Chapter Text
1 year after the events of Trigger Happy Havoc
~*~
“Is it even worth trying to convince you to let this whole thing go at this point?”
“C’moooon, Togamins, it won’t be that bad.”
“I’ve catalogued at least eight red flags since we stepped in the door, not to mention two federal safety violations- And I told you to stop calling me that.”
“It’ll be fun!”
“Objectively untrue.”
Despite his objections, the former ultimate heir dragged his feet through the dusty, dank-smelling oddity shop, wrinkling his nose at every new smell.
He vaguely followed the brown locs bouncing down the aisle as Hiro bounded through the store like a child running through a candy shop. He quickly struck up a conversation with the man behind the counter, whom Byakuya assumed was the one that had invited them here.
“No problem, man! I’m a huge fan of yours!” He heard the clairvoyant proclaim as Hiro excitedly shook the man’s hand, grinning ear to ear.
The man in question was extremely thin, spindly even. He had greasy black hair and a receding hairline, pencil mustache accenting his gaunt, pale face. When he spoke, it was as though his voice was coming out at half speed.
“Yes… the pleasure is all mine, Supernova.” he replied flatly, lacking even an ounce of the enthusiasm of the younger man.
This caught Byakuya’s attention. Hiro had told the other students about his stage name in the divination community, but it was another thing to hear someone actually address him that way.
The man turned to the blonde, equally matched in stoicism, “And your… friend?”
Hiro glanced back at Byakuya, “Oh yeah! I asked him to come along. Not every day you get to meet one of the best in the psychic business!”
Byakuya bit his lip to resist remarking that he did in fact see the objectively best in the business nearly every day (sometimes to his chagrin). He gave the man a cold stare, “Byakuya Togami. I imagine the only reason your establishment is still in business despite the heinous health code violations is that you possess enough common sense to bribe the right people.”
Hiro laughed, “Hey! That’s basically a compliment coming from you,” he looked at the blond in jest, missing how neither Byakuya nor the shop owner made any moves to reach out a hand to one another, “Anyway, this is T.C. Lethbridge IV, the guy I’ve been telling you about. He’s been making waves for decades! Most of us in the community specialize with one or two things but he does it all – tarot, crystal balls, mind reading, fortune telling, you name it!”
Lethbridge looked back at Hiro when it was clear that Byakuya wasn’t going to say anything further, “You’re too kind, Supernova. Your reputation precedes you as well, and at so young an age. That’s partially why I wanted to meet you.”
Hiro beamed, “Of course!” The two chatted while Byakuya did his best to not shove a pen into his eye, idly noting a few more individuals enter and peruse the store.
After twenty minutes or so, Lethbridge’s demeanor suddenly shifted, “I believe it’s time.”
Byakuya turned back towards the two, squinting as the evening sun shone red through the smog and the partially-taped store windows, “Time for what?”
“I was hoping you could join me for a demonstration, Supernova,” the older man looked toward Hiro, blatantly ignoring the affluent progeny.
Byakuya snarled, ready to grab Hiro and march out the door at such a slight, but Hiro’s face lit up, “Whoah, are you serious? Hell yeah, man! Uh- I mean, yeah, for sure. It’d be my honor! And Hagakure if you prefer, it’s all good.”
The blonde felt a certain amount of petty smugness that Hiro had only given his surname, but that smugness quickly disappeared as he realized the two were making their way towards the same back curtain he had seen several customers enter without re-emerging.
Byakuya grabbed Hiro’s elbow, “Hiro, we should go,” he said in a hushed tone.
Hiro turned towards him, unleashing the full power of his puppy dog eyes, “Aw, c’mon B,” he said in an equally hushed tone, “This guy was like my hero growing up. If I can help him out, or even just learn something from him, that’d be one of the coolest moments of my life!”
After a moment the blonde sighed. Not for the first time, he found himself powerless against the clairvoyant’s unabashed sincerity, “Fine,” he gritted between his teeth, “but I’m coming as well.”
Hiro looked shocked, “Oh! Really? Are you sure?” The look on Byakuya’s face gave no room for discussion. Hiro smiled, reaching out and giving Byakuya’s hand a subtle squeeze, “Thanks, man. This really means a lot to me.”
The brunette turned back and followed Lethbridge through the curtain, followed by Byakuya. Behind the curtain there was an immediate downward staircase, followed by another downward staircase, until they arrived in a small, sparsely decorated stone cellar.
A large, circular wooden table stood in the middle. Four chairs were occupied, two remained empty, and one had a young blonde woman whom Byakuya hadn’t seen before standing beside it.
Scattered through the room were various cliché psychic accoutrements- a crystal ball, lit candles, incense, and a stack of decorated cards were amongst the items that were scattered throughout the room.
Lethbridge gestured towards the blonde woman, “my assistant, Emilia.” The woman stood and gave a polite nod as the others stood rushed towards the two psychics like fans of a celebrity.
Byakuya, for the most part, remained seated at the table as the others exchanged pleasantries. Hiro and Lethbridge both did smaller readings and parlor tricks at some of the side tables while the patrons excitedly remarked on their accuracy.
Byakuya Togami was not feeling jealous or neglected, not in the slightest. It was far worse.
Byakuya was bored.
He had almost made up his mind to leave and wait for Hiro outside when everyone began to return and sit at the table. Hiro immediately sat next to Byakuya, giving him a quick squeeze on the shoulder.
Emilia, Byakuya noted, remained standing while Lethbridge sat opposite Hiro.
“Now,” Lethbridge began, exuding far more gravitas than Byakuya had originally thought him capable, “this is an extremely special evening, indeed. It’s not every night we have not one, but two Ultimates in our midst. One of which, the famed ultimate high school clairvoyant, Supernova!” He gestured toward the pair and the others clapped eagerly. Byakuya rolled his eyes.
“Now then, let’s begin with a group tarot reading, shall we?”
And so they continued, Lethbridge and Hiro switching off taking the lead. Byakuya admitted to himself that in some way it was… nice, to see the other ultimate in his element, respected; although, watching the rest of these imbeciles hang onto his every word was almost as irritating as the people who treated Hiro like his ability was a joke.
Lethbridge gave a particularly dramatic pause and the guests (and Hiro) leaned forward slightly, “Before we let you fine folks return home, we have one last treat for you all. Emilia? The lights, please.” Byakuya watched the blonde woman hit the overhead light on the table and release a thick curtain by the stairs, plunging the room into near total darkness.
The old man continued, “I’ll need all of us to join hands for this one to work, it’s something I’ve been working on for a while now.”
Hiro immediately grabbed Byakuya’s hand, and the blonde begrudgingly took the hand of the man on his other side. He watched Hiro watch Lethbridge in rapt awe.
As Lethbridge guided the group to close their eyes and began a breathing meditation, Byakuya found himself focusing more on the warmth of Hiro’s hand in his.
He smelled incense being lit; it made his head feel slightly fuzzy. He vaguely heard Emilia placing various items and ingredients on the table, but all his other senses felt dull in comparison to the point where the two ultimates were linked, as if the man beside him had a palpable aura.
As if in response to Byakuya’s diverted attention, Byakuya felt Hiro tense. Startled, he opened his eyes to find Hiro’s already wide open, staring at Lethbridge, whom Byakuya noticed hadn’t ceased his low, droning instructions.
The clairvoyant’s change in demeanor immediately put Byakuya on high alert, “Hiro, tell me what’s wrong” Byakuya whispered in a low, commanding voice.
Hearing Byakuya’s voice seemed to partially jolt Hiro out of his stupor, “Um, sir?” he called out in a slightly strained voice, “I thought I had mentioned, um…”
The others at the table began to peek open their eyes at the commotion, but Lethbridge’s remained firmly closed and Byakuya realized that for the past few seconds he had begun saying words in a language Byakuya didn’t know.
“Mr. Lethbridge, sir?!” Hiro called out, slightly panicked, as he began to look over the ingredients on the table in front of them. A reverberating hum from somewhere Byakuya couldn’t place began to permeate the room.
Without opening his eyes, Lethbridge spoke in a voice that seemed to grow in power even though he was speaking at exactly the same volume as before, “we must keep the circle unbroken if the ceremony is to work.”
The hum in the room grew louder.
“Sir, I- I seriously don’t do seances, please!”
Byakuya’s eyes widened marginally as he suddenly realized what had gotten Hiro so riled up. He was well aware of Hiro’s aversion to the occult. Anyone that knew Hiro was well aware. The fact that Lethbridge must have also been aware and yet…
This had been his plan the entire time.
Anger and indignation built in Byakuya’s gut as he whipped his head towards Lethbridge.
“You will cease this immediately or else-”
“Emilia, now!” Lethbridge spoke over him.
Emilia tipped one of the lit candles into a bowl that contained several dry ingredients. The wax dripped into the bowl before the entire contents went up in a quick burst of flame.
Byakuya smelled sage and… burnt hair? He heard a choked gasp beside him.
Hiro’s eyes briefly rolled back in his head. He came to with a start, staring ahead of him. However, he was no longer staring at Lethbridge, he was staring far past him in a look that Byakuya had seen before, yet so much worse.
This was different than a vision. During a vision, Hiro sometimes looked distressed and occasionally even a bit frightened, but mostly his face remained impassive.
Now, Hiro looked horrified.
The brunette trembled as he started hyperventilating. Byakuya stood up and grasped his shoulders, “Hiro? Hiro listen to me right now. Hiro, look at me!”
“No no no no no no….” Hiro began muttering, shaking his head from side to side with increasing desperation until a strangled cry escaped him and he slumped forward, motionless.
Byakuya straightened up, fear and anger battling for dominance in his chest, “We’re done here,” he pointed towards Lethbridge, “I will pursue you and any family you may have with such little mercy that your descendants generations from now will be forced to live in perpetual shame and exile.”
But the man was not even paying him any attention, watching Hiro with anticipation and twisted glee.
At that moment, Hiro straightened back up. The entire room held its breath as Hiro slowly looked around until his gaze landed on the red-headed woman with the round face.
“…. Marjorie?” Hiro called softly.
Byakuya bristled. It was Hiro’s voice, technically, but it was low and gravely and so not Hiro-
The woman gasped, “I…Itsuki?”
“Where am I?”
Byakuya stared daggers at Lethbridge, “Stop this, now. Whatever you’re doing, stop it!”
Lethbridge smirked, “I’m sorry, my boy. It can’t be stopped now. If we break him out of it too soon it could have… unforeseeable consequences.”
“I miss you so much, Itsuki!”
“I miss you too, my dear. I never stopped missing you.”
Byakuya snarled and stormed back to sit down at the table, taking Hiro’s hand. “Hiro listen to me, I-”
As soon as he grabbed his hand, however, Hiro pulled away and stared at him indignantly, “I’m sorry, and you would be…?”
Byakuya balked, for there was truly no recognition in Hiro’s eyes. Whatever he had planned to say died out as he just stared back in stunned silence. This didn’t make any sense; this shouldn’t be possible…
Hiro looked at him a bit longer and his eyes flashed in recognition. For a second, hope lingered in Byakuya’s mind before: “Wait a moment… you’re the Togami boy, aren’t you? I’ve read about your family in the papers. What are you doing here?”
Byakuya stilled, his chest tightening at Hiro (not-Hiro?) regarded him so offhandedly, as the Togami boy-
Byakuya sat in stunned silence as Hiro turned back to the woman and held her hands tenderly-
A high-pitched ringing began to echo in Byakuya’s ears. He didn’t know what was happening to him. He felt like he had been stabbed in the chest.
He couldn’t make out what anyone was saying until Hiro abruptly slammed his palm on the table with a gasp, not in anger so much as for stability. His eyes fluttered as it looked like he was trying to prevent himself from passing out.
The sudden noise brought Byakuya back from his unexpected episode, not fully recovered but able to think somewhat-rationally. This wasn’t Hiro. Something was deeply, deeply wrong.
This time, when Hiro regained control over himself, his shoulders remained hunched over and he looked around before looking at the man next to Byakuya.
“Son?” This time his voice was only a strained wheeze.
The man paled, “Father? Is that really you?”
“Why have you brought me here? Need my help so much you’d drag me back from death?”
Byakuya felt the man brace himself, “I have nothing more to say to you!”
Hiro’s face was downcast and cross, “You always were ungrateful…” the two quickly devolved into bickering.
“Don’t say I never did anything for you-”
“Father don’t you dare-!”
“….Mom? Mama?” Hiro’s hand that was not gripping the table clawed at his chest. He began whipping his head back and forth, looking scared and confused, voice timid and soft.
All the guests looked amongst themselves before looking back at Lethbridge.
“Incredible…” The man drawled, “channeling multiple spirits in such a short time… and channeling spirits that don’t even have an immediate connection to those at the table!”
Everyone flinched as Lethbridge slapped the table and let out a boisterous laugh, “We were right, Emilia. The boy does have a latent ability- Ultimate Conduit indeed!”
Hiro locked eyes with Byakuya, wide eyes on the verge of tears, “Please help me! I don’t know where my mom went, she was right here!”
“Hiro, I know you’re in there. I need you to listen to me, please-” but even as Byakuya pleaded with the brunette he shuddered again before becoming very still.
Everyone held their breath as Hiro slowly looked at the faces of everyone in front of him, hands crossed neatly on the table, until they came to rest on Byakuya.
The smallest smirk crossed Hiro’s lips. Byakuya mentally braced himself for whatever scorned relative had found their way into his friend’s body.
“Interesting, very interesting” Hiro began in a soft, lightly accented voice, “Had I stayed alive, I doubt I would have ever bet that you and…” He glanced down at his own body, “him would have made it out, together nonetheless…
Perhaps it is a good thing I perished when I did, my perfect record will forever remain intact.”
Recognition flooded through Byakuya, “You?!” He snarled.
“But of course! For what is life and death but another gamble, hm?” Byakuya continued to glare in disbelief as behind Hiro’s eyes was the unmistakable fire of one Celestia Ludenberg.