Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[Original Chapter Uploaded - October 14th, 2021]

[Revised Chapter Uploaded - January 7th, 2023]

[Secondary Revision Uploaded - November 20th, 2023]

[Third Revision Uploaded - December 15th, 2023]

The chime of a bell echoed out throughout a relatively empty convenience store on a late Friday afternoon. The person who sat behind the counter was too busy looking down at his phone, completely disinterested in the fact that someone had entered the building. The only reason he was aware that someone had entered the store was because the bell had rang.

"Welcome to Q-Mart, have a good day," the man said, his tone dry and uncaring whilst he flipped through his phone, reading over text messages and laughing at jokes he came across. Every once and a while he would glance up from his device just to make sure that the person who had entered the store wasn’t robbing them—that had been happening a lot as of late, and his manager was starting to get annoyed.

However, much to his confusion, no one was there. At least, at first glance, anyway. His eyebrow raised, he put his phone down on the counter, a slight frown worming its way onto his face. 

The man’s eyes scanned through the immediate area, and after a few seconds of looking around, he finally saw someone at the back of the store where the drinks were kept. The person in question had a rather uninteresting appearance. Their face was obscured by the fact that they were facing away from the cash register, which didn’t help much with identification.

They had chin-length blonde hair, and they were wearing a rather basic school uniform, consisting of a black long-sleeved sailor-esque uniform top with a thigh-high frilled skirt and white stockings. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was a female student, though from which school the cashier couldn’t tell. Uniforms all looked the same nowadays. Oh well, not that it mattered.

The man huffed, waiting for the teen to approach the counter. A few minutes went by, and the girl never came to the register. Confused and worried that the store potentially got robbed again, the cashier looked up, only to find that the girl hadn't moved from the back of the store. She stayed by the drinks area, which was adjacent to the slushie machine and the chips aisle.

The cashier was confused about the girl’s behaviour. It was almost as if she didn't want to be noticed. He could tell that was the case with how she was looking around at her surroundings every now and again. Another few minutes would pass, and the teen still had yet to move from the spot she was in.

If the cashier didn’t know any better, it was almost as if she was trying to act normal. Was she with someone? Was there going to be a robbery? Or, on a darker note, was she trying to hide from someone? A stalker, perhaps? It was possible, all things considered. From the angle he was looking at her from, she did kind of look a little attractive.

Not his type though, and a little too young for his taste, but it wasn’t hard to see how a girl like her could have someone follow her around. He was ashamed to admit it, but she had some good-looking thighs. Nothing too outrageous, but just enough to make a guy her age ogle at them.

If only she was a little older. She looked to be around fifteen, maybe sixteen. He was twenty-three, so he knew it was bad for him to be staring. So instead, he shifted his attention to something else about the girl. 

The more the cashier looked at her, the more he noticed just how small she was. She was barely as tall as the shelf in the store, maybe around five foot three inches, at best. He was guessing because that was how tall he was, and he stood around the same height as her. Another thing he noticed was what she was doing.     

The blonde was eyeing up a red Rabbit Boost—a Miruko-themed energy drink—flipping it in her hand a couple of times. It was strange. Why flip the can? Was she planning on buying that? If so, why was she inspecting it? Maybe his theory about someone stalking her was right. He was about to ask if she was going to buy the drink, until someone came bursting through the front door, the bell chiming once again, earning a glance from the teen and the cashier.

The person who entered the store was a tall man and a rather burly and intimidating one at that. They didn't seem all that old, maybe around their early to late twenties at best, and early thirties at worst. The man in question had short black hair in a crew-cut style, bulging with muscle. He wore a no-sleeve leather jacket with a white tanktop underneath it, and black leather pants held up by a brown leather belt. He had the startings of a beard and a mustache, which made his punk-esque appearance look incomplete.

His expression was one of anger and rage. His red eyes narrowed as he turned his head around to scope out of the building. If the cashier didn’t know any better, he’d say that the man was looking for the schoolgirl. And if he was unsure about that, what the man said next all but confirmed it.

"Where the hell did that bitch go!" The man spat, glancing over at the cashier, who had looked away immediately not wanting to cause trouble. The man was most definitely referring to the schoolgirl. But why? If that was the case, was he her father? No. He looked nothing like the girl. So that meant he was most likely an assailant or stalker she ran away from.

In all honesty, the cashier didn't know if that was the case, nor did he care. All he wanted was for the man to leave. He couldn’t force the man out, and if he tried it wouldn’t end well. The guy looked like he could tear the cashier in half with ease. So, that wasn’t going to happen. No way in hell was he going try and get in that man’s way. He could privately call for the police, but that would be too much of a hassle.

His best choice right now was to pretend that nothing was going on and hope that a hero would notice if the girl was taken away. What was going on here was none of his business, and it never would be. As sad as it was to admit, that was the truth.

However, just as the cashier was looking away, he noticed that the girl had moved. She had gone from the back of the store and moved toward the front, sneaking up behind the man from one of the aisles closest to him—that being the candy bar aisle. And from there, the cashier was able to get a look at her face.

The first thing that he noticed was that her features were soft. She had baby-blue eyes and slightly pale skin, and as far as he could tell there were no blemishes on her face. No make-up, either. If he hadn’t been sure about her being at least sixteen before, he was now. No third year in high school looked like that. From his experience, they looked far more mature than what that girl appeared to look like. It made his thoughts about her from earlier sound even weirder now.

Just as he averted his eyes from the scene at the entrance, for a brief “blink and you’ll miss it” second, he could’ve sworn he had seen a pink arm appear and then disappear. As if it was a trick of the light. He also could’ve sworn that the girl glowed in a bright pink aura.

The sight had caused the cashier to look back at the scene in sheer awe and confusion. The pink arm, from what he saw of it, had worn a strange black glove that went all the way up to its forearm, fitted with golden studs. And on the front of the glove was a strange golden emblem of an even stranger-looking skull.

The arm appeared to have been reaching out toward the man who had stormed into the building. The arm then proceeded to touch the center of the man’s back. It made him straighten out from his semi-slouched posture, as he reached for something in his pocket. A weapon, probably, which made a pit form in the cashier’s stomach. 

The moment the cashier blinked the arm had disappeared. But where it had touched the man, something strange showed up. A large boil appeared in the center of the man's back right where the ghost arm had touched. When that happened, the man flinched, his hand dropping to his side as his expression twisted into one of sheer pain.

The cashier was about to say something, but as he did, the man made a face as if he was about to vomit. The cashier’s eyes widened, and out of nowhere, the girl who had gotten behind the man began to put her arms up to cover her face as if she were about to take cover from an explosion. The cashier was confused, all until the boil exploded. It had blown a massive log-sized hole through the man’s back and stomach, blood and viscera going all over the place as the man vomited up a pool of crimson liquid in the process.

The cashier had to shield his eyes from the explosion, but not before he noticed that it had knocked the girl back and into the glass entrance door of the convenience store. Despite the size of the explosion, no collateral damage had been caused. And yet, despite that, it was powerful enough to have knocked the teen back and was as loud as a real explosion. When the cashier looked back up, the girl had started getting up from the floor, brushing her skirt off with her hands.

However, that wasn't what caused the man to become even more confused than before. Sure, he was fairly certain that he had been a witness to a murder, which in and of itself was terrifying enough. But the strange part about it—aside from the literal murder that had just happened—was the fact that the man's body seemingly disappeared, along with the large pool and splatters of blood. In place of the blood was a rising stream of smoke from the spot where the body had once been.

Whatever kind of Quirk the girl had was one that could instantly kill anyone and blow away all evidence that there was a murder in the first place, aside from maybe camera footage. That was what caused him to be confused, alarmed, and more importantly scared.

His eyes wandered over to the blonde, who had made eye contact with him, the pit in his stomach growing. With a downright sociopathic, emotionless expression on her face, the girl made her way over to the cashier as his eyes widened even further with fear. Thoughts of potentially being killed plagued his mind as the teenager approached, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

"P-Please, don't kill me! I-I—" The man didn't finish his sentence, as he was interrupted by the sound of a can of red Rabbit Boost being put firmly on the countertop. He stopped cowering, and looked at the can, then back to the girl, back to the can, and then finally back to the girl. Her expression hadn’t changed even remotely as she stared at him, her eyes reflecting no life behind them.

"How much?" The girl asked, her voice cold and lifeless as she looked at the cashier, who gulped audibly. The only reason why he didn’t start crying was because her voice was soft and gentle—most likely because she was young. But that wasn’t the part that he cared about. What he cared about was that there was no emotion behind her voice.

It rang alarm bells in the back of the cashier's head, alerting him that she was more than likely a bit of a psycho. He really should’ve called the police, but if he tried chances were the crazy girl in front of him would kill him and flee the scene. So, rather than risk his life for the chance that the crazy chick was arrested, he decided to do his job as a cashier.

"U-Uh… a thousand yen!" The cashier spoke quickly, grabbing the can before scanning it and putting it in a bag. The girl put ten one-hundred yen coins on the counter and took the bag, before giving him a second glance, one filled with seriousness and a silent but obvious threat.

"Do me a favour, and keep quiet about this, okay? Nobody needs to know this happened, understand?" The blonde said, her tone colder than ice as the cashier swallowed back his fear and nodded. As the girl left the store, he let out a sigh of relief, the bell ringing as his head made contact with the check-out desk, whilst he whimpered in fear.

As that happened, the blonde-haired girl walked away from the store, checking behind her to make sure no one had seen her enter or leave the building. Thankfully, the coast was clear. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, and to say that she had been shaken was an understatement.

She was thankful she had been able to keep up the "cool, calm, and collected" façade for as long as she had. If she had been in that store for even a single second longer, she would’ve cracked and panicked. That wouldn’t have been a good thing, because that would leave her vulnerable, and no one needed to see that.

The teen didn't like confrontation, period. It was a rule of hers to try and stay out of it as much as humanly possible. She was glad that the cashier had been too petrified to do anything other than allow her to purchase her drink. If he had called the police, things would’ve gotten more than a little hectic, and that would’ve been something she wouldn’t have wanted to deal with.

But that brought the question of why she had killed the man in the first place.

The answer to that question is rather simple. The man had tried to make a move on her while she was making her way home from school, to which she slapped him like the prude he was. It had angered him, and thus he chased her to the convenience store, which resulted in what had just happened.

All in all, her afternoon had been going rather poorly. All she had wanted to do was go home, rest for a bit, and then go to work. Was that so hard for a young girl to ask? The world thought so, hence what had just happened. 

The young girl’s name was Yoshihara Kira, and she was fifteen years old, turning sixteen in two months on October 13^th. She lived in uptown Musutafu, a few blocks away from Aldera Junior High, where the single-room apartments were, and she was single.

She was a third-year student at the aforementioned school, and she typically got home every day around 4:30 pm after finishing some after-school studying. She usually went to bed at around 11 pm after coming home from work and doing a few pages of an assignment. Even though she didn’t typically get eight hours of sleep, she usually woke up without any fatigue or stress, and according to her doctor, she had no prior or current physical health issues.

Overall, if she were to ignore all of the bad things in her life, Yoshihara had lived a rather peaceful and quiet life. However, it wasn't always like that. From the day she was born, she had been met with hardship after hardship. At the age of six, she ran away from home due to… issues and had lived on the streets up until a few years ago, though it wasn’t much better. She now lived in a crappy apartment thanks to the money she got from her job.

Oh well, it was better to have a roof over her head rather than not having one.

While her life wasn't the best, it was what she had to work with and as far as she was concerned she was fine. Even if some of the stuff she had to do to get money was humiliating for a girl her age, she didn't care. It wasn't ideal, but it was enough.

Yoshihara had what some might call a 'boyish' appearance. She had chin-length blonde hair and a rather ordinary face, which didn't help with the 'boyish' appearance all that much. She had a small chest, which caused many girls at her school to bully her for her small bust size—not that she ever cared about that in the first place—and she stood at an average height of five feet four inches.

She had a slightly muscular physique due to her workout routine that she did to keep in shape. There were a few times that a couple of people tried to pick a fight with her, but it typically never went well for them. While she wasn’t a pro fighter, she did know a few things, such as proper stance and how to throw a good right hook when the time came. Living on the streets taught her that she needed to know how to defend herself if push came to shove.

Most of the time, when she did get into fights at school, they were over with fairly quickly. She had never lost a single time in an after-school fight. Not even against some of the strongest people in the school, aside from the known people to stay away from. But then again, she never actively looked for fights. All of the times she got into fights, it was because people came to her, and demanded it out of her.

She could only guess the reasoning, so she chalked it up to an ego thing. It wasn’t hard to hear how a lot of people didn’t believe that she could beat up kids twice her size, so she was challenged to fight more often than she wanted to admit.

She didn’t accept most of them, mostly because she was too busy to deal with dick-measuring contests. If she were a pettier woman, she might’ve done it more often. But she had a life and a job that she needed to attend to most of the time, so she ignored the majority of the taunts.

Yoshihara was pretty healthy for a girl her age, especially compared to some of the other girls in her school. Although, much like most teens who lived on their own, her diet wasn’t the best. Most of the time, she would eat store-bought ramen or a sandwich. If she was lucky, she’d buy takeout, but if she did that she would run out of food money for the week, and go hungry for a few days before her paycheque.

It was humiliating, to say the very least. It was bad enough that she lived in an overly expensive apartment that was hardly even worth the money she was spending on it, but adding that she could hardly pay for food, coupled with the stress of school and work… to say she wasn’t in the best of headspaces mentally wasn’t exactly far from the truth.

She didn’t have a family. Her father had left the picture a long time ago, and the less she spoke about her mother, the better. As far as she knew, she had no extended family to go to, leaving her all alone in the world. The only people she had to call friends were her co-workers, and even then that was a bit of a stretch.

But, as the saying goes “Make do with what you got, because sometimes that’s all you have.” And while it had worked for a while, it was starting to take a toll on Yoshihara. Not that it mattered. She had a plan. All she had to do was make it through the rest of the day, and she could finally move on.

That, however, was for later. 

As Yoshihara made her way to her apartment building, she stopped just a few feet away to stare at it with a frustrated gaze. The building was around six stories tall, and her apartment was on the fourth floor. Her staring contest with the building was broken when her stomach growled, making her frown. She hadn't eaten since this morning. She didn’t have enough money to buy extra food to pack a lunch, and she certainly didn’t have enough money for cafeteria food or stuff from the school vending machine.

She was on a tight enough budget as it was, so she couldn’t go spending money all over the place. She only made 190,000 Yen a month. While that sounded like a lot, when you stop to consider that Yoshihara’s rent was 120,000 Yen a month, you start to realize just how poor she was. Add onto the fact that the electricity bill for the apartment was 37,168 Yen, and the Gas bill was 20,097 Yen a month, that left her with a measly 12,735 Yen for food, potential new clothes, and services at the end of the tunnel.

And she somehow had to squeeze her way through the month with that kind of money. She was lucky the landlord added the water bill to the rent because if he didn’t, she wouldn’t have been able to afford food at all—and that wasn’t even mentioning her phone bill. Her phone bill was thankfully only 6,000 yen a month, but that then left her with only 6,735 yen for food. Which, if converted into American Dollars, was only a measly forty-five dollars. Hence the poor diet she had.   

When Yoshihara made it to the building, she wasted no time and put her apartment number into the number pad outside of the front door. When a click reverberated inside, the door unlocked, allowing her to enter the apartment building.

The interior was nothing to pay attention to. There were two plants near the entrance and a hallway that broke off in two directions. The hallway had apartments going down both sides, labelled 101 through 115—she would know, because her floor was styled the same way. Off to the right of the entrance was an elevator, which was where she was looking to go.

She quickly made her way to the elevator and pressed the call button. She tapped her foot against the carpeted floor as she whistled, waiting for the elevator to get to the bottom floor. "Come on, you stupid thing, hurry it up…" Yoshihara muttered, glancing up at the ceiling. The elevator usually took a while to get to the bottom floor, as it had a historic past of breaking down due to it being outdated.

The building had been in this particular lot since the age before Quirks, so it was rather ancient—according to the owners, it was built in 1998 and had hardly received any upgrades since then. To make it worse, it was the cheapest place imaginable, both figuratively and literally. And not cheap as in rent, she meant that it was cheap as in how much of a cheapskate the owner was.

The person who owned the building never bothered to replace most of the equipment like the elevator. While the building had undergone some earthquake safety changes, nothing else changed about the building outside of that.

It was a real wonder how the HMA hadn’t shut this place down for being too unsafe to live in, but that wasn’t exactly something she wanted to think about right now. She just wanted a little downtime before she had to go to work. The last thing she wanted to have on her mind was the possibility of her being displaced because the HMA did their job for once.   

"Ah, waiting for the elevator, I see…" a raspy yet soft voice spoke out at the entrance of the building as Yoshihara glanced in that direction. The person to whom the voice belonged was another resident of the building. He was an old man, around 75 years old and balding. He was around four feet eight inches tall, dressed in a plaid blue shirt and a pair of brown slacks with suspenders. He was what some might call the doting grandfatherly type, despite not having grandkids of his own.

"Ah, good afternoon Sasaki-san," Yoshihara said, walking over to the older gentleman to help him through the door. When she did, the old man smiled at her in the only way an elderly gentleman could.

"Ah, thank you Kira-chan. It seems I’m in your debt again," Sasaki said as Yoshihara walked him over to the elevator.

“Nonsense. I’m just doing what anyone would do, Sasaki-san,” Yoshihara replied as Sasaki chuckled.

“I suppose so. I suppose so…”  

Sasaki was Quirkless, and that was because of when he was born. Due to that small fact, he couldn't do much on his own especially due to his old age. Most people pitied him, but not enough to where they actively went out of their way to help him, even the other residents. So Yoshihara helped him out whenever she could. It was just the right thing to do.

A part of her felt bad. Who was going to help him when she was gone? She honestly didn’t know, but for what it was worth, she just hoped he’d get along just fine without her. She was still here, though, so she might as well continue her usual line of discussion with him.

"How was work, Sasaki-san?" Yoshihara asked as the elevator dinged. He smiled, humming to himself as the elevator opened. The two walked inside, Sasaki first and Yoshihara second, as Sasaki coughed into his elbow.

"Ah, yes… well, it was the same as usual, although something interesting did happen today" he replied, clearing his throat. "We had a couple of villains come in and try to rob the old store next door, but Endeavour just so happened to be in the area," Sasaki recalled as he continued to talk about how his day went.

Every day he would tell an interesting story from his time at work, then he would ramble about how stupid his ex-wife was before finally giving Yoshihara a one-hundred yen coin for listening to his ramblings. Then, he would return to his apartment, and she would do the same.

"… And that is why I divorced her!" Sasaki shouted in his soft voice as the pair stood in front of his apartment. "Ah, anyway, thank you for keeping an old man company," he said, handing Yoshihara the one-hundred yen coin. She stared at it briefly. Did she really need it after tonight? Then again, Sasaki would ask why she wasn’t taking it, so Yoshihara did what she normally did and took the coin.

"It's always a pleasure, Sasaki-san. I know how it can be when you're always alone. Not being able to talk to others starts to get to someone. I'm just glad I can help," Kira said, causing Sasaki to smile once again.

"Have a good day, Kira-chan," Sasaki waved as he unlocked his apartment, and began to walk inside. But just before he closed the door, he looked at her, a glimmer of worry in his eyes. “I couldn’t help but notice, but your eyes look different today. They don’t have that usual youthful gleam about them. Is something the matter, Kira-chan?”

Yoshihara faltered, looking away. “No. It’s quite alright. I just had an off day at school. It’s nothing to worry about.”

Sasaki frowned. “Kira-chan….” He drawled, in the same way, a caring grandfather would when they were concerned before continuing. “I don’t know how often you hear this, and I don’t know your situation, but, I just want to say that you matter. Don’t do anything reckless, dear. Otherwise, who else will talk to me after work?” Sasaki joked at the end, but the message was heard.

Yoshihara cracked a small smile. “You don’t have to worry about me, Sasaki-san. Take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will, Kira-chan. You take care of yourself as well,” Sasaki said, closing his door, as Yoshihara turned to her apartment, which was on the left of Sasaki’s. She crouched down, lifted the welcome mat that was placed outside of her apartment just like all the others, and grabbed the key underneath. She then put it into the lock, twisted the key, and unlocked the door before opening it and taking the key with her inside, closing the door behind her.

Her apartment wasn't all that great. Then again, none of the apartments in this run-down building were. It was a small two-room apartment. There was a joint living room and kitchen, with a room off to the side that functioned as a bathroom. She had no bedroom, so she slept on a pull-out couch.

Some would call it a waste of money, but for Yoshihara, it was all she had. It was either that or the street, and she would rather not live on the street…

"Never again…" Yoshihara thought, frowning at the idea before she brushed it aside, her expression returning to normal. Taking off her shoes by her door, she walked to her fold-out couch and threw herself onto it. She didn't want to do anything, not after today, but she had work to get to in the next couple of hours, so she didn’t have much of a choice. That, and she was ahead of the class in terms of schoolwork. She didn’t have a TV, so all she had for entertainment was her phone.

She didn’t pay for any kind of streaming subscriptions. So there was no Netflix, no Hulu, and no Disney Plus. She didn’t have that kind of expendable income to afford that, as sad and depressing as that was. All she had to rely on was YouTube, the original video-sharing platform, or HeroTube, the other one made by Google to jump onto the whole Heroics thing.

Yoshihara sighed, taking her phone out from her skirt pocket—one that she had put into the skirt, might she add. Customization was allowed, after all—and turned it on. Opening up the HeroTube app, she scrolled through a couple of videos, until one had caught her interest.  

"All Might stops a burning building from toppling over, saving thousands? Boring…. Hero Killer Stain's latest Kill? Lame, and also sickening. A random kid nearly kills himself to save a friend with heroes standing around doing nothing? Oh?" To say that the last video caught Yoshihara’s interest was an understatement. Tapping on the video and skipping a boring ad, the video began.

It started with the guy recording a video of what seemed to be a villain with a mutant quirk suffocating a blond-haired boy, who was, of all things, inside of the villain. The person was commentating overtop the video was shouting about how the heroes weren't doing anything, until finally, a green-haired boy ran out of the crowd, threw his yellow back-pack at the villain's face, then began clawing at the villain to try and free his friend, all without using a Quirk. The video abruptly ended after All Might came out of nowhere and punched the villain away right after the green-haired kid was submerged in the villain.

It made her think why All Might waited until that kid got involved. Was he waiting for more than one hostage? Or, was it rather because he was just running late and just so happened to show up then? She’d rather believe the latter over the former because that made this whole Professional Heroism thing seem less dystopian in her mind.

Not that it mattered, all things considered. Still, it was kind of interesting how that video played out. “Either that guy's got some guts to do something so stupid, or he is that stupid…" Yoshihara murmured, replaying the video again. While she verbally dismissed it, curiosity had overcome her, and the green-haired boy had intrigued her. While it was redundant, she decided to try and get a better look at what the kid looked like.

The camera wasn't all that great in terms of quality even after upping the frame rate, but after replaying the video a couple of times, Yoshihara was able to get a few details about the boy, blurry as they may be.

For starters, the boy was wearing a school uniform, and it looked similar to her school uniform, meaning he either went to a similar school to Aldera Junior High or the boy went to the aforementioned school. If that was the case, she felt bad for him, because that school sucked rocks.

Second of all, the boy had a very distinct hairstyle, so it wasn't like he didn't stand out in a crowd. Fuzzy green hair that burst out every which way, kind of like a messy afro. She couldn’t make out the rest of the details about him physically, so that was all she would have to go on for now.

Finally, the boy either had a Quirk and refused to use it, or he didn't have a Quirk, which gave the kid bonus points in her books. Trying to save someone without Quirk just made him look cooler in her eyes. It showed that out of everyone there, including the heroes, he had been the true hero risking his life to save someone even if he knew it was pointless.

That was pretty much it. That was all Yoshihara had to go on about the identity of this mystery boy. It would’ve been great if she had known his name. She would’ve liked to have met him. Or maybe not. Trying to find someone based on a YouTube video sounded kind of stalkerish, now that she thought about it. Oh well, if she ever came across the kid today, which she heavily doubted, she’d at least acknowledge him for what he did in the video.

Not like there was going to be much to do after today, anyway.

When she finished analyzing the video, she looked at the time. It was around 5:35 pm, meaning that she had rewatched the video for at least an hour straight. "Great, well, I better get something to eat, then get ready for work…” Yoshihara muttered to herself, putting her phone in sleep mode and laying it on the table in front of her couch, before walking to her apartment’s kitchenette.

Within the small, pint-sized kitchen, there was a mini-fridge, a stove, a sink, and two cupboards for any dishes. Aside from that, all she had for cooking things was one pot, one pan, and a microwave. Again, it wasn't much, but it was what she used to live, and as far as she was concerned, that was all she needed. However, it wouldn't have killed the person who built the place to add some more legroom.

Opening up the fridge, she had a leftover sandwich she made last night. It would be enough to satisfy her for at least a few hours. She grabbed the sandwich, a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich to be precise, and quickly ate it. She didn't have much time before she was considered late. The last thing she wanted to do was be late today. Today was special, after all. She didn’t want to come home with a burden on her shoulders. It would make her plans feel stupid after the fact.

Slamming the fridge shut, she ran over to her closet and quickly began to strip down out of her school uniform, throwing it on her fold-out couch. Without anything to cover her body, aside from her undergarments that was, her body was open for the whole world to see, or at least, for her apartment to see.

Yoshihara had some defining musculature on her arms and legs, as well as the starting of a six-pack. She had some slightly defined shoulder muscles, while the rest looked rather normal compared to most other people. One would think with how little she ate she wouldn’t be able to put on this much muscle, but the human body was a surprising thing, and it was wonderous what it could do with so little.

She remembered the first time the girls in the school's changing room saw her body. Some of them asked her where she worked out and others asked about… other things. Of course, this was before all the teasing and bullying began, so she told them that she had started working out at Gunhead's Workout Palace, which was just on the edge of Musutafu.

Oh, how times were simpler back then. Well, not as much simpler as they were worse off. At that time, she was still homeless, barely surviving off of scrapes and whatever she could get off of someone after begging and… doing things for them. A time period she wished to forget.

Well, at least, by the end of the day, she would be able to forget about it. After all, why would she hang on to any regrets? If she was going to go through with her plan today, then that meant she would be free from her past mistakes. All’s well that ends well, as they said.

As Yoshihara thought that, she fished around in her closet for something to wear, that being a white pinstripe suit with green lines going across it diagonally. Next to the suit was a pink shirt, which she grabbed. Next to that was a black tie decorated with strange humanoid cat-like skulls, with a golden zig-zag pattern interweaving between the strange skull motifs. Finally, there were her black slip-on shoes that she had left at the door.

Overall, it was rather simple yet also fashionable. And the best part? It hadn’t cost her a single cent, because her boss had gifted it to her as a birthday present. Her very first birthday present. Considering her previous situation, she had never had a birthday present before. Yoshihara didn't mind. Besides, at least this was more practical than what others imagined a birthday present to be.

The suit was snug and comfortable, and the fabric felt great against her skin. Though she didn't wear it to look fashionable, she wore it because she liked the design and the colour. It was just a shame it would be one of the last times she wore it. Maybe she could take it with her? Well, she doubted it. But, it was worth a shot.

Fixing the collar and adjusting the pants, she grabbed the brown leather belt that helped her keep the pants up, slipped it through the slots, and then buckled the belt up back around at the center of her waist. On the belt was a pouch, and in that pouch was a serrated blade, in case she couldn't use her "Quirk."

Brushing her suit off with her hands, she straightened out her posture, fixed her tie, then headed for the door. Leaving her apartment, and then closing the door behind her, she headed for the elevator. When she pressed the call button, the doors opened, and she walked inside. Selecting the ground floor, the elevator doors closed, then after a minute, the doors opened again, bringing her to the ground floor.

Running out of the building as fast as she could, she ran to the bus stop. She knew full well that she had maybe an hour before she was considered late, and she didn't want to be chewed out by her boss for being late—well, not chewed out. Her boss wasn’t like that. Although he would be a little annoyed. After all, it would’ve broken her record, and that wasn’t something she wanted to do.

When she made it to the bus stop, she thought she had missed it. That was, until, the bus began to pull up. She let out a sigh of relief as it slowed down, before completely stopping just in front of her. She had been rather lucky this time, which was a good thing for rather obvious reasons.

The bus doors opened, and with the few hundred yen coins she had left, she had enough for the bus fare. Putting the coins into the machine, she received her ticket and then headed for the back of the bus.

She needed to get to Anakin Street before the clock hit 6:30. That was when she would be considered late. And while the place also closed around then, after a few minutes, it would open again. But this time, in a new light. It would be for V.I.P’s only, and that was when she worked.

But what exactly was her place of work? Well, the answer to that question was simple, if not a tad embarrassing.

To put it simply, Yoshihara Kira worked at a strip club as a private showwoman.

For those that didn’t know what a private showwoman was—though with the context of it being a strip club, it should’ve been obvious—Yoshihara was essentially a private “hook-up.” What that boiled down to was if someone wanted to, they could pay a certain amount of money to do whatever they wanted to the person in question, so long as it didn't go over the pay grade. Unless, of course, they booked ahead of time. In that case, so long as it was over an hour’s worth of pay, they got to do the whole lineup of things to her.

And by “the lineup”, she meant everything on the sign of her door to her room. Blowjobs were 7,000 Yen. Thighjobs were 10,000 Yen. Anal was 25,000 Yen. And the most expensive one, and coincidentally the one that most people paid for was the fourth and final option: Vaginal with a condom (because she wasn’t risking that for money), which cost 40,000 Yen.

She didn’t offer anything else. Most of what she earned went toward the building, and a percentage of it went into her paycheque, which was 190,000 Yen, which she got at the end of every month. It sounded like highway robbery, but it wasn’t. The business needed funds to be run, and it was company policy that all the money made during a shift went back to the owner so that he could do upgrades, pay bills, and all that other stuff.

It was also of note, that most people who worked the private shifts were considerably wealthier than those who worked the regular shifts. She was the outlier, because not only was her apartment overcharging her, but her boss didn’t know. She didn’t want to burden him with her issues. Even if he was a nice man, he didn’t need that weight on his shoulders.    

Even if it was a rather dirty place to work, it made her a lot of money, and it made it quick. She also gathered quite a reputation there. Of course, no one outside of work knew about her profession. As far as those who were at school knew, she worked as a private consultant at a firm. This considering her grades made sense, even though it was impossible for a kid her age. But, kids were stupid, so they bought it. The teachers didn’t know she had a job, so that helped things too.  

Of course, there was a legal problem with her work. Not because the work itself was illegal—Strip Clubs were perfectly legal in Japan. It was what she was doing there that was illegal. If she was just a janitor, while gross, the government wouldn’t throw a hissy fit over it. But because she was doing the part of the job that was considered illegal for her age, that would be worth throwing a fit over.

Luckily, or unluckily depending on what one’s perspective was, those who showed up didn’t care that Yoshihara was only fifteen. A lot of the customer base was there for her. Something that was inherently disgusting, because who would prefer a child over a bunch of mature adults?

Maybe it was because they saw her as cute. Made it easier to pretend that she wasn’t a child? No, that went against the whole concept. Most of them were high-up business owners. It was taboo to have sex with a child, considering it was illegal and all that jazz. Though she guessed it made sense why these people came here for her. Business owners, in her mind, were moral degenerates. That meant they had to have some kind of fetish. Children must’ve been what these guys were after.

The only business owner that she didn’t think was a moral degenerate was her boss, and that was because he was a kind, caring individual with a heart of gold. After all, he was the one who took her in when she first met him.

That aside, she didn’t really care about the others. To her, as far she was concerned, she was fine with them predating on her, rather than some unlucky four-year-old. She’d rather it be her than someone younger. Besides, most of her life she had been surrounded by sex, drugs, and booze. Her home life hadn’t been the best. Rather, it had been the worst. Something she didn’t like to think about. She had buried it deep within the recesses of her soul for a reason.

Of course, with that kind of context, one would imagine that this was some kind of last-ditch effort to make money. The answer was no. This had been one of the largest constants in Yoshihara’s life, that being sex work. To be clear: it wasn’t like she enjoyed being a slut. But that was what she had to do to make money. After all, her “Quirk” was too violent to be used in the line of heroics—not that she wanted to be a hero in the first place—and her apartment was too expensive for her to do any other kind of job.

So, this was all she had going for her. Selling her body to make money. As horrendous as it was for a fifteen-year-old to do, she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. One did what they had to do to make money, after all. Even if it meant doing the one thing that was considered the most taboo and immoral thing in the world.

Here, she was the young, inexperienced little girl who had a soft, cute moan whenever one did something to her. The virgin child who was way in over her head, and someone whom customers wanted to defile to get their sick kicks. But outside of this place, Yoshihara was none of those things. Her upbringing made it so. That, and her upbringing made her learn how to be extremely good at pretending to be things she wasn’t.    

When her stop came up, she got off the bus and ran down the street and to the building. The bouncer greeted her and let her in. The guy's name was Otoshi Arakawa, and he had been working here ever since she started as a private showwoman

He was a nice guy, and he always treated her with kindness. Otoshi knew her situation more than anyone else there, aside from the owner. While he didn't approve of her choice, he still stopped by whenever her shift was done to make sure she was okay. Being a private showwoman was mentally degrading to most. But Yoshihara was able to shunt it away.

Otoshi Arakawa was around six feet three inches tall and was extremely muscular like most bouncers. For the better half of her childhood, he acted as a pseudo-father figure to her, seeing as he had known her since she started working at this place as a janitor at the ripe age of twelve. He would stop by every so often at her apartment and help her out with her school work, and sometimes, he would come by with his girlfriend, Sayaka, who was equally as nice as he was.

"You're just in time, Kira. Before you go in, though, the boss wants to talk to ya, okay?" Otoshi said as Kira nodded. She had a feeling that she already knew what he was going to talk to her about. It wouldn’t be the first time. But, tonight it would be the last. If things went her way, of course.

Making her way to the entrance of the building, she squeezed past all of the common folk who were kicked out by the owner. When she finally got into the building, she saw the man in question, who was on stage with a microphone in his right hand, thanking everyone for coming by, and telling them to have a safe journey home.

The man was a tall and lean person, with the beginnings of a beard around his chin and jawline. He had short brown hair and hazel eyes. He wore a blue and white striped shirt with black overalls, along with a pair of black work shoes. The man had always gone with old-timey clothing, saying that he preferred it to the new stuff.

The man's name was Akira Tomodachi, and he had owned this building for the last twenty years. Most people who ran these places were seedy, perverted people who had no morals whatsoever. Akira, on the other hand, was one of the kindest people in the business. Everyone, including the dancers, liked him.

He never raised a hand to anyone unless it was to protect someone, nor did he scream or yell at any of his employees. It was why everyone liked him. He respected you, and naturally, you would respect him. It had something to do with his background, though what that was, she didn’t know

When Akira and Yoshihara's eyes met, he nodded to her and gestured for her to head to his office. She was annoyed, but she went with it. Most people never went into his office for a good reason. Most people who went to his office were either fired or were talked to about doing poorly for the special guests.

She had already known what this conversation was going to be about. Every few weeks he would give her the same talk, and each time she dismissed it with fervor. It was annoying to see that he was trying again. And today of all days….

For context: Akira would try and talk Yoshihara out of her job, saying that while he commemorated the effort she put in, he’d around and say that it was bad for her mental health to be used as an object by the people who came in every day to see her—not that it hadn’t been like that for her whole life, though he didn’t need to know that.

Yoshihara was glad that Akira cared about her, but what he was failing to understand was that she didn’t care. Sure, it was unhealthy. She knew that. God did she know that. But it was the only thing she could do to realistically afford that shitty apartment. No other job paid as well as this one, and she would be damned if she had to juggle three jobs and school. This was her best and frankly, only choice, because it made her the most money.

When was he going to understand that? Knowing Akira and how moralistic he was, probably never. But, that was the side-effect when one worked for Akira Tomodachi. Hell, his last name was quite literally “friend” when translated into its meaning, so that made sense.  

Passing by a few of the dancers and into Akira’s office, she was greeted with the familiar wooden desk that she knew all too well. The wood was extremely well polished compared to most other things in the building. On the wall to the right were pictures of the previous owners, in other words, his descendants, ending with a self-portrait of him.

Directly behind the desk was a photo rack of the “Employees of the Year,” and up there with some of the best dancers, Yoshihara was on the lower row of the lineup. If she had to say anything, she'd say that she didn't mind it. She even remembered taking that photo not that long ago—about six months ago back in February.

Sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk, she waited for Akira to show himself. She could hear him give out a pep talk to the other employees, then after a few seconds of hearing footsteps running around for people to get into place, the door to the office opened, and Akira walked in.

"I see Otoshi told you to meet me in here," Akira said as Yoshihara nodded, putting an arm around the back of her chair.

"If this is what I think it is, I'm leaving. I don't have time for this, and you already know my answer," Yoshihara said as Akira frowned. The man walked around to his desk, grabbed Yoshihara's picture from the “Employee of the Year” wall, and then sat down.

"You know it pained me to put your picture up there," he started, placing it in front of her. "Don't get me wrong you drive business up through the roof. I don't know what it is you do back there, but everyone loves you," Akira paused, letting out an exasperated sigh before crossing his arms. "I just…” he sighed again, driving home his disappointment. Yoshihara tried not to roll her eyes. “I don't want to see you waste your life being, for the lack of a better word, a whore," Akira finished as Yoshihara huffed.

"And how many times have you told me that?” Yoshihara dryly replied, narrowing her eyes. “Look, we've been here so many times, and you already know my answer. It's not like I enjoy what I'm doing. I don't like the feeling of someone's cock in my mouth much less being fucked by someone twice my age, but I do it because it makes me money, far too much than I want to admit," Yoshihara spat as Akira crossed his arms, staring at her with narrowed eyes of his own.

"And that is precisely why I don't want you here. You hate it here, so why keep coming back? I get the pay is good, that much I understand. I’ve known you since you were twelve, Yoshihara. I know your situation, and while I understand the struggle, I can’t stand to have you here working in this position. You're not of age yet, and even if you turn sixteen soon, I’m not going to risk that.

“If you’re so determined to work here, I’d much rather wait till you’re eighteen. I’m also pretty sure age is the reason why so many people come to see you, and if that's the case, maybe you should find a different career path," Akira said, leaning back in his chair before turning around and putting the picture back on the wall.

"Well, what do you suggest? 'Cause I need money, and I need a lot of money. If you know my situation, then you already know that my dingy apartment isn't going to pay for itself. I’d take the janitor position back if it paid half as well as this did, but it doesn’t so that’s isn’t an option," Yoshihara said, standing up from the chair and heading for the door. "When you have a bright idea for me, then call me back, but until then, I'll talk to you after my shift," Yoshihara said, grabbing the door handle before Akira teleported in front of her.

She frowned. Why couldn’t he just let her get to her job and have it over and done with? Why, of all days, was her plans being ruined? “Whatever,” she thought “Just get through this, get to work, go home, and enact the plan. Can’t be that hard.”

Now, as to how Akira was able to get in front of Yoshihara in the blink of an eye, it had everything to do with his Quirk. Akira's Quirk was Teleportation. So long as he looked in that direction, and so long as it wasn't more than five meters away from him, he could teleport to that location. It was quite powerful for everyday life, but not hero material.

"Sit down. We aren't done here yet," Akira spoke, his voice cold and business-like. Yoshihara rolled her eyes as she walked back to her chair before sitting back down. "Thank you," he said politely, arms behind his back.

Akira walked to his chair before bringing out a picture of someone. They looked young, maybe in their early thirties. They had long black hair, purplish-black eyes, and a radiant smile. In the picture, she was dressed in a white and black striped shirt and blue jeans with a belt. Yoshihara was about to ask why he brought out the picture before Akira spoke. "This is my sister-in-law. I married her older sister three years ago. Tell me, does she look familiar to you?" Akira asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.

"Nope, who is it?" Yoshihara asked as Akira smirked.

"I'm sure you've heard of the pro-hero Midnight, right?" Akira asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow. She had no idea what relevance Midnight had to the conversation. Sure, she had heard of the R-rated hero, but who hasn't? She was in the top one hundred heroes in all of Japan, sitting at 82^nd place just behind Mandalay and the rest of the Wild Wild Pussycats.

"Yeah, but I fail to see why she's important right now?" Yoshihara questioned, folding her arms across her chest as the door to Akira’s office opened, causing her to turn around. She expected Otoshi to walk in, but instead, she was greeted by someone else, and it made her eyes widen to the size of saucers.

"Now, I could say that was rude of you, but then again, it was rude for me to be late in the first place," a sultry-sounding voice spoke out into the room as a tall, busty woman walked entered. Her long black hair flowed down to the center of her back, and her voluptuous body would give even the most hardened people a nosebleed. She was wearing a long, unbuttoned, brown trenchcoat, while underneath, she wore a baggy white shirt and tight, form-fitting pants with stiletto heels.

It was, in fact, the pro-hero Midnight, standing in the office of Akira Tomodachi as if he had summoned her on command. Out of all the people she had expected to see today, Midnight was not one of them.

"Holy smokes…" Yoshihara muttered, a faint blush on her cheeks as Midnight smirked.

"So, this is the girl I hear you talk so fondly about, Tomodachi-Kun! I can see why, too. Reminds me of my niece in Korea, just a more natural hair colour than, well, blonde. But then again, blondes have always been your type, haven’t they~?" Midnight said, her voice teasing in tone, closing the door behind her as Akira rolled his eyes.

"Don't say it like that, Nemuri. You're making it seem like I drool about her in my dreams," Akira drawled, completely unphased as Nemuri sighed, taking off her coat before throwing it on the coat hanger on the back of the door.

"You know how it is, Tomodachi-Kun, I love teasing you, and you love pointing out how my latest scandal can 'end my career,' only for it to be turned around a second later," Nemuri pointed out before sitting adjacent to Yoshihara.

She tensed. This was a pro-hero, just casually walking into the room the owner of a strip club and not batting an eye at the fact a child was in the room. Perhaps the hero didn't care or was concealing her true feelings. Kira didn't know, but she was curious.

More importantly… what was she doing here? Why was she here? Did Akira know about her plans? No… he couldn’t have. His Quirk was Teleportation. Not mind-reading…. But that had been Otoshi’s Quirk.

That was when she realized something. It should’ve been obvious. She thought her plan was foolproof. But she forgot the one thing that would throw a wrench into it. That being Otoshi and his Mind Reading Quirk. Perfect for a bouncer, and also perfect to tell a concerned boss about what an employee was planning to do.  

“Oh no… no please… don’t do this to me…” Yoshihara thought, her right hand clenching into a fist. “Otoshi… why? If you could’ve read my mind, you’d know why I wanted to go through with my plan! Why would you tell Akira?!”

The heroine in question turned to face Yoshihara, a concerned look on her face. "Kira-chan, right?" She asked, making Yoshihara look away. She needed to calm herself. She couldn’t let Akira catch onto the fact that she knew that he knew about her plan for after-work tonight.

"Yeah… uh…" Yoshihara cleared her throat. "This is… uh… really awkward…." She swallowed back the uneasiness she was feeling. That look in Midnight’s eyes. It wasn’t judging, but it was something else. Something that Yoshihara wasn’t familiar with, so she couldn’t put a pin on it. But the gleam in her eyes reminded her of disappointment, though it was hard to tell.

"Yes, it is," Nemuri said, folding her arms. "Now, I've heard about you from some of the people at the bar me and my friends hang out at. Do you want to know some of the stuff I hear coming from those sickos?" Nemuri asked as Yoshihara scoffed.

"No… but I doubt you're gonna listen to me," Yoshihara said as Nemuri blew hot air out of her nose.

"Well, no, if you don't want to hear it, that's fine. But it isn't… pleasant to hear. Akira tells me you bring in a lot of money to this place, and while he's glad that you've revived the business, he's concerned for your health. I overheard what you said, and while I'm not a slut-shamer, hell, that'd make me a goddamn hypocrite, you shouldn't be doing this, not at all," Nemuri stated.

"Yeah, well, It's not like I have much of a choice financially," Yoshihara spat back, her cheeks dusted pink with irritation. She was getting emotional. Or, well, as emotionally as she could get. That aside, she knew that she couldn't get emotional in front of a pro hero. It would be embarrassing. Taking in a deep breath, she spoke again, this time with a shakier voice.

"I don't like doing this. I hate this job. I can't hold down a regular job 'cause it doesn't pay me enough to afford that shitty little apartment or the electricity and gas bill. I hardly have enough for food, but at least this job pays me enough money to at least attempt it," Yoshihara said, water bubbling in her eyes, her arms wrapped tightly around her body as she choked back a sob.

Goddamnit… why? Why did he have to do this? Everything would’ve just worked out if he didn’t stick his nose into this. Why couldn’t he just let her do what she wanted? For once, why couldn’t he just stick his nose out of her business….

"I want to have a normal job, believe me, I do. But with everything that's going on, and with how my life has been going…. I can't…” She paused, her breathing hitching as she spoke. “I can’t keep doing this anymore.” Her voice had gone soft, and the pain and hurt that leaked out was the most genuine thing she had felt in years. It was almost therapeutic in a way if it hadn’t been so fucked up.  

“I’m so sick and tired of barely getting by, having to go hungry for days at a time. I have no family, and no one cares about me… so why? Why do any of you care all of a sudden? Why should you care…?" Yoshihara muttered all the while her voice cracked and broke whilst she tried to keep the tears from falling and failing miserably. Nemuri stared at her with heaps of concern in her eyes, glancing over at Akira, who shrugged.

To Akira's credit, he didn't know how to handle this. He had seen Yoshihara break down multiple times, and hell, he even calmed her down and helped out occasionally. But this was the first time she had openly admitted to the things that he knew to be true—at least, when it came to the job, anyway. Akira hadn’t known what her landlord had been charging her, but if it was so much that she was breaking down over it, it must’ve been insane.

And that wasn’t even mentioning what he knew she had planned to do.

Nemuri didn’t know. But he did. Otoshi told him what she had planned to do, and it horrified him. Nemuri didn’t need to know the full context of the situation, but considering what Kira was implying, considering that he knew that Nemuri wasn’t stupid, and seeing how her expression was changing to one of understanding, and acknowledgement of what she was saying, it wasn’t hard to understand what Kira was implying.

She had been planning to commit suicide. The keyword was: planning. And that was the reason why Akira had called Nemuri to come here in the first place. It wasn’t just to meet Yoshihara. It was to help her out of the shitty situation she found herself in.

“Hey, kiddo… uh, listen. You don't have to work here if you don’t want to. I…" Akira stopped mid-sentence as Nemuri looked at him with the same knowing glance a few of his bouncers would give him. The kind of look that told him that he was trying to do something far out of his league. It was a look that said: "Stop, let me handle this."

Getting up from her seat, Nemuri stood in front of Yoshihara. She took a knee, meeting Yoshihara’s eye level, though Yoshihara had been too deep in her despair to the point that she hadn’t noticed Nemuri. She snapped her fingers in front of Yoshihara, which caught her attention. Her eyes were slightly red from the crying, and her cheeks had gone red with a mixture of embarrassment, annoyance, and anger.

"Look, kid, I…” She paused, formulating the words in her head before continuing. “I get where you're coming from. I was in the same spot as you are right now when I was younger," She began as she shifted around uncomfortably. "However, unlike you, I didn't have someone to turn to. I remained a sex worker for the entirety of my time in junior high. It was only until I met the friends that I have now, including Akira, that I was able to get away from that lifestyle," Nemuri explained, taking a deep breath as Yoshihara wiped away the tears in her eyes.

Good. That meant that what she was saying was potentially working. Either that or she was just trying to calm herself down. Nemuri was cautious either way. One wrong word, or phrase, or anything for that matter could set her off again. And if that happened, they’d be back at square one, or worse, she’d run away. And if she ran away the chances of them seeing her again unless it was on the news were slim to none.

"Akira has repeatedly told you that you don't have to continue this job if you don't want to, but it’s obvious that, at least to you, you don’t have a choice in the matter from what I’m hearing. You pretend that it doesn’t take a mental toll on you, but in truth, it does, doesn’t it? I bet every day you dread getting up in the morning, knowing what it is you have to do when you get home from school. I bet you hate yourself for what you have to do, but you’re not the only one who knows that.

He knows that you're suffering, and I can't blame him for asking me to come here to help you. And now that I’ve met you, and heard what it was you’re saying, I can safely say that, whatever you’re planning to do, don’t do it. You might not think that you have anyone to turn to, or that there isn’t anyone who cares about you, but the truth is that there is, Akira and Otoshi included. That, and I know that there is a way that you can get out of this situation you’re in.”

"Oh yeah," Yoshihara said, clearing her throat and calming herself. There was a stern look in her eyes. The kind of look that showed that she was fed up with everything, which was to be expected. "What exactly is that? Go on, tell me, because I’ve tried everything. There’s nothing left for me. So just leave me alone…" Her voice was sharp, annoyed, and also irritated.

"Well, first of all, I want you to calm down. It's hard to think rationally when you're all emotional like that," Nemuri started, looking at Yoshihara with a gleam in her eye. In response she took a few deep breaths, one every few seconds, tears still bubbling in her eyes, though much less than before. When she looked less like an emotional wreck, Nemuri continued.

"Good, now, I usually don't do this, but seeing as you're in a tricky situation, I want to give you an offer. That is, of course, if you're willing to listen?" Nemuri asked as Yoshihara nodded, which caused Nemuri to smile. "When I was younger, I was approached by a hero that is, unfortunately, deceased, but they said this to me when they approached me, so I'm going to say the same thing," Nemuri said, standing up, extending a hand to Yoshihara.

"I see potential in you. While I don't know who you are, as a hero, I cannot allow you to continue living like this. So let me offer you a way to turn your life around so that you can forgo all of this pain you're holding on to. I have a few connections with a couple of powerful people in this world, and with those, not only will your life become better than what it is now, but I can guarantee, it will never be the same ever again! Yoshihara Kira, allow me, Midnight, to bring you a better life. Become a hero, join U.A. Academy, and if you don't like the apartment you currently live in, there's a spare room in my apartment suite if you want a better place to live," Midnight said, a smile on her face, one of honesty and truth.

Yoshihara had no idea what to think about what Nemuri had said. All she could do was stare in silence. Her face suddenly became calculating, trying to scope out any ulterior motives as a voice in the back of her mind told her not to trust Nemuri. Told her it was a trap. Told her that she was like every other adult that she had met up until this point, excluding Akira and Otoshi. However, a far louder part of her mind screamed at her telling her to trust her.

This was it. This was her chance. If she agreed to go with Nemuri, she would be able to live a better life. That voice in the back of her head that had been telling her it was pointless was drowned out by the far more hopeful voice in her head. If she did this… if she went with Nemuri, a lot of the problems she had faced in her life would go away. Not all of them, but it would be a start.

She could finally live. All of her life she had been stuck in a rut. This, though? This gave her the opportunity of a lifetime. One that not many people had been offered. So why would she waste it? Even if she never exactly dreamed of being a hero, this could be her ticket out of this mess.   

Reluctantly, Yoshihara reached out her hand, and as it was seconds from taking Midnights, she stopped, looking over to Akira, who had his arms crossed. While his facial expression held no emotion, his eyes told a completely different story.

It was like they were egging her on, telling her to take Nemuri’s hand. If Akira trusted it, then she supposed that she could. Finally, she took Midnight's hand and stood up, the height difference being plain as day, with Yoshihara's short height, she barely made any ground to Midnight's five foot nine inches, standing around the middle of her stomach.

Nemuri nodded, gripping her hand as a soft smile appeared on her face. "You made the right choice, Kira Yoshihara," she said, turning to look at Akira. "It's getting late, Tomodachi-Kun. I'll take Yoshihara back home with me. If you don't mind, that is," Nemuri said as Akira unfolded his arms, his face remaining neutral for a few more seconds before softening.

"Well, I don't care. As her ex-employer, it's annoying since a lot of people booked Yoshihara for the night.” He stopped, his expression turning grim. “But, my morality refuses to let that continue, so I'll repay those who paid for her service so that they go away. Not only that, but I'll also e-transfer Yoshihara her paycheque that she would've got for the month and the one after that," Akira said as Nemuri nodded, turning to face Yoshihara.

"Well, are you ready to go?" Nemuri asked as Yoshihara quietly nodded. Akira teleported over to the office door and opened it, bowing slightly like the showman he was. If this had been another world, he’d probably run a circus. At least, Yoshihara thought so, anyway.

"If anyone asks why you're leaving, especially the clients, I'll just say that you asked to quit, which in reality is the truth. And while I'm sure, Otoshi and I will stop by to make sure you're doing okay, this’ll probably be the last time we see each other for a while, kiddo," Akira explained as Yoshihara nodded.

In the back of her mind, Yoshihara wasn’t exactly a big fan of that. Akira had been one of her pseudo-father figures for the last few years alongside Otoshi. Suddenly no longer seeing them for large swathes at a time was going to be far more difficult than she was willing to admit. But, such was the way of the world, she supposed.

Nemuri grabbed her coat from off the coat hanger and put it back on. Afterward, the two girls bowed to Akira before Nemuri put her right hand on Yoshihara's left shoulder, making her flinch slightly. Despite that, Yoshihara moved herself closer to the side of Nemuri’s body, huddling next to her to avoid being seen, a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks.

The two girls left the office as Akira closed the door. As soon as they got out, they were assaulted by loud noises and people talking, glasses clashing, and the sound of erotic music playing around the building.

The sound of "Mr. Boombastic" playing on the speakers and the sound of people humming and ahhing at the dancers caused Yoshihara to shrink even further. Eyes were on the two, and to add to Yoshihara’s embarrassment, a few whispers and murmurs came from a few of the patrons nearest, all speculating why she was with Nemuri, which had caused her to shrink even further. All Nemuri had to do was smile at her for Yoshihara to straighten herself out.

Otoshi opened the front door for the two before bowing. "You made the right choice Kira-san, and Midnight, thank you for taking her. Have a good evening, you two," Otoshi said as Nemuri smiled.

"Thank you, Otoshi-Kun. Have a good evening as well. Don't overwork yourself," Nemuri said as he chuckled. Taking a few steps away from the building before stopping in front of a car, Nemuri took her car keys out of her pocket as the horn of the black Honda Civic in front of them echoed out into the empty street. Two entered the car, Nemuri walking around to the driver's side door, and Yoshihara sitting in the passenger seat. Not even a minute later, they drove away.

The car ride was silent. Not a single word was spoken as the soft sound of the radio played in the background. The only thing Yoshihara could think about was just how crazy her day had been so far. She had been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance by Midnight, who promised to change her life, to become a hero and go to U.A. Academy.

What she didn't know, however, was just how much her life would change, the people she would meet, and the friends she would make. But with that change, things from her past would come creeping up on her in ways that she had never expected.

Whether she was ready for it or not was outside of the question. Be it for better or worse, this is the story of Kira Yoshihara, a future hero of no renown.   

-To Be Continued-

Chapter Text

[Original Chapter Uploaded - December 22nd, 2021]

[Revised Chapter Uploaded - January 7th, 2023]

[Secondary Revision of the chapter uploaded - June 11th, 2023]

[Third Revision of the chapter uploaded - December 16th, 2023]

During the time Yoshihara had been taken in by Nemuri Kayama, she had gotten accustomed to the new suite she would be living in for the foreseeable future. The suite had been located at the top of a famous love hotel: Love Love Deluxe. Nemuri, or as Yoshihara called her, Kayama-san, had a hand in creating Love Love Deluxe as it was now, due to having been friends with the architect and the person who had owned the land it was built on.

Once it had been built, and after the original proposed owner had died from complications of Lung Cancer, Kayama-san became its owner. That was what she had told Yoshihara when she arrived at the suite, and Yoshihara had been inclined to believe her. After all, what had she to gain by lying to her?

As a way to thank Kayama-san, Yoshihara took up a job at Love Love Deluxe as one of the receptionists, mostly for the 2-hour night shifts from 9 pm to 11 pm so she could keep up her routine. Aside from that, Yoshihara’s offering to help was something that Kayama-san had been thankful for. She had already been overworked as it was thanks to her job as a Pro Hero, so the extra help had been nice.

Yoshihara saw no reason to not lend a helping hand, especially after what she had already done for her, what with taking her in despite not needing to. As a bonus, Yoshihara even helped clean the bedrooms as a way to make some extra money after school, and as a further way to show her appreciation, which Kayama-san was thankful for.

Then came the suite itself, which Yoshihara shared with Kayama-san. The suite was accessed via an elevator and a special key that Kayama-san had hand-crafted by the person who owned the land, along with a spare, which she gave to Yoshihara.

When she first saw the suite, Yoshihara had been blown away. Right off the bat, she noticed that it was quadruple the size of the apartment she used to live in, which had been ten square meters in size. To say it was an upgrade was an understatement, and that alone had been a good omen.

The first thing she saw when entering was the massive living room which had taken up a majority of the space in the suite. It had two couches, a loveseat, a wooden low-to-the-ground coffee table, and a TV near a massive window that covered the length of the entire left wall. As breathtaking as the view was, the part that had caught her attention, and the part that had confused her greatly, was the fact that there was a hot tub in the living room.

When Yoshihara questioned Kayama-san as to why she had decided to have a hot tub in her living room, she simply replied “Why not?” And quite frankly, Yoshihara couldn’t argue with that logic. It was her suite after all, and up until Yoshihara had come to live with her, she had been living alone, so there was no reason to not have it.    

The next thing she saw was the kitchenette, which had been located near the back of the suite. It had a full-sized fridge and a stove with an oven attached to it—something that Yoshihara was not used to seeing, seeing as her stove back at her apartment didn’t have an oven. It was something that Kayama-san had been shocked to hear about, but she digressed.

There were also more than a handful of cupboards to store dishes, around fifteen cupboards in total when Yoshihara had counted. The countertops were made of granite, and the sink, which was a part of the granite countertop and up against the wall, was made out of cast iron.

The kitchenette even had an island in the middle of it with even more storage space and, strangely enough, bar stools bolted to the ground around it. Although, it was obvious why it was like that. Kayama-san sat there to eat when she wasn’t watching TV, and seeing as there wasn’t a dining table it was the next best thing, Kayama-san’s words, not hers.

Then came the “second floor” which wasn’t much of a second floor more than it was a staircase with an indoor balcony, which gave them access to the rest of the rooms in the suite. The stairs were made of wood, and rather than having a base, they were attached to the right wall of the suite. The stairs had a metal railing, the sturdiest kind of railing and perfect for leaning against.

On the “second floor”, there was a bathroom at the right end of the hall. It had a shower and tub, a porcelain sink with a granite countertop and table cabinets. There was a large 30-inch by 15-inch mirror and a towel rack attached to the back of the door. Oh, and of course, a toilet, though that had been obvious. Further up the hallway was Kayama-san’s bedroom, but next to that was a second bedroom. Yoshihara’s bedroom.

It might not have seemed like much, but to Yoshihara having a bedroom was something she had wished about having for the longest time. She got to sleep in a bed all her own, a place to store her clothes, and to have privacy. Something she never had as a child. It was a dream come true for her.

Before Yoshihara came to live with her, Kayama-san used to use it as a place to store things. But when Yoshihara moved in with her, over a few days Kayama-san converted it into a place for Yoshihara to sleep, before moving those aforementioned things to a storage locker within the city.

Next to Yoshihara’s bedroom was a guest bedroom that Kayama-san lent out to her friends who stayed over on the odd occasion. They were usually only there when Yoshihara was at school, so she never got the chance to meet them. Although, Kayama-san had described them to be nice people, and considering she hadn’t been wrong so far, she took her at her word.

Finally, at the opposite end of the hall was a closet, which had a washing machine and a dryer. Their uses were self-explanatory. It also acted as a place to store small things like a vacuum cleaner, extra blankets and pillows, as well as random odds and ends, such as yet-to-be-hung-up photos, boxes of junk, and even what appeared to be an urn full of someone’s ashes. Yoshihara hadn’t bothered to ask, mostly because it wasn’t any of her business.

When she first moved in with Kayama-san, Yoshihara hadn’t been too keen on the idea, only going through with it because it was the only thing left in her life that she could do sans dying. But after seeing what she was being given to work with, all in all, she didn’t regret her decision.

But with moving came change, and one of those changes was her schooling situation. At least, it would’ve been, had Yoshihara not been so adamant about staying where she had previously been going, that being Aldera Junior High.    

Even though she had moved an hour away from where she had previously lived, and by extension over an hour away from Aldera Junior High, she refused to change schools. She was too far into her final year to switch schools. That had been the explanation she gave to Kayama-san when she asked why she didn’t want to switch to the closer, more reliable Musutafu Private School. And while Kayama-san disagreed, she didn’t fight her on it, which was good.  

As for her routine at school, it had remained largely the same with one minor change. Her routine was simple: She went to classes, quietly did her work, ate lunch alone as preferred, and then drifted about the rest of the day doing what she was told to do by the teachers. But, at the end of the day, rather than staying at school to study, she went home to do so, namely because it was quieter and more comfortable than sitting in the library.

All in all, her life had remained mostly the same. The keyword there was “mostly,” because there was one new addition to her schedule that was put in thanks to her new living arrangements.

That new addition was that she had begun training with Kayama-san.

To summarize, Kayama-san was a tough teacher, but a damn good one at that. Despite her projected personality to the world, that being an aloof, sexually charged hero with a kinky attitude, she was surprisingly harsh when it came to teaching Yoshihara how to fight. Namely with how she had forced her to not use her "Quirk" during combat training.

It wasn’t because she wanted to make it unfair, but rather so that her body would be able to withstand the beatings that it would get on the regular in the line of work as a Pro Hero. While at first Yoshihara didn't understand and found it unnecessary, she later thanked Kayama-san for the way she trained her.

The training started with basic stance practices, making sure her footwork was good and that she at least knew what she was doing. That part of the training went by fast, as Yoshihara already knew the proper fighting stances and the basics in combat; something Kayama-san had been surprised to learn that she knew, although she didn’t question it.

After that, it slowly evolved into dodging punches and kicks while standing still. It was meant to get her to pay attention to how the human body moved during combat, which would allow her to properly defend herself and retaliate in kind. As embarrassing as it was to admit, it took several days to dodge a single punch—let alone a kick! And they had hurt, too. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been pulling her punches either, the funny part was that Kayama-san had been. Yoshihara simply hadn’t built up the endurance required to handle them, though she managed.

And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that Kayama-san was fast. Extremely fast. It had caught Yoshihara off guard just how flexible and dexterous Kayama-san had been, though considering she was a Pro Hero, that made sense—especially for someone in the top a hundred.

And that right there, the fact that Kayama-san was a part of the top a hundred, was half of the problem. Kayama-san was an extremely fast, close-quarters kind of fighter. That was because her Quirk, Somnambulist, was a non-lethal support Quirk that put people to sleep, with the odd side-effect of it working better on males than females.

Even though Somnambulist was strong, she couldn’t rely on it in fights due to her status as a support hero, which often had her paired with other Pro Heroes. Therefore she had to practice how to fight.

As a result of seven straight years of practicing and learning martial arts, as well as becoming a master in kickboxing, karate, and Brazilian Jujitsu, by the time she was done training, she was found to be pretty damn good at fighting. She was experienced in a way that most people weren’t, and that alone made her a better trainer for someone who had already known a thing or two about fighting. 

Now, with that being said, Yoshihara was not someone who knew her way around fighting. She knew how to fight, but she wasn’t exactly great at it. The most she could do was beat a kid her age with very little combat training. That was what made her so strong at school. Her opponents were weaklings.

Now imagine taking someone who was an amazing hand-to-hand fighter, and giving them someone to train who only knew the bare bones basics of combat. It sounded like a good idea, but in truth, it wasn’t. It would be safe to say that it would inevitably result in the person who was being trained to seem to have less potential than they otherwise would have. And that had been the case with Yoshihara’s training. Despite that, Kayama-san had faith in her ability to get better, so at least she had that going for her.

Even after getting the option to stop this kind of training and redirect it to something else, Yoshihara persevered, refusing to back down even after having zero success at the beginning. This was the only good thing that had happened to her in her life, so why would she drop it just because it was difficult?

That was the response she had given to Kayama-san when she was asked if she wanted to pivot the way she was being trained, and it shined a new light on Kira from Kayama-san’s perspective. It was then that she finally took Yoshihara seriously. In the beginning that hadn’t been the case. But after getting that kind of response from her, Kayama-san decided to truly give her a chance.  

Almost immediately after Kayama-san did that, after two more days of taking punches and kicks from her, Yoshihara could finally dodge anything she had sent her way, so long as she was standing still. It didn’t sound like much, but it had been progress. Progress that Kayama-san had said that she didn’t expect her to make so quickly.  

Of course, that was where her parade of pride had ended. The next step was training her to dodge attacks whilst both hero and villain were on the move, which had made dodging Kayama-san’s already fast-moving kicks and punches exponentially harder. It took her an additional two weeks to get the hang of that. Nonetheless, she was able to do so, and thus they moved on to the next step of her training which had been the easiest part of it by far.

The next thing Yoshihara practiced was shadowboxing. It was meant to help her practice the types of close-ranged attacks and blocks that she could use to her advantage when she was unable to use her "Quirk." And while Kayama-san was unaware of it, it had also helped Yoshihara’s “Quirk” become stronger as well.

The techniques she was learning were mostly kickboxing techniques such as low kicks, roundhouse kicks, hammer kicks, jabs, right and left hooks, and some throws, on top of bettering her ability to properly read her opponent. This process took five months to master, on top of lifting weights, doing basic exercises, and going on morning and nightly runs.

All of this was to increase her stamina and ability to go at things for long amounts of time. One simply couldn't be a Pro Hero without the stamina to stay alive for long periods against strong villains. That was what caused a lot of deaths for young up-and-comers like Yoshihara. It was a sad, but humbling truth that Kayama-san had been sure to drill into her head, and one that she would not soon be regretful for taking to heart.

It was around that time when Kayama-san believed her to be at a passing level of skill, as the rest of the introductory level stuff would be built upon during her time at U.A. It was also around that time that Yoshihara had been fully caught up with other academic things such as projects, tests, studying, and homework.

That gave her the all-clear to finally start to train Yoshihara in her hand-to-hand combat skills. No Quirks, just pure skill. The final barrier between Yoshihara and her potential spot at U.A.’s coveted Recommendation Exam which had been the purpose of all of the training she had been put through; To see if she was worthy of being given one of the very few spots in the recommendation exam, which had been five months away.

Four months went by far too quickly for either of them to notice. After school, each day was the same routine for both of them, giving it their all. They trained from the moment Yoshihara got home, to by the time that it was in the wee hours of the night. It was gruelling, it was difficult, it was tiring, but it was necessary.

If Yoshihara was going to be a Pro Hero in the future, she needed to know how to fight, and the best way to do that was by taking on a Pro Hero head to head, and who better than the person who had been training her for the better half of a year?

By the time the four months came to an end, Yoshihara was able to knock out Kayama-san. And while out of all the matches that they held, it was only once, and even then, it was a fluke as she had accidentally left herself open to an uppercut, allowing Yoshihara to score a knock-out blow, a win was a win, which had been the win-conditions set by Kayama-san.

If Yoshiahra wanted to have the position in the recommendation exam, she had to knock out Kayama-san five months before the recommendation exam would be held. If she failed to do that, then she had to participate in the standard exam, which would have given her far lower odds of going to U.A.

To Yoshihara, her win had felt cheap, and it felt like she hadn't earned it. Yoshihara had even said to herself that she wasn't ready, and even after many discussions about how that wasn’t true, she still felt inadequate to be a part of U.A.

Despite all of that. Despite the cheapness of the victory, and despite how Yoshihara had felt like she hadn’t earned it, Kayama-san had deemed her worthy enough to go to U.A. and gave her a recommendation. Because, in her eyes, she was more than worthy of being a Pro Hero. All it would take was the push that U.A. gave to make it a reality.

Even though Yoshihara had viewed her recommendation as unearned, in the end, all of her training had paid off. And while there was still one month away till the recommendation exam, that didn't mean there still wasn't more to do…  And she learnt that the hard way.

[Present Day – 6 AM, Monday, March 12th, 2123]

The sound of an alarm clock echoed throughout a moderately sized bedroom, originating from a cell phone sitting atop a brown bedside drawer. The window to the room was open, allowing the white drapes that framed the window to flow in the calm morning winds. Rays of sunshine entered through the window, illuminating the once-dark bedroom. Off to the side of the room, lying in a single-sized bed bundled in a set of heavy fibre blankets, a figure shifted around underneath.  

A light groan came from underneath the covers, as a hand reached out to the bedside drawer. The hand grabbed hold of the phone as it lazily swiped up on the screen as a means to stop the incessant noise before placing the phone gently back down on the drawer, the hand retreating underneath the blankets.

Afterwards, the figure, a teenage girl to be exact, who was still underneath the blanket sat up, stretching out her arms as she let out a soft, barely audible yawn. Bangs of her golden blonde hair covered her eyes as she stretched, not noticing that the covers had fallen off her top, exposing that the blonde had been wearing a shoulderless fluffy pink blouse.

Pushing her hair out of her face, sky-blue eyes lazily opened to greet the early morning. Looking around the room, the teen's eyes glanced over a dresser with a mirror attached to it, then to a closet, and a bookshelf filled to the brim with pre-Quirk Era Shojo and Shonen Manga like Sailor Moon, K-ON, and Soul Eater. Next to the shelf sat a TV, which had been hooked onto a wall—walls that had been painted light orange with a "skyline" of a dimmed-down yellow, mimicking that of a sunset.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, the teenager flipped the rest of the covers off of her body, revealing her to be wearing a pair of trimmed pink shorts underneath. Her legs were toned and slightly muscular from the training she had endured over the last nine months, though they were leaner than outright bulging with muscle.

Jumping out of bed, she stretched out her back, bending backwards as she groaned a tad bit louder than when she did upon waking up. She had been sore from doing a sparring session with the Pro Hero Midnight, aka Kayama-san.

She had even remarked to herself last night how she was going to hurt in the morning. Lo-and-behold she was right. Afterward, she corrected her posture, standing up straight as a smirk found its way onto her face. The reason why she was smirking was because of a calendar hanging just adjacent to her closet.

The calendar was hero-themed, with each of the twelve months being themed after the top twelve heroes in all of Japan. Since it was currently March, the calendar was themed after the Pro Hero – Hawks, one of the teenager's personal favourites for reasons that would be obvious for any teenage girl, or teenage boys for that matter, into hot blond twinks or twinks in general.

But that wasn't why she was smirking. No, because she didn't care for that kind of thing, not entirely anyway. She was smirking because of today's date. Today marked the second week of March, and on April 1st, the entrance exam U.A. held would be available to the public, but just before that, a special exam was held for those whom other Pro Heroes recommended being a part of the hero course, and that exam was only two weeks away, landing on March 24th.

She had been both nervous and excited for that day. On that day, she would be able to test her merit. To show that she was ready to become a Pro Hero and prove to herself that the training she had endured meant something.

"Just two more weeks, and I'll be able to take on the recommendation exam!" The teenager said, her voice sounding slightly rough due to a dry throat and a lack of water. She had an hour and a half to get ready for school, catch the bus, and show up on time.

Usually, going to school was something that Yoshihara had no real care for. She might have been extremely good at school, always handing assignments in on time, among other things, but that didn't mean she liked it. School to her was a drag, at least the practical lessons they taught. And while usually, she would feel the same as she would any other day, today was different.

Over the past nine months, Yoshihara Kira had been looking out for the green-haired boy from the video she had watched all that time ago. Despite his bright poofy green hair, he was more elusive than a camouflaged snake. A part of Yoshihara believed that he might've gone to a different school. However, the fact that he wore the same uniform as the other males at her school seemed to disprove that.

The more she thought about how she was acting toward trying to find him, the more she realized that it was kind of stalker-ish. That little disturbing tidbit of self-reflection aside, her mindset remained untainted with the kind of association a “stalker” would have. It wasn’t as if she wanted to follow him home and take pictures of him. All she wanted to do was meet him and potentially get a friend out of the encounter.

After all, Kayama-san did say that being alone wasn’t exactly a good thing and that having connections with people would make her quality of life better.

If only she knew…

The bit about her strange and… unhealthy behaviour aside, it led her to believe that he did go to Aldera. However, no matter how hard she tried to find him, he was never around. It was like looking for Waldo in those old pre-Quirk eras Wheres Waldo books.

Today, however, she was determined to find him, more so than any other day. She didn’t know why but she was. Her curiosity was at its peak, and she needed to have it satisfied sooner rather than later.

Opening up her closet, she grabbed her school uniform before exiting her bedroom, watching Nemuri walk out of her room in her pro-hero uniform. She waved at her before heading down the stairs and into the living. In response, Yoshihara waved at her before walking to the bathroom, which was just two rooms to her bedroom's left.

When she entered the bathroom, she quickly turned on the bathtub faucet and let the water run on hot for a while as she stripped down to nothing, looking at herself in the mirror.

Her body was rather muscular for a girl her age, shoulder muscles defined, though only slightly. Her arms were moderately sized similar to that of a professional swimmer, her back muscles were slightly prominent, though she’d have to flex to show off anything, and the startings of a six-pack were beginning to form on her stomach region more so than they had when she had just been casually going to the gym.

Yoshihara wasn't a buff semi-truck—she was more lean than mountain-sized—though if a person looked at her the way she was right now, they would think more than twice to pick on her. Most girls in the changing rooms at the school learned that pissing her off led to bloody noses or spun jaws. Despite this, no one reported her to the principal because of her connection to Kayama-san.

Then, and more prominently, there were the scars.

Scars of varying shapes and sizes covered her upper arms, parts of her shoulders and lower neck—specifically, there was one that looked awfully like a star. Scars covered her upper and lower back, and there were even some on her knees and near her waist.

She hated looking at her body for too long in the mirror. It always brought her back to a time she'd wish to forget. A time when her life hadn't been so nice. A time even before that crappy sex-worker job and before the crappy apartment.

A past that she had run away from, and buried for a reason.

Quickly looking away from herself in the mirror, she checked the water to find that it was indeed hot before she turned the faucet handle a tad over to the left, and after a few seconds, she checked the water again. When it was at the right temperature, she turned on the showerhead before stepping in and closing the curtains around the shower.

The shower was short, sweet, and to the point. She soaked her hair for about a minute, then put conditioner in to make it healthier and less brittle. Then, she rinsed out the conditioner before putting in shampoo to do the actual cleaning part. Afterward, she rinsed her hair for the second time before scrubbing down her body and rinsing the soap off of her body, before stepping out of the shower and drying off with a towel. Then and only then did she put on her school uniform.

She didn't like wasting time in the mornings, as to her, wasting any time was like wasting one's life. Even though Yoshihara lived a better life, some things that had been ingrained in her during her time on the streets and living in that crappy apartment had stuck. No matter how much better her life got, she assumed that those feelings would never go away, ever.

Just before she left the bathroom, she turned on the fan to clear the steam from her shower. Afterward, she grabbed her dirty clothes, exited the bathroom, and walked over to the closet at the opposite end of the hall. She opened the closet and found a pile of laundry that Kayama-san had most likely planned to do later today. Putting her dirty laundry in the pile, she closed the closet door before making her way downstairs.

As soon as she entered the living room she was met with Kayama-san skinny dipping in the hot tub, a sight that she had most definitely not been expecting to see. "Good morning, Yoshi-chan~! How was the sleep?" Kayama-san teased her with the nickname she utterly hated, causing Yoshihara to puff up her cheeks with indignation.

“I told you to stop calling me that!” Yoshihara bit out, which earned a chuckle from Kayama-san, who sunk deeper into the water with a relaxed sigh, completely ignoring her complaint.  

"You know, you need to try this hot tub out on your own one of these times. It's the best way to relax those aching muscles of yours that you keep mumbling about in the mornings," Kayama-san commented as Yoshihara sighed, before turning away from her and walking into the kitchen.

"Yeah, right, like I'd do that with you around. Besides, aren't you supposed to be heading out on patrol, or did someone else take up your spot again?" Yoshihara avoided the topic by asking her a reasonable question, which earned her a slight frown. Kayama-san seemed to be annoyed that it had been brought up, but at the very least it was a good way to pivot from whatever that conversation would’ve turned into had she not.

"Why yes. A newbie, Mt. Lady I think her name was, took my position for the morning. She's just starting her career as a Pro Hero, so I let her. Besides, she needs the exposure," Kayama-san replied as Yoshihara hummed, going to the fridge before grabbing some milk, walking over to one of the cupboards for a bowl, and then going over to yet another cupboard and grabbing a box of All-Might-O's, Chocolate edition.

Kayama-san watched it unfold from the hot tub, right eyebrow raised as she fully turned around to face the direction of the kitchen, her arms folded against the porcelain lining of the hot tub. "Having a cheat day, I see?" Kayama-san questioned as Yoshihara grunted in response, pouring the cereal into the bowl, followed by the milk.

As soon as she did so, two slices of toast popped out of the toaster near the stove, causing Kayama-san to curse under her breath. "Oh, shoot, I forgot about that. Uh, hey, Yoshi-chan, do you mind buttering those up for me, please and thank you?" Kayama-san asked, a dopey smile on her face as Yoshihara scoffed.

There she was with that nickname. How many times now had she asked Kayama-san to stop calling her that? It had to be at least in the triple digits by now, right? Yoshihara sighed, "Fine," she muttered, earning a smile from Kayama-san.

"Thanks~! You're the best, you know that," the ravenette commented as Yoshihara's cheeks were stained a slight pink from the compliment, a rarity in her lifetime.

The only time she ever got compliments was when— "No, don't think about that. That stupid job is long behind you, don’t bring it up!" She thought, her eyes narrowing as she did what she was asked. She grabbed a plate from the cupboard next to the sink before walking over to the toaster to retrieve the pieces of toast. She placed them on the plate before opening the drawer on the opposite side of the sink and grabbed a spreading knife.

Walking back over to the fridge, she opened it and grabbed the margarine container, placed it on the counter, opened it, then dipped the spreading knife into the container and got a small swab of margarine. When she was done spreading the margarine on the toast, which was still warm, she tossed the spreading knife into the sink, and put the margarine back in the fridge, before putting the toast into the microwave above the stove to keep the toast warm.

Yoshihara walked back over to her cereal and grabbed the milk jug that had been next to it. She returned to the fridge and put the milk away, then walked over to the drawer with the utensils to grab a spoon and closed the drawer. She walked back to the counter, grabbed her cereal and walked into the living room, placing the bowl down on the coffee table, grabbing the TV remote, turning on the TV, and finally kneeling on the floor to eat her breakfast.  

The first thing that switched on was the news, and the moment it came on, it showed a fight happening in downtown Esuha with the pro hero Fatgum and a sidekick or intern or whoever that person had been with a weird chimera Quirk, as well as another with a psychic Quirk, fighting against a few Yakuza thugs. The reporter commented on it like it was a football game, which annoyed Yoshihara, though she assumed it could’ve been worse.

"You see that Yoshi-chan,” Kayama-san spoke up, gaining Yoshiahra’s attention if only because she used that awful nickname she disliked. “One of these days, you're going to be doing that with a Pro Hero once you get your provincial license," Kayama-san said, getting out of the hot tub as she wrapped herself in a towel that she had on hand. Yoshihara responded with a hum, shovelling some of the chocolaty cereal into her mouth.

She wasn't very talkative in the mornings, usually just wanting to keep to herself so that she could move on with her day—something that Kayama-san found bothersome—though it was normal for her. Unless something truly caught her attention and she wanted to speak about it, trying to start a conversation with her in the morning was like trying to thread a needle.

It didn't take long for Yoshihara to finish breakfast and prep her bag for school. By that time, Kayama-san was upstairs in her room—the sounds of pleasure echoing from said room, indicating to her that she was hornier than a succubus at the moment, which irritated Yoshihara to no end.

It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Kayama-san was… doing that at the moment, but more with the fact that it was happening this early in the morning. Though she supposed it was better now than later. It was a side-effect of her Quirk. If she wasn't bored, happy, drunk or otherwise in some other mood, she was hornier than a rabbit during mating season, which was weird since her Quirk was sleep-gas.

It wasn't a bad thing. She didn't mind it happening. She saw it as a kind of interesting thing to behold. How someone could even get that emotionally excited over something was beyond her. And if it ended there everything would’ve been fine. But, that wasn’t the case, and it was at this point that things got a little dicey.

See, it was when the Kayama-san tried hitting on her that it became problematic. While this wasn't a side effect of her Quirk, it was more or less a problem with Kayama-san’s traumatic past as a sex worker, though her Quirk didn’t make it any better. Whenever Kayama-san was excessively horny thanks to her Quirk, it triggered something in the back of her head that reminded her of her past as a sex worker. A time that Kayama-san had gone on record to say was one of the worst times in her life.

Yoshihara didn’t ask. She didn’t need to ask because she already knew what it was that had happened to cause her mental anguish, coming from a place of similar experience. Being a sex worker was a lot more dangerous than what people gave it credit for. It was all too common to hear about sexual assaults or some of the dancers being raped by customers who didn’t know how to keep their hands to themselves.

And unfortunately, as was her abhorrent luck back then, Yoshihara had been a victim of that as well. It only happened once, around the beginning of her career, and that person ceased to exist after the fact thanks to her “Quirk”, but she digressed. The point was that it happened, and like most things in that regard, it was traumatic. 

It was more common than people thought. It wasn’t wrong to say that sometimes, customers tended to get carried away, especially drunk customers. There was no doubt a time during Kayama-san’s bout as a sex worker when she had most likely been sexually assaulted by an extra rowdy customer, and her brain’s coping mechanism for that became… whatever the hell this had been. Her Quirk most likely didn’t make things any better, so Yoshihara really couldn’t blame her.

After all, Yoshihara’s coping mechanisms weren’t that much better. As a result of what had happened to her, her sex drive was a lot more amplified than most. However, she was able to keep a lid on it due to her… other coping mechanism for what had happened to her. But that still didn’t stop her from having her moments too. Though they were mostly internal instead of external.

Tangent aside, what she was trying to get at was that the issue wasn’t because of her past or the fact that it happened at all, but rather it was a morality issue, and the fact that Yoshihara was a minor and Kayama-san was an adult. It should’ve gone without saying, but it was problematic due to that fact.  

Granted, the age of consent laws stated that it was legally okay because of the age gap being regarded as "legal," but morally, it wasn't. If anyone found out that this had been happening, Kayama-san’s career would go up in flames.

Besides, it wasn’t like anything happened during her horny-infused-fugue states. And if anything did start to happen then she had all the means at her disposal to restrain the woman until it wore off. Thankfully, that hadn’t happened yet, and it probably never would, but on the off chance it did, she always kept a little bit of rope under her bed just in case.  

Whenever Kayama-san would snap out of her fugue state, she would profusely apologize to Yoshihara for it. Again, Yoshihara didn’t exactly mind it happening, and she knew it wasn’t her fault, but Kayama-san got extremely embarrassed whenever it happened.

No matter what Yoshihara said to try and alleviate the situation, it usually ended with Kayama-san trying her best to distance herself from Yoshihara for a week. Not only that, but she would punish herself. She didn’t know how, but if Yoshihara had to guess, she would overwork herself. On top of that, she would up her medication dosage, which wasn’t healthy at all.

It didn’t matter what Yoshihara said to her. She had tried to talk her out of doing stupid stuff like that, but in the end, it always fell on deaf ears. Out of everything that Yoshihara had to put up with in regards to Kayama-san, that was the most annoying part. Not the fugue states, but the self-punishment she imposed upon herself.

Again, Yoshihara didn't hold anything against Kayama-san. It was completely out of her control. Thankfully, there was an upside to all of this, and that was that she was seeking Quirk counselling to hopefully prevent the issue from getting worse.

What she did in those fugue states was gross, and it was borderline pedophilic with the kind of stuff she said to her in those states. But again, it wasn’t something that Kayama-san could control. Her medication helped it happen less frequently, and Yoshihara hoped the Quirk counselling would also help it become far less frequent than it already was, but that was all that she could do about it.

Quirks often impact a person’s personality. Kayama-san simply got unlucky when it came to her Quirk and what it did to her. The golden underline about it all was that she was at least trying to find a way to make things less problematic.  

By the time Kayama-san came out of her room, Yoshihara had already exited the building and began to make her way to school. The walk wasn't all that long, nor was it short. It was a reasonable distance considering she didn’t just walk, she took a bus.

If she wanted to be on time for her classes, the bus was necessary, even if she didn’t like using the bus due to the amount of people that rode on it. After all, the last thing she wanted was to be late this far into the school year. She had a perfect attendance record, and she didn’t want it to be tarnished.

Not only that, but she could use the extra time that she had in the mornings to try and find the green-haired boy she had been looking for. Her luck thus far regarding that had been piss poor. She hoped that today that would change, but she didn’t keep her hopes up.  

On her way into the school, just before she got to the entrance, a boy with grey hair styled in a crew cut, and wearing the school’s uniform slammed into her shoulder. The two’s eyes made contact with each other, her sky blue eyes staring daggers into his bright orange eyes, his eyes narrowing as she stared at him. “The fuck you lookin’ at? Piss off,” The boy spat, walking past her in a slouch.

“Asshole…” Yoshihara cursed under her breath. Sighing, she brushed the encounter out of her mind. No use in saying or doing anything about it. Besides, she didn’t even recognize him. He was either a student who never came in on time most of the time, or he was a transfer from another school. Considering his delinquent attitude, she assumed the latter.

Yoshihara looked at the time on her phone and frowned. She wasn’t going to have enough extra time to try and find the green-haired boy. It was annoying, but she guessed she wasted too much time getting ready in the morning. She blamed Kayama-san’s toast for that.

Upon entering the school, she went straight to her classroom—Class 3-C—and took her seat at the back of the class. Moments later, the teacher came in, the bell rang, and classes began.

xxXXxxXXxx

To say that Izuku Midoriya was having a bad day was an understatement. Morning classes had just ended for the lunch break, and already, before he could get to his locker, one of Kacchan's friends decided it was a good time as ever to start picking on him. While he was used to it by now, that still didn’t mean it was any less annoying.

The boy's name was Takime Shinguichi, and his Quirk was called Stretchy Long Fingers. The ability was in the Quirk's name. Takime had extremely long fingers that could stretch up to twenty meters in length. Any longer, however, and they’d snap back like one of those toy stretchy bands, causing knuckle pain.

Takime was your stereotypical lanky teenager. He had shoulder-length brown hair covering his eyes and an abnormally pointed chin. In terms of lankiness, the two teens were relatively similar in appearance in that regard,  as Izuku was just as lanky as Takime, though unlike him he was only five foot five inches tall, whereas Takime was five foot eight inches tall. That, and Izuku’s hair was more puffier than long and thin. So the only thing they had in common was their lankiness. 

Both teens wore the male version of the Aldera Junior High School uniform. It was a black blazer with yellow buttons, and black pants, and while usually most kids kept with the normal black indoor sneakers, Izuku took it upon himself to wear a pair of red indoor sneakers. That way, he didn't look like he was about to attend a funeral.

But that wasn’t exactly important right now. He was a little preoccupied at the moment to bother paying attention to those kinds of details. Why, you may ask? Well currently, he was being lifted into the air thanks to Takime lifting him by the collar, while another boy who was probably friends with Takime used a water Quirk to spray him—no—douse him in water.

Before, he’d used to ask why the other students did these kinds of things to him. But by now he was beyond the point of asking. He already knew the reason. It was to make him look even more like a loser than everyone already said he was. While Izuku was annoyed at his current predicament it was better than being pelted with explosions by Kacchan.

Actually? Now that he thought about it, he would’ve preferred that then this. At least then he could just dust off his clothes rather than having to, hopefully, get a new uniform from the staff, and that was assuming they would be generous enough to give him that. 

"See, Deku?! This is what happens to Quirkless shits like you! Useless trash is all you are and ever will be!" Takime spat, dropping Izuku in the puddle of water created by his friend, who then kicked him in the ribs as a sharp pain shot through his body, making Izuku wince. After a few seconds of the pair laughing at him, they walked away satisfied with what they had done and left the once clean and non-soaked Izuku by himself.

His teachers were going to scold him for being drenched. Even if he tried to defend himself and explain what happened, they wouldn’t even bother listening to him. They would just blame Izuku and move on because it was easier than having to hunt down the people who were responsible. Besides? Why would they waste time on Quirkless trash like him?

It was awful, but he was used to it. Such was his life, and there wasn’t anything he could do to change it. He had resigned himself to his fate as the forever punching bag for everyone at the school. That was the price of being Quirkless—to be mocked and shamed for it. For something he wasn’t even in control of.

He would forever be worth nothing to the world. Forever be seen as nothing more than a faulty product. A mistake that fell through the cracks. A hiccup in the system. It was something that he was used to being. He was used to being a mistake, a hiccup in the system.

He was destined to be a failure….

Picking himself up off the floor, Izuku made his way to a nearby bathroom in a vain attempt to dry off. As soon as he entered, he was greeted by a messy, unclean, and, more importantly, full bathroom. People were smoking out of vapes, listening to loud rock music, and… whatever the heck those groaning and moaning sounds were. He hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was, but considering this school’s reputation, it probably was.

“Note to self I should probably report that to the Headmaster… if he’ll even take my complaint seriously, that is….” Izuku noted to himself mentally as he ventured further into the bathroom. Nobody paid him any mind, which was a good thing seeing as the last thing he wanted to have to happen to him was being called out for being soaking wet. Making his way past a few people who didn’t so much as acknowledge his existence, he got what he had come for, that being a few things of paper towel.

Once he had what he had come for, he left the bathroom. As soon as he got out, he started wiping himself down, muttering under his breath about how "he'll never get dry enough before class" and "his teachers are going to rip him a new one" over and over again. It was pointless, that much he knew, but he had to at least try. That way, maybe his teacher would at least see the effort he made to dry off.

He had been so caught up in his mind that he hadn’t noticed people talking about him, muttering and giggling at his expense. Another thing that he had been used to. He was going to ignore all of it, and he had been. At least, he was, until…

"Hey!"

Izuku immediately perked up at hearing someone call out to him. He saw a bunch of people, all of which staring at him like some kind of pitiable animal. It wasn’t one of them, but rather, the person who had been standing in front of him.

It was a girl as was obvious by the uniform, and she was around the same height as him although he was a smidge taller. She had chin-length blonde hair, and she had sky-blue eyes. For whatever reason, a smile on her face. However, he noticed that it almost looked forced.

He knew what a forced smile looked like, hell he had worn a forced smile a lot at home to make sure his mom didn’t worry about him, and that smile was a forced one. But it wasn’t malicious. It was sort of like how he smiled. She was trying to push past something. Maybe mocking laughter?

That aside, Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. "U-Uh… Are you talking to me?" Izuku asked, pointing to himself as the girl's smile faltered for a few seconds, her eyebrow raised for a split second before her expression returned to what it was before.

"Well, duh, who else would I be talking to, the invisible nudist kid behind you?” She quipped which, admittedly got a snort out of him, though the girl didn’t seem to notice as she continued. “No, dummy, I’m talking to you," The blonde-haired girl said, causing Midoriya's eyes to widen.

"OH MY GOD, A GIRL'S TALKING TO ME!" Izuku thought, his mind racing a mile a minute thinking as to why she would even so much as want to look in his direction, when the girl clapped in front of him, getting his attention. "O-oh, sorry, I-I u-um…."

"No, it's okay, hey, you wanna walk and talk? I kinda don't want all these people staring at us," the girl said as Izuku stood up straight, still dripping wet with water. It was at that moment that he realized all eyes were on them, causing his face to flush red in embarrassment.

"Y-Yeah! Let's!" He felt as if he was screwing up massively, but instead of her rolling her eyes or acting like he was being a nuisance, she… giggled? Was this some sort of setup? No one in their right mind would just walk up and talk to him. Any moment now, he half expected her to turn around to beat him up.

But as they walked away and out of the hallway, she just seemed to be in her own little world, humming to herself with that same faux smile on her face. It was… almost unnerving just how normal this interaction was going. Not once did she so much as glance at him with a hint of pity in her eyes. There were no snide remarks about his appearance, no comments about how he looked nerdy, and she hadn’t even addressed him by his school nickname of “Deku.” There was none of that.

It was… quite nice actually.

After walking in silence for a few minutes, and after they exited the building from the rear entrance, she turned to him and kept that same faux smile on her face. He kind of wished the smile was real, it had made him think that something bad was going to end up happening to him. They were alone now, and she could do whatever heinous thing she wanted to him.

But instead of that, instead of whatever dark, depressing thing he had been thinking about, she instead asked him a question. A question that had taken him off guard.

"You're the kid from that video online. The kid who threw the bag at that sludge villain not too long ago, right?" The blonde asked, catching him off guard. There was a video? Was she here to humiliate him? He hoped not. She seemed nice, and a part of him thought they could be friends, but then he remembered what Kacchan told him a while back.

"Quirkless losers like you don't have friends, Deku! So stop following me around and saying that we're friends, 'cause we're not! And we never have been you damned loser!"

Of course, he didn't believe that. Kacchan was just in a bad mood that day. He was sure they were still friends. Even if he did use his Quirk on him whenever he so much as looked at him the wrong way. He was sure that was just a mistake….

That aside, he cleared his throat and answered her question. "U-Uh… Yeah. That was me… um, why do you ask?" As soon as he said that, the blonde pumped her fist up in the air. Why? She had a goofy grin on her face too, and this time it wasn’t fake. Why was she so happy? Was it because… was it because of him? And… why was her face a little red? And, was it just him, or did her eyes just now show some form of light in them? Before they looked dull and lifeless, but now she looked… alive? Was that the right word?

And then she started to talk. Well, it was more like she had started rambling, but it was virtually the same thing.

"Dude, I can't believe I found you! Do you know how hard it was to try and track you down? I swear, even with that weird hair of yours, you blend in with everyone else here. It's nuts! I've been meaning to ask you a bunch of questions about what happened that day.” As she spoke, there was an air of excitement permeating around her. It was almost as if she was meeting a hero or something along those lines.

Before he could interject, she continued. “I don't know what it was, but the way you ran in there and tried to save that kid, all the while the actual heroes who had been called there do something, but instead did nothing was awesome! Or, well, actually it was kind of upsetting since you were the one who saved that kid…. Well, before All Might swooped in, but that doesn't matter! If you hadn’t been there to give the kid a chance to breathe he probably would’ve died, but… gah, whatever it’s all semantics! I just can't believe I'm talking to you!"

Was she fangirling over him? Why? He didn't do anything remarkable. All he did was make a stupid mistake and end up getting hurt in the process. For a second there, her face lit up as if she was talking to an actual hero.

He… wasn't a hero. He was just a Quirkless loser, with nothing going for him. Well, no, that wasn’t true. That wasn’t true at all. He did have one thing going for him. He was going to become a hero, no matter what. He just wasn't a hero yet. After all, he was still training with All Might to prepare his body to receive his Quirk. He still had a long way to go, but until then, he was still a pitiful, useless, Quirkless loser. Just like Kacchan had told him he was.

Just like Kacchan told him he was… If it wasn’t for meeting All Might, he probably would’ve— “Nope! Let’s not and say we did, yeah?” Izuku interrupted his thoughts before clearing his throat. It was only now that he realized that the girl was still staring at him with expectant eyes, waiting for him to say something. And… again, her face was a little red.

Why was her face red? Did she have a fever or something? If she was sick, then why was she at school? That wasn’t exactly healthy, now as it?

"U-Uh… are you okay? Your face is a little red…" Izuku muttered, causing the girl to stop staring and freeze up like she had been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing before she looked away with an embarrassed expression on her face.

"O-Oh! Oh my god, I'm sorry. I… I'm just excited, you know. I usually don't do this. It's normal for me to just fangirl over a guy I just met, but… It still amazes me that you saved someone, all without using your Quirk!" The girl said, causing Izuku to freeze. So that was what it was. She thought he just didn't use his Quirk, not that he hadn’t had one.

“Well… it was fun while it lasted, I guess…” Izuku thought solemnly as he sighed. "Oh… Um, sorry. All I did was just mess it up for the other heroes and get caught by the villain. That, and I'm Quirkless…" As soon as he said that, her expression dropped completely. She was probably going to walk away, call him a loser and maybe even spit on him for wasting her time. It was what most people did.

Whenever he told someone he was Quirkless and they didn’t know, they were usually shocked. They would have a confused and shocked expression on their face—like the one on the girl's face right now—and then huff before turning away and apologizing to him. It had happened so many times, that he wasn’t exactly surprised that—

He stopped that train of thought, noticing that the girl hadn’t left. She was smiling. The girl was smiling. This time, it was a bit wider than the last one, and it looked a little less forced than before. It had confused Izuku more than anything else. Namely, because why was she smiling? He was a pathetic, Quirkless loser! How could anyone find that worth smiling about?

"That's so cool!” The girl exclaimed, catching Izuku even more off guard than before. “You did all of that without a Quirk! I knew there was something off in that video! Either you were Quirkless or you just didn't want to use your Quirk because of some arbitrary reason that made no sense at all whatsoever. The amount of bravery someone has to have to do something like that is more than I think most people have!”  

The girl paused, humming to herself whilst she cupped her chin in thought. “Also, I'm pretty sure that if you didn't throw that bag at the villain's eyes and allowed that kid to breathe, he probably would've died. From what I saw in the video his face was starting to turn purple. You saved his life, did it in front of a bunch of people, and humiliated those lazy heroes!”

“B-But all I did was ruin the hero's approach. I-I’m not a professional, so I had no reason to step in… All I did was make things worse. I didn’t help at all… I’m sorry, I’m just wasting your time…” Izuku mumbled just loud enough for the girl to hear. He had remembered what Death Arms had said to him. That he should’ve just left it to the professionals.

Suddenly, the girl’s expression became serious, and before he could ask why, she slapped him across the cheek. But, notably, it wasn’t in the same way as the other students slapped him, which had been in an attempt to try and hurt him. It was a playful slap. The kind of slap you did to someone when they were acting or saying something stupid.

“Don’t say that! Did you not hear a single word I said? You were the reason that kid got to live another day. Plus, I thought it was cool of you to do that. You risked your life knowing you wouldn’t get anything in return. My guardian said that doing something like that was the mark of a true hero. So don’t put yourself down just because a couple of idiots don’t know what they’re talking about,” the girl admonished, though Izuku clocked out the moment she said something that had caught him, once again, off guard. A pattern he was starting to notice with this girl.

She thought that what he had done was cool. No one, aside from his mother, thought that anything he did was cool. Most people thought that breathing the same air as him would get him to spread his Quirklessness. So for someone to say that something he did was cool… It made him feel just that much better about himself.  

"She thought… that was cool?" Izuku, unknowingly, said out loud, earning him a raised eyebrow from the girl.

"Huh? Of course, I did! I mean, think about it! A Quirkless kid doing a hero's job better than the hero! How can that not be cool!" The girl said, causing him to gasp, stumbling back slightly, his face flushing with embarrassment.

"Gah, I said that out loud! Oh god, I'm sorry!"

"Stop apologizing!" The girl shouted, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

The two stared at each other for a second, Izuku expression filled with concern as the girl glared at him for a full minute. He was about to apologize again for making her mad, when she burst out laughing, confusing Izuku even more than he already had been. Seriously, what the heck was going on?  

Wiping a tear from her eye, the girl calmed down before her face lit up in realization. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Jeez, in all the excitement of meeting you, I forgot to even introduce myself. My bad, hehe… A-hem, my name is Kira Yoshihara. It's nice to meet you, uh…." Kira gestured for him to speak, and when she did, his voice came out a bit more squeaky than he would've liked it to be.

"Ah, oh, um, my name is Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you, Kira-san!" Izuku said, bowing as Kira-san giggled again, causing him to straighten himself out.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Midoriya-Kun, maybe we can talk after school—" As soon as she spoke, the bell rang, signifying them to return to class. "Oops, that's the bell, gotta go, talk to you later, Midoriya-Kun!" And with that, Kira ran off to class, leaving Izuku with a sense of confusion, more so than he had felt before.

Out of all the things to have happened today, this was not something he had expected. He had expected something far worse to happen. Instead, he met Kira Yoshihara. As that sunk in, a single burning question permeated throughout his mind.

“Did I just make a friend?”

xxXXxxXXxx

Sitting in her class, Yoshihara felt a bit flustered. Not because she was almost late, but because of what had just recently happened not but a few minutes ago.

She finally did what she had set out to do since the beginning of the semester, the thing in question having been finally getting the chance to meet Midoriya Izuku, the apparent Quirkless pariah of Aldera Junior High. When she had met him, she hadn’t been expecting a socially awkward, self-belittling, and quite frankly sad individual.

Not sad as in the emotion, nor sad as in disappointing, but sad as in, he didn't have a lot of confidence in himself—hence the self-belittling he was doing back there. She was sure that it could be ironed out as their hopeful friendish continued, but it felt almost… upsetting. It was like he wasn't even trying to acknowledge his accomplishments.

It was quite concerning all things considered, though she wasn’t going to assume anything. Although it was something she’d keep in mind going forward regarding Midoriya. The last thing she wanted to do was scare him off because she was coming on to him too strong. Nervous people tended to be more skittish and afraid of building meaningful relationships with others.

As she jotted down the notes on the chalkboard, all she could think about was Midoriya. He was, for all intents and purposes, a funny guy. He was a bit of a dork, and he was very, very socially awkward. That was usually something that most people avoided. Most people didn’t want to put up with that kind of person, but Yoshihara was nothing if not patient with others. Sure, he was a little weird, but that was because he was just nervous, and he had little to no self-confidence.

Then came the part about him being Quirkless. That probably didn’t help with the lack of self-confidence that he had. She knew how Quirkless people were treated. They were treated awfully because they were seen as mistakes by a wide majority of people. Being born Quirkless was like being born black in America during the 1800s, minus slavery. If you were Quirkless, then you were seen as less than a person in the eyes of most or lived a pitiable existence in the eyes of the rest.

Yoshihara didn’t care much about that kind of stuff though. She fell into the camp of “having basic common sense” rather than the other two. Was it really so hard to treat others with dignity? Apparently so, if the way he was treated her was anything to go off of. 

She wondered if he had any friends. Bah, who was she kidding? Of course, he didn’t have any friends. If that was the case, she would be his friend. She honestly wouldn’t have minded that. Even if she liked being alone thanks to the peace and quiet it provided, if she wanted to be a worthwhile hero then having friends that could turn into allies in the future was a good idea.

After all, making friends meant building connections. Building connections meant getting to know future partners and branching out to agencies. That was, of course, assuming Midoriya was aiming to be a hero. Quirkless or not, in her opinion, she believed that he could become one rather easily.

Sure he’d have to rely on support gear, but at least it was manageable. In the past, there were comic book heroes like Iron Man who did just that. While Midoriya’s heart wasn’t an artificial nuclear reactor, technology nowadays made it possible to become a hero without the use of a Quirk.

All Midoriya needed to get was a boost in confidence, and he’d be good to go. With enough confidence and smarts, anyone could be a hero. But even if he decided that being a hero wasn’t for him—which considering his heart of gold made no sense to her if that video was anything to go by—knowing people her age was better than not knowing anyone.

Kayama-san did say she needed friends, after all. So at the very least, it would get her off of her back.

As Yoshihara sat in her seat, humming to herself as she tried to get the thought of Midoriya out of her head, she heard giggling coming from the opposite corner of the classroom. Her eyes quickly glanced over to where it came from, and sure enough, she saw two girls of similar appearance huddled together, both of them whispering to each other like some kind of gossip girls.

Yoshihara wasn’t one to care about gossip. Most of it was immature rumours spread about to ruin others’ reputations. In other words, it was something that people did to secretly make fun of other people behind the backs of others. It was scummy, and she wanted no part of it. But, seeing as they had gotten her attention, she had no reason at all to not listen in. And so, that was exactly what she did.

"Did you hear? Kira-chan talked to that Quirkless loser Deku!" The girl on the left said as the girl on the right giggled, covering her mouth like some sort of dainty princess.

"Oh my god~! Why would she ruin her reputation by talking to that defect? Oh, you don’t think they’re dating, do you? That would be super embarrassing~! Imagine dating someone like him. If he’s defective, I can only imagine what else is defective about him," The girl on the right said as Yoshihara narrowed her eyes.

For one, no, she wasn’t dating him. She just met the guy. And for two… that was just gross. This was Junior High. Not college. Then again, who was she to talk, what with her past job as a sex worker, though that was neither here nor there. A part of her wanted to jump down their throats and rip them a new one, but she also knew that getting a smear on her perfect record at school would be a bad choice.

But at the same time, protecting her new friend's dwindling dignity…

Yoshihara Frowned. If she continued to listen, she'd get far too angry to control herself. Even with her… predicament, anger seemed to be universal no matter who or what you were.

After she stopped listening, she looked up at the board, continuing to jot down the notes. The Hiragana on the board was not exactly the easiest to read—the teacher had bad penmanship—but that didn't stop her from doing her best to try and copy it down on a piece of paper.

As soon as she got the last sentence down, the bell rang, signifying the class change. As the teacher wiped down the board and made his way out of the room, Yoshihara felt someone tap on her shoulder. Glancing behind her, she saw the two girls from before who were talking about Midoriya standing behind her.

"Hey, not trying to pry or anything, but, tugging on that boy's heartstrings, ya' know, pretending to be his buddy and all, isn’t that kind of cruel?" The girl on the left asked as the girl on the right, who looked identical to the girl on the left, giggled.

The two girls had short black hair, and brown eyes and both of their mouths looked like puppet mouths. These two girls were the Tiyama twins, and their shared Quirk was called Puppeteer, which allowed them to turn anyone they wanted into puppets. The activation required them to kiss their victim, so she wasn’t exactly afraid of being turned into a puppet.

A side note about them was that the more they used their Quirk, the more they would progressively become more puppet-like until they too became puppets as well. The reason she knew that was that she had overheard the teacher talking about them, seeing as they got into trouble regularly. Apparently, every twenty-four hours it resets, as did they, so it wasn’t like anyone would remain trapped as puppets.

"Yeah, you know that isn't nice, right? I mean, the poor guy gets led on by some many people, why would you add to the pile" The other twin said, fake sincerity in her voice and a vindictive gleam in their eyes as Yoshihara glared at them.

Bullies. She hated bullies. She couldn't stand them. To her, they were a nuisance to society. A nuisance on the same level as low-level street thugs. If she had her way with anyone who hurt those under them, or weaker than them, she'd gladly teach them a lesson they'd never forget.

A lesson that left nothing behind…

Yoshihara bit the inside of her cheek, clenching her right hand into a fist. “Keep it together Yoshihara…” She thought as she frowned, maintaining her glare as she spoke.

"What makes you think I'm pretending to be his friend? Unlike you two, I'm not a manipulative bastard. Do me a favour and scram back to your seats before the teacher catches you up and about. You wouldn't want to upset Mr. Hariyama, would you?" Yoshihara said, her voice monotone and casual as the two twins huffed, levelling glares at her before returning to their seats.

Yoshihara wasn't too fond of bullies. Before her "Quirk" awakened, she had been diagnosed as Quirkless, and for two years of her life, she was mocked and harassed by everyone around her, including her mother. It wasn’t until after she fled her house that her "Quirk" awakened. All of a sudden everyone who hated her suddenly loved her and wanted to be her friend during elementary school. Of course, she ignored them and blocked them out of her life.

That was why she knew what Midoriya had most likely been going through. But unlike her, he hadn’t been lucky enough to get that reprieve that she got. She genuinely felt bad for the guy, or as bad as she could feel for him, anyway.

There was no doubt in her mind that he was getting bullied—after all, being called a pariah wasn’t a good thing, and it often led to a lot of negative attention. And in her mind, Bullies were just that, bullies. They could never be friends, nor could they be trusted. Oh, sure, they could be redeemed, but Yoshihara was petty. Very, very petty and would count even the smallest things as mistakes for their potential redemption.

What the twins said was objectively wrong. But it did get her to think about her meeting with Midoriya, and when she did, she felt a little bad for just introducing herself to him and then leaving as soon as the end of lunch bell rang. That was why she had been hoping that he would show up at the entrance after school so that she could make it up to him.

Of course, then there was the part where she had practically embarrassed herself in front of him, which was something she would never let herself get over. Yoshihara never fangirled over anyone's actions at all in her entire life, even All Might's. So for her to just… do that in front of a guy she didn't know the name of made her feel uncomfortable and it probably made him feel uncomfortable, too.

At the same time though, she saw what he did to be extremely cool. He saved a kid's life while the heroes did nothing about it. Sure, All Might swooped in right in time to take out the villain like he always did, but even from the angle of the camera that the guy had recorded, she could see just how purple the hostage's skin was. Just a single moment more, and that kid would've been dead.

It wasn’t anyone else’s doing that saved that boy. It wasn’t a hero with a Quirk that saved that kid, but rather it was plain old, Quirkless Izuku Midoriya. Some random who had just appeared out of nowhere to try his best to help someone when no one else could or would. 

She didn't know what happened to him after the fact, but she hoped Izuku got a lot of applause or maybe a tip or two from the pros on the scene because if it weren't anything but that, she'd be pretty angry otherwise. Then again, there wasn't much Yoshihara would be able to do about it if that hadn’t been the case.

“Still…. That was pretty cool of him to do.”

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of chalk scribbling against a blackboard, and the sound of Mr. Hariyama’s low voice talking about today’s lesson filled the room. Grabbing her binder from under her desk, she pulled it out, opened it, took out a piece of paper, and began to write down what the teacher was putting on the board as instructed.

Not much happened aside from that. As a result, the class went by faster than usual, seeing as she was focused more than she typically was. Frankly, she just wanted to get outside and see if Midoriya would show up. If he didn’t, then she wouldn’t be too upset. Though she would be a little annoyed. Although, considering the kind of guy he was, that being a nervous wreck, maybe it would’ve been better if she approached him instead.

When the bell rang, she quickly packed all of her stuff into her bag, and then, just before she could leave, the sound of an explosion rippled out through the school, causing the other students to stand up. Muttering began to spread through the rest of the class as the teacher clapped, getting everyone's attention.

"Don't mind that. It's just Bakugo-Kun. He's most likely venting again. Everyone, remember, today's assignment is simple. Please use the textbook if you have to. This is due Friday. After that, we'll take the next week off of work and watch some movies. Then you'll graduate. Everyone, have a good day!" The teacher said as everyone bowed out for the day.

"Someone else who can use explosions, eh? Interesting…" Yoshihara thought, glancing across the hall. The classroom adjacent to hers was the class the loud boom had come from. Stepping out of her classroom, bag in hand, she watched as the door opened, revealing the inside of the classroom to be a mess, and for Midoriya to be looking scared up, terror on his face as a blond-haired boy glared at him, sparks flying off of his palms as he scowled.

"Listen here, shitty Deku. If you don't pull your fucking application from U.A., I'll make you wish you hadn't, ya understand?" The blond boy growled, which caused Yoshihara to clench her fist in a seething anger that smouldered in her very soul. She might not've known Midoryia for more than a few minutes, but if there was one thing that she couldn’t stand, it was bullies. And that kid was the textbook example of one.

Walking into the other classroom, she narrowed her eyes at the blond-haired kid before clearing her throat and catching his attention. "Hey, asshole. Look over here!"

As soon as she said that, the blond-haired boy did as she asked, followed by everyone else in the room as muttering began to erupt from the other students in the class. He was tall, with blond spiky hair that erupted out in every which way, kind of like Midoriya’s hair.

His uniform was sloppy, and his buttons were mostly undone near the top of his blazer. He gave off the exact kind of aura she had expected a guy like him to give off, that being of a complete and total asshole. Crimson-red eyes met sky-blue eyes as the blond-haired boy snarled, glaring at Yoshihara with enough vitriol to drown out an entire city.

"The fuck do you-"

Before he could continue his sentence, a pink, black-gloved arm zoomed out from Yoshihara's shoulder as a fist slammed into the boy’s face, blood exploding from his nose as the boy was sent flying back into the wall near the windows, smashing through two desks as Izuku looked at her wide-eyed.

A violent pink aura flared around Yoshihara as the class gasped and muttered more. The boy began to stand up, only for Yoshihara to close the distance, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, angry blue eyes burrowing into his, blood leaking down his lip and nose as he stared up at her, dazed but angered.

"Now you listen to me, asshole, if I hear another threat towards Midoriya one more time, next time, I'll punch you so hard that the wall won't save you from falling, do I make myself clear?" Yoshihara spat as the boy didn't speak. Instead, he placed a hand between them, and before Yoshihara could do or say anything, an explosion erupted between the two, knocking Yoshihara away from the boy as she stumbled back, catching herself before she fell from the pain in her chest.

The blond-haired boy snarled at Yoshihara, rubbing his nose as he grunted. Flecks of blood covered his fist as he scoffed, glaring at her as he cracked his neck from side to side, spitting out blood from his mouth.

"Whatever, fuckin' extra. Defend Deku all you want, but you just earned a target on your back, watch yourself, bitch," the blond snarled, grabbing his bag as he wiped his nose and mouth. All the teacher could do was stare with wide eyes as Yoshihara's aura died down. She coughed into her hand as Izuku scampered over to her, a worried expression on his face as he grabbed her shoulder.

"Kira-san, are you-"

"I'm fine, Midoriya-Kun. Let's go," Yoshihara said, shrugging the boy off of her, and sending a glare in the teacher's direction. The man immediately shrunk in on himself, which only made Yoshihara’s glare worse.

"You watched a poor, defenceless student get bullied, and it took another student to step in to stop it. You're a disgrace to the profession of being a teacher, and you should be ashamed." With her peace having been said, Yoshihara grabbed Midoriya's hand, dragging him out of the classroom as Izuku was just barely able to grab his bag just before they left the room.

Upon making it out of the room, Yoshihara let go of his hand as they walked. She had more of a sense of annoyance in her step, whereas Izuku was more anxious. How dare that teacher just stand there and let something like that happen? She knew the Quirkless were treated like trash, but even then, it was the teacher’s job to stop that kind of behaviour!

“I wonder how that man sleeps at night. You know what? Now that I think about it, seeing as he let that happen the way that it did., he probably sleeps just fine. What an absolute waste of space…” Yoshihara thought as the pair exited the school. As they did, Midoriya finally spoke up.

"Y-You know, you r-really didn't have t-to do that Kira-san…." As soon as Izuku said that, Yoshihara stopped, causing the soft-spoken boy to make an "eep" sound as she turned around to face him.

"Midoriya, let me level with you. I may not know you that well, but you strike me as the kind of guy who wants to be a hero. So, correct me if I’m wrong, but you want to go to U.A., yeah? I mean, that asshole said that you had applied, so I’m not just spitting nonsense, right?” Yoshihara asked as Midoriya sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"I know… pretty stupid, right? But I made a promise to someone, so I can't break it. I'm going to go to U.A. regardless of what anyone says!" As soon as Midoriya made his proclamation, Yoshihara poked him in the chest, hard, making him stammer.

"Oh yeah? Well then, as your one and assumedly only friend, it's my job to push you. Besides, you look like you could use it. From what I saw back there, to me, that doesn't look like someone who’s ready to go to U.A. Not to be rude, but you don’t look like you’ve trained a single day in your life. But, that’s beside the point. So, you know what I want you to do?” Yoshihara asked as Midoriya chuckled nervously.

“U-uh… what do you want me to do?” He asked, trepidation in his tone of voice as Yoshihara put both of her hands on her hips, staring him down with an almost expectant gleam in her eyes.  

“I want you to prove to me you got what it takes. By the end of this semester, once we all graduate, I want you to stand up to that bastard I just punched in the face and say, "I'm going to U.A., and there is nothing you can do to stop me," to his face without stuttering, or flinching, or in any weak-ass muttering voice. I want to hear that from my classroom across the hall. Think you can do that?" Yoshihara challenged as Midoriya swallowed, looking at the ground with a dejected expression.

"But… Kacchan is also my friend…."  Midoriya muttered, causing Yoshihara to raise an eyebrow.

"Then, where the hell was this "Kacchan" when you were getting bullied by that blond prick?" Yoshihara asked as Izuku looked away, shame written all over his face. Yoshihara raised an eyebrow in confusion, and just as she was about to ask, Midoriya spoke up.

"That was Kacchan…." It was at this point that Yoshihara pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out an annoyed sigh. The world just seemed to hate this kid, didn’t it? Stockholm syndrome was a bitch, wasn’t it?

"This poor guy…." Yoshihara thought, gritting her teeth beneath her lips, before facing Midoriya with a steely-eyed stare. There was no way he genuinely thought that this “Kacchan” person was his friend, right? That just seemed stupidly optimistic and or outright wishful thinking. Because what she saw back there were not the actions of a friend. They were the actions of someone who wanted him dead.

"Midoriya, I’m just gonna say it like I saw it. That guy wasn't your friend. I’m sorry I have to be the one who tells you this, but that asshole was not, nor will he ever be your friend. He's just an asshole who probably gets off by pushing you around. If you thought that guy was your friend, then I'd hate to see what you think a bully is," Yoshihara said dryly, causing Midoriya to flinch.

"But—"

"No "buts," Midoriya. He isn't your friend. The sooner you realize that the better you're life will be. Okay?" Yoshihara stated, turning around as she began to walk away. "I have a bus to catch. I gave you my number. It's in your blazer pocket. Call me!" Yoshihara called out, running to catch her train as she heard the flabbergasted voice of Midoriya off in the distance, letting out a small chuckle as she left.

Meanwhile, back in the school, a boy in class 3-B sat all by his lonesome, his purple hair styled like that of a pompadour as he looked at a picture of a blonde-haired girl. The picture was taken in the morning, around the time she had exited a Love Hotel named Love Love Deluxe. The boy wasn’t going to pry into the reason as to why, though he had admittedly been curious.

The girl in the photo was wearing the Aldera Junior High School uniform, and the girl in the photo shared a striking simulatary with the person who had just stormed out of Classroom 3-A just a few moments ago. If he hadn’t known any better, he would say they were the same person. And if that was the case… if the information he had on her was correct…. 

The boy frowned, staring out into the hallway as he stuffed the photo into his blazer pocket. "There's no doubt about it. She's a Stand User." And without any other words, the purple-haired boy grabbed his backpack and walked out of the classroom he was in. He had a job to do.

Chapter Text

[Original Chapter posted - January 11th, 2022]

[Revised Chapter posted - January 7th, 2023]

[Secondary Revision of the Chapter posted on June 11th, 2023]

[Third Revision of the Chapter posted on December 13th, 2023]

Yoshihara exited the Love Hotel’s elevator and entered the suite on the top floor, mentally exhausted after her day at school. It wasn’t normal for her to be like that, but today was different. It had been far too eventful for her, what with meeting Midoriya and helping him out, if only briefly, with his bullying problem.

Said bully’s name was apparently “Kacchan”, but she knew that to be a nickname. No self-respecting parent in their right mind would name their kid “Kacchan” without the expectation that they would become a target for every bully on the known planet.

Maybe she could ask one of the other students at the school as to the true identity of “Kacchan”, then she could speak to The Headmaster of Aldera about what had happened today.

Though, considering nothing had happened regarding his behaviour beforehand, it didn’t exactly give her the confidence, nor the assurance that something would be done about it. Still, it was worth the effort to at least try something. If nothing was done, it would make the school look extremely bad.  

That aside, Yoshihara took off her backpack and slung it next to the elevator before turning around. She noticed a sticky note on the side of the elevator doors which hadn’t been there before when she had left this morning. She had an idea as to what it was going to be about, but just to sate her curiosity, she ripped it off of the red walls of the elevator entrance and scanned it over, huffing at its contents.

Effectively, the note had explained to Yoshihara that Kayama-san was going out with her friends at the bar she frequently visited. It said she would be home no later than midnight, but Yoshihara knew better. Chances were that she wouldn’t be back till three in the morning, and by then, Yoshihara would have been dead asleep.

Frankly, it was a problem, but she couldn’t exactly fault Kayama-san for going out as much as she did. Kayama-san wasn’t a drunkard per se, but she did drink a lot. She blamed it on the stresses of being a Pro Hero and the responsibilities tied to it. Having to save people every day and still getting criticism for minor things that, in the grand scheme of things, hardly mattered must’ve been rough for her mental health.

If there was something that Yoshihara had dreaded when it came to her future as a Pro Hero, it was the constant nagging of the average citizen toward their public defenders. While it had died down as of late, she had read about horror stories of hero hopefuls quitting due to the amount of stress that came with the job or worse, some outright ending it all due to their failure to save lives.

It was an endemic strictly contained within Japan because in other countries it wasn’t nearly as bad. The one place that she could even remotely compare it to was probably Germany. But when she considered that it had been Germany who had come up with the idea of how heroes were seen in today’s society, it made far more sense for them to be more scrutinized than the heroes in Japan.

On a lighter note, Yoshihara didn’t mind that Kayama-san was out and about. It at least gave her some time to be alone without her yapping her ear off about how work was dreadful, and how she was secretly looking forward to retiring sometime in the future. Although speaking of people talking about their days at work, she wondered how Sasaki-san had been doing.

The last time she had checked in on him was about a month ago, having called him after finding out his place of work and getting Sasaki-san’s number. He had been surprised to know that she had remembered him, and after they caught up briefly, they talked about how things had been and where she was now living. In that respect, he was like a grandfather to her, even if they weren’t related.

To sum up their conversation, he had been doing okay. However recent health complications required him to get checked out at the nearby hospital. Yoshihara was worried for his safety, but he told her not to worry about him. And while that didn’t make things any better, she placated him and said that she wouldn’t.

Maybe if she wasn’t super busy she could give him a call to see how he was doing. It was about time she did that anyway, and with Kayama-san not being home, nor would she be for a while, she saw no reason not to. Don’t get her wrong, Kayama-san was nice and all but her not being here really was a breath of fresh air. Not having to deal with all the teasing she would receive for the rest of the day would’ve been amazing.

But, then again, considering where Kayama-san was going and or where she was currently, that might not have been the best thing in the world. It wasn’t because Yoshihara was worried about her coming home drunk, but rather it was what would happen when she woke up in the morning. A hungover Kayama-san was a bitchy Kayama-san, and that was neither fun nor good.     

“Oh well, that’s for future me to worry about,” Yoshihara thought as she balled up the post-it note, scoffing. She threw it out in the garbage can next to the elevator before walking over to her backpack and opening it. Rummaging through it, she brought out her cell phone before turning around and placing it on the coffee table, just in case Midoriya called her like she had asked him to.

Though, considering just how much of a nervous wreck Midoriya had been, she found it highly unlikely that he’d call. After all, if the way he talked to her in person was anything to go by, over the phone would probably go about the same way. She was also half convinced that, aside from his mother, his interaction with her had to have been the first time Midoriya had ever talked to a girl. 

While it was sad, Yoshihara actually kind of found it to be endearing in a bizarre sort of way. She didn’t know if it had been the fact that his eyes shone when he realized that she had been talking to him out of genuine interest, rather than wanting to shove him into a locker. Or if it had been because he gave off this sort of innocent energy that she hadn’t seen in a teenage boy before. But either way, she found him to be, for the lack of a better way to word it, adorably awkward.

Most teenage boys she met were horndogs thanks to hormones. But Izuku Midoriya was different. Izuku Midoriya was the type of guy that she liked. Well, liked was a strong word, it was more like she tolerated him, but that was just semantics. What she meant by that was that Midoriya was not only kind but also, at least at the outset, was the type of guy who seemed genuinely caring to some degree or another. And that wasn’t even talking about his passion for wanting to be a hero.

Yoshihara found it incredibly interesting that, despite his Quirklessness, Midoriya wanted nothing more than to be a hero. From the way he talked about it after school, it was almost like it had been his lifetime goal. Then again, most teenagers wanted to be heroes. But Midoriya’s interest seemingly wasn’t money-driven, nor fame-driven as most others were. He genuinely seemed like he wanted to be a hero for the hero aspect. The aspect of saving people.

And to think, the only reason why she wanted to become a hero was for a completely selfish reason. It honestly made her feel bad about her motivations. If anyone deserved her spot in the recommendation exam based on motive alone, it was Midoriya, and not her.

Although, speaking of people with inadequate reasons for being a hero, that “Kacchan” guy, who, if she remembered correctly, her teacher had called him “Bakugo-Kun”, had been screeching at Midoriya to “resend his U.A. application.” And if she were to guess why, it probably had something to do with him being Quirkless.

It was a wonder how Midoriya saw that guy as his “friend.” Perhaps, in the past, they had been childhood friends. But that clearly wasn’t the case anymore. The amount of vitriol and anger that had been in Bakugo’s voice when he addressed Midoriya as “Deku” was proof enough for that. It was quite impressive just how much rage had been behind that nickname.

However, that raised the question of why Bakugo wanted him to resend his application. It clearly wasn’t out of a need to protect him if the hatred and anger directed toward Midoriya was anything to go by, so it had to be something else. Her guess, aside from the fact that Midoriya was Quirkless, must’ve had something to do with not wanting to be around him anymore.

And if that was his reasoning, then it was a piss-poor one. One that further proved to Yoshihara that Bakugo was a piece of shit. And, if she were to also take a guess as to why he wanted to be a hero, then it probably had something to do with a power fantasy of his. Presumably about wanting to be the guy who replaced All Might. And if her assumption had been correct, then that made his reasoning to be a hero not only shallow but borderline pathetic.

Not only that but there was something that rubbed Yoshihara the wrong way about Bakugo. It wasn’t just that he was a total dickwad, or that he was annoying as all get out, but, at least to her, there was something intrinsically wrong with him.

The only reason why she thought that was because in some way, somehow, Bakugo had found a way to trigger that part of her, even without knowing it existed. A part of her that only showed itself when she was either in dire straits or when she wanted to kill the person in front of her, effective immediately.

That aforementioned “part of her” was her “Quirk”. For whatever reason, when she had been confronting Bakugo, instead of punching him in the face herself, her “Quirk” had shown itself again and did it for her. She had good reason to believe that it had been because of his shitty attitude and the way he had been acting toward Midoriya. But still, the fact that her “Quirk” had shown up at all rang alarm bells in her head.

The reason why it rang alarm bells in her head was because of what her “Quirk” could do, and what it could’ve potentially done to him as a result. Had that actually happened, she would’ve been the one in trouble, and not him—assuming he did get in trouble after she had barked at the teacher for not doing anything. 

Though speaking of her “Quirk”, Yoshihara always found her “Quirk” to be strange. Hell, she wasn’t even so sure it was a Quirk. That was why whenever she talked about it she put heavy quotations around it. There was something about it that made it different. For starters, no one else could see it. She noticed that both at the school and all of those months back at the convenience store with that creep who had stalked her.

Then came the fact that it had a power of its own, which wasn’t exactly possible for a Quirk to have a Quirk of its own. Essentially, anything it touched turned into a bomb. But it didn’t immediately explode, not unless Yoshihara was in a rush. Wherever her “Quirk” touched, that area would inflate like a balloon, before it burst, destroying what had been touched, and reducing it to nothing. 

It was a terrifying ability. One that she seldom ever used because of just how deadly it was. Then came the fact that it was only a pair of arms and sometimes, if only rarely, a pair of legs. The arms and legs were both hot pink, one of her least favourite colours, she should note. Much like herself, they were lean in muscle, and they were about as long as her actual arms and legs.

The arms wore a pair of matte black gloves that rode up to their elbows, with the upper portion of the glove being dual strapped and in a criss-cross style, embedded with golden studs. On the back of the gloves was an insignia of what appeared to be a humanoid cat skull, which was bizarre. Also of note was that the gloves were fingerless, which made sense seeing as the ability was based on touch.

The legs were much the same in that regard. Lean in muscle, and wearing a pair of matte black ankle-high, open-toed boots. It had three of the insignia’s, one sitting at the toe-end of the boots, and two on either side of the ankle.

A part of Yoshihara genuinely believed that her “Quirk” wasn’t a Quirk. Sure, sentient Quirks existed, but her power was not one of them. For one, it was only a pair of arms and legs. For two, and the reason why she believed that her “Quirk” was special and or not a Quirk at all, was how her “Quirk” awakened in a rather unorthodox way. For starters, she had been diagnosed as Quirkless, having an unneeded toe joint in her pinky toe.

While the science was wonky, it had been widely approved to be the deciding factor of whether or not someone had a Quirk. Seeing as she could still bend her pinky toe, that meant it hadn’t changed. So why did she suddenly have a “Quirk?” Well, her “Quirk” manifested around the time she had been seven years old, and had run away from home over a year ago at that point.

She remembered the day that it had happened vividly. After all, why wouldn’t she? It was a time in her life that had been filled with unparalleled strife—then again, so had most of her life, but that was neither here nor there. At the time, she was still living in the crappy orphanage that she had stumbled across, the same one that had kicked her out for not being able to donate to it once she had turned eleven years old.

On that day when the nightmare had begun, she remembered that she had gotten an extremely awful fever. No matter what the orphanage matrons or nurses tried, they could never get it to go down. She couldn’t sleep, and eating had been a hassle. Her body had ached for a majority of the hours in the day, and it even got to the point that she had passed out due to the pain on several occasions. 

Most of everyone in that orphanage, including a majority of the matrons and nurses, had expected her to die. On top of her being Quirkless, which already made the orphanage’s opinion of her very low, her illness had practically made them give up hope for her. No one, aside from a scant few nurses, believed she was going to make it.

And so, because of that, rather than trying to help her in any way they could, they simply left it up to the fates to either deliver her to the skies above, or, the one that they had very little belief in happening, that being that she would somehow miraculously recover.

For the next fifty days of her life, she was in constant agony, with barely anyone trying to help her through it. Only a handful of nurses came by to check on her and to try and help her feel better. Unfortunately, most of their efforts fell flat on their faces. The fiftieth and final day of her illness had been the worst of it, and it had been the day she had remembered with the most accuracy.

She remembered the searing pain that had inflicted her bones and joints, the constant muscle spasms, the dreadful coughing fits, as well as the absolutely agonizing migraine she felt as a result of the monstrous fever that clocked in at about 43.9 degrees Celsius. That day, the one nurse who had stuck by her side through all of it, Hifumi Yatsuhiro, prayed for her to get better. When all of the others gave up hope, she had been the one to stay by her side. She had been the one that Yoshihara had committed to memory. 

Whether or not her survival was a result of Hifumi’s prayer being answered, or if it was sheer luck, Yoshihara didn’t know to this very day. But when she did recover, it was almost instantaneous. And, on top of that, that day was the same one that she awakened her phantom arms and legs.

Yoshihara had always believed that it had been that fever that had granted her the powers that she had now. It was far too coincidental for it to even be a coincidence. That, and after researching about what had happened to her, it seemed as if no one else had that experience. She was the only one to have awakened her “Quirk” in such a way, which had led her to believe that it hadn’t been a Quirk at all.

Then again, seeing as the world that she lived in was fantastical, and seeing as doctors were still trying to figure out just what the hell Quirks really were, the chances of her phantom arms and legs ending up being a Quirk, albeit a strange one, was still a possibility, even if that possibility was extremely slim.

Looking at the time, Yoshihara sighed. It was already 5:01 p.m. She had debated with herself whether or not she was going to have a shower or not. She had already had one this morning, but then again, she had gym for a second period today. She had worked up quite the sweat, so that had been her excuse to have another shower.

Walking up the stairs and into her bedroom, Yoshihara opened up her dresser and pulled out what she was going to change into, that being a pair of blue knee-high shorts, cat-themed knee-high socks, a black crop top, and the required undergarments. Scooping up the clothes in one arm and closing her dresser drawers, she walked out of her room and into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

Placing the clothing on the granite countertop near the sink, she walked toward the shower and twisted the faucet so that hot water would come pouring out, causing steam to quickly fog up the mirror. That way, she didn’t have to look at her body in the mirror when she had shed her dirty clothing. Once the mirror had been completely fogged, Yoshihara began to strip down to her birthday suit.

Kicking her dirty clothes off to a random corner in the bathroom, Yoshihara turned on the shower head. Once done, she stepped into the shower and closed the curtains into the lip of the tub. The hot water pelted her skin and swept away the caked-on sweat and trapped dirt on her body. Rather than hurriedly getting herself clean, Yoshihara elected to stand underneath the water, her head lowered and her hair obscuring her face.

As strange as it might have been, Yoshihara had always found hot showers to be therapeutic. Be it because of the warm water helping to relax her muscles, or if it had been because of the sound the water made when it hit the porcelain tub and the walls around it, she honestly didn’t know.

Whenever she was in the shower, she felt safe. She felt protected. She felt like nothing, or no one, could hurt her. Within the warm confines of the shower, she was completely safe from the outside world. Back in her old apartment, it was the only comfort she had, and even then it was on a time limit. But here? She could stand in the warm embrace of the shower for tens of minutes without feeling bad about it.

She had often theorized about why she had felt the way that she did when she was in the shower. After a long time of thinking about it, Yoshihara believed she had the answer, even if it was a little silly.

She believed that being in the shower made up for the life of coldness she had been forced to deal with. Be it her poor excuse of an egg donor along with her absent and or dead father, or the empty uncaring matrons and nurses of the orphanage she used to live in. Whether it had been the disgusting rat-filled streets that she spent most of her pre-teen life living in, or that crappy, shitty apartment she had barely been able to survive in due to how expensive it was, out of all of those places, the only one that she ever felt warm and safe within was the shower.

It had been the only constant she had looked forward to. At the end of the day, after a long day of miraculously getting by by the skin of her teeth, the shower had been the one to greet her. Not a person, not a pet, not even a phone call from home. But an inanimate object that had no feelings, no consciousness, and no idea it even existed.

If that wasn’t sad, then she didn’t know what else was.

On the other hand, showers weren’t just therapeutic to her, they were also practical. After all, the main purpose of a shower was to clean oneself and wash away the day’s pains and aches. That was why showers were invented. And while she would’ve loved to stand in the hot water for hours on end, it was about time that she got herself clean.  

Reaching for the shampoo on the installed shelf wall, Yoshihara opened the cap on the bottle of shampoo and placed some into her hand. Lazily closing the lid against the wall of the shower, she placed the bottle back on the shelf before quickly and effortlessly lathering her hair with the shampoo.

She made sure that she got every inch of her scalp, that way she didn’t have to worry about some parts of her hair being greasy, whereas others weren’t. Afterward, she rinsed out the shampoo and reached for a special brand of conditioner that Kayama-san liked to use. It was meant to repair damaged hair follicles, and considering how eventful today had been, it was probably going to be needed.

Mimicking what she had done with the shampoo, Yoshihara made sure to cover just as much ground as she had with the shampoo, before rinsing it off, letting the warm water flow over her like a rock sitting underneath a waterfall. 

After sitting underneath the shower head and shifting her hair about to make sure she got all of the leftover conditioner out of her hair, she reached for a bar of soap that sat next to the conditioner and shampoo. Yoshihara wasn’t one to use bottled soap when she washed her body. She found it extremely ineffective so she much preferred barred soap.

For the next five minutes, Yoshihara scrubbed every inch of her body. From top to bottom, she left no place un-scrubbed. Due to her age, her body excreted more sweat than usual due to hormones, so she needed to be extra thorough. The last thing she wanted to get was acne because she missed a spot.

Once it was all said and done, Yoshihara rinsed herself off one final time, making sure to get every part of her body, before she shut off the shower. Pulling back the curtains, Yoshihara grabbed the closest towel that had been wrapped around a metal towel hanger, and whilst still in the tub, Yoshihara wrapped the towel around her body. That way when she stepped out, she didn’t have to look at her body in the defogging mirror.

Was it dumb? To some, yes. But to her, the less she saw of her body, the better off she would feel. She was ashamed of how she looked because of those scars. They were a sore spot that she hated thinking about. Those scars represented a time in her life when she had been at her absolute lowest—a time before the strip club, and a time before she lived out on the streets—but the less she thought about that, the better.

Stepping out of the shower, her foot made contact with the mat that had been placed just at the foot of the tub. What she had expected to happen was for her foot to remain on the mat and for her to exit the tub with no problems. What had happened instead was that she nearly slipped and fell. Had it not been for the metal bar near the shower, she would’ve fallen backward and hit her head against the wall, which could’ve possibly led to a serious head injury.    

"That was close…” Yoshihara muttered, staring at the mat with a distrustful gleam in her eye. “That’s strange. Why’s the mat so slippery? I was sure I tucked the curtains into the tub. It shouldn’t be that slippery…” Yoshihara muttered, straightening herself out. Slowly, Yoshihara outstretched her leg toward the mat, attempting to get out of the shower for a second time.

As soon as her foot made contact with the mat, she felt it moments away from sliding out from underneath her. So, instead of putting all of her weight behind her foot, she gently pushed it with the tips of her toes. Instead of the mat slightly shifting in place, it flew across the bathroom, hitting the door and stopping immediately afterward.

All Yoshihara could do was stare incredulously at the mat, her eyes wide in disbelief. That just wasn’t normal. There was absolutely no way that the mat should have been so wet that it slid that far away with practically no reason for it to do so. What made it even worse, was that from what she could tell, the mat looked fine.   

"That's not at all what should’ve happened. The mat slid far too seamlessly. Not only that, but it didn’t leave behind a trail of water like it should have if it had really been soaked…” Yoshihara thought, frowning. Something was wrong here. She didn’t know what, but something was definitely wrong.

“Or maybe I’m just overthinking it,” She thought, sighing. That was probably it. Besides, she was home alone. No one else could possibly get into her home without the special key that unlocked the floor that she lived on. It was simply just her paranoid mind being stupid. And so, with that pointless fear tossed out of her head, Yoshihara made a third attempt to get out of the shower. After all, the saying was “third time’s the charm.”   

But, much to her immediate dismay, the moment her foot made contact with the solid tile floor, her foot slipped, and this time she wasn’t able to correct herself. She fell backward into the tub, slamming her head against the wall. It hurt for about three seconds before the pain faded away. Her right leg hung uselessly across the tub, whereas her left leg had been pulled back into her stomach as she lay in the tub crescent style, flabbergasted at what had just happened.

Yoshihara blinked, collecting herself for a few moments as she processed what had just happened. “What the fuck?” Yoshihara whispered in disbelief. She had been completely befuddled. Bamboozled even. “No… seriously, what the fuck was that?” She continued, as she looked at the floor.

There was nothing there. No water, at all, whatsoever. There wasn’t even so much as a droplet on the tile. It had been completely spotless and dry, so unless her feet were just that soaking wet, her slipping the way that she did shouldn’t have been possible. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at that particular tile.

It was pointless to try again from where that tile sat. So instead, when she stood up, she walked to the other side of the tub, pulled the curtain back, and stared at the floor. “If I slip and fall again, then I’ll know something is up,” Yoshihara muttered to herself as she outstretched her leg and placed her foot down on the barren tile floor.

Much to her relief, she didn’t slip this time. Firmly planting her foot down on the tile floor, Yoshihara fully stepped out of the tub, looking back over at the other side of the floor, her eyebrow raised in confusion. She still didn't understand why that tile had been so slippery. It made no sense. It wasn’t the mat, and it wasn’t her feet, so it had to be something else. 

"Strange…" Yoshihara said, grunting to herself. Just as she was about to take off the towel and get changed, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small thumbnail-sized bubble drift into view. The bubble was all by its lonesome, which was weird. What made it even weirder was that it had a purple star in its center.

“Huh… that’s odd. Last I checked I didn’t use any special kind of soap that made this specific-looking bubble. Where the hell did it come from?” Yoshihara thought, tilting her head to the left as she stared at the bubble. Curiosity eventually got the best of her, as she approached the bizarre-looking bubble.

"What are you—” Before Yoshihara could finish her sentence, the bubble popped, dazing her for a split second. Afterward, before she could collect herself, she slipped and fell to the ground, landing rear first as she hit the floor with a thud. “Ow!” She thought, grunting as she gripped the towel so that it didn’t fall off of her.

Yet again, she was dazed and confused at what the hell had just happened. A bubble. A single, solitary bubble caused her to slip and fall. That made no sense! Unless of course, it was a Quirk belonging to someone. “No… because I’m home alone. No one should’ve been able to follow me home without me knowing. I’m the only one, aside from Kayama-san, who has access to this suite. Not even the staff have access to it. But then again…”

No. There was no other explanation. That bubble belonged to someone. Someone was attacking her. That was the only logical reason she could think of that would allow that bubble to have existed. “But if it only made me slip and fall, then it’s kind of useless…” Yoshihara thought as she went to place her hand on the wall to help herself get up from the floor….

Only for her to fly into the other wall of the bathroom at blinding speeds. “Oh shit!” Yoshihara practically screamed as she slammed into the wall, causing her to grunt in pain. She groaned, a sharp pain reverberating throughout her back. “Son of a bitch… That hurt!” Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at where she had fallen, and the wall she had pressed her hand up against.

“Okay… Think Yoshihara, Think. What just happened? How did that happen? Why did that happen?” Those were the lessons that Kayama-san had taught her when she was dealing with an unknown variable. For starters, when that bubble popped she slipped and fell. So that was the what and how. The why was what she was stuck on.

Why was it that when she placed her hand on the wall she went flying across the bathroom? The walls and the floor couldn’t have been slippery. That made no sense. It was probably just a fluke, so just to be safe, Yoshihara attempted to stand up for a second time.

She placed her hand on the wall next to her and attempted to stand up. But when she did, she went flying, again, to the other side of the bathroom. This time, she slid across toward the place next to the door, hitting the wall with the same painful thud.

“Ow…” Yoshihara grumbled internally, rubbing the back of her head as she silently glared at where she had just been. “Why? Why is this happening? It’s clearly because of the bubble that popped. That’s the only way that this could be happening. But I still don’t understand why!” Yoshihara roared in her mind.

Her mind burned looking for an answer. But the only thing that she could come up with was what had been happening to her. “Clearly, that bubble somehow caused me to slip and fall. That was what it did. And now, for some reason, I can’t stabilize myself. I can’t stand up, or even attempt to stand up. And it all happened when that bubble popped in front of me. But why can’t I stand up?!”     

Yoshihara’s mind raced to try and piece everything together. It all had something to do with the bubble. The bubble caused her to slip and fall. After her first fall, every time she tried to get up, she was met with being flung across the bathroom. It was only after the bubble had popped though.

The bubble… it was the bubble’s fault, but… What exactly did the bubble do? Sure, it made her trip and fall, but that didn’t explain why she had continued to slip and slide all over the place. What had the bubble done to her that made her lose the ability to stand up? And that was when it hit her.

“The bubble! It didn’t just make me slip and fall! It’s preventing me from getting up! As a matter of fact, it’s preventing me from gaining any kind of traction! That’s why I keep slipping all over the place. It’s not because the walls and floor are slippery! It’s because, somehow, the bubble took away my friction!” Yoshihara thought, a triumphant feeling resonating within her mind.

But, unfortunately, all that triumph pettered away, her expression going from victorious to serious. “But if I lost my friction, then how the hell am I going to get out of this? If I can’t stand up, and if I can’t grab onto anything without sliding all over the place, what the hell am I supposed to do?” Yoshihara thought, as her frown deepened. What was she supposed to do now? Sure, she figured out what that bubble had done to her, but now what?

Right now, she was nothing but a sitting duck, waiting to be attacked by whoever created the bubble. Which led to another question. “Who did that bubble belong to?” Yoshihara thought, her eyebrows knitting together as her expression drew into a scowl. That was the fourth and final lesson that Kayama-san had taught her.

It was fairly obvious the type of Quirk that bubble had been, that being an emitter-type. Emitters were activation-based Quirks that did not augment the user’s appearance. They came in a variety of shapes, sizes, and abilities. It also happened that they were the most common type of Quirk. So, in theory, her attacker could be just about anyone.

If she really wanted to, she could sit there and theorize for hours on end about who her attacker could be. But right now, it wasn’t nearly as important as getting out of the situation she had found herself in. Although, of note, Emitter Quirks didn’t typically have a large area of effect. The longest-ever recorded range an Emitter Quirk had gone was an electricity-based Quirk, with it having travelled upwards of 15 meters away from the user—and that had been with the help of several conductors for electricity having been nearby.

So, at the very least, her attacker couldn’t have been far away. That meant that at some point someone must’ve been stalking either Kayama-san or Yoshihara to gain access to the suite. Meaning her attacker was inside the suite. And that wasn’t good. Not one bit.

That meant, now more than ever, she needed a way to get up. She needed to move, but without her friction, how could she do that? Well, the answer to that was rather simple. After all, she was in immediate danger.  And so that meant she had free reign to use her phantom arms and legs.

Summoning the right arm of her phantom arms, she had it reach out to the doorknob. It was a test to see if she could actually use it to stand up. And, after silently praying for it to work, the phantom arm successfully grabbed onto the door handle. A smirk found its way to Yoshihara's face, as she summoned both pairs of phantom legs on either side of her body.

Using the phantom arm that she summoned, Yoshihara pulled herself up from the ground and stood up with the help of her phantom legs. “Heh. I bet that the person who was dumb enough to attack me never bothered to look into my abilities. They might have taken my friction, but they never would’ve been able to take its friction!”

As Yoshihara said that, her eyes narrowed at the doorway. Now was her chance to catch her attacker off guard. With a confident gleam in her eyes, Yoshihara had the phantom arm that she summoned to open the door, and as soon as it cracked open, Yoshihara charged out of the bathroom, expecting to be met with her attacker.

Except, no one was there. Confusion yet again sank in, as she scanned the hallway, trying to find where her attacker had been hiding, only to find nothing and no one. Panic set in, as her heart began to race. “But that’s… that’s not possible. There’s no way that my attacker could be further away than down that hallway!” Yoshihara thought, eyes wide in disbelief.  

The hallway was barren. There was no one standing there. Absolutely no one. There wasn’t even a sound in the downstairs part of the suite. Her house was completely and utterly empty. Had she been wrong about the time of Quirk that had been attacking her? But, if that was the case, then that meant that it was either a Mutant Quirk user, or a Transformation Quirk User, and neither of those would’ve given them the ability to do what that bubble did.

“So what the hell is going on here?” Yoshiahra thought as she took a few steps forward and away from the bathroom. This was beyond normal, that much was for sure. Something else had to have been at play—that was the only answer she could come up with. But, if that was true, then did that mean….

“Does that mean I could be dealing with something similar to my ability?” Yoshihara thought, as her eyes scanned the immediate area. Was it possible that she had been right about her power not being a Quirk? If so, then if a power like hers existed, that meant that others had to have existed, or did exist. It would explain the inconsistencies with the strange bubble that had caused her to lose all of the friction in her body and all of the known types of Quirks.

And if that was the case, that meant she was way in over her head. Whoever was attacking her clearly knew what they were doing. And because of that, she had been completely outmatched. “But even so… I can’t let this asshole get the better of me!” Yoshihara thought with a determined glare in her eyes.

And just as that thought entered her mind, the same bubble from before floated up and out of the hallway vent and made its way toward her. Her eyes snapped in its direction, as she summoned the left phantom arm in its direction. “Oh no you don’t! Yoshihara spat as the phantom limb snapped forward, grabbing the bubble carefully so as not to pop it.

As soon as the left phantom arm grabbed the bubble, Yoshihara began to slip, and just before she fell, the right phantom arm slammed into the wall, preventing her from falling. She sighed a breath of relief, before turning her complete attention to the bubble, eyebrows furrowed as she glowered at the bubble.

“Now… just what the hell are you?” Yoshihara questioned, staring at it with confounding interest. Upon closer examination, much like her phantom limbs, it seemed to be ethereal in appearance. Despite that, it also had a rubbery texture. The closest thing that she could compare it to was a condom in regards to its surface, but aside from that, it was just a strange little ghostly bubble.

Though that begged the question of if its ability was to just take away friction from people and objects, what was another one doing here? Sure it could take away the friction of the floor, but what would that do? Her phantom limbs were what was keeping her in place. Then again, if the friction in the floor was gone, that would’ve posed a problem.

Whatever the case was, she couldn’t allow it to pop. Otherwise, it would just take away another object’s friction. All she had to do was make sure she kept a hold of it with her left phantom arm, and everything would be—

The bubble popped, and her friction returned to her. While that was great and all, she knew something else had to have happened. And just as her luck would have it, that had been the case. However, instead of the floor losing its friction, something else happened. Everything went pitch black. She couldn’t see anything. And immediately, she panicked.

“What the fuck?!” Yoshihara screamed, bringing her hands up to her face. She could feel her hands touching her face, but she couldn’t see her hands doing that. She was blind! The bubble took away her ability to see! And as she was panicking, she unwittingly caused her phantom limbs to start thrashing about.

The arms slammed into the walls multiple times, causing them to shake as cracks began to form wherever they hit. The legs went away due to her concentration not being good enough to keep them around, though at least she didn’t need them to stand anymore. However, it wasn’t as if that made things any better. Sure, she could walk again without having any problems, but now she was without sight.

She traded one disability for another. Her heart raced as she tried to find a solution, only to realize that there wasn’t one. That bubble had sapped her eyesight, and there was nothing that she could do about it. While it wasn’t the most calming thought in the world, it had allowed her to regain some of her composure.

Yoshihara needed to think rationally. Her enemy wanted her to panic. They wanted her to make mistakes so that they could do whatever it was they came here to do. She couldn’t let them win, and it was that thought that allowed her to settle the panic in her chest. Taking a deep breath, Yoshihara felt a wave of calm wash over her as she exhaled.

“Alright… focus! The bubble doesn’t just take away friction, it can also take away eyesight. This might be a leap in logic, but if it can take away eyesight, it can take away anything. But, it has a limit. It can only take one thing at a time. I can use that to my advantage. All I have to do is bait out another one of those bubbles, and once I get my eyesight back, I can properly formulate a plan to find them.”

Yoshihara furrowed her eyebrows, as she felt around for something to grab onto, slowly inching her way around the hallway. She could feel the ground around her, so that meant she hadn’t made it to the staircase. That was her goal, to get downstairs and somehow find a way to lure another one of those bubbles to her. If it took away something from her, she could get her eyesight back.

As she inched her way closer to where she thought the staircase had been, just as she reached out toward the railing, the sound of something popping reverberated around her. The moment that happened, a blinding flash of light assaulted Yoshihara’s vision, flashbanging her with sight and colours in such a way that it had disoriented her. She had been so disoriented that she hadn’t even noticed that her friction had been taken from her, and as a result, she began to slip and fall down the stairs.

Yoshihara screamed in confusion, as she tumbled down the stairs before hitting the ground. When she did, she continued to slide until she slammed against the front-facing wall of the suite. She groaned, her body aching all over from taking the tumble that she had. She was also pretty sure she had bit the inside of her lip if the thin line of blood leaking from the side of her mouth was anything to go by.

“Okay, I can see again. While I have my sight, I need to think of a way to actually get to the elevator…” Yoshihara thought as she scanned the main floor of the suite. That was when she realized that there was nothing for her to guide herself toward the elevator. In her current state, the most that she could do was propel herself out of the window in front of her and pray to God that she was able to have one of her phantom arms grab onto one of the ledges.

But that was only a last resort. She wasn’t going to needlessly risk her life just to take out an enemy. Not unless she had been given a choice of doing things the smart way. But just as that thought came to mind, another bubble came out of the vent near the elevator. Her eyes widened, as she prepared to have her phantom arms try and swat it away.

She had been fully prepared to make sure that bubble came nowhere near her. After all, she quite liked the plan that she had come up with. However, that wasn’t what had happened. Instead of the bubble drifting toward Yoshihara, it had instead drifted toward the floor. Yoshihara’s eyes widened even further, her pupils shrinking as the realization hit her.

The bubble popped, and she regained her friction. But in return for her friction, the floor of the suite lost its friction. The effect was immediate, as Yoshihara began to slide down the floor at alarming speeds. She gripped her towel as tightly as she could, whilst her phantom arms tried to reach out toward anything they could grab.

Unfortunately, they were not in range to grab ahold of anything. The most they could do was dig into the wood to try and stop the speed at which Yoshihara had been falling, and even then, they could hardly even do that.

At the speed at which she was going when she hit the window, it would no doubt shatter. She had to think of something, anything to prevent it from happening. But by the time she had an idea, it was already too late. Yoshihara’s body slammed into the glass pane, and with her whole body’s weight slamming into it, it shattered upon contact, and when that happened she began to fall.

As she fell, Yoshihara’s heart slammed against her chest as she tried anything and everything to stop her descent. And luckily, there was something that she could do. While the floor might have lost its traction, the rest of the building still had it. Otherwise, it would be mass pandemonium. Using her phantom arms, she used them to drive a hole into the nearest wall.

Thankfully, she had been just in time to do so, as the right phantom arm drove its hand into the wall closest to a window, shattering concrete and allowing it to grab hold of something and preventing Yoshihara from descending to her demise.

Yoshihara breathed out yet another sigh of relief. She looked up to where she had fallen and narrowed her eyes. Nothing else had fallen with her, and that had been because Kayama-san had everything nailed to the ground so that in case of a major earthquake, nothing would fly out of the window. She guessed that also applied to supernatural abilities as well. 

Yoshihara glanced over at the phantom arm and saw something that made her heart plummet into her stomach. It was beginning to lose its grip. Down below, she could hear the shouts and screaming of people staring at her dangling from the side of The Love Hotel. Her mind raced for her to do something, anything that she could to prevent herself from continuing to fall.

She reached with her free hand toward the hole in the wall, trying and failing to reach it. If she could get her hand into that hole, and if she could get a good enough grip, she could prevent herself from falling. The first attempt was unsuccessful. The second attempt was just as bad if not worse. And by the third attempt, the phantom arm had given out.

And then, she began to fall, gravity taking hold as she reached out toward the suite. Her hair blew in the wind as she fell. The screams got louder, and by then, her heart had picked up the pace. As she fell, she could only think about just how suddenly her day had taken a turn for the worse.

It had started just fine. She had gotten to meet Midoriya, and she had helped him with that annoying Bakugo kid. And then, when she got home, in less than half an hour, she was falling to her death all because of some random nobody who most likely had been stalking either her or Kayama-san.

As she fell, she turned to look at the Love Hotel. And as she did, time seemed to slow to an absolute crawl. Why? Because standing in the room two floors below the suite was the person who she believed had been responsible for this whole fiasco.

The person in question was a boy, and he looked to be around her age. He had peach-coloured skin and dark purple eyes. His hair was done up into a pompadour, and it matched the colour of his eyes. He was dressed in a black mesh shirt, with a green long-sleeved turtle neck underneath, along with a pair of blue denim jeans.

His eyes drifted over to look at her, and when her eyes made contact with his, her expression was drawn into a fierce, yet calm rage. Typically, seeing some random kid who just so happened to be at the Love Hotel wouldn’t make her this angry. But the fact that he had a bubble that appeared to be the same one as the one that had been attacking her for the last ten minutes resting in between his index and ring finger really drove home the fact that this was the person who had been terrorizing her.

Unbeknownst to her, a violent purple aura erupted around her body like that of a raging flame. All of her misfortune for the last ten minutes could all be pinpointed back to this guy. His eyes widened upon seeing the aura that had been burning around her, and as Yoshihara’s gaze hardened, her eyebrows narrowing as her expression drew itself into a school, due to her burning, righteous fury, out of her body manifested a figure from behind her.   

The figure was a muscular, but lean humanoid creature, and it was about as tall as Yoshihara had been. Its skin was hot pink, similar to that of her phantom limbs. The top of its head was flat, with two sharp triangular shapes heavily resembling cat ears sitting on both sides of its head. Its eyes were cat-like, with ruby red irises and pink sclera. It lacked a nose, and it had a thin barely noticeable mouth.

Its arms and legs were the same as those of Yoshihara’s phantom limbs, though there was a new addition of a torso, head, and waist attached to them. Additionally, two new emblems adorned the creature's outer shoulders, and on its back were four, short spikes poking out from the back of the creature's shoulders and neck.

The final addition the rest of the creature's body brought with it was the garter belt-like band that rested at its waist, with yet another emblem acting as a belt buckle, keeping it in place. The lip of the garter belt-like band had been adorned in golden studs similar to the gloves on its arms, which continued its matching aesthetic.

“You. You’re the culprit,” Yoshihara’s voice was cold, unfeeling, and filled with bitter anger. Before her attacker could do anything, the creature lunged forward, reared back its fist, and punched out the window, shattering it to bits. Afterward, it grabbed onto the ledge, and then onto Yoshihara’s towel, before tossing her into the room with her attacker, leaping in after her.

The boy took a step back, looking over his shoulder as his sweat bullets. She could practically hear his heart beating with fear as she slowly stood up, keeping her towel in place with an improvised tuck. Thanks to the fact that she had fallen through thick glass, there were minor cuts and scrapes all across her face. Nothing too major or anything that required stitches, but that still didn’t mean it hadn’t hurt.

“You’re the asshole who attacked me in my home,” Yoshihara spat, taking a step toward him, as he took a step back. She cracked her knuckles, a mirthless chuckle escaping her lips as a deadly gleam filled her eyes. “You made me into a ragdoll. Now, I get to have my fun…”

“W-Wait!” The boy exclaimed, taking yet another step back as she continued to approach. “I-I can explain! I-I promise! J-Just give me a—” he wasn’t allowed to finish his sentence, as the creature behind Yoshihara lunged forward and grabbed him by the neck with its left hand, lifting him off of the ground as he began to choke.

"Oh? You can explain, can you?” Yoshihara growled, vitriol gathering in her voice as that same violent purple aura raged around her body. “Good for you… unfortunately, I don’t care!” And as soon as those words left her mouth, the creature reared back its right fist, and as it did, it dropped the boy. As the boy fell, his eyes wide in terror at what was about to happen, the creature began to punch the boy’s lights out at blinding speeds, all the while shouting out a bizarre battle cry.

“SHIBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBO!SHIBO!!”

With its final punch, the creature sent the boy flying out through the door of the room they had been in, the sound of wood snapping under the weight of someone’s body, followed by an extremely loud thud echoed around the room and hallway, as Yoshihara glared daggers at the now unconscious boy.

Yoshihara’s breathing was methodical and paced, her heart beating at a mile per minute. So many questions plagued her mind as she stared at the creature that she had summoned. It turned around and faced her, scarlet red cat-like eyes staring deep into her own. It was almost like she had been peering into her soul.

And then, in the blink of an eye, it vanished. And as soon as it disappeared, a wave of fatigue washed over her like a tsunami. All of the adrenaline left her body instantly, and as a result, she couldn’t help but collapse to the floor, as everything went dark.   

xxXXxxXXxx

!Stand Information Corner!

Stand User: Unknown Boy

Stand Name: Currently Unknown

Stand Appearance: Currently Unknown

Stand Abilities:

1 – Bubble Generation: With the use of his stand, [Unknown Boy] can generate star-embedded floating bubbles. For the bubbles’ properties to be of effective use, they must come into contact with their target! [Unknown Boy] can control where the bubbles fly, giving him an added edge in combat.

2 – Plunder Bubble: Used in tandem with Bubble Generation, Plunder Bubble is [Unknown Stand]’s signature ability. Anything Plunder Bubble comes into contact with will have an aspect of it stolen. It does not matter how large the object is, once Plunder Bubble touches it, [Unknown Boy] can take away a single property of that object. As a side note, Plunder Bubble can only be used on one object at a time, and it can also be used on both objects and people, but only one at a time.

Stand Stats:

Destructive Power: Unknown.

Effective Range: Grade C (10 meters away from Stand User)

General Speed: Unknown.

Persistent use of ability: Grade C (Over 10 minutes of continuous use)

Precision: Grade B (Limited by the Stand User's knowledge of his opponents)

Developmental Potential: Grade B

Stand User: Kira Yoshihara.

Stand Name: Currently Unknown

Stand Appearance: [Unknown Name] is a cat-like humanoid Stand, sharing the same height and physicality as its user, while remaining genderless. It wears dark studded leather-like forearm-length gloves, mirrored in style by a garter belt-like band at its waist and ankle-height footwear. Four short spikes line the top of its back. On its shoulders, the back of its gloved hands, belt buckle, both sides of its ankles and the top of its feet all bear an emblem of a cat-like humanoid skull that resembles its own.

(Current) Stand Abilities:

Bomb Transmutation: Anything, regardless of whether it is living or inanimate, [Unknown Name] touches will be implanted with a bomb. Once the object is touched by [Unknown Name], the part that was touched will inflate like a balloon. Upon reaching its climax, the bubble-like bomb will explode, erasing the object and or person that has been touched.

Stand Stats:

Destructive Power: Grade A

Effective Range: Grade D (5 meters away from Stand User)

General Speed: Grade B

Persistent use of ability: Unknown

Precision: Unknown

Developmental Potential: Grade A   

xxXXxxXXxx

Yoshihara awoke with a blaring headache, a groan escaping her lips as she slowly sat up. Her eyes squinted at the sudden influx of light as she raised a hand overtop her eyes, trying to mitigate the intensity. After a few seconds of her eyes adjusting to the new environment, she lowered her hand and looked around at her surroundings. 

It was fairly obvious that she had been in the hospital. The uncomfortable bed gave that away almost instantly. It felt like she was lying on a pile of bricks. But then again, hospitals weren’t meant for comfort, they were meant for recovering after a nasty injury.

Looking down at herself, she was dressed in a light blue hospital gown. Someone in the staff must’ve put it on her seeing as she had been almost completely nude, save for the towel that she had draped over herself.

But then, why was she in the hospital? “What happened?” As soon as that thought had entered Yoshihara’s head, she remembered almost instantly. The shower, the slipping and sliding, the bubble, her almost falling to her death, and the person who had been behind it all. It all flooded her mind in the time it took for her to blink, and it immediately soured her mood.

“Oh, right… That explains why I’m in the hospital. I just hope Kayama-san isn’t all that worried. Although she’ll probably be upset with all the property damage,” Yoshihara thought, as the sound of footsteps drew her out of her thoughts, as she looked in the direction of where they were coming from, that being the doorway.   

"Good, you’re awake,” A tall man dressed in a white doctor’s coat said, pushing up a pair of thick black-framed glasses onto his nose. He had short black hair, and auburn-coloured eyes, with two red horns sticking out from either side of his forehead. “Apologies, ma’am. The head doctor was originally going to be the one who tended to you, but he got distracted with something else. So you’ll have to put up with me for the time being.”

Yoshihara chuckled mirthlessly. “No, it’s alright. Any doctor is fine, you’re alright,” she replied as the doctor nodded. He approached her bed, walking to the end of it and picking up the clipboard that had been attached to the bedframe.

“Let’s see here. Kira Yoshihara, Quirkless… You have a small fracture on the back of your skull, several minor cuts and small bruises all over your body. Hmmm… the worst injury you have here is that aforementioned skull fracture. You might have a bad headache until it heals, though if you take some ibuprofen that might help. We’ve already disinfected and bandaged all the cuts, so they’ll be just fine,” the doctor said as he flipped over the next page. As he did, his expression became puzzled.

“Ah, it says here you have—”

“Don’t,” Yoshihara interrupted, the doctor looking back up at her. “I already know. You don’t have to say it out loud,” she continued as the doctor hummed in acknowledgement.

“Touchy subject, I see. Very well, aside from that you have a clean bill of health. I’ll get in contact with your guardian, so sit tight,” the doctor replied before placing the clipboard back on the bedframe. “I’ll be back once your guardian comes to pick you up. I’ll also make sure to mention for her to bring you a change of clothes.”

With his peace said, the doctor left the room, leaving Yoshihara by herself. Or well, that would’ve been the case had she not noticed the person next to her. Eyes narrowed and face drawn into a scowl, Yoshihara stared at the boy who had put her in this situation in the first place.

Slowly, he rose from his pillow, cupping his forehead as he slumped forward. Nothing had changed about his appearance, aside from the fact that he was wearing a hospital gown rather than the gaudy outfit he had been dressed in before. His eyes drifted over to where Yoshihara had been, and as soon as he did, he straightened his posture.

He was about to say something, only for Yoshihara to lean over, grab him by the collar and tug him forward, forcing the boy to get up close and personal with her. He raised his hands in a placating manner and tried to distance his face from hers, a concerned expression taking up his visage.

“Hehehe… hey there, uh…” The boy began, as Yoshihara sneered.   

"Alright, pompadork. You said you would explain, now fucking explain before I lose my patience,” Yoshihara spat. The boy lightly pushed her away, giving himself some breathing room before sighing.

“Can you be a bit more specific than that?” The boy asked, crossing his arms.

“I just said, “explain.” That usually means you start telling me everything. You know, like how you knew where I lived, and why you attacked me. Those are usually good places to start,” Yoshihara replied, a heavy layer of sarcasm coating her words. 

The boy let out an exasperated sigh, his shoulders slumping. “Alright. Although it should’ve been obvious. I wasn’t exactly subtle,” the boy began as Yoshihara shot him a glare. It made the boy jolt to attention, after which he cleared his throat. “For starters, I knew where you lived because I followed you home. You weren’t exactly paying attention to your surroundings, so I used that to my advantage.”

“That makes you sound like a creep, you know that?” Yoshihara quipped as the boy huffed.

“Are you going to keep interrupting me, or are you going to let me finish?” The boy asked as Yoshihara gestured for him to continue. “Right, as I was saying, I followed you home but instead of following you into your suite like an idiot, I waited for you to get to your floor, and afterward I positioned myself to be in the general vicinity as your suite. It just so happened that the twenty-first floor was perfect for it so my ability worked.”

“And?” Yoshihara asked, prompting him to elaborate.

“And… I wanted to see if you were like me,” The boy replied, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward expression on his face. “In hindsight, I probably could’ve done it in a better way, but at least I got the results I wanted.”  

“That’s it?” Yoshihara said, her expression one of bewilderment. “You mean to tell me that the reason why you attacked me in the comfort of my home, was to see if we were similar?!” She exclaimed, her anger increasing with each word that came out of her mouth. The boy raised his hands in a placating manner for a second time, chuckling nervously.

“H-hey now! I-I said I could’ve done it better than the way I did, yeah? I didn’t know you would’ve come flying out of your window. That was not intentional!” The boy hastily replied as Yoshihara huffed, before calmly inhaling and exhaling, her expression returning to a neutral gaze.

“Whatever. Now, explain what you mean by “like you.” Are you referring to this?” Yoshihara asked, summoning the creature that she had brought out earlier. The boy’s eyes widened, looking it up and down before letting out an impressed hum.

“Whoa. I mean, it was pretty scary when I saw it earlier. But now, looking at it without it trying to beat my head in, it looks really strong,” The boy muttered, before looking over at Yoshihara. “By any chance, do you know what it is?”

“I was hoping you’d tell me,” Yoshihara admitted, crossing her arms. “For the longest time, I knew that my power was different from a Quirk. That’s why I never registered it with the government. This is the first time I’ve ever been able to drag out its true form. Before this, I’ve only ever been able to summon its arms or rarely its legs.”

“I see. Well then, I don’t mind telling you, seeing as you and I are the same thing,” The boy said, before adjusting how he sat, going from a stretched-out sitting position to a criss-cross sitting position. The boy placed his hands on the sides of his knees, his expression turning neutral as he spoke.

“The ability that you and I both share is what’s known as a Stand. Stands are physical manifestations of one's soul. Before they were called “Stands” they were once referred to as “Spirit Hamon.” Stands are typically very rare, and only a couple hundred of them exist in the world, most of which are kept track of by The Speedwagon Foundation. While it is rare, Stands typically manifest in their users at random, but the ways can vary. But, the most common way someone becomes a Stand User is if they are pierced by a special Stand-giving arrow, more commonly known as The Stand Arrow, all nine of which are currently scattered across the world and securely guarded at various Speedwagon Foundation Headquarters.”

It was then that the boy’s expression darkened. “Or, that would be the case, if it wasn’t for what recently happened at the Chinese branch ten years back. One of the Stand Arrows has gone missing, though that doesn’t apply to you. I’ve already said too much regarding that, so let’s pivot the subject,” the boy said, clapping his hands together with a smile on his face. “Back to the ways that someone can acquire a Stand!”

After a few seconds, his expression returned to a neutral gaze, as the boy continued, “There are three other ways that someone can acquire a Stand. The first, and the rarest, is that the person was simply born with theirs.

“The second way, and the second rarest way is that someone randomly stumbles upon a Devil’s Palm, a magically imbued area with the capability of gifting someone a Stand after an intense hardship is placed on them. They’re typically found in extremely rough environmental areas, and their exact reason for existing is unknown. All that’s known about them is that they exist, and they can give Stands. Aside from that, nobody knows anything about them.

“And finally, the last way to gain a Stand is to survive a deadly illness that nine times out of ten people typically die from. Only those who have extremely dominating wills can overcome the illness, and their reward is receiving a Stand,” The boy concluded as Yoshihara tilted her head to the right, confusion adorning her face.       

Everything that the boy had just explained made absolutely no sense to her at all whatsoever. Well, all except for that last part. Her confused expression disappeared, replaced by a thoughtful one as she cupped her chin.

“That last one you just mentioned. That illness. Does it happen to come with an extreme fever?” Yoshihara asked as the boy nodded.

“It does. Let me guess, you had one when you were younger, right? And afterward, you awakened your Stand,” The boy said as Yoshihara nodded.

“For the longest time, I had no idea what my phantom limbs had been. But I knew that it wasn’t a Quirk. But you said that these things are called Stands. If I have a Stand, and you said that I was like you, then does that mean you also have a Stand?” Yoshihara asked as the boy smirked.

“Yup! Wanna see it?” The boy asked, and as soon as those words left his mouth, he erupted into a light blue aura. Out from behind him appeared his Stand, and the moment Yoshihara had seen it, she had no idea what it was she was supposed to be looking at. 

The boy’s Stand, much like Yoshihara’s, was a humanoid. Though unlike Yoshihara’s, which appeared to look more organic, the boy’s Stand was robotic looking. The first thing that Yoshihara noticed about the Stand was that its head was more of an oval shape than that of a regular head. It had two thick, short, and flat horn-like growths coming out from either side of its head shaped like tapering pentagrammic prisms.

It had round, slotted screw-like eyes, and vertically dividing the screw-like eyes were very small, blink and you’ll miss it, purple pupils. Running down the center of its face from the top of its forehead to past the bottom of its chin was a purple tread-like line. The tread-like line went all the way down to its torso, forming the shape of a large anchor into its chest.

The Stand had small shoulder pads with decals of a five-pointed star, the shoulder pads themselves being the shape of hearts. Then came its arms, which were extremely thin and streamlined. In place of elbows, it had ball joints connecting the forearm and lower arm, which were supported by short exterior cables, same with the knee joints.

Its hands and feet were covered in heavy plating, as were the hips and the aforementioned shoulders. Similar to the shoulders, the metal platting was heart-shaped, which had been a running theme of the Stand. Finally, its pelvis was bare and mechanical, and when she looked past the heart-shaped torso, she noticed that its internal structure was visible, showing a purple pylon that, if she were to guess, was meant to approximate the human center of mass.       

Yoshihara stared at the boy’s Stand, confusion taking up her visage. “What the hell…” She muttered, before looking back at the boy. “That’s your Stand? Considering it can produce bubbles, I expected something a little more, I don’t know, bubble-like?” Yoshihara said as the boy chuckled, dismissing the Stand with a wave of the hand.

"Yeah, I can see that. But still, you have to admit, it’s pretty cool, yeah? I call my Stand Soft & Wet. And yes, before you say anything, I know how stupid it sounds,” the boy said as Yoshihara couldn’t help but snort.

“Yeah. It sounds like a walking sex joke,” She quipped, earning a groan from the boy.

“Don’t even go there,” The boy bemoaned, before huffing. “Anyway, now that my Stand is out of the way, have you ever considered naming your Stand? I mean, no Stand is complete without a name. It’s the thing you call it by when you summon it.”

Yoshihara hummed, turning to look at her Stand. She had never actually thought about that before. It made sense to name it, seeing as most Quirks had names. Looking at her Stand, she stared directly into its red cat-like eyes, as it stared into hers. After a few seconds of staring, Yoshihara turned to face the boy.

“I’ll call my Stand Killer Queen,” Yoshihara replied as the boy gave her Stand a once over, before crossing his arms.

"Killer Queen, huh? I mean, I can see the “killer” part. It does look like it could snap a person in half. But, why “queen?” Yeah it has an androgynous look to it, but nothing about it screams “queen,” you know?” The boy said, earning a shrug from Yoshihara.

"Don’t know. I just looked into its eyes, and when I did the name kind of just came to me. It was almost like it had been telling me what its name was,” Yoshihara answered as the boy shrugged.

"Yeah, that’s normal. It’s actually how I named Soft & Wet,” the boy said, uncrossing his arms before untucking his legs, letting them dangle off the edge of his bed, hands placed on his knees. “Oh, just so that you know, now that you’re fully acquainted with your Stand, from here on out, you are no longer safe.”

As soon as those words left the boy’s mouth, Yoshihara’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you gonna try and attack me again? Because if you are…” As Yoshihara said that, Killer Queen’s eyes narrowed as it cracked its knuckles. The boy sighed, rolling his eyes as he frowned.

"No, that’s not what I meant. I have no reason to come after you anymore, and besides the only reason I did was to confirm if you were a Stand User. What I’m saying is that, because you’re a Stand User, you’re no longer safe from other Stand Users. If you’ve ever played Grand Theft Auto, think of yourself as having a permanent five-star wanted level dangling above your forehead from now till the day you die,” The boy explained as Yoshihara’s and Killer Queen’s expressions returned to a neutral gaze, with Killer Queen disappearing back into Yoshihara, who crossed her arms.

"What do you mean by that? And no, I’ve never played Grand Theft Auto before, so that means nothing to me,” Yoshihara replied curtly as the boy sighed. 

"Well, you’re missing out. If you ever get the chance, you should play it,” the boy quipped before cracking his neck from side to side, lowering his head as his expression became serious. “Then allow me to explain. You see, the common adage is Stand Users attract other Stand Users, and not in the fun way either. For example, you and I. The only reason I was alerted to your existence was because one day, at Aldera, I passed you in the hall going to the bathroom. It was like I was a piece of metal, and you were a magnet. I can only assume that the reason you didn’t feel the same pull was because your Stand hadn’t fully manifested yet.”

“Okay… So if that’s the case, then I have another question. I’ve pulled out Killer Queen before, though only when it was just its limbs, and no one else had been able to see it. Care to explain that?” Yoshihara asked as the boy hummed in acknowledgement.

“Right, that’s to be expected. You see, the reason why Stands have gone largely undocumented, aside from when The Speedwagon Foundation finds out about them, is that only Stand Users can see Stands. If you don’t have a Stand, you can’t see them. I don’t understand why, but I’m fairly certain it has to do with the virus that creates Stands in the first place. It essentially evolves the human brain to allow us to conjure our souls for combat, and as such, we can see other people’s souls just as they can see ours,” The boy explained as Yoshihara took in a deep breath, then sighed dramatically.

"Great. Just when my life gets better even by a slim margin, the universe has to come in and rain all over my parade… fuck me,” Yoshihara groaned, a dejected expression taking up her visage as the boy quietly chuckled to himself. Yoshihara glared at the boy, frustration building up in her eyes.

“Hey, what’s so funny about that? My life just got worse and you’re laughing about it?!” Yoshihara spat as the boy laughed even harder, causing Yoshihara to grind her teeth in frustration. “You piece of shit! Stop laughing!” Yoshihara shouted, jabbing a finger in his direction as the boy raised his hands in a placating manner, calming himself down in the process.

"C’mon, blondie! I don’t mean it like that,” The boy said as Yoshihara huffed, angrily crossing her arms. The boy frowned, placing his hands next to him as he gripped the edge of the bed. “Seriously though, I don’t mean it like that. It’s just that you had the same reaction I did when I fully awakened my Soft & Wet. Welcome to the club, you’re not alone,” As he said that, his face lit up in realization.

“Oh shit, I got so caught up in explaining to you what was going on, that I neglected to introduce myself,” the boy said sheepishly, chuckling to himself. “My bad. I suppose I should do that. The name’s Kujo Josefumi. It’s nice to meet you. And you are?” Josefumi said, reaching out his hand toward Yoshihara.

Yoshihara stared at the hand with a raised eyebrow, before looking back up at Kujo. “What are you doing?” She asked as Kujo dropped his hand, laughing mirthlessly to himself.

“Right, I forgot. In America, we greet others by shaking each other's hands. Even though I’ve been living in Japan for half a decade I keep forgetting the customs. My bad,” Kujo replied as Yoshihara smiled softly. 

“It’s alright. For a foreigner, your Japanese is amazing. I thought you were native with how fluent you are,” Yoshihara complimented, before bowing her head slightly. “My name is Kira Yoshihara,” she introduced as she lifted her head. “I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but you almost killed me earlier.”

“Hehe, yeah, sorry about that. Again, hindsight is twenty-twenty. I just didn’t want to risk accidentally starting a fight with a Stand User whose abilities I don’t even know. The worst thing you can do when you approach another Stand User is reveal yourself. Nine times out of ten that’s how you get yourself killed. But I think it’s safe to say I went overboard,” Kujo said as Yoshihara huffed indignantly.

“You think? Regardless, you seem like a nice guy. I can see us potentially being comrades. I’m willing to give you a second chance, that is, if you’re not going to attack me again,” Yoshihara said as Kujo nodded. 

"Trust me, I have no intention of attacking you again. Besides, I’d rather be allies than enemies,” Kujo replied as Yoshihara nodded.

“Good. Then we are allies, Kujo,” She said, as she turned to face away from him. As she did, the doctor from before returned, this time with Kayama-san next to him. She was dressed in a velvet turtle neck sweater, a pair of black yoga pants, and dark blue high heels. Her hair had been done up in a ponytail that reached down to the back of her neck, and just from the briefest of glances, Yoshihara could tell she was wearing make-up. In her hands was the set of clothes she had set out for herself after she had gotten out of the shower.

“Kira-san, your guardian is here to pick you up,” The doctor said, as Yoshihara scooted herself off of the hospital bed, and approached Kayama-san. The doctor then looked back at Kujo and continued. “Kujo-kun, your roommate said she will come to pick you up in an hour. She said that she had some errands to run.” In response, Kujo dismissed him with a handwave.

“Thank’s doc,” he replied, before looking at Yoshihara. “Hope to see ya around, Kira-san.”

“You too, Kujo,” Yoshihara said before turning to face Kayama-san, taking the clothes from her hands. “I’m sorry about ruining your night, Kayama-san,” Yoshihara apologized as Kayama-san snorted.

“Kid, you didn’t ruin anything. I was actually running late to the bar. I got caught up in a surprise support call. You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. Now go get changed, I’ll wait for you in the car,” Kayama-san said, putting a hand on her head and ruffling her hair, before letting go and walking away.

Instead of complaining about what Kayama-san had just done, Yoshihara went to the women’s restroom just down the hall from where she had been, and when she came out, she was fully dressed with the hospital gown she had been given draped over her shoulder.

Standing outside of the women’s restroom was a nurse, dressed in standard nurse attire. The most notable thing about her was that she had a film-like substance between her fingers that was similar to that of a platypus or duck. Yoshihara handed her the hospital gown, the nurse taking it before bowing. “Have a good rest of your day, ma’am.”

“You too. Stay safe,” Yoshihara replied, turning to make her way to the hospital’s entrance. After asking a few of the staff who had been dotted around the place, Yoshihara eventually found her way to the entrance. Exiting the hospital, Yoshihara was able to spot Kayama-san’s car sitting in front of the hospital.

Walking over to the car, Yoshihara opened the passenger side door and stepped inside before sitting down and closing the door. Putting her seatbelt on, Yoshihara shifted around a bit before getting comfortable, glancing over at Kayama-san. She went to say something but stopped when Kayama-san spoke up.

“Before you say anything about what happened in the suite, I was already told about it by one of the first responders. I’m not going to punish you for being attacked. That would be completely unreasonable of me. The window is going to be repaired with the help of Mt. Lady tonight, and by then you’ll be asleep. The walls though, that will be taken out of your paycheque this week, understood?” Kayama-san said as Yoshihara nodded in understanding. “Good. Now let’s get you home so I can get to the bar and not be late.”   

The car engine started up, as Nemuri pulled out of the parking lot. The drive home had been fairly quiet, with the only noise coming from the other cars driving past the radio. The drive was only twenty minutes long, as the hospital was closer to the Love Hotel than the school. It was quite convenient, though she hoped that would be the last time that she had to go there.

Though, considering what Kujo had said about how Stand Users attracted other Stand Users, she was willing to place a bet on that not being the case. “If this was a fight with a Stand User not aiming to kill me, at least intentionally anyway, then what would one be like against a Stand User who was?”

It was a grim thought, albeit a reasonable one. She was a Stand User, and if she was taking what Kujo had said as seriously as it was supposed to be, then it would only be a matter of time before someone with malicious intent would come after her. Before she could get too far along into that train of thought, her head began to throb. It was a light humming pain, nothing too painful, but still annoying.

“The doctor wasn’t kidding when he said I would get a headache, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon,” Yoshihara thought in annoyance. Crossing her arms and laying back into the car seat, she didn’t have to wait long before they got to the suite. When she did, Kayama dropped her off at the entrance, and as Yoshihara made her way inside, Kayama-san lowered the driver's side window, gaining her attention.

“I won’t be gone for long. That note I left wasn’t kidding. I have to be up early in the morning because of work. Don’t do anything stupid, okay Kira?” Kayama-san said, dropping Yoshihara’s surname. That meant she was being serious.

“Understood,” Yoshihara replied, earning her a smile as Kayama-san, turned around in her seat and tossed Yoshihara the key to the suite. Catching it effortlessly, Yoshihara nodded as Kayama-san rolled up the window. She watched as the car drove off, and when it had fully disappeared down the road, Yoshihara entered the building. Giving a passing wave to the receptionist, Yoshihara made her way to the elevator and pressed the call button.

It didn’t take long for the elevator to get to the ground floor, and when it did Yoshihara entered without hesitation. Turning and inserting the key into the lock underneath the keypad and twisting it to the right, the doors closed and the elevator began to go up. Yoshihara stood there with crossed arms as the elevator took her to the suite.

It didn’t take a horribly long time to reach the top floor, but by the time she did, and by the time Yoshihara stepped out of the elevator, one glance at the time made her frown. It was already almost 7:30 p.m. At best, Kayama-san was going to be home in two and a half hours, and at worst four and a half hours.

“Guess that means delivery food tonight,” Yoshihara thought with a content hum. Kayama-san’s cooking was good, but so was fast food. The last time she had eaten fast food was forever ago because Kayama-san had said that it was bad for the body. She wasn’t wrong, but just because something was bad for you didn’t mean it didn’t taste good. Unless of course said thing was poisonous, then that was a different story.

She had already decided on having Kentucky Fried Kitchen for dinner because McDonald's gave her horrible stomach cramps the last time she had it. That, and KFC was just better tasting. She could’ve sworn that they put crack cocaine in their food to make it as addictive as it had been.

When she ordered over the phone, it hadn’t been much. It was mostly just a box of popcorn kitchen, a side of fries, and a large Diet Coke because they didn’t have regular Coke. By the time it had gotten to the building, it had already been 8:00 p.m. When she was done eating, she threw everything out and left some popcorn chicken for Kayama-san when she got home.

The rest of the night had been a blur, as Yoshihara lazed on the couch flipping through TV channels until she eventually crashed. The next thing she knew, Yoshihara was woken up by the sound of Kayama-san getting ready for work. Sitting up, Yoshihara groaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Morning sleepyhead. Guess you were too tired to go to your room, huh?” Kayama-san asked as Yoshihara looked around at the living room. Just as she had said it would be, the window had been repaired. Still delirious from just waking up, Yoshihara stared at Kayama-san with squinted eyes. She could just make out the fact that she had been dressed in her hero costume.

“Hnn… What time is it?” Yoshihara asked, turning around to sit up, scratching the back of her neck as Kayama-san giggled to herself.

“It’s 6:30 in the morning, Yoshi-chan,” Kayama-san said, the sound of dangling keys echoing in the living room as she approached the tired Yoshihara. Ruffling her hair, Kayama-san walked over to the elevator with a pep in her step, but not before turning around to look at Yoshihara and speaking.

“Oh, and just so you know, someone called you like, fifteen minutes ago. I don’t know who it was, but they were addressed in your contacts as “Midoriya Izuku”, so maybe call them back when you get the chance. Also, I left you that popcorn chicken you left out last night in the microwave. I know you probably left it out for me when I got home yesterday but I ate too many garlic sticks at the bar. Though it was nice of you to think of me,” Kayama-san said as Yoshihara grunted in acknowledgement.

“Yeah… I wasn’t sure if you wanted them or not. Thank you for leaving them for me,” Yoshihara said, yawning. She was so lucky it was Saturday and that it was the second week of the month, because that headache the doctor spoke of yesterday had kicked in, and it had kicked in hard.

Usually, she would’ve still had to have gone to school, but Aldera had a weird school schedule. For whatever reason, on every second week and fourth week of the month, there was a two-day weekend instead of the standard one-day weekend most schools stuck to. It probably had something to do with the fact that the school wanted to stand out amongst the other Junior High Schools in the city.

“It’s not a big deal, Yoshi-chan,” Kayama-san said, glancing down at her watch. “Shoot, I’m going to be late for the meeting. Okay, I gotta go. See you in a few, and don’t forget to call back that Midoriya guy, okay? I don’t know if it's important or not but you can never be too sure,” Kayama-san said, before turning to face the elevator, opening the doors, and stepping inside. Moments later the doors closed, and she was gone.

With a grunt, Yoshihara stood up from the couch and slowly meandered her way to the kitchen, her back slouched and her expression unreadable with the only thing that could be garnered from it being that she was tired and in a bad mood. She was never usually a morning person, not unless she had something to eat first.

It was the weekend. She was never usually up this early during the weekends, especially when she could be afforded to get some extra sleep. Walking over to the microwave, she pressed the “heat-up” button and watched as her breakfast did just that. Stretching out her back, she lazily rubbed at her eyes again, before pressing the button to open the microwave.

Taking out her popcorn chicken, she turned around, placed it on the island in the kitchen, and scarfed down her food. When she was done with that, she marched upstairs to get a change of clean clothes—a pink shirt with a frayed edge at the bottom, a pair of grey yoga pants with a black line going down the seams, and a pair of black ankle-high socks along with the appropriate undergarments—then went into the bathroom and had a shower.

When she was done, Yoshihara got changed, brushed her hair so that when it dried it didn’t look like she had bedhead, then walked downstairs and opened the medicine cabinet in the kitchen which had been just above the microwave. Grabbing the ibuprofen, she popped off the lid, shook out two pills, grabbed some water then chased the pills down with the liquid

When she was done with all of that, Yoshihara glanced over at the time. It was now 7:15 a.m., a whole hour after Midoriya had called her this morning. She sighed, walking over to her phone on the coffee table before clearing her throat. Unlocking her phone, she went to her contacts and pressed on the “missed calls” tab.

Sure enough, an hour ago, she had a missed call from Midoriya Izuku. “Huh, so he really did call me. It would be rude of me to not call him back,” Yoshihara muttered to herself, before pressing the redial icon underneath his phone number. It took a few rings for him to pick up, but when he did, it was fairly obvious.

“U- Uh, Kira-san, is that y- you?” Midoriya’s voice stammered out of her phone’s speaker, which made Yoshihara smile.

“Morning, Midoriya. You called?”

“O- Oh! Yeah, I- I did. Hehe… uh, s- so, um… I told m- my Mom about you, a- and when I d- did she insisted that you came o- over so that she could m- meet you. I- It’s been a- a long time since I made a friend and m- my Mom was r- really happy to find out that I did, so—”

“You’re rambling, Midoriya,” Yoshihara interrupted, chuckling to herself mid-sentence, which made the boy nervously chuckle on his end. “And if you're asking me to come over because your Mom wants to meet me, I have no problem with it. I have nothing planned today, so just text me the address. What time were you thinking?”

“H- How does 11:00 a.m. sound?” Midoriya asked as Yoshihara hummed to herself.

“Like I said, I don’t have anything planned for today, so any time is good. But 11:00 is great. I’ll see you around then.”

“O- Okay! See you then!” The line was dropped, as Yoshihara put her phone in her pocket. He sounded so excited to have someone go over to her house. It was almost enviable how innocent Midoriya was. A part of her wanted to laugh at it, but not in the mean-spirited kind of way. He was just so antithetical to the kind of people Yoshihara had always been around, it was honestly a breath of fresh air.

With some time to kill, Yoshihara went up to her room and started reading Soul Eater. She had already been halfway through it the last time she had picked it up, and so with nothing else better to do than wait till at least 9:30 to start getting ready to leave, she was able to get up to Volume 23 of the Perfect Edition by the time 9:30 rolled around.

Putting the book back on the shelf, Yoshihara got off of her bed, walked downstairs, and went straight to the elevator, but not before slipping on a black leather jacket. The last thing she wanted to be was cold. Spring had just started, and it had been fairly cold out recently. The last thing she needed was to be getting sick two weeks before the recommendation exam.

Entering the elevator and pressing the button for the ground floor, Yoshihara watched as the doors closed. This had been the first time she had gone to someone else’s house without it having to be for a “favour”, and if she were being honest? She was kind of excited.

While she had laughed at Midoriya’s giddiness, she too was more than a little happy someone had invited her over to their house. Even if she had hardly known the boy, it was genuinely touching that he had invited her over to his house. Yoshihara had never had friends her age, so this was a first for her.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, and when the doors opened she stepped out and did one final back stretch. As she did, she felt her phone rumble in her pocket. “That must be Midoriya sending me his address.”    

Taking out her phone from her left pocket, she unlocked her phone and sure enough she had been right on the money. It was a text message from Midoriya, and it had been his address. “1967 Tattooine St. Got it,” Yoshihara mumbled, slipping her phone back into her pocket as she made her way to the entrance. But before she did, she turned around to greet the receptionist, who in turn bowed at her.

"Good morning, Kira-san! If you’re still up for it, don’t forget that your shift starts at 9:00 p.m.!” The receptionist said as Yoshihara nodded.

"I’ll have to give it some thought, Tatsumi-san. I’m still trying to deal with the events of last night, so it might not be a good idea. I’ll call to let you know, okay?” Yoshihara said as the woman being the counter nodded. With that, Yoshihara exited the building and began her walk to the train station.

She had googled the address, and it turned out that Midoriya lived in downtown Musutafu, which was where all the apartment complexes had been. She used to live near there in that crappy apartment she used to rent. From what she had heard from Sasaki-san, apparently, some of the renters had been planning to sue the building owner. If they won, Yoshihara would sleep peacefully at night knowing that dirtbag got what he bloody deserved.

The train station wasn’t all that far away from where Yoshihara lived, so it didn’t take long for her to get there, only around about thirty minutes. Boarding the train that would take her to downtown Musutafu only took about a fifteen-minute wait, and when she did, she stood near the entrance.

The sheer amount of people that boarded the train was ridiculous, but considering just how many people who lived in Musutafu needed to use the train to get to work and school, she wasn’t exactly all that surprised, even if she was more than a little annoyed with having to ride with so many people.

To be clear, it had nothing to do with the fact that the people who boarded the train were hard-working citizens, but rather it had everything to do with the fact that Yoshihara had never been a fan of big crowds. It made her anxious, although she kept it hidden fairly well. Maybe it was because she was sort of claustrophobic, or maybe it was because most sexual assaults nowadays just so happen to happen on trains like the one she was on, but quite frankly Yoshihara didn’t care. The sooner she was off the train, the better.

Luckily for her, she didn’t have to wait very long for her stop to come up, and by the time she had gotten off fo the train, it had already been forty-five minutes. Right now it was 10:15, which meant she had another forty-five minutes to be on time. Luckily for her, when she brought out her phone to check the map, the distance between the train station and Midoriya’s address was only a ten-minute walk away.

Not only would she be early, but she would be nearly a full half-hour early at that! She didn’t know if luck had been on her side this morning, or if she was just having a good morning but whatever the reason had been she was not going to mess it up.

Exiting the train station, Yoshihara began her walk to Midoriya’s address, and as she did she couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia. She didn’t know why, but downtown Musutafu had a special place in her heart. It had been the place she had spent most of her time on the streets. Granted, it hadn’t been a good time, but that didn’t exactly matter.

If she were to compare it to something, it would be like how some former inmates felt nostalgia about being in prison. There was no doubt that people who longed to return to prison after being in the slammer for years existed. Yoshihara kind of felt the same way about this place, just without wanting to be back in it. God knows that she wanted nothing to do with being on the streets after going through hell and back to get out of them.

After wandering around the city, Yoshihara finally made it to the address that Midoriya had sent her, and when she got there, she wasn’t all that shocked to find that Midoriya lived in an apartment complex. Compared to the one she used to live in though it looked leagues better.

For starters, it had a beach-side view, albeit said beach had looked like it had seen better days considering all of the rubbish that had been built up on it over the years. Truly, Takoba Beach was a shadow of its former self. While she hadn’t been there herself, it must’ve been pretty disheartening for the residents nearby who remembered how it was in the past to see it now.

The building itself also looked clean from the outside. Most of the lights had been out, save for the one at the far left. From the text message Midoriya had said, that the apartment on the very far left had been his and his Mother's. Not wasting any time, Yoshihara the outdoor staircase that was used to access the other floors, and began to walk up it.

Another thing that Yoshihara had noticed about the apartment complex that Midoriya had lived in was that the hallways connecting each apartment had been outside, which honestly made it feel less claustrophobic. That was good because if there was one thing that she couldn’t stand about her old apartment, it was how claustrophobic it had been.

Actually, there were a lot of things that Yoshihara couldn’t stand about that old piece of trash. The fact that was all that she could have afforded at the time had genuinely pissed her off. Now she had been really hoping that Sasaki-san and the other tenants won their lawsuit against the greedy shmuck who ran that building.

When she was done walking up the stairs to get to the top floor, Yoshihara walked down the hallway that led to Midoriya’s apartment. It didn’t take her long to reach her destination, and when she did, she closed the Google Maps app on her phone, looked up at the door, and knocked on it three times.

“I’ll be right with you, give me just a second!” A feminine voice called out from behind the door as Yoshihara stood at the entrance with her hands behind her back, trying to look as polite as she possibly could. First impressions were everything, after all.

After a moment of waiting, the sound of the door unlocking made Yoshihara’s heart race. Did she look good? She was dressed appropriately, wasn’t she? She thought so, at least. She had put on a leather jacket, so what if that made her look like a punk? Her nerves were cranked up to an eleven, and her slightly nervous expression hadn’t helped things much.

She needed to calm down. Besides, it wasn’t like Midoriya was her boyfriend or anything. He was just a guy she met at school and had become friends with. There was nothing she needed to worry about. Even still, she couldn’t help but worry because this was the first time she had ever been over at a person’s how for wholesome reasons.

The door opened, and when it did, Yoshihara was met face-to-face with Midoriya’s mother. She was short, just a hair shorter than herself, with chin-length green hair tied up into a ponytail. She was a little on the chubby side, but that was okay. She was dressed in a green pullover sweater and a pair of light brown slacks with black ankle socks.

She had a warm smile on her face that radiated with joy, and her hands were clasped together in front of her. Her eyes were just as green and just as innocent as her sons had been, and to top it all off she radiated the same aura as one of those overly cheerful mothers in some of the pre-Quirk era anime she had watched—which wasn’t a bad thing, as a matter of fact, it was a good thing.

With the same smile on her face that didn’t seem to leave, Midoriya’s mother greeted her.“Ah! You must be the girl that my boy told me about yesterday! My name is Midoriya Inko, please, come on in!”

Chapter Text

[Original Chapter uploaded - January 13th, 2022]

[Revised Chapter uploaded - January 7th, 2023]

[Secondary Revision of the chapter uploaded – June 12^th, 2023]

[Third Revision of the chapter uploaded - March 16th, 2024]

Yoshihara expected a lot of things when it came to Midoriya’s mother. What she hadn’t expected was for her to be so nice. Then again considering just what kind of person Midoriya seemed to be, for Inko Midoriya to be practically the same should’ve come as no surprise to her. “Thank you,” Yoshihara said as Inko took a step back and over to the left, giving Yoshihara room to enter the apartment.

When she did, Yoshihara slipped off her jacket and held it in her hands, looking for the nearest place to put it. Next to the entrance was a coathanger made of metal. It was convenient to say the very least. Hanging up her leather jacket, Yoshihara turned to face Inko, a semi-apologetic look on her face. “I know I’m a little early. Sorry about that.”

“There’s no need to apologize! You’re alright,” Inko placated, smiling as she clapped her hands in front of herself. Her smile was beyond infectious, something that Yoshihara was admittedly jealous of. She always wondered how anyone could have that kind of positivity about them. It had illuded her for all of her life, so to see others show it without a care in the world made her feel insecure about herself. At least in that regard.

“I see. Thank you, Midoriya-san,” Yoshihara said, bowing ever so slightly, before standing up straight. “By the way, is Midoriya-kun here? I had thought he would be. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to go out on the weekends. No offence,” Yoshihara said as Inko brought her hands to her side, nodding. 

"None taken. And no, Izuku isn’t home at the moment. Normally you’d be correct, but as of recently, he’s gotten himself a personal trainer. About an hour ago I got a text from him saying he was still at the beach, and that if you came here to let you in. He had expected you to be early. Something about you “giving off that kind of energy” so to speak,” Inko replied as Yoshihara hummed.

She supposed that she did give off that kind of vibe, didn’t she? Yoshihara never was the kind of person to mess around, nor want to be late to things that she had planned in advance. She was always straightforward and to the point. If she had an agenda, she made it clear to all of those who needed to know—which wasn’t many people. She wasn’t a big fan of wasting time like a lot of others were. If there was something that needed to be done, it would get done.

After all, in the past, she wasn’t often afforded time to joke around and waste time. Nine times out of ten if she wanted something done, it needed to be quick. Else she would never get the chance to get what she wanted done in time. While it sounded like a broken record, living on the streets tended to drive home the fact that time was a valuable thing. And if there was one thing that she valued more than anything else, it was time. The less of it she wasted, the better.

It was why she had a lot of habits that pertained to using up her time as effectively as possible. It was why she had a routine. It was why she never wasted even a second on something useless. It was why she hyper-focused on tasks and made sure to get things done. There was one thing you simply couldn’t get back, and that was time. That was why her mentality when it came to doing things was the way it was.

She was getting sidetracked. This wasn’t important, at least right now. “I see. Well, it’s not like I’m not obvious about it. Even at school, I’m early to hand things in. So maybe he noticed that about me and applied that to how I work outside of school. He wouldn’t be wrong to assume that,” Yoshihara said as Inko chuckled softly to herself.     

Yoshihara's eyes wandered over to where the older woman had pointed, as her smile faded away into a neutral expression. The kitchen was clean, almost too clean for Yoshihara's liking. If one were to look into the wooden cabinets decorating the walls of the porcelain room, one would see their reflection glistening off of it. The counters were clean and the sinks were empty of any possible dishes.

In other words, it was clean. Too clean. Then again, perhaps her standards were just that low for what she considered to be “clean”. That was most likely the case, although she was still on edge after what Kujo had told her. But, then again, there was no need for her to think she was in danger.   

So far, Yoshihara's overall impression of the Midoriya Matriarch was that of a good mother and a clean freak. It wasn't bad, mind you, far better than what her poor excuse of a mother had been—dare she even call that wench a mother—by a fair margin.

"Thank you, Midoriya-san," Yoshihara said as Inko waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh, please, no need to thank me. Oh, and by the way, you can call me Inko. Midoriya-san is too formal. I’ve never been a fan of formalities," Inko replied as Yoshihara nodded.

"Then you can call me Kira-chan. It’s better than the other nickname my Guardian calls me. That and Kira-san makes me sound old," Yoshihara replied as Inko raised an eyebrow.

"Guardian? What about your parents?" Inko asked as Yoshihara glanced at the floor, a displeased look on her face, which Inko caught on to quickly. "O-oh, touchy subject, got it, my apologies," Inko said, stiffening, a look of concern on her face as Yoshihara sighed.

"It's fine. You couldn't have known," Yoshihara said, looking back at Inko.

“Well, take a seat, I’ll get you something to drink,” Inko said before trotting off to the kitchen. Yoshihara looked around herself once again, before sitting down on the couch that faced the hallway next to the kitchen. Her overall opinion of the house was that, despite its size, it was rather cozy. It reminded her of the suite that she lived in, just less spaced out and more compact. 

Peering down the hallway that was in front of her, Yoshihara was able to make out several rooms—most likely bedrooms—two on each side of the hallway. She guessed that the one on the far right was Inko’s, as the one on the far left, across from that one, was obviously Midoriya’s, given that it had a sign on the door that said: “Izuku's Room – Don't enter without knocking.”

Yoshihara couldn’t help but snicker to herself. It was parts funny that Midoriya felt the need to put a sign on his door, and also parts interesting that he felt like he had to. From what she knew, it wasn’t like he had any friends outside of her. Maybe his mother was prone to walking in on him? If that was the case, then Yoshihara found that quite funny.

Speaking of Inko Midoriya, she had come back from the kitchen with two cups of tea. The cup placed in front of Yoshihara was plain—just a simple white mug with nothing attached to it. The liquid within was plain, regular tea with no additives, save for perhaps honey due to its sweet smell.

Muttering a thank you, Yoshihara took the tea and watched as Inko sat down in front of her placing both of her hands in her lap as she did so. She took a sip of the tea and immediately felt warm afterward. While she was more of a coffee person, tea was still something she’d have if there was no coffee.

It was ironic, all things considered. Not but a few months ago, eight if she were counting right, she had never so much as tasted coffee or tea before. She had been far too broke to afford either, let alone proper food. Yet now, she had a preference. It would be funny if it weren’t so depressing.

Looking at Inko, Yoshihara was already able to make a key few traits about the woman just by how she sat. It was thanks to her being able to read others' movements and memorize how they acted—yet again, another thing she picked up on after living on the streets for most of her life.

It was plain as day that Inko held herself to a high standard when around guests. The way she sat proved that showing that, while she was giving off the presence of a host, she also didn’t think too highly of herself to believe herself able to command a situation should something come to pass. However, there was a contrast there in how she sat, with how her eyes focused on Yoshihara.  

What Yoshihara saw in the eyes of Inko Midoriya was a mix of concern, worry, apprehension, yet also joy. Concern for who Yoshihara was as a person. Worry for the obvious—Midoriya was a teenager, and so was she, and they were both of the opposite sex. Not that she needed to be worried about that, of course. Apprehension because, of course, Yoshihara was a stranger and therefore a level of distance needed to be maintained. However, it was the joy part that caught Yoshihara off guard.

Self-admitted, Yoshihara was not exactly the best to pick up on emotions. That was always something that she would be bad at reading. Not abysmal, mind you, but still bad. If she were to guess, the reason why Inko was joyful was because Midoriya had someone over. It must’ve been a long time since he had a guest over, so that was her assumption.

“So, Kira-chan, I heard both you and my son applied to U.A.,” Inko began their conversation with a rather basic question. One that had a simple answer. 

“Yes. Funnily enough, it was the day when he applied that we met,” Yoshihara replied as Inko blinked in surprise.

“Oh? Then why didn’t he say anything earlier? I would’ve had you over sooner had I known,” Inko said as Yoshihara shrugged.

“Dunno. I guess because both of us were busy, training and whatnot. I also have a job at the building I live in, so I guess I never really had time until today. I guess it was the same with him.” As Yoshihara said that, she took another sip of her tea.

It was true that Midoriya had been busy. That much was glaringly obvious. After all, it was because of his Quirklessness that he needed to work harder than most. Midoriya was, without any offence meant to him, a meek, and physically weak teen with no Quirk, and therefore, because of that, he had an upward hill to traverse.

He had aspirations of being a hero without the body nor the power to have it. It didn't help that he was timid and jumpy. If he wanted to be a hero, he would have to grow out of his comfort zone. And considering that he still stammered when talking to girls… Well, it was safe to assume that it would take a lot of effort to shake him off his shyness.

It was then that Yoshihara was pulled out of her thoughts by Inko speaking up. "So… Aside from meeting him when you applied for U.A., how exactly did your meeting go, I know my son can be a little… jumpy at times, and I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of him, so…?" Inko asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.

“I’m surprised he didn’t tell you. Our initial meeting happened after an incident between himself and a few others,” Yoshihara said as Inko’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly.

“An incident…? What do you mean?”

"Does she even know what's happening at Aldera?" Yoshihara thought, her expression twisting into that of discomfort. If she didn't know what was happening to her son at school, then either a massive case of miscommunication was happening, or… "No, I can't assume the worst just because of my own experiences. Give the woman the benefit of the doubt." She thought, her contemplative expression changing to a frown.

"Er… Kira-chan? Are you okay?" Inko questioned, her eyebrow raising as Yoshihara cleared her throat, adjusting herself in her seat and putting down her cup of tea.

"Yeah, sorry about that,” Yoshihara apologized as she straightened out her posture while resting her hands on her legs. “Well… I met Midoriya-kun in the hallway at school. When I saw him at first, he was getting picked on by some of his classmates. I didn't see what it was fully about, but after I saw him I wanted to cheer him up. So I took him to the side, and we talked,” Yoshihara responded, a faint smile on her face as Inko covered her mouth in shock.

That practically confirmed to Yoshihara that Inko had no idea what had been going on at Aldera. It was weird because she would have assumed that Midoriya would’ve told his mom everything. But, then again, given that he was as shy as he was, he probably didn’t want to upset his mom with that kind of information.  

“When I saw him like that, I got the impression he didn't have many friends, so I decided that I was going to be his,” Yoshihara continued as Inko lowered her hand, glancing at the floor. Seeing this, Yoshihara continued, trying to change the subject. “Although that technically wasn’t the first time I saw Midoriya. The actual first time was when I saw that video where he saved that blond boy's life—Bakugo if remember his name correctly—with the help of All Might. In fact, that was the reason why I wanted to meet him… because I thought what he did was cool,” Yoshihara explained, unaware of the slight red hue that made itself apparent on her face.

When she felt the heat on her cheeks, she pushed it down. It was weird that she felt that. She didn’t understand why, but it had been happening a few times when she thought about Midoriya, and his actions that day. It was cool, so maybe that was it.

Yet again, she was broken out of her thoughts by Inko speaking up. "Izuku is getting… bullied?" Inko asked, a look of worry on her face as Yoshihara folded her arms across her chest.

"Yeah…” Yoshihara began, before sighing. “Well, actually, I wouldn’t call it just “getting bullied.” I’d say it like it is, and that’s when he gets full-on assaulted by some of the other students. I think it has to do with the fact that he's Quirkless. I take it he doesn't tell you anything, right?" Yoshihara asked as Inko looked away, her expression dripping with concern.

"I had my suspicions, and I've asked him if anything was happening at school multiple times, but… he never tells me anything. I think it's because he doesn't want me to worry, but… at the same time…" Inko said, looking down at the floor as Yoshihara’s frown deepened.

She hadn't planned to cause the Inko any stress, at least any more than she had already had by being in her home, but that wasn't what she was thinking about. Yoshihara could understand not telling a parent a detrimental secret like a job one was embarrassed about, or having wasted all of one's money on candy at the corner store, but something like being bullied? Why on Earth would anyone not tell their parents that they're getting bullied?

It was something that she just didn’t understand. Why even put up with that sort of thing? Yes, she knew Aldera as a school sucked. But even still, even if he got in trouble, why didn’t he stand up for himself? Maybe it was because of his own image of his self-worth being the problem, but still.

Why would he let himself get bullied? “It just doesn’t make sense…. Unless he thought that he deserved it?” Yoshihara thought, her frown forming into a half-serious scowl. No. There was no way that he genuinely believed he deserved the treatment he was receiving at the hands of everyone else. That was just pure lunacy.

Pushing that aside, Yoshihara looked back at Inko, her expression returning to a neutral one as she spoke. "Are you okay, Inko? Do you need me to get you something?" Yoshihara asked as Inko looked back at her, a forced smile on her face.

"I… I'm sorry Kira-chan, I shouldn't be moping about like this. It's just… I wish I heard this information coming from my son rather than from someone he just met a day ago," Inko said, a sigh escaping her lips. "Well, on the bright side, at least he has you and Katsuki, so that's a plus," Inko said as Yoshihara bit her lip.

“Here we go….” Yoshihara thought, inhaling deeply, "About that…" Yoshihara said while exhaling, glancing over her shoulder as Inko raised an eyebrow.

"What… what do you mean? You're not seriously about to accuse my friend's son of being a bully?" Inko asked, a fierce gleam in her eyes as Yoshihara unfolded her arms and drooped them across her lap, her expression dropping as she looked Inko dead in the eyes. There was something… defensive in that sentence that she had spoken that had ticked her off.

How had she not noticed the bullying and torment coming from Bakugo? Midoriya might not’ve known that she had seen it, but there was a burn mark on his shoulder that stretched all the way to the base of his neck, only barely being obscured by the collar of his uniform.

Yoshihara could only assume was the result of Bakugo placing his hand there whilst activating his Quirk. There were probably other bruises and burns all over his body, and not once did Inko ever find it suspicious that they were there. While she was assuming Inko had seen them, when you live in the same house as the person who is actively being bullied by people, and you know that said person knew another person whose Quirk was directly tied to blowing things up, the burn scars that covered that person’s body should tell them just who the culprit was.

What made things worse was that she claimed to be friends with the parents of Bakugo Katsuki, which meant she had to know something about what was going on. Yoshihara wasn’t going to accept the fact that she was just that dense. A parent should be more diligent about the going-ons of their child, and if she didn’t put the dots together, that meant that either she was blissfully ignorant of Bakugo and what he was doing or, the more heinous of the two ideas, she was maliciously aware of what Bakugo was doing and ignoring it.

Again, however, she had to give Inko the benefit of the doubt. She couldn't just say that Inko was a lousy parent. In fact, from what she had seen from her, she’d say that she was an exceptional parent—at least, in her eyes and standards. And while granted her standards weren’t all that high, being the bare minimum, it was still better than nothing.

But, just because she was seemingly a good parent didn’t mean it was okay that she either didn’t or couldn't have seen the bullying going on between Bakugo and Midoriya. She had to have known something, even if it was small. It was too big for her to ignore.

"I may not know much about your son, nor do I know his relationship with Bakugo, or "Kacchan," or what-have-you, but I know what I saw. Midoriya-kun was being threatened by Bakugo, and I stepped in to stop it. And unless Midoriya-kun has a habit of pissing Bakugo off on purpose to get that sort of reaction, I hate to say it, but Bakugo seems to be just as bad as the others I saw assault Midoriya-kun when we met," Yoshihara explained as Inko faltered.

“But that doesn’t make sense. They’ve been friends since pre-school. I would’ve seen or heard something from either of them if something was going on. I know those two like the back of my hand…” Inko replied as Yoshihara rested her elbow on the armrest of the chair she sat in and then rested her cheek on the knuckles of her hand.

“Apparently, there are just some things that escaped your view. It happens, believe me. I would know,” Yoshihara said as Inko deflated, a sullen look on her face.

"I see. I’m sorry. It's just, I don't understand… why am I not hearing this from my son? Instead, I'm hearing it from someone I just met. Does… does he not trust me?" Inko questioned as Yoshihara shook her head.

"No, I don’t think he doesn’t trust you. In fact, I think he trusts you more than he trusts even All Might. The problem is the fact that he’s shy, and he doesn’t want to trouble you or make you worry, kind of like what you said earlier. I doubt you're a bad parent, Inko. All I'm saying is that perhaps you should have a talk with him about what is happening with him at school," Yoshihara suggested as Inko smiled.

"Thank you, Kira-chan,” Inko said, the smile on her face dropping and her eyes widening as if she had just remembered something crucial. “Oh! I just remembered. I wanted to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind?” Inko asked, changing the subject.

“Sure, I don’t mind. What is it?” Yoshihara replied as Inko reclined in her seat, her expression returning to that of the content smile that it had been before.

"Thank you. You see, my son is a bit of a Quirk nerd, as am I from time to time, so, if you don't mind me asking, what's your Quirk?" Inko asked as Yoshihara hummed, her expression remaining neutral as she contemplated her answer.

She couldn't tell her that she was a Stand User, that much was obvious. It wasn't because she was suspicious of Inko, nor that she trusted her—though, given that she just met her, it would be understandable if she hadn’t. Rather, her reasoning for not telling Inko that she did not possess a Quirk and rather a “Stand” was far simpler.

Simply put: Yoshihara didn't want to expose a secret like that to some random woman she had just met. For starters, she would be stupid to expose someone who, for as far as she knew, had no connections to the world beyond Quirks to that world. And second of all, Kujo had said that Stands were supposed to be secret. Ergo, she was doing her part in keeping it secret.

That, however, left Yoshihara in a tricky situation. If she wasn’t going to tell Inko that she was a Stand User, then what was she going to say to her? Well, once again, the answer was simple. She was going to lie. Well, not lie per se. It was more of a white lie than anything. But, a lie nonetheless.

"I'm Quirkless," Yoshihara replied as Inko blinked a few times, shock evident in her expression and voice as she spoke.

"Oh? Your Quirkless? I never would’ve guessed. I mean, it's rare to see another Quirkless child. The chances of that happening are, what, a 1 in 100,000 chance? I know it fluctuates from country to country, but here it’s pretty rare. That explains why you and my Izuku became friends, then, right?” Inko asked as Yoshihara rubbed the back of her neck.

"Partly. While yes that had something to do with my choice to be his friend, most of it had to do with him simply needing one. He’s a nice guy, sometimes too nice in my opinion, and it’s probably why he gets bullied more often than not. But, hey, price to pay for being kind to others. Even to those who don’t deserve it,” Yoshihara said, a slight frown forming on her face, which in turn earned her a raised eyebrow.

“That being said, I sympathize with Midoriya. Before I started standing my ground, I was walked all over by others. Students and grown men alike. It was worse because of my gender. But, that’s changed now. I want to help Midoriya get a bit of a backbone so that when he makes it to U.A., he’ll be able to grow and be able to stand up to those who’ll try to put him down,” Yoshihara continued as Inko smiled.

"That’s really sweet of you, Kira-chan. I’m glad that Izuku met you. You seem like a nice girl. I’ll admit your appearance at first threw me off, but I’m glad you could prove me wrong. I'm thankful for this chance to talk," Inko said, reaching for a cup of tea. Her hand barely reached the cup, an annoyed look on her face. Then, out of nowhere, in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, a green hand with a red arrow atop the hand came out of Inko's.

It was spectral in appearance, like that of a ghost. In that regard, it was very similar to Killer Queen. And just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared when it retrieved Inko’s tea cup, placing it in her hand. When it appeared, Yoshihara had to stop herself from going wide-eyed, ensuring the mask didn’t slip as her thoughts rapidly converged to a single idea that nearly made her lose her cool.

"Is Inko a… A Stand User?" Yoshihara thought, forcing her expression to remain neutral so as to not show any signs of her having seen the near-invisible hand. If Inko was a Stand User, then would that mean she was in danger? Would that mean she could have to fight her friend’s mother?

Did she see through Yoshihara’s white lie and play her hand, no pun intended, to show Kira that she knew that she was lying? Was it a gesture to call out a challenge? She knew so very little about the world of Stand Users that she was truly, genuinely, puzzled. What was she to do?

The idea that she had to fight her friend’s mother didn’t sit right with her. Not one bit. The last thing that she wanted to do was to fight Inko, not least of which being that she was, again, Midoriya’s friend. It simply felt wrong to fight Inko. She was such a nice, kind, and caring person that laying so much as a finger on her just felt like the wrong choice to make.

But, if that was the case, if Inko truly was a Stand User, then why hadn’t she done something yet? "No, that can't be right. I don't feel any kind of pull to her on a spiritual level like Kujo-san had mentioned back in the hospital. So… are my eyes playing tricks on me?" Yoshihara thought as Inko raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, did you finish your cup of tea, Kira-chan? Would you like another?" Inko asked, her tone of voice carrying a level of innocence that almost felt forced. Of course, that could’ve been her paranoia telling her that, but still, it didn’t feel right. Now that she had seen, well, that, it felt almost as if whatever Inko said or did next was a provocation.

 Yoshihara knew better, obviously, but that still didn’t shake what she felt to be an aggressive undertone from what Inko had just said. “No, you’re being paranoid, again. Stop it. You probably just saw something. Get over yourself,” Yoshihara thought, looking up at Inko before politely smiling.

"Oh, no thanks. I still have some in my cup,” Yoshihara declined, before glancing down the hallway. She needed a place to think without being seen. That was when an idea struck her, “But, I need to use the bathroom. Can you tell me where it is?" Yoshihara asked as Inko gestured down the hall behind her, pointing at the first door on the left.

"It’s just over there," Inko replied as Yoshihara stood up, bowing to her before she walked to where Inko directed her, closing the door behind her when she entered the room. Locking the door, Yoshihara slid down the white-painted wooden door and sat down, legs tucked into her chest as she narrowed her eyes in thought.

"Alright, let’s go over the situation…. Inko’s nice, if not slightly protective, and she may or may not be a Stand User,” Yoshihara thought, frowning as she looked around the bathroom. It was your standard bathroom, with a small bathtub attached to a shower that had been pressed up against a wall with a stained glass curtain that prevented peering eyes from staring.

To the right of the tub was a toilet with what appeared to be a button flusher, and in front of both was a standard-sized sink with a large stone countertop, some drawers and a wall-sized mirror that stopped a foot away from the door so it wouldn’t get cracked by the door if it was swung open.

It was a small, quaint bathroom, with nothing too special in it—not that she expected there to be, but still. More importantly, it was a nice, small, quiet place to think without having to worry about privacy.   

For starters, she didn’t know what she was going to do with the information she had. Did she try to expose Inko for the Stand User that she was? Or, rather, did she pretend she didn’t see anything? And that was assuming she was a Stand User.

Was it naïve to believe she wasn’t despite seeing what could have only been explained as a Stand? Definitely. But, it was better for her to not have to deal with a battle after just coming out of one just a day ago.

But… if she wasn’t given a choice, then she would do what needed to be done. However, if peace could be maintained, she’d try that. Again, assuming that Inko was a Stand User. For all she knew, she could’ve been seeing things and her paranoia from yesterday was making her see things that didn’t exist. After all, she had been thinking about Stands, so it could’ve been a trick of the eyes. 

Ever since she had learned all that information from Kujo, she had become incredibly weary around those she trusted. Not to mention the fact that being a Stand User also brought dangers into her own life, regardless of whether or not she was "safe" at school. Letting out a sigh, she clapped the sides of her face a few times before standing up and walking over to the sink, before promptly looking down at it, her eyes still narrowed.

If what she was seeing was just that, something she was seeing, then what? Did that mean it was someone else’s Stand? No, that was too coincidental. That wasn’t the case either. Damnit! What the hell am I going to do?!” Yoshihara thought, biting the corner of her lower lip.

She brushed the thought aside and looked at herself in the mirror. In the reflection, she noticed that her eyes looked dead and emotionless. Hollow, with no soul. Blinking a few times, they returned to appearing as if they had light in them, and with that, she turned on the sink. That way, if Inko questioned anything, she would see the wet hands and assume that she had actually used the washroom.    

For extra assurance, she flushed the toilet, just in case the “washed hands” didn’t seem enough. When that was done, and with all of her worries and concerns thought out—even if she didn’t have concrete answers with her—she took in a deep breath, she stepped outside of the bathroom, a calm expression on her face.

Upon exiting the bathroom, at the end of the hallway, she saw Midoriya walk through the door, greeting his mother with a smile. The way he smiled looking at his mom was heartwarming, and it made her jealous. Why did he have to be the one to have a caring mother? “No, stop that…” Yoshihara thought, checking herself from her own thoughts. The last thing that she needed right now was to deal with that.

After a few moments of talking to his mother, saying what his personal trainer recommended for him to start eating and what things to cut out of his diet, mainly most forms of chocolate, when his eyes landed on her, he practically jumped in place, as if he hadn’t been expecting her to actually be here.

"Oh, K-Kira-san! I wasn't expecting you to actually come! It's good to see you. How are you doing?" Izuku asked as Yoshihara approached him, watching as Inko slinked away down the hallway. When he first walked through the door, he was wearing a blue-zip-up tracksuit, which was now off. had taken off, revealing a yellow shirt with the kanji for "hero" on the front. He was still wearing the tracksuit pants, along with a pair of black socks.

"Good to see you, Midoriya-kun," Yoshihara said, putting her hands in her pants pockets. "How was the beach?" She asked as a small bead of sweat trailed down the side of Midoriya’s face, either from having just gotten home from working out with his personal trainer, or from anxiety. Either or worked.

"O-Oh, it was fine! I'm helping someone clean it up as a part of my training! It sounds mundane, but considering there are at least 100,000 kilograms of stuff on that beach, it's a lot harder than it seems. That and my personal trainer is a bit of a busy body himself, oh, but whoamikiddingitdoesn'treallymatterwhomytrainerisI—"

“Midoriya," Yoshihara said, her voice a little louder than it normally was, interrupting his mumbling, a drop of sweat on her forehead as she looked at him with a concerned gleam in her eyes. "Have you ever considered rapping? I mean, you talk so fast you're practically bred to be one, no offence," Yoshihara said as Midoriya rubbed the back of his head.

"A-Ah, sorry about that, Kira-san, I tend to go overboard when I'm passionate about something…." Midoriya said with a goofy smile on his face as she chuffed, returning his smile with one of her own. What could she say? His smile, much like his mother's, was deeply infectious.

"Understandable. I'll let you finish getting through the door, and then we can go talk somewhere that isn't the doorway," Yoshihara said as she stepped away from the entrance, walking down the hall as Midoriya finished taking off his shoes. Whilst she walked down the hallway, she couldn’t help but stop at the doorway to Midoriya’s bedroom, which was cracked open just a tiny amount, something it hadn’t been before.

Curiosity absorbed Yoshihara as she glanced in through the small crack just to see what was going on. When she peered through the door, she was greeted with Inko touching things seemingly at random. There was a determined expression on her face, like one someone would wear when they were about to do something.

And then came the things that she was touching. Small figurines, pieces of paper, and even a few pencils, pens, and scissors. It was almost erratic behaviour, typically something that a kleptomaniac would do. But, Inko wasn’t a kleptomaniac, was she?

That was when Inko turned to face the door, causing Yoshihara to zip out of sight and over to the bathroom door, assuming a bystander position as she looked down at the floor, her eyebrows knit with confusion.

"What was she doing in there…?" Yoshihara asked herself lowly as Inko walked out of Midoriya’s bedroom, glancing over at Yoshihara. Once again, she had a smile on her face, but unlike all the other smiles she had seen on her, this one seemed just a tad bit forced.

"Oh, Kira-chan! I didn’t expect to see you there!” Inko said, before rubbing the back of her neck, a somewhat haphazard look on her face. “Just so that you know, I'm heading out for a bit. I'll leave you and Izuku by yourself for a while. If you need anything to eat, just check the fridge. I won't be back for a while. If anything bad happens, my number is on a piece of paper on the fridge, call me!" Inko said as she left the hallway.

“Yeah, that’s not normal,” Yoshihara concluded, watching as Inko turned the corner. It was bluntly obvious that something was up. It was almost as if she wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. And frankly, it was belittling to her intelligence. She didn’t want to think that what was happening was happening, but the more that small, innoxious things like this continued to happen back to back, it was almost as if she was blatantly spelling it out to Yoshihara that something was going to happen.

And yet, despite that, she couldn’t bring herself to do something about it. She couldn’t bring herself to summon Killer Queen and settle whatever it was that was going on right there and then, just on the off chance that her assumption was wrong. Doubly so now that Midoriya was here.

Yoshihara heard the mumbled voice of Inko speaking to her son outside of the hallway. A moment later, Midoriya began to walk down the hallway as the sound of the front door closing echoed throughout the apartment.

Yoshihara narrowed her eyes in the direction of where Inko left. If something was happening, it was more apparent than ever. And yet again, she was doubting herself. Because there was no way in hell that a woman as nice as Inko would be plotting something nefarious. Right?

"Calm down, it's probably nothing, stop being paranoid," Yoshihara thought as Midoriya looked at her, a confused look on his face.

"Uh, Kira-san, are you okay?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara looked up at him, sighing. “I-Is everything alright? You look a little, uh, stressed,” he continued as Yoshihara waved off his concern.

"I’m fine, Midoriya. But, uh, quick question, what is your mother's Quirk?" As she asked that, Midoriya’s confusion only doubled, as if to say “why”, further compounded by his response.

"Huh? Oh, uh, it’s called Attraction Of Small Objects. It allows her to pull small things toward herself when she motions her hand to them. She calls it “the tractor beam wiggle”. Uh, in simpler terms, her Quirk’s kind of like a magnet. It’s nothing special. Why?" Midoriya questioned as Yoshihara hummed.

“Then why would she be touching things at random for no reason?” “Does she usually need to touch something first?” Yoshihara continued her line of questioning as Midoriya hummed, rubbing his chin in thought.

“I… don’t know. I’ve never really paid attention to how her Quirk worked. All I know is what it can do. But, u-uh, again, why?” Midoriya asked, again, as Yoshihara crossed her arms before leaning against the wall.

“Well, that went nowhere. Wonderful,” Yoshihara thought, frowning internally."Nothing, just curious," Yoshihara said as she motioned her head to his room. "You wanna talk in your room or—"

"NO!" Midoriya interrupted, causing her to flinch as he blinked, scrambling before chuckling to himself, rubbing the back of his neck with an embarrassed look on his face. "I-I mean, no, I-I, um, don't like other people in my room, it's… uh… an embarrassment thing, er- I mean, well—"

"It's fine. I get it. You just don't want a girl in your room 'cause it makes you feel weird, it's fine. We've all been there," Yoshihara said, playfully jabbing his shoulder as Midoriya stiffened like a rod.

"I-I, Uh, I—"

"Seriously, dude, it's okay," Yoshihara said, deadpanning as she walked past him. As she walked into the kitchen and looked around, checking to see if anything moved before she walked down the hallway, Midoriya followed after her, speaking up as he did so.

"Uh, Kira-san… uh, back at the school, when you attacked Kacchan with your Quirk… what exactly is it? is it some sort of psychic imprint Quirk?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara glanced over her shoulder.

"It's… a bit more complicated than that, but, yeah, sorta," Yoshihara said, turning to face him. "Hey, Midoriya-kun, is there, by any chance, that your mother is a bit of a… neat freak or something?" Yoshihara asked as he tilted his head.

"Uh… not particularly. She knew a guest was coming over, so she cleaned up the house while I was training at the beach. I would've helped if I was home," Midoriya replied as Yoshihara hummed.

"I see… sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions. It's just that, recently, I was attacked in my own home yesterday, so I'm on the bit of the paranoid side as of late," Yoshihara said as Midoriya gasped.

"A villain attacked you! Did the heroes come and help?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara shook her head once in the negative.

"Nope, had to deal with it myself, the heroes couldn't make it there in time, and it was a case of life or death," Yoshihara explained, "from what I know, the villain is in prison, so that's good," Yoshihara finished as Midoriya paled.

"H-How are you not scarred from that?! If I were you, I wouldn't have just left to go to a friend's house the day after!" Midoriya stressed as Yoshihara shrugged, an uncaring look on her face.

"Been through worse, way worse. That’s nothing compared to…” Yoshihara paused, biting her lip to stop herself from continuing that line of dialogue. The last thing she wanted to do was to accidentally blabber about one of the things that she had buried. Why she had almost said that she didn’t know, because frankly, Midoriya didn’t need to know that. She chalked it up to him being so open about things and being a good listener.

She had just met him not even a year ago. The last thing she needed to do was trauma-dump on him. Especially considering everything that had happened. "Let's change the subject, okay?" Yoshihara said as Midoriya nodded.

"Y-Yeah…." Midoriya said as he snapped his fingers, the spark of an idea in his eyes as he spoke. "Uh, what was your inspiration to become a hero?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow. "That is, of course, if you want to tell me…." He continued, chuckling silently to himself as Yoshihara sighed.

She could tell him. Or, she couldn’t. It was smarter to not tell him, but the urge to do so was far too heavy on her. Once again, she blamed his openness and his ability to listen. That was one of the many things she liked about Midoriya, was his ability to be a good listener. Of course, she could keep some of the more… personal details to herself, but as for the rest of it, she was all right with telling him.

Her only qualm was him telling this to anybody else. No one, not even Akira knew why she had decided to become a hero, aside from the obvious, that being to get out of the dead-end job that she was in before this whole thing. So, before she continued, she had to get him to promise to not tell anyone.

"If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone?" Yoshihara stated as Midoriya raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… is it that personal? If you don't want to tell me, t-then you don't have to, Kira-san…." Midoriya said as Yoshihara rolled her left shoulder, clearing her throat in the process, before looking back at him with a straight face.

"Midoriya, I know more about yourself than you know about me. I know you want to be a hero because you've always wanted to. I shouldn't keep everything about myself, to myself. Besides, so long as you don't stick your nose deeper than what I'm going to tell you, then I think everything should be fine. Now, do you want to know, or not?" Yoshihara asked as he nodded.

"Y-yeah, if you don't mind, that is," the green-haired boy asked as Yoshihara sighed. She was going to leave out most of the… gross details but she’d tell him the basics. And besides, being honest with him would’ve been better in the long run.  

"Well…"

[Flashback – 4 years ago]

A chilly evening breeze blew through a lone alleyway in the streets of Musutafu. Needles covered the floor as several homeless people wrapped themselves in blankets given to them by a few generous passersby—a rarity, nowadays, what with the populous believing that it was the heroes' job to give handouts to the homeless, and not them.

Sitting in the corner of the dusty, mouldy alleyway, a broad and large box sat all by its lonesome, turned over on its side with the flaps cut off. Within the box laid a few stapled-together newspapers acting as a blanket laid upon a young, blond-haired girl, barely looking a day over ten years old, wearing nothing but scraps for clothing.

She wore a ripped-up T-shirt and a pair of torn blue shorts. The only thing that was truly hers was a golden necklace that hung around the collar of the T-shirt. Her hair was matted and messy, dirt covering parts of her body and her hair as she tried desperately to get some sleep within the box.

There was a sign beside the box. The sign was made of cardboard and written in black felt. The sign read: Will Do Anything for money. It was written sloppily, but it was legible. And by anything, the little girl meant anything. Including “forbidden things” as a few people had questioned her about. It made her the most money from the first time she was asked. The guy paid 10,000 yen, and "gave her the works," as he called it.

It… well, she didn't truly know how to feel. First, he took her back to his place and let her have something to eat before anything, saying, "he was a nice guy." Afterward, he took her up to his room, which was where it all began. He… did things to her. Things that she didn’t want to remember. All she fully remembered was that it hurt… it hurt a lot. But at least he was… gentle about it. After he was done, he gave her some money, around 10,000 yen just as he said her would, told her to never talk about it, and left her back in the alleyway.

It flashed in her mind time and time again how he had violated her and how, even though she barely understood it, her brain had made it evident that it was pleasurable, like eating chocolate or drinking yogurt.

Don't get her wrong. She knew what… sex was. How could she not… her mother was surrounded by it and she had personally seen it from that… place she was forced to sleep in for years. She had known what it had felt like before… and those times she especially wanted to forget about it. Every time it happened she felt used. She felt disgusted with herself. She felt like she wanted to die every time.

However, it gave her money… a lot of money. So much money that she could actually buy some clothes, even if they were from the bargain bin. It was miles better than the other clothing she got from the dumpster. Heck, she was able to get some food! Something that she used to have to beg for and… do things for. Of course, the money didn’t last. She recently ran out, and now she was back to begging.

She’d most likely have to do it again. She really, really didn’t want to do it again. But she had no choice. She had to make money. She needed to make money. From what that… horrible person told her, their family used to be well off until that horrible person’s father had gambled it all away on machines and drugs.  

The kid in the box had lived in the alleyway for at least a year. Beforehand she had been wandering from place to place, sleeping in shelters. However, when she ran out of shelters to sleep in and money to donate, they stopped letting her sleep there. So she resorted to an alleyway next to an abandoned Apartment building.

The people in the alleyway changed from time to time, but one person stayed. He was young, with a little bit of stubble on his chin and atop his lip. His head was covered with a black beanie, and he wore a brown, patched-up jacket. Underneath the coat was a hole-filled shirt, with some ripped jeans on his legs and ruined boots.

He had treated her with kindness and shared the food he'd get from others with her, whether it be a half-eaten burger or an entire happy meal from McDonalds. They didn’t speak with one another. He’d just throw her food and observe her. He’d even stare at the sign with disgust on his face.

He looked like he wanted to say something about it. But he let it be. Why would he be disgusted? Was it disgusting? She had no idea if it was or not. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. She wouldn’t know. It was so normal to her that it didn’t seem wrong. Was it wrong to have sex at such a young age?

What even was sex? She knew what it was, obviously, but she didn’t understand it. Maybe it was that that he was disgusted with?

Was it disgusting?    

"Hey, kid…" a voice spoke out as the kid opened her eyes, pulling her out of her thoughts. Looking over to where the voice came from, she saw that it was the man who shared food with her. His name was Wakuraba, from what the kid remembered when one of the other homeless folks spoke to him.

"Yeah…?" the kid asked as the man coughed into his bare hand.

"What's your name again?" The man asked as the kid blinked.

" Kira… Yoshihara Kira . What's it to you?" the blond kid asked as the man frowned.

“How old are ya… that sign… you know what it means, yeah?” Wakuraba asked as Yoshihara’s eyes narrowed.

“I… know what it means. And I’m 12 years old. Again, what’s it to you?” Yoshihara now demanded as Wakuraba sighed.

"Nothing. It's just, we've been in the same alleyway for a year now, and… well, that sign… I won’t lie, it’s gross. But then again, who am I to judge… get your bag, I guess," Wakuraba said, coughing again. "My brother owns a brothel. He's a nice man. His name is Akira. If you talk to him and ask him for a place to stay, he'll let you sleep and eat there, so long as you pull your weight and do some work for him. He doesn't hire minors to do dances or do the backrooms. He’s got better morals than the fucktwits you allow to violate you. But he does hire people like you as cleaners and labourers. It doesn’t pay well, but it'll be enough for someone such as yourself to clean up and get a place to live," the man said as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you telling me this? Why not just do that yourself?" Yoshihara asked as Wakuraba chuckled, coughing into his hand.

"I'm not long for this world. You see, I have lung cancer. It's hereditary, so it was bound to happen, no matter how healthy I tried to be. Plus, my brother and I aren't on the best of terms. But, I'm sure he'd help you. Currently, he's doing his "special" viewing. However, if you talk to his guard, Otoshi, he'll let you in to speak to him. Don't tell'em about me, or else he'll turn you away," Wakuraba said as Yoshihara nodded.

"T-thank you, Wakuraba… I, I'll repay you somehow," Yoshihara said, getting out of her box and waving to the man as he chuckled.

"Good luck on your ventures, Yoshihara," Wakuraba said, coughing into his hand once more as Yoshihara left the alleyway. She made her way down the street, looking for a brothel with a bodyguard. It didn't take her long to find it. After all, she had known her way around the streets, so it wasn’t too bothersome to find.

Upon finding the building and talking to the guard, Otoshi, and explaining her situation, Otoshi spoke to Akira, who let her in on the condition that she worked hard. Eventually, she climbed the ladder to become a professional private sex worker, much to Akira's chagrin, until she met Nemuri Kayama, aka the pro hero Midnight, and began her training to become a pro hero.

[Present Day]

With that, Yoshihara finished telling Midoriya everything that had led up to her current predicament. She left out the part of her allowing herself to get molested by those men as a child and kept most of everything else vague. The only thing she was really honest about was Wakuraba, what he told her, and her past job as a sex worker, but not who had hired her or Otoshi’s name.

She wondered what happened to Wakuraba. Did he die? Or was he still living in that alleyway? The chances of him being dead were higher than him being alive. He had cancer after all. She just hoped he didn’t die in that alleyway all alone. Even if Akira and Wakuraba were on bad terms, leaving your brother out to die alone just sounded awful.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Yoshihara looked back at Midoriya, who was staring at Yoshihara with wide eyes. The pair had gone from standing in the kitchen to sitting on the two living room couches, both of them staring at one another. Yoshihara told him her story, or at least what she had been willing to share, and that alone got him to react like that.

Honestly, she didn’t know if it would’ve been a good idea to tell him the rest, given his near-teary-eyed face. If she had decided to tell him the whole thing, what would his reaction be then? It was only then that she realized that she had been rubbing her arm uncomfortably, causing her to stare at the ground. It was then that Midoriya spoke up after a full minute of silence. "O-Oh, my god… Kira-san, I…"

"I know, right? It wasn't a very pleasant time in my life, and I'd rather not talk about it again. But, you asked, and since I know your reasonings, you now know mine, even if they aren't exactly the most… ideal of reasons. Kayama-san saw something in me that even I don't see, so… I've just been doing it because she says I can be a good hero…." Yoshihara said as Midoriya nodded.

"No! T-That's not true! So long as you save and protect people and do your job as a hero, you'll make a fine hero! I mean, look at Kacchan, h-he wants to be a hero for the fame, but he still has the potential to be one of the best ones out there!" Midoriya said as Yoshihara smiled.

"Thank you, Midoriya-kun. You have no idea how much that means to me," Yoshihara said. She could feel the sides of her face heat up slightly, though this time she didn’t try and push it down, she simply looked away as Midoriya smiled back, an innocent look on his face.

"N-No problem, Kira-san," He said before turning to look over to the kitchen. Whatever it was that he had started to do, he stopped as his eyes widened, staring up at the ceiling. Why? Because there, in the center of the kitchen, was a floating knife, a green aura around it. It stayed put for about half a second, before it honed in on the pair, causing Midoriya to flinch.

"W-Wha—" Before he could finish what it was he had begun to say, the knife went flying towards them, specifically, heading straight for Yoshihara, who had raised an eyebrow.

"What's going—"

"Kira-san! Watch out!" Midoriya called out as Yoshihara turned to look in the direction of where he had been looking, her eyes widening as the knife sped toward her like a bullet after it had been fired from a gun. Before she could react, Killer Queen came out from behind her, reared back its right arm, and punched the knife out of the way.

[SHIBO!]

As soon as Killer Queen punched the knife, it flew into the wall as the aura died down around it, the blade stabbing into the wall with small cracks around it as if someone had slammed it into the wall. Yoshihara stared at it, her eyes narrowing, her neutral expression turning into a full-on sneer. "Just great…" Yoshihara snarled as Midoriya took a step back.

"K-Kira-san, what's—"

Before he could finish his sentence, several other utensils, such as chopsticks, forks, spoons, butter knives, and steak knives, came out of the drawers that had opened on their own and flew toward the pair at high speeds, most of them aiming toward Kira. "Midoriya-kun! Duck!" Yoshihara cried out as he ducked behind the couch. Killer Queen swatted as many of the utensils as it could, some of them cutting the Stand, leaving the same wounds on Yoshihara as she winced.

"Tch, this isn't good, of all the times…." Yoshihara groaned, looking over to Midoriya, her expression serious. "Midoriya-kun, we have to make a break for it to your room. I'll explain as much as I possibly can, but right now, we need to get over there, now!" Yoshihara stated, Killer Queen returning to her as Midoriya nodded, his arms and body shaking.

"Y-Yeah, o-okay," Midoriya replied shakily as the utensils that had been knocked and swatted away began to rise from the floor and out of the walls. The two ran down the hallway as the utensils were shot toward them, flying at blinding speeds, scraping the walls and carpet as they went. Thankfully, the pair was just quick enough to duck into Midoriya's room as the utensils flew past them and into the wall at the end of the hall.

When they got into the room, the blonde slammed the door shut, causing the things on the shelves to shake. Yoshihara let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't known she had been holding as she looked around her friend’s room.

Midoriya’s room was… interesting, to say the least. She hadn't expected the amount of All Might merchandise to be as much as it had been. All Might figures, all different from the last and seemingly all in perfect condition despite having been out of the box. All Might-themed posters covered the walls in various spots, leaving only a few bits of the white walls visible. All Might slippers sat at the foot of Midoriya’s bed which had been dressed in an All Might-themed blanket.

"Wow…” Yoshihara whispered, a hint of nervousness in her voice as she looked over to the green-haired teen. “I… uh, see you're a fan of… All Might, Midoriya-kun," Yoshihara said, a bead of sweat trailing down her cheek as Midoriya chuckled to himself, a nervous and embarrassed blush on his face as he looked away.

"Y-Yeah, I guess I am," Izuku said before clearing his throat. "U-Uh, Kira-san, what exactly is going on out there? W-Why were those things… attacking us?" He asked as Yoshihara sighed.

"Right… well, as I said, I'll try my best to explain it. We're being attacked by someone, but they aren't here. And it’s not the effect of a Quirk, it’s… well…” Yoshihara sighed. She didn’t want to talk about Stands so soon after just learning of them herself, but she didn’t really have a choice, now did she? “What we're being attacked by is something called a Stand. Meaning that nine times out of ten, whoever is attacking us, is either nearby, on a different floor, or the house next door," Yoshihara explained as Midoriya gasped.

"Y-You mean, we're being attacked by villains! We should call the heroes, they can—"

"Absolutely not!" Yoshihara interrupted, her eyes narrowing at him as he flinched. "We are not calling the heroes. You can't attack or arrest something you cannot see. You remember how I said that my Quirk was a "bit more complicated" than that?" Yoshihara asked as Midoriya raised an eyebrow.

"Y-Yeah, but… wait a minute, does that mean…?" He questioned as Yoshihara nodded.

"Yes, I am a Stand User. Meaning that I alone can see what is currently attacking us. Not even All Might can help us. All he’d do is get in the way and get hurt in the process. The only way to defeat a Stand is with another Stand," Yoshihara explained as she summoned Killer Queen. "You can't see my Stand, Killer Queen, but…." Yoshihara started, the Stand tapping Midoriya on the head as he blinked, looking around the room.

"Huh, did…"

"Yes, Midoriya-kun, Killer Queen tapped you on the head," Yoshihara said, smiling at his confusion. The smile dropped, her expression returning to a serious one. "But now is not the time for goofing around. We need to find the Stand user and do either one of two things, convince them to de-activate their ability, or…." Yoshihara started as, suddenly, a wave of killing intent washed off of her and through the room, causing Midoriya to flinch. "We'll have to kill them."

His eyes went wide at her declaration, flinching again as if he were disgusted with her suggestion. "Kira-san did you… did you just say… kill them? That… That's not heroic at all!" Midoriya said as Yoshihara narrowed her eyes. She wanted to argue, but… if she wanted to be a hero, she couldn’t just go around killing people who slighted her. Not anymore, anyway. Sighing, Yoshihara let up on the narrowed eyes but kept the serious gaze.

"Fine, we won't kill them. Unless, of course, they refuse to de-activate their Stand. If they don't do that, then I'll do whatever it takes to stop them. Even if I have to kill them, alright?" Yoshihara stated as Izuku nodded, a grim look on his face.

"I don't like that last part, b-but… do we even know what this Stand looks like? You can see it, right, so… is it nearby?" Izuku asked as Yoshihara looked around the room, and as soon as she did, a hand grabbed her Killer Queen by the neck.

The hand was green, and it had a blue arrow pointing toward the palm. The rest of the arm was green with grey metallic patches, and the arm was attached to a lean silver body. The other arm was the same as the first one, except on the hand was a red arrow pointing toward the Stand. The legs were completely green, except the feet were red with black stripes. Its face lacked any human features. The only things that even resembled it being human were the eyes, which were completely purple ovals. It had a grey helmet on its head with two wings on its sides.

When Yoshihara saw the hand with the red arrow, her eyes widened. “No… there’s no way… she can’t be…!” Yoshihara gagged as the Stand continued to squeeze Killer Queen's throat.

KURRSHA…

The Stand groaned as Killer Queen punched it in the face, making it let go and slide back a bit in the air. The Stand reached its left arm out, the one with the blue arrow, as it faded away. Several All Might figures floated upwards and spun. Yoshihara coughed as the figures began to fly towards her at fast speeds.

"KIRA-SAN!" Midoriya called out, rushing in front of her, protecting her. As soon as they came close, and as Midoriya braced for impact, Killer Queen punched the figures out of the way in a flurry, the figures flung in different directions, hitting the walls of the room as they broke into several pieces. She felt bad for destroying them, but she couldn’t leave them intact for The Stand to use them again.

Midoriya opened his eyes, glancing behind himself. "Kira-san…? Are you okay?" He asked as Yoshihara nodded, rubbing her neck.

"Yeah… but now, this just went from something simple to something that’s become personal," Yoshihara stated, narrowing her eyes. “I can’t believe it… why would she do this? Damnit! I should’ve confronted her before she left!”

"Now what… What are we supposed to do…?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara shook her head in disbelief, looking around the room. Why? Why did she have to be a Stand User, and why on Earth would she attack them? Whatever the reason was, it wasn’t a good one, and it frustrated her to no end.

"We know its ability, at least, vaguely. It can levitate objects, and it can propel them at fast speeds. However, we can't be sure just how it works. Plus, its user is nowhere to be seen. We find the user, and we defeat the Stand. The problem is, we don't know just who the user is," Yoshihara explained, and while she knew who it was, the last thing she wanted to do was tell Midoriya that she was attacking them. So, she lied to make sure that he didn’t lose trust in her.

After Yoshihara explained what she wanted to do, Midoriya snapped his fingers in a kind of eureka moment. "If we can get it in a room without any objects to throw, we can trap it! But… then, how are we going to find the user?" He asked as Yoshihara hummed.

"Well, whenever I use my Stand, an aura flares around me. So, that means, whoever the user is, will have an aura around them. They stick out like a sore thumb, so once we find them, or once I see their aura, I'll know who it is. Until then, let's stick with your plan," Yoshihara explained as Midoriya nodded.

Killer Queen opened the door as the pair slinked out. As soon as they did, several objects began to float and fly towards them, the Stand glaring them down as the objects flew. Killer Queen deflected several of the objects as she charged toward the Stand.

The Stand flew backwards, phasing through the front door as Midoriya flung open the door. Yoshihara ran beside him as they looked down the outdoor hallway. "W-Wha—! Where did it go?" Yoshihara asked.

Suddenly, without warning, the fridge from the kitchen flung towards them, a green aura covering it as the heavy object hit Yoshihara, sending her over the edge, and plummeting to the bottom floor, the refrigerator following suit.

"KIRA-SAN!" Izuku called out, reaching out to her as The Stand grabbed Izuku and pulled him inside the house, covering his mouth as his eyes went wide. While Izuku couldn't see the hand, he could feel the Stand's hand over his mouth, keeping him from screaming or calling out for help.

A loud crash could be heard from around the street, and Izuku's eyes began to water. "Kira… no…" and before he could do anything, he was dragged back into the apartment by the Stand.

-To Be Continued-

Chapter Text

[Original Chapter Published - January 23rd, 2022]

[Revised Chapter Published - January 7th, 2023]

[Secondary Revision of the chapter published – June 14^th, 2023]

[Third Revision of the chapter published - March 28th, 2024 (final revision)]

Izuku struggled against the Stand's hold over his mouth, it’s grip ironclad as he frivolously attempted to get it off of him despite him knowing that, in the back of his mind, he stood no chance of freeing himself. What made it worse was that he had no idea if what he was doing had been working or not namely because he couldn’t see the Stand that was holding him.

The only thing that he knew for sure of was that it was smothering his mouth with either its arm or its hand and that one of its other hands had a grip on the back of his neck which prevented him from struggling even more, almost as if it was pressing down on his pressure points. The only reason he hadn’t gone unconscious was because the pressure wasn’t enough to knock him out and stop the circulation of his blood.

Another thing that he noticed was that, out of the corner of his eye, a bundle of rope was making its way straight for him. Izuku wondered where the rope had come from, though it wasn’t important. The important part was that he was about to be tied up by an entity he couldn’t see so it could do god knows what to him. He tried to fight against it, knowing full well it was impossible.

Izuku might have been weak. Izuku might have lacked a Quirk. Those things were true, and they had been drilled into his head by everyone around him, except his mother and All Might. But, there was another thing that he was that not many people noticed.

He was determined.

And because of that, even if something seemed impossible, even if it was seen as hopeless, Izuku Midoriya would never give up. He’d soon rather die than give up. Because at least then he knew he’d die trying to do the right thing.

Unfortunately for him, no amount of trying or struggling would get him anywhere, as the rope wrapped around his upper body, his arms snapped tightly to his sides as he gasped. The tightness of the rope made it hard for him to breathe, but, luckily for him, it wasn’t tight enough to restrict him completely. He was breathing enough so that he would remain conscious, but it still left him lightheaded.

Not a second after The Stand had finished tying him up, it dragged him back into the apartment and threw him onto the couch with an unceremonious thud. For the brief second that he was free from its grasp, his mouth no longer feeling covered, he tried to scream out for help, only for The Stand to punch him in the stomach, winding him completely, and forcing him to focus on his breathing yet again.

After that, it tied up his hands, preventing him from grabbing onto anything. Effectively making him even more useless than he already was before Kira-san… had fallen to her death. When the Stand had bound his arms and wrists, it propped him up against the couch, forcing him to sit. He looked down at the floor, completely and totally demotivated. He didn't have the energy to scream again, to call for help, or even curse the Stand out for what it did. And neither did he have the ability to fight back, not that he had the ability to fight back in the first place.

Kira-san was dead, and it was all because of him. All because of his in-action. The terrified look on her face as she fell, the way how her eyes widened and her mouth opened to scream. The sound of the fridge crashing onto the ground with Kira-san supposedly underneath…. He didn’t see a body, but even he knew that no one could survive a fall that high up, so even if she avoided being crushed to death, she most certainly died on the way down.

All of it had been burned into his memory. Like a slide show, it played in his mind on a loop.

His first friend he had made in years ever since Kacchan was now dead. That thought stuck in his mind as a bruise would linger after being punched.

Kacchan was right… Useless, Quirkless nerds like him never got to have friends. This was the world’s way of confirming that. The first friend he had made in years was now dead, all because of his lack of a Quirk.

If only All Might had given him One For All earlier. Even if his body broke, he didn’t care. He could’ve saved Kira’s life. He could’ve prevented her death. But no… he was Quirkless.

He was completely and totally useless….

"I'm sorry, Kira-san, I'm really, truly sorry. I wish I could've helped… But I'm just a useless Deku…, just like Kacchan said I was…" Izuku thought, choking back tears as he sobbed. But then, almost as if it were a miracle, Izuku felt a surge of… courage. Like he had been zapped back to life in that one moment. His eyes narrowed as he stopped sobbing, tears staining his cheeks as he grimaced.

No… no he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t just accept this. Screw that! Heroes never gave up! And if he wanted to be a hero, why the hell would he just give up?! A true hero would move past the pain, ignored it, and move on with their life. It was a failure, sure, but it was one that he could use. A failure that he could look back and remember that he wasn’t strong enough to save the person he cared for.

Plus… he didn’t want Kira-san’s death to be in vain. No, not that he didn’t want it to be in vain… it couldn’t be in vain.

"No! I can't just give up because she died. That’s not what she would’ve wanted… I might not have known her for that long, but no one wants to have their death be in vain. She would want me to find a way to stop the Stand and defeat the user," Izuku thought defiantly. “First things first, though… I have to find a way to get out of this situation…” Izuku thought as he looked around the area closest available to him right now, that being the ground.

He saw his feet and realized that, somehow, his legs had been tied up. Had he been so focused on sulking that he never noticed The Stand tie up his legs and ankles? That… was possible. Izuku had always been the kind of person to get lost in his thoughts. Still, though, that was freaky. It was also smart on the enemy’s part.

That… wasn’t a good thing. It essentially killed the idea that he had before it could even begin. Then again, he would’ve been kind of disappointed if the villain hadn’t tied up his legs. That was just kidnapping 101. Again, not a good thing, and it hindered him, but he couldn’t help but not comment on how stupid that would’ve been.

So, now he had to find another way of making sure he could move. Just how could he do that? It wasn’t like he could hop around or wriggle about like a worm. Besides, what was he supposed to do after he got off the couch? Lay there and wait for The Stand to pick him back up and place him back on the couch, or worse?

That was when he got an idea. If he could just tip over the couch, then maybe just maybe he could get himself free. Now, this would’ve been a problem had he been thin-stick boy Izuku. But current him was a little more bulkier, thus he was stronger. All Might’s training hadn’t and wouldn’t go to waste.

So, with all of his might, he began to swing his body back and forth, trying to make the couch tip over. For the next two minutes, the couch didn’t so much as budge. But, after a little while, it started to rock back and forth. Inch by inch, second by second, he was able to build up enough momentum to where the couch was now thumping against the ground, but still not enough to fully knock it over.

Whilst he did this, he kept an ear open for The Stand. Sure, he couldn’t see it, but he could hear it. It was something he noticed when Kira and The Stand had been fighting. He could hear it shift its body and thud into walls. He wasn’t completely dull to its existence. He could also feel it, which was obvious when it had subdued him.

So, if he could hear and feel it, that meant that at least two of his four senses that revolved around other things that he didn’t put in his mouth would work and aid him in his escape. But if it caught him, he was screwed. If he didn’t get caught, though, he could call for someone, anyone to get him out of here so that then he could track down the enemy.

Of course, that was if he could get out.  

Finally, after a long tedious process, with one final swing, the couch tipped over and landed rear-first on the ground, causing Izuku to bump his head against the back cushions. He groaned, narrowing his eyes in pain. “Good… part one of the plan is now done. Now onto phase two!” Izuku thought as he reorientated himself, the dizziness and the headache that had been caused by the rough landing petering out.

Now, he had to get off of the sofa and get the rope off him. Once he did that, he would then get to phase three, where he called a hero, the police, or both. He hadn’t quite decided yet which one he would call. But that wasn’t important right now. Right now, he needed to get this stupid rope off of his body.  

And so, he wormed his way off the sofa and dragged himself to the nearest of the wall corners which was just by the door. Once he got there, he tried with all of his might to stand up using his lower body. Unfortunately, he failed, causing him to curse under his breath. But, just because he had failed once did not he couldn’t try again. So, that was exactly what he did. He tried a few more times, scooting up the wall, only to unceremoniously fall with each attempt, again and again.

“Damn you, body! Move!” Izuku swore in his mind as he pushed with all of his might. Finally, he was able to get his feet underneath him. A wide smile came across his face as he silently cheered in his mind. Now, he needed to cut the ropes. He had seen this work in movies, and while he knew it was probably just movie magic, he had to at least try.

He was going to cut the rope using the edge of the wall.

He knew it was stupid, but he had to do something. And thusly, he began to rub his back against the wall, pushing with all of his strength as he did so to try and make a dent in the thick rope. With each squat he did, his legs continued to get more and more tired, but he pushed through, all the while keeping an ear open for The Stand which was probably watching his every movement.

For all he knew, this whole thing was hopeless, and the Stand was merely watching him try and fail to escape. But, even then, he had to be sure. He couldn’t just not do anything. That would go against what a hero stood for. 

After what felt like an hour of rubbing the rope that bound his arms and wrists against the wall, he could hear the sound of the rope breaking. His eyes widened with excitement! He was so freaking close right now! “Come on, just a few more strokes and I should be golden!” Izuku thought as, just like he had predicted, the ropes snapped, falling to the ground as he smiled.

After that, he sat down, his legs giving out on him from doing so many squats after being dragged around like a ragdoll. Now all he had to do was untie his legs and ankles. Luckily for him, this was way easier than doing an ungodly amount of squats. It only took him a minute to untie himself, and with that done, he sighed.

"Okay, I'm free, now I just gotta get to the phone…." Izuku muttered, glancing over to the phone on the wall near the kitchen as the sound of footsteps echoed throughout the apartment. The Stand was on the move, and it was most likely coming to investigate. He had to be quick. He had to dial 119, and after that, he’d make a break for it.  

And so, with that in mind, and with the knowledge that he was only seconds away from being jumped by the invisible force that he stood no reasonable chance against, he stood up and began to sprint toward the phone. It might’ve only been a few steps away, but in his mind, it felt like it was a literal mile from where he had been sitting.

Unfortunately for him, The Stand seemed to be two steps ahead of him, as once he so much as grazed the phone’s head, a force, unlike anything he had felt before, and twice as strong as one of Kacchan’s explosions, slammed into his stomach making him cough up specks of blood. They littered the floor among droplets of saliva as his body twitched. Breathing became a struggle as he fell to his knees, unable to move.

If The Stand was mocking him, he couldn’t hear it. All he could hear was his own wheezed gasps as he struggled to stay conscious.

“So close…” the boy had thought. “I was just inches away from freedom… I was so… close…” Izuku thought as his vision became blurred.

“You’re such a fucking loser, Deku! You can’t even do one thing right with your pathetic excuse of a life! Fucking moron!” Kacchan’s voice rang out through his head as Izuku chided himself. Of course… he knew this would happen.

“Kacchan was right about me… I’m nothing but a failure… I’m so… sorry… Kira-san…”

The last thing Izuku saw was his room, as he drifted off into the land of the unconscious.

[XXXX]

Yoshihara felt the wind behind her back as she fell from the twelfth floor of the apartment complex. A sense of Deja'vu washed over her as she fell, and if one were to ask her what was going through her mind, it would be panic. If she had a 100 yen coin for every time she had started to fall to her death, she’d have two, which was weird that it had now happened twice, and in the same week, no less.

It felt like she had been falling for hours, even though Yoshihara knew that hadn’t been the case. She looked up, and her eyes widened. The fridge, the item that pushed her off the railing, was falling towards her and lightning speeds. She looked down and saw a car that had been just underneath her.

If she didn’t do something, she’d become a stain on the floor…

"KILLER QUEEN!" Yoshihara cried out as it reached out to grab onto one of the lower floor guard rails, specifically, the one belonging to the fourth floor. Its right hand reached out and grabbed the railing with all of her might, parts of it falling off as it gripped the metal railing. She dangled there, panting as the part that had broken off, and fell to on top of the car, and just as she kept herself as close to the edge as she could, the fridge zoomed past her and slammed into the car below, crushing it like a pancake.

"Holy shit…" Yoshihara muttered, a shiver clawing down her spine. Unlike the last time she found herself falling to her death, she actually had the chance of dying this time around. Not only because she was falling but because she would’ve been crushed had she not moved out of the way. Her heart beat in her chest as her breathing slowly returned to normal.

If she were to add another thing to the list of things that she refused to go through again, it would be falling from great heights under the threat of being turned into a human pancake. 

"Thank god for Killer Queen. Otherwise, I would be dead," Yoshihara muttered as, with the help of her Stand, she pulled herself up. Some of the wounds that had been caused by the utensils dripped blood, which stained the floor that she stood on. Cursing to herself, she stared out into the distance, narrowing her eyes.

“Why? Why would she do this? Does she not realize that Midoriya-kun is in danger with her doing this? Or, perhaps, she knows and doesn’t care?” Yoshihara thought, frowning. If that were the case, she would be more than pissed off at her.

That was when something struck her, and a realization bore its way into her mind.

Midoriya was still trapped in that apartment with that Stand, with no way of defending himself!

"Shit!” Yoshihara cursed under her breath. She had completely forgotten about that little fact. Someone other than herself was in real danger, not just her this time! And so, with a determined expression, her heart beating and her blood pumping, she made her way back up to the twelfth floor of the apartment complex.

As she climbed, a million and one thoughts rushed through her head. Was Midoriya alright? Was he going to be able to hold it off until she got there? Scratch that, was he even still alive? The Stand seemed hellbent on killing both of them, not just her. Or perhaps it was just that inaccurate with its attacks? That would be possible, but she didn’t have the time to test that theory. All she had the time for was to get back to Midoriya as fast as humanly possible.

The Stand didn’t seem to have a weight limit when it came to its ability. Although it did seem to have a limit to only inanimate objects. Otherwise, The Stand would’ve sent her out a window rather than throwing objects at them. That was the only good thing she learned about getting thrown off the side of the building.

As she ran up the stairs, Yoshihara slipped on the fifth step on the way up to the tenth floor. Killer Queen prevented her from falling as she sighed. This thing was going to save her a bunch from falling face first or ass-backwards, wasn’t it? She never really was all that good at keeping her balance…

Clearing her mind, Yoshihara got herself back on route, just as she heard something thump. She cringed. Who did that? What happened? Was Midoriya okay? He was practically defenceless right now, although she wasn’t doubting him. It more had to do with the fact that he couldn’t see The Stand, so ergo, what was he going to do to protect himself?

Kujo made it very clear that only Stand Users can harm other Stand Users with their own Stand. Anything that wasn’t directly connected to a Stand couldn’t harm a Stand, much less deter it. So the question was… was that Midoriya trying to defend himself, or was it the Stand hurting and or potentially killing Midoriya….

And if it was the latter…

Then someone was going to die. If there was one thing that she couldn’t stand… it was the loss of an innocent life.

Oh, don’t get her wrong, she has killed other people before. But they were far from innocent. Case in point, the person who had tried to get… frisky with her back all those months ago outside of the setting where she allowed that to happen. That person wasn’t innocent. In fact, if she had to harbour a guess he was a scum fuck just like all the others she let do horrible things to her for money.

He, much like those she let do those things to her, was probably a pedophile. Teenager or not, she was still a kid in the eyes of the law. There was no excuse for it. The only reason she was allowed at her former place of work was because it made her money. Outside of that, it was inexcusable.

Tangent aside, she finally made it to the twelfth floor of the complex. She ran to the very end, which was where the Midoriya Household was. The door was closed, and when she went to twist the handle, it didn’t budge.    

"Shit, it's locked," Yoshihara cursed. She narrowed her eyes, summoning Killer Queen as it touched the door handle. The handle gleamed as she took a step back. “Sorry, Midoriya, but I’m destroying your lock. I’ll pay to get it replaced later…” Yoshihara muttered as Killer Queen formed its hand into the charade of a detonator, its bandaged thumb pressing down on the rest of its hand mimicking a charge. A click reverberated around her as the door handle blew up in a small cloud of smoke before disappearing completely, the door slowly opening due to gravity.

Once the door was open, Yoshihara stepped inside, careful to not make any noise. When she got in, the first thing she noticed was how eerily quiet it had gotten. Nary a peep was made, and it set her on high alert.

As silently as she could, she stepped into the living room and saw that the couch was tipped over. Over to her right, she saw that a bundle of severed rope was on the floor, and over by the phone, there were small droplets of blood and spit on the wood.

A struggle had happened. But, for the most part, considering there wasn’t a lot of blood, she assumed that Midoriya was still alive. For that, she breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was for her first friend to be dead because of her. That wouldn’t have helped her sleep at night. Not even in the slightest.

“So… Midoriya’s alive. The question is… where is he? He might be in his room. So, that means all I have to do is get to his room and get him out of here. Then, I just have to find her . And once I do… I’m gonna punch the leaving shit out of her.”

As soon as that thought left her mind, The Stand reappeared, its presence looming and its body language that of someone who was extremely pissed off. It had no mouth, so it couldn’t communicate, and even if it did, it probably wouldn’t.

[KURRSHA…!]

The Stand growled at her, and as soon as it did, it began to rapidly touch random things around the area in no particular order. That meant it had to re-touch everything that it threw at someone. It was weird, but not nearly as weird as what happened next. Its arms broke apart into thin strands of what its arms looked like, almost appearing to look like whips as they flailed about, hitting anything that it could.

The tendrils were silver in colour, with green ends matching the fingers. The speed at which the thin protrusions moved was faster than Yoshihara could even see, and as it flicked about, everything that was on the floor started to gather a green aura and float upward. It touched some of the scattered utensils on the floor, a painting, and even the couch! And with a mighty war cry, the Stand launched them at her.

[KURRSHA!]

The objects came flying toward Yoshihara. Killer Queen appeared to her side and began to throw punch after punch at blinding speed. It appeared to her as if its fists had turned into a blur, which was mesmerizing in its own right. One of the fists hit the couch, and as soon as it did, a bubble formed in the couch cushion that had been punched, and in a puff of smoke and a loud boom, the couch was gone.

With an opening now presenting itself, Yoshihara and Killer Queen charged the Stand, swinging at The Stand with jabs and hooks, all of which The Stand dodged. The humanoid figure then levitated a knife and set it flying at Yoshiahra, the sharp blade covered in a green aura as it zoomed right toward her throat.

If it wasn’t obvious before, The Stand was actively trying to kill her.   

Instead of ducking in fear, Yoshihara smirked, having Killer Queen grab the knife by the blade, spinning around in a blur of motion, before chucking the knife back at the enemy Stand. The knife lodged itself into the Stand’s inner elbow, making it flinch, as then, Killer Queen detonated the bomb it had planted in the knife.

The result was an explosion strong enough to sever the arm from the upper arm down. Of course, she could’ve just caused the bomb to blow up the entire Stand, but she knew that once a Stand was damaged, so was the user thanks to her witnessing it herself when Kujo’s Soft & Wet grabbed her wrist.

In other words, she didn’t want to kill her.

The Stand groaned in pain as it was knocked into the wall to its right, holding its arm as it glared at her. Or, at least it tried glaring at her. In response to that, Yoshihara smirked. "Not so smart as you think yourself to be, are you? Now, I don’t want to fight… there’s too much at stake here, and I think you know that. So, how about you come back here, and we talk this out, yeah?" Yoshihara said as the Stand growled again.

[KURRSHA…]

Then, without warning, the Stand charged at Yoshihara as Killer Queen put up its arms to block the attack. the Stand reared back its remaining arm and clashed its fist into the defence made by Killer Queen, only to rapidly punch it at blistering speeds after the first failed to break the barrier.

[KURRSHAAAAAAAAAA!]

The blows dealt to Killer Queen's arms were weak, but the abundance caused Yoshihara's Stand to drop its guard, lowering its arms, and leaving it open. However, before the enemy Stand could deliver another blow, Killer Queen retaliated with a left punch straight to the enemy Stand's gut, followed by a right hook to the jaw to the face, knocking it into the wall, causing it to slide down against it, slumping over.

Yoshihara was breathing quickly, sweat dripping from her forehead as she walked up to the Stand. It seemed immobile, but she assumed it wouldn't be for long. "Damn, that was super annoying…" Yoshihara said, walking up to it. "You really are a piece of work, aren't you? No, that's too nice. You're a pain in the ass, good riddance," Yoshihara spat as she looked down at its remaining.

The one thing that she didn't understand was the fact that both of the hands had different arrows on them, one blue one and one red one. The blue one, before it had been blown away by Killer Queen, had been pointed outward as if to jettison something away from the Stand, while the red one pointed toward the Stand. But why?

Unbeknownst to Yoshihara, some of the knives that had been deflected began to levitate behind her, a green aura surrounding them. Then, just when she realized what exactly that red arrow meant, the hand with the red arrow closed, causing Yoshihara to go wide-eyed as she felt a sharp, searing pain in her back.

Slowly, Yoshihara looked over her shoulder as several knives stabbed into her back, blood spurting from the wounds. But they didn’t just stab after the initial piercing, no… they continued to go further as the blades kept digging deeper and deeper into her skin as the Stand looked up at her. Its cold, dead, purple eyes struck fear into Yoshihara as she sucked in a breath of air.

Not thinking about it for longer than a second, Killer Queen punched the knives out of Yoshihara's back as she gasped in pain, the blades of the knives shattering with each punch as Yoshihara fell forward, hands and knees on the floor as she clenched her teeth, blood running down her back as the enemy Stand stood up, walking close to her as she looked up. Its eyes narrowed at her, before it then kneed her in the face, knocking her on her back as she screamed in pain.

"Gahhh!" Yoshihara cried out as blood dripped from her nose and mouth, the wounds on her back still bleeding as she tried to get up, a daze coming over her as the Stand growled again.

[KURRSHA…]

Killer Queen attempted to punch the Stand but it dodged, grabbing Killer Queen's hand before driving its fist directly into Killer Queen’s stomach, the same pain going through Yoshihara as she coughed up a glob of blood, it staining the wooden floor as Yoshihara wheezed. the enemy Stand shoved Killer Queen back as it punched it in the face again, then again, all of which Yoshihara felt. The blows weren't that powerful, at least not as powerful as Yoshihara's Killer Queen, but they still felt stronger than your average person, and with each blow, the pain just kept getting worse and worse.

The Enemy Stand attempted to hit her again, only for Killer Queen to grab the fist with narrowed eyes. Try as the Stand might to free itself, it couldn’t move as Killer Queen snarled. The purple aura that surrounded Yoshihara was replaced by a black, smokey aura. It was pure malice given form, and for a split second, the enemy Stand’s eyes widened, as if it wasn’t expecting that.

And then, with a crushing grip, Killer Queen crushed the leftover hand the enemy Stand had to work with. But that wasn’t where the pain ended. Killer Queen then roundhouse kicked the Stand in the face, knocking it back. And when the distance was put between them, Killer Queen turned its hand into the charade of a detonator, and without any kind of remorse, Killer Queen set off the bomb it had placed in the enemy Stand’s remaining hand.

The bubble expanded within the skin of the Stand before it burst, blowing up the remaining arm up to the shoulder, making the Stand scream in pain much like Yoshihara did when it had kneed her in the face.  

[KURRSHA!]

Yoshihara got up with the help of Killer Queen as The Enemy Stand was now missing both of its arms. It now looked terrified, as if it knew what was about to happen, but heedless of that fear, Yoshihara glared at the Stand, pure unrivalled hatred burning deep within her eyes as she snarled.

"You know, I was content with just leaving you there, knocked out, but you pushed me to my breaking point. I'm no longer going to give mercy to you or your user. I'm going to do the complete opposite," Yoshihara spat as The Stand attempted to get up, only for Killer Queen to kick it back down, the wall cracking under the strength of the kick.

"No. You're not getting up. This is it. I'm done with this…" Yoshihara said, her fist clenched as Killer Queen did the same action. "AND SO ARE YOU!" Yoshihara shouted as Killer Queen picked up The Stand and began to rush it with punches, all the while it shouted its battle cry.

[SHIBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBO!SHIBO!!!]

With the final punch, The Stand was covered in bubble-like holes, and the moment Killer Queen was done punching, the Stand turned its hand into the same charade as before, pressed down, and just like that they all detonated at once, completely annihilating the Stand in the process. The explosion was controlled, barely damaging the walls around it, only leaving small singe marks from where the Stand had been eviscerated.

Yoshihara’s breathing was heavy, her body ached and she was shaking like a leaf. The adrenaline was slowly leaving her body as the pain became renewed. She had defeated the Stand, but now she still had to find Her, assuming she wasn’t dead because of the destruction of her Stand. If she was alive, though, the problem now became that Yoshihara was too injured to do much of anything.

That aside, she still had to do something. She couldn’t just fall backward and die. She had to call for help, and now that The Stand was gone, she could do just that.

Using the wall for help with walking, she inched her way to the phone by the kitchen. As she got closer to the phone, she reached out to it and grabbed it off its base. Yoshihara dialled 119, as, immediately after she put it to her ear, she was blessed by a speedy pick-up, and thusly, the first responder spoke.

"Hello, Emergency hotline speaking. How may I forward your call?" The woman asked as Yoshihara began to speak.

"Help… Villain attack in… small apartment building on Tatooine Street… The villain left, I'm hurt badly… and there may or may not be a… hostage… send an ambulance and police… please," Yoshihara said as the operator began to type on the keyboard.

"Okay, help is on the way. What's the address you're at?" The receptionist asked as Yoshihara coughed, some blood hitting her hand as she spoke.

"1967 Tatoonie Street, the twelfth floor of the apartment complex… l-last apartment on the right, please, send help now," Yoshihara said as the sound of footsteps behind her made Yoshihara go stiff. She looked over her shoulder, and immediately, the phone dropped from her hand, shock and disbelief painted on her face.

“How?! I… I destroyed the Stand! She should be—”

Before her thought could finish, and before she could do anything, a green, blue arrow-embroidered hand slammed into Yoshihara’s stomach, stealing away all of the air in her lungs as she flung backward into the kitchen and right into the cupboards beneath the sink, a loud thud reverberating throughout the apartment.

"Hello, ma'am? Is everything alright? Hello?!" The operator on the phone called out as a human hand grabbed the phone and pulled it off the cord, breaking the line. Yoshihara growled, coughing as she slowly stood up, using the counter for balance. Emerald green eyes stared harshly into Yoshihara’s sky-blue eyes as Inko Midoriya sneered.

“You…” Yoshihara bit out, contempt rolling off of her in waves as she stared at Inko. “I fucking knew… I wasn’t seeing things… my question is why…?” Yoshihara ground out heavy breaths as Inko scoffed, a nearly offended look on her face.  

"Oh, really? You’re going to ask me that question? You should already know why. It’s because of Izuku," Inko spat as her Stand floated behind her, retaining both of its arms as if it had never been destroyed. Yoshihara really wanted to know how that was possible, and how it was possible for Inko to be alive.

From what Kujo had told her, if a Stand was damaged, then its user would take the same damage in turn. So, when she destroyed the Stand, then in turn it would make sense for Inko to have been killed—something that would have weighed heavy on her conscious for sure, but it was needed for her to survive.

Unless she was missing something? However, there was a more pressing issue at hand. And it had to do with what Inko had just said. Something that royally pissed Yoshihara off to a degree she had not felt in a very, very long time.

“Midoriya-kun…? This was… about him?! But you hurt him! How the fuck could this be about Midoriya-kun if you actively tried to hurt him?!” Her adrenaline was spiking again as fury flowed throughout her body. In response, Inko sighed, an almost disappointed look on her face, as if her reasoning had been obvious—not that it was, and, the more that she thought about it, the more the look on her face stopped being disappointing and looked more condescending.

“Accidents happen when you try to protect the ones you love. I never meant harm to my boy, but there are just times when he’s too pigheaded to realize he needs to sit down and accept the facts in life. He’s far too timid, and it’s now come to my attention that I’ll have to protect him, both as his mother and as someone who made a vow to ensure the innocent were never taken advantage of. And you, Kira Yoshihara, strike me as the type of person who would use my son,” Inko drawled.

“Use him…? What are you—” Yoshihara interrupted herself, as she coughed up blood, the red crimson liquid scattering on the floor. She wiped her mouth, before glaring back up at Inko. She didn’t have a lot of time left until she passed out. She had to do something, anything.

“What am I talking about? Are you stupid on purpose?” Inko said, crossing her arms as her Stand mimicked her stance. “You’re a teenager, and so is my son. I’m not stupid enough to believe that hormones won’t kick in. But that’s not the only thing you did wrong. The other thing you did wrong should be obvious, even to a novice like you. So tell me, what do you think you did to warrant this?”

“What I did…?” Yoshihara thought, glaring at Inko, genuinely puzzled at what it was she was saying. “Last I checked, I haven’t so much as laid a finger on him. What do you mean What I did.”

Inko scoffed, eyes narrowing. "Oh, please, do I really have to explain that, or are you that dense? Do you realize how much danger you put him in when you met him? You're a Stand user, so you should know the issues that come with that, as do I. The difference is that I’m his mother, and you’re just some random he met.” The more Inko spoke, the more venom dripped from her voice as malice oozed off of her, mixed with killing intent.

And that’s when Yoshihara saw it. She saw the mask slip. No more was she staring at Inko Midoriya, the kindly housewife and devoted mother. The Inko she was looking at was a cold-blooded, stone-faced, tactical killer. The kind of person who would kill you for looking at her wrong. The kind of person who would do whatever it took to put their enemy in the ground.

This was the real Inko Midoriya. She knew that the Inko that she had met earlier unnerved her for a reason, and that was it. Because the Inko she had met was not Inko. It was a façade, a play, a trick. All to lure her into a false sense of security.

Inko never planned to be friendly from the start. She had set up this entire house as a boobytrap to kill Yoshihara. However, there was just one thing that she couldn’t wrap her head around. And that was why? It made no sense. The only thing that Yoshihara could fully come up with as an answer to her question was that…

“You’re insane…” Yoshihara glowered, finally standing up fully as Inko glared at her, watching her like a hawk would its prey.

“Maybe, but at least I’m in the right. You, on the other hand, are not. The fact that you even attempted to be friends with my son… angers me. My son is fine as he is. He is safe as is. As a matter of fact, I think after this is said and done, I’m going to forbid him from going to U.A., so that way he can be protected by me forever, until I die, or until he dies. Whichever comes first,” Inko said, smirking.

“Besides, he doesn't need any friends aside from Bakugo. Sure, things need to be ironed out with him and Bakugo, but it can be done. Now the only thing that needs to happen is for you to be out of the picture. Once that’s done, not only will my son be so dejected that he can’t bother to get out of bed and rely on me, but you won’t be able to taint him.”

Yoshihara went to say something, only for her to cough up more blood. This time, it damn near came out like a fountain in an uncontrollable coughing fit. It only stopped when Yoshihara felt as if she was on the verge of passing out. Her stomach felt like it was on fire, as did her throat. Was that what it was like? To be so close to death?

If that was what it was like, then it sucked. Whoever came up with the term “the sweet embrace of death” was a filthy, petulant, lying sack of shit.

The two Stand Users stayed silent for a few seconds as Yoshihara looked down at the floor. Blood dripped from her wounds, staining the wooden floor as she heard Inko walk towards her, her footsteps heavy as Yoshihara glanced back up to look at her, nothing but hate and malice in her eyes.

"Oh, don’t look so mad. I hope you understand where I'm coming from. I'm only doing this to protect my son. I’m sure your parents would have done the same, wouldn't they? He cannot have you as a friend due to your status as a Stand user. Call me a hypocrite if you want, but the saying goes, "Momma knows best,” and all that,” Inko said, tapping her chin in thought. “Although I have to ask, you’re a fairly competent Stand User. Not many people have survived this long against Fly, Fly Away. That either speaks to your learning skills, or, you’re naturally talented.”

“Although, I’m sure you’re confused,” Inko continued, gesturing to herself. “I’m sure you know that when a Stand is destroyed, its user dies as well. But that only applies to Stands like yours. Mine is an automatic Stand. And so, the only reason why I didn't die due to the damage you did to Fly, Fly Away was because of that. The most it ever felt like was like a pin stabbing into the spots where your Stand hit it and destroyed that part of it, though the closer I am to my Stand, the more I feel its pain,” Inko said as Fly, Fly Away reached out to grab Yoshihara, Inko continued talking, closing her eyes as she shrugged.

“Well, I believe that’s enough chitchat. It’s time for you to die, Kira-chan. Maybe in another universe, we could have been friends. But, as it stands right now, I need you to—”

Before Inko could finish her sentence, and before Fly, Fly Away could grab by the throat, Yoshihara to presumably choke the life out of her, Killer Queen beat it to the punch, grabbing Fly, Fly Away by the throat, causing Inko to choke mid-sentence, the same markings of Killer Queen’s fingers appearing on her throat as Fly, Fly Away was lifted into the air, a few inches off the ground.

“H-Huh?! B-But you—”

“Rule number one… about fighting…” Yoshihara began, her eyes gleaming with a resolve so fierce, so bright, that it looked as if there was a flame flickering behind her eyes. “Never let your guard down… for someone as experienced as you… or so you claim, you should know that…” As Yoshihara said that, Killer Queen reared back its fist, its knuckles tightening as it glared, its typically emotionless expression twisting into one of pure rage, its mouth downturned in a snarl, revealing two rows of pointed, carnivorous teeth.

“A-Are you going to k-kill me!? W-What would Izuku think of you?! K-Killing me w-will only—”

“Shut up,” Yoshihara growled, her posture changing from a weakened, scared victim to someone who was in full control of the situation. Her shoulders were brought up high, her stance was perfectly straight, and her head was pointed straight ahead, staring at Inko, whose face was starting to turn red. “I won’t kill you… But I’ll make you wish I had!”

And as soon as those words left Yoshihara’s mouth, Killer Queen unleashed a series of single-handed punches, jabs, and hooks that knocked Fly, Fly Away’s head around in various directions, the impacts mimicking on Inko’s face, but not the force nor directions of the blows, just the damage and pain, all the while Killer Queen screamed out a warcry not to dissimilar to its usual one.

[SHI-NNNEEEEEE!!!]

Blood exploded from Inko’s mouth and nose, a tooth flying out of her mouth as several others chipped in the process. With one final strike, Killer Queen sent both Fly, Fly Away and Inko into the wall next to the apartment entrance, causing the whole apartment to shake. Inko slumped against the wall, her Stand disappearing as Yoshihara stood victorious, her eyes heavy with drowsiness as all of the adrenaline in her system promptly died.

“I… did it…” 

Just as Yoshihara collapsed to the floor, losing consciousness from blood loss, a pro hero dressed up like a Nurse with bright pink hair, alongside an older-looking nurse-like hero using a giant needle to walk came into the apartment, followed by several other paramedics.

!Stand Information Corner!

Stand User: Inko Midoriya

Stand Name: Fly, Fly Away

Localized Name: Soar Away

Stand Appearance: Fly, Fly Away is a green and gray humanoid Stand with a genderless appearance. It’s a foot taller than its user, Inko Midoriya, and it is slimmer and more muscular than its user. A majority of its body is gray, the exceptions being its legs and arms, which are emerald in colour. Its eyes are solid purple ovals, and it has no other facial features. Atop its head is a helmet, with a pair of designer wings on either side of its head where the ears would typically be. On its right and left hands, on the backs of its palms, there is a red and blue arrow respectively, the red arrow pointing away from it, and the blue arrow pointing toward it.

Stand Ability:

Repulsion and Attraction: Fly, Fly Away’s signature ability allows it to repulse objects or attract objects depending on what is needed at the moment and time, usually signalled by the arrow that corresponds to each hand glowing. If the red arrow is glowing, then the objects will be repulsed. If the blue arrow is glowing, then the objects will be attracted toward the user. The ability only works on non-sentient beings, i.e., nothing living. So long as the object is within five metres of Fly, Fly Away, the Stand can control it freely. However, regarding repulsion, as soon as the objects leave their range, the objects that are being repulsed will continue to go in that direction until the object is disturbed.

Stand Stats:

Destructive Power: Grade D (As strong as a regular human)

Effective Range: [Controlling the objects it touches] Grade D (5 meters) [Repulsing Objects] Grade A (Until disturbed by other objects or it hits its target)

General Speed: Grade C (As fast as a bullet)

Persistent use of ability: Grade D (Touch-based)

Precision: Grade C (Misses semi-infrequently)

Overall Potential: Grade C

[Status: Retired]  

When Toshinori Yagi heard that a Villain attacked the Midoriya household, he panicked. He would've rushed there to help had it not been for the fact that he had used up his time limit as All Might an hour after he caught wind of the incident. After all, that was his pupil who needed saving, and he wasn’t going to let anything stop him.  

Anything except Gran Torino, who happened to be visiting at that particular moment. His former sensei advised him not to since he would have been able to do nothing if the villain targeted him, seeing as his limit had indeed been up. And in that weakened state, he would’ve more likely than not died, and All Might would’ve been no more.

And so, reluctantly, he stayed back. It made him feel awful for not rushing to his student’s side, but it wasn’t as if he could argue with Gran Torino. He was, usually, always right about things. The only thing he wasn’t right about was his taste in food, but that was a conversation for another time.  

Toshinori was currently wearing a yellow pinstripe suit, the top having been unbuttoned due to his rushing out of the door. He had slapped the suit on the moment he had heard that his pupil was in the nearby hospital so he could pay him a visit. After all, he wasn’t about to go see him in an undershirt and boxer briefs, which was what he was wearing underneath.

The specific hospital that Izuku was transferred to was Musutafu General Hospital, which from where Might Tower was stationed in Tokyo would have been an hour's drive. On his way there, he couldn’t help but wonder just what the damage might have been. He didn’t probe for details, only that he was in the standard medical wing, alongside his mother and another patient who had been the one to report the crime in the first place, meaning that they weren’t the person who had caused his pupils pain and suffering.

He wondered, then, who could have done it. According to Recovery Girl, who had been on sight, the villain was gone when they showed up, meaning they were still at large. It put Toshinori on edge, but not enough to go digging into it himself. Though, he would have to do a few patrols primarily in the area of the Midoriya Household just to dissuade the criminal from trying something like that again.

When he got to the hospital, he quickly found where Midoriya was being kept, and upon getting there, he was already wide awake, sitting upright in bed with a mix of confusion and relief on his face. The two emotions most likely came from the person opposite of him.

They were asleep, an IV was plunged into their wrist as they wore a medical gown. They had chin-length blonde hair and tanned-peach skin and had been lying down semi-sitting up, their head lolled to the side. Banadages peeked out from their collar, signifying they had heavy wounds underneath, along with bandages wrapped around their forehead.

When Toshinori entered the room, Midoriya immediately noticed him, flinching slightly at his sudden appearance. “All—I mean, Yagi-san, I wasn’t e-expecting you,” Midoriya said, a timid edge to his voice as Toshinori approached, dragging out a chair to sit next to him, concern both in his voice and his face.    

"Midoriya, my boy, why didn't you call the heroes when the villains started to attack?!" Toshinori asked, a mix of scorn and confusion in his voice as Midoriya flinched again, rubbing the back of his head, and glancing to the side.

"Well, you see, they, uh…” Midoriya began, putting his hand back where it had been at his side, looking back at Toshinori with a half-hearted smile. “My friend dealt with it already… or, tried to. S-she also recommended n-not calling a hero because of their Q-Quirk. A-And, um…. Yeah…”

“And I take it your friend is the person opposite of us?” Toshinori asked, pointing to the unconscious patient. Midoriya nodded, a look of relief on his face.

“Yeah…. Kira-san’s strong, and wants to be a hero like me, and she took care of the villain,” Midoriya said, his stuttering all but disappearing as soon as he started talking about his friend. He most likely didn’t notice it, but he had a smile on his face. Toshinori wasn’t blind nor was he dense enough to not notice the early signs of someone having a crush on another person.

In the past, there were several times when he found himself in a similar position, all before he had become Nana’s successor to One For All. Though he had all but given up on love after becoming All Might, he never did forget his first moments with that same smile and gaze. He wouldn’t comment on it for his sake, but it was still something that he had noticed.

On the other hand… “So, you allowed your friend to commit a crime by way of vigilantism?” Toshinori questioned as Midoriya froze on the spot, his cheeks red with embarrassment as his eyes shot open.

“I-I-I-I—”

“Relax, Midoriya,” Toshinori assured, placing a hand on his shoulder as the boy did as he was told, his shoulders drooping as he exhaled. “I’m going to let you two off with a warning. But, if I catch it happening again, I’m going to have to have the police chief talk to your friend, alright?”

“Yes, sir,” Midoriya replied, his tone a tad on the solemn side. And just as he was about to say something to change the topic…

"Where is she?! What room is she in!? I need to see her right now!” A loud, angry, and panicked voice called out from the hallway, the sound of fast-approaching footsteps echoing throughout the floor that Toshinori was on caused him to look toward the entrance. The voice was familiar, having recognized it at this afternoon’s meeting with Nedzu and the other staff members at U.A.

"Ma'am, go back to the waiting room. She isn't—"

Before the poor assistant could get a word out, the door flung open, revealing it to be none other than Nemuri, standing in the doorway, a panicked look on her face, She was wearing a dark brown trenchcoat, underneath which was a white and black striped shirt and black form-fitting yoga pants, along with red high heels.

The two Pro Heroes stared at one another, both confused at seeing one another. For Toshinori, considering the words that had come out of Nemuri’s mouth, he assumed that she was here to see the person who had been asleep on the opposite side of the room.

For Nemuri’s part, she was a little confused as to why Toshinori was sitting beside a green-haired boy, though considering he had mentioned something during the meeting about looking for a student to potentially recommend to the recommendation exam, she assumed that the boy was who he was talking about.

“Yagi-kun, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Nemuri said as Toshinori greeted her with a gentle smile, the kind only a man of his age could pull off without making it look creepy.

“Kayama-san, hello. The same could be said for you. I’m just visiting the person who I spoke of at the meeting. Midoriya, this is Kayama, or as you might know her, Midnight. Kayama, this is Midoriya, a boy who I was scouting,” Toshinori said, leaving Midoriya momentarily confused, though he quickly caught that Kayama might have been aware of his physical state, though not about how One For All worked.

“H-Hello, M-Midnight-san…” Midoriya shakily greeted, timidness and trepidation in his voice as Nemuri smiled, putting a hand on her hip as she walked through the entranceway and into the room proper.

“It’s nice to meet you, Midoriya. Yagi-kun has said plenty of good things about you. It makes me wonder if you’ll actually take up his offer to do the recommendation test. He told me you were Quirkless, and while I was skeptical at first, after seeing you in person, I don’t think that quite matters anymore,” Nemuri said as Midoriya’s eyes widened.

“Is she being serious?” Before Midoriya could say anything, Toshinori cleared his throat, catching the pair’s attention. The two looked at him, as he adjusted himself in his seat.

“I hate to interrupt this conversation, but, what exactly are you doing here, Kayama-san?” Toshinori asked as Nemuri perked up as if remembering something that she had forgotten. She looked over to the person lying in the bed across from Midoriya and walked over to her, worry on her face as she pulled out the chair to sit next to her. She clasped her hand, before breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, dear god thank you…” Nemuri said, before glancing up at the person in question, then back to Midoriya. “The receptionist said that you, your mother, and Yoshihara were all emitted at the same time. What happened?” the tone her voice took, gaining a serious edge to it, was similar to a parent grilling a boyfriend about what happened to their daughter.

That, coupled with the fact that Nemuri referred to the person by their first name, allowed Toshinori to assume that the person across from them was someone close to Nemuri, if not her child. Now giving it a further look, the clipboard sitting in front of the medical bed had read “Kira Yoshihara” in bold characters.

Last Toshinori checked Nemuri’s name was Kayama Nemuri, not Kira Nemuri, unless she recently got married. Though considering there was no ring on her finger he doubted that. That begged the question, just who was this girl to Nemuri?

“Can I ask how you know Kira over there?” Toshinori asked as Nemuri spared him a glance, before sighing. She let go of the Kira person’s hand, sitting up straight with her back against the chair and hands in her lap.

“I adopted Yoshihara nine months ago. I won’t go into the full reason as to why, mostly because it isn’t my story to tell. All you have to know is that at the time it was the right thing to do. The poor girl was lost, without direction. I gave her direction, something she lacked. That’s all there is to it,” Nemuri said as Midoriya stared in disbelief.

This entire time, his friend was the adopted daughter of the Pro Heroine Midnight?! That was insane! “I-I—Huh!?” In response to Midoriya’s befuddlement, all Nemuri did was giggle to herself.

“What? Are you shocked that I, the R-rated heroine, would adopt a child?” Nemuri asked Midoriya, who blushed at her tone of voice. It was a teasing tone. The type of tone one would hear in R-rated material, of which Midoriya was not a complete dunce about. He was a teenager after all.   

"Leave the poor kid alone, Nem,” A rough-sounding voice spoke out from the doorway, as once again, every conscious individual turned to look in that direction. The person who the voice belonged to was…. Rather intimidating to say the very least, though not to Nemuri. And while they hadn’t seen one another since June of last year, and Yoshihara was still fifteen years old, they were still friendly with one another.

The man in question was tall, standing around six foot one inch, with ear-length brown hair. The last time they had seen one another, he was clean-shaven, but now he sported a beard that covered his bare chin. It made him look more rugged in Nemuri’s eyes, the same having gone with the handlebar mustache he now sported.

He was dressed in a white button-down shirt with golden and brown mixed buttons, and a pair of black jeans held up by a pair of suspenders. Over his shoulders was a black, undone parka with a fluffed hood. If Nemuri had to guess why that was, it was because it had been a little chilly out. While it was March and closer to spring than to winter, the wind was still chilly, and there had been a strong breeze outside.

Midoriya stared at the man. Whereas Nemuri did not feel intimidated by his presence, Midoriya certainly did. He gave off the vibe of someone who had a hardened exterior and an even harder interior. The kind of person you didn’t make angry. At least, that was what Midoriya got out of him.

The man glanced at Midoriya, his face devoid of an expression as he spoke. “Hope she didn’t bother you too much. My sister-in-law can be a little troublesome at times,” the man said as Nemuri brushed him off.

“Oh, please, Akira, there’s no need to be like that. I was just teasing him,” Nemuri replied as the man, Akira, grunted.

“My point exactly,” Akira said, shoving his hands into his parka’s pockets. His eyes shifted over to Kira, his expression melting into one of pure concern. “Dear God, what the hell happened? I’ve seen her beat up before but this is a little much.”

“I was actually asking the young man sitting across from her,” Nemuri said as Akira turned to stare at Midoriya, his eyes narrowing with a scathing glare, Midoriya flinched away, his back hitting against the beds headrest as Akira glowered at him.

“If you so much as laid a finger on her I swear not even All Might can save you from what I’ll—”

“Akira, no, that’s not what I meant,” Nemuri interrupted him as he blinked, sheepishly chuckling as he scratched the back of his neck.

“I can see you’re a bit protective of young Kira, then,” Toshinori finally spoke up, having finished watching from the sidelines. Akira glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Who’re you?” Akira asked as Toshinori placed a hand on the left side of his chest in greeting, bowing his head slightly as he spoke.

“Yagi Toshinori. I’m All Might’s personal advisor, and I’ve been scouting this young man for All Might as someone to recommend to U.A.’s recommendation exam,” Toshinori lied through his teeth, Nemuri nodding along with what he was saying. It was the cover-up story that he was going with if he had ever been seen in public by someone and they asked why he was with Midoriya.

The only people who knew about his secret regarding One For All were Midoriya, Sir Nighteye, Mirio Togata—a second year at U.A. going into his third year once exams were over—Gran Torino, and Nedzu. The less important part of his secret, the part of him only having a limited time to be All Might, everyone in U.A.’s teaching staff knew about.

“Ah, gotcha,” Akira said, before giving Midoriya a once over. “Sorry about that, kiddo. I’m a little protective over Yoshihara as your blond friend suggested. I see her as my daughter, took her in when no one else would. Name’s Tomodachi Akira, a pleasure to meet you. I take it you’re Yoshihara’s friend?”

“U-Uh, yeah,” Midoriya responded as his mind raced with questions he wanted to ask him. Was he the same Akira that Yoshihara worked for? If so, he wanted to know why he continued to let her do what she was doing. Why did he let her do… that for a job rather than something less, well, illegal?

But, for the sake of Yoshihara’s privacy, knowing full well that it wasn’t his place to ask questions that he really didn’t need answers to despite his curiosity, he let it go. However, he did have a different, less invasive question to ask. One that he hoped that Tomodachi-san would answer.

“S-So, you… you were K-Kira-san’s first guardian?” As soon as those words left Midoriya’s mouth, Tomodachi frowned, crossing his arms, a look of regret on his face.

“Yeah, I was. I… wasn’t very good at it. Never tried to build a real connection to her that wasn’t strictly business. I blame my father for that. You know what they say “like father like son” and all that noise. I kept a roof over her head and gave her a bed to sleep in and food to eat. Then one day she walked out and decided to live on her own while still working for me. Shit happened, and now Nemuri’s her Guardian.”

The way Akira spoke told Midoriya that it was a sore spot. Something that he didn’t want to talk about. Like he had failed Kira-san in some way. But… what exactly did he do that would make him feel like he had failed her? He knew that tone of voice. The tone of complete dejection and remorse.

Before Midoriya could ask any further, Toshinori spoke up. “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly did she do for you? What exactly was her job?”

Just like that, Akira’s regret-filled face steeled immediately, his gaze becoming pointed as his frown drew into a neutral line. “I’m not at liberty to divulge my former employee’s position of employment at my place of work under the recently passed Minor Workers Privacy bill under Article 12 Section 3 Paragraph 4. All you gotta know was that it wasn’t pretty, and she didn’t like it. Despite that, she forced herself to do it, against my wishes.”

While Toshinori was more than a little suspicious at the sudden switch-up of tone, he wasn’t going to press further. Much like Midoriya, he could tell that it was a sore spot for Tomodachi. And so, to avoid any conflict, Toshinori nodded in understanding, Akira’s features softening as a result.

“Well, seeing as she’s not waking up for the time being, how about we all go waste some time at the local coffee shop until we get a call back from the hospital? Technically we aren’t supposed to be in here,” Nemuri said, pointing at the nurse who had originally tried to stop Nemuri from barging into the room, arms crossed with narrowed eyes.

“Then I suppose we should head out, then?” Akira said as Toshinori stood up from his seat, adjusting his suit top.

"I have to get going as well. All Might wanted me at Might Tower before 7 pm so that he could have word on whether or not Midoriya is fit for doing the recommendation exam,” Toshinori said before shooting Midoriya a glance. Obviously, that wasn’t what it was, he just needed to head home, and Midoriya already had declined the offer to do the recommendation exam two months into their training. “Rest up, Midoriya. I’ll contact you as soon as possible.” 

With that, the adults began to filter out of the room, leaving Izuku, his mother, and Yoshihara all by themselves, with Izuku being the only conscious one of the three. His eyes fell on his mother, who had a bandaged lower jaw and forehead, only exposing her eyes. It made him wonder what had happened. Had the villain gotten her, too? If so, then what became of the villain?

He knew that Kira had said that she would try not to kill them if she could, but would if they refused to cooperate. Did that mean Kira killed the villain when they hurt his mother? If that was the case, then he could fully understand why she did that. After all, if someone had hurt his mother in front of him, and he had the power to make sure they paid for that sin, he would make sure they felt his wrath.

No one hurt his mom without getting hurt back. It was something that Auntie Mitsuki had taught him. No matter what, he had the responsibility to protect Mom seeing as his Dad was far too busy working overseas to maintain a living for them back home. Although, that made Izuku wonder just what it was that his Dad did for a living.

Truth be told he never was able to figure that out. His Mom was very hush-hush about it. As if she was embarrassed on his behalf for what line of work his father was a part of. Was it something bad? Was his father secretly a villain? No! Obviously not! His Mom had said as such when he first asked her about it, and she would never lie to him about that kind of thing.        

Izuku looked over to Yoshihara, his heart soothed with relief over the fact that she was alive. When he saw her plummet from that high up along with his fridge, he for sure thought that she had died. But, to see her here, alive, and having been the one responsible for defeating the villain, he couldn’t have been happier.

He wouldn’t be lying if he said that he had felt as if he had lost something dear to him when he watched Kira fall to what he believed to be her death. While he had only just met her a few days ago, he may or may not have gotten super attached right off the bat. She was the first person in a long time, excluding his mother, who had shown him any fraction of kindness or belief in him.

She looked past the fact that he was Quirkless, and saw someone who needed help. She stepped in and stopped Bakugo from hurting him when no one else would because no one stood up to him. But Kira-san did. Kira did the one thing no one else did and proved to everyone that Bakugo could be knocked down a peg or two.

He appreciated that, and was glad that they were friends. And he was even more glad that she was alive. Hurt, but alive. He honestly wouldn’t know what he’d do if he had lost someone he had already grown so attached to.

Izuku yawned, feeling tired. After what happened today, he was more than a little tuckered out. Especially after being knocked around by an invisible ghost person thing. That was something that bugged him, the whole Stand thing that Kira-san had brought up. Though he’d ask questions later. Right now, what he needed was some good old-fashioned sleep.

And so, without so much as a hint of hesitation, Izuku laid his head onto the pillow behind him, closed his eyes, and took a nap.

[XXXX]

Yoshihara stirred, her head pounding as if someone had slammed a tonne of bricks on her all at once. Every inch of her body ached, and though she knew that she was somewhere that wasn’t in the middle of the Midoriya Household’s living room, she was more than a little cautious when opening her eyes.

The moment her eyes opened, she was greeted with a flurry of whites and monotone greys, mixed with hints of blue and a sterial smell typical of that of hospitals. Adjusting to the light of the room, Yoshihara sat up, looking from left to right, trying to figure out what was going on. Then, it all came back to her like a freight train stopping at a station to drop off unwanted products.

Fly, Fly Away attacking her and Midoriya. Her falling from the twelfth floor and only surviving because Killer Queen was fast enough to hook onto a ledge and avoiding being crushed by a fridge. Her second encounter with Fly, Fly Away, defeating the Stand, then knocking Inko out with Killer Queen, only not killing her to respect Midoriya and to not drive a wedge between their friendship.

And now, here she was, in a Hospital, with Midoriya lying down and sleeping in across from her, and to her immediate right having been Inko, who herself was stirring. A pile of bandages was next to her table, meaning that they had recently been taken off. Her teeth were repaired, meaning someone with a healing Quirk had come along to fix the damage.

Staring at Inko, all Yoshihara could think about was just how stupid the woman was. Although, she couldn’t blame her for her actions. She wanted to protect Midoriya. But, her “protecting” him was only going to ruin his life and his chances, all because she was afraid of him experiencing the world outside of being a child. It was sad and pathetic, and the fact that she believed that he needed to be coddled was sickening.

Though, considering her own experience with her parents, she would’ve preferred being coddled to whatever poor excuse of a family that she had. At least then she could claim that she had someone who cared about her that at least shared her blood. Even if it was in a twisted kind of sense.

As Inko sat up, rubbing her jaw as she scanned the room, her eyes briefly scanned over Yoshihara, before she froze, and then looked over at her. Immediately, a mix of frustration and anger washed over her face, offence gleaming in her eyes as she glared at her. She wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. Now that the mask had come off, Yoshihara doubted it was ever going back on. 

“You…” Inko spat, glaring at Yoshihara. For a split second, an emerald aura washed over her, moments away from summoning her Stand only for her to stop once she saw Midoriya, sleeping in the bed across from them. Her expression softened immediately, the aura dying down as Yoshihara crossed her arms.

It was probably only now that she realized the kind of harm she had inflicted on him. There was an x-ray chart next to his bed, most likely after they had just finished doing one, showing several broken ribs and a cracked collarbone, alongside a slight skull fracture. Yoshihara narrowed her eyes at the x-ray chart, before looking back at Inko, who was still staring at it.

“Well, so much for protecting him. Instead, you hurt him. Badly,” Yoshihara said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, causing Inko to turn back to glare at her, not that Yoshihara was paying attention. “You’re lucky he’s asleep. If he had seen  you look at me like that, I’m pretty sure he would be smart enough to figure out you were the one behind the attack.”

“You were the one who—”

“Who was invited over to your house by your son and it was you who decided to do the insane thing and attack me,” Yoshihara interrupted Inko, before shooting her a glare that was filled with nothing but pure anger and frustration. “I did not provoke you. I kept to myself. All I wanted to do was hang out with my friend. That was all. But then you decided to—”

“No, I—”

“Shut your fucking mouth, and listen,” Yoshihara raised her voice, Killer Queen coming to her side as it loomed behind her, its eyes glowing red with rage, its emotionless expression coupled with the glare giving off nothing but pure hostility. For a moment, Midoriya stirred, causing Yoshihara to glance in his direction, watching him turn to his other side, before looking back to Inko.

“You said you wanted to protect your son from people like me, and I assume you meant “people like me” as in being a Stand User. Well, it’s hard to do that, when you yourself are a Stand User. This was bound to happen no matter what caused it. I’m just finding out I have this power, and even I know that Stand Users attract other Stand Users. A self-proclaimed veteran like yourself should already know that” Yoshihara began as Inko continued to stare, her expression unreadable as she continued.

“I can understand wanting to protect someone you care about. I might not have any personal connection to something like that, but I know that if something were to happen to my guardian or my previous guardian, I would raise hell, so I’m not completely clueless or blind to it. But what you said, what you described, that isn’t protection, that’s imprisonment. That’s abuse. That won’t help anything,” Yoshihara said as Inko frowned.

“And what do you, some rich girl who dresses fancy, know about abuse?” Inko scowled, which earned her yet another glare.

“You don’t know me. I wouldn’t go there if I were you. You’re already on thin ice as it is. Only two things are stopping me from driving my Stand’s fist through your face. Midoriya being your son, and us being in a public place, being recorded by a hidden security camera,” Yoshihara answered as Inko sighed.

“So what? What I do with my son doesn’t nor should it matter to you. It’s my job to protect him how I see fit. And yes, you’re right, Stand Users do attract other Stand Users. I’m not stupid. But that doesn’t matter. You’re a threat beacon to my boy, and I cannot, nor will not allow you to—”

“So are you, dumbass,” Yoshihara interrupted, causing Inko to blink, shock taking up her visage.

“Excuse you?”

“You heard me. So are you. I’m actually appalled you haven’t clued in yet. What if I wasn’t Midoriya’s friend? What if I was an enemy, an actual enemy, a murderer who wanted to get their fix and chose you and your son, while also happening to be a Stand User who was proficient in the use of my ability? Do you even know what my Stand’s ability is?” Yoshihara asked as Inko raised an eyebrow.

“No, I don’t. I can’t see through my Stand. I just assumed it was a regular close-ranged combat type Stand with no real unique ability,” Inko responded as Yoshihara’s expression became flat, emotionless, and cold. It spooked Inko, if only briefly.

“Killer Queen’s primary ability is to turn whatever it touches into a bomb that, depending on what I want, will either detonate immediately or after I press down on my hand with my thumb like a detonator. The best part is that the bomb is transferable, so it doesn’t matter if I touched an object and handed it off to you with Killer Queen overlayed on top of me. The bomb would transfer over to you regardless,” Yoshihara explained, and as soon as she did, Inko paled. But Yoshihara didn’t stop there. She continued.

“So, when Killer Queen touched you by way of punching your face multiple times, I could have killed you right then and there and I wouldn’t have even broken a sweat, because Killer Queen’s bombs atomize anything they destroy. It was why I was confused when you came through the front door. Or, if you really want to feel stupid, if I wanted to, if I really was a bad person, I would have planted a bomb on your tea mug when you offered me tea and had you killed right then and there. And it would have been no sweat off my back to do so, either.”

“You… you mean to tell me that you could’ve killed me, and I never would’ve seen it coming…?”

“Not even remotely,” Yoshihara answered, uncrossing her arms, and letting them rest at her sides. “You let your emotions get ahead of you. You let yourself get worked up over a non-threat, and look where it landed you. The hospital. This whole thing could have been avoided if you just talked. That was it. Hell, I would’ve even offered to do a friendly spare if you were so nervous about me being a Stand User! Why did you automatically try to kill me?!” Yoshihara hissed, keeping her voice low so as to not wake Midoriya.

“I—” Inko went to say something, faltering, before looking away. “When you say it like that, I… I don’t really have a reason anymore, do I?” Inko said, shame covering her expression. “I just… I overreacted. It’s not an excuse. As a matter of fact, I should probably turn myself in. But, if I do that, then Izuku won’t have anywhere to go. Izuku’s father is… absent. And our extended family lives in Hokkaido.”

Inko paused for a moment, pursing her lips, guilt gleaming in her eyes as Yoshihara mentally hummed. She could actually use this to her advantage. Perhaps it was a bit manipulative on her part, but she saw a way to work this in her favour. Considering recent events, she had an idea. All she needed to do was make sure it worked. “I don’t want to turn yourself in, Inko. All I want is an apology, and, something else.”

“Really?” Inko asked, confusion dressing her tone. “That’s it? You don’t want anything else? Just an apology and what I’m assuming is a favour, correct?”

“Correct,” Yoshihara replied, causing Inko to chuff out a breath of air.

“If that’s it, not that it matters because I was going to do this anyway, but… I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Now, what do you want?” Inko said as Yoshihara nodded.

“You see, considering Stand Users are magnets to one another, I’m considering proposing to another ally of mine, who is also a Stand User, to form a group to act as a safety net between one another. I want you to be a part of it. I know it’s weird, considering you just tried to kill me, but as the saying goes…”

“Keep your friends close, and enemies closer. I underestimated you, Kira. You’re smart,” Inko said, rubbing her chin in thought, mulling over the idea. After a moment, she responded. “Well, considering I don’t have much of a choice, I don’t mind. My only question is if I’ll get to meet this other Stand User you mentioned.”

“Eventually,” Yoshihara responded as Inko sighed. It was the best answer she was going to get realistically speaking. “He doesn’t know of this plan just yet. I’m actually hoping to get in contact with you about it so we can set up a meeting sometime this week. I’ll contact Midoriya if I hear anything back from him.”

Inko nodded, before reclining in the hospital bed, cupping her forehead in pain. “Ow…”

“Stop complaining, you deserve it,” Yoshihara quipped, before turning over to her left side, facing away from Inko. Those wounds that she had inflicted on her were going to leave new scars, and it was going to suck. Though, at least now, whatever pain she had been in had subsided. If she were to guess the reason as to why she was no longer in the excruciating amount of pain that she was in before getting here, it most likely had something to do with those two Pro Heroes she had seen before she had passed out.

As soon as that thought ended, one of the aforementioned Pro Heroes came into the hospital room they were in, followed by a few doctors, one of whom carted away the X-ray chart. As for the Pro Hero, it was the pink-haired woman, though now that she wasn’t on the verge of death, she could actually make out her appearance more.

The Pro Hero in question was dressed in a white button-up coat, undone, revealing a tactical vest underneath with the initial M.L. on the front. She had gauntlets covering her forearms up to her wrist, and a pair of metal-mesh gloves covering her hands. She had a standard nurse cap atop her head, and as for the lower part of her outfit, she wore a pair of dark blue slacks, held up by a belt with several utility pouches attached to the sides of the belt, the outfit completed by a pair of crimson red lace-up boots with steel-toes.

Her skin was a shade of white, closer to the peachier side of things, with bright pink eyes which matched her hair, said hair going down to her shoulders in a bob cut. The most noticeable part about her face, though, was a scar above her lip.

“Ah, you’re awake! That’s wonderful,” the Pro Hero said, a smile on her face. “You can call me Medi-Lady. Recovery Girl, my mentor, would normally be the one to treat you but considering she’s having a nap, I’m the one who has to take charge here,” Medi-Lady explained, walking over to Yoshihara as she fished something out of her pocket. “Can you give me your wrist, please?”

Silently, Yoshihara extended her hand and exposed her wrist, as Medi-Lady brought out a needle. Inside the needle was a bright pink liquid, and before Yoshihara could ask, Medi-lady spoke. “The liquid you see inside here is a combination of my Quirk Heal Gel and Recovery Girl’s Quirk, along with ground-up, liquified painkillers and healing boosters.” As Medi-Lady explained, she injected the liquid into Yoshihara’s wrist vein, poking her with the needle as she winced.

Once the liquid was injected, another doctor handed Medi-Lady another needle, whilst yet another doctor applied a patch to Yoshihara’s wrist, taping it over top of her wrist as a means to stop the minor bleeding caused by the needle. Medi-Lady then walked over to Inko, who did the same thing as Yoshihara, extending her hand out for her to inject the liquid into her wrist.

As that happened, Medi-Lady continued her explanation. “Periodically, while you’ve been asleep, we’ve injected doses of the stuff into you, which is why you’re more or less almost ready to go. However, we’re going to have to keep Midoriya Izuku here overnight, as he needs more doses of the medication due to the injuries he’s received. Surprisingly so, as we thought Kira would need more due to her injuries a first glance. Most of her wounds were shallow, with only a few broken bones, leading us to believe that she’s a little more resilient. Not a Quirk, as she has the extra-toe joint, though sometimes humans can naturally take more of a beating.”

After Medi-Lady was done injecting the liquid medicine into Inko’s wrist, she pulled back, before giggling awkwardly to herself, a bit of an embarrassed look on her face. “My bad, I got a little carried away there. But I’m assuming you understand. You and Kira can leave in half an hour. Unless, Midoriya-san, you’d want to stay with your son?”

“Yes, please,” Inko said as Medi-Lady nodded, before turning to look at Yoshihara.

“We got a phone call from a man named Akira Tomodachi. He said he’ll drive you home, seeing as your legal guardian is, in his words, “piss drunk at Dakimo’s Bar and Grill” in uptown Hosu”, are you alright with that?”  Medi-Lady asked as Yoshihara sighed. Of course, Kayama-san was off to get drunk. Then again, her being sloshed was better than not having to deal with her Quirk’s side-effect kicking in. Besides, she was a sleepy drunk anyway, so it wasn’t like Yoshihara had to deal with anything bad when she came home.

“I’m fine with that,” Yoshihara replied as Medi-Lady nodded.

“Very well. We’ll give you some clothes to put on since the clothing you came with was destroyed in the attack with the villain. Come with me, please.” With that, and with the IV being removed from her other wrist, Yoshihara was walked out of the hospital room and taken to a changing room, where she was given a black short-sleeved T-shirt to change into, along with a pair of blue jeans and women's underwear. They didn’t have any bras for her to wear, not that she was complaining all that much. She would just put one on when she got home. And hey, free clothing was free clothing.

After she finished getting changed, she was led to the lobby and sat down in the waiting room. For half an hour, Yoshihara waited in silence, keeping to herself until Akira arrived. When he did, she was shocked to see that the man who had once claimed to hate facial hair, now sported a full beard.

He stared at her for a moment, before gesturing her to follow him out the front door. There was a look in his eye. The same look in his eye that he had when he wanted to talk, though it was obviously about something important, seeing as he wasn’t willing to go talk about it in the hospital waiting room.

That made Yoshihara a tad nervous, and it made her wonder if something bad had happened. It had been nine months since they had seen one another, so a lot must have happened in that time. When they got into the car, with Yoshihara sitting in the back seat on the left-hand side, Akira got into the driver's side seat before starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot. As soon as that happened, Akira spoke up.

“How you doin’ kiddo?” Akira began as Yoshihara shrugged.

“Alright. The last few days have sucked, but otherwise, everything’s alright,” Yoshihara replied, resting one of her arms against the car door armrest. She peered out the window, watching as cars drove past them, with people walking on the sidewalks going to and from wherever it was they were going. Most likely to home from work. She could even see a few heroes on patrol keeping an eye out for villains.

To think that one day, that would be her. Assuming she passed the recommendation exam, that was. A part of her didn’t know what to think about that. Sure, she chose to live with Kayama-san because she said she would become a hero, but now she was starting to have second thoughts. She quite liked her life without strife, and to know that in just a handful of days, she was going to be upending the whole of it just for a chance to become a hero student?

“I still have to give it a shot. At the very least, if I fail, I can tell Kayama-san the truth. But, if I pass…. Then what? It’s not like I care for the life of a random stranger, so why would I go out of my way to protect them? It seems like a waste of time…” Yoshihara thought, looking back over to Akira, who was focused on the road. “But, then again, I owe it to the people who helped me. I owe it to Kayama-san. I owe it to Akira-san. I owe to Otoshi-san and Sayaka-chan… Most importantly, if I can protect the people from monsters like her then…” Yoshihara sighed, closing her eyes as she rested her head against the window. “Fine then, no point in backing out now.”

When Yoshihara opened her eyes and sat up straight, Akira glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Can we talk about something?” Akira asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.

“Why not? Besides, you looked like you wanted to say something anyway,” Yoshihara said as Akira sighed. His hands clenched the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as they did. It was clear he was more than a little anxious about something.

“Yeah. I was trying to think of a way to bring this up, but… I just couldn’t. So, I’ll just say it as it is. You remember Sayaka Takeshi, yeah?” Akira asked as Yoshihara nodded once. Sayaka was Otoshi’s girlfriend, and one of the very few people that Yoshihara genuinely cared about, alongside Akira, Otoshi, and now Midoriya.

It was funny how the two had met. It was back when she first started doing private sessions with paying customers. The night had been rather slow, and she was tired, but still had a few more hours to go before the shift was over. Their meeting had been before she had blown up in popularity, and the client before her, if she had remembered correctly, wanted something simple.

She couldn’t remember the specifics, but it had been the main reason why she was more than a little tired after the fact. She hadn’t been ready for another customer, and then, in walked Sayaka Takeshi. The mask slipped back on, and she was ready and raring to go, dolling herself up for her and putting on the act. An act that Sayaka saw through, and as soon as she did, she then followed up with her request.

She was going to pay her 100,000 Yen. For one act, she paid her 100,000 yen, which was over twice the amount she had posted on her sign for vaginal sex. When she paid her, Yoshihara didn’t know what to do, because most of her clients had been men. But, she was willing to try it, especially for that amount of money. However, that wasn’t what she had asked for. No. After she paid Yoshihara the money, she asked for something absurd. Something downright stupid.

She asked her for dating advice. Got down on her hands and knees and asked her if she had any sort of dating advice. She asked a fifteen-year-old stripper for dating advice, as a 24-year-old woman.

Yoshihara could never forget that day, because she had made a wonderful friend, and had hooked her up with Otoshi, who had just broken up with his last girlfriend after she had cheated on him with someone who he thought was friends with him. So, if something bad happened to her…

“Is everything alright?” Yoshihara asked, confusion lacing her tone as Akira cleared his throat, stopping at a red light. When he did, he made eye contact with her through the rearview mirror, and as he spoke, Yoshihara’s whole world turned upside down.

“She’s in the hospital right now. A different one than the one you were in, specifically in Hosu, closer to Shibuya. I don’t know why, Otoshi hasn’t told me, but she’s in critical condition right now and is going in for emergency surgery. However, my assumption is that it has to do with a recent terrorist attack that happened at the building she worked at. She was shot with some kind of bullet, and that bullet contained some kind of drug according to police reports. They don’t know what that drug does, but they’re looking into it.”

The light turned green, and the rest of the ride of silent. Not a single word exited Yoshihara’s mouth. She just stared forward, at the back of the passenger side car seat, mulling over what Akira had said.

Sayaka was in the hospital. Sayaka was shot.

Someone had hurt Sayaka.

That someone was going to pay.

That was all there was to it. No one touched anyone on her list of people she genuinely cared about without getting what was coming to them. After all, those kinds of relationships were few and far between, especially for someone like Yoshihara. Akira shot her a glance but said nothing as they pulled up to Love Deluxe. Without saying a word, Yoshihara stepped out of the car and silently thanked Akira, a few seconds after she entered the building.

The first thing she noticed was that the receptionist wasn’t at the desk. Though, considering it was the afternoon, she was probably on break. It happened from time to time, and considering it was April, the business's slowest month, it made sense for her to take longer breaks. Besides, most of the clients came in at night from 9 to 12, which was during her shifts.

Yoshihara walked over to the elevator, pulling out the key that gave her access to the suite. She was lucky the staff at the Hospital returned it to her. The doors to the elevator opened, and once she entered and turned the key, she was taken up to the floor where the suite was. Maybe she could use the time she had alone to finish studying for the recommendation exam.

From what she knew, much like the public entrance exam, there was a written portion of the test. She had a feeling it would be harder than the one during the standard entrance exam, so she was going to use the time she had to study.

At least, that was what she had planned to do.        

"Hello, Kira, I believe it’s time we talk about something," the voice of Josefumi Kujo spoke out as she entered the suite. He sat atop the rear cushions of the couch nearest to the hot tub, keeping his balance with his hands gripping either side of the back of the couch. Now, obviously, that wasn’t okay. How the hell did he get access to the suite? And while that was already cause for alarm enough, he wasn’t alone. There was another person with him, a girl, who looked to be about the same age as her and Kujo.

She was of a slim build and average height. She had long, dark hair, and her bangs were styled into multiple, large curls. On her head, she wore a fish-print bandana. Her outfit consisted of a dark-coloured bralette with a zipper in the front, a long vest, and a pair of short jean shorts. Attaching her shirt and shorts was a pair of black suspenders. And finally, to finish off her outfit, she wore striped thigh-high socks with a pair of ocean-themed heels decorated with stars and seashells.

Yoshihara looked at the girl and narrowed her eyes. Why were these people in her home? They had no reason to be here, and frankly, it was pissing her off, more than she already was after finding out what had happened to Sayaka.

“For one, Kujo, who the hell is that,” Yoshihara began as she pointed over to the girl she didn’t recognize. “And secondly, how the hell did you two get into my suite? The only way you’re allowed access is if the receptionist opened unlocked it for you, or, you have a key. And last I checked, I never gave Kujo a key to the suite.”

Just as Yoshihara said that the mystery girl sat up, a smile on her face as she spoke. "Oh! We got up here because we told the receptionist lady we were close friends with you!"

Yoshihara pinched the bridge of her nose. She would have to have a word with Takime-san later. She was a new hire, so she didn’t know the ins and outs of the suite and its rules, nor did she know Yoshihara that much. Hopefully, this won’t happen again.

“Well, that explains a lot. Now, who is she, Kujo? Answers, now,” Yoshihara demanded as Kujo hopped down from the couch, standing next to the mystery girl.

"Kira, this is my Girlfriend, Karera Sakunami. She is a Stand user. Going forth, she will be our ally," Josefumi said as Karera smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Kira-chan. I hope we can get along!”

-To Be Continued in - Our Mission, Let's Be Heroes - Part 1-

Chapter Text

[Original Chapter Published - February 6th, 2022]

[Revised Chapter Published - January 7th, 2023]

[Secondary Revision of the chapter published – June 15th, 2023]

[Final Revision of the chapter published - April 19th, 2024]

If one were to ask the common folk of Musutafu what they would describe their city to be, the most common answer would be “diverse”. Be it because of the various types of food chains, the variety of Quirks, or the fact that Musutafu was known to be The City Of The Mutants or, the less offensive term, The Accepting City. All walks of life, no matter their physical appearance, should be free to live within Musutafu.

And in a country such as Japan, where Xenophobia and Racism against Mutant Quirked individuals were on the rise due to the sudden shift in opinion regarding those with Mutant Quirks—no thanks to The Creature Rejection Clan, or the CRC for short, a city like Musutafu was sorely needed.

But, even in a city where Mutants were accepted, that didn’t stop acts of hate from occurring from time to time. Case in point, what was happening across the street from a local McDonalds, where a group of clean-shaven men surrounded something or someone. All of them were dressed in black, leather coats with the CRC’s logo on the back, which was of a lizard’s face with three slash-marks going through the center of it, encapsulated with a circle. They also wore black leather pants and combat boots.

It was the policy of the CRC to always wear black among their ranks. Only the highest in charge could wear white clothing. And they also had to be clean-shaven, to show that every kind of mutation, even hair was discouraged. Men, women, children, it didn’t matter. Being a human with hair to them was considered a mutation. It was unnatural. Impure.

Another policy of the CRC was that their faces had to be covered to some extent so that no one could identify them. The same applied to this group of individuals, their faces covered by black-painted ski masks, only revealing their multi-coloured eyes. From left to right, there were blue eyes, red eyes, and brown eyes.

And the person who they were surrounding, on the other hand, was just a little kid. A young boy who happened to have butterfly wings and antee. He was dressed in a white and yellow stripped shirt, a pair of blue shorts and grey socks with white slip-on sneakers, and he had black hair with rainbow-coloured eyes, a side effect of his Quirk. The young boy had wandered off from his mother, who had taken him to the arcade nearby.

It was unfortunate that he ran into these men, who were staring him down, after having shoved him down, a bruise forming on his face as he huddled against the wall, shivering in fear. The one in the center, the one with red eyes, scowled under his ski mask, blowing hot air out from underneath his mask.

“Oi, Jugo, whaddya think we should do? We got a freak on our hands,” Red Eyes said as Jugo, the man with blue eyes, smirked underneath his mask, reaching out to the boy, and picking him up from the scruff of his neck. The boy screamed in fear, only to be smacked by Red Eyes. “Quiet, brat.”

The boy whimpered as Jugo scoffed. “We could rip his ugly wings off and burn’em later. Cleanse him of his wretched mutation.”

“Yeah, and his antee, too!” Brown Eyes added as Red Eyes chuckled.

“Good idea, Kazuichi. Ya hear that kid? We’re gonna help ya. Let’s get rid of that awful Qui—”

“Put. The kid. Down,” a monotone, borderline furious voice interrupted Red Eyes, who glanced over in the direction of where it came from. The voice belonged to a young girl, around sixteen years old. She was around five feet flat, and her most defining feature was her extended earlobes with earphone jacks attached to them.

She had fair skin and was a little on the slender side of things. Dark purple, asymmetrical chin-length hair framed her face in such a way that it accentuated her onyx-coloured eyes, both of which were narrowed in a protective fury. She was dressed in a short-sleeved, off-white t-shirt with text in plain English in a dark purple colour “The End Of Villains” sprawled on the front in a pointed font.

She was also dressed in a skirt that stopped just above the knees, along with a pair of mesh stockings and black stomper boots that stopped a few inches above the ankle. A dark purple armband sat on her left wrist, with three deep blue beaded bracelets on her right wrist, alongside a black choker around her neck, seemingly covering something.

Red Eyes stared down at the girl with a sneer underneath his mask, his eyes blazing with fury and annoyance. “Lookie what we got’s here. Kazuichi, looks like you’ll be doing something after all. Get rid of this freak. Shouldn’t take ya that long, she’s just a girl.”

Kazuichi snickered, approaching the girl as he cracked his knuckles. The girl stood her ground, looking over the man’s shoulder to see Red Eyes and the other man, Jugo if she had overheard correctly, marching away with the young boy.

Kazuichi reached out to grab the girl, only to stop when, in the blink of an eye, one of her earphone jacks zipped forward faster than he could perceive, stabbing him in the eye, which caused him to jolt backward, covering his face as he howled in pain. The girl then rushed him, before punching him in the nuts, making him double over in pain, falling to the ground.

A group of onlookers stared in their direction, which gave the girl an idea. The last thing she wanted was to get in trouble, and she had spotted a hero off in the distance just about a few seconds away from reaching them, no doubt coming to check out what the commotion was about.

And seeing as she was a girl...

“DAMN PERVERT! GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF ME, CREEP!” The girl cried, fury on her face as the hero immediately rushed over. They didn’t look all that special. The most notable feature on their face was the chainsaw they had coming out of their head and arms, with a dark yellow cape flowing off their shoulders, along with a dark orange spandex suit with a red X going across their chest. A fellow Mutant Quirk haver like herself, it seemed.

“You alright, ma’am?” The Chainsaw Hero said, his glowing red eyes staring at her with concern on his face, placing a hand on her shoulder as she nodded, glaring down at the collapsed man on the ground.

“More importantly, two guys like him ran off with a child. I was following the kid because I didn’t want him to get in trouble. Can you please go after them?” the girl asked, worry in her voice as The Chainsaw Hero’s eyes narrowed, staring ahead down the road.

“Gotcha kiddo. What’s your name?”

“Kyoka. Kyoka Jirou, and thank you, Chainsaw Man,” Kyoka said as he smiled, his large, sharp teeth-filled face upturning as he did.

“No problem,” and with that, he lunged ahead, a blast of air blowing Kyoka’s hair back slightly as she shielded her face from the wind. Another hero walked up and scoped up the fallen man, a bog-standard hero with no real outstanding appearance in all honesty, chasing after Chainsaw Man as he tried to catch up to him.

Frankly, she was a little annoyed she couldn’t have done anything herself, but the law was the law, and she honestly got lucky that there was a hero nearby. If there wasn’t, then she didn’t know what she was going to do. Chase after them? Maybe, but then what?

Protecting the weak was something that Kyoka wanted to do. Especially those who had been mistreated by people like those assholes over there. And while she had other reasons to want to be a hero, reasons she wasn’t going to get into right now, she didn’t know if she had what it took.

Then again, it was said that most heroes had their doubts in the beginning, so maybe it was something that she could just get over. After all, she had climbed many hurdles before in her life. What was so bad about this one?

Speaking of other reasons to be in a place, Kyoka had partially lied to the hero. She had only just seen the boy getting hounded by those men, and originally she had no intention of stepping in. It was only when she saw his scared, downright pathetic face that she had opted to make it her business.

She, usually, didn’t think like that. But, she had forgotten to take her medication this morning, and only took it when she left the house. Medication for what, exactly? She didn’t know. Her mother and father wouldn’t tell her. No matter how often she asked, no matter how she approached it, they simply would not elaborate.

It wasn’t that she particularly cared, but it did feel incredibly suspicious that her parents wouldn’t open up to her and tell her why she was being medicated. It wasn’t like she had any mental illnesses, of her knowledge, nor did she need to control her Quirk using medication. Sure, she was a little sensitive to sound but that came with the territory of having a hearing-based Quirk.

Theories aside, she was getting sidetracked. The real reason why she was here was to go to her favourite one-stop shop for all things music-related, pre-Quirk Era and post-Quirk Era. It was a little-known, family-run music shop going by the name Loja de música clássica. While her Brazillian wasn’t exactly spot on, she knew that it translated to Classical Music Store.

The store itself was only a few minutes away from where she was. And so, without delay, she began her walk, nothing on her mind at all whatsoever as she hummed the tone to one of her favourite songs, Knocking On Heaven’s Door. It was a pre-Quirk Era song by the band “Guns N’ Roses”.

As she hummed her little tone, her eyes caught something off in the corner of her eye. It was that Chainsaw Hero, arresting the two balding weirdos, whom she had just noticed were members of The Creature Rejection Clan, considering she was now able to see their backs, which had the group's logo on it. Her nose shrivelled in disgust. Clearly, she didn’t give the other guy enough of a beating then.

She could also see the kid desperately hugging his mother, who had also been crying whilst profusely thanking the hero for saving her son. She could hear the whole thing thanks to her enhanced hearing, a side effect of her Earphone Jack Quirk. She was just glad the boy was able to get back to his mother safely. Even if she hadn’t really cared what had happened to him, nor if she had saved him or not, she was glad that at the very least he didn’t suffer at the hands of those pieces of shit.

Maybe it was cruel to think that way. Maybe it was wrong for her to have such a blatant disregard for others well being—well, maybe not blatant but the point still stood. But deep in her heart, she found it extremely hard to care for people she didn’t know. It, to her, sounded outlandish. It made very little sense to her as to why someone would care for a stranger.

Oh, sure, it was a tragedy if someone got murdered, kidnapped, etcetera. But to her, it didn’t matter. It was just another number. Just another statistic. But at the same time, it felt great to save another person. It felt like she was on top of the world, to know that she was the one who saved a life, inadvertantly or otherwise.

Maybe it was that mindset that had been the reason why she was being forced to take pills that she had no idea what it was they did. One thing that she did notice when she was on the pills she took was that she didn’t feel anything. Her emotions were muted. Stunted, even as if on purpose. Her ambition felt weaker than normal.

It was as if the pills she was taking were purposely made so that she wasn’t at her fullest. Wasn’t at her 100% A-Game. Why? What was it that her mother and father were trying to hide from her, and why did it require stunting her ambition and, admittedly, memories—because yes, that was a factor.

She couldn’t remember anything from her early childhood. The youngest she could remember up to was from the age of ten, and that was it. And even then, those memories were foggy at best. So on top of the pills suppressing her ambition, they were also tampering with her memories. Unfortunately, no matter what it was that she did or said, she was forced to take those pills.

Without them, she was a shaky, jittery mess that itched from top to bottom. It was safe to say she was addicted to the pills. She needed them. More specifically, her body needed them. It was like being addicted to trigger or crack or any other form of illicit drug. Which, once again, made her wonder what was in those pills.

Finally, after a few minutes of walking, she found herself standing outside of a storefront. In italic, golden yellow letters, the name of the store sat in front of the entrance with blinking red lights. The display window showed several banners, posters, and music tracks in the form of records hanging off of string and or plastered to the window. Vinyl’s in glass cases sat on racks with labels on the fronts, contrasted by the inside of the store which had several guitars for sale, and a drum kit that she could see through the window.

Kyoka couldn’t help but smile, glancing over to the entrance of the store, and seeing the open sign be turned on. She knew it wouldn’t close for a little while now. Maybe another hour or so. Even if she had a little detour it didn’t impact her that much, which was great. Entering the store, pushing the door open with a half-hearted shove, the sound of a bell rang out.

Immediately fulling it was a buzzing noise, the same kind a fly made. To someone who didn’t know the manager and owner of the store, they would’ve thought a fly was pestering them. But, Kyoka knew the manager and store owner rather personally, what with him having been a former bandmate of her fathers, and also a family friend.

“Yo! Kyo, haha! Meu amigo! It’s been a long time, how have you been?” The voice of the manager had a buzzing-like effect to it, as ruby red, insect-like eyes stared Kyoka down with a gleam of glee and happiness swirling around them. His head was, quite literally, that of a fly’s, mandibles and all. Thin, see-through wings that spanned out for a solid two or so feet jetted out from just above his shoulders, happily buzzing and flapping at fast speeds.

The man wore a bright yellow shirt with an orange vest on top of it. Kyoka couldn’t see past his chest as the counter covered anything past that, but she knew he was more than likely wearing his favourite pair of dark blue jeans. As to why they were his favourites, it was because she had bought them for him on his birthday.

“Beelz! How’re you doing dude,” Kyoka greeted as the man shrugged.

“Eh, could be better honestly. But hey, my day became just a little bit better seeing you in person! Oh, and look how much you’ve grown! Você está tão grande agora! I haven’t seen you since you were thirteen! I was beginning to wonder if something happened to you, your father hasn’t spoken a word since your birthday!”

Beelz, otherwise known as Beelzebub Rameriz—yes, he was named after the Arch-Demon of Greed—had, as previously stated, been family friends with her family since she was in diapers. At least, according to her father. She couldn’t remember that far back even if she tried. And while it was true they hadn’t seen one another in that amount of time, there had been a reason for that.

Beelz and her mother had a falling out. A nasty one, apparently. One that forced her father to stop all contact with them. Maybe it was because he knew something that he shouldn’t have? She knew her mother kept a lot of secrets from her, but she didn’t know why. Beelz knew something, and that was part of the reason why she was here. The other part was to pick up something she had ordered, though mostly to give her mother a reason why she was going to his store.

They had a whole argument about it. How Kyoka was supposed to stay away from Beelz, saying that he was a bad man and that he had “done something unforgivable” and that “he was a criminal” all in a way to try and scare her off. It would’ve worked too, had it not been for the fact that she had known Beelz.

Her doormat of a father didn’t say a word. He just sat there and listened as her mother shit-talked his former best friend. It drove her up the wall about how passive her father was. Day by day, she was starting to lose what little respect she had left for them.

She loved her parents, and she never would not love them, but that didn’t mean she had to respect them. Not one bit.

“Well, I’m sure you know why that is,” Kyoka said as Beelz clacked his mandibles together, leaning against the side of the counter as she crossed his arms.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Essa vagabunda you call a mother is just that. I honestly don’t know what Kyotoko sees in her. Uma bagunça miserável if you ask me,” Beelz quipped as Kyoka shrugged. She had been around Beelz to learn some Brazillain from him, and while she didn’t know the first thing that he had called her mother, though, with the venom in his voice, it probably wasn’t anything pleasant, she knew that he had called her miserable. Which, honestly, wasn’t too far off from the truth.

“You’re not wrong,” Kyoka said as Beelz chuckled, standing up straight. “Anyway, you have my order?”

“Yup, right here, and ya know what, it’s on the house, late birthday gift,” Beelz said as he pulled out the vinyl that she had ordered. It was a one-of-a-kind, special, signed copy of the Beatles' first-ever album. Kyoka barely held back the squeal of joy that had made its damned best effort to eke out, snagging the vinyl from Beelz’s hand and holding it close to her chest, Beelz laughing at the display.

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!!! Thank you!” She was fully willing to admit that she was being more than a dork right about now, but goddamnit she didn’t care! She had originally ordered just their first album. Not the special edition which came with a preview of their next album, nor did she expect it to be the signed version! This was easily worth hundreds of millions of yen, and the best part? It was in mint condition in the same original plastic wrap it had. There were no tears, no attempts at opening it, no nothing!

“Não há problema, meu amigo. Anything for you,” Beelz said as Kyoka cleared her throat.

“Uh, can I get a bag?” Kyoka asked as Beelz nodded, handing her a plastic shopping bag to put the vinyl in. When she did, she hooped it onto her arm, her smile ever radiant. And while she was curious as to how much it cost for him to get that for her, she wasn’t going to ask. It was rude to ask how much a gift had cost. And besides, the last thing she wanted to be to Beelz was rude. Especially after this.

Her smile faded eventually as she remembered what it was she was here for. She was here for answers, and as a serious expression took up her visage, Beelz raised an eyebrow. “What’s with the face, Kyo? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Kyoka asked as she crossed her arms, the bag still dangling from her left arm. “But, I have to ask, what caused the fight between you and Mom anyway?”

Beelz stiffened like a board, an uncomfortable gleam in his eyes shining as he shook his head. “Nope. Can’t say, kiddo. It’s not for me to tell. It was the last thing I promised your father before we parted ways. And you know me, I don’t break my promises,” as Beelz said that, Kyoka frowned. “But….” That got her to perk up again, as Beelz continued speaking. “What I can tell you is that… well, those pills your mother is making you take? I know where she gets them from. Who her dealer is.”

“Dealer? They’re illegal products?” Kyoka thought, a nervous expression on her face. “Dealer? As in, drug dealer? They’re illegal?”

Beelz laughed out loud before his expression darkened. “Big time! If the police caught her buying, she’d be sentenced to life in prison! That’s how illegal! And I can tell you exactly who she buys them from. Ya see, a little ol’ thing about Big B is that I used to work with the local yakuza. Small-time jobs, ya know, nothing major. Just some minor trigger smuggling from time to time, just to make ends meet. Your father was with me, too. It’s why he’s got a koi-fish tattoo on his back, same with me!”

As Beelz began his explantion, Kyoka shifted in place. She knew of his past. It wasn’t a big secret. He was open and proud about it. Which was probably why he didn’t get many customers, looking back at it. “Anyway, the group dissolved when it got absorbed by one of the scariest, meanest players in the business. I left shortly thereafter. I was fine for a while, then they made a leadership change that I personally didn’t mess with. Even lost a finger for it,” Beelz explained, flashing his right hand, revealing that his pinky finger was gone, before shoving his hand back underneath the counter, most likely in his pocket. “And they’re the ones who are dealing that drug to ya mom.”

“So! Who is it, cut the suspense man, it’s killing me!” Kyoka whined as Beelz chuckled.

“Fine, fine. But ya gotta promise me not to tell ya mom, or lash out at her. I don’t know why she’d give you those pills, but just because I hate her don’t mean I don’t trust her. That being said, you should stop taking those pills. Promise me, Kyo.” There was a dead seriousness to his voice. The kind of voice he only used when he really was being serious. So, out of respect for him, she nodded, matching his serious expression with her own.

“Promise, Beelz.”

“Alright,” Beelz said, maintaining his serious expression, his arms crossed. “The people who are giving your mother that drug… is the Shie Hassaikai.”

As soon as that name exited Beelz’s mouth, Kyoka’s face drained of all of its colour. The Shie Hassaikai was one of the very few remaining Yakuza Families in Japan. They mostly stayed within the borders of Esuha and Kamino Ward and had been warring with two other families for control over Musutafu, Hosu, and Shibuya. To hear that not only were they the ones responsible for the pills she was taking, but also the fact that they were Musutafu….

“I know what you’re thinking, Kyo. Don’t. It’s a bad idea,” Beelz said as Kyoka looked up at him, a wave of smouldering anger in her eyes.

“Why?” Kyoka hissed as Beelz sighed.

“I don’t know meu amigo. Well, I do know, but I can’t tell you. If I do, you know exactly what your parents are going to do,” Beelz replied as Kyoka looked away, a sneer taking up her visage. It was one thing that she was taking illegal drugs for whatever asinine reason her parents had, but it was another thing to be openly working with and wheeling and dealing with the fucking Shie Hassaikai.

“It just doesn’t make any sense. I… I thought my parents were above that sort of thing…” Her tone had lost its usual monotone edge and gained a saddened, near-dejected tone in its stead. She looked back at Beelz, who crossed his arms, leaning against the back of the counter again.

“You gotta remember, Kyo. Your father and I were once with The Shie Hassaikai. We know things. Though it was well before you were even born, but that specific drug that you’re being forced to take…” Beelz paused, his mandibles clicking as if he were debating whether or not to continue his sentence. Finally, after a few moments of silence, he continued.

“It’s a roofie drug, mixed with trace amounts of heroin and trigger for its addictive qualities. It’s called “The Jacker” in the circles we used to snoop around in. It’s meant to cause brain fog and numb the emotions and ambitions of people who take it. It used to be a legal drug sold at pharmaceuticals back in the early 2030s to treat bipolar disorder, but after it was found out it contained heroin and trigger, well, you can see how quickly it got taken off the market.”

Kyoka couldn’t believe it. The worst part was that, chances were, she was going to forget all of this. In another five minutes, her pills would fully kick in, and chances were she would end up—

Kyoka collapsed on the spot, and the last thing she heard was Beelz panicking, hoping over the counter, and then, darkness.               

[XXXX]

If there was one thing that Yoshihara was not fond of, it was surprise visits from random people she didn't, or barely knew. Then again, she was fairly certain that anyone in her shoes would feel the same way. However, for this specific occasion, it was worse. The last thing she wanted to see were two people in her home who were both uninvited and unwanted.

So, one could understand why it was that Yoshihara hadn't exactly been thrilled upon seeing the new girl, Sakunami, or Kujo suddenly showing up at her home without warning or anything akin to that. Though, it would apply to Sakunami moreso than Kujo. While she and Kujo had an “iffy” relationship with one another, considering that their first meeting was him quite literally attacking her, she knew nothing about Sakunami.

But, even after just glancing at Sakunami, the first thought that came to mind was that she was a scam artist. It wasn’t just based on gut instinct, it was how Sakunami held herself. From the way she looked, the way she dressed, hell, even the way she was looking at her was suspect enough. The sly smirk, the glimmer in her eyes, she had seen it all before. That was the look of someone who was planning to rob you blind. She had seen it on the streets more times than she had not.

What made it worse was her personality. Yoshihara couldn’t tell if it was a façade or if it was the truth—and she was good at keeping a façade going. And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that she had just finished dealing with someone using a guise to lure her into a false sense of security. She wouldn’t be shocked to find out that this was another one of those situations. Though, maybe not.

For all the flak that she was giving Sakunami, her tone of voice seemed honest enough. But, then again, she could never be too sure about strangers. She knew Sakunami was a Stand User—Kujo had said as much—so maybe that was why she was being so cautious when it came to her. There was a certain air surrounding her that made her skin crawl.

She didn’t like it. Not one bit.

But, at the same time, she felt as if she could drop her guard around her. Maybe it was because of that gleam in Sakunami’s eyes that made her second guess the implied trickery. Or the fact that she was dating Kujo. After all, he seemed like a stalwart kind of guy, so she doubted that he would ever, at least willingly, date someone who had a background in crime. Though, at the same time, perhaps not. 

Then again, she was the last person in the room to be allowed to judge someone based on what they did in the past. If she did, then she would be a hypocrite given her previous occupation. Assuming that what she believed Sakunami to be was true, then if that was what she had to do to survive, then so be it. 

Then, there was the other elephant in the room.

While Kujo was someone that Kira could see herself getting along with, it didn't mean that she was fond of him just showing up out of nowhere like he had. He was the first person to attack her with a Stand, his Soft & Wet, and it was the first time she came inches away from death in a long time, intentionally or not.

Thankfully, the outcome of that battle was something that landed in her favour. But just because it was all “water under the bridge” so to speak, that did not automatically mean he could just waltz up to her suite and barge in without asking for permission to be there.

“So, Kujo,” Yoshihara began, her tone dripping with annoyance, causing him to flinch. “You do know that you’ve broken into my apartment. Which is a crime might I add, seeing as I did not invite you into my home,” Yoshihara continued as Kujo scratched the back of his neck.

“Look, I know, and I’m sorry. But we need to talk—”

“No. No, we do not. Need I remind you, Kujo, that you almost killed me? Not only that but you were not invited here either by me or by Kayama-san. You lied to the staff saying you were my friends, which you are not. You are acquaintances at best in terms of yourself, and nuisances at worst. I have half the mind to drag you out myself,” Yoshihara interrupted, her irritated expression morphing into an angered one as Kujo sighed.

“Look, Kira… this is important. I know what I did was wrong, and hindsight is 20/20. But please. You’re a Stand User, so I figured this would be important for you to know. At least give me a chance to explain myself before doing that. If you don’t want to be involved, then that’s fine. You probably won’t see me again if that’s the case. But please at least hear me out,” Kujo said as Yoshihara opened her mouth to say something before she clamped her mouth shut.

While normally she would’ve said something snappy in reply, there was something in his tone of voice that made her brain scream to at least hear him out. If it wasn’t obvious, he was desperate. But why? Why was he desperate? And more importantly, why did he come to seek her out? If this was so important, why couldn’t he find someone else? Was it because of where she lived? If that was the case, then why talk to her and not Kayama-san?

“You’re a Stand User, dumbass… it probably involves Stand Users, and Kayama-san is not one…” Yoshihara reprimanded herself. How did she not come to that conclusion immediately? She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, a frown taking up her visage. The moment she found out about her Stand, it had been like this. For whatever reason, everything was starting to happen for her now.

Was it a curse? To be dragged into everything and anything all at once just because she realized what her power was? She would’ve thought otherwise if stuff like this hadn’t kept happening. Hell, she just wanted to get some rest after a life-or-death situation she had not but even a few hours ago! Couldn’t this wait until tomorrow?

Yoshihara sighed, dialling back her frustration.“Whatever, it’s best to get it over and done with.” With that thought, she looked back at Kujo and her frown disappeared in favour of a neutral gaze. “Alright, you’ve got one shot, and if I’m not interested, then you can piss right off. But first…” Yoshihara drawled as she looked over to the other annoyance in the room. “So, Sakunami-san… you're a Stand User?" Yoshihara questioned as Sakunami smiled.

"Yup! Though most people confuse my ability with a Quirk since I'm related to the Pro Hero: Love Deluxe!" Karera paused to put her hand facing away from Josefumi to her mouth, only to speak in a hushed tone. "By the way, her real name is Yui Sakunami, she's my mom!" As she spoke, Karera crossed her legs together on the designer leather couch, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder. "I'm assuming you don't know about her since she's low-ranked in the hero system," Karera finished.

Yoshihara, rather than being annoyed with how bouncy and bubbly Sakunami had been, was amused. She clearly had loads of energy, if that performance was anything to scoff at. Yoshihara cupped her chin in thought at the mention of Sakunami’s mother. Yui Sakunami, otherwise known as Love Deluxe. The first thing that came to mind was that her hero's name was close to the name of the Love Hotel Kayama ran, perhaps the hero in question was inspired by it.

The second thing that came to mind was the fact that she had never heard of that hero before. Sure, there were plenty of heroes that she had never heard about before. Dozens and dozens of heroes went unrecognized, so it wasn’t a stretch to believe that such a thing was happening in this scenario.

But, unlike most of those heroes, at least with them she had heard reference to them once. But with this “Love Deluxe” individual, aside from right now, she had never heard of them. Maybe they were just that obscure? A lot of heroes fell through the cracks, so she wouldn’t have been shocked if that was the case.

Still, it was a little unnerving. Although, maybe that was just the paranoia talking. “Hmm, I’ve never heard of a “Love Deluxe” before. The only thing similar would be the name of the hotel. Are you sure your mom’s a hero and not a vigilante? Not a single billboard in Musutafu has mentioned a hero going by that name—and a lot of obscure heroes work here, so I would’ve thought to have seen someone going by that name by now,” Yoshihara said as Sakunami smiled from ear to ear, rocking back and forth on the couch as she gripped her ankles.

“Either she’s super excitable, or she has some form of ADHD…” Yoshihara thought, looking at Sakunami with a skeptical gleam in her eyes. Before Yoshihara could continue her line of questioning, however, Sakunami spoke. 

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense. That's because she doesn't live in Musutafu, and she probably isn’t well-known enough to be on the nationwide list,” Sakunami said, answering her first question and second unspoken question in one fell swoop.

“That much of a rookie, huh?” Yoshihara muttered as Sakunami shook her head.

“Nope! She’s been doing hero work for years and years now! She just doesn’t leave the place we grew up in. I wouldn’t have, either, if it wasn’t for Fumi-kun~!" Karera said, clinging onto Kujo's right arm, leaning into it like a puppy starved of attention. He chuckled nervously, as Yoshihara’s attention drew over to him, an eyebrow raised as Kujo rubbed the back of his neck.

"Heh, yeah. I moved out here a while ago, mostly because of the reason I'm here with Karera, and now talking to you…" Josefumi said, scratching the back of his neck. "I have to say, living in such a bustling city sucks. I’ve lived in one before, just not one this busy. It's stressful, that's for sure! For the last nine years or so I’ve been living in a small town, mostly on my own with financial help from my Dad. So getting readjusted to the city has been a little tough on me…" Josefumi continued.

Yoshihara, for her part, was intriqued. Kujo had been living on his own up until now. While she could tell it wasn’t because he didn’t want to, it still made her curious as to where it was he could’ve lived.

Not many people liked living on their own unless they had no choice. It raised a question of what his parentage might have been. Maybe they were more similar than she would’ve liked. That wasn’t a good thing, either.

No one deserved to go through the same crapshoot of a life she had to suffer through. She hoped that he didn’t share a similar life growing up. She wouldn’t even wish that on her worst enemies. Not even the person who put her through it in the first place.

No one deserved that.

No one.

That aside, Yoshiahra silently cleared her throat, before placing one of her hands on her hip, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Then, if you don’t mind, may I ask where you two are from? It’s not often someone hears about someone the same age as a teenager living by themselves of their own volition," Yoshihara asked as Sakunami let go of Kujo's arm, beaming with a bright smile.

"Oh! You probably haven’t heard of it. It’s a little bit of a backwater town closer to the ocean than any other town. But, if you’re really that curious, we both hail from Morioh! Or, well, at least I do. I was born there, Fumi-kun wasn’t, but that’s semantics! It's like, what, a couple of hundred kilometres away, maybe about five, six miles away? Eh, I don't know, I didn't pay attention really," Sakunami said with a shrug.

As soon as Karera brought up the town "Morioh," Yoshihara's heart skipped a beat, and her skin went pale white. For a moment, just a moment, Yoshihara’s hands shook as she uttered the name of that town. "M-Morioh?" Yoshihara muttered as Karera raised an eyebrow.

"YEAH! Do you know about it? It's super famous for its Miso with Marinated Cow Tongue! Though not much else…" Sakunami said, glancing over to the left, before looking right back at Yoshihara as she leaned forward.

Yoshihara, for her part, swallowed a lump in her throat. Her pupils dilated, and she began to sweat. She tried to open her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Her right hand clenched into a fist so hard that it drew blood.

The shaking got worse as time progressed, and it was only then that Sakunami looked a little disturbed. Not that Yoshihara could hear anything. Her hearing had become nothing but static, as her heart raced faster and faster.

Why that place? Why mention that place? Anywhere but that place.

Morioh.

That cursed town.

That town where she lived.

The one she ran away from, the one where she….

"Morioh…" Yoshihara muttered again, her voice trembling as she spoke. Why did that punk have to mention that fucking town? It was her hometown, that's what Sakunami had said. She didn't care about that. But why, why, did it have to be Morioh?

"Uh… Kira-san, are you okay?" Kujo asked as Yoshihara’s sky-blue eyes looked up at Sakunami, then at him. He shot her a look of worry, getting up off the couch as Yoshihara’s breathing turned erratic, her pupils dilating even further, and her legs began to wobble. That was when it finally set in what was happening, as Kujo’s tone of voice went from casual to authoritative in a matter of seconds. "Karera, I think she's having a panic attack, I—"

"M-Morioh… I… Wha—? I… I don't want… no…!" The blond spoke randomly as her vision began to blur, and her hearing began to fail her. Tears began falling from her eyes and staining her cheeks. Memories that she had buried for years and years began coming to the surface. Dreadful, awful, suppressed memories.

The ringing from before grew louder and louder, causing Yoshihara to cover her ears, not that it would’ve helped her any. Her vision began to fully fade to black. The last thing she saw was Kujo walking over to her as Sakunami went to call someone. Before she passed out, the last thing she heard was the suffocating sound of her own heartbeat and rapid breathing as she collapsed to the floor.

Before she went unconscious, she could only think of one thing. Something that had stuck with her since the day she left, and would continue to stick with her for the rest of her life. The sole reason why she had fled that place to begin with. 

Morioh was where the bad people lived… It was where she lived.

It was where that monster lived.

[Wednesday, January 7th, 12 years ago - Morioh]

A little girl no older than four sat alone on a dirty, mostly broken couch in an unclean, disgusting living room, staring down at a bowl of weeks-old miso soup. Her unkempt blonde hair drooped over her forehead, partially blocking her vision. She wore a stained white shirt and black pants, and her skin was covered with dirt and grime, along with a few bruises. She hadn’t been cleaned in days, and she was not allowed near the bathroom.

It often caused problems. Accidents that she didn’t mean to happen. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it. She would just have to “suck it up” and “get over it.” It was bad, and a part of her knew that this wasn’t normal. But it was normal for her. To be unclean. To be dirty.

To be treated like nothing more than a used tissue.

As for the soup, it looked rancid, and it smelt rancid along with just about everything else in the room, nay the house. And just like everything in the house, to say it was expired would be an overstatement at best, and an understatement at worst.

Regardless of that, however, the girl was given nothing else to eat. Not because she had no other options, but because she wasn’t given any other options. She made sure the girl understood that time and time again. Aside from the soup and its off-putting smell, the only thing to accompany her was the sound of a buzzing light fixture and the chatter of an older woman making a phone call just across from the table that the young girl ate at.

She looked at the soup, then at the busy woman, then back to the soup. The little girl’s stomach rumbled. She hadn’t eaten in days, not because they were too poor to afford food, but because the woman in front of her refused to feed her. In fact, it would be less of a stretch to say that the woman probably forgot about her… or at least pretended to.

It was funny… she never pretended to forget her when it happened. When those awful people would come to their house. They would hand money over to the woman, and then it would happen. She would always watch it with a smile on her face…

It always hurt. They said they would be gentle. They never were. It always hurt no matter what. If she cried, it would hurt more. If she asked them to stop, then it would hurt more. She learned to just stay quiet. To let it happen. If she didn’t, she would get mad. And if she got mad, then she would make her hurt.

If she was a good girl, then it would happen less often, as too would the beatings. But, she was never a good girl. So it and the beatings kept happening.

Her stomach felt queasy. She wanted to puke, even though there was nothing in her stomach to throw up. Nonetheless, she wanted to, anyway. But, if she did, then she would get mad. She hadn’t been mad in a little over a week. It hadn’t happened either, so that was good. Maybe, just maybe, things would be okay.

If she could just stomach the food in the bowl… Then maybe, just maybe she could avoid it for another two days. That would be a new record. She always liked to set new records. New records meant new things. New clothes. New food.

Less of it.  

But, even with that desire deep in her heart, sometimes, her mouth did things that her brain didn’t want. Which resulted in a lot of accidental questions. Questions that made her mad. And this was one of those times. "Mom… Do I have to eat it?" The young girl asked her voice low, barely even above a whisper.

She didn’t hear her. That was good.

She didn’t want to be beaten again. That never felt good. Being hurt. That was normal, right? To not feel good after being beaten?

She wouldn’t know. The little girl wasn’t allowed outside of the house.

Not unless she said so.

If the little girl was caught doing anything that wasn’t sitting in that place she would be beaten. If she spoke without being spoken to, she was beaten. If she did anything that the woman deemed unwanted, which included coming out of that place at any point in the day that wasn’t when she was being actively called out of there, she would be beaten.

Sometimes, the beatings wouldn’t last too long. A single slap, or a single punch. But there were days that they’d go on for hours… how she lived through all of them was a miracle. She remembered one time when the woman had beaten her so badly that she had broken an arm...

Or the time when the woman had dragged a butcher's knife across her back, slashing over the only thing that apparently reminded her of Father…

Where was Father, anyway? Why wasn’t he here to stop her? The woman wouldn’t tell her what happened to Father… was Father dead?

If Father was dead… then that meant… that meant she had no one else to turn to…

She didn’t want to be stuck here. She couldn’t be stuck here…

“M-Mom… D-Do I really have to e-eat it…?” the little girl’s voice became shaky. She knew she was pushing her luck talking for a second time in a row, but even though her stomach growled, even though she knew she wouldn’t eat again for another few days if she spoke up. But, despite that, despite knowing that this would probably be the only meal she would get for the next little while, she didn’t want to eat this .

And that was when she got her attention. 

The woman in question was a taller, healthier-looking individual. She was on the phone, talking to someone. She wore a black, pinstripe business suit with a white shirt underneath and a bright red tie. She wore her hair in a ponytail so that it would stay out of her eyes. Her skin was slightly pale, and her eyes were a solid shade of black. She wore red lipstick, and she had tattoo’s on her knuckles that said "Love" and "Hope" respectively.

The reason why she was dressed in a suit was because she had just gotten home from work. Wherever “work” was. The little girl didn’t know, but it was why she wasn’t home very often. That was a good thing because the little girl didn’t like her. She would rather be lonely than in the same home, room, or space as her.

Unfortunately, today was not one of those days that she would be at work for hours and hours. Today, she had gotten home early.

“One moment please,” the woman said, her tone cheerful as she pulled the phone away from her ear, covered the speaker with her hand, and briefly looked over at the little girl as she sneered. "You'll eat what's given to you, brat. Now eat it, or else you won't eat for another week, got it? I didn't raise an ungrateful brat, did I?" The woman spat.

"No, mom… you didn't…" the little girl said, her hands shaking as she grabbed the spoon in the bowl. She got nauseous… no, she didn’t want to eat it, but she had no choice. Mother was staring at her now, expecting her to take a bite. She knew the food was rotten. It was why she was smiling….

The little girl dove the spoon into the soup and pulled out a chunk of severely mouldy tofu. Once again, she felt the urge to vomit, but she couldn’t. And so, as the woman’s eyes narrowed, she had no choice but to eat the spoonful of the disgusting soup. The moment it touched her tongue, her gag reflexes kicked in as she was barely able to keep it down. Mother stared at her, her gaze lingering for a few more seconds, just in case she spat up the food.

The little girl swallowed the disgusting food… her stomach roaring in response. Sometimes, she thought her stomach was alive. Sometimes, she thought it would talk to her and tell her she was being mistreated.

She knew that… but she had nothing or no one to help her.

“That’s a good girl. I raised you right after all,” Mother spat, snickering to herself before turning to face away from her, continuing her conversation over the phone. The little girl had the urge to spit back "I hate you," but she knew that if she did, she'd get punished for "being ungrateful."

The woman in question who had spat the little girl out into this world cared not for the child's wellbeing. As far as the woman was concerned, the child was a mistake. Ever since her husband, Yoshimura, went to work in mainland China, the woman has been stuck with his child for the foreseeable future.

It wasn’t always this way. The woman knew that, and it had been nagging at her for a while. Why she had begun to hate the little snot-nosed brat didn’t make any sense to her. But, then again, her brain was so far from normal that it didn’t matter.

She refused to take those pills ever again.

If she couldn’t be happy with them, then no one could be happy when she wasn’t on them. Petty as it was, that was how she functioned. The brat be damned, she didn’t care. She found herself not caring about a lot of things lately. And she liked that. She liked not having to care about anything.

Including the crotch goblin that was sitting across from her. 

Yoshikawa Kira was many things, but a mother was not, nor will it ever be, one of them. When Yoshimura had impregnated her, she wanted nothing to do with the baby. However, since abortion was made illegal in Japan 20 years before she had been born, Yoshikawa wasn't able to abort the baby. So, she had to stick with it. It was at the same time that Yoshimura had to leave for work. He was there for the baby's birth, but he had to go back to China to continue his "important studies."

He was there long enough to name the baby, that name being Yoshihara—not by choice, mind you. He was rather distraught by the fact that he had to leave so soon after witnessing the birth of his child, but that was in the past. That didn’t matter anymore. She was still bitter about it, as she had every right to be. But, that was beside the point.

The point was that her family had a tradition, and he wanted to honour it. And that tradition was a very simple one. It was a tradition within the Kira bloodline for the first part of the firstborn child’s name to be "Yoshi.” It was a tradition that had been going on ever since the Edo period and one that her husband had been infatuated with.

He saw it as a sign. Both because his name and hers coincidently had “Yoshi” as the first Kanji. And yes, it was a coincidence. She had even got a DNA test done for him just to make sure he wasn’t some far-off removed cousin of hers. Thankfully, he hadn’t been. But still, one never knew when it came to family trees.

The point was that Yoshimura was obsessed with her family’s traditions. So much so that, a month before Yoshihara was born, he had begged and pleaded to allow him to name their child something related to it.

It wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to name their daughter Aiyako. But, Yoshimura was presistent. So, she caved, and let him. Hence, Yoshihara.  

The name was supposed to read as - Yoshi ( 吉 ) Meaning, Good or in this case "Lucky." And then there was Hara ( 原 ) Meaning Field, or in this case, "Plain." Together, it was supposed to read as – Lucky, but plain girl.

However, as far as Yoshikawa was concerned, Yoshihara would never be a true Kira in her eyes. That piece of shit Yoshimura wasn’t the Kira of the family despite what the marriage document said. That was her. And as far as she was concerned, Yoshihara was more a part of Yoshimura’s family than she’d ever be a Kira.

That aside, there were other reasons why Yoshikawa hardly had time to care for the waste of skin that was the unwanted brat. First of all, she was a businesswoman and had no time for raising a child. A part of her considered dropping the brat in an orphanage and forgetting about her. However, Yoshimura would've been furious if she did, and as much as Yoshikawa wanted nothing to do with the kid, She knew that if that child wasn't in the house, Yoshimura would leave her.

She loved her husband more than anything in the world, and as far as Yoshimura was concerned, Yoshikawa was taking great care of his baby girl, unknowing of any of the abuse going on at the home.

It was no fault of his own, as whenever he called home via video call, Yoshikawa made sure to dress his daughter up in the best clothing she could find, bathe her, and put make-up over any bruises.

In other words, Yoshikawa was only keeping Yoshihara alive as a means of keeping her husband with her. Had he divorced her at any point, Yoshihara would've been either killed or thrown in an alleyway and left to fend for herself.

The child, Yoshihara, could no longer hold back the soup in her stomach as she gagged, spitting up the vile miso soup, the chunks of mouldy, partially digested tofu lay on the dirty floor surrounded by mucus, flem, and stomach acid. As soon as she did that, Mother sharply turned her head to face Yoshihara.

Fear, panic, and anguish danced in her eyes. She screwed up and earned the ire of Mother. In that split second of respite, she begged God, if there was one, to save her. She begged someone, anyone, to save her. Oh, what she’d give for Police Chief Higashikata to come back and rescue her... She wanted to scream, but if she did Mother would just do worse…

And just like any other time she prayed for someone to help her…

Nothing came.

Yoshikawa hung up the phone abruptly before she grabbed Yoshihara by the arm, the grip being so firm that she knew that spot would bruise. She had to force back a panicked yelp, as Yoshikawa glared at her with malice so intense that it rivalled some of the more terrifying villains in the world. "How dare you waste the food I prepared for you! You ungrateful little shit!" Yoshikawa shouted, slamming Yoshihara's face into the table with her free hand, causing the child to gasp.

As her head was forcibly ripped up from the table, Yoshikawa saw blood dripping down the girl's nose, her sneer still displayed on full, putting the fear of God in Yoshihara, who couldn’t help but crack under the stare, as she cried.

It only made things worse.  

As the tears ran down her face, Yoshikawa growled like that of an angry bear. As soon as Yoshihara started to cry, Yoshikawa wasted no time slamming Yoshihara’s face into the table repeatedly. Every time Yoshikawa would slam Yoshihara’s face into the table, she would spit out a single word in order to complete a sentence, and it was all done filled with fury, rage, and hatred.

"How!"

"Dare!"

"YOU!"

When Yoshikawa finished and let go of Yoshihara’s head, she then shoved her back against the couch. Tears welled up in Yoshihara's eyes as blood ran down her now busted upper lip, her more than obvious broken nose, and her forehead.

Yoshikawa’s anger only doubled at the sound of Yoshihara’s crying, which only proceeded to make things even worse. "STOP CRYING!" She shouted, slapping Yoshihara across the face, hard enough to make her whole body move to the other end of the couch. "ONLY GIRLS WHO BEHAVE AND LISTEN DESERVE TO CRY! GOT IT!" Yoshikawa screamed, causing her to cry harder, which earned Yoshihara another slap across the face. This time, it was hard enough to cause the girl to fall onto the floor, her hand banging against the side of the table, which only made her cry even more.

Yoshikawa, not wanting to hear the whining and bawling of Yoshihara, picked her up by the back collar of her shirt and dragged her across the floor face first. The dirty, dusty wooden floor scraped across Yoshihara's face as she tried to choke back her tears. But no matter how hard she tried, they just kept coming.

In a desperate bid to get her to let go, Yoshihara clawed at Mother's hand, her uncut nails clawing and scrapping at her wrist, until finally, she actually caught some skin under her longest nail, that one being her index finger.

She peeled a thin strip of skin off, which was what caused Yoshikawa to stop moving. A curse spat out from her lips, and then, without any chance to recover from being dragged, Yoshihara was thrown into a closet with a piece of paper that read "The time out closet” slapped on the front.

When she hit the rear wall of the closet, all of the air in her lungs was forced out, causing her to cough while choking back tears, all the while Yoshikawa stood at the front of the closet, glaring down at her with her evil, soulless black eyes, while at the same time, she shouted at her.

"DON'T COME OUT OF THERE TILL YOU'RE DONE WITH YOUR NONSENSE, BRAT!" She shouted as she slammed the closet door shut, leaving Yoshihara to her own devices. Yoshikawa growled, rubbing her wrist, cursing under her breath. The brat had scratched it up, badly. She scoffed. She would be impressed if it weren't for that brat being hers.

As Yoshikawa walked away from the closet, Yoshihara continued to cry. Her face hurt, her body trembled, and no matter how hard she tried to stop crying, her eyes just kept welling up. She had come so close to making a new record, but it was all for naught. All because her stupid stomach couldn’t handle some old food. Because of that, she had to start over again.

It would happen again.

Her mother would beat her again.

All because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

Why? Why did her mother hate her so much? What did she do wrong? Why wouldn’t her mother love her? Weren’t all parents supposed to love their children? Why was she the exception? She had to be doing something wrong, but no matter what she did, her mother would never love her.

Why?

Why?

Why?!

As Yoshihara cried, curling up into a ball to protect herself from whatever was about to come, she hoped—prayed—that Police Chief Higashikata would save her. Or a hero. Any hero, really. She didn’t care. She wanted to be saved.

She needed to be saved.

But, unfortunately for her…

No hero came to save her from her mother and those awful, awful men. And it wouldn’t be for another two years until she was finally given a chance to escape.    

[Present Day]

Karera felt bad, and to be fair, anyone in her situation would be the same, assuming they were normal individuals. Two hours had passed since Kira Yoshihara had a panic attack and subsequently passed out, and in that time, Karera had been beating herself up over it, much to Josefumi’s chagrin. Part of it had to do with the fact that she had never seen someone freak out about something that seemed so inconsequential. And yet, here Karera was, standing in Kira’s bedroom, with her having passed out with an icepack on her forehead.

Karera sat on the edge of Yoshihara's bed, keeping a close eye on her, while Josefumi stood in the corner of the room, facing Karera on his phone, typing away to someone about their current situation. She glanced over at Yoshihara, sweat pouring down her forehead as she breathed heavily.

It was so strange. She had seen other people have panic attacks before, but none of them were ever this bad. To some degree, she could understand if she had mentioned something triggering on accident, but all she did was mention her hometown, Morioh.

How could the name of a town bring out something like that? To cause someone who, at least from her perspective, cold-faced and uncaring to suddenly freak out so badly that they pass out. It made her wonder just what could’ve happened for Kira to develop such an apparent and obvious fear of Morioh.

For as far as Karera had lived in Morioh, she never got the suspicion that the place was some kind of cursed place. The police were nice, there was next to no crime rate thanks to Police Chief Higashikata—even if he was in his late 80s, though considering he was a Hamon Master being 80 didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things—and the amount of heroes in Morioh.

The heroes in Morioh weren’t the strongest, but then again, neither were the villains in Morioh. The last and only real major problem Morioh had to deal with as a collective was that one serial killer, Yoshikage Kira, and even then, afterward, The Kira family did whatever it was they could to get back into the good graces of the people.

Yoshikage was an oddball. Everyone knew that. The Kira family had been one of the founding families of Morioh. Hell, before it was Mayor Daichi Hirose, it was a man by the name of Chihiro Kira. However, that was well over 60 years ago, and he had been dead for a while since then.

From what Karera knew about The Kira Family after Chihiro had his daughter, they went radio silent. And while Chihiro was spotted around the town, he never made an attempt to run for re-election once his term was up. He kind of just fell to the wayside, and let Daichi take the position.

Now, Daichi was 77 years old, and while he wasn’t exactly the best mayor, he was better than his rival for the spot, Ichinose Tadakawa. But that was three years ago, and Karera no longer lived in Morioh to care about the current politics.

Her point in all of this was her trying to figure out how Kira-chan grew such an intense fear of Morioh to the point of causing her to have panic attacks whenever it was mentioned. It wasn’t normal, which led Karera to believe that something traumatic must’ve happened to her there. Something so incredibly horrible that it made her afraid of so much as thinking of Morioh.

And to that end, it made Karera want to beat herself over the head with a plank of wood. Sure, she couldn’t have known this would be what happened when she mentioned the name of her hometown, but still! The last thing she wanted to do was cause someone who she was trying to befriend any sort of pain.   

Pushing those thoughts out of her head, Karera decided to think about something else. The less she thought about depressing stuff, the less depressed she would be about the situation. So, she decided to think about the one person that made her smile the most. Her wonderful, amazing boyfriend, Kujo Josefumi.

What was there to say about him? Well, for starters, he was the light of her world. They had been close friends since grade school. They had a friend group, consisting of herself, Josefumi, some Italian girl and an Italian guy. Giorgio or something like that. The Italian girl she forgot the name of. She knew that her name started with an M but that she couldn’t remember anything else.

Apparently, she was dead. Which sucked, but considering that they never found a body, she was very skeptical about the whole thing. And considering her affiliations, it could’ve been a lie. The last time she had heard anything about those two, they had joined Passione back in Italy, though to what extent they had travelled the ranks, Karera neither knew nor cared.

Those two aside, back to the important person. Josefumi. He had been the major reason why she didn’t fall out into obscurity, forgotten about by time itself. Their first meeting was a brief scuffle, but when they found out that they were Stand Users, they became fast friends.

The couple had gotten to know one another over the course of six years, and it was only two years ago that they had started dating. The story behind that was funny, if not a little bit on the sad side, depending on who you asked.

Karera first caught feelings for Josefumi during a dark period in her life. Her mother had been falling down the MLA pipeline thanks to a co-worker, and her father had recently died of Stage 4 lymph node Cancer. Karera was 14 at the time of this happening, and it had caused a rift between herself and her mother.

Her mother would stay out for long periods of time, meaning Karera had to find something to do in that time. And so, with her Stand, she decided to scam people. She had been getting into hairstyling, and so because of that and her knowledge of how to cut people's hair, she would “cut hair” using her Stand, and then, when they paid her, just far enough away for her Stand’s ability to wear off, and when their hair would grow back, it had been the perfect scheme.

Over that year, she had made over a million yen in scamming people in Morioh. But, that was when Police Chief Higashikata caught her. How? Well, she tried to pull the same trick on him.

Needless to say, it didn’t end well. He sniffed her out immediately, knocked some sense into her, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that she needed the money, she probably would’ve been made to return it all. She hadn’t been expecting him to be a Stand User, so sue her! That thing hit like a freight train slamming into her!

If she remembered what it was called, she believed it was called Crazy Diamond or something like that. Apparently, when he was younger, it hit ten times harder. He even joked about it, saying that it was strong enough to knock out his nephew on accident! And his nephew was the legendary Jotaro Kujo!

How that came to be, though, was a story for another time. Something about stopping the universe from being reset because of some egotistical priest or something stupid like that. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Stands existing, and her being aware of them, she would’ve never believed that.

Back to the topic at hand, when her scamming scheme was shut down by Higashikata, she had nowhere else to turn to. Luckily, she never dabbled in drugs or anything like that. She wasn’t that desperate to get away from her further radicalized mother to delve into literal mind-killing alternatives like heroin or crack.

All she had back then was Josefumi. And even then, he had been growing distant. She was worried that, soon, she would be without friends. And that had been shaping up to be a possibility nearing the end of the school year. Josefumi actively avoided her like the plague, and she didn’t even know the reason for it.

For a little while, she believed she was going to be left all alone. 

That was until Josefumi asked her out on a date.

When that had happened, she had been so caught off guard by it that she was left speechless. Apparently, at the same time that she had caught feelings for him, the same had happened to him but in the reverse. He had caught feelings for her and had no idea what to do about them.

But, that was all in the past. Now, they were together, and Josefumi had promised that after they finished high school they were going to get engaged and married. That was how deep their relationship went, and he nor she regretted it. They were like a match made in heaven—even Josefumi’s dad, who hadn’t exactly liked her for the longest time, had started to warm up to her!

When they started dating, it felt as if her whole world had been turned upside down, and in a good way! She had never had so much fun in her life. She got to travel the world, from Japan to Dubai, and from Dubai to Britain, and from Britain to America, and then from America back to Japan. And that was just the highlight. She liked Thailand the best, but it held no candle to Dubai or Egypt.

That aside, despite all of the good memories, right now, she felt as if she had been dragged right back to where she was before they had gotten together. She felt like shit, and all because she had accidentally caused someone to suffer—and that was the last thing that she wanted to do.   

It wasn’t like she had meant to send Yoshihara into a downward spiral of tears. She just wanted to tell her what town she and Fumi-kun came from! If she had known it would’ve caused this, she would’ve just kept her mouth shut. But, hindsight was 20/20, as the saying went. And right now, she was witnessing the consequences to her actions.

"Hey, Fumi-kun, do you know if she'll be alright?" Karera asked as Josefumi sighed, looking up from his phone as he slid it into his pocket.

"Yeah, I think so. I just got off the phone with Kayama Nemuri, Kira-san's caretaker. This isn't the first time she's had a panic attack, but never to the extent of passing out like this. She would come over to check on her, had it not been for the fact that she's dealing with… things. She wouldn't describe anything, but she asked for us to just stay by her side and call if anything crazy happens," Josefumi stated as Karera rolled her eyes.

"In other words, she wants to shrug the responsibility off to two kids who don't know better. Great, best guardian of the century, I guess," Karera said, her tone sarcastic as Josefumi scoffed.

"You got that one right…." Josefumi agreed as he rolled his shoulders. His eyes then flickered with an idea, glancing at Karera. "Maybe it was a Stand attack?" Josefumi asked as Karera shook her head.

"Nope. If it was, I would have sensed someone else other than ourselves if that had been the case. The only Stand users here are you, me, and Kira-chan, who are currently unconscious. Aside from that, and unless the person who was a Stand User was also invisible, there’s no one else here," Karera replied as Josefumi hummed, tapping his chin, before glancing at Karera.

"Hmm… maybe it was something you said?" Josefumi suggested as Karera frowned, looking away, shame on her face, which caused Josefumi to raise an eyebrow. “Wait, seriously?

"Yeah… I think so,” Karera muttered, crossing her arms. “Pretty sure it was when I mentioned Morioh. After that,  she seemed to just…” Karera flopped her arms to her sides, slumping forward as she continued, “Shut down. Maybe she had a bad experience with the town?" Karera said as Josefumi scratched the back of his neck.

He looked over at Yoshihara and grimaced, studying her facial features as he tried to piece something together in his head. There was something about her that Josefumi wanted to get to the bottom of, now more than ever, especially after her reaction to the name of Karera’s hometown.

No one had a panic attack based on the name of a town. Especially not one like that. Not unless something extremely bad happened there, so much so that even so much as a passing namedrop would cause Yoshihara to shut down completely, curl up into a ball, and cower in literally life-or-death fear as she had.

The only reason why they had been able to get her into her bed was because she had passed out a few moments after that happened. All in all, it made no sense. If it wasn’t a Stand attack that caused her to react that way, which was what he had assumed until just now, then a part of him wanted to know just what exactly happened to cause such a visceral reaction.  

As he continued to observe her, the more he looked at her face, and the more he looked back toward his early childhood when he was living with his Great, Great, Great, Grand Uncle, the more she looked familiar.

Almost as if he had met her before.

Josefumi shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he did. There was no way that they were the same person as that girl. If that was the case, then that would mean that, technically, Yoshihara was dead. And that was impossible. There was a funeral and everything, and a coffin had been lowered into the ground and buried. 

Confusion turned to frustration as he looked away from Yoshihara’s unconscious form. There was no way those two were the same. That wasn’t possible. But, even then, considering the kind of stuff he had seen in his life, the impossible was often possible.

"Is there something you need to tell me, babe?" Karera asked, snapping Josefumi out of his thoughts as he blinked, looking over to Karera. His frustration melted away, his gaze returning to normal as he sighed.

"No, I was just… thinking. Kira-san looks like someone I once knew back in Morioh's primary school system. I doubt it matters now, but…" Josefumi paused, trying to think of a way to word his question properly. "Do you think that it might've been a possibility that Kira might have been…" He stopped, biting his lip. No, that wasn’t right. He had no reason to speculate that. "Never mind," Josefumi said as Karera clicked her tongue.

"Don't lead me on like that, jeez,” Karera huffed, leaning her head back as she stared up at the ceiling. It was clear she was starting to get bored. “Bah, whatever. If it doesn’t matter, then it doesn’t matter. On another note, do you think that I should wake her up or…" Karera suggested, gesturing to Yoshihara, as Josefumi shook his head.

"No, I don't think that's the best course of action. The last thing we need is her freaking out again. Whatever she was having a panic attack about might have been super visually intensive, and for all we know, if she wakes up suddenly, she might get thrown right back into it. And we don’t know what that could entail if she does. The last thing that we need is a panicked Stand User. You remember the Chicago incident?” As Josefumi said that, Karera shuttered. 

"Yeah, I remember that. Remind me to never piss off an angry cat like that again," Karera muttered as Josefumi snickered.

"What's the issue, Karera, were you antsy to use your Stand?" Josefumi asked as Karera nodded, pouting. Josefumi restrained a laugh., which only made Karera pout. "Let me guess, you were hoping Kira turned hostile as well?" Josefumi asked as Karera looked away.

"Stop teasing me!" Karera huffed, uncrossing her arms as she played with a strand of her hair. That was something she did when she was embarrassed. It was kinda cute, in Josefumi’s opinion. "Look, it's just, ugh! I rarely get to use my Stand against anyone, mostly because those who I do end up fighting tend to give up after a few seconds! My Stand isn't that strong, but people just get weirded out by hair…" Karera said, grumbling out the last bit as Josefumi patted her on the back.

"There, there, everything is going to be okay," Josefumi mockingly comforted as Karera huffed indigently.

"Yeah, yeah, you big meanie..." Karera pouted, causing Josefumi to snicker to himself. He always found it funny how easy it was to get Karera to pout or to complain or things similar to that. It was part of her charm, to be bouncy and animated. Her endless charisma was what had drawn him to her.

Of course, there were other things, too. Personal things. But that wasn’t a topic for conversation. What was a topic for conversation was what he was going to do to pass the time while he waited for Kira Yoshihara to wake up.

What he had to show her was of vital importance, and the longer he sat here twiddling his fingers doing nothing, the less time he had to follow up on the lead that he had been investigating. For all he knew, the source he was using could have already been “dealt with” due to their vulnerable status.

But, unfortunately, he wasn’t given a choice but to wait. And so, for the next few hours, as the pair continued to watch Yoshihara, Karera explored the suite that Yoshihara lived in, while Josefumi stayed with Yoshihara in her room, picking up one of the Manga she had on her shelf—Soul Eater—and got through the first volume.

A part of Josefumi had been confused about the whole thing, especially due to how surreal it was. Weapons becoming people, or was it the other way around? He didn't know, and quite frankly, it was bizarre. But that wasn't the weirder part. What the weirder part was that the weapons—or people weapons—ate Souls!? And not just any kind of soul, souls of witches, who were apparently super-duper evil.

Then there was also the fact that The Grim Reaper, like, the actual, real-life Grim Reaper, was also running a school to train people to kill witches as well, which put a bow on that gift box of strangeness.

Oh, and then there was the fanservice.

So. Much. Fanservice.

Like, to an uncomfortable level.

Though, for all of its faults, and for all of the weirdness that it contained it wasn’t nearly as bad as some other stuff he had seen. That, and, after looking past all of the not-so-family-friendly stuff, he was actually rather invested in the plot. Maka was a convincing, slightly relatable main character, and Soul was a relaxed, chill if not slightly psychotic best friend archetype.

BlackStar and Death The Kid, on the other hand, were more than a little annoying. Especially BlackStar. Josefumi wasn’t a big fan of him. Everyone else, though, that was fine.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous!” Karera exclaimed, walking through the doorway of Yoshihara’s bedroom, resting an elbow against the frame, putting one hand on her hip as she frowned. “I've wandered around the entire building, twice, and she still isn't awake! How long will it take for her to wake up, huh?" Karera questioned, earning a shrug from Josefumi, who put down the book in his hands and placed it back where it belonged on the shelf.

"I honestly can't tell you how long. Panic attacks, especially ones like those, don't just tend to go away. When I was little, my Great Grandma Jolyne, would have random panic attacks if she ever saw a white horse. No Idea why, she died before she could tell me, but that's beside the point," Josefumi explained as he glanced back at Yoshihara.

He placed a hand on her forehead just underneath the ice pack, his eyes focused on Yoshihara's closed ones. He felt bad for her, and he wanted to help her, but he didn’t know how. He had never dealt with panic attacks this up close and personal before. The first panic attack he had ever witnessed was, again, from his Great Grandma Jolyne, and even then he was barely a toddler when he saw it.

Hell, he didn’t even retain a single thing about what had happened. All he had remembered was that it had happened, and that was about it. Usually, her husband would’ve calmed her down, but he had been dead for two years at that point. It was actually his father who had to calm her down and physically restrain her using his Stand.  

What he did know was that Yoshihara needed another ice pack, considering that the ice had melted. But, just before he was about to tell Karera to go get another ice pack and pass her the old one, Yoshihara began to stir from unconsciousness. Josefumi stepped away, whilst Karera stood up straight in the doorway.

It took a few moments for her to fully sit up, but when she did, she groaned, eyes squinting as she rolled her neck from side to side. Confusion was clear on her face as Josefumi stayed silent, not moving a single muscle. The last thing he wanted to do was spook her.

"Ugh, what the hell…" Yoshihara grumbled, breathing in loudly through her nose. After another few seconds of her not noticing that he or Karera was there, Josefumi decided to make his presence known.  

"Well, glad to see that you're awake," Josefumi said, putting his hands into his pockets as Yoshihara squinted, staring blankly at Josefumi, as if not registering that he was there. Then, after another few seconds, when her eyes popped wide open with alarm, she jolted up in her bed before grabbing her blankets and bringing them up to the base of her neck, as if she was trying to hide her body—which made no sense seeing as she was fully clothed.

"GAH! How did you get here!? And why’re you in my fucking room!" Yoshihara nearly screamed as Josefumi rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t know how to handle this, and given the death stare he was given, he knew that if he didn’t trace his steps carefully he could get punched in the face. And he wanted to avoid that.

"Well, that's a long story. Would you like the abbreviated version or—"

"We were waiting in your home, suite, apartment, whatever the hell this place is, for you to come back from wherever you had been. We had a discussion, then I brought up my Hometown..." Karera interrupted, glaring at Josefumi, who flinched, before looking at Yoshihara. She paused, giving a downcast expression, to which Yoshihara met with furious confusion. Despite that, she continued.

"You had a panic attack and passed out. After that, we brought you here so you could rest. It's now 8:30 PM, and I was about to wake you up so that we could understand why it is that when I mentioned my hometown, ya know, that place, you freaked out," Karera explained as Josefumi paled in surprise.

"I-I- You… Really?" Josefumi stammered out as Karera sighed, giving Josefumi a stare that, in all but saying it, told him that he was being stupid. Something he caught onto immediately, faltering as he did.

"Oh, cut it out. I'd rather not sugarcoat that shit to her anyways. She’s obviously more than capable of taking care of herself and it’s not like she’s a little kid. Besides, she deserved to know," Karera snapped, causing Josefumi to look away in embarrassment. Karera groaned, looking at Yoshihara. She hummed before crossing her arms, giving Yoshihara a blank stare.

"Look, I just want to understand why you had a panic attack and passed out. I feel like it's my fault you passed out, and I’m sorry for that. But please, I want to know why. If you want to tell us why, anyway,” Karera said as Yoshihara sighed.

She had no words for either of them. Not that she was angry with them, but she wasn't exactly happy about them being here. At the very least, she was glad that they had stuck around if what they had said had actually happened. And the fact that they watched over her too…. They really didn’t have to do that, but they did anyway.

If she really did have a panic attack, and it was because of something that they had said, whatever that something had been, then that was a little upsetting. To have been so vulnerable in front of strangers. If anything, it had made her feel ashamed.

The last time she had a panic attack was when Kayama-san made an offhanded comment about acting like a brat. It sounded pathetic, and it probably was, but she had… horrible experiences with that word, to say the very least.

There were certain trigger words that Yoshihara had that would cause her to have a full-on mental and emotional breakdown, and brat was one of them. They were often messy, and it took upwards of an hour for her to be coaxed out of them. Sometimes, they got so bad that she would shut down completely and pass out due to being so overwhelmed.

Another thing about when she had panic attacks is that she never remembered the reason for them—especially when they got to the point where she passed out. And considering that they had to pick her up and take her to her room, that meant it was one of the especially bad ones.

"I… Had a panic attack?" Yoshihara questioned, her tone carrying a sense of confusion and alarm as Karera raised an eyebrow.

"You don't remember? I mean, I know that sometimes people forget as a defence mechanism, but I've never seen it before," Karera said, straightening her posture as she walked further into the room, standing next to the bed. Yoshihara flipped the blankets off of her body, crossing her legs in the process. She guessed that she owed them an explanation.

"Yeah, whenever I have panic attacks, regardless of what they are about, I never remember them. The only thing I remember is blacking out, then waking up in a random place—usually my room—and getting the rundown from Nemuri-san. Outside of that, however, there's nothing but an empty, blank space…." Yoshihara explained, looking down at her bedsheet as Karera huffed, a surprised, yet also curious look adorning her face.

"Interesting. Look, I don't mean to pry, but, when was the last time you had a panic attack?" Karera questioned as Yoshihara snapped her head up to face her, an annoyed look on her face as she spoke.

"What are you, my therapist?" Yoshihara spat as Karera sighed.

"Okay, jeez, sorry. I… I just want to get to know you more, and more importantly, so that I can know what not to say so I can avoid triggering something like that again. If your Guardian tells you what happened and how it happened, you could at least write it down so we know," Karera explained.

In response, Yoshihara nodded, reaching for her bedside table as she pulled out a notebook. It was a black and pink polka-dotted notebook with a black spiral binding. There was a red pen in the spiral binding, and across the notebook were the words “Trigger Words.”

Before she handed the book over to Yoshihara, she narrowed her eyes at Karera and spoke. "In this notebook is a list of my triggers. If any of these words are said in the context described in the book, I will go into a panic attack. Do not, for any reason, say these words when I’m present, even as a joke. I’m trusting you, which I never usually do. So I want your word. Do you promise to never say anything in this book?” Yoshihara demanded as Karera nodded.

“I promise that I won’t say any of the words in that notebook,” Karera replied, as Yoshihara looked at the book, before looking back at Karera. She frowned, then passed the book to Karera, who took it and opened it, turning to face away from Josefumi and more toward Kira. And when she read what was inside the book, her skin crawled.

List of Triggers:

Morioh. Never ever say this to me for any reason. That place, even hearing its name in passing, makes me physically ill, and usually draws the worst kinds of panic attacks out of me.

Brat. She used to call me this and it hurts me. Deeply. I don’t fully pass out when I’m called this, but, it takes me a while to recover from being called a brat. Although, over time, the reactions to this word have gotten less and less bad. Saying this around me won’t cause me to break out into a panic attack. It’s when I’m being called it that it’s a problem.

Whore. This is self-explanatory. It reminds me of something she and the people she would bring over would call me.

Slut. For the same reasons as above.

Juices (Specifically the plural and in the context of “your”, "Juice" is fine).

“You are worthless.” Specifically the whole sentence as it brings me back to a time I wish to forget.

Being called a “Loli” reminds me of it . This never usually happens, because who on earth would just call someone that? But, there have been times I’ve been called it, and the reactions have been extremely violent. Akira-sama’s had to call the ambulance a few times for people who’ve called me that.

As soon as Karera closed the book, she gave it back to Yoshihara, who put it back in her drawer. There was a look of horror on her face as Yoshihara’s expression stayed completely neutral causing Josefumi to raise an eyebrow. "What, do I not get to look at it? It can’t be that bad, can it?" Josefumi asked as Karera shook her head.

"No, it very much is. I'll tell you back at home. You'll probably want to break something when... Oh god, I'm… I can't even begin to imagine what you went through…" Karera said, paling as Yoshihara looked away.

"Can we please change the subject, I really, really don't want to talk about it, please?" Yoshihara asked, a hint of desperation in her voice as Karera nodded.

"Y-yeah,” Karera stammered, clearing her throat. “Anyways, so, uh, what I said earlier. About the whole panic attack thing. That happened, and it was because mentioned my hometown. The first thing on your list there. I’m really, really sorry, and I won’t say it again. I promise,” Karera said, bowing in apology as Yoshihara waved her off.

"No, no. You don’t need to apologize. You wouldn’t have known. But, I do appreciate it. Thank you,” Yoshihara said, before glancing over to Josefumi, who had a contemplative look on his face.

Josefumi felt the urge to ask what exactly happened to her. What happened in Morioh to cause her to become fearful of it? Whatever it was that caused her to gain that fear, he wanted to know what it was. At the same time, however, he knew just how insensitive that would've been. Resisting his urge to ask, he cleared his throat, getting both Kira’s and Karera’s attention.

"Well, seeing as you're now awake, I think it's about time we get down to the reason why I came here in the first place. From what I've been told, you were recently in a Stand fight with someone, right?" Josefumi asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.

"Who told you that?" The blond asked as the pompadour-haired teen chuffed.

"Your Guardian did. She didn't know it was a Stand, but I inferred it through the fact that you were attacked. Regardless, what you just said proves it to me,” Josefumi said, a smug smirk on his face as Yoshihara huffed. “But that's beside the point. I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the news, but there has been a development recently that has disturbed my family, The Joestars, and by extension, The Speedwagon Foundation," Josefumi explained as Yoshihara's eyes widened.

"Wait a second, you're with the Speedwagon Foundation?!" Yoshihara nearly shouted, again, for the second time in the same hour. In response, Karera clamped her mouth shut, shocking Yoshihara.

"Quiet! Do you want the rest of the world to hear you?!" Karera stressed as she let go of Yoshihara's mouth, who frowned, rubbing her lower face as the stinging sensation of being slapped over the mouth faded away. "Yes, we are, but mostly through his Father. He runs the place, so we’re kinda obligated to work with them. Regardless, it's that important, so please, listen, okay?" Karera asked as Yoshihara cursed under her breath.

"Great, not only have I been attacked by two Stand users in the last few days, both being Kujo-san and my friend's mom. But now, to top it all off, I'm getting involved with the Speedwagon Foundation, just great…” Yoshihara mumbled as Josefumi sighed, crossing his arms.

"No, you're not getting involved with the Speedwagon Foundation, rather, should you choose to accept, you're simply helping us help them. Oh, and before you ask, no, they won't know, and that way it'll be better off for you. The last thing you or I want is any of our enemies clinging onto you like some sort of foreign disease…." Josefumi said as he glanced over to Karera, who was now standing next to him.

"Both Karera and I were sent here to go to U.A., mostly to act as insiders for them. The Headmaster is aware, so it’s not like we’re doing it under his nose. But that isn't the main reason why we were sent here. The main reason why we were sent here, was because of this," Josefumi started, pulling out a bag that had a yellow needle-tipped bullet with the Latin words: De mortalitate hominis contained within it.

Yoshihara raised an eyebrow, confusion dwelling over her as Josefumi put the bag onto her bedside table. "This bullet is why we are here. We don't know who manufactures them, or what’s inside of them. All that we know is that, according to my sources, anyone who is hit by the bullet loses their Quirk, and gets transmitted a disease, which then gives a person a Stand. Essentially upgrading someone's Quirk to that of a Stand," Josefumi explained as Yoshihara blinked.

That… made absolutely no sense.  How did that even work? How did someone’s Quirk just, turn into a Stand? That sounded like something out of a fairytale. But, then again, that would explain why Inko was able to get away with calling her Stand a Quirk. If her Quirk simply evolved into a Stand over time.

The question was, how, and when? She had said that she had been a Stand User for quite some time now. And if that had been true, then she must’ve been young when her Quirk evolved, be it naturally or through some other means. Still, she was curious as to how that was possible.  

"Really now? And I don’t suppose you know how it works?" Yoshihara questioned as Karera shrugged, once again leaning against Josefumi, who had to rebalance himself when she did.

"We don't know how it works, nor why it works. But, from what we do know, the virus that is inside the bullet is the same virus that was found within the ancient artifact known as the Stand Arrow. If you don’t know what that is, it's an arrow that can grant someone the possibility of gaining a Stand. Those who didn't, well, they died,” Karera paused, which emphasized the seriousness of the side effects of this so-called “Stand Arrow.” After a few more seconds, Karera continued.

“Seeing as this bullet does the same thing, My guess is that this bullet is the modern equivalent of it, and currently, it's being mass-produced by a group of unidentified people. We only got a hold of it because of a recent encounter I had a little while back in America, hinting at the fact that these things are sold on the black market across the world. Luckily, we were able to pinpoint its origin being here in Japan. Its exact location, however, not so much.”

"And to add fuel to the fire,” Josefumi began, “Random civilians have turned up dead across Japan, the culprit being these exact bullets. Whoever is manufacturing them and selling them is doing a good job of covering their tracks. I don't think I should have to mention what happened to those who lived," Josefumi explained as Yoshihara bit on the inside of her lip.

What if that was what had happened to Sayaka? What if she had been shot by one of those bullets? For all Yoshihara knew, she was dead, and that was why Otoshi hadn’t said anything as of late, not even to Akira.

If Sayaka was dead… “No. You have to believe in her. She can’t be dead. She just can’t be, I refuse to accept it,” Yoshihara thought, frowning. But, if she did survive, then that meant that she would become a Stand User. And with how Josefumi was explaining this whole ordeal, then that also meant that assuming Sayaka survived, there would be more Stand Users.

And if there were more Stand Users, then there was a higher chance of there being more of them showing up at U.A., or worse, the recommendation exam. If she ran into a Stand User at U.A. or during the recommendation exam, the last thing she wanted to have happen was for a battle to break out.  

Yoshihara cursed under her breath as she knitted her hands together as they rested in her lap. As annoying as that was, there was nothing she could do about it. "Alright, I guess I don't have a choice. Besides, I’m planning on going to U.A. as well, so I might as well help seeing as we’ll be in the same school. I take it the two of you got recommended by someone?" Yoshihara asked as the pair of them shook their heads.

"Nope, we have to do things the old-fashioned way, which is fine, but I take it you were?" Karera asked as Yoshihara nodded once, leaning back against the headrest on her bed.

"Yeah. That sucks, but whatever. If I see any other Stand users at The Recommendation Exam, I'll be sure to let you know," Yoshihara said as Josefumi smirked, uncrossing his arms.

"Then we'll do the same," Josefumi agreed, looking at his phone as he sighed. "It's getting late, and we have to get home. I’m supposed to call my Dad before he starts to get worried. The last thing I need is a full-blown security detail sent to my doorstep because I forgot to call…” Josefumi grumbled, mumbling something about “stupid paranoia” before looking back up at Yoshihara.

“How about this? let's meet up at the café by Aldera tomorrow, and bring that other Stand User with you, assuming they're on our side," Josefumi asked as Yoshihara waved off his concern.

"Don't worry about them, while we may not be friends for any reason, we are allies, even if I forced her to be. Also, one more thing, I’m going to bring my other friend with me. His name is Midoriya Izuku, in case you wanted to know. He might not be a Stand User, nor does he know his mom was the Stand User that attacked us, but he knows about them and he’s razor-sharp intelligence-wise, even if he doesn’t think so, ”Yoshihara said as Karera smirked.

"As far as I'm concerned, the more the merrier," Karera said, smiling brightly before tapping her chin in contemplation, dropping the smile as she continued. "I say we meet up for around lunch, and once they get there, we'll debrief them. But, for now, we gotta go! See ya later, alligator!" And with that, the two left Yoshihara's room. She waited for the sound of the elevator doors to close as she laid back down on her bed.

Things were starting to escalate, far more than she wanted them to. Stand Bullets? The Speedwagon Foundation! potential criminal organizations!? For Yoshihara, it was all too much for her to handle.

"Ugh, can't I just live a peaceful, quiet life?" Yoshihara asked, her question going out to the world, only to be left unanswered. She groaned, getting out of bed. Her stomach growled at her, and she wasn't exactly in the mood to cook anything, so, instead, she ordered some KFC.

It didn't take long for her delivery to get her address, which had admittedly confused the delivery man. She thanked him and took it to her room, leaving some out for Kayama-san when she got home.

After she finished eating, she got into her employee uniform, seeing as she still had a job to do. Panic attack or not, she still needed to pay off the damages to the building caused by her fight with Kujo. After she finished getting changed, she walked out of her room wearing the hotel uniform.

The uniform was all sorts of varying shades of red, matching the outer of the building. It consisted of a red baseball cap-style hat with the company logo on the front and a dark red flannel waistcoat, accompanied by a knee-length, frilled skirt with crimson stockings and black dress shoes.

The uniform was alright. At least it covered more of her body. The last thing she wanted to do was show any more skin than necessary.

Without any more delay, Yoshihara walked downstairs, toward the elevator, and down to the lobby to begin her shift. And once her shift began, the night passed by fairly quickly. Not many people came by that night, which had been surprising. She supposed today just wasn’t a good day for business.

By the time her shift was done, only about eight people came in, two for a full night stay, and three couples who stayed for a few hours. She didn’t claim to know what they were up to, nor did she care, but when they came back to check out, they looked a little more than pleased.

After her shift, she went back upstairs, wrote a note for Kayama-san, and immediately went to bed after having a shower. An hour after she went to bed, Nemuri stumbled through the elevator door, though surprisingly not drunk. Rather, she had just tripped at the entrance of the suite. The bartender of the bar she frequented had a rather convenient Quirk that sapped away the poison in alcohol, though in turn, he got sloshed as a result.

The reason why he used his Quirk on her was that she was called to help in an ongoing burglary, and was needed to knock the culprit unconscious. They had a hostage, and it was a little boy. Needless to say, the bartender helped her so that she could help the heroes and police on the scene. After that, she kept getting call after call and overall was tired. Especially after her fight with a man whose Quirk was turning into what was essentially a werewolf.  

To make matters worse, she had received a text from an unknown number, telling her Yoshihara had a panic attack. She was able to find out who it was, thankfully, during some downtime. The person in question was someone named “Kujo Josefumi.” The same person who had attacked Yoshihara in the suite.

She had been seconds away from dropping everything and running back home to beat the snot out of him. But, after a very long back and forth over text message, she decided not to. Apparently, it was all “water under the bridge” between himself and Yoshihara. While Nemuri didn’t exactly buy it, if Yoshihara trusted him then so be it.

He asked a lot of questions. Questions that didn’t make any sense to her, but she answered them regardless to the best of her ability. After a while, he stopped texting entirely. That had worried her, but she kept getting inundated with call after call until about half an hour ago.

Scanning the living room, Nemuri panicked, not seeing her adopted daughter anywhere, until her eyes landed on a note sitting on the coffee table. She ran over, picked it up, and let out a sigh of relief after reading its contents.  

If you’re reading this, and not piss drunk, then you should know that I’m fine. Kujo and his Girlfriend stuck by my side until I woke up. I know you might not have the best opinion of Kujo, but he’s a nice guy if not a bit on the dull side. By the time you’re reading this, I’m probably fast asleep. Please don’t wake me up, I’ve had a long day. Best regards – Yoshihara.  

Nemuri put the note back down on the table and quietly walked up to the second floor and to Yoshihara’s bedroom door, which was left slightly ajar. Peeking inside, she caught a glimpse of Yoshihara underneath her blankets, lightly snoring away as a smile took up Nemuri’s visage.

Taking a step back, she left the door as it was, walked to her bedroom, and went to bed herself. She also had a long day, and the last thing she wanted to do was stay up any later than she had to be. After all, Nedzu had an important meeting scheduled for the next few days leading up to The Recommendation Exam, and she needed to be up early at 5:30 a.m., which was four hours away from now.

And so, without a second thought, Nemuri changed into some sleepwear, crawled into bed, and fell asleep.     

Meanwhile, in a standard-looking office building in Esuha, looking down at a photo provided to them by someone who had been close to them, a man dressed in a matching orange hat and suit with dark purple eyes glowing in the dark with his face obscured by shadow sat behind a desk with several stacks of paper and a name stand, also obscured by heavy shadow.

This was perfect. Just perfect. Well, not perfect in the traditional sense, more in the sarcastic sense. Of course that pain in the ass had a chance to reproduce. Just wonderful. Though, maybe he had gotten lucky to have found them at such a young age.

If he could get rid of her as soon as possible, then that meant that no one would interfere with his and his organization's plans. The photo was taken a few hours ago by one of his men. It was of a girl with pale skin, sky-blue eyes, and chin-length blonde hair. She was dressed in a completely red outfit and seemed to be working at some kind of Love Hotel.

The resemblance between her and that man was uncanny to say the very least. They shared the same hair colour, and the same eye colour, though they didn’t share the same skin tone. But there was no mistaking it. This girl was the daughter of that man.  

That man…

The man who almost killed him all those years ago.

His purple eyes gleamed with hatred at the mere thought of him.

“Oh ho, Now this is interesting. Who would’ve known you had a child… Don’t worry, you’ll reunite with her soon,” The man said, passing the photo back to the person who brought it to him. “Bring this to the boy we recently turned into a Stand User. From what I understand, he has a grudge against her for some reason or another. Let’s not waste manpower, and just have the kid deal with the other brat.”

“As you wish, Boss,” The thug who brought him the photo said, turning away and exiting the office where The Boss resided.

As the saying goes: Deal with your problems before they become problems, and you’ll live a peaceful life. And The Boss wanted just that. And no one was going to get in the way of that, his plans, and what his dream was. Not All Might, not The Joestars or The Speedwagon Foundation, and most certainly not anyone related to him.

“Rest peacefully while you can, Kira Yoshihara. Your days are numbered, either because you’ll die at the hands of that brat, or, if you somehow survive, when you eventually cross paths with me. I know you will. It’s in your family’s blood,” The Boss thought, as he leaned back in his chair, with one final thought dancing through his brain.

“Damnatio Ad Bestias will rise again. For that, I am sure.”   

-To Be Continued-

Chapter Text

[Original Chapter Published - February 20th, 2022]

[Revised Chapter Published - January 7th, 2023]

[Secondary Revision of the Chapter Published – June 22nd, 2023]

[Third Revision of the Chapter published - April 29th, 2024]

A throbbing, almost unbearable headache thumped against Kyoka's skull as she groaned. There was nothing more painful in the world than waking up with the headache equivalent of a borderline migraine. Essentially, it was a hangover. Not that she would personally know what being hungover felt like, but considering how it had been described to her, she'd have to imagine that this was similar.

Her face felt unbearably hot, her vision was about as blurry as an unfocused camera. She felt the cold winds of a fan blowing on her at high speeds, and with each passing second the headache got worse and worse. She felt like she was going to collapse and die on the spot due to the amount of pain that she had felt.

Until suddenly, it all went away. It was the sharpest switch-up she had ever felt in her life, only trumped by that one time she fell down the stairs, felt as if she had broken her neck, and then suddenly felt as if that hadn't been the case and being able to get up go do something else.

Her vision had finally cleared up, and when it did, a bout of confusion came over her. Why? Well, it had to do with where she currently was. Kyoka had found herself in what appeared to be a dirty apartment and not one that she was familiar with. Looking down at herself, she was still dressed in the outfit that she had been in when she… When she….

"When I what?" Kyoka squinted, clasping her forehead as she struggled to remember why she had gotten out of bed today. She knew that she had placed an order at Beelz's store, but she never remembered going. The last thing she remembered was taking those pills that her mother prescribed her with.

The gap in her memory was frustrating her. The only thing that she remembered was that she woke up, got dressed, told her parents that she was going out for the day, was told to take her pills which she did, and then… what? It was as if someone had taken that part of her life directly out of her brain, and tossed it out. As if it was completely and totally unnecessary for her to function.

But why? What happened in between the time she had left her house, and now, where she was in some stranger's apartment? Speaking of the apartment, the first thing that she noticed upon finally becoming completely conscious was the faint smell of someone smoking weed. Whereas most people would probably shrivel their nose in disgust at the rank smell, Kyoka didn't really care all that much. It wasn't as if she hadn't smoked before, even if it was rare.

The only time Kyoka smoked was when it was offered to her by the few friends she had at school, and even then, it had to be clean. There was only one time she had laced weed, and it fucked her up big time.

It had been at one of her friend's older siblings' parties, and she had been completely absorbed by the atmosphere. But after that party, she never went to another one ever again. Not to mention the fact that it took her a week to trust anyone after that experience. That was a year ago, though, so it was in the past.

That little memory aside, the rest of the apartment was pretty boring and screamed poverty. Across from her, there was a box TV sitting on a hollow sliding glass drawer and inside the drawer was a basket filled with dirty laundry. Behind the box TV was a small kitchenette. From what she could see through the gap in the wall, there was a microwave and a stovetop. But, aside from that and the few cabinets she had been able to make out, there wasn't much else there.

Across from the kitchenette was a door that she had to assume was a bathroom, which was next to the entrance of what Kyoka could only describe as a studio apartment. Off to the right of the black leather couch she was sitting on was a single-sized mattress, and across from the bed was a sliding glass patio door.

The early morning sun peaked through the crack in the blackout curtains, and next to the patio door was a clock that blinked "6:30 am", which told her just how early in the morning it had been. It was then that the sliding patio door opened, causing Kyoka's fight or flight instinct to kick in as she prepared to attack whoever walked out…

Only for said person to be Beelz, which had caused her to stop immediately, her jacks resting back over her shoulders, confusion dressing her face as she observed him. He was dressed in a white sleeveless undershirt and a pair of black baggy pants along with a pair of pink bunny slippers. His mandibles clicked in what she assumed to be a yawn.

His bug-like eyes glimmered in the sun, as he rubbed the left one with his wrist. That was when he finally seemed to notice her being awake, and when he did, his head sharply turned to face her. Without any warning, he strode across the room over to her and smiled.

"You're awake! Haha! I knew you'd be alright, Kyo!" Beelz said as Kyoka raised an eyebrow, her expression silently asking the question "What the hell is going on" which Beelz was able to pick up on rather quickly. "Ah, Meu erro, amigo. I'll explain the best I can, but, uh, you may not like what I have to say. It's pretty bad…" Beelz said, taking a step back.

And that was exactly what he did. Beelz retold the entire conversation that he had with her yesterday at his store, context and all. All the while Kyoka sat in stunned silence, eyes wide with disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, mostly because it sounded outrageous. Her parents had bought and had been continuously buying a drug from the Shie Hassaikai of all people, with said drug supposed to be a roofie drug. The kind that was used to rape women at bars.

That would explain why she couldn't remember damn near anything from the day before she took those pills. But, if that was true, then that meant that she was forgetting other things. No wonder why she was doing so poorly in school! She couldn't remember a damn thing half the time!

But even so, the why was starting to get to her.

It didn't make a lick of sense. Why would her parents do that!? What reason could possibly have to do any of this? She usually was able to remember enough to get through the day, but this time was different. She had been the ones to take the pills, so it wasn't like her parents forced them on her.

So why would she forget everything this time? That wasn't normal, even for her. That alone made her want to discredit everything that Beelz was saying. But, with how he was talking, and with how sure of himself he sounded, she couldn't help but believe him. And besides, Beelz didn't have anything to gain by lying to her like that.

"But… Why?" Kyoka muttered, disbelief in her voice as Beelz sighed, crossing his arms. He was standing across from her, leaning against the corner of his kitchen wall, his expression downcast.

"Dunno. But, it gets worse. This part especially, I'm betting on the fact that your parents don't know about, because if they did, then I wouldn't have just called CPS like I did last night—"

"You what?!" Kyoka interrupted, staring at Beelzebub, who raised an eyebrow.

"I called CPS. Kyo, Pelo amor de Deus, they're drugging you with illegal, off-the-market, brain-altering drugs. If you think for even a moment I wouldn't do that, you're insane. Not to mention what it did to you last night, I'd be irresponsible to just let you go back to them," Beelz stated, leaving no room for argument as Kyoka set her jaw in such a way that showed frustration.

She couldn't believe that he'd do that. She felt like he had overstepped a boundary, but, while what he had said about what he did, about him calling CPS, was already something that worried her it was the other thing that he said that bothered her more. "What do you mean the part my parents don't know about the drug?"

"Well, let's start with the fact that when I rushed you to the hospital, the doctors had to pump your stomach because you had overdosed. And, even worse, it caused slight brain bleeding. The fact you didn't slip into a coma or worse, lose some motor function of some kind, is a damn miracle. Graças a Deus for modern medical and Quirk science. If this was even five years ago, you'd be a cripple for life."

"But how is that their fault?!" Kyoka exclaimed whilst Beelz clicked his mandibles together.

"Because you shouldn't even be taking those pills in the first place, Kyo," Beelz rebutted, his voice calm as Kyoka faltered. "Tell me something, and be honest with me. Do they force you to take those pills? Do they not let you leave the house without taking them? And don't lie to me, because I'll know if you do. Fly's have excellent hearing, you know. The heart stutters when someone lies. It's how I report thieves that come into my shop."

Kyoka's jaw set, unsure how to answer. She knew Beelz long enough to know that he wasn't lying to her. But still, the last thing that she wanted to do was to admit that truth. There was a rule in her house and one that her mother kept to regardless of what she wanted. She was never allowed to leave the house unless she took her pills.

For the longest time, she wondered why that was the case. Why she wasn't allowed to leave her house unless she took the pills "prescribed" to her. Now, she knew the truth. Well, some of the truth. She didn't know all of it, but she would take what she could get. And if this was all she could get, then so be it.

She looked at Beelz, and stared into his insectoid eyes, his wings fluttering every few seconds. It was hard to get a read on what he was thinking due to how unemotional his face usually was. The only real way to tell was to look at the shape of his elongated mouth, and even then, with it being in a neutral line, there was no way for her to tell.

"I…" Kyoka began, as she glanced at the floor, rubbing the back of her neck. She didn't know why she felt this immense pressure on her shoulders. If she told the truth, she would be essentially condemning her parents to jail. Unless… "If I tell you, you can't tell the authorities."

"You have my word," Beelz said, as Kyoka nodded.

"Right. Then yeah, they do. My mom's the one who enforces it. My Dad, on the other hand, lets her do it," Kyoka answered as Beelz closed his eyes, and breathed in deep. She could tell he wasn't happy due to how his wings buzzed. There were certain signs to tell when Beelz was mad, and one of those signs was that his wings would buzz.

"Essa puta de merda," Beelz hissed, venom lacing his words. "Your father should know about this shit! We smuggled this shit around until we left The Yakuza! The Kyotoko I knew would've never let Mika do this!" Beelz spat, turning to face away from Kyoka. Rather than continue the conversation, he walked out toward the balcony and slammed the sliding door shut.

Kyoka didn't know what to do. Did she stay here, or did she go home? It was clear Beelz didn't trust her parents, but, at the same time, what was she supposed to do? As much as she liked Beelz, and respected him far more than she did anyone else in her life, she didn't want to burden him by staying here.

She got up from the couch and walked over to the patio door, peeking through the curtains as he flipped over the table that was out there, stomping on it in a rage. That was another thing about Beelz. He had quite a temper once he got worked up. It was something that he took from his mother back in Brazil.

She could faintly hear him rambling in his native tongue. A lot of curse words, and a lot of horrible things directed toward her mother. She didn't even want to think about what he was saying.

Slowly, Kyoka slid open the door, which caught Beelz's attention. He seemed to calm down relatively quickly after she stepped out, which prompted him to speak. "Oh, uh… you should probably go home. I'll, uh… order an Uber for you. While you wait, feel free to take whatever you want from the fridge. My door's always open if you need a place to stay. Está bem?"

"Oh, uh… shoot what was the word again? Agradecimentos?" Kyoka stumbled over the word, trying to pronounce it properly, earning a chuckle from Beelz, who ruffled her hair in response. Something that made her shrink into herself out of embarrassment. She had the innate sensation to jab him with her earphone jacks, but she respected him too much for that.

"Your pronunciation is a little off, but I know what ya mean," Beelz said, taking his hand away, before frowning. "But, Kyo. Be safe, please. Stop taking those pills, no matter what your mother says to you, understand? And if she makes you take them, just go to your room and dump them out of a window or down a vent. I mean it, they're dangerous."

"Okay, okay. I promise," Kyoka said as Beelz nodded, before turning his back on her, looking out toward the city. Kyoka stepped back and silently closed the patio behind him. When she turned around, after a few seconds, she could hear him start to get angry again, most likely about what she had told him earlier.

There was a bag next to the entrance of the apartment, and upon looking in it, she found the vinyl that she had ordered. Beelz said that it was hers and that it was on the house. She was glad for that. It made her shitty day even better than it was before. She still couldn't believe he somehow got an original, signed copy of The Beatle's first album. It must've been worth a fortune.

As she exited his apartment, Kyoka couldn't help but feel bad. But, bad for what? Honestly, she didn't know. All she knew was that it was probably going to be like that for the next little while. That was just the type of person Beelz was. Once he got angry, he didn't calm down for a long time.

In silence, Kyoka walked out of Beelz's apartment building, and a few minutes later, an Uber came to pick her up to take her back home. On the ride home, she thought about what to tell her parents. She was going to keep her word and not blow up on them when she got home, or at least she would try to.

When she got home, her driver assured her that the person who ordered it already paid for it in full. She thanked them and stepped out of their car, which drove away not even a second later. Kyoka turned to face her home and sighed.

The Jirou family wasn't exactly the richest family in Japan, nor were they the poorest. They were the definition of "middle class," and their house was proof of it. Their house was built completely on the ground level, with white-painted brick walls, a triangular brown shingle roof, and a brick chimney. There was a slight canopy jutting out from the entrance, with a small front door porch. Three stairs led up to the porch and the front door, and flanking the front door was a large open-faced window, the interior of which was covered by bright red curtains.

The house was built on a slight incline, meaning that leading up to the house, you are at an angle, which allowed everyone to see the kickball that had been stuck up there for at least three years now.

She walked up to the front door, before looking over to her driveway, her eyebrow raised. Aside from her dad's Jeep, there was a black 2009 convertible car that she didn't recognize parked behind it, which confused her. She knew that Beelz had called CPS, but didn't they arrive in less… personal vehicles?

"Strange," Kyoka thought, as she approached the entrance of the house. Just for safety reasons, Kyoka put one of her jacks to the door and listened carefully. She could make out a polite conversation being made between her parents and a voice that she didn't recognize, which more than likely belonged to the CPS agent.

Retracting her jack, Kyoka took in a deep breath and prepared herself to enter her home. "Remember, when the agent leaves, do not blow up on your parents. Restraint is key. Do not overreact and most importantly, do not tell your parents where you were." And with that, Kyoka opened the door and stepped inside.

When she entered her home and did a quick sweep of the area, she saw her parents sitting across from someone that she did not recognize. A stranger, to be frank. That explained the car, but he definitely didn't look like a CPS agent.

The stranger in question was a large, tall, broad-looking man. He was dressed in a bright orange suit with black stripes going through it. On the table across from himself and her parents in the center of the table was his hat, which was the same colour as his suit. He had ear-length matte-black hair. From the angle that she was looking at him, she could see that he had deep purple eyes and slightly tanned skin.

After a few seconds of staring at his back, she instantly recognized the man, and it nearly caused her to drop her bagged vinyl. It wasn't uncommon for Child Protective Services to call in a hero to do a check-in, but never a hero as prominent as someone who was in the top 20. The hero in question who was sitting at their dining table was the Rank 11 Hero, Blackwell.

Why was his name Blackwell? No one knew. But, seeing as his Quirk was a complete mystery, people assumed that it was because of his Quirk. Those who've encountered him and lived to tell the tale—mostly because he had a serious "kill all villains" policy, provided that they weren't petty thugs or robbers—said that it was as if in one moment, they could move freely, and in the next, they couldn't do anything.

That made her wonder why CPS sent Blackwell of all heroes to her doorstep. Did they really think the situation was that bad? Sure, now that she had a chance to think about it, the situation was very fucked up. But, it wasn't nearly as bad as the types of things she'd seen on TV. Maybe it was because the potential case was so open and shut they believed that sending Blackwell would send that message as clear as day.

There was also the chance that Blackwell was interested in her situation, which while relieving, was a little weird. For all intents and purposes, Kyoka was a nobody. So what would interest Blackwell so much about her that he would take time out of his day to see her?

"You two are aware that this drug has been blacklisted from the market, correct?" Blackwell's deep, foreboding voice that was eerily similar to that of All Might's, rumbled, with clear annoyance and disappointment in his voice as Mika, her mother froze where she sat.

To describe her mother would be to describe an older version of Kyoka. The only major difference was their sense of fashion and the fact that Mika wore glasses. Mika Jirou wore a pink tanktop, with black leggings. Her hair was what one would typically imagine a desk worker to have their hair styled, slicked back with the fringe swept to the right. Aside from that, Mika looked like Kyoka down to the same skin colour to the same Quirk. Even their eyes were the exact same.

"Well, n-no, we didn't know. We were told it would help with our daughter's… condition," Mika explained as Blackwell crossed his arms, frowning.

"Condition? From the medical records we have on file about your daughter, she has a complete bill of health. She has no mental health issues, has a perfectly functioning Quirk with no real drawbacks other than sensitivity to loud noises, and while she was born a little bit smaller than most, she has no birth defects," Blackwell replied as Mika's jawset.

"And how do you know about all of that?" Mika asked, causing Blackwell to raise an eyebrow.

"Do you think that CPS just… sends people over? We get an overview of the person we're checking in on. All hospitals that she was checked into are legally mandated to hand over any legal documents regarding potential health concerns. That's why I know," Blackwell explained as her mother and father looked at one another.

"Well, sir, you must understand that it's the only thing that—"

"That what? That it helps with her non-existent Bipolar disorder? Let's suppose I'm as stupid as you believe I am, and that I believe you when it comes to your daughter's supposed condition, you are aware that the reason why this drug was pulled from the market was due to severe cases of brain bleeding, correct?" Blackwell interrupted her father, Kyotoko Jirou, who swallowed hard, no thanks in part to the obvious irritation in his voice.

Kyotoko Jirou was what one would typically envision to be what a stoner looked like, except for the fact that he didn't smoke pot. He had neck-length blond wavey hair, pale blue eyes and was a slightly darker shade of white than her mother. He was dressed in a white shirt with the left corner untucked, and a pair of blue jeans held up by a black belt with a golden buckle.

"Well, I—"

"Allow me to be frank with the two of you," Blackwell began, once again interrupting Kyotoko, as he leaned back into his chair, tilting his head to the side. His eyes glanced over to her, though he didn't bring that to anyone's attention. Her parents were focused on Blackwell moreso than anything else in the room. "I have half the mind to arrest the two of you for child endangerment. And it'd be pretty easy, too. I have all the proof I need in this little pill bottle here."

As Blackwell said that, he dug out the pill bottle that Kyoka had in her room from his chest pocket. Mika gasped, sitting up straight as soon as he pulled it out, all the while a sly smirk took up his visage, whilst Mika's eyebrows were furrowed in rage. "How did you get that?"

"Found it in your daughter's room on her shelf. Remember when I asked to search her room for a suspected illegal object in her position thanks to our anonymous tip? Yeah, that was what they told us to look for. And lo-and-behold, I found it." As Blackwell spoke, Mika went to say something, only to stop when Kyotoko put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head.

"The only reason why I don't do that is because I could not get into contact with any extended family that could potentially take care of her while you rot in a cell for the rest of your lives in Tartarus. Though, I suspect it's because your brother-in-law wants nothing to do with you. Either that or, considering just how busy of a man he is, he didn't have the time to speak to anyone. Which I find rather bizarre. But, he is American, and timezones are different, Though that's beside the point."

"Do not bring him up! He's the reason why my sister is dead!" Mika spat, as Blackwell smirked, scoffing as he sat up straight in his seat.

"Well, isn't that just dreadful? But, my point still stands," Blackwell said, before shaking the pill bottle in his hand and stuffing it back into his pocket. "I'm going to be taking this back with me as evidence. And then, I'm going to file all of this back to CPS. I'll make a special invoice to tell them not to separate you two and your daughter, but I am going to make sure that they send an agent and a police officer over every weekend to check in for the next two months."

Blackwell stood up from the chair at the table, took his hat and placed it back on his head, before walking over to the entrance, which finally drew her parent's attention over to her, their eyes wide after realizing that she had heard everything. Not that she didn't already know all of that information regarding the pills. But, to think that they'd lie to a pro hero…

"If you stay on your best behaviour, then the complaint will disappear, and we'll act as if this never happened. But, one mistake, and it's over. Understand?" Blackwell's voice drew her out of her thoughts, as he walked past her. He clapped her on the shoulder, giving her a stern look. "And you, don't be afraid to call either my agency or CPS if you think something bad is happening and you don't know how to handle it. Alright?"

Kyoka silently nodded, as Blackwell handed her a business card for his agency. She took it, before he turned to exit the house, tipping his hat to them all, before closing the door behind him as he left.

Mika stood up from the table and went to say something, only for Kyoka to speak before her. "No. Just no. I don't want to hear it. I already heard everything, so I don't need a twisted explanation from either of you." As Kyoka said that, she stormed away from the front entrance of their house and began to walk to her room. As she did, she muttered, "Come get me when supper's ready."

And with the slamming of her bedroom door, Kyoka stood at the doorway, before sliding down the door and burying her head in her arms.

What a shitty way to start a Sunday.

[XXXX]

Morning light leaked through Yoshihara's bedroom window as she dragged herself up from bed, her hair a total mess as she yawned. She glanced over at the time and frowned. 7:39 a.m. How wonderful, her sleep schedule was off by an hour and nine minutes. Although, it was Sunday, so she guessed it was allowed this once.

Yesterday was more than a bit hectic, to say the very least. From nearly dying at the hands of Midoriya's mother to finding out that Sayaka was badly hurt and potentially dead because of some freaky bullet that may or may not be involved with The Speedwagon Foundation, which Kujo and his girlfriend work for, might she add?`

And to top all of that off she was getting herself involved with it. Because, despite her brain screaming at her to stay away from it, the fact that the thing they're looking into potentially got one of her closest friends hurt to potentially having killed her was unacceptable. So, she was going to make it her problem. Not to mention, it was convenient, both in the sense that Kujo and Sakunami were both aiming to attend U.A. as she had been, and it allowed her to keep an eye on Kujo and Sakunami, who both were Stand Users.

Don't get her wrong, the idea of getting involved with any of this unnerved her. But, when looking at this situation from the perspective of a Stand User, which she was still getting used to, by the way, the idea of others getting Stands and becoming her problem sooner rather than later was something she did not want to have to deal with.

Ergo, helping the people who also want to stop it made sense. And that was the crux of the whole reason why she was doing this. Because it made sense. If it hadn't she wouldn't have bothered. She would've waved it away and ignored it. But because it made sense, and because it was a threat to her way of life, she would help them.

Was it very un-herolike to be helping others for the sake of making one's own life easier? Objectively and subjectively, yes. But since when did she care about what others thought? Especially in regards to her own choices?

Not to mention that having someone like Kujo, who had direct connections to The Speedwagon Foundation, as an acquaintance would do more than just be useful. He had contacts within the biggest government organization worldwide. Furthermore, his father, whoever that was, was the person who ran it! All he'd have to do was pull some strings and any legal obstacle that was in their way would suddenly disappear.

Was it wrong to see things like that? Probably. But it had its perks. Not that she was going to abuse it, mostly because she didn't see a reason to. It wasn't like she was going to try and abuse it. After all, that was just Bad Karma, and while she didn't believe in a lot of supernatural phenomena like fate and destiny and all of that jazz, Karma was something that she believed in. That and luck, as Luck had more than likely been the only thing that she was still alive to this day.

There was also the whole "him being an experienced Stand User" thing, and how beneficial that would be for training purposes, but she didn't care about that part. Yoshihara wasn't the type of person who cared about winning or losing. To her, the only time winning in anything mattered was if her life was on the line. And even then, she wouldn't be trying to get herself in those types of scenarios anyway. Not unless it was a situation like this, where she viewed as it making sense.

For example, if a little girl suddenly ran out of an alleyway and was in distress, she wouldn't exactly care for what happened to that little girl. Not unless it was obvious they were being hurt or in danger. Otherwise, if they were just running away from something, she'd leave it for those who were trained to do something about it.

Oh, sure, she was trained to fight. But she wasn't trained to deal with those kinds of situations. And for all she knew, this hypothetical little girl was running away from due punishment, so she wasn't exactly in the clear to judge that kind of situation.

On the other hand, should it be obvious that they were in danger or being hurt? Well, that was a different story altogether. There would be nothing stopping her from doing what she believed to be right in that situation. But, that was assuming it was a situation that would happen in the first place. It was just an example.

Another yawn slipped through her lips, covering her mouth in the process as she looked out of her bedroom window. The sun's rays shone through like a spotlight and landed on her dresser. As if the world was telling her to get out of bed and get dressed. Sunday was usually her lazy day, where she could lounge around and read Manga and watch Anime.

But, she had made arrangements with Kujo and Sakunami to meet up at the café across the street from Aldera. A part of her regretted arranging that meeting today. But, then again, there wasn't exactly a better time for it. Monday was also a day off, as it was "All Might Day" on Monday.

What was "All Might Day?" That was a good question because she didn't know the first thing about it until she looked it up yesterday after having gotten an email about it from the school. On that day, All Might began his hero career, and every year on that day schools were closed down for celebratory purposes.

It was a strange thing to do—to have a day in the year that is essentially a holiday for the creation of a super celebrity. But, then again, most holidays were essentially just excuses if one were to boil it all down. So there wasn't really a point in putting much thought behind the idea of a day where one was to celebrate All Might.

Once Yoshihara got out of bed, she sent a text to Midoriya, telling him that both he and his mother had to go to the café near Aldrea Junior High. Midoriya asked why, to which Yoshihara simply replied that it was important and it was regarding an aspect of being a Hero. The moment he saw that, he jumped at it like a rabid dog who hadn't eaten in weeks.

She wasn't exactly lying either, though in a way she was. Technically she was lying, but if one were to break it down, she wasn't lying at all. She was telling the truth because this was an important aspect of heroism. This was technically like a first mission. Whether or not that mission would be complete soon, she didn't know.

After she had sent the text, the next thing she did was get dressed for the day. A part of her wanted to go full punk. She had the clothing for it, she knew she rocked it, but at the same time, it wasn't exactly something she was up for doing, doubly so given the context of the meet-up. So, instead, she went for something more casual.

After snooping around her drawers, she was able to throw together a decent-looking outfit. It consisted of a pink V-neck shirt with two white stripes going horizontally through the center of her shirt with long sleeves that covered up to her wrists. Paired with it was a light blue pair of pants, specifically men's pants, moreso for the pockets than anything else, and a pair of black socks.

Yoshihara looked down at her hands, and frowned. She was going to have to cut her nails at some point today. She wasn't the girly type to paint her nails. She always found it beyond her, even when Sayaka had painted her nails that one time after a date with Otoshi. She painted them rainbow, which even now she looked back on fondly.

All of that aside, one would think that being dressed in clothing that didn't allow for breathability in the springtime would be kind of foolish. However, one of the problems with Japan, specifically with its more eastern side where Musutafu was located, while it was true that it got extremely hot during the summer months, the opposite could be said for the winter and spring months.

From November to early April, it was freakishly cold from the mornings to the beginning of the afternoon. It was only in mid-April that such a thing stopped. Anyone who said otherwise was lying through their teeth, or had a high heat tolerance either thanks to a Quirk or having been born in the Springtime, neither of which she had the luxury of.

Yoshihara had been born in October, so she was more used to cold climates yes, but not so cold that the tips of one's hair would begin to freeze and stick together. Hence long-sleeved and mostly covering clothing—ignoring the personal aspect to it, at least.

When Yoshihara finished getting dressed, and before she left her room, she grabbed a bag from her bedside table, stuffed it into one of her pant pockets, then walked out of her room and into the bathroom. When she entered the room, she immediately got to work brushing her hair. It was a mess, and the last thing she wanted to do was look like a slob.

After exiting the bathroom, she made her way downstairs, and when she did, she was greeted by Kayama-san sitting in the hot tub, relaxing in a corner, facing away from the banister. Yoshihara frowned, walking down the stairs as she shook her head. "Good morning, Kayama-san," Yoshihara called out as Kayama looked over her shoulder, and up at Yoshihara.

"Good morning, Yoshi-chan!"

"Skinny dipping in the hot tub again, I assume?" Yoshihara asked, getting off the stairs and turning the corner into the miniature kitchenette. The first thing she did was open up the cabinet with the dry foods, reaching for one of the many Cup Ramen's that Kayama-san had gotten in bulk from the General Store a few blocks away from the hotel.

"What can I say? It's good for relaxing the muscles. I have the special steam cranked up so it covers me before you ask. I know it makes you uncomfortable and all, but I needed this after last night," Kayama-san replied as Yoshihara glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, she was telling the truth.

There was a special setting on the Hot Tub that allowed for thick, artificial steam to pump out of the vents that would hover just above the surface of the water. It not only trapped the heat, but it also had air-based muscle relaxants. It was meant for those who got extreme muscle pain, which Kayama-san often got due to her job.

"As long as I don't have to see anything, I don't care. Out of sight, out of mind," Yoshihara muttered as she grabbed the kettle from beside the stove, filled a portion of it up with water, and put it on the first element to her right, turning it on to begin the boiling process. While that happened, Yoshihara prepared the cup noodles by taking off the seal and pouring the mix over top of the noodles.

The brand of Cup Noodles was Fat Gum's Protein Dense, Salt and additive-free Ramen Noodle Cup. Despite the long name, and despite the claim that it was salt-free, it still had MSG Salt in it that gave the noodles their special taste. The specific flavour pack that this one came with was Chicken, which was Yoshihara's least favourite. Although it was too early in the morning for her to care, so she just went with it.

"So, Yoshi-chan—"

"I told you to stop calling me that," Yoshihara interrupted as Kayama-san frowned.

"Anyway, that Kujo boy was over here. He didn't hurt you did he?" Kayama-san asked as Yoshihara sighed.

"No, he didn't. He helped me, remember? The whole panic attack thing?"

"Oh! Right, my bad. I was still a little tipsy when I read that note, so I may have forgotten a few things. Do you know what happened to cause it?" Kayama-san questioned, while at the same time, the water on the element began to boil. Taking off the kettle from the element and turning said element off, Yoshihara added the water to the cup, resealed it, and waited for it to "cook" in the cup.

"Not particularly. The most I remember from that was waking up in my bed. Kujo's girlfriend—"

"Oh, he's already dating? Darn, guess I have to strike that one off the list," Kayama joked, causing Yoshihara to inhale sharply, narrowing her eyes at Kayama, who snorted, stifling a laugh. "What? Ever heard of Enemies To Lovers before? You sure are bland, you know?"

"I'm not dull, Kayama-san. I know what that is. And even then, I'd soon rather date Midoriya than Kujo. He's not my type anyway," Yoshihara replied as Kayama grinned.

"Not your type, then? What is your type, Yoshi-chan~?" Kayama teased as Yoshihara's jaw set, a faint blush taking up her cheeks as she turned away from Kayama, who cackled. She shouldn't have opened her mouth. "Oh, c'mon, I'm just joking."

"Shut. Up." As Yoshihara said that, she checked on her noodles. They were done. Good. Yoshihara walked over to the utensil drawer, pulled out a pair of chopsticks, and began to have her breakfast.

"Anyways, what were you going to say?" Kayama said as Yoshihara grumbled, swallowing the noodles in her mouth before sighing.

"Fine. Anyways, Kujo's Girlfriend, Sakunami, mentioned her hometown. It's a place I have very, very bad memories with, and it often makes me relive something I don't want to relive. Because of that, I freaked out and had a panic attack. She apologized once I woke up, and she knows now never to say it again in my presence."

"And Kujo?" Kayama asked, her eyebrow raised.

"He knows, obviously He was in the room when I told them about it," Yoshihara said as Kayama nodded, turning back to face the window that outlooked the entire city. Afterward, Yoshihara finished her cup of noodles, and when she looked at the time, it was already 8:20 a.m. So, to pass the time, she decided to go back up to her room and catch up on One Piece.

It had been something that she had picked up after she finished her first read of Soul Eater. She had just started Sabody, and she had to admit, when she first started One Piece, she never envisioned herself getting past episode 40.

Now, she was on episode 385. Her least favourite Straw Hat was Sanji, and her favourite Straw Hat was Nami. Her favourite Villain up to that point was Crocodile, and her least favourite villain was Spandem. She was indifferent about everyone else, although for a while Luffy had held the "Least Favourite Straw Hat" spot until Sanji showed up.

She ended up watching five episodes, before exiting her room and turning off her TV and walking downstairs again. By the time she had come out of her room, Kayama-san had left, more than likely to go to that meeting she had that she had mentioned when she was in the middle of Episode 387, leaving her by her lonesome.

Yoshihara walked over to the coat hanger, threw on her leather jacket, and slipped on her black runners, tying them up before turning back around and heading back upstairs to go back into her room. She had forgotten her wallet, which had her debit card in it. She was going to need it if she was going to get something at the café.

Once she grabbed her wallet, and once she entered the elevator, when Yoshihara pulled out her phone to check the time, she was more than a little shocked. It was already 10:30 a.m., which had shocked her because she could've sworn that only around about half an hour passed when she had her breakfast.

Then again, she had watched five episodes of One Piece, so maybe that had something to do with the fact that it was already 10:30. Not that it mattered, seeing as the meet-up was scheduled closer to the afternoon. It would take about an hour to walk to the café, and a part of her wanted to take the train to get to the location in question, but she ultimately decided against it. After all, she needed the time to clear her head and think. And getting on a busy train would not do her any favours.

Despite being in a bit of a rush, she enjoyed the times she got to walk around the city. While she didn't do it often, namely because she found herself busy with other things, she found it to be peaceful. While the air certainly wasn't the freshest and the noise was sometimes annoying, she had to admit that despite all of that, out here, she could focus on her thoughts.

And more importantly, she could practice keeping her darker thoughts and feelings in check. To practice keeping her intrusive thoughts at bay. To practice making sure and double-checking with herself that her actions had consequences.

There were times when her mind would go to dark places. Murderous places. Places where they shouldn't be. When one had a mind like hers and a power like hers, the idea of getting away with murder came frequently. And the scary part was that she could. And the even scarier part is that she had. Numerous times. Need she be reminded of that one man at the convenience store?

Why, just the other day, the family of that man was still looking for him. Apparently, he had a daughter Six years old, with her birthday having passed recently. There was an entire news segment on how she wished her father would come home. So that they could play princess again.

When she saw that news story, a part of Yoshihara kicked herself for her actions. For having killed the man. But, at the same time, what he had said to her. What he had said he was going to do to her once he caught her…

Could she really be faulted for fight-or-flight instincts to have kicked in? Most criminals had families. They all did, and that caused problems when they were killed. But in the case of that man. In the case of Watanabe Isshin, while Yoshihara had felt slightly guilty for what she had done, if she hadn't done it, then if not her who else would he have preyed on?

Did it suck for that girl to have lose her father? Absolutely. She would grow up without a parental figure. It was just a shame that the parental figure in question was a rancid piece of shit. Frankly, she believed herself to have done a good deed.

There was also the fact that the clerk at the store had kept his word, even after all this time. The security footage had more than likely been long since scrubbed, but the fact that he had kept her actions under wraps was a good thing. Because even though she believed that she had done the right thing, the Law would've torn her apart.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you viewed the whole situation, that would never happen. The man was missing, and while they were now searching for a body, a body would never be found thanks to Killer Queen's power. His family would never know closure, yes. But it was a price to pay for a scumbag like him to be no longer on the streets.

That wasn't to say she would go out of her way to hunt those kinds of people down. As noted previously, she was the type of person to try and keep herself out of those situations. Had Watanabe not come after her for any reason, he would still be alive today. His family wouldn't be grieving, and nothing would've changed in the grand scheme of things.

As she rounded the corner to the café, Yoshihara caught a glimpse of the Midoriya's crossing the street and making their way to the meeting location. Looking down at her phone, she noted the time as being 11:30 a.m., which was about fifteen minutes before the scheduled meeting time. It was a good thing because it gave her a chance to give the other two a debriefing before Kujo and Sakunami got there. Or, at least somewhat of a debriefing, because she didn't know all of the details.

That wasn't to mention that this was also her chance to make sure Inko would keep up her end of the bargain. Not that she was going to do anything if she didn't. After giving it some time to rest, and after thinking the whole situation through, Yoshihara understood why she did what she did. Still didn't give her an excuse for it—far from it. But at least she could understand. Even if what she had said she was trying to do was somewhat twisted.

Once Yoshihara made it to the café, she found an empty five-seated table, and pulled out one of the five chairs for herself, before sitting down. As she sat down, she watched as Inko and Midoriya made their way to the café. Midoriya saw them, waving at her as she waved back.

The pair picked up the pace, getting to the café a few moments after having spotted her and when they got to the table, Inko used Fly, Fly Away to pull out two chairs, once for herself and the other for Midoriya. The two sat next to one another, opposite Yoshihara, who had a small smile on her face.

"Thank you two for coming on such short notice," Yoshihara began as Midoriya chuckled nervously.

"W-Well, it wasn't that big of an issue, really. I had no plans, and neither did Mom, so…" Midoriya answered, glancing over at Inko, who smiled.

"Good morning, Kira-san, how've you been?" Inko asked as Yoshihara shrugged before rubbing at her left shoulder, the muscle tensing for some reason.

"Could be better, but also could be worse. I'd say I'm doing fine overall. How about you two? Given the whole incident, I'm assuming things have been tense lately?" Yoshihara said, shooting a glance over at Inko, whose smile faltered if only slightly. Midoriya didn't seem to notice it, which was good.

"Well, M-Medi-Lady's pills have helped me heal my ribs f-far faster than I ever thought possible. I-I've almost made a full r-recovery," Midoriya said, his stammer still there as Yoshihara snickered.

"You're still stammering, huh, Midoriya?"

"I-I—"

"Is it because you're talking to a girl?" Yoshihara teased as Midoriya's face went beet red. Inko stifled a laugh at her son's expense, as Yoshihara reclined in her chair. "You're really easy to tease, you know that, Midoriya?"

"W-Well, I-I guess…" Midoriya muttered, the red in his face clearing to just his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "S-So, I know the m-meeting's about something to do with heroics, b-but what exactly are we t-talking about here?"

"Well, we have to wait for two other individuals to show up, but that won't be for another ten minutes. So, to speed things up a little bit, I'd like to show you two something. Do keep in mind that what I'm about to tell you is more than likely top secret, so when I show you this, you cannot tell anyone else about this. Am I clear?" Yoshihara began as both Inko and Midoriya looked at one another, confused looks on both of their faces.

"I don't get it… why would something about heroism be top secret?" Inko asked as Yoshihara shrugged.

"It has to do with something massive. I believe it has something to do with a criminal organization, and the other two individuals are spearheading a charge into this. For reasons unknown to me, they've decided to wrangle me into this, and so I'm doing the same with you two. You're free to leave now if you wish. I have no qualms with it. But, if you're still interested, we can keep going. If not, then take your leave now. I'm warning you though, once you see this item, you're locking yourself into this, and considering what this thing is, backing out will not be an option."

As Yoshihara spoke, Inko crossed her arms. Just by looking at her eyes, Yoshihara knew that she didn't know what to do. On one hand, there was upholding their agreement. On the other hand, there was protecting her want and need to protect her son. The two's eyes met, and for a brief second, Inko shuttered.

She was more than likely still unnerved about Killer Queen's ability, and with how she was looking around, she was more than likely trying to see if it had already touched something or not. Not as if Killer Queen left anything behind when it did touch something, but that was beside the point.

"Well…" Inko began, as she glanced over to Midoriya. "What do you think, Izuku?"

"I…" Midoriya trailed off, looking at the floor. Yoshihara simply stared at the two of them, not indicating her feelings on anything. She simply sat in her chair, slightly reclined with her hands on her lap, waiting patiently for a response. After a few moments passed, Izuku breathed in, before exhaling, looking up at Yoshihara with a look in his eyes that Yoshihara quite frankly wasn't expecting.

Rather than seeing indecisiveness like she had been expecting, she saw resolve. The way his eyes were solidified, shining with light and determination made her heart skip a beat, and she didn't know why. It was the type of look that someone who was already a hero would give to a citizen who needed reassurance. The type of stare that would only be given to someone who was in peril.

This was not one of those situations. Yet, despite its displacement without the context, it was still there. He still stared at her with that look on his face.

And she didn't care one bit. Frankly, it was a look that suited him. At least, in her opinion anyway.

"I'll stay. I want to be a hero, no ifs or ands about it. If this will help me toward the path of a hero, regardless of what it is, I'll stay," Izuku said, bravado in his voice as Inko flinched. She looked conflicted with his choice, but if she disagreed with it, she didn't say anything.

"If my son is willing to stay, then I will too," Inko answered, turning to look at Yoshihara, who nodded.

"Very well," Yoshihara said, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out the baggy that she had taken from her bedroom. Inside the baggy was the Stand Bullet, which Kujo had either mistakenly left in her room, and did so on purpose. Though she was more inclined to believe that it was an accident. She placed it in the center of the table, before looking the two of them dead in the eyes. "This is what I'm talking about."

"W-What is this, Kira-san?" Midoriya asked, faltering slightly as Yoshihara leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms, rolling her neck from side to side as she spoke.

"As you two are both acutely aware, we were attacked by a Stand User yesterday. I was able to drive them off, and we were able to come to an understanding. They will not be bothering us anymore, so we won't have to deal with them. That aside, while I won't be bringing them up further than that, I believe it's still important that I mention it, as it is somewhat related to this. Maybe not completely, but it is," Yoshihara began as she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Inko had flinched.

"Okay. I still think they should be behind bars, though. You know, considering they tried to kill you and all," Midoriya said as Yoshihara waved off his concern.

"It's fine. Everything is alright, so we can move on from it. However, the same thing cannot be said about what transpired afterward. But, for some context, before being attacked by the last Stand User we faced, I was attacked by another one two days before. This Stand User has since become my ally, and has provided me with this bullet last night," Yoshihara continued as Inko raised an eyebrow.

"Hold on, what?" Inko asked as Yoshihara gestured for her to continue. "If I might ask, why did they give you that bullet?" Inko continued as she gazed toward the bullet in the bag. For a split second, and only for a split second, a gleam of recognition appeared in her eyes. While she didn't show it, Yoshihara was taken aback by that.

Did Inko perhaps know about this bullet? If so, how? She was an experienced Stand User, but at the same time, maybe she could've fallen victim to this bullet, albeit not specifically that one, in the past. If her theory about how Inko's potential Quirk evolved into her Fly, Fly Away, then maybe that was why she knew about the bullet. Otherwise, it implied that she knew far more about the bullet than she was letting on.

For the sake of not starting anything, Yoshihara decided to move on "The Stand User in question gave this bullet to me because it directly links towards the numerous amount of Stand Users cropping up in Japan. Furthermore, the group who are looking into this happens to be The Speedwagon Foundation, and from what little I know of them, this seems to be up their alley. The Stand User who gave this bullet to me works with The Speedwagon Foundation. How they acquired it, I don't know."

"So an American-based Organization comes to Japan for some reason with a bullet that has an unknown paranormal aspect to it. I don't mean to sound rude, but what does that have to do with us? Better yet, what does that have to do with Heroism?" Inko questioned as Yoshihara frowned.

"Because, Midorya-san, this bullet creates Stand Users."

As soon as those words fell out of Yoshihara's lips, both Inko and Midoriya's eyes widened. Yoshihara slipped the bag with the bullet in it back into her pocket as she crossed her arms, staring the two down.

"According to the Stand User who gave me the bullet, through some means that they are not entirely aware of yet, once this bullet comes into contact with someone it erases the Quirk within someone's body, and then immediately afterward, it dumps some kind of virus into their system. This virus, once injected, does something to the body that gives the victim a Stand. But, nine times out of ten, the victim dies before this can ever happen. But, on the off chance it works, then a Stand User is born. Does that answer your question?" Yoshihara asked as she looked over to Inko, who nodded silently.

"T-That's awful!" Izuku exclaimed, distress clear on his face as Yoshihara hummed.

"Very much so. As a matter of fact, not too long ago, some unnamed group carried out an attack in Downtown Musutafu which resulted in over 200 dead, and only a handful of survivors. Some of which are in comas, and it's all thanks to the type of bullet you just saw," Yoshihara continued, a frown taking up her visage. Myself, The Stand User who gave me this bullet, and a confidant of theirs intend on researching as much as we can into this bullet and track down whoever is making it to permanently shut down the process."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Inko asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You heard me. How do you plan to do that?" Inko asked again, her hands politely folded over her lap as she spoke. "As you said, an organization is behind this. No doubt an extremely powerful one, at that. While I don't mean to doubt you, are you sure you're not in over your head? From what I'm hearing, you don't have a plan. The only thing you have is a single bullet casing with, from what I saw, Latin script etched into it."

"We've only just discovered this information. How are we supposed to have a plan if we are still learning information about something we know next to nothing about?" Yoshihara replied as Inko's eyes narrowed. If she wasn't sure about Inko knowing something before, she more than certainly did now.

However, before she was about to ask what it was she knew, a voice spoke up. A familiar one, at that. "Kira's right, ma'am. We know next to nothing, so it's kind of impossible to have a plan about something we know, as I said, next to nothing about," Kujo Josefumi said as he approached the table, pulling out the chair next to Yoshihara, and the chair next to that one for Sakunami Karera, who swiftly sat down with a faint and polite smile on her face.

Inko stared at him, eyes slightly wide, before they returned to normal. Yoshihara, for her part, bit her tongue to keep herself from speaking. Now that Kujo was here, she definitely couldn't question Inko. Otherwise, it would start an uproar.

"Sorry for the abrupt statement, I got ahead of myself. My name is Kujo Josefumi, and this," Josefumi paused, gesturing to Sakunami, "is my Girlfriend Sakunami Karera. We're both Kira's friends and allies. It's a pleasure to meet you two, Midoriya Inko, and Midoriya Izuku," Josefumi said as Sakunami smiled.

"A pleasure to meet you two!" She said as Inko chuckled to herself.

"It's nice to meet you too, Sakunami-san, Kujo-san. I take it that one of you is with The Speedwagon Foundation?" Inko asked as Josefumi huffed.

"Well, in actuality, the both of us are. Karera and I are members of the foundation. To continue with what Kira had said, it's hard for us to come up with a plan to go up against an organization we know nothing about. But I think that if we had four stand users on our side, along with a genius like Izuku, I believe given enough time, we should be able to stomp this out without at least a year, give or take, with support from The Speedwagon Foundation and their resources. Whaddya say?" Kujo said as Midoriya raised an eyebrow.

"Four Stand Users?" Midoriya asked, blinking. "Aren't the only Stand Users here you two and Kira? Where's the fourth?"

"Right here," Inko said, catching Midoriya off guard.

"M-Mom, what—!"

"I'll explain when we get home, sweety. For now, let's move on. I don't want to take up these people's time with dramatics, seeing as they're clearly busy people," Inko said as Midoriya pursed his lips before nodding. "Thank you. As for your answer, Kujo-san, myself and my son have already said we'd help after Kira told us the gravity of the situation."

"Well, that's good. For a moment I was worried we'd have to convince you guys, but if you're willing to jump in head first, then be my guest!" Kujo said, his tone carrying a hint of a shocked laugh to it. "In that case, we'll need your contact information then. Yours too, Kira. That way I don't have to physically show up at your house to talk to you."

And with that, they all exchanged contact info. Yoshihara got Sakunami's and Kujo's, as did Inko and Midoriya, whilst Kujo and Sakunami received Midoriya's because Inko didn't have a personal phone, and they needed to get a new home phone due to an "incident" that Yoshihara had been familiar with, considering the aforementioned incident was her fight with Inko.

The rest of the get-together went about just as a normal teen get-together would be like, with the added effect of having a middle-aged woman tag along who didn't seem to care all that much aside about what the teens talked about. In the back of her mind, she noted that it felt good to talk to people who were her age.

Social interaction, as she found it to be right now, was pretty good. Something that she had been sorely lacking for a long time now. Yoshihara had to admit that she liked it. She was almost willing to call everyone around the table friends. Midoriya was the only one there that she whole-heartedly considered a friend, whereas Sakunami and Kujo were allies. Inko was a former adversary, and not much more than that.

That aside, it was still good to talk to others. For the longest time, she had isolated herself. Allowed herself to be alone, and not bother anyone else. Until she had the courage to find Midoriya, she had kept to herself since the day she started her training with Kayama-san, only interacting with her when it couldn't be avoided or during training.

But now, things had changed.

Now, she had friends, even if she didn't consider two of them friends fully, and one of them was nowhere near close. But, it was a start.

A part of her believed that maybe, just maybe, she could move on. That maybe, if she just reached out at some point, maybe they'd be willing to help her with her problems.

Maybe, just maybe, she could finally start to live her life, rather than be chained down by her past. To be stuck in the grip of her.

"No. It's best to not burden them with that. They don't need to worry about your problems. They are yours and yours alone. You've been dealing with them by yourself since you came to this city, so you can continue to do that now. Besides, why bother them with that information? All it will do is cast a shameful light on you, and everything you say and do. Keep it bottled, as it should be. Like everything should be." Yoshihara chastised herself as she frowned.

After a few more hours of discussion about random things, and after they had ordered lunch from the café, everyone began to head back home. Before Yoshihara had departed, she gave the bullet back to Kujo, who was grateful to have it back, thinking that he might have lost it. When he left, it was 3:30 p.m., and at that time, she had gotten a text from Kayama-san that she was currently visiting a friend's place and that she wouldn't be back until 7:00.

It wasn't ideal, but she wasn't going to complain. It wasn't often that Kayama-san went to a friend's house, so she was glad that she was enjoying herself.

As Yoshihara walked home, by the time she got to the halfway point, a strange feeling crawled down her spine. She looked over her shoulder to check behind her, and the only thing she saw was a bunch of people making their way too and from work, and or heading to local hang-out spots.

She frowned, before walking away. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't important. And if it was, then she'd deal with it when it became a problem. After all, there wasn't a reason to go looking for trouble if it could be helped.

Besides, it wasn't like it was anything important. If it was, something would've happened already. And considering it didn't, then why on Earth would she need to do anything? All she wanted to do was go home and watch more One Piece. Tomorrow was going to be busy anyway, and with that in mind, she continued her commute back home.

[XXXX]

If Nemuri were to be honest with herself, which she usually never was, Aizawa Shouta and Hizashi Yamada were the most uncanny pair of individuals she ever had the pleasure of becoming friends with. Namely due to their dynamic and because of just how well they bounced off of one another. It honestly felt like she was a third wheel at times, but that was beside the point.

Right now, Nemuri was at the two's apartment. The pair lived together and unbeknownst to the rest of the staff at U.A. had been dating since high school. They were practically married, though they hadn't written it down and made it official. Shouta's reasoning for it was because it wouldn't be practical, which Hizashi agreed with.

And while being homosexual was a normal thing in the wider parts of the world, it was still considered taboo in Japan. At least between men, anyway. For some stupid, and probably sexist reason, it was perfectly fine for two lesbians to get married. But two gay men? Well, suddenly it was an issue.

It was partly why Hawks wasn't any higher on the Hero Charts past No. 4. It was because he was an openly gay man who had been apparently dating someone in the background. Who that person was, no one knew, and it was part of an ongoing mystery that hadn't been solved on forums—which was creepy, but that was beside the point.

The point was that being an openly gay man tanked someone's career. And the only reason why it hadn't really affected Hawks was because, well, he was Hawks. It didn't matter what anyone said about him, he was the coolest hero of the younger generation. And honestly, Nemuri couldn't blame the young ones for thinking about that. Gay or not, Hawks was extremely attractive.

That aside, if there was one way to describe the dynamic duo that was Hizashi Yamada and Shouta Aizawa, it was that they were complete and total opposites of one another, and it showed even in how they dressed.

Hizashi wore a yellow plaid button-up shirt, black skinny jeans, and brown slippers. His hair was done up in a ponytail, and the frames of his glasses were an electric yellow. To top it all off, he had a two-twin-pointed mustache. If you could even call it that thing on his upper lip, a mustache. All and all, it was a pretty exaggerated get-up for a small get-together.

Then, there was Shouta, who wore the exact opposite in terms of theming. While Hizashi wore a bunch of bright and "in your face" colours, Shouta wore all muted colours. He was dressed in a grey short-sleeved shirt and a pair of black baggy pants. His hair was all over the place and drooped down to his shoulders, along with the scraggly beard that he had been starting to grow, not to mention he was barefoot.

The term "homeless" worked best to describe Shouta, which was something he took with stride. The bags under his eyes didn't help things, either. He really, truly did look homeless. The only thing that didn't make it seem as if he was homeless was the fact that not but half an hour ago he had just gotten out of the shower, which was why his hair was all over the place.

Finally, there was Nemuri. Out of the two of them, she dressed in an in-between, with both muted and vibrant colours. She was dressed in a light purple button-up short-sleeve shirt, thigh-high light brown shorts with a white belt to keep them in place, and a pair of white slipper socks. Her hair was undone, allowing it to flow down her back like a waterfall, and her eyes were focused on the cards that were in her hand. Cards that belonged to a game of Uno, which she was winning.

The reason why they were playing Uno was because it was one of Hizashi's favourite games to play while she was over, seeing as it didn't involve direct teasing, or being rude to one another—the less they spoke of the Mario Party 20 incident, the better.

She had never seen Shouta so angry before. She saw a new side to Shouta that she never thought possible: Furiosity the likes of which could only be calmed by a blow dart. Or, in this case, smothering him with a cloth containing her Quirk.

She shuttered just thinking about it. "Never again… never again."

"DRAW 4!" Hizashi shouted, pointing at Aizawa for dramatic flair. Almost immediately, Shouta countered with a plus 2, and before it could affect Nemuri, she put down another plus 2, which shoved a whole eight cards onto Hizashi, causing him to pout. "Drat…"

"Shouldn't have been obvious, Hizashi. You need to practice on your poker face," Aizawa said as Hizashi drew eight cards, grumbling to himself.

"Honestly you two, I'm starting to think you're more than just friends from the way you two talk to one another," Nemuri said, a scandalous tone in her voice as Hizashi nearly fell out of his chair, while Aizawa merely shrugged.

"Well, you'll never know, that's for sure, Nemuri," Aizawa said, his voice dry as he took a sip of his fifth-afternoon coffee. "Besides, the less you know about my love life, the better. I don't need you trying to pair me up with people I have no interest in. Nakamura was the last blind date you sent me on, and because of that I have an irrational fear of lemonade," Aizawa said, glancing over to Hizashi, who had picked himself up from his annoyed stupor.

"Yeah! Besides, don't you have anything else to worry about? Like, I don't know, your adopted daughter?" Hizashi pointed out as Nemuri gave a dismissive wave of the hand in response.

"I don't have to worry about her. She's fine, she can take care of herself. Plus, I get the feeling that she's a bit uncomfortable around me in the first place," Nemuri said as Aizawa shook his head.

"If I had to guess, it's because you tease her constantly, don't you?" Aizawa said, causing Nemuri to stammer.

"W-Well, er, okay fine, yes I do. I bit too often if she had anything to say about it. But come on! Her face is so precious when she gets flustered, can you blame me? It gets me kind of…" Before that train of thought went anyway Nemuri slapped herself on the cheek, a frown taking up her visage.

"Damnit! Why now of all times!" Nemuri thought, grimacing. "Ugh, I need to take my medication, I'll be back, touch my cards and I strangle you," Nemuri said, placing her cards face down as she dug around in her pocket for the bottle. As she made her way down the hall, she could hear the pair talking about something, which frankly she held no interest in.

When she entered the bathroom, she pulled out the bottle of pills that she had brought out, before popping one of them in her mouth, letting it dissolve on her tongue for a quicker effect. For a split second, she had to force herself not to gag and puke, which she managed very easily by gritting her teeth together and pressing her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

She hated the way they tasted, but it was for the greater good of her career. The quicker she got her impulses under control, the better. That wasn't even mentioning the new batch of first years coming in about a month, and while the main, public exam was four days away, the recommendation exam was four days away. And while she wouldn't be present for it, it was still something she needed to keep track of. After all, Yoshihara was going to that one, and she needed all of the support she could get for it.

All of that aside, if she didn't get these stupid, repulsive, disgusting urges down and away forever, she'd have to deal with it while at school—the last thing she wanted was the reputation of the pill-popping teacher—and that was an outcome that was coming closer to reality as the days came closer.

There was also another thing she was afraid of. And that was the fact that she, unfortunately, whether she wanted to be or not, was a pedophile. Not an offending pedophile, but a pedophile regardless. More specifically, she had pedophilic tendencies, thanks in part to her Quirk. And while she has never, nor will she ever abuse a child, the mere fact alone that she had thoughts that she had labelled her as one.

She had been extremely good at keeping it a secret, with the only two who knew about her need for medication being Shouta and Hizashi, both of whom watched her like a hawk for when something bad happened. Because she had never done anything, they hadn't distanced themselves from her. But as the years went on, and as it got worse and worse, they became a lot more distant from her.

It was part of the reason why she had been going to therapy for the last few years, and why she was taking a stronger medication. To get herself under control. However, the next year, after this new batch of students moved on to the second year, she was going to resign from working at U.A. It was starting to get to the point where she was unsure she could fully control herself. The only reason why she didn't do it sooner was because she had been contractually obligated to work four years at U.A., with this one being her fourth and final year.

It was also why she was heavily considering moving out of the suite and letting Yoshihara have it for herself and move in with her Grandpa. She knew that the girl had issues with some form of sexual abuse in the past. To what extent, she didn't know. All she knew was that the last thing she needed was for her to be there. She had already been secluding herself from Yoshihara to avoid any accidents, but just to be safe, she was going to move out next year.

As for why she had the thoughts that she had, as previously mentioned, it was all thanks to her Quirk, Somnambulist. Like all Quirks, hers altered the way she thought about sexual attraction for some bizarre and unexplainable reason that more than likely had to do with the fact that her body over-excreted pheromones for her Quirk to work.

Due to this over-excretion, and due to her past sexual trauma regarding her myriad of problems, her mind had been forever altered. And the worst part was that it was something she couldn't just "get over." It was a part of her she had to live with forever, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She hated herself for it. Hated the fact that she felt this way. Hated the fact that it was ruining her life. And more importantly, she hated the fact that it was getting worse. The more she used her Quirk, the worse it got. And because she was a hero, she had no choice but to use her Quirk.

If only she didn't have this Quirk. If only should just get rid of it.

She had heard rumours of a man who could get rid of Quirks with a single touch. She didn't believe them, but, if they were real, and if there was a possibility that such a man did exist, then maybe, just maybe, he could fix her.

Maybe then she would never have to deal with this curse of hers.

"Hey, Nemuri?" Hizashi's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and it was also at this moment that she began to realize that she was crying, which she promptly put a stop to. "Are you okay in there?" Hizashi's voice spoke as she regained her composure.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just give me a minute…." Nemuri replied, a pair of footsteps fading away, signalling to her that Hizashi had left. Letting out a shaky sigh before slapping herself on the cheeks with both hands, readying herself to finish the game of Uno she had started, Nemuri stepped out of the washroom, glancing into the living room. Making her way there, she sat across from them as Hizashi and Shouta were looking at her, hints of concern in their eyes as they stared.

"Nemuri, are you alright?" Shouta asked as the Nemuri smirked, waving off his concern.

"I'm fine, Shouta. Let's just get back to the game. last time I checked, I'm winning, so I'd like to finish it before I go back home to see if my darling daughter is home from hanging out with her friends. I know I said I was going to stay the night, but I think it would be better if I went home," Nemuri said, picking up her cards with a smile on her face.

Shouta and Hizashi glanced at each other, concern in their eyes. She knew why, and while Shouta was more concerned than Hizashi, the two silently nodded to one another, as Shouta spoke up. "Alright, I'll drive you home once this game is over. But, Nemuri, you really need to be careful. We can't keep this secret for you for much longer. You know that, right?"

"I know. Besides, you won't have to for much longer anyway. I'm quitting next year, entirely," Nemuri said as Hizashi blinked.

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. It's getting to the point where my Quirk is making my life worse. So, I'm going to quit, and see if I can't get the glands in my body removed that produce my Quirk. Then I can begin the process needed to fully move on and bury this part of me in the dirt for good. If it wasn't for my contractual agreement, I would've quit this year." As Nemuri said that, Shouta nodded.

"Good. Don't get me wrong, Nemuri, but I'm glad you're quitting. You've been getting pretty bad for the last little while. Even worse than usual. For your sake, that adoptive daughter of yours better not say anything to anyone about how you act, and that's even if she knows. And if you were smart, you'd hand her off to someone else," Shouta said as Nemuri frowned.

"No. That's the one thing I won't budge on," Nemuri said, crossing her arms, cards still in hand as Shouta raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because, aside from Tomodachi-kun and those who worked there, I've been the only adult in her life who hasn't treated her horribly. If I suddenly kicked her out with no explanation as to why, her trust in others would plummet entirely. She already knows of my affliction, and she hasn't had any real problems with it, at least not that she's voiced any. Besides, I keep myself in my room 90% of the time when I'm home, and the 10% I don't it's in the mornings, so we hardly interact anymore aside from when I was training her," Nemuri explained as Shouta sighed.

"Fine. Then that's that. Now, let's finish this," Shouta said as Hizashi smirked. In the end, Shouta won through sheer commitment, dubiousness, and a trick named the "+Plus Infinity and then Uno beatdown." Something that annoyed Hizashi to no end, because it wasn't fair.

[XXX]

Leaning against a brick wall within an alleyway, arms crossed and eyes vigilantly staring out into the streets, stood a teenager. The teen had short grey hair, styled in a crewcut. He wore a black denim jacket with a spiked collar around his neck, and a red V-neck shirt underneath. He also wore black pants with spiked cowboy boots and spiked cuffs around his wrists.

He was tall for a boy his age, taller than most. His most defined feature, though, had to be a toss-up between the fact that he was rather buff, sharing the same build as someone who had been body-building for years, and his deep orange eyes that reflected nothing but indifference and anger. That anger was building up, and frustration grew in his expression.

The teen was what you'd call a rather impatient person. Throughout all of his life, he had wanted to be famous. Each time he tried to get famous, however, he failed. Be it through stupid stunts, acts of vigilantism, or through Herotube. No matter what he did, though, his attempts were always met with failure.

But now, he had a chance. All he'd have to do was get through the recommendation exam, thanks to the Pro-Hero Death Arms endorsing him for a position. And while that was great and all, truly it was, he wanted to ensure he would get a spot. So, he decided to start to trim down the competition a little bit.

Thanks to his newfound, upgraded power, it had been going smoothly so far. Every year, 100 people were given recommendations for U.A.'s recommendation exam. This year, however, there would only be 81, or 80, given how this could go. He had already cut away 19 shrimps, so he was going to get rid of one more, just to be on the safe side, and luckily for him, it was going to be extremely easy. Not to mention, extremely satisfying.

One of the people who had been recommended by U.A. was by the one and only Midnight. It had been three years since she recommended someone and the last time she had, they were extremely weak and underqualified, so keeping in line with that assumption, this person also had to be weak and pathetic.

But, that wasn't all. The person whom Midnight had recommended, be it knowingly or not, had been the same person who had killed his uncle. And he knew that thanks to the person who had upgraded his Quirk into what it was now. He even gave him a picture of them to boot!

He would get vengeance for his uncle. Sure, his uncle wasn't a stand-up guy, and yeah he went after younger girls, but so what!? Who cares!? That was his business and his alone. No third party needed to get involved, and yet that bitch had. That stupid, annoying, piece of shit Kira Yoshihara!

But, it didn't matter. It didn't matter, because she was going to die.

And he was going to do her in. Just like he had told that man he would.

"I'm not gonna let some pathetic weakling ruin my chances at getting famous! Especially not some uppity bitch who killed my uncle!" The teen growled, a furious snarl on his face as a black, ominous aura began to form around his body, and as soon as it did, a humanoid figure began to manifest next to him.

Its body was lean and bony, its head having a bear-shaped skull with its mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth. Its eyes were a piercing red, and its head and back had purple spikes running across the top of its head down its back. Its hands were more like claws, and its skin looked almost leathery, like a corpse. It was hunched over, like a hunch back, and its ribcage was visibly poking out from its chest.

The teen's Stand was every bit as gross and deformed as his soul was. It reflected him as being a monster in human skin, and his petty drive to become a quote-on-quote hero reflected in that as well. A perfect, hideous match for someone as twisted as him.

The teen's eyes were transfixed on a photograph that had been given to him by that man. The photograph was of the blonde-haired girl walking out of a nightclub with the titular Pro Hero. His eyes wandered back to the street, and there, he saw that same girl walking into the Love Hotel, Love Deluxe, which had been owned by Midnight. They had the same body type, the same hairstyle and colour, and the same facial features.

A dark, foreboding smile crept up on the person's face as the teen watched her like a hawk.

"I'd attack you now, but there are too many people. I want to wait for a perfect opportunity. When you're all alone, and out of the way. That way, my Renegades can rip you to shreds!" The teen snarled, throwing the photograph into the air as Renegades pointed one of its index fingers forward, shooting a spinning spike out of its fingertip, completely ripping the photo into little shreds.

"Once I corner you, there will be nowhere left for you to hide, Kira Yoshihara."

-To Be Continued in - Renegades-

Chapter Text

[Revision of The Chapter Published – June 23rd, 2023]

[Final Revision of The Chapter Published - June 1st, 2024]

Nemuri walked through the front doors of Love Deluxe with a far clearer and sounder mind than she had when she had left this morning, thanks in part to the pill she had taken. Checking the time on her phone, she frowned. It was 10:30 p.m., and she was only now just getting home. Originally, after their game of Uno, Shouta was going to take Nemuri home. But, he was called out for an emergency hostage situation in Hosu, making that impossible.

Hizashi would’ve taken her home, had it not been for the fact that he was tipsy, as was Nemuri. So, they both had to wait until Shouta got home for her to go anywhere. Public drunkenness, aside from inside bars, was illegal, and the last thing either of them wanted to be arrested for being drunk in public even if they were only tipsy. So, in the meantime, the pair decided to sit down and watch the first half of the new Gundham series, which had been one of the best ones so far in Nemuri’s opinion.

By the time Shouta got home, he was banged up and bruised, but still willing to drive her back to the hotel. Without any fanfare, they did just that. The drive the whole way was silent, neither of them talking about anything. She was half convinced that Shouta was half-asleep driving, but he managed.

That brought her to now, with her standing in the foyer of Love Deluxe, and approaching the counter. The hotel was closed on Sundays, so it wasn’t like she was walking up to the counter to speak to anyone. Rather, she was walking up to the counter to pick up a letter that was just.. sitting there.

When she picked up the white envelope, Yoshihara’s name was scrawled across it, meaning that it wasn’t an officially shipped letter, which made it even more suspicious. Still, she wasn’t going to open it. Especially because there wasn’t exactly a reason for her to.

Taking the letter with her, Nemuri walked over to the elevator, walked in, inserted and twisted the key, and waited for the elevator to take her to the suite floor as the doors closed. It didn’t take long for her to reach the suite floor, and when she stepped out of the elevator, she did so not seeing Yoshihara.

A frown took up her visage. “Where is she?” Nemuri thought, before sighing. “I can’t be bothered. Here goes nothing!” As that thought ended, Nemuri cleared her throat and shouted.  "Yoshi-chan! You’ve got a letter! I found it on the front desk!"

As Nemuri finished shouting, a groan came from Yoshihara’s bedroom. A few seconds later, a very tired, groggy Yoshihara dressed in a dark blue, white collared nightgown that reached down to her knees emerged from her bedroom, hair covering her eyes and making her look like the girl from The Ring, just blonde and not soaking wet.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up! I thought you were binge-watching more One Piece,” Nemuri apologized as Yoshihara grumbled incoherently. Slowly but surely, she walked down the stairs, before stumbling into Nemuri, latching onto her waist to keep herself stable.  Needless to say, Nemuri was not comfortable with it. “U-Uh, are you okay?”

“Tired. Need balance. Give me a second…” Yoshihara mumbled, inhaling sharply, before taking a step back and exhaling. She brushed her hair out of her eyes, and with a slightly dry, almost pissed-off tone of voice, Yoshihara spoke. “This had better be important, or I’m going to put cinnamon in your coffee.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Nemuri faux gasped, a smirk on her face as Yoshihara chuffed.

“Just give me the damn letter,” Yoshihara said as Nemuri passed her the letter in question. Frankly, Yoshihara was not in the mood to be reading anything. She had been very keen on sleeping, hence why she was in a nightgown and not standard attire.    

After the meeting with the Midoriya, Inko, Kujo, and Sakunami, Kira decided that it would be worth trying to catch up on the sleep she had missed from waking up so early this morning. If there was one thing she valued more than anything else in the world, it was her sleep schedule. And if anyone messed with it, she'd have a few words to say to them about it. A few very pointed, violent words.

What made the whole thing even worse was that she had actually been sleeping soundly, which was a much-welcomed change after how the last two days had been nothing but stressful. Nothing bad had happened today to warrant her being stressed out, and now, just as she was getting some decent rest, someone had decided it was a good idea to send her mail.

Yoshihara's only question right now was why Kayama-san had decided it was a good idea to wake her up over an envelope with a piece of paper shoved inside of it. Unless it was from someone like The Principal of U.A. saying she got accepted early for some stupid reason or another, Yoshihara didn't quite care what the letter was about.

She wasn't particularly in the mood to read the letter, and after looking at it, seeing her name scrawled across it in thick red kanji, her opinion didn’t change much afterward. She looked from the letter, back to Kayama-san, and frowned. "Who's it from?" Yoshihara asked, her tone of voice rough as she yawned into her hand. Kayama shrugged, putting her hand on her hip as Yoshihara walked toward the closest couch to sit down.

"It doesn't say who's it from. But, because it was delivered to the desk, I’d have to assume it was urgent. No one just drops a letter off for no reason, and have it not be urgent,” Kayama-san said as Yoshihara rolled her eyes.

“If it was so urgent, then they should’ve given it to me in person,” Yoshihara drawled, before opening the letter. A part of her was slowly getting unnerved by the whole thing. Kayama-san did raise some good points, albeit strange ones. As she finished opening the letter, she took out the piece of paper and unfolded it, beginning to read its contents.

I know who you are, Kira Yoshihara and I also know what the name Midoriya Izuku means to you. If you don't meet me in the forest just outside of Musutafu by midnight tonight, I will kill him, and I know where he lives. Just in case you don’t believe me, tell me, does the address 1967 Tattoine Street, Apartment number sixteen on the twelfth floor of the Chewbacca Apartment Complex sound familiar to you? I’ve included pictures inside the letter of the exact location, too,  just in case you think I’m bluffing. If you truly care about him, and truly see him as a friend, then you will do as I say. Come to the forest. Midnight. Not a second sooner, and not a second later. Consider this your only warning. I'll be waiting for you – yours truly: Anon.

Yoshihara's grip on the piece of paper tightened as her expression shifted into one of anger. Someone had been spying on her, someone who knew about Midoriya. They weren’t kidding either, as there had been photos in the letter of Midoriya’s apartment.

They were serious, and that irked her something fierce.

As the seconds piled on, and as Yoshihara’s anger began to stir within her chest, it became increasingly clear that someone was actively threatening Midoriya, and for what? She didn’t know, but she was getting angry. It was extremely difficult for her to get genuinely furious. But this did it. She felt her blood boil, and her mind comb over with fury the likes of which she had never felt before.

The only times she had felt this angry was when she was being called a very unpleasant word in that little notebook of hers, or when she had found someone attempting to sexually assault one of the dancers outside of Akira’s club around a year ago. But aside from those times, she had never gotten this angry before. 

"This bastard has balls, I'll give them that. Just wish they’d say this to my face rather than through a piece of paper," Yoshihara thought, glaring at the piece of paper as Killer Queen appeared behind her. Not even a second later, it ripped the letter to shreds, the pieces of paper hitting the countertop. As it turned out, much to her increasing fury, she was not going to be going back to bed. This was too much to ignore, and it was pissing her off something fierce.

She knew what she had to do, but getting to the location in under two hours was impossible on foot. She had to get someone to drive her there, and the only person she could think about being able to do that would be the partially drunk Kayama-san.

“I’ll have to risk it, for Midoriya’s sake…” Yoshihara thought, as she looked over to Kayama-san, whose expression had been overshadowed by concern and worry, most likely due to her reaction to the letter.

"Yoshi-chan? Is everything alright?" Kayama-san asked, raising an eyebrow as Yoshihara composed herself, taking in a deep breath and exhaling. The last thing she wanted to do was act solely based on her rage. She had seen far too many anime and read far too many manga that showed the adverse effects of thinking with one's heart instead of their head.

But, unfortunately, she was going to allow her anger to control her. Just this once. No one threatened her friends and got to live to see another day. Not unless there was a damned good reason to keep them alive. Case-in-point, Inko. The only reason she was still alive was because she was Midoriya's mother. If it wasn't for that, she would be dead.

And so, running on that logic, Yoshihara spoke. "Kayama-san, can you drive me to the forest at the edge of Musutafu?" Yoshihara asked as Nemuri bobbed her head ever-so-slightly to the left, her expression going from concerned to confused.

"Whatever for? Just curious of course. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to," Nemuri said, crossing her arms with a raised eyebrow as Yoshihara cursed under her breath. Of course, she'd hit her with that question.

"It's important, okay? I—" Yoshihara paused, sighing as she contemplated what to say. She didn't want to tell Kayama about Stands, but as she tried to word what she needed to say, it became more and more obvious that she was going to have to tell her. From what Kujo had told her, and how he had worded it, it seemed like those with Quirks would be essentially useless against Stand Users.

And in a world predominantly run by those with Quirks, an influx of Stand Users in any area with the right abilities could make quick work of even some of the strongest heroes. However, the same could be said about the other way around. It was like a chess match, except it was heavily favoured by one side.

How could one beat their opponent if they couldn’t see what their opponent was doing? The short answer was that they couldn’t. It was like throwing a softball at a brick wall and trying to break it. Sure, with brute force, one could eventually break the brick wall, but at what cost? At the end of the day, it would be pointless to tell Kayama-san. It wasn’t as if she would be able to do anything.

Well… that wasn't entirely true. If Kayama-san used her Quirk and got the jump on the supposed Stand User, then maybe it would be worthwhile. Hell, for all she knew, the would-be killer wasn’t a Stand User. They could’ve just been an overconfident dude with more than likely a shitty Quirk.  

"But at the same time, is it worth risking that? There’s no real way to confirm if the person who sent this letter was a Quirk User or a Stand User. Either way, one of us is getting horribly injured. There is no avoiding that. Not to mention that with everything happening the way that it has, it would be better to assume that this individual is a Stand User. After all, as the adage goes, “Stand Users attract other Stand users.” Better to be safe than sorry,” Yoshihara reasoned with herself, her frown deepening.

There were too many outliers to risk Kayama-san getting involved. And so, rather than needlessly endanger the person sheltering her, she neglected that idea completely. She also pushed aside the reason for this person threatening Midoriya to get to her. That didn't matter right now. What mattered was making sure they never had a chance to do that in the first place. Which was the whole point of asking Kayama-san to drive her to the edge of the city.

A part of her considered ignoring the letter. After all, Inko was there and she was a Stand User. One with years of practice on her belt. If anyone could protect Midoriya, it was her. But she quickly threw that notion out the window and into a metaphorical vat of acid. She wasn’t going to risk that. Not even in the slightest.

She cared too much about Midoriya to risk his life for her selfishness. It was weird because she had only known him for a short time. But damn it if he hadn’t endeared himself to her. It was the only reason why she was willing to go to bat for him like this. To potentially risk her life for his.

There was also the fact that he unknowingly was part of the reason why she didn’t kill herself that day after work. Had it not been for her watching that video, then she probably wouldn’t have been so busy thinking about her plan to end her life. Otoshi more than likely would’ve never peered into her thoughts and found out, Kayama-san more than likely wouldn’t have been called, and her life would’ve been over by the end of some rope hanging from an edge of a wall.

She owed her life in small part to Midoriya. So, if she died trying to protect him, then so be it. She was more than willing to die to protect the person closest to her, aside from Akira and Kayama-san. 

And so, with a serious expression, Yoshihara sighed. She didn't have to exactly explain what a Stand was, but she still needed to convince Kayama-san to make her stay out of this. And so, with that in mind, she spoke.

"Look, whatever you do, you cannot get involved at all, whatsoever. I know you're a pro hero, but… a villain with a power that isn't that of a Quirk, or at least, I think so anyway, is going to kill my friend if I don't meet my friend's would-be killer in the forest. I need to be there before midnight, lest he kills that friend. The would-be killer knows where he lives, and I don’t doubt it would take him very long to get there. So please, can you take me to the edge of the city? I'm kinda in a rush," Yoshihara said as Nemuri recoiled.

"Yoshihara… what do you mean?" Nemuri asked, slowly, looking at her with a hint of worry in her eyes. Yoshihara looked away, shame on her face as her shoulders slumped. She could’ve worded that better, and she knew it.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. You could try to understand, but the basic concept would illude you," Yoshihara said, walking over to the couch and sitting down. She was starting to get stressed out. This was the worst thing in the world to wake up to, and it was only getting worse. The clock was ticking, and she had no idea how to tackle this.

"Well, you could still try and explain it,” Nemuri began as she approached Yoshihara. “If your friend is in danger, I can always get Present Mic and Eraserhead to help me deal with the villain. It's my job, after all," Nemuri said, sitting beside Yoshihara as she shook her head.

"No. You and your friends be useless against them." Yoshihara's blunt tone shocked Nemuri. Though, it wasn't uncommon for those that she was trying to prove a point. It didn’t make any sense to her. Yes, she had taken her medication, so her Quirk wouldn’t exactly be in great condition to use, but to be useless… that didn’t make any sense.

"Useless… why would I be…." Nemuri frowned, crossing her arms as she looked over at her. "Yoshihara, you aren't making any sense? My Quirk could just knock the guy out, and Eraserhead could erase his Quirk should that fail, and we can get him into a prison cell with Quirk deactivating cuffs. I don't see how I'd—" Without warning, something tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to look over it, only to find nothing. Nemuri paled, looking left to right, up and down, only to find nothing. "What was—"

"That was me,” Yoshihara said, as Nemuri looked over to her with a raised eyebrow.

“But.. you didn’t move. I would’ve seen you move if it was you,” Nemuri said as Yoshihara frowned, scratching the back of her head as she slumped forward.

“Well, yeah. But… I don’t know how to accurately describe this, but, it was me, but it wasn’t a the same time. You know how Ghosts work, yeah? How you can’t see, interact with, or hurt them, but they can do all of that to you?” Yoshihara said as Nemuri hummed in acknowledgement.

“Yes, I know. But, how does that apply to you?” That was when Nemuri frowned, crossing her arms as she raised an eyebrow. “Although, come to think of it, you said you had a Quirk, but never used it. Not even during training. I outright forbade you from using it during training. I just thought that you were Quirkless and lying to me because you didn’t know how I’d react—which I wouldn’t have, mind you. I still would’ve trained you regardless but—”

“Kayama-san, please,” Yoshihara interrupted, as Nemuri stopped talking, closing her mouth as Yoshihara pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re right, I don’t have a Quirk. I… have something else.”

“Something else? What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying that I have a power other than a Quirk. So does Kujo. So does his Girlfriend. And, assuming I’m right, so does the guy who wants to kill my friend. We’re all a part of a group of people who have powers that have long since gone undocumented, and The Speedwagon Foundation goes out of its way to keep it that way,” Yoshihara explained as Nemuri blinked, confusion taking up her visage.

“A branch of The American Government? What do they have to do with—”

“They’re not just an American-based organization. They operate all over the world. They even have a headquarters in Tokyo. I’m surprised you never noticed it. They’re literally across the street from Might Tower,” Yoshihara interrupted again as Nemuri huffed.

“Can you stop interrupting me?” Nemuri said as Yoshihara looked at the ground, clenching her hands into fists. Nemuri saw this and sighed. “Look, can you please stop being vague and just spit it out? The more you dance around it, the less I believe you.”

“Alright, fine,” Yoshihara said, leaning back into the couch with her arms on either side of her, and as she did, once again, something grabbed Nemuri by the shoulder, only this time, it shoved her forward and off of the couch. Nemuri spun around, only to feel something punch her in the stomach. It wasn’t a hard punch, but it made her flinch. She put up a block to protect her face, only to be still hit in the nose, which caused her to trip over the coffee table and land on the other couch.

Nemuri stared at Yoshihara, who stood up, hands in her pockets as she stared back at her, her expression blank and unreadable. “You felt all of that, right? That’s my power. You cannot see it, nor can you interact with it in any meaningful way, just like a ghost.” As Yoshihara said that, she walked over to Nemuri, and outstretched a hand to her, which Nemuri took as Yoshihara helped her to her feet.

All Nemuri could do was stare at Yoshihara in utter disbelief at what just happened. “You weren’t joking when you said I’d be useless… I couldn’t do anything at all. I couldn’t block it, I couldn’t see it. I was a punching bag…”

“That’s what I meant by you’ll be useless against the person who wants to kill my friend,” Yoshihara said glumly, looking away dejectedly. “This is the same power as the villain that attacked me at Midoriya’s house, and the same power Kujo and his Girlfriend have. I am a Stand User, and what you felt was my Stand, Killer Queen. They all have unique abilities of their own, and mine just so happens to place bombs on whatever Killer Queen touches. Though, I have to choose to do that, which I didn’t this time.” 

"So let me get this straight,” Nemuri began, looking at Yoshihara with narrowed eyes. “For the past few days, you've been dealing with these so-called Stand Users, getting injured to the point of near-death each time, and telling me that these villains had been dealt with by other pro heroes when in reality you've been the one dealing with them, in a sense acting as a vigilante, all under my nose and lying to me about it?" Nemuri asked as Yoshihara shrunk into herself, nodding.

Nemuri let out a long, exaggerated sigh, rubbing the sides of her temple as she contemplated everything that had been said to her. Her, essentially, adopted daughter had gone out of her way to lie to her about doing vigilante work, was hospitalized twice in the same week, and was now asking her to do that again albeit to protect her friend, and for her to assist in it.

She had to commend her for her bravery, even if it was vaguely disguised stupidity in Nemuri's eyes. She wanted to tell her no and frankly, she should've. Then she would deal with it on her own with the help of Shouta and Hizashi. She wanted to tell Yoshihara that she was putting her foot down and prevent her from risking her life again. Not until she was a proper pro hero.

She wanted to do all of this, yet she couldn't. If even for a second what Yoshihara said was true, and if her assumption was correct, then there was no way she could take down the villain and save her adopted daughter's friend's life. And so, even though it was against her better judgment….

"Alright. I'll drive you to that forest. But no more of this nonsense until you at least step foot in U.A., got it? At least then if you get injured you'll have more people to help you out," Nemuri said, getting up from the couch as Yoshihara snapped her head up to look at her with wide eyes.

"I thought you were going to—"

"Punish you? Like hell, I would kiddo. I know it's a bad idea, but if what you say is true about Stands and how I can’t do anything to deal with them, then it would be impossible for my friends and me to save your friend,” Nemuri said, before heading toward the elevator, “Get changed, and then we’ve gotta go. It’s already almost 11:00. Besides, I think I’ve got a plan. It might be stupid, but if it works, then we can have this done before the clock strikes midnight!”

As Nemuri said that, Yoshihara nodded, before rushing up the stairs. She hadn’t expected Kayama-san to be fully behind her on this, and while this was probably one of the dumbest things she had ever done in her life, she wanted to—no, she had to make sure Midoriya was safe.

After all, if she was going to be a heroine in training, then what better way to prove that than by saving a life?

Determination settled within her bones, as she changed out of her nightgown, and back into what she had worn early that day. She wasn’t going to damage a new outfit for something like this—because she knew she was going to get hurt from this, it was a no-brainer. When she got down to the main part of the suite, she joined Kayama-san in the elevator, who was now dressed in a brown trenchcoat, as she put her phone away into her pocket.

“What was that?” Yoshihara asked as Kayama-san smirked.

“Just finished contacting someone. We’re going to make a pit stop by the nearby bar to pick them up. With any luck, they’ll be ready when we get there. Trust me when I say I think they’ll be the lynchpin in our plan,” Kayama-san said as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.

“And what exactly is our plan?” Yoshihara asked as the elevator doors closed. Kayama-san, for her part, just smiled.

“I’ll fill you in on the way there. Don’t worry, Yoshi-chan, you’re friend won’t even know what happened. This’ll all be done off the record, so it won’t affect you. This won’t be the first time we’ve helped Vigilantes, and it more than likely won’t be the last.”

“We?”

“You’ll see.” And on that note, the elevator doors opened, and they walked out and out of Love Deluxe. Whatever it was that Kayama-san was planning, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Yoshihara trusted her judgment, because what else could she do?

Either way, it didn’t matter. The bastard who sent her that letter wouldn’t know what was going to hit them. She would make them pay dearly for what they threatened to do.

No one threatened her friends and walked away alive.

[XXXX]

Izuku couldn’t sleep. He didn’t know why, but he just couldn’t. He lay in his bed, his eyes focused on the ceiling. The fan in the center of his room creaked as it spun while the cold chill of the night quietly breezed through the small opening he left in his window. Anxiety filled his chest as he slowly sat up, letting the covers sloth off of him to reveal his bare chest.

He looked down at himself, slightly impressed with the hard work he had put into his body. Sure, he wasn’t at All Might levels of muscle—he doubted he needed to be—but it was something that most kids at Aldera would never achieve. Well, ignoring Kacchan, of course. But still! He was proud of the work he had put in.

Hell, Kacchan even noticed during gym class last week. Rather than sling an insult at him, Kacchan gave him some pointers. He’d even remembered the exact words he had said to him.

“Well, shit. Never thought I’d see the day that scrawny little weak-ass Deku would work out! Just a tip, don’t overdo it. You’ll ruin yourself. And don’t take that as me being nice to you, either, shithead! If you do, I’ll blow you up, got that!”   

It was odd…. Kacchan being nice to him. It wasn’t normal at all. Regardless, he was happy for it, even if he then proceeded to shove him into the side of a locker the next day.

Kacchan was weird. That was why he wasn’t entirely convinced that he was a horrible person, despite Kira-san’s opinions. While that was all well and good, that wasn’t why he was having problems sleeping. Rather, it had to do with his mother, and what she had told him once they had gotten home after their meeting with Kira-san and her other friends.

Cutting straight to the point, his mother had told him that she had been the one to try and kill Kira. That she had been the one to attack them.

To say he was a little angry was an understatement—and it took a lot to make him mad. Only a select few things could make him angry. Seeing little kids get hurt, someone slandering All Might, and liars.

He hated liars.

As far as he was concerned, liars were worse than villains. Because with villains, at least then they wore their intentions on their sleeves. They were evil—for the most part—and they wanted to cause trouble. But a liar? Well, it was in the name. They lied, and lying was to Izuku as The Devil was to Christians.

To an extent, he wasn’t exactly thrilled that Kira had lied to him, either. But, because the “villain” in question was his mother, he could let it slide. Only this once, though. In a way, she was protecting him from the truth of the matter—that his mother went out of her way to try and kill his friend.  

She said it was for a good reason, but he didn’t want to hear it. For the first time, ever, he raised his voice at his mother. He, Izuku Midoriya, shouted at his mom. It was something he never imagined possible. He had never been that angry before in his life. That his mom would try to kill his friend for the chance that something bad could happen in the future was utterly inane to him.

Ever since that, he hadn’t so much as looked in her direction. He secluded himself in his room to study, and when his mother brought him dinner, he didn’t so much as say thank you. Instead, he glanced at her, and turned back to his work, scooting the bowl of Katsudon closer to himself. He even remembered outright glaring at her at one point.

He felt bad for doing it, even though he shouldn’t have. He knew he was completely in the right to be angry at her, but in his heart of hearts, it didn’t feel right. At the same time, it had been the first time that he had ever had a friend like Kira-san. A friend that didn’t try and stab him in the back or belittle him.

His mom apologized to him over and over again. Yet, despite that, he refused to accept her apology. Izuku was generally a forgiving person. But there were just something’s that you didn’t forgive. Case in point, what his mother had done.

And yet, he wanted to forgive her. He wanted to be the bigger person here. But after what she did? Both to Kira and to him? Why should he? She used her Stand to beat him up. He had broken ribs for the better half of a day. Without Quirks and advanced medical science to keep up with Quirks, he could’ve been in the hospital for weeks.

If there was anyone who deserved to be apologized to, it was him. He and Kira. Which, granted, his mother had done already. But that was beside the point. Why should he, a victim of a villain attack perpetrated by his mother—the person who was supposed to do everything in her power to not let something like what she had done to him happen to him—apologize to the villain?

“Because it’s the right thing to do, that’s why…” Izuku thought to himself, chastising his actions. People make mistakes. His mom made a mistake—albeit a massive one. But it wasn’t completely unforgivable. Her motives for doing it, while skewed, weren’t awful. All she wanted to do was to protect him, even if it was in a very possessive way.

He couldn’t blame her for it, either. All of his life, Izuku had been Quirkless. Picked on by just about everyone and because of that, he was a massive scaredy-cat. He cried a lot and got emotional over the smallest things. People called him names, beat him, and chastised him for existing.

For all of his life, he had been discriminated against. The worst one to do it by far was Kacchan—and yes, he was still using that nickname for him. He was still his friend, even if Kira had made some valid points against him. He knew him longer than she had, so regardless of her opinion, until he did something completely disgusting—which yes, that meant he didn’t count the whole “go jump off a roof” thing as unredeemable, despite other people's opinions if they had known—then it would remain that way.

His point was, from his mom's perspective, having at least been a little clued in that he wasn’t exactly being treated right at school, and then him suddenly making a friend outside of Kacchan with said friend being a girl, she had every right to be at least a little suspicious. Then there was the whole “Stand users attract other Stand users”, and an overly cautious mother could easily go into mother bear mode and see Kira as a threat. A threat that needed to be taken care of.

Although, he didn’t know what breaking his ribs had to do with it. Maybe it was a mistake—which, given how his mother was stronger than she looked, he was more willing to say that was the case.

Izuku crawled out of bed, dressed in nothing but All Might-themed pyjama pants. He looked over to the time. It was 12:05, meaning that it had just passed midnight. He walked to his bedroom door, opened it, then walked out into the hallway. He could hear the TV coming from the living room, and as he walked out to the living room, he saw his mother on the couch, staring at the TV with a saddened look on her face.

She noticed him out of the corner of her eye, and looked over to him, her expression perking up slightly. “Izuku, I—”

“No. Just don’t. Let me say my peace, and then I’m going back to bed,” Izuku interrupted, as his mother deflated a little. “I’m sorry for how I reacted. I was angry, and I still am, but I’ve calmed down since then. What you did was bad, but it’s not unforgivable. I just need some space to myself for a little while.”

“And I’m sorry, too… I should’ve never reacted the way I did either. I’ve already said this, but I did what I did because I was afraid. Afraid that my past might have caught up to me…” his mother replied as Izuku raised an eyebrow.

“Past? What do you—”

Before Izuku could finish his question, his mother's phone rang. She looked down at it and raised an eyebrow. “Kujo’s calling?” Inko muttered, confused as she answered the phone and put it on speaker. “This is Inko Midoriya speaking, how can I—”

“No time for chit-chat! Kira’s in the hospital and is in critical condition. I don’t have any more information than that. Her guardian just called me, frantic and horrified. Get to the hospital, now! I would pick you up, but I’m already almost there, so get some public transport if you have to!”  

Before either of them could respond, the panicked-sounding Kujo hung up the phone. Izuku bolted to his room, his expression marred in confusion and panic.

He didn’t know why all of this was happening now. Kira was in critical condition, and he didn’t know why, but by the sounds of Kujo’s voice, it probably had to do with what they were researching.

This then proved that a criminal organization was behind this.

But then, if that was the case, then why did he feel like this was somehow his fault?

[XXXX]

[-Five Minutes Earlier-]

A black and pink striped 2024 Camero pulled up to the edge of a heavily forested area, the front lights on as Yoshihara stepped out, the engine still humming, looking back at Kayama-san who nodded, giving her the all-clear. "I know this is going to sound redundant given what you’re about to walk into, but please try and be safe. If anything goes wrong, you know what to do," she said as Yoshihara hummed in confirmation.

The plan was an odd one, and it completely depended on the person that Kayama-san had contacted earlier to do their part, but if it all worked out, then she’d walk out with minimal injuries and a slightly wounded sense of pride.  

She turned to face the forest, a chill running down her spine as she stepped into the heavily wooded area. This was, in all likelihood, a bad idea. But given that Midoriya’s life was on the line, she didn’t care. All Yoshihara cared about right now was making sure that this bastard got what was coming to them.

She glanced at her phone, it was 12:00 am. Whoever awaited her within the forest was about to get the ass-kicking of a lifetime. If there was one thing that you didn’t do, it was targeting her friends. This asshole made that mistake, now it was time for him to find out what happened to pieces of shit like them.  

Stepping deeper into the forest, far enough to where when she looked back, all she could see was more forest, she found herself entering a clearing. A valley of trees surrounded her at all angles, in a ring shape. It seemed oddly man-made, but then again, the city did have plans for this place to become a park, so this was probably their doing.

As she scanned around the area, a pit formed in her stomach as the sounds of owls hooting and rustling bushes filled her ears. She’d watched one too many B-grade horror movies to know that scenes like this usually spelt trouble, but to hell with that.

“I swear to God, if this doesn’t work, and I die here, I’m going to haunt that mosshead until my soul disappears into the aether…” Yoshihara thought as she took in a deep breath, she let a wave of calm blanket over her before. She gave her surroundings a tertiary glance before finally clearing her throat, and speaking out to the forest-like void.

“Alright, you win! I’m here! What the fuck do you want?” Yoshihara shouted, clenching her right hand into a fist as, suddenly, without warning, she felt a searing pain in her left shoulder, blood squirting from the sudden wound as she screamed out in pain and shock.

"AAAGGHHHH!"

Clasping her wound with her right hand, she looked around her immediate area as she gritted her teeth. "The fuck was that?!" Yoshihara thought, her eyes darting from place to place. It felt like a bullet had made dug into her skin. Blood trickled down her arm as she gnashed her teeth together.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn't allowed even a moment of downtime, as Kira could hear the sound of something rushing towards her. Instinctively, she dodged out of the way of whatever attack had been thrown or shot at her. When she got out of the way, she glanced over to where she had just been, as three holes appeared in the ground in the spot where she had just stood a few moments ago. Her eyes widened, blinking as she gripped her shoulder.

"If I hadn't moved those things would've hit me! Where the fuck is this guy?!" Yoshihara thought, sneering as she glared at the trees that were in front of her. "That's where they have to be. They have to be in the trees!" She thought as she snarled. "Enough hiding, show yourself you fucking coward!" Yoshihara shouted as a burst of demented laughter filled the air.

"Kshshshshsh! And here I thought you wouldn't show up! I guess it goes to show just how gullible you truly are, Kira Yoshihara!" A voice echoed throughout the forest, coming from every possible angle. It sounded young, around about her age to be exact. "This is a kid! The bastard who's threatening me is a kid?! I thought this was some stupid adult! But a kid?! What the hell is this idiot thinking?" Yoshihara thought as she took a step back, the pain in her shoulder getting worse as she winced.

"What the…?" Yoshihara muttered as lifted her hand from her shoulder glancing at her wound as she let go of it. However, as she lifted her hand, her skin around the wound began to peel off of her shoulder, and along with it, a trail of blood as thick as her thumb began to cascade down her arm. Yoshihara felt sick just looking at it, and to make matters worse, the wound was beginning to turn purple, and as it did, the wounded area only seemed to grow and spread, like some sort of disgusting skin-eating virus.

"What the fuck did you do to me?!" Yoshihara shouted as she looked back toward the trees, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the immediate area trying to look for something, anything to tell her where her attacker was hiding.

"Confused, aren't you?! Well, it doesn't matter! I sent you that letter because I knew at the mention of Midoriya Izuku, you'd come running to save his life from certain death! That's what friends are for, right? Well, unfortunately for you, that'll be impossible! You're Quirk could never hold up to what I have! Once I'm done with you, I—"

"So, my assumption was right," Yoshihara interrupted, her voice cold and full of malice as a pinkish-purple aura formed over her body as the voice sputtered. "You don't have a Quirk. You're a Stand User. Why else would be hiding," She spat, summoning Killer Queen as she sneered. "I don't know where you are, but once I find you, I'm gonna turn you into fucking ash!" Yoshihara roared as the voice went silent.

For a brief moment, an eerie tension filled the surrounding area as Yoshihara's eyes darted from left to right, trying to find where the bastard had been hiding. After a few more moments of tension-filled silence, the voice laughed yet again, only this time it was more subdued than downright psychotic.

"Well, this just got interesting. I look forward to finally meeting you… if you get the chance!" Then, out of nowhere, several objects came flying toward Yoshihara, and as Killer Queen got ready to deflect them, they impacted her body, shooting her in the abdomen, chest, and left leg. She stifled a scream of both rage and pain as the wounds began to copiously bleed. Much like the wound on her shoulder, she could feel them begin to grow and spread rapidly, her skin cracking and falling off as she continued to bleed.

"This bastard…! The damage these things do isn't much, but what concerns me is why the area affected is turning purple…" Yoshihara thought as the pain got far, far worse. So much so that she was forced down onto one knee. Her skin began to fall off at a far more rapid rate and to make matters worse, she was starting to become light-headed from all the blood loss. "His ability… it's eating away at my skin! Not only that, but it's spreading!"

As her skin continued to fall off, pain erupted through her body. It was the kind of pain that got worse and worse as time went on. All the while she could do nothing but panic and look around for where her attacker was coming from. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see a damned thing!

"Damn this bastard! Where the hell is he?!" Yoshihara thought as she continued to look around her surroundings. It was clear that her attacker was in the trees, which put her at a disadvantage. Much like Kujo's Stand, it was seemingly long-ranged. Meaning that he could attack from the safety of the tree tops, while Yoshihara was a sitting duck.

Yoshihara tried to move, but her wounded leg wouldn't so much as budge. From the looks of things, it made sense considering she was shot in the thigh. Thankfully, it wasn’t near the femoral artery. It was just below the kneecap. If her attacker had been just a little higher though, she would've bled out. Not that she wasn't bleeding out already, but it was a far slower process.

Killer Queen wasn't a long-ranged Stand by any means. But, that didn't mean she couldn't attack the user. After all, it can turn whatever it touches into a bomb. And so, using that logic, she had an idea. Killer Queen scooped up a ball of dirt and turned it into a compact ball while embedding a bomb into it.

"Now all I have to do is wait until you slip up, fuckface…" Yoshihara thought as she patiently waited. Luckily, it didn't take long for that to happen, as almost immediately there was movement in the branches above. Without hesitation, Killer Queen launched the ball of dirt toward the movement, and as soon as it got closer, the ball fell apart due to a flurry of slashes. However, as the ball began to break apart, Killer Queen pressed its thumb down on its hand, causing the ball to blow up in her attacker's face.

"Ack—you asshole!" The voice of the Stand User echoed out as Yoshihara smirked, a sensation of pride washing over her. If she kept this up, maybe she could hit her target. Although, given that his Stand seemed to be pretty fast, she doubted it would be easy.  

"Gotcha, fuckface, now, are ya gonna tell me just what the fuck you want from me, or are you gonna be difficult?!" Yoshihara snarled, attempting once more to stand up, only to fail. Her leg wound had gotten just as bad as the one on her shoulder, and that wasn't to say anything about the one she had under her right breast. It too was starting to get worse, as blood was pouring like a river down her body, pooling around her as a headache began to form.

"Gotta wrap this up as soon as possible… I'm starting to get woozy. Any minute now I could pass out from blood loss… and if I do that, I'm as good as dead…." Yoshihara thought as the voice growled.

"You think that's enough to defeat me?! I won't let some puny explosion even so much graze me! All that did was slightly annoy me, you hear, nothing! Absolutely nothing! DIE!" The voice shouted as several more flying objects came at Kira from two different angles.

Killer Queen dove in front of her, punching rapidly to knock away as many of them as possible, all the while it bellowed its warcry.

"SHIBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBO!"

In the end, Killer Queen was able to deflect three of them, as one was able to slip past the cat-like Stand and pierce Yoshihara in her sternum, just barely missing her heart by a few inches.

"AGGGGHHhhhh!" Yoshihara's scream died out as she coughed up blood, a large pool now surrounding her from the collective blood loss from all of her wounds. She choked ever-so-slightly, coughing more and more as Killer Queen yanked a small purple needle-like object from her neck.

It was small, nearly half the size of an actual nail. It was no wonder why Killer Queen had been having a hard time hitting them away, they were the size of half a peanut!

"Hah! Take that! You'll die for sure now! I outrange you, and because of that, I can continuously take potshots at you until you bleed out! Stand or not, weak vermin like you don't belong in U.A.! You're taking up my spot in the recommendation exam, once I get rid of you, there will be nothing stopping me from becoming the most popular hero to date! I'll surpass All Might, and you'll die here, alone and forgotten!"

Fear and anger flashed through Yoshihara as the boy taunted her. Die alone… Forgotten? Those words. She heard them before. It was a coincidence, yes, but all the same, they were the same words that she said to her.

Rather than feel useless like she assumed that bastard had intended her to feel, all Yoshihara felt was rage. Cold, unbridled rage.

She refused to die here.

She needed to take this more seriously. It was obvious that they outranged her, and even if she did throw a dirtball in their direction, their Stand would just rip them to shreds before it could explode, making the effort useless. There was no use in wasting her already depleting energy on such a task.

The wounds all around her body had continued to crack and decay, so much so that the areas where the wounds were the skin had deteriorated had gotten so bad that it began to show muscle. Blood continuously seeped from her body as she began to feel even more light-headed than before, resulting in her vision slowly fading. She was running out of time.

"No. I have to do something…" Yoshihara thought, looking over to Killer Queen.

And then, she remembered the plan and a devilish smirk appeared on her face. "This asshole thinks he has me cornered when in reality it's the other way around!" Yoshihara thought, staring up at the tree line, her expression switching to a neutral one. The last thing she wanted to do was to give her plan away.

"Gone silent on me now? Well then, I guess that means I can just finish you off! Who knew that this would be so easy?!" The voice spat as they laughed. "Heh, since you're dying anyway, I guess it wouldn't hurt to show you who I am. But I'm not coming down there, that would be stupid!" The voice said as a boy no older than Yoshihara stepped out from the darkness above within the trees.

A boy that she vaguely recognized. He was from her school, and she had vaguely remembered bumping into him once at the school's entrance.

His grey hair was short, almost in the style of a crewcut and he wore a shit-eating grin on his face. His eyes were bright orange, and he wore a black denim jacket, a spiked collar, and a red v-neck shirt underneath. His pants were a dark grey, and his shoes were pitch black. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, and his posture was lazy, leaned back against the tree as he faced her directly.

Then, there was his Stand.

It was a humanoid Stand, taking the form of a hunched-over, lean, physically boney monster. It had pointed spikes protruding out of its back, and large, five-fingered claws the size of steak knives, with the tips seemingly shaved off, though one of them had been growing back. Its legs were long and spindly, and its feet were completely flat with no toes to speak of.

The stand looked to be the same height as its user, though it had been hunched over, so there was no way of telling. It had a large overbite with jagged teeth, and it had no eyes to speak of, only black empty sockets.

"S-So… you're the bastard who threatened to kill my f-friend," Yoshihara stammered, her skin slowly going pale due to blood loss as the Stand User smirked.

"Yup! And to think that was all it took to draw you out was threatening that pathetic, Quirkless loser! You really are a weakling, aren't you? Both in mind and in ability! I mean, who cares about that waste of air? He's gonna kill himself anyway, right? All Quirkless failures kill themselves in the end, so you've been wasting your time!" The Stand user taunted as Yoshihara felt her blood boil. However, she kept calm. She was waiting for something to happen, and it was taking its sweet time.

"Come on now, any day now!" Yoshihara thought as her body began to shake. By her estimation, she only had another minute before she would fall unconscious.

The Stand use sneered at her silence, and then, he scoffed. "I hadn't expected you to be a Stand User, though. That genuinely caught me off guard! But, it seems as if my worries were completely unfounded! Your Stand can't hope to hurt me! I outrange you by a decent amount! Even with your stupid little explosion ability, you're nothing compared to my Stand!" The Stand user boasted, his eyes gaining a demented shine as he laughed.

"You know what? Because I'm so confident you'll die, I'll tell you my name as well! Hell, maybe you'll recognize my family's name. After all… you did kill my uncle. He followed you to that corner store, and now I know how you killed him. You blew him up using your Stand! So think of this as karmic retribution! So you better remember the name Taro! Taro Tatsugi! My Stand is Renegades! I'm sure you probably don't care, but it doesn't matter, now does it, cause you're gonna die!"

Taro smirked, a silver aura forming around his body as he narrowed his eyes at Yoshihara. "Renegades poison isn't exactly the strongest, but the more of it that's in your body, the more lethal it becomes, so just stand still, all I gotta do is shoot you five more times, and I'll put you out of your misery!" Taro spat as Renegades aimed one of its fingers toward Yoshihara.

Just then, a shadow silently slinked behind both Taro and Renegades. When Yoshihara saw that, a dangerous smile took over her visage as her eyes gleamed with determination. A surge of adrenaline flowed through her body as she slowly began to stand up on shaky legs, blood dripping from her body as Taro recoiled.

"Eh?! How the fuck are you standing up! I hit you in a major tendon! You shouldn't be able to stand up!" Taro shouted, confusion on his face as Yoshihara glared at Taro, rage pouring out of her in the form of killing intent, which caused Taro to pale.

"You know… people like you… piss me off," Yoshihara started, reaching for something in her pocket. Renegades fired off one of its poison-filled nails, aiming directly for her wrist. However, Killer Queen deflected the shot as it bounced harmlessly into the ground, making Taro snarl. It was then that Yoshihara pulled out a walkie-talkie with the receiver end taped down so that it was always captured audio. "So I came prepared."

"W-What?! Who were you talking to?! I told you to come alone!" Taro shouted, taking a step back on the branch he was on as a hand snapped down on his shoulder. The grip was strong enough that it made a cracking sound, causing Taro to wince. The boy spun around, coming face to face with two narrowed, red-glowing eyes.

"Boo," the man spoke as a strange bandage-like material wrapped around Taro, squeezing and restraining him, forcing the boy to put away his Stand as it sucked the air out of him. The man's long black hair rose high, and the stubble on his chin seemed to have the same effect, though not as badly. The man wore a black bodysuit, along with a grey utility belt that matched his scarf. Not only that, but he also wore a pair of black sneakers, which completed his look.

The man glared daggers at Taro, who began to sweat bullets. "W-What the fuck?! H-How did you—"

"Shut up," The man interrupted, his tone blunt and dry, just like his eyes. "It's people like you, who do whatever they possibly can to attempt to be heroes that sicken me. Especially if they resort to means like this. I have to hand it to the problem child, when I first heard her explanation, I was worried I would be dealing with a crazy kid, alongside a crazy woman that I call a friend. But from what I've seen today? And considering I've had my Quirk directed on you the entire time, with nothing happening? I was wrong about that. So now, you're going to jail for the attempted murder of a minor," the Pro Hero Eraserhead said, taking Taro's spot on the branch as he dangled, all the while he stared in horror.

"WHAT!?"

[30 minutes ago…]

Nemuri and Yoshihara pulled up to a bar near the outskirts of Musutafu where a man in a black tracksuit and a massive scarf stood, leaning against the wall of a dive bar. Nemuri and Yoshihara stepped out of the car as the man let out a sigh.

"Alright, Nemuri, this better be good, otherwise I'm going back to bed. My patrol doesn't start for another few hours, so dragging me out here better be worth it." the man said as Nemuri waved him off dismissively.

"Oh Shouta, you know full well that I would never call you during your little nap time with your boyfriend~," Nemuri said as Shouta coughed into his hand.

"Nemuri, please, no teasing right now. Tell me, what is it that you want?" Shouta bit out, glaring at her with considerable annoyance in his eyes.

"Okay, okay, jeez. You see, Yoshihara's friend is in danger. Someone wants her to go to the woods alone for whatever reason they may have. If she doesn't her friend will die. However, this guy has a power that Quirks can't affect. Then, I thought of you. With your binding cloth style of attacking, once the guy reveals themselves from their hiding spot, you can wrap 'em up and prevent them from attacking. Plus, if they turn out to have a Quirk, you can erase it to make them harmless. So… what do you say?" Nemuri asked as Shouta looked over at Yoshihara.

"And what makes you think I believe that? What other powers out there exist that aren't Quirks? Unless you can prove it, don't waste my time with bullshit. I'll help you two anyway, if you can't prove it, don't get in my way," Shouta stated before looking over to the blonde. "Unless you can prove it, that is?" Shouta asked as Yoshihara rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, the thing is, people without these abilities can't see them. But, they can feel them," Yoshihara said as, suddenly, Shouta felt something tug on his hair. He looked up, then back to the girl, who had a smirk on her face.

"Alright, try that again," Shouta said, his eyes blaring red. "My Quirk negates other Quirks, so—" Before he could finish, something closed one of his eyes by force, which caused him to shake his head and deactivate his Quirk, all the while Yoshihara was still smirking. Shouta sighed, having seen enough. "Alright, I believe you. Can't exactly use a psychic Quirk when I'm looking at you with my Quirk turned on, so you gotta be telling me the truth." Shouta said, sighing, rubbing at his eyes. "Let's go save your friend."

[Now]

"Y-You!" Taro choked out, all before the silver aura appeared around Taro again, as a sadistic grin took up his visage. "You think this stops me! Ha! You're stupid, you really are daft! And you call yourself a Pro Hero!? Don't make me laugh!" Taro spat, a strained sneer on his face as Renegades loomed over Shouta, its right hand raised to the side of Eraserhead's head, fingers pointed out in a stabbing gesture.

"Eraserhead! You're going to be an example as to just how strong Renegades is!" Taro declared as the Stand reared its arm back, unbeknownst to him. Then, before Yoshihara could warn him, Renegades dug its claws into the man's head, blood spewing out from the attack as Eraserhead felt the sudden sensation of being stabbed.

Pain flowed throughout him, as Renegades slammed the other side of Eraserhead’s head into the tree, knocking the man unconscious before Renegades ripped its claws out of his head, allowing him to fall to the ground in a heap. The only reason why Yoshihara was confident that he was alive was because his chest was still moving up and down, indicating that he was still breathing.

Yoshihara's eyes widened, fear replacing confidence. In one fell swoop, her plan fell to pieces before. She should’ve known this would’ve happened. It never occurred to her that Taro would’ve used his Stand at a close range. She was a fool to think otherwise.

Just as Taro was moments away from falling to the ground, he grabbed the branch he had been standing on, breathing heavily as he looked down at Eraserhead’s fallen form, his sadistic smirk there for all to see.

At that moment, Yoshihara coughed up blood, her body feeling weaker than before. She fell back to her knees as her legs gave out on her, pain soaring throughout her body. She shook violently, as she felt her breathing become shakier. "No! No, not now! I-I can't die here!"

"I have to say, you scared me for a second," Taro said, a hint of respect in his tone of voice. "I truly thought you had me beat. Bringing Eraserhead into restraining me was a smart move, I'll give you that! But now he's out of the picture, all because, yet again, like a fool, you underestimated me and Renegades! You see, my Stand's poison attacks your red blood cells, which causes your body to decay! At least, where it shoots anyway. But like any good poison, it'll spread! Since you've lost so much blood, maybe I should just leave you here to die a slow and painful death? I was going to be nice and put you out of your misery, but since you pulled that trick, you deserve it."

As he said that, his sadistic smile widened. “Also, since you went back on your word, and came with assistance, that means killing that useless Deku is back on the plate! With both you and him dead, that leaves more deserving people to go to U.A. After all, I heard he was applying too. It would be a waste of a class slot, don’t you think?”

Yoshihara snarled, trying to stand up again, failing as she did so. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Killer Queen begin to fade away, flickering in and out of reality as it began to crack like fine China when exposed to hot water. "W-What…?" Yoshihara muttered as Taro snorted.

"You're dying, and because of that your Stand is dying with you! Once that happens, I'll win! Seeing as that's happening, it means this battle is over!" Taro shouted, pointing at Yoshihara as his expression became manic. "I win! You lose! Dynamite and a Laser beam is over!" Taro shouted, laughing manically as Yoshihara clenched her hand into a fist, her energy slowly draining from her body.

She felt pain all over. Blood drenched her once clean clothes, and the wounds on her shoulder, chest, left thigh, and sternum had decayed to the point where all you could see was muscle. She should be dead. She should've died by now, and yet her heart continued to pump. The only thing keeping her going, at least in her opinion, was her rage.

She looked at the ground, shadow covering her eyes as Killer Queen continued to crack. Although, it was no longer fading in and out of existence. Rather, it had become more ethereal than materialized, bordering between life and death.

At that moment, for just a split second, she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't make out many details, but the figure was a man. A man just as bloodied as she was, though, like Killer Queen, he was ethereal. Like a ghost. He was dressed in some kind of purple suit, and he had pale skin, yet aside from that, there was nothing else she could make out about him.

In a faint, almost whisper-like voice, the ghost spoke.

"You will not die. It is not your time. Get up, now."

At that moment, a wave of adrenaline that came out of absolutely nowhere hit her like a truck, and she felt completely energized once again. The ghost was now gone, but whatever it had done, it had given her the boost she needed. A small, barely noticeable smirk took up her visage as she spoke. "You made… one fatal mistake… Taro…" Yoshihara managed to spit out between heavy breaths. Taro raised an eyebrow, a smirk on his face.

"Oh really, and how exactly did I make a mistake, eh?" Taro spat, Renegades aiming a shot for her head. "It doesn't matter what mistake I might have made in the past, I got a shot lined up for your head, and when it hits, you'll drop dead. But, cause I'm so nice, I'll let you speak. C'mon, what're your last words? I'll make sure I'll tell them to that Quirkless loser right before I kill him too ~!" The grey-haired boy taunted as Killer Queen came to Yoshihara's side, raising its right arm, confusing Taro.

"Eh, what are you doing, dipshit? Are you going to waste the last moments of your life looking like a goof?!" Taro spat, glaring down at Yoshihara. Killer Queen extended its index finger, and when it did, Taro raised an eyebrow. "Oh! You're going to mock me, aren't you?! Ha! Not happening, Renegades, Fi—"

Before Taro could finish, a bubble appeared on Killer Queen's finger. The bubble in question had a skull insignia on it with stars in its eyes, which wasn't too dissimilar to that of the skulls on the sides of its shoulders. The bubble began to Spin, golden energy sparking off of it, though it was invisible to the naked eye, and as Yoshihara looked up at Taro, he flinched upon seeing her face.

"You, like a fool, underestimated me and Killer Queen," Yoshihara said, her eyes devoid of life and emotion as Killer Queen launched the bubble off its fingers. Taro's eyes went wide, fear marring his expression.

“What the fuc—"

As soon as the bubble made contact with Taro and his Stand, the bubble exploded, releasing a loud btoom throughout the forest as shockwaves that blew leaves off of trees and the branch off of that particular tree that Taro had been hanging onto.

Suddenly, the pain that she had felt from the poison in her system faded away, and the purplish hue around the wounds went away as well, though the actual wounds themselves didn't disappear.

Yoshihara watched as a singular, bloodied hand fell from the area where the tree branch was. Moments after it hit the ground, it slowly began to disintegrate away into nothingness. Her eyes were stone cold, no emotion to be seen lurking within.

There was no sadness, no rage, no joy, no remorse.

All that was there was pure nothingness.

Yoshihara began to slowly pick herself up, Killer Queen helping her as she limped over to Eraserhead. They both needed to get medical attention, fast. She had no idea when that ghost's extra boost of energy was going to fade away, so she had to make it count.

"Have to… get to… Nemuri…" Yoshihara thought, adrenaline controlling her every move as she used Killer Queen to drag Eraserhead out of the clearing. Pain seared through Yoshihara's body as tears fell down her cheeks.

A part of her brain screamed at her to stop moving, but another part screamed at her to keep moving. She was scared. The last thing Yoshihara wanted to do was to close her eyes, fearing that if she did, she'd die. Her eyes trailed to Eraserhead, who had what appeared to be a broken leg, and maybe a fractured skull considering what Renegades had done. There were five holes in the side of his head though the wounds didn't look too deep, but deep enough to where they could be fatal.

Only one thought pounded against her head, and that thought was to get to safety, to get to Nemuri, to get someone to help them.

Her limp kept getting worse as she walked, but no matter how much it hurt, she kept walking. She had to get out of the forest and come hell or high water, she wasn't going to let anyone or anything stop her. Eventually, after what felt like a literal hour of walking, Yoshihara could see the entrance to the forest, and when she did, relief washed over her.

She didn't know how long she had walked, but as soon as she felt that sense of relief, she felt her adrenaline spike, and she picked up speed. She was so close, she couldn't stop now. She was right there. In the distance, she could see Nemuri, who was seconds away from entering the forest.

Nemuri most likely heard the explosion, and with that look on her face, she was probably contemplating entering the forest to go see if everything was all right.

When Yoshihara came out of the forest, Nemuri nearly screamed bloody murder. "YOSHIHARA!" Nemuri screamed as Yoshihara smiled, blood still dripping from her wounds.

She was still alive, but even she knew it was only barely.

"I… I did it… Midoriya is now… safe…" Then, without any warning, she fell to the ground as her eyes slowly drifted shut, her Stand disappearing entirely, followed by the sound of it shattering to pieces, all the while Nemuri rushed over to her adopted daughter, screaming profanities as she dug her phone out to call the emergency services.

After a few moments of her phone ringing, the emergency services picked up. "Hello, emergency hotline speaking, how may we direct your call?"

"This is the Pro Hero Midnight, off duty. Send an ambulance to the southern road exit of Musutafu City! I have two gravely wounded individuals with a possible third within in the forest, one confirmed minor and the other a fellow pro hero Eraserhead, who is on duty! They'll both die without immediate medical attention!" Nemuri said, trying to keep her composure while on the phone.

"Alright, ma'am, we're sending one now! It should be arriving in three minutes from now, I have another call coming in, and because we're extremely busy tonight, I'm going to have to cut the line. I wish you the best of luck, Midnight-sama."

With that, the phone operator hung up, leaving Nemuri by herself as she ran over to Yoshihara, kneeling on the floor as Nemuri cradled Yoshihara’s upper body in her arms.

"Yoshi-chan… c'mon, please, don't die on me, please!" Nemuri cried, holding the blond's body up to hers as she could feel her soft, gentle breathing on her chin. Tears freely fell from her eyes. She didn't care that Yoshihara was bleeding, or if it would stain her clothes. All she cared about at that moment was ensuring that Yoshihara was safe.

Nemuri ripped parts of her clothing apart to stop the bleeding, doing all that she could keep Yoshihara alive until the ambulances arrived. She looked over in the distance and saw Shouta. He was still breathing, and he appeared to be in better condition than Yoshihara. Nemuri picked up Yoshihara, grunting with slight effort as she walked over to Shouta.

She set Yoshihara down, tearing more off of her shirt and pressing the rags against the five holes in Shouta’s head. A small pool had begun to form under his head, and while his skin was paling, his breathing was clearer than Yoshihara's, meaning he would recover better than Yoshihara would have.

And so, Nemuri focused all of her attention on Yoshihara. She couldn't lose her. If she did, she would never forgive herself. This was all her fault. It should’ve been her, not Yoshihara who went in there. What the hell was she thinking letting her go in there! What kind of horrible person was she to let a child get into a near-death experience like that?

By the time the ambulances arrived, the bleeding had mostly stopped, but the paramedics weren't taking any precautions. Both Eraserhead and Yoshihara were loaded into separate ambulances while Nemuri sat in her car, fear coating her bones and soul as she gripped at her chest.

"Stupid! Stupid Nemuri! Why did I let her do this!? I should've just gotten my friends together to deal with the villain, not let her do it! Stupid, dumb, idiotic, moronic dumbass!" Nemuri thought, tears still falling from her eyes as she watched the ambulances speed away.

Turning on the engine of her car, she followed them to the hospital, the only thing on her mind being: "Please, please be safe Yoshihara… Don't die on me."

[XXXX]

!Stand Information Corner!

Stand User: Kira Yoshihara

Stand Name: Killer Queen

Localized Name: Deadly Queen

Stand Appearance: Killer Queen is a cat-like humanoid Stand, sharing the same height and physicality as its user, Kira Yoshihara, while remaining genderless. It wears dark studded leather-like forearm-length gloves, mirrored in style by a garter belt-like band at its waist and ankle-height footwear. Four short spikes line the top of its back. On its shoulders, the back of its gloved hands, belt, both sides of its ankles and the top of its feet all bear an emblem of a cat-like humanoid skull that resembles its own.

(Current) Stand Abilities:

Bomb Transmutation: Anything, regardless of whether it is living or inanimate, Killer Queen touches will be implanted with a bomb. Once the object is touched by Killer Queen, the part that was touched will inflate like a balloon. Upon reaching its climax, the bubble-like bomb will explode, erasing the object and or person that has been touched.

Bubble Bombs: Using a mysterious power, Killer Queen twists the particles in the air and compresses them into the form of a tiny, near invisible bubble with the same skull icon located on its body. Just like it's physical counter-part, anything these bubble bombs touch will be erased. However, unlike it's physical counter part, Yoshihara can control the output of these bombs, changing their explosive power to either weak or powerful and anything in between. Killer Queen can create an unlimited amount of these bubbles.

Stand Stats:

Destructive Power: Grade A

Effective Range: Grade B (Up to 25 meters with bubble bombs)

General Speed: Grade B

Persistent use of ability: Grade B

Precision: Grade B

Developmental Potential: Grade A

[XXXX]

!Stand Information Corner!

Stand User: Taro Tatsugi

Stand Name: Renegades

Localized Name: Rebels

Stand Appearance: Renegades is a humanoid Stand, taking the form of a hunched-over, lean, physically bony monstrosity, and it stands around the same height as its user, Taro Tatsugi. It has spikes protruding out of its back, it has five large steak-knife-sized claws, and its limbs are long and spindly, with no toes to speak of. It has a pronounced overbite, exposing jagged teeth, and it has no eyes to speak of, only black empty sockets.

Stand Ability:

Poisoned Spinning Nails: Renegades can shoot spinning, poisoned nails from its claws. Each nail fires from its claws at exactly 300mph/150 k/hr, making them near impossible to dodge, but not nearly as hard to deflect. These nails, once they had been embedded into the body, secrete a small, non-lethal dose, of skin-decaying poison. However, if more than one nail is within the body, then it will become lethal, and the worse the poison becomes. The poison will only disappear when the user is defeated, but the wounds will remain.

Stand Stats:

Destructive Power: Grade A (Mainly due to its ability. Physically speaking, it is stronger than a regular human, being able to effortlessly break through skin).

Effective Range: Grade A (The nails can go up to 50 meters before vanishing into thin air).

General Speed: Grade C (It can fire its nails in rapid succession, but each nail has a cooldown of 30 seconds before it can be replenished and fired again).

Persistence use of ability: Grade C (Regenerative)

Precision: Grade B (Rarely Misses)

Overall Potential: Grade C

[Status: Utterly Defeated/Dead]

[XXXX]

When Josefumi had heard about what had happened to Yoshihara, he was none too pleased with the fact she hadn't called him, or Karera for help. If she lived this, she was going to get an earful from him. He sat in the waiting room, tapping his foot on the floor waiting to see the doctor.

"That damn idiot! She could've gotten herself killed!" Josefumi thought, growling under his breath as he glanced over to Nemuri, who had also been waiting for the doctor to come out to tell them the news.

"Why didn't you try and stop her?" Josefumi asked, a snark to his voice as Nemuri snapped her attention over to Josefumi. She looked at him, fury in her eyes as Josefumi nearly recoiled.

"What does it matter to you?" Nemuri snapped back. "You were the first person to ever attack my daughter, right? I saw you on the cameras when I looked over the footage after the attack. I don't know how you became her friend, but I don't care. I don't even want to talk to you, but let it be known that I didn't know how dangerous these Stand things were until she came out of that forest. Now mind your own business." With that, she returned to staring down the emergency room doors.

Yoshihara had been put into critical condition by whomever she had fought, and it was a miracle she was still alive and breathing by the time she got to the hospital. Karera was going to come with Josefumi, but she didn't because she had other stuff she had to do, i.e. more research into the bullet that they had gotten their hands on.

Josefumi went to get up to go to the front desk to ask if Yoshihara was okay when the waiting room doors burst open.

"Kira-san!" Midoriya cried out, dressed in a thrown-together combination of a shirt that read “happy” and All Might pyjama pants, looking over at Josefumi before rushing over to him and grabbing his shoulders. "Where is she?! I-Is she okay?!" Midoriya said, staring into Josefumi's eyes as Josefumi gently pushed Midoriya off of him.

"I don't know. She's been in surgery for over an hour now. The Stand that attacked her had some kind of skin decay ability. From what I saw was shot in the sternum, thigh, chest, and shoulder. She's lucky to have even survived the trip to the hospital," Josefumi said, a heavy amount of concern in her voice as Midoriya’s eyes became watery.

Without warning, Midoriya cried, hugging Josefumi. He didn’t reject it, he just let it happen, holding him up as he did. As that happened Inko stood in the doorway, worry on her face as she looked at Nemuri. She walked over to her and sat beside her, who glanced at her.

"Are you Midoriya's mother?" Nemuri asked as Inko nodded silently. "I see… did you know that the person who attacked my daughter had threatened to kill your son if she didn't go in and stop him?" Nemuri continued as Inko gasped.

"No," Inko replied softly, her eyes darting to the floor. “I’m glad that my son’s safe now, not that I knew he was in danger to begin with, but all the same, thank you. I just hope Kira-san makes it. I was told she was in critical condition…”

"Yeah…” Nemuri muttered, staring down at her hands. "For all I know, my daughter is dying in there, surrounded by strangers and medical equipment. I'm scared out of my mind for her safety, and I'm not even her biological mom…” Nemuri muttered, looking up from her hands and back over to the emergency room doors.

“Speaking of which, I wonder why I've never met her…? She should be here, right? The receptionist told me that she had contacted everyone on her contacts list and who shares a last name with her. So why isn't she…? Oh, fuck it, who cares, she's probably a deadbeat, which explains where I found her... Ugh, here I go rambling to get my mind off of things. I'm sorry about that, truly," Nemuri said, rubbing her eyes as Inko smiled softly.

"No, no. We all have our ways of dealing with stress. Mine just so happens to be stress-eating. At least your habit doesn't hurt you directly," Inko said, suppressing a laugh.

Nemuri spaced out, looking at the doors intently. She wanted to just run in there and see what was happening to her adopted daughter, to know if she was alright. Instinctively, she knew she'd be okay, mostly because Medi-lady was there, as well as a few other people with healing Quirks. Hell, the Head Doctor had even taken interest in her and decided to go pitch in a helping hand, too! So Nemuri knew she was in safe hands.

However, that didn't change the fact that there was a chance that Yoshihara could be dead… and that scared Nemuri the most.

Everyone sat in the waiting room as patient after patient came and went, some also staying for surgery, families crying about the loss of loved ones, while at the same time, anxious would-be fathers sat, waiting for their babies to be born. It was all a rush of emotions.

But out of everyone in that room, Izuku was feeling it the most. Yoshihara was a close friend to him, even though they had only known each other for three and a half days.

"Can Stands be that strong that they can just decay people like that? Can Quirks do that as well? Is there a Quirk that exists out there like that?" Izuku pondered to himself, staring at the floor. Two hours had passed since he had arrived, and still not a word from the doctors or the surgeons. It was almost 2:00 am, and Izuku was getting tired, but he stayed awake, just so he could hear the news, bad or good.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Izuku asked the pompadour-haired teen beside him as Josefumi shrugged.

"I don't know. I've dealt with my fair share of Stand Users that had been strong enough to put me in the hospital for months. She could be here for months for all we know, but I—"

Josefumi wasn't able to finish his sentence as, right before their eyes, Yoshihara walked out of the double doors that separated the waiting room and the rows upon rows of surgery rooms, wearing a hospital gown. She was using a cane to walk most likely because of the limp she had.

Beside her was the Head Doctor, who had a hand on her back. His hair was bushy, very bushy, it almost looked like a hat in some regards. He had very pale skin, and his eyes were a light shade of blue. He wore a white doctor's coat with blue surgical clothes underneath with a bear pin on the right lapel.

"Yoshihara!" Izuku shouted, jumping up from his chair as the doctor put a hand up.

"Hold on, stop! Don't touch her. She's very, very fragile right now!" The Head Doctor said, sighing as Izuku chuckled nervously, sitting back down. "My name is Dr. Tomioka, full name Tooru Tomioka if you needed to know," Tooru said, taking his hand off Yoshihara’s back as she walked over to Nemuri, who met her halfway.

Nemuri wrapped Yoshiara into a gentle, but firm hug. For her part, Yoshihara wrapped a single arm over Nemuri's back, resting her head on Nemuri's shoulder as Tooru smiled at the heartwarming reunion. After a few moments, the two parted as Tooru stepped up, nodding at Nemuri, who looked at him with a thankful gleam in her eyes.

"Ms. Kayama, just so that you are aware, she has a bottle of pills in her pocket that she must take for the next week if she is to heal fully. She has to take two a day until the bottle is empty. If you require a refill, depending on if the pain is still intolerable, you have one refill prescription," Tooru explained, passing the bottle to her.

"Thank you, Dr. Tomioka," Nemuri said, bowing.

"Oh, it's no problem. To be fair, had it not been for my ability, she would be dead," Tooru said, a blue aura surrounding him as he rubbed the back of his neck. A metallic figure appeared behind him, its head looking like a microphone with a bowler hat atop it. It wore what looked like a button-up jacket and a pair of black jeans. It had a cane in its left hand with small bear-like markings lining the cane. It also wore a strange scarf around its neck with a strange, swirly pattern.

"Wait, you're a Stand User?" Josefumi asked, raising his eyebrow as Tooru shrugged.

"Honestly, Wonder Of U is a Stand that only really works when either myself or other people are in danger. It misdirects Calamities away from other people and directs them toward animals like birds or bears. There were several times during the surgery that Wonder Of U activated to prevent her from dying," Tooru said as Nemuri's eyes widened.

Had it not been for the fact that Tooru had been a Stand User with such an incredible ability, Yoshihara would've died, multiple times over. Nemuri looked at Yoshihara, the urge to put her into a bear hug was unnerving. She'd have to do that when she was fully healed.

"Thank you, Dr. Tomioka, seriously. You have no idea how relieved I am to finally have a Stand User actually help this time instead of hurt," Yoshihara said as Tooru smiled.

"Ah, It's no biggy. I've always wanted to be a doctor. That, and my Stand doesn't have many offensive capabilities. It's not physically strong and its ability is more defensive than offensive. So helping people just seemed like a better idea than hurting," Tooru explained, looking at the time. "As much as I would like to stick around and chat, I'm a busy man, and I have more patients to tend to. I hope we never meet again, you know, 'cause that would mean you'd have to have another surgery," Tooru said, a joking tone to his voice as everyone waved goodbye.

When Yoshihara felt the cold breeze of the night hit her skin, she shivered. The hospital was warm, and a part of her just wanted to stay there overnight so she didn't have to deal with the cold. She turned to Izuku, who looked at her with a lost puppy expression.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Kira-san," Midoriya said, no stutter in his voice at all, which made Yoshihara smile. He was growing a backbone, good.

"Thank you, Midoriya-kun," Yoshihara said, before her smile turned into a smirk. "You can call me Yoshihara if you want. I think we're past the point for formalities, yeah? Friends address one another by their first name and or nickname, and I hate my nickname," Yoshihara said, her tone of voice slightly teasing as Izuku's face flushed.

"I-I mean…! Sure, I-I guess… uh… Yoshihara…. Uh, c-call me… uh… Izuku, then," Izuku replied, his stutter back in full force as Yoshihara couldn't help but snicker to herself. At least his stammer was getting better, and not worse.

"Heh, it's kinda cute, actually," Yoshihara thought, before a hand clasped on her shoulder. Looking up, Yoshihara was met with a smirk from Kujo.

"Next time, don't hesitate to call me if you need backup. I've got your back if you've got mine, yeah? We're allies, so don't be afraid to use me as such," Kujo said as Yoshihara nodded. With that, he let go of her shoulder, nodded at Midoriya, then walked away.

In the distance, Yoshihara saw a black car with tinted windows from all sides. A single flag with a wheel logo on it was tagged on the back, meaning it belonged to some rich company. At the same time, Kujo was walking toward it, meaning that it was from The Speedwagon Foundation. That explained how he got here, and despite the fact she expected nothing less, it was still a little shocking to see that he had a personal chauffeur.

"Izuku! We gotta go!" Inko called out to the boy's right, as Izuku looked over his shoulder. For a split second, Izuku frowned, before sighing.

"See you at school, Kira—I mean, uh… Y-Yoshihara," Izuku stammered, clearing his throat as he walked over to where his mother was. They had come to the hospital in a small but effective red Voltzwagon Beetle. It was a vintage car, and considering it was no longer being made, seeing one was quite rare.

Nemuri walked up to Yoshihara, looking down at her with a gleam of worry in her eyes. "You are incredibly lucky, Yoshihara. I hope you understand that until you get into U.A., outside of school, you're grounded from leaving the suite, right?"

"What!? Why!" Yoshihara balked as Nemuri gave her the "Are you serious" look.

"One, you scared me half to death. Two, I need to monitor your recovery. And three, vigilantism is no joke. Whether or not you weren't given a choice in the matter, I still need to reel you in somehow. Now stop arguing with me, you need to get home and get some rest."

And so, with a resigned sigh, Yoshihara followed Nemuri back to their car. She would need to change out of the hospital gown when she got home and have it returned later. Her pyjama's had been totalled with her fight against Taro, meaning she'd need to get a new pair of pyjamas as well.

"Oh well, you win some, you lose some I guess." And with that thought, Yoshihara entered the car, closed the door, and buckled herself in. She placed her cane on the floor of the car and relaxed into her seat. She dozed off, which earned a chuckle from Nemuri.

Today had been a stressful day, but despite that, Kira Yoshihara slept peacefully knowing that Izuku was fine and that the bastard Taro would never so much as breathe ever again.

Standing on the rooftop of the hospital, a certain blond-haired ghost wearing a purple suit and black tie smirked, fading away, content that his descendant was alive. He might be forced to wander the earth as punishment for what he did, but he would do so watching over his family, much like his father before him.

And thusly, The Ghost of Yoshikage Kira vanished.

-To Be Continued in – Recommendation Exam-

Chapter Text

[Revision of The Chapter Published – June 24^th, 2023]

[Final Revision of The Chapter Published - July 14th, 2024]

Four days. Four painstaking, pill-popping, pain-filled days had passed. Yoshihara would admit that, frankly, there was nothing worse than needing to move from one place to another while in horrendous pain.

From what Dr. Tomioka had said to her after the surgery, moving her waist or shoulder whilst not on the painkillers would’ve been a nightmare. The amount of tissue damage done to her body was more than extensive. So much so that without how far Medical advancements had come with the advent of Quirks, had this been back in the pre-Quirk era, she would’ve been crippled from the waist down for the rest of her life.

Needless to say, she was thankful for what Dr. Tomioka had done for her. That still didn’t mean she also wanted to curse him out for the pain she was in. At least it wasn’t as bad as it had been when she woke up on her first day back.

At least she was alive….

Despite everything, she was alive. She survived. Honestly, out of all the stupid, idiotic things that she did, that had to have been one of the dumbest. She knew nothing about her enemy, only that he could’ve been a Stand User. Worse was that she didn’t know what his ability had been.

She could’ve died, and Midoriya—no. Izuku could’ve died as a result.

She didn’t know why, but the idea of Izuku dying… she hated it. Typically, she was incredibly apathetic to death. She never really cared if someone died, especially if they were a random passerby. By all accounts, she should’ve remained that way.

Yet, here she was, fretting over the fact that Izuku could’ve died. Both if she had died, or if she did nothing.

Was it because she knew Izuku?

No. She had only known him for a week and some change. She shouldn’t care about what happened to him.

And yet, she did.

Brushing the thought aside, it didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was that she was alive, Taro Tatsugi was dead, and Izuku was safe. It came at the cost of her nearly dying, but he was safe. He was okay. That’s all that mattered at the end of the day.  

Better yet, today was the last day of the painkillers she needed to take before the rest of her recovery was up to her body’s natural healing process. It was annoying, but after the last round of painkillers, the pain she was feeling currently would be halved for a second time, which would make it equivalent to a sprained muscle rather than what it was—dead tissue being actively destroyed and replaced.  

However, there was an interesting fact behind that pill. It was called Mezitopizine, and upon looking it up, Yoshihara found out that it had been created by The Pro Hero Recovery Girl. Only certain hospitals with her expressed permission sold it, which was a little stingy, but then again, capitalism all but required one to have some sense of stinginess.

Still, though, the pills worked wonders. By the time day two had come along, the wounds had already started to scab—something that should’ve taken weeks, only took a matter of days. They would leave horrible scars, but she was used to seeing those, what with the majority of her body already being littered with them.

Moving on, Yoshihara found the change of pace—the lack of being attacked by Stand Users—quite relaxing. Nothing had happened, which was fairly good. At least, in that aspect. What wasn’t good was the fact that nothing had happened.

Literally.

Nothing had happened for the last few days, and Yoshihara found it a little irksome.

Sure, there were no threats from other Stand Users; which was a good thing. She would have been more than happy for it to stay that way. The fewer Stand Users after her neck was great, or perhaps having none at all coming anywhere near her would’ve been even better—hostile ones, anyway.

But aside from waking up in bone-rattling pain for the last few days, nothing had happened. Not at school, not at home, no new stories from Kayama-san—nothing. Things went back to normal, and Yoshihara didn’t know how to handle it.

Well, there was one change that happened. The fact that Yoshihara was now a part of a friend group. It was something she hadn’t expected to happen, especially because she had gone so long without being around others. It was, jarring to say the very least. But she wasn’t opposed to it.  

She wouldn’t lie, having a friend group at Aldera was better than being alone—yes, she admitted it, having friends was nice. It also seemed to make Izuku’s life better, too. Kujo was the star baseball player at Aldera, and Sakunami was the popular girl, which made Izuku untouchable. Even from Bakugo, it would seem.

From what Izuku spoke of, everyone who had ever bullied him had started apologizing, as if suddenly being around Kujo and Sakunami gave them a reason to stop what they were doing. It sickened Yoshihara.

Snakes. All of them. Disgusting, revolting, wastes of air. All of them. Their parents should be ashamed to have ever let them exist. It made her left hand twitch just thinking about it. The fact that Izuku had to be surrounded by a group of influential friends for people to stop harassing and demeaning him made Yoshihara’s blood boil.

Unfortunately, there was nothing that she could do about it.

Besides, she had other problems to deal with. Namely, what She, Kujo, and the others had been up to. The aptly named “Stand Bullet Investigation.” Which, tacking on “Investigation” was quite pretentious all things considered. Because not a lick of information was coming up, even after doing surface-level research.

No one was able to find anything. No articles, and no past references to them. Nothing. It was as if it was being actively scrubbed from the internet. As if someone didn’t want anything to be found out about them.

On Izuku’s end, nothing came of it. He was the one who delved into the research portion of the project. As was previously noted, nothing came of it. The same thing applied when Yoshihara tried to do some digging. Just like Izuku, nothing came of it.

Surprisingly, Inko did some stuff regarding the bullet, and she was actually able to find something. She wouldn’t say how she got the information that she had obtained, and considering the fact that she seemed very certain that it was correct, it made Yoshihara wonder what exactly it was that Inko wasn’t saying.

Regardless, the point was that she had noted how the bullet functioned. It was a glorified injector. Once the bullet’s needle jabbed into the skin after flying toward the target at a bare minimum of 300 mph—which meant that any standard fire-arm could trigger the effect—it would inject whatever chemical mixture was within the bullet’s shell upon impact.

Needless to say, while Yoshihara was highly suspicious as to how she obtained the information, Kujo was able to confirm it after having done some tests of his own. It wasn’t much, but it was something. While it wasn’t what they were looking for, it was better than absolutely nothing.

On Kujo’s end, he and Sakunami had been trying to figure out what the bullets were made out of. So far, with their own resources, they hadn’t been able to figure it out. There was no information on what type of metal the casings were made out of, what material the needles were forged in, nor the actual virus and chemical compound the bullets had inside of them that not only removed a person’s Quirk but also gave them the ability to awaken a Stand.

Kujo had a theory though, and that it had something to do with the stolen Stand Arrow.

For context, 11 years ago, the Speedwagon Foundation location in China was raided by an unknown group of individuals and was robbed blind. Every employee was killed, including the head of that particular location. One of the things that were taken was a Stand Arrow, and the main branch was less than pleased.

For those 11 years, nothing had come from their investigations, only that they were able to find the group who attacked the building.

A group called The Yagi Clan. They were an old Yakuza family and were notorious back in the pre-Quirk Era for being one of the most brutal, cruel, and territorial families. More than the Chisaki Family, more than the Oda family, and even more than the Tetsu Family. The Yagi owned damn near all of Osaka at the time and controlled what was now modern-day Musutafu.

Of course, like all Yakuza, they were destroyed. Not a single individual from that clan was left alive, and apparently, All Might of all people spoke about the event. Saying that he was deeply saddened that it had come to that, saying that he was there for their eradication. He wouldn’t say as to why, but there was something that he said in the interview about that particular event that sent waves through Japan.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I believe that everyone deserves a second chance. Every human being should have the chance at redemption, even those who are dubbed unsalvagable. That being said, even I have my limits. The Yagi Clan was one of my limits. There was no way that I could’ve forgiven them for all of the horrible actions they had committed. I do not say this often, but I am glad that they are gone.”

It made Yoshihara wonder what exactly happened with The Yagi Clan and All Might that would’ve made him feel so bitter about them. Regardless, the point was that, during the raid on their compound, the Stand Arrow was nowhere to be found, and the CEO of the Speedwagon Foundation—Kujo’s father—was furious.

It was a solid theory, and it made sense. From what Kujo had explained about the Stand Arrow, it could grant anyone with a Stand after being stabbed, or even cut, assuming they survived the virus’s deadly side effects. If they did, they gained a Stand. If they didn’t, they died. The bullets seemed to operate in the same way, so it made sense.

That being said, it almost felt too convenient. That and The Yagi Clan was eradicated. The team that was sent in was supposedly thorough enough to even kill the children of the parents that worked with The Yagi Clan—something All Might wasn’t a part of, to be clear. That was entirely The Speedwagon Foundation, a direct order from Kujo’s father.

The point was that they were gone, but that it was still bizarre that the arrow was also gone. Kujo’s father believed that someone was still out there. Someone who used to be in that clan, and that something was going to happen.

And something had indeed happened.

200 dead people later, and it was clear that the eradication of The Yagi Clan didn’t exactly work. Someone survived it, and now that someone, who had probably snuck away with The Stand Arrow, had found a way to make it everyone’s problem.

Well over 200 casings were found at the scene of the crime. That meant that whoever had survived was able to use the arrow to create those bullets. What was worse was that chances were that this wasn’t the end of it.

It was possible for the virus found on The Stand Arrow to be distilled and separated from the metal according to Kujo, who knew this from his father. If the survivor of The Yagi Clan massacre had done that, then this wasn’t going to be the last massacre to come.

And that, above all else, was terrifying.

And the fact that Sayaka was caught up in it… It was unacceptable. Truthfully, that was the only reason she was paying this any mind.

She would make sure that the people responsible paid for putting someone who she cared for in harm's way.

Which all led to what Yoshihara was doing right now. She was staring at herself in her bedroom mirror. Her expression was devoid of life—a flat neutral gaze that looked hardened. It was like a mask, permanently glued to her face. It almost looked… forced. But it wasn’t.

It was never forced.

As a matter of fact, it was Yoshihara’s normal state of being.

This was her true self. Her emotionless, lifeless self. A condition born out of necessity, one that she had to brave the world and its many, many troubles. It was how she got through life. It was how she lived and breathed.

While she wasn’t born that way, she had been forced to become it. In order to survive, she had to lock it all away. To force back everything, and put forth to the world someone who could brave even its most terrible choices and problems.

She felt bad that she had to lie to those who she cared about. To Izuku. To Kayama-san. To Kujo. To Akira. To Otoshi-kun. To Sayaka. But she couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t risk revealing her true self to them.

She was afraid of how they would react.  

How would they react when they found out that she was a sociopath?

They would never find out. They would never find out because she would never let them. It was why she faked everything. Every smile, every laugh, everything. The only thing she couldn’t fake was her very real anger toward the world, but aside from that, everything was fake.

Everything was a mask. Every mask served its purpose, but right now, she was having a hard time trying to put on the right mask.

“Would anxiety work? No… confidence would be a better choice. Today is the day of the recommendation exam. If I feign anxiety, that will follow me for the rest of my days at U.A. and that’s assuming I get in,” Yoshihara thought as she frowned. “Confidence it is.”

Her expression changed on a dime, her eyes reflecting that same resolute determination. A small smirk crawled its way on her face, a confident one. “Yes, that will work.” 

With the perfect mask selected for the day’s events, she now had to examine her outfit. Which, in all honesty, was something that she wouldn’t typically wear. 

She was wearing a black shirt with black and white striped long sleeves. The shirt itself stopped at the lower waist, exposing her midriff. With that, she wore dark blue jeans, the knees of which were shredded, but in a stylistic sense. Her hair was done up in a messy but stylish bob, alongside a bun at the back. Sakunami had been the one to suggest styling her hair, and if she were, to be honest? It looked okay.

Had Sakunami suggested she do this a few days ago, she would’ve scoffed and moved on with her life. But, as recent events had shown her, her life could be snuffed away within a handful of minutes. Living her life in a constricted bubble was only going to make her life boring.

And while being boring was fine, humans only lived for so long. So, at the very least, she should embrace the fact that humans lived such short lives and live her life with carefree abandon—within reason, of course.

It was almost as if merely hanging around Sakunami-san was making her clothing choices more varied. She would never expose as much skin as she was now, but, perhaps being around more people and being more comfortable with herself allowed her to open up to new ideas.

It was a possibility. That didn’t mean she liked the idea of change. After all, accepting change was also accepting the gateway to inevitable disaster. And yet, despite that, change was what allowed her to live a better life. If it weren’t for change, she would have never met Kayama-san.

Perhaps, opening up, even if it was just a little bit, could possibly mend the wound in her heart.

But… even with that in mind...  

Ever since she left that town behind, the pit in her heart had only grown and got worse. A wound that, no matter how much time had passed, would never heal. Even as a kid she knew the damage done to her by her so-called mother was irreversible.

It had ruined her. It had scarred her both physically, emotionally, mentally, and in just about every other kind of way one could be scarred. Her life was a complete shit show, and up until recently, she had lived nothing but a hollow life. Passively going about her days, knowing that eventually, it was going to end. Either by wasting away slowly or by her own hands.

For the longest time, ever since Yoshihara had been in her early teens, she had been depressed. Suicidally depressed. The only reason she hadn’t taken her life back then was because she had planned to do it after her shift 8 months ago.

Then… something changed. Kayama-san came into her life. While she was furious at first, she accepted the help, albeit only because she was being forced to do it. At least, in her eyes, anyway. But as she lived with Kayama-san, and as she tried to look for Izuku, her life had slowly gotten better.

Change, despite what it had done to her in the past, had been helping her. Yet, despite it all, she still hated it. Because no matter how much good it had done for her in the short term, in the long term, it had caused her life to be a living hell. It was why she liked her routine as much as she did.

It was the one thing that she would never, ever change about herself. Her routine was sacred, and anyone who got in the way of it would learn to never cross her path.

Moving past that, she looked down at her hands, curling and uncurling them as a sneer came over her face.

Hands… that was…. A facet of her that was instinctual. Specifically her hands. If they were got dirtied, scarred, or what have you, she would lose it. Her hands, and sometimes others, were something that she also viewed as sacred. It was… a hiccup she had dealt with multiple times before.

Hand’s were… perfect. Without them, a person was incomplete. They were perfectly symmetrical, with five digits that were long and slender. They moved in hypnotic ways, and they were useful for both day-to-day activities and allowed someone to feel the world around them.

Every facet of hands, their fingerprints, their knuckles, the nails, palms… she didn’t know what it was, but looking at them, holding them… it was something she couldn’t get over.

And it disgusted her.

She had no idea why she found hands to be attractive. It was something about her that Yoshihara never understood. Her “awakening” to that abnormal fetish was an odd one. It was during one of her stints in the back rooms of Akira’s club. Her client had pinned her against a wall and had his way with her, which he paid almost 35,000 Yen for, and he had made her suck on his fingers during the whole ordeal.

For whatever reason, she enjoyed it more that way. It let her distract herself from the reality of the situation, and it had gotten her into the habit of making sure her hands were always clean. At the very least, it promoted hygiene. Even if it was a little… bizarre.

Although, out of all the hands that she had “experienced” hers were always the best. No matter how groomed and clean another person’s hands were, hers, as she found, were the best out of all of them. Of course they were, they were her hands. She’d settle with nothing less.

She had a sketch pad where she had drawn her hand a few times, but she would grow frustrated at not being able to properly catch their beauty. It frustrated her to no end. But, at the end of the day, it didn’t matter. For as much as she was disturbed by her hand fetish, at least it was something else to focus on.

“Damnit… They're dirty. I guess I have to clean them and wear gloves….” Yoshihara muttered, sighing as she pulled a pair of gloves out of her dresser. They were black, matching Killer Queen’s gloves except for the golden studs and skull emblems.

Sliding them over her hands, she tested them, making sure they were a proper fit. There were no stretch marks on the leather, and the gloves were comfortable. Kayama-san had gotten them for her on her 16^th Birthday. She quite liked the gloves, and they hadn’t been made obsolete yet. Which was good. Perhaps she’d make similar ones for her Hero Costume?

She had been working on that for a while now. Of course, most of them were in their beta stages, and she had no idea what to do for a costume, but she had a few designs that were in the works. Kayama-san hadn’t seen them yet, and she most likely wouldn’t until the day came that she got into U.A.

“Well, I suppose I should get going. If I’m going to be on time for the exams, I might want to pick up the pace…” Yoshihara thought, closing her dresser as she walked away from her mirror, turning to exit her room.   

As soon as she opened the door to her room, she was met with Kayama-san, who had a bright smile on her face. She was excited, moreso than even Yoshihara. Well, Yoshihara wasn’t exactly excited per se. She couldn’t be excited, but she was prepared. Well, as prepared as one could be for a blind test, anyway.

“Today’s the day of the recommendation exam! Oh, I can’t wait to hear about the results!! I expect to see you at U.A. on April 3^rd, young lady, don’t disappoint me,” Kayama-san said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Yoshihara grew a little uncomfortable by the physical contact, though she didn’t let it show.

“Don’t worry, Kayama-san, I know I’ll get in,” Yoshihara responded, putting a hand on her chest. “After everything I’ve been through in these last couple of days, I can’t afford to fail now. Besides, I think I put you through enough heartache as it is, right?” She added, her smile turning to a smirk as Kayama-san ruffled her hair.

“Yeah, you little rascal. Oh! Don’t forget that tracksuit I got for you, it’s on the counter downstairs. You’re going to be doing a lot of running today,” Kayama-san said, crossing her arms as she moved past her.

“Will do, Kayama-san,” Yoshihara replied, glancing over her shoulder before walking down the stairs. As she made her way downstairs, she saw the tracksuit and frowned. It was bright pink. Don’t get Yoshihara wrong, pink was her favourite colour, but bright pink? It was a bit too much for her liking. Not that she was going to complain about the colour, but it was something she should have at least had a say in.

“Stop being petty. Just put the damn tracksuit on when you get to the testing facility when they require it. It’s not the end of the world…”   

Grabbing the tracksuit and tucking it under her arm, she looked over to Kayama, a faint smile on her face. She stuck her thumbs up, a silent response to Kayama-san’s silent statement of “Good luck”. She turned around, grabbed a black bag from off the coat hanger, stuffed the tracksuit into it, put the bag strap over her shoulder, and then entered the elevator.   

It was already 7:30 AM and the tests started at 10:45 AM. If she wanted any sort of time to interact with any of the students and see what kind of competition she was up against, and whether or not any of them were Stand Users, she’d have to leave now.

That, and if she wanted to get there on time, she needed to make some headway for her trip. Since the testing center was further away than the Café, she would need to take the bullet train there and stop at Ewok Station, which was a block away from U.A., which was where the Recommendation Exam was taking place.  

If she decided to walk the entire way, she would be late, and that wouldn’t look good on her, now would it?

As the Elevator continued to lower to the bottom floor, she felt her stomach plummet. Maybe it was the added pressure Kayama-san had unwittingly given her, or maybe it was the fact that she felt like she didn’t deserve to be a hero, but regardless of the facts, she was going to get into that Hero Course.

She didn’t fight three Stand Users and almost die all three of those times just to be turned away. There was no way she was going to let that happen.

The walk and the subsequent train ride to the testing facility were nice and quiet. Not a single person bothered her, which was a plus. She heard a few bits of commotion on the train but paid no heed to it. It wasn’t her problem, and it didn’t involve her, so she didn’t bother to step in and break it up. It wasn’t quite the mindset of a hero, but she wasn’t a hero yet, nor a hero in training, was she?

The keyword there being: “Yet.”

When she got off the train and began her short walk to where the exams were being held, the churning in her stomach only seemed to get worse. It was like her body was telling her to stop while she was ahead. That, by going into that facility, life as she knew it was only going to change for the worse.

No. That wasn’t possible. Surely that doing something she considered her “dream job” would only serve to ruin whatever stable life she somehow scrambled together?

Right?

As the building came closer into view, her heartbeat increased, and the mask that she had put on began to crack. It was almost as if the closer she got to the building, the more it broke her façade. It was like it was trying to break her before she even entered the building. It was suffocating. It was all-powerful.

It was as if the very concept of becoming a hero was breaking down each of her walls, slowly destroying the façade she had built up over the passing months. It was as if the world was screaming at her, telling her that the kind of person she was, that a sociopath, couldn’t be a hero. It was telling her to turn around, to go back and try something else.

But she wasn’t going to turn around. Not after everything she had been through.

It was for that very reason alone she pushed forward. She wasn’t going to back down, not by a long shot.

Kira Yoshihara never backed down from a challenge. If this was how the world was going to push her, she was going to push back with everything she had.

She stood at the gate and rummaged through her pants left pocket. Pulling out her phone, she quickly glanced at the time. It was 9:30 AM. Was her trip from her suite to the school that long? Had it already been two hours? If it hadn’t been for the fact that she knew her phone was right, she would’ve tried to soft reboot it for telling her the wrong time.

She assumed the time just happened to fly by when one was deep in thought.

Yoshihara had about an hour and fifteen minutes before the tests began. A wave of relief washed over her as she put her phone away. That would give her enough time to interact with the other attendees.  

Stepping past the foreboding gate, she made her way to the front door. A few people were loitering outside of the door, all of which appeared to be male. They all looked basic, and it wasn’t apparent what their Quirks were, or if they were a Stand User or not, but that hardly bothered her.

However, that begged the question: How many of these people worked for their spot in the test? Taro was a striking example of a person willing to kill for a spot to become a hero, especially if it meant becoming a hero through U.A.’s Hero Course. How many of these people were like him?

How many people stole their spot here at U.A.’s Recommendation Exam? If any of them had, they didn’t give it away. Four days ago, she had nearly been killed by someone who she had done dirty. She had killed Taro’s uncle, i.e. the person who had hit on her and had attempted to assault her around 8 months ago.

If bad behaviour ran in the family, then she didn’t care, now did she? No. Not one bit.

That was beside the point. The fact remained that, aside from his personal beef with her, his other main motivation for coming off after her was to kill her for her spot in the Recommendation Exam.

So, she asked again: How many of these people actually earned their spot in the recommendation exam? It was quite the conundrum. One that, if Yoshihara hadn’t been a victim of herself, she wouldn’t have cared about.

From what she could make out, everyone here looked to have earned their spot. No one looked out of line, although a few did look strange. Mutation Quirks always fascinated her to some extent. How someone could be born with, say, a shell on their back or a tail the size of a lamp post was beyond her. But, she guessed the definition of the word “human” wasn’t exactly the same anymore now was it?

But there was one person that did catch her attention. Someone that she knew, just by looking at him, was far stronger than everyone else in the rogue's gallery of would-be heroes-in-training.

The person in question had white and red hair, pale skin, with one black eye and one cerulean blue eye. He was slightly built if his arms were any indication. He was of average height, standing just a head taller than her. He wore a blue jacket, unzipped, with a white and black striped shirt underneath, along with a pair of black jeans and bright white sneakers.

When she looked at him, he looked back. When he locked back, his expression gave away nothing of the kind of person he was. It was almost as if he too was wearing a mask. A heartless, cold, unforgiving mask that hid his true self.

The boy looked at the girl, and the girl met the boy’s eyes.

Her cerulean blue eyes met his heterochromatic eyes.

“I can sense it. This one. This one is powerful. I don’t know if he’s a Stand User, but I need to watch out for him. Whatever his power may be, it could be devastating.”

“Hmm… this girl. I don’t know what it is about her, but I’m getting a bad impression of her due to her body language alone.”

She walked past him, heedless of whatever he could possibly say to her. As she entered the building, the boy simply watched as the automatic doors closed behind her.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about her. Regardless, he didn’t care. So long as it didn’t affect him, it wasn’t his problem. He was here to prove someone wrong.

After all, Todoroki Shoto cared not for what others did. As long as it didn’t involve him, and as long as he wasn’t adversely affected, he was fine.

But then again. That girl. She gave him chills, a feat not easily accomplished. It was strange. Not once in his entire life had he felt that… scared. Was that the right word? No, no it wasn’t—Concerned was a better word for it—after meeting someone in the eyes.

The sheer dead look in her eyes. It was almost uncanny. What was also uncanny was just how fast it changed from a dead-eyed look to one of acknowledgement. It was almost as if she had scanned him, like a computer.

But surely that wasn’t possible. Maybe he was overthinking it? Perhaps. But whatever the case may be, he had to watch out for that one. She might have been wearing “skimpy” attire, at least according to what Fuyumi would’ve said, but she seemed dangerous.

With that in mind, Todoroki continued to wait outside of the doorway, watching as new people walked in and out of the facility, allowing him to watch their movements and actions carefully. After all, scoping out the competition was the best way to know your enemy.  

Meanwhile, in the lobby, Yoshihara stood at the front desk, registering herself for the exam. The woman in front of her looked unremarkable, after all, how could a basic civilian who was hired as a registrar be any sort of remarkable?

She glanced down the sheet, filling out the respective form in an orderly manner:

Name (Last – First): Kira Yoshihara

Age: 15

Height: 165 cm

Weight: 52 kilograms

Date of Birth: 10/13/2108

Quirk:

Quirk Description:

Yoshihara paused. Quirk? What was she going to list as her “Quirk?” A few ideas came to mind such as “Psychic Punch Ghost” but that sounded too redundant. The registrar stared at her for a few seconds, looking at her quizzically. 

“Is everything alright sweetie?” The woman asked as Yoshihara put on a faux smile.

“Oh! No, it’s just… I never really gave my Quirk a name. I’m just trying to think of something flashy, you know, to catch people’s attention!” Yoshihara said, dismissively waving her, and subsequently, the question away.

“Okay, well, take your time. You’re the last person to sign up, so it doesn’t matter,” the woman said as Yoshihara nodded, a mental sigh of relief escaping from her thoughts as she looked back at the piece of paper.

She couldn’t just put the name of her Stand on the paper. That would not only be A. Corny, B. Stupid and make no sense—most Quirk names were nice and snappy and to the point. C. potentially give away the fact that it is not a Quirk, but rather something else entirely.

Of course, if it was hyper-specific, and she ended up doing something that isn’t normal for the name of her Quirk to do, then it would be potentially really, really bad and open to suspicion.

After a few moments of thought were allotted to the situation, she finally came up with something that would work out and allow for a majority of her abilities to make sense to those who weren’t already Stand users.

Quirk: Bomb Creation

Quirk Description:

The next thing that she needed to fill out wasn’t as hard to fulfill as the last question, as it was pretty obvious given the name of the “Quirk” that she put down. Then again, those with more of an open mind would most likely overthink things, so, it was best to put in as much detail as possible, so as to not get too many of the staff suspicious.

But then again, putting down too much information would also make it suspicious. So, she had to hit the perfect sweet spot. And it just so happened that she could do that.

After all, the saying was: Do not be too descriptive, lest you make people suspicious of you, but be careful to not spare too many details, lest you make people believe that the transcript is fake.

Quirk Description: My Quirk allows me to create Bombs from simple things I touch. Upon touching an object, the object will inflate until it implodes, creating a large explosion. Additionally, I can shoot bubbles out of my fingertips that contain contact bombs that, once touched, will explode on impact.

With the application done, Yoshihara folded the piece of paper in two, and then put it into the box. The registrar smiled, passing her a sticker with the number 42 on it.

“Now, just so that you are aware before any of the tests begin, there will be an interview with one of the staff. You will be addressed by your number, as they won’t know your name. After the interview, there is a written exam, then, there is the physical exam. At the end of the tests, and a short while for deliberation, you will be told whether or not you made it in. Have a good day, and remember to always go PLUS ULTRA!” The woman said, a cheery smile on her face as Yoshihara nodded, a smile on her face as well.

As Yoshihara walked away, she looked down at the number in her hand. If she was going, to be honest, she quite liked the number. It was even, and it didn’t show any sort of imperfections. It was the perfect number for her.

She sat down in one of the nearby chairs, waiting for her turn. A bell rang through the building as numbers were called out, seemingly at random, and in groups of six. The first group was 1, 24, 40, 13, 18, and 39.

Of course, none of those people were her, so she didn’t care.

After an hour passed, the group of individuals left, all looking exhausted, and some having surface wounds. But they all shared one key aspect, and it was interchangeable between the group of six: They all looked disappointed. Did none of them make it in? Was the testing really that harsh?

Yoshihara began to worry about her chances of making it into the famed U.A. High. If the staff were judging as hard as they were, and a good majority of the attendees weren’t making it in, then that went to show just how brutal the judging system was.

The rumours of U.A. only having a 0.002% acceptance chance might have been true after all.   

This pattern became more evident as time went on, The numbers kept getting listed, and each time they would be sent back with some of their ranks crying, some being sent back with casts around their arms and legs and downtrodden faces, and some not coming back at all.

Despite all the logic that was firing off in Yoshihara’s brain, and despite all of it telling her that she still had a chance, the more irrational side of her became even more concerned.

This little fiasco continued as it did until finally, a group with her number was called, and fear flew through her veins.

It was her turn to be judged.

“A-hem, can these six numbers please come to the two double doors east of the registration table: 23, 16, 41, 42, 33, and 19? I repeat, can numbers 23, 16, 41, 42, 33, and 19 please come to the two double doors east of the registration table, thank you!”

The voice was chipper, almost far too energetic, which was perfect for their job. Yoshihara stood up, and without any delay, she began to walk down the east hallway. It had been 5 hours since she had first got there, and it was nearing 4:00 PM. All in all, it had been a stupidly long day for no real reason other than the fact that the tests were just that brutal. However, it gave her a perspective on how the time was divided between the events.

She had to assume that the interview was 15 minutes long, seeing as it wasn’t the most important part in her eyes. The written exam was also most likely to be 15 minutes, and the practical exam was probably 30 minutes long, seeing as it was the most important.

15 minutes for the interview didn’t seem too bad, the test might be a bit of a squeeze, and the practical portion of the exam seemed to be the perfect length. Considering that she wasn’t too stressed out by the thought of doing a written exam, or an interview, it was perfect for her. Plus, she was physically fit, so the practical exam would be easy.

Arriving at the two double doors, Yoshihara noticed that she was the first one there. She saw five seats, all adjusted for what appeared to be a massive individual—go big or go home if she remembered the saying right. She was about to take a seat, only for the double doors to open and reveal a blond-haired man with an overly aggressive ponytail styled like something you’d see on a cockatoo.

The man wore orange sunglasses over his eyes, and over his upper lip was what appeared to be, in Yoshihara’s opinion, the world’s most pathetic mustache she had ever seen. Outside of that, however, he wore a black leather jacket with a very tall collar, upturned, completed with studs, and matching black pants with knee-high boots. The man had two tan shoulder pads, a red belt around his waist, and two tan elbow pads as well, all of which were studded. He also had black fingerless gloves to boot.

Then, there was the elephant in the room. The massive speaker around his neck. It seemed omnidirectional, and whether or not it was there for simply design or not, Yoshihara didn’t know, and she didn’t want to find out.

The pair made eye contact, and a wide smile appeared on his face. “Well, you know what they say, the early bird gets the worm!” The man said, putting his hands in his pants pockets. “Uh, just so I know, since you’re not wearing your number, which one are you?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as Yoshihara felt stupid.

“Ah, sorry about that, I planned to slap it onto my tracksuit when I put it on. My apologies, sir. I’m number 42,” Yoshihara replied as the man nodded.

“Got it! Well, seeing as you’re the first one here, step into my office, and let’s get this interview goin’!” The man said, gesturing her into the room as Yoshihara wanted to pinch the bridge of her nose. This guy was way too energetic for his own good.

Stepping into the office, despite the man’s loud demeanour, the office was rather peaceful. There was a singular plant in the corner, followed by the calendar, which was similar in appearance to her own, though, with a different Hero, that being Edgeshot. The date read as March 24^th so it was, most definitely, the same calendar as hers.

Outside of that, there wasn’t much else, outside from the barren desk, the shuttered windows only allowing for minimum light to be let inside the room, and a few other miscellaneous things that didn’t quite matter in the long scheme of things.

“Take a seat, little listener, and let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” The man asked, pointing to the seat in front of the desk. She sat down, getting comfortable as she folded her hands and placed them in the center of her thighs, keeping a straight posture to seem professional.

The man grabbed a piece of paper, his radiant smile dropping in favour of a more professional-looking face. “Okay, I know you probably filled out a similar form, but just for brevity's sake, please answer all these questions so we can continue,” the man said, clearing his throat.

“Name?”

“Kira Yoshihara.” 

“Age?”

“15.”

“Height?”

“165 cm.”

Weight?”

“52 Kilograms.”

“Date of Birth?”

“October 13^th, 2108.”

“Quirk?”

“Bomb Creation.”

At this, the man raised an eyebrow. He glanced at her, and while physically she didn’t react, mentally, she did. “Shit, does he know?” she questioned mentally, as the man looked back at his paper.

“That sounds like a really, really deadly Quirk. Do you mind explaining?” The man asked as Yoshihara cleared her throat. A part of her was relieved that was why he gave her that look. It meant that he didn’t know about her status as a Stand User.

“Ah, okay. My Quirk allows me to do two things, and while they are technically the same things, they aren’t. I can generate bubbles out of my fingertips, which, upon coming into contact with other things, will explode immediately. These explosions, while seemingly normal in size, do roughly the same amount of damage as an atom bomb, at least, from what I’ve seen, though in a small, contained area. Anything they detonate disintegrates into nothing but smoke. It has a variety of uses and considering it destroys rubble almost instantly, I’ve used it once or twice to… well, make the situation less bad for someone trapped underneath something. Alternatively, I can simply touch something to force the bubble inside of it and detonate it from there, though the explosion is more of an implosion at that point. I can also adjust the size and damage of the implosion, as I’ve found out in my spare time.”

When Yoshihara finished explaining her “Quirk” she saw the look on the man’s face as he wrote it all down. He didn’t seem worried about it, and he believed it, which was a plus. However, there was something in the back of her mind that was worrying her, and that was the initial stare he gave her after she told him the name of his Quirk.

Something wasn’t sitting right, which prompted her to ask him a question.

“Um, if I may ask, do you know a Kayama Nemuri?” Yoshihara asked as the man stiffened for a second.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I do, why?” the man asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.

“Do you know the hero Eraserhead?” Yoshihara asked, which caused sweat to pour down the guy’s face.

“U-Uh, yeah…?” The man said, which caused Yoshihara to smirk.

“I see. So that’s why you looked at me like that. You already know,” Yoshihara said as the man let out another sigh.

“Sorry, little listener, I… kinda just wanted to keep things a bit more vague for you. But I guess when living with Nemuri, things do tend to get crazy, don’t they,” the man said, smirking. “But yeah, I already know about that. Shouta never stopped talking about how weird it was being patted on the head by an invisible person who could be summoned out of thin air. My only question is why it is that you’re lying on the transcript?” The man asked as Yoshihara sighed.

“Well, that’s the thing. Technically speaking, I’m not. The only thing I’m omitting is the name of my Stand and its appearance. The abilities are the same, nothing has changed. I just don’t want to draw suspicion from other potential Stand Users,” Yoshihara said as the man nodded.

“Got it. Then I’ll keep this between you and me. Anyway, with that out of the way, I need to ask you a few more questions before we can continue. So, what school did you last go to?” The man asked, sweeping his bangs out of his eyes as Yoshihara sighed.

“Aldera Junior High.”

“Hmmm…. I’ve gotta say, that school does have a knack for sending people here. Four people in the normal entrance exam are coming from that school. Gotta say it harbours some certainly bizarre individuals, if you ask me, er, but anyways. What was on your last report card?”

“I got an A in maths, an A in science, a B in English, an A in language arts, an A in physical education, and a C+ in social studies. I’ve never been good at social studies, always rubbed me the wrong way.”

“Hm, better than your average report card. Alright, now, the biggest question here. Most people struggle with it, so please, take as much time as you want. Why do you want to become a hero, and why did you specifically pick U.A.?”

Yoshihara bit her lip. While she didn’t exactly choose to become a hero, it was a better option compared to what she used to work as. She closed her eyes, debating with herself whether or not she was going to tell the truth. For a few more moments, she thought, her expression contorting into one of indecisiveness until finally, she relented.

“Well, the thing is, I didn’t choose to become a hero. In reality, if I didn’t opt for this career path, I would be in a worse place mentally, financially, and health-wise. I won’t go into specifics, but, to make things short and sweet, U.A., and by extension, becoming a hero is my last hope for a proper life. From the day I moved here to Musutafu, to the day I moved in with my current caretaker, my life has been one roadblock after another, and I cannot, will not, let this opportunity slide past me. If I don’t make it to this school, I don’t know what I’ll do. I have no real plans outside of this, my life for the past eight and a half months has filled with me hardcore focusing on this one thing, and nothing else. Maybe I’ll go back to that stingy place I used to work at, or maybe I’ll do something else… Who knows? Honestly, my future is no longer in my hands, it’s in U.A.’s, and what they and by extension, you decide to do with it is completely up to the staff at the school.”

Yoshihara finished her explanation to the best of her abilities, opening her eyes as the man sat in his chair, an uncomfortable silence between them. It didn’t take long for the silence to be broken, as there was a knock on the door. “Well, that’s the end of the interview. I’ll be sure to pass everything on to the higher-ups. Just go into the room down this hall to start on the written exam, alright, NEXT!” The man said as Yoshihara got up to leave the interview room.

Doing as she was asked, she made her way to the next room, and when she got there, she was met with two other people still writing vigorously, and a man with a cement block for a head wearing a pure black bodysuit with two golden buttons by the collar. “Ah, it’s nice to meet you, young lady, please take a seat and grab the pen from the desk you choose. I’ll be there with the test in just a moment,” the talking cement man said as she sat down at the desk closest to the exit of the room.

It didn’t take long for a stack of papers to be put in front of her, and when it was, she was given the cue to start in the form of her digital clock. The test contained almost every question a test could have in the book. It was eight pages thick, all with difficult mathematical, language-based, science-based, and most importantly, heroics-based questions.

The first two pages dealt with mathematical questions, all of which were at least advanced algebra. Yoshihara struggled for a little bit but quickly caught on to the pattern each question laid bare to her. It wasn’t long, 3 minutes to be exact, for her to finish the first two pages. The next two were language-based, relying on simple and easy slip-ups, all written in English.

It took Yoshihara a while to catch these small things, but eventually, she was able to finish them. She only had 8 minutes left on the clock after the 3^rd and 4^th pages were complete.

The science-based Questions were a breeze, Yoshihara completed them rather effortlessly, leaving her with exactly five minutes to complete the final two pages.

The list of Questions left was only two, one for each page, but they expected, at the very least, 3 paragraph answers in perfect, formal, Japanese. Those two questions were:

If a Hero were to come in contact with a Villain that had 30-plus hostages, what is the hero supposed to do?:

And the second question…

You’re in a collapsing building with one person on each shoulder. What do you do?:

The questions were loaded ones, that much was for sure. Yoshihara didn’t know how to answer them, at least with such a short time limit over her head. So, she answered them to the best of her abilities. Once the time limit was up, she placed the pen down, and strangely enough, there had been sweat on her forehead.

The man with the cement block for a head picked up the piece of paper overviewed it, nodded, and then continued onward to place it into a basket with the label “unmarked” before then returning to her. “The next place it is you need to go to is the set of black double doors at the end of this hall. There is a change room for girls on the right, get into whatever sports attire you brought with the label of your number on it, then line up with the rest of your fellow attendees.”

Yoshihara nodded in response, picking up her bag and number sticker before making a beeline for the changing rooms. The man watched her leave, a concerned expression on his face as he turned to the desk. “That kid had some rather…. Interesting answers for those last two questions. I don’t know what to think. Logically speaking, they make the most sense, but in an optics sense, not so much…” the man thought as she disappeared.

Yoshihara made her way to the changing room, picked out a stall, stripped, took out the pink tracksuit, placed her clothes in the bag, grabbed the number sticker, placed it smack-dab in the center of her chest, then put the bag on a hanger on the back of the door, then rocketed outside as fast as she could to line up with two other people who were already there.

There was the heterochromatic boy from the front of the school, which she recognized immediately, and another well-built-looking guy wearing a blue tracksuit similar to her own. He had flat black hair, a smile on his face, and the stance of a militant soldier getting ready for roll-call.

Eventually, three more people showed up, one with a distinct skull-like appearance when his jaw was brought up, and was wearing a brown tracksuit. Next to him was a very, very skimpy-looking girl with green hair, who was wearing very little clothing outside of a crop top and shorts so short that it gave Nemuri a run for her money. Finally, next to that girl was another girl wearing a jacket, and a pair of form-fitting pants, and had their hair up in an upward ponytail.

There was chatter exchanged between the attendees, not that Yoshihara cared, but it didn’t last for long, as the same guy who gave the interviews came out with a stopwatch in their hand. “Alright, little listeners, welcome to the practical. The last thing we will be doing is an obstacle course. Those with the fastest times will make it into U.A. as par with the program. But just so that everyone is aware…” His face suddenly became ridden with shadow, and a horrific, condescending smile came to his face. “Not a single person has been able to pass this test. So please, do not disappoint,” the man said, the creep factor skyrocketing. Even the ever-stoic Todoroki felt the chill go down his spine.

It didn’t take long for the overwhelming aura of terror to wash over, and for his expression to return to normal as he coughed into his fist. “First, you’ll have to deal with some vaulting hazards, then, after that, you’ll have to get creative with a tight rope section, spanning over a kilometre-long gorge. Finally, you’ll have to avoid some non-lethal mines, be careful not to set them off~! All the while you are free to use your Quirks!”

The explanation was just lacking enough to allow for some forethought, which was usually a trick in most cases, but Yoshihara believed that what the man had said was far more literal in the sense that there was no room for imagination when it came to what was coming up.

After the explanation was finished, everyone turned around to face the direction of the obstacle course, and as Yoshihara got into a running position, she summoned Killer Queen to her side. She looked to see if anyone reacted, which no one did, confirming to her that she had an advantage. Killer Queen shadowed itself over Yoshihara’s body, and when it did, a loud horn echoed out into the air.

BWWWWAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

When the horn finished blaring, the boy with the heterochromatic hair froze the ground around him and created an icy path for himself, destroying his obstacles in the process. The large lumbering boy dashed ahead because of some wind that generated around him. The boy with a skull-like face dove into the ground like it was pool water. Finally, the other two girls ran normally.

For Yoshihara’s part, she dashed ahead, jumping over the obstacles with ease thanks to the boost Killer Queen provided. She didn’t know how long the obstacle course was, but considering they had 30 minutes to complete it, it was probably longer than she had originally thought. She was far behind the first two that had launched off, and the third one was nowhere to be seen, so she had to assume she was either tied with him or behind him.

She jumped over the fence-like objects—hurdles if she had recalled correctly—one after another without fail, continuing to do so up until the last one, where her foot got caught on it. In a split-second decision, Killer Queen tapped the thick plastic bar and blew it up, freeing Yoshihara’s foot as she landed semi-gracefully.

The tightrope section was the second part of the obstacle course and by far the longest. There was an 8-foot drop with a net to catch anyone, and a ladder right next to it, and the pit spanned at least a kilometre, as the blond-haired man had said it would. Yoshihara gulped, placing one foot on the rope, and the other behind it before she slowly began to shuffle to the other side.

Thanks to Killer Queen, she had better balance, but outside of that, she wasn’t going nearly as fast as she wanted to. She had been nervous when it came to this part, knowing full well it would impact her time greatly.

“Don’t think about that. You’ve come this far, don’t screw it up because you’re a little bit worried about performance!” Yoshihara thought to herself, pushing through the tight rope section with very careful footsteps.

It took her 5 minutes to cross the gorge, and 3 minutes in, the first two had already passed it! At least she knew she was in front of the other guy, who was just a few feet behind her.

Once her feet made touch with the solid ground, she kicked off running. There were lumps in the ground, most likely the mines the guy was talking about, so she tried to steer clear of them. She continued to run, using her Stand’s boosted jumping to her advantage as she bounced off of the ground as if she were on the moon, and eventually, she was able to catch up with the other two.

The two of them looked at her, and the boy with heterochromia looked shocked. He hadn’t expected her to actually catch up with them, and the other guy was a pain in the ass as it was, so having another person to compete with this close to the finish wasn’t all that good.  

“Hey, look! She caught up!” The boy with the black hair said, giving her a thumbs up. “Congrats!” His smile radiated blissful energy, and honestly, in her opinion, it was kind of cute, in a platonic kind of sense.

Yoshihara didn’t answer the boy, only smirking in response. Then, there was the boy with the red and white hair that only increased in speed thanks to his ice, but she noticed that it was encroaching on her space, and also the other kids. She scowled, knowing full well the boy was trying to sabotage them, and she wasn’t the only one to notice it. The boy looked at the back of the head of the dual-coloured-haired boy with a shocked expression, knowing full well what he intended to do.

And Yoshihara was not one to allow such rude behaviour. So, she did a little bit of sabotaging of her own.

Killer Queen reared back its left arm, and with a gentle ‘tap’ to the boy’s inner knee, the boy’s left leg folded ever so slightly, causing him to dip in speed and tumble for a moment. He face-planted into his ice, which gave him a bloody nose and a split lip. “Serves you right, asshole,” Yoshihara thought as she continued onward. Of course, Todoroki was able to pick himself up a few seconds later and skated faster than he had before. His expression was filled with annoyance, but that didn’t matter.

The finish line was in sight, and she hopped between mine from mine, picking up speed from her hops ever so slowly, as the two became three, they all reached the finish line as a man with a completely black head with yellow lines going through it, wearing a brown trench coat, clicked his stopwatch as they crossed over the line.

“TIME!” The man shouted as the three attendees stopped to catch their breaths. “Todoroki Shoto, 10 minutes and 36 seconds. Yoarashi Inasa, 10 minutes and 37 seconds. Kira Yoshihara, 10 minutes and 38 seconds. All of you were a single second apart, not bad. All of you wait over there for the rest of your peers.

The group of three finishers sat down on a bench. Yoarashi sat between Todoroki and Kira, holding a large water bottle. He sprayed some water in his mouth, then gestured it to Todoroki. “Want some? I got plenty to spare?” The boy asked.

Todoroki eyed the bottle, then pushed it away. “No thanks,” the heterochromatic boy replied as Yoarashi frowned. He gestured to Yoshihara, who eyed the bottle, and then took it. She sprayed some of the water into her mouth, then passed it back to Yoarashi.

“Thank you, uh, was it Yoarashi?” Yoshihara asked as the boy nodded.

“Yeah, that’d be me. No problem, Kira!”

The three remained in silence as the last three finished, Yoarashi giving them the same offer as he did with the other two, all of which accepted, and all of which thanked him.

“Damn! That was hard! I’m glad I saved my Quirk for the ropes and the end part. That would’ve been a nightmare if I didn’t,” the girl with the skimpy attire and the green hair said with a smile on her face. “Ain’t that right, Honenuki-kun?” The girl said, elbowing the boy with the skull-like face in the shoulder playfully.

“Yeah. I was nervous that I’d fall into that pit,” the boy said, glancing at Yoshihara. “But you seemed to have no problem. Does your Quirk have something to do with reflexes? You were jumping those barriers like a pro, same with in-between those bombs,” Honenuki pointed out as Yoshihara shrugged.

“Nope. I just had a really good trainer, that’s all,” Yoshihara replied. “Without reflexes, especially quick ones, getting through most obstacles, be it in battle or be it in an obstacle course like this one, isn’t ideal. At least, that was what she told me,” Yoshihara responded sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Can I ask who you trained with?” for once in the entire time since the end of the exam, Todoroki spoke. His voice contained no curiosity, his words were direct and to the point. Clearly, he was interested, but not for curiosity’s sake.

“Hmm? Oh, I trained with the Pro Hero Midnight,” Yoshihara responded, earning a few gasps, mostly from the girl with the green hair.

“Ooooohhhh~ How scandelous~! Tell me, what’s she like? Is she as sexually charged as the media makes her out to be?” The girl asked as Yoshihara cringed.

“Uh… well, she has her moments, though mostly contained,” Yoshihara said, frowning in thought. That wasn’t her true feelings, thought. Her true feelings were more along the lines of: “She’s annoying, and a little on the creepy side. She tries, though, and that’s all I can really ask for. I just wish she’d do better…”

“Well, that’s a bummer. Oh well. Ah! I just realized I forgot to introduce myself and Honenuki! My name’s Tokage Setsuna and this guy over here is Honenuki Juzo!” Setsuna said, a smile on her face as Honenuki waved.

“Ah, where are my manners,” the girl with the long black ponytail spoke up, a straight expression on her face. “My name is Yaoyorozu Momo, a pleasure to meet you all,” Yaoyorozu said, clasping her hands together by her legs.

“We already know your names, seeing as we heard that guy compare our times with your guys’ times. You guys easily have a shot to get into U.A.! Even Yaomomo, hope you don’t mind me calling you that, has an easier shot in than I do… I got the worst time out of everyone here,” Setsuna said, looking away.

“That’s too bad,” Todoroki said, walking away. “I apologize, but I must be leaving, my… family is waiting for me at home,” and with that, Todoroki left. Yoarashi scowled when he did, crossing his arms.

“That guy is ice-cold. Honestly, his Quirk suits him perfectly,” Yoarashi said, huffing.

“What a jerk!” Setsuna said, sticking out her tongue and pulling down on her left eyelid in a taunting gesture. Todoroki seemingly didn’t care nor seem to be interested in the insults as Yoshihara watched the boy, her eyes narrowing.

“He’s like me, at least in a roundabout sort of way,” Yoshihara thought, lessening her glare as the blond-haired man came up to them.

“I told that Todoroki kid the same thing I’m going to tell you. After reviewing everything, and watching the footage, the following people are going to be accepted into U.A.’s hero course. A-hem: Todoroki Shoto, Yaoyorozu Momo, Kira Yoshihara, Yoaroshi Inasa, and Honenuki Juzo.” Setsuna looked away, clearly upset as the blond-haired man looked over to her. “I’m sorry, Tokage-san, better luck next—”

“If I may!” Yoaroshi spoke up, interrupting the man. “I would like to relinquish my invitation to U.A., and give it to Tokage-san!” Yoaroshi said, catching everyone off guard.

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Interesting…”

“Why?!”

The last reaction came from Setsuna, who seemed the most confused. “Why are you going to throw your chance away at becoming a hero and give it to someone who failed?!”

“May I ask why?” The blond man asked, his expression filled with confusion.

“Well, you see. Even if I didn’t want to become a hero, I could get into a hero school no matter what. I’m a shoo-in for Shiketsu, but I wanted to try my luck at U.A. to see if I could get into this one school in particular, and it turned out that I could. While it pains me to do so, I want to give it to someone else for one sole reason, and that’s that Todoroki dude.

“If that Todoroki guy is in the school, I’d rather choke on dirt. He’s cold-hearted, and he even tried to sabotage me and Kira in the last stretch of the race! Had he not tripped and fallen at the last moment, we would’ve fallen on a landmine and seriously injured ourselves! I don’t know what was in him that made him do that, but being even so much as being in the same school as that guy is going to bring my spirits down. I’d rather someone else take my spot than go. I hope that makes sense,” Yoaroshi replied, a serious expression on his face as Setsuna’s eyes widened.

The blond-haired man sighed, nodding. “Well, that is a perfectly good reason. Very well! Thank you for trying out, Yoaroshi, and when you do get into Shiketsu, tell Ms. Joke I said hi!” The man said as Yoaroshi nodded, a smile on his face.

“Yes Sir!” Yoaroshi said. Just before he left, he patted Setsuna on the back, his smile more radiant as the green-haired girl looked at him. “Have a good time at U.A., Tokage-san, you deserve it!” and with that, he left, exiting the training field as Setsuna smiled.

“Thank you, Yoaroshi-kun!” Setsuna said, waving as Yoshihara watched the scene play out, a hint of disgust in her chest as she narrowed her eyes. That scene looked like it was ripped out of some stupid shonen manga than a real-life event, but then again, sometimes people are just selfless like that. On the other side of things, she was glad she got into U.A., and she’d also have to tell Kayama-san she was wrong about the whole letter thing, but she digressed.

The group was dismissed, and they were sent back to the changing rooms. When she and Setsuna got to the changing rooms, she watched as Setsuna simply picked up her bag and didn’t bother to change. She had worn that entire outfit the entire time, and didn’t even change into a new pair of clothes? Disgusting.

After she had changed back into her clothes from before, she exited the building via the front door, but she was stopped from leaving the premises by a hand clasping her shoulder. Yoshihara turned around and met eye-to-eye with Todoroki of all people, which had confused her.

“I thought you had to leave early. Why are you still here?” Yoshihara questioned, her eyes narrowing as Todoroki huffed.

“I miscalculated traffic times, and I put too much faith in my sister’s bad driving skills. Regardless, I wanted to ask. Your eyes, what’s wrong with them?” That question came out of nowhere, to the point where it shocked her.

“What do you mean?” Yoshihara questioned, narrowing her eyes at Todoroki.

“Well, I’ve noticed, even when I first made eye contact with you at the entrance, your eyes always seem to glaze over when you’re not talking to someone. It’s almost like you’re hiding something. Whatever it may be, I am going to find out,” Todoroki stated rather bluntly as Yoshihara scoffed.

“Yeah, sure, you do that,” Yoshihara replied, turning away. While she was playing cool and calm on the outside, on the inside, she was freaking out. “This isn’t good, does he know about my condition? Does he plan to expose me once we get to U.A. on the 3^rd? This isn’t good, not at all!”

For a split second, just a hair, the overwhelming urge to kill him washed over her. But, she kept calm, breathed in and out, before lowering her head. She’d have to get that under check if she was going to be going to U.A. The older she got, the more violent that urge became.

Yoshihara scowled, glancing behind her as Todoroki seemingly went back to waiting. Whatever the case might have been for his reasonings on trying to find out why she was the way she was, Yoshihara didn’t care or at least tried not to. 

The trip home was full of silence, just how she liked it. There were only a few things on her mind, such as what class she was going to be in, who her classmates would be, and that strange girl Setsuna. For whatever reason, the girl had made an impression on her. She reminded her of Sakunami. Maybe the pair were related in some way? They looked similar enough to be at least cousins.

When she got back to the suite, she was met with a note on the door. The note had stated that Kayama-san was in a meeting, which was predictable. As she did with every note, she balled it up and threw it into the trash can, this time pretending it to be a basketball. When it landed into the “hoop” she mentally shouted “Score!” in her head before dropping her bag to the floor.

With the house all to herself, Yoshihara decided that she was going to try the hot tub, and seeing as the house was empty, she saw no need for a swimsuit. A small, coy smirk found itself across her face. Why not, she had the house all to herself, and no one was going to stop her. That, and it would be a treat to pass the exam.

Maybe Kayama’s style of life was rubbing off on her, which was concerning in some aspects, but She didn’t care.  

She walked over to the hot tub, turned on the jets, then began to strip.

This was going to be a rather interesting experience.

[XXXX]

“Okay, let’s go over those who passed the exam and their profiles. After all, the more we get to know them through these tests, the better it will be when we divide them up into their classes,” the voice of Nedzu, U.A.’s principal, spoke out into a room with a round table, of which 9 people sat, as he stacked a few pieces of paper in front of him. Normally there would be 11, but a few of the staff members were off doing their own thing, and couldn’t come to the meeting.

Nedzu wasn’t particularly normal compared to most others. He was something that was typically seen as “abnormal” in a world where people could have snakeheads for their hands. Nedzu was a chimera of multiple different small animals, particularly a bear cub, a rat, and a dog, all fused into one, with the intelligence of all the pre-quirk era scholars, such as Einstein. He was the person behind all of U.A.’s programs, its staff, and most importantly, its hero courses and how they were created.

“Well, let’s start with Endeavors son, Todoroki Shoto,” a heavily accented voice spoke. The voice belonged to a guy wearing a gas mask of sorts with dreadlocks coming out from the back. He wore a cowboy hat, and a red poncho over top of his left shoulder that acted as a cape. The armour he wore was only over his chest, with elbow pads and knee pads being the only things to protect him from any damage outside of his chest. Underneath the armour, he wore a black sleeveless shirt to show off his well-built arms. He also wore a pair of brown chaps and black pants underneath those.

This man’s name was Snipe, and he was in charge of the third-year students.

“Hmm… yes, I agree, he is one of the more interesting ones from the exam that got picked,” a tough-sounding voice responded. The man from which the voice came wore a red latex suit with a black outline around his neck. He had two pipes protruding from his back and into his arms, which those two pipes were connected to two tanks. He was also built like a mountain in terms of muscle.

This was Vlad King, and he was responsible for one of the two first-year hero courses, specifically Class 1 - B.  

“I think his attitude needs to change a little bit. But outside of that, he belongs in the hero course, but which class is the better question? 1 - A, or 1 - B?” A man with a rather scrawny appearance spoke, his hands covered by massive metal claws, and his head covered by what looked to be a massive bear skull-like metal helmet coloured yellow. He also had no shirt on, which was bizarre in its own right.

This man was Power Loader, and he was the overseer of the support course.

“Well, that is why we are holding this meeting, is it not? To decide who goes in what class and why?” The voice of Aizawa Shouta rang out, wearing a yellow sleeping bag over his body. “Personally, I would like to take him as one of my students. Do you have any objections, Vlad?” Aizawa asked as Vlad shrugged.

“Honestly? You have more of a knack for dealing with those troublemakers than me. I’ll send him your way,” Vlad retorted, crossing his arms. “But I want Honenuki and Setsuna. End of story. They seem far too close to separate them,” Vlad stated as Nedzu nodded.

“Well, then that leaves the last two,” Midnight perked up, a soft smile on her face. “Kira Yoshihara, and Yaoyorozu Momo,” She said, leaning back in her chair. “I vote Shouta to take them, simply because A. he has experience in dealing with Kira and B. I want Shouta to suffer,” Midnight stated, a sadistic smirk on her face as a laugh bellowed through the room.

“Ha! That does sound like something you would say, Ka—I mean, Midnight-san!” Present Mic stated, brushing a hand through his golden hair. “Although, I do want to point out something that is concerning. That being Kira Yoshihara’s answers to the last two questions on the written exam,” Present Mic stated, crossing his arms.

“Yes. They are a bit… morbid in how factual they are. Midnight, you take care of this kid, do you not? Have you checked her out for any sort of mental disorders?” A man who, for all intents and purposes, looked like an oversized bear dog, spoke a mouth guard over his, well, mouth. He wore a yellow vest with spikes on the shoulders and a pair of torn-up pants.

This man was Hound Dog, and he was the school’s counsellor. Despite his rough appearance, he was quite the chill guy, at least that was what the older students said.

“I mean, I would wait for the hostages to stop screaming, then take them down the building, all the while trying to find a way to kill the aggressors is quite the answer. Plus, not to mention, not very heroic, at least in terms of the “kill the aggressors” part of the answer. Even the beginning of her other answer, which is: incapacitating the two people on my shoulders is my first priority is something that you’d see a villain put down as an answer,” Hound Dog said, a shade of concern in his voice as Midnight sighed.

“I… look, I don’t think she means those things. I’m sure Yoshi-chan was most likely just putting down what came to mind the moment it got there, not thinking about the consequences. But, I will consider getting her some counselling when she gets to school. As much as I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, those answers are troubling,” Midnight responded, looking away from the scornful eyes of Hound Dog.

“Hmph, well, I don’t want her. No offence, Midnight-san, she sounds a bit difficult to deal with,” Vlad King stated, leaning back in his chair. “And as you said, Eraser has more experience with her, according to you,” the man continued, earning an annoyed glare from Aizawa.

“While it is true that I helped her protect her friend from a villain, I don’t know her that well. However, considering you’re not willing to take her, I guess I have no real choice in the matter. I’ll also take Yaoyorozu as well,” Aizawa said, slipping deeper into his sleeping bag.

“Then that’s that?” The man with a black head with yellow lines and bare teeth spoke, the man in question being Ectoplasm, the school’s resident math teacher. “Because if that is the end of the meeting, I have to prepare my curriculum for this new year’s batch of students,” Ectoplasm said, nodding as he stood up.

“Yes, I believe you are correct. This concludes the meeting for the students being picked for Classes 1 – A and 1 – B respectively. However, Midnight, please speak to your adoptive daughter about her circumstances,” Nedzu said, and with that ball of information being dropped, everyone, outside of Present Mic and Eraserhead, turned to look at Nemuri with wide eyes and confused stares.

“Thank you, Nedzu, for that. I’m going to skin you alive one of these days,” Nemuri thought, with murderous intent boiling in her blood as it coursed through her eyes like a fierce storm at sea. All the while Nedzu had a shit-eating grin on his face, skipping away back to his office on the top floor of the school.

-To Be Continued in – Congratulations, Kira Yoshihara!-

Chapter Text

[Revised Chapter Posted on – 2023-07-23]

[Final Revision of Chapter Posted on - 2024-08-01]

[Congratulations, Kira Yoshihara!]

The warm, rushing water of the living room Hot Tub thrummed against Yoshihara’s body as she sank deeper into the hot tub, only allowing her nose and her forehead to stick out above the water. The hot water relaxed her muscles and soothed her skin in such a way that a shower never could.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Showers were, inherently, better for time efficiency. But she wasn’t exactly looking for that right now, was she? After an extremely stressful series of tests, the only thing that Yoshihara wanted was to sit back, relax, and let her worries melt away. She had seen Kayama-san do it multiple times, so she figured that she would be allowed to do the same.

She deserved this. After everything she’d been through in recent times, she felt as if she not only earned this, she felt as if she deserved this. The water was so warm, like an endless embrace, and if someone were to ask for her opinion, it was probably better than anything she had felt in a long, long time. 

Kayama-san was right. It was nice to have hot water enveloping every inch of her body. That wasn’t even mentioning the aqua jets on her back that felt as if she was being massaged. She hadn't felt this relaxed since Kayama-san had treated her to that spa day after a particularly gruelling day of training.

However, a part of her was telling her that she was being immensely stupid. She was naked, her body bare, and at any moment Kayama-san could come walking through the elevator doors and it would more than likely cause her great embarrassment.

But… the other side of her told her that it didn’t matter because Kayama-san said she was going to be gone for a while. Kayama-san never usually came home early. Not unless it was for an emergency. So, with that in mind, as if in protest against her more paranoid thoughts, she sat up a little bit more, and rested her head against the lip of the hot tub, allowing her hair to drape against the floor.

Maybe she was being a bit risqué. Especially because the tops of her breasts were poking out of the water. But to hell with it, she was alone, and for the first time in a while, she felt safe. It wasn’t like someone was going to smash through the top floor's window, see her, and try and rape her.

While she had several horrible nightmares of something like that happening, mostly because of the things she had experienced when she was young, that was all those were—nightmares. She knew they were fake, even if the idea was, inherently, terrifying.

The point she was trying to make was that she was safe. She didn’t need to worry about those asinine fears. Besides, even if someone did try that, she could just blow them up with Killer Queen and not have to worry about it again.

“Alright, that’s enough. You’re trying to relax. Don’t psyche yourself out,” Yoshihara thought, a relaxed sigh passing her lips as she opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling. She was curious, though. When was Kayama-san going to come home? She never really specified what time she’d be home. Just that she would be. 

She knew that Kayama-san was at U.A. sorting out things in yet another meeting, and that said meeting regarding classes and who would be who’s teacher for the year. All she knew was that she didn’t want Eraserhead as her teacher. She knew he worked there thanks to Kayama-san’s drunken ramblings.

Not that she had anything against Eraserhead, but she had a feeling that their personalities would clash a lot. Not because she hated him, but because he struck her as the type of person who tried to instill stupid rules with even stupider punishments. Considering that she was a very “against the standard rules” type of person she had a feeling that it wouldn’t exactly be a good thing for him to be her teacher.

Though considering how the universe liked to play stupid pranks on her and make her life worse for some stupid reason, she had a feeling that was exactly what was going to happen. 

Yoshihara closed her eyes, allowing the warm water to embrace her, pushing all of her previous thoughts away as she slipped back under the water up to her nose. She felt safe in the hot tub confides, much like she had felt in the shower.

She felt her rear sit against the flooring of the hot tub, which wasn't at all that deep. She had wrapped her arms around her legs and sat there, quietly. For the first time in a long time, Yoshihara had completely dropped her guard.

The only time that she ever dropped her guard in full was when she felt the most secure. Those times that she felt like that were very few and far between. Not even in that old apartment that she used to live in had she ever dropped her guard.

The last time she had dropped her guard, it nearly cost her not only her life but her dignity. This was far before she had the displeasure of battling against Taro Tatsugi. Another time she wished to fully push it out of her mind, but would go on to haunt her for the rest of her life.

But that was enough of that. She wasn't here to mope about the past. She was here to relax, feel secure, and wash away the aches and pains.

Security was a very important thing for Yoshihara, a thing that up until recently, she never had for the longest time. The only times she ever felt safe and not on edge was when she was around Otoshi, Akira, and Otoshi's girlfriend Sayaka.

Despite all of them having connections to the porn industry, they were all extremely hands-to-themselves. You'd think that those who practically ran the porn industry within Musutafu wouldn't be like that, that they'd be more like their customers, but that couldn't have been further from the truth.

She remembered when she had moved into the living quarters at Akira’s club. There were times when she couldn’t be able to sleep. Living on the streets for as long as she had at that time made it hard for her to trust others. Especially adults. But Akira would always be there for her. He would read her bedtime stories when she asked with no qualms, and he’d even tuck her into bed.

It might’ve been strange, especially because he was a stranger, but she had always felt safe around Akira. That extended to Otoshi when, during one of the times she had been moping the floor prior to her eventual job as a private show-woman, one of the customers who had been drunk tried to sexually assault her in the gender-neutral bathroom.

She was originally just going to go with it. After all, back then, she had been so used to being violated by men twice her age that she felt as if she had deserved it in some way. That was when Otoshi showed up out of nowhere, beat the man within an inch of his life, and threw him out.

She remembered for days on end that she was forced to stand by Otoshi and that afterward, he’d check up on her now and again. Then, when she started her job as a private show-woman, a little while before she had moved out of the club and found her own apartment, he’d always talk to her about her shift, and if she wanted someone beat up for trying to do something to her without her consent.

It was… nice. To have someone watching her back. However, back then, she didn’t think she deserved it. Her mind had been filled with so many toxic thoughts that she had genuinely believed that she deserved to be raped. That she had deserved to be beaten. That she had deserved to be taken advantage of.

And it was all because of that wench.

She could feel herself spiralling again. Those memories welled up in her mind, and for a split second, all of that comfort she had felt faded away. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she found herself rapidly pulling herself out of the hot tub to stop herself from having a panic attack inside it.

She found the nearest towel, which had been stationed next to the hot tub, wrapped it around her body to cover herself, and immediately curled into a ball next to the couch. Her mind blanked for what felt like twenty minutes as those memories plagued her once again.

“No… leave me alone… leave me alone… just leave me alone!” Yoshihara thought, her eyes forcing themselves shut as her shoulders flinched up her neck. She hated it. Her face had been burned into her subconscious.

She remembered that night.

She remembered it all.

She remembered that look of hate in her eyes after finally calling for help. After finally running away from the house. After finally escaping that bitch. When that guy had pinned her down and helped her run away.

She couldn’t remember his face all too well. Only that he had piercing blue eyes, and he had black hair. That was it. Oh, and he had been wearing a black trenchcoat, too. But that was it. She focused on that man. She focused on what he did, how he shielded her from what she now recognized had to have been a Stand, taking a punch to the stomach from that wench before unleashing some kind of fire Quirk on her.

She remembered that man telling her to run and to never look back. She hadn’t seen him since. She sincerely hoped that he was okay. From what she remembered, he already looked pretty banged up.

She just hoped that he was okay. If she could ever see him again, it would be to thank him in earnest. Assuming he was still alive. Knowing that Wench was a Stand User made it significantly less possible for that to be the case.

Her heartbeat calmed itself, as she found herself slowly sitting back up, her breathing returning to normal.

“Happy thoughts, Yoshihara…. Think happy thoughts…. Push it away. Push it back. Push all of those nasty memories away and focus on the now…” Yoshihara thought, fully sitting up and looking out the large window, staring out into the cityscape.

She was safe. That wench would never get to her again. Even if she did, she had a Stand to defend herself. She was safe. She focused back on the topic before she had her freak out, about her being close to the people around her.

That was what she had been thinking about before she had spiralled.     

Had it not been for Sayaka, and had it not been for Otoshi, she wouldn't have been stuck out for this long. She figured she would've moved on to someplace else. She probably would've never met Nemuri and from there never met Izuku.

She would have never…. Yoshihara cut off that train of thought, squeezing her eyes shut harder than she normally did. "Banish them. Banish those vile thoughts…" She thought, frowning as she tried to relax, keeping her guard down as she was able to return to a somewhat peaceful state.

A part of her thought about getting back into the hot tub, but after what just happened, any intention or want to relax had sapped away. Just as she was about to get up and fully walk up the stairs, the sound of the elevator doors pinging, signalling that someone was going to come out of the doors, echoed throughout the suite.

Instinctively, Yoshihara ducked behind the couch, making sure to peek out from the corner whilst keeping her towel wrapped around her all the while. As she stared out at the elevator, and as the doors opened, she had fully expected just Kayama-san to walk through the doors.

However, that turned out not to be the case.

The first person to step out wasn’t Kayama-san, but it was Eraserhead, who was wearing a grey T-shirt coupled with a pair of baggy black pants and loafers, which he quickly slipped off as he stepped into the suite. His appearance made him look as if he had just woken up from a nap, what with his hair being all over the place and the bags under his eyes.

The second person to come out of the elevator was the Procter for the tests—Present Mic, if she had remembered correctly. His hair wasn’t in that ridiculous mohawk ponytail thing it had been in before, but rather it was let down, and it went down to his shoulders and a little bit past that, with a man bun on the back of his head.

He, much like Eraserhead, was dressed in a grey t-shirt. But where they differed was in their pants. Present Mic was dressed in a pair of jeans with tears in the knees, and he had two black belts on, with one wrapping around the other. He also had two spiked wristbands on, and she could even make out a necklace with a little speaker motif around his neck.

Oh, and he also had on a pair of glasses, most likely to aid in his vision. Which brought into question his sunglasses, and whether or not they were prescription sunglasses. Although, thinking about it a little bit more, there was a chance that was the case.

Then there was Kayama-san. Typical, normal, Kayama-san. She was dressed in one of her favourite outfits—a purple no-sleeve tank top and form-fitting black yoga pants. She even had her hair up in a ponytail, along with what appeared to be purple lipstick. 

She wore a large, childish smirk on her face; the kind that someone had on their face when they had successfully pulled off a surprise. Which was the worst, because Kayama-san was awful and doing secrets and surprises. So the fact that she got one over her was a crushing blow to her ego.

Still, credit where credit was due, she had set it up masterfully. But it cut into her relaxation time. Though, it wasn’t going to be in the hot tub after the little freak out she had. She probably would’ve just buried herself in her manga or continued binge-watching One Piece. ‘

“Oh, Yoshi-chan~! I brought some friends over to celebrate you getting into U.A.! I even invited Midoriya-kun and his mother, too!” Kayama-san announced, looking around the living room as Yoshihara peeked out from over the top of the couch. “Why are you hiding?”

“I’m in a towel, Kayama-san. I was using the hot tub,” Yoshihara replied, gesturing over to it with her head. “You surprised me.”

“Oh? I did, did I?” Kayama-san replied, a shit-eating smirk on her face. “Finally, you’re always on guard. I finally got you~! Sweet~!” Kayama-san teased as Yoshihara frowned.

“That’s all well and good, but can you guys like, turn around so I can move to my room?” Yoshihara said as Eraserhead wordlessly did as he was asked, forcing Kayama-san and Present Mic to do the same thing.

As Yoshihara dashed off to her bedroom, Present Mic spoke up. "You have a hot tub in your living room?" Hizashi whisper-shouted as Kayama-san smiled.

"You know me, Hizashi. I like living large. The hot tub is also good for relaxing muscles. Which was probably why Yoshi-chan was using it,” Kayama-san said as Eraserhead grunted.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Eraserhead asked as Kayama-san dismissed him entirely.

“Nope. I actually expected her to be a hermit in her room like she usually does. She’s never used the hot tub. Like, ever. That, and I always thought that if she did, she’d actually wear something while she did,” Kayama noted as Eraserhead raised an eyebrow.

“You think she was naked?”

“I know she was naked. If she was in a swimsuit, she would’ve been fine with standing around in a towel. Context clues, Eraserhead. It’s why you’re so bad with women,” Kayama-san replied as Eraserhead scowled.

“Nemuri…” Eraserhead rumbled.

“C’mon, it’s not like that and you know that!”

“I’m back,” Yoshihara spoke up, prompting them to turn around, and unlike before where she had been in a towel, she was dressed in an overly large gray shirt that went down past her thighs…. And that was about it. Her hair was brushed back but still wet, and she looked slightly dried off.

She was standing on the stairwell and was just a few steps away from entering the living room. She had a completely bored, and tired look on her face. As if she were mere seconds away from falling asleep standing up.

"Where’s the rest?” Kayama-san questioned as Yoshihara frowned.

"I have underwear on, leave me alone. I just got out of the hot tub, and I don't feel like wearing a full outfit. Besides, it's less laundry for me to do later," Yoshihara responded, her tone of voice dull and tired. It was true, she had a long day already, and the last thing she wanted to do was go through all the effort of putting on a full outfit, just to change a few hours later. 

"But—"

"Let the kid do what she wants, Nemuri, besides, you'd be a hypocrite in judging what she wears, Miss wears a dominatrix suit as their hero costume," Eraserhead interrupted, patting her on her back, causing Kayama-san to pout. "It's nice to get a real chance to meet you, Kira," Eraserhead said as Yoshihara bowed toward him.

"No, the pleasure is mine, Eraserhead, if it hadn't been for you back in that forest, I think I really would've died back there. Your distraction made him vulnerable enough for me to retaliate against that villain," Yoshihara responded as Aizawa rolled his eyes.

"Don't sweat it, kid. Also, it’s Aizawa outside of a professional setting. Same with Mic, though it's Yamada for him. Kay?” Aizawa corrected as Yoshihara nodded. “And another thing, I have to ask, what happened to the villain in the first place?" Aizawa asked, taking a seat on the couch adjacent to the stairwell. Hizashi and Kayama-san sat on the opposite couch across from Aizawa.

"Ah, well…" Yoshihara started, rubbing the back of her neck. Aizawa sighed, shaking his head.

"Never mind, I'm sure he's long gone by now," Aizawa stated as Yoshihara let out a sigh of relief. She was a little concerned that Aizawa was going to try and dig into what happened to Taro. Though, considering the glance he was sending her way, if she were to guess he already put two and two together.

As she walked down the stairs and made her way across the room to sit next to Aizawa seeing as there were no other seats, she was suddenly grabbed by Kayama-san and placed on her lap. Yoshihara was caught off guard, and she nearly summoned Killer Queen out of pure shock.

The way Kayama-san was holding onto her waist… made her feel uncomfortable.

"Gah! What the—hey, don't just do stuff like that!" Yoshihara said as Kayama-san smirked.

"Only when you stop looking cute," Nemuri responded, gaining a worried look from Yoshihara. "Don't worry, I took my meds, I'm just being honest. Anyways, I got you a gift that I know you'll like," Kayama-san said, pointing at the bag with one of her fingers.

The bag was a standard plastic bag, but she could see the shape of a tall box within. It distracted her from the uncomfortable position she was being put in by Kayama-san, as her eyes glistened with genuine excitement.

"Really? Is it what I think it is?" Yoshihara asked, a gleam in her eye as Kayama-san snickered.

"Find out, and you might just be pleasantly surprised," Kayama-san replied, her smirk slowly turning into a smile. Without a delay, Yoshihara grabbed the bag and looked inside, a genuine smile on her face as she pulled out a box.

"Is this—"

"that Death The Kid statue you've been asking for? Why yes, yes it is! I found it at a local convention store that resold old anime and manga-related products. It was in mint condition, and it came in the original packaging. It cost me over 100,000 yen, so it was rather cheap all things considered. I hope you like it," Kayama-san said, letting go of Yoshihara as she jumped off of her lap before turning around and hugging her, catching the Kayama-san off guard.

"Thank you! You're the best Adoptive Mom, ever!" Yoshihara said, earning a surprised reaction from Kayama-san herself. Yoshihara paused as well, thinking about what it was she had just said. Was Kayama-san her mother, or at the very least her adoptive mother? She never took her last name, so did that just make her a guardian?

Yoshihara had lived with Kayama-san for over 9 months, nearing ten. It would only make sense if she considered her a mother figure, at the very least. Whenever the thought came up in her mind, she dismissed it, seeing as it was only a title and nothing more, but the more she thought about it, the more significance it began to hold.

Yoshihara loathed her blood-related “mother”, but she never really cared to replace her. She never had a reason to do so. But yet, here she was, backing away from Kayama-san whom she had just hugged—something she had never done at all, ever—slightly embarrassed as she held the bag with the Death the Kid statue in it behind her back.

"Did you just…?" Kayama-san sputtered, causing Yoshihara to let go and look away. Did she make a mistake? Was she not supposed to say that? Was she going to get mad at her? Had she overstepped a boundary she wasn't meant to cross?

"I-I'm sorry, I—"

"No, no, I don't mind it. I liked being called that… though I never saw myself as a mother…" Kayama-san said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Do you… really see me as your mother?" The ravenette asked as Yoshihara turned her attention back to Kayama-san.

Did she consider her to be a replacement mother? Was that a good thing? Yoshihara truly didn't know if it was or not, so much so that it confused her. She truly didn't know what to say. She looked into Kayama-san's eyes, trying to fish out an answer, but found nothing.

It was clear to Yoshihara that Kayama-san wasn't quite so sure herself. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense that Yoshihara did see Kayama-san as her mother. At first, it was a student-teacher bond, but as time went on, she genuinely became concerned when Kayama-san came home hurt or wounded from a fight with a villain, and the same applied to Yoshihara's wounds when they trained, or, as of recently, the fight with Taro.

It was weird, this form of mutual respect blossoming into more of a motherly bond than anything else. It was… refreshing. She had been so used to adults using her in multiple different ways, not being the slightest bit remorseful for it. The only people who she viewed as parental figures were Akira, Otoshi, and Sayaka.

Kayama-san, technically, was on the same level as them. She went out of her way to take care of her, and she never expected anything back. Sure, she worked under Kayama-san as the receptionist. But the same applied to Akira in the past.

That, and Akira and Kayama-san were legally family. So….

"I… I mean, yeah…" Yoshihara started, looking to the side ever so slightly, not meeting Kayama-san in the eyes. "You've done so much for me, a random kid you didn't even know too much about. You allowed me to stay in your home, took care of me, treated me like an equal. I've never had the best experiences with adults, or hell, people in general. You were the first person to ever show me kindness, outside of Akira and Otoshi, of course. So, in that respect… yeah, I'd see you as my mother, in a roundabout sort of way…."

Without warning, Kayama-san hugged her, catching Yoshihara off guard. She was about to push her off of her, only to feel that her shoulder was getting wet, and it wasn't from her hair. She could hear, crying. Was Kayama-san crying? Why?

For Nemuri, she was happy. For years, she never wanted to get too close to children. Especially due to her… condition. But for Yoshihara to trust her so much to go as far as to call her “mom”, even if it was through a figurative sense…. It meant a lot to her.

For the longest time, Nemuri had wanted to be a mother. But her mental condition had stopped her from being that. She had never succumbed to her mental condition—and never would, no matter what others might say or have said—but because of her paranoia of the “might” or the “potential” for it to happen had steered her way.

Not to mention that, even when she did attempt to adopt once, she was denied. She was kinda shocked that the government allowed her to take care of Yoshihara. Though, she figured it had to do with her age.

Age of consent laws in Japan were fucked up. In a majority of the developed countries in the world, the age of consent was 18. Though, in some States in America, Canada, Britain, and Germany, it was 15 to 16. For Japan, it was 16. Maybe the person who approved of her adoption of Yoshihara shrugged their shoulders and just let it happen.

If Nemuri was a horrible, rotten person, she would’ve seen that as a win-win. But, given that she wasn’t truly like that, and it was a mental side-effect of her Quirk that caused her to be the way that she was and that her morals allowed her to see through the brain fog of it all, she had primarily been concerned with how it turned out.

She had to wonder just how many children were paired with predators because of the age of consent in Japan. How many children were made to suffer under that because that one custody judge did not fully care about his job?

Whatever the case was, she didn’t want to linger on it for very long.

"You… You have no idea how much that means to me," Nemuri said as Yoshihara slowly hugged her back. It was odd. She hated physical affection—at least, for the most part. Normally, she’d be against it. But with Kayama-san—when it wasn’t unprompted or whatever that waist hug was about before this—she was… comfortable with it.

Eventually, Nemuri let go of Yoshihara, wiping the tears off her face. As she did, Yoshihara took a step back, and started walking backwards toward the stairs. "I… I'm going to go to my room and… assemble my new statue," Yoshihara started, fidgeting slightly. "I- er… call me down when Izuku and Midoriya-san get here… or if there is anything else going on… Mom…" Yoshihara said, dashing up the stairs.

Her face was red in embarrassment. Did she really just call Kayama-san Mom? It was… weird. The idea of having a mother was weird. Especially given her history with people who claimed to be her “mother.”

A part of her paranoid self told her that it would end up just like that wench. That she shouldn’t trust anyone, let alone someone who wanted to be her mother.

But Yoshihara would’ve liked to think that it wasn’t like that. That Kayama-san wasn’t going to turn out like that psycho. That she could trust her, and that she didn’t have to worry about anything like that happening.

"Mom... I just called her Mom..." Yoshihara thought, closing the door to her room behind her. She had a statue to put together.

[XXXX]

Out of all the things that Izuku had expected to happen today, his mother receiving a phone call from Midnight about inviting both her and Izuku over to her place for a party had not been one of them. Apparently, it was to celebrate Yoshihara getting into U.A. via the recommendation exam.

Admittedly, Izuku was a little nervous. Sure, Yoshihara had been over to his place before, but that ended in a fight between his mother and her; something he was still upset about even after a week of it happening. Not that he blamed Yoshihara for it. It was entirely his mother's fault.

He still didn’t know why his mother had done what she had done. Ever since the incident, she never elaborated on her reasons. She simply refused to talk about it, saying that it didn’t matter anymore.

Well, it mattered to him. But, he wasn’t going to push the topic. The last thing he wanted to do was get his mother all worked up over nothing. Especially given how it was that time of the month again. His mother got especially crabby during then. So, that, coupled with the overall uneasiness about everything that happened, probably wouldn’t have led to anything good.

So, he let go. Besides, he had more important things to think about. Mainly about what to expect from Midnight’s place. He didn’t want to be formal, especially because it was just a house party. So, he opted to wear his favourite All Might-themed hoodie, a pair of blue pants, and his favourite pair of sneakers.

His mother, on the other hand, wore a simple white blouse with a frilly colour and a pair of black pants and shoes. Nothing special, and nothing themed. Just a regular outfit that she’d normally wear.

He wondered just who else would be there. Maybe Kujo and his girlfriend? He doubted it. They seemed a little too busy for that kind of thing. “Is it really just going to be me, Mom, Midnight, and Ki—I mean, Yoshihara?” Izuku thought, a bead of sweat forming on the side of his forehead.

He was still trying to get used to calling Yoshihara by her first name. He had never gotten that close to someone before where they’d let him use their first name—not even with Kacchan. Though, he supposed with Kacchan it was out of habit. Even then, he still viewed him as a friend.

It was interesting, actually. Ever since he got into that friend group with Yoshihara, Kujo and Kujo’s girlfriend—Sakunami, if he remembered correctly—Kacchan had well and truly stopped bothering him. Stopped trying to pick on him. Stopped even looking in his general direction.

Oh, sure, he’d still sneer at him from time to time, but he never laid a hand on him anymore. Not to mention that every time he’d approach Kacchan for notes on something he missed due to overworking himself with All Might’s training routine, it almost seemed as if Kacchan was… scared of him.

No, not scared of him. But scared of doing something to him.

He didn’t like the implications of that. Izuku didn’t know much about Kujo or Sakunami. But he had a feeling one of them did something.

“Well, I suppose it’s better than being pelted with explosions…” Izuku thought, glancing over to his mother, who was checking over her phone, looking at something with an annoyed expression on her face.

"When did they say we had to be there, Mom?" Izuku asked, sitting on the couch, tying his sneakers as his Mom looked up from her phone and over to Izuku with a smile on her face.

"Huh? Oh, 8:00 pm at the latest, 7:30 pm at the earliest. Do you have the gift we prepared for Kira-san?" Inko asked as Izuku looked to his left, glancing into the bag with a smile.

"U-Uh yeah, It's right beside me!" Izuku replied, standing up. He hoped Yoshihara liked it. It wasn't every day you get into U.A.! He just hoped he would be joining her at the school. Anytime this week he was going to receive All Might's Quirk, One For All, and then go to the Entrance Exam.

A part of him was nervous, seeing as it was the Symbol Of Peace's Quirk, and he didn't exactly know how he was going to get it. The other part of him was excited because he would finally have a Quirk to use to become a hero!

Although, there was another part of him that told him that he didn’t deserve it. That he was being selfish for taking away someone else’s rightfully earned power. The rational side of himself reminded him that he wasn’t taking anything. He was being bestowed something.

All Might was selflessly gifting his Quirk to Izuku so that he could realize his dream of becoming a hero who saved others for the sake of saving others. He was being passed down One For All because All Might saw something in him. A special quality that made him a worthy successor.

There was nothing selfish about it. He had earned the power of One For All. With it, he was going to save as many people as he possibly could. He was going to make All Might proud. He was going to show him that he made the right choice.

Of course, that was in a week from now. Right now, he had a party to attend. Something he hadn’t been to since Kacchan’s 7^th birthday. While it wasn’t the same thing, it was pretty darn similar. 

"Okay, Izuku! We have to get going if we're going to make it on time!" his Mom called out as Izuku made his way to the door. When they briefly made eye contact, his Mom shied away a little bit. Izuku didn’t want her to feel as if she couldn’t look him in the eye. While he was still a little miffed with her, it wasn’t nearly as bad as he had felt last week.

“Mom…” Izuku thought despondently. He didn’t want to make her feel bad. Maybe it was a personal thing on her end that made it so she couldn’t look him in the eye. Maybe she didn’t feel like she deserved to. But that wasn’t the case.

Yes, she had made a mistake—a massive mistake, mind you, but a mistake nonetheless. All mistakes can be forgiven eventually. Izuku had already mostly forgiven her, so why was she still so apprehensive?

“Never mind that for now. I’ll talk to her about it at a later date,” Izuku thought, glancing at the time. It was already 7:15 PM, so they didn't have much time to get there if they wanted to be early. Thankfully there was a train that was set to go to the deeper part of Musutafu that they could take to reach the suite that Yoshihara lived in.

The train would take them to the nearest stop where Yoshihara’s address was at. Seeing as the train travelled rather quickly, it would only take them 10 minutes to get there after getting on the train. The walk was also rather short, only lasting around 5 minutes—props to living in an apartment complex so close to a train station.

They passed by various people on the way there, and Izuku had to keep himself from going crazy over the amount of cool quirks he saw. Honestly, it was a little embarrassing. But at least he was able to keep himself under control.

Quirk envy was a real thing, though that wasn’t his issue. He simply liked learning about Quirks. Though, now, he could also put Stands in a category that he could mess around with. It was funny. He sat Kujo down and asked about his Stands abilities, and he made a whole new journal just for Stands.

Kujo’s Stand was very versatile, and he even brought up the idea of using his Soft & Wet’s bubbles to temporarily sap away a person's Quirk. They were able to convince one of Sakunami’s friends to help them test it out. Their Quirk was a nail extension Quirk. Upon one of the bubbles coming into contact with them, and upon asking them to use their Quirk, it didn’t activate.

Obviously, Kujo returned their ability to use their Quirk, but it was cool nonetheless. Kujo had never thought that his bubbles go that far in terms of disabling individuals. He only assumed it was stuff like friction, sight, or hearing. But to be able to go as deep as someone’s Quirk? That had never crossed his mind until Izuku suggested it.

Kujo could be a really powerful capture Hero if that was the route he decided to go down. The number of villains who would be stopped in their tracks just because of his bubbles would be enormous! 

Once they arrived and boarded the train, it didn't take them long to get to their stop. There weren’t a lot of people on the train—just a handful. Most of them kept their distance from each other, although, there was one creepy-looking guy who was constantly muttering to himself about something.

Izuku didn’t pay any attention to the man. He was probably just rambling about nothing serious. He honestly kind of looked like a drug addict. It was a deeply sad thing, to be held down by addiction. His mom knew people who used to have a drug addiction. Back in high school, both herself and Auntie Mitsuki had an intervention for a close friend of theirs for trigger abuse.

It apparently got nasty. So much so the police had to be called to stop the guy from taking his life. They never saw that guy again, and frankly? Good riddance. His mother didn’t need anyone like that in her life. It probably wouldn’t have ended well.

Upon getting to their stop and exiting the train station, they made their way to the street where the suite was supposed to be. From the station to the address, it was a ten-minute walk away from where they were. By the time they got to where they were supposed to be, it was 7:45, and as they got to the street the building was supposedly on, Inko looked down at her phone and frowned.

"It says the building is on this street, so why can't I see it?" Inko said, looking around to find an apartment building. When her eyes scanned for the addresses on the buildings, her eyes landed on a bright red building with a luxurious entrance like that of a grand hotel. "Oh, this must be—" she stopped mid-sentence when she read the sign: Love Love Deluxe.

Izuku knew what Love Love Deluxe was. Not because he had been there before, but because he knew Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru liked going there on Valentine's Day and White Day. Out of all of the Love Hotels in Japan, this one was rated the best out of all of them. If you could afford a room, you’d be given the best experience you could possibly imagine.

Mattresses that were so comfortable, you never wanted to leave. Air Conditioning and heating were so wonderful that it was worth the price of emission. Quality showers and bathes that had all of the best soaps, conditioners, and shampoos. All for the low cost of 10,000 Yen a night, and on Valentine's Day, if you stayed the night, you were treated to a five-star breakfast in bed for free!

The only reason why he knew that was because Aunt Mitsuki could never stop gushing over the place. He only learned that they went there recently when last Valentine's Day, Kacchan complained about it to him and his mother when he had visited—he said visited, but it was more like Auntie Mitsuki forced him to come over. He was only really there for his Mom, but he didn’t do anything bad while he was there.

Now, as for why they were standing in front of Love Love Deluxe, that was something that Izuku was still trying to figure out. Why did Midnight send them here? Was this some kind of bad prank?

"U-Uh, Mom, are we sure we took the right address?" Izuku asked, looking over at his mother's phone. The address—1185 Tokami St, Musutafu—was what they were looking for. Yet, when they plugged it into the map, it led them straight to the Love Hotel each time.

"Oh! You're here, good!" A voice called out to them, and as they turned around, they were met with a black-haired woman wearing a white sleeveless shirt and a pair of form-fitting black yoga pants and black high-heels. She had sparkling blue eyes and a radiant smile. Now that he had a proper look at her, it was the same woman from the hospital that he had met after Yoshihara’s hospital visit. "I was beginning to wonder if you had ghosted me or not, but at least you're here now, so that's a plus!" The woman said as confusion was strewn across the faces of the pair.

"A-Are you Midnight?" Izuku asked as the now-identified Midnight nodded.

"Yup! Although, since I'm not in my costume, just call me Kayama-san! If you're looking for the suite, it's on the top floor only my friends and family can access. I have the key to get there, come on," Kayama said, gesturing for them to follow her into the building.

As they stepped inside, Izuku was greeted with a very pink and red foyer, with heart motifs scattered across the walls. The theme of “love” and “passion” was obvious given the amount of romantic-looking paintings on the walls and the literal heart carpet in front of the front desk.

“I set up the party to be a little bit later in the day due to how busy we are. There are only a few guests here for the night, and most of them are in their rooms. Not that it really matters, seeing as you’ll both be in the suite until you leave for the night,” Kayama-san explained, taking them toward the elevator.

Opening the elevator with the press of a button, gesturing for them to step inside. "You two first, if you may," Kayama-san said as the pair entered the elevator, followed by Kayama-san. Once inside, she grabbed a key from her pocket and put it into a keyhole. Turning the key, the elevator dinged, and the doors began to close. A second later, they began to ascend.

"It’ll be a minute or two before we get to the top floor, so allow me to give you some history about Love Love Deluxe!” Kayama-san began, looking over at Izuku and Inko. “My great, great great, great grandmother, who had been the original owner before her passing of Lung Cancer, Yukako Hirose commissioned this place to be built 100 years ago, in 2023! With the help of her husband and his friends, they were able to get this place off the ground, advertising it as the best Love Hotel in the business!”

“Of course, it was a little bit of an exaggeration at the time. There were still places better than it, but that didn’t stop couple after couple, sex worker after sex worker, and people on top of people from coming to this place. It didn’t matter if you were straight, gay, or whatever you identified as, as far as Yukako was concerned, love was love.”

“It was passed down from generation to generation in my family. Lung Cancer had claimed all of their lives, mostly because they were frequent smokers. Finally, after generations and generations of my family managing this place, it was finally my turn. When I first received it, it had seen better days. But, with the help of some people with close connections, I was able to expand this place to what it is today!”

“Now, as of the last few years, Love Love Deluxe has produced well over 50 Million yen in terms of profit, and it has allowed me to donate heaps of money to foundations to prevent child sexual abuse, and build several centers for women who survived sex abuse in the industry and outside of it. As a victim of sex crimes in the past, I didn’t want anyone else to suffer from it, or, if they had, to have a safe place to recover and work through their trauma,” Kayama-san explained, looking over at Inko and Izuku.

Izuku, for his part, was awestruck, and Inko was just as shocked. “I’m sorry you have to go through that, Kayama-san…” Inko said, bowing her head as Kayama-san laughed it off.

“Oh, please, that was twenty years ago, and it’s way behind me now,” Kayama-san replied, brushing the concern off as Izuku smiled.

“You really are a hero, Kayama-san. You must’ve helped so many people by now, right?” Izuku asked as Kayama-san smiled.

“You bet! You know, being a hero is more than just having a flashy Quirk or having your own brand deal. It’s the mentality that someone has. No matter what their profession is, anyone can be a hero, so long as they have the right mindset and they can put their money where their mouth is,” Kayama-san said, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Frankly, I think the real heroes are those who create charities support the community and aid law enforcement. Sure, we have people like All Might and Endeavor who catch the criminals. But the real heroes are those who aid the community,” Kayama-san said as, finally, the elevator doors opened.   

What the pair were greeted with was… interesting to say the least. When Izuku heard the word “suite” he hadn’t been expecting anything like this. The living room alone was massive. Though, considering it was what most of the suite was made up of, that made sense. There were two large three-seater couches which sat across from one another with a low-to-the-ground coffee table separating them and a love seat with its back facing what appeared to be a kitchenette.

Speaking of the kitchenette, it was similar to his and his mother’s apartment’s kitchenette. A full-sized fridge, a stove and oven, granite counters, a sink, and a handful of cupboards and drawers to hold spices, dishes, and utensils.

Unlike their kitchenette, there was an island in the center of it with even more storage and bar stools to sit on that were bolted to the ground. In fact, if he were to guess, everything was probably bolted to the ground just in case of an earthquake.

Of course, there was also a TV that was in front of a large, wall-sized window that overlooked most of Musutafu. It was a gorgeous view and one that Izuku was slightly envious of. Though, if there was one thing that seemed entirely out of place, it was the hot tub which was also close to the window, and a little bit a ways away from the TV.

Then, of course, there was the second floor, which was just an open hallway with three doors. On the far left there was a door with no name attached to it, in the middle was a door with a sign labelled “Guest Room” and a door on the far right labelled “Yoshihara’s room, please knock.” Of course, the hallway went a little bit past Yoshihara’s room, but if Izuku had to guess, that was where the bathroom was.  

"Wow…" Inko whispered, her eyes wide with shock as Izuku took a step inside. It was definitely larger than he had expected. But, at the same time, considering that this was a pro hero, he shouldn’t have been surprised that she lived in a place this nice.

"Help yourselves to anything. Currently, I have two friends who're hanging out in the guest room, don't disturb them, they're busy. Midoriya-kun, Yoshi-chan is in her room, so if you want to see her, just knock first before entering. Midoriya-san, why don't you sit with me and we can have a few drinks?" Kayama asked as Inko waved her hands dismissively.

"Oh, heavens no! I don't drink, it would be bad for me, besides, I'm pretty lightweight when it comes to that stuff anyway," Inko replied, looking away sheepishly. "Not to mention I'm a nasty drunk," she continued as Kayama-san shrugged.

"Suit yourself, we have other drinks in the fridge, soft drinks to be specific," Kayama-san stated, walking over to the fridge. Izuku didn't bother to stay in the living room much longer, looking up at the stairs before ascending them. As he approached Yoshihara's room, he could hear the sounds of a radio playing faintly, the sounds of what sounded like an English song playing.

He could faintly hear the song, only just barely making out the lyrics—thank the school for making him take English courses.

Perfume came naturally from Paris (naturally).

For cars, she couldn't care less.

Fastidous and precise!

She's a Killer Queen~!

Gunpowder, gelatin~!

Dynamite with a Laser beam~!

Guaranteed to blow your mind (anytime)~!

As Izuku began to turn the doorknob, the radio stopped playing, and as Izuku peeked in, Yoshihara looked over to him, her face changing from a scowl to that of a smile. "Oh! Izuku, you're here!" She said, her tone containing a hint of enthusiasm.

She was only wearing an oversized grey T-shirt with kanji on the back of the shirt reading: Mondays are the worst. She was on her knees, sitting in front of a half-finished figurine whilst holding what appeared to be a tube of glue in one hand and an arm of a figure she was building in the other.

The shirt went down to her knees, almost making it look like a dress. One of the shoulders barely fit her, so it was drooping down to one side, exposing the top of her shoulder. Her hair was wet, so she must've just come out of a shower. In Izuku's mind, he had to admit, she looked pretty cute.

"Uh, Izuku? are you okay, your face is getting a little red," Yoshihara commented to break the silence, which made Izuku jolt slightly, looking away as he stammered to try and get a sentence out. He hadn’t expected Yoshihara to be dressed in only a shirt! It was indecent, even if he couldn’t see anything!

"I-I-I—"

Yoshihara simply shook her head at the boy's stuttering, a small smirk coming to her face as she walked up to him. "Come on silly, just get in here so we can talk. I'm not gonna bite," Yoshihara said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him into her room. The door closed, the sound of it closing echoing throughout the suite.

Down on the first floor, Nemuri giggled quietly to herself as Inko smiled. "Those two really get along, don't they?" Inko commented. Nemuri nodded, taking a sip from her glass of wine.

"Well, she was willing to lay down her life for the boy, and considering this is the first time Yoshihara has ever stuck her neck out that far for someone, I think she likes him," Nemuri stated, leaning forward on the stool and against the island countertop. “You know what, I have an idea.”

“What’s your idea, Kayama-san?” Inko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanna make a bet. If you win, I’ll commission a one-floor house, fit with the latest appliances, and technology, and a personal maid to do all the cleaning for you on top of  5 Million Yen. Oh, and it should go without saying, the house won’t cost you a dime. It’ll come all out of my personal pocket. If I win, well… hmm, ah I know! You’ll tell me one of your deepest, darkest secrets, and I’ll take it to my grave. Does that sound fair?" Nemuri said, causing Inko smirk, a confident look in her eyes.

"I'm all for it. I've never lost a bet in my life so I'll take you up on that," Inko said, a confident smile on her face.

"Upfront, I see. I like it. I like that a lot. And you don't even know what the bet is! Ha, you didn’t strike me as that kind of person when we first met, Midoriya-san!” Nemuri said, smirking as Inko shrugged.

“I don’t usually take a bet unless I have a good feeling about it, and it’s never led me astray before,” Inko replied as Nemuri’s smirk turned into a smile—the kind of smile a person would have when they were about to reveal a movie spoiler or play a bad prank.

“Well, if you’re so confident without even knowing what it is, here's the bet. It might be a little prude of me, but I think we can both agree that your son and Yoshihara have a crush on one another, right?”

“Well, I don’t know about that. Izuku’s just nervous around girls. I don’t know if he has a crush on her,” Inko countered as Nemuri rolled her eyes.

“Oh please. I’ve seen how he looks at her. I picked her up from Aldera one day—two days ago, actually—and he was looking her up and down. I knew immediately why he was looking at her. His face was even a little bit red. Face it, Midoriya-san, your son might be a little perverted,” Nemuri teased as Inko gasped.

“Huh?! No way, my son is pure and innocent! He would never!” Inko said, her expression being one of offence.

“And you mean to tell me he’s never scrambled to hide something from you before? Not even once or twice? Or that you’ve randomly walked in on him pulling up his bedsheets and telling you to go away?” Nemuri pushed as Inko faltered, blinking a few times before it finally set in.

Izuku had done that before. That, and whenever she wants to google something on his phone, he asks her to wait a little bit so he can clear his tabs. The realization dawned on her, and her face drained of colour. 

“Oh no… Izuku!” Inko cried, slumping forward slightly as Nemuri patted her on the back. 

“Ah, don’t worry about it, it’s natural,” Nemuri comforted as Inko sighed, shaking her head.

“It’s just that Izuku’s never been like that before! Though I suppose he’s never had any friends aside from Bakugo, so maybe something caused it…”

“Well, I can see why he’d stare. Don’t take this the wrong way, but Yoshi-chan isn’t exactly lacking in certain departments. Any boy her age with half a brain cell would take note of it,” Nemuri said as Inko glanced over at her, leaning back slightly as Nemuri continued. “That aside, I can say the same thing for Yoshihara. She might not know it, especially given how she processes things. But she’s always talking about him when she gets home from school. Gushing about how he’s cool and sweet and this and that. I’ve never said anything, but it’s pretty obvious.”

“So, then, what’s the bet?” Inko asked as Nemuri smiled.

“Well, I’d reckon that… hmm, let’s say after this year's annual Sports Festival, if they’re not dating by then, then you win. But if they are, you gotta tell me your deepest, darkest secret. Bonus points if I find out that your son has lost his virginity!” Nemuri said, clapping her hands together with an innocent smile on her face.

Inko’s reaction was a lot more shocked and slightly appalled, recoiling slightly as she balked. “Huh!? Why that far?! Don’t you think that’s a little extreme!?”

“Oh, please, it’s not that bad. That, and it’s not that I don’t trust your son, but I know Yoshi-chan. For… reasons I can’t disclose, she’s hypersexual, which means exactly what you think it means. So, I can only imagine that if she were to date anyone the first date would end in a sexual encounter, especially if it someone that she’s constantly thinking about or finds attractive, which your son matches to a tee.”

As Nemuri explained her point of view, Inko blinked, confusion warping her mind as Nemuri got up from the stool, and walked over to the fridge. Opening it, she pulled out a bottle of red wine and smiled. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a glass?”

Inko stared at the bottle of wine, before sighing. “Fine. But just one. As for that bet…” Inko paused. She didn’t know whether or not she was going to take the bet. After all, the last thing she wanted to do was put any kind of bet for anything on something as important as a potential relationship with someone he had only just barely met.

Even assuming that Nemuri was right about her Izuku staring at Kira-san in a very… lecherous way was correct—which she doubted immensely considering the type of person Izuku was—she wouldn’t mind that chance to have a place to live that wasn’t her crappy apartment.

So, against her better judgment, she nodded. “I’ll take you up on that bet. I’m confident that my son won’t catch feelings for Kira-san. Besides, he’s denser than a cube of tungsten. He’s like his father in that way…”

Nemuri raised an eyebrow, pouring both Inko and her a glass of wine. She brought it over to the island counter, and sat back down next to Inko, prompting a cheers, which Inko replied to by clacking her glass against Nemuri’s.

“Oh, do tell? What’s your husband like?”

“Ex-Husband. We divorced when I was pregnant with Izuku,” Inko corrected as Nemuri’s expression soured.

 “Deadbeat?” She asked as Inko shook her head, denying it as she spoke.

“Safety reasons. My Ex-husband was… well, his occupation wasn’t exactly safe. He had a lot of enemies, and because of that, if he was tied to Izuku in any way, it would cause Izuku problems. So, we divorced. But, he still sends us money. Lots of money. It’s why I don’t have to work all that much,” Inko said as she side glanced at Nemuri. “Hisashi is, and was, a wonderful man. He treated me right, and when we were together he treated me like his Queen and I my King. We were a match made in heaven. But he couldn’t be held down by a child, and I held no ill will toward it. He made his choice, and I made mine.”

“Does he keep in contact with you?” Nemuri asked as Inko smiled.

“Yes. Through burner emails. But I know it's him because he sends me a picture of our wedding before he continues the conversation with me. He can’t stay in one place for too long. Again, because of his job,” Inko continued as Nemuri nodded.

“Well, he sounds like a nice person,” Nemuri said, sipping her wine. “What is his job, by the way?”

“Can’t tell you. If you win the bet, I’ll tell you,” Inko answered curtly as Nemuri smirked.

“Well played, Midoriya-san. Well played….”   

Back in Yoshihara's room, both Izuku and Yoshihara were sitting side by side on Yoshihara's bed, reading the first volume of Soul Eater, and it was during the fight with Stein. "Wow, Maka and Soul really are great partners! And you said this was made before the time of Quirks?" Izuku said as Yoshihara nodded.

"Yup! It came out in 2004, way before any of the stuff we have now was out. I have all twenty-five volumes of the perfect edition of this series, not to mention I have all of the Anime on DVD, and I have the soundtrack. Though the Manga is superior to the Anime. The Anime not only ended earlier, but they ruined the ending!” Yoshihara said, shrugging her shoulder. “Plus, I now have one of the figures of the main group of characters, Death The Kid! It cost me and… Kayama-san… about 200,000 Yen to get everything, though most of that cost came from the statue. But I don't regret it at all!" Yoshihara said, her smile bright and cheerful.

"It's almost like me and my All Might collection, just… a little less weird," Izuku said, rubbing the back of his neck. Yoshihara simply waved it off, dismissing the notion entirely.

"Eh? No, you're All Might collection isn't weird. Maybe a bit much, but not weird. What would be weird is if you had a body pillow of All Might, then that'd be crossing the 'okay' territory and head first diving into the bizarre and not okay territory," Yoshihara stated as Izuku froze up.

"They have… body pillows of All Might?" Izuku asked, his voice a bit shaky, which prompted her to raise an eyebrow.

"Yup…" Yoshihara said, before levelling a concerned stare at him. "Izuku, don't do what I think you're gonna—"

"Huh? No! That's gross!” Izuku exclaimed, recoiling away, repulsed. “I may like All Might, but that's an invasion of privacy. That stuff shouldn't exist, oh god, what if there's one of every hero, even the new graduates from schools, that's just creepy!" Izuku said, rubbing his arm as Yoshihara snickered.

"Oh, now that’s just unfortunate. Just wait till you find out about all the porn mags of All Might. Dojinshi artists really are something else,” Yoshihara joked as Izuku nearly had a full-on breakdown.

“WHAAA—”

“Okay, that’s enough, calm down,” Yoshihara said, bopping him on the head as Izuku grumbled.

“It’s not my fault that you mentioned something so… gross. Please tell me you don’t buy that type of stuff…” Izuku muttered as Yoshihara shrugged.

“Nah. Not of heroes anyway,” Yoshihara answered as Izuku’s face went red, but she quickly moved on from the topic. “But that’s beside the point. The point is, your All Might collection isn’t weird. I’d be a hypocrite if I said it was, what with my borderline obsession with Soul Eater,” Yosihara continued as Izuku cleared his throat, calming himself down.

“Let’s just… continue, okay?” Izuku asked as Yoshihara shrugged, shuffling back over to him and placing the manga in between them as she flipped the page.

It had been a long time since Yosihhara was able to bond over a shared love for something. Not many people had the same geeky tendencies as she did. While she hid it well, when she was around Izuku, there was just something about him that made her want to be herself.

She felt… comfortable around him. Not many people were able to make her feel comfortable around them. Even with Akira, it took years for her to be comfortable around him. But with Izuku, it was near instant.

Maybe it was because she knew he couldn’t be a threat to her. To put it bluntly, he was very submissive. Like, to a near upsetting degree. However, it was clear his confidence in things was starting to pick up. It wasn’t immediate, but she noticed it.

He didn’t flinch anymore when she put her hand on his shoulder. He didn’t yelp when Kujo shoved him slightly to get his attention. He stood normally instead of slightly hunched over. He actually used his voice and spoke out more about his opinions on things and didn’t hide his dissatisfaction with things.

All it took were people to be friends with him, and he was suddenly a change guy. Sure, he was still awkward, and he was still a bit skittish around new people. Not to mention his tendency to mumble when he got too absorbed in a topic. But it was clear he wasn’t a pushover anymore.

She had only met him two weeks ago, and already, there was a large change in his demeanour. That was a good thing, obviously, and a part of her wanted to stop lying to him about what kind of person she was. To let the mask slip, just a little bit, to show him who the real Yoshihara was. Not the act she played to make people comfortable around her.

But, she couldn’t. She just couldn’t.  

She didn't want him to run away, fearing that the feelings she held for him were fake. She didn't want Izuku to be scared of her or hate her because she couldn't feel the same way he felt about their friendship. She was an emotionless husk, who was merely mimicking how other people used their emotions.

Of course, there were times when she felt genuine emotion. Though it was mostly outrage, anger, or occasionally sadness. Those emotions she had practiced so much that she was able to fully feel them. But happiness? Love? Compassion? Empathy? She couldn’t. Her brain couldn’t wrap around those emotions. It was impossible for her to feel those emotions, and it annoyed her.

But, she was trying. She was learning. She wanted to feel those emotions again—though that was assuming she had ever been able to feel them in the first place. But she was learning, and that was all that mattered.

So, until she re-learned how to emote properly, and until she learned to be empathetic to others, she would have to keep the mask on for just a little bit longer. She would have to hide her true self for just a little bit longer. Just long enough until she was able to put everything behind her, and bury it all for good.

In a way, it was ironic. Putting on a mask to hide one's true self from someone that they had feelings for. Well, in Yoshihara's case, it wasn't "feelings," more than it was that she felt whole around him. Like he was the person who could fill that missing void in her heart that that bitch had clawed out of her so long ago.

Was that what love was? Perhaps, or perhaps not. She'd just have to find out. For now, she just wanted to enjoy Izuku's company, just for the time being, just so that they could be alone together and finally spend some time together.

It was nice. She wanted to stay like this forever, but she knew she couldn't. He would eventually have to go home, and she would be without him again for a while.

But that was fine. It was best to use this time that she had with him to do something that they both enjoyed and if it meant re-reading Soul Eater for the fifth time in the same month, she didn't mind.

The two sat there for what felt like ages reading Manga, giggling and laughing at the antics the main cast got up to. But if there was one thing that Izuku didn't like about the Manga, in particular, it would have to be the fan service. Seeing the girls in the Manga, regardless of their age, being sexualized put him off a little bit, but that was just his own opinion.

But, if Yoshihara liked it, he could try to stomach it, even if it meant going a little bit out of his comfort zone. He never really consumed media with too much sexualization, but sometimes it was just unavoidable. Kind of like in The Misadventures of The Radical Hero: Ms. Darkness.

Yeah… he dropped that anime after Episode 5 when a little girl who looked to be six was strung up… provocatively. It was gross, and he shut the show off before he could blink. Someone from his class had suggested the show to him, and he honestly didn’t know how people could like it. Especially with something like that in it.

That aside, he enjoyed the time he had to hang out with Yoshihara. They hadn’t really, truly hung out alone. Only ever at school and that was it. Last time, it didn’t go so well, but this time, it was going wonderfully. Not to mention, from what he could hear, his mom and Kayama-san were hitting it off rather well.

It had been a while since his home had any real friends. She never got out a lot, so this was a good thing for her. Outside of Auntie Mitsuki, the only other friends that his mother had were work friends, and even then, they never came over or invited her to places. So for Kayama-san, a Pro Hero, to go out of her way and invite his mother over and have a couple of drinks…. He appreciated that.

Although, there was one thing that made this whole party seem… off. It had nothing to do with the people downstairs. It had everything to do with Yoshihara. Not because she was being rude or anything, but it was something that he had noticed about her that was throwing him off.

The fakeness.

All of her expressions oozed falsehoods. It was like she was putting on an act. He could tell that she genuinely wanted to be friends with him; it was obvious with how she acted around him. Hell if saving him from his mom and some random villain who wanted him dead didn't prove as such, he didn't know what would. But her expressions, there were also her emotions. They all seemed fake to a degree—like they were practiced.

Izuku knew a little bit about her past working at that gross brothel before she met Kayama-san, so perhaps that had something to do with it or something that she else wasn't telling him. But the fact of the matter remained that she was faking her smiles, faking her expressions with emotion—all of it. He would know, he had faked a smile more than a few times in his life. He knew a false smile when he saw one, but this was different.

It wasn’t just a smile. It was everything.

And yet, he didn’t feel upset nor was he angered by it. Even if it was fake, he could tell that she was trying and that it didn’t have any kind of malicious intentions behind it. It was as if, even though she was faking it, she was trying to express something. She wasn’t faking because she was trying to trick him for a negative reason, but rather a positive one.

His only question was why. Why fake anything at all? Why not just be honest and real? Was there a reason as to why she was faking her emotions? If so, what was the reason? It clearly wasn’t a bad reason—after all, he was great and sensing people’s intentions, and this wasn’t for anything bad. He just wanted to know why.  

But, he knew, at least for the moment, he wasn’t going to get an answer. To right away, anyway. He’d eventually get an answer. He wasn’t in a rush to figure it out anyway. As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t the most pressing issue on his mind. Besides, he trusted Yoshihara to tell him eventually.

As Izuku turned the first page on the fifth volume, he was about to open his mouth to say something when he heard the sound of light snoring from his left. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw Yoshihara's head resting peacefully on his shoulder. She was huddled up to the side of his body, sitting sideways as a thin line of drool fell down the right side of her mouth.

Externally, he was calm. Internally, he was panicking. “What am I supposed to do!?” Izuku thought, his face heating up slightly as his cheeks gained a red hint to them. She looked comfortable, and a part of him worried that if he moved his body in any way she'd wake up.

The door creaked open, and Izuku snapped his attention in that direction. Standing in the doorway was Inko, who was about to open her mouth until Izuku gestured to Yoshihara, sleeping on his shoulder. Inko nodded, tapping her wrist. Izuku looked at the time, it was midnight—the latest he had stayed up without studying.

"Do you want to stay the night? The other guests left and Nemuri is cleaning the sheets on the bed so it can be used," Inko whispered as Izuku nodded. "Okay, Nemuri has a spare set of clothes you can use. I'll see you in the afternoon then, love you Izuku," Inko said, walking out of the room and gently closing the door.

Izuku looked down at Yoshihara, whose grip on his arm tightened ever so slightly. Her expression had changed from one of indifference to one of…sadness. It looked like it was sadness. He didn't know what it was she dreaming about but wasn't something that she appeared to like.

Instead of getting up and letting her sleep by herself, Izuku decided to stay, closing the volume of Soul Eater and decided to doze off right there. As they slept, over time, Izuku fell to his side and slowly started to stretch out, and while that happened, Yoshihara unconsciously tumbled in front of him.

Throughout the night, as the clock ticked on, by the time it was 1:45 am, Yoshihara had found herself laying her head on Izuku’s chest, and Izuku holding her close to him like a plush toy, with Yoshihara’s legs slightly curled up to her stomach and with Izuky having been stretched out across the bed.

Both of them were snoring, though it wasn’t that loud. Eventually, at 2:30 am, just as Nemuri was going to go to bed, she creaked open Yoshihara’s bedroom door just enough to see what was going on, and a warm smile came over her face when she saw the scene before her.

“Awe, that’s cute~! I can already see it, those two are going to be a star couple at U.A.~!” Nemuri thought, creeping away from the door and closing it slowly. If it wasn’t obvious to her before, it was obvious to her now.

Izuku Midoriya and Yoshihara Kira had feelings for one another.

-To Be Continued in – Kira Takes on U.A.! Part 1-

Chapter Text

[Revision of the chapter posted on: 2024-08-03]

[Kira Takes on U.A. – Part 1]

Yoshihara woke up to the sound of snoring in her left ear, but at first didn’t question it. She was too groggy to care, and she was comfortable. It was only when her eyes slowly began to open, and when the light from the morning invaded her vision, that she was forced to fully open her eyes, and recognize the hard, tough feeling thing under her head.

Slowly but surely, Yoshihara sat up, yawning as she did. Her hair was an absolute mess—a serious care of bedhead she’d have to fix. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she glanced down, still groggy and tired, and noticed a third arm. It took her a moment to realize that it wasn’t her own arm, and the moment that happened, she started frantically looking around the room.

It was only when she looked behind her that she had noticed Izuku Midoriya was passed out, sleeping in her bed, and the moment that realization dawned over her, her face flushed a deep, scarlet red. “What is he doing in my bed?!”

Various scenarios played out in her mind as to how that could’ve happened. The last thing she remembered doing was reading Manga with him before passing out. Unless there was something she was forgetting, it wasn’t as if anything like that had happened.

So why was he in her bed?

The red in her face slowly went away, as she processed the situation. It wasn’t like she was mad or anything like that. She was just extremely confused. Knowing Izuku, though, it was most likely an accident. There was a good chance that he had passed out around the same time, and gravity took its course.

The door to her bedroom slowly creaked open, which prompted Yoshihara to look over in that direction. Kayama-san was peeking in through the crack, and upon being noticed, she fully opened the door and smiled. “Just checking to see if you were awake, Yoshi-chan. It’s 9:30 am, you know?”

“It’s 9:30?” Yoshihara muttered, looking over to the calendar. It was the weekend, so she wasn’t entirely upset. Just a little annoyed. She looked back to Kayama-san, who had a small grin on her face. “Why are you smiling.”

“You guys looked so cute last night~! I was going to wake Izuku up to take the guest room, but I couldn’t with how cuddly you two looked!” Kayama-san practically squealed as Yoshihara furrowed her eyebrows.

“So you had something to do with this?” Yoshihara accused, shifting herself away from Izuku and began to stand up. Kayama-san for her part waved dismissively, that smile on her face fading slightly.

“Nope. That was all you two. I only checked on you two just to make sure you guys weren’t doing anything stupid. Don’t get me wrong, I trust you two, but I know how teenagers can be, so—”

“Finish that sentence, and I erase you,” Yoshihara hissed, her words tainted with raw annoyance and frustration. Kayama-san chuckled nervously, muttering an apology rapidly, waving her hands defensively as Yoshiahra sighed. It was times like these that Yoshihara wished that she could punch Kayama-san for the sake of doing so.   

As that interaction took place, Izuku slowly began to wake up, following similar steps as to how he woke up. At first, he was confused, then, he noticed Yoshihara standing next to the bed, and finally, the realization dawned on him which jolted him awake. “AH! Kira—I-I mean, Y-Yoshihara?! Huh!? Wha—”

“Good morning, Izuku,” Yoshihara breathed out, looking over at him with a neutral, tired gaze. “Would you kindly get out of my room so I can get changed?”

Without saying anything, Izuku scrambled out of the bedroom, confusion still ripe on his face as Kayama-san followed him out. Once they exited the room, Yoshihara closed the door behind them, and when it closed, Izuku deflated.

“Aw, don’t be sad, Midoriya-kun. She wasn’t mad at you,” Kayama-san said as Izuku looked over his shoulder at her.

“B-But… I slept in her bed without permission… I shouldn’t have done that. She was just… sleeping on my shoulder and I-I didn’t want to be rude and wake her up, a-and I—”

“Midoriya-kun, if she was genuinely upset with you for any reason, she probably would’ve slapped you, berated you, and thrown you out of her room. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’s more happy than she is angry,” Kayama-san replied, before walking to her bedroom, letting Izuku figure out what she meant as he tilted his head.

He didn’t ponder on it very long, waving away Kayama-san’s words. Just before he walked down the stairs, Kayama-san spoke up again. “If you want anything for breakfast, be my guest. We’ve got cereal, toast, and ingredients for Miso Soup if you’re at all interested! I have to head out on patrol, so I gave the receptionist an okay on your mother coming up here to pick you up, and she’ll be here around noon!” Kayama-san called out as Izuku looked over to the closed door that he assumed was Kayama-san’s bedroom.

“Thank you, Kayama-san!” And with that, Izuku made his way down to the main living area of the suite, keeping light on his feet just to not be rude. He was still uncertain and also very annoyed at himself for pulling a stunt like that. But, at the same time, if Yoshihara wasn’t actually mad at him for sleeping in her bed, then maybe he didn’t need to beat himself up about it.

That being said, that didn’t stop him from going to apologize once she was done getting changed. He would also need to have a shower when he got home. He had worn this all evening and slept in it. Now doubt he smelt like body order and sweat.

He glanced at the kitchen, thinking about getting himself something to eat. He was about to miss breakfast, but, at the same time, he didn’t want to be a burden anymore than He more than likely already had been.

As Kayama-san came down the stairs, dressed in her hero costume, he spoke. “Are you sure I’m okay to take whatever I want from the kitchen? I don’t want to be a burden….” Izuku said as Kayama-san raised an eyebrow—or, would it be more appropriate to call her Midnight since she was in costume? He honestly didn’t know.

“Midoriya-kun, I said you could. That usually means you’re free to take whatever. Have you never been to another person’s house before?” Midnight asked as Izuku chuckled nervously.

“Uh…”

“I’ll take that as a “no” then… jeez, kid. Was Yoshi-chan your first friend?” Midnight questioned, standing at the bottom of the stairs, curiosity in her voice as Izuku rubbed the back of his neck.

“W-Well… there was Kacchan, but… we’ve sorta drifted apart, I guess. I haven’t been over to his place in a long time, but recently, I g-guess that Y-Yoshihara would be my first friend in a while….” Izuku replied as Midnight hummed.

“Interesting. Anyway, yes, Midoriya-kun, you’re free to take whatever you want from the kitchen. Now, I have to go on patrol. Have a good day!” Midnight said, rushing to the elevator and entering it as the doors automatically closed behind her.

Izuku glanced back at the kitchenette, and pursed his lips in contemplation for a split second, before caving and walking over to grab a bowl of cereal. When he opened the cupboard to see what they had, he was shocked to find the chocolate version of All Might-O’s. It was a rather niche cereal, all things considered, and he didn’t take Kayama-san to be the kind of person to eat that kind of stuff.

“Is this Yoshihara’s?” Izuku thought, raising an eyebrow. He thought about it for a split second, and, out of impulse, he grabbed the box and smiled. As he made the bowl of cereal, he glanced over his shoulder and noticed that the gift he had brought for Yoshihara was still on the coffee table.

“Maybe I should bring that up to her room?” Izuku thought, looking up to the upper section of the suite, and noticed that Yoshihara’s door was open, and he could hear the water running in the bathroom. “Ah, she’s taking a shower then. I can probably slip into her room and put this next to her door then.” 

Putting his bowl of cereal down—which he had finished making and had already taken a few bites out of—he quickly ran up the stairs, put the gift in her room, then ran back downstairs and finished his breakfast. When he was done, he walked over to one of the couches, sat down, grabbed the TV remote on the coffee table and turned it on.     

He unconsciously flipped through the channels. He was still reeling from the whole “sleeping in the bed of a girl” and even though he knew it didn’t make her mad, it didn’t make it any less embarrassing.

As he flipped through the channels, skipping past re-runs of various anime, dramas, and sports channels, he eventually stopped on the news. Namely because of what the newslady was saying, as it had not only caught his interest, it made him stop because of how upsetting the news had been.

“Hospitals have been filling up recently due to an outbreak of mass shootings in the streets, carried out by strange hood and mask-wearing individuals. Death tolls have also been skyrocketing, as those who have been shot seem to contract some sort of illness never once seen before in the records of mankind. Speculation about the diseases these bullets spread being manmade is not off of the table just yet. We have a special interview with a lead scientist who is working full-time with a team of trained professionals on trying to figure out what this disease is. We’ll pass it off to you, Doctor Tsubasa,” A reporter spoke as the screen cut to a man wearing a strange set of gear-like glasses, a thick mustache, and a small stature. He wore a white lab coat, and underneath it was a black shirt.

The doctor looked familiar, but he didn’t know why. At least, not until he squinted his eyes, which was when it clicked. “That’s the guy who diagnosed me as Quirkless! I didn’t know he had much prevalence outside of being a Quirk doctor!”

“Why thank you, ma’am. Now, despite all the research I have done, I could not find a single suggestion that this disease, which is most likely a viral strain, seems manmade. But, even so, that does not mean it is from this world. I believe that this disease comes from outer space, simply due to its chemical compound. That, and it almost acts like a, for lack of a better term, super cancer. It mutates the human genome even moreso than what it already has due to Quirks. But, because of this rapid mutation happening so quickly, the likelihood of mortality is nearly guaranteed, causing the mortality rating of this disease to easily sit anywhere between 95% to 97%.

“Although, I will note, keep in mind with that five to three percent margin for survival. It's there that the results become a lot more… interesting. See, while this disease seems to destroy the Quirk factor within the person who survives, they claim to feel better than they ever have. While this doesn’t get rid of a person's mutation if they have one, it does get rid of whatever Quirk was tied to it. Say, for example, they have a lizard tail. They’ll still keep their lizard tail, but they won’t be able to, say, shoot the scales from that tail. It simply remains a regular tail.

“Furthermore,  from what we can understand, the surviving individual skin seems to become tougher than regular skin. By that, I mean that their skin cannot even be pierced by, albeit dull, knives. They also seem to be physically stronger than most Quirkless humans, and more resilient to physical trauma. They also have heightened reaction time, and seem to be able to run slightly faster than Quirkless humans.

“While they lose whatever Quirk they used to have, they seem to gain an overall physical upgrade. However, that is not all. Unfortunately, because of a Non-Disclosure Agreement, I signed with the team of scientists given to me by the group of researchers who patterned with me, I cannot say anything that wouldn’t risk my medical license being revoked. What I will say, though, is that this disease, despite being extremely dangerous, comes with some kind of evolutionary quality that attempts to rapidly evolve whoever it infects.

“That, however, does not mean you should actively seek it out. It is still extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs! It is not a guarantee that you will gain anything from this disease, and in fact, you have a higher chance of passing away than you do gaining anything of use. That is all I have to say on the matter. Thank you for having me Ms. Fukuro.”

The screen cut back to the reporter, who stacked a few pieces of paper in front of her, a smile on her face. “In other news—” and then Izuku switched the channel, not all interested in whatever else was happening. Hospital’s filling up? 95 to 97% mortality rate? Missing Quirks? Gaining something from losing something?

If it wasn’t for his pre-existing knowledge of them, he wouldn’t have known better. But, he had that knowledge, and it was pretty obvious to him that this was the result of The Stand Bullets that Kujo and Sakunami had shown to himself, Yoshihara, and his mother.

“Damn, that’s rough,” A casual voice spoke behind him, causing Izuku to jolt, and look over his shoulder. He shouldn’t have been shocked, but it was Yoshihara. Judging by her slightly wet hair, she had just gotten out of the shower. She was dressed in an off-white, no sleeve, slightly torn at the ends crop top which exposed her belly and waist region, showing off the muscle that was there, along with the healing scars from that fight with the villain that had apparently been threatening his life.

To compliment that outfit, she was dressed in a pair of torn jeans and a black leather belt with a golden buckle. She also had elbow-length white and pink striped puffy gloves with exposed fingers, and her hair was done up in a small ponytail. He hadn’t realized he had been staring until Yoshihara had tapped him on the forehead, a small smile on her face.

“So? Do you like my outfit or is it something else? Considering you’re staring intently at me, I’d have to assume it's one or the other,” Yoshihara quipped, making Izuku sputter.

“I-I’m sorry! I-I was l-lost in thought a-and—”

“I’m just teasing you, Izuku. Jeez, learn to take a joke, will ya?” Yoshihara said, leaning over the edge of the couch, their faces just a few inches apart. “So, I take it you sleeping in my bed was an accident?”

“W-Well, y-you were asleep o-on m-my shoulder and I-I didn’t w-want to wake you up! S-So I kinda just, w-well, y-you know… passed out…” Izuku replied, his face slowly turning beat red. Why did she have to be so close to him? Was it a way to unnerve him?

She studied his face for a good long while, before bopping him on the nose, pulling back, and turning away. “Alright, I’ll believe you. But don’t do that again, okay?”

“O-Okay…” Izuku murmured. “Not that I plan to do that again, anyway!” Izuku thought, a relieved sigh brushing escaping him as he felt his shoulders relax. He hadn’t known he had been so tensed up, though who would blame him? Having a cute girl all up in his face like that… it was definitely something tension-worthy.

“Wait a second…. Cute?” Izuku paused, the cogs in his brain turning. “Why… did I apply that term to Yoshihara?” He pushed the thought away. Whatever, it wasn’t important. He looked back to the TV and noticed that a different channel was playing. It was the channel for baseball. He wasn’t a big fan of the sport, unlike Kujo.

Apparently, Kujo used to be Aldera’s star baseball player in his first and second year at the school. It was only in the third year that he dropped out of it, and decided to take the last year at Aldera to relax. It was something his Father was apparently hoping he’d major in rather than becoming a hero at U.A.

Izuku could respect that. After all, before heroism, Japan had a major thing for baseball. It was one of their most popular sports! He was pretty sure that U.A., or at least the place where U.A. was built, used to be an academy for baseball in the pre-Quirk era. But, still, why Baseball? It wasn’t nearly as popular as, say, being a Hero.

Though, considering what family Kujo was related to, being a niche sport rather than the limelight might’ve been better off. The Kujo family was, from what he knew, one of the families—though considering the other families were offshoots of the Kujo family, it was, in reality, one big family—that had what some had dubbed a curse, and said curse had a name.  

The Curse of the Star Birthmark.

It was a legend, dating back to the early 1900s. It was said that should you be born with a star-shaped birthmark on the underside of the left shoulder, close to the nape of the neck, you were handpicked by destiny itself. Whether that was seen as a good thing or a bad thing, was left up to the interpreter.

But, for most people born with The Star Birthmark, it usually amounted to them being pushed through great adversity and hardship. Sometimes, it led to premature deaths, like the very first in the family to have been plagued by that curse—Jonathon Joestar, who died at the ripe age of 22.

His son, George Joestar II, died at 19 during the lead-up to World War 2 from what was assumed to be an assassination. Luckily, before he died, he was able to reproduce, and that birthed the oldest living Joestar, Joseph Joestar. Joseph died at the ripe age of 97, having a daughter named Holly Joestar, who married a man by the name of Sadao Kujo.

That was what caused the family name to be changed from “Joestar” to “Kujo.” From what Izuku knew, the family mostly kept to itself in Japan and America, but one of the late Senator Jolyne Cujoh’s sons had caused a massive scandal within the family.

The only other person who had caused a scandal in the Joestar family was, ironically, Joseph, who had cheated on his wife and had a child with a woman by the name of Tomoko Higashikata, birthing the current chief of police in Morioh, Josuke Higashikata, who despite being 98 years old, was still insanely healthy, nimble, and didn’t look a day over 60, and acted like he was still in his prime.

It was also around this time that the family of the Former Mob Boss of Passione had revealed that their prior patriarch, Giorno Giovanna, who had passed away from a heart attack suddenly and without warning, had the same Birhtmark where it was supposed to be according to the legend.

At first, the family assumed that it was another one of Joseph’s illegitimate children, due to Josuke and Giorno having been around the same age when Giorno had died. But, after looking into Giorno’s DNA, it was found that, somehow, his cells had DNA matches for three individuals. A woman by the name of Sadako Shiobana, Jonathon Joestar, and an individual of similar age, Dio Brando. The latter of two had supposedly died around the same age, 22, and had been born in 1898 and died in 1919, just after World War 1.

Assuming the timeline added up, for Giorno Giovanna to be related to the Joestar Family tree—which he was, there was no denying it—that would then therefore mean that, somehow, he would’ve been considered an Uncle to Joesph Joestar, who was born in 1938, a Grand Uncle to Holly Joestar/Kujo, who was born in 1963, the Great Grand Uncle to her son Jotaro, who was born in 1990, who then had his daughter, Jolyne Cujoh when he was 27 with a woman by the name of Susan Woodings, making it so that she was born in 2017, making Giorno her Great Great Grand Uncle.  

Around the same time that Jotaro turned 11, Joseph would go on to have his affair with Tomoko Higashikata, resulting in, at the time of his discovery, 16-year-old Josuke Higashikata to be born, whom Jotaro met when he was 27, around the same time that his daughter had been born in America. Assuming Giorno and Josuke were born at the same time, or even a week or two, possibly even a month apart, that would make them cousins.  

Which would mean, that if all of this was correct, and Izuku wasn’t fudging the numbers, Giorno Giovanna, who was the same age as Morioh Police Chief Josuke Higashikata prior to his death, and who somehow had the DNA of two old, dead British people swimming within his bloodstream, was technically speaking the oldest Joestar to have been born, lineage wise.

It should’ve been impossible for the DNA of Jonathon Joestar and Dio Brando to impregnate a woman who had been born in 1977, of whom that same woman had Giorno in her 30s, and yet, that was what happened. It was undeniable. So, in that case, just how would she have gotten that DNA in the first place? Some people claimed it to be a divine conception, others proclaimed it was a hoax to stir up the media.

But, if it was a hoax, then how was it factually, biologically, and scientifically proven that Giorno Giovanna’s corpse contained all three sets of DNA? It couldn’t have been a hoax, that much was for sure.

Whatever the case was, it was still rather interesting, and definitely concerning. Just how did that woman, Ms. Shiobana, get pregnant with two dead people's child? Was it some kind of lab experiment, or something more supernatural? Given the existence of Stands, Izuku believed that it was the latter rather than the former.

Anyway, that aside, the last child of Jolyne Cujoh, which she had when she was 40 in 2062, whose name was apparently Jouta, was the one that caused the second round of controversy. As for what he mostly got up to aside from what was revealed in the newspapers back then, Izuku didn’t know. He didn’t research the family that far. All that he knew was that when he came back to America at the age of 21 after having gone on a journey across the world, and finally settled down with someone, with whom they bore a child, he contracted lung cancer and made a vow to raise that child to adulthood.

That child grew up to become the current CEO of The Speedwagon Foundation and at 25 had Josefumi Kujo out of wedlock, automatically dubbing him a Kujo rather than his mother's maiden name, which was unknown to the media. However, it was obvious that the woman was Japanese due to Josefumi’s split heritage—but that was irrelevant.

It was when Josefumi was born that Jouta had revealed on his deathbed after his battle with lung cancer, that before he had met his wife, he had up to four affairs globally spread out from the time he was 18 to the time he was 21, meaning he more than likely had four other children out there.

To say it sparked a fire underneath the Kujo/Joestar family was an understatement. It resulted in Jolyne Cujoh dying from heartbreak at 61, not being able to handle the news. Her husband, a man by the name of Narcasio, a former convicted Felon of 1^st-degree murder, went on to say how he was disappointed in his son, but that nonetheless he still welcomed him home, regardless of whether or not his mother's death had been his fault due to shock.

The Kujo/Joestar family’s longtime friends, the Zeppeli’s, who had unknowingly become intertwined with the Giovanna family, not aware until recently that they were also a part of the large web that was the Joestar Family Tree, noted how they were shocked to find out what had happened, as was the Higashikata family line, which only consisted of Josuke.

After that news came out, and after a press hearing in Washington, the Speedwagon Foundation was reportedly looking for those long-lost siblings of the current CEO, spearheaded by him out of sheer curiosity and to give recompense to the families for his father's misdeeds.

But that was as far as he had researched. Mostly because he couldn’t find any follow-up articles. If there was any information on it, he’d have to admit that he was curious. But, at the same time, it wasn’t any of his business.  

All of that to say he understood why the CEO of the Speedwagon Foundation wouldn’t want his son to be in the limelight. Especially after all of the drama that had surrounded the family. From the Higashikata affair, to the mystery that was Giorno Giovanna, to what Jouta Kujo had done, all entangled in a genetic curse that was said to have branded them with some aspect of Fate? He wouldn’t wish that stress on anybody.

“It’s a massive, untidy mess, and I’m so glad I’m not a part of it…” Izuku thought, as Yoshihara took a seat next to him, stretching out as she yawned, taking the TV remote from him, which snapped him out of his thoughts.

“You there, Izuku?” Yoshihara asked, a teasing tone to her voice as Izuku sighed.

“Sorry, I was lost in thought about something. What time is it?” Izuku asked in response as Yoshihara glanced over at the oven clock.

“Uh… 10:15. Your mother should be here around 10:30 closer to 11:00.”

“Kayama-san said that she’d be here by noon, though?” Izuku questioned, raising an eyebrow. Yoshihara shrugged, pulling out her phone and bringing up her text messages with Izuku’s mother, before showing them to Izuku, with the last message having been from his mother saying that she’d be there to pick him up by around 10:30 to 11:00. “Oh…”

“Why? You want to hang out some more? I mean, I wouldn’t mind it, but I have to do some receptionist work for Kayama-san since I didn’t do any yesterday or Friday,” Yoshihara said, flipping through the channels absent-mindedly, not even paying attention as she did. “You excited for the upcoming U.A. Exam?”

Izuku blinked, confused. “Wait… how far away is that?”

“Uh… a week from now? What, weren’t you paying attention?” Yoshihara asked, genuinely confused as a bead of sweat trailed down the side of Izuku’s head. Yoshihara had to bite back a laugh, covering her mouth with her left hand as Izuku deflated. “C’mon, man, I already passed and I still had that date in mind! Jeez, what had your head all up in the clouds!”

Thankfully, Izuku was saved by the bell, literally, as the elevator doors opened, and Inko came walking out, dressed in a green and yellow striped shirt and a red pair of pants. She looked over at Izuku and smiled. “Izuku! It’s time to go, I want to take you to the store to get you a new tracksuit!”

Izuku stood up from the couch, before turning to Yoshihara and bowing politely. “Thank you for having me over, Yoshihara. Please thank Kayama-san when she gets back home from patrol,” Izuku said as Yoshihara nodded.

“Will do. Good luck on the Exam for U.A.,” Yoshihara said as Izuku smiled before pulling himself up and walking out of the suite with his mother. Yoshihara watched them go, a faint smile on her face.

She sincerely hoped to see him next week at U.A. She believed in him, and she hoped that belief wasn’t going to be squandered.

And in the blink of an eye, a week of time slipped through everyone’s fingers…        

-1 Week Later-

The gates of U.A. High. The most coveted place that anyone Yoshihara’s age wanted to be standing in front of. The two, large, golden letters sat center stage on the massive golden arc, and Yoshihara couldn’t stop staring at them. Though, unlike most people who would be staring at them after having gotten into the school, rather than a look of excitement on her face, she looked positively bored.

Though, given her typical demeanour, the more appropriate term would be blank. For beyond the gate, Yoshihara was greeted with a large, three-dimensional H-shaped building made entirely out of glass, and the only thing that ran through her head was just how unsafe that building design was. However, she supposed that considering it had survived record earthquake after record earthquake over the last 40 years, she supposed that she couldn’t knock the building’s design, even if it did look unsafe.

The reason why she was waiting at the gates wasn’t because she was nervous, it was because she was waiting for three people, who all texted her to wait at the gates. Those people being Izuku, Sakunami, and Kujo. The reason was obvious—each of them had made it into U.A., and they all wanted to enter the school side by side. Kind of like one of those cheesy “let’s begin our adventure together” moments you’d typically see in Shonen Manga.

That being said, each of them had unique tales to tell regarding their exams, and how they went. However, the one she found the most intriguing was, obviously, Izuku’s. But before that, there was some context needed. That being what the exam consisted of.

The public exam U.A. held once every year was comprised of two things, the first being a written exam, and the one that changed every year, the physical exam. Last year, it was a widescale free-for-all dodgeball contest, and the top 40 students who won the game got to go into the hero course. This year, it was an all-out battleground where it was examinees versus robots made by last year's third-year support department.

And yet, somehow, despite being Quirkless, Izuku was able to somehow rack up 60 points, when the minimum passing score was 30 and above! Izuku didn’t say how he got those points, only that he did, and it allowed him to pass and join the hero course. Considering that the only way that someone was able to get those points was to destroy those robots, it meant that Izuku had been able to destroy enough robots to get into the school’s Hero Program.   

She never doubted Izuku. Not even once. But that still didn’t mean she wasn’t shocked that he had been able to score second place in his district for the exam, just behind Bakugo and ahead of some girl named Uraraka, who he had saved from nearly being smushed to death—which brought into the question of just how safe U.A.’s exams really were.

Then, there was Kujo’s and Sakunami’s story of how their exam ended. He and Sakunami were put in a different district than Izuku and Bakugo, and in his district, he scored first place with 63 points. It wasn’t much of a shock, all things considered. After all, he was a Stand user. Sakunami tied for second with 49 points with some girl named Ashido, who was someone she knew online, and it was ironic that they were meeting in person for the first time at the U.A. practical exam.

Which led to now, with Yoshihara standing in front of the gates of U.A. High School, 30 minutes before the bell would ring to begin classes, minding her own business. As per school policy, she was dressed in the school’s uniform, which was one of the nicer ones that she had worn—though considering it was between this one and Aldera, there wasn’t really much to compare it to.

The uniform consisted of a long-sleeve white button-up shirt, a gray jacket with blue-green stripes, and a red tie. In Yoshihara’s case, because she was a female, she had to wear a blue-green skirt that stopped just below her thighs, black stockings that rode up to her knees, and black slip-on shoes.

This wasn’t a knock against U.A.’s uniform, but she generally hated skirts. She hated the skirt at Aldera, and U.A.’s wasn’t much better. It made her feel exposed, especially considering that U.A., unlike Aldera, didn’t allow for students to wear shorts underneath their skirts. It was against the dress code.

Personally, Yoshihara found it stupid. But, it wasn’t like she cared that much about it. It was annoying, sure, but it wasn’t the end of the world. It wasn’t like she didn’t openly wear more evocative clothing now anyway after finally being comfortable in her own skin for the first time in a while.

That being said, she was starting to get annoyed at how long Izuku and the others were taking to get here. Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait for much longer for Izuku to arrive, as he came jogging down the sidewalk with a smile on his face the whole way down. By the time he got to the gates, she waved him down, which prompted him to stop just a few feet from her.

“Yoshihara! Good morning!” Izuku said, a beaming smile on his face as Yoshihara once again felt that familiar tug at her lips as a tiny, earnest smile took up her expression. She couldn’t help herself, Izuku’s smile was rather infectious.  

“Good morning, Izuku. Congratulations on getting into U.A.’s Hero Course. I knew you could do it,” Yoshihara said as Izuku blushed faintly, a nervous chuckle following suit as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“T-Thanks…” Izuku murmured as a car parallel-parked next to them, with Kujo and Sakunami stepping out of the vehicle, Sakunami having been the one in the driver's seat, and Kujo in the passenger seat. Yoshihara had no idea that Sakunami-san had her student driver's license, though considering the connections she had, it made sense. “O-Oh! Kujo-san! Sakunami-san! Good morning!”

“Good morning Midori~!” Sakunami greeted, a large smile on her face. “Mornin’ to you too, Kira-chan!” Sakunami said, waving at Yoshihara, who nodded her head politely in greeting.

“Good morning, Kujo-kun, Sakunami-san, how was you two’s morning?” Yoshihara asked as Sakunami giggled, elbowing Kujo in the shoulder as he winced.

“This goofball was up most of the night, stressed out of his mind. But I was able to help him out if you catch my drift,” Sakunami said as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow, confusion taking up her expression as Sakunami frowned. “Seriously?”

“No, I know what you mean,” Yoshihara said, looking both Kujo and Sakunami over. “I just didn’t expect you to be… that close.”

“Huh? I don’t get it,” Izuku said as Sakunami was about to say something, only for Kujo to cover her mouth with his free hand, annoying Sakunami as Kujo chuckled.

“Keep it that way,” Kujo said, turning his attention to Yoshihara as he took his hand away from Sakunami’s mouth. “Do you know what class you’re in?”

“Class 1 – A,” Yoshihara said as Izuku’s eyes widened.

“Same!”

“Huh, I’m also in 1 – A,” Kujo said as Sakunami frowned.

“Yeah, and I got shafted to 1 – B. Not fair…” Sakunami grumbled, crossing her arms with a pouty face. Yoshihara couldn’t help but smirk, which earned her a huff from Sakunami.

“Well, at least most of us are in the same class. A-And it’s not like we can’t talk at lunchtime!” Izuku noted as Sakunami sighed.

“Yeah, but it sucks that I can’t be in the same class as Jojo…” Sakunami muttered. Just as she did, a Jeep pulled up to the school, catching all four of their attention. The Jeep was silver, and it had a black collapsable roof, much like most Jeeps. The rear-side left passenger door swung open harshly, and as it did, a school bag was thrown out and hit the curb, whilst following it, someone leapt out of the Jeep and onto the sidewalk as graceful as a cat.

When the person landed, bracing their fall when they did, their chin-length dark purple hair covered most of their face, but after they stood up straight from the knelt position that they had been in after landing, which also fixed their hair, their face became visible. Triangular onyx eyes, a pale complexion, and plug-like earphone jacks hanging from her ears which indicated her mutant Quirk. Using one of those jacks, she slammed the door shut, as the jeep drove off.

Picking up their bag, the stranger, who was obviously a girl given that she was wearing the U.A. uniform for females, let out a tired, almost annoyed sigh as she grumbled under her breath. It was only then that she noticed them, prompting her to shoot the group of four a side glance, and when her eyes landed on Kujo, her neutral expression shifted into a frown, and her eyes glimmered in disdain. “Kujo.”

“Jirou, long time no see. What’s it been, seven years?” Kujo said, his tone suddenly hostile, his eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms, tilting his head up slightly in a show of annoyance. Jirou scoffed, crossing her arms as she sneered.

“Yeah, it has. Your Dad still a shithead drunk?” Jirou spat as Kujo snarled, anger rolling off of him in droves.

“Your Mom still a coke addict? Or, even better, does she still cuck your Dad with other men? I always wondered how that went. Never got to find out, did I?” Kujo spat back as Jirou flinched, recoiling. Before she could say anything, Kujo continued. “Speaking of your Dad, does he still work for the Yakuza? Is he still smuggling illegal drugs across country borders? God only knows why they’d let a Yakuza brat join U.A.,” Kujo bit out as Jirou glared at him.

“Asshole! Don’t bring my parents into this, you know damn well that my mother’s been clean for years! And Dad hasn’t been with the Yakuza since I was born!” Jirou all but growled, taking a step toward Kujo, whose Stand Aura flared around him. It only stopped when Yoshihara put an arm between the two of them, halting either of their advances.

“Ladies, you’re both ugly, but if you’re going to fight, take it elsewhere. Other people have places to be,” Yoshihara said, glancing at Jirou, who stared at her with an expectant glare. “Kira Yoshihara, a pleasure to meet you, Jirou,” Yoshihara said, lowering her hand as Jirou looked her up and down, sighing.

“Yeah, whatever. Kira was it? I apologize for being rude. If it wasn’t obvious, Kujo and I don’t exactly get along,” Jirou said, looking over Kira’s shoulder and spotting Sakunami, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, and it seems like the skank is also here. Wonderful. Don’t tell me, Kujo, are your standards so low that you’d date gutter trash like her?”

“What is your problem?! What the hell did I ever do to you?!” Sakunami said, offence in her tone of voice as Jirou scoffed, dismissing her with a glance before turning her back to Sakunami and looking over to Izuku, who flinched.

“Oi, mosshead. What’s your name,” Jirou said, an expectance in her tone as Izuku yelped, bowing his head in greeting.

“M-Midoriya Izuku! N-Nice to meet you, J-Jirou-san,” Izuku stammered as Jirou shrugged, looking back over to Kujo and Yoshihara, who now had a frown on her face. Just what was her problem? Was she trying to make an enemy of herself?

“Well, now I have names, and it’s clear you four are a group, so let me make this clear to you now. If any of you are in Class 1 – A, don’t talk to me. Don’t even look at me. Especially if you’re friends with Kujo. I want nothing to do with you. I’m here for myself, and myself alone. Bye,” and with that, Jirou walked past the gates, bag in hand as Yoshihara scowled, before looking over at Kujo.

“What’s her problem?” Yoshihara asked as Kujo sighed, pinching his forehead.

“That was Kyoka Jirou, and unfortunately, she’s my cousin from my mother's side of the family. As you can see, she’s a bit of a bitch. Though considering her mother thinks that it’s my Dad’s fault that my mother is dead, who happened to be Kyoka’s mother’s sister, I wouldn’t be shocked if she poisoned Kyoka’s mind with that idea. I know her mother, Mika, hates me and my family, so it makes sense that Kyoka would as well,” Kujo explained as Izuku spoke up.

“T-That doesn’t give her the right to talk to you like that, though!”

“Yes, I’m aware of that. But, if she wants to start the year off like a total bitch, then that’s fine. One way or another, she’ll learn that her words come with a price. I doubt she’s trained well in combat like I am. There will no doubt be fighting lessons, and if there are, well… she’s in for a rude awakening, that’s for sure,” Kujo said as Yoshihara couldn’t help but agree.

Despite trying to be friendly, it was clear that Jirou had already made up her mind about Yoshihara due to her association with Kujo. It would not do her any favours to act untoward her because of that. If given the chance, she planned to correct that behaviour. After all, how can one be a hero-in-training with that kind of attitude?  

After another minute of standing around, the group of four finally made their way into the school. As they did, they navigated the halls, looking for their respective classrooms. It didn’t take long to find the Class 1 – A door, and when they did, Sakunami spotted her classroom just down the hall.

Kujo and Sakunami exchanged a quick hug, before separating, leaving Izuku, Yoshihara, and himself standing at the large, 13-foot-tall door with 1A plastered on it. “I wonder why that door is so large,” Izuku said, scratching the back of his neck as Yoshihara shrugged.

“Giant Quirks exist. It’s probably for those people,” Yoshihara replied as Kujo huffed, walking up to the door and grabbing the handle.

“Let’s just see who we have as classmates. We already know Jirou is in here, so I wonder who else is,” Kujo said as Izuku nervously chuckled.

“I hope Kacchan and that blue-haired guy from the exam aren’t there… that’d be a 3-for-one bad luck streak…” Izuku said as Kujo opened the door enough to let the three of them inside the room. The moment they stepped in, they were greeted with a very… interesting scene.

A tall, broad-looking blue-haired teen with square-thin framed glasses. His hair was rather short, sitting just above his ears, and he was dressed in the uniform, which should’ve been obvious. Then, there was Bakugo of all people, because, of course, he was in their class. He wore his uniform sloppily, with no tie in sight, and the buttons were undone, letting his shirt hang open. He didn’t even bother to tuck it in.

“Remove your foot from that desk! Such an action is insulting to those who came to U.A. before us as well as the craftsmen who made the desk!!” The blue-haired boy exclaimed as several of the other students glanced at him, Jirou included. Yoshihara was able to recognize Yaoyorozu and Todoroki from the Recommendation exam. The rest, not so much.

“Like I care! What Junior High are you from, you extra?” Bakugo mocked, tilting his head back as he looked the boy up and down, as if sizing him up so he could tackle him right then and there. The large boy took a step back, narrowing his eyes as he spoke.

“I-I’m from Somei Private Academy. My name is Ida Tenya,” the boy, Ida, answered as Bakugo sat up, finally taking his foot off the desk as he scoffed.

“Somei?! You some stuck-up Elitist then? Maybe I should blow you to bits!” Bakugo barked, laughing as Ida recoiled, clearly offended. Before he said anything, Yoshihara sighed, looking back at Izuku and Kujo, then back to the scene in front of them, only to be jumpscared by Ida standing a foot away from her.    

“You!” Ida said, making Yoshihara flinch. “I—”

“I know who you are, I overhead. Ida Tenya, right?” Yoshihara said, looking over her shoulder at Kujo and Izuku. “I don’t speak for them, but I apologize for Bakugo over there. He’s always been like that. Kira Yoshihara, by the way.”

“Kira-san! It is a pleasure to meet you,” Ida said, bowing as he did. She got the idea that he was either rich, or was just raised to be overly formal. It kind of reminded her of Yaoyorozu, though not entirely. “I didn’t see you in the practical exam. I take it you’re from the recommended exam?”

“That would be correct. I was nominated by the R-rated Hero Midnight. I know it’s not the most flattering sponsor, but it was the best I could get,” Yoshihara answered as Ida adjusted his glasses.

“I will not judge you for the person who sponsored you. In fact, you should be honoured that Midnight sponsored you. I have heard wonderful things about her and her work ethic!” Ida said as Yoshihara felt a bead of sweat fall down the side of her face.

“Yeah, her work ethic. Now imagine living with her…” Yoshihara thought, clearing her throat. “It was nice meeting you Ida, I’m going to wait for class to start now.”

“Very well!” And with that, he went to introduce himself to Kujo and Izuku, with Izuku being a little uncomfortable with his bombastic behaviour. She had no idea why, but it probably had something to do with what happened at the practical exam.

As she made her way to one of the desks toward the back, Yoshihara walked past Bakugo who glared at her. At first, she didn’t pay him any mind, but when he spoke up, she couldn’t help but look in his direction. “Oi, blondie.”

“Good morning, Bakugo,” Yoshihara glowered, shooting him a scathing glare. “Causing problems already, huh?”

“Fuck that, I want answers. Since when did Deku get a spine, I’ve known that shitty nerd since we were kids, and never once did he ever try and stand up to me. Now he’s all confident and shit. Fucks up with that,” Bakugo rumbled, his disdain clear for anyone to see as Yoshihara smirked.

“It's funny you mention that. Though, I suppose it should be obvious, shouldn’t it? Treating others with standard human decency usually helps with being confident. Though, you wouldn’t know a thing about that, would you?”As Yoshiara said that, she leaned into Bakugo’s ear and spoke quietly so only he could hear. “Why else would you pick on a Quirkless kid?”

When she pulled away, Bakugo looked like he was about to blow a gasket with the front door to the classroom fully opened, and a yellow sleeping bag laid sideways in front of it. Inside that sleeping bag, she recognized his face faster than anyone else’s. After all, he was at her place a week ago.

Then, of course, there was his dull, always tired voice. One that was recognizable to anyone who had ever met him. “If you’re here to socialize, then get out,” Aizawa Shouta said getting everyone’s attention.  

“This is…” Aizawa started before he sucked back a juice box in one go. “The Hero Course,” Aizawa continued, standing up without the help of anyone. The sleeping bag unzipped itself and fell off—kinda like a cacoon being shed by a butterfly—as he stood in the doorway.

He was wearing his hero costume, that being the black bodysuit with the massive white scarf around his neck and the tool belt around his waist. However, Yoshihara did notice that there was a small blood stain just underneath where his scarf sat, most likely from his encounter with Taro. She couldn’t blame him, blood stains were hard to get out of fabric.   

“It took eight seconds for you to quiet down. Time is a precious resource. You lot aren’t very rational, are you?” At this point, everyone was looking at Aizawa. Although, out of everyone in the class that she had seen thus far, it was Jirou who was staring at him the most intently. There was a darkness in her eyes, and it even partially freaked Yoshihara out.

“Just what is up with her?” Yoshihara thought as Aizawa spoke up.

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa, pleased to meet you.” Aizawa drawled on as he fished out a new set of uniforms that looked like gym attire from his sleeping bag. They were blue with a U-shaped pattern around the chest and shoulders area, and an A covering the rest of the tracksuit top. “Quickly now. Change into your gym uniforms and head out to the grounds.”

And with that, he left a pile of tracksuits, all fitting one universal size of “teenager” on the floor. Everyone quickly snagged a tracksuit of their own, including the reluctant Yoshihara, and then they proceeded to walk to the changing rooms, wherever those were.

Seriously, she had only been in the school for all of five minutes and he expected them to know where the changing rooms were? Luckily, they weren’t that hard to find, considering they were pretty much just down the hall by the classrooms. Even better was that there was a sign pointing to where the “grounds” were.

Once she entered the changing room and quickly got into the tracksuit by changing in one of the stalls, mostly to hide her scars from everyone else. Once she had got changed, she walked outside. If there was one thing that she didn’t like about the tracksuit was that it was rather tight in certain areas. Specifically around her shoulders, elbows, and waist. It seemed she was going to need to slim down a little bit to properly fit in them.

Standing outside, she was joined by the rest of the class as she walked out into what could only be explained as an athlete’s training haven. There was a 50-meter track to run around in, a long-jump pit, a place to do rudimentary workouts, and a ball pitch.

“Was U.A. a baseball academy before all this hero stuff went down?” Yoshihara thought to herself as she glanced over her shoulder to see Kujo standing behind her. He walked up next to her and smirked. “These things are tight, aren’t they?”

“Yeah… it’s uncomfortable…” Yoshihara murmured.

“Yeah, tell me about it!” An unknown voice spoke up as Yoshihara looked over to her left. The person in question was a broad-shouldered girl with pink skin and curly pink hair with yellow curled horns sticking out of her head. She was pulling at the collar of the tracksuit, sighing. “And in all the wrong places, too!”

“Ashido, right?” Kujo asked as the identified Ashido smiled.

“Yup! Karera-chan spoke a lot about you on Discord,” Ashido said, looking at Yoshihara. “You’re Kira, right?”

“How did you know?” Yoshihara asked as Ashido’s smile turned into a smirk.

“Karera-chan talked about you, too. Said you were a bit of a downer. I’m gonna change that,” Ashido said as Yoshihara frowned.

“We’re not friends.”

“Yet!” Ashido added, and just before Yoshihara said anything else, everyone else came out of the changing rooms. As they did, Aizawa—who had been leaning against one of the trees—walked over to stand in front of the class, and spoke.  

“Alright, you’re all here. Not as fast as I would’ve liked, but some things take time to iron out. Here’s how things are going to go. As of right now, we’re going to be doing a test of your Quirks.”

And with that, a sense of dread washed over most of the class. Josefumi and Yoshihara didn’t seem to mind, but one particular person with brown hair in the style of a bob-cut did. “What about the Entrance Ceremony?! Or the Guidance Sessions?!” The brunette called out as Aizawa tilted his head.

“No time to waste on that stuff if you want to become heroes,” Aizawa said, lazily looking over his shoulder. “U.A. is known for its ‘freestyle’ educational system. That applies to us teachers as well.” As Aizawa explained this, he turned around to everyone, arms crossed as he gave everyone a teritiary glance.

“Softball throwing. The Standing Long Jump. The 50-meter dash. Endurance running. Grip strength. Side-to-side stepping. Upper-body training. Seated toe touch. You all did these in Junior High, yes? Your standard No-Quirks-Allowed gym tests. This country still insists on prohibiting Quirks when calculating the averages of those records. It’s not rational. The Department of Education is just procrastinating,” Aizawa stated, eyes landing on Bakugo.

“Bakugo,” Aizawa said, catching his attention, his crimson eyes narrowing as Aizawa frowned. “How far could you throw in middle school?” Aizawa asked, prompting Bakugo to answer.

“Sixty-seven meters,” Bakugo responded, adjusting his hands in his tracksuit pockets. Aizawa gestured him over to one of the pitcher’s stands as Yoshihara watched him with a keen eye. Bakugo stood in the center, adjusting his footwork as Aizawa threw him a softball.

“Great. Now try it with your Quirk. Do whatever you need to. Just don’t leave the circle,” Aizawa said, bringing out a small device that looked sort of like a walkie-talkie with a screen in the middle. “Give it everything you’ve got.”

Bakugo rolled his throwing arm’s shoulder, cracking his neck as he gripped the ball. Yoshihara narrowed her eyes at the boy as he smirked. He reeled back his arm, and with a malicious grin, he threw the ball with a massive explosion following it.

“DIE!!”

The ball went flying into the air insanely fast, travelling a fairly large distance, which went to show just how powerful Bakugo’s explosions were. After a few seconds, the ball came crashing down, and when it hit the ground, it was almost burned to a crisp. It bounced a few times, before it came to a stop, a trail of smoke coming off of it. Everyone was stunned by the display, although Yoshihara was looking at it from a different angle.

“That… is a lot of power. But, Bakugo’s explosive power and Killer Queen’s have different purposes. Killer Queen’s bombs erase whatever they’re attached to unless I reduce the power. Bakugo’s explosions are about wanton destruction and reckless detonation. They are also unrefined and far too messy. They’re more likely to hit everything else rather than their target. Good for propulsion, but not for long-term combat,” Yoshihara noted, crossing her arms.

There was no denying that Bakugo was powerful. But he was the kind of powerful that was sloppy . He had a lot of potential, which was perfect for a school like U.A. “Now, let’s see if his ego ruins it.”    

Aizawa looked down at the device before looking up at Bakugo. “It’s important for us to know our limits,” Aizawa stated, turning the device to show Bakugo. The screen read – 705.2 meters, an impressive score by any means. “That’s the first rational step to figuring out what kind of heroes you’ll be.”

Just as Aizawa finished speaking, Ashido smiled brightly before exclaiming, “Whoa! This is awesome!” As Ashido said that, someone made an off comment about the distance of how far the ball had travelled thanks to Bakugo. Yoshihara didn’t pay attention, so she didn’t care all that much. “So we can use our Quirks for real!! Man, The Hero Course is the best!!” Ashido said as Yoshihara glanced over to Aizawa, who seemed to have an annoyed gleam in his eye.

“Something tells me this isn’t going to end well…” Yoshihara said, a singular bead of sweat making its way down her forehead as worry strewed itself over her face.

“…Awesome… you say?” Aizawa’s voice was filled with nothing but contempt, and it sent a chill down everyone’s spine. The way he said it, the way his body language gave off a menacing vibe, it was checking all of the boxes for some people that something bad was about to happen. No longer did he look like a pro hero, nor did he look like a teacher. He looked like a thug, hands in his pockets, back arched in such a way that it pronounced his glare, and the way the quiet fury suddenly became not-so-silent…. If Yoshihara hadn’t known better, Aizawa looked more like a villain than a hero.

“You’re hoping to become heroes after three years here… and you think it’ll be all fun and games?” Aizawa said, a lump forming in Yoshihara’s throat. She did not like the look on his face as he said that. The oppressive air that suddenly sunk around the whole class was suffocating, and that worry that had built up in Yoshihara’s body was now making itself known as she reflexively summoned Killer Queen by her side.

“Such nonsense. The one with the lowest score across all eight events will be judged as hopeless and will be expelled.” And as Aizawa stood there, his face adorned with a smirk that seemed downright psychotic, he spoke once again. “Your fates are in our hands. Welcome. This is… The Hero Course at U.A. High!”

The collective shock from the entire class of 1-A was enough to overpower even Yoshihara’s stone-cold exterior and interior. She had only been in the school for not even ten minutes, and she already had to deal with the threat of being expelled?!

“Kayama-san never warned me that Aizawa was a goddamn psychopath?! What the fuck!!” Yoshihara thought, panicked as she stared ahead in abstract fear. While she wasn’t worried about herself, she couldn’t help but reflexively look over to Izuku, who looked mortified.

She could only imagine what he was thinking, and it probably wasn’t anything good. Izuku was Quirkless, and in a test to measure someone’s Quirk, he was destined to fail. Essentially, he was screwed. But she believed in him. If he had already got this far, then that meant that he must’ve had something up his sleeve.

Izuku was a smart kid. She believed in him wholeheartedly. But tricks would only get him so far. That was assuming he was using tricks, of course.

But just when things couldn’t get any worse, someone had to open their loudmouth.

“The lowest scorer will be expelled…? It’s only the first day! I mean, even if it weren’t… That’s totally unfair!!” the culprit for the one who had called out like a damn idiot was the same girl who asked about the entrance ceremony.

“Something tells me I am not going to like her, am I?” Yoshihara thought, glaring daggers into the back of the girl’s head. If looks could kill, the brunette would’ve been stabbed to death by Yoshihara’s eyes alone, something that the girl didn’t seem to notice.

Aizawa only seemed to get more annoyed by the brown-haired girl’s antics as he shook his head in disappointment. “Natural disasters… highway pileups… rampaging villains… Calamity is always just around the corner, I’d say Japan is full of unfair things.” Aizawa let out a tired sigh, fixing his hair so it didn’t cover his eyes, allowing the class to see the fiery determination hiding within them. “The heroes are the ones who correct all that unfairness. If you were hoping to spend your evenings hanging out at McDonald’s… I’m sorry to tell you, but in these next three years of your life, U.A. is going to run you through the wringer.”     

Aizawa then gave the class a smirk and gestured his finger as if to say “Come at me,” his eyes giving them all the same dull, tired look. “That’s Plus Ultra. Use your strength to overcome it all. So bring it.”

All Yoshihara could do was stare back at him with a determined gleam in her eyes. If he was issuing a challenge, then so be it. While Yoshihara wasn’t one for things like winning, or losing, she wasn’t exactly going to give in and do nothing. That would be the cowards' way out.

And so, for the next two and a half hours, the students of the newly formed Class 1 – A were put through test after test, each more taxing than the last.

[EVENT 1 – 50-Meter Dash]

Ida Tenya and a girl who looked like a frog were the first two to be put up against one another, and both of them got interesting scores. Ida got a score of 3.04 seconds, while the frog-like girl, Asui Tsuyu, got a score of 5.58 seconds.

When Yoshihara was called up, she was paired with a guy who had a massive fleshy tail. The boy’s name was Ojiro Mashirao from what she heard. Using Killer Queen to shadow over her legs, Yoshihara got a score of 4.39 seconds, while the guy with the tail got 6.73. A pretty good start if she had to say so for herself.

Kujo wound up paired against a boy with what appeared to be six arms, though, in reality, it was more like one massive arm split up with three hands with webbing in between. His name was Shoji Mezou. Between the two of them, Kujo got a score of 4.01 seconds thanks to using his Soft & Wet’s bubbles to remove the friction from his shoes and use them like ice skates to glide across the ground. Shoji, however, got 4.88 seconds, proving to be rather fast despite his size.

When it came time for Izuku’s turn, he happened to be paired with Bakugo of all people. It felt like a cruel prank, but it wasn’t intentional. Besides, Aizawa didn’t know their history. It was also the beginning of Yoshihara’s worry for Izuku, as he scored 7.02 seconds compared to Bakugo’s 4.13 seconds.

[EVENT 2 – Grip Strength]

As expected, Shoji, with his massive arms thanks to his Quirk: Dupli-arms, which gave him a type of super strength, got him a score of 560 kilograms of grip strength. That was enough to break someone’s wrist if he tried. It would’ve been him who scored the most if it wasn’t a little accident on Yoshihara’s part.  

She had Killer Queen’s arm ghost over her own, which might’ve been seen as cheating, but in reality, it wasn’t. Even if it wasn’t a Quirk, it was a supernatural ability, and she wanted to keep her spot in the hero course. While she was confident in herself and her own strength, she was being cautious. So, with that in mind, at the same time, both herself and Killer Queen squeezed at the same time.

The result was… intense. The moment Killer Queen squeezed its hand, what would’ve been an okay score of 80 kilograms shot up from 80 to 2,680 kilograms. A boy with spikey red hair saw her score, which caused his jaw to drop. “What the heck?! That’s some crazy strength for someone so skinny-looking!”

Kujo looked over at her, showing his score of 400 kilograms, using his Soft & Wet to do the same thing she was doing, but with more control. Yoshihara felt her face flush red in embarrassment. She was still working on controlling how to reign in Killer Queen’s strength. “Oops…”

When she found out about Izuku’s score clocking in at 56 kilograms. It was easily the worst there, with the lowest score being Jirou’s at 60 kilograms. Having back-to-back failing scores didn’t paint a pretty picture for Izuku, and it was starting to make Yoshihara worry.

[EVENT 3 – Standing Long Jump]

Yuuga Aoyama was this test’s exceeder. His quirk allowed him to fire out a laser from his stomach. Because of this, he was able to propel himself across the entire pit in a single jump, though his stomach hurt afterward.

Yoshihara sighed, shadowing Killer Queen’s hands over the top of her own. She raised her feet and placed two bubbles on her shoes. From a distance, Josefumi had watched and raised an eyebrow at seeing her use bubbles—almost like his own Stand. She looked at Aizawa, who nodded, and then, when she jumped, the bubbles exploded, propelling her up into the air, covering half of the sandpit.

Bakugo sat back and saw with his own eyes wide. “Someone else with an explosive Quirk? Wait a second, didn’t she have a psychic Quirk the last time I saw Blondie’s face? That doesn’t sound right. Something’s going on here….” Bakugo thought, a scowl on his face as he narrowed his eyes.

“Wow! Did you see that? Her Quirk’s almost like Bakugo’s!” One of the other class members said aloud as another one huffed.

“You think they’re related?” Another one questioned as Bakugo’s eye twitched. He was going to say something but decided against it. It wasn’t worth his damn time or pride.

Izuku didn’t get a decent score for his jump, which was saddening. That nervousness from before that Yoshihara was feeling was now inside Izuku as well.

[EVENT 4 – Side Stepping]

No one did exceptionally well on this, not even Yoshihara. Her total score for side steps in a five-minute time limit was 58, and that was with the help of Killer Queen taking some of the pressure off of her legs, so it wasn’t like she could’ve done much better. Though Josefumi was able to get a pretty good score of 87 after removing the feeling in his legs so they wouldn’t be sore after the fact—an ingenious move on his part.

Once again, Izuku got a poor score, only getting 23 consecutive side steps. That was the only other score she cared about, and it was another dud. The other person whose score even came remotely close was a guy named Sero Hanta, whose score was 30. That was seven points more than his.  

“Damnit, Izuku! I know you’re better than this! I swear to god if you get expelled today I’m going to lecture you until the cows come home!” Yoshihara thought as she sent a concerned look at him, though he seemed to be off in his little world of stress.

[EVENT 5 – Softball Throwing]

The brunette, Uraraka Ochako as Yoshihara came to find out, got a score of infinite, something that no one was expecting. No one had expected that coming from such a short and sweet-looking girl. Her Quirk was Zero Gravity, so it only made sense for her to get a high score, but not infinite.

“Great, not only is she bubbly and annoying, but she has a stupidly overpowered Quirk as well. Like that helps matters. Actually, I’m kind of glad that she’s here and didn’t become a villain. That would be downright terrifying if she had.” Yoshihara shuttered at the thought of a villain having a Gravity-related power.

Gravity, in general, was just something humanity was never supposed to fuck with. It was a law of nature, and laws of nature were things that just couldn’t be, nor shouldn’t be messed with. For someone like Uraraka to have such a deadly Quirk was a good thing, because she was using it for good and nothing else. But if someone used it as a villain, or worse, a Stand User…. She’d rather not think of that.

Yoshihara was up next, and when she stepped up to the plate and took the ball, she had Killer Queen shadow over her hand and placed several small bubbles on the back end of the ball. She threw it up into the air, then, after quickly turning her hand into the mimicry of a hand detonator, she pressed her thumb down and the ball went soaring afterward.

The ball eventually hit the ground, but in the process, it fell apart at the seams and disintegrated into nothing. Aizawa’s machine read a score of 785.9 meters, causing a smirk to appear on her face, sending a quick glare over to Bakugo, who sent another one back at her. She got back in line, and the next one up was…

“Midoriya Izuku.” Aizawa’s cold voice spoke out, and as Izuku took the ball, he stood in the circle for a moment, deep in thought.

“Midoriya isn’t doing very well….” Ida said as Bakugo piped up.

“Duh! He’s a Quirkless runt! What the hell is that dumbass gonna do?” Bakugo snapped, earning a raised eyebrow from Ida.

“Quirkless? Haven’t you heard about his feats in the entrance exam?!” Ida said, confused, all the while making a chopping motion, earning an annoyed ‘huh’ from Bakugo.  It also got a confused look from Yoshihara.

“What is he on about?” Yoshihara thought, before looking over at Izuku. “What does Ida mean by that…?”  

Izuku’s eyes closed, and when they opened up again, his eyes were filled with determination. And then, much to Yoshihara’s, Josefumi’s, and Bakugo’s shock, Izuku’s veins began to glow red.

“What the hell?!” Bakugo thought, a rush of emotions clouding his mind.

“Huh… Izuku, did you lie to me about being Quirkless?” Yoshihara thought, feeling a bit of her heartbreak as a result. There was no way… why would Izuku lie to her? “Unless… there’s something else going on here.”

“Was Kira-san wrong about him being Quirkless?” Josefumi thought, confusion shuffling through his head as he stared in awe.

Just as Izuku was about to throw the ball, the glow disappeared, and when it did, Izuku stopped. He didn’t even throw the ball, it just stayed in his hand. His head turned, glancing over to Aizawa.

Aizawa, for his part, narrowed his now glowing red eyes. “Is something the matter, Midoriya? Why haven’t you thrown the ball?” Aizawa asked as Izuku smirked. It wasn’t a cocky smirk, but one someone would flash at a friend.

“I knew something was familiar about you, Sensei,” Izuku spoke, a bit of confidence gleaming in his eyes and voice. “You’re that guy Kayama-san is friends with. While I didn’t get to personally meet you, my Mom did, and she described you to me when I asked.” As he said that, he rolled his shoulder.

“Considering you’re friends with Kayama-san, Yoshihara’s guardian, who’s a Pro Hero, It was only right to assume that her friends were also Pro Heroes. Lo-and-behold, the person my Mom described being at Kayama-san’s place is here, and now, I know exactly who you are,” Izuku said, taking Aizawa aback a little bit.

“You’re the Pro Hero Eraserhead, aren’t you, Aizawa-Sensei,” Izuku began. “I’m a bit of a hero nerd, so I research even the most obscure heroes. That includes you, Aizawa-Sensei. You’re Quirk lets you erase other people’s Quirks just by looking at them. You erased my Quirk the moment I was about to throw the ball, which I expected to happen with how I was doing. You were going to try and teach me a lesson, weren’t you?”

Yoshihara was shocked. She knew he had grown a bit of a spine over the course of the last few weeks, but she hadn’t expected him to go on a monologue to Aizawa. Which, she could tell, was getting to him. His left eye was twitching, and it was clear that he was starting to get annoyed.

“I’ll be honest, I know that my Quirk isn’t exactly the best. It damages me, and I can’t control it all that well. I just got it, after all, being a late bloomer and all. I wanted to pursue my dream the moment I got it, knowing full well that with U.A.’s practical exam coming up, it would’ve been my only chance. I was so desperate that I signed up even without a Quirk.

“I know it’s irrational, but I refuse to have my dream crushed. That was why I saved this part of the exam to use my Quirk. I know that I’m a liability at the moment. But, if you give me a chance, Aizawa-sensei… if you can give me a single shot to prove to you that I can, at the very least, somewhat control my Quirk and not shatter my arm… then I know I have potential. But, if my arm is shattered after this throw, I’ll accept my expulsion without argument. I mean, I know it wouldn’t be a choice regardless of whether I argued or not, but, you know, it’s the thought that counts,” Izuku finished explaining as Aizawa hummed in thought.

“This kid. He’s got nerves of steel to talk to me like that, and with scores as low as his, his bravado doesn’t sway me in the slightest. But if he’s confident that he can pull himself ahead, then fine, I’ll give him a shot,” Aizawa thought, huffing. “Alright then, kid, let’s see if you can only talk the talk, or both talk and walk at the same time. In the entrance exam, you shattered your entire body. Let’s see how much you’ve improved in a week.”

Aizawa’s eyes lost the sharp red colour, and his hair was let back down—A side effect of his Quirk was that his hair stood up on end—and crossed his arms. Izuku turned back around, clenching his hand around the ball, then, proceeded to do the same thing, only this time, the power seemed more concentrated into one spot than last time, specifically, his middle finger.

The ball went soaring in the air, and when it landed, he got a score of 702.6. His middle finger was broken, but all things considered, it was leagues better than it was before.

It hurt, it hurt a lot, but it was better than having his entire arm broken. At least, that was how Midoriya rationalized it. “It took a lot to focus all of my power on my finger, but it was enough so that I didn’t look like a complete idiot. What the hell was I doing, talking back to my teacher like that? I could’ve been expelled just by doing that! I like all this new confidence, but I have to use it more wisely, otherwise, I’ll get in trouble!” Izuku thought, letting out a shaky sigh.

“See… Sensei? I can still… move….” Izuku said, his middle finger throbbing as he bit his lower lip.

“This kid…!” Aizawa thought as Yoshihara stared at her friend with wide eyes. She was happy for him, or, well, as happy as a sociopath could be for another person, but why? Why didn’t he tell her? Did he want to surprise her? If that was what it was, then yeah, she could understand… but still…

“He only got his Quirk at least a week ago if he used it at the practical exam, and sure, he didn’t tell me, but why? Why didn’t he tell me? Was he worried that I would’ve thought that he lied to me about being Quirkless?” Yoshihara thought. If that was the case, then they’d have to talk about it. Maybe not today, but later.

However, no one else’s reaction to Izuku’s explosive new Quirk was as bad as Bakugo Katsuki's. He wasn’t just shocked, he wasn’t just surprised. He was fucking pissed off.

“It’s impossible… What the…!  Quirks never manifest past age four! But it really happened!!” Bakugo thought, his face contorted into one of anger, and confusion. But then, it shifted straight into anger as he took off dashing toward Izuku.

“DEEEEEKKKKUUUUU!!!! YOU SHITTY BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL WAS—” But before he could continue his charge, Aizawa bound the kid up in his binding cloth, whilst activating Erasure.

“What the… this cloth is so… stiff?” Bakugo grunted, gnashing his teeth together as he tried to push through it. However, the more he struggled, the worse the stiffness got. That was because the more he moved, the more Aizawa tugged against the cloth, restraining him further.

“That’s enough out of you, Bakugo. Stop using your Quirk and get back in line. This “cloth” is a Capture Weapon. It’s made of carbon fibres and a special alloy wire. If you don’t stop using your Quirk, Bakugo, I’m going to expel you. Now get back in line!” Aizawa snapped, causing Bakugo to relax, and for the cloth to go back to Aizawa as he sighed. “What a waste of time. Prepare for the next event….” Aizawa said, walking back to the front of the class as Bakugo returned to his spot in the line-up.

As he did, though, he couldn’t help but mull over everything. It was an outrage! For the last 11 years of their lives, Izuku had been nothing more than a worthless, shitty, defective little pebble in Bakugo’s path. He was never meant to amount to anything.

Yet, here he was. Here at U.A., with a Quirk that randomly showed up on the day of the exam, and now he was acting like he was tough shit? Just who did he think he was, showing up Bakugo, looking down on him like the shitty nerd he was!

A part of him wondered if he did take his “advice” and this was the result. Something broke his fall and because he survived he got a Quirk.

Not that he wanted him to do that—if he did, he really was a fucking moron—but if he actually got a Quirk from it, then… “Stupid fucking Deku! How dare you get in my way! I’ll make you regret you ever got that shitty Quirk of yours!”

The rest of the events came and went. Due to the pain in Izuku’s finger, he became distracted by it and as a result, his scores dwindled. Yoshihara’s scores remained in the ballpark of “alright” all things considered. The seated toe touch was fairly self-explanatory. Her flexibility gave her the ability to easily pass that one, and the upper body training, aka doing five pull-ups, was also pathetically easy. She scored decently in those two events, which topped up her final score.

And when everyone had finished the upper-body training exercise, which some people did poorly on due to how long the events had been and how tiring they were, when everyone lined up in front of Aizawa, he gave everyone another once over and sighed.

“…Moving along. Time for the results. Your total scores are simply based on your performance in these events. Explaining the process would be a waste of time, so all you get are the final rankings.” As Aizawa explained this, a digital board came out from one of the miniature droids that had been recording the scores.

Yoshihara searched for her name, and it was smack dab in the middle, tenth place, wedged between a kid by the name of Rikido Sato, and Josefumi Kujo. However, as she scanned for Izuku’s name, she found him at the bottom ranking twentieth, just below a guy by the name of Koji Koda.

“Oh no… Izuku…” Yoshihara thought, giving Izuku a sympathetic stare. As for his part, Izuku looked down at the floor, nearing tears, when suddenly….

“Also, I was lying about expelling someone. “

Silence. Absolute, pure, silence.

And then, Aizawa grew the biggest shit-eating grin that showed that not only was he not lying, but he also showed no sympathy towards the fact that he had lied either.

“That was a rational deception... meant to bring out the best in all of you.”

It was that day going forward that Kira Yoshihara firmly planted the idea in her head that she was not going to like Aizawa as a teacher for the next year of her life. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and tried her damndest not to have a migraine.

“By the way, that’s all for today. I’ll pass out your curriculum for the year then you guys can leave for the day. Oh, and Midoriya, get to Recovery Girl, she’s the school’s nurse, get your finger fixed up.” And after that, once he finished handing out the papers, he left the grounds. Kira went to get changed back into her school uniform, then she headed for home.

For as much as she wanted to smack the piss out of Izuku for trying to hide something like that from her, she decided that all it would do was make the situation worse. Instead, she’d just bitch him out over the phone and then Hate Watch SAO again. She always found herself getting her pissed off.

[XXX]

When Kyoka returned home, she ignored her parents as she had been doing for the last two weeks now, and locked herself in her room. When she did, she stood with her back turned to the door, and after letting out a calming exhale, she immediately slammed her right fist into the wall so hard, it left a dent.

“Kujo… You piece of shit!” To say that she wasn’t happy about seeing him at U.A. was an understatement. That little rat bastard… he was part of the reason why her life was awful. It was no secret that their parents didn’t get along, so it made sense that neither of them got along either.

She had always hated the part of her that was even remotely related to the Joestar Family. Thankfully, it was hidden from the world, but they never reached out to help. They never showed any support. They pretended as if her family didn’t exist. To make matters worse, when her mother's sister died, she was cremated without the family’s consent and that drunken old fuck refused to give over any of her possessions.

He was a selfish, entitled, prick who pretended to be nice. Who pretended to be a good person. But that man… he was nothing but the opposite. He and his whole family were awful, and she prayed that they’d eventually get what they deserved.

So, needless to say, she fucking hated them. She hated everything they stood for, and she wanted nothing more than to see their empire topple over. Just once. Just once she’d love to see the look on his face when everything came crumbling apart. The Speedwagon Foundation, the Joestar Fortune… all of it. Gone. That was what she wanted.

But, because of how powerful the Speedwagon Foundation was, and because of how it had its fingers in absolutely everything, its collapse was never going to happen. Not unless the world ended or the global market crashed. That was how secure The Speedwagon Foundation was.

She breathed out a calming sigh, lowering her fist from the wall and narrowed her eyes. Kujo and her shared a class. That meant that, to some degree, she’d have to put her differences aside and work with him. She supposed it was alright. But that didn’t mean that she would forgive them for never stepping in when they asked for help.

While she was open to putting aside what happened today at the gates, she didn’t know if Kujo would. If he was just as spiteful as his Dad, the chances of that happening were slim to none.

And if he refused to work with her…

A small smirk came to her face, as a borderline evil gleam took up residence within. A swirling, maddening thing. The type you’d attribute to a vagrant who planned to rob you blind or sell all your valuables on the black market.

Then she’d just have to ruin him.

-To Be Continued-

Chapter Text

[Revision of the chapter posted on: 2024-08-04]

[Kira Takes On U.A. – Part 2]

The chill, crisp Spring air filled the lungs of one Tooru Tomioka, as he leaned against the metal railing atop the rooftop of Musutafu General Hospital. A tired, exhausted sigh escaped his lips as he brushed a hand through his messy afro, sparkling blue eyes glimmering with stress as, with his free hand, he put a pre-lit cigarette to his lips and breathed in, forcing the embers to channel up half of it, before stopping, letting the ash fall to the ground below.

A calming sensation washed over him the moment he finished the drag of his cigarette, before immediately puffing out the toxic fumes—if he held it in any longer, he would’ve coughed. It was hypocritical to both be a doctor and a habitual smoker. But with the amount of stress he had on his shoulders, who could blame him?

It was times like these that he needed an occasional smoke break. While that wasn’t the entire reason why he was on the rooftop, he saw an opportunity, and he took it. In actuality, he was waiting for someone. Someone who he had emailed a while ago to meet him on the rooftop so that they could discuss something that was bothering him.

“Head Doctor? Are you smoking?” The chipper, yet also tired voice of Medi Lady, otherwise known as Sakura Kubo, filled Tooru’s ears as he turned around to face her. A hint of shame gleamed in his eyes, but it only lasted for a second.

She was out of her hero costume and wearing regular doctor attire, that being a white trenchcoat and blue medical scrubs. Without all of the excess stuff on her, she looked like a regular passerby, minus the scar on her lip that she received in a fight when she was on the battlefield. Her hair was a little messier than normal, and she had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep, but otherwise, she looked just as she usually did.

Sakura used to study under him until she switched to studying with Recovery Girl, but he felt no ill will toward her for it. It was probably for the best, all things considered, especially given how similar their Quirks were. His Wonder Of U wouldn’t help her understand how Healing Quirks affected the body, now would it?

“Yes… I was. I hadn’t expected you to be here so soon, though. I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. Yes, I smoke, and yes, I am aware of the hypocrisy of it,” Tooru replied as Sakura frowned, crossing her arms almost as if she had been disappointed.

“For shame, Head Doctor,” Sakura said, her eyebrows knit together, before her expression dropped entirely as she snickered to herself, confusing Tooru. Sakura then outstretched her hand toward him, confusing him further. Before he could ask, she spoke up. “Mind if I bum a cigarette off you?”

“You smoke as well?” Tooru asked as Sakura scoffed.

“Anyone who works these crazy shifts does as well. If you don’t then you’re either mentally unstable and thrive off constant work, or you have some kind of energy Quirk that keeps you going and keeps stress levels low,” Sakura quipped, letting out an exhausted sigh as Tooru passed her a cigarette.

She stood next to him, taking out a lighter and lighting the cigarette. They stood in silence for a little while, watching as the clouds passed overhead. The last few days had been nothing but stressful, and it showed not only with them but with the rest of the staff.

The Hospital was almost at max capacity thanks to the recent attack in Downtown Musutafu. With how tensions had been high and unrest within the city becoming more and more apparent… Well, one could see how that would affect a Hospital. Primarily the people coming to visit the injured.

He had passed by so many grieving parents of children as he came up to the rooftop for his little break. Crying about having lost their young child in the attack, and he felt absolutely heartbroken for it. Alongside that, he passed by friends of his who were mourning their friends and family, and even worse, he even saw some of his friends in those hospital beds… some of which were being loaded up into body bags.

It almost made him consider something he shouldn’t have in the first place. He was retired damn it. He didn’t need to continue what he started all those years ago, but it was becoming apparent that he might’ve been needed. Just to keep things in check.

With All Might showing up, he thought he wouldn’t have to even consider such a possibility. But now… he was starting to think otherwise.

Tooru wasn’t stupid enough to believe that this wasn’t connected to something. But the question was what? His expression contorted into one of deep thought as he caressed his chin, humming to himself as he took another drag out of his cigarette. It was almost down to the filter. He’d need to get another one….

“Something on your mind, Head Doctor?” Sakura asked as Tooru huffed.

“I’m just thinking… what if this is bigger than just a group of thugs?” Tooru pondered as Sakura raised an eyebrow.

“Well, that was pretty obvious the moment it happened. Mind elaborating?” Sakura paused for a moment, before tilting her head. “Didn’t you used to be a Hero or something? Is that why you’re questioning if this is something bigger?” Sakura asked as Tooru chuckled.

“Quite the opposite, actually. But that was when I was young and stupid. But I don’t like to talk about those days,” Tooru said, prompting Sakura to mutter an “oh” under her breath. Tooru quickly moved past the topic and continued his train of thought. “Doesn’t this strike you as bizarre that this all happens just before a new wave of Hero Students are being pumped into the schools and a fresh batch of heroes is injected into the system?”

“What do you mean, Head Doctor?” Sakura asked, leaving her cigarette to burn out slowly as she was fully absorbed in the conversation.

“Well, think about it. An attack like this on Musutafu of all places hasn’t happened since All Might revealed himself for the first time. Seeing as I used to run in… certain circles back in the day, I still have friends from that time, and we talk often. Said friends have been telling me that there’s been a rumour that All Might is weakening and that villains countrywide have been eager to get a chance to cause some “much-needed havoc” as they put it,” Tooru began as finished his cigarette, before putting it out on the ground.

He paused for a moment, a twinkle in his eye as he looked out toward the city, the sun rising overhead as he felt a smile tug at his lips. He always loved the view that this building gave him, even if he had to pull all-nighters to see it. But it was nothing a well-earned cup of coffee couldn’t fix.  

“Personally, I don’t believe those rumours,” a lie, but one needed to maintain the conversation, “but assuming they’re true… well, it would explain why All Might has suddenly decided to work at U.A., does it not?” Tooru finished, glancing over at Sakura, who’s eyes widened.

“W-Wait! All Might works at U.A. now?!” Sakura exclaimed as Tooru chuckled.

“I suppose he hasn’t made it public yet, then,” Tooru murmured, letting out a sigh. “Well, yes, he does work at U.A. I know that because a former sidekick of his asked me to help figure something out for him, and as a result, I got some benefits. One of those things is that I sometimes get information about All Might and what his moves are. This was one of those moves that said former sidekick told me about during a meeting.”

As Tooru said that, he leaned against the railing on the rooftop once more, staring out into the city. “It’s a wild world we live in, isn’t it? To think that time is moving as fast as it is… I’m almost shocked that All Might is as old as he is now, and is still a Hero. I half-assumed he was working his way to retirement by now, but I guess not. To take up another job on top of being a Hero… It’s quite gutsy if you ask me.”

Of course, there was more to it. He knew there was more to it than just that. He just didn't know to what extent. He'd need more information, of course, but that would have to wait. Sir Nighteye didn't trust him and more than likely wouldn't trust him for a long time. Frankly, he didn't have a long time to get what he wanted. But he could figure that out at a later date. 

“Former sidekick…. You mean Sir Nighteye?” Sakura asked as Tooru nodded.

“The one and only. He actually asked me to look into these for him to see if I could run some DNA tests on the material within to pinpoint them to an individual that he’s been investigating. It's on the down-low, so don’t say anything about it, but I figured I could lend a hand,” Tooru said, pulling out a small red bullet with a needle tip for a bullethead.

“Whoa…. That actually looks similar to The Yellow Bullets. Do you think they’re related?” Sakura asked as Tooru nodded.

“Most definitely. But as to why outside of the design? Well, I haven’t run any tests on them yet due to how busy I’ve been. But… a part of me believes that if we—and by we I mean I—can crack the code behind this bullet, I think I can blow the whole case wide open on The Yellow Bullets. I half expect that’s why Sir Nighteye came to me in the first place, knowing full well what my capabilities are,” Tooru continued, putting The Red Bullet away.

“He’s entrusting that information to you? Really? You’d forget where your head is if you didn’t have attached to you,” Sakura joked as Tooru pouted, playfully chopping her on the head multiple times while saying “jerk” repeatedly. It stopped after Sakura grabbed his wrist, prompting him to chuckle to himself. “On a more serious note, are you sure you won’t overwork  yourself?”

“Trust me, Sakura. I’ll be fine,” Tooru said, only to be shocked by Sakura kissing him on the cheek, before walking away, putting out her cigarette in the process. “I-I—”

“Good. Also, that was for that “anonymous email” you sent me about coming to the roof for something important. I knew it was you because of how you write. Oh, and you owe me a date. Our last one fell through due to work commitments, but this time, I want nothing delaying it. Got it?” Sakura said, before walking through the roof entranceway.

Tooru stood there, putting a hand to his cheek, holding it there for a second, before pulling it away after a second of keeping it there.

How long had it been since he fell in love with anyone? Sakura had been the first person he had fallen in love with since… since her. Even then, that little stint was a mistake, and yet it bore fruit regardless.

It was a shame that she died before she ever got to raise their son. He never followed up on him, but if he had to guess, something bad had happened. Especially given who was targeting her. He swore himself off from having another relationship—especially with someone so much younger than him.

Sakura had only just turned 29 years old, but there was something about her that made Tooru get a pep in his step. In comparison to Sakura, he was a fossil. But just because he was a fossil didn’t mean he didn’t have a way to keep himself from looking young.

While she didn’t know how old he truly was, she was nearly thirty, so it didn’t make it weird. While some people might consider it weird, they were both consenting adults. He didn’t care what anybody thought about his very public relationship with Sakura.

They had been dating for a little over two months now, and he hadn’t seen her happier. He himself felt happier, too. But even then, his true love had died a long time ago. But that wouldn’t stop him from finding happiness, though.

Tooru shook his head. “I’m getting too old for this…” Tooru thought, putting a hand to his forehead as a rye smile took up his visage, before lowering his hand to his side. He walked back through the doors that Sakura walked through and put on his game face. He had a lot of work on his plate, and he needed to get it done sooner rather than later.

After all, Sir Nighteye was counting on him, and he wasn’t going to let his old friend down.

[XXXX]

When the concept of “heroes” became a popular thing around the world, it was during the early ages of Quirks—back during the first generation of Quirk Users. The main reason why was due to the massive spike in crime rate, and it needed to be quelled. But, for average police officers whose only real weapons were guns and batons and armour, fighting against a guy who could, say, level a building with a couple of punches was just going to be impossible.

And so, that was when “heroes” started to show up, or what the modern day would call “vigilantes.” The heroes of the past weren’t legal and often found themselves just as hunted as the villains they rounded up for the police. But, despite that, they did what they did for the safety of the people around them.

Even back then, Hero Costumes were important. To disguise one’s identity and make it harder to guess who they were behind the mask. It worked wonders, where even today, trying to figure out the true identity of the first generation of heroes was impossible.

So, obviously, when Heroes became mainstream, and when Governments across the world adopted the idea and started to pump them out through modified police academies meant to train these new “Meta Abilities” as they were called in the past, it was obvious that they would follow the rule book left behind heroes of the past.

Rule 1: Have it practical and flashy. Distract them from your appearance and have them focus on the fact that someone dressed in a costume is beating them up.

Rule 2: Have a strong-sounding name attached to it. Someone like “Lil’ Joe” won’t strike fear in your enemy as something like “King Black” would.

Rule 3: It’s not just a costume. It's also armour. Design it with that in mind. A spandex might be cool, but a fireproof or bulletproof spandex is also better. Make it with durable steel fibre rather just regular fabric.

Rule 4: Follow the “Rule of Cool” method. If you think it's cool, do it. But don’t go overboard. Especially if the “coolness” of something makes it less practical.    

Of course, those rules were flanderized over the years. Most companies who made hero costumes forwent the first rule entirely and only pertained to the second rule ever so slightly. There was also rampant sexism which ran through the people who made hero costumes. Some companies refused to do female hero costumes unless they were heavily sexualized.

That was why Yoshihara went through the trouble of having to go through several meetings with several companies to get her costume just the way she wanted it until she finally found one that didn’t fight her on any decision she made.

Detnerat.

Getting her hero costume made by Detnerat, while expensive, was worth it. They listened to everything she said, and only made edits to the design based on practicality to fit her “Quirk.” But then, how could someone fit her costume around Killer Queen without knowing about it?

Well, there was a reason why she lied about having a Quirk. Of course, so that no one else knew about her secret, and also for things such as this.

As far as Detnerat was concerned, her “Quirk” originated from her hands. But, just because her “Quirk” originated from her hands, that didn’t mean the rest of her body wasn’t important to protect. So, because of that, when she received the pictures of it through email, she was nervous about what it would look like. She was worried they had flanderized it, much like other companies would.

But, that wasn’t the case.

Yoshihara’s hero costume was a retailored version of her suit that she wore in day-to-day life, but with a few changes. For starters, the suit she wore in public as her regular self was white and green, so she figured that she’d need a different colour for when she would be doing patrols, and a colour that would stand out.

So, she settled for a deep shade of pink, bordering on purple. The same shade as Killer Queen. After all, it made sense, especially if she was going to play the part of being the thing that bridged Killer Queen into reality when playing the role of a hero. It wasn’t as if she could use it in fights against Quirk Users.

Well, she could, but then people would start to spread rumours about stupid things, and she didn’t need that. Unless her secret got exposed about her having a power other than a Quirk, she was going to keep up the façade for as long as possible.  

The details of the suit were also where things changed immensely, mainly as to what the suit was made out of, starting with the fabric, which was the most important part of the suit. It was what separated her costume from her regular suit.

The fabric of her costume consisted of a steel fibre that was durable enough to absorb 90% of the shock from a physical attack, and it was coated in a fire retardant that protected the suit from catching on fire. On top of that, it was bulletproof like a Kevlar vest, and the fabric was stiff enough to where it wouldn’t blow in the wind.

Then, of course, there were the accessories, which there weren’t a lot of. There were the gloves and the shoes, and that was it. Starting with the gloves, which were black, were fingerless allowing her to use her “Quirk” with them on. While having them fingerless made things… difficult for her due to how protective she was with her hands, she was able to brush that aside for the time being.

Then, came the shoes. They, much like everything else, were made of the same material as the suit, just applied to leather rather than fabric. But, that wasn’t all. They were coated in a thin layer of a special coating that, upon coming into contact with something at extreme speeds, would explode on contact.

The best part? The shoes would dispense that coating over time once it was used, and thanks to how it was made, it was easy for other companies to recreate. So much so that Detnerat was confident that if she requested other companies to repair her shoes in case of an accident, they would be able to do so easily.

Of course, there was one more thing that she had that completed her outfit, that being the tie. It wasn’t anything special. It was merely the same tie that she had with her original suit. Nothing more, and nothing less. Although, it was a different colour than black with gold skull motifs. It was silver with orange skull motifs.

She didn’t know why they decided to pick those two colours, but to each their own, she supposed. Oh, and each costume made by Detnerat had its signature “two black dots on the collar” to show that they were made by Detnerat. But, due to her paranoia, Yoshihara decided to take a closer look at those two dots, as they were physically sewn into the suit.

Upon closer inspection, they were simple buttons. That was it. They weren’t anything special, and they didn’t do anything. While it was a little weird that they were there, she wasn’t going to question it. Especially given it was their signature to show off where she got her costume from.

Originally, her hero costume was going to be different, and by different she meant the exact same colour and appearance as her original suit. But, Kayama-san made it a point for her to change it, hence why her hero costume was the pinkish-purplish colour that it was.

Though maybe it was just her, she felt as if it meant something… more than that. She didn’t know why, but it did. Either way, the costume was already at U.A. and was awaiting her there for when she was going to use it. In fact, it had been there for a week, because that was when Kayama-san had her arrange its creation.       

Currently, she stood amongst her class within a wide faux cityscape, created specifically for training exercises. Adorned in her hero costume, she adjusted the tie that she had made in her own spare time so that the collar would be a bit tighter around her neck.

“Oi! Kira-san!” Josefumi’s voice echoed out to her as the blonde turned to face the boy in question. He was wearing a sailor uniform, minus the tacky hat, with a purple shirt that read “Jojo” going all the way through it. The shirt of his uniform was unbuttoned and only covered up to his midriff, allowing the “Jojo” shirt to be exposed. “Nice hero costume, looks really… er, well, boring. But I think it suits you!”

“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult,” Yoshihara thought, scowling at Kujo. He flinched, looking away, which wasn’t her intention. She didn’t mean to make him feel off, but then again, it was late into the day, and she just wanted to go home.

Her second day at U.A. had been, essentially, what regular high school was. She had Homeroom in the morning—which was basically time for her to talk to Kujo and Izuku, oh and Ashido too seeing as she decided to insert herself into their conversation about what to expect for their second day.

Not that Yoshihara was annoyed at that. Ashido reminded her of Sakunami-san, which made sense, given that they were friends. The only difference was that Ashido was a Quirk User and Sakunami was a Stand User and happened to be dating Kujo.

Then, after that, they all had Math Class taught by Kusukabe Itsuki, aka Ectoplasm. After that class, it was an English class taught by Hizashi Yamada, aka Present Mic—she knew who he was already, but only in passing, but he was just as loud and abrasive as she expected. Then it was lunchtime when she decided to sit by her lonesome just to see how people behaved—it was basically Aldera all over again, just with more people—and finally, afternoon classes.

And by classes, she meant Class. Because the only class that happened in the afternoon was Heroics 101.  Which was what she was about to go through. All of her classmates, those that she knew and those that she didn’t, all stood around her in front of All Might, a teacher at U.A., which was a thought that never crossed Kira’s mind.

There had been rumours floating around saying that he was going to be a teacher at U.A., but she was never one to believe in those sorts of things. A part of her wondered why the number one Pro Hero decided to become a Teacher at U.A., and she came to the conclusion that it was due to his age.

All Might was 49 years old, turning 50 in a handful of months. It might not seem all that old, but considering the fact that All Might was the hero of all heroes in Japan, and had been in that role for well over 20 years, it was clear as day that there was a reason why All Might wanted to be a teacher.

His potential retirement.

It was an idea that no one liked to think of, even Yoshihara. The idea of All Might retiring was a horrifying prospect. He was The Symbol Of Peace. The best of the best. The cream of the crop. The crème de le crème. If he retired, then who would they fall back on? Endeavor? Yeah, no. Endeavor was strong, but not All Might strong.

There was a reason why All Might was considered the Symbol of Peace. It was All Might that protected everyone. It was All Might that allowed for Heroism to properly boom in Japan. A whole generation grew up with All Might, and another generation was about to see him leave the world of heroics.

It was quite a sad thing. It truly showed that beneath the vigour, beneath the muscle, and the bravado, All Might was just a human. And all humans had their stopping points. All Might was reaching his limit, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t guide the next generation of heroes, hence why he was at U.A. as a teacher.

It was quite the noble thing to do. To guide the next generation to do things properly and responsibly.  

Looking around at the people around her, each one of her classmates had a determined look on their faces as they stood just in front of the entrance of the massive faux city, all adorned in their hero costumes.

All Might stood in front of them, a huge smile on his face. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but that smile—that damned smile—it was so bright. Whenever she saw it, a part of her felt relieved. Perhaps it had been societal conditioning, perhaps it was the fact that his smile just radiated Hope. Whatever the case might have been as to why his smile made her feel better, none of that mattered, just like the rumours about him being at U.A. hadn’t mattered.

What mattered were the words that came out of his mouth moments after his smile.

“Shall we begin, my wards?! It’s time for Battle Training!” All Might boomed as chatter amongst the class began. Yoshihara had expected this. Well, not literally, but after seeing everyone get into their costumes, she knew full well that something was up. But battle training? Out of all the things All Might chose to do as his first lesson, he picked battle training. Now that? She hadn’t expected that.

Either way, she was going to dominate in this exercise, after all, she had an unfair advantage. She had Killer Queen. Well, that was what she would have said, had it not been for the fact that she limited herself with her bubble bombs.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be creative with them.

Yoshiara saw All Might hold back a laugh, and for a brief second, she was able to track his line of sight, leading over to Izuku. His costume… well, it was interesting, to say the least. It was a green jumpsuit with a face mask mixed with a pullover hood. On top of the hood were two massive antae-looking things in the shape of All Might’s famous pointed hair. Yoshihara had to repress a chuckle as well. The costume was so clearly based on All Might that it was almost too obvious.

Baby steps. He was taking baby steps, but it was fine. After all, he was still a massive fan of All Might, so, of course, his costume was going to be based on the guy. Though she didn’t expect that it would be that far. Although, it also kind of looked like rabbit ears at a certain angle.

However, there was something that was still bothering her, and it was still related to Izuku. Maybe it was because she felt off about how she kept it from her, but she was still upset over the fact that he didn’t tell her about his Quirk awakening. While he did say that he was sorry over the phone, Yoshihara still found it hard for her to accept that apology. But, she did, and now it was all water under the bridge.

Yoshihara had to remember that there was probably a reason why he kept it secret, and a part of her believed that reason to be Bakugo Katsuki. It was clear that Bakugo had a negative influence on him, so much so that he thought it important to keep massive secrets such as awakening a Quirk from others.

She just hoped that Izuku was doing alright….

“Sensei! This appears to be the same field used in the Entrance Exam. Will we once again be performing cityscape maneuvers?!” The sudden voice of Ida Tenya spoke out as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow. Did they use this place for the Entrance exam? It made sense thinking about it. With that many participants, it was no wonder they needed so much space.

“I’m honestly kinda glad I didn’t have to be squeezed in with so many people…” Yoshihara thought, crossing her arms. “Though that only means that these people truly are the best of the best. I cannot hold back if what we’re doing is what I think we’re doing.”

And as if All Might was psychic, her question was answered.

“Nope! You’ll be moving on to step two! Indoor Anti-personnel Battle Training!!” All Might began, his smile ever-present. “Villain battles are more commonly seen outdoors, but statistically, the most heinous villains are more likely to appear indoors. Between confinement, house arrest, and black market deals in this hero-filled society of ours….” All Might stopped for a moment to clear his throat before continuing. “The cleverest villains out there lurk indoors!!” All Might finished, standing in his famous “two fists on hips” pose.

“You’ll now be split into Villain teams and Hero teams and face off in two-on-two indoor battles!!” This declaration caused quite a stir amongst the students, and as a result, murmuring began to occur. Yoshihara was unperturbed, after all, she was confident that she could beat any of her classmates. It was then, in the cacophony of voices, a rather nasally voice spoke up, one belonging to Asui Tsuyu.

“So no basic training?” Asui asked as All Might nodded.

“Practical experience teaches you the basics!” All Might replied before continuing. “The distinction here is that you won’t be fighting disposable robots.”

And with that, the teacher was bombarded with questions, much to All Might’s and Yoshihara’s dismay.

“What determines victory?”

“Can I just blast everyone away?”

“Are you threatening to expel someone like Aizawa-sensei did…?”

“How do we proceed to divide ourselves into teams?”

“How fabulous is my cape?”

“ONE AT A TIME! MY QUIRK ISN’T SUPER-HEARING!!” All Might boomed, causing everyone to quiet down. He let out a sigh, his smile beaming once more. Then, he took out a booklet and began to read it, much to a few people’s confusion, including Yoshihara.

“Does The Number One Pro Hero require a notebook to teach a bunch of teenagers? I guess he’s not the most experienced teacher in the world, which makes sense, but still….”

“A-hem, listen up!! Here’s the deal. The villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in the hideout. It’s the job of the heroes to go in and take care of it! The heroes have a limited amount of time to capture the villains or secure the weapon. The villains must either capture the heroes or protect the weapon until the time is up.” As All Might finished explaining, he turned around back to the rest of the class with a box with the word “lots” on the front. “Your battle partners will be decided by drawing lots!”

With a swift sense of concern, Ida was the first to chime in out of everyone in the class. “Is that really the best way?!” Ida asked as Izuku spoke up to answer in All Might’s stead.

“It makes sense because pro heroes often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot during emergencies,” Izuku said, catching Ida’s attention. Yoshihara smirked, uncrossing her arms. Of course, Izuku would know that, it was in his blood to know that. He was a hero nerd after all.

“Ah, I see….” Ida said, sighing.

“No, young Ida, it was my fault for not clarifying. I apologize for getting ahead of myself, my mistake!” All Might said as the rest of the class echoed each other’s thoughts of ‘let’s just get into it.’ All Might went around letting everyone pick the balls out of the box with the corresponding letter on each ball from A through J.

Team A: Midoriya Izuku & Uraraka Ochako.

Team B: Todoroki Shoto & Shoji Mezou.

Team C: Yaoyorozu Momo & Kira Yoshihara.

Team D: Ida Tenya & Bakugou Katsuki.

Team E: Aoyama Yuuga & Ashido Mina.

Team F: Rikido Sato & Koda Koji.

Team G: Kaminari Denki & Jirou Kyoka.

Team H: Asui Tsuyu & Tokoyami Fumikage.

Team I: Mashiaro Ojiro & Kujo Josefumi.

Team J: Sero Hanta & Kirishima Eijirou.

With the teams selected, Both Yaoyorozu and Kira stood side by side, greeting one another with a simple nod of acknowledgement. Yaoyorzu smiled before speaking. “It’s good to know that I’m partnered with someone who I somewhat know the Quirk of,” Momo commented as Yoshihara hummed in agreement.

Yoshihara looked over her shoulder and noticed that Izuku had been partnered with Uraraka, and his face was noticeably red, though more out of embarrassment than anything else. Josefumi had been paired up with the guy with the tail, the two had been talking almost as if they knew each other. It was a small world, so perhaps that had been the case. Or maybe they met at the Entrance Exam? That too was also a possibility.

“ALRIGHT!” All Might’s voice boomed, catching everyone’s attention once more as he stood beside two boxes. The boxes had the titles “Hero” and “Villain” in bold capital letters. “Moving on, the first two teams who will be competing against one another are… THESE!” All Might pulled out two balls with the letters ‘A’ and ‘D.’

“The heroes are Team A! And the villains are Team D!” All Might declared, putting the balls off to the side before beginning another explanation, one that Yoshihara saw coming from a mile away.

“The villain team goes first! The timer starts in five minutes when the hero team sneaks in. The rest of us will watch via CCTV!” All Might stated, looking over to both teams. “Ida, Bakugo, you boys need to adopt a villain mindset! This is a practical experience, so go all out. Don’t hold back! Though, I will stop you if you take things too far….” All Might, tacking on the last bit as if to cover his ass if something bad truly did happen. Yoshihara frowned at this, though said nothing. Yoshihara, along with everyone else, was funnelled into the viewing room and watched the battle via the six monitors set up within the viewing room.

It. Was. Rough.

Izuku was never properly given a chance to fight back against Bakugo when he ambushed both him and Uraraka—who split up, which was dumb, and Bakugo took things a bit too far nearing the end.

Whatever he was doing caused All Might to step in and tell him to stop, though Bakugo ignored it and attacked Izuku anyway, unleashing a massive explosion that nearly took up the entire hallway. None of the other students could hear what was going on, but Yoshihara for one was not liking what it was she was seeing.

The battle concluded on the side of the heroes, spurred on by Izuku using his Quirk to blast a hole through six floors of the building, allowing Uraraka to take Ida by surprise, hug the bomb, and lead to their victory. However, as a result, Izuku’s entire right arm was destroyed.

Of course, everyone made comments on the battle, but Yoshihara had blocked them all out, even All Mights. All she wanted to do was watch the fight and analyze what was going on to better understand the fight and its fighters, yet she barely understood the absolute fury that was strewn across Bakugo’s face and the annoyance in Izuku’s.

Yoshihara knew that Bakugo hated Izuku with a passion. But Izuku? Well, of course, there was the pain behind the broken arm, but he wasn’t annoyed at the arm. He was annoyed with Bakugo, and through the pain, she could see anger.

He was angry with Bakugo. The words “angry” and “Izuku” didn’t mix. Not in her mind, anyway.  

The entire time the fight went on, Yoshihara watched with bated breath. Bakugo had taken things a step too far each time and seemed to have no remorse for his actions, hell, it even looked like he enjoyed doing it. While no one could hear their conversations, it was clear that Bakugo was the aggressor.

“That fucking asshole…. He’s not going to make it through this year, I’ll make damn sure of that….” Yoshihara thought, staring at Bakugo’s face on one of the cameras with murderous intent. He had no excuse, not even his anger was an excuse. She was going to make sure that he paid dearly for what he had done. One of these days, she was going to find a reason to beat him into the ground, and whether it killed him or not depended on how merciful she was feeling.

When the two teams, sans Izuku, who was with Recovery Girl getting his arm fixed, the group of three all lined up in front of All Might. He looked at them all with a judgmental eye, grading them internally. The awkward silence was broken by All Might as he spoke.

“Well, I’d say… the M.V.P in this battle was Ida!” All Might stated, causing shock, annoyance, and upset amongst the other three. Though Izuku wasn’t there to hear it, Yoshihara would’ve had to assume that he’d feel the latter.

“Not Uraraka, or Midoriya? Even though they won?” Tsuyu was the one to ask as All Might hummed.

“I wonder why? Does anyone know?!” All Might asked emphatically as Yaoyorozu spoke up beside Yoshihara.

“I do, All Might-Sensei,” Yaoyorozu said, clearing her throat to begin a lengthy explanation. “It’s because Ida was most able to adapt to the scenario. From what I saw, Bakugo’s every action was motivated by an obvious personal grudge. And as you mentioned before, sensei, using destructive attacks indoors is foolish.

Midoriya’s performance suffered from the same faults. Uraraka lost focus halfway through, and her final attack was far too haphazard. Such an attack would be unthinkable if the nuclear weapon were real.

But Ida formed an actual counter-strategy and he envisioned what the actual struggle would be like. He was only too late in reacting at the very end. The hero team only won because this was a training exercise with exploitable constraints.”

A wave of silence washed over the class, leaving everyone, including All Might, in awe of Yaoyorozu’s observational skills. Yoshihara had to blink a few times. She had been paired up with a genius! All Might coughed into his hand before speaking up to break the silence once more. “I-I’d also add that Ida was a bit too stiff but… Yes… You’re correct…!”

Yaoyorozu simply huffed, a flat expression on her face. “We’ve got to start at the bottom and work up! And if we don’t earnestly cheer each other on we’ll never be top heroes!” Yaoyorozu said, putting her hands on her hips. She was the number one recommended first year, after all, so she had to show it.

A new location had to be picked for the next battle, seeing as the previous building was destroyed, though it had the same idea. A tall building with three to four floors within. Team B - Shoji Mezou and Shoto Todoroki, and I – Mashiaro Ojiro and Josefumi Kujo were picked. Currently, the villain Team, Team I, was up on the top floor. Between the two teams, Josefumi’s team was a little bit more prepared than Team B.

Josefumi was looking out of the window as the two hero participants were hiding behind a corner, trying and failing to be sneaky. Silently, a bubble began to float down towards the back of Todoroki’s head, out of sight of both Shoji and Todoroki.

A wry smirk took up Josefumi’s face as Ojiro spoke up “So… what’s the plan, Kujo-san?” Ojiro asked as Josefumi looked over his shoulder to look at Ojiro, his smirk ever present.

“Please, call me Fumi-kun, we’re classmates, not strangers. Anyway, I think I should tell you a bit about my Quirk first and foremost,” Josefumi began, as he stood up straight. “My Quirk – Plunder, allows me to create bubbles out of my fingertips. These bubbles can steal an aspect from a person upon making contact with them, or if they pop in the area they are in. This extends to Quirks.” As Josefumi explained this, as if to prove a point, he pointed up his index finger and revealed a bubble with a star in the middle of it.

“W-What, you can steal Quirks?!” Ojiro said, freaking out as Josefumi shook his head, disappearing the bubble from his finger as he continued.

“Well, if we’re being technical, yeah. But I don’t keep them. I can shut it down and prevent them from using it. I can also do that with any part of the body. For example, I can make it so you can’t move your arm, blink, or even see. I could take the friction out of your feet, or I can make the floor slippery. I can render someone completely useless in a fight,” Josefumi corrected, his smirk ever-present. “The only issue is that I can only “steal” one thing at a time, and only with one person at a time.”

Technically, he wasn’t lying if he was simply explaining his Stand’s, Soft & Wet’s, Ability. It was what Kira was doing with her Killer Queen, so he didn’t see why he couldn’t do the same thing.

“Oh, okay. So, what’s the plan then? You seem to be thinking of something, so what is it?” Ojiro asked as Josefumi turned back to look out the window.

“Here’s the thing. I’ve already enacted it. Tell me, who do you think the person who is going to give us the most trouble is?” Josefumi asked as Ojiro hummed, leaning against the bomb.

“Well, I’d have to say it’s Todoroki, but I’m not sure I follow…” Ojiro said as Josefumi crossed his arms.

“Well, I asked All Might in advance if it was okay for me to set up my plan in advance, and he was okay with it. Right now, I have one of my plunder bubbles near Todoroki’s head. A little note about them is that since they’re see-through, you’d have to squint to see them, and since Todoroki is completely unaware of what my Quirk can do, he won’t even bother looking at it or thinking anything of it.

That will be his downfall. I plan to make him unable to use his Quirk, completely. I had a feeling that he’d try and freeze the whole building to prevent us from winning and take the easy win for him and his team. But I won’t let him do that. The moment that timer starts, that bubble is going to pop, and when it does… Todoroki will be rendered completely useless to his partner.”

Ojiro’s jaw dropped at the plan, but slowly, that shocked expression turned to an amused one. “I have to say, that’s genius of you, Fumi-kun. It sounds like you have battle experience already!” Ojiro said as Josefumi huffed.

“Trust me, when you’re related to the Joestars, it’s in one’s nature to be a tactical genius.” The timer buzzed, and the bubble popped, causing Todoroki to flinch. Rubbing the back of his head, he looked around, shrugged, and then entered the bottom floor of the building.

“Did it work?” Ojiro asked as Josefumi nodded.

“Let’s see how this plays out now… you thought you had the upper hand, Todoroki, but now you’re on a level playing field with the rest of us, Ojiro, we’re going to make our way to the bottom floor, let’s go!” Josefumi said, turning to the stairwell.

“But wait, what about the bomb?!” Ojiro shouted as Josefumi smirked.

“We don’t need to worry about it. They’ll be too busy trying to figure out why Todoroki’s Quirk isn’t working to focus on the bomb. Once we get down there, I need you to immobilize Shoji, that way we won’t have to deal with him. Now come on, let’s capture some heroes!” 

Meanwhile, Todoroki and Shoji stood at the bottom floor as Shoji’s multiple arms spread out, several mouths coming out from the webbing between them. “They’re running down here and leaving their bomb unprotected, I wonder why that is….” Shoji said, crossing his arms. “It might be a trap, they can’t be that stupid…,” he continued, looking at Todoroki.

“Get outside. It’s about to get frosty in here. Our opponents think they’re playing a defensive game, but….” As he stomped his foot down, attempting to shoot out ice, nothing came. Todoroki raised an eyebrow and did it again, but it failed.

“Uh… Todoroki, is everything alright?” Shoji asked, his tone of voice filled with concern as Todoroki’s eyes widened.

“No…! My Quirk, it’s not activating, but why?” Todoroki said looking at his hand, not even seeing any flakes of ice coming off of it. “Does one of them have a Quirk like Aizawa-sensei’s, or, perhaps… no, Aizawa-sensei wouldn’t be here, that’s improbable. So what the hell is going on?” “What are our enemies Quirks, Shoji?” Todoroki asked as he blinked.

“Ojiro’s is just called Tail for self-explanatory reasons, and Kujo’s is… actually, I don’t know. He barely used it on the apprehension test, and I didn’t see him in the entrance exam. Do you think…?” Shoji left the question unanswered when suddenly, alarms rang off in Todoroki’s head.

“That popping sound we heard at the beginning of the match. It sounded like a bubble! That bubble… I think it might have something to do with why I can’t use my Quirk. I can’t even feel my left or my right side. It’s almost as if—”

“As if it was shut down, right?” The sudden appearance of Josefumi caught the two off guard, his hands in his pockets as he smirked. His eyes locked with Todoroki’s, who presented a glare towards Josefumi.

“I knew you’d try something like that, attempting to freeze the whole building. It was a gut feeling, and I’m glad it paid off. My Quirk steals aspects from people, including Quirks. You’re fighting Quirkless now, leaving you open. So now, you have to rely on strategy to fight me. You can’t just one shot the entire building and make us look like fools!” Josefumi said, a glint in his eye.

“Shoji, take him out!” Todoroki commanded as the muscular boy ran towards him, yet Josefumi stood calm. As Shoji raised his hand to attack the teen, a tail smacked up against his head, the blow was hard enough to rattle his head, sending him to the ground unconscious. Landing on his feet, Ojiro bound Shoji’s arms together using his own capture tape, leaving a stunned Todoroki.

“WHAT?!” The confused shout of Todoroki echoed out in the building as Josefumi closed the distance between the two. Todoroki tried to react with a poorly choreographed punch, only for Josefumi to grab his wrist, forcing his arm up and out of the way, before landing an elbow to his gut.

Todoroki staggered back and attempted to close the distance, only for Kujo to kick him in the jaw, sending him to the ground. But Todoroki wasn’t finished. He wasn’t going to be embarrassed like this.

He was so used to using his Quirk that he never bothered to fight with his fists. He never figured he’d be put in a situation where he’d have to fight Quirkless, and it showed. As he stood up from the ground, showing that he could still fight, Josefumi closed the distance once again and grabbed him by the collar of his costume.

“Without your Quirk, you’re nothing. With a little bit of forethought and predetermined knowledge about me, you probably could’ve won,” reeling his fist back, Josefumi punched the confused Todoroki under the chin, causing him to fly backwards and onto his back once again, dazed and confused.

“But you were so caught up in your own plan to attack us that you never had the idea to think about who your opponents were,” Josefumi said, kneeling to Todoroki as he stared the boy in the eyes. One of the shoulders of his outfit slipped down just a bit to reveal a star-shaped birthmark on the back of his shoulder.

Todoroki’s eyes widened as his arms were bound by his own capture tape, courtesy of Josefumi. “Y-You’re a Joestar…! Damnit… I should have known. Kujo was the name of a famous hero before the time of Pro-heroes. You’re his great-grandson, aren’t you? The great-grandson of Jotaro Kujo.”

“Damn right, and don’t you ever forget it, Todoroki Shouto,” Josefumi said, picking him up by his taped wrist.

“THE VILLAIN TEAM WINS!” All Might announced as an annoyed Todoroki looked away. Josefumi snapped his fingers as the half-and-half boy felt his Quirk return to him. Overall, today had been a not-so-great day for Shoto Todoroki.

“I underestimated him. I now know not to do that in the future. I will not let something like this happen again. I’m a recommended Student, damnit, and I cracked under the pressure. He’s right. Without my Quirk, I’m nothing. I think I should fix that.” As Todoroki finished his train of thought, Ojiro slapped Shoji in the face, waking him up as Shoji slowly stood up.

“Did we…?”

“You lost. Hopefully, there are no hard feelings,” Josefumi said as Shoji nodded.

“Yeah. You simply outplayed us. Although, I have to ask, what exactly is your Quirk, Kujo-san?” Shoji asked as Josefumi walked beside him while the other two dashed ahead.

“First of all, it’s Fumi-kun, secondly, my Quirk is called Plunder. It allows me to steal an aspect of a person’s body, be it sight, hearing, touch, feeling, or even Quirks, rendering that part of them useless. It generates in the form of a bubble that comes out from my fingertips. I used it to deactivate Todoroki’s Quirk and pretty much guarantee our win,” Josefumi replied, earning a nod from Shoji.

“That’s a really good Quirk. I’m surprised you weren’t a recommended student,” Shoji said, walking out of the building with Josefumi. As for Josefumi, he scoffed, putting both of his hands behind the back of his head.

“I was originally going to be, but I changed my mind and rejected the recommendation. I wanted to get in on my own merits, not because my father wanted to recommend me to U.A. to get a fast pass. I love my old man, but I’d rather not be handheld by him all the time” Josefumi said, putting his hands back down to his sides.

Shoji smiled underneath his mask, nodding. “That’s rather considerate of you, Fumi-kun. But what would’ve happened if you didn’t make it into U.A.?” he asked as Josefumi shrugged.

“Probably work with the Speedwagon Foundation, considering my family owns it,” Josefumi replied. The rest of the walk back to the viewing room was silent as they picked up the pace.  

When the group of four made it into the observation room, All Might laughed heartily before clearing his throat. “Well done Villain Team! Now, who can tell me who the MVP of that battle was?” this time, it was Tsuyu who spoke up instead of Yaoyorozu.

“I think it was Kujo—”

“Call me Fumi-kun. That’s what everyone calls me, not Kujo-san or Kujo, please and thank you!” Josefumi interrupted as Tsuyu nodded. Yoshihara raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as Josefumi shushed her, turning her expression into a scowl.

“Right, sorry, Fumi-kun. He was MVP of the match, not only because of his planning ahead but also his use of his Quirk to neutralize Todoroki. Not only did he plan ahead, but he used his Quirk in such a manner that made it impossible to guess what it was until it was too late.

His positioning of the Quirk as well, having it behind Todoroki’s point of view, was also smart—ribbit—and his coordination with his teammate allowed for the plan to be conducted in a rather simple, easy-to-follow way so as not to confuse his teammate.”

As Tsuyu finished explaining, All Might nodded. “Well said, now, let’s move on to the next match! Team C, Yaoyorozu Momo, and Team G, Kaminari Denki and Jirou Kyoka! Team Heroes will be Team G and Team Villains will be Team C!” All Might said as the two teams stood up.

Yoshihara could feel the scathing glare at the back of her head, thanks to Jirou. She had no idea if it wa genuine hatred, or just determination to win. Either way, it didn’t matter, because Jirou wasn’t going to win.

She was going to lose. Horribly. After all, she needed to knock her ego down. What better way to do that than to utterly humiliate her in the process?

Regardless, win or lose, the goal was to humiliate Jirou. She had no real interest in winning, but if she could humble Jirou and get her to stop being a bitch, or at least start the process of doing so, then she’d take any chance she was given.

On the other side of things, Kyoka was annoyed. Why’d she have to fight against Kira over Kujo? She would’ve much rather fought against him, but she’d settle for someone in his group of friends.

Besides, from just a glance, Kira didn’t look like anything special. Kyoka had been in fights before, and she knew how to defend herself. While her explosive bubble Quirk was dangerous, it wouldn’t be dangerous if it never hit her.

While her ally, Kaminari, didn’t look that impressive himself, it was his Quirk that would aid them. Not that she figured she needed him to do anything. Maybe he could distract Yaoyorozu, but that was it.

She was going to win.

She was going to show Kujo that his friends were weak, and she’d revel in the look on his face when he saw one of his friends beaten to a pulp.

Maybe she was taking things a little too far, but she didn’t care. She’d do anything to spite that Joestar brat, even if it meant dragging her own name and reputation through the mud. Maybe, if her mother knew that she had made her uncle’s son cry, she’d stop hounding her and pushing her around.

“You got this. It’s just some scrawny-looking fancy-pants suit-wearing twit…”

“…What could possibly go wrong?”

-To Be Continued-

Chapter Text

[Revision of the chapter posted on: 2024-08-05]

[Kira Takes On U.A. – Part 3]

Kaminari was nervous. Then again, fighting against anyone who even looked like Kira was scary enough as it was, let alone the fact that her Quirk was extremely powerful—or so he had been told. The only thing he knew about Kira was that she was a recommended student with a powerful Quirk, so right off the hop, the matchup was going to be intense. And that was without the context that she had been paired up with Yaoyorozu Momo, another recommended student.

But of course, as luck may have it, there was something else about Kira that made Kaminari wary of her. Something that was just… unnatural. There was something about Kira that honestly scared him—something wrong. Something that made her seem… off.

There was this… aura around her that made him feel as if whenever he so much as looked in her direction, he was staring at a villain, not a hero in the making. That, at any moment, she could turn around and kill him or something to that effect.

Then… there was her eyes. 

Her eyes were empty, dull of life or emotion. When he first made eye contact with her this morning, he could’ve sworn he was staring at a corpse. But, evidently, that wasn’t the case. She was still alive, and when she noticed he was staring, she asked why he was staring at her.

He, of course, brushed it off, not wanting to give her the wrong idea. Just saying that he got lost in thought and she happened to be in his line of sight. She didn’t look convinced but let it slide. Either way, it didn’t matter. The point was that, she was creepy, and if that were all he would’ve been fine, but there was more.

The next thing that bothered him was her hero costume. It wasn’t that it was too flashy, or that, because she was a girl it was oversexualized like Yaoyorozu’s or, to an extent, Uraraka’s. It was that it was bland.

It was a basic pinkish-purple suit, a tie, a pair of fingerless gloves, and black dress shoes. There was no fanfare, there were no flashy add-ons, it was just a basic suit and tie. It was almost like it was purposely designed to make her look like a casual citizen. Someone who could blend into a crowd of people on their daily commute to work.

That made him think that she was planning on becoming an underground hero rather than a limelight one. There wasn’t anything wrong with that, but still, at least have some kind of padding, armour, or hell something that makes you stand out! Even Eraserhead had some merchandise.

But Kira… just looked like a businesswoman. Completely unbothered by anything—and that was something else he had a problem with. She showed zero emotion. Not when Midoriya was getting pummelled by Bakugo, or when Kujo disabled Todoroki’s Quirk and proceeded to jump Shoji and him with Ojiro!

It was almost like… she didn’t care.

But then, there was the glare she shot at Bakugo when he came back, so then what was it? Did she care and just not show it? Or was there something else that he didn’t know about? Not that he wanted to know, but he was curious.

Of course, there was Yaoyorozu and her equally as powerful Quirk to worry about, but that was neither here nor there. Sure, the daughter of the super-rich support item tycoon Takeo Yaoyorozu was no laughing matter, but she at least seemed normal. The difference lay in that. Yaoyorozu seemed like a nice person, while Kira did not.

It was that separation that made Kaminari nervous. The sheer difference of thought that the two must have had was dangerous when separated. But putting them together in a situation like this could only spell disaster for whoever they were fighting.

And so, with those thoughts dancing around in his head, Kaminari stood idly behind Jirou, his partner, as he adjusted his black jacket, dusting off the white thunder decals of the layer of dust that had encroached on its pristine colour. His pants, leather-based and great for conducting electricity, were also a shade of black, as were his shoes. His yellow eyes showed nervousness, though that was to be expected.

His partner, Jirou, showed none of that in her onyx eyes—as a matter of fact, it showed a level of competitiveness that Kaminari didn’t expect to see in someone as laid back as Jirou. Her wavy, short-cut hair sat firmly on her head as she fiddled with one of her earphone jacks, which was what her Quirk was. She wore a black leather jacket, a torn pink shirt, and black leather pants with massive speakers attached to her lower legs that also acted as boots.

Just when he thought his partner was normal, he encountered something very… similar to the thing he was complaining about with Kira. That being that aforementioned dark aura surrounding her. But unlike Kira, there was something debatably worse with Jirou that Kira lacked.

While it seemed at first that Jirou was normal, it had become very clear to him that she wasn’t. If anything, she wore her emotions on her sleeve, and they weren’t exactly pretty. When she was paired up with him he saw the disgust in her eyes, but that quickly went away when she looked him up and down, and sighed, that disgust being replaced with annoyance more than anything else.

But there was something else before that that had given him a negative impression of Jirou. Because when All Might came into the room—which was a pleasant surprise, to say the least—and when he announced that today’s class was a battle trial, like everyone else in the class, Jirou had a reaction.

And it was borderline mortifying.

If there was one thing that Kaminari knew well, it was body language. Why? Well, he blamed his mother. While his father was an electrician due to his Quirk “Electric Vaccum” his mother was a guidance counsellor for the criminally impaired. She worked at Jabberwock Prison in Esuha, and there she met a few interesting figures.

She would tell Kaminari stories of the crooks she had meetings with and told him how to spot how someone was feeling just by looking at them—what positions to look for, what the look in their eyes meant, and what their resting face told you about them.

People liked to think that Kaminari was stupid. But he wasn’t. His mother didn’t raise an idiot. It was only because he had an “electric personality” that caused others to believe he was a dumbass. Sure, he wasn’t the best in school, but he was emotionally smart. Moreover, thanks to his mom, he knew how to read people.

So if Kira was scary because she looked as if she was a blank slate, Jirou was terrifying because of the sheer amount of determination that she had to win this. But if that was all, then maybe he wouldn’t have minded being paired with Jirou.

But, of course, just like Kira, that wasn’t the case.

Because there was something else about her reaction that made him think that there was something seriously wrong with Jirou, and it was all thanks to the look she was giving Kujo when they were about to head out for at the beginning of class.

It screamed, “I’m going murder you, and there will be nothing anyone can do about it.”

Of course, he didn’t think she could, especially after that recent showing of Kujo’s, but the fact that she looked at him like that meant that there was some prior history between them. Whatever that history was, he didn’t care to know about it. What he did care about was her reaction when they didn’t get paired up to fight him.

She got mad.

She got really mad.

But it wasn’t the loud kind of anger. It was the silent kind of anger. The kind you’d ascribe to a psychopath. The way her hands clenched into fists so tightly that the fabric on her gloves tensed to the point of nearly breaking, or the scowl on her face nearly revealing her gritted teeth, or that downright furious look in her eyes that screamed “How dare you!”

It was like she was about to lose her mind, made even worse when he won. But, of course, she didn’t make her anger known. She kept it to herself, and her reaction to his winning seemed to be for her to deflate like a balloon and relax. As if she had gotten to a point of rage that developed into a calmness.

Or, she was going to apply that to this battle and take her anger out on their current opponents. Or, if he was unlucky, she’d take it out on him. And if that was the case, then he really didn’t want to be in the same building as her. But, unfortunately, because they were a team, and because they were placed here by All Might to wait until the allotted time the villain team got to prepare was up, he was stuck in the same general area with her.    

They had yet to have been given the all-clear to be deployed out for the training exercise by All Might, leaving them standing by their lonesome out in front of the faux city gates. To be honest, Kaminari kinda of hoped that it would remain that way—only so he could get his barrings, he wasn't scared or anything, no-sir!

But, it was getting dreadfully silent. So, out of sheer boredom, he decided to test his luck and strike up a conversation with Jirou. 

"So, um… do you got a plan or something, uh, Jirou-san?" Kaminari asked as Jirou looked over her shoulder. Immediately, he flinched. Why? Well, it was because of the fury in her eyes. The burning hatred that was there, for even just a moment. It was like he had disrupted a funeral or something. He just hoped it wasn’t directed at him.

"Not particularly. If I had to guess, Kira is going to be the attacker in this situation, while Yaoyorozu is going to be laying it thick with defence,” Jirou paused, setting her jaw as she blinked. When her eyes reopened, the vitriol and hate were gone, replaced with a cover of trepidation as she began to twirl aimlessly with her jacks.

“My jacks can plug into walls, which allows me to hear vibrations, so I can tell if someone is moving around. If we can get the jump on Kira, we can overwhelm Yaoyorozu and take the bomb. There, that's the plan, okay?" Jirou said, turning her head away from facing Kaminari. After the shiver of fear was gone, Kaminari sighed, chewing the inside of his cheek.

The plan was interesting, and in theory, it could work. But there were a lot of things that could go wrong, at least in Kaminari's opinion. He wanted to strike up his own ideas, but with the way that she had looked at him, with eyes that basically said "do not object" he felt like it was a bad idea.

He got the idea that Jirou was all about “her way or the highway” and that was the worst kind of person to get involved with. He would know, his cousin was one of them. There was a reason why he never talked to Kasuga anymore…

They stayed there in silence, waiting for the buzzer for what felt like ages. Neither Jirou nor Kaminari tried to strike up a conversation, and as the electronic clock ticked down to zero, the buzzer echoed out and the gates to the faux city opened. Jirou pulled out a map from her jacket, opening it up and pointing at the X planted on one of the buildings.

"This is where the building is, just down this corner and to the right. We gotta disarm that nuke before it blows up the city," Jirou said, faux concern in her voice as she put the map back into her jacket. Kaminari was taken aback by her acting skills, and a part of him wanted to get in on the act, but he had to take it seriously. Besides, the last thing he wanted to do was to overdo it like Ida did.

"Y-Yeah, sure thing!" Kaminari responded as the pair ran towards the objective. As they got closer to the building, Jirou ran ahead of Kaminari, crouched beside the entrance of the building, and then plugged one of her jacks into the wall.

"Top floor, they seem to be pacing. Did they not make up a plan or something?" Jirou thought aloud before shaking her head. "They're up there, we can get them by surprise!" Jirou continued, unplugging her earphone jack from the wall, and taking a step into the building. But before she could enter, a group of bubbles flew out of the ground, all with skull-shaped iconography within them.

As soon as they appeared, Kaminari's eyes widened. He knew what those bubbles meant—he had seen them in action on the first day at the apprehension test—and by the time he had realized what it was they were, it had already been too late.

"JIROU! GET BACK!"

"huh?—"

Time seemed to slow down, as when the multiple explosions ripped through the air, they shattered the nearby windows of the buildings surrounding them, and having been caught in the middle of the explosion, Jirou had to take all of that.

Jirou was thrown back, and hard. Surprisingly, though, that was the worst part of the explosion—the actual blast. The actual damage done to Jirou wasn’t nearly all that bad. Parts of her costume were burned, and her face had minor burns, particularly around the left side of her face which took the brunt of the explosion, but aside from that, when she went down, that was all he noticed.

At first, anyway.

When he got a proper look at what happened, that was when he noticed the myriad of cuts—some deep, others surface level. The worst of the cuts were around the left side of her body, primarily around her cheekbones, lips, chin, and parts of her neck—though thankfully nowhere near the jugular.

It was also there that he noticed a large chunk of her costume was done on the left shoulder, which was where the absolute worst injury was, which was a deep five-inch long gash that had appeared with a large burn that surrounded the wound.

Dotting her left arm were a bunch of minor cuts, but aside from that, she was fine. Sure parts of her costume were burned and exposed some skin but it wasn’t anything major. Out of everything, though, it was that gash that was the most concerning.

Kaminari wasted no time rushing to her side to help her up, as she had been mostly focused on the gash in her shoulder. From her expression alone he noticed that she was fighting back tears of pain. But aside from that, there was a deep anger in her eyes that pointed out to Kaminari that she was furious—as she should be, especially because of how much damage Kira’s bombs had done to her.

Which… wasn’t that a topic. Without even confronting them, Kira had already completely taken Jirou out of the picture—because no way in hell All Might-Sensei was going to keep her in the exorcise.

And to prove his point, not even a second later, All Might came in over the speaker.

“Kaminari, keep Jirou there, medical robots are on their way to pick her up. I’m going to end the—”

“No, I can still fight!” Kaminari interrupted, staring straight ahead as Jirou looked up at him, narrowing her eyes despite the pain.

“A-Are you mental?! Y-You saw what those—ow…!” Jirou stopped herself, clutching her heavily wounded shoulder as blood seeped down and around it. She was running on adrenaline, which was obvious. The moment it ended, though, was probably when all of that pain that was being held back would unleash and that was something he didn’t want to be here for.

“Kaminari, I cannot in good conscience continue this. Especially after what just happened. Do not argue with me on this,” All Might replied as Kaminari swallowed down the growing tension in his chest, but before he could think whatever the situation was through, he blurted something out without thinking.

“With all due respect, All Might-Sensei, it’s a hero's job to stop the villain, is it not?” Kaminari retorted, his heart pounding in his chest. Was he really arguing with All Might? “If this was a real situation, then I’d be leaving an active crime scene with a nuclear weapon about to go off. I cannot, in conscience, allow that to happen, All Might-Sensei.”

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, while at the same time, the medical robots appeared to take Jirou away. Kaminari passed her off to them as gently as he could, and when they put her on the stretcher, he watched as they disappeared with her. Finally, All Might responded.

“Very well. Spoken like a true hero, Young Kaminari! Be careful, keep a straight face and push forward," All Might said, the connection cutting. Kaminari sighed, staring toward the building. A full minute and a half passed just for that to transpire. The trap had succeeded in delaying him and also taking out a vital teammate in the exercise.

He was alone, and he had to face two recommended students. One that, if it hadn’t been obvious by now, had some form of battle experience from what he could tell, and the other was Yaoyorozu Momo, who had a pretty overpowered Quirk and a smart mind to back it up.

"Luck does not seem to be in the favour of Kaminari Denki today, no sir!" He thought, shuttering, before slapping his face with both hands and taking the plunge. He was going to win, and that was that. If he lost, he’d look like a fool.

Back in the viewing room, the other members of Class 1 - A had been watching everything unfold, and out of everyone in the room, Ida was the one to speak up first. "All Might-Sensei! Shouldn't you reprimand Kira-san for her actions toward harming Jirou-san in such a horrible way?!" Ida asked as All Might hummed.

“You’re correct, Young Ida. Young Jirou was injured horribly by that attack. But, until I can confirm something with Young Kira, I’ll be holding my tongue. That being said, take this as a lesson. In a real scenario, you won’t have the chance to pull out in a dangerous situation such as this. As Young Kaminari said to me before I gave the all-clear to continue this trial, it is a hero’s job to stop the villain. If it means risking life and limb, then that is what a hero does.”

All Might paused, staring at the screens with intent. “While what Young Kira did was dangerous, I would like to believe she wouldn’t use a full power bomb to attack another student like that on purpose.”

“Uh, All Might-Sensei? I-I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but that wasn’t a full-power bomb from Kira-san,” Kujo spoke up, catching All Might’s attention rather quickly.

“What do you mean, Young Kujo?” All Might asked, looking over to him as Kujo chuckled nervously.

“W-Well, I happen to know Kira-san outside of school, and when I was over at her place once, when she was taking out the trash, rather than go down to the garbage bins, she used her Quirk. All of the trash that was in the bag, and the bag included, were, uh… vaporized,” Kujo answered as another student, Ashido, spoke up.

“Huh?!” Ashido exclaimed as Kujo grimly nodded.

“Yeah… As you said, All Might, Kira-san would never use that powerful of an attack on a living being—not intentionally, I don’t think. I don’t know how weak she can set her bombs to, but I’m pretty sure that’s the weakest—or at the very least, it’s as weak as she can make them currently,” Kujo continued as All Might grimaced.

“I see. Thank you for telling me this, Young Kujo. It seems I’m going to have to have a word with Young Kira after this is over…”

As All Might turned back to the screen, Josefumi felt his heart slowly calm down. Having to run defence for his ally and friend against All Might was not something he had ever planned on doing until that moment. But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why Kira had planted such powerful bombs in the front doorway.

Unless, of course, he was right, and it had been an accident—which he wanted to believe, but given everything that he knew about her, it didn’t seem to be the case. Kira was a very deliberate person. Once she set herself to something, she did it, consequences be damned.

So, just like what All Might was going to do, he was going to hold his tongue he confirmed something with Kira. Until then, he’d level a critical eye toward what was happening on the monitors, and move on.

While other students in the class seemed to have a bit of a problem with letting the trial continue, All Might didn’t seem like he was going to budge on his decision. Out of everyone in the room, it was Ida who was the most frustrated, especially given how… violent the result had been.

What he couldn’t wrap his head around was why. Why use so much force on another individual? It was completely unnecessary—especially to a fellow student! When he met Kira yesterday, he got the impression that she was a good individual, but to go out of her way to do that…

It didn’t paint a good picture of her, that was for sure.

Others in the class had similar opinions, except Bakugo. He was still focused on the fact that he hadn’t been seeing things yesterday. That Blondie really did have an explosion Quirk. Which, once again, made their initial meeting at Aldera confusing, because if her Quirk was an explosion-based Quirk, then what was it that had punched him in the face that day?

He knew the difference between the force from an explosion and the force of a fist, and what he felt that day was the force of a fist. So, unless that was someone else in the classroom taking advantage of the situation at the time, then how the hell could Blondie have two Quirks?

“Unless she’s lying about something, like shitty Deku…” Bakugo thought, a scowl taking up his visage. Something definitely wasn’t right here, and now, he wanted to get to the bottom of it. But the question was how? Don’t get him wrong, he wanted to know what the fuck was happening, but he wasn’t about to dive head-first into this.

He needed to wait. Needed to have a reason before jumping in to figure out what the fuck was going on. He was going to figure out the truth behind what Blondie was hiding, and once he did, he’d air that shit out for the whole class and, probably, the school. Because if there was one thing that Bakugo loathed, it was secrets.    

Back on the battlefield, Kaminari scooped up a few bits of rubble from the ground by the entrance, then stepped into the building. He had eight rocks in total, meaning he could pre-emptively set off eight potential booby traps—that was, of course, if they were motion-triggered. He didn't have long to secure the bomb or at the very least knock out both of the "villains," but he had a sure-fire way of doing so.

The only catch was actually making it to them before the timer ran out.

Due to his control over the electricity that he had in his body, he could generate enough electricity to knock someone out, or "paralyze them" long enough so that he could seize victory. But for him to get to that point and unleash his attack, which he fittingly dubbed "25-volt paralyze blast," he would have to reach the bomb and, subsequently, Kira and Yaoyorozu.

Now, that would've been easy, had he not been met with a choice.

In front of him were three hallways, one sprouting off to the left, the other sprouting off to the right, and one straight down the middle. He couldn't see down any of them due to the severe lack of lighting. He theorized, however, that If one had a booby trap, then that would lead him down the correct path to the stairwell.

Was this flawed logic? Yes, but it was the only thing he had to go off of, and he'd be damned if he had ended up like Jirou had and threw the match. Plus, no self-respecting hero-in-training would give up because of a small hiccup—especially if a nuclear weapon had been involved. Granted, this wasn't a real nuclear bomb, but All Might did say to treat it as a real situation.

So with that in mind, he threw the first stone down the middle hallway, and the result was nothing. That marked one off the list of the three options that had been presented to him.

Collecting the stone, he returned to the entrance and threw one of the stones down the right hallway, and it had a boobytrap. The bubbles that launched up from the ground exploded, leaving nothing of the stone that he had thrown. So, with that in mind, he walked down the hallway, and sure enough, it led to the staircase.

He was met with the same three decisions, and each time he would throw a rock down one of the hallways. It even became somewhat of a pattern, and some of the hallways even doubled up—thankfully a single rock took care of them—and some even had boobytraps that didn't lead to the staircase of that respective floor, which was smart on Kira's part, but that still didn't mean he wasn't going to continue his plan.

The rest of the way up the building went something along the lines of this:

Middle—nothing—a dead end.

Left—Booby trap!—a dead end.

Right—nothing—go down, staircase, next floor.

Middle—double booby trap—a dead end.

Left—nothing—a dead end.

Right—booby trap!—go down, staircase, next floor.

This pattern continued till he got to the fifth floor, where he was met with a straightaway, a staircase, and no booby trap. There was still a decent amount of time on the clock, six minutes to be exact, and he had two rocks to his name.

He stared up the final staircase, narrowing his eyes. He threw one of the stones to the stairs, just to make sure it wasn't booby-trapped, and thankfully it wasn't. He picked up the rock and continued on his way up the stairs. Once he got to the top floor, he was met with a door. He again threw a rock, and there was no boobytrap.

He was beginning to think he was walking into a trap. Neither of them had left the room since he entered the building, so he felt as if something had to have been set up. There was no way in hell they didn't have something planned for him once he opened that door. So with that in mind, he had an idea.

He stood beside the door and grabbed the handle. Pushing down on the door handle, he let the door drift open, and when it did, a massive explosion erupted from the room, and a cannonball came flying out. Of course, the cannonball had been made of rubber—so maybe calling it a rubber ball would've suited it more, but still!

The ball bounced against the wall, then ping-ponged around the small room before the room with the bomb, causing Kaminari to press himself up against the wall beside the door. It eventually stopped, coming to a halt in the middle of the room.

Kaminari's heart was racing. Had he been bit by that ball, he would've been knocked out and lost the round. Thankfully that hadn't been the case, but there was probably a chance that it would've been so if he didn't do what he had done.

"HOLY SHIT! That was a close one!" Kaminari thought, coughing into his hand. Now with no more distractions or reasons to not step into the doorway and confront the "villains," he stepped into the doorway, made a mock gun out of his index finger and his thumb, then smirked, aiming it directly at Yaoyorozu. She stepped back in confusion, a rubber ball in her hand and a cannon to her left. Before she could do anything, Kaminari's fingers began to glow with electricity as he let out his attack.

"25-volt paralyzing blast!" Kaminari said, shooting directly at Yaoyorozu, who attempted to dodge out of the way, only to be hit by the lightning-fast attack. The moment the attack hit her, it caused her to freeze up and fall to the floor. Electricity danced around her as she twitched, lying down on the concrete.

The attack wasn't fatal—he made sure of that—then pointed towards where he had hoped Kira would be, which was next to or somewhere next to the bomb, had been, only to notice she wasn't there. In fact, as he looked around the room, it had been practically empty—say aside from the bomb.

There were three windows all of which were opened, and the bomb had been smack dab in the center of the room. It was alluring, the idea of running up to get the easy victory, but it seemed like that would've been too easy.

"Why does this feel like a trap?" Then, he saw her out of the corner of his eye. Coming at him with a karate chop aimed at his neck, was Kira. Kaminari jumped back just enough to avoid the swing, only to be met with a swift right jab aimed directly at his gut, which landed, causing him to double over in pain.

"Urgk…!" Kaminari grunted. When he bent down, he received a high kick to the nose, making him stagger backwards, as blood dribbled down from his nose and now split lip. During the impromptu pummeling, Kira remained silent, giving him a cold glare. She wasn't trying to taunt him, nor was she trying to make him feel like an equal. She was solely focused on beating him to attain victory.

He scrambled to protect himself, putting his arms up to block another hit to the chest. He returned the favour, balling up his fist to try and sock her in the jaw, but she simply moved it out of the way and punched him in the shoulder, making him stagger again. She was physically strong, which again, made sense since she was a recommended student—but damn if it didn't hurt!

Kaminari got into some defensive stances his dad had taught him and began to block as many attacks as possible, being pushed back by each one. It was hard to ignore, but it was obvious that Kira was a professional. She had to have had some sort of formal martial arts training. The attacks she was dishing out were stuff he had seen in Karate movies and kung-fu movies—of course not with the same finesse, but still.

And it was because of that lack of mastery, she left a small opening right on her chest. It was embarrassing to do, and he knew it could get him some snide remarks from the other girls, but it wasn't like he had any other choice in the matter—it wasn't as if he wanted to touch Kira's chest, but again, what other choice did he have?

As soon as she went in for a grapple, Kaminari took the chance to slam his hand into her chest, making her face turn beat red, stunning her for a split second, which was all he needed. "25-volt paralyzing blast!" Kaminari said, zapping Kira, causing her to fall backward onto the floor—again, another non-fatal attack.

"Sorry, Kira, but I had no other choice. Hope I didn't offend ya!" Kaminari remarked, breathing heavily as All Might's voice came over the speakers.

"The Villain team is unable to continue thus Hero Team Wins! Please report back to the viewing room for assessment!" As All Might finished talking, Kaminari let out a sigh of relief. He had won, thank god. He walked over to both Yaoyorozu and Kira and stood them up, both of whom shook their heads.

Kira gave Kaminari a sharp, pointed glare, her face still red, and it caused Kaminari to clam up. And just like that, all of the bravado he had been feeling upon his victory had been lost, all thanks to the angry stare of a woman.

"I-I, Uh—"

"Don't. Not another word." Kira's blunt answer was enough for Kaminari, her face still red as she walked out of the doorway and out of sight, straightening her tie as she walked. Kaminari and Yaoyorozu walked back in silence, following just behind Kira as they made their way to the viewing room.

He had felt a bit awkward for touching a girl's chest of all things. He couldn't say it was an accident because up until that point, she had been well guarded and that had been the only place where he could've striked, as it was the only opening that he could've seen in the frantic flurry of action that the small scuffle had been.

Once he had returned to the viewing room, he was greeted by All Might smiling at him. "Good job Kaminari! You were not only able to win on behalf of Jirou, but you did so in a professional way! I think it is obvious who the M.V.P. of that match was!" All Might declared as Kaminari looked away with embarrassment.

"T-Thank you, All Might-Sensei!" Kaminari said, bowing quickly before taking his seat.

“Now, before we continue, there is something I have to address first and foremost. Kira,” All Might began, looking over to her, as she raised an eyebrow.

“Is there a problem, All Might-Sensei?” Yosihhara asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, there is. Those bombs you planted at the entrance of the building, are you aware of how powerful they were?”All Might asked as Yoshihara blinked, confusion taking up her visage. How powerful they were? What was he on about?

“What do you mean? Did something happen?” Yoshihara asked, concern leaking into her words.

“Yes, something did happen. Given your response, I take it that it was unintentional. But, Young Jirou had to be taken to the infirmary due to a grievous wound she had suffered thanks to the trap you laid at the entrance of the villain base for the test. To be specific, she had a particularly nasty wound that looked rather deep and was bleeding fairly badly,” All Might answered as Yoshihara flinched.

That… wasn’t supposed to happen. At most, the only thing that was supposed to happen was for Jirou to receive some papercuts, but not that. “Will… will she be alright?”

All Might nodded. “Yes, she should recover just fine with Recovery Girl. But, I hope this shows you just how dangerous your Quirk can be. After this is over, I want you to go to the infirmary and apologize to Young Jirou. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir…”   

"Very well, then let us continue the exercise! The next teams will be…!"

The fights continued into the end of the day, ending with Koda Koji and Rikido Sata vs Asui Tsuyu and Tokoyami Fumikage, with the latter being the victors. Team Asui had been the villains, and Team Koji had been the heroes. The fight wasn't as interesting to watch as some of the other fights had been, but Yoshihara simply chalked it up to being tired.

While she had been upset that she had hurt Jirou as badly as she had, that wasn’t what she was focusing on at the moment. She had been humiliated! She had thought up a plan to let them win, and if push came to shove Yaoyorozu's canon would've come in to finish it. But that Kaminari kid… was smarter than she had thought.

Yoshihara had thought that he was dumb after seeing him in the other classes, but it was clear that hadn't been the case, at least in a pinch. Not only had he beaten her, despite it seeming that she was beating him when they fought one-on-one, but he had also touched her chest! The bastard had touched her chest!

Of course, it wasn't on purpose, at least she thought so, but the point still stood! She was upset, but she wasn't going to let that spoil her mood any more than it already had. The class had ended after that last match, and everyone was gathered at the entrance of the testing facility where it would lead back into the change rooms to get back into school uniforms, then head for home.

Yoshihara stood beside Josefumi, who had been side-glancing her from time to time, almost as if he wanted to talk to her about something. Just before they were about to leave, All Might spoke up in front of everyone.

"Well done, everyone! No serious injuries, apart from Midoriya's and Jirou's! Great teamwork, though! You all did splendidly, considering this was your first training exercise!" All Might said before turning around. A boy with rounded elbows, Hanta Sero if she had remembered correctly, spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.

"Coming after Aizawa-sensei, such a straightforward class is… almost a letdown…." Sero said as All Might responded almost immediately.

"We teachers are free to hold no-nonsense classes if we choose! Now, I'm off to give Midoriya and Jirou their evaluations! Change out of those costumes and head back to the classroom!" And with that, All Might disappeared in a cloud of smoke generated by his fast running speed. Before Yoshihara left to go get changed, Josefumi elbowed her gently on the shoulder, gaining her attention.

"Hey, after you get changed, meet me in the hallway across from our classroom, I need to tell you about what I found out about it. Okay?" Josefumi whispered as Yoshihara nodded, not even needing the context of what it was Josefumi was talking about. If he had more information on The Stand Bullets, then she was going to need it.

Once getting into the changing room and walking to her locker, which she unlocked and opened, Yoshihara pulled out the suitcase her costume came in. Opening the case on the bench splitting the change room in two, she began to take off her suit and folded it nicely so that everything would fit within the case.

And that was when a gasp erupted through the changing room. The gasp came from Ashido who covered her mouth from shock, and the gasp drew attention directly to Yoshihara, and in that moment, her face lost all colour. She had forgotten that in her stupor of thinking about what Josefumi had spoken about, she hadn't changed in one of the stalls, meaning her skin had been exposed to the air.

The scar-riddled skin on her back, shoulders, and parts of her arms, had been exposed to the air for everyone to see. Scars that she never intended anyone to see were now open for every one of her female classmates, sans Jirou, to see.

There were scars of all types on her back—deep ones, shallow ones, some thin some thick. All of them were random, there was no rhyme or reason for them. They coated every inch of Kira’s back, moving onto her upper arms and shoulders. Some were shallow, others weren’t, and they were all discoloured in some way or another. The worst scar of them all, however, had to be the one that went down her back in the form of a deep, almost entrenched slash.

She remembered how she got that scar. It was one of her first. In fact, it was the first. She remembered how she got it… and it hurt just thinking about it. She remembered the feeling of the blade digging into her back, dragging down from her left shoulder to her right hip. That Bitch had done so three times, imitating a claw slash, just so that if anyone asked she could lie about it.

She had gotten that scar at five years old.

But of course, nobody else really talked about that one in particular, and when everyone saw her scars, all eyes were on her. And the first person who spoke up in Yoshihara's building panic was Uraraka.

"O-Oh my god, Kira-san what happened to you?!" Uraraka’s voice was shaky and had Yosihhara bothered to stare any of them in the face, she would've seen that all colour had drained from their faces, except for Mina, whose skin turned a lighter shade of pink.

Her eyes were covered in shadow, her head lowered as sweat dripped off of her face from the panic that had been slowly encroaching on her. She didn't want to feel panic, she didn't want to have a panic attack in front of everyone, so she pushed past the panic that had been arising and spoke a simple, yet shaky, sentence.

"I am fine. Nothing is going on with me anymore. Please do not ask where they came from. Please…." Her tone of voice was almost on a begging level because, in all honesty, that was what it was. She was begging for them to shut up. She just wanted to get changed, talk to Josefumi, then get home without having to look anyone in the eye.

And thankfully, as if some ethereal being granted her wish, nobody else said a word. With that grace of an opportunity she had, Yoshihara quickly finished getting undressed and put on her school uniform. She closed up her suitcase that had her hero costume in it, then bolted out of the locker room, forgetting to lock up her now empty locker.

She stormed off to the meeting location that Josefumi had set and waited there patiently, tapping her foot to the sound of her heartbeat. She had come extremely close to having a meltdown in the locker room, and for obvious reasons, too. Thankfully, it had been avoided.

The less she thought about it, the better. Besides, it will never happen again.

It didn't take long for Josefumi to show up, and by the time he did, Yoshihara had calmed down enough that she could hold a conversation. When Josefumi approached, he got close to her, so much so that he could say all that it was he wanted to say without any of the cameras picking up their voices.

"I'll have to keep this brief, seeing as I don't want either of us to be late to catch the train, but a source of mine mentioned that he is in cohorts with someone who knows another person who is in league with the people who are creating the bullets. He didn’t elaborate, but he’s a trusted agent of ours, and he’s deep in undercover at the moment," Kujo said as Yoshihara hummed.

"Is that all?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as Josefumi nodded.

"Unfortunatly, yes. It's not a massive lead, but it's better than what we had before, which was nothing. Now let's get back to class so Aizawa-sensei can dismiss us," Josefumi said, the pair now making their way to their classroom. As soon as they did, Aizawa, who had been mid-nap, dismissed everyone without a second thought, going back to sleep after the fact. She had to assume that he had been tired from working all day.

Once she was dismissed, she made her way to the infirmary on the other side of the school. A part of her didn’t want to apologize to Jirou due to how much of a jerk she had been, but she didn’t deserve to be hurt as badly as she had been.

As she made her way to the infirmary, she bumped into someone, and when their shoulders collided, they both stopped for a brief second to see who had bumped into who. The person in question had short, dark green hair with yellow highlights, and narrowed brown eyes. Notably, she had a golden crown-shaped headband in her hair and didn’t look the least bit happy. The person, a female student, glowered at Yoshihara and huffed.

“Watch where you’re going,” she hissed, before continuing down the hall. But, Yoshihara was caught up in something. Something that had couldn’t help but think about, especially given what Kujo had said to her all those weeks ago.

“Stand Users attract other Stand Users…. Those were his words, and for some reason, I feel drawn to that girl. Could… she be a Stand User?” Yoshihara thought, watching as that girl faded into the crowd of students making their way home. “Well, if she is, she didn’t seem interested in starting a fight in the middle of the hall.”

With that, Yoshihara continued making her way down to the infirmary, and luckily, it wasn’t much further from where she had bumped into that potential Stand User. When she entered the infirmary, Yoshihara knocked first, getting the attention of the aforementioned Recovery Girl.

She was small—like, really small. She easily stood around 115cm, so around 4 feet tall, and she looked like she was about ready to enter a nursing home. She had gray hair, which was to be expected for someone as old as she appeared. Her hair was styled in a netted bun, with a large syringe poking diagonally out of it to the left.

Her eyes looked closed, but clearly, that wasn’t the case. If one squinted, you could make out light blue eyes just peeking out from her eyelids, which made Yoshihara question if she was even capable of being a nurse due to her age.

She was dressed in a doctor's lab coat, a yellow dress with a red vest-like design, and a belt with a large pink R buckle around her wrist. Large boots that went up past the end of her dress made up her footwear, and she had a purple-tinted visor over her eyes. Then, of course, was the large cane that looked like a syringe that she used to walk around.

“Ah… that oaf Ya—I mean, All Might said that you would be here, Kira,” Recovery Girl said, her voice sweet and caring, though there was a noticeably annoyed undertone. “Tell me, girl. What gave you the idea to use deadly force against a classmate?”

“It was an accident, Recovery Girl,” Yoshihara replied, anxiously rubbing the back of her neck. “I never intended to use that much force. I had set my bubble bombs to be extremely weak, but I guess I didn’t think about how much force multiple of them going off at once would have…” Yoshihara continued as Recovery Girl sighed.

“You know, deary, you can be honest with me. Drop the act,” Recovery Girl said, confusing Yoshihara as she blinked.

“Act?” Yoshihara probed as Recovery Girl sighed.

“The fake emotion, deary. That’s what I mean. You can fool a lot of people, but not me. I’ve met one too many Sociopaths before, and I know how to spot their deception,” Recovery Girl said, and just like that, the mask slid off entirely, as Yoshihara’s typical cold expression replaced the faux remorse that had taken up her visage.

“Very well. If that’s what you want, then I’ll oblige,” Yoshihara spoke, her tone robotic and hollow. “But you do believe me when I say it was an accident, yes?”

“Of course. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come here. I know being a Sociopath doesn’t mean you are without empathy entirely. It’s simply muted, and with time, it can be fixed. Considering you’re aiming to be a hero, that more than proves your willingness to be a good person. Even if it’s to conform with society's standards,” Recovery Girl answered, turning her back to Yoshihara, who took a seat in one of the nearby chairs.

The infirmary wasn’t all that large. She could see to the end of it with a quick glance. Three beds lined each side of the room, and no one seemed to be in any of them, except for Jirou, who was dead asleep in the closest one.

“Why is Jirou asleep?” Yoshihara asked as Recovery Girl spoke.

“Because of her wounds. I had to put her under so that I could work on the large gash in her shoulder. You realize that it went down to the bone, correct? You’re lucky that my Quirk can fix this wound up fast, among other drugs and Quirk-enhanced medicine. She’ll likely be here the whole night, though. Which means I won’t be going home anytime soon.”

“I could aid you if you’d like. All I’d have to do is call my Guardian, and she would give me the okay,” Yoshihara answered as Recovery Girl waved her offer away.

“No thank you, deary. Don’t get me wrong, I would love the help, but I’d rather it be from someone who has some medical knowledge than without. That, and I doubt that Jirou would want to see your face after what you did. If I were her, I’d hold a pretty large grudge against you,” Recovery Girl said, turning to face Yoshihara after having finished kissing Jirou’s arm.

Yoshihara was confused at first until she noticed the minor cuts and burns begin to slowly fade away. Recovery Girl sighed, wiping sweat off her forehead. “Oh dear, I’m starting to get tired…”

“And you’re absolutely sure you do not need my assistance in any way whatsoever, Recovery Girl?” Yoshihara questioned, as Recovery Girl smiled.

“I appreciate you’re willingness to help. Despite your flaws, you seem like a good person. But I’m sure you’re tired and that you want to go home. You’re a growing young lady, and you need your rest. Go home, Kira,” Recovery Girl replied as Yoshihara stood up from the chair she was sitting in, and approached the door to exit the infirmary.

Before she did, however, she looked over her shoulder, the mask back on her face that replaced the cold, dead look that she usually had on with one of “earnest remorse,” as she spoke. “Tell Jirou that I’m sorry about the wound when she wakes up next.”

“Of course. Now run along. You’re going to wind up late for your train.

And with that, Yoshihara walked away, leaving Recovery Girl to take care of Jirou. As she did, she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, even through her mask. Seeing Jirou look as helpless as she did… even if she was a jerk, she didn’t deserve that.

“I need to work on weakening my bombs, it would seem…” Yoshihara thought as she made her way to the exit of the school.

Tomorrow was another day.

[XXXX]

Lurking in a bar, somewhere far away in Kamino Ward, specifically Yokohama, sat a man shrouded in darkness, looking at a newspaper. Just adjacent to him was a man covered in many hands, a glare of hatred in his crimson-red eyes. His hair was a bright teal, and he wore a pure black jumpsuit.

Behind the bar counter was a man made entirely of black mist, and he was wearing a metal brace of some sort around his neck. Additionally, he wore a blueish-black button-up vest and a white shirt, along with a pair of black pants and shoes.

In the newspaper was an article that read: "All Might becomes a teacher at U.A. High!" The man completely covered in darkness smirked, adjusting his seating position to have one leg over the other, revealing the fact that he had been wearing an orange pinstripe suit. He placed the newspaper down on the counter, purple eyes staring into the hand-covered man's crimson-red ones.

"You see this? It says here he's a teacher at U.A. now... very interesting, don't you think, Tomura Shigaraki?" The man, Blackwell, said, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"Hmm...." Tomura started, looking at the newspaper. "Now what would happen... If villains... killed the symbol of peace?" Tomura asked, his voice hoarse, almost as if he hadn't drunk any water in years.

Blackwell’s smirk increased, letting out a small huff of air. "I'll tell ya what. I'm a betting man, and considering you have... that thing over there," he gestured over to a massive hulking bird-like creature with sharp, disgusting-looking teeth and an exposed brain, "If I give you one of my… assistants to help kill the symbol of peace, would that sweeten the deal for you? I think a partnership between The League Of Villains and Damnatio ad Bestias would work wonders, hmm? What do you say, 'Sensei'?" Blackwell asked, saying 'sensei' in a mocking tone as a chuckle rippled throughout the bar from a TV monitor that read "audio-only."

"Well, I have to say I'm intrigued. But how am I to know that you'll keep your word?" The voice asked as Blackwell simply smiled.

"Oh trust me, sir. If there is anything to say about me and my word, it's that it's solid. Besides, angering one of the world's most powerful men would be a surefire way to commit suicide, wouldn't you say? Besides, all those Quirk-having losers won't even be able to attack them I'm going to send in, on the account that they're a Stand User."

As Blackwell finished speaking, he narrowed his eyes toward the screen, his tone becoming a lot more threatening. "Besides, sir, it also allows me the knowledge that I know you won't be able to take their non-existent Quirk if they intrigue you. Because, allow me to be honest, All For One, you don't scare me. So even if you were to come after me in the weakened state that you're in, I can assure you that your death would be solidified."

The voice identified as All For One chuckled before responding. "I like bold people like you. Alright then, I'll believe you, and besides, you drive a hard bargain. I share your opinion. A joint partnership of The League of Villains and Damnatio ad Bestias would indeed work wonders, as you phrase it," All For One replied as Blackwell let out another huff of air.

"A pleasure doing business with you, All For One. I'll send them over by the morning. But just remember, they're not following the orders of your student, they'll be following their own orders, outside of the "kill All Might" one. Capiche?" Blackwell said as Tomura growled.

"Whatever. Just leave before I turn you to dust," Tomura spat as Blackwell got up and left without another word. As he left, Tomura couldn’t help but scratch his neck, his eyes narrowing under his hand mask. “Who woulda have thought that a criminal like him was hiding behind the mask of a Hero? Goes to show how shitty this society really is…” Tomura drawled, the scratching at his neck becoming more prevalent. “Why couldn’t I kill him, Sensei?”

“Because, Tomura. It would’ve been a waste to have seen you die. Blackwell is many things, but a fool he is not. Take this as a lesson from me, Tomura. When faced with people like him, it’s best to negotiate your way around the problem. Getting into needless battles will only harm you in the long run,” All For One answered earnestly.

Tomura, for his part, didn’t really care all that much about what Sensei was telling him. He merely wanted to destroy—to scratch that unending itch he had to kill, kill, kill. Only then, he’d be satisfied. Only when that itch stopped itching, would he be satisfied.  

The sun began to fall over the horizon, the magnitude of the deal struck by Blackwell, All For One, and The League Villains would soon be realized. This was the spark to the eventual bonfire that would erupt into a chaotic flame of death, destruction, and the loss of innocence.

And Blackwell, for his part, couldn’t have been more excited.

-To Be Continued in – The Calm before the storm-

Chapter Text

[Revision of the chapter posted: 2024-08-06]

[The Calm Before The Storm]

–October 13th, 2108 – Morioh Town Hospital-

Yoshimura Kira was nervous, excited, and concerned—he was feeling a lot of things at the moment, and why wouldn't he be? His wife, Yoshikawa Kira, had gone into labour a few hours ago, starting at three in the morning through to now. Currently, It was 7 AM, and she had still been in the hospital room, giving birth to his daughter! He was going to be a Dad! A part of him had been worried about how he was going to approach such a monumental task with the job that he had. However, he tried not to think about it too hard.

But, that didn't mean he was completely free from fear. He had a lot of enemies, and those enemies would see to it that he’d die, and they’d use anything that they possibly could to get to him, including his wife and child.

And while that was a fear he had, there was a worse fear that he had. One that had chilled him to the bone, even more than the potential use of his wife and child as bait to get him to do something he would otherwise regret.

What if he was like his biological Dad and never showed up for his wife and child when they needed him? What if he was absent like his biological Dad had been? What if? What if, what if, what if? That was all that was clouding his mind. He didn't want to be like his biological Dad. He couldn't be like his biological Dad. He refused to be like his biological Dad. Being an absent father was a sin in and of itself, let alone the fact that it should've been a crime.

Yoshimura's father was a mystery to him. His mother said that it was a one-night stand and that despite it only lasting for one night, she had believed that it was the closest thing that she would've ever felt to true love—despite already being married for 8 years at that point, add an extra two before she gave birth to him, of course. He had a stepfather who didn't know about his mother's betrayal, well that was until he was 16 years old, but still.

Before knowing that Yoshimura wasn't his biological son, he was an amazing dad. They'd play games at the park, and watch movies in the theatre if they had the time to. He would read him stories when he was younger, and when he got older he taught him how to defend himself after he had been found to be Quirkless.

He had wished for it to stay that way, but when his stepfather found out the ugly truth, he disappeared. He'd get calls from him from time to time, and he even would come over for his birthdays. But outside of that, he never interacted with his ex-wife after that, or him for that matter, at least not as much as Yoshimura would've wanted.

Yoshimura understood that and he couldn't blame the guy either. He could've only imagined the pain that his step-father had suffered. He couldn't imagine being lied to for 18 long years. The marriage was a sham, and it was a shame, too.

He had assumed that it was a loving marriage but found out in the most painful way possible that ten years into the marriage, the spouse he thought had been loyal turned out to have cheated on him. ten years in, the woman of his step-father’s dreams had ripped that perfect little picture into ribbons.

She single-handedly turned what could've been something beautiful into something else entirely. Add on to the fact that Yoshimura, the son that his step-father thought he had wasn't even his own flesh and blood, but was rather the product of something horrible, made it sting that much more.

Though now that he was an adult, his stepfather was more present in his life and had been happy to learn that his son in every way but blood was having a daughter of his own. He was glad that his stepfather was still in his life, and that he at least had him to fall back on if something happened.

The same could not have been said for his biological father.

He didn't know what his real father looked like, nor did he know what his first name was. The only real thing that his mother ever told him about his biological father was that he was a nice man, at least from the outset.

But, there was another thing that he did know about his biological father, well, outside of what his mother had told him. Yoshimura knew something that not even his mother knew, and that was his last name: Kujo.

But how, exactly? Well, simply because he had been mistaken for the man by someone else—the librarian at the local library. Apparently, he and his biological father looked alike somehow. But, then again, it made sense in that regard, didn't it? The saying did go: Like Father, Like Son.

He had done some research into the Kujo family name and found that they were heavily tied to the Joestar family, rich elites in the early 20th century until World War 1 broke out. Still, he couldn't figure out who it was in the Kujo family tree that had an affair with his mother, but he had some ideas of who it could've been.

Then again, most of the Kujo men looked alike, so even if he were to guess, it would've been extremely difficult to do so. But, if he were to put a massive pin on it, it would've had to have been Jouta Kujo. Jouta was one of the three kids birthed by Jolyne Cujoh, and out of the three, he was the only son—a living son. There was Holly Kujo the 2nd, Jonathon Kujo, who died in childbirth, and Jouta Kujo.

A part of him wanted to meet his extended family but feared that it would cause ripples within it, so he decided against it. After all, he didn't want to be a homewrecker like his birth father had been.

His shoulder ached, but then again it usually did—he chalked it up to his birthmark acting up again. No one in his family had his particular Star-shaped Birthmark, so he chalked it up to it being his absent father's birthmark, seeing as his mom said he had the same thing and noticed it when they were having sex in that dingy bar.

Would that mean his daughter would have the same birthmark? No, of course not, birthmarks weren't hereditary…. Were they? Well, maybe, but he thought it to not be the case. It was just a coincidence that he and his birth father had shared the same star-shaped Birthmark on the back of their left shoulder near the nape of their neck. Nothing more, nothing less. It wasn't like his daughter was going to have it either, right?

As for Yoshimura himself, what was there to say?

Yoshimura Kira, formerly Yoshimura Sugimoto, was a healthy, athletic young man, aged 29 years old. His hair was a shade of brown, and his eyes perfectly matched the colour of his hair to a tee. His skin was fair, just like most people he knew, and he had been wearing a white tank top and a pair of blue and white-speckled boxer briefs.

What? He had just gotten out of bed to drive his wife to the hospital! No one could blame him for looking like he had just woken up—mostly because that was the case, but that had hardly mattered. He was just glad he had the chance to be here, he had specifically called in to work for both him and his wife to be on paternity leave.

Unfortunately, they only allowed her to be off. But, eh, what was he going to do? It wasn't like The Speedwagon Foundation was going to just let one of their top researchers and businessmen just disappear for a year to take after a child… unfortunately so.

Sure, his wife was also a member of The Speedwagon Foundation, but she had been a secretary, as well as a budget manager, of which the company had loads of—that and it was a job that could be done at home, so that was why they let her off the hook.

Speaking of work, he had to catch a plane to get back to the China branch at midnight tonight. He had more research he had to attend to revolving around  The Stand Creating Virus that The Stand Arrow had lurking within it, and how it reacted to people with Quirks and their DNA. So far his research had proven inconclusive, but he was going to find out what happened one way or another.

Another hour passed and it was now 8 am. His patience and worry were wearing thin, and for good reason too. He was beginning to believe the worst had happened. It wasn't uncommon for the mother of the child to die giving birth—despite all the medical enhancements the 22nd century had allowed, but that didn't change the fact that it was still a common occurrence.

Still, he wasn't going to give up, not unless he was told otherwise. He had faith in his wife and faith in the nurses and doctors helping to give birth to his daughter. Speaking of doctors, One of them who had been helping his wife give birth stepped out of the room, causing Yoshimura to shoot up from the chair that he had been sitting on just outside of the hospital room door. "Doctor, please tell me—"

"Everything is fine. Your wife is stable, and your daughter is completely healthy. Do you want to see her?" The doctor asked as Yoshimura, without another word, pushed past the doctor and into the room. There, he saw the small child in the arms of Yoshikawa, who looked conflicted.

She hadn't been too keen on having a child, but he had insisted. When she got pregnant, she wanted to abort the fetus, but he said no. There were two reasons for this. For one, it was illegal, and the last thing he wanted was for his wife to go to jail over something like this, and the second reason was because that he believed that if he were to ever meet his extended family, it would be when he had a legacy of his own and that he could introduce his child to the family.

He also had a contingency. One that he had told Yoshikawa that she should do if something bad ever happened to him. If he were to disappear for any reason, and not make contact with her for months at a time, she was to contact the CEO of The Speedwagon Foundation, and his half-brother, and tell him that she could not take care of her child and that the child was a Joestar, and that she needed a new home.

It might’ve been a bad thing to do, but that way, Yoshikawa could continue to live the life she wanted without being weighed down by the responsibility of taking care of a child. Not only would it give his child a better life, but it would ensure that his wife was happy.

Yoshikawa wasn’t against the idea, but she was hesitant to agree to it. She knew why he had suggested that in the first place. It was because of her Bipolar Disorder, and how it affected her. While at first she was offended that had been his secondary reason, she had come to see reason, and then, a few weeks later, her water broke, and now here they were.  

Now looking at the child—his child—he couldn't help but feel tears well up in his eyes. She had soft-peach fuzz-like hair on her head, blond in colour just like her mother, and while her eyes had been closed, it was clear that she was going to have the same ocean-blue eyes her mother had. Her skin was a tannish pale, again, a lot like her mother, and she had been, in fact, a girl for obvious reasons.

The baby was quiet, an abnormality in most newborns, but it was a great surprise. He so badly wanted to hold the fragile infant, but he didn't want to upset her, seeing as Yoshikawa had her close to her chest, allowing the baby to listen to her heartbeat.

"She looks just like you, honey…." Yoshimura said, walking up to Yoshikawa and the child as she gave him a faint smile.

"I thought you had left for work already…?" Yoshikawa asked as Yoshimura scoffed.

"Please, and miss out on seeing my daughter being born? Yeah, right. I told the executives that I wasn't going to be in till tomorrow, then I have to fly back out to China again," Yoshimura said, frowning at the last bit mentioned. "Believe me, I don't want to, but you and I both know what would happen if I didn't," Yoshimura followed up as Yoshikawa sighed, trying to keep a smiling face at all times.

"I know…. Can we change the subject? I… I want to ask you something… about our daughter. When the doctors took her to inspect her and to make sure she wasn't sick… they saw a weird groove in her skin, like a star. It was by her neck…. what does that mean?" Yoshikawa asked as Yoshimura’s eyes widened.

"So it was hereditary…." He muttered, causing Yoshikawa to blink, concern in her eyes as she spoke.

"What was? Is it bad? Should we ask the doctor if—"

"Calm down, dear, nothing's wrong. It's just a birthmark. Is it by the nape of the neck?" Yoshimura asked as Yoshikawa nodded. Yoshimura sighed, crossing his arms as he took a seat beside his wife's bed. "So it really wasn't just random then. I have that birthmark too… my mother doesn't, so it probably came from my estranged father. But, let's change the subject. I think I have a name for our little bundle of joy over here." Yoshimura said as Yoshikawa raised an eyebrow.

"Already? Can I hear it?" She asked, tired eyes meeting joyous ones as Yoshimura smiled. There was a brief moment of silence. He had thought about this name for a long time. A name that would make sense, and one that stuck in line with the Kira family tradition—which he was brought into by his wife.

He was going to honour that tradition, and so, with that, he spoke the name of his newlyborn daughter

"Yoshihara."

[XXXX]

Kyoka was frustrated, and for good reason. She had been completely, and utterly embarrassed. Made a mockery of by Kira, and now she had a large, ugly scar that ran down from the front of her shoulder to the upper section of her back. It was thanks to Recovery Girl and the abundance of drugs she had to take for her wound to scar as fast as it had, but the point still remained.

To make matters even worse, it was a mistake. Kira, apparently, hadn’t meant for the bombs that she had detonated to have been as powerful as they had been. Something about not taking into account the amount of damage multiple of the same bomb would do after going off at once.

If it were on purpose, then she would’ve been mostly fine with it, but the fact that it was an accident made it oh-so-much worse for her.

Her parents were worried, but she didn’t really care what they thought. Especially after what Beelz had revealed to her a few weeks ago. She found it very hard to take anything that they said seriously, and she doubted she ever would again.

To think that, for all these years, she had been drugged by her own parents with illicit substances. All for what? To “mellow her out” as her mother had said? Yeah, right. She doubted it was for anything good, and frankly, she was glad that she didn’t remember. For all she knew, they could’ve been doing some horrid stuff to her, but that was just speculation.  

Kyoka sat in her room, absentmindedly strumming her base guitar, trying to make a slightly good-sounding tone to forget about yesterday’s horrendous performance. Her parents tried to make her feel better about it by suggesting her favourite meal tonight, that being curry, but even that didn’t get her out of her foul mood.

No longer was she wearing her school uniform. She had long since changed out of that mess. Now, she was wearing a pair of blue ripped jeans and a black tank top with pink thunder and skull decals. One of the shoulder straps hung down over her right shoulder, revealing a thinner strap. To top it all off, around her neck was a spiked collar that covered the base of her neck.

Her parents were always iffy about the way she dressed, especially her mother, but that wasn’t here or there. If they had a problem with how she dressed, they could shove it for all she cared. Plus, they were massive hypocrites. They were literally doing illegal activities and they had the gall to say that the way she dressed was inappropriate? The nerve!

Then again, it was that kind of attitude that got her to this point, now wasn’t it? The “her way or the highway” kind of attitude. It had been one of those things that she had since she was able to form words. No matter what, and no matter who it was, she always tried to force her opinions on others. Her ways on others. But that didn’t help her very much. Especially in school….  

Ever since she was a young child—since she was slowly remembering everything from her childhood—above all else, she always had the determination to become something more. Be it a rockstar, a hero, or something more ambitious like an astronaut—which yes, was something that she wanted to be at some point in her life—she always wanted to shoot for the most popular occupation. The one that would give her the most fame and fortune.

But even before all of that, she wanted to be the top of that very thing. She wanted to be the number one. She wanted to be above number one. She wanted to be the best. But she knew that would never come to pass. No matter how hard she tried, she would never be the best of the best. She lacked the talent.

At least, that’s what everyone always told her. But that was something she buried deep for a reason. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to remember what those stupid kids said to her… what those stupid kids pushed her to do.

Kyoka flinched at the mere thought of that. Her right hand rubbed against her throat, specifically where she now wore her choker. That had been a dark time in her life, and a time that she would never forget. It was during that she had a strange, almost unreal kind of dream. She had been sent to the hospital and had actually been in a coma for about a handful of weeks. In that coma, she spoke to… someone.

She didn’t know who exactly it was. Hell, she couldn’t make out who the person was. All she could make out was their deep, yellow eyes, and deep soothing voice. Surrounding them was a large, empty, white room and the individual sat shirtless in a velvet red chair. His face was a mystery to her, but she remembered his voice vividly.

Their conversation had been… strange. He never bothered asking her name, claiming to have already known it. He asked her a series of questions, all of which had pretty straightforward answers. He asked her what she’d sacrifice to be at the top, and she replied with everyone around her, to which he smiled. He then asked if she would ever stop trying to reach the pinnacle, and she replied with “never” because there was no such thing.

And then, he asked a strange question. A question that she didn’t quite understand. He asked her if she believed in Gravity. She asked him to elaborate, but he did not. He said that he would return at a later date, and ask her the same three questions and that if she succeeded in answering them, he would “grant her something special.” Whatever that meant.

Then, she woke up.

When she awoke, the doctors were moments away from pulling the plug, at her parent's request. She never remembered that moment up until now, and to have found out that her parents were willing to kill her had set a fury off in her like no other. The fact that they were willing to do that made them horrible parents.

They tried to tell her that her body was failing, and this and that, and that they wou;dn’t have had enough money to fix her, but clearly that wasn’t the case! She was here, and she was alive! She was perfectly fine, and to tell her otherwise was a lie!

How dare they tell her that she should’ve quit! How dare they!

If there was one thing that Kyoka Jirou wasn’t, it was a quitter. She’d soon rather die than quit because of something so minuscule. It would humiliate her name to give up after such a minor failure. Well… minor it may be, but it completely fudged her appearance. Made her look weak. And if there was another thing that Kyoka Jirou was not, it was weak.

She refused to be weak. Never again would she ever consider herself weak!

“I’m not weak…” Kyoka near growled, before unconsciously slamming the wall of her bedroom with her right hand, causing a small crack in the wall to form. Another crack her father would have to fix. Good. It was the only thing he ever did right, anyway. Being a father was not one of those things.

She looked at the wall, then back down at her base guitar before sighing, as she put it down and laid against the side of her bed. It was a gift from her father when she got out of the hospital. Absentmindedly, her left hand rubbed at her neck again, right over her choker.

“But if I’m not weak… then why did I ever do that….” Kyoka muttered, narrowing her eyes as she stared at the floor. She partially remembered that day. It was but a blurry memory. But it was one that stained her mind. For the last few years of her life, she had been horrendously mocked, bullied, and pushed into a corner. All because of her Quirk.

Mutants were often treated less than shit. Even with minor mutations such as herself. They were seen as monsters. And it didn’t help that everyone who had a mutant Quirk would lash out violently and end up proving those people right.

It even affected her…

Her head hurt. She clutched the side of her head, grunting. On her desk in her room was a bottle of pills. She stared at the bottle, sweat building up on her forehead. She had gone two weeks without taking them, and she didn’t need them.

She didn’t need them.

She didn’t need the fucking pills!

Yet, here she sat, at the edge of her bed, staring at the pill bottle. She got up from her bed and walked over to her desk, and picked up the pill bottle. For a moment, she thought about taking them. Just one more time. One more dose. She’d be okay. It was only one more dose….

Her anger spiked, and she found herself snarling. She gripped the pill bottle, and without hesitation, she turned, faced the window of her bedroom, and threw the pill bottle out of the window, shattering it in the process.

Those pills didn’t control her life! Nothing would control her ever again! Not the pills, not her parents, and not other people's opinions! She had already let their toxic words get to her before, and she had survived her own stupidity. She wasn’t going to let it happen again.

She wasn’t going to be seen as weak ever again! She would show the world the real Kyoka Jirou. The one who had been buried under medication, and the one who would make those around her pay for their misdeeds.

A sigh escaped her lips as she slumped against her desk, running a hand through her hair. She was a fool. A damned fool. She had been so caught up in her hatred for Kujo and his family that she neglected the thing that actually meant real value to her.

Her pride.

Her hatred for that pathetic family could wait. She had more important things to worry about, and it was about time she reclaimed what was rightfully hers—her life.  

Shoving her hands into her pockets, Kyoka glanced over to the mirror and frowned. She walked over to the mirror and brushed her hand through her hair for a second time, and what she saw made her grimace. Over a dozen of her roots had begun to turn blonde, which infuriated her. She didn’t like blonde hair, especially seeing as she had purple hair almost her entire life. For it to suddenly change now would be annoying.

“Great, now I gotta dye by roots…” Kyoka muttered to herself, standing back from the mirror and stretching. As she did, there was a knock at her door. “What is it?” Kyoka called out, as the door opened. Her father stood in the doorway, looking over her shoulder at the mirror. She scowled. “What do you want? Haven’t you already done enough?”

“Kyoka…”

“No, don’t “Kyoka” me, Dad. I already said my peace, so stop trying to push my buttons, now what do you want?” Kyoka spat, glaring at him with barely hidden contempt. For his part, her father swallowed down whatever was in his throat, and spoke.

“Look… I know I haven’t been the best father in the world—”

“No shit.”

“—But! I want to try and make it up to you,” her father said, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I… Know you hate me right now, and you have every right to. Especially after how I’ve been complicit with what your mother’s been doing. But… I’m planning on divorcing her.”

Kyoka stared at him, shocked and confused. “You’re… what?”

For a moment, it looked as if her father was having a hard time saying what it was he wanted to say. He looked… nervous, and almost ashamed. But, at the same time, he looked… happy. But what was there to be happy about?

And then, he spoke.

“I’m planning on divorcing your mother. Beelz spoke to me last night, and… well, he chewed me up and spat me out. He told me like it was, and I realized just how badly I fucked up. Because of that, I’ve had a “come to Kami” moment, and now… well, I decided that divorcing your mother was the best plan of action. Getting away from… that will be better for me in the long run, anyway,” her father explained, rubbing at the back of his neck. “And then there’s the… other thing that happened recently.”

“Other thing?” Kyoka prodded as her father grimaced, that nervousness of his coming back in droves.

“I was… recently contacted by my former boss, Kai Chisaki. You don’t remember him, but he’s been over to our place a couple of times when you were little. You idolized him for a bit too. It was kind of cute, actually…” Her father said, a sheepish grin on his face. “You used to call him Uncle Kai and everything. Those days were simpler… way simpler. Even if I wasn’t tied to the Yakuza, Kai always saw me as a brother and vice versa. He, Beelz, and I all dreamed of ruling the Shie Hissaikai together one day….”

“Get to the point, Dad,” Kyoka said, impatience coating her tone as her father cleared his throat, coughing once or twice before continuing.

“A-Anyway, he was reaching out to me because he wanted to give me a chance, and… well, I saw the money in what he was going to be doing, and what with us having been brothers in the past, he figured he could let me in on it. Truth be told I’ve been looking for an excuse to leave your mother, and… well, after Beelz chewed me out, I kinda figured this was the perfect opportunity,” Her father said, and once again, he was smiling. A genuine, legitimate smile. Something that she hardly ever saw anymore….

But, that smile quickly faded as his expression became more serious, and the air around him grew tense.“But, at the same time, I wasn’t just going to up and run away. I asked him if I could speak to my family about it first, and he was understanding. He knew I threw that life away so I could raise you, but… look at how shit that turned out,” he gestured to the broken window where she assumed she heard her throwing the pill bottle out and then looked back to her.

“Obviously, Mika isn’t a fan of it. But that’s on her for being a shitty parent—which I know is a lot to say coming from me, but I want to mend whatever relationship there is between us. Even if you don’t, I’m still going back to the Shie Hissaikai. My current job isn’t paying well, and a part of me has been itching to get back into what I left behind. Once a Yakuza, always a Yakuza, as they say…”  

Kyoka frowned, crossing her arms as she tapped her foot against the floor. “You’re asking a hero student if she wants to go live with you on a Yakuza base. Do you realize how stupid that sounds?” Kyoka asked rhetorically as her father faltered for a moment, before sighing.

“Yeah, that’s fair. Well, either way, I don’t trust your mother, and I know how much you hate your Uncle, but I spoke to him and—”

“Forget it. Don’t even finish that sentence. I refuse,” Kyoka spat as her father sighed.

“Kyoka. Use your brain. Your Uncle is a billionaire. He’s a Pro Hero, he owns and runs the Speedwagon Foundation, and despite him knowing you hate him, he loves you to death. The only reason he’s never seen you in person is because Mika put a restraining order on him when you were born.”

Kyoka blanked as soon as those words left his mouth. “She… what?”

“I was never supposed to tell you this, but since your mother’s gone on a bender after I told her I was divorcing her, I thought that I might as well tell you. The reason why you’ve never met your Uncle is that your mother put a restraining order on him, and for the last sixteen years of your life has been lying to you that he was being selfish, and didn’t care about you or her,” her father paused, letting out a sigh.

“I recently got contacted by him because you’re in the same class as your cousin—it was actually just an hour after Beelz spoke to me, and Kai called me a moment after that, but that’s irrelevant. When he found out you and Josefumi were in the same class, he saw this as his chance to try and reach out to you, not Mika, because the restraining order only told him to stay away from her. I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear right now, but… your mother…. She—”  

A sharp pang reverberated through Kyoka’s head, causing her to buckle to her knees as pain surged throughout her body. Her eyes scrunched as she bit back a scream as a voice belonging to someone reverberated throughout her head.

“She’s not even my daughter! How the hell am I supposed to know half of this shit!? @#$&)!&) hired me to be her father until he found her actual father! So stop treating me like shit, and more importantly, stop treating her like shit, or I’ll call !@^%&^! and then we’ll see who treats who like—”

“Kyoka!” her father’s voice cut through her memories, as it was only then that she realized that she had fallen onto the floor and had been hyperventilating. Her father was close to her, a hand on her shoulder as his eyes, wide and full of concern, stared into hers. “Kyoka, are you alright?! You just—”

“I’m fine, Dad. It’s just…” she paused. What the hell was that? Who’s voice was that? Who hired who to be who’s father? What the hell was going on? Why now? Why was she remembering all of this stuff now? “I’m… I’m fine. Just… leave me alone. Let me know when Dinners ready….” Kyoka said, taking her father's hand as she stood up. Her father nodded, before going to leave her room.

Before he did, he looked over his shoulder and spoke. “Just know this, Kyoka. I love you, and so does your uncle. I don’t know about your mother, but I’d like to think that, somewhere, in whatever dark twisted fantasy land she’s living in, she loves you too and only wants the best for you. Just… think it over, okay?” With that, her father left, closing the door behind him as he did.

Kyoka stood there for a moment, before clutching the side of her head. “This entire time… My mother… why? Why would she lie to me?” She knew her mother was a deceitful, controlling person, but… for her to lie to her for so long…

“I have to apologize. I have to apologize to Kujo… oh my God, what the hell is wrong with me?” Kyoka thought, before looking over to her bed. She needed to lie down. After everything that she had learned, her head hurt.

Sitting down on her bed, with a sigh, Kyoka laid down, closed her eyes, and took a much-needed nap.  

[XXXX]

[-2 weeks ago-]

Some would say the afterlife was simply a black void of nothingness and death. Otherwise would say it was a cartoonish hellscape—or heavenscape, depending on where they believed they’d go—where songs were aplenty and where you could get up to all kinds of debauchery. Some would believe that the afterlife didn’t exist, and to those people, Yoshikage Kira would say they were stupid.

Because Hell very much was a place, and it wasn’t what people thought it was. Instead of fire and brimstone, or some kind of infinite torture, it was a slum in the backstreets of Heaven, where all manners of souls washed up after death.

Despite that, Yoshikage didn’t think that it was all that bad. Sure, he was mere feet away from eternal paradise, and he was neighbours with a pedophile, but it was leagues better from being erased from existence like he had believed what was going to happen to him after Reimei Sugimoto used that Yokai against him.

Yoshikage sat on a used, stained sofa within his little slice of hell, which was a horribly run-down apartment room filled with mould, dried blood, and tons of rust. At least the water was clean, not that he needed to care about that type of thing. He was dead, and because of that, he didn’t need to take care of his earthly needs.

All he needed to worry about was if people remembered him or not. But thanks to his notoriety, and due to the fact that he was talked about in history books for his crimes, even after 82 years after his death, he was just fine. His mind wasn’t deteriorating like the others around him, and he was able to maintain his existence through that.

Currently, Yoshikage found himself dressed in a lime green button-up shirt and dark purple pants. His shoes were off, which were next to the entrance of his abode, and in his hand was a small glass of cheap booze that he bought with “redemption points” he had earned for helping out within the small community—something he did every day.

His blonde hair was slicked back, and his once psychotic blue eyes no longer carried that hue. Once he died, he was scrubbed of all of his mental illnesses. It was a part of the redemption process, and it gave Yoshikage a peek into what his life could’ve been if he hadn’t been born the way he was.

He had seen the error of his ways—seen what he had done and realized quite quickly what kind of sick man he had been. Another part of the process of redemption was to re-live the deaths of those he had murdered.

All 52 one of them.

It took a year for him to be scrubbed of those sins. He experienced their lives leading up to their death, and it was awful. It first started with Reimei, and then, it ended with Hayato who was the last person he had killed before he awakened Bites The Dust.

He had been a despicable man. A wretched soul that deserved what it was he had been given, and all the pain he had experienced. Guilt. For the first time, he felt guilt. It was because he felt guilt that he was ushered into the next step of the redemption program—community service.

Which was what he had been doing for the last 81 years of his time in the afterlife. He would clean up the community, aid other sinners in trying to move on from their pasts, and even go as far as go to what was known as the “baby soul” station and help nurture new souls to be brought into the world.

It was… a peaceful life. Despite being in Hell, it was a life he could see himself getting used to living. After all, God said that he loved all of his children, so to cast them into the fires of hell and torture those who did unspeakable crimes was a woeful misinterpretation. The hard part was confronting one's sins, but afterward, the process of redemption was rather simple.    

And while most sinners with his rap sheet would never see the light of Heaven, recently, he had been approached by a very important figure in the afterlife. Someone who had seen the work he had been doing, and decided to give him a special chance that no other sinner had gotten in well over 100 years.

The figure in question was, while seemingly a joke at first, Jesus Christ. Their conversation was rather short, but to sum it up, he was given the chance to join something called the “Guardian Angel” program to watch over his descendants. If he could help them survive for a year, then he would be fully redeemed, and he would be allowed to enter The Light and be fully cleansed of his sins.

There was just one, tiny little catch.

Someone else had been watching over his family because their family somehow got involved in it. When he found it, he was shocked, but not as shocked as the individual in question was….

“Are you kidding me!?” The voice of one Reimei Sugimoto filled Yoshikage’s ears, as the man peacefully sipped from his cheap sake. Reimei hadn’t aged a day since she had come to the afterlife. Muted pink hair that was done up in a bob, cream-coloured skin, light pink eyes, and as for her outfit, well, that had changed entirely.

Due to being a pure soul, when she died and was finally given the afterlife, she was allowed to wear whatever she wanted. So, given that she had the mentality of a 16-year-old, it made sense for her to pick fashionable clothing. She was dressed in a white fur coat with a fluffy black speckled poofy collar, and a pair of black pants and a white button-up shirt underneath the jacket. She even wore a pair of dark red shades that sat on the bridge of her nose.

“When I was told to come down to the slums to meet my partner for this, I didn’t expect to run into you!! How the hell is that even possible!” Reimei all but screamed, fury in her voice as Yoshikage shrugged.

“Don’t ask me as if I know. I’ve been solely focused on redeeming my soul, I couldn’t tell you anything even if I wanted to, Sugimoto-san,” Yoshikage replied, putting down his cheap sake as he steepled his fingers together. “I already know your reluctance to even acknowledge my existence. I’m not stupid enough to ignore that. But I believe that is why Jesus put me into this program in the first place.”

Reimei glared daggers at him, anger rolling off of her in spades as her hands were clenched into fists. “If you think even for a second that I’m working with you, Kira Yoshikage, you’re sorely mistaken. I’m leaving, and you will never see redemption. For all of what you did, I will never forgive—”

Before she could walk out of his apartment, a golden chain appeared between the two of them, halting her way out of the door. Both Yoshikage’s and Reimei’s eyes widened, as Yoshikage grabbed the chain. “Holy metal…. When Jesus said we’d be bound, I thought he meant figuratively....”

"What. The. Hell.”

“Again, don’t ask me, I have no clue what this is about,” Yoshikage said as Reimei grabbed her end of the chain, and tugged as if to try and drag Yoshikage over to her, but it didn’t do anything. If anything, more chains simply spawned out of his chest, but quickly disappeared so as to not extend the length of it. Reimei looked panicked, and Yoshikage didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

“I-I can’t stay here! T-This has to b-be a cruel joke! W-Why! Why!?!” Reimei shouted, looking up at the sky as Yoshikage hummed. He had an idea, but he didn’t know if she’d like it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper, which prompted her to look over at him. “What’s that? What’s that paper for?” Reimei demanded as Yoshikage unrolled it.

Clearing his throat, Yoshikage began to read the letter aloud. “A-hem: Dear Mr. Kira Yoshikage, you’ve been formally invited to become a Guardian Angel to look over your family in progress to aid in your eventual purification and subsequent chance to lose the status of “Sinner.” However, due to you and another purified soul sharing a family as of a recent development 16 years ago, in order for either of you to continue, both souls must sign off on this waiver.”

“Well! Hand it over, I want to get out of here and away from you as soon as possible!” Reimei demanded as Yoshikage held up a finger to halt her.

“Hold on. There’s more. Continuing: Once signing this piece of paper, both you and the purified soul in question will agree to the following: 1. Kira Yoshikage is legible be purified, and as such, once his [1 year] stint as a Guardian Angel is done, he will be purified, cleansed of his sins, and allowed to live amongst the populous of heaven.

“2. Should at any point the individual(s) both you and the purified soul are watching over die in the course of the year—not just one of them, but both—both you and the purified soul will erased as per the consequences under The Guardian Angel clause when signing up for the program.

“3. Once this piece of paper is signed, you revoke all rights to your stay in the afterlife and will brought down to the mortal world for the entire duration of the sinner’s stint as a Guardian Angel, in this instance [1 year].

“4. Finally, you will already be pre-assigned someone to watch over. For the purified soul, that individual has already been decided. For you, [Kira Yoshikage] the individual you will be assigned to watch over his [Kira Yoshihara]. Upon signing this document, you agree to all the clauses and have no issues with any of them. At the end of each month, both you and the purified soul will meet at a designated location in the mortal realm tied to where both of you met the ends of your life, and you will exchange information regarding what occurred. Missing a month, for both sides, will automatically revoke both individual's statuses as a Guardian Angel, and for the purified soul, will result in their damnation, sending them to the slums of Hell.”

Yoshikage paused, looking back up from the piece of paper, and handing it to Reimei, who read it over, and with each passing sentence, her eyes widened in small increments. “N-No… that’s not… but I… why…!?”

“You keep asking as if I know,” Yoshikage answered, picking up his cheap sake and taking another sip. “I can’t speak for Jesus, but I believe it is some kind of test. What that test is, I don’t know nor care. All I know is that this is the last step till I can be fully redeemed. Now, if you could please sign it, that would expedite things. That, and I’m fairly certain it will get rid of that pesky chain.”

Reimei looked up at him, eyes smouldering with anger, a scowl taking up her visage. “This has something to do with you. You did something, didn’t you? I should’ve known. You’re a cruel, cruel man, Yoshikage. I—”

“I had nothing to do with this, Sugimoto. I was merely delivered this by Christ himself, to which I am honoured. But I am just as surprised and shocked as you are. I never expected to see you again aside from when I was forced to live through your death. Now, if you would please sign the paper, then we can be on our way,” Yoshikage interrupted, crossing his arms as Reimei glared daggers at him.

She looked at the paper, then back to him, back at the paper, and then with a sigh, she gestured for him to give her a pen, which she did. She walked over to the dainty kitchen counter in his apartment and signed the piece of paper. She passed both the paper and the pen back to him, and when he signed it, a golden hue appeared around the paper, it rolled up, and disappeared into a beacon of light.

A second later, a golden aura appeared around both Reimei and Yoshikage and before either could say anything, they vanished from the afterlife.

[XXXX]

It was a rainy, dull evening for the shady side of Musutafu, that being Downtown Musutafu. Downtown was where all the criminal activity was, at least for the most part. Not many heroes bothered to deal with it, though, seeing as most of them were bought out by the groups that controlled Downtown, giving them free rein to do whatever it was they had desired, it, unfortunately, made sense for crime to fester there.

Some sold drugs, others were money laundries, but most were loan sharks. However, there had been one group that ruled the criminal underground with an iron fist, encircling all of the businesses in Downtown Musutafu.

The group in question made all the other small-time gangs pay protection fees and was known to be particularly brutal against their detractors and those who hadn’t paid back in a long time. And currently, one of the bigger members of that group was hunting down someone who had forgotten to pay back their loan with a large amount of interest.

"P-Please, ma'am! I-I promise I can pay you back! J-Just give me more time!" A random civilian had said, his eyes widening in fear as he scuttled back on the dirty, festering floor of an alleyway, having been knocked down by his assailant.

Speaking of which, his assailant was wearing a large black trench coat with the white-coloured letters D, V, and R going along it in a wrap-around fashion, all separated by clean, straight horizontal lines.

Underneath the trench coat was a red coloured shirt adorned with small rips and tears at the bottom, though it was noticeably tight around their rather full chest, almost like she had been trying to make it look more appealing to the male eye. Tight black jeans surrounded her curvaceous lower body, followed up with long, alluring legs and thighs that would make any man want to whistle.

To complement all of that, her hair was long, black, and flowing down to the ends of her back. It was clean, almost too clean for the naked eye. Her face was slightly rounded, but still pretty in every sense of the word. Her eyes were a beautiful silver, framed with long, thick eyelashes curling at the tips.

Her lips were pronounced with red lipstick, and she had a cunning, almost alluring smile that could break most men if given the chance. She bent down to look the man in the face, and with that ever-so-alluring smile, she spoke, cupping the man's cheek with a soothing touch.

"Oh, darling, please. I've given you more than enough time. It's been three weeks, and besides, 200,000 yen isn't that much, is it? If you worked a normal job, it would be rather easy for a person such as yourself to get the job done. But, alas, it would seem as if you have failed in that regard. Oh well, and I was beginning to have fun with you, too… such a shame really," the woman said, her sultry voice giving the man shivers up and down his spine.

She backed up, standing tall at 5 foot 11 inches. For most women, it wasn't exactly a normal height, but it suited her body just fine. After all, she made the most of it, using every inch of herself to make herself as attractive as possible.

Around the rather tall, and illustrious woman, a silvery gray aura began to surround her body, almost like a flame. It crackled and sizzled like a flame too, licking at the sides of her face yet leaving no visible scarring, if there was any in the first place. It looked ethereal, but that was because it was. In reality, it was not a flame—not at all.

However, the poor citizen could not see its beauty. He couldn’t see, nor could he comprehend its beauty, because it illuded him in its entirety. But what lurked behind that beauty was something far more sinister, and in a way, not being able to see it was probably a grace for him.

A small, one-eyed grey-goblin-like creature with curled horns, two fingers, and one massive toe appeared next to the woman. Then, another one showed up, looking identical to the last. It started with two, then three, then four, eventually getting to a ridiculous amount at fifty. They all had the same wrap-around-like texture to their anorexic bodies, all with the letters D, V, and R, and they all had different coloured eyes.

One of the goblins leapt toward the man—unknowing of this, of course, and bit into his neck. A yellow liquid poured into his veins as the man's body began to lock up and constrict—as if an invisible boa constrictor had wrapped around his body, preventing him from moving. The man attempted to squirm, and when that didn't work out, he screamed in pain. The woman's intrigued eyes never once left the man's fearful ones as all of the goblins began to leap on the man, tearing him to shreds with their razor-sharp teeth.

"Such a terrifying ability, don't you think? Paralyzing venom can be a real killer you know? It's a very rough way to die, don't you think? Hehe, Die Very Rough, yes, such a horrible way to die…." The woman's sultry voice was mocking in only the cruellest of ways. She watched as her Die Very Rough left nothing of the man behind, devouring skin, flesh, bones and all.

Her stomach felt full, seeing as her Stand had just finished a meal. It was linked to her in every way. Whatever Die Very Rough ate, she got the nutrients of, and in turn, it made her feel full. It was thanks to that that she didn't have to eat too many fatty foods and could keep such an alluring body that she had.

Her job as a debt collector often had her speaking to pervy individuals, and sometimes it would lead to… interesting endeavours. Sometimes she was there to collect debts, other times she was making lonely men less lonely for a price. However, if she had to pick between the two jobs she did, the "making men less lonely" job appealed to her way more.

But then again, it would get… boring after a while, so perhaps debt collecting would be much better for the femme fatale.

"Makoto Takiyama." A calm, almost commanding voice spoke to her as the titular woman turned around, her Stand disappearing in the process. Purple eyes met silver ones as Makoto purred.

"Ah, Boss, a pleasure to see you here~," Makoto said, keeping eye contact with the man known as Blackwell, but to her, she knew him as The Boss.

"And it is a pleasure to speak to you once more, Makoto. However, we can put the sweet-talking aside. I have a job for you. After all, you're the best person for the job," The Boss said, his tone serious as Makoto nodded.

"Well, do tell me, what exactly is this job, hmm?" Makoto asked as The Boss simply chuckled, shifting in place underneath the veil of darkness that had cloaked him.

"You always speak in that alluring tone of yours, and it never ceases to make me feel some sort of way, you know? Had I not known any better, I would've mistaken you for a hooker. A-hem, where was I? Oh, yes. The job I have planned for you. Tell me, dear, have you heard of The League Of Villains?" The Boss asked as Makoto raised an eyebrow.

"That small runty little upstart? What of them? Do you want me to take them out? I can do so easily. Though, I'm surprised you’d ask me of all people to do that. But, if that is—"

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Makoto. Besides, I doubt we want to make enemies with All For One, do we?" The Boss said, crossing his arms beneath the shadow as Makoto bit her lip. Makoto might be daring, and she might have been more than willing to do whatever The Boss wanted, but messing with All For One…. That was more than a bad idea. Even in his current state.

Anyone with a pulse or a working brain knew that messing with All For One was like a death sentence. One wrong move, and it’s game over. He was the end-all-be-all, the Ceaser to end all Ceasers. There was a reason why he ruled Japan for as long as he had. There was a reason why the Government acted so quickly to cover up his existence.

"Yes, that would be a mistake…” Makoto hummed, putting her hands on her hips. “So what do you intend me to do, Sir?" Makoto asked, putting all of her weight on her left hip as she leaned to one side.

"They plan on 'killing the symbol of peace,' though I doubt it'll work,” The Boss snorted, crossing his arms. “Although, I'm willing to see what happens if they attempt this, and how they'll bounce back from the inevitable failure. I see them going places—high-up places, especially considering they had All For One’s backing.

I want you to go to their location in Yokohama and help them with this endeavour. They're going to get into U.A. and steal important plans about an up-and-coming field trip that their spy learned about. All Might is going to be there. I want you to cause as much fear and havoc as possible, maybe kill some of those brats along the way.

Honestly, I don't care. As far as I am aware none of them are Stand users, so this should be a slaughter for you. And if you do get to attack All Might, then that'll be even more beneficial for us. If we get him out of the picture, we can advance in our plans at light speed without having to tip-toe around that big lug."

As The Boss finished his explanation, Makoto licked her lips before smirking. "Alright. You lost me in the first half, but the idea of killing that big, muscular hunk of a man has officially turned me on. I think I can do all of what you asked and more, Boss." Makoto turned around and began to walk away from the alleyway, swaying her hips as she did so, though unknowingly of course.

The Boss nodded silently to himself, turning around and leaving the dingy alleyway a minute after Makoto had. Despite being a Debt Collector for Damnatio ad Bestias, Makoto had a powerful Stand, one that allowed her to do her job effectively. She was the leader of the debt-collecting branch, so at the very least, she had some sort of experience in that regard.

He just hoped he had picked the right person for the job. Makoto was the best in her field, and if she had to be replaced because she somehow got killed fighting a bunch of children, well, then it would've meant that perhaps she wasn't the best after all.

Regardless of what he thought, The Boss knew that wasn't going to happen. After all, Damnatio ad Bestias weren't going to be bested by some brats playing hero. That much he knew. He put too much time and care into the Yakuza to fail that hard.

[XXXX]

The start of her third day at U.A. was… not fun, to say the very least. Yoshihara had been met at the gates of her school by a crowd of obnoxious news reporters, all of which wanted to know how All Might was as a Teacher. She didn't want to give them the light of day, but they just kept pushing, stuffing microphones in her face, asking her stupid questions that she didn't bother allocating any memory to.

It was times like these when she wished the cameras weren't constantly on so she could blow some of them up, but alas, that was unbecoming of a future Pro-Hero.

Yoshihara waded her way through the sea of obnoxious news reporters and got to the entrance with very little fanfare. When she entered the building, she brushed off the skirt she was forced to wear—much to her chagrin—and made her way to her classroom. She sat at her assigned seat at the back and waited for the rest of her class to show up.

People filtered in one by one, chatting amongst one another about how the press equally bombarded them with stupid questions. Not even Izuku had been safe from those persistent vultures. As sad as that had been, Yoshihara knew that they would eventually leave and go back to whatever news station they had come from, and her day would finally be at least a little bit better with the knowledge they got nothing of value.

Once everyone filtered in, Aizawa came in close behind and closed the door behind them after letting out a tired, almost annoyed sigh. He approached the front desk with all the readiness of a salaried worker diagnosed with clinical depression, plopped a stack of papers on the desk, and started talking.

"Good work with yesterday's battle training." Aizawa started, giving the class a lazy-eyed once over. "I've looked over your grades and evaluations." At that, a few people clammed up, those people being Bakugo, Midoriya, Kaminari, and Kira. The first one on the chopping block was Bakugo. Aizawa's eyes darted to Bakugo, his attention caught even before his name had been spoken.

"Bakugo. Grow up already. Stop wasting your talent. Whatever stupid rivalry you had back in your previous school? Drop it. It’s hindering you and your potential, you got that?" At that, Bakugo gave the teacher a half-assed glare with all the bravado he could muster, which was barely anything at all, then looked at his desk with disdain.

"Got it." Bakugo ground out, his teeth gnashing together as every word that spilled from the boy's mouth sounded like a threat.

Next on the chopping block was Midoriya, who felt Aizawa's eyes latch onto him next. "And… It seems Midoriya ended yet another day with a broken arm." Izuku's hair stood on end at the mention of his name. He looked like he wanted to desperately curl up in a ball and die. But, despite the curt ending of his sentence, Aizawa wasn't done speaking.

"Learn to control your Quirk… because just trying isn't going to cut it. I hate repeating myself. But you do have potential, assuming you can overcome this. Work at it, Midoriya." Aizawa finished as Izuku, now bolstered by the words of his teacher, responded with a hardy 'okay.'

Aizawa’s eyes landed on Kaminari, who sat up straight in his chair, trying not to look stressed out, despite not doing a convincing job.

"Kaminari." Aizawa started, earning the electric-blonds attention. "It was noble of you to continue the attack on the faux villains even after your partner had been downed, even though it could’ve been avoided.” At that, Kyoka flinched. “It shows that you're brave enough to continue even without backup. However, you need to work on your hand-to-hand combat. In the real world of being a hero, you cannot always rely on your Quirk to defeat villains, sometimes physical combat without having access to your Quirk is more beneficial, especially in closed-off spaces."

"Yes, Sensei!" Kaminari responded as he relaxed in his seat. Afterward, the stoic black eyes of Aizawa looked over to Yoshihara with a mundane annoyance. Yoshihara did nothing in response to them, only met his cold eyes with her own.

"Kira. While your forward-thinking in placing those traps down was admirable, you put too much power into your attacks and badly wounded Jirou from these reports. I suggest you try and work on toning down the power of your explosions if you plan on making it as a hero."

"Yes, Aizawa-sensei. I understand." Her response was formal, to the point, and clear. Aizawa simply nodded, stacking the pieces of paper neatly.

"Those were all of the notable reports that All Might had filed. The rest of you did well. There is nothing else I have to comment on, other than that you still have a long way to go before making it as a full-time Pro-hero. Now, on to homeroom business. Sorry for the sudden announcement, but today…." Aizawa allowed for a small amount of tension and suspense to build in the air, scaring the pants off of his students—gods did he love his job at times—then followed up his sentence. "You'll pick a class president."

Underneath the cacophony of noise, Yoshihara buried her head between her hands. Class president, eh? She wasn't interested, not in the slightest. That meant drawing far too much attention toward her. Sure, becoming a class president opened up more opportunities than it did blocking them, but there was too much involvement.

Basically, it was a secondary teacher if the main teacher wasn't there. Sure they weren't teaching anything, but they were making sure everyone was doing what it was they were supposed to be doing. On top of that, they were the ones who gathered up meetings and discussions in class or came up with events to do when there was free time.

Again, too much involvement.

People voiced their want to be the class president, one voice came tumbling out after another, all with the same light-handed remark that all amounted to "I want to be class president, please pick me," and it was driving her crazy. But, amongst all of that chaos, amongst all of that noise, one voice spoke louder than the rest.

"QUIET DOWN, EVERYONE!" Ida Tenya's voice caused everyone a moment of pause, and everyone did exactly as he said. He suddenly adorned a serious expression, something akin to an elected official. His glasses gleamed in the light, a small flare dinging off in the uppermost left-hand corner of his glasses. Then, with a rigid, almost determined tone, he spoke.

"Leading the many is a task of heavy responsibility…!" There was a small pause, his eyes darting around, making sure he got everyone's attention. Once he realized everyone's eyes were on him, he continued. "But ambition does not equate to ability! This sacred office demands the trust of its constituents…!" Another pause, this time more for dramatic effect than anything else, but it at least got everyone's full attention, including Aizawa's. "If this is to be a democracy, then I put forward the motion that our true leader must be chosen by election!"

"THIS IS A CLASSROOM, NOT CONGRESS!"

All Yoshihara could do was shake her head and block out everyone's voices. She was too tired for this nonsense, and with it being so early in the morning as well, it was way more headache-inducing than it should've been. She could only imagine what Aizawa-sensei was thinking about this situation. She almost felt bad for him. Almost.

It was bad enough that Kayama-san woke her up earlier than usual to discuss some personal things such as her mental health that the ravenette had been worried about. However, that wasn't all. Add on to the fact that she hadn't had her morning cup of coffee, and that already spelt the need for a disaster to unfold in the not-so-distant future. Yoshihara without her morning coffee was never a good thing.

She was originally planning to stop by the local coffee shop on her way to the train station, but upon finding out it was closed for the morning due to a rampaging villain, her hopes had been dashed. Now, coffeeless, tired, and surrounded by loud and obnoxious people, ignoring Izuku and Kujo, Yoshihara groaned.

A piece of paper drifted onto her desk. She assumed those were the 'voting ballets.' Apparently, they were being serious. She looked over to Ida, shook her head, and then wrote down his name on the piece of paper. She had originally planned on putting Izuku's name down on the piece of paper, but after thinking about it for a while, Ida had seemed more likely to actually be a leader than Izuku.

Don't get her wrong. She thought Izuku could do it, albeit just barely without fainting every time he had to get up in front of everyone—confidence boost or not, he was still the same Izuku, and being around people just wasn't his thing. As she finished writing down Ida's name on the piece of paper, she watched what everyone else was doing, which was putting the 'ballots' on the teacher's desk, folded up into squares.

So, she did just that.

Once back in her seat, Ida tallied up all of the votes and came to a very interesting conclusion. There was a three-way tie. 2 votes for Izuku. 2 votes for Yaoyorozu. 2 votes for Ida—one of which was hers. She frowned. She had mostly been meant to be the tiebreaker between Yaoyorozu and Izuku, but instead, ended up putting Ida up there as well.

Yoshihara shrugged. It wasn't her problem to deal with. Er, well, actually, technically speaking she caused it. But that didn't mean she had to fix it, now did she? But now, the question was. Who else voted for Ida? She glanced over to Kujo, who smirked. Great minds did think alike, didn't they? She didn't know she instinctively knew that he had been the one to vote for Ida, but now with a three-way tie, it had to be broken.

"It would seem as if now we have three candidates for the position!" Ida said with a proud smile on his face. "Time for the second round of voting, only this time, the rest of you will pick between the three of us!"

And thus, that is exactly what happened. 9 votes went to Izuku. 5 votes went to Yaoyorozu. 3 votes went to Ida. Yoshihara had been surprised, and it showed on her face. Izuku won by a landslide! But how? She guessed most people in the class didn't want Ida in that spot, or perhaps everyone kind of just… liked Izuku? She couldn't blame anyone for thinking that way, Izuku was one of the nicer people in the class by far, even if he was a little on the skittish side.

"S-S-S-S-Seriously?!" Izuku muttered in scared confusion and fear. Poor kid. Yaoyorozu seemed to be a bit frustrated, but who could blame her? Not to be rude, or to think lowly of Izuku's leadership skills or Izuku himself, it was clear as day that he was not qualified for the job. Not until he got his backbone straightened out more, anyway.

"Fine, so your President's Midoriya and your Vice President’s Yaoyorozu," Aizawa said, getting into his sleeping bag. “The next class is about to begin, so get back into your seats, you two. I’m taking a nap,” and with that, the day carried on as normal.

Although, the next two hours were strange, seeing as English class was up next, and going from Aizawa-Sensei to Yamada-Sensei was a bit of a whiplash in terms of personality, but she was able to adjust accordingly. After Yamada-Sensei’s class finished up, Kayama-san—or, rather, Kayama-Sensei—came in to teach modern arts, and then the bell rang out for lunch.

Yoshihara had been the only one in her class not to gather in the cafeteria, instead opting to walk around the perimeter of the building behind the massive steel walls known as the U.A. Barrier. Why? Because she hadn't been hungry. That's why.

That, and she didn't want to be surrounded by a bunch of noisy teenagers. Plus, she needed some fresh air and a place to get away from everyone, just so she could finally have the chance to actually wake up and feel like a normal human being.

Unfortunatly for her, the news crews from all across Japan were still at the school. They were annoyingly persistent, as she should have expected. It was noon right now, and all they could think about was getting the latest scoop on All Might?! Seriously?! Didn't they have better things to do? Then again, All Might was the celebrity. So getting any information about him would make an amazing first-page article.

Considering their persistence, it was no wonder as to why U.A. decided to erect the barrier. If given the chance, they would do what they could to get their answers. Just like a bunch of scavengers, they were loud, and annoying, and it made her want to punch someone.

"Damn vultures…." Yoshihara muttered. She continued to walk, breathing in the fresh air around her. The last thing she wanted was to have those annoying vultures pester her about questions. But thankfully, she didn't have to worry about them, now did she? Nobody else seemed to have her idea of walking around the school's perimeter, and with the U.A. barrier blocking out any of the news crew, it was safe to say that she didn't have to worry about bumping into anyone during her quick breather.

That was, at least, until she actually did bump into someone.

"Oof—"

"Sorry!"

Yoshihara shook her head and met face to face with a man with teal hair, a black hoodie, black pants, and top all of that creepy stuff off, he had red, menacing eyes. He was scrawny, no doubt about it, and his skin was pale—really pale. The man seemed to go wide-eyed at her sudden appearance, but she didn't react to his. "I've never seen this guy before….." Yoshihara thought, narrowing her eyes into a glare.

Was he a part of the staff? Was he one of the news reporters? He didn't have a microphone, so that was a clear sign that he wasn't. So who the hell was this guy? "Are you the janitor or something?" Yoshihara asked as the man froze for a second, before shaking his head and rubbing his dusty forehead with a scowl.

"U-Uh… yeah, I am." The man's voice was raspy, almost harsh in tone. Did the guy ever drink any water? However, that had not been what she was focusing on. The janitor, eh? He didn't sound so confident in saying that, but then again, the look she was giving him was mostly a death glare, so perhaps that had been why he stammered. "I need to get back to work." The man said abruptly, walking past her hurriedly, not wasting any time.

She watched him disappear around the corner, and with a sigh, she shook her head. She hoped she hadn’t ruined his day. To work at such a large school and be responsible for cleaning it…

"Poor guy, if he's the janitor here, I kinda feel bad for him…." Yoshihara muttered. The guy seemed to be in a hurry. She didn't know why he had been, probably to get back to doing whatever it was he had been doing. He was probably just finishing up a break when he had bumped into her. Oh well, whatever the case may have been, at least he hadn’t pestered her about being outside of the school.

She sighed, dusting her uniform off from whatever grime had gotten on her after bumping into the guy, and was about to continue walking when suddenly, an alarm rang out around the school's campus. Then, as if someone had opened up the floodgates, somehow, the news crews started to funnel past the barrier. They were coming from the back, at least that was what it appeared to be, seeing as they were encircling the school from her left-hand side.

"What the hell? Did one of the newscasters use their Quirk to break into the school?! How desperate and stupid must one person be to get a news story on All Might?!" Yoshihara thought, looking back towards the school. She had to get back inside, the last thing she wanted to do was be seen by any of the news people.

"SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BROKEN. ALL STUDENTS PLEASE EVACUATE IN AN ORDERLY FASHION!" The alarm's voice was feminine, probably pre-recorded, which was good. Yoshihara's eyes narrowed as she looked over to her right to see a horde of students leave the school, pushing and shoving past others.

Now she had no way of actually re-entering the building. Not while those students were crowding around the area.

"Damn, those news assholes!" Yoshihara muttered, covering her ears. She could see Aizawa-Sensei and Yamada-Sensei trying to deal with the press, swarming them like they were some vagrants asking for some sweet, sweet cash. She couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on inside the building.

All of this, and for what? For the news? No, there was something else going on here. Something wasn't right. She didn't know what it was that wasn't adding up. Why would the press go out of their way to break the U.A. barrier? They couldn't be that stupid, right? Whatever the case might have been, she had been too distracted by the cacophony of loud noises to put a coherent thought together.

Thankfully, the panic didn't last long, and everyone had been funnelled out of the building just in time for the police to deal with the press. When she got back to class and sat in her seat, Izuku and Yaoyozoru stood in front of everyone with Aizawa off to the side. Izuku had been extremely nervous, but, he had composed himself just enough to look presentable.

"Go ahead, class president." With a heavy sigh, Izuku glanced over to Ida and then spoke.

"We'd like to choose the other student council members! But, before that, this is important…." The seemingly innocuous statement caught Yaoyorozu off guard. Izuku's nerves seemed to cool as his eyes met Ida's, and with a smile, he continued. "I believe that Ida is better suited to be Class President! You all saw how well he led everyone in that crisis. I think he's the correct choice for the job."

So Ida had been responsible for calming everyone down and leading them to the emergency exit? That was good and all, but there was something… not right about that. Izuku earned his spot but wanted to give it away. She chalked it up to Izuku just being a bit too nice for his own good.

Ida seemed happy though, and honestly, as long as Izuku was happy about it that was all Yoshihara cared about. Ida took to the job like a magnet, and the rest of the class cheered him on. Izuku silently went to his seat, and Yoshihara gave him a small, meaningful smile.

Despite the freak accident that occurred this afternoon at lunch, today had so far been uneventful. While a part of her wanted it to be less “uneventful” a part of her figured that something was going to happen. Whatever that something was, though, she didn’t know. After all, being in the Hero Course was bound to cause some form of excitement every day. It was the hero course, after all.  

Unbeknownst to any of them, back at the front gate, Nedzu, U.A.'s principal, alongside two staff members, stood at the front gates, or, that was to say, what remained of the front gates. It had been destroyed. All four layers of doors turned to nothing but rubble on the ground. It looked like a bomb had erupted the door, and that could've been the case, had it not been for the fact that the doors were bomb-proof.

Something else happened here. Something more sinister. Something villainous.

"No ordinary reporter could have done this." Recovery girl said, her expression grim as Nedzu put his arms behind his back. He narrowed his eyes at the gate, a stern expression on his face. "Someone instigated this whole affair. Did some evildoer manage to slip in? Or do they intend to wage some greater war…?"

Nedzu's question went unanswered. And that day, things went from bad, to serious. U.A. had just been attacked by an unknown assailant, and the safety of the students was now in question. Whoever did this, clearly had a message to give, and that message was simple.

You are not as safe as you think you are.

-To be Continued in Invasion at the USJ – Part 1-

Chapter Text

[Revision of the chapter posted: 2024-08-06]

[Invasion at the USJ – Part 1]

“You shitty little brat! What the fuck did you do?!”

“I-I was j-just hungry! I-I—”

A hand came flying down on a young Yoshihara as she was smacked across the face and sent flying into the stove behind her. She cried out in pain, as her mother, who was covered in shadow, narrowed her golden, hate-filled eyes, which were the only thing visible to her.

“I don’t give a shit, you snot-nosed brat! You eat when I say you can eat, you sleep when I say you can sleep! I told you what would happen if you didn’t obey. You know what that means, right?” As her mother said that, she reached for her pocket. The young Yoshihara’s eyes widened.

Not that… anything but that! She’d even do it again if it meant not having that happen!

“N-No! P-Please I—”

“Too late, brat, you’ve pissed me off. You know the rules, now get over here!” As her mother said that, she drew out a knife, inched closer to the little girl, and then…!

Yoshihara jolted up from her bed, sweat travelling down her face as she hyperventilated. She hiked her blankets up over herself as her eyes scanned the room, only to find that she wasn’t back there. She was home, and she was safe. Yoshihara sighed, letting go of the blankets as they fell haphazardly as she got out of bed.

Drowzily, Yoshihara got out of her pyjamas and got changed into her clean uniform. She was going to forgo the shower this morning, seeing as she had one when she got home, and immediately afterward she went straight to bed, skipping out on supper.

The Heroics 101 class yesterday had been rather boring. All Might taught it as usual, and all it had been was a test to see who performed best in a hostage rescue situation. It was a solo affair, and out of everyone in the class, she had scored toward the bottom, three spots away from Kirishima Eijirou.

She wasn’t shocked by the outcome. Out of all the “hostages” she saved, only 3 out of the 7 of them survived, and she had been far too sloppy with how she had saved them. All Might had given her some tips, and she took them to heart. Next time such a class would happen, she’d do better. She knew she would.

Although, out of everything that had happened that day, she hadn’t expected. At the end of the class, just as they were heading out, when she was walking with Kujo, Jirou had approached them. At first, she thought that something was going to down, especially with how hostile she was on the first and second day of classes toward Kujo.

But, instead of that, she apologized. Bowed her head and everything. Something came to light and she found out something that she, apparently, wasn’t supposed to. Kujo, being a far better person than she would’ve been, accepted her apology, and Jirou followed it up by asking to talk again at a later date. And then, they returned to homeroom, got dismissed by Aizawa-Sensei, and the rest was history.  

When she got downstairs, she greeted Kayama-san, or, Mom, with a quick wave as she walked upstairs to go do something. Whatever that something was, Yoshihara didn’t want to know nor did she care. When she walked into the kitchen, she looked around for some eggs to make an omelet, and as she did, she mulled over recent events, specifically relating to her far too frequent for comfort nightmares.

How many times had she been having those nightmares as of late? At least three times in the past two weeks or so. She had one the night before she was attacked by Inko, and she had one the night before the incident with Taro happened. Once was a coincidence, twice was a pattern. On top of that, her shoulder had been acting up as well, and once again, it was in the same pattern.

She didn’t know what to make of this, but whatever was going on, she wasn’t liking it. Not one bit, especially considering both of those things happened during a horrible, unspeakable event. Was today going to be the same? Was she going to get into a life-or-death situation again? If she was, she wasn’t going to be too happy.  

Then again, things had been too peaceful recently, and it was something she didn’t like. The supposed attack on U.A. by the press was more than it had seemed. She knew that much, and she had a feeling that she might know who the one responsible for it might have been. After all, the reporters couldn’t have been the ones who had broken into the school.

Don’t get her wrong, they had probable cause, but not probable ability. They were reporters for crying out loud, and moreover, none of them would be that desperate as to break the law to get the newest scoop, even if it was about All Might. There was no way in hell that they were that desperate. They’d be better off as Villains at that point. Attacking U.A. was tantamount to suicide for their papers' reputation. That was why she believed it to be stupid.  

Her mind kept going back to the guy with teal hair. He had something to do with that attack. She knew that guy had to have been lying about his position as a janitor, at least now she did. Yesterday he had her convinced, which in hindsight was bad. She had never seen anyone like him before, and she’d never see a guy like that at the school again.

Whoever that guy had been, he had been the reason why the U.A. Barrier had been broken. However, as much as she wanted to focus on that, and as much as she wanted her brain to run amok with ideas, she had to get to school. 

“Theorize about the mysterious man later. The last thing I want is to be late to school and to have Aizawa-sensei breathing down my neck because of it.”. As soon as her thought finished, she finished making her omelet and had Killer Queen grab her a plate to place it on. Taking her plate, she had Killer Queen clean the pan she used to make her omelet, and she sat down at the coffee table with her food, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.  

The elevator’s light was on, and that meant someone was coming up. But who? Kayama-san was upstairs, and she had to assume Aizawa-Sensei was already at the school. She didn’t invite anyone else over, so who else could it be?

When the doors opened, she blinked in shock when both Kujo—who had insisted on being called Fumi-kun now—and Sakunami-san walked out of the elevator, dressed in their school uniforms. Karera had a small grin on her face, while Fumi-kun’s expression was more neutral than anything else. 

“Heya, Kira-chan! It’s good to see you again, It’s been a minute, hasn’t it!” Sakunami-san said, moving her hair over her shoulder. “How’s 1-A been treating you?”

“Well, I’m sure Kujo—”

“—Fumi-kun!” Kujo interrupted as Yoshihara narrowed her eyes.

“Kujo-san,” Yoshihara bit out, before continuing, “has told you most of what 1-A’s been up to. But, I have to ask, why did you, yet again, invite yourselves over before double-checking with me? For all you could’ve known, I could’ve been in the hot tub, or Kayama-san could’ve been, or something like that.”

“Sorry about that, Sakunami kinda just… dragged me here, so I didn’t have a say in the matter,” Kujo replied sheepishly, earning an annoyed sigh from Yoshihara. Honestly, she wasn’t even mad moreso than she was disappointed.

It was strange. Despite being a sociopath, she could feel anger just fine—even embarrassment to an extent. But most other emotions, she couldn’t. Maybe it was a side-effect of constantly being around annoying people who didn’t seem to listen to what they were told, so her brain forced itself to learn how to emote with anger.

As for embarrassment… well, that she didn’t know. But, it was progress. Progress to relearning how to properly emote. Frankly, she’d take that any day of the week over nothing. Though, she wished it were more positive emotions her brain chose to relearn rather than negative ones. But then again, beggars couldn’t be choosers, so the saying goes.

“Very well. I suppose it’s of no consequence…” Yoshihara muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose as she let out an exhausted sigh. Looking back up at the pair, Yoshihara yawned, covering her mouth with her hand, before speaking. “So, what is it? Is it something related to the investigation?” Yoshihara asked as Sakunami-san spoke up.  

“Well, kinda. See, Vlad-sensei told us you and Fumi-kun were going to be on a field trip for hero training today, apparently somewhere in Downtown Musutafu, which is where gang activity has spiked, though specifically from one Gang, but we don’t know the name of them. We also don’t exactly know where you’re going. Our undercover agent says that he’s going to keep his eyes open to see if he can’t gather some intel, so we hope to hear back from him later today once school goes out,” Sakunami-san said as Yoshihara’s expression became contemplative.

“Hmm. A coincidence, to be sure. But I wonder, does Aizawa-sensei know about the spike in activity? If Vlad King does, then Aizawa-Sensei should…. Bah, whatever. It’s none of my business. However, I don’t think it’s a stretch to believe that something is going to happen today. With that scar on my shoulder acting up along with that nightmare, and with the gang-activity spike happening in downtown….” 

“I see… and this Gang that, at the moment, has no name to our knowledge…. Are you certain it has ties with The Stand Bullets? I don’t see why you’d mention them unless they were related,” Yoshihara questioned as Kujo nodded.

“Yes. From recordings of the attack a few weeks back, and from recent recordings of them seemingly setting up another attack, they’ve been smuggling the bullets around. Our undercover agent has taken it into his hands to rid the world of a few of them and found out that, on their remains, they had the bullets on them. Meaning that they’re part of the smuggling operation. He tried to capture one of them, but they popped a cyanide pill to keep from talking,” Kujo said, as Yoshihara narrowed her eyes in thought.

To her, it made no sense for this gang to be so defensive about the bullets. Unless… “They could be the ones manufacturing them. In this case, that could pose a serious issue, and with our only known individuals being nameless grunts who kill themselves when caught…. These guys sure are serious.”

“Something on your mind, Kira?” Kujo asked as Yoshihara finished chewing on some of her omelet, swallowing as she spoke.

“The grunts who kill themselves. Have you been able to do any background checks on them using their DNA from the corpses?” Yoshihara asked, prompting Sakunami-san to speak.

“Nope. Their bodies keep disappearing into purple mist. We don’t know why, but they seem to have some kind of instant transport Quirk on their side, which could prove to be annoying in the future should we ever come to blows with them. Given that we’re looking into these bullets, that will happen regardless of what we want,” Sakunami-san replied as Kujo began to speak.

“Furthermore, we have reason to believe that this gang isn’t just selling The Stand Bullets, but they’re the ones making it. Think about it, why take your own life just to protect your supplier, right? Unless you’re the one making the product that you’re selling, most criminals would sell out their supplier for a lighter sentence. It happens all the time in America. Dad comes across it more than enough for that to be the case here,” Kujo noted as Yoshihara nodded.

“I was about to say something like that. You took the words right out of my mind. You’re right, it does make no sense for them to protect their supplier. Coupled with this teleportation Quirk User, another question arises. Do they even run their operation in downtown Musutafu? Or is that just where they do most of their business?” Yoshihara suggested as Kujo grimaced.

“I didn’t think of that… Though, I suppose that makes sense. If they’re just doing their business in downtown Musutafu, and only business, no wonder they haven’t been caught yet. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they have multiple bases….” Just as Kujo was saying that Kayama-san came walking down the stairs, and upon noticing Kujo and Sakunami-san, smiled.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting guests,” Kayama-san said, who was now dressed in her hero costume. “What brings you two here?”

“Hi, Kayama-Sensei! We were just popping by to talk to Kira-chan,” Sakunami-san replied as Kayama-san walked toward the group of three, stopping just behind the couch Yoshihara was sitting on and leaning on the cushion next to her.

“Well, I hate to interrupt your conversation, but if you want to be at school before the first-period bell rings, you should probably get going. I can drive you three if you want. I know Yoshi-chan likes to walk to the train station, but I’m running late, and I don’t mind taking you guys to U.A.,” Kayama-san offered as Yoshihara stood up, forgoing the rest of her breakfast.

“Well, since you’re offering, I wouldn’t mind,” Yoshihara said as Kujo and Sakunami-san bowed, thanking Kayama-san in unison. Not even a moment later, they exited the suite, and made their way to U.A.

[XXXX]

Within his office located in the main base of operations where Damnatio ad Bestias was located, Blackwell and the man made of mist, Kurogiri if he recalled, sat opposite to one another. Blackwell had a cigar burning in his right hand, with his left hand sitting in his pocket as he leaned into his chair, looking Kurogiri over with a skeptical eye. “So, you’ve received Makoto then, I take it?” Blackwell asked as Kurogiri nodded in the affirmative.

“That is current, sir. Although, Tomura asks why she is so… in his words, not mine, annoying,” Kurogiri asked as Blackwell let out a belly laugh. He found that hilarious. That brat calling Makoto annoying… To be fair to him, Makoto did rub a couple of her cohorts the wrong way, but that didn’t mean she was annoying. She just had an eccentric personality.

“Well, think of it like this. Why is your master so keen on attacking U.A.?” Blackwell asked in return, causing Kurogiri to hum. The way the black mist around his body shifted to look as if his glowing yellow eyes were narrowed in thought was interesting. He had never seen such a Quirk before, even if Blackwell viewed all Quirks as inferior to Stands, that didn’t mean they weren’t interesting.

“Because he wants to. He wishes to destroy as he pleases and doesn’t care what others think of it…” As he spoke, a realization seemed to wash over him. “Ah, I see the point you’re making,” Kurogiri stated as Blackwell grunted.

“Then I see no point in continuing this dialogue. If there is nothing else you’d like to ask of me, then leave. I have other matters to attend to. More important matters, might I add,”  Blackwell stated as, without another word, Kurogiri evaporated from where he sat, collapsing into himself like that of a black hole. It was quite a fascinating thing to observe. He wondered if he felt pain when he did that.

Either way, Blackwell didn’t care. All he cared about was making sure all of this went according to plan. Should The Symbol of Peace, All Might, actually meet his end today, then his plans would be able to excel far faster than once thought. That was, of course, assuming that it happened.

Chances were though, that All Might would live another day. Of course, he would, because this was All Might. It hardly mattered what you threw at the man, he would preserver. It was in his nature, even despite his injury, which was rather annoying. It was why he had such little faith in this plan, and why he was using such a disposable individual for this plan.

It was also why he was far more focused on his main plan rather than whatever crackheaded scheme Tomura Shigaraki had come up with.

Picking up his phone, Blackwell dialled a certain number and put it on speakerphone. When the person he was calling picked up, Blackwell smiled. “Overhaul. Status report on the next batch of Stand Bullets. You’ve been taking an awfully long time with this batch. Is there anything I should know? If it is the virus you need, I already have loads of duplicate veils you can use.”

“No, sir. It has nothing to do with the lack of the virus you have given us. Its… It's Eri, sir.”

“And what seems to be wrong with the brat?”

“I…” Overhaul paused on the other end. This again, was it?

“How many times do I have to tell you, Overhaul? Get over yourself. You know why I am making you do this, do you not? It is for the betterment of mankind. To rid the world of Quirks, and to gift the world the true path forward. That child has unlimited potential, which is why I forced your hand.”

“With all due respect, sir… I am more than aware of your point of view. I am more than aware of what it is that you want. I am also more than aware that if I were to defy you, you would kill us all. I am not so delusional to believe that I could stop even if I wanted to…. But you must understand, she is just a child. She… I… we can only take so much before she becomes unsalvageable.”

Blackwell frowned, chewing on the inside of his cheek. That made sense, as annoying as it was. They were using a living being to make these drugs. Overhaul had expressed his concern about something like this happening, but at first, he waved it off. Now, it was becoming clear he could no longer ignore it.

He had a way for that to change, though. All he’d have to do is talk to The Head of the Percussores Damnatorum, his assassination department, and he’d have the means to continue production for as long as he damn well felt like it.

The issue with that is it went against his contract with The Shie Hassaikai. He wouldn’t meddle in their affairs so long as they handed over 100 Bullets every two to three weeks. It seemed as if he was going to have to alter that deal, and in a way that benefitted them both. To allow Eri to take a break and a longer one at that.

But, in the same breath, he needed an excess of those bullets. Selling them to other gangs to spread them around was costing them, and they only had so much left in stock. Which prompted him to do something that could be viewed as risky.  

“Then I propose a new deal. One that will make this process easier,” Blackwell said as Overhaul hummed. He sounded hesitant, which made sense. He had to twist his arm around in order to get him to go ahead with his idea two years ago. He viewed that little brat as being important to him due to his ties to his oyabun.

Not that Blackwell particularly cared. He didn’t care if what he was doing disgusted Overhaul. He was a villain just like the rest of them. If they wanted to further their goals it would be through any means necessary. A fellow Yakuza man would know that better than anyone.

“Go on. I’m listening…” Not that he had much of a choice, of course.

“It’s simple. Instead of 100 Bullets every two to three weeks, I want 50 Bullets every day in a single week. Then, you take a break week, the cycle repeats, and I pay twice the amount I was paying you before. Sound good?” Blackwell asked as Overhaul sounded like he spat up something, most likely a drink.

“T-Twice? Are you sure, sir? That’s over 500 Million Yen! How do you have that kind of budget?” Overhaul asked as Blackwell’s smile went from ear to ear. To think that Overhaul used to be very stingy when it came to taking his orders. That was two years ago. Now he completely owned his Yakuza and every other means of income that his Yakuza had. He really should’ve figured it out by now. Perhaps he was as dumb as his cohorts thought he was.

Either that or he was genuinely befuddled by how much money he was slinging around. When working within the seedy underside under the purview of heroes and police alike, especially while being one of them, the risk versus reward factor was rather high. It was why he had to make such daring deals.

It was why having an ally like Overhaul was needed. Even if Overhaul hated what it was he was doing, he couldn’t ignore where the money went. To survive, you did what had to be done. For Overhaul, it was mutilating Eri to ensure they both survived. Because the moment it stopped, Blackwell would dispose of them like the gutter trash that they were.

Overhaul knew this. Eri, not so much. She was a child—a dumb, stupid, waste of air child. One of the millions that were born. The world would not miss a singular child in the ocean of many. The only reason he kept her around was because of her blood.

But that was for another time.

“I have a lot of assets that I can liquidate almost daily. I own several companies that span the world, and I have shared stocks in high-up places, to the point where I basically own those companies. And that’s just where I get half of my money. The other half comes from a more illicit side. Rest assured, Overhaul, that you will get your well-earned money, so long as I get what I want,” The Boss stated as Overhaul cleared his throat.

“O-Of course, sir. I understand. I accept this new proposal. You’ll get your next batch of 250 Stand Bullets next week.”

“Very good. Bye for now,” As Blackwell said that, he hung up his phone, and smiled. Today was a good day. He got a better deal on The Stand Bullets, and All Might potentially may or may not be around anymore after today.

He loved this job.

Though that being said, he knew he’d have to prepare just in case Makoto was arrested or, somehow, died. Not that he believed the heroes had it in them to kill someone. They were soft. Too soft.

However, after looking over the class registry, he noticed that Kira Yoshihara was there, who was a Stand User. Same with Kujo Josefumi. That threw a potential wrench into their plans, but he said nothing to Tomura about it. He’d let him experience the taste of failure—assuming Makoto didn’t kill both of them.

Taking a drag out of his cigar, Blackwell looked up to the ceiling and found himself lost in thought. With everything he was juggling at once, he found himself missing the good old days. Back before his clan was wiped out by The Speedwagon Foundation.

He found it ironic. Despite how thorough they were, they never bothered to confirm their kills. That, and… his monstrous Stand. It was stronger than his, and the idea of fighting it again… He gave him night terrors.

He had never fought against something so powerful. Both the lead researcher of the Chinese Branch’s Stand and the CEO’s Stand were monsters in their own right. Having to fight them back to back when he had, when he was weaker, had been what had done him in. But even now, the CEO’s Stand would beat him down.

A part of him knew he was gambling with how he was targeting Kira and the CEO’s son. But, he was a betting man. He never bet something unless he believed he would win.

And Blackwell was pretty damn confident that he would win.  

[XXXX]

It was in the middle of the afternoon, 12:49 PM to be exact, and Josefumi had been tired. The combination of having a surprise pop quiz early in the morning, followed by another test in Yamada-Sensei’s English Course didn’t help things, but to make matters even worse, he made a stupid decision the night prior.

He stayed up almost all night with Karera researching the Stand Bullets. Pretty much everything they searched for concerning the aforementioned drug came up inconclusive. Josefumi’s father suggested over the phone that The Speedwagon Foundation might have known a thing or two about the bullets, and to check in with the Japanese Branch Director to see if they could inquire about a few things relating to The Stand Bullets.

Unfortunatly for the pair, that had been quickly countered by the acting leader of the location who claimed to only know a small amount about the original Stand Arrow and that they were still trying to figure out the arrows' true origin. In other words, it would be impossible for them to know about the modern equivalent, despite having access to several samples the pair had sent their way.  

In other words, they were back at square one. However, something interesting did catch Josefumi’s and Karera’s eyes. Local Gang activity in Downtown Musutafu spiked in one night, and it was around the Stand Bullet—specifically smuggling the thing from place to place. Their undercover agent had intercepted some of them and had reported back to them what happened.

According to them, he had partnered up with Yorai Musha, and had been informed that a former villain turned undercover agent was in the area, and they decided they were going to try and shut down the smuggling ring.

However, it went horribly wrong, extremely quickly.

During the fight, Yorai Musha was shot in the neck by one of the Stand Bullets, and it prompted the undercover agent to retreat with Yorai Musha to try and get him medical attention. Which, thankfully, was rather easy to do thanks to a Speedwagon Foundation pop-up base having been in the area.  

When he brought Yorai Musha there for examination, his body had been covered in welts, his eyes were bloodshot and bulging, and his lips had turned blue. However, just before he died, a spark of electricity powerful enough to destroy all the electronic equipment in the operating room came out of his index finger, and then, he passed away.

The HPSC and The Speedwagon Foundation quickly covered it up, but the truth was now out there. Everyone knew what Yorai Musha’s Quirk was. It was to sneak around with no sound to their footsteps, as well as the ability to nullify sound in general.

So for a Pro Hero with a known Quirk that nullified sound to suddenly blast out electricity straight from their fingertips, understandably, caused a panic. To say it was a cause for alarm for the public and an even bigger cause for alarm for both the HPSC and The Speedwagon Foundation was an understatement. The Hero Protection and Safety Committee urged the public that the rumours were false, and like the obedient little dogs they were, they listened.

But a few knew the truth, and those few wanted to spread the word that a group of people were going around and attacking people with bullets that somehow gave people new abilities.

Unfortunatly for them, but fortunately for those involved, their efforts were faulty in spreading the information, as The Speedwagon Foundation and the HPSC were censoring it—a brilliant move on their part.

Still, now with one of the Top 10 dead, all eyes at The Speedwagon Foundation were focused on finding the people who made the bullets, which was a relief. However, now with a wealth of resources allocated to the project, it was clear that the producers of the drug were going to go into hiding, making things much harder.

It was frustrating, but that was just how things went. It was how the cycle of crime versus law enforcement had always been. The only difference was the stakes at play. How things even got as bad as they had, Josefumi didn’t know. What he did know was that they would eventually get better.

They had to.

“At least there will be more eyes on this than there were before. I just wish it didn’t take the death of someone high up in the hero system to cause it,” Josefumi thought as the clock ticked over by a minute. The bell for the next class rang, and as a result, Aizawa-Sensei got out of his sleeping bag, eyes narrowing at everyone before nodding to himself.

A small sigh escaped his mouth as he cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. Kujo and Kira knew that they were going on a field trip, but no one else did. “Now for today’s basic hero training; this time, All Might, myself, and one other will supervise,” Aizawa-Sensei stated, adjusting his massive scarf. No nonsense, just as per usual.

He always wondered why Aizawa-Sensei was so serious all the time. It wasn’t a bad thing, in fact, he found it better than how Vlad King was reported to act. Although, if he had one complaint—and it was a minor one—it was that Aizawa-Sensei was almost… boring.  

Josefumi kinda wanted their teacher to throw more oomph into how he talked, but he guessed he’d just have to be content with tired, grumpy, and always slightly annoyed Aizawa Shouta. He glanced over to Midoriya, who had been in deep thought, and then he glanced over to Kira-san, who was staring at Aizawa with a skeptical glare.

“I wonder what’s on her mind? Is she trying to fish out any deception in his words? To be fair, these past few classes had been rife with trickery on his behalf, so I don’t blame her.”

Just then, one of the other students, Sero Hanta if Josefumi remembered correctly, shot his arm up into the air and asked the question that was on everyone’s minds. “Um, Sensei, what’re we doing exactly?!” Sero asked as Aizawa-Sensei dug around in his pocket for something, then responded in his usual tired tone of voice.

“We’ll be preparing you lot for disaster relief, from fires to floods,” then, with as much enthusiasm as a dying balloon, Aizawa-Sensei finished his sentence with a slightly less tired voice “We’re doing rescue training today.”

And with that, the class erupted into chatter. However, Josefumi simply glanced over to Kira-san, who had done the same thing. Unbeknownst to anyone else in the class, there was a hint of uncertainty in Aizawa’s voice when he brought up All Might. So perhaps there had been a chance that he wasn’t going to show up.

A wave of unease was shared between the two. Why was there uncertainty? Did something happen where All Might was needed for something? It wasn’t uncommon for that to be the case, but—he was All Might, after all—but when Aizawa-Sensei spoke, it wasn’t with regular uncertainty. It was more like a question than a straightforward thing.

Just then, Aizawa-Sensei spoke up, gaining everyone’s attention with a sharp glare and the activation of his Quirk. “Hey. I’m not finished yet.”

As his eyes wandered over everyone, making sure that everyone stopped talking, he huffed, deactivating his Quirk before continuing. “Alright. Now, as I was saying,” he started, grabbing a remote off of his desk and clicking the big red button in the middle. “It’s up to each of you whether or not you wear your costumes, as some of them are ill-suited to this sort of activity,” Aizawa-Sensei continued as several panels from the walls opened up, revealing the suitcases that All Might handed out to them during their first few classes of basic hero training. “The training site is a bit remote, so we’ll be going by bus. That’s all. Get ready.”

It didn’t take long for the class to make the unanimous decision to take their costumes, much to Aizawa’s surprise, although in the back of his mind, he smirked at the action. “They’re becoming more rational. Good.”

After getting changed into their hero costumes, they got outside, and when they did, they were greeted by Ida doing everything in his power to arrange a seating order. Yoshihara paid no mind to it, seeing as she used Killer Queen’s enhanced eyesight to peer through the bus’s tinted windows. The seating plan he was trying to use would fail, and everyone would more than likely choose where they sat, regardless of what Ida wanted.

It was funny how quickly things fell apart. All Ida had to do was look at the bus beforehand, but no. He was so caught up in his own idea of “neat and tidy” that he didn’t consider the possibility that the bus wasn’t the same kind of bus he believed it to be.  

Yoshihara looked over to Izuku and noticed that he was wearing U.A.’s gym uniform instead of his hero costume. Well, she supposed it made sense. Bakugo did damage his hero costume pretty badly, so it was understandable. What she couldn’t understand, however, were the gloves. What were the gloves for? Maybe it was to enhance his punches and reduce the recoil. Maybe?

Izuku was pretty secretive about his Quirk. That would have to be something she talked to him about. His Quirk was interesting, and also very volatile. One wrong move and his entire body would crumple under its sheer strength. She wanted to know more about it, or as much about it as he knew.

Given that he was a Quirk nerd, he probably already knew the ins and outs of his new Quirk. She wasn’t nearly as bothered about it anymore as she had been originally. But either way, that didn’t stop her from being curious.  

“You're staring at Midoruya-kun, you know that?” A voice cropped up behind Yoshihara as she spun around, meeting face to-face with Ashido. “Do you have a crush on him~?” Ashido asked, a wicked smile on her face as Yoshihara’s eyes darted over to Izuku, then back to Mina.

“Uh…” she paused to think. Did she have a crush on him? Was she even capable of mimicking that emotion? Love? Was that even possible?

Well, thinking back to that time when she had… slept with Izuku… in her bed… snuggled up to him like he was a large teddy bear… she remembered that her heart began to race and that she felt her cheeks heat up when she saw that. Did that… did that mean she had a crush on him? No. No. She couldn’t. She couldn’t feel that kind of emotion. It wasn’t right. She wasn’t allowed to. That would compromise everything.

“I… guess….” Yet her mind betrayed her as did her words. She hadn’t even realized that she had said that as Ashido’s smile widened.

“I knew it! Haha! Okay, you, me, we’re going shopping. You’re not backing out of this at all. Trust me, I’m a guru with this kind of stuff. I was little-miss-cupid in my middle school. I set up so many relationships, and I can do the same here. But you gotta have the right wardrobe. You free this weekend?” Ashido asked as Yoshihara stared at her, watching the excitement swirl in her eyes.

Well, there was no backing out now. That and Kayama-san did say she needed to broaden her wardrobe. Sakunami-san helped a little bit, but she had a feeling that Ashido would force her to get more than just a handful of things like Sakunami-san had.

“Yeah, as far as I am aware I am,” Yoshihara responded as Mina nodded.

“Great! We’ll meet at the mall in Kamino Ward. I’m going to try and bring Kirishima and Karera-chan, sound good?” All Yoshihara did in response was nod before boarding the bus. 

The bus, much to Ida’s dismay, was a different kind of bus than what he had been expecting which Yoshihara had already predicted, and just as she predicted, everyone sat wherever they chose, much to the class rep’s disdain. Yoshihara sat to Izuku’s right, while to his left, Asui Tsuyu if she remembered correctly, sat there. To Yoshihara’s right was one Rikido Sato, who seemed to be listening to music while keeping his head low.

The bus ride was silent for the majority of the time. However, that was until Asui spoke up, specifically towards Izuku. “I generally say what’s on my mind, Midoriya.” Asui started as Izuku rubbed the back of his head, clearly not expecting to be addressed so abruptly.

“O-Oh! What is it, Asui—”

“Call me Tsuyu.”

“Oh! Tsuyu, er, what is it?”

She looked over in the direction of Izuku, and with a totally not at all unnerving bug-eyed stare, spoke her mind to Izuku. “Your Quirk resembles All Might’s.”

And from there, all chaos broke loose. Yoshihara simply detached herself from the world around her and slumped into her seat on the bus, not keen on listening to the annoying conversation that was going to spiral about due to Asui’s inflammatory claims.

However, much to her mind’s chagrin, Asui did bring up a valid point. The only difference separating All Might’s Quirk and Izuku’s was that All Might’s bones didn’t break upon using his power. Although, Yoshihara had deduced that it was based on control, and not just a simple drawback.

Looking back on the times Izuku used his Quirk, both successfully and unsuccessfully, there was a clear line between him breaking his bones being a drawback, and it being an unintended consequence of not being able to control his own Quirk.

On the first day, as Aizawa was making an example out of Izuku—or at least, tried to, anyway—he channelled all of his power into his index finger when he threw the ball, the result being a broken finger instead of a broken arm.

Then, she compared it to when he battled Bakugo in the Combat Training exercise, where he acted on a whim, not bothering to channel his power, and as a result, not only blew up a majority of the building but also destroyed his arm in the process.  

Therefore, her theory was sound—at least that part of it was. Izuku’s Quirk’s drawback wasn’t breaking bones. Its true drawback was the difficulty in controlling the power. It was almost sad that nobody else picked up on it. She would have assumed that maybe Bakugo would’ve picked up on it, seeing as the two had a history together, no matter how unfavourable it truly was, but she must’ve put more thought in Bakugo’s mental capacity than she had initially assumed.

Or maybe, like her, he was keeping his suspicions to himself. Which, in that regard, made sense. No one, no matter their history, wanted to accuse someone of anything, no matter how minor it was. Even so, it didn’t seem in line with the Bakugo that she had met. Perhaps there was more to him than she thought.

She paused to think deeper about the implications that might have had. Izuku’s Quirk was similar to All Mights, and the drawback was inherently based around control—at least she assumed—and Izuku was a massive All Might fanboy.

Either two things were happening here. Either All Might was the biological father of Izuku—which she didn’t believe. If All Might was as bad a teacher as he is as a parent, that would mean that Izuku would be even more socially inept, so that wasn’t possible and therefore, logically speaking, that wouldn’t make sense. Then again, the second option was equally non-sensical but had a lot more merit.

Since Izuku was Quirkless all of his life, it would stand to reason that his Quirk didn’t just “suddenly develop” as he claimed. She wasn’t going to assume the possibility of that being the case, but at the same time, one did not simply lose a toe joint over time, develop a Quirk, then train with it only for ten months, go to the top hero school in all of Japan, and get this far without some sort of foul play being involved.

Which was why, she had come to a startling realization that only made sense to her, and to her alone.

Somehow, in some way, All Might, in some fashion, gave his Quirk to Izuku to allow him to become a Pro Hero and take his place as The Symbol of Peace.          

As much as she tried to deny that being the more likely option, Yoshihara knew full well that if given the chance, Izuku would easily agree to that kind of strain just to impress All Might, or do the selfless thing and carry whatever legacy that All Might. However, there was just one thing that stopped her from fully believing her theory.

How?

How did Izuku obtain his Quirk? How exactly did he get it from All Might? Was there a trade that took place? If so, what trade? What did he give up to take the Quirk? Something was amiss with the situation, and to get the right answer, she would have to confront Izuku about it as soon as she got the chance.

And what better chance than now, seeing as he was right next to her? However, just as she was about to ask the all-important question to Izuku in a whisper, Aizawa-Sensei spoke up, causing her to straighten up.

“We’re here. Look sharp now!”

“I guess I’ll have to ask him later. But now, at the very least, I have something to think about while doing this mundane training exercise.” Yoshihara thought, standing up from her seat on the bus.

Upon getting off the bus, everyone was quickly funnelled into a dome-like building, and upon entering, they were met with a truly disastrous view—in a good way. A lake with a massive whirlpool in the center next to a boat. A bunch of buildings covered in mud and half-buried buildings. A mountainous region. A dome with fire iconography, so something to do with a mass fire of some kind if it had to be contained like that. And finally, another place with a dome over the top of it with water and wind iconography—clearly, it had something to do with rain and wind.

And everyone within Class 1 – A saw it all, standing on top of a highrise platform, watching over it all with a keen eye. There was a fountain in the middle of the building, which was probably a resting area before getting back to training. After all, recklessly training one’s body without taking breaks was a bad thing. No one in their right mind did something like that.

But, there was something else that was bothering Yoshihara. Something that she couldn’t quite shake. She had been anticipating for something to go wrong the whole day, and yet, nothing had. It was starting to concern her, and while she did her best to not show it, she couldn’t help but feel the overwhelming sensation of dread.

She adjusted her tie as an uncomfortable feeling washed over her. She looked over to Josefumi, who also had the same uncomfortable expression adorning his face. In front of them was a hero, whose helmet had giant white eyes, making it look like the suit itself was alive. Speaking of the suit, they looked like an astronaut wearing an overly bulky suit. A fitting touch, considering who they were.

“There’s the flood zone, landslide zone, conflagration zone, etcetera….” The hero paused to look over the students, a smile hiding behind the space helmet. “Every disaster and accident you can imagine, all located in one place. Not to pat myself on the back, but I built this facility myself. I call it… The “Unforeseen Simulation Joint”!!!” The Pro Hero said, their voice muffled, and the ability to hear what gender of the person they were was difficult due to the static radio voice they used to mask it.

And, in true hero nerd fashion, Izuku began to geek out. “It’s the space hero, Thirteen! They’re a gentleman hero who does their best work in rescue scenarios!” Izuku said as Uraraka chimed in with her own opinion.

“Oooh! I love Thirteen!!!” Uraraka said, a million-dollar smile on her face as Yoshihara looked away, shaking her head with disappointment. How the hell did they not pick up on the foreboding atmosphere the place was giving off? Was it just her and Josefumi who could feel it? If so, why?

And then, it hit her.

“I get it now. The reason my anxiety is acting up….” Yoshihara thought, looking around the massive training area, trying to figure out where it was coming from until finally, she pinpointed the blue dome-covered zone with the water and wind motifs. She glanced over to Josefumi, who was doing the same thing.

“There’s a Stand User in this building. But who? And how?”

Thirteen turned to face them all, her expression unseeable due to the mask. “Before we start the lesson, I have one or two points. Or three… or was it four? Bah, whatever,” As Thirteen started, Yoshihara tried to distract herself from the malice that was building up in the building, but it was unavoidable, and as a result, Killer Queen summoned itself by her side, Josefumi’s Soft & Wet doing the same.

“As I’m sure many of you are aware. My Quirk is called Black Hole. It can suck in and tear apart anything,” Thirteen continued as Izuku spoke up.

“And you’ve used it to save people in all sorts of disasters!” Izuku said as Thirteen nodded.

“Indeed… However, my power could easily kill. I have no doubt in my mind that there are some among you with similar abilities.” Yoshihara could’ve sworn she felt Thirteen’s eyes land on her specifically, and her spine tingled because of it.

“In our super-powered society,” Thirteen continued, turning their attention back to everyone. “The use of Quirks is heavily restricted and monitored. It may seem that this system is a stable one, but we must never forget that it only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable Quirk for people to die. During Aizawa’s physical fitness test, you came to learn of your hidden potential. Through All Might’s Battle and Hostage Rescue Training, you experienced the danger that your respective abilities can pose to others. This class will show you a new perspective! You will learn how to utilize your Quirks to save lives!” Thirteen made a sweeping gesture to the area around them as everyone felt their adrenaline begin to pump. Specifically, Izuku, who now sported a massive smile on his face. “Your powers are not meant to inflict harm. I hope you leave here today with the understanding that you’re meant to help people. That is all! Thank you for listening.”

As Thirteen finished her speech, everyone, except for Yoshihara and Josefumi, gave praise to the speech. It wasn’t because they were ignorant, but instead, their senses were too honed in on the threat that was within the building with them.

Somehow, a rogue Stand User was in the building. One neither of them recognized, and it was throwing them off. Sweat built up on Yoshihara’s forehead as her expression morphed into one of worry and concern.

“Every second I stay here, the more danger I’m in. Something bad is going to happen here. I sensed it early this morning when my shoulder tensed up and when I had that nightmare. And now, I’m getting the same feeling, but stronger. Something is wrong. I can feel it.” Both Josefumi and Yoshihara thought at the exact same time as Aizawa sighed.

“Great. First off….” Aizawa trailed off, glancing down the stairs as something within the center of the USJ began to swirl to life. The object started to grow, like a portal, and it continued to do so in the span of seconds. Aizawa’s eyes slowly began to widen as a hand began to grip the edge of the portal as if it were clawing its way out of a dirt hole.

And then, a manic, hand-covered face peered out of the hole, a singular eye the size of a pinprick looking up at everyone as Yoshihara’s eyes widened like saucers. The killing intent coming from that one man was suffocating. And to make things worse….

“Teal-haired guy?!”

She thought back to the time when she bumped into the hooded figure back at U.A. They both had the same hair colour…. They both gave off some form of killing intent, though this time it was much more egregious…. And then, everything snapped cleanly into place.

“He was the one who broke into U.A. Now he’s here to attack us all? But why? No, I shouldn’t think about that. He’s a villain. He attacked the main building, and now he’s here….”  

“HUDDLE UP AND DON’T MOVE!!” Aizawa’s booming, angry and shock-filled voice rocketed all around the students as everyone in class 1 – A, outside of Yoshihara and Josefumi, was blissfully unaware of what was going on.

Panic, confusion, and terror filled the room as Aizawa began to give orders to Thirteen to “Protect the students.” Just as she thought, things were going wrong. Oh so horribly wrong. Everyone began to chatter as the teachers began barking out orders, trying desperately to get them out of the USJ.

And amongst it all, Yoshihara’s heart was beginning to go into overdrive. The killing intent soaking off of that man was too much. It was inhuman. It was suffocatingly strong. It made it nearly impossible to breathe for her. Her eyes shrunk and her breathing began to labour. Her chest tightened, and her hearing began to fail as a loud buzzing noise took its place, just as the panic attack set in.

Josefumi took notice and rushed to her side, wrapping an arm around the prone Yoshihara’s shoulder as she buckled to her knees, her body shaking as she tried to keep herself from lashing out. He was speaking, but Yoshihara couldn’t hear a word. People were running around, but it became a blur for her.

Why now? Why, out of all times, did she have to have a panic attack now? It didn’t make sense. Why would she have a panic attack in a situation like this? She had been in life-or-death situations before, so why was she having a panic attack?

It was because of that malice. That raw, inhuman hatred for everything. It was animalistic, it was suffocating. All Yoshihara wanted to do was huddle up into a ball and cry. Cry like the child she was. She couldn’t take it, she didn’t want to be here anymore. It was too much. It reminded her of her.

Killer Queen’s vision allowed her to see his face. And it was monstrous. The look in his eyes, the malice wafting off of him. The way he held himself. The way he scratched at his neck. The way how he smiled. It all reminded Yoshihara of her.

“Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopit!”

That tough façade of hers shattered as she could barely make out Izuku rushing over to her. In a split second, a massive shadow cast over them, and she could feel its sharp eyes zeroing in on her and her classmates.  

But before she could do or say anything, all she could do was reach out, grab Izuku’s shoulder, staring at him with eyes that showed nothing but pain, worry, and fear. His eyes had much the same expression within them, though far more subdued.

It was getting harder each second to fight back the urge to scream, to cry. She had only felt this kind of malicious intensity once before. But it was a memory so far suppressed that she didn’t want to re-live it. But before she could do or say anything to Izuku….

Everything went black.

-To Be Continued-

Chapter Text

[Revised Chapter posted on: 2024-08-06]

[Invasion At The USJ – Part 2]

When that purple swirling portal showed up at the edge of the fountain, located at the bottom of the stairwell leading into the main area of the USJ, Josefumi Kujo felt that dread from before build up to a fever pitch, but before he could figure out what was going on, that confusion turned into worry when Kira began to have a panic attack, and the concern turned into stress once she passed out.

Now was not the time to have Kira pass out, yet for some reason, she did, and in all honesty, he couldn't blame her. She was already on edge when they got here because they had sensed that rogue Stand User within the building. Villains attacking at the same time only served to make that worse.

But now, she was a liability. Unless he could wake her up, she was going to be a sitting duck, and with that other Stand User roaming around, the last thing that he wanted was for her to be killed—or any of them, for that matter.

"W-What's happening?! W-Why's Yoshihara—"

"Panic attack. We need to get out of here," Josefumi said, interrupting Izuku, narrowing his eyes over to Thirteen. The commotion going on because of Aizawa's announcement that there were real, honest-to-Kami villains inside the USJ, didn't come as a shock to Josefumi—he was more confused than anything else—but he did have one question lingering in his mind.

Why here? Why at the USJ? What was so special about this place that caused these villains to attack a bunch of high schoolers? There was nothing about them that proved that their class was special. Was it a coincidence? If that was the case, why bring a Stand User? He could still sense them, but right now his focus was on figuring out the puzzle set out before him.

And then it hit him.

"All Might…."

All Might was a teacher at U.A.

His class was a bunch of U.A. students.

Currently, one of All Might's classes was at the USJ, being attacked by villains.

Put the two together, and add said group of students being secluded from the school away from the massive security system that the Main Campus had, and it was a perfect recipe for wanton chaos, destruction, and moreover death to students and faculty.

Now to be fair to himself, he could easily beat up any villain who came near him so long as he used Soft & Wet, but it wasn't just him. There were his other classmates who didn't have the advantage of being a Stand User.

And with there being another Stand User outside of him and Kira in the building who was most likely siding with their attackers, things could go to shit in mere moments, and the death of students and faculty could come because of it. Not to mention, with Kira out like a light, that left only him to deal with the Enemy Stand User. 

"This is bad. This is really, really bad… if someone else other than me ends up fighting that Stand user, they'll be fucked… Forget having the school lose its reputation, the death of a student is no joke, and on campus of all things? That could tank the school!" Josefumi thought, summoning Soft & Wet over his body to pick up Kira.

"First things first, get Kira out of here as fast as possible, make sure she's safe. Then plan accordingly to deal with The Stand User" Josefumi thought, looking down at Kira’s unconscious form. What could’ve prompted the panic attack in the first place? Stress and fear made sense, but Kira seemed to be the type of person who could shrug that off with ease.

So what brought this on? What was it that she saw that made her freak out? He was still trying to wrap his head around it, and yet, no matter which way he pulled at his brain to try and put the pieces together, nothing clicked. Nothing at all.

“Doesn’t matter. Not right now. Focus, Josefumi! Focus on what’s important here!” Kujo thought, narrowing his eyes toward the dome with the water and wind iconography.

Once he defeated the Stand User, he could get out of here with the rest of the students. Neutralizing, or at the very least capturing the enemy Stand user, was his top priority. The problem was that only Aizawa-Sensei knew about Stands, and the only reason why was that he was attacked by one according to Kira. There was no reason for the other staff members to know about Stand Users. As far as they were concerned, they were regular everyday villains.

As stupid as it was to keep that secret, it needed to be done. For their own safety, and the safety of everyone else, Stand Users needed to be kept secret so that A. no one went searching for The Stand Arrow and B. so that no unnecessary death should come from it.

Stand Users were deadly, and so were Quirks. The difference was that Stands were more potent. Stands were invisible to the naked eye. No matter what anyone said, even if it seemed stupid to keep it hidden, he knew a few Quirk Users who would brazenly go after Stand Users because of the threat they posed. Most Heroes would attempt to and fail to apprehend them, which could just cause more deaths.

The less anyone spoke about The Romen Collosuem Incident back during the end of World War II with the Pillar Men, the better. Hundreds died, and there was nothing that anyone could’ve done about it.

Moving along from that train of thought, Josefumi looked over the crowd to see if anyone could get Kira out of The USJ in a reasonable amount of time. The only person that came to mind was the literal guy with engines on his legs. And so, that was who he called out to.

"Ida!" Josefumi shouted, gathering the boy in the armour's attention. "Get Kira out of here! She's passed out! You're the fastest and most reliable!" Josefumi said, summoning one of his bubbles, and popping it on her. "I've removed her weight, quickly!"

Ida nodded, running over and taking Yoshihara out of his hands. Before he could leave, Josefumi spoke up again. "Once you exit the building, I'm going to deactivate the ability, afterwards, go seek help, we're going to need it," Josefumi ordered, causing the brother of Ingenium to grimace.

"But what if—"

"No, “what if's”, get out of here, now, before that portal thing gets here," Josefumi snapped, earning a nod from Ida. He began to run, and everyone else followed him, taking Thirteen’s orders to get out as fast as possible. Midoriya, however, was watching Eraserhead kick the shit out of villains. Normally, Josefumi wouldn't have cared, but they needed to evacuate, now. And if anyone was going to stay behind, it was going to be him, not Midoriya.

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR WATCHING, MIDORIYA! GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR!" Josefumi shouted, grabbing him from behind and hauling ass toward the doorway. Just as they were near the exit, and just as Ida was about to reach the door, a purple mist formed in front of them, causing Ida to stop dead in his tracks, but not before throwing Kira toward the door, and Josefumi deactivating Soft & Wet's bubble effect on her, causing the body to hit the door with a harsh thud, jolting her awake with a sudden pain to her back.

"OW! Yoshihara cried out, her eyes snapping open, hitting the floor in a hunched position. She struggled to stand up from the sudden impact and groaned after coughing a bunch. "Talk about a rude awakening…" Yoshihara thought, rubbing her forehead. "Ugh... when I find out who did that, I'm going to—"

"KIRA-SAN! GET OUT OF HERE! GET SOMEONE, ANYONE!" Ida cried out as Kira blinked, her vision stabilizing as she shook her head. All she remembered was that she blacked out because of… something, and now Ida was telling her to run for some reason or another.

As she got her bearings, Kira couldn't help but look up to see a giant mass of mist in front of her, yellow piercing eyes staring into her soul, and in response, a small droplet of sweat dropped down the side of her face.

"What the hell did I just get myself into?" Yoshihara thought, trying hard to figure out what it was that had happened. Then, it hit her like a truck. She had remembered taking a trip on a bus with her class to the USJ, a training facility, and the assistant teacher there, Thirteen, gave some sort of grandiose speech about Quirks and that they all had the ability to kill, then...

"Villains..." Yoshihara muttered, looking up at the purple mist with wide eyes. She could still feel that killing intent, and a rogue Stand User. She tried to ignore it, but for a split second, she almost gave back into the fear she felt.

"No... I can't have that happen again. I'm better than this. I can't just pass out because it would be convenient for me to faint. I have to be strong. Even if that means I have to face something I'd rather not!" Yoshihara thought, gaining a defiant look on her face.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that," the black mist boomed. Yoshihara could only take a step back as a tendril of mist inched its way toward her. "While it might seem too late, even still, I shouldn't forget my manners. Greetings, we are from the League of Villains. Forgive our audacity, but…." The mist creature drawled. "Today, we've come here to U.A. High—this bastion of heroics—to end the life of All Might, the symbol of peace."

Its voice echoed throughout the USJ. Kira could only scoff. These guys? Kill All Might? What were they, movie villains? Yoshihara stepped towards the door, and the piece of the mist shot towards her in response, trying to stop her advancement. Summoning Killer Queen, she launched a bubble bomb in its face, dazing the mist creature, and causing any of the approaching mist to lurch back in shock.

Yoshihara used that moment to get out as fast as she could, all the while she heard her classmates cry out for her to get help. She needed to save herself, first and foremost, and despite her mind only telling her to leave it at that, she knew she had to get help. Izuku, and by extension, everyone else, was in danger, and that was something she could not allow.

"GO! KIRA! GET THE HEROES!" Ida cried out, and as he did, the mist-like creature grabbed him, and seemingly absorbed him.

“Holy shit!” She thought as she ran as fast as she could out of the building. While she wasn't as fast as Ida, she knew where a spare phone would be, and she knew she could call the police, who could then get into contact with U.A., who in turn could get into contact with All Might.

"Once All Might is there, then those villains are gonna be toast. I wish I could do more, but I was set down the path of a retriever. At least I know I won't get injured..." Yoshihara thought, running as fast as her lungs and legs would allow.

Back in the USJ, the black mist creature shook its head and grimaced. "One of you escaped… that isn't good. However, even if that is the case, and even if All Might is not here, as is evident, that does not change my role—" Before the big gas cloud could do anything, Bakugo and Kirishima rushed the mist creature and attacked it using the fullest extent of their Quirks.

Bakugo let out an explosion double the size of his body, knocking the creature away even more, and Kirishima slammed his hardened right hook into the metal collar around the villain's neck, making it lurch back even more.

"NOT IF WE END YOU FIRST!" Bakugo shouted as Kirishima spoke up right next to him.

"BETCHA DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING!"

The mist villain recoiled ever-so-slightly, looking down at its collar before humming to itself. "That was close. Yes, students though you may be, but you are the best of the best," the villain snarled, almost in a praising yet also condescending tone of voice.

"NO! You two, get out of the way!" Thirteen cried out, pointing out their index finger. The two got the message right away, but as they scattered, the mist expanded at an unprecedented rate, encircling them all.

"BEGONE!" The massive void creature shouted as Josefumi readied his Soft & Wet to fire a bubble to prevent it from using its Quirk. However, he had underestimated the sheer speed of the fog, as Josefumi found himself getting wrapped up in black mist faster than he could blink.

The next thing he knew, Josefumi found himself spat out in a random building, with two people right beside him, those two people being….

"Fumi-kun?" Ochako Uraraka's voice had been a sudden one, but one that Josefumi was glad to hear, even if it was panicked. On his other side was Ida, who had been quick to stand up.

"Is everyone alright?" Ida asked as Josefumi nodded, and Ochako looked around, panicked.

"W-Where are we!" Uraraka asked as Josefumi did a quick look around. The building they had found themselves in was definitely a high rise, and with the rain hitting the windows at high speeds, and with that sensation of the Stand User he had felt earlier being extremely close, there was only one logical conclusion to come to.

"We are in the downpour zone. If I were to guess, then we're on the top floor of a building. We have to descend quickly or else—" Josefumi was cut off when he heard movement, almost like a scuttling sound. He snapped his attention to his right, and his eyes narrowed. "Don't move… something, or someone, is around that corner," Josefumi said, summoning Soft & Wet behind him.

"I'll go scope things out!" Ida stated, looking back at Josefumi and Ochako.

"Ida, I said—"

"I'm the class representative, Fumi-kun, let me help," Ida interrupted as Kujo sighed. The reason he was so adamant about him not leaving was that he could sense the Stand User nearby. He couldn't make out exactly where they were, but he knew they were in this area.

"Ida, I- LOOKOUT, MOVE TO YOUR LEFT!" Josefumi called out suddenly as a grey, one-eyed goblin with the letters D.V.R encircling its body as a wrap-around tattoo launched itself towards Ida, who was confused, but did as he was told, its two fingers barely missing his face as Soft & Wet then hurdled a punch towards the goblin, sending it through one of the walls, the wall itself shattering on impact.

[ORA!]

Both Ochako and Ida stared in shock and confusion at the sudden destruction and sudden hole in the wall that appeared out of thin air. "Fumi-kun, w-what just—"

"No time to explain, we are being attacked. You two need to get out of here as soon as possible and do it fast. Get to the fountain with Ochako, I—"

"AH!"

Uraraka's scream reverberated throughout the room as something seemingly bit into her arm, blood flying everywhere from the bite mark. Ochako couldn't see what was causing it, but Josefumi could, and similar to last time, Soft & Wet sent it flying, this time out of a window.

[ORA!]

The goblin-like Stand cried out as it phased through the window, much to Josefumi's shock. "A Stand that can phase through walls… not good! I mean, most Stands can for non-offensive purposes, but this is different, it wasn't ghostly at all, it was completely formed…." Josefumi thought, looking over to Uraraka, who had tears in her eyes as blood trailed from the wound and hit the floor.

"M-My arm, I-It's bleeding! S-Something invisible bit me!" Ochako cried as Josefumi moved over to her to examine the wound. It was deep, nearly puncturing bone, but thankfully no arteries were cut, nor any veins.

"You'll be okay, but you still need immediate medical attention," Josefumi stated, giving her a reassuring nod before sharply turning his attention over to Ida. "A little help would be nice!" Josefumi stated, earning a nod from Ida.

"On it, although, I have to ask, what's attacking us, and how come you can see it before we can?" Ida asked as Josefumi shook his head.

"Not important, just go, now!" Josefumi said, turning his attention towards the doorway. "Get Uraraka out of here, same as yourself, you have to, otherwise—" Before he could continue, more of those grey gremlins poured out of the floor and the ceiling. And as they all stood around, waiting, a voice echoed around the room, coming out of one of the goblin's open maws.

"It would seem as if I am not the only Stand User. I wasn’t told that one of you brats had a Stand. But that just means my victory will be just that sweeter!" The voice declared as Uraraka looked around, as did Ida. They could hear the voice, but they couldn’t see where it was coming from. Josefumi on the other hand, merely narrowed his eyes, slowly standing up as Soft & Wet followed behind its user.

"You’re the one I sensed earlier, right? You’re coming after my friends, my classmates, and if I were to harbour a guess, you plan on killing us, right? Then allow me to make a declaration of my own. When I find you... I will kill you." The sinister words fell out of Josefumi's mouth as if it were second nature, and the seriousness about it concerned and frightened both Ida and Uraraka.

"Y-You don't mean that... right, Fumi-kun?" Uraraka asked as Josefumi remained silent, a deadly serious expression on his face. "F-Fumi-kun...?" Uraraka stuttered as Josefumi glanced over his shoulder. His stare was 1000 yards long, and for a split second, Ochako could see a fire in his eyes.

"This bastard came here looking to kill us. The natural response is to respond in kind. Now go. I'll deal with this guy," Josefumi spat as a laugh echoed throughout the building.

"I'd like to see them try, Kujo Josefumi!" And with that, several of the Stands ran past him, and just as they leapt for their faces, the two unfazed by it due to not seeing them, Josefumi had Soft & Wet get as close to them as possible, grab their legs, then swing them in the direction of the three other gremlins, all of which were destroyed upon slamming into one another.

"So, they're not very durable, but… why didn't they phase through one another…." Josefumi thought as Uraraka and Ida both looked at one another. They felt the wind rush past them as if something else was there, but they couldn't see it. Josefumi was simply standing still, but things kept getting destroyed around him.

He was fighting something. Something that they couldn't see, yet he could. "What's going on here?" Uraraka thought, taking a step back. "Ida, we need to go, now!"

"But—"

"No buts, I don't want anything to do with this, and Fumi-kun doesn't want us involved, right? We can't see who he's fighting, so—"

"If you two want to help," Josefumi started, not taking his sights off of whatever was swarming him and subsequently getting smashed into the floor. "Someone here is commanding these things. Uraraka, you can make things float, right? Make Ida and yourself float and get out of the building through one of the windows. I'll make an opening for you two." As Josefumi finished what it was he was saying, one of the windows shattered.

"These creatures, the invisible grey goblin cyclops things, are being controlled by someone. Find that person, and beat the snot out of them, enough to make their power go away. Just be careful. While you won't be able to see them, nor will you be able to attack them, you can dodge them if you feel their presence, such as one brushing up against you," Josefumi said as Soft & Wet punched away another gremlin, its head exploding into grey matter and black blood.

Another leapt at Josefumi, this one's claws nearly reaching his face as Soft & Wet batted it away like a fly. "Go! Now!" Josefumi shouted as both Ochako and Ida made their way toward the door. Three more gremlins ran towards the pair as Josefumi snapped his attention towards the gremlins, Soft & Wet bunch barraging the three gremlins.

[ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA! ]

The three gremlins exploded into bits as two more gremlins latched onto his back and began to tear at it. Josefumi sucked back a shout, and Soft & Wet punched them off before they could bite him. Blood seeped from his back as five more jumped him from his right, to which he blocked with his arm, though one bit him, and his arm froze in place, along with the rest of his body.

Soft & Wet smashed all of them with one punch, curing his instant paralysis. "So, when they bite, they paralyze you… damn, that's terrifying, and with a swarm Stand, too…." Josefumi thought, shaking his arm. Blood leaked down the side of his arm as he frowned, the wound stinging due to its contact with the open air. "Though it seems to go away if you destroy the one that bit you, so that's a pretty bad weakness if their target has a Stand."

"Your Stand is terrifying, but it's no match for Soft & Wet," Josefumi spat, grabbing his arm as he hunched over from the pain in his back. He turned his head and saw that Uraraka was helping Ida get used to flying, all the while the two were looking for the culprit. "Hopefully, they don't take too long," the pompadour-haired teen said, standing up straight. There were only 35 gremlins left, but a few popped out of the floor, and that was when Josefumi narrowed his eyes. "Because if they take too long, I'll get overrun by them and die."

Several more goblins ran towards him, and Josefumi jumped back, the stinging in his back becoming more apparent. Soft & Wet punched the two that were by his left flank, though they simply sank into the ground, not breaking the floor. They surfaced out of the floor like sharks popping out of the water, joining the others that were charging to his right.

Using a bubble, Josefumi popped it in the middle of all five of the gremlins that attacked him and took away their teeth, and when they did clamp down on him, they couldn't pierce his skin. Soft & Wet then punched them off of the pompadour-wearing teen, which made them splat into the wall, the bubbles effect ending, seeing as those affected were gone.

Josefumi felt a sharp feeling in his back as one of the gremlins had snuck up on him and clawed at his back with their fingers. Soft & Wet punched it off, as two more dog-piled on him. The Stands bit into him, but Soft & Wet punched them off, negating whatever paralyzing effect their bites had. "Shit, c'mon you guys, I won't last for too long!" Josefumi thought, panic in his expression as the gremlins lurked closer to him. This was not going to end well.

Meanwhile, as Josefumi fought the Enemy Stand, Ochako and Ida made base with the ground in the downpour zone, with Ochako deactivating her Quirk, all the while trying to keep down her lunch. "Well done, Uraraka-san!" Ida congratulated as Ochako smiled.

"Thank you, Ida-kun. Now, let's find this person that Fumi-kun mentioned!" Ochako said, a determined tone to her voice as Ida nodded. Unbeknownst to them, the user was in the building across from the one Josefumi was in, crossing her arms as she bit her lip.

"Damn, I didn't know that this brat was a Stand User. And it's pretty strong and fast. But I sensed two of them earlier. Kurogiri probably warped that one far away from here, which would be good, seeing as I do not want to deal with two of them," Makoto said, looking over her shoulder to a bunch of tied-up villains, who were all squirming.

"Hmm… perhaps you three can deal with those brats. If you do, I'll give you a bit of a reward~," Makoto said, moving her duster over a bit to expose a part of her thigh, running an index finger up it as all of the villains blushed violently, nodding vigorously. "Very good~," Makoto purred, summoning one of Die Very Rough's gremlins in front of them and slashing the ropes.

The three villains ran down the stairs to kill the two other U.A. brats, causing Makoto to smirk. "People will do anything for a bit of pleasure, even if it's just a taste. No matter the gender. It's a very easy way to manipulate people into doing one's own dirty work. So while I'm focusing all my attention on this brat over here, those mooks can deal with those other two brats," Makoto said, crossing her arms under her voluptuous chest.

"My range on my Stand isn't the greatest. It covers from this building to the one that the other Stand user brat is in, so if I leave this building, I can't pick him off. 50 meters, Not much to work with considering the job I have, but it is good enough. I'll make you proud, Boss, then maybe we can have another romantic dinner together?" Makoto said, smiling slightly at the thought.

She wanted to be the one that the Boss promoted to the higher ranks. She had been stuck as a debt collector for five years now, and she wanted to see more action like this. So long as if she didn't die here, that was. "No, these hero brats wouldn't bloody their hands, would they?" Makoto thought, biting her lip. "Of course not. They're heroes in training. Unfortunatly for them, they can't talk me down like it's some sort of generic shonen anime, brats. I'll kill you all, and present your heads to The Boss!"

With Ochako and Ida, they were beginning their search on the first floor of the very building Makoto was in, unknown to the pair of course. The two of them had split up to cover extra ground, Ida with the first and second floor, and Ochako with the third and fourth floor.

In retrospect, splitting up was a bad idea, especially with villains, but they needed to cover more ground, so, despite Ida's reservations about the idea, they did it anyway. Currently, Ochako was on the third floor, just as Ida told her to be, peeking her head into each room she came across.

The search effort was lacklustre so far, not even coming across a single villain—which was a good thing, sort of—and Ochako was getting frustrated. She was in a rush, and the need to find the villain who was doing whatever it was they were doing to Fumi-kun was a top priority. The last thing she wanted to see was the corpse of a friend.

The wound on her arm stung like hell, but she had to ignore it for now, even if she could feel pinpricks at the edges of her eyes, and even if she could see small droplets of blood rush down her arm. Fumi-kun said it would be fine, but she didn't know what his definition of 'fine' was.

Fumi-kun, from what she saw from him in that building, seemed like a battle-hardened individual. That meant that this wasn't his first run-in with villains and that he either committed acts of vigilantism in the past, or he was the villain before.

And his willingness to kill…. At first, she thought it was a joke, a bluff to scare the enemy, but he was serious. He was genuinely considering murdering someone. It was wrong, it was unheroic, and no one, not even a villain, deserved that. Yet, she wasn't allowed to get a word in. Thankfully, Ida and herself were the ones who were looking for the villain, and not him.

Maybe he had a reason to kill? No, no one had a legitimate reason to kill, unless it was self-defence—which technically this was—but it was still wrong.

And then there was what the villain's Quirk was. Fumi-kun said there were grey goblin things surrounding them at the time, but she couldn't see what they looked like, or if Fumi-kun was saying that to spook them. But then she got bit, and then she immediately believed him. She felt the teeth sink into her skin, pierce her flesh, and draw blood.

Whatever it was that was there was real, but she couldn't see it, which made this villain even more terrifying for her. If that Quirk was used for good, they’d easily be a top Pro Hero. But when something like that is used for evil, well… it becomes a lot more terrifying.

Even if she didn't want to believe it, the effects that one room had were more than enough proof of what had been going on in that room. There was something there. She couldn't deny it, hell, her wound was proof enough. And seeing as Fumi-kun also had something like those invisible creatures, she trusted him to hold them off, just as Ida and herself were trusted in finding the villain behind this.

Which was why she needed to hurry up searching the place before it was too late. Ochako had no idea how much time Fumi-kun had before he got overrun by those invisible monster things. But considering he was getting mauled pretty badly before they left, she hazarded a guess that it wasn’t a lot of time.

Every single room she walked into was dusty, dirty, and looked like it hadn't been cleaned for months, or hell, even years, which her mind was screaming at her to get out of. Living with a family of construction workers taught her basic hygiene as well as hygiene for buildings and rooms, and whether or not it was safe for inhabitants to live in.

It was why when she first moved into her apartment she stripped the walls first thing to remove the asbestos in the walls and replaced it with something better, free from charge thanks to her father, who covered the cost.

So when she had that same desire to scrub down every single wall just for the sake of her mental health and the health of those around her, she had to try her damnedest to fight it just for the sake of not getting jumped by whatever villains were roaming the halls. "For such a prolific school, they sure as hell don't know how to keep their faux cities clean. Yeesh," Ochako whispered, scanning another room that was modelled to look like a classroom.

"Nope, nothing there. Alright, time to move on to the next floor," Ochako said, but as she turned around, she felt something ramming into her back, knocking her to the floor. "Gah!" Uraraka cried, lifting herself from her prone position on the floor, narrowly dodging out of the way as a massive rocky fist slammed into the ground.

She looked up to see a four-armed, rocky-skinned individual with a mask over his mouth and nose. He had a black jumpsuit on his upper and lower body, which was cut off at the knees, and his skin was a mixture of black and grey.

"YOU! I'M GOING TO SQUEEZE YOUR HEAD OFF!" The villain shouted, charging toward Ochako, who dodged out of the way of the attack before tapping her hands on several desks, causing them to float up into the air. She felt a wave of nausea wash over her, though she ignored it. The villain smashed through two of the desks as she batted one over to his face, giving it back its gravity, and the result was something that she should've seen coming.

The desk slammed into his face and sent him stumbling over to an open window. "WHOAAAAA~!" The villain screamed, and then, he fell out of the window. Ochako ran over with wide eyes to try and save the villain from his flight down the now three-storey building, and with a sickening crash, she watched as blood exploded from the back of his head and back as he laid there, limp. Dead.

Ochako stumbled back from the window, hands covering her mouth as she gasped. She killed someone. She had taken a life—it was accidental, but that didn't matter. She bloodied her hands with someone else's blood. She had inadvertently pushed him out of a window, and with her as the only witness. She swallowed back the urge to scream and put a lid on top of it.

She would deal with that later. Ochako couldn't screw up now. Now, more than ever, she had to find that villain, that way, she could justify what she had done. To at least prove that the death that she caused was justified in some sort of sick, horrible way.

She turned to leave the room and ran. She ran as fast as she could to the fourth floor, barreling down the hallway. She could hear something behind her, and when she glanced over her shoulder, she saw Ida. "Uraraka! I cleared the first and second floor," her friend said as she nodded.

"Act natural, don't say a damn word!" Ochako thought to herself as Ida approached her. "I just finished the third, you want to help me with the fourth?" Uraraka asked as Ida nodded, adjusting his glasses.

"Of course, that's why I'm here!" Ida replied as they ventured down the hallway together, searching more rooms, unknowing of who hid behind the one at the very end, who had overheard their conversation.

"Oh… so they're here now. It seems those other villains got defeated. Well, I guess I have to take my eyes off of the Stand user and focus on his friends," Makoto whispered, retracting her Stand from the building Josefumi was in and bringing it over to her building. "But I don't want to kill them, no, I want to torture them, then kill them," Makoto said, a twisted grin on her face as Die Very Rough surrounded her.

Back in the main building, Josefumi finished destroying the last gremlin, his breath heavy as scratch and bite marks covered his body. It was nothing really. The paralysis didn't bother him all that much, seeing as he was able to destroy the gremlins a second after being bit.

Still, the Stand was deadly, to non-stand users, that was. If someone had an offensive Stand, then they could easily counter this one. His wounds weren't all that severe, only a few were deep, but most of them were meaningless, relatively speaking, that was.

However, there was one thing that confused him. The Stand was pushing him against the ropes. He doubted he could've lasted longer than another minute, so when the Stand stopped appearing before him, his mind wandered. 

"The Stand stopped appearing, but why? It and the user were so dedicated to killing me, so why just give up? The only reason why I can think of them stopping is if Uraraka and Ida found them. And if that was the case, that could only mean… SHIT!" Josefumi thought, looking over to the adjacent building. He had to get over there and fast. "They probably cornered the user, and that means they're in that building!" Josefumi's thoughts continued as he made a mad dash out of the room he was in.

He traversed his way around the building, only to be met with a pair of villains guarding the door. "Oi! Where do you think you—"

"I don't have time for this!" Josefumi interrupted, Soft & Wet punching the two villain guards in the face, knocking them out in one punch as he crossed the road, the rain soaking his body, causing his wounds to sting. As soon as he entered the building, he was met with two of the gremlins, both of whom jumped him.

Soft & Wet was able to destroy them with a single punch—these things truly were weak, the definition of 'strength in numbers,' but he could care less—he had to push forward. He ran past unconscious villains and stormed the stairs as fast as his wounds would let him. As he made it to the second floor, he heard screaming and shouting, which made his stomach plummet.

A few more gremlins appeared and lunged at him, all of them which he killed in a matter of seconds. Despite his wounds slowing him down, he wasn't going to stop completely until he made it to the Stand User and punched their teeth in.

He cleared the third floor in less than a minute and made it to the fourth, where he went into the first room he saw, and there, paralyzed on the ground, were Uraraka and Ida, two bite marks on their hands as they lay there, unable to move any part of their body. And standing in the center of the room, surrounded by the goblins, was the Stand user.

Josefumi wasn't going to lie when he said that the enemy was attractive. But that hardly mattered. She wore a black trench coat with the same letters that wrapped around the Stand appearing on the jacket. She wore a white shirt with tears at the bottom and skin-tight pants. She had long black hair, seductive silver eyes, and an upturned smile.

"So, Kujo. You appear. I didn't take you to be the kind of person to piece things together so quickly," Makoto drawled, an unamused look in her eyes as they drifted over to the two friends of Josefumi's. "You know, in three minutes, their hearts will stop because of the venom, right? So how about this? You back away, save yourself and let these two die. Hm?" Makoto said, a small smirk on her face. "Then, once you bleed out, I'm sure you'll see them in heaven. Right?"

Josefumi snarled. Clenching his hand into a fist. "How stupid do you think I am?" Josefumi spat, Soft & Wet hovering behind him as Makoto glared at him. "Do you think I'm gonna let my friends die just to buy myself a few extra minutes? People like you… no, villains like you, are the scum of the earth!" Josefumi snarled as Makoto rolled her eyes.

"Really now, hmph, well, no matter. Die Very Rough, KILL HIM!" The enemy Stand user shouted, several of the gremlins leaping towards him as Josefumi narrowed his eyes. They came inches before his face, and then, they stopped, floating in the air, as if they were suspended in animation. Makoto raised an eyebrow, trying to discern what happened, and then, a purple star insignia flashed around them, and that was when she realized that her stand was trapped in a massive bubble.

"W-What is this?!" Makoto cried out as Josefumi smirked, glaring at her with a vicious stare.

"I've been working on that for a while. You aren't the first swarm Stand user I've faced, and you won't be the last. This move was developed to deal with people like you," Josefumi said as, when he snapped his fingers, the bubble popped, the sound of which shattered the windows around him. All of the gremlins popped with the bubble, and both Uraraka and Ida were freed from their paralyzed states.

Uraraka sat up to see the horribly injured Josefumi and paled. Blood dripped from his body as Josefumi smirked. The enemy Stand user paled, taking a step back, sweat dripping from her face as her pupils shrank. "N-No! DIE VERY—"

But she wasn't allowed to finish her sentence, as Soft & Wet beat her to the punch, closing the distance between her and itself, before rearing back a fist and pummeling her.

[ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAOAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA! ORAAAAAA! ]

Both Ida and Uraraka watched with wide eyes as something invisible to their vision pummelled the person that had paralyzed them somehow, ripples bouncing off of their attacker's skin as blood specked the floor beneath her, all the while they could hear an angry war cry of sorts. One final punch was delivered to the villain's face, and they were shot back into the wall, blood exploding from the back of their head as they went limp.

"I told you, I was going to kill you when I found you. Now, here we are, and there you are, dead," Josefumi spat, Soft & Wet disappearing behind him as he looked over to the two, the adrenaline in his body depleting as he succumbed to blood loss and passed out. Uraraka ran over to him and picked him up with the help of Ida.

Something shook the USJ, causing the pair to look at one another. "Uraraka-san, can you take the weight off of Kujo-san? We need to investigate what that was. Maybe it's the pros?" Ida said as Ochako nodded silently to herself, tapping Josefumi with her fingers, removing some of his gravity, making him easier for Ida to carry.

The two left the downpour zone, only to watch All Might, who had appeared out of nowhere, punching away a massive black-bird creature through the roof of the building as Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima backed the pro hero up. He looked battered, beaten. It was all almost as if the number one pro hero had fought something that was his equal.

If that had been the case, that was a terrifying prospect. The two were close enough to hear the conversation that was brewing, but they didn't know if that would help any. "Well, Villain, how about we hurry up and finish this?" All Might stated, staring down a man with many hands, a killing intent so fierce oozing off of him that Ochako physically flinched just by looking at him alone.

The villain in question, a man with bluish-white hair with severed hands covering his body, began scratching his neck as he let out a dry, angered exclamation. "You cheated!" the man barked, an audible sneer following those words as he continued. "You've weakened? Not that I can see… we're completely outmatched. How dare you do that to my Nomu! You cheater!" The villain snarled, scratching away at his neck as if it was plagued with flees, his killing intent increasing tenfold. "He's not weak at all! They… they lied to me?!" The villain spat, his scratching only continuing.

All Might stood there, steam evaporating off of him as he smiled. "Well? Aren't you going to come and get me?! What happened to clearing the game…?" All Might taunted, which seemed to strike a nerve with the villain. "If you can take me. Then bring it on!"

Ochako and Ida watched as the other four of their classmates watched in abstract awe and confusion. Why weren't they backing him up? Were they scared? Well, that was fair enough. If she was in their shoes, which she technically was, but not fully, she'd be standing there with them, scared as well. She turned her attention back to the villain, who seemed to shutter in rage, the black mist from before lurching back, ready to pounce. "Well? What's keeping you?!" The hero said, still standing in the smoke cloud as the villain scratched his neck.

"If only we still had Nomu! If only! He was taking those hits so well…!" the villain spat as the black mist spoke up.

"Tomura Shigaraki. Calm yourself. It's apparent that Nomu did manage to deal some real damage," The black mist creature spoke as Ochako paled. He wasn't wrong, and that was the scary part. All Might was beaten up and battered, with scuff marks and even some blood around his mouth. Whatever did that to him had to be his equal.

And if they had something that was his comparative equal, where was it now?

"Was what they're talking about the same thing that All Might launched through the ceiling?" Ochako thought as Ida looked disturbed, staring with calculating eyes at the villains. Every part of him wanted to run in and kick the villain, but he couldn't, seeing as he was holding Josefumi. That, and he didn't want to get in between All Might and a clear shot at victory.

The only question plaguing his mind was this: Why was All Might just standing there?

The black mist villain continued to talk to the man named Tomura with a cold, calculating tone of voice. "The kids are holding back for some reason. And reinforcements from the school are bound to arrive in a few minutes," The mist villain started, and with a menacing, cold tone of voice, continued; "but if the two of us double-team him, we still have a chance."

Shigaraki seemed to agree with that, as his scratching stopped. "Yes… yes, yes… right… right… right…" Shigaraki ranted, his eyes glaring at All Might, a heavy breath exhaling from him. "We can do this… the final boss is standing right there."

The other three walked away, but Midoriya still stood there, his hand balled up into a fist as he stared forward at All Might. The villains rushed at the giant as Shigaraki shouted, "THIS IS REVENGE FOR NOMU!" The mist villain looked big and imposing, and Tomura was running at full speed toward the pro hero.

Then, Izuku leapt toward the mist villain and Shigaraki, his arm sparking and his veins a bright red. An angered expression on his face as Kirishima watched with wide eyes. "MIDORIYA?!" Kirishima yelled, confused as All Might stood there, his smile widening as Shigaraki's eyes widened.

"He's fast!" Shigaraki thought as he reached into the mist villain, his hand reaching over to Izuku, unbeknownst to the verdette teen.

"GET AWAY FROM ALL MIGHT!" Izuku shouted with anger in his voice as Shigaraki's hand came closer to his face, when suddenly, a bullet shot through it, causing the villain to lurch his hand back, and for Kurogiri to see Snipe, a member of U.A's faculty, and the other pro heroes, along with the blond-haired girl from earlier standing with them at the top of the stairs.

"Sorry everyone," Snipe said, the smoke pouring off of his gun as Nedzu, who was sitting atop Class 1-B's teacher, Vlad King's shoulder, spoke up next.

"We're a little late, but we brought everyone we could. If it wasn't for Kira, we wouldn't have known," Nedzu said, hopping off of Vlad King's shoulder.

A couple of the students who were at the top of the stairs looked with wide eyes as Tsuyu was taking a prone Aizawa, whose elbow was missing skin, his head bloodied, and his arm bent backwards. Yoshihara looked on with a bit of repulsion in her chest at seeing Aizawa crippled again, however, she stomached it.

Mina looked over at her and smiled brightly. "K-Kira! You did it!" Mina said as Yoshihara rolled her eyes, holding her forehead.

"I'm still light-headed from before, but that doesn't matter. I did my part, now it's time for them to do theirs," Yoshihara said, crossing her arms as a cavalcade of pro heroes stood behind her. Shigaraki stared up with fury in his eyes.

"Ahhh… They're here… game over. Guess we gotta try again another time, Kurogiri…." Shigaraki said as the mist villain was about to warp him out when several bullets were shot in his direction, which caused him to raise his hand in a vain attempt to block them.

"Only ne'er-do-wells we got a shot at wranglin' from this distance are those two buffoons!" Snipe shouted as the mist villain hastened its attempts to warp Shigaraki out of harm's way, only for his gaseous form to be sucked back.

"?! I'm getting dragged in! Wait a second…" "This is…!" The person who was sucking him back was Thirteen, who had been severely damaged thanks to what the mist villain did after Josefumi, Uraraka, and Ida had been teleported away to the downpour zone. Despite their efforts, however, Shigaraki was still able to get in, and as he left, he addressed All Might.

"I may have failed here, Symbol of Peace. But the next time we meet… You're dead, All Might!" and with that, the villain disappeared.

"What in tarnation…" Snipe muttered as Midnight frowned.

"They just fled? And after such a dramatic invasion…? That makes no sense. Surely they'd fight to the bitter end," Midnight commented as Nedzu hummed.

"They took us completely off-guard. But, in the meantime, let's concern ourselves with the student's well-being," Nedzu stated, looking over to Yoshihara. "Thank you for telling us what was going on. Stay here and wait for your fellow students to join you up here," Nedzu stated as Kira nodded, watching as they walked down to meet All Might, Kirishima, Todoroki, Bakugo, and a downed Izuku.

Ochako and Ida watched with awe as the whole thing transpired, and Yoshihara, who had still been light-headed, glared at where the portal once was. The group of villains attacked the USJ and were able to flee.

Had things been different…. if she hadn't passed out due to a panic attack, she would've done something about it. She would've made sure they wouldn't have been able to. Alas, the past has already happened, the future was now.

However, that didn't mean she still didn't have some questions. While she couldn't ask them, she could think them over.

"That man. He was the so-called Janitor. He had the same haircut, and the same hair colour, but his face was obscured this time. I knew it was him based on those two things alone. The question is… how? How did he get past the security protocols that U.A. has… unless… he wasn't the one who actually stole whatever information he needed." A frown took over her facial features, and then she narrowed her eyes toward the fountain. "What if… he had a mole," Yoshihara thought, watching as several pro heroes from U.A's faculty began to arrest any villains they could take back for questioning.

She couldn't sense the rogue Stand user anymore, meaning they were most likely dealt with. That was probably thanks to Kujo. He would have to ask him later on who the Stand user was and what their ability was. After all, they could be related to that pesky Stand Bullet that they were investigating in their spare time. Any information was good information.

It didn't take long for the students to be gathered, and for Yoshihara to see the damaged form of Kujo, which made her eyes go wide Cuts, bite marks, and far too much blood. She was almost thankful that she had passed out when she did. Still didn't mean she liked it, though. She felt vulnerable, and she hated it. "Poor Kujo-san… I just hope he'll be okay," Yoshihara thought, following the rest of her classmates outside.

The students were escorted out of the building and were questioned by police, basic questions such as “Where were you when the attack began?' and “Do you need medical attention?' both of which were pretty easy to answer, she was allowed to board the bus, get back to U.A., gather her stuff, and leave for home on an early dismissal for obvious reasons.

Kujo had been injured but would recover just fine thanks to Recovery Girl, as would Izuku, whose leg had been broken. Aizawa wasn't in good shape either, one of his eyes had been damaged to the point where he could've lost his sight in that eye. Thankfully, it wasn't that bad, but he would have to deal with that eye being weaker than his other. All Might was fine, as she thought he would be, so there were no worries there.

School would be out for a few days to let the tension pass over, and it would start up again next week on Monday. The media was going to have a field day with what happened at U.A., so she knew exactly which channels she was not going to watch over her extended break. In the meantime, she had many things to do. Just because school was out, didn't mean she could lay down and rest. After all, The Stand Bullets weren't going to solve themselves.

Meanwhile, back in Yokohama, in the same dingy bar that Shigaraki had been in before with Kurogiri and the Nomu before the raid, the aforementioned manchild hit the ground, bleeding from the wounds he had taken from Snipe's gun.

"Ow…" Shigaraki groaned, lying on the floor in a pathetic heap. "I was shot, both arms and both legs… we got crushed…" Shigaraki moaned, trying to get up, anger in his eyes as he continued. "He got Nomu too. Our cannon fodder was taken down in a flash… even those kids were strong…. Same with that Stand user. She kicked the bucket thanks to whoever had to deal with her…." Shigaraki continued to groan as the same man wearing the orange pinstripe suit from before sat in the darkness, scowling.

"So… Makoto failed, huh… that can only mean one thing. U.A. has a couple of Stand Users as well…." The Boss muttered to himself, taking a drag out of a cigar. He knew that, of course, and with Makoto dead, he would have to appoint a new leader of the debt collector division. Not a complete loss, but still one that hurt Damnatio Ad Bestias. He watched as Shigaraki writhed on the floor, looking up at the T.V. monitor in front of him.

"The symbol of peace is in perfect health…! You were wrong, Sensei…." Shigaraki groaned as The Boss helped the man up off the floor so he didn't look pathetic. Kurogiri took it from there and warped him to a chair so he didn't have to make his wounds any worse.

"No. I wasn't wrong. We merely got ahead of ourselves. Yes… we underestimated him. Good thing the League Of Villains came cheap. Anyway… What of our creation? Nomu? Did you retrieve him?" All For One asked as Kurogiri was the one to respond for Tomura.

"He was sent flying, and unless we ascertain his precise coordinates, no amount of warping will let us find him. I just couldn't spare the time back there," Kurogiri responded, clenching a misty hand with disappointment in his eyes.

A new voice spoke from the television, an annoyed, yet sophisticated voice, not unlike All For One's, though more gruff sounding. "After all the trouble we went through to make him as strong as All Might. Hmph… well, that's too bad… A real shame."

The Boss simply hummed, taking the cigar out of his mouth before tapping it on a cigar tray. He clasped his hands together, looking over the form of Shigaraki, who was using the counter as a balance to keep himself propped up. "Strong… right…" Shigaraki started, levelling a glare at the TV. "There was one kid who seemed just as fast as All Might…." Shigaraki continued, earning a quizzical 'Oh' from the T.V. screen.

"Without that pest, we might have killed All Might. But that kid… that brat…!" Shigaraki bemoaned as the T.V. Screen spoke up again.

"No use crying over spilled milk!" All For One rebuked before continuing. "This endeavour was not a complete loss. Find stronger troops, take all the time you need! We can't move freely! That's why we need a symbol like you. Tomura Shigaraki! Next time the world will know of the terror you represent!" All For One said through the monitor as The Boss cracked his neck side-to-side.

"All For One. I believe we now have a permanent deal. U.A. has taken something from me, and now it's become personal. You can expect Damnatio Ad Bestias to help you with every endeavour from here on out. The same goes with Shigaraki and whatever he wants," The Boss declared, taking another drag out of his cigar.

Behind the screen, All For One smiled, a cunning, demented smile. "I'm glad to have you onboard…We will keep in touch. Though I'm sure you are busy," All For One stated as The Boss nodded, still keeping to the shadows.

"Of that, you are correct. For now, I believe this is farewell. I have things to attend to. Whenever you need me, I'm only a phone call away." And with that, The Boss left, a sneer on his face as he left the building, crushing his cigar in his hand. Makoto's death was an embarrassment to him. He wasn't going to let some brat get in his way, nor was he going to stand by and let whoever did this get away with it.

He had some research to do. Kira Yoshihara and Kujo Josefumi. Two very powerful Stand Users, and two very annoying pests. He was going to make their lives a living hell. "Mark my words you brats. Damnatio Ad Bestias will not take this lightly! You’re not as strong as you think you are, and I will make sure that every waking moment of your lives from here on out are just as torturous as the last!"

[XXXX]

!Stand Information Corner!

Stand User: Makoto Takiyama

Stand Name: Die Very Rough

Localized Name: Hard Death

Stand Appearance: Die Very Rough is a swarm Stand, consisting of fifty two-foot-tall gray cycloptic goblins. They have two fingers and a singular toe, they have the letters D, V, and R wrapping around their bodies, and they have three sharp horns that curl into themselves three times over. The colour of their eyes differs between each goblin, and they each have five rows of very sharp, pointed, needle-like teeth.

Stand Ability: Among its ability to phase through physical objects, when it bites something, it injects a paralyzing venom that, once in a person's bloodstream, will slowly shut down their body over five minutes. However, once the goblin that bit the person in question is destroyed, the effect will immediately cease.

Stand Stats:

Destructive Power: Grade C (Slightly stronger than a regular human).

Effective Range: Grade A (The swarm of goblins can be spawned up 50 meters away from the user).

General Speed: Grade C (As fast as a bullet).

Persistence Use Of Ability: Grade E (Once the admittedly weak goblin dies, so too does the effect).

Precision: Grade E (Far too inaccurate with its attacks to be anything noteworthy, hence why it is a swarm Stand).

Overall Potential: Grade D

[Status: Utterly Defeated/Dead]  

[XXXX]

Kai Chisaki, otherwise known as Overhaul, sat at his desk, sitting across from an individual dressed entirely in black, with a mask that covered their entire head. Not a single speck of skin was shown, and in Kai’s opinion, they looked ridiculous. But, then again, given what they were, he wasn’t too shocked.

As for Kai, he was dressed in what he typically wore. He had his red and gold plague doctor mask on to filter the air around him so that he didn’t break out into hives, and he wore a green coat with a purple feather collar. Underneath that coat, he wore a black button-up shirt and a white tie, with matching black pants and shoes.

Despite the wrinkles on his forehead and the parts of his hair that were going gray from stress, he was only 27 years old. He was rather young, all things considered. As for the person across from him, he had no idea what he was. But whatever he was, he was old. His voice gave that away when he spoke.

“I’m sure you know of the changes in the deal. I’ve come to deliver your money,” the masked individual said, picking up a suitcase that was next to his chair. “500 million yen, just for you, sir.”

“Much appreciated…” Kai drawled, taking the suitcase he opened it to check to see if all the money was there. Just as he expected, it was all there. Closing the suitcase, he looked up at the masked individual and scowled under his mask. “One of these days, that Boss of yours will get what he deserves. Forcing my hand and shaming my family… I swear, someway, somehow, I’ll ruin you.”

“Keep talking, Overhaul. See how far it gets you,” the masked individual mocked, standing up from his chair. “You’ll keep doing what we tell you to do, and that will be that. That child’s blood is more valuable than you know. Maybe, in another universe, you’d understand that.”

“She’s a child. I don’t care how valuable her blood is…” Kai spat back, glaring at the masked man, who shrugged.

“And yet, you mutilate and torture her anyway.”

“Only because you’d kill her if I didn’t. All to fulfill whatever grudge your boss has against my family,” Kai growled. “Blaming the rival family of his former clan for their own misgivings for going after the wrong people is foolish. Though, I doubt he cares.”

“You’d be correct. He doesn’t care. Now, are you going to keep talking, or are you going to shut up?” The masked man said as Kai looked away, staring at the floor. Without another word, the masked man exited his office as Kai put his head in his hands.

He was a fool to believe that this nightmare was coming to an end. He had dishonoured his family, and Eri no doubt hated him—which she had every right to, but that didn’t change what their responsibilities were.

If and when Gramps woke up from his coma, he knew he’d be excommunicated from the clan. He just knew it. The worst part was that he deserved it.

He couldn’t get help from the other families because they were terrified of Damnatio Ad Bestias, and the heroes would much rather arrest him and torch his clan to the ground before he was able to do anything else.

He hated this.

He hated what he had to do. But if he didn’t, they would kill her, and even if her current life was torture, once he found a way to get her away from this place and somewhere else far away, she’d recover. They would hunt her down, but that was a risk he was willing to take. He just had to wait for an opportunity for that to happen.

But that wouldn’t be for a long time. He knew that was going to be the case. Especially given what he had to go do now.

He looked down at his gloved hands, inhaled, and when he exhaled, his expression became an emotionless mask.

Put it away.

Put away his emotions for the time being.

For the sake of his already dwindling sanity, he had to put on the mask. To not only keep up appearances to those who sworn loyalty to him but to protect himself from the terrible misdeeds that he had to do.

After all…

He had bullets to make.

Standing up from his desk, he marched toward yet another scream-filled experiment. One that would haunt his nightmares, but that nonetheless provided them protection from that monster.

“One day, Eri… It will be over. I promise you. Hold out for now. Aim your hate toward me, and me alone, so that I may use that hatred against them. One day, we will be free from him. But until then, stay strong for just a little while longer.”

-To Be Continued in –Malfunction in the junction – Part 1-

Chapter Text

[Revised Chapter posted on: 2024-08-07]

[Malfunction In The Junction – Part 1]

Kyoka was a little on edge today, as would anybody after what she had just experienced a day ago. It was because she had been on edge that she had decided to leave home for the afternoon and go on a walk. Not to mention that her mother had tried to convince her that her father was suddenly a bad person.

She remembered the conversation vividly, seeing as it only happened an hour ago. She was screaming, begging and crying, telling her that her father hit her and choked her and whatever it was she could to try and get her to feel some kind of sympathy for her. But, all Kyoka did in response was slap her across the face, call her a manipulative bitch about lying about her Uncle, and left the house.

She honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she returned home to find the front door locked. Her father wasn’t even in the same house anymore. He had moved out last night, having already found a place in Hosu. Her father shot her a text message, saying that he had a spare room she could move into if she so chose, and considering that her mother was having a mental breakdown of the worst calibre, she was heavily considering taking that offer.

Anything to get away from that bitch. She couldn’t believe she turned out the way that she did. How on Earth had she never noticed it? Maybe it was because she never paid too much attention, or maybe it was because of the pills she had been forced to take for years on end that made her forget all of the terrible stuff.

That was probably what it was. All things considered, it made the most sense.

Currently, she was walking toward Beelz shop. She wanted to tell him in person the news, especially because he’d get a kick out of it. It was a little chilly this morning, so she had decided to wear a dark purple hoodie and a pair of black pants to trap in the heat from the sun, along with a pair of slip-on sneakers. Her hands were stuffed in her hoodie pockets, and she was keeping her head low so as to not stare at anyone just in case she spaced out.

Aside from what happened this morning, all she had on her mind was the USJ, and what had happened—specifically at the place where she had encountered those villains at the Moutain Zone.

Kyoka knew she had a penchant for being a little aggressive. She never had the chance to show it off during the battle trials due to what Kira did. But at the USJ, against a bunch of lowlife villains and a katana, albeit dulled, courtesy of Yaoyorozu, she got the chance to show up just how “aggressive” she could get.

She distinctly remembered cutting off a guy’s hand after they tried to grab her, before knocking him out with a punch to the jugular, and slashing another villain across the chest, drawing blood and knocking him out with the butt of the hilt of her freshly made katana. It was only when the electricity villain showed up that things became a problem.

Of course, Snipe saved the day, and they were able to avoid the problems that came with an amped electricity villain thanks to Kaminari's lack of smarts in the brain department. But, at least it ended well.

She distinctly remembered Yaoyorozu telling her that what she had done was wrong and that the sword was only meant to be a show of force—which, for starters, what the hell was she talking about? What did she expect to happen when she was given a sword? To not defend herself? Even Kaminari, once he regained his motor functions, told Yaoyorozu that her complaint was stupid.

Then she tried to pull the whole “vice class president” thing, but Kyoka shut her down. Honestly, what was it with rich people and being entitled? Maybe all that nepo-baby money went straight to her boobs instead of her brain.

She hated rich people. Loathed them. Especially dumb ones. Though, she guessed the sole exception now would have to be her Uncle. But at least he earned his wealth instead of it being inherited. His father refused to baby him, or something like that. She didn’t know. She just asked Josefumi about how his father got so rich, and that was what he had told her.

Anyway, that didn’t matter. What mattered was that the USJ happened and that she had a hard time sleeping last night because of it. She was more than likely traumatized, and probably needed therapy. Which, apparently, once school kicked back in, everyone was supposedly going to get a therapy session courtesy of Hound Dog, the school's Therapist.   

Of course, there was what transpired after the USJ. When her mother and father found out what happened, to say they had an argument was an understatement, and she was forced to witness the whole thing. It was that argument that solidified her father's idea to move out after her mother attempted to attack him.

It was also that had fully proven to Kyoka that her mother was a scumbag. It was a shame, too, because she’d like to think that had the circumstances been different, she’d have a happy family. That, unfortunately, was not the case. Her family was fractured, and she was stuck in the middle of it.

The thing that she worried about most was finally getting to meet her Uncle, and things getting worse. That was actually something that she was excited about. Her Uncle was going to pay a visit to her father, and she wanted to be there. He was planning on coming down when the Sports Festival happened so he had an excuse to be in Japan.

However, after the events of the USJ, Kyoka didn’t know if the Sports Festival was going to happen. Maybe she was being a little paranoid, but personally, she wouldn’t want to do anything off campus after what happened at the USJ. Though she supposed since it was a national event, it would have tighter and better security than the USJ did.

Kyoka stopped walking the moment she found herself standing outside of Loja de Musica Classica, and immediately stepped inside without looking around. When she did, she was welcomed by the familiar buzzing of Beelz, who, upon noticing her, clacked his mandibles together in greeting.

“Kyo! Sup!”

“Nothing much, Beelz. You see the news?” Kyoka asked, taking down her hood as Beelz’s wings stopped flapping, resting on his back as he crossed his arms, leaning against the side of the glass counter.

“Yeah, I did. You kids okay? I never did get to congratulate you on getting into U.A., and the first thing I find out about you being there is that one of the facilities is attacked, and with students being there no less… Deve ter sido uma bagunça,” Beelz said as Kyoka rubbed the back of her neck, a sheepish smile on her face.

“Uh… no idea what that means, but I’m assuming it’s not good,” Kyoka replied as Beelz chuckled, shaking his head.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Also, seeing as you didn’t place an order, I’m assuming you know that your father and I talked,” Beelz said, standing up straight as his mandibles clacked together again, though this time she was fairly certain it was a tick rather than anything else.  

“Yeah, I know. He also got called by his former boss. Kai, I think his name was or whatever. My Dad decided to rejoin the Yakuza…” Kyoka said as Beelz’s eyes widened.

“He’s joining back up with the Shie Hissaikai?! What about you, though? He does know that he won’t be able to see you again, right? I mean, you’re practically enemies now! Not to mention, Mika would tear him a new asshole!” Beelz said as Kyoka smirked, putting her hands in her hoodie pockets.

“Yeah, about that. Mom and Dad are getting divorced, and I’m probably going to move in with my Dad once everything gets settled. Until then, though, unless my Mom kicked me out for what I did this morning, I’ll be forced to stay with her,” Kyoka said as Beelz huffed.

“About damn time that idiot gave in to reason,” Beelz muttered, shaking his head with a disappointed gleam in his eyes. “But that sucks, Kyo. Having to go through your parent's divorce… Do you know what brought it on?”

“Dad stopped being a pushover and confronted Mom about the whole pills thing. Turns out, she didn’t expect him to get all snippy with her about it, and they fought over it. Dad had enough and decided that he wasn’t going to stand for it. Originally, he was going to stay at home and sleep on the couch, but yesterday, Mom attacked him and he decided to move out effective immediately,” Kyoka said as Beelz nodded.

“No shit…. But still, I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like the Mika I knew. Sure, she was an uppity bitch, and a little bit on the snarky side of things…. But she was never like this before. Unless… she could be relapsing. I remember her getting pretty bad when she was doing coke,” Beelz said, scratching the back of his head as his wings fluttered slightly.

Before Kyoka could say anything, the front door of the shop swung open as the bell chimed. Beelz looked up, and his eyes widened the moment he did. Kyoka even took a step back, as a large, bulky, completely clean-shaven man dressed in all white with the CRC’s logo tattooed over his right eye glowered down at Beelz and her, but mainly her.

“So, you’re the pipsqueak who got a couple of my enforcers arrested, aye?” The man said, a snarl pulling at his lips. Without warning, he struck at her with his right arm, grabbing her neck and lifting her off the ground. She grabbed at his wrist, feeling the air forced out of her as she struggled to breathe. She tried lashing at him with her Earphone Jacks, but it didn’t seem to do anything.

“Not gonna work, brat. My Quirk, Iron Body is heavily resistant to physical attacks. That won’t do shit to me,” the man said, cackling to himself as Beelz took a step back from behind the counter, and reached for something. Before he could, though, the man drew out a gun from his pocket—a pocket pistol—and aimed it at Beelz with his left hand, stopping him from moving. “That’s right, freak, don’t make another move.”

Kyoka tried to do something, anything to get out of his grasp, bashing her hands against his wrist, but she could feel herself getting woozy. Her face was starting to turn a light shade of red from the asphyxiation, and she was beginning to vocalize her choking.

“You shouldn’t have stuck your nose into something that wasn’t your problem in the first place, brat. You freaks are all the same, so I wouldn’t mind getting rid of two in one go. I—” Before the man could finish what he was saying, he suddenly, and without warning, dropped Kyoka to the ground, who fell on the ground in a collapsed heap, trying desperately to breathe as much air as she could.

Suddenly, and without warning, the man’s left arm began to bend inward, shocking the man as his eyes widened. “T-The fuck! The man exclaimed as his the gun in his left hand, along with his arm, slowly but surely made its way to sit next to his left temple, panic in his eyes. “W-W-What the fuck is going on!? Who—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the gun fired, and blood and brain matter splattered against the wall to the right and splattered against some of the displays on the wall and in the window. The man slumped forward and fell to the floor, his gun clattering to the floor along with his body just a few inches away from Kyoka, who was slowly regaining her breath.

Standing just behind the man was, of all people, Blackwell, who adjusted his orange fedora and sighed in defeat. “I should’ve known he was going to attack a mutant-owned business. That was why I followed him. But to think I would run into you here, Jirou Kyoka. What are the odds?” Blackwell said, looking down at her, before reaching out to help her up.

Beelz stared at Blackwell, clearing his throat and bowing his head. “Blackwell sir, thank you, I don’t know how I can repay you…” Beelz said as Blackwell smirked, dismissing him with a wave.

“I’m just doing my job, sir. As for the scumbag in question, I’ll dispose of it in my own time. Can’t have you facing any charges because of my actions,” Blackwell said, before picking the body up off the ground and hoisting it over his shoulder. He looked over at Kyoka, who was a little unnerved by how calm Blackwell was with what he had done.

But, that didn’t stop her from saying something. “U-Uh, Blackwell-san… I want to talk about what’s happening at home…”

That got Blackwell’s attention, prompting him to give her a stern look, making her flinch. “What’s happening, kid.”

“I-I—” she paused. Why was she feeling the way that was? All nervous and all that. It wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong by reporting what was happening at home. “I-I wanted to report on how my mother's b-been… uh, mentally unstable. S-She might be a threat to me or herself, a-and I was wondering… just in case she tries to do something… if I can get you as a sponsor for what could potentially end being a custody battle between her and my Dad…”

Blackwell nodded, before patting her on the shoulder, smiling. It was eerily similar to All Might’s smile. A part of her thought about how they could be related, but she quickly dashed that notion completely. It was just a coincidence. “Of course, kid. You’ve got my support. If it does happen, call the number on that card I gave you.”

Kyoka nodded silently, and with that, Blackwell left. Shortly after, Kyoka left the store as well, but not before helping Beelz clean up all the blood with a mop and bleach. But as she left, she failed to notice how Blackwell was glaring at the back of her head, a sly grin taking up his visage, before disappearing into the alleyway.         

[XXXX]

Yoshihara sat at her desk in her bedroom, her notebook open with various notes taken revolving around the Stand Bullet, including a detailed sketch of the object in question. Various notes about the Stand Bullet were pointed at various aspects of the drawing, such as why it looked the way it did, why it had Old Latin scrawled into the side of the casing, and how it functioned.

She was watching through past news reports on the attack carried out by the mysterious gang that used them, trying to get down as much information on it as humanly possible, to no avail. At every possible avenue to gain information about them, nothing came from it. It was as if they were actively being scrubbed from the internet, which was frustrating.

That, and all the stuff that she did find was all stuff she knew about it. She knew it would’ve been pointless to search for information regarding the Stand Bullet on the internet, but she had to at least try. Two weeks into the investigation, and they had nothing to show for it.

It made no sense. She had a feeling that it was the Hero Protection and Safety Committee that was burying the lead. They often did stuff like this to hide their fuck ups. It was common knowledge to anyone with half a brain cell or who didn’t believe the HPSC had their best interests in mind.

It was getting to the point that she had been extremely close to just giving up on the endeavour and moving on with something else—like going on a run, doing homework, or catching up on some well-deserved sleep. She slumped back in her chair and looked out her bedroom window, watching as birds flew by, the wind blowing away cherry blossoms into the air as they decorated the ground below, floating down with serene grace.

It was a peaceful sight, and had she been any semblance of normal, she probably would’ve cracked a smile. But, she wasn’t normal. Far from it. So all she could do was look away and stare at her phone which sat on a phone stand that Kayama-san recently won in a raffle. Staring at the redirected search, all Yoshihara could do was frown.

"Damnit," Yoshihara groaned, her head hitting the desk as she sighed. "This is going nowhere…." It was at times like these that Yoshihara wished that her friends weren't busy. Kujo was off doing the same thing she was, and Izuku was doing homework and training with his Quirk to get a better handle on it with All Might, after which he and his mother were going to have some mother-son bonding time over old pre-quirk era movies.

She briefly considered calling Karera, but she assumed that the happy-go-lucky girl was busy doing the same stuff that Josefumi and herself were up to. Slipping out from her chair, she stretched, yawning in the process. Sitting down for too long gave her neck and back pains, and that was something that she was not willing to deal with, on top of doing boring research.

Currently, she was wearing a short-sleeved pink T-shirt with white vertical stripes going across the center, a pair of black jeans held up by a belt with a golden belt buckle, and a black scrunchie that Kayama-san gave her out of the blue this morning along with the phone stand.

She glanced over to the mirror and saw that her hair had grown over the last month, and scowled. It used to be just shoulder length, but now it was reaching past her shoulders and going down to the top of her back.

Maybe she should try something new with her hair. She always saw Kayama-san do cool things with her hair, like braid it, or even that one time when she wore it in twin ponytails with paintbrush tips. Or maybe she should just cut it? Bring it back to how it was before. After all, normalcy was something she preferred to change.

Leaving her bedroom and entering the bathroom, she walked over to the mirror and grabbed a pair of scissors, grabbed the excess hair, opened the scissors, and put the open blades around the hair, moments away from cutting it, when she stopped. Did she want to cut her hair, or was she just forcing herself to? Strangely enough, it felt wrong.

Yoshihara hated change. It was one of the things that made her life as shitty as it was when she first moved to Musutafu at the tender age of six years old. Her life just got worse after that, doing humiliating things just to get money to buy food, even committing a cardinal sin as a pre-teen and selling her body for money.

Before that, her hair was long and flowed down to her back. When she cut her hair for the first time, it was when she got a job as a custodian at Akira's Club. After that, she didn't stop cutting her hair and always kept it short.

She saw herself having short hair as an omen for good things to come, and the inverse to be an omen for bad things to come. But now it was getting longer, and as if the world was trying to prove her wrong with her personal beliefs, she was in a far better place, while at the same time having longer hair.

She was living with someone who cared about her, had friends that she was willing to stick her neck out for—something she never had before—and was at a school to become a hero, even if it was for all the wrong reasons. All of the things she would've never seen herself doing, having, or even attempting. And it was all because of change.

If she really hated change so much, why did she cut her hair in the first place? If she really hated change so much, why did she accept Kayama-san's offer? Why didn’t she just storm out of that room and end it all like she had planned if she really hated change that much?

What harm would there be growing out her hair just a little bit? Honestly, the more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded and the more Yoshihara decided against cutting her hair. She put the scissors down back on the counter and let her hair flow past her shoulders.

Now that she saw herself in the mirror, and turned her head from side to side to see it at different angles, she had to admit that it did look a little better. Although, for a split second, she was reminded of her, and it almost made her trip over herself and fall down. She had never realized it until now, but she and her shared a striking resemblance.

It was almost uncanny. It made her second guess her choice to not cut her hair until she shut out that stupid thought in her head. “Don’t let her weigh you down. It was inevitable that you would share a resemblance to her. You were born because of her,” Yoshihara thought, cursing under her breath.

She knew her father had brown hair. A part of her wished she had inherited that trait. But, she didn’t. She the rarer of the two shades of hair, and was a natural blond. But, such was life. She had to deal with it, and so there was no point in complaining. Not when it was a dumb thing to complain about in the first place.  

Just as Yoshihara was about to leave the bathroom, she noticed the star-shaped scar thing by the nape of her neck and frowned. She remembered seeing a glimpse of something similar on Kujo during the battle trial. That would be something she would have to ask him about at a later time. But for now, she was going to stay out of his hair, just so he could focus on the Stand Bullets.

She covered the scar with her shirt and left the bathroom, walking down the stairs to the main floor, where Kayama-san was watching a rom-com about a Quirkless girl falling in love with a boy with a Quirk that gave him a plant-like appearance. "Honestly, the stuff they put on T.V. now is kind of boring. I'll stick to my pre-Quirk era Anime and TV shows, thank you very much."

"Oh, Yoshi-chan, you're out of your room?" Kayama-san perked up at seeing her enter the Kitchen. "How's the homework coming along?" She asked as Yoshihara stuck her thumbs up. That was the excuse she told Kayama-san when she went to research the Stand Bullets. She seemed good with the answer and went back to watching her show.

Putting a piece of bread into the new toaster they got yesterday, Yoshihara stood around and waited for the toast to pop. While she did so, she scrolled through her phone until she got a text from Karera. Opening the message, the blond read over the text that her acquaintance sent.

Karera Sakunami : Hey Bestie! I was just wondering if you plan to join Mina, Kirishima, and me at the Mall later today, kinda like how you said you would? If you forgot, here's your reminder. What time do you want us to pick you up?

Yoshihara inwardly sighed. She forgot about that. At the time, she had more important things to think about and thus forgot the mall trip she and Ashido had haphazardly planned about doing.

Kira : 2:30 PM is a good time.

Yoshihara grabbed the toast that popped out and put it on a plate. She walked over to the fridge and grabbed some margarine to put on the toast when another text from Karera came in. She put the plastic container down on the counter and then opened up the text message.

Karera Sakunami : 2:30 PM sounds good. Be ready at the door for 2:15, m'kay?

Yoshihara sent an 'OK' in response and then put her phone back into her pocket. It was 1:45 PM right now, so she had around 1 hour and 25 minutes to get prepared for their mall trip. All she needed to do was put on her leather jacket and get her shoes on, so in other words, she had all that time to do whatever it was she wanted.

Besides, since she couldn't do any more research on The Stand Bullets, she had the rest of the day all to herself. Taking her toast up to her room, she closed the door behind her with Killer Queen and put the toast down on the table before grabbing Volume 1 of Fire Force. Nemuri bought the whole box set for her on her way home from the meeting after the USJ attack.

Speaking of the USJ attack…. "There's no way they didn't have a mole in the school. Someone has to be giving them information. Furthermore, they have to be someone in Class 1 – A because it was us who they attacked. There was no way it was a coincidence. But who? Who would be stupid enough to do that?" Yoshihara thought as she bit her lip to stop herself from openly talking about it, then grabbed a piece of her toast, then took a bite out of it to keep her mouth full so she didn't speak her thoughts out loud.

She really didn't want to believe that one of her classmates was a traitor, but it was becoming more and more unavoidable. The mere idea that one of her classmates had been a rat… was something that was so unbelievable that she almost wanted to disregard the idea. Even if she didn’t know them enough, it was clear to her that it could only be someone from their class…  "Unless, of course, it was one of the staff members."

For a moment she played around with the idea that it was one of the staff members. They’d have easier access to the schedules, and it also cleared everyone in Class 1 – A of suspicion. But, in the same breath, Nedzu would have caught them immediately. So it couldn’t be any of them. Not to mention what self-respecting Pro Hero was going to side with the enemy? A hero in training who had doubts about the current system, however, was perfect for spy material.

Yoshihara pushed those thoughts away, a scowl taking up her visage. She didn't want to think about that kind of crap right now. Yesterday was already a shitshow, so she didn’t need to be reminded of that garbage. All she wanted to do was forget about it and move.

Besides, it was a one-time thing. She was sure she wouldn’t have to worry about that nonsense again. As of now, she just wanted to read to pass the time. That, and the less her head hurt from overthinking about something that really didn't matter in the long run, the better. Besides, the idea of a traitor was idiotic. There was no way someone would be stupid enough to divert paths in their lives just to fuck themselves over.

Changing subjects, the reason why she decided to get Fire Force was that, according to some online forums, it was a pseudo-prequel to Soul Eater, and she wanted to see what it was that linked the two, outside of the same Mangaka being the one who did it. It didn't take her long to make it through the first volume and get deep into the second before it was 2:10 PM.

Closing the book, she put it down on her bed, walked out of her room and went downstairs, grabbed her leather coat, told Kayama-san she was going to the mall with Ashido, Kirishima, and Sakunami, put on her shoes, and then got into the elevator. It didn’t take long for the elevator to make it to the foyer, and after greeting the receptionist, she made her way out of the building.

Once she exited the building and stood at the entrance, she waited for a car to come to pick her up. A couple of minutes passed as she scrolled through Twitter, until she heard the honk of a horn, indicating that Sakunami was there, and upon looking up from her phone, she noticed what appeared to be a convertible.

Sitting in the driver's seat was Sakunami, who was wearing a black shirt and red puffy jacket with a fluffed collar and jean shorts. Her hair was done up in a braided ponytail with the same two rolls on the sides, and the same orange bandana she wore around her head—Yoshihara assumed she liked bandanas, seeing as that was the only hair accessory she wore.

Then there was Mina, who was wearing a giraffe-patterned top with one of her shoulders exposed, and black yoga pants. Her hair was just as puffy as it always was. Ashido waved to her, and as she scanned the car, she noticed that Kirishima was not in the car with them. "Yo, Kira! Get in!" Ashido shouted as Yoshihara couldn't help but smirk. She walked over to the car and got into the back, buckling herself into the seat as Sakunami-san took off.

"So, where's Kirishima?" Yoshihara asked as Ashido sighed, looking over her shoulder and back at her.

"He decided to opt-out at the last second. Said he had homework to do. Whatever, besides, no offence to Kiri, but he would drag down the vibes. Besides, I like the idea of a girls-only get-together, don’t you?" Ashido said as Yoshihara shrugged, not caring either way. If Kirishima wanted to opt-out, then he wanted to opt-out. Not that she knew him all that well, but the same could be said for Ashido, so it really didn’t matter.

 Yoshihara watched as they drove past other cars, and as they did, Yoshihara came to a conclusion she hadn’t really considered. Surprisingly, Sakunami-san was a good driver. She stopped at all the red lights and used her turn signals. She even didn't pull the 'speed through yellow light' Kayama-san did a majority of the time.

The car ride to the mall to silent, and It didn't take them long to make it to the mall, around 30 minutes in total, when they did, Sakunami-san parked in one of the spots closest to the store's entrance, two spaces behind the Handi-cap spots. As the group of three got out of the car, Karera made a smirking expression and spoke.

"So… I heard that a certain blonde has a crush on a certain green-haired hero nerd, huh?" Sakunami-san teased, elbowing Yoshihara lightly as she jolted, sending a scathing look over to Mina.

"H-Hey! Don't look at me like that!" Ashido pouted, crossing her arms. "Besides, if there's anyone who can help you with getting the right clothes to look appealing for Midori, it's Kunami-chan! Ain't that right?" Ashido asked as Sakunami-san blushed with embarrassment strewn all over her face as they walked through the mall's entrance.

"O-Oh, please! You don't have to say that!" she said, rubbing the back of her head before straightening herself out. "Well, she's not wrong. I do have a knack for spotting people in terms of fashion. Speaking of which…!" Sakunami-san said, suddenly turning around and getting in Yoshihara's face unexpectedly, which caused her to recoil.

"Too Close…! Too Close!" Yoshihara thought. A light blush scattered across her cheeks as Sakunami-san smiled. Yoshihara never really had people act like this in front of her. The only times that she's ever blushed and not felt sick about it afterward was when she found herself sleeping next to Izuku, and now, with Sakunami-san’s face being a fraction of an inch away from hers.

It was also time for Yoshihara to face the facts and admit the truth. Sakunami-san, in no uncertain terms, was cute—hot even, but that was stretching it. It was hard to avoid that fact now, and if she wasn't already dating Josefumi, and if Yoshihara didn't already have feelings for Izuku, Sakunami-san would've been the other person who she had fallen for, hands down, without question.

"From what I can tell, your style of fashion seems to be a mixture of normal civilian clothing and punk. I've seen you wear more than your fair share of leather jackets and ripped jeans. But you don't have any piercings, so I can assume you dislike those. You usually wear pink… so… hmmm…. Not pastel goth…. Damn Kira-chan, you're strange. Maybe just street fashion is better suited for you, kinda like what I'm wearing, just…. More conservative," Sakunami said, nodding slightly, almost as if it was a signal to acknowledge the obvious.

Yoshihara nodded in agreement, both knowing exactly what each other meant, though Ashido was a tad confused. "Does this have something to do with… those?" Mina asked, catching Kira's attention. A silent nod was all Ashido needed to understand before she smiled. "Gotcha, well, let's not waste any more time, let's get this party started!"

The group of three wandered deep into the mall, although, unbeknownst to any of them, was that someone was following them. The person in question looked down at two pictures that had been given to him, one of Karera, Mina and Yoshiahra, with a question mark underneath Karera’s photo that said 'potential Stand User, if so, kill immediately'.

The person grimaced, pocketing the photos before sighing. "Two of those kids were from class 1 – A, the victims of the USJ attack that he spoke about… that other one, though, she wasn't. If I were to assume, I think she was in class 1 – B." The person shook their head, their eyes narrowing as they cracked their neck from side to side. "I swear, if that guy doesn't give me what I want after this crap, I'm gonna have one hell of a guilty conscience after this," the person mumbled, flipping a hood up over their head to obscure their face.

Their shoulder-length blond hair obscured their blue eyes, their mouth was covered by a mask with some sort of mechanical giraffe motif on it, their right arm was a metal prosthetic, as was their left hand, and while their entire body was covered by a black hoodie and black pants, if one listened hard enough, one could hear the sound of whirring gears as the person moved using their right side.

They followed the group of three, all the while making sure they were not spotted stalking the group, with every so often going into a store, waiting five minutes, then coming out. Every time he exited a store, a ghost-like wire would come out of their pinky finger and hook up to a camera to spot where they were going next, then follow them after the fact. Finally, after twenty minutes of them constantly wandering around, they stopped and entered a store only known as Kahana Kishibe's Fashion Parlour.

"Now all I have to do is wait for them to seclude themselves, then I will attack…." The mysterious person said, sitting down in a chair a few feet away from the entrance of the store. "This better be worth it. If he said he can revert my body back before The Accident, then I can finally do what I've wanted to do for so long."

Inside the store, the group of three went snooping around for some new clothes, and with a shared amount of 150K yen between one another, they went on a shopping spree. Yoshihara spent more of her time in the jacket and shirt section, Ashido was in the pants and shoe section, and Sakunami-san was bobbing between every aisle possible.

As Yoshihara combed through the jacket section, she came across a pink leather jacket with black shoulder pads, spiked cuffs, and side pockets that were deep enough to carry a phone. Yoshihara smirked, looking at the price tag, only to frown. "50K yen… that's all my money… I'm not about to blow it all on one jacket. I'll come back in my own spare time with more cash next time," Yoshihara muttered, putting the jacket back on the rack.

She spotted a shirt nearby, a pink shirt with black waist stripes, on the back, there was a giant black bubble inside which said: "I'm a bad girl" in white hiragana. The price was 5K yen, and it was the right size, and therefore, she put it over her lower arm then continued her search. She ended up picking up a pair of sweatpants which cost her 6K Yen, and a few pairs of jeans, which cost her a total 38K Yen, 8K yen per pair. In total, she spent 49K Yen, with 1K left over for something at the food court.

Using the money she had, she purchased her clothing, put it all in a bag, and waited at the front for Ashido and Sakunami-san. It took them another thirty minutes to finish doing what it was they were doing, and when they met up at the front of the store, Ashido was smiling ear to ear.

"Well, I got what I wanted, and I know Kunami-chan got what she wanted, but what about you, Kira-chan?" Ashido asked as Yoshihara lifted her bag with all of the clothes she bought while shrugging at the same time.

"Well, there was a jacket I wanted, but it would've cost me all of my money. So I settled for a shirt, a pair of sweatpants, and a few pairs of jeans. I have around 1K yen left, which I plan to use half at KFC for the 500 Yen meal deal. The other half I'll give back unless you just want the 1K Yen back, Sakunami-san," Yoshihara said as Sakunami waved her off.

"Nah, just keep it all. My mom sends me more than enough money to keep living in the city. 150K Yen is literally nothing, especially with the money that Fumi-kun gets from his parents," Karera replied, smiling as Yoshihara nodded. "Anywho, I have some extra money on my debit card, and—my treat—I'm gonna get everyone new top-of-the-line iPhone XVs!" Karera said as Mina's jaw dropped.

"Aren't those, like, 199K Yen each!" Ashido freaked out as Sakunami-san shrugged, scrolling through her bank account on her phone. Ashido looked at Yoshihara, who simply shrugged. "Why aren't you freaking out, Kira-chan! She's going to buy us the new phone that Apple made a month back!" Mina said, grabbing Yoshihara by the shoulders and shaking her like a drama queen, and despite the worried look that Sakunami-san gave her, Yoshihara allowed it to happen. She knew Ashido meant no harm and was just being goofy.

"Well, I can cover the costs since Sakunami-san treated us to this in the first place, but you have to pay for the phone bills. I have like… 20 Million Yen in my account that my Guardian gave me. Something about feeling guilty about what happened at the USJ. Honestly, I had no idea she had that much money, but beggars can’t be choosers, so—"

"20 MILLION YEN?!" Ashido shouted, throwing her arms up in the air as Kira repressed a giggle. "How do you have that kind of money? How long have you been this rich!?" Ashido exclaimed, her shoulders sagging as Yoshihara smirked. Before she could say anything, though, Sakunami-san spoke up.

"Well, I wouldn’t say rich. That’s like… 130k in American money, but still. That, and it pays to have a Pro Hero as a parent, you know? Mine might be from a backwater town, but Kira’s is literally Midnight, so she probably has more money than my mother does at the moment," Karera said as Kira nodded.

"Yeah. Considering the hotel made 500 Million in the second quarter. She just got the report at the beginning of this week, which is why I have that amount of money in my account," Yoshihara said as Ashido's jaw dropped.

"I'm surrounded by rich people…." Ashido groaned, looking down at the ground as Sakunami-san suppressed a snicker. Yoshihara put a hand on Ashido’s shoulder, in a joking attempt to comfort her.

"Don't be a downer Ashido-san, I used to be dirt poor. The only reason I have the money I have now is because of Midnight-Sensei," Kira said, patting her on the shoulder as Ashido pouted. "I don't know about Sakunami-san, though. Like she said, her mother's a Pro Hero in…." Yoshihara stopped, sighing before continuing. "In her hometown, therefore, it should be no surprise. Oh, and Sakunami-san, if you could, a pink phone, please, with a pink phone case. I'll cover that bit as well as the bill," Yoshihara stated as Sakunami-san nodded.

"Sounds good enough for me!" Sakunami-san said, smiling like a kid in a candy store as they walked out. As they left, the person in the chair stood up, a figure summoning behind him for a brief second before flickering out. The person huffed, clenching his metal hand into a fist.

"Come on, Dakima! They're just kids! They're sitting ducks! They can't fight back against Steam Powered Giraffe! So why are you hesitating!" Dakima thought, clenching his jaw. He continued to follow the group of three through the store, making sure to look as inconspicuous as possible as he entered stores, buying small things, then popping out, using Steam Powered Giraffe's ability to see through the cameras, then followed them once more.

The blonde-haired kid seemed to stop as the other two entered a store. Dakima sighed, knowing what it was he had to do. "Damnit. I hate hurting kids. But if I get my humanity back, then I'll be damned if I'm going to let a guilty conscience stop me!" Dakima roared in his head, tapping the kid on the shoulder. The blonde spun around, narrowing her eyes at him, as did he at her.

"Who are you?" the blonde kid asked as Dakima's eyes narrowed further. He let out a sigh before glowing in a bright grey light. The blonde stepped back, glowing in a purple light before Dakima shrugged.

"Nothing personal, kid," Dakima stated as ethereal yellow wires shot out from his back, created by Steam Powered Giraffe. The blond summoned her Stand, and it appeared to be a pink cat-like humanoid. The Stand's fist came extremely close to Dakima's face, but it stopped short of his nose as, the wires wrapped around her.

In a split second, she was electrocuted, smoke rising off of her before she was turned into electricity, and as soon as she did, her Stand disappeared. Her eyes went wide as Dakima pulled out a cell phone, and her entire being was warped into it.

Inside the phone was a static facial profile of the blond with her eyes closed. Underneath was the name of the girl. Yoshihara Kira. "Right… now to grab the other two, then smash the phone, then report back to him," Dakima said, letting out a shaky sigh. He really didn't want to do what it was he was doing, but he wanted to feel like a human again.

He would do anything to have his body returned to normal. So if That Man was willing to do that, he would do so within a heartbeat. He didn’t know how he would do it, but if he could, and if he was like him which he had demonstrated, then it had to be possible. He wouldn’t promise it otherwise, right?

Behind him was an exact model of a human, with a framework-like body, seemingly made out of metal scaffolding, coloured black, while its insides were made of wires that mimicked organs, muscles, veins and human features, all colour-coded to fit each part of the insides of a human body. Red wires mimicked muscle, yellow mimicked facial features and veins, and blue mimicked organs.

"Steam Powered Giraffe is the fastest Stand known to man. If it wasn't for its speed, it might as well be useless…." Dakima muttered to himself, Steam Powered Giraffe disappearing behind him as he watched the other two look around for the blond.

"Kira-chan?!" the pink-skinned girl called out as Dakima frowned. The pink girl looked over at him, paused for a second, and then walked over to him with a worried expression, as did the other girl, which only furthered the build-up of guilt in his chest.

"Hey, have you seen a blond-haired girl? Dull expression—not to be mean—black leather jacket, jeans, pink shirt with white stripes?" The teen asked as Dakima pointed over to the food court. A good place to nab her. That way he could blend into the crowd. The two girls nodded, then ran past him. However, he couldn't help but notice the girl wearing a bandana slipping him a glare for a split second.

"Is she onto me? Is she also a Stand User?" Dakima thought, frowning. "Or, perhaps it's something else. With Quirks and whatnot and how crazy their abilities can get, I don't need to worry about being outed as a Stand User. I just need to corner them both, zap them into the phone with Steam Powered Giraffe, and then smash the phone. It's not that hard…." Dakima thought, following the pair discretely, sliding the phone into his pocket.

As he watched them from a distance, he saw the pink-skinned girl separate from the other girl. Without hesitation, he followed the pink girl, shoving his hands into his pockets, grabbed his phone, and as soon as he got behind her, he summoned Steam Powered Giraffe. Yellow wires wrapped around the pink girl, whose eyes widened upon feeling the constricting snag.

She was turned into electricity, and zapped into his phone, her picture showing up on the screen, along with her name, Mina Ashido. He slid the phone back into his pocket and then looked over his shoulder. That other girl was somewhere within the crowd. "Collect her… go to him… smash the phone… Get my prize…." Dakima thought, his narrow-track mind sinking in.

He was going to finish the job. He was going to get what he wanted. He was going to get his humanity back, no matter the cost.

[XXXX]

Josefumi had been discharged from the hospital a couple of hours after the USJ attack's conclusion, much to his and Sakunami's relief. Recovery Girl and Medi-lady were pretty good at doing their jobs, which was to be expected, especially given how both of their Quirks were perfect for healing.

Medi-Lady was Recovery Girl's ward and trainee. She was being set up to take over for Recovery Girl once she retired in a year or so. In his opinion, Medi-lady was a sweet woman in her early twenties, and her Quirk, Heal Gel, was much like Recovery Girl's Heal.

She said that there would be some light scarring on his back, but that was about it. No permanent damage was caused by Die Very Rough, which was a good thing. The last thing he wanted to be was a paraplegic because of a Stand battle.

Currently, he was wearing a black shirt and blue pants—clothes given to him by the hospital while his Hero Costume was being patched up after the USJ attack, as it was in shambles the last time he saw it.

Karera had been extremely emotional the whole day after the fact, not once leaving him alone, and often crying into his shirt because she had been worried about losing him. Of course, he knew he would've been fine, but Karera didn't even know about the attack, so it was unfair to assume that she was fine as well. When she saw his scars when they went to bed, Karera almost cried again.

Josefumi made sure that he made her “feel better” after the hell he put her through unintentionally. After that, they slept peacefully, and the next morning, she was happier than she had the night prior, which was all that mattered to him. Seeing her happy was the only thing that mattered to him.

That fight hadn't been the first near-death experience he had. He had plenty in the past, and while a majority of them weren't when he was with Karera—they had only gotten together two years ago—when he was with her, he never did once. Although, he supposed there were a few things he had said were never going to happen until something else happened before it, and yet it happened anyway.

One of those things was that he planned to stay a virgin till he married her after High School. However, he decided to change his mind after getting a little too frisky with her one night. Besides, he used protection, so nothing bad was going to happen. That, and he got to make his girlfriend happy, so it was a win-win. And right now, she was out shopping with a couple of friends, leaving the house all to Josefumi.

At the moment, he was sitting in the shared room that he had with Karera in the one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, typing away on his computer as he analyzed the sample that was inside the Stand Bullet. The equipment was the same stuff the scientists at the Speedwagon Foundation had in their complex labs. He was able to get his hands on the stuff thanks to his father and the access he had within the Foundation seeing as he was the CEO.

Joestar Privilege. He loved it.

"That's… concerning…." Josefumi mumbled, reading what the sample came back with. "Human tissue, though untraceable due to the heavy altering. The same virus that The Stand Arrow has, meaning that whoever is doing this has a Stand Arrow and is making bullets out of it. The needle at the end is made of the same metal, meaning they probably have more than one arrow, either that or they found more of the same material somehow. Either or makes sense, especially if they're able to make 200 and use them all in the span of one night," Josefumi muttered as he wrote.

He took the sample bullet out of the container and placed it on a piece of paper towel. The yellow shell casing was used to hold all of the vital compartments that were mixed together in the chamber as soon as it was fired. However, there was one thing on the bullet that confused him.

There were etchings on the bullet, and those etchings were in Latin. The etchings said: De mortalitate hominis. Using a Latin to English Translator, and then translating that into Japanese, it roughly came out as "Mortality Of Man."

"Ominous…" Josefumi said, typing out the information and his findings on a private Google document that he planned to share with Karera, Kira, Midoriya-san, and Midoriya-kun. He did a little bit more research on the bullet, but when he came up with nothing, he saved the document and then closed the laptop. "And now I'm at a dead-end… great," Josefumi said, cupping his chin. There wasn't much else for him to do, so, he decided to take a break for the time being.

He got up from his chair and walked out of his and Karera’s room, looking over at his phone. Karera said she was going to be at the mall with some friends, Kira being among them. He couldn't call Kira then. He was about to phone Izuku, then stopped.

"No, can't call him either. He's having a family day with his mother." Josefumi groaned to himself, grabbed his phone, popped earbuds in and put on a song. “Ah, Sono-Chi-No-Sadame. I remember when my father created it as an homage to Jonathon Joestar, and then he and his friends started making songs for the rest of my ancestors. They just finished one on Great Grandma Jolyne, so the next one would be himself…. Though he doesn't want to do it yet. Said something about how he was getting too old. Whatever." Josefumi finished his thought as he sat down on the couch in the living room.

The living room was small, but it was nice. There was a wall with a small opening that separated the kitchenette and the room, both of which were technically connected, but not really. The living room had one loveseat, one small coffee table, and a flatscreen TV propped up on a wooden TV stand that Josefumi bought for relatively cheap.

There was a small shelf off to the right corner of the room with a photo of himself, Karera, and his father, though the portion with his father's face was out of frame, seeing as the guy was just that much of a giant.

His mother died when he was born, and despite getting multiple chances to re-marry, his father never did. The picture was taken a week before he moved to Musutafu to track down the Stand Creating Bullet, or The Stand Bullet as he and everyone else at the Speedwagon Foundation called it now.

However, just before he left for Musutafu, his father gave him a small round ball made of metal. It was completely smooth on each surface, and on both the left and right hemispheres of the ball, there were the words 'JoJo' engraved into it.

The ball was sitting on the coffee table with a mug tray underneath it so it didn't dent the wood. Josefumi took in a deep breath and reached out for the ball. He had nothing else better to do, so why not attempt using that, just to see if he still had the potential to use it?

He doubted it, but there was no harm in trying, now was there?

He summoned Soft & Wet to his side and closed his eyes. He got a good, solid feel for the object, and inspected each side for any imperfections, just like his father told him to do all those years ago. He placed it in the palm of his hand and opened his eyes.

He looked down at the ball and its surroundings. After a few seconds of concentrating, the ball began to Spin. As it spun, golden energy flittered off of the object, but, as soon as his eyes widened, and the elated expression appeared on his face, the ball stopped spinning before it could get any real meaningful velocity.

But Josefumi didn't care. He was just happy it spun.

"YES! YAHOO! I DID IT!" Josefumi said, hopping up from the couch and looking into the Steel Ball with a wide smile on his face. Ever since his Grandfather, Jouta Kujo, met someone extremely vital in his family's history, every Joestar or someone with Joestar blood could use The Spin.

And it was thanks to Jouta meeting a man by the name of Julius Caesar 'Gyro' Zeppelli on an outing in Italy. He befriended the man, and after knowing him for over five years and travelling the world with the man, Julius, or Gyro as he had preferred to be called, taught Jouta The Spin, after that, Jouta taught his father The Spin, and ever since then, The Spin became a technique that was passed down from Joestar to Joestar.

However, his father only started teaching him it when he was 14, and even then, he showed no potential in being able to use it. But now, after all of his failed attempts, he was. He could finally make his father and his grandfather proud!

Then, a thought came to his mind, and he made Soft & Wet shoot out a bubble, just out of curiosity's sake. What he saw, made his eyes widen. As he paid closer attention to the bubble, he noticed that every few seconds, he could see a glimpse of some sort of line show up in the center of the bubble, and that was when it hit him. 

"The 'Bubble' is spinning…. That means…! I've been using The Spin ever since I got my Stand, and I didn't even know it?!" Josefumi thought, clenching his fist in both annoyance and joy. He always wondered why his bubbles didn't act like normal bubbles—outside of the obvious fact that they were created by a Stand, but still—and now he knew why.

The "Bubble" wasn't actually a bubble at all, it was a piece of string of some kind that was constantly spinning that acted like a bubble and had bubble-like properties. His Stand was linked to The Spin, just like his father's Stand was.

This was a shocking development. It explained why Soft & Wet was as powerful as it was. It was why his father even bothered trying to teach him in the first place. It was why his father kept trying to teach him even though he showed no ability to actually use it! It was because he was already using it with Soft & Wet and didn't even know it.

Despite how exciting the development had been, he was going to have to wait to continue to test it out. He had other things he had to do at the moment, and if he was going to try and learn how to effectively use The Spin, he was going to do so in the forest, that way, he could train his ability in peace and without damaging something important in his house.

After all, the last thing he wanted to do was break something of Karera's that would make her upset. "Speaking of Karera, I wonder how she's doing right now?" Josefumi thought, shrugging before turning on the TV.

It was time for a break to watch some good old-fashioned TV.

[XXXX]

Karera was NOT having a good time. At first, she thought that Kira-chan was playing a practical joke on her, but now Mina was gone, and she was freaking the hell out. She had a feeling someone was after her, but now with Mina disappearing, it more than confirmed it. And she wasn't being paranoid either. Mina wasn't answering her phone, and Mina always, without fail, answered her phone.

Whoever the person was, they were either making her friends disappear somehow using some sort of busted Quirk, or they themselves were a Stand User, and they had just been incredibly good at concealing it, to the point where she couldn't even sense it.

She ran through the halls of the mall, looking over her shoulder and all around her just to try and spot the bastard who was doing this. But she couldn't find anyone suspicious. No matter where she looked, everyone just seemed to be minding their own business.

Whoever this person was, they were good at blending into the crowd. And that was when it hit her. "That guy wearing the hoodie! He was the guy outside the store Yoshihara was waiting for us outside of! And then he directed us toward the food court where Mina vanished from! He's the Stand User!" Karera thought, immediately turning around as she stared at the man in the hoodie, who had been following her, a short distance apart from her and himself.

"You! You're the Stand User who kidnapped my friends!" Karera snarled as the man stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes narrowed towards her, knowing full well his cover had been blown. "Well, speak up! Tell me what the hell is wrong with you!" Karera shouted, earning looks, gasps, and whispers from the crowd. The man closed his eyes, taking the hood off of his head and the mask around his mouth as Karera gasped.

Half of the man's forehead was made of metal, including his left ear and parts of his jaw were made of cold steel. His entire right arm was made of metal, as shown by him rolling up his sleeve with his left metallic hand, which was all the extent of his prosthetics on his hands and arms. She didn't know how much of this man's body was made of metal, but one thing was for sure.

Something horrible happened to him that caused him to look like this, and now, for whatever reason, he was hunting her and her friends.

"I was offered something that I couldn't refuse. Someone told me to come after you and your friends and kill you guys. I haven't killed your friends yet, they're simply trapped in my phone. But if you think that I, Dakima Stroheim, am going to stop just because you asked me to, you've got another fucking thing coming!" The man, Dakima, spat, summoning his Stand, which made her eyes widen even more than they were before.

The stand Behind him was an exact model of a human, with a framework-like body, seemingly made out of metal scaffolding, coloured black, while its insides were made of wires that mimicked organs, muscles, veins and human features, all colour-coded to fit each part of the insides of a human body. Red wires mimicked muscle, yellow mimicked facial features and veins, and blue mimicked organs.

"By that look in your eyes, I can tell that you're a Stand User. This means only one thing. THIS IS ABOUT TO GET INTERESTING!" Dakima shouted, his eyes lighting up with righteous fury. "But it won't matter. I'll get you, and then I'll get my humanity back! Besides, my Steam Powered Giraffe will be more than enough to get rid of you!" Dakima exclaimed as a bright gray aura coated his entire body.

In response, Karera's body glowed in a bright yellow aura, and a figure appeared behind her. It was a humanoid Stand, that much was obvious. Its body was mostly featureless and had a feminine appearance. It had gray mechanical joins at the waist, hips, shoulders, elbows and hands. A set of metallic cables also connected its chest to the neck.

The Stand was covered in orange patches of fur that covered its legs, arms and body in a way reminiscing of a dress with arm gloves and tights. It also had a large orange, almost afro-like head of hair with a braid going down the middle of it, resembling a zipper. The main body of the Stand was yellow, and its eyes were a bright, brilliant, ruby red.

"I'm not gonna let you take me without a fight. My Love Love Deluxe will make sure you pay for taking my friends!"

-To Be Continued-

Chapter Text

[Revised Chapter posted on: 2024-08-07]

[Malfunction in the Junction – Part 2]

Dakima and Karera stared down at one another two feet apart, their eyes carrying a sharp, deadly glare. For one, this was about saving her friends from a crazed lunatic. For the others, it was about reclaiming what they had lost. A battle of selflessness versus selfishness. Whoever won the fight would claim the spoils, and whoever lost would more than likely die.

Yet, one of them was hesitant to even begin the fight, and it wasn’t Karera. She could see the conflict in Dakima’s eyes. See the hesitation lurking behind how his fingers wriggled. It even reflected in how his Stand hovered close to him, acting more as a shadow than it did an offensive tool.

For a brief second, Karera almost pitied the man. He looked to be a victim in this scenario, and if what he said was true, then he might as well have been. But at the moment, she couldn’t treat him like a victim. He had her friends captive, and with the mall beginning to clear out, it wouldn’t be long until the authorities would get here.

She had to make this quick.    

The two combatants Stands floated behind them, ready and waiting to be used. Love Love Deluxe had more of a personality to it, cracking its knuckles and neck, before pointing at Dakima and dragging its thumb across where its vitals would be on its neck. As if to tell him that he was going to die.

Steam Powered Giraffe merely stood there, narrowing its eyes, awaiting further command. Just like a machine. Dakima wasn’t buying into the bluff. He wasn’t so easily scared. Especially considering that this brat before him was a hero student at U.A., Stand User or not, she didn’t have a murderous bone in her body.

As the two opponents stood across from one another, anyone who witnessed what was about to go down would’ve said that it was like something out of a Western movie. Both waited for the right opening to engage. Neither took a step forward nor did either of them take a step back. They stayed absolutely still.

By now, any bystanders who were interested in watching the fight go down had already begun to do so, drawing out their phones to record the soon-to-be-brawl. Anyone else who had a brain had already left. The negative energy within the hall alone was enough to scare people, and those who didn’t leave were either fearless or just plain stupid.

With careful eyes, the combatants glared as a heavy silence filled the hall the two stood in.  No one, not even the bystanders who eagerly awaited the brawl to commence, said a word. It stayed like that for another few seconds, until finally, Karera broke the silence.

"I'll give you one more chance, Stroheim. Let my friends go, and we can both walk away from this," Karera said, shifting her stance ever-so-slightly to put herself on the back foot in case she needed to dodge something. "I don't want to have to fight you. Besides, your body language is telling me the same thing, so why don't you just leave, give me back my friends, and we can end this right here, and right now," Karera said, narrowing her eyes as Dakima did not move.

Another handful of seconds worth of silence passed once more, and it almost looked like Dakima was willing to take up that offer until something in his eyes changed. A wave of determination flowed within them, and it was at that point that Karera understood that no amount of bargaining would get her out of this fight.

“Well, so much for diplomacy…” Karera thought as Dakima cracked a grin, shaking his head. The aura around his body flared, and Steam Powered Giraffe shifted ever-so-slightly, indicating that it was preparing for something.

"Sorry kid. Nothing personal," Dakima said, letting out a tired sigh. A crazed expression took up his visage, and then, he shouted, "BUT I WANT MY HUMANITY BACK!" as soon as he screamed that, Steam Powered Giraffe sent out a yellow cable at mach speeds toward her, and in response, somehow, Dakima's hair made a shield in front of Karera, blocking the attack.

"H-Huh?!" Dakima sputtered, raising an eyebrow as he looked up at his hair, which had a golden hue around it. It didn’t take him long to put two-and-two together "Ah, so that's your Stand's ability, Hair Manipulation. I'm lucky my ability doesn't work on me, otherwise, that would've been extremely anti-climatic," Dakima said, a chuckle behind his tone as the wire went around the hair to wrap up Karera.

However, when Dakima felt that it didn't touch something, the German raised an eyebrow. That was when he felt a fist smash against his face, and Dakima, along with his Stand, was sent flying into the closest wall, in his place, Karera stood there, her chest rising up and down due to heavy breathing. 

She hadn’t been forced to move that fast in a long, long time. The last time she had gotten into a serious fight was a year ago, in Morioh, when she had unwittingly got in between a drug deal gone bad, and one of the people there happened to be a Stand User.

To say she was out of practice was an understatement. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t use her prior experience and apply it to this. That, and now that she was a heroine in training, she was relearning all the proper techniques with how one would fight.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t stressed out of her mind, though.

“That was close…. If I hadn't jumped when I did… I would've died…." Karera thought, looking at the wall where Dakima was launched into. The wall cracked under his immense weight, and that had been the cue for every other passerby to run. Karera ran as well, but instead of heading toward an exit, she ducked into the store behind him before Dakima could refocus.

"Damn, you hit hard, girl," Dakima snarled, getting out of the hole in the wall. "But my cybernetic body can take more hits than just that!" Dakima spat, his hair retracting back to where it belonged as Steam Powered Giraffe's red wires began to shoot out of its body and connect to his arm, transforming it into a canon.

"Not only can I lock people into my phone, using Steam Powered Giraffe, but I can also augment any electronic in 100 meters of myself! INCLUDING MY OWN BODY!" Dakima shouted, a red visor coming out of his metallic forehead. The visor gave him the ability to see through walls, but he couldn't find anyone that matched Karera's appearance.

"Hmph, she ran. Talk about all that editing for nothing… hmm, but she won't stay hidden. Not for long, that is," Dakima growled, the red wires detaching from his arm, turning it back to normal and attaching to every security camera in the 100-meter radius around him.

Through every camera, he rewound the footage, trying to find where his enemy had run off to. Each camera provided nothing of substance, except for the one closest to where they were, and it was then that a large, devious grin took up his visage. “This girl is either stupid, or she doesn’t realize just how badly she messed up!” Dakima thought, turning around and staring down the entrance to the store that his target ran into.

The Source.

“A store full of electronics! Perfect for myself and my Stand! The brat won’t even know what hit her!” Dakima thought as he stepped into the store.

Meanwhile, Karera sat in the corner of The Source. Not exactly the smartest move on her part, seeing as the guy she was fighting could manipulate technology, or at least, that was what she heard him say. However, she had an idea. She had to get extremely close to him, which meant risking pretty much everything on one attack, but if she could pull it off….

"Vlad-Sensei was the one who helped me figure this one out, that, and it's a really good attack anyways, so…." Karera thought, clenching her right hand into a fist. However, as soon as Karera did that, a red dot appeared on her chest, and when she looked up, she saw that a security camera was pointed at her, and it had an ethereal red wire attached to it.

"AH-HA! I FOUND YOU!" Dakima's voice came from the security camera, which then seamlessly turned its camera lens into a gun barrel. Karera created another shield, this time out of her hair, as a volley of bullets rained down on her. A majority of the bullets bounced off, but some of the bullets bypassed her hair shield and got her in the shoulders and areas around her waist.

She clenched her teeth, ignoring the pain as best as she could. Standing up, she tripled her shield's size and density, turning it into an almost steel wire-like substance. There was a reason why she had her hair bunched up in a bandana, and it was so she could use it to protect herself with her Stand.

Love Love Deluxe's ability allowed Karera to grow and modify anyone's hair in any way, shape, and form, while still keeping the innate qualities of hair down to the genetic code that made it what it was. Love Love Deluxe can change the density, volume, and amount of hair a person has, so long as it stems from an area that can grow it—i.e. everywhere on the human body. However, she could only target one part of the body at a time, and one person at a time.

But even if she could only use one spot on one person at a time, that didn’t mean that she couldn’t use that one spot and or clump of hair to do multiple things at once. It was just extremely hard to do so.

Even if the ability could be frustrating at times, and caused her to choke up in a fight once or twice before, the Stand itself was still pretty good at what it did, and it was what allowed Karera to be as good at fighting as she was—hell, she survived being a Stand User all of her life so that pretty much spoke for itself. It was also why she never really needed to hide the fact that her ability was a Stand because it acted so much like a Quirk in the first place.

Parts of her hair shot out at the camera gun, wrapped around it, and crushed it into little bits of mechanical shrapnel. Karera smirked, high on adrenaline. "Take that, bozo! Destroyed your little weapon, and now you can't do a thing!" Karera said, bringing her hair back to normal.

"Oh, really now?" A sudden voice behind her caused Karera to quickly turn around and jump out of the way of a yellow cable. It zipped straight for her, however, before it could make contact, more of Dakima's hair quickly created a barrier completely around her, annoying him.

"Shit, you're quick, aren't you?" Dakima said, scowling. "I knew I shoulda shaved my head…. I always hated my hair being this long, but now it comes to bite me in the ass…. Fuck me, am I right?" Dakima said, talking to himself as a sarcastic smirk replaced whatever expression he had before.

"Damnit, I'm out of range!" Karera thought, panic racing through her body as the blood from the bullet wounds dripped down her arms and waist. She was beginning to feel a bit woozy from the blood loss, so, she decided to change that.

Pieces of Dakima's hair came out in thick strands, mimicked the sharpness of a scalpel and removed the bullets, only causing herself more pain at first, but it was the first step to recovery and healing herself. The sound of punches rocketing off of the hair barrier made her jump, as Steam Powered Giraffe was blitzing the hair barrier, albeit with weak punches.

"GET OUT OF THERE, YOU COWARD! FIGHT ME LIKE A REAL FIGHTER WOULD!" Dakima shouted as the punches bounced off of the shield. Karera took in a calm, deep breath as she stitched her wounds together, making sure she was steady. After she finished stitching the wounds, she kept their density the same as stitches, but more durable to allow for faster movements.

The hair retracted back to Dakima, causing the man's eyes to widen. Love Love Deluxe used his shock to her advantage and punched Steam Punk Giraffe in the gut. The force of the blow was hard enough to cause a miniature shockwave in the place where it landed and caused Dakima to spit up a trace amount of blood and saliva.

[RABU!]

The punch hit hard, knocking both Steam Powered Giraffe and Dakima back, but as he was flung back, a wave of yellow cables came towards Karera. Luckily for her, Love Love Deluxe fended them off with a wave of punches faster than any normal person could keep track of.

[RABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABU!]

As Love Love Deluxe continued to punch away at the cables, more of them kept coming to replace them. It didn’t matter how fast Love Love Deluxe punched, nor did it matter how many punches it threw, it was just like a hydra—destroy one, and two more take its place.

The blurred fists continued to thrust forward despite the situation because if she let up for even a second, she was done for. At least, not until she found some way to combat the annoying ability. Her hair barriers seemed to work just fine, but playing defensive was only delaying the inevitable. She needed to find a way to knock the man out.

The problem was that they were matched in terms of speed. Both Love Love Deluxe and Steam Powered Giraffe were of a similar speed. Strenght-wise, Love Love Deluxe was faster, but that hardly mattered when they were both at the same level of speed; it could dodge just as fast as Love Love Deluxe could throw a punch.  

That was when she got an idea. The cables couldn’t move past her Stand’s fists because of how fast she was punching. That meant she had the perfect chance to close the distance between herself and her would-be killer. If she did that, then this fight was already won! And so, that was exactly what she did.

As Steam Powered Giraffe continued to send its cables her way, Love Love Deluxe continued to meet its attack with an almost perfect defence. Karera took advantage of that defence and began to inch closer to Dakima, intending to get within 2 meters of him. And it was with this act that Dakima began to sweat. "H-How the hell can you keep Steam Powered Giraffe's ability at bay!? My Stand is the fastest Stand known to man!" Dakima cried out as Karera scoffed.

"Then I guess we're equally matched in speed," Karera spat back as she counted the distance between the two. "10 meters…." Karera thought, closing the distance slowly but surely, all the while Dakima kept becoming more and more desperate, sending out more wires, all of which Love Love Deluxe could keep at bay. "8 Meters… I need to be at least 2 meters away from him to make this attack count, otherwise, it'll be a lost cause," Karera thought as she continued her advance.

Steam Powered Giraffe shot out blue cables from its body, retracting the yellow cables so it could use the blue ones, and connected them to every electronical appliance in the store. The clerk ducked underneath the counter as all of the electronics launched themselves at Karera, who ducked under a display table, stopping her advance.

They swarmed her like hawks, but Love Love Deluxe was able to punch away at them, destroying the iPads, laptops, and pretty much anything that came close to her. She noticed something, though, and that was the fact that he wasn't using the red wires to rebuild the tech. With that came a question: why not just use all three cables at once? Unless, of course, he couldn’t.

And if that was the case… Karera smirked.  

"So, he can only use one wire colour at a time. But depending on what colour he's using, it changes what he can do. Yellow means to put something into an electronical object, red means to modify and see and or act through it, and blue means to remotely control it. If he could do all three, this Stand would be absolutely terrifying. But as it is now, he's pretty mediocre," Karera thought, leaving the table as all of the electronical appliances rushed toward her.

Using her hair, Love Love Deluxe turned her hair into sharp spears that pierced all of the devices, destroying them, and rendering them useless. Dakima returned to the tried and true strategy of overwhelming the opponent, launching more yellow cables at Karera, only for Love Love Deluxe to continue what it was it had been doing when he first started that kind of attack, while at the same time returning Karera's hair to normal.

Karera's bandana had been turned into Swiss cheese and fell to the floor, allowing her long, black, flowing hair to reach down to her lower back, showing just how much hair she had to work with, which made Dakima falter. Given that her ability was Hair Manipulation, to know that she had that much to work with… it almost made him want to give up.

“But my Humanity is at stake! I can’t give up! I refuse to give up! I refuse to let this child beat me! I am Dakima Stroheim, strong and proud! I am not some school-house bully who can’t back up his threats! I. Am. The. Pinnacle!” Dakima thought to himself, anger and fury bubbling in his eyes.

He refused to lose to this brat. Yet, no matter how much he threw at her, she simply continued to advance, like an unending force pushing back against a very movable object. 

"6 Meters…." Karera thought, taking another step forward. Beads of sweat started to trail down Dakima’s face, his determination slowly being chipped away. Dakima took a step back out of fright, adding on more cables, though it didn't matter, seeing as Karera just kept coming, and Love Love Deluxe just kept punching and destroying. "4 Meters."As she got closer, Dakima kept hurling more wires and cables at Karera, only to be met with even more pushback. "3 Meters."Dakima became more frantic. "2.5 Meters." And then he snapped.

"STAY BACK!" The wires stopped, as Dakima dragged out his phone and raised it into the air. Karera stopped, her Stand moving back towards her as Dakima's breathing became erratic. "If you don't stop, I'll smash this phone and kill them both right here, right now!" Dakima spat, Steam Powered Giraffe hovering behind him as Karera's eyes narrowed.

"You really think I'll believe that!" Karera argued as Dakima's expression became flat, his eyes filling with killing intent, which caused Karera to flinch, and to take a step back. If it wasn’t obvious, he was being more than serious.

"Oh, but you should." The deadly seriousness in Dakima's voice caused Karera to feel a chill go down her spine. "Your friends are trapped within this phone as proton cells, which are used to power the battery in the phone. Now, regardless of how much I use it, no matter how much I adjust the brightness, turn off the power saver, or even remove the battery, the phone will never die because it is their souls are powering it. But, if the phone were to break into tiny little pieces, along with the battery, then suddenly the protons have nowhere to go and fizzle out. The protons, in this case, are your friends' bodies and souls. And if the protons fizzle out, those people or that singular person dies. It's quite simple actually," Dakima stated as Karera felt a singular bead of sweat drip down her forehead.

"N-Now you're being a coward!" Karera spat, inching forward as Dakima scoffed, shrugging. It was like he didn’t care at all. Which, given his demeanour, was a fair assessment. It was often said that when an animal was pushed into a corner, it would do anything to win, regardless of circumstance.  

"We Stroheims do whatever it takes to win. Hell, my great-great-grandfather was in World War 2! Sure, he was on the wrong side, and sure he died still believing in their cause, but that man helped defeat a Pillar Man—not just any Pillar Man, but the ruler of all Pillar Men, the one that became the Ultimate Lifeform! He did everything in his power to win, and so will I! I don't care if it's cowardice, I don't care if it's scummy, I won't lose to a 16-year-old brat!" Dakima spat, his teeth bare, a visible vein on his forehead, and the phone in his hand began to crack.

"So, this is how this is going to go! You're gonna stand still, and I'm going to zap you into this phone. Got it!" Dakima hollered as Karera stood still, looking down at the floor. She didn’t answer, which prompted him to take a step forward, his Stands aura flaring around him. "Good, now, this won't hurt a bit!"

But little had the man known, that during his blind rant, Karera had reached the required 2 meters. As the yellow cables started protruding out of Steam Powered Giraffe, in the blink of an eye, a hair barrier encircled Dakima and Steam Powered Giraffe, all except the arm that had the phone in it. The hair became so sharp that it severed the arm from the elbow down, oil leaking from the wound as a screeching sound could be heard from within the hair cocoon. The hand released the phone, and Karera caught it as soon as it came close to the floor.

Inside the barrier, Dakima roared with rage, however, also in pain after realizing his arm had been severed. Mechanical or not, he could still feel pain if it was damaged in any way due to it being connected to his nervous system. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Dakima roared as the hair retracted back, but before Dakima could do anything to retaliate, he was met with a pissed-off Karera. His angered demeanour immediately fell, and then, he cursed himself. "Oh, Scheiße."

Love Love Deluxe grabbed him by the collar of his hoodie and raised him higher than Karera's eye level. He began to struggle, kicking his legs up in the air as Steam Power Giraffe still floated behind him. "Y-You think y-you won! I-I- I can still attack you! I can still trap you in the phone!" Dakima threatened, though his tone of voice was more frightened than intimidating.

"I know when to call a bluff when I see one. And that, my friend, was a bluff. Now, I'll spare you a beatdown if you let my friends out, how about that?" Karera stated as Dakima squealed.

"I-I—!" Dakima began, only to be met with a fist to the face, blood and oil flying from his face as Karera sneered.

"On second thought… yeah, no, how about I just beat you up, that way I know my friends will be evicted from the phone!" Karera stated, smirking as Love Love Deluxe began to send a volley of punches to Dakima and Steam Powered Giraffe, each punch hitting harder than the last, and with each punch, it became faster and faster till it became nothing but a blur.

[RABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABU!]

Blood and oil hit the floor, coating the area below Dakima as, with the final punch, he crashed into the ceiling, before falling face-first into the puddle, unconscious as Steam Powered Giraffe faded away. Once it had finished its job, Love Love Deluxe disappeared back into Karera as the teen let out a sigh. "Now… stay down," Karera stated, grunting as she rolled her neck from side to side.

The battle was over, and she came out the victor.

As soon as Steam Power Giraffe vanished, the phone began to shake and spark as both Mina and Kira were let out of the phone, both in the same state they were in when they entered it. They still had their bags in their hands—Karera lost hers during the fight, but it didn't matter to her—and they were both extremely confused and bewildered, though Kira was able to sober up rather quickly. Mina, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

"H-Huh?! W-What just happened!" Mina said, looking around frantically. She saw the broken electronics, the cowering store clerk, and the unconscious body in the pool of blood and oil. "H-Huh!?" She looked over to Karera, who was breathing heavily. "Kunami-chan…?! W-What's happening, er, what happened, I mean!"

"We were attacked… that's what happened," Kira replied, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the cyborg with disgust, summoning Killer Queen. "Is he dead?" Kira asked as Karera shook her head.

"No. He's not," Karera said as Killer Queen floated over to the downed man, rearing its fist back to deliver a deadly blow, only for Love Love Deluxe to grab its wrist and prevent it from punching a hole through his head. Kira narrowed a glare to Karera, who shook her head. "That doesn't give you the go-ahead to do it yourself. We need answers from him. From the sounds of things, he was forced to do this. At least, that’s what it sounded like, so he's just as much of a victim in this as you two were. Now, help me get him out of here and outside."

"W-What are you two talking about!? K-Killing someone?! I—"

"Mina, calm down," Karera interrupted, glancing over at Kira, and then back to Mina. "Once we're done dealing with this guy, I'll explain everything. But when we do, you have to keep this a secret. You can't tell Kirishima, you can't tell your parents, hell, you can't tell a crow or a rock. It's important we keep this as secretive as possible," Karera stated as Mina slowly nodded. "Good, now, please, do as I asked you. We need to get this guy out of here. Okay?" Karera stated, looking at both Mina and Kira.

With reluctance, both Mina and Kira did as they were told, handing their bags over to Karera so she could carry them, picked up the man, and after a slow walk to the outside of the Mall, they propped up Dakima against the wall of an alleyway behind the mall.

Using her hair, Karera stitched whatever wounds she had inflicted on him—at least the ones that could be repaired by stitches, then finished by changing their density to be as tough as steel before backing up. Karera lightly tapped the guy's face, causing him to wake up, and for him to jolt back. "G-Gah! I—"

"Calm down, I'm not gonna kill you, we just want answers," Karera said, interrupting Dakima mid-scream, looking over her shoulder as Yoshihara crossed her arms, and Mina was stand-offish, giving the man a questioning gaze, though with her eyes filled with fear. She nodded to herself, then continued. "Now, please, can you tell us who it was who sent you after us?"

The man seemed to space out, looking at the floor in silence. Then, after a couple of seconds passed, with a deep breath and a bit of a stammer, he spoke. "I-I… I don't know his name. Hell, I didn't even see his face. Ah-! But he was wearing an orange pinstripe suit! Outside of that, I know practically nothing. He just… approached me on the street, pulled me into an alleyway, and we talked. H-He didn't give out his name or the name of the group he worked with, he didn't give out what his abilities were, all he gave me was a target, two pictures of two kids from Class 1 – A a-and you, and said that if I killed them, and anyone adjacently around them, that he'll fix my body and change it back to how it was before The Accident."

Kira frowned, her glare increasing as she spoke up. "What do you mean? What was The Accident?" The blonde teenager asked as the man eeped, covering up his face before realizing just how unnecessary it was, putting his arms down before answering.

"T-The attack in Musutafu. Those Yakuza freaks who had those bullets. One of them hit me, and my Quirk… it… it evolved into Steam Powered Giraffe." Dakima started, summoning his Stand behind him, though Mina only looked at him with a look of confusion and a raised eyebrow.

"At first, I thought it was a blessing, but I quickly realized just how much of a curse it was. Other people who survived the attack came after each other out of some sort of paranoia, and I… I had to defend myself. But the more I used my Stand, and the more I used its ability to alter and fix things, the more my own body would be sacrificed to do so," Dakima started, looking down at the floor with slumped shoulders. His eyes glazed over as he began to re-live what it was that happened to him.

"It started with just my fingers. It freaked me out, but I reckoned that I could just use my ability without a care in the world. I started to create a business to repair broken electronics. Before acquiring Steam Powered Giraffe, my Quirk allowed me to analyze tech, but that was about it. But now that I could repair the stuff without even having prior knowledge! I could've made a fortune! But each time I repaired a phone, a laptop, or a computer screen, a piece of my skin would swap out with steel. I didn't think too much of it until I had lost my entire right arm and half of my waist." Dakima took in a deep, shuttered breath before continuing.

"I shut down my business after realizing what I was doing to my body. I tried to fix myself—to get my flesh back—but I learned the hard way that I could never get it back. I fell into a deep depression, and my whole family refused to recognize me. My mother barely even considered me a human. My father refused to look at me and saw me as a monster. My son saw me as a freak and was terrified to look at me. My wife left me and took my son, and they moved back to Germany, leaving me with nothing. All because I was more machine than man. But then…!" Dakima paused, looking up at the group of three with big, excited eyes.

"But then he showed up! He promised me that if I killed you brats, I'd get my life back! Looking back at it now, I realize just how fucked up that prospect was. But I was desperate! And can you blame me?! My life was turned upside down because of a power I didn't want! I saw a way out, and I took it!" Dakima proclaimed, frowning before shaking his head. "I… I'm sorry. I… I was desperate. I—"

"I understand," Karera interrupted, earning a shocked expression from Dakima, Kira, and Mina. The two looked at her like she was mentally ill, but Karera didn’t care one bit. “That does sound like a curse. I feel bad for you, Mr. Strohiem. You were used by a horrible man, but that doesn’t make you a villain. It just makes you a fool.”

Dakima lowered his head, shame on his face as Mina sputtered. "But…! He almost killed us!" Mina exclaimed as Karera narrowed her eyes at the pink-skinned girl.

"And you mean to tell me that you wouldn't do the same if you were in his situation?" Karera asked as Mina furrowed her eyebrows and was about to speak before Karera continued. "If someone told you they could turn you back to normal, wouldn't you jump at the chance to get your body back? He was desperate, and that man played him like a fiddle," Karera stated, looking over to Dakima. "That doesn't mean I forgive you, but I understand where it is you're coming from," Karera said, earning a nod from the man.

"Fair enough, I did try to kill your friends, and I am truly sorry. But… But… that was all I know. That's all I know about that man, and what he wanted from me. After I accepted his offer, he just… disappeared, walked through a portal and then he was gone. Although, he did mention a name. Not a Stand Name, mind you, but someone's actual name. I think it was… Kurogiri or whatever."

Karera frowned, looking out of the hallway. The police had been called, and around six squad cars and the Pro Hero Death Arms showed up. She had a choice, hand him over to the police, have him get sent to Tartarus, and make it so she had another enemy to deal with, or….

"I'll call a few contacts once I leave this alleyway and get home. When someone wearing a hat that says Speedwagon on the hat appears before you, go with them, they'll take you to someplace that can help you, or at least try. It's better than a prison cell, at the very least," Karera stated as Dakima nodded.

"Thank you… ma'am," Dakima said as Karera looked back at Mina and Kira, then nodded. The group of three left the alleyway. They made it to the convertible and Karera passed the two teens their bags as they got into the car. Starting up the car engine, Karera waited for everyone to buckle themselves in, and once that was done, she pulled out of the parking lot and hit the highway.

A few minutes into the drive, once they were far enough away from the mall, Ashido spoke up. "Alright, now, spill the beans. What just happened?!" Ashido demanded as Yoshihara was the one to speak up, catching Ashido off guard.

"I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention. I'm doing this because Sakunami-san is driving, and she needs to pay attention to the road. I will tell you everything it is Kujo and Sakunami-san have told me in my time as a part of this group of misfits. And just so you know, if you tell anyone else about this information, be it your friends, family, or on an online forum, you won't have to deal with me and Sakunami-san, but an entire organization. Do I make myself clear?" Yoshihara stated as Ashido paled.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Ashido said with nervousness in her tone as Yoshihara sighed, nodding in response.

"All right. Then allow me to begin. The first thing that you have to know is that me and Karera over here, technically speaking, are Quirkless," Yoshihara began, causing Ashido to recoil. Yoshihara didn't let her speak and simply continued as if nothing important had been said. "Now, the reason I mention this is that you must understand that the powers that Sakunami-san and I have are far deadlier than anything a Quirk can muster, based solely on the fact that, as you’ve more than likely noticed, you cannot see.

“However, because Quirks have become so commonplace, you'd be hardpressed to find a difference between a Quirk and a Stand, outside of their physical appearance that Quirk Users and Quirkless people cannot see. Stands, which is the name of this power, come in a variety of forms, and they come in a variety of types—much like Quirks," Yoshihara said, giving Ashido the chance to absorb the information before continuing.

"There is the most common type of Stand a person can have: A Humanoid Stand, one that has the appearance of a human, and or stands upright, like a primate or a human. Sakunami-san and I, for example, have Humanoid Stands.

“There are non-humanoid Stands, which, as the label describes, are not humanoid, but they still have a fairly basic shape that a human, so long as they are a Stand User, can see, such as a bug, a crocodile, a fish, a weird tongue creature, or a pimple with a face on your forehead.

“Then, there is the Automatic Type Stand. These things have no maximum amount in their Range. They can go anywhere, do anything, and are visible to the regular person, though usually only as a shadow or in a reflection. They can understand simple commands and will do them to completion. For example, if you tell it to kill someone, it will do so. It will go to the ends of the earth and do everything it can to end the life of that person you deem to be a nuisance. Nothing will stop it, and if it has to travel the world to get its objective done, then so be it. However, to make up for this incredibly overpowered reach, the abilities a Stand like this usually has are near useless and or so pathetic that it might as well be only useful for across-the-world ventures. On rare occasions, a Stand like this can have a busted ability but rarely is this ever the case," Yoshihara stated, crossing her arms.

"Is that all?" Ashido asked, a small sweat bead falling from her forehead and down her cheek, rubbing the back of her neck as Yoshihara shook her head.

"No, those are just the ones I know. Although, this piece of information isn't important to you, but rather, important in your decision to continue to be close to Sakunami-san and me. Stand Users attract other Stand Users, like a magnet to a piece of metal. It is by destiny that Stand Users will drift towards each other over time, whether they know this or not. Usually, when two Stand Users meet, a fight to the death breaks out. Though, on the rare occasion that they instantly become allies with one another, a fight will still occur, just to test out if their partnership will be beneficial to each other, or if it would be easier to just kill them so that they won't have to deal with another threat in the future. That means that regardless of whether you're a Stand User or not, you will constantly be in danger if you are around us. So—"

"Don't even finish that sentence," Ashido interrupted, frowning. "I don't care how much danger I'm in if I'm around you. Though I am a bit upset that Kunami-chan didn't tell me when we first met back at the Entrance Exam, but that doesn't change the fact that I still want to be your guys' friend. Besides, I'm a heroine-in-training, danger is going to be a part of my life regardless of what I want. Why not start a little early?" Ashido asked, a small smile on her face as Yoshihara felt her heart warm.

And, for the first time ever since she met Izuku, or anyone outside of her group for that matter, a small, but genuine smile stretched across her lips. "Very well then, Ashido-san. Of course, I don't need to have to tell you again that you must not tell anyone about what you heard, correct?" Yoshihara said as Ashido nodded.

"Of course! Although, perhaps you should tell the rest of Class 1 – A about this in the future. Maybe not right away, but sometime soon, you know?" Ashido stated as Yoshihara looked over to Sakunami-san, who shrugged.

"I'll bring it up with Fumi-kun. But until then, do try to keep this as secretive as possible," Sakunami-san said as they pulled up to a house. The house in question was two storeys tall with a slanted roof, five windows on the front-facing side of the house, three on the top floor and two on the lower floor, a small garden just by the stairs, and a moderate-sized front lawn with a white fence and gate blocking off entry.

"Well, this is my stop," Ashido said, getting out of the car as the sun began to set. She looked down at her watch, which said that the time was 5:30 pm. "And just before dinner, too. Thanks, Kunami-chan, Kira-chan, I'll see you all at school on Monday!" Ashido said, the two waving her off as Yoshihara moved herself to the front seat, buckling herself in as they drove off, the next stop being the Love Hotel, ironically enough also named Love Love Deluxe.

The drive was silent, and by the time they got there, it was already 6:30 PM. The sun was almost down, leaving a faint orange stripe in the sky, and the stars were starting to peek out from their cover in the daylight sky. "Thank you, Sakunami-san," Yoshihara said, taking her bags and exiting the car. "While the Mall trip didn't go as intended, I still had fun. Even if I did nearly die, I'd like to do it again one of these days," Kira said, smirking. "You know, minus the 'nearly dying' part, of course," Yoshihara said, attempting a joke as Sakunami-san snorted and suppressed a giggle.

"Of course, Kira-chan, anytime," Karera said as Yoshihara turned around, her hair moving out of the way so that anyone could get a clear look a the nape of her neck due to the wind pushing it out of the way, and what Karera saw shocked her.

Yoshihara had the same Star-Shaped Birthmark as Josefumi, in the same place as he did, and with the same placement. "I'll see you at school, Sa—" Kira stopped herself, then continued. "I'll see you at school, Karera-chan," and with that, she entered the building. Karera nodded a small smile on her face.

"Finally, jeez. Well, at least she trusts me now," Karera thought, turning to face the road, turning on the car engine, and adopting a stern expression. "But now, Josefumi is going to want to know this. There is a possibility that—no—there is a 100% chance that he and Kira are related." And with that sentiment, she drove to the apartment she and Josefumi shared with a ton of questions and a need for answers that he may or may not have for her.

[XXXX]

!Stand Information Corner!

Stand User: Dakima Stroheim

Stand Name: Steam Powered Giraffe

Localized Name: Steampunk Animal

Stand Appearance: Steam Powered Giraffe is a humanoid Stand that is a replica of a human’s skeletal system that’s made out of what appears to be black metal frames. Its insides are made of wires, with yellow wires that appear to be facial features and veins, red wires that mimic organs, and blue wires that mimic muscles. Steam Powered Giraffe is the same height as its user.

Stand Ability: Using the wires inside its body, it can manipulate technology, but it can only use one colour of wire at a time. Each coloured wire represents something that it can do, with red wires being able to freely transform any technology it gets its wires into, blue wires being able to control and freely pilot any electronical device, and yellow wires allowing him to transfer someone’s body and soul into a device of his choosing.

Stand Stats:

Destructive Power: Grade D (As strong as a regular human)

Effective Range: Grade A (100 meters)

General Speed: Grade A (Can attack at Hypersonic, massively hypersonic, to potentially at the speed of light, depending on how hard the user is pushing the stand)

Persistent use of ability: Grade B (Extremely proficient in the use of its ability, and can keep it going for long periods exceeding an hour).

Precision: Grade C (Misses semi-infrequently)

Overall Potential: Grade B

[Status: Retired]

.

!Stand Information Corner!

Stand User: Karera Sakunami

Stand Name: Love Love Deluxe

Localized Name: Love Squared

Stand Appearance: Love Love Deluxe is a humanoid Stand. While its body is mostly featureless and has a feminine appearance, it also has mechanical joints at the waist, hips, shoulders, elbows and hands. A set of metallic cables also connects its chest to the neck. Love Love Deluxe is covered in patches of fur that cover its legs, arms and body in a way reminiscing of a dress with arm gloves and tights. It also has a large afro atop its head with a braid going down the middle of it, resembling a zipper. Its body is yellow, the fur on its body is orange, and the metallic joints are gray.

Stand Ability: Using Love Love Deluxe, Karera can manipulate both her hair and other individuals' hair within a distance of 80 meters of her. She can completely re-arrange the genetic makeup of anyone’s hair, transforming it into whatever fibre-based material she needs at any given time, even turning regular human hair into steel fibre to create a shield to protect herself.

Stand Stats:

Destructive Power: Grade B (Physically stronger than a regular human, and able to easily cave in walls of a building with ease, even denting metal)

Effective Range: Grade B (Can use its ability up to 80 meters away from an individual)

General Speed: Grade A (Can attack at Hypersonic, massively hypersonic, to potentially at the speed of light, depending on how hard the user is pushing the stand)

Persistent use of ability: Grade A (The user can keep the ability going for as long as the user desires, without consequence)

Precision: Grade B (Rarely misses)

Overall Potential: Grade B

[Status: Active]

[XXXX]

Yoshikage had to admit that when he first came to the land of living, and when he first met his descendant, even if she didn’t realize he was there, seeing her dying was not a good start to his whole Guardian Angel shtick. Although he was able to convince her to stand back up and fight, that didn’t change the fact that mere moments into his stint as a Guardian Angel, his ward had already almost died.

And now, here he was, floating in front of the window of where his ward currently lived. It was some kind of love hotel, which was a questionable choice for a child to be living in. While she seemed detached from the whole of it, that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable.

That being said, there was one thing that he was positively confused about. Ever since he even figured out about the fact that his bloodline somehow continued past him. His father, bless his useless soul, was devoted to his wife and vice versa. Neither of them cheated on each other, so it couldn’t have been from them.

There was also the fact that Yoshikage had no siblings.

So then, how? How did he wind up with descendants?

And then, it clicked. It didn’t take a genius for him to realize what had happened, and he was a fool for not picking up on it earlier. He distinctly remembered that one day, when he was 19 years old, just a few weeks after he had murdered Reimei Sugimoto, he had gone to a bar to drink away the guilt he had felt.

Yes, he had felt guilty for killing Reimei. At the time, he hadn’t accepted himself for what he had been—a brute. He hid her body in a suitcase not out of pride of successfully killing her, but out of shame. It was also why he stuffed the body-filled suitcase behind a newspaper station in that alleyway.

Of course, as time went on, he became more confident and sadistic, like most serial killers. Looking back on it now, he was a twisted freak. His mental impairments stopped him from realizing it sooner. He believed that what he had been doing was right. The reality of the situation was that he was in the wrong.

In the end, he got what he deserved, whether he liked it or not.

Honestly, as strange as it was, he thanked Higashikata, Jotaro, and the rest of those other Stand Users for doing him in. Even if he ultimately died because of a freak accident where an ambulance crushed his head like a grape, it was more than he had deserved.

Besides, even if he was arrested, he more than likely would’ve escaped prison or rewound time with Bites The Dust….

Back to the topic at hand, when he was 19 years old, he had decided to drink away the shame he had felt, and he wound up meeting an older woman. He forgot her name, but he remembered that she had whisked him away to her place, and they wound up having relations. He was far too drunk to remember anything about the encounter, but considering that happened, and considering that his family line was still around….

Well, it wasn’t hard to guess what came from that. Though he never met that woman again, he was glad that he didn’t. There would’ve been a solid chance that she would’ve ended up dead after the fact. He never realized that in his youth, he had inadvertently created a new branch of his family.

Now, as for how they somehow his family was somehow related to the Sugimoto family, that was beyond him. That, and, assuming his information was correct, this descendant of his was also a part of the same family as Higashikata Josuke. Wasn’t that ironic? He wasn’t even mad. He found it hilarious, actually.

“Ugh! This sucks!” Reimei complained, floating above him with her arms crossed as she looked down at him. “The guy I’m supposed to watch over is in a coma! A coma, Yoshikage! A COMA!”

“Well, isn’t that just a shame,” Yoshikage said, keeping an eye on his descendant through the window. “Why don’t you go find something else to do, then? You don’t have to be around me. I know it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather annoy you.”

“Figures…” Yoshikage muttered, watching as his descendent sat down on the couch of the place she lived, and turned on the TV. She was watching One Piece. He never understood how people could watch those shows. They were too bright. Too cheerful.

Floating away from the window, Yoshikage made his way down to the ground, crossing his arms as Reimei teleported next to him in a flash of light. They were both wearing what it was they had on when they had died. Yoshikage was still disguised as Kosaku Kawajiri, and Reimei was still dressed in the overall dress she had on when Yoshikage killed her.

Walking down the road, phasing through people without a care in the world, Yoshikage observed the world around him, and simply put, he was baffled at how… samey it all felt since he had died. Oh, sure, medical science had come a long way due to whatever Quirks were, and while new laws had to be passed to alleviate certain things thanks to Quirks, in some ways progress had almost halted, and in some places, even gone backwards.

Like, for example, outlawing abortion. When he was alive, it was legal. So how in the world did it get changed? Was it because of Quirks? It had to have been. Otherwise, what was the point? He had only found this out when he had accidentally eavesdropped on some stranger's conversation when phasing through the walls of the love hotel.

He didn’t know about anything else regarding the law, but if there was one thing that he disliked at a personal level, it was the idea of children being put through what was essentially superhero police academies. It was fine to want to be a hero, but actively pushing it on children? It sounded kind of… totalitarian, if you asked him.

Maybe it was his old way of thinking, living in a time where heroes weren’t a thing, nor were superpowers, but he wasn’t going to question it. He just didn’t like it.

“So… Yoshikage. Just, a random question. Why did you kill me?” Reimei asked out of the blue, hands behind the back of her head, causing Yoshikage to stop in his tracks, blinking rapidly before looking over his shoulder.

“Huh?”

“You heard me. Why’d ya kill me? I’ve always thought it was random, but you’ve had to have a reason, right? Like, a grudge, or something like that? I mean, looking back at our time at school, I know I was kind of mean to you. So I figured it might’ve been because of that,” Reimei said as Yoshikage went to say something, but stopped.

Was he really going to tell her it was all happenstance? He didn’t even know he was breaking into her house at the time. He just… wanted to know what killing someone felt like, picked a random house, and broke in. At the time, his hand fetish didn’t apply to his murders, he just wanted to know what it was like to kill.

After Reimei, it took him a couple of years to muster up the courage to do it again, and after that, there was no going back. He just kept killing, and killing, and killing. Then, when he was 29 years old, he awakened Killer Queen due to his mastery over killing, and it only got worse from there.

“Well, spit it out. Why did you—”

“It was random. I had no intention of killing you until I stabbed you in the back. When I saw  your face, I…” He paused, not knowing what to say, shame taking up his expression. “I hated myself for a long time. If it wasn’t for my parents affirming that what I did was wrong, I probably would’ve turned myself in.”

Reimei stared at him, shocked. Yoshikage turned away, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. “I know anything I say to you now means nothing, but for whatever it's worth, I’m sorry. You, and by extension, anyone else I killed, did not deserve what I did to them. I was a madman. A monster. I have no excuse for what I’ve done. Now, if we could please move on from this subject, I’d be appreciative of it.”

With that, Yoshikage kept walking, but Reimei couldn’t move. She was still reeling from what she had just heard. Her killer had just admitted to her that he had killed her on a whim. That there was no reason for it. He just did.

That was almost worse than it being pre-meditated. He killed her at random, all because he wanted to. But what was most shocking about it was that he would’ve turned himself in had it not been for his parents. She didn’t know if that was the truth, but if it was….

She shook her head. No, that made no sense. What kind of parent wouldn’t admonish and punish their child for doing something so… so vile? Unless, of course, they were the kind of parents that simply didn’t care.

Then, he apologized.

Yoshikage Kira. Serial killer. Monster. Apologized.

She never thought she’d see the day. Maybe that was why she suddenly felt so light. As if a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. He was genuinely repentant for what he did, and it was obvious with how he spoke.

But… she couldn’t forgive him. Not yet, anyway. There was no way she could forgive him just yet. That would be too easy. If she forgave him, then it would mean that she’d spent all of that time justifiably hating him for no reason at all, whatsoever.

So, because of that, she refused to forgive him. Not in any sense of the meaning.

She sighed, shaking her head. Reimei looked around and noticed that Yoshikage was long gone. He was probably off exploring the city. She didn’t need to be around him 24/7, so, she decided to do some exploring on her own. At least, until the person she was supposed to watch over woke up from his coma.

A part of her considered watching over Yoshikage’s descendant but decided against it. That was his job. Sure, she was her descendant too, but she had more important things to be doing. She had no reason to be anywhere near her.

And so, with a snap of her fingers, Reimei teleported elsewhere in the city.

-To Be Continued in: Sports Festival Prep - Part 1-

Chapter Text

[Revised Chapter Posted on: 2024-08-08]

[Sports Festival Prep – Part 1]

The air within the shared apartment of Josefumi and Karera was tense. The air was so tense that one wouldn't be able to cut it even with the sharpest of knives. They weren’t mad at one another, mind you, but the information that had been just dealt out to Josefumi was something he had not been expecting in the least.

There was always a part of him that made him question why he felt spiritually drawn to Kira. At first, he assumed it was Gravity guiding him to her because she was a Stand User. That was what he had assumed was the case. After all, it made sense for it to be that. That was how being a Stand User worked.

Stand Users attract Stand Users. Josefumi was a Stand User, and so was Kira. So, ergo, Fate and Gravity did exactly what they were supposed to do, and drew them together. If that had been all that it was, then he’d be content.

But now? Now that had suddenly changed. Today, he had learned that something else might have been at play. Something that he did not see coming. But if it was true… he’d have to have a serious talk with his father about this.

Though, at the same time, Josefumi didn’t know whether or not it was true. He wanted to believe what Karera had said, but at the same time, it just didn’t feel right.  

And even now, as Josefumi sat on the loveseat, taking a sip out of his steaming hot cup of tea—orange pekoe, to be exact—he couldn’t help but feel just a little bit skeptical about what Karera had told him. His eyes were narrowed in thought as the steam from the hot beverage whisked up his nose. His face was drawn into a stern expression, as he pondered the information.

“Are you sure that what you saw was the Birthmark?” The concerned and also very confused voice of Josefumi spoke, his eyebrow raised and his body language one of tense frustration and curiosity. All he got in response to his question was a determined nod from Karera, which only further increased the stress that was placed upon him. “And you're 100% sure that this wasn't a tattoo or anything like an oddly formed scar?” Josefumi pressed as Karera groaned.

"Fumi-kun, would I lie to you about something I saw, especially something as important as this?" Karera said with a dead seriousness in her tone, causing Josefumi to frown. “Think about it, really honestly think about it. I know it’s difficult to believe but trust me. I know what I saw.”

Josefumi sighed, taking another sip of his tea. "No… I suppose you wouldn't," he said, looking down at the carpeted floor of the living room. A part of him had always had a feeling that there was something more to Kira that she was letting on, but this? This was something else entirely.

This wasn't just a harmless secret. No. This blew a hole in everything he ever knew about his family. He was aware of the scandal that occurred with Joseph Joestar and the birth of Josuke Higashikata, his illegitimate son, in 2001. But now that begged the question… was this another bout of infidelity? If so, how far back did it go?

A scandalous thought plagued his mind. Did his father have an affair with another woman while his mom was pregnant with him? Or did this go further back? He didn't want to believe his father would do such a thing, but even so, if it wasn't his father, it would have to be someone further back in the Joestar bloodline that interacted with the Kira's.

"Someone in our family's history must have interacted with the Kira's in a more than friendly manner after the events of Morioh… which… could be possible. The Kira’s mended their relationship with the Joestars through Grandpa Josuke, but that was 45 years ago. So what gives?" Josefumi thought, steepling his fingers together.

The revelation that Yoshihara was, in some way, distantly and or directly related to him only served to make things more complicated between the two. It also must've been the reason why he was drawn to her at Aldera. The Birthmark always had a way of joining Joestars together—it was how his great-great-grandfather Jotaro Kujo met Grandpa Josuke. And now, apparently, he and Kira Yoshihara.

"Do you know how you two might be related?" Karera asked, sitting back in the chair off to the left of the couch in their shared apartment as Josefumi shrugged, shaking his head.

"I wish I knew. But, now that I know this, I'm going to have to confront Yoshihara about it. Maybe she might know how we’re related. If she doesn't, then this goes further back than what I even know. And if she is related to the Joestars, then that means her Killer Queen is like Soft & Wet and hasn't tapped into The Potential, or maybe it has, and Kira doesn't know about it yet," Josefumi explained as Karera nodded.

Josefumi reclined back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling, frowning. He had more stuff to worry about than before, and now, he had to contact his father. However, he had no idea if his father would even pick up. It wasn’t like they had a strained relationship, it was just that his father was extremely busy. After all, running The Speedwagon Foundation was rather tiresome.

Getting up from the couch, he walked over to his landline and dialled the number he needed to reach to get into contact with the man in question. The phone rang for a few seconds, and after those seconds passed, the phone picked up on the other end.

"You have reached The Speedwagon Foundation's secret, familial line for Joestar's use only. Please state your name, or we will send agents after this IP address to check for the threat level."

Josefumi sighed. Because of course, that would be the case. His father always had a way with overprotective security. He was a paranoid man, especially after what happened to him all those years ago. Nobody in their right mind spoke of the China Incident around him. Too many people were killed, and far too many things were stolen from his father to not get paranoid over it.

Even though his paranoia had calmed down, he was still ready to jump at a moment's notice if someone so much as lifted a finger too fast. The personal family phone line was reserved for the Joestars and anyone who was even remotely related to the Joestars to use, and only for them to use, so if someone who wasn't related to the Joestars somehow got their hands on the phone line, it meant that something bad had happened.

Of course, that had not been the case this time around—thank god—so, Josefumi had decided that, despite the dramatic lengths that were being put on display, he'd play along with his father's nonsense.

"This is Kujo Josefumi. I would like to speak to my father…" Josefumi sighed, his eyes narrowing. He loved his father sometimes, but the dramatics tended to be too much. It only got worse when things escalated in Japan, and the discovery of the Stand Bullets came into the limelight. As a response, his father tripled security. So, with a tad bit of dramatics, just as his father would've wanted, he spoke, “His name is…”

[XXXX]

In a highrise located somewhere in Florida, on the southeastern side of America, a blond-haired man with vibrant green eyes sat at a desk, reading a book with the cover reading “Steel Ball Run” in all capitals. He was dressed in a white button-up shirt with horseshoe motifs scattered about, coupled with a pair of black pants and cowboy boots. His boots were kicked up on his desk, and he was reclined in his chair, relaxed as much as he possibly could be.

His hair was unkempt, but it was far from dirty, he simply liked his hair the way it was. The book in his hands, Steel Ball Run, was an old western tale about a cowboy learning how to walk again with the help of an Italian man, and both of them were racing to get a prize of 60 million dollars—the cowboy for an experimental surgery to return his ability to walk, and the Italian to save the life of a child from wrongful execution.

He found the story to be endearing, and there were even some parts where he nearly cried. However, by the point he was at in the story, it took a sharp turn to where the President of the United States of America deemed them wanted criminals and wanted their heads for some inexplicable reason other than 'because the story needed a major over-arching villain.'

Somewhere in there, the body of Jesus Christ was involved, and while at first, he thought it was a little exaggerated, when it got to the point where the main character was fusing with the corpse of Jesus, his suspension of disbelief flew right out the window. Coupled with the fact that the person who wrote the book clearly knew about Stands…

Bah, who was he kidding? He wrote the book. Of course, it was like that. It was based on his story! He just never published it because people would notice and connect the dots. That, and the FBI were still trying to find out who killed the Former President. They’d be able to link it to him instantly, and he’d be arrested.

Not that any place would be able to hold onto him long enough for him to be sentenced, but that was neither here nor there.

Jonathon Kujo, otherwise referred to as Johnny Kujo, would like to think he was a rather smart man, but then again, it took him well over 10 years to figure out that when you made a cup of tea, you boiled the water and didn’t use regular hot water. Something about the chemical reaction or whatever.

All that he knew was that the person he was named after—not his father’s dead twin brother, but the person who said dead twin brother was named after—would’ve probably strangled him for not being able to make a proper cup of tea. It was embarrassing, but nonetheless, even if he didn’t like tea and much preferred coffee, he still had to at least do it properly. Respect your ancestors or something like that.

Johnny was 41 years old, and even though his wife had passed away after the birth of his son, he refused to marry or even look at a woman the same way he did with his wife—well, maybe except one, but that was only when he was drunk. Despite this, however, he never let it affect him or his relationship with his son.

Johnny cared about his son. In fact, he cared so much about his son that when he found out he was going to Musutafu to chase a lead about the disappearance of the stolen Stand Arrow from the attack on the Chinese Branch, Johnny outright denied him and told him to stay in Morioh with his Girlfriend.

The last thing Johnny wanted was to lose the last thing that reminded him of his deceased wife. Well, not the last thing, but he wanted nothing to do with her sister. Though, he was scheduled to go down there for the Sports Festival so that he could finally meet his Niece, Kyoka, and get to see both of them kick ass.

He knew that Kyoka wasn’t a Stand User, but that didn’t matter. If she was anything like the other women in her family—though moreso her mother's sister than her actual mother—then it wouldn’t really matter. And while Josefumi had said that they had buttheads on the first and second day of school, they made up and were on better terms.

That point was, though, that originally, he had forbidden Josefumi from going anywhere near Musutafu until they found out what was going on there. But then, behind his back, Josefumi did the exact opposite and only told him that he was already there when the call to his house in Morioh went immediately to voice mail that detailed the fact that they had moved to Musutafu.

To say Johnny wasn’t happy about it was an understatement. But, if Josefumi knew what he was doing, and if he was confident that he could handle it on his own, then so be it. Plus, he was getting an education at U.A., so it wasn’t like it was a complete loss. Josefumi had always said that he wanted to go to U.A., even if it was just General Studies.

It wasn’t like he was going to try and punish him. That would’ve made him a hypocrite. He remembered when he was a child when he was going to school just how much of a rebellious teen he was, that it only made sense for Josefumi to be the same way. Like father like son, as the saying went.

"I hope he's doing okay…."

He was worried. He was told about the attack on the USJ, and the only reason he hadn’t hopped on a plane to get down there the moment he caught wind of it was because Josefumi had expressly told him not to . The pissed-off father in him wanted to ignore his son’s wishes and go down there anyway, but after thinking it through, he decided to stay in America.

As much as he hated to admit it, he had a company to run, and as America’s second-ranked Pro Hero, he had to be on standby at a moment's notice. There was a reason why he had to alert The President that he wasn’t going to be in America for three days during The Sports Festival, much to The President’s chagrin.

He found it funny. How he became the CEO of the Speedwagon Foundation, meanwhile his rival from another universe became President. That was still trippy to him, how that version of his rival who had been killed by being bisected by a train, was technically still alive. All because of Former President Valentine’s mistake.

At first, Johnny was upset that he lost, and came in second place. Lucy wanted him dead because it was wrong that he was replacing a dead man, and what he wanted to also wrong, but Johnny had been able to convince Lucy to let him talk to him.

After working things out, he decided to leave the corpse of Jesus Christ alone and left it where it rightfully belonged, and instead had the Speedwagon Foundation endorse his presidential campaign when the time came for it. After all, he had to make a name for himself first, but when the time came, then The Speedwagon Foundation would back him and fund his race.  

Ever since then, he and The President have been friends for the last three years. While Gyro might not have been all too keen on it, The President had more than made it clear that he had no beef with Johnny, and vice versa.

Johnny sighed, looking out the window that overlooked Miami. “I wonder when Josefumi’s going to call. He said he was going to…” Johnny mumbled, scratching the stubble on his chin.  

And as if the universe had heard him, the doors to his office opened, revealing a woman with blond hair, cerulean eyes, and a moderate stature. She was wearing a black suit and business skirt with black stockings and black high heels, and her hair had been left to go down to her hips. She had crow's feet around her eyes, a sign of stress and lack of sleep. In her left hand was a black cell phone, and in her right hand was a clipboard, probably from where she had last been.

Johnny turned to face her, raising an eyebrow. “Ah, Yoshikawa, are you here to claim your vacation days?” Johnny asked, confusion in his tone of voice as Yoshikawa smiled.

“Oh, it’s nothing like that,” Yoshikawa said, brushing his confusion off. Which was typical, especially given how she had been, always been a constant and dedicated worker. It was in her character to be that way.

The two had known each other since college and at the time Johnny had been living in Morioh. The two had been close friends, but nothing more than that. When Johnny inherited the Speedwagon Foundation from the previous owner, his father, Jouta Kujo, he immediately offered a job to Yoshikawa, who had just had a child with Yoshimura, her now Ex-Husband.

Yoshimura had supposedly passed away during the attack that happened at the Chinese branch of the Speedwagon Foundation, and when she went on mental health leave, Johnny noticed that she had taken up the pastime of being a hooker.

Normally, employers, after seeing and hearing that would fire that person on the spot. But Johnny wasn't like that. He knew she had been struggling, so he did something else. Johnny paid for her to get a mental health check and paid for her therapy so she could get better. Not only that, but he also made sure to supply her with enough money to support her child, who she had been taking care of as a single mother for the last six years up to that point.

Not even a few months later, her child had died of health complications, or so she had said. Johnny could only imagine the pain that she had been in after losing a child so young. Yoshikawa confided in Johnny during that time and was often seen crying at work or trying not to cry at work when she came back to America after her child's death.

However, there was just something about it that seemed… forced. Johnny didn’t know why, but there was something off about how she acted after the death of her child. But then again, who was he to judge someone, especially if he wasn’t all that involved with the whole situation surrounding that incident?

People coped with death and tragedy in different ways. For Johnny, when his wife died, he… started drinking. A lot. Far too much. It got to the point where Gyro needed to stage an intervention, and it got nasty. It was why Josefumi was moved to Morioh to live with Josuke until he was old enough to take care of himself.

For that reason, he didn't dig into Yoshikawa's personal life after they stopped speaking after college, but even so, when she approached him after all those years of not seeing one another and applied for a job at the SWF, he decided that it would’ve been a good excuse to catch up with her—that, and her resume was extremely impressive.

Being able to work as a private accountant for the former Vice President and maintain it for a full term of the man’s vice presidency was no joke. Ever since then, she had been working with The Speedwagon Foundation.

“So… then why are you here?” Johnny asked as Yoshikawa smiled.

"You have a call from your son," she said, passing him the phone as Johnny's eyes widened. Quickly snatching the phone and mouthing a 'thank you' Johnny cleared his throat and put the phone to his ear.

"Josefumi! It's been a while since we spoke, tell me, how are things?" Johnny asked, leaning back in his chair, and motioning for Yoshikawa to take a seat. As she sat down, crossing her legs, Johnny put the phone on speakerphone as Josefumi spoke. Yoshikawa had been something of an Aunt to Josefumi, even if only in passing. While they didn’t talk too much, Yoshikawa thought the world of Josefumi, so it was only right for her to hear how he was doing.

"Hey, Dad. I have a few questions I need to ask you. But first, I wanted to tell you about a certain development that's going to make you happy."

"Oh?" Johnny asked, quirking an eyebrow as a soft chuckle left Josefumi’s mouth over the phone.

"You remember that Steel Ball you gave me before I left? Well, guess what? I Spun it. I used The Spin earlier today. I even found out that Soft & Wet used it in the past and did it for I don't even know how long. It's how its 'Bubbles' worked."

Johnny was without words. He was… He was happy! His son had actually done it! He knew he could, but there was also the possibility that he potentially couldn’t. And, on top of that, to find out that Soft & Wet was in some ways like Tusk… well, he was more than a little proud of Josefumi.

"That’s wonderful!" Johnny said, wiping a small tear from his cheek, as pride filled his chest. He cleared his throat, ran a hand through his hair, and then cleared his throat for a second time before continuing. "Er… you said you had something else for me?"

"Yes… I wanted to ask you something, and it's about something I mentioned in one of my text messages. You know that girl I keep talking to you about. The Stand User that I met at Aldera, and the one who’s currently helping me and Karera with The Stand Bullet fiasco?"

Johnny thought about it for a moment, before his eyes widened. “Oh, right! Yes, I remember. You never told me her name, though, so I kinda thought it was a one-and-done meeting. I didn’t know you were getting her to help you.” He paused again, only this time, he had a devious smirk on his face. “You're not doing what I think you're doing, Josefumi. Because—"

"What?! NO! Dad, Lord and Christ above no! Get your mind out of the gutter!"

Johnny snickered at Josefumi's interruption. He always had a fun time teasing him. He was in many ways like his mother, and this was one of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he could even see Yoshikawa snicker at Josefumi's frantic reply. Once he calmed down, Johnny spoke again. "Anyways, Jojo, you were saying?"

"Right…." Josefumi cleared his throat before continuing, clearly still trying to compose himself after that little outburst of his. "I suppose I should start with her name. Her name is Kira Yoshihara."

This time, it wasn't Johnny who reacted, but rather, it was Yoshikawa, whose eyes widened. She immediately got up from her chair, a frustrated expression on her face then ran out of the room. Johnny had been confused, and he was about to say something, only for Yoshikawa to slam the door shut, which prompted Johnny to narrow his eyes a little bit.

“What was that about…?” Johnny thought, confusion marring his thoughts. She had never acted like that before. It was also a little disrespectful. While that was bad enough, he still wanted to know why she acted that way.

Although, come to think of it, Yoshikawa’s last name was Kira, and Yoshikawa never did say anything about what gender her child had been…. But, at the same time, Yoshikawa had a brother, Adachi Kira, so maybe this was his child. Yoshikawa had said that she wanted nothing to do with the rest of her family, so maybe that was why she was acting the way that she was.

But, unbeknownst to Johnny, that had not been the case.

In the hallway of the Speedwagon Foundation headquarters, Yoshikawa Kira was not having a good time. No, she wasn't just not having a good time, she was, in fact, pissed off—relieved—no! Pissed off! She had been living a relatively normal life after her 'child'—but Yoshihara was our child…—No! No, she was a leech—no, she wasn’t, she was, no, is our daughter!—Yes she was, but she was a leech! That was why she had tried to kill her goddamnit!!

She slammed her head against the wall. That damn, annoying, stupid fucking voice in the back of her head! She hated it. Hated it, hated it, hated it, hated it! The voice would never shut up! It was like a parasite and one she could live without! So why was it always there?!

She took a deep breath, and relaxed, her shoulders lowering as she let a wave of calm wash over her. She was calm… she was fine… she didn’t need to freak out. She needed to keep up appearances, and she needed to look as if this didn’t bother her nearly as much as it did.

Whatever… she had supposedly died, and, of course, she showed sadness and regret when she showed up at work, but in Morioh whenever she was off work or in the city, she was partying—we should have been mourning, and crying, why… why did you lie to me that our child had died—not that it mattered, it was garbage, so who cared—we did, we cared an awful lot… we needed to take our medication—NO! Besides, she was having the time of her life without it!

She was no longer held down by that mistake—even though our daughter wasn’t a mistake—and so, she lived that way—we shouldn’t have been—but she did anyway, because who gave a shit? She didn’t, that was for sure. That, and with Yoshimura having been dead, she didn't have to worry about any upset or depressed husband—even though he was one of the only things that kept us stable—but he went and died so, who gave a fuck—We do. That’s who. Stop ignoring me!—and now she was having the time of her life.

And therefore, she had nothing holding her back—that was a bad thing because now we are—better than ever! She became extremely wealthy, she even moved to America in a penthouse, and she even married a man named George, who was nice, polite, and kind—and hits us way too often—only because she deserved it. Not only that, but he always kept her company, far better than that mope Yoshimura—not when he hits us, though. He’s abusive. Stop ignoring it—so, to that extent, her life had been perfect—it’s in complete and total ruin!—The life she wanted to live for so long!—the life you don’t deserve—YES SHE DID!

But now her boss's brat had just confirmed to her the exact opposite of what she knew to be true—which was a good thing! Our daughter is alive! We can apologize and try and make amends!—no! Because that would only make things worse! Her life, with just one fucking name, had been ruined in a singular second. All because that brat opened his mouth. All because that mistake's name had been uttered.

"No…! I thought that brat died! I thought she was gone, forever! I thought I could live a normal life without her coming back! HOW THE FUCK IS SHE ALIVE! I FUCKING POISONED HER FOOD!! EVEN IF THAT PIECE OF SHIT FIRE USER STOPPED ME FROM FINISHING THE JOB, SHE SHOULDN’T HAVE MADE IT THAT FAR!!!"

Her expression turned cold, and then she frowned. "No matter. I'll just have to try and take her down for good. Then I can rid my conscience of her. But…. Do we really want to do that?" Yoshikawa thought before shaking her head. No. She had to do this—no we don’t—YES SHE FUCKING DID! She needed to do this so that she could continue her new, and better life.

Steeling her expression before walking back into the office, Yoshikawa made sure that the voice in the back of her head stayed quiet, and then, she re-entered Mr. Kujo’s office. When she did, Johnny had his arms crossed, and he looked a little peeved, to which she bowed, and spoke. "I apologize for my fit of anger. Please excuse me, but I was wondering if I could take that vacation to Japan early, please, Mr. Kujo?" Yoshikawa asked as Johnny stared at her for a second.

There was a moment when Yoshikawa believed that he was going to deny her, but then, with a sigh, and after pinching the bridge of his nose, he spoke. "Sure, I don't see why not. You have two weeks, okay?" Johnny stated as Yoshikawa left the room once again, but this time she didn't slam the door, rather, she calmly closed it.

Johnny huffed, putting his attention back on the phone. "My bad Josefumi. One of my employees was with me, and I guess they got angry for some reason. Carry on, what about this Kira Yoshihara? Is she perhaps related to Kira Yoshikawa?"

"I have no idea. She never talks about her parents. All I know is that she lived with Midnight, aka Kayama Nemuri, before meeting me, that is. I know nothing of her past, other than the fact that, according to one of her friends, it wasn’t a good one, and even then, he doesn’t know everything. She never told me or her other friend the details, but to him, it was concerning. However, that isn't why I called to talk about it."

A bad history? That didn’t sound like Yoshikawa’s child. Although, he wouldn’t be shocked if things happened behind the scenes that Yoshikawa didn’t tell him about up to her child's death. All he knew was that the child, before they died, were well-behaved and that it was the only reason she had to keep going. Or, something like that.

It was… troubling to hear that. But, it wasn’t shocking. Yoshikawa had been born with schizophrenia that rapidly developed into paranoid schizophrenia due to her father. As she grew older, she also developed bipolar disorder on top of it. Her whole life as a teenager, she was heavily medicated.

Yoshimura, her ex-husband, helped her keep stable, but when he died during the attack on the Chinese Branch, Yoshikawa fell into a state of depression. That was when he had lost majority contact with her, only finding out she was still alive because he had noticed that someone was using her business email to operate an OnlyFans account, which got him back into contact with her to figure out what was going on.

She had confided in him that she had also developed Dissociative Identity Disorder, but that it wasn’t much of an issue, and it had been a trauma response to losing her child. All and all, he had felt awful for her, but he couldn’t help but shake that there was something… off about all of this.

He knew she wanted nothing to do with her extended family, but where were they? Why hadn’t they said anything about her or to her? They must’ve cut contact for a reason, but for what? What was the reason?

Perhaps they weren’t real? The more he thought about it, the more he was starting to believe that was the case. He’d have to have someone look into it. Just to see if this “Adachi Kira” individual existed, and if any of her other aforementioned “other family” that she spoke of on the regular.

But that was for later.

"Well, why is it that you called then? You know, outside of telling me about you being able to use The Spin," Johnny said, reaching for a black Steel Ball with the same carvings as the one that Josefumi's had. It began to spin slowly, all the while he took a sip out of his hot coffee.

"Exactly. You see… this Kira Yoshihara person… according to Karera… Has a Joestar Birthmark. A legitimate Joestar Birthmark. Not a Tattoo, but a real Joestar Birthmark."

Johnny's Steel Ball left his hand and banged around the room as he spat out the coffee in his mouth before he could swallow it. The Steel Ball was about to go out of the window when a purple-ish arm with golden stars and a blue glove reached out to grab it, ceasing its spinning and placing it on his desk, before then abruptly disappearing.

"WHAT?!" Johnny exclaimed,  wiping off his shirt as much as possible, the words that Josefumi said sinking into his brain as he tried to process it. "And she was sure it was real? You know how publicied that “Curse” has become, right? Are you sure she didn’t just—"

"Uh… Mr. Kujo? Hi! Karera here, and I can 100% confirm that it wasn't a fake. It wasn't a tattoo, nor was it a malformed scar or the casting of light. It was a 100% real, honest-to-God, Joestar Birthmark, down to the location, the points, and the angle. It was the same as the one Fumi-kun has, too!"

Karera's interruption had caused the man to stop talking, put down his cup of coffee, and recline back in his seat. "Oh dear god… this… this is not good…." Johnny thought to himself, biting his tongue, contemplating what his next move was going to be.

Josefumi had no idea about what his Grandfather had done. He had made it a point to hide that from him as much as possible. He didn’t want Josefumi’s image of his Grandfather to be ruined, but it was starting to look like that wasn’t going to be possible.

It was starting to look as if it was going to be necessary to explain to him what his Grandfather had done. "Alright, I believe you. And I think I know the reason why this could've happened," Johnny said, looking over to a picture of his father, his mother, and a younger version of himself. Johnny sighed, brushing a hand through his hair before sitting up straight in his chair.

"Josefumi. I never think I told you the reason why I have the name I have, outside of it being an homage to our greatest descendant, Jonathon Joestar," Johnny began as the line remained silent, which permitted him to continue. "You see, your grandfather was supposed to have two siblings. You’ve met your Great Aunt Holly, but you never met his Twin Brother, Jonathon Kujo.”

“Huh? But… isn’t that your name?”  

“It is. But’s my name because, while I was named after our greatest ancestor, it was also the name of your grandfather's brother, who unfortunately died in childbirth, which drove his mother, your Great-Grandma, Jolyne Cujoh, to spiral into despair. She became mute, and it was up to your Great-Grandpa Narcasio to speak on her behalf.

“Jolyne coddled Jouta, so much so to the point that it negatively affected him. Not in a developmental way, but in a mental health sort of way. He found out that he was supposed to be a twin, and it messed him up. It messed him up so much that he gained an inferiority complex, and when Jouta grew old enough to move out, he made a vow to her that he could make it up to her for what happened to Jonathon," Johnny continued, grabbing his coffee and taking a sip, letting out a sigh.

"Jouta went around the world to every country and had sex with as many women as he could. He was able to get five women pregnant—One in Britain, two in Germany, and Two in Japan, one of those people being my mother. We found the one in Britain, Samual Laurance, who is running a school, and the two kids in Germany had died in a terrorist attack in Berlin. We were never able to track down the other Japanese woman that Jouta had relations with, but, I’m fairly certain that I’ve always known them, and just never put the pieces together, and that this Yoshihara Kira individual is their daughter.

“Whoever that child may have been or is, must be the father or mother of Yoshihara. Of course, Jouta's last target to increase the Joestar name was my mother, so there was no infidelity, but if I had to guess, he paid the women to not say a damn word about what had happened. And now that he's dead, he doesn't have to face the backlash, but I have had to on his behalf,” Johnny said, scowling.

“That’s… oh wow, I never would’ve thought… but why? Why not tell me before?”

"Because I didn’t want your image of your Grandpa to be ruined because of his stupid mistakes,” Johnny said, picking the phone up, taking it off speakerphone, and putting it to his ear. “When you and Kira get your internships after the Sports Festival, I will make a special request to U.A. to have you and her internship with us. I would like to meet my supposed niece. After all, if she really is a Joestar, that makes you her cousin."

"I understand father. I'll get on it right away. I love you."

"I love you too, son, be safe," Johnny said, before hanging up the phone. For how much he loved his family, there were times when he wished he wasn’t a Joestar. Especially given all of the bullshit he had to deal with. But that was family for you. Even if some of the members of the family had done some… odd things, or just plain sucked.

He guessed he had two nieces now. Kyoka and this Yoshihara girl. He wasn’t annoyed, per se, but it was definitely something he hadn’t been expecting to find out. All because his father couldn’t keep it in his pants.  

"Well, congratulations, Dad. You’ve just made my life oh so much harder and stressful. Thanks, asshole…”

[XXXX]

Hitoshi Shinsou woke up in a hospital bed, his head pounding like a jackhammer as he slowly rose from his prone position. He hadn't known how long it had been since he had passed out after The Incident, but what he did know was that he had been attacked by some thug who had a gun because he stumbled upon some kind of exchange. After that, all he remembered was a ringing sound, his parents screaming, and then a warping sound before he passed out from what he had to assume was a seizure.

The day before his hospitalization, he had entered the U.A. Entrance exam and believed himself to have done pretty well in it, so his parents rewarded him by taking him to the movie theatre. Then they stumbled on whatever kind of deal they had come upon, he was attacked, and everything was a blur after that. A mixture of beeps and buzzes filled the room around him as his eyes slowly began to adjust to the light of the room.

He was able to get a good look at the time and saw that it was around midnight. "I was only out for a few hours, huh? Could've been worse…." Shinso thought, cracking his neck from side to side. That was odd. If he had only been out for a few hours, why did he feel so… stiff? He looked down to see he was dressed in a hospital gown, which should've been obvious seeing as he was in a hospital, but regardless of that fact, he still found it odd. He wondered where his clothes had been put. He'd have to find out later.

"Hito-chan!" A small voice cried to his left as he rubbed his eyes. He was still trying to process everything that was happening, but even in his stupor, he knew very well who that voice belonged to. He looked over to his left and saw a small child with faded purple hair, large purple eyes, and pale skin. She had a round face and was wearing a black overall dress with a white shirt underneath it.

Kana Shinsou, his baby sister, was looking up at him with a mixture of worry, happiness, and sorrow. But why? Why did she look so upset? Did something bad happen? Well, obviously something bad happened—he got shot for fucksake, but that wasn't what he meant. She looked like she hadn't been able to speak to him or even see him for weeks.

So if it had only been a few hours, why was she looking at him like that?

"Hey, Kana… uh… where's Mom and Dad?" Hitoshi questioned as Kana pouted, climbing onto his hospital bed and giving him a hug. She squeezed him as if her life depended on it, and in return, he hugged her back.

His little sister, Kana, was only 7 years old and had been registered as Quirkless, much to their family's despair. But it would take more than that to break the family apart. Because of that, he was her only real friend. It must’ve been awful thinking that something worse happened than what actually did.

"You don't want to see me?" Kana said as Hitoshi sat her down on the bed and ruffled her hair, a sly smirk on his face as he shook his head. A small chuckle left his smirking face before he huffed.

"C'mon, Kana, don't be like that. I just want to know where Mom and Dad are. I mean, it's not like they wouldn't want to see me after what happened," Hitoshi said, rubbing the back of his neck as he blinked. "Speaking of which, how long have I been out for?" Hitoshi asked as Kana rubbed underneath her eyes, a distant look in them as she spoke.

"…Two weeks. You've been in a… the doctors called it a “coma”, for two weeks… A-And you missed your first day at school a few days ago, and the teachers asked where you were…. Momma said you were at the hospital recovering from an attack, and the school told her that you would be in the General Studies course, so there was no rush…." Kana said, looking down at the floor.

"B-But on the bright side! You don't have any homework, and they voided all of the work you missed so that you could recover in peace! But when you get back, you'll be put into a separate room and caught up on what you missed so you can join the regular classes!" Kana said, immediately changing the mood with a bright smile.

Although Hitoshi was not smiling, he simply stared straight ahead. He failed? He didn't pass the Hero Course exam? How!? He was able to get 20 points, so that should've been enough! How far had he been off from getting into the Hero Course? 1 point? 2 points? 10 points?!

He wanted to throw something in anger, but he swallowed his rage, and simply let out a soft sigh, followed by a hallowed chuckle. "Big bro?" Kana said cautiously as Hitoshi shook his head.

"No… it's okay, Kana. I'm just, surprised," he said, looking down at the gap between his legs and straight at the mattress. He had worked so hard to get that far, trained his Quirk, only to realize that his opponents were robots. He saw the switches, though, so he destroyed the robots that way. But even then, he didn't get enough points. He did okay on the written exam, so maybe that was how he got into the General Course and hadn't been rejected outright. But even then, that didn’t change the fact that he was upset.

He had always wanted to be a hero. To prove those assholes at Somei that they were wrong about him. That he wasn’t destined to be a villain, and that he could be a hero with his “villainous Quirk” as they had called it.

But now, because he had failed, all of his dreams had been shattered.

What did his parents think? Would they still be proud of him? Would they still accept a failure like him? He held back whatever self-pity he had and just stared at his bed until he heard the sound of footsteps around toward the door.

"Oh! The patient is awake!" A chipper voice spoke out as Hitoshi's head shot up to see a man standing in the doorway. The man's hair was bushy, very bushy, it almost looked like a hat in some regards. He had very pale skin, and his eyes were blue. He wore a white doctor's coat with blue surgical clothes underneath with a bear pin on the right lapel. In one hand was a clipboard, and in the other was a black pen.

"For a moment, I thought you had died! Then again, most of the people who were attacked similarly did, but you didn’t, and that makes you special. My name is Dr. Tomioka, but you can call me Dr. Tooru if you want, and I’m the Head Doctor of this hospital.”

The Head Doctor was talking to him? Hitoshi didn’t know whether or not that was a good thing, but that must’ve meant something happened when he was in that coma his sister mentioned. Although, there was something… off about The Head Doctor. He didn’t know what it was, but he gave off a kind of… negative energy.

Like, if he stared at him for too long, something bad would happen to him, or if he thought too much about doing something to or around him, it wouldn’t end well. Not that he had any intention to, but still…. It unnerved Hitoshi, and it made him a little skittish.

“Uh… hi…” Hitoshi muttered sheepishly as Dr. Tomioka smiled. He looked at Kana and gestured for her to leave the room, which she did. Hopping off the bed, Kana ran toward the door, but before she left, she waved at him, and then fully disappeared down the hall. When she was gone, Dr. Tomioka chuckled to himself.  

"You know, Shinso, your sister is such a delight to have around the place. She likes to cheer up the doctors, you know? Even if she lacks a Quirk, you’d swear she had some kind of positivity Quirk with how happy and joyful she is,” Dr. Tomioka said, a small smile on his face as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Y-Yeah… Kana’s always been like that. She wants to be a pop star when she grows up,” Hitoshi mentioned as Dr. Tomioka nodded.

“Well, I think she can do it. All she has to do is put her mind to it, just like everyone else. And with how much of a positive person she is, well, I doubt she won’t have to worry about drawing the attention of any negative people,” Dr. Tomioka said, and then, his smile faded, and his expression became serious. “Although, we should really speed this up. I have a patient in the next room that needs to be looked at. She’s in a similar situation as you were not but a few moments ago.”

“O-Oh… Okay,” Hitoshi said, shrinking into himself slightly. “Well, uh… can you tell me what’s happened?”

“Would you like the good news, or the bad news first?”  

"I'd like to hear the good news, please. I've already been told enough bad news for one day…." Hitoshi said as Dr. Tomioka nodded.

"Well, the good news is that you'll make a full recovery, and you'll be allowed to return to/show up for the first time at U.A. tomorrow morning. Also, I heard about your results from your parents, who happen to be good friends of mine, and I'm sorry about what happened. Sometimes things like that happen, no matter what it is that you and I want. Your parents aren’t disappointed in you if that's what you're thinking, they're just glad you made it into U.A. at all," Dr. Tomioka said as Hitoshi scoffed.

"Then why aren't they here to tell me themselves?" Hitoshi grumbled as Tooru sighed, cracking his neck from side to side as he rolled his right shoulder.

"They happen to be back in Esuha, asleep at their house. Your sister stayed here and has been sleeping in the children's wing of the hospital free of charge. She was worried about you, and your parents had to let her stay here because she refused to budge until you woke up. Hence why your sister was here to greet you and not your parents, but rest assured they’ve been visiting you every day," Dr. Tomioka stated as Hitoshi bit his tongue, looking away from him, a little bit ashamed for thinking negatively about his parents like that.

"I see…" Hitoshi murmured, furrowing his eyebrows. He cleared his throat, then made eye contact with Dr. Tomioka again. "So, what's the bad news?" Hitoshi asked as Dr. Tomioka gained a serious gleam in his eyes.

"The bullet you were shot with wasn't a regular bullet. It’s something the media’s been calling “The Yellow Bullet” and as a result… you lost your Quirk. What made you unique is no longer a part of you," Dr. Tomioka stated, reclining in his chair as Hitoshi chuckled, shaking his head.

His Quirk was gone? What nonsense! But when he tried to feel it, tried to activate the thing that he felt in the back of his throat that would give his voice the hypnotic qualities it usually had when he spoke, it wasn’t there. He couldn’t feel it. He tried it again, and again, and again, muttering random words under his breath, but to no avail.

It was then that dread began to sink as he slowly began to realize what had happened. His worst nightmare came true, and it made his heart sink into his stomach.

He was Quirkless.

"W-W—"

"But…." The doctor drawled, erupting into a black aura as a figure showed up behind him, one that made Hitoshi jolt back in surprise when it showed up. It was a humanoid thing, and it even wore clothes like a human, such as a black bowler hat and coat, gloves, and a scarf. its coat featured buttons that resembled small suns, and it had a cane in its left hand.

And had that been all, he wouldn’t have been bothered. But, there was just one thing that confused him, even if in the area of Quirks such a thing shouldn’t have unnerved him, but yet it did.

Its head resembled a radio microphone or a machine of some kind, and its eyes were shaped like suns, similar to the buttons on its coat. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, and what made things even worse, it seemed to be mimicking the doctor's movements as, when he lifted his right hand, so too did the creature.

“W-What is that?!” Hitoshi exclaimed as Dr. Tomioka smirked.

"Judging by the look on your face, you can see my Stand, Wonder Of U,” Dr. Tomioka said, Hitoshi looking at what Dr. Tomioka referred to as a Stand. It looked like a ghost, the more he stared at it.

"Am… am I not supposed to?" Hitoshi asked, nervousness clear in his tone as Dr. Tomioka snapped his fingers as Wonder Of U disappeared.

"Usually, no. But you're a special case,” Dr. Tomioka began as he sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees as clasped his hands together. “See, because you were shot by The Yellow Bullet and because you survived the attack—which 93% to 95% of people don't, by the way—while you may have lost your Quirk, you've gained something far more powerful, and only a few select people have these powers, something more powerful than Quirks.”

As Dr. Tomioka said that, a small smile took up his expression. “As you’ve seen, I have one of those powers, which is called Wonder Of U. Though, to be more broad, these powers are referred to as Stands because they stand next to you in battle. Though, unlike you, I was born with my Stand but didn’t awaken it until I was a teenager around your age.”  

Hitoshi could only stare at him. He wanted to call Dr. Tomioka a madman, but considering what he saw, after seeing Wonder Of U, he had no choice but to believe him. That, and to fake something like that… it would’ve taken a lot of holograms to make it look the way it did.

"So… I still have a power… just not a Quirk?" Hitoshi asked as, without warning, a teal aura burst around him, which made him freak out, scrambling around on the hospital bed thinking he had caught on fire when Dr. Tomioka put a hand on his shoulder.

“Calm down, Shinso-kun. Relax. Take a deep breath. You’re fine,” Dr. Tomioka said, his voice calm and reassuring as Hitoshi looked down at his arms, only to notice that he wasn’t burning up. He looked… fine. Hitoshi did what he was told, and took a deep breath, relaxing as he did. Then, with a hint of confusion in his voice, he spoke.

“W-What is this?” Hitoshi muttered, looking at Dr. Tomioka, who simply smiled.

“That, Shinso-kun, is your Stand’s Aura. It happens when your body tries to summon your Stand. But, because it's your first time, you’re going to need to concentrate. Think of what you see your soul as, and then, manifest it. If you have to, say the words “Summon” and it should work until you give it a name,” Dr. Tomioka instructed, taking his hand off Hitoshi’s shoulder, and giving him some space.

Hitoshi looked straight ahead, staring at nothing in particular. He closed his eyes and focused. What did his soul look like? What did he imagine what his soul should look like? Was it warped, and twisted? Or was it whole, and pure? Hitoshi didn’t know. It was all too confusing. He didn’t want to fit into a mould. He wanted to be who he wished to be.

And it was in that where he felt something pull at his consciousness, and as soon as he felt it, his eyes shot open, the teal aura around his body flaring like a raging flame, as he uttered “Summon.”

As soon as he did, a figure emerged from his body. It was missing its lower half with wires dangling from where its waist should’ve been. Its upper torso had a monitor in the center of it with the words 'Disconnected' in plain, white text. Its head was shaped like an oval, and it had several spirals and pits where things like eyes, a nose, or a mouth should’ve been. It had metallic cords connecting its head to its overall body, yet despite that, its head didn’t look like it was going to fall off. It kind of just… hovered there, stiller than swamp water.

Then came its actual torso. It looked like a metal ribcage, with the metallic points keeping the monitor in the center of its torso in place. Connected to its skeletal torso were two large heart-shaped shoulder pads, and attached to those shoulder pads were thin, wirey arms with large, hand-sized fishing hooks wound up in golden reels.

Hitoshi looked at it and felt… familiarity. He didn’t know why, but when he looked at it, it was like he was staring at an old friend he hadn’t seen in a long time. Dr. Tomioka hummed to himself, which drew Hitoshi’s attention, prompting him to speak. “That’s quite the Stand you’ve got there, Shinso-kun. But, I have to ask, what’s its name?”

“Its name?” Hitoshi thought, looking back at his Stand. It was then, when he stared into one of its many spirals, something in the back of his mind clicked. As if the Stand itself told him its name. “Its name is Everybody Loves Me.”

Dr. Tomioka nodded, looking Everybody Loves Me up and down, before reclining back in his chair. “I see. A fitting name. For the time being, put it away. Some pointers for when you use it, pretend that it’s a Quirk. If anybody asks how you’re doing what you’re doing, the best thing to do is to pretend that your Quirk simply evolved and that it no longer requires speech to use. When someone has a Quirk, and they gain a Stand, it's usually a super amped-up version of their original Quirk, or at the very least, something related to it. Only on rare occasions does the Stand deviate from the Quirk it comes from, so keep that in mind.”

As Dr. Tomioka spoke, all Hitoshi could do was think about one thing in particular. Something that he had completely forgotten about, and something that, in hindsight, should’ve been obvious.

A smile stretched across his face, as a sinister gleam appeared in his eyes. “I have an advantage in The Sports Festival…” Hitoshi said, chuckling to himself. “If the rumours are true, then you can get into the Hero Course by winning in The Sports Festival. With Everybody Loves Me, I can do that with ease…!” Hitoshi continued, as the realization set in.

Maybe his dream wasn’t shattered after all?

Before Dr. Tomioka could say anything, though, something on his collar beeped—a small one-way walkie-talkie—and a panicked female voice came out of the other end. “Head Doctor! Ms. Takeshi is having a seizure! We need your assistance, now!”

Without warning, Dr. Tomioka bolted up from his chair and raced for the door, but not before shouting “I’ll be back!” and just like that, he was gone. Hitoshi dismissed Everybody Loves Me with a thought, looking over to the window next to his bed.

Even if he lost his Quirk, his new Everybody Loves Me was a good replacement, and if what Dr. Tomioka said was true about how Stands that originated from Quirks were just supped-up versions of what came before, then that meant that he was about to have an easy time. He didn’t know what was in store for him at the Sports Festival, but one thing was clear.

He was going to give it his all to win.

-To Be Continued-

Chapter Text

[Revised Version Of The Chapter Posted On: 2024-08-09]

[Sports Festival Prep – Part 2]

Akira Tomodachi wasn’t exactly having the best of days. He was stressed, to put it lightly, and it showed in how dark the rings around his eyes had gotten over the last few days. His clothes were ruffled, his shirt wrinkled, and his pants were in the same condition. His hair was a mess, and he had recently shaved.

The club, The Love Palace, had fallen on rough times. Several experienced dancers had quit, leaving only a bunch of new hires who didn’t attract nearly enough attention to keep this place afloat, which resorted to him taking loans from the bank.

Those that did stay had to reduce their shifts, some for personal reasons, and others because they now had second jobs that they needed to have to keep up with the rising cost of living in large metropolitan cities like Musutafu.

To make things worse, Arakawa Otoshi had gone on break and told Akira that he wasn’t going to come back until Sayaka got discharged from the hospital. If Otoshi hadn’t been such a close friend to Akira, he would’ve fired him on the spot. So now, he had to hire a part-time bouncer, and considering he was a newbie, and considering he wasn’t nearly as strong as Otoshi, there had been several times where he was unable to keep people who shouldn’t have been there out.

To say it caused a mess was an understatement. There were times when he had to help the newbie escort drunk people out of the club for scaring the dancers. He wasn’t opposed to assuring his employee's safety, but at the same time, he wasn’t the one who did that job. That was what he had hired the extra bouncer for.

Then, there was the financial side of things, which shone a light on just how screwed he was if he wanted to keep his business afloat. It reminded him of when he first got The Love Palace up and running 20 years ago, except that wasn’t a good thing. It meant he was flat broke, except even then, this was worse.

He was 2,000,000 Yen in debt with the bank, and he had nothing to show for it. Soon, he’d have to file for bankruptcy, and The Love Palace, the very thing he had tried so desperately to keep running for twenty years of his adult life, would be shut down for good. The one thing he had left to remind himself of his father would be gone, and that would be that.  

When Yoshihara was around, and when she still worked for him, he never had this problem. She had made him so much money that he had it easy for two years. If he were a lesser person, he would’ve blamed his misfortune on her. But, he wasn’t. In hindsight, he should’ve never let her work for him as a showwoman.

But, there was no use in fretting on the past. What happened, happened, and there was nothing that he could do about it. Besides, it was better off this way. Even if The Love Palace was under threat of being shut down, he much rather it be that than profiting off the abuse of a minor.

He viewed this as karma for letting Yoshihara work here in the first place. He should’ve never put her through that in the first place. This was his punishment, and now he had to take it on the chin.

That still didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try and keep this place afloat for a little bit longer, though. He was close to paying off his debt to the bank, so if he could just do that, then he’d be in the clear and he wouldn’t have to worry about the bank trying to take some of his possessions to recoup the cost of giving him a loan.

“Takeda, I’m begging you, please, don’t leave. I’ll even double your pay,” Akira bargained, sitting in his office as Takeda, one of his long-time dancers, sat across from him, looking completely disinterested.

She was a young woman, who started working with him when she turned 21 to afford rent. Now, she was in her early 30s, and she hadn’t looked a day past 24. She had smooth cream-coloured skin, long black hair that went down to the center of her back, and alluring cat-like silver eyes. She was also a rather curvy-looking lady, and even in the baggy yellow shirt and black sweats that she was wearing, it was clear that she had the makings of a very attractive woman.

Her Quirk, Antigen, made her physical appearance age slower than her actual age, though only by two to three years—nothing too serious. If it wasn’t for her ID saying that she was 21 when he first hired her, he would’ve turned her away. He was glad that he hadn’t, though, but now, sitting across from her, Akira was more than a little concerned.

Why?

Well, because she wanted to quit. He couldn’t afford for any more of his employees to quit, because if they did, then it would only make his situation worse. But if they wanted to, there was nothing he could do about it. The only thing he could do was try to sweeten the pot to ensure they stayed longer.  

Takeda had her arms crossed, a frown on her face as she raised an eyebrow. “Double my pay? You can hardly afford to pay me my regular salary,” Takeda said, sighing. “Look, Tomodachi-sama, I understand that you’re desperate but I think it’s time that I find a new job. I’ve been meaning to get out of this business for a long time now. I just haven’t had the chance to until recently.”

Akira sighed, slumping forward as he did, exhaustion rolling off of him in droves. “I understand, Takeda,” Akira said, clearing his throat as he sat up straight. He needed to at least look professional. “Then when do you plan to quit?”

“Today, actually, after my shift,” Takeda replied as Akira nodded, keeping a straight face as he resisted the urge to pull his hair off in clumps. Without another word, Takeda stood up from her chair and bowed. “It was nice working with you, Tomodachi-sama.”

And with that, Takeda left his office. “And that’s the last experienced dancer I had…” Akira thought, looking over his shoulder, and stared at his employee wall. He had long since removed Yoshihara’s portrait from the wall, and had thrown it out, but now, it was just a wall of women who no longer worked with him, and even if Yoshihara’s portrait was there, it would’ve still been the same thing.

He deserved this. He kept telling himself that because that was the truth. This was karma. Karma for being a former member of the Shikibukai Yakuza—a past he liked to keep hidden from everyone including Otoshi—and karma for hiring a minor. Karma for damning his brother to die in the streets as he battled cancer. Karma for being an awful, awful man.

Karma. That was what this was. The more negativity he had injected into the world, the more he would have it returned to him with interest. Now, after all this time, it was finally being paid back to him.

But he was going to tough it out. He had to. The Tomodachi family name would’ve been disgraced if he hadn’t done everything he could to ensure that he could push through and preserve. If he was the captain of a ship, he’d go down with it. Such was the Tomodachi family way.

Just as he was about to get up to go use the bathroom, he felt the phone in his pocket rumble, and for his ringtone to start going off. He looked at the time and frowned. It was just a little past midnight, around 12:22 am. “Who the hell is calling me at this hour?” Akira muttered to himself, before taking his phone and checking the number.

For a moment, he thought it was Otoshi. He wouldn’t have been shocked. But, instead, that wasn’t who it was. Much to his shock, it was The Musutafu General Hospital. “The fuck?” Why would they be calling him? Regardless, he answered the phone and put it to his ear. “Tomodachi Akira speaking. How can I help you?”

“Hello, Tomodachi-san. It says here on this piece of paper that I have in front of me that you are the employer of one Arakawa Otoshi, correct?” A tired, borderline exhausted voice of a young man filled his ears, which confused Akira.

“Who am I speaking to?”

“Ah, my apologies, Tomodachi-san. My name is Tomioka Tooru. I am the Head Doctor here at Musutafu General Hospital.”

“The Head Doctor? Why would the Head Doctor want to talk to me? Better yet, why would the Head Doctor want to talk to Otoshi?” Akira thought, frowning. “Right, Dr. Tomioka, yes, I’m Arakawa Otoshi’s employer. What seems to be the issue?”

“Is he with you right now? I wish to speak to him. I’ve been trying to reach him for the last five minutes, but I haven’t been able to contact him.”

“Sorry about that, but he’s not here. He’s currently on leave for something. I can forward a message to him, though. Besides, he and I are close friends, so whatever it is, I’m sure I can tell him about it later,” Akira replied as he leaned against the left wall of his office, staring at the door to his office with a distant expression.

“Sir, this is confidential information. It would be rude of me to tell it to someone else rather than the person who it is intended for.”

“With all due respect, Head Doctor, if you can tell it to Otoshi, then you can tell it to me. Besides, if it is something medical related to him, it would make my life easier as his employer,” Akira retorted as Dr. Tomioka sighed.   

“Very well. Then, it is with a heavy heart and my sincerest apologies that at 12:03 am, Sayaka Takeshi had a seizure, which resulted in severe, but treatable brain damage that, if not tended to right away, had the chance to put her in a vegetative state. If that were all, then I would have waited until the morning to contact you. However, moments before we could move her somewhere where we could treat her properly, we stopped receiving brainwaves from Sayaka, indicating that due to the seizure, she had gone brain-dead, and not too long after that, at 12:09, Sayaka flatlined. With her having been brain-dead, we saw no reason to resuscitate her, and so, we have declared her deceased.”

After Dr. Tomioka finished his explanation, Akira was left silent. Sayaka was… dead? She died…? It took a moment for it to register in Akira’s head that what Dr. Tomioka said had been said. He faltered a few times trying to get something coherent out, but in the end, all he could muster out was a single word. “That…”

He stopped, his eyes darting around, trying to find something to do or say. He tried to say something again, but no words came out. His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, his brain scrambling to form a sentence. “I… Fuck… What?”

“I understand that you, Arakawa, and Takeshi were close, so I can only imagine the pain you’re going through right now. We have transferred Sayaka’s body to the on-site morgue, and she will be transferred to a local funeral home in 24 hours as of me contacting you. If you can forward this information to Arakawa at your earliest convenience, that would be wonderful. Now, if you excuse me, I am a busy man, and I have more patients to attend to. If you can, have a good rest of your night.”

“Hey! Wait a minute, you asshole, don’t you—” Before he could finish, the line went dead, and in a fit of rage, Akira threw his phone at the floor, the device sliding across the ground as he screamed, “MOTHERFUCKER!”

Akira stared at the floor, his blood boiling. Just who did that asshole think he was? Telling him that Takeshi was dead and then hanging up as if nothing happened at all. Busy his ass, he could’ve at least told him why she had a seizure or something. It was only when he was able to marginally calm down that he reminded himself that he needed to tell Otoshi.

Without hesitation, Akira walked over to the entrance of his office, but not before grabbing his brown trenchcoat off of the coat rack, as he exited his office whilst slipping on his coat, and made his way to the entrance, he passed by the bouncer he had hired to cover for Otoshi.

“Sir? Where are you going?” The new bouncer asked as Akira made his way to his car, not bothering to answer. If he spoke to anyone other than Otoshi, he was going to blow a gasket. He knew he would.

As he entered his car, which was the new Ford Ranger, he turned the engine on and signalled into the road, before driving off to get to Otoshi’s as fast as he could. All he could think about was how Otoshi would react to the news. That was his fiance that just died, and someone Otoshi had plans with.

Now, she was gone, and there was nothing that could be done about it. He hadn’t even considered how Yoshihara was going to react because both she and Sayaka were also close friends. If anything, he was more concerned with how she would react due to how young she was.

Although given Otoshi’s mental state recently, after a second thought, he was more concerned about Otoshi.

He didn’t know how long he was on the road. All he knew was that he drove and drove and drove until he got to Otoshi’s address, which was an apartment on the Eastern side of Musutafu, and with the club being on the far western side of Musutafu, it was more than likely a long time. He lived on the fifth floor, and upon getting out of the car and looking up to see where Otoshi’s apartment was, he saw that the lights were on, meaning he was still awake.

“Then why the fuck was he not answering his phone?” Akira thought, scowling as he made his way toward the front doors of the apartment building. As he did, he swung open the doors and marched toward the stairs with a purpose. He didn’t stop for anybody and kept going. He needed to tell Otoshi. That was what he kept telling himself, like a mantra in his head on repeat.

After making it to the fifth floor, he looked for Apartment number 545, and by the time he got there, he didn’t hesitate to start banging on the front door. “Arakawa!” Akira shouted, continuing the bang on the door every few seconds. Whenever he called Otoshi by his last name, it was to signify that it was urgent.

“Arakawa!” Akira shouted again, banging on his door for what felt like the fifth time in a row. His scowl deepened, as he banged on the door for a sixth time. “Arakawa! Open the fuck up! This is important!”

Finally, the doorknob turned, and when the door opened, Otoshi stood in the doorway, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. It took him a second to register who was at the door, and upon seeing Akira, Otoshi scowled. “What do you want, Akira? I told you, I’m not coming into work until Sayaka is out of the hospital.”

“To hell with that, Arakawa, this is about Sayaka. Can I come inside?” Akira said, urgency in his tone of voice as Otoshi raised an eyebrow, seemingly sobering up. He stepped out of Akira’s way as he entered Otoshi’s apartment, and what he saw nearly made him want to slap the man.

It was a pigsty. Garbage was all over the place, and there was a pile of sake bottles on his coffee table. Takeout boxes were littered in one corner, and several trash bags were piled up near the TV. As Otoshi closed the door to his apartment, he yawned. “It’s 2:30 in the morning, couldn’t this have waited until I woke up, at like, six?”

“Otoshi, what the fuck is this?” Akira said, gesturing to his living conditions, prompting Otoshi to sigh.

“I… have no excuse. It’s just… been stressful without Sayaka here. I guess I let it get bad, huh…” Otoshi muttered as Akira sighed. He didn’t have time for this. It was better to rip off the bandaid and then slowly peel it away.

“Look, whatever. That’s not important. The hospital tried calling you, but you didn’t pick up. So they called me instead, and…” Akira paused, biting his tongue.

“And what?” Otoshi prompted, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. “Is she ready to be picked up? Did she wake up from her coma?” There was a bit of excitement in his voice, and his eyes sparkled like black jewels. Akira’s heart ached. He didn’t want to do this to him, but…

“Well, here goes nothing…” Akira mentally prepared himself and spoke. “Arakawa… Sayaka’s dead.”

Silence. It was dread-inducing silence for the next few minutes, as Otoshi processed Akira’s words. It was slow at first, his expression unchanging from when he believed it was time to pick Sayaka up. Then, it changed, slowly, to confusion, then his eyes widened to the size of saucers, his mouth hanging open slightly before he let out a shuddered breath.

“Huh?”

“I said, Sayaka’s dead. Arakawa, look, I—”

“No,” Otoshi said flatly, a humourless chuckle filling the air. “No. That’s a bad joke, Akira. You’re not funny. Why are you here?”

Akira’s eyes narrowed, his scowl deepening further, borderline flashing his teeth to Otoshi. He was really starting to get frustrated with people today. “Arakawa, I want you to look me dead in the eyes, and tell me I would joke about your fiance dying. The Head Doctor at the general hospital just called me, because he couldn’t reach your dumbass, and—”

“NO! SHUT UP!” Otoshi shoved Akira, who nearly tripped over Otoshi’s coffee table. Before he could do anything, Otoshi grabbed Akira by his collar, and before he could do anything, Akira kicked him between the legs as Otoshi let him go, and fell to the ground.

“What the fuck, Otoshi?!” Akira snarled, straightening himself out, and brushing himself off as Otoshi writhed on the ground, crying as he curled up in a ball. He should’ve waited. Goddamnit, he should’ve waited. He should’ve seen the signs. Otoshi was piss drunk, and he was mumbling something that Akira could only just barely make out.

“I was going to be a dad…”  Otoshi muttered through his sobs, and the gravity of the situation became heavier. Akira shook his head because that was the only thing he could do. Before he could say anything, Otoshi slowly came to his feet and glared at Akira. “Get out…”

“Otoshi—”

“GET. OUT!”

And without further prompting, Akira left, with Otoshi slamming his door shut when he did. This was a mess. It was all a giant, fucking, mess. At some point this week, he was going to have to contact Yoshihara. She deserved to know.

But not now. He had enough of dealing with people for the day. He sent a text to the assistant manager at The Love Palace and told her that she was going to take over for him, and after that, he continued down the stairs to get back into his truck and go home.

If today was a shit show, tomorrow was going to be even worse.                 

[XXXX]

Yoshihara sat at the back of the class, as usual, fiddling with a strand of hair that had fallen over her right ear to keep herself from getting bored. Classes were a few minutes away from starting, and with Aizawa being in the ER, there was a high likelihood of there being a substitute teacher. However, while she was given this time to think, she had come up with some… interesting thoughts.

Last week had been, by far, one of the worst weeks of her life… well, in her recent school life anyway. The USJ attack, the rogue Stand User at the mall, and the mention of some suited individual manipulating people to come after her and her friends; it was all too much.

For some reason or another, someone or something, or maybe even some group, was out for her head. The reason? Well, she was still working on the potential reason—perhaps it had something to do with the Stand Bullets? If it did, then perhaps that mysterious individual was behind their creation.

She couldn’t say for certain that was the case, but it was definitely a possibility. After all, why else would someone be trying to silence her?

Or, it could be entirely unrelated. That was also possible. But knowing her crappy luck over the last couple of days? More than likely not. Because if that was the case, then things were going to be far too complicated, way too quickly, and at that point, it wouldn’t have been worth dragging herself into this mess to begin with.  

But, assuming that this imagined group of people led by this suited man Stroheim spoke of was real, and if that portal guy from the USJ, Kurogiri, was with him, then that could only mean one thing.

The League Of Villains had a partner group working with them. The same partner group that could potentially be linked to and be the ones producing The Stand Bullets, and now that group and by extension The League Of Villains were officially targeting her, Karera, Kujo, and Izuku.

That was a problem, because if they were targeting them, then that would mean that they would also, by extension, be targeting Class 1 – A. If they were targeting Class 1 – A, then what Ashido said about telling Class 1 – A about Stands was going to have to happen at some point. The problem was when?

When would they tell them? What could they even do with that information? It would be useless to them. Although she supposed Izuku was able to listen for where his mother's stand had been when they were attacked by it. Maybe there was a way they could avoid a Stand attacking them, but not exactly counter it.

If, not when, if they decided to tell Class 1 – A about Stands, it would only be when they had no other choice. Exposing them to that kind of threat was something that she didn’t want to do. But, then, just by existing in their class, she was. She and Kujo were beacons to Stand Users. It might’ve been immediate, but they would come.

A perfect example was at the USJ, with the rogue Stand User that she and Kujo had sensed. Granted, that Stand User was now dead thanks to Kujo, and Kujo had quite the tongue-lashing from Nedzu for it, but no real punishment was dealt out. It was their lives over the villains, and thankfully the media didn’t get a hold of it.   

Though she supposed even if they did, The Speedwagon Foundation would bury it under countless lawsuits. She guessed there were benefits to having your father being the head of a very public, and very litigious government agency.

Yoshihara looked out the window, watching as leaves from trees blew in the wind. She covered her mouth before letting out a rather soft and quiet yawn, her eyes glancing over the class as Ida stood up front and center, taking his role as the Class President a little too seriously, while also being an ironic hypocrite for being the only student in the room for standing. Upon realizing this, he walked to his desk and sat down, and as the door opened, something rather… interesting happened.

The person who walked into the classroom wasn’t a substitute for Aizawa-Sensei. Rather, it was a heavily bandaged, damn near mummified version of the very man himself, noticeable by the tired black eyes and shaggy black hair he always had. Both of his arms were bandaged heavily, and both of which were kept up by thick strands of bandages.

It was… bizarre, to say the very least.

"Mornin'," Aizawa-Sensei said, much to the collective shock of Class 1 – A, barring Yoshihara, who simply stared, impressed.

"YOU'RE BACK ALREADY, AIZAWA-SENSEI?!"

"Well, I'll be damned…." Yoshihara thought, humming silently in approval. It seemed as if Aizawa had decided to go against what she probably assumed to be "doctor's orders" and came to work anyway. She wouldn’t say that she didn’t expect it, especially given how quickly he came back from having claws dug into his head, but still, that didn’t mean she wasn’t a little bit shocked that he was back so quickly after the injuries he had received.

However, she had also been concerned. The fact that he was here, standing in front of the class in such a heavily bandaged state showed that he had no intention of just letting himself heal. He had what looked like two broken arms, and whatever was behind his face bandages was probably not pretty. Overall, Aizawa looked like shit. He seemed to have no sense of self-care, and part of Yoshihara was a wee bit worried about that.

Even if Recovery Girl was a good nurse, it didn't matter. He shouldn't be at school, and he shouldn’t be teaching. He should be in the hospital healing, resting, and getting better. Not in the classroom, teaching, even if it meant he'd be in excruciating pain.

As he walked to the front of the class, he wobbled, having to slowly meander his way to the front space before slowly but surely turning to face the classroom. Despite this display of weakness and pain, Ida still greeted him as if he had seen nothing. "I am glad to see you doing well, Sensei!" Ida said as Uraraka commented on how he looked anything but "well" which would be correct.

"At least Uraraka-san has a good sense of pointing out the obvious…." Yoshihara thought, looking to Aizawa, who brushed off her comment. "My well-being does not matter. Besides, your fight is far from over," Aizawa said, earning a few raised eyebrows and not-so-hushed whispers.

"Our fight?" Bakugo growled out, giving a slight tilt of his head and a raised eyebrow.

"You don't mean…" Izuku muttered, a slight look of worry on his face.

"M-More villains?!" Ashido stammered, looking up at Aizawa, who squinted his eyes.

"U.A.'s Sports Festival is fast approaching!" Aizawa stated that everyone in the class had a reaction of shock and confusion. To be fair to everyone else, Yoshihara couldn't help but agree that it was something that was considered 'regular.' She could also agree that he could've worded what he said better, too. That being said, however, it got everyone's attention, so in that regard, it did as it was intended.

"Uh, Aizawa-Sensei. Wouldn't it be better to hold off the Sports Festival after such a prominent attack on the school? It could be dangerous, kero." Tsuyu asked, tilting her head to the side as Aizawa resolved to answer the question as a continuation of his statement.

"It's necessary to demonstrate that U.A.'s crisis management protocols are sound. That's their reasoning, apparently. Compared to past years, there'll be five times the police presence. Anyhow, outside of security concerns, it goes without saying, but, Our Sports Festival is the greatest opportunity you'll get. It's not an event that can be cancelled over a few villains," Aizawa explained, turning to Tsuyu. "I hope that answers that irrational question of yours," Aizawa stated as Tsuyu hummed leaning back in her chair.

The question was anything but in the mind of Yoshihara. While the group of villains were defeated, they, outside of that creature called a 'Nomu' that she had heard being tossed around, hadn't been captured. They were still on the loose—which, given that Stroheim had bore witness to one of Kurogiri’s portals was proof of that. While it would be suicide to attack The Sports Festival, they could still plan another attack, and maybe that next attack would be far more devastating.

Their original stated goal was to kill All Might which Kujo had filled her in on. She didn't know how bad it got, but from what she saw, the Hero in question had been battered, badly, if the blood had anything to go by. He was put into a rough shape by the end of the battle, and if they were given a second chance at All Might's life… There was no telling what might have occurred. Hell, they might even succeed.

The keyword there is "might." After all, All Might was the Symbol of Peace for a reason. But at the end of the day, he was human. He had weaknesses. Every human has weaknesses, no matter how strong they might have been.

Everyone, no matter who they claimed to be, could die. No… not could die, but would die. It was only a matter of time. And for All Might, considering how old he was, and considering what his profession is, that time might have been coming a little too close for comfort. Far closer than Yoshihara would’ve liked to admit.

Don’t get her wrong, she didn’t want All Might to die. But she had to be realistic. He was an old man. No matter how much strength and power All Might could dish out, the older one gets, the more frail their body becomes. It would come as no surprise that All Might would die sooner or later.

He was not a God. He was not infallible. And more importantly, he was not immortal.

"Back to the topic at hand,” Aizawa’s voice cut through Yoshihara’s thoughts like a knife to warm butter, “Our Sports Festival is one of Japan's biggest events. The Olympics were once the world's Sports Festival. The whole country would be whipped into a frenzy over them. But as you know, that tradition has shrunk to a shell of its former self. And as far as Japan's concerned, What's taken the place of the Olympics is the U.A. Sports Festival," Aizawa continued as Yaoyorozu chimed in.

"That means the Nation's Top Heroes will all be watching, Right? They'll be there as scouts!" Yaoyorozu said with a small smile on her face. It was then that Kaminari spoke up, which resulted in Yoshihara tuning out the conversation.

To her, the U.A. Sports Festival was just a bragging rights competition. Whether she won it or not was something that she did not care about. The same went for internships. She planned to become an Underground Hero, anyway, seeing as that was the best choice for her. She worked better as the kind of person who you’d call on missions to infiltrate places and deal with enemies before they had the chance to attack.

Killer Queen was better suited for that kind of thing. While she had been training on lowering and controlling the destruction her bombs outputted for when she was sparring, not wanting to replicate what she did during the battle trials to Jirou, that didn’t mean that was the kind of hero she wanted to be.

In a sense, she looked up to Blackwell. Villains were scum of the Earth—not crooks, like bank robbers or petty thieves. She meant true villains. Like the villain with hands all over their body, Kurogiri, and Taro. Those were the kinds of people that didn’t deserve to live. The kind that killed for the sake of killing.

The true scum of the Earth.

That being said, she couldn't deny that the experience would be needed. While getting her name out there was something she was against, the attack on the USJ was something that already did most of the work for the Sports Festival. Everyone knew who was in Class 1 – A. That, and, it would serve great for her to use her Stand in combat outside of life or death battles.

Because even though she would’ve preferred to be the kind of Hero who did the dirty work that most heroes refused to do, she was aware that wouldn’t be what all of her fights would wind up being. So, in that respect, and also because she didn’t want to look like a weakling in front of her class—and also she was fairly certain it was compulsory—she was going to at least try in the Sports Festival.  

However, yet again, there was the overwhelming annoyance of her name getting out there, and for her to somehow gain some sort of fanbase—something she was against. She had seen what degenerates drew and animated about their favourite heroes. Not that she believed that she’d be anyone’s favourite.

That, and it wasn’t as if people didn’t already know about her—the aforementioned USJ incident made sure of that.

Before she could continue her train of thought, Aizawa caught everyone's attention by clearing his throat. Yoshihara was drawn out of her thoughts as the teacher began to continue his pseudo-speech. "Naturally, you'll gain valuable experience and popularity if you're picked up by a Big-Name Hero. But your time is limited. Show the Pros what you're made of here. And you'll make a future for yourselves. This happens once a year… so you've got three chances. If you're hoping to become a hero, this is an event you can't miss!"

After Aizawa's resounding and rather dry speech, classes went on as usual. By the time the fourth class ended, Yoshihara was beginning to tune everyone else out, preparing herself to go on another one of her loner walks that she did every lunchtime until Kujo had walked over to her.

She looked up at Kujo, who looked down at her. There was a vague expression on his face, a mix of confusion and also accusation. Whatever it was that got his panties in a twist, it had something to do with her.

"Kira. I want to talk to you at lunch. I have… some questions I'd like to ask if that is okay with you?" Kujo asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.

"What for?" Yoshihara questioned as Josefumi's eyes narrowed. There was a seriousness in his eyes. One that she hadn't seen since they were meeting before U.A.'s Recommendation Exam was but two weeks away. It was the same seriousness that he gave her when he had introduced the Stand Creating Bullets to her.

And if that was the case, she needed to meet the seriousness with a seriousness of her own.

"Yes or no. Simple as that, I'm not playing around about this. Just answer my question. Is it okay with you if I—"

"Back of the school. We'll talk there," Yoshihara interrupted, reflecting that seriousness as Kujo afforded her a nod. The bell rang for lunch, and Kujo left through the front door, taking a sharp left turn. She waited for a few seconds, then got up, and followed him. Unbeknownst to them, Todoroki had been intrigued by their secrecy and had decided to follow them.

Shoto had been suspicious of Kira since the day he met eyes with her back at the Recommendation Exam. There was no doubt in his mind that she had bad blood in her veins. There was evil within her, an evil that he had seen deep within many of the villains he had seen on screen, and at the USJ. But unlike those villains, Kira had devastating levels of power, what with her supposed ability to vaporize whatever she wanted with her bombs.

He didn't believe her statement at first until he saw them at the combat trial. When they had blown up in Jirou's face, he noted that they were strong, that much was given, but not vaporizing strong.

But even then, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t possible. Quirks were powerful and deadly weapons no matter how controlled they were. He would know, he was a walking flamethrower and ice age all in one—not that he used his father's flames, but that was beside the point—so he knew firsthand just how powerful ones Quirk was.

And, because of that, he also knew firsthand what holding back looked like. He knew that Kira was holding back her power because if she hadn’t, Jirou would’ve been dead. She didn’t use her Quirks full power, and because of that, she had more tricks up her sleeve. Furthermore, her Quirk didn’t seem to have any kind of drawback when she used it.  

In a way, Kira was like him. She had an insanely powerful Quirk with no real drawback. That made her a threat. A threat that didn't let information about herself leak out easily, no matter how hard he observed.

And that wasn't even to mention that dead look in her eyes. She always had it when she thought no one was looking, but he always was. He knew that the Sports Festival was coming up, so he watched his future opponents rigorously. But every time he laid his heterochromatic eyes on her, she seemed dead. Void of any semblance of emotion.

Shoto had heard about a mental condition known as Sociopathy, and his sister had made him do a mental evaluation to check if he had it before he went to the recommendation exam. He didn't have the condition—there was a difference between repressing emotion and completely lacking it—but he digressed.

However, the more he looked at Kira, the more he saw what the doctor had described to him when he was taking the test; a lack of emotions, physical and verbal, and the tendency for rage and lashing out, as seen at the recommendation exam when she had tripped him up using one of her explosions, though more discreetly—at least he thought that was what it was—and even manipulating people by faking her emotions, something she did constantly if what he had believed to be the truth was, in fact, true.

All of those things were clear lines of being a Sociopath. If she truly was a Sociopath, then that made her far more terrifying if that had been the case. If she was a Sociopath, that must've meant she had no qualms in, as a hypothetical, giving some villains information about the school and its schedule if it meant it suited better for her. After all, she even got to escape the USJ relatively unharmed, and the mist villain had hesitated in warping her, staggering when she merely looked at her, almost like he let her escape.

Shoto had questions. Questions that demanded answers. When he rounded the corner and he followed both Kira and Kujo, he watched them enter a crack behind the school, and then, he overheard them talk.

"What is this about, Kujo? I thought I made it clear to you that I haven't found any information regarding that," Kira stated. He knew it was her for obvious reasons. But what exactly was she talking about? And what did Kujo have to do with it?

"This isn't about that, Kira-san. This is about something else. May I check your shoulder? Karera said she saw something that, if true, would explain a lot. Please?" Kujo asked as Kira sighed.

"Is it about that strange star-shaped thing I have? I was going to ask you the same thing. You have it too, don’t you, what does it mean?" Kira asked, genuine curiosity in her voice as Shoto's eyes widened.

"They're both… Joestars?! What?! How!" Shoto thought, frowning. "Something isn't right here… that can't be right… she acts nothing like them! From what I know, they are innately heroic to a fault. Kira isn't. She's evil to the core. I can see it, but I'm not sure anyone else can…." Shoto thought, his frown deepening.

He had to leave, this conversation would hold no use to him. Not anymore. Though now he had something to ponder about. What exactly did Kira think the conversation was about? Were the two of them in on something that not even U.A. knew about?

Were they possibly moles sent in by some organization that was linked with the League of Villains? Had the Joestars turned evil over the years? Whatever the case had been, he needed to sort some things out, and if what Shoto had thought the two had been a part of was true, then their principal needed to know immediately.

But just before he was going to leave, he heard Kujo mention something that caught his attention even more. "It means we're related. My Grandpa, Jouta, had several children outside of my father, and one of them was from here. That means either your father or mother is directly related to the Joestar family, as are you. How that came to be, I don't know. But I think that might also be the reason why your Killer Queen and my Soft & Wet have nearly the exact same ability, you know, with the whole Bubbles thing," Josefumi explained as Shoto narrowed his eyes and cupped his chin.

"Killer Queen and Soft & Wet? Aren't those the names of Pre-Quirk era songs? Wasn't Kira's ability called Bomb Creation? Kujo's ability was called Plunder. So why are they calling their Quirks different names? Is it some sort of code language?" Shoto thought. Now he knew he had to leave. He was going to keep this to himself, and perhaps use his bedroom for something else other than sleeping for once in his life.

He had some thinking to do after school today.

However, as he was about to leave, he felt something grab his shoulder, and when he looked over, he saw nothing, but what he did see was Kira, glaring at him. "How much of that conversation did you hear?" Kira said, her tone of voice filled with a hint of annoyance, however, before Shoto could do anything, Josefumi showed up, a bubble moved its way over to Shoto's face, and when it popped, he shook his head. He felt whatever it was grabbing him let go, and then he felt… confusion?

Why was he here? He didn't remember. "What conversation?" Shoto asked as Kira looked over to Kujo, then back at Shoto.

"Never mind, forget it. Let's go, Kujo," Kira said, and then, after a few minutes of standing around, Shoto left as well, having no recollection of why it was he was at the back of the school. He needed to eat something before the bell rang for the next class, so he decided to go to the cafeteria. After all, his sister didn't raise him as a fool. He knew the importance of eating before something important. That, and he had foolishly skipped out on breakfast, so he was a little peckish.

"That was close…." Kujo muttered, wiping his forehead from the worry he had been feeling when he had seen Todoroki. "If I hadn't used Soft & Wet to remove his memory from five minutes ago, we would've been found out," Kujo said as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow. She knew Soft & Wet could remove things from people, but she didn't know to what extent that meant. If he could remove memories, then what couldn't he remove?

"Your Stand can do that? I thought it was just physical attributes?" Yoshihara asked as Kujo sighed. He looked around himself a few times before nodding, confirming that no one else was around, then looked over to Yoshihara.

"Soft & Wet can do a variety of things. Normally it can only remove physical aspects of a person, but if I really concentrate, and so long as it isn't a lot, then I can remove mental aspects from people as well, though only partially. I can technically only do it in small amounts, my maximum being five minutes. Any second longer and we would've been compromised. If I try and wipe someone's memory for longer than five minutes, then it just won’t work. Thankfully, it was just on that threshold. However, when I do use it, it takes 24 hours for it to remain permanent, so I can't use Soft & Wet's ability until 12:43 PM tomorrow. If I do, he'll remember everything," Kujo explained as Yoshihara nodded.

"Hmm… interesting," Yoshihara hummed, quickly changing the subject “You were going to say something before you spotted Todoroki spying on us. What was it?”

“Oh! Yeah, right,” Kujo began as he rubbed the back of his neck. “So, what I was going to say, was that because you’re a Joestar, there’s a high likelihood that my Soft & Wet and your Killer Queen are connected in more ways than just because our Stands use “bubbles” to attack,” Kujo said, emphasizing the word “bubbles” by using quotation marks with his fingers.

“Why the quotation marks?” Yoshihara asked as Kujo smirked.

“Can you have Killer Queen create one of its bubbles? I just want to see something quickly,” Kujo said as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow, but complied anyway. Summoning Killer Queen behind her, she had it manifest a bubble on its right index finger, and when Kujo leaned into it, narrowing his eyes whilst staring at it when he leaned back, his smirk turned into a smile.

“I knew it. I was right. That bubble is Spinning. Meaning that if it's anything like my Soft & Wet, your “bubble” isn’t actually a bubble, but something else. Not like my Soft & Wet’s spinning string, but… like a vortex. Like a black hole, dragging in something. Or, maybe it’s pure energy being woven into a physical form?” Kujo said, scratching the top of his head before shrugging.

“What are you talking about? I’d expect this from Izuku, not you, Kujo,” Yoshihara said, confused as Kujo blinked a few times before snapping out of whatever analytic trance he had been in.

“Oh, my bad. Uh, look, I can’t really explain it well, but my father—your Uncle, I guess—can. Speaking of that, he wants to meet you and he’ll be at The Sports Festival. But, if for some reason you don’t cross paths there, he’s extending an invitation to do an international internship. Nedzu’s signed off on it before, and considering it’s my father who’s asking about it, I’m sure he’ll say yes,” Kujo explained as Yoshihara frowned.

"I don't even know him, and you're saying I should just accept his offer?" Yoshihara asked as Kujo sighed.

"I know, I know, but at least consider it. Besides, from what I know, you don’t have any blood-related family to associate with, right? That, and… well, considering you have potential, it’d be a smart move. If nothing else, you can get stronger with his help. I don’t know much about The Spin, which is what you have potential in, but like I said, my father does,” Kujo said, crossing his arms as Yoshihara’s frown disappeared.

She couldn’t argue with that. Though her track record with blood-related family wasn’t exactly the best. She had sworn to herself that she wanted nothing to do with her family. But that was when that had only been that wench and her potentially deceased and or deadbeat father. But if there was a whole part of her family that she hadn’t known about until now, who didn’t know about her until now….

“Fine. I’ll consider it.”

Kujo smiled, “alright! Now, before the bell rings, let’s—” Before he was about to finish what he said, the bell to call off lunch echoed across campus, earning him an annoyed frown from Yoshihara. “Hehehe… whoops?”

“Well, cousin, guess who owes me lunch?” Yoshihara bit out, before grabbing him by his ear and dragging him back to class all the while protesting the whole way back. As she dragged him back to class, though, her phone in her school jacket pocket rumbled, prompting her to take her phone out and check the messages whilst she walked.

It was from Akira, and the message he sent her described how he had something he needed to tell her about, but that he was going to do so in person. Not today, but in two days from now. The message continued to say something about how he still needed to process what happened.

Yoshihara put away her phone, confusion bubbling in the back of her mind. “What is he talking about?” Whatever it was, Yoshihara couldn’t figure it out. Instead, she focused on going back to class, while still dragging Kujo behind her.  

[XXXX]

Blackwell sat at his desk within the Damnatio Ad Bestias headquarters, picture profiles of Kira Yoshihara, Kujo Josefumi, Midoriya Izuku, Sakunami Karera, and most interestingly of all to him, Midoriya Inko, sitting face up on his desk. He frowned, taking a drag out of his cigar before putting it out in the ashtray next to his nameplate. He was a little annoyed, but it was nothing too serious. It wasn’t like he lost anyone this time.

"So… Stroheim failed. Oh well, I had a feeling he would. Then again, he was just a civilian. It wasn't like I should've expected anything out of him. He didn't see my face, so I didn't need to kill him either. He's not a threat to me or anyone in my gang."