xp_logs | Clause 16 - Destructive Construction

x-sanfuaiyaa.livejournal.com posting in

In Tokyo to offer his inheritance to those victimized by Imperial Japan, Shiro meets an American astronaut who is more than he appears, and together they prevent what could have been a bloody massacre. Many thanks to Suzene for socking.

The suite Shiro had rented was only on the fourth floor of the skyscraper, offering him a rather poor look over the resplendent Minato Ward. It was small, too, with only a handful of offices and one meager conference room. But, he reflected, that made it all the more appropriate a place to exercise his self-imposed responsibility to amend a past of atrocities. He and the few lawyers he had managed to scrounge up (a brave act of rebellion as he saw it, given his country's silence about its past) sat at the small round table in the small conference room, facing a not-small blond man in his late thirties: Doctor Walter Lawson of Cape Canaveral, Florida, a NASA astrophysicist and grandson of Captain Philip Lawson. Philip had been captured by the Japanese forces in Guam in 1941 and brought to Unit 731. While Walter didn't go into every detail about what his grandfather endured, it was clear that he'd been suffering ever since. Walter didn't ask for much for his grandfather, just enough to keep him comfortable for his few remaining years. Shiro kept silent through most of the meeting while the lawyers interviewed Walter and examined his evidence. As far as Shiro was concerned, though, Philip deserved every yen.

When the meeting concluded and farewell pleasantries were extended, Shiro decided that he needed some air. The stories that Walter had relayed were hard to stomach, even for him. "Let me show you to a taxi, Mister Lawson," he said as he escorted Walter out of the office to an elevator, a perfect excuse to get out.

"Thank you, Yoshida-san." Though the topic that he'd come to discuss had obviously been an emotional one, Lawson had been calm and steady throughout, but the interview plus the overseas trip itself had left the fit blond looking mildly worn. "And again, my thanks for going through the effort to make right some of what happened during the war. I can't imagine that it's been an easy endeavor, personally or socially."

If only he knew. Shiro offered a small, polite smile with a touch of wryness. "No, but few things are. My father was an idealist, and his father before him, and they both felt very strongly about our country's role in the world and how we must take responsibility. I honor that memory, and though it may be macabre, I am honored that I have the opportunity to do so."

"I don't think it follows that a man who appreciates the chance to do good when he can necessarily approves of the circumstances that give him the opportunity," Lawson said.

The elevator dinged pleasantly as they arrived on the first floor, and Shiro followed Walter out into the lobby. "I suppose not, though I do wish your trip here could be under happier circumstances."

"I came to Japan once with my grandfather, about ten years ago. He was trying to make peace with..." Lawson broke off his tale with a frown as they exited onto the sidewalk. There was a commotion further up the street, but the cause was not at once apparent.

"Make peace with whom?" Shiro inquired, but his attention turned to the activity nearby and he forgot the question, too. Minato Ward is famous for being Tokyo's corporate district, populated by titanic skyscrapers housing multinational companies. The growth never seemed to stop, though, and down the street, the beginnings of yet another building were being erected.

Or they were, until the cable lifting a girder snapped, dropping the heavy metal bar three stories and nearly crushing the construction workers, who fled amid shouts of terror. A sickening creak of metal on metal could be heard even from where Shiro and Lawson stood, as the foundations seemed to buckle under a weight they couldn't support.

"Stay here," Shiro ordered, stripping off his blazer and tossing it at Lawson, "And hold this." Even though Japan could be commended for a rather positive attitude towards mutants, a display of power such as Shiro's when a construction project was collapsing and threatening a highly busy street in downtown Tokyo was probably not such a good idea. He didn't see any alternative, though, and rocketed towards the scene in full fire form. He couldn't help but frown upon hearing some of the comments of passersby below, but their opinion was of no matter. The safety of the man dangling from the edge of the building sixty feet up was. "~Hold still! I will help you,~" he said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. Not like a flying kid on fire could be much reassuring.

"Can you get hold of him safely through your flames?" Lawson was not on the street below, but floating at Shiro's shoulder, surrounded by a pale nimbus of gold light. Any answer was put on hold as the frame of the building began slumping at the northeastern corner; the girder the hapless construction worker was clinging to came loose from its rivets and slid off the edge of the building toward the street. Lawson dove, not for the man, but for the steel beam. He halted the girder's fall with his bare hands, with seemingly little effort, then repeated himself, his tone more urgent as the sudden halt caused the worker's grip to falter. "Can you get hold of him?"

"Y-yes. Of course." The flaming aura briefly flared in shock before dimming into a pale glow, and Shiro wrapped an arm securely around the man. When the man finally let go of the girder and clung desperately to Shiro, they carefully lowered to the ground. It took a moment to extricate himself, but once free Shiro flew back up to rejoin Lawson. He blasted the girder with nuclear flame, fusing it to its neighbor. "You are a mutant!" he exclaimed.

Lawson started to reply, but was cut off by the sound of grinding metal as the building continued to collapse on itself, threatening to drop tons of metal onto the workers and gawkers below. The older man spoke quickly, his expression uncertain. "Can you do that again? I can try to mass-weld this thing together, but I've never attempted anything so massive...I don't know if my abilities will hold up. Or if I'll be fast enough on my own."

"Mass-weld? You can do that, too? What kind of mutant . . . never mind. I can do it if you put them into position." Shiro shifted his attention squarely onto the task at hand. There would be time for questions later. Another girder fell loose, and a section of floor collapsed. He disintegrated it before it hit the ground, and then aimed another blast at the offending metal once Lawson lifted it back into place. "I do not know if we can save this building. It looks like it was booby-trapped, and it is falling apart too fast."

"I think you're right." Lawson was showing a distinct lack of finesse so far as control of his powers went. His flight was not as fast or a sure as Shiro's, nor was he able to maneuver as tightly, but, between his strength and the occasional radiant blast of energy, he was managing to help keep the damage contained. "I think the only thing at this point is to keep it from coming down long enough for everyone below to get clear."

"Let the police handle that part. Until Japan has its own equivalent to the X . . . a mutant task force, we are all she has." Shiro's fire form ignited again. "Take the other side, Mister Lawson, and fly up. Rescue anyone still stuck here. I will take care of this side. Once we confirm that it is clear, we can let it fall."

Lawson looked as if he would protest but, of the two, Shiro clearly had more experience with these matters...and the building was not growing any more stable. The older man vanished around the other side of the collapsing girders, out of sight for less than a minute before calling an all clear.

Shiro was served well by shifting his vision down to infrared, as he could easily see if anyone was still alive even if they were obstructed from view. But there were no familiar red blobs, and as he flew to the top to meet Lawson, he shifted back and rubbed his eyes. Lawson's brilliance was as shocking as his mutancy. "There is nothing more we can do here, and even if we could stabilize the building, it is still ultimately doomed. We have done what we can. I think it would be best if we left. Come." Without waiting for confirmation, he rocketed away and led his companion to the roof of a skyscraper nearly a mile away.

"We have a few minutes to recuperate here, I think," he said as Lawson landed next to him. He was breathing heavily, but less from the exertion and more from the suddenness of the situation. He finally had a chance to really look at Lawson now, but there was nothing particularly spectacular about the man. Still just an almost middle-aged American in a rumpled business suit. "Who are you?"

"Walter Lawson. The same man I was seven minutes ago, here for the same reasons," Lawson said mildly, wiping a light sweat from his brow. "I simply seized the chance to do good in unfortunate circumstances. Do you do this often?"

"Unfortunately. Do you?" Shiro leaned against the railing behind him and folded his arms over his chest, trying to maintain some air of authority. "Your powers are astounding. Have you ever had any formal training? I have not seen your name in Xavier's annals, and I think I would recall you if I had."

"Hardly. I'm not exactly...ah...out, I guess you would say. I've been practicing off and on since I manifested, enough that I'm comfortable with myself and can be sure that I'm not going to start throwing off plasma blasts under stress." Lawson shifted his weight. Despite his words, he didn't seem entirely comfortable with the topic. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that someone out there's keeping tabs on mutants, even an activist like Xavier."

"That is not what I meant," Shiro corrected himself, maybe a little too hastily. "I mean previous graduates of his school. Most of them are still affiliated in some way, but some have left, and I do not remember your name from any enrollment. In any case, I would like to discuss the topic further. The Xavier Institute could be a great resource for you." And Lawson had the potential to make a useful X-Man, he noted. “It, anou, facilitates coming out. In a manner of speaking.”

"Ah." Lawson relaxed a bit. "Sorry for the assumption. One of the reasons I try to keep my light under a bushel, so to speak, is that I'm not all that keen on ending up a number in someone's registry of potentially useful bio-weapons. Given my employment..." He shrugged. "What do you think the Xavier Institute has to offer me, Yoshida-san?"

“For one, knowledge and skills to protect you from being turned into a bio-weapon," was Shiro's wry reply. "Your powers are quite marvelous, and you used them to save dozens of lives today. I think Professor Xavier could offer you whatever you want."

Lawson glanced over the railing at the commotion below. "I'm interested in hearing you out -- you certainly seem to have fine-tuned your abilities in less time than it's taken me to figure out mine. But perhaps we should continue this later."

"I would like to. I do not mean to pressure or recruit you, and Professor Xavier does not pay me a commission." Shiro smiled at his lame attempt at a joke. "If you do not have any plans for this evening, maybe we could talk over sushi and sake?"

"So long as we're not talking too much sake." Lawson returned the friendly expression and the attempt at humor. "I have an early flight back home. Are you free for seven tonight?"

"Certainly. There is a very good bar in Mori Tower. The big building." Shiro pointed at the largest structure in sight, a behemoth of a skyscraper in nearby Roppongi Hills. "Let us meet at seven." He bowed deeply at Lawson, as if concluding a business meeting, and then extended his hand. "By the way, what happened to my jacket?"