Chapter 21 - Ultimatum

Having split up from the main group, Joshua and Jiro wandered around the mall for a little while. Finally, they settled on a music store that sold albums and instruments. Having talked with the shop owner, they found a section that had rock music in it. Most of it was obscure Japanese rock bands, but they did find a good amount of other rock bands, such as The Beatles, U2, Green Day, and even Coldplay.

"Here's a good one." said Joshua, picking up an album of U2 called The Joshua Tree.

"The Joshua Tree." said Jiro, looking at the album. She then chuckled and asked, "You just like it cause it has your name on it, right?"

"Ha-ha…" Joshua replied, his tone somewhat snarky. "This is actually one of their greatest albums; it gave them the title of the one of the most influential rock bands to ever come. To tell you the truth, I think I might buy this."

"Why not just listen to it on an MP3 Player?"

"I don't have an MP3 Player. Besides, I'm more familiar with just my CDs and headphones."

Jiro thought about for a few seconds and then said, "I think I need to help you with that; buy that album and an MP3 player, and I'll help you upload some songs. Do you happen to have a laptop with you?"

"I know Matthew does." Joshua replied. "I can ask him if we can use his laptop. Meanwhile, let's see what else this store has to offer."

Jiro nodded in reply and began looking at more of the albums. Joshua was about to continue with her, when he saw a familiar figure spying on the two. The man was of Japanese descent, and he had black hair, a black goatee, grey eyes, and pale skin. The clothing he wore at the moment was a dark red hoodie with the hood up, black pants, and black shoes. It was Daisuke Haruki, also known as Stone Fish!

Upon seeing him, Joshua gritted his teeth in order to keep from yelling out in surprise. He then turned to Jiro, a somewhat pained smile on his face.

"I'll be right back; I have to use the restroom." Joshua spoke, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

"Got it. I'll be waiting for you here." Jiro replied, not looking up from looking at the music.

Joshua then walked out of the music store, but Haruki was already moving through the crowds of people at the mall. So Joshua began following him from a distance, and trailed him until he got to the food court, to which Haruki dodged into the men's bathroom. Joshua followed and found him in there, alone and washing his hands.

"What are you doing here?" Joshua asked, his tone of voice somewhat annoyed.

"Shopping." Haruki replied, his tone sarcastic. "Shigaraki wanted me to pick up the new bubblegum j-pop song that they recently released."

"Very funny, wise guy. Alright, what's going on? Did Shigaraki send you to spy on me?"

"Yes, he did. Our spies saw you walking with Class 1-A to the mall, and you were walking alongside a girl. And you looked pretty happy about it, as well. So, you want to tell me about it?"

"She's not important…"

Next thing Joshua knew, Haruki was right into his face and said in fierce tone, "She better not be important! Remember, these people are your enemies; we're going to destroy them when we get the chance!"

"Get out of my face." Joshua growled, causing Haruki to back up. "When will we destroy them?"

"The Nomu, which are the soldiers Shigaraki is working on, are still developing at the moment. He had to find some willing victims first, and then tear them piece by piece in order to build them back into his own creation. We don't know when they'll be ready, but it should be in about a few days or so."

"That's good and all, but…"

"But what?"

"Look, Haruki. Call me crazy, but… I want to call this whole thing off."

"What? What do you mean by that?!"

"Well…" Joshua spoke, his tone somewhat hesitant. "It's just that… we don't have the resources at the moment to, fight against Class 1-A. I was thinking, we could hold off on the developing of the Nomus for a while or so. Just to… get some more information?"

"And this doesn't have anything to do with that girl, does it?" Haruki asked, his tone annoyed.

"No! No… of course not. It's like I said, we currently don't have what's necessary to take them on. So, I think we should hold back for a while… right?"

Haruki went quiet for a few seconds, and then said in a low voice, "Come here, I want to whisper something to you…"

Joshua, with a strange look on his face, obeyed and leaned forward. Suddenly, Haruki punched him in the face, and then slammed him against the wall!

"You little brat!" Haruki growled. "We've been planning this massacre for a long time, and now you just want to call it quits?!"

"I don't-" Joshua tried to speak, but Haruki pulled him back and slammed him again.

"You disgrace! What would Death Wish think of that?! How would he react, when he found out his son decided to call off one of the most important plans we've ever worked on, just because he has the hots for a girl?!"

Joshua pushed himself off the wall with his legs, freeing himself and getting Haruki away from him! Joshua then proceeded to attack Haruki without activating his quirk, punching him in the face and torso. However, Haruki proved to be a better fighter, and gained the upper hand once again! He then proceeded to smash Joshua's face against the wall, throw him to the ground, and then get on top of him and started punching his face. The brawl only lasted for about a minute, and it was amazing that nobody came into the bathroom during that time.

"You shouldn't have done that, boy…" Haruki growled. "I could've used my quirk on you, but I chose not to. You still awake?"

Joshua let out a groan in reply, to which Haruki said, "Good, then I'm giving you an ultimatum; either break off your relationship with Class 1-A, including that girl, or I'm going to place a call…"

"To… who?" Joshua croaked.

"To your father." Haruki replied, getting up. "Have a good one, Death Wish II…"

Haruki then pulled up his hood, and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Joshua beaten on the floor. With slow, painful movements, Joshua grabbed the sink and used it to pull himself up. He then pulled on the handle, turned on the water, and began splashing himself with it. Afterwards, he pulled on a paper towel and began wiping his face, removing most of the water and blood. After checking to make sure he didn't look too bad, Joshua went out of the bathroom.

He paused to see Haruki looking at him one last time, before disappearing into the crowd. Afterwards, Joshua walked back to the record store, where Jiro was waiting for him.

"I'm back." Joshua spoke.

"About time." Jiro replied, her tone somewhat snarky. "What took you so long?"

"Saw an old friend." Joshua replied, putting his hand to the side of his face. "We stopped to chat for a little bit. Anyway, I'll buy The Joshua Tree and an MP3 player. You want anything?"

"Nah, I'm good." Jiro replied.

Joshua nodded in reply, and then went to pick out an MP3 player. After he did that, he went to the counter and paid for the items, and then he and Jiro left the store.

"Hey, Joshua?" Jiro asked, as the two of them walked through the mall together.

"You can call me 'Josh', if you want." Joshua replied. "And, what is it?"

"I'm not usually one for personal questions, but for you, I'll make an exception." said Jiro. "So, what do your parents do for a living?"

"My dad…" Joshua was to reply, but paused cause he wanted to think of a good lie. He then said, "My father's a businessman; He works for a company that sells hero support items. It's a good job, and it pays pretty well."

"And your mom?" Jiro asked.

"I don't have that many memories of my mom; she died when I was three."

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

"It's cool; I didn't really know her, so there's nothing to be sad about. But, it would've been nice having her around when I was growing up. Somebody to check up on me when I had a bad dream, somebody to talk to when I did something exciting, somebody to correct me when I did something wrong. You know, what mothers usually do…"

When he noticed Jiro's thoughtful expression, Joshua said, "I'm sorry, I sound like a real wuss, don't I?"

"No, not at all." Jiro replied, her tone calm. "I know what you mean; growing up, it was the same way with my mom. I mean, she was there for me whenever Dad was away or on a trip. And, she would do a lot of the things you were talking about. Honestly, I owe a lot to my mom for who I am."

"Yeah, that's nice." Joshua replied, looking over at her and smiling.

Jiro did the same, but her face became one of concern when she saw a small trickle of blood coming from Joshua's lip.

"Hey, are you alright?" Jiro asked.

"Why do you ask?" Joshua asked back.

"You're bleeding."

"What?"

Joshua then put his hand to his lip, and felt the blood trickling, and he said, "Oh yeah; I scratched my lip a little too hard and didn't feel it; I'm fine."

"I hope so." Jiro replied.

"Yeah." Joshua spoke, wiping away the blood with his hand.

The two walked along for a few seconds in silence, before Jiro asked, "Okay, why me?"

"What do you mean by 'why you'?" Joshua asked.

"There's six girls in Class 1-A, plus the two you came with." Jiro replied. "Why did you choose to hang out with me instead of them?"

"I like you, that's why." Joshua replied. "I don't get it; I thought you would like this."

"I do, but…" Jiro paused, before asking, "Can we sit down and talk?"

"Sure." Joshua replied.

The two then found a bench in the mall and took a seat on it. Joshua then asked, "Alright, what do you want to talk about?"

Jiro sighed and said, "I feel like an outsider sometimes. I mean, I do well in school, and I can hold my own as a hero. But, when it comes to being social, I freeze up. And… sometimes I feel like I'm not as pretty as the other girls. I mean, they're all very attractive, and I feel average compared to them. I know it's a girl thing and all, but… it's how I feel." She then sighed and said, "I'm not good at explaining things either, as you can tell."

"Nah, it's cool." Joshua replied. "Besides, I get what you're saying. Guys struggle a lot with physical appearance as well; it's always 'girls go after the muscular guy, or the good looking guy, or the guy who's most popular with people'. And sometimes you feel outclassed, cause you're the loner, or the guy who doesn't have the charming good looks. But personally, I believe it's the heart that matters, not the appearance. Besides, you're pretty…"

"Oh, please." Jiro replied, her tone somewhat bashful.

"I'm serious." Joshua spoke. "I mean, sure Yaoyaorozu, Uraraka, and Ashido are pretty. As for Asui, she's pretty in her own way, and Hagakure… she's invisible, so I don't know what she looks like. But you, you're pretty; you've got lovely eyes, a lovely complexion, pretty hair, you are petite. Petite girls are cute, in my opinion. And there's those ear jacks, which is your quirk, and it's a good quirk to have. I mean, you would be right up there with them."

"Thanks. Honestly, your compliments are different from what I receive. Before you came, I had Kaminari or Mineta giving me compliments, and you know how they are."

"Kaminari's not all that bad, but he likes Sunshine now. And Mineta… I can see why you wouldn't like compliments from him; kid's definitely got a problem. Hey, if it's not too much trouble… you mind if I see one of your jacks?"

"Huh?" Jiro asked. "Uh… yeah, sure."

Since Jiro was sitting to Joshua's right, she extended her right ear jack. Joshua gently took it in his hand and looked at it.

"Cool." Joshua spoke, holding it up to examine it. "So, is the metal a part of you, or did you add that on?"

"It's a part of me." Jiro replied, her tone somewhat cheerful. "My mom has the same thing."

"Did it hurt when they came in?"

"No. I went to bed one night when I was four, and when I woke up, there they were."

"Gee, I wish it was like that when I got my 'Assault' quirk. I mean, when I developed it for the first time, I destroyed half the house in a blind fury. You should've seen the look on my dad's face; its' hard to be both proud and angry at the same time."

Jiro laughed at that, to which Joshua also laughed too. He then let go of her ear jack, and it shrunk back to its original size.

"Hey, you mind if I share something with you?" Joshua asked. "Something personal?"

"What is it?" Jiro asked.

"I told you my mom died when I was three, but it's more personal than that…" Joshua spoke. He then paused, took a breath, and said in a shaky tone, "She died giving birth to me."

Jiro's eyes widened in surprised when he said that, and Joshua continued, "A lot of people don't usually remember when they're born, but I do. It's like a nightmare; dragged into this world kicking and screaming, from the dark recesses of my mother's womb. Pulled out into the cold, blinding light, my first cries the most pitiful that you could hear. The doctors cut the cord, wipe away the gore from my birth, and wrap me in a towel. My mother, who yells and groans in pain as the doctors cut through her to get to me, lying on the hospital bed. My father, clad in dark clothing, watching the scene from a few feet away, his arms crossed in silent acknowledgement. And when the doctors identify my gender, they put me in his arms. Suddenly, a noise that sounds like choking erupts from my mother's throat, and the group of doctors converged on her to try and help her. But… she dies. And growing up, my father blamed me for it, and he became distant. He never cared; left me to my own devices, blaming me for something that I didn't do."

"Dang," Jiro said softly. "That's like, heavy metal for you…"

"Yeah." Joshua replied.

"Guess my problems aren't as bad as yours are."

"Sorry about that; I was trying to make you feel better about yourself, and I end up telling you about the day I was born."

They both were silent for a few seconds, before Joshua asked, "You want to get moving? Maybe see if we can re-group with some of our classmates?"

"Sure." Jiro replied.

The two then got up from the bench and began walking, to which Joshua asked, "So, if your father's a musician, do you play any instruments?"

"I can play most of them, but I prefer the bass." Jiro replied. "And I sing."

"Cool." Joshua replied. "As you already know, I can sing, but that's it. Wish I could play instruments like you though; must come in handy."

"It did, a couple months ago, we had this cultural festival, and I did the lead singing for it…"

Jiro began telling about the cultural festival, to which Joshua listened. However, the threat that Haruki gave him still floated in his mind, and he couldn't help but feel like he wanted to be distant from Jiro. To say the least, he was falling in love with her, but… being a villain still held a grasp on him.

He wanted to break free…

Author's Notes: So, for those who are wondering, this takes place in the spring, after the events of U.A Cultural Festival, and the battle between Class 1-A and Class 1-B. However, this is a different timeline, as it goes away from the Paranormal Liberation War arc. However, I am going to make references to that particular arc.

R&R,

Heroboy005