To see him for who he is (not by his lack of quirk)

8- What lies beneath

CW: Mentions of amputation, torture, bullying, injury

"I see... so you watched yourself get massacred by yourself, and went crazy from the result of it," Giran says, thoughtful.

Bubaigawara Jin holds back a flinch. For him to say it so bluntly... the man does not hold back. If he were to put it that way, then, yeah. That's the shortened version.

The info broker doesn't look disturbed. In fact, he seems unbothered by it. Indifferent. That's to be expected. Giran is a villain, after all.

"So," Giran continues. He raises an eyebrow. "What's up with the paper bag?"

Jin blinks, not expecting that question. Of all the things he could've asked about, he asked him about the paper bag. Jin finds him odd, but not in a bad way. He has never met someone like him before.

He has never met a villain info broker either, but still.

"If I'm not covered, I'll split apart," Jin answers. He knows he looks weird wearing it, but that was the least of his concerns. "I ain't gonna split!"

"Ah, I see," Giran says, his eyes lighting up in understanding. He is unbothered by his way of speaking too, and a part of Jin is relieved.

"Any doppelgängers I make will disappear after taking a certain amount of damage," Jin further explains, giving the man some context. "Let's see... for an adult male, I'd say breaking an arm would do it. That's why I'm so nervous. I'm perfectly calm."

He looks down on his lap, nervously putting his hands together. The thought of it is... uncomfortable.

He doesn't like getting hurt. Who does, really?

Unless they're a masochist. Jin isn't going to talk or think about it. He is anything but someone who likes pain.

Giran takes out a cigar. Jin looks up at him. "Using your clones for widespread and grand heists... you are currently one of the government's most wanted criminals. You're rather famous. With your quirk, you could destroy countries alone. To think that someone like you have fallen so far..."

Destroy countries, he says. Jin doesn't think of his quirk as powerful. But then again, he has only made clones of himself. And only a small number of it. If he were to make clones of people with dangerous quirks and make a lot of those said people... well, Giran wouldn't be wrong.

He could destroy a country if he wanted to. To have such power in his hands... a villain in his place would take the opportunity. Heck, maybe a hero or a civilian would even consider the idea.

But not him.

He looks away. And why would I want to do that?

The only reason why he did heists was because he needed money. And for fun too. But mainly for money. If he had money, he wouldn't be stealing at all. He wouldn't be where he is now.

He didn't want power. Having a country under his command would certainly give him money and all that he needs, but...

He doesn't think he can deal with all the work that comes with it. There are too many things going on in his life already. He doesn't need more. Nor does he want it.

Plus, ruling... isn't his thing. It never was, and never will be. He has no interest in ruling nor does he have the skill required to be a ruler.

Giran gives him a sad smile. "...Really, it shows that we have limits. Even the most powerful could fall so easily."

We are only humans, after all. Not gods.