Chapter 5: Me, Myself, and I

I opened the door before taking off my shoes. With my sand sense, I know that there's no one home. Right now, it's 7.40 am, which means that I've been out with Aizawa for roughly an hour. Nemuri, my sister, usually went to UA around 7.10 to 7.20 am, as school starts at 8.15 am.

For my fight with Aizawa, I conceded. Well, Aizawa's a real pro, so while there's a chance of winning, the effort needed is not worth it. More importantly, I've got things to do today, so I can't spend so much time on a test-run.

'Sister's back at 4 pm, so minus everything else on schedule I've around five hours to work with.' I thought. 'That's plenty.' Nodding my head, I start to plan for my day as I changed out of my cloth and take a shower.

Once I'm done, I get a toast for breakfast before checking for 'bugs'. When I was first released from the hospital, I got quite a few of them following me. There's none for the past year-and-a-half, but the habit stuck.

I stroll around the area, from the richer condominium compound to the ordinary housing area a bit further away.

My phone is bugged, something I noticed long ago. To camouflage my real purpose, I'll be walking around for 15 minutes before finding a playground and sits on the swing.

Rather than a specific playground, I visit all playgrounds nearby. It might look suspicious, but let's just say I like swings if I'm ever asked. What they gonna do? Bite me?

My real goal, though, is to use the sand in the sandbox to create sand avatars. They'll stay hidden for a while until they deemed it safe to move. This time, my avatars are flesh and blood, with varied appearances. There are all age groups, as well as genders.

Then, I'll fill back the sandbox using sands that I made from underground soil. There'll no obvious change on the surface, but tens of meters below the ground there're multiple empty spaces supported by pillars of hardened sand. Stealth is important.

I've been releasing my avatars like this, ever since I was 6-year-old. That's also the first time I was taken out of lab, mind you. The avatars each have their order, such as 'train martial arts', 'train the quirk', 'practice sand-control in the water', 'learn at a dojo', and other such orders.

The goal? There's lots of stuffs they can do. Data gathering and training are the main focuses, but I also made some avatars with the order being 'integrate into human society'. They might be useful in the future. Or they might not. A backup plan, so to say.

Well, that's that. A trait of my avatar is that they can communicate with me telepathically, but it's like someone called and chat. If I want their whole experience, then it's when the avatar is destroyed. By an external factor, or by my order. I don't want to recall them willy-nilly though, as almost all avatars are now somewhat integrated into the society.

So, unless they are specifically made to be absorbed (like that lonely avatar in a cave, training martial arts), then I'll try not to absorb them. One avatar got into an orphanage. Neat, right? "Perfect body and mind" for talent and "sand-avatars" will be the effort. A lovely combo.

Today, I have something special to do. Finding an area without CCTV, I passed my phone towards an avatar that looks exactly like me. He'll be roaming around, just like how I always did. As for me?

Yesterday night, I received news from one of the avatars.

They've caught a prey.

*****

"Fuck!" a man cursed, just right after he woke up. Remembering the event that transpired last night, the man struggles even more.

'She didn't fucking bleed!', remembering the lady he met, and try to stab, before he blacked out, a hint of dread creeps into his heart.

Tired from his struggles, he takes a deep breath and looks around the room.

'The room's light coming from those lanterns, which means this room is temporary,' the man surmised. 'Or just freshly build… for me,' the man thought, his unease growing.

'There's no window as well, so I can't guess the time,' the man continues to think, a sheen of sweat covering his face. The lack of door just serves to creep him out even more, not to mention those sand-brown colored pillars around the room.

'But there's no one inside, so I just need to get this damned things--' the man struggles to free his hands '--off me, and I can plan my escape.' His limbs bound to the wall in an X-shape; the man tries everything he can think of.

In the midst of his struggling, a hole opened up on the wall opposite him, from which two figures walked through.

Trying to calm his heavy breathing, the man seized up the two newcomers. A female and a teenage boy. The lady is the one he stabbed, or at least tried to, before. A typical office lady, with shoulder-length black hair and a plain face.

The boy, however, is good-looking. Androgynous pretty face, white hair, fair skin, and dark eyes. Donning casual clothing with a gentle smile on his face, he looks like an idol from TV.

'Considering the lady's walking behind him, the boy's probably the boss. Or the one in-charge, at least,' the man thought. 'Seems kind, so there's a chance.' With some hope in reach, the man regulates his heavy breathing.

"Morning, mister," the boy, Kyoya, greets the man with his usual smile.

"Kid, why the heck I'm tied up here?!" the man growled, his rough voice unkind to the ears.

Stab.

"Ah?... ARGH!" the man convulses in pain when his brain noticed the sand-spike lodged in his arm.

"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!!" panting, the man tries to ignore the burning pain on his arm. When he finally looks at the boy, he noticed the boy seems deep in thought.

Probably noticing the man has calmed down his fits, the boy opened his mouth, "Weird." Frowning, the boy stares at the man, though his mind wandering somewhere else.

"Hey, mister. If you say anything, next will be your leg. Just keep quiet, ok? I need to think." Kyoya said, his face serious.

Not wishing for another bout of pain, the man nodded. He even stifled his breathing, wishing the boy forget his existence.

Satisfied, Kyoya turned to the lady who's been keeping silent the whole time. "Hey, me," he said. "Why?" he continued, his face puzzled.

"First, tell me what you feel right now." While others might not get it, the lady, an avatar, inherits all of his memories and talents, as well as his personality. Avatars also can use his quirk, though a bit limited, but they are all a branch of the real Kyoya. They've no problem understanding him, just from a word, much less a sentence.

"What do you feel after stabbing him?" she continues probing.

"Usually I should feel ecstasy when I see 'em squirming about. But now, it's… less? It's there, but I can't enjoy it. I'm sure you feel it as well. It's like a fishbone stuck in your throat." Kyoya said.

Once Kyoya said it, the lady slowly nodded. Thinking for a little while, the lady hesitantly opened her mouth, "I'm guessing it's… worry."

Kyoya nodded as well, though it doesn't seem like the answer he's looking for. "I'm guessing that as well. The issue is, WHY? Afraid of getting caught? You know that's not it." Kyoya said, his puzzled look did not diminish one bit. "There must another reason why I'm getting worried."

The lady broods over the question, her index finger pressed on her lips. Suddenly, her face lit up. "I know!" she exclaimed. Once Kyoya pays attention to her, she gave a slight cough before explaining.

"So… here's the thing. The reason you started this is because you were feeling empty. And this--" gesturing to the wound on the criminal's arm "--made you happy."

Kyoya's nodded, motioning her to continue.

"But that's in the past life. Where you know that getting good grades and multiple medals won't get you enough attention. In the end, what you crave was attention. And you will do ANYTHING to satisfy that craving," she said, ensuring that Kyoya understands what she's saying. "Even murder," she added, before lowering her voice.

"Here, you can get them, don't you?" she whispers, slowly leaning closer. "The attention of the world," she said, her silky voice tugging on Kyoya's obsession.

"And I'm worried that this will get in the way of my goal," Kyoya said, cutting her explanation short. "My real goal. The one that I've been planning for years, ever since the moment I was born in this world," Kyoya continued, realization dawned on his face.

The lady nodded in satisfaction. "Indeed. What we, and you, want," she paused, for a moment, before continuing, "is not mere joy. We want attention. From a lot of people. From the city. From the world. THE WHOLE, DAMN, WORLD!" nearing the end of her sentence, she raised her voice, staring right into Kyoya's eyes.

"WE WANT CHEERS. AND SUPPORT. AND FANS. AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT," that avatar shouted, though Kyoya can see she's just desperate. Just like him.

"AND WE'RE SO CLOSE! YET THIS STUPID HOBBY CAN RUIN EVERYTHING!" she grabbed Kyoya's collar, her voice emotional.

Strangely, Kyoya can accept it. Because that's exactly what he's thinking right now. She just voiced it out. Letting out a peaceful chuckle, Kyoya thought, 'Being scolded by yourself feels weird as fuck.'

Looking at the criminal, who's looking at them as if they are insane, Kyoya grinned. "You're in luck, old man. There'll be no more pain for you," he said, before walking out from the hole that they've made.

"Forever."