up to you, that's all." Shin assured Araki who hesitated while biting her lip.
She knew it seemed wrong to go out with another man but Shin worded in such a way to make her feel less guilty about agreeing to his proposal.
"Fine." Araki stood up though pulled the mask down again.
"But the mask and contacts remain off." Araki stated her conditions and Shin complied, taking off his contacts once again.
"Shall we?" Shin held out his hand, Araki gazed at it for a while before reluctantly taking it.
Shin then pulled her into his embrace though before she could express her discontent Shin suddenly propelled himself into the air with a stunned Araki in his arms.
"DOCT-" Shin covered her mouth since they were still in range of the first division.
"The first division might hear you." Shin casually shushed though Araki couldn't help but let out muffled shouts but Shin's hand blocked most of the output.
After a while of flying he landed in a remote place with no one around which made Araki push herself off of him while trying to calm down her fuzzy hair.
"What are you doing!" Araki yelled while pointing her finger angrily at him.
"Making it up to yoo-"
"No! I mean what if the association catches you using your quirk without a licens-"
"They won't." Shin reassured but Araki only crossed her arms.
Whenever Shin took off into the skies, he always used search to check for any heroes in the area and used this information to calculate courses to take without accidentally crossing paths with one.
"Araki I've done this before trust me when I say we won't get caught." Shin walked closer though Araki stepped back a couple steps still showing a frustrated expression.
"Tell me your name." Araki turned her back to him though still managed to turn her head to wait for a response.
"You call me by name but I have to call you Doc, I think I can forgive you if you tell me your name." Araki asked this since deep down she wanted to know more about Shin who had been circling around her mind as of late.
Shin walked closer to her but this time she didn't step back and waited for a response.
Turning her around Shin became even bolder and took her into another kiss, wrapping his arms around her while pulling her even deeper into his embrace.
This time however Araki suspected he would do this and instead of acting dumb, closed her eyes as she felt his tongue swirl and guide hers ever so gently before he gently released her.
"It's Shin." Shin smiled while caressing her cheek.
"You did it again." Araki scrunched her eyebrows though slowly untensed her muscles after feeling his soft touch.
"Didn't you say you would forgive me if I told you my name?" Araki sighed then chuckled at this statement while rolling her eyes.
"I did say that." Araki smiled beautifully though released herself from Shin's arms.
"Then SHIN where are you going to take me?" She gave him a toothy smile while twirling around a little.
"I was thinking about having some takayaki."
3 minutes later
"This is good." Araki covered her mouth as she began to chew some of the takayaki.
"You're right it's really amazing." Shin agreed after eating one of the takayaki off the skewer.
"Where are we going next?" Araki turned towards Shin who took her by the hand.
"I was thinking we should go to the park." Shin guided her as the tinge of red already present on her cheeks got a little darker.
The sun started to set as Shin led her to a nearby bench where they sat and finished the rest of their skewers.
"Shin this was nice...…..but I have a duty to uphold and I think this shouldn't go any further." Araki all of a sudden spoke out after a bit of slience.
"Do you even like Koji?" Shin inquired, scooting closer to her.
"It doesn't matter Shin, I have a sense of responsibility-"
Shin didn't let her finish again as the habit of interrupting her with a kiss had started to form.
For a second Araki became entranced in Shin's touch though pushed herself away showing a guilty expression.
Though Shin interlocked his fingers with hers intertwining them while bringing her back into his embrace.
"Shin, I can't." Araki bit her lip while turning her gaze towards the ground.
Shin lowered his head and brought his face right up against hers seeing her guilty expression, feeling his breath she looked up only for him to take her into another kiss.
Shin gently leaned in further as their lips maneuvered around until they clicked like two puzzle pieces.
Both tongues intertwined once more as Araki started to lose herself in Shin's warmth, seconds passed yet they remained in that fixed moment.
Araki didn't want it to end, seemingly knowing if she broke it then she would have to come to terms with her reality.
To her dismay though Shin broke their passionate kiss as she hit her head softly against his chest, her lips trembled as her eyes started to water.
"Stop." She sadly whispered as Shin released one of his hands while using it to guide her face up.
"Please." Shin didn't listen to her pleas as he brought her into another kiss.
His hand trailed down to her hip while pulling her body towards him until they finally touched, tears slowly fell from the corners of her eyes as her heart started to beat faster.
This time once they broke off the kiss they both panted as it left them breathless.
"Araki I'm sorry but I won't stop." Shin gently smiled as she rubbed her head against his touch.
"Shin." Araki grabbed his hand and Shin tentatively listened.
"Yes." Shin responded while rubbing her soft pink lips.
"No one can know, not even your subordinates." Araki turned her gaze downwards giving into the idea of them being together.
Araki personally had grown quite fond of Shin over the time they had spent together though she never thought further since she had responsibilities.
In fact everything in her life had already been decided by her father ever since she had been born including the decision for her to marry Koji.
They were to be wed once she turned twenty one however once the Yakuza had an internal conflict and split up it had brought problems.
The wedding had been pushed back and her fate had been delayed, then she met Shin and at first she didn't think too much of him other than the slander that had been spread throughout the compound but after getting to know him she saw something completely different.
Maybe it was in part due to the fact that this wasn't planned but Araki seemingly wanted to know more about Shin.
It was why she didn't immediately pull away from all of his advances because she wanted to know how he felt.
But through all of this Araki knew she would have to marry Koji and it was part of the reason she didn't want the relationship between them to go further since she had a feeling she might fall for him and in turn both would have to deal with the heart break that would eventually ensue.
"No one will know except us." Shin carefully returned her gaze towards him before leaning back in as their lips touched once more under the night sky.
In the main compound
"How may I help you Mr. Compress." Hari side-eyed Atsuhiro who revealed himself from the corner.
"I didn't mean to intrude, my apologies." Atsuhiro cordially bowed but Hari waved him off while returning back to his work.
"What is it?" Hari coldly spoke, wanting Atsuhiro to get to the point since after getting to know him, he had had the pleasure of understanding how he always dances around the reasoning behind his visits.
"Very well, I guess I won't dilly dally around my intentions today." Atsuhiro had a little hop to his step while slowly inching closer to Hari.
"I want to ask a favor." Atsuhiro adjusted his top hat and once he finished his words Hari stopped what he was doing.
"If you have something you want from the oyabun then-"
"This is something only you can do." Atsuhiro sat down in the chair in front of Hari's desk as he finally turned towards him.
"Is this about Koji?" Hari wasn't an idiot and knew that he had been recently more and more unpleasant in his descriptions of the Doctor.
"Yes, this is about Koji." Atsuhiro crossed his legs while nodding in confirmation.
Atsuhiro knew that he couldn't persuade Hari however he had a way that could slightly influence him, if Atsuhiro learned one thing from all of his encounters it's that Hari isn't unreasonable just loyal but this doesn't apply to Koji.
"I'm not someone who can sway Koji nor can I influence him." Hari tried to shut down Atsuhiro's metaphor though he swayed to the side and avoided it.
"That is true but I don't want you to do anything to Koji." Atsuiro calmly spoke, his smile under his mask extended as Hari fell right where he wanted him.
"I would like it if you would stop him from doing anything dramatic in front of the oyabun." This would be the angle Atushiro used from now on as Hari raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I do that?" Hari decided to listen to what this street magician had to say.
"Koji as you know bears a hatred for my boss and though it's fine to have a personal grudge, this could cause trouble for the oyabun in the future." Hari's brows scrunched at his words though didn't interrupt him.
"No offense but the Doctor is the most capable man in the oyabuns arsenal yet he never uses him or better yet underutilizes him." Atsuhiro explained as Hari showed a sour expression.
"Mr. Compress, please get to the point." Hari knew Atsuhiro was dancing around the point and he only chuckled.
"I'm saying that if a situation ever occurs in the future that requires someone of the Doctor's caliber that you don't discriminate because of time and experience." Atsuhiro concluded, Hari knew that Atsuhiro's words could be summed up into a shorter sentence being 'I would like you to have more trust in my boss' but Hari could understand.
The Yakuza had indeed been under-utilizing all three of them since they didn't know if they could trust them; however Hari saw the flaws in keeping someone with as much strength as these three on the shelf.
'Oyabun could benefit from using them more.' Hari's mind always turned back to the oyabun and after contemplating a little more he nodded his head.
"Fine, if a situation ever comes to fruition that would require someone with your bosses strengths then I will be Koji's devil's advocate." Hari promptly stated his conditions, deciding only to argue against Koji's opinion if needed.
"Thank you." That's all Atsuhiro needed while standing up while extending his hand.
Hari raised an eyebrow though seeing that Atsuhiro wouldn't budge until he reciprocated the gesture he reluctantly took his hand.
'It's all for the oyabun.'
*Munch*
*Munch*
Dabi had been munching on some crackers while hanging out with Joi, he already completed his tasks given to him by Shin and decided he would chill until instructed not to.
"Hey Dabi." Joi suddenly asked out all of a sudden resulting in him lifting his gaze upwards though still stuffed crackers into his mouth.
"What?" Dabi gestured for him to speak while flipping the page.
"What do you think of the oyabun?" Joi tried to hide his emotions though Dabi clearly saw he had a hesitant and worried look.
"He's different" Dabi gave a different answer to what Joi expected.
"Huh?" Joi confusedly tilted his head.
"His character is someone I wouldn't expect to be so heavily involved in the underworld." Dabi boredly spoke out voicing his true thoughts while Joi showed an understanding look.
"Right? He's really amazing." Joi completely misunderstood his words thinking of it as a compliment while enthusiastically nodding his head showing a wide smile.
"Yep, he's really amazing." Dabi sarcastically sighed though Joi didn't hear it since his tone of voice was mostly always the same making it hard to tell his true intentions.
"I got you a new issue of this manga I have been reading recently." Joi joyfully pulled out the issue he had been reading as Dabi's ears perked.
"Here." Joi threw the manga to Dabi who caught it, putting the issue he was already reading aside into his jacket he inspected the cover before nodding to himself.
"Nice."
6 Days Later
"Stick with your deliveries, we need to make sure we get all these bottles inside these buildings." Shin, wearing a different appearance, instructed the two of Dabi and Atsuhiro, who also had different appearances courtesy of Shin.
"I understand." Dabi nodded while heading to the truck assigned to him.
"I shall do my best." Atsuhiro bowed before heading to his truck.
Tomorrow would be the day in which the hits would happen on Shie and Koji so these bombs needed to be planted by that time.
'It's finally time.' Shin thought as he turned towards his truck.
Shin had prepared everything and after finishing all these deliveries he would finally be able to start his plan.
The drop offs were easy as Shin had taken care of the drivers who were supposed to deliver the shipments in all of their steads.
Some simply brainwashing resulted in them temporarily taking over three of the deliverers jobs for the day and their corresponding schedules.
Shin had already touched every plastic water bottle located in all three trucks which was probably the hardest thing to do today since the amount of water bottles he had to touch counted over 15,000.
Though it only made it more satisfactory to him whenever he handed over the bottles to the companies or employees who were waiting for his deliveries.
For the next five hours Shin delivered shipments to stores, offices, elderly homes, hero agencies, construction sites, vending machines, and even a hospital.
Everything Shin had expected to deliver too had received his contaminated shipments and he couldn't be happier.
*Buzz*
I have finished - Atsuhiro
Same - Dabi
Shin gazed down at his phone as he received the clipboard from a nurse who happily signed off for him.
"Excuse me mister." A child suddenly ran up to Shin while tugging on his pant leg.
Gazing down he saw a little boy pointing to the juice bottle that he hadn't opened yet sitting neatly on his cart, Shin understanding what he wanted, grabbed the juice and handed it to him.
"Here." Shin activated his quirk on the bottle while handing it to the child.
"Really?" His eyes sparked as Shin showed him a wide smile.
"Make sure not to drink all of it and save it for later, ok?" Shin instructed as the boy excitedly took the bottle into his hands.
"I will thank you!" The boy smiled showing two missing front teeth while scurrying off into his room.
"Thank you for that." The nurse happily spoke having stood to the side this whole time during the interaction.
"It's no problem." Shin smiled as the nurse showed a worried look.
"To be honest anything helps since we're trying to make today as memorable as possible for him." She suddenly voiced her worries and Shin tilted his head.
"He has a heart operation tomorrow...….and it will decide if he'll live to be an adult." She rubbed her forehead clearly showing how much she cared for the child.
"I hope the goddess blesses him." Shin spoke out though the nurse only smiled at his words.
"I hope so too."
Author Note: This is the last preparation chapter if anyone's wondering, I didn't mean to drag it out but I like to be very through in my writing which is why I covered all events mentioned in Shin's plans from the chapter 'next steps' because I didn't want to be lazy and gloss over it while also using the time to show more insight into characters.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone