Chapter 20: Liquid Hero: Flux③

After chatting about trivial things and laughing together, Mio suddenly looked off into the distance.

"What do you think separates a hero from a villain?"

"Pretty philosophical. Honestly, I’d say it’s whether you’re acting to help people or not."

"Oh, but there are villains like that too, aren’t there? Even Delta thinks that way, I bet. Like, ‘Let’s make a world where mutants can live freely, so let’s kill off all the normal humans.’"

"You actually bought into that crap?"

Mio shrugged.

I still don’t know why Delta wants to kill me, nor why Mio obeyed Delta’s orders. She apologized to me, but when it came to the important question of why, she never gave me an answer.

Guess that means I’ll have to get closer to her.

I thought about Delta’s so-called ideal world.

"If the world became mutants-only, then what? Next, anyone not a mutant gets persecuted. There’s no guarantee a child born to two mutants would even be a mutant. What then—kill the kid if they’re not?"

"…You’re right. Humanity’s been repeating that same cycle over and over. And it’ll keep repeating."

"To me, Delta’s ideal just sounds like wanting to switch positions, from weak to strong. Right now, ordinary humans have the upper hand, so this time mutants will take their place. That’s all. I’d rather think of a way to raise the weak up instead. Not that I’ve got a concrete plan. That’s something the Diet should be figuring out. First, we’d need mutants to have their rights acknowledged enough to even get the issue into the Diet."

But I don’t have the time to engage in that kind of steady activism.

I’m busy developing medicine. I’m a med student.

That’s the kind of work I’d rather leave to liberal arts majors. My university’s probably crawling with future politicians anyway. Maybe all I can do is give them a nudge in that direction.

"Have you ever resented your ability?"

"You already know the answer. No ability user’s ever gone through life without that thought. But it’s just a kind of complex. Same thing as being annoyed at having dry skin, or resenting your food allergies."

"I envy that you can say it so simply. Maybe it’s because you still look human?"

Mio stirred the surface of the water.

For ability users whose bodies turn monstrous, I can’t even begin to imagine their hardships. But it works the other way too—she can’t imagine mine.

Maybe I should give her a hint. I opened my mouth.

"At this age, you just start to accept certain things. I’ve decided at least my mind won’t become female, but my body’ll stay that way forever."

Like Mio mentioned earlier, I have regenerative powers.

Even if I went through with sex reassignment surgery, there’s a risk my body would just restore itself to its original sex.

If there’s any part of my ability I resent, it’s that.

If I gained enough control to distinguish between what should heal and what shouldn’t, to redefine the ‘restored state’ of my body, then maybe it would be possible.

But I haven’t reached that stage yet. I’ve got more urgent things to focus on right now.

"I think of myself as a man. No matter what anyone else thinks, that doesn’t change. So however people treat me, I’ll still be me."

"That’s wonderful."

Mio narrowed her eyes as though looking at something dazzling.

"Just having an ability means persecution. Like with any problem, the bad ones stand out. The ones who don’t trouble anyone go unnoticed, so only the bad impression builds up."

"Same thing with smokers, right? The decent ones get a raw deal."

Things like littering and smoking while walking stand out, but people who smoke with proper manners don’t. Those who hate the smell target smokers as enemies, but smoking’s still a right.

If someone blows smoke right in your face, sure, get angry. But if it’s just the smell clinging to their clothes, there’s no need to flip out.

Like someone who hasn’t bathed, or has laundry that reeks of damp. That’s a different problem altogether.

I think it’s the same with ability users.

Having traits that differ from society makes life harder, and sometimes that ends up causing trouble. But it’s not like ordinary people never cause trouble either.

Mutant criminals stand out as villains, but the rest either hide quietly or end up becoming heroes.

"Every problem in society is tangled up with a bunch of others. There’s no such thing as one that’s just plain evil."

"Reality isn’t some neat little morality play, is it?"

It’s not just heroes and villains. Not just perpetrators and victims.

I hate when I’m reading manga and suddenly the villain’s tragic backstory gets revealed. It’s because that moment drags the fiction closer to reality.

There are no villains in real life with absolutely no room for sympathy. We just reject that idea, pretending not to see it because we don’t want to sympathize.

"I get that nothing changes if you don’t speak up. If all you do is silently endure, then from the start it’s like you don’t exist, and no one will help you. Before you resent people for not helping, you have to first say ‘help me.’ Some kids lash out violently just because they’re bad at asking for help."

Coming from a former villain, that line had weight.

"Was that why you were a villain too, Mio?"

"Ufufu, who knows? I can’t say that wasn’t part of it, but if it were just that, I’d have caused way more damage. Japan might’ve been gone. It’s an island country, after all."

"Thanks for not doing that."

"Come on, I’m joking! If I could control all the Earth’s seawater, nobody could beat me!"

"Superpowers do grow stronger. That day might come."

"Sounds like a dream, huh?"

So there’s a limit to how much liquid she can control.

Apparently, she has to dissolve part of herself into the liquid to control it. Maybe if the concentration drops below a certain percentage, she loses control.

She also mentioned that impure liquids are harder to manipulate. Seawater’s full of salt and other stuff.

In short, there’s no such thing as an ability without restrictions.

"You’ve met Delta before, right, Flux?"

"Of course. Any villain has, I’d think. To the public he’s a mystery, but to us he’s surprisingly easy to meet. That’s why I think he’s amazing. He’s met with countless villains, and yet the public never gets a shred of info. That takes real skill."

Hearing about the mysterious villain Delta made me lean forward unconsciously.

Even when I brought it up with Jin, I never got a clear answer.

Not that he refused, but his responses were like, "He pisses me off so much I could kill him."

Can this guy only judge people based on whether he wants to kill them or not? And it’s mostly the former.

"Tell me what Delta’s like. I’m curious."

"You sure~? If you find out, he might target you just to shut you up~."

"He already is. You, for example."

"Ufufu! You’ve got a sharp tongue for dark humor! But really, if someone were getting killed to silence them, I’d be first."

"You’ve got a sharp tongue for dark humor yourself."

Male or female, vague. Ethics floating all over the place.

With so many similarities, Mio and I seemed to get along. I’d found a good friend.

Mio touched her chin as though recalling something, and said:

"Delta is, let’s see… Gay guys would definitely love a man like him."

"…You just ruined my mental image of Delta."

I have no idea what kind of man gay guys like.

I felt the urge to look it up, but stopped myself.

Either way, now when I meet Delta, I’ll automatically think, "So this is the kind of man gay guys like." That’s the curse she’s put on me.

I guess a man with the charisma to rally villains is bound to be attractive in every direction.