A dull clicking echoes in the empty room. Fujino Mari is bored. The Vice President of the HPSC swivels in her chair and looks out at the Tokyo skyline. Grey clouds hang lazily overhead while the people scurried around like ants on the streets below. She took a moment to wonder where the people were going and coming from. What were their motives? Was it for work reasons? For personal reasons? Every problem in the world looks small from the 70th floor of the HPSC Tower. Every journey on the streets below her looks insignificant. It was more interesting when she was closer to the ground. Watching the faces of pedestrians was an incredibly fun way to pass the time. But now, she can only look at the tops of people's heads. What story can you get from the top of a person's head?
Fujino swivels back and continues to flick the cheap lighter she had found in her desk. A cigarette dangles loosely from her lips and she's beginning to hate the taste of the unlit paper on her tongue. She glances back up to the clock and frowns. Her assistant is running late. What could be keeping her from arriving on time? Work reasons? Personal reasons? The girl had only been working for the Commission for a few months, so Mari was fairly certain she hadn't burnt the girl out yet. She was sure it would happen, the burn out, but usually it would take more time with people who had to work hard during college.
She would occasionally pick up new assistants just to see how long they would last. There was one kid that quit after about three hours on the job. She was almost impressed by how quickly he recognized the work ethic needed and quit knowing that his only other option would be to drown on the job.
The ones that drowned slowly interested Mari but in a different way than those who quit within the first week. Was her new assistant drowning? Should she throw her a life preserver? Mari knew that there was an opening in the Operations sector that her assistant could fit nicely into. The hours weren't as long, and the work wasn't as demanding. But Mari knew some of the things that went on there. That was planned there. Did her assistant have a strong enough will to not only accept these plans but help contribute to them? Fujino didn't know.
A spark finally erupts from the lighter and the door opens at exactly the same time. Mari takes a long inhale on the lit cigarette and breathes in the smoke slowly. It feels like a warm hug to her. Her assistant closes the door and speed walks to the desk and gives a quick bow.
"I apologize Madam Fujino, the elevator broke down with me inside and I had to climb up to the emergency hatch and then shimmy up to the work door inside the shaft."
Mari snorts. She is about to call out the assistant for that bullshit excuse when she spots splotches of grease on the assistant's hands and feet.
Huh. Either that was the actual truth or she's significantly better at covering her ass than Fujino previously thought. Maybe she was cut out for Operations after all.
Mari takes another deep inhale, and the assistant quickly sits down with the realization that she wasn't going to get an answer from the Vice President.
"What would you like to hear first, Madam?"
Fujino takes the cigarette out of her mouth, "How is the Kaiju case going?"
The assistant looks down at her notes, "Miruko reported that they have found some connections regarding the fluid left at some of the scenes. This seems to confirm that all creatures are being manufactured from the same location. There has still yet to be enough DNA left at the scenes to make any connections between actually people and the creatures."
Fujino nods, "Has any research been done regarding the quirks and connections to people?"
The assistant nods, "Hawks has started that process. It seems that it is difficult since figuring out exactly what kind of quirk a certain Kaiju has takes a lot of time to determine and the deterioration of the creatures seems to still be under 90 minutes."
"That seems longer when they first popped up."
"Yes, Endeavor has been quoted saying that he believes the Kaiju are becoming more advanced over time."
Mari snorts. She could care less what the number one hero thinks.
The VP slowly places that cigarette back in her mouth and looks back at the assistant, "How have our training programs been going?"
The assistant flips to another page in her notepad. "It seems that Shimura has been growing at a rate faster than Kiriyama previously anticipated. Apparently, she has well surpassed lifting weight limits for someone of her age and gender. She still seems to have no interest in HPSC Academy, but Kiriyama seems convinced that she could get the dad to sign her up for the school."
Fujino purses her lips and takes out the cigarette, "And Kiriyama is certain that Shimura doesn't have a secondary strength quirk?"
The assistant shakes her head, "Shimura has told Kiriyama that she believes the strength is some sort of physical mutation that is within her family. Our doctors haven't been able to provide a better solution, so they have accepted that as the truth for now."
Mari scoffed. She knew who the strength quirk must have been connected to in the Shimura family.
Mai is still pulling some strings from beyond the grave, huh?
"Additionally, Kiriyama has reported that the Yaoyoruzo family has asked again for Momo to train alongside Nana."
The edges of Mari's lips twitch upwards, "How many times have they asked now?"
"Seven, since Nana started training, which was four months ago."
Fujino nodded, "I suppose it's been long enough. Allow the Yaoyoruzo girl to train with Nana. Maybe it will help both grow more."
The assistant rapidly wrote down a note on her pad, "I'll call Kiriyama right away, madam."
Mari took a final drag of her cigarette.
"Is that all?"
"With the number of applications for the new Academy in Nagoya, the admissions team is requesting a new office somewhere in the city."
Fujino glanced at the contact list that was set on her desk. She had a couple of ideas for spots that could work. Spots that people wouldn't mind or notice disappearing.
"I'll see to it. I assume there is nothing else for me?"
The assistant nodded. The Vice president gave a simple waving gesture to the woman, and she quickly scurried out of the room. Even with makeup on the young woman's face, it was obvious that the bags had worsened under the assistant's eyes. She could see that the woman was drowning.
Would she throw the life preserver?
Fujino Mari pulled another long white cigarette out of a handmade case and began clicking the lighter once again.
She was rudely interrupted by a ping on her laptop. She checked to see that it was an email from the President of the HPSC. She didn't open the email but saw the subject header.
'HPSC Succession Plan'
Mari grinned with a lit cigarette between her teeth.
It was all coming together.
~Revelations~
"Again, Shimura."
Shimura Nana grit her teeth as she pushed the bar over her head. It concerned her slightly that the bar seemed to be almost at a breaking point from the weights attached on the ends but Kiriyama Kase, her trainer, seemed to think otherwise.
"Stop looking at the fucking bar, girl. It won't break as long as you don't break."
Nana shuddered since that wasn't exactly reassuring. Eventually she held the bar with the weights up high with her arms practically locked out. It was hard to describe what it felt like to hold this much weight in such a precarious position, but Nana was sure that she was not a fan of it. She could feel her arms begin to wobble and looked to see that she was making a face in the mirror that she hoped that she would never see again.
"Don't fucking drop that bar, Shimura."
If Nana had the ability to roll her eyes she would, but at the moment she couldn't do much besides hold the bar. When Nana started weight training, she hated it. Her father told her to give Kiriyama time. When he said that she nodded and looked to the future. How fun will it be to lift things with no problem? How fun would it be to chase after her grandmother's strength?
It turns out it wasn't fun at all. Nana hated this. She had been under the impression that once she got the hang of weight training it would shift from an everyday thing to every other day thing. If anything, Kiriyama had begun to become more demanding the more she trained. Quotes like, "If you're not pushing yourself to the limit in here, how can you live with the mistakes you make out there?" were thrown around the empty gym often.
When Nana felt like she couldn't do one last set or even one last rep, there was no forgiveness in the eyes of her trainer. No sympathy. Just certainty. Certainty that Nana would do what she was told. Certainty that she would do what was expected of her. Was this what everyone experienced during training? Her dad seemed to think so and Kiriyama had often mentioned that she has been the exact same from when she trained Miruko and some other hero with the last name of Takasugi.
She wasn't thrilled with the effects of the training too. While it was nice to feel stronger and have more faith in her abilities, she felt she was losing friends and memories as well. Nana hadn't been able to hang out with friends outside of school for a number of weeks now and she was beginning to grow tired of seeing smiling faces on social media from events that she should have been at. Is this what it meant by being a hero? Sacrificing everything for the sake of everyone? Is this how Mai felt? Did she feel this isolated?
Her physical growth bothered her but there was little she could do about that as well. Since she had begun training, she had grown over three inches and put on enough weight in muscle to cause Setsuna's description of her to change from 'cute girl next door' to 'buff mama'. Nana remembers chasing the lizard girl around the mall they were at for around half an hour to try to wipe the stupid smirk that she had from the creation of her new title.
Nana decided to not reveal to the girl that she had begun wearing men's blazers for her school uniform since it unfortunately seemed to fit her better to not add on to Tokage's list of potential teasing topics.
While keeping the bar over her head, the sweat from her scalp had begun to seep through her brow and into her eyes as the shaking in her arms intensified with the weight. She felt her hands grow weaker and her wrist begin to buckle.
"That's enough Shimura."
Nana finally lets out a breath that she didn't know that she had been holding in and drops the bar on the mat in front of her. She grimaces with the struggle of just reaching her arms up to wipe the sweat that had built up on her face. The dark-haired teen slowly turned away to the bench that sat on the opposite side of the room and practically fell on top of it. She slowly wrapped her arms under the seat and pulled out a frosty bottle of water that she had packed for the workout. After guzzling almost half of the bottle in one sip, she finally looked back toward the weight set up and the questionably quiet atmosphere that had popped up.
Kiriyama Kase stood by the side wearing a blue tracksuit that seemed to be a perfect contrast to the white hair that had been cut above the shoulder. If Nana had to guess, the trainer was in her early fifties, but she still had the speed and skill to kick her ass in the ring when she dropped her guard. To the side of the trainer was Yaoyoruzo Momo, who had joined the sessions a week ago.
Nana personally had no problems with the girl, but she had always struggled with trying to create a deeper friendship with Yaoyoruzo. It made little sense how they had made such little progress considering all the time they had spent together. Momo was part of the "Fab Five" which was made up of herself, Tokage Setsuna, Todoroki Shouto, Honenuki Juzo and Nana. The group had earned the name since they were always at the HPSC tournaments that take place across the country, and they usually have some collection of the five take first, second, and third at the shows.
While Nana had been on quite the run recently in terms of wins, Todoroki and Honenuki had won tournaments before with Setsuna and Yaoyoruzo often finding themselves finishing right in the fourth and fifth range. Nana often asked Setsuna if it bothered her to never finish in the top three for the tournaments and the girl would usually let out a bark of laughter. 'I know combat will never be my specialty so I'm usually just happy to place in the top five'.
Nana knew the placing bothered Yaoyoruzo though. It was tough to ignore the screams from her parents in the crowd when she was fighting and even tougher to ignore the looks of disappointment on their faces when she inevitably lost.
There was a lot riding on Momo's shoulders. The Yaoyoruzo family had been known as one of the most influential groups in Japan for decades now, but they had yet to ever produce a hero. Now Momo comes along with one of the strongest quirks the country had ever seen, and everyone expected perfection from the girl. Nana didn't think it was fair, but what could she do? She had tried comforting the teen after losses but was often brushed aside. While the words that Momo would say to Nana never contained ice, the unmistakable chill she would get from their interactions gave Nana a pretty clear picture that they would probably never be best friends.
All of this led to an incredibly awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere in the training room. There might have not been anyone else in the world that Nana would rather be stuck with less while suffering through Kiriyama's regiment than Momo.
The onyx eyed girl looked at the trainer and then back to the bar that Nana had just lifted. Shimura sucked in a breath when she realized what the girl was thinking.
"I-I want to lift the bar that Shimura lifted!"
It was quiet in the room. Nana took another sip of her water. She was curious how this would play out. Her answer came quick as Kiriyama burst out laughing in Momo's face.
"Are you going to pull a small crane out with that quirk of yours, rich girl? Because there is no way in hell that you can lift that!"
Oof. Nana wasn't sure what Momo hoped to achieve with this request.
Momo for her part looked fairly undeterred, "I w-want to try. I want to become as strong as Shimura!"
Strong as Shimura, huh?
Nana doubted that would be possible and that assumption had nothing to do with Yaoyoruzo and her own strength. Nana knew that she was different from Yaoyoruzo and pretty much every other person in Japan when it came to her strength. The full truth of her ability hadn't even been known to her until she met a stranger a few weeks ago.
A Few Weeks Ago
"Hey brat!"
Nana was slightly ashamed that she immediately assumed the name was meant for her. School had ended, and she had finally been let out after having to stay late to take a make-up math exam. There were no other kids around besides a small group of girls that seemed to be huddled around one girls' phone. Nana wondered what they were looking at.
"Brat did you hear me?!"
Ah. Nana looked up and seemed to find the source of the name calling. Across the street stood an old man wearing a flannel shirt and some dark jeans. In his hands stood a sturdy cane that seemed to be putting in a fair amount of work to keep the man upright.
Nana looked at the man's eyes, weathered and weary, "Are you talking to me?"
The man looked up and down the street and then looked back to Nana, "Who else would I be fucking talking to?"
Nana shrugged. He had a point.
"Can I help you with something, sir?"
The man made a face akin to him swallowing a whole pack of sour patch kids, "Don't sir me, brat! And you can help me by walking me to where I need to be." The man then quickly changed his tone to something much more senile, "It seems that I have gotten lost, and I need the assistance of a youthful soul."
Nana frowned. She knew the man was lying. She also knew that the man was small enough that she could throw him like a football if he got grabby.
She assumed that the man knew this as well since he seemed to not be making any questionable glances at the teenager. The teen looked at her watch. Training wouldn't start for roughly two hours since there had been an apparent emergency down at the gym that she went to.
Shimura finally made her way to the other side of the street and looked down on the man, "Where do you need to get to…." Nana paused, "Um. what should I call you if you don't want sir?"
The man turned and began walking toward the downtown area of Fukuoka. The weather was surprisingly mild for November.
"Just call me Gran."
Nana nodded, "And where did you need to get to, Gran?"
Gran squinted with a look of pure concentration, "I think it's called Und-Under-Underpass Gym?" His response ended up sounding more like a question.
Nana was able to figure out what he meant though, "Ah, I think you mean Gym Underground. And that's only like three blocks from here."
The man nodded, "That sounds right."
Nana hummed a response and led the way. The male blazer that she had taken a few weeks ago from the lost and found hung loosely from her frame and the required red tie had been pulled down significantly with the first two buttons of her shirt being undone. She was still in the process of getting larger clothing to account for her training, so she struggled to be comfortable in the old white button down that she was wearing.
After about ten minutes Nana and Gran found themselves outside of a beaten-up building that was covered in graffiti. If the property had been in a more downtown area, it would have looked incredibly out of place, but it wasn't uncommon to find rougher looking homes and deserted buildings on the outskirts that they found themselves. The building had a single metal door and three windows that were high enough to not allow any peaking glances from curious onlookers. Nana had used the gym before when she didn't feel like heading home before her training with the HPSC started. She looked at the building once more before looking back down to the old man who slowly made his way to the door. Each step he took seemed ginger and Nana was curious how he had even ended up at her school in the first place with his mobility lacking that much.
Gran turned and looked again at her with senile eyes, "Do you think you could come inside for a moment?"
Nana frowned, "I'm good, old timer."
Gran turned and began to march back toward the teenager with no limp at all. Shimura suppressed a shudder when he saw the fire in his eyes, "I think you would really enjoy coming inside the building with me."
The teen took a step back, "I really doubt it. I have to get going Gran, but I guess it was nice talking to you."
The girl began to turn away and make her way to the bus station that would take her back to her apartment.
"You know, I worked with you grandmother."
Nana froze. Maybe the apartment could wait.
"You worked with Mai?" Nana then studied the man again and suddenly felt her eyes open wide when she was hit with a realization, "Wait are you Gran Torino?!"
The old man smiled fondly, "Yep, me and Mai were a real team to be reckoned with back in the day. I remember-"
"How are you so small?" Nana could not help the question from falling from her mouth. The height difference between the pictures she had seen and the man standing in front of her was too shocking to not at least raise a question.
The teen saw the man grit his teeth and instead of answering, kicked her hard in the shin, causing her to double over with a string of curse words spilling out.
"Let's go inside the gym and I'll answer all of you questions and more, brat."
The gym had a musky smell and stains littered the floor and ceiling. It was a far cry for the place that the HPSC had her go to, but Nana felt an undeniable warmth from the structure that was not around at the other. The worn-out punching bag in the far corner of the room might still have imprints from her fists on them.
Torino seemed to have brought a chair and cooler into the area and almost immediately collapsed into the seat and pulled a beer out of the box. The fizzing of the opened can seemed to echo over the walls and bounced back to the older man who had begun sipping on the drink.
The man gave a waving gesture and Nana slowly walked over and sat on the cooler next to him.
"I don't watch the news much anymore. It bothers me like an itch that I can no longer scratch. So, when my remote died and I was stuck on the channel for a few days, imagine my surprise when I saw a Shimura Nana on the screen. I wished it was a coincidence. That you looked just like Mai. But then I watched your fight against Endeavor's kid in the final and there was no denying that you were the grandchild of one of my best friends." Gran paused for a moment as he took another sip of his drink. "And then I saw your strength and I panicked. It was something so similar to what I had seen before. It was so similar to someone I had seen before."
Nana looked down at the worn-out sneakers she was wearing, "Did Mai ever mention anything to you about her strength?"
Torino snorted, "Oh, I know a thing or two about Shimura Mai that only two other people in the world know."
Nana eyed the man suspiciously, "And what would that be?"
Torino took a long sip from his can. "When your grandma was in middle school, she met an underground hero. A hero that was caught up in a century long war against a man named All for One. A man that had the power to give and take quirks as he pleased."
Nana could feel sweat form from the back of her neck, "Give and take quirks?! That's possible?!"
Torino nodded, "The man practically ran Japan from the shadows. But he didn't care about power. His only true desire was a quirk that he accidentally created during the dawn of quirks. One for All. A stockpile-based quirk that could be passed from one person to another. Growing stronger with each user. The man your grandmother met was the sixth user of One for All. And roughly a few months after they met, he passed the quirk onto Mai, who became the seventh user of One for All."
Nana looked blankly at the man with her mouth agape. "So, Mai had two quirks all along? Float and One for All?"
"Yeah. That's the strength and speed that you see when she's fighting. While she was always incredibly athletic, the quirk pushed her to other limits that shouldn't have been possible."
"Does this have to do with her death?"
Nana saw a slight flinch from the old man at the question as he took another sip from his beer, "Your grandmother was killed by All for One. She had already passed the quirk on at that point, so it was more to hurt the next user."
Nana grit her teeth, "So it was a game?! She died because All for One wanted to play fucking mind games with the successor?!"
Torino looked down at hands. He still chose not to think much about that night. About her death.
"When I first saw your strength, I thought you somehow had One for All, but after watching your whole fight, I realized that couldn't be true. While your strength might match that of your grandmother's someday, she had additional boosts like speed and agility that you seem to be missing." The man paused for a moment to idly scratch his cheek, "I'm guessing One for All must somehow affect the descendants of the users but it's tough to test that theory since you are the only one connected to the quirk left."
Nana frowned, "What about Mai's successor?"
Torino winced as he pulled out another beer and slowly cracked it open, "Mai's successor was All Might. And we both know what happened to him."
Shimura's eyes widened, "All Might?! All Might had One for All?!"
Gran grimaced, "Keep it quiet brat. Don't need strangers hearing about this."
Nana pursed her lips together while being bombarded with thoughts. 'All Might had One for All? He seemed much stronger than Mai though so I guess he must have been able to grow it for years? How was he killed? What villain could have possibly had the ability to kill someone with One for…. Oh'.
"All for One killed All Might, didn't he?"
The eyebrows on Torino's face were pulled upward, "Impressive deduction, kiddo."
"Didn't All for One die at the scene as well?"
Gran sipped his drink. "Yeah. I saw them cremate the man when he still had that fucking smile on his face." Torino shivered, "That was an image I won't ever forget."
Nana considered the words, "So it's over then? With One for All and All for One done, the war is over?"
Torino looked up at her with a hazy expression, "You know, I always thought everything would be so simple after All for One died. But it's the opposite. It's led to a world that I can't wrap my head around. A world that I don't belong in."
Nana fiddled with her thumbs, "Do you mean with the Kaiju?"
The older man shook his head, "No, but those confuse me as well. The multiple quirks reek of All for One, but the man's dead so how are they being created? Is there a copy of the quirk out there? If so, who has it? And what are they going to do with it?"
Shimura felt sick. The Kaiju might be the biggest problem in Japan. And the fact that they had been around for years at this point with no answers was frustrating to everyone. What was the point of the attacks? What did the people want who caused them?
"Could All for One have done something before he died?"
Torino considered the question, "It's funny you bring that up. After Toshinori got back from the US, All for One was different. He didn't follow the same patterns. His usual operations that he used to generate income shut down. He went off the grid entirely for a decade and then finally popped back a month before the final fight. Hell, there were even reports of a man that fit his description of saving people! There was a lab in Nagasaki that held live experiments that had been wiped out by an unknown figure that saved all of the people involved. Why would he do that? After spending 150 years operating for his own ideals and then he's saving people? It didn't make sense."
Shimura smiles weakly, "Maybe Mai was able to beat some sense into him before he killed her."
Torino snorted, "She definitely got some good shots in on him, so I suppose it's possible."
Nana glanced back down at her watch. She knew her training would be starting in an hour. She looked back to the older man who seemed to still have a foggy haze lingering in his eyes. What is he looking at? What is he looking for?
"I should be going soon, Gran. I've got training in an hour."
Torino frowned at the comment and looked down at the can in his hand, "Did you know that Mai never got along with the HPSC?"
This surprised Nana. It seemed that everyone that she had talked to at the Commission had nothing but good things to say about her grandmother. They implied that Mai worked closely with the group to ensure peace for Japan.
"What do you mean, Torino?"
The man took a final sip from his can, "Mai worked with the Commission because she had suspicions regarding their connection with other groups in Japan. Groups that didn't have the best interest of all citizens in mind."
Shimura rolled her head and thought about the comment. "Did she ever mention who the groups were?"
"Mai believed that there was a connection between some members of the commission and Destro, the man who wrote the Meta Liberation Army book."
Nana knew of the book but had never read it. It spoke about the free use of abilities and rejecting restrictions that society put on people's power. In theory, Nana could see the reasoning behind it, but the book didn't take into account how powerful and destructive quirks would become. And how not everyone would use their quirks for the good of others.
"Were you ever able to find what evidence she had on it?"
Torino shook his head, "When I cleared out her agency a couple of days after her death, I couldn't find it. Either someone else had beaten me to it or she hid them somewhere else entirely."
Shimura furrowed her brow, "Do you think the HPSC could still have ties to groups like that?"
Gran shrugged, "It wouldn't surprise me. Next time you watch one of the advertisements regarding their academy, pay attention to what they say. I get the feeling they are really just looking at kids for their quirks and not for the actual people they are and the heroes they could become."
Nana frowned, "Does this have anything to do with Hawks and Miruko? It seems that they just kind of popped out of the HPSC a few years ago and both have really strong quirks."
The older man winced, "I'm not sure but their whole situation seems bizarre. Being raised by an organization? How the hell does that happen?"
"Do you think there were others like them out there? Other who the commission wanted to bring in?"
This question makes Torino's breath hitch, and he drops the can with a shaky hand. "There was something else that I found that I thought I should tell you." The man paused and picked up the can, "I looked into the incident involving Mai's other kid."
Shimura grimaces, "With Tenko and Hana?"
The man takes out a third can and slowly cracks open the top. How many has Gran had at this point? He was beginning to smell like cheap beer.
"I didn't even start looking for Kotaro until I found you. I have a friend in the police, so when we were able to pull up the information from the case, we found something odd. There had been a car seen in the area for a few days before and even on the day of the incident."
Shimura scowled, "Was it the person that killed them? The person that destroyed their lives?"
Torino sighed, "Probably not. The people assigned to the case did some digging on the car. Apparently, it was owned by the HPSC."
Nana's eyes twitched, "Why the hell were they there? What were they doing?"
"The commission claimed that an employee that lived in the area had requested to borrow the car since their own needed to be fixed. The cops weren't able to do much more digging since there was no other information on the vehicle or the people in it other than that it had been seen a few times."
"Tch."
That news pissed Nana off. The HPSC were seen in the same area as the Shimura disaster? Why hadn't anyone mentioned anything to her? Why did the HPSC continue to push the narrative that her grandmother was a close friend of the commission? Why were they making it so obvious that they wanted her to attend one of their HPSC Academies?
Was it all connected?
Nana's head spun and her breath felt shallow. As she struggled, she felt a warm hand wrap itself on her shoulder.
"Take a deep breath, kiddo. I know this is a lot but I wanted to try to give you a clearer picture. There are things at work here that I can't even keep up with. Things that I don't want to keep up with." Torino sighed and the continued, "You remind me too much of Mai to worry that you could fall into a trap sprung by someone who wants to exploit you. Someone who want to mold you into something that you don't want to be. It seems that you can't hide in the shadows after all your success but do try to take breaks now and then kid. You're still a teenager after all."
Shimura nodded. 'Take a break, huh?'
'If you're not pushing yourself to the limit in here, how can you live with the mistakes you make out there?'
Nana frowns again, "I need to get going or my trainer might come after me herself." She then slowly stood up and looked at the man who remained seated, "Will I see you again?"
The old man sipped his beer. "I don't know. I'll give you my card and if I'm still alive and kicking I can always be there to talk kiddo. I don't think your father would be a fan of me so I would keep my number and the fact that we met private from him."
Nana slowly nodded and took the faded business card that Torino gave her.
As she reached the door she looked back once more to the man.
"Who can I trust?"
The man peered at her for a moment and then at the empty can he was holding.
"Trust yourself, Nana."
Nana gulped and slowly opened the door leaving the old man in the deserted gym with an empty can in his hand.
He wished he brought more beer.
~Revelations~
"Shimura! Quit daydreaming and get your ass over here!"
Nana took one last sip of her drink and slowly pulled herself off the bench. After three attempts, Momo had given up on Shimura's bar and moved on to the one that she had been lifting earlier. It was hard to miss the looks of frustration in her eyes. Did she think she could honestly do it? Nana wasn't sure. She was finding out that she really didn't understand the heiress very well.
Nana hoped that over time they could thaw their currently frigid relationship. Nana also hoped that she would be able to keep her sanity if things were as bad as Torino alluded to. Would the training get better over time? Would Nana become more comfortable with the concept of a vanishing social life and a demanding training schedule with a partner who seems to have some sort of grudge against her? Would she learn to trust the HPSC and the plan they would inevitably place before her?
Nana doubted it. Questions like these made her head spin. Questions like these made it awfully easy to feel like she was being swallowed up by a quicksand of anxiety and darkening thoughts.
Thoughts of her past.
Questions like these also made her grateful for her father, despite his stubborn stance regarding the trusting of the commission. At least she knew he had her back
For now, continuing with the training would help her acquire the strength she needed to chase after what she had lost.
There was still one piece of information that Torino had told her on the phone a week after they first met that continued to echo around in her head. One fact that gave her hope and dread at the same time. One fact that could mean everything or nothing.
"Even with whatever quirk was used on the Shimura family there were traces of the family members found on the property. Except for the body of Shimura Tenko. They never were able to confirm that he died that day."
Nana grit her teeth as she pulled the bar up to her chest again. She would find out what happened that day. That was something she had absolutely no doubt about.
Key Player Log:
Fujino Mari. Age: 49.
Kiriyama Kase. Age: 53.
Torino Sorahiko. Age: 66.
Shimura Nana. Age 16.
Yaoyoruzo Momo. Age: 16.
Chapter Notes:
- Nana focused chapter with some HPSC action to start. As the story progresses Mari and some other members of the HPSC will become more prevalent.
- As mentioned, the strength that Nana has is just a mutation caused by OfA impacting the users descendent's. This is the same thing that's impacting Tomura's speed or "boosts".
- Was planning on having an Izuku section at the end but felt the chapter would be too long so he'll be up first next time with some more Aizawa scenes later.
Thanks for reading and see you next time!