Hello good readers and welcome back to my... thing.
But seriously, thank you all for sticking around, it really does mean a lot to me. If not for you all, even if it's just a few of you, I probably would have stopped at chapter 1. Thank you all so much.
Enough of my sobbing, onto what you came for, wether it's to cringe and laugh (masochist) at or enjoy and entertain yourself!
It took the commissions a week to find her a legal guardian. In that week she got settled in she hung the few clothes she had in her closet and familiarized herself with her small, first floor apartment.
If she included the bathroom it would have three rooms, but didn't, so she really only had two. When entering the apartment she was always met with a small living space, though it was spacious enough to provide an illusion of having more room than she actually. Admittedly, it was primarily the lack of furniture gave it the appearance of having more space.
Just on the other end of the room from the door was a small kitchen that was a result of an open floor plan. It had very few cabinets and a refrigerator which was only a head taller than herself. It had a stovetop oven that was about as wide as a box tv and had only two places to put a frying pan each one horizontal to the other.
Then on the opposite end of the kitchen was her bedroom. It was small, probably less than 100 square feet, likely close to 80 or 90. Her bed sat near the far end of the room and her closet was right next to the bedroom for. She had a window on the far end of the room right next to her bed.
When or if she gets the chance she should decorate. Her current guest might appreciate it. Or maybe not; he honestly didn't look like he cared.
"Want a drink? We only have tap water at the moment so..."
"No thanks," said the man. He was tall and lanky with a pale complexion. He had messy black hair that was just a tiny bit over shoulder length. Some of his fell over his face, barely hiding his flat, tired eyes.
Yoruichi had expected someone to come sooner. Albeit, she wasn't surprised it took them this long. The only thing egging her was that this was not the man she was expecting to watch her like a hawk.
She paused, then opened her mouth to speak. "So you're the guy who's supposed to stalk me all day and night?"
"I'm supervising you to make sure you don't get in trouble."
"Something tells me that you're quite new at this."
The man huffed, annoyed. "Someone's quite perceptive. I was actually against this idea, but I'm doing a friend a favor."
"So, what?" Yoruichi asked. "You're friend has to fly off somewhere and you get to take on his little project until he comes back?"
"No," the man answered, his patience clearly running thin. "I'm not good with children. Even less so with teenagers. I was a candidate brought forward at the request from someone I know, and out of all of them they chose me."
"So what does watching me do for your friend? Does he think I'm some criminal master mind?"
'Something of the sort,' the man thought to himself. "No, he just wants you safe and out of the commissions grasp." That much was also truthful, but the man held his tongue.
Yoruichi looked at him, confused. "Are you not with the commission?"
"As of recently I am, but prior to three days ago no I was not." He walked across the room and leaned against a wall.
He analyzed the girl who had seemingly become less hostile but her suspicions still remained. It was going easier than he'd thought. When it comes to teenagers they typically think they rule the world, always running amok and causing trouble. At first he thought he'd need to humble her, believing she would get feisty.
Really, he didn't know why he agreed to this and going into subterfuge wasn't something he did outside the hero world. Frankly, he thought it'd be easier to just outright explain it to her. But would she listen? Would it be a good idea?
He shelved those thoughts and pressed onto other matters. "Moving on to introductions, my name is Aizawa Shouta. I already know who you are so there's no need to introduce yourself."
"I assumed you already knew that," she replied, a look of boredom plastered across her face.
"Look, I'm not gonna waste any more time than I have to. It's nothing against you personally."
"I'm not offended."
Aizawa huffed. He grunted before staring down at her. "Look, you have a lot of potential to be a hero. I personally think that it's in your best interest to look into that path." This was in spite of the fact that she was an unknown. With no medical records, no known family and a quirk she shouldn't be able to have, she was an anomaly.
"What makes you say that?" Yoruichi crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"Before I was assigned to you I got a report from what happened at the hospital. You saved a man you had no legal agency to without hesitation, with the aid of your quirk no less. I've heard of several kind of speed quirks: Ingenium being one of the prime examples. Yours is almost god-like."
"God-like?" Yoruichi did have to admit, from a humans perspective her speed is was the thing of legends. Even among her Shinigami colleagues she was more than exceptional. Still, playing into the cluelessness of an amnesiac might be beneficial in the long run.
Aizawa sighed, unsure if she was being sarcastic or not. "According to eye witness accounts you were sitting on the bench talking to two visitors, and in that same second you were off the bench and hanging from a crutch, holding onto a man who nearly broke both his legs from falling out of a window."
"What are you getting at?" Yoruichi inquired, implying she wanted the man to move along with the point.
"Are you familiar with U.A?"
Ahh, that's what he wants. Yoruichi humored the guest and allowed him to continue. "It was mentioned awhile ago. One of the two visitors mentioned it."
"Good, so I don't have to explain. Apparently a mutual acquaintance of ours thinks it might be beneficial for you to join U.A. He thinks you have a chance to flourish there, and I hope he's right."
"What? You don't have an opinion?"
"Not at the moment. Yes, I think you have a powerful quirk that can be honed to be better than it is." Even Yoruichi could admit that much. She was the foremost master in Shunpō, but even she could always get better. Perhaps she could improve the technique to beyond the thoughts of what it was capable of. "But whether or not you want to is something that wholly up to you."
"I mean, what's stopping me from improving on my own?"
"The law and the commissions," Aizawa stated bluntly. "You can't legally use your quirk in public or you can wind up doing community service and paying a hefty fine. If you manage to screw things up bad enough you can find yourself in a detention center."
Yoruichi's mood dropped significantly. To have to have someone's permission to essentially be able to use something you were born with, it didn't sit right with her. To her it was about the equivalent to need to ask permission to breathe.
"And the commission?" She added.
"They won't let you do it on your own. They'll want to monitor your quirk day in and day out."
"So my options are become a hero, or... become a hero?"
"Not exactly much of a choice either way. If you go to U.A you can at least be the hero you want to be. If not, the Heroes Commission will make you a hero they want you to be."
"You aren't exactly giving me a whole lot of choices other than 'join U.A because it's the least shit'," Yoruichi scoffed.
She was thinking she should've just ran. She should have bailed last week the moment those commission officers showed up in the hospital. It was a mistake to stay, and now she's being dragged along by two different people like she was the rope in a game of tug of war.
As the rope in this little tug of war game, she could feel which side was tugging harder. The man standing in front of her didn't seem to be pulling at all, only standing in place refusing to be moved. He didn't care whether or not she said yes or no, but his disinterested disposition to the matter made it more alluring to join.
After all, she promised to make the commissions lives a living hell. This man, he didn't seem to be a part of the agency. Frankly, he lacked the tact to give enough of a crap about any of this.
"You aren't really with the commissions, are you?"
"What does that mean?" Aizawa asked, brow slightly raised in curiosity.
"You don't seem to care about being here, and you openly bashed the commission – who should be your boss – and blatantly favored U.A. Highschool." She paused for a moment, looking up and down at the man. "You also mentioned your new at this. What I'm getting at is that you put yourself in here to sabotage the commission for some reason. Or maybe its something else. You may be an employee of the commission, but you're not at all loyal to them."
"Was it that obvious?" Aizawa asked, blatant sarcasm in his voice.
"Extremely."
"Is there any point in me staying here now?"
"Maybe," Yoruichi answered. "What was your end goal? What made you think I wanted to be a hero in the first place? Also, who's this mutual acquaintance?"
"My end goal was to do that favor my friend asked of." Yoruichi noted this. She had an idea of who it could be, but held her tongue for now. "Honestly, whether or not you want to be a hero isn't in your hands right now. Either the commissions force you to be one or you choose that path. As to our mutual acquaintance, I feel like you already know."
Yoruichi unfolded her arms and made a move for the kitchen. "It's Toshinori Yagi, isn't it?" From the top cabinet she pulled out a plastic cup. She filled it with water from the sink. "You want a drink?"
"How'd you know?" Aizawa asked, an unimpressed and uncaring look still glued to his face.
She stared into an empty cup she pulled from the cabinet for a moment, then looked to the stranger in her apartment. "I didn't. But from my limited information on him, it was really only an educated guess."
"Hmm..." he paused for a moment. "He didn't happen to have a kid with him, did he? Maybe around your age?"
"Yeah, why?"
"What did he look like?"
Yoruichi produced a wry smile. "How much is that information worth?"
"Forget I asked."
Her smile immediately disappeared. "You're no fun."
"I'm not supposed to be..."
Yoruichi paused. She gave a quick stretch before heading off to her room.
"Well, I'll think on it. I'm gonna head out."
"Alright, just don't get in trouble."
"None of my own making!"
Aizawa sighed.
This girl...
For the last hour or two Shouta had been watching this girl like a hawk. Keeping his distance via rooftops and alleyways, he watched her roam around the city with no apparent end goal.
She wandered around various sidewalks, past several stores, giving each one a passing glance as she walked by. When Aizawa looked at each store to see what was in them, it nothing worth noting. Just some convenience stores or coffee shops that managed to catch her eyes.
Currently she was walking down a moderately populated sidewalk. Not too many passers by, though enough to keep conscious of.
He hadn't known the girl for any longer than a few hours, but after this felt as if his friend was worried over nothing. But feelings don't tell the truth, and he knew that. This girl, Yoruichi, just seemed normal. She wasn't plain by any means and her only standout feature was her darker skin tone. But beyond that, she appeared to be just another person.
Honestly his gut was telling him that this was a waste of time, that he didn't have time to be dealing with hypotheticals. The only thing stopping him was a promise as good as his word (which can vary depending on his mood).
Still, even the slightest hint of any underground activity that Shihouin would take part meant the commissions would have his ass. Not to say he didn't care about the girl's safety – she's a child after all – but he had a mission to complete and he may as well go all in if need be. It's not like half-assing this would do any good.
Shouta looked up the sky and groaned. Today's gonna be a long day.
He looked down at the streets where he last saw Shihouin, unsurprised to see she had moved on. His vision went further forward, only to see a crowd that lacked Yoruichi. He started to panic, though the only visible evidence would be through his eyes; rapidly moving from place to place, hoping to catch the girl within his sight.
With an aggravated sigh, he approached the edge of the building ready to leap to the next which was just a floor shorter. Just before his decent, a voice stopped him.
"Hello!"
Aizawa stopped in his tracks. He began to turn around, his movement slow and lazy, stopping when he faced her. "What are you doing up here?"
"Why are you following me? I get it's your job to protect children, but don't you think this is a bit... stalker-esque?"
"Like you said, it's my job," Aizawa stated plainly. "I don't know your track record. No one does as a matter of fact. I'm only making sure you stay out of trouble."
"If you're so concerned for my safety why not come with me? I'll even let you watch me change clothes before I-"
"I already regret entering this conversation."
"C'mon! Don't say you aren't-"
"I don't like what you're accusing me of."
Yoruichi let out a mischievous snicker. "Just having a bit of fun."
"At my expense."
"You say that like there's something wrong with that." Aizawa didn't even blink and she had already changed her position. He had to turn ninety degrees on his heels to see her sitting on an air conditioning unit. "Just getting comfortable."
"I prefer not to be the on the butt-end of a joke. In fact, I love it when I'm not even involved in the joke."
It was Yoruichi's turn to sigh. "You really aren't any fun, are you? Loosen up a bit."
"It isn't a-"
"-heroes job to have fun?" Yoruichi finished the sentence for him, doing her best to replicate his voice and mocking his facial expressions. 'He's almost as stuck up as Soi-Fon.' Actually, now that she thought about it, this guy couldn't hold a candle to her protégé in terms of rigidity. Still, he'd be in her top ten.
Aizawa let out an irritated exhale, agitated but calm. "Okay, look. If you can go the entire week without causing trouble I'll stop watching you. One slip up and every time you leave your apartment you'll be taking me with you until the end of next month."
"Deal." Her response was quick and immediate. Clearly she was confident she could stay out of trouble.
While yes it did go back on his deal with Toshinori, this one encounter proved that following her at a distance wouldn't work. The girl and a good ability to know when she's being followed, maybe either from gut instincts or another quirk from the mystery-villain All Might refuses to tell him the name of.
Before he had an ability to set the terms and conditions of the challenge Yoruichi had already left, rejoining the mass at the sidewalk which had seemed to have calmed down.
Aizawa pulled out his phone, flipping it open and going into his contacts. He scrolled down a bit before calling Toshinori. It rang for ten seconds before he picked up.
"Aizawa, something happen?"
"This favor of yours. It's a bigger pain in the ass than I initially thought it would be..."
Day 1
Conditions. The moment Yoruichi returned home she was immediately met with her guardian – who she honestly didn't think cared about the commission – who gave her a handful of conditions for the challenge. They seemed simple enough, but one of them really bugged her.
Rule number one: no quirk usage. She had already been explained to that quirk usage without a permit or license was illegal and could already result in potential improvement. While her Shunpō wasn't actually a quirk, he was better off not knowing that. Even then, she was confident they would still classify Shinigami techniques as quirks given that most are either equal to or superior to most quirks she has seen.
Rule number two: she is not allowed to leave Musutafu. Both she and Aizawa had fully acknowledged that her quirk could take her halfway across the country and back in about an hour. When it came to a city, that would probably mean she could leave her apartment to go to the next town over an be back in ten minutes. Yoruichi did ask him how he would now, which lead him to his third condition.
Rule number three: she must always keep her phone on her. Not only would it be used to routinely check up on her, but it also had GPS tracking which could be used by a different given to Aizawa by the commission. This was the rule that distressed Yoruichi. She can't just leave it home all day, or he would get suspicious. Not to mention, he said he would visit every day to make sure she didn't forget her phone (which she did plan on doing).
His fourth and final rule: any trouble she gets into will have her lose the challenge. Whether it finds her or she finds it, as long she is somehow involved she loses the challenge. A mere damper for Yoruichi but not something that would stop. In all honesty however, this rule combined with the first one would make it harder to win the challenge.
Yoruichi ran all these rules in her head for the first few hours after she left the apartment. No Shunpō in addition to avoiding any trouble? That actually sounded fun in a way, as if that were the true challenge in all of this.
If she was following the directions right she should only be ten minutes away. A few left here, one right there, and going straight for the past twelve minutes until she makes another right.
Her phone had limited GPS itself; not being able to track where Aizawa's phone was, but being able to put in coordinates for a destination. Luckily for her, the place she wanted to go was still within the range limit for the challenge. The issue was, it was on the opposite side city. If she could use Shunpō she would have been there a minute ago, but instead she was walking.
Her phone began to ring. There were only a few numbers in her contacts. Given this information, Yoruichi could only assume it to be one of three people. And the only one who would have a reason to call her...
Yoruichi quickly dug through her jacket's pocket and pulled out her phone. She flipped it open to see and, yep it was him.
She pressed answer. "Hello dad."
"Don't call me that." His tone was flat, all the more fun for Yoruichi.
"Then what should I call you?"
"I'm not answering stupid questions. I just wanted to make sure you aren't in any trouble."
"If I was, I wouldn't have answered."
"I know."
The call immediately ended after that. She laughed to herself quietly, trying not to draw attention. Perhaps she should change Aizawa's contact number to that: Dad. The thought made her laugh and cringe at the same time.
She was coming up to her next turn when the sound of glass breaking came from the opposite side of the street. Her attention diverged to see a man – literally – built like a brick wall rushing out of the store with a whole cash register cradled in his arms. The owner came out screaming in anger, hoping for a hero to come help him.
By the time anyone showed up, the man had just turned the corner and had escaped. Statements were taken and the owner went home, leaving everyone to mind their business.
'I could've kicked his ass.'
...
And here she was. The place she was recommended to gain an education in. The concept was laughable, to train to become a hero.
Though Shinigami had a school to learn at, but it was almost completely different. Shinigami didn't have to go to Shin'ō academy to be given permission to wield a Zanpakuto, but the actual title of Shinigami was never given to those who didn't associate with the Gotei 13. And to join the Gotei 13, they needed to go to Shin'ō academy.
Not to mention, these non-associated Shinigami wouldn't be arrested should they use their Zanpakuto in public. If a crime was being committed they were more than welcome to step in – like any actual Shinigami would. The people of the Rukongai found it easier to rely on who's in the general vicinity than someone who's ten minutes away.
There are similarities between the two at least. Both schools taught their students how to better wield the power they hold. They taught students how to improve, how to conduct themselves as heroes or Shinigami. Students were given high standards, even higher should they be prodigies.
That's where the similarities ended, however. From that point on there was nothing left to compare or they were polar opposites, though it was mostly the former.
"Hello!" A voice said behind her, dragging Yoruichi's attention elsewhere.
It was a small girl, likely a few inches taller than Yoruichi. She had pink skin and pink hair with two antenna like protrusions growing out of her head. Her eyes had a Visored-like theme to them, with a sclera black as coal with a golden colored irises. The clothes she wore had a general theme that matched her skin color, with green, pink and purple being the main colors used on her shirt, and deep black as the color for her pants.
"Can I help you?" Yoruichi asked.
"No, just saying hi." The girl seemed friendly and generally nice. "You gonna try and get into U.A to?"
"Not sure yet," Yoruichi answered, dragging her attention back to the building before her.
"Ashido Mina, by the way!"
Yoruichi looked back at her and returned the smile sent her way. "Yoruichi Shihouin. That's first then last name, by the way."
"Oh that's fine. I know a few people who introduce themselves like that."
"It's a pretty big building, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Ashido agreed. "I hear the campus itself is actual several times the size of this."
"Really? How big?"
"Well this is just the main campus, excluding the sports festival stadium. This alone, I'm not sure. But it has to be really huge."
"So what brings you out here?" Yoruichi asked, hoping to drag the conversation out just a little.
"Probably the same thing as you. Just wanna see the place before I go. Oh, but, you're not sure yet."
"You plan on becoming a hero then?"
"Yep! Doesn't everyone?"
Yoruichi eyed the building again, just for a moment before turning back to Mina. "I guess the prospect appeals to most people. You get to use your..." Yoruichi blanked in the word for a second before remembering. "...quirk to help people and get paid to do it. Not to mention the media attention. It does seem attractive on surface level."
"Surface level?" Mina parroted, confused at claim.
"You know how things generally are. When celebrities join their path of fame everything is rainbows and sunshine at first. Then the find the underbelly of their world and their initial view of their job changes."
"But isn't that every job? Minus a few that are surface level? Like a garbage man?"
"Pretty much," Yoruichi confirmed.
"Do you... not want to be a hero?" Mina asked.
"Honestly, I don't know. Even if I did know I don't have much of a choice either way."
"Don't have a choice? What do you mean by that?"
"Even if I didn't, there's a certain organization in my life that would very much like me to become one. I was advised that going into U.A would not only piss them off, but also get them off my backs."
"Is it the Heroes Commission?" Mina asked.
"You guessed it. You're more perceptive than you look."
"Hey!" She yelled humorously, acknowledging the small jab as little more than a tease. "Yeah, almost everyone knows about them. They made Hawks the hero he is."
"And what kind of hero is Hawks?"
"Charismatic, very chill, smart, dislikes the commissions."
"I like him already."
Mina chuckled a bit. "Maybe if you become a hero you'll get to join his agency."
"Nah, I'm more of a solo gal."
"I get it," Mina returned. "I love playing solo games, but sometimes it's also fun to play with your friends."
"That's an odd comparison. My guardian would say-"
"Being a hero isn't a game?" It was a different voice. Not Mina's or even Aizawa's. It wasn't a voice Yoruichi recognized.
The two turned to see a walking block of cement approach them. "How'd you know?" Yoruichi asked.
"It was an educated guess. Aizawa-san said he wasn't going to be available much over the break because he was volunteering with the commission. He shared some information, but not a whole lot." He finished walking towards them, stopping and then bowing politely. "Shihouin Yoruichi, I assume?" She nodded, leading the cement-man to hum in delight. "I am Cementos. Though, if you choose to attend and pass the entrance exam, you will end up addressing me as Ishimiya-sensei, or Cementos-sensei."
"Aside from my name, what else did he say?"
"Given how shortly you two have known each other, I do not know much. But I do know he says you posses a speed based quirk."
"That should be correct."
"Should be?" Cementos asked, Mina now curious as well.
"My quirk only manifested recently, or I've had it my whole life, but with my memory being jogged I didn't remember I had it." Leaning into amnesia again for anything to make sense. "If it can do anything else, I'll have to either discover or rediscover it."
That was complete bullshit. She already knew everything she can do. These people didn't need to know that though. As far as she cares they were in for a ride. Not to say she would deliberately hurt them. If any poor soul stands in the way of her Shunko however, that's a different story.
"So you think your quirk can become more than what it is?"
"Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see."
Cementos smiled. It was quite canny really, but he seemed nice enough. He walked away, back into the campus and the doors shut behind him.
His words did resonate with her. Maybe she could use U.A as an excuse to test out Kido she hadn't used before, or maybe develop something new entirely. But that was more of Kisuke's department really. Still, it would give her an excuse to try.
"So, wanna walk around?" Mina offered, a smile still on her face.
Yoruichi returned her smile. "Sure."
Day 2
Yoruichi found herself in a public library. Sure she could just ask and use amnesia as her excuse, but it would get tiring and repetitive after awhile, and some might get suspicious.
Currently she had been burying her nose in history books for the last few hours. Quirk history, world history, national history... any books pertaining to whatever happened in the past two centuries in this world really.
She barely gave enough of a damn to learn the history of the whole human world she was familiar with. But this was something different entirely.
What she used to know was that all humans posses a minuscule amount of Reiatsu, with there being exceptions to the rule. Some had above average, others like Don Kanonji had exceptional amounts (just enough to see and interact with souls and hurt them to a lesser degree), and others like the Quincies and Fullbringers had ridiculously high reserves which allowed them to effectively harm other souls than people like Kanonji. Not to mention, in most cases, higher Reiatsu allowed for higher strength and durability. But keep in mind, this was exceedingly rare.
Now come to mortal realm version two, everyone's Reiatsu levels are either average or above average. Not only could they see her, they could talk to her and touch her. Did this contribute to their nonsensical super powers? She had no clue! Those details are best left to Kisuke, as anything of this nature typically is.
Better him than Mayuri.
She shut another book, this one titled "Quirk History: When it Started". Yoruichi sighed and buried her head into the table.
Apparently this all started in China. Something about a baby glowing with a bright light and other children also exhibiting unique traits as well. Over all, it was hard to wrap her head around. There was no way this was as straight forward as that. Was it a Fullbring? Maybe this child had latent Reiatsu and the Reiryoku he was outputting affected the other children? Perhaps Aizen was messing around with the Hogyoku in other worlds long before he tried it on Shinigami. It was anyone's guess.
What makes it worse is that not even these scientists knew why. They were just as clueless as to why as the next person, and they have been for centuries.
She dove through books and old news articles both in print and online. No detail was too small, even if she had to learn a different language. Yoruichi was already familiar with basic Chinese, given Soi-Fon's father offered when she was younger.
She still couldn't get that name down right. 'Fang? Fing? Fwëg?' She thought. Soi-Fon, was easier to remember and say. Japanese didn't have the right characters to translate properly, so she never bothered to correct it. As long as she could identify them- "Damn, I really almost sounded like Byakuya for a second." The thought sent a chill up her spine.
Yoruichi let her head hang loose and slam into the book she had closed. Head still down, she turned it to the other books she had read through. The books sat on the desk were at least an inch thick or less.
"Records of quirks" was the first one to catch her eye again. She read through some of it and in the process learned that quirks are separated into three different categories.
There were Emitter type quirks (sometimes, but rarely, called operative quirks) which allow for the generation and/or control of certain things, such as electricity or acid, like Mina had. Some quirks under the emitter category even listed mind control. Overall, emitter seemed to be the most varied in how it manifests.
Another type was Mutant Quirks, which were pretty spot on in terms of description to name. Additional protrusions on the body, maybe an extra limb or even something completely crazy like some Gang Orca guy she read a bit about. Despite these quirks being pretty basic, they all seemed to quite versatile – not as much as emitter quirks – and some can even be passive and less obvious.
The final type is called Transformation quirks. When diving into the computer to research more about this type of quirk, she found a Pro-Hero named Kamui woods, who's transformation quirk involved sprouting wood from his arms. Transformation quirks seemed to vary in what they specifically do, but all had the common features of needing a conscious activation (much like emitter quirks), only lasting temporarily and, if overused, can be extremely taxing on the body.
Looking back at Mina, at first she would have thought the girl had a mutant quirk if she did research on quirks before meeting her. Maybe there was some mutant quirk in her bloodline which gave her the appearance she had, but Ashido did say her quirk is an emitter. She was just as stumped as to her appearance as anyone else – speaking relative to her quirk. Apparently she got her appearance from her father.
Speak of the devil, her phone had ended up buzzing. She looked at the screen to see she had gotten a text from the girl.
'Wazup'
The text forced a sharp exhale from Yoruichi's nose. "Just doin stuff"
'Busy then?'
"Not really"
Silence for a moment.
'Wanna meet up somewhere'
"Is this your way of asking me out?"
Mina responded with an emoticon of someone laughing. 'No. Just want to hang out, maybe introduce you to one of my friends.'
"Sure. Why not."
Day 3
'Amano', she thought to herself, trying to remember the name of the girl she had met. "Or was it Kanto?" Either way, the girl was pretty unremarkable. Didn't help that she was quirkless. Though oddly enough, the fact that she was quirkless was the only remarkable thing about her.
It did feel strange that in a world where everyone had super powers to meet someone who didn't. How do quirkless adults function in society? She imagined it would probably be any normal job that wasn't hero work. Maybe a cashier, or a bank teller. Perhaps even an insurance agent or a police officer – if law enforcement allows quirkless people in their employ.
When doing research into the quirkless side of this world, she had found that at one point they were the majority. It only lasted a few years, but still. When quirks first started appearing many people segregated themselves from them. The population with quirks were discriminated against and also treated as less than human.
Could she blame them? Yes and no.
She could perfectly understand why they'd be scared when super powers randomly appear in their neighbors and children. Typically the end result of fear is hatred, and hatred can be a powerful motivating force. She's seen it happen when Central 46 tried to execute the Visored for having Hollow-like powers. Even that was different though since the Visored were at an actual risk of being taken over by the Hollow inside of them. But they prevailed over their Hollow and learned to use it for the best interest of the world.
She knew why Central was scared, she understood. That didn't stop her from stepping in though. Aizen framing Kisuke, Central 46 threatening to kill of her friends, she wouldn't stop until she helped fix it all.
What she could blame them for was treating the people they've known for their entire lives differently just because they have a new ability. A stranger is one thing, but a friend, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister... that was different. You aren't supposed to abandon family just because they've changed. A new tool doesn't change the wielder, only a weak will.
Nowadays, that attitude is flipped. Instead of the quirked population being the victim, it was the quirkless. It did upset her, but as someone with no social or political power she couldn't do a thing about it.
Really, no one with a quirk could do anything. The only person to make any impact would be someone without a quirk. Not her though. Quirkless she may be, her powers as a Shinigami would still be recognized as a quirk.
Yoruichi sighed, walking down the semi-busy sidewalk. It was mostly other kids who looked to be her apparent age. The school year had been over for awhile, so none of them wore uniforms.
All of them looked so unique from one another, each one special in their own way.
She watched one pair of kids, both boys, talking to each other and laughing down the sidewalk. One of them had bright orange hair that reminded her of Ichigo. The other had bull's horns growing out of his forehead and seemed to be the bulkier of the pair. She looked at them out of the corner of her eye.
Special, huh? A single thought popped into her head 'Not to quote a cheesy movie, but if everyone is special, then wouldn't no one be special?'
Day 4
Yoruichi stared into her bathroom mirror, grasping at the back of her hair. It's growing back out.
She had just gotten her bi-monthly allowance from the commissions. Maybe she should spend it on some furniture, or a television? She would think about it later.
She exited her bathroom and into the living area. Immediately she headed towards the fridge.
While it may be true that Shinigami have stronger and more durable bodies than normal humans, that doesn't mean it doesn't have to be maintained. It was the middle of the month and a Sunday of all things.
Perhaps she could spend her day planning an exorcise routine. She figured that she would focus on her core and legs with arms being a secondary focus. Maybe throw yoga in there somewhere?
"So Mondays and Fridays I'll run a few miles," she thought aloud while spraying whipped cream she brought with leftover allowance into her mouth. "Tuesdays and Thursday's I'll dedicate to core exorcises. Wednesdays will be arms, so I should probably buy some dumbbells. Saturdays..." she blanked a bit, still thinking about what to add for Saturdays.
She sat the whipped cream on the counter next to the stove. Walking into the main room just adjacent to the kitchen, with no furnishings to sit on Yoruichi opted to lay splayed out on the floor.
She did say she wanted to add yoga into her routine, but wasn't sure if she wanted to. "Fuck it, Yoga on Saturdays!" She announced to no one but herself. "And sundays are off days." She immediately shot upwards, still sitting on the floor of her apartment. She looked around the empty room. "Because today is an off day..."
Yoruichi had 210,000 yen to work with. It's enough to get a few extra clothes, some furniture for her apartment and a cheap TV. Adding in the leftover 15,000 or so yen from her time with Kaneko, she could also afford a wall decoration or two.
Currently she was looking through a through a used furniture store looking for anything she could take home. Luckily for her, they delivered. Not to mention, all the furniture in the store was already put together.
The one item Yoruichi had flagged down at the moment was a shoddy television stand. It was a little wooden item barely 5 feet in length and just barely 2 feet wide. It reached her waistline, but it would do.
In terms of looks it appeared to have been a blueish-green at one point given how little paint was still attached to it. She gave it a weak push forward and heard something come loose, likely a screw of some kind.
She raised her hand and began waving for the nearest worker. Within a few seconds one had flagged her down and rushed to her location.
"May I help you?" He asked.
"Yeah, can you help me find something a bit like this but not as..."
"Prone to collapse?" He finished.
"Yes please."
"Absolutely. If you would follow me."
...
Two minutes was all it took.
It was similar in design with a wider base to rest a small flatscreen on with some additional decorations if she so chose to. The grey paint on this was clearly old, but in better condition than the previous blueish-green paint on the other one . And the price was only a thousand yen higher than the previous.
She hummed in thought, noting some additional features that, in all likelihood, fell off of the previous one. It had two shelves next to a small cabinet door that had clearly seen better days, but still functioned as is. It also had the back attached and not laying on the floor behind it. One of the shelves appeared to be cracked at the side, but that could be replaced.
"Will this work?" The employee asked, turning to face his customer.
"Yeah, this'll do."
"Anything else?" He asked.
"Nope, should be it. Unless you have televisions here."
"As a matter of fact, we have a few."
Yoruichi turned to face the man. "Prices?"
"Between 24,000 and 60,000 yen," he answered quickly.
"Let's go then!"
...
Yoruichi had a decent chunk of money left over from her purchases. What she bought plus a delivery fee, she could still afford to go out again and buy more clothes to add to her small wardrobe. While of course she could have bought a dresser, she did not need one at the moment; her closet gave more than enough space for what little she had.
Meanwhile, while the delivery men had finished setting up her television stand, Yoruichi preparing to go back out on a grocery trip. She was making a mental note of everything she needed, from vegetables, to fruits and whatever high protein foods she could think of.
Just as the delivery men had set the television down, her phone began to ring. She pulled it out, unsurprised to see Aizawa calling.
"Hello?" She answered as she began tying her shoes, the phone held between her cheek and shoulder.
"Where are you?"
"Don't want to bother using your tracker?" She quipped back, eyes darting to where her phone was then quickly back to her shoes.
"I'm busy," Aizawa answered. "And calling is quicker."
"Well, I'm at my apartment for now."
"For now?"
"Yeah, I'm going to pick up groceries."
"Is that it?"
"Maybe some clothes?" She said back. "My closet is pretty sparse."
Aizawa hummed in the other end of the line, seemingly satisfied with the answer. He waited a few seconds before picking up the conversation again.
"Did you think about my offer? " He asked, his voice gaining a more relaxed tone to it. "To go to U.A?"
"Yeah," Yoruichi responded simply.
Aizawa hummed in thought. "You aren't as much of a pain as you usually are today."
"I can change that if you like."
"I should've kept my mouth shut," she heard him whisper beyond the phone. He sighed and huffed before shifting back on topic. "So about my offer-"
"I'm still not sure," she answered, now off the floor and ready to head out. "I've thought about it, and it sounds tempting, but I still need time to think."
"Well I need an answer by November, because that's when entrance exams begin."
"Well, it's mid-July, so I have time."
"That's two months."
"I know," she answered.
"Damn teenagers-" was the last thing she heard before hanging up the phone.
Honestly the more time she spent thinking on how it would benefit her the more tempted she became. Not to mention it wasn't like she had much else to do aside from waiting for the commissions to bust down her door and take her to a testing chamber.
Even the few times she hung out with Mina, she would always go on about being a hero and how much she wants to help people. It was nice seeing someone with so much conviction with a friendly personality to boot.
Ichigo would like her...
Day 5
Just back from a run and now with a television in her apartment she finally had some indoor entertainment. It was a 48 inch television with some additional features. It wasn't high definition, but it was the fact that she had it that mattered.
She couldn't imagine why anyone would get rid of the thing, it was actually of decent quality for the price she got it at, from where she got it. The only visible issues with it were that it was at a slight tilt that could go almost entirely unnoticed if someone didn't bother looking hard enough.
Also both HDMI ports were badly damaged, but she doesn't have any need for them at the moment. They could be fixed.
Yoruichi sat crisscross on the floor, moving through the live area of her television's features she ended up stopping on the newsfeed. Not having much else to do, she stopped and listened in.
" -verall the weather looks to be pretty stable for the next few days with a potential typhoon passing through on Wednesday, but it has a higher chance of missing than hitting."
The screen shifted to the two anchors in the room, both which were men. One had deep blue hair and the other had tusks like a walrus.
"Thank you. While everyone was catching up on the weather, we got an update on the Polis Train station," the tusked man started, his tusks getting in the way of some of the consonants forming completely. "To all who are just now joining, a villain had taken several passengers on a train station hostage. Now we have All Might on the scene, ready to help save the day!"
Dear god that was so cheesy it made Yoruichi recoil in on herself.
The screen then transitioned again, this time into a bird's eye view of the situation. Yoruichi watched from her living room how heroes handle situations like this. She wanted to see for herself how heroes operate in scenarios like this.
Multiple hostages, one contact and said contact is armed. She knew what the Onmitsukido would do: Shunpō in, disable or neutralize the target and rescue the hostages. Squad 11 members would cut through the hostages to reach the target, or at least Zaraki would, she couldn't say anything definitive on the others. Any other Shinigami would use Bakudo to restrain the criminal.
If she had to choose a particular spell to use, she might go with Sai just to see looks in their faces when their bodies are more or less paralyzed. Maybe Hōrin if she wanted to fling them around like she was messing with a lasso.
She watched All Might take a single step forward and the concrete crack beneath his feet.
"Who's gonna fix that?" She asked herself.
All Might, using the foot that cracked the ground beneath him, propelled himself forward at near blinding speeds forward. With precise hand placement at the moment of impact, the villain was carried into the bullet train and, face still in All Might's hand, was punched through the other side.
All Might, in an almost casual manner, tossed to bruised Villain over his shoulder like a sack of flour. It was actually a pretty funny watch. Yoruichi snickered a bit before squinting her eyes at the screen.
"Wait a minute," she thought aloud.
Yoruichi paused the television. Eyes still squinted, she noted his hair and skin color. Really, it could just be a coincidence. Hair and skin color weren't solely indicative of who a person truly was. Yet, in a country with as small a population as Japan compared to its allies and in a world where everyone is unique, it was something to pay attention to. Yoruichi had thought herself to be overthinking it, but it would be funny if true.
Not to mention, for a Japanese hero he wore the colors of another country and named his signature moves after it's states. Inspiration maybe?
Yoruichi switched off from the news and began to browse what was immediately available. Where there was no action, there was no entertainment, and Yoruichi sought to fix that.
Day 6
Her little battle was almost won. She only needed to get through this day and the next, and she could get Aizawa off her back. Though she didn't know if his word alone held any water.
Up to this point all of his conditions were met: No Shunpō, no trouble, stay within the city, always answer his calls and keep her phone on her person. Simple, easy, not that hard.
The one scenario she thought would be worth losing for was using her quirk to leave Musutafu and picking a fight with the strongest guy she found, all while leaving her phone behind. Just to mess with Aizawa. She thought of doing that just to spite the man, but any potential rewards she gained from doing the opposite prevented her from caving in.
Moving on from the thought of tormenting Aizawa just for fun, she thought about his offer again. 'Go to U.A?' She thought.
She began mentally listing the pros and cons of the offer.
Pros: Ability to improve her Shunpō and Shunko (if it would be improved any further) and maybe develop new Kido techniques. Something to do all day. She gets to piss off the Heroes Commission. Can maybe blend in with normal society.
Cons: Aizawa might be her teacher. Her quirk usage could be limited. Human school education.
Honestly she had felt the only true con was the first one, with the second one just being a small irritant. Now that she thought about, listing it as a con might be jinxing it.
The more and more she thought about it, the more alluring she thought it to be. She laughed at the thought of a Shinigami becoming a Pro-Hero. Her laugh lessened as she remembered all the others who may not have made it. Kisuke, Grimmjow, Nel... Yushiro. No. No, no, they have to be alive. Maybe severely injured, but alive.
Yoruichi couldn't tell what she was considered as among her peers. MIA? KIA? She hoped for at least the first one to be the only true one of the pair.
She sat down on her bed, wearing her red t-shirt. Her arms held her knees together to stop them from falling sideways onto the mattress.
The thought about it again.
Her stare became more distant, wandering off into the memories she made.
She grabbed her phone from where it sat on the bed. Flipping it open, she went through her contacts, eventually finding the number of her legal guardian. She pressed call.
"You're calling me now?"
"I've made my choice," Yoruichi said, elongating the first word and adding more weight to its pronunciation. "I'll do it."
"You'll enroll at U.A?" Aizawa asked in clarification.
"Yeah. That."
"Alright, I'll send you the forms to sign. My signature will be on a few lines given I'm responsible for anything bad that happens to you. You just need to sign the student's portion of the forms."
"What's on the student's portion?"
"Mostly making sure the student knows that they're signing up for U.A. To ensure that parents aren't enrolling their children without the child's consent. We do check in with the child via representative to the house just to make sure it isn't the case, because sometimes parents will try to forge their children's signatures or vise-versa."
"So I just need to sign everything I'm supposed to?"
"Basically," Aizawa respondedw briefly. "I'll swing by early tomorrow morning to get everything in order. Bye."
Aizawa hung up the phone, letting Yoruichi set it down on her bed. This was it. Even if allowed to, Yoruichi wouldn't revoke her decision.
She laid back down, staring at the bedroom ceiling. "I'm gonna need to hold back, aren't I?"
Day 7
"Is that everything?" Yoruichi asked.
"That's everything," Aizawa confirmed. "I'll get this in to the school's secretary. And remember, this challenge ends by today. Stay out of trouble and I'll let you be."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Should be easy enough."
Aizawa huffed. "Damn kid," he whispered under his breath. "I'm off now. Stay safe."
Leaving the apartment and shutting the door behind him, Aizawa immediately headed for his car.
Yoruichi was good at keeping out of trouble, but was irritating to deal with. The instant quips and smartass comebacks were what Aizawa found irritating the most. They weren't rude by any measure, but it felt more like immature teasing than anything else.
Aizawa hoped Vlad would be the one to deal with her, but he had a feeling if that happened then she might mysteriously make a permanent appearance in his classroom. All Might had that kind of influence; he might convince Nezu to do it without question.
Even if Aizawa didn't want Yoruichi as one of his students, instead sent to Vlad King, he thought it would be in everyone's best interest if she was in his class. Toshinori would be less worried too. He didn't forget about the promise made to his friend.
...
Yoruichi flipped open her phone when she got a call from Mina. She answered. "Ashido, wassup?"
"So there's this movie I've wanted to see and I ended up getting a few tickets to go with my friends, but most of them had something come up last minute."
"That's... weird. You sure they just don't want to go?"
"Nah. Amano, you met her a few days ago, she has a doctors appointment today. My friend Emi had an emergency pop up – her dad was in a car crash. The rest didn't want to go. But it's not like I bought the tickets before asking first, so..."
"You bought three tickets in advance? And the two people who wanted to go with you had something important come up?"
"Yeah. Pretty crappy luck, I know."
"You want to invite me to watch a movie, that right?"
"Yeah! So..."
"We've only known each other for so long. To know that you feel that way already-"
"Haha," Mina laughed mockingly. "So you wanna go?"
"What's the movie about?"
"It's really only a modern day remake of the old Alien movies. Xenomorphs and that. You familiar with it?"
"Vaguely," Yoruichi admitted. She had browsed through some of the live channels on her television to wind up in the middle of one of the movies. "Sure, I'll go with you."
"Yes!" She heard Mina cheer over the phone. "Sweet. I'll meet you at Tatooin station."
"The other ticket?" Yoruichi asked.
"Probably ask for a refund if they'll let me."
"Alright. What time?"
"We have about three hours, so take your time."
"Got it," Yoruichi replied. "See you there."
Yoruichi hung up the phone and placed it on the counter. Time for her date with Mina, which was completely unplanned.
It didn't take her long to get ready. All of it was the standard brushing her teeth, getting her clothes on and putting on deodorant.
Pocketing her phone and leaving her place behind, she immediately headed for Tatooin station. She had no idea where it was, so it was best to get a head start instead of getting lost and making it an hour late.
The two had formed a surprisingly tight friendship in the short time they've known each other. Yoruichi couldn't tell why, but she enjoyed the girl's presence, and Mina clearly enjoyed hers.
She wouldn't dare say she was her closest friend, let alone say that they were close friends. They just seemed to 'vibe with each other' to put it in Mina's words. Whatever that means.
Yoruichi made sure to lock the door behind her, though it wasn't like she had much to steal. She then put the keys in her pocket and headed for the sidewalk.
The movie was shit. The whole crowd was murmuring amongst themselves about their opinions on the movie, some to themselves and others to the people they came with.
"Wow," Mina breathed out. "That was terrible."
"Was it that bad?" Yoruichi asked, gaining a strange look from Mina.
"Don't tell me you liked it?"
"I never said I did, I just have nothing to compare it to."
"Well," Mina started, her entire body turning to face Shihouin, "as a stand-alone movie, what did you think of it."
Yoruichi shrugged. "It was mediocre in the start, then in slowly declined in quality, both in terms of acting and production quality."
"I know!" Mina exclaimed. "It was so cheesy! And they didn't even bother to get the alien right! I'd rather they use CGI instead of a quirk, because at least it's more appealing to those who've seen it before."
"Maybe they used a quirk instead to get a more genuine reaction from the cast," Yoruichi suggested, following Mina down the hallway to where they came in from.
"Probably, but-" Mina and Yoruichi heard a crash and a loud crash of glass from down the hallway. "You hear that?" She asked Yoruichi.
"You mean the sound of glass breaking? Nope, not at all." Mina looked at Yoruichi with a deadpanned face. The joke didn't go over her head, but she didn't look too impressed by it. Typically Yoruichi would get an eye roll at the joke and nothing else. "Yeah I heard it, wanna go check it out?"
"Of course! It could be a villain-"
"Or someone dropped something expensive."
"That too," Mina admitted. "But what if it's a villain! You don't want to see the heroes fight him?!"
"If that's the case I guess I don't mind some mindless catharsis," Yoruichi answered back.
...
It was indeed a villain. Mina seemed to be pretty giddy about the whole thing, while Yoruichi leaned against the police barricade while watching.
"Please don't lean against the barricade ma'am."
Yoruichi stood up at the officer's request.
The villain looked to be a male, at least six and a half feet tall with skin like scales. He had a lizard-like tail with feathers going up and down his tail and spine. The villain's fingers could be described more like claws, or talons in any case.
He let out a combative roar, immediately taking a swing for a wood-based hero. If she remembered correctly, that hero would be Kamui Woods.
Kamui wasn't suited to engage in extended melee bouts. His quirk, in Yoruichi's view, was best suited for restraining and pinning his opponents down. His quirk was also not well suited for enemies who were agile enough to evade his branches, which this raptor-villain seemed quite good at for his size. Yes, his quirk had almost zero wind up, but anyone perceptive enough could see the branches extend forward and evade them at the last second.
Yoruichi could tell Kamui was only buying time until someone more suited for the job could show up. It had been five minutes so far, and no hero had shown up.
So far Kamui was punched at least three times and had three large gashes, each parallel with each other, going across his chest. He was hurt in a bad way, and being the only hero on sight going up against a skilled melee fighter, she wouldn't be surprised if the heroes show up too late or when Kamui wins.
The villain managed to get past the barrage of of wooded tendrils and get a strong hit against the hero. Kamui turned with the punch to reduce it. He took a few steps backwards, using his quirk to create a barrier between him and the villain to gain distance. Doing so successfully, Kamui managed to bind one of the villain's legs from behind him.
The wood quickly began to travel up to the Villain's body and encase him entirely. The villain struggled to get loose, and ultimately
Yoruichi turned to the sound of large oversized stomps impacting the earth. Everyone's head turned to a large, blonde haired woman who had just arrived on scene. A hero she didn't know.
"Oh," she commented. "I'm late."
"At least you showed up," Kamui mentioned, before falling on one knee.
Police ended up rushing into the scene to secure the villain, and the giantess had shrunken down to normal size.
Yoruichi watched the police lug over all this expensive gear to the restrained villain. They put a heavy looking metal muzzle over his mouth, almost looking like it was made for humans. Kamui retracted the wood that covered the Villain's hands, allowing them to slip them into these blocky handcuffs that covered everything from the hand to the elbows. The only thing not covered were the upper portions of the fingers, taking his talon-like fingernails into consideration.
Soon the whole villain was uncovered from his bindings, all except for the policed equipment. Still, the villain managed to put up a fight, thrashing around violently before Kamui had once again bling him in wood. The villain had stopped again, unable to move.
It was only a matter of minutes until all had dispersed.
Yoruichi would walk around with Mina for a little while longer, getting food, looking at clothes and idly chatting with one another. During their conversation Yoruichi had mentioned that she planned on enrolling in U.A, finally making up her mind. Mina, the cheery and friendly girl she is, wished her luck in her endeavors.
They parted ways shortly after, each going home and finishing their days there.
Yoruichi would only admit to herself she had fun – maybe Orihime, but that's a maybe. Slowly, but surely, she was getting used to this place. Yes it was a strange place to have spent the last month and a half, but when she got used to it all it slowly became normal.
If only she could share this insane version of normal with everyone else. Ichigo would loose his head.
AN: Longer chapter, I know.At first I was thinking to have Day 7 be it's own chapter, but it would be too short. Also, just to clarify, Tatooin station is not where the movie was being played, Tatooin Station was just where Mina and Yoruichi met up.
Also, as to why I chose for Yoruichi to meet Mina and not anyone else (or why I had her meet anyone at all), is because I wanted to give Yoruichi someone who she could look at and study quirks that have a stranger nature. Prime example being Mina Ashido. Mina's quirk revolves around the creation of acid, so why does she look like she's from mars, when it has nothing to do with her quirk? That's why I chose Mina. Hopefully that makes sense.
Have a good day now!
