Right, I'm back. Sorry it's been six months since I've last updated. My grandmother died of COVID just back in December, and I've just been losing more and more motivation to write until a few weeks ago. But I'm back, and I should have the next chapter out sometime during the middle of June. Maybe. Hopefully.
By the way, the next anime/game-only that tries to say Made In Heaven caused Steel Ball Run and JoJolion will only be getting a Google link because they can't be bothered to look up the answer themselves.
XIII: Incipient, Part I
"Ah, good morning, young Fumikage."
From his place on the stairs, Fumikage Tokoyami looked up to see a the familiar form of a lanky (though much less so compared to a year prior) blond man standing in the kitchen by himself and holding a mug of coffee. "Ancestor," he greeted in reply, standing up and making his way to join him. "What brings you by?"
Toshinori stared at him for a moment before he spoke. "...You know you don't have to keep calling me that, right? Just Toshinori works. Or even Jonathan."
Even after knowing about it for close to a year now, the knowledge that the Symbol of Peace himself had at one point lived as his ancestor was still quite heavy for Fumikage to wrap his head around.
When Jōshirō had first arrived come over for dinner one evening with a stranger named Toshinori Yagi in tow, he had assumed that the man was just a work colleague from the Speedwagon Foundation, but when he suddenly stood up and grew in size and muscle mass after dinner, Fumikage was left reeling with confusion, along with more than a little skepticism at hearing that reincarnation was proven to exist, mainly because of his atheistic upbringing.
But then All Might ended up talking about things like growing up in England, learning something called the Ripple, fighting Dio, that at the end of it all, Fumikage ended up with so many questions.
Were there more Joestars running about in the world?
What were the odds of Jonathan Joestar being reborn into a Japanese man?
Did Fumikage have a past life?
"To be honest, I'm still getting used to the idea of being related to you," he replied, taking a sip of water.
(Not to mention there was a certain aesthetic to it, but he wasn't about to admit it out loud.)
"I think it's pretty damn funny," his Quirk whispered in his mind, before manifesting and resting an elbow on top of his head.
"And Dark Shadow also finds it humorous," Fumikage added.
And then there was the nature of his Quirk. Being the only member of the Joestar-Kūjō bloodline to possess a Quirk that even remotely resembled a Stand, Fumikage welcomed the similarities, and even made it his life's goal to carry on his family's unspoken legacy as a Pro Hero.
While it was one thing for him to be the only one to understand Dark Shadow, it was also discovered that his Quirk shared the exact same vocabulary as his ancestor Jōtarō Kūjō's Star Platinum, it placed more than a little pressure on his shoulders.
Fumikage Tokoyami had a lot to live up to.
"Fair enough," Toshinori shrugged, and a few moments of mildly-awkward silence passed before he spoke again. "Have...have things been well, so far? I understand you must be shaken up from the attack."
In all honesty, the attack hadn't been too bad, to say the least. Sure, there had been the initial fear and adrenaline rush when he and Kōda had been warped to that burning city, but Dark Shadow made quick work of the Villains that surrounded them, not to mention the various rats, insects, and other pests that helped subdue any stragglers.
Fumikage took a deep breath. "I'm mostly fine. I'm not sure about the others, but I feel mostly fine."
Toshinori just looked at him with a look of concern for a moment before he nodded. "Of course. But if you need to, you always have the choice to talk to someone about it."
At that moment, the bathroom door at the end of the hallway opened to reveal Jōshirō sporting his usual hat and long, gray coat. "By the way, Fumikage," he began. "Were you able to find anything out about your classmate during the attack?"
Fumikage shook his head. "No. A Villain with a warp Quirk sent us to different places."
Jōshirō hummed and made his way over to the coffee machine. "Well, you might get a chance in two weeks, because the principal's given the go-ahead to host the Sports Festival."
"Giorno..." began the ethereal voice. "It's all right. From the moment when I first met you in Napoli, to when I finally turned my back on the famiglia...I was supposed to die that day...but you managed to keep me going, if only just a little bit longer. Thank you." At this, the spirit of Bruno Bucciarati began to float higher and higher into the sky, but not before turning back to look at Izuku with a peaceful smile on his face.
All Giorno could do was continue staring on in silence at the scene in front of him. Even though only a week had passed since his initial fight with Bucciarati and his introduction into Passione, there was already so much that had happened since: from finding friends and comrades in his teammates, him discovering more about Gold Experience, Trish awakening her own Stand...
But it was all thanks to Bruno, his brief mentor, his friend, that Izuku was finally so, so close to fully realizing his dream, to being one step closer to defeating and overthrowing Passione's Boss once and for all.
Part of him felt immense guilt for causing the chain of events that led to Abacchio, and Narancia losing their lives in the process (and in Bruno's case, extending it for a short while), but now wasn't the time to be mourning them.
A sharp gasp of pain to his left broke Giorno out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Mista's body about to come into contact with the stone pavement, causing him to reach out and catch him, before gently setting him down onto the ground.
"Hey, Giorno..." Mista began. "...it worked. Bucciarati...he did it..." he let out a weak chuckle, before immediately coughing as more blood forced its way out his throat and onto his shirt, prompting Izuku to move and ordered Gold Experience to begin healing his injuries. But just a few moments after some of Mista's wounds began to close up, he found his attention drawn back towards the sky.
"Bucciarati..."
"Bucciarati's still at the Colosseum, but he'll be back soon," Mista interjected, but Giorno paid him no mind, as he watched as the Bruno's ethereal form slowly begin to merge with the surrounding clouds, with one of the most peaceful expressions he had ever seen on a person.
"You don't need to worry about me," the man spoke, sparing one last glance back. "This was always supposed to happen. Please...continue watching out for everyone...and give them my regards if you can. Goodbye, Giorno..."
The clouds began to surround him at the same time as the rest of his body seemingly began to dissolve into the air, until finally, there was nothing to be seen but the golden-like sheen of the clouds. Izuku, having suddenly reached out to the sky in awe at the display, saw the clouds envelop his arm, and it was to his shock that he felt something solid come into contact with his hand, and when the clouds finally dispersed, revealed exactly what it was he was holding.
The Requiem Arrow.
Bucciarati's final act of assistance.
But it wasn't over just yet. With Trish and everyone else in the surrounding area having been returned to their bodies, the threat of Diavolo was still at large, so the battle still had yet to reach its conclusion.
"Bucciarati..." Giorno whispered. "Thank-"
"-you for the food," Izuku mumbled.
Throughout the rest of the table, his friends began to dig in their meals with earnest, but quickly enough, it was Ochako who first noticed how something was off when she turned and saw he wasn't exactly paying any attention, because he continued to just stare at his plate. His palm was also resting on top of his chopsticks, like he was moving to pick them up, but then suddenly stopped for some reason.
"Um, Izuku?" she asked. "Izuku...? Are you okay?" At her words, everyone else's attention shifted from their own meals to Izuku's almost-still form, wondering what was going on with him.
"What, you regret not getting katsudon instead or something?" Katsuki snorted, but when he didn't get the reaction he expected, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Deku? You good?" He tapped Izuku's arm twice with the back of his hand, which finally seemed to break him out of his stupor.
Izuku blinked. "...Huh?" he startled, and looked around the table to see everyone staring at him, before realizing what exactly it was he was doing and finally grabbed his chopsticks. "Oh. Sorry about that." As he was shoveling rice into his mouth, Ochako and Katsuki briefly shared a look of concern, before turning back to him.
"Izuku?" Ochako tentatively asked. "Is everything all right?" He didn't really seem too shaken-up from the incident two days before, but mental trauma did affect everyone differently (and she also never noticed any signs when she came for dinner at his place and oh gosh, she must be a terrible girlfriend if she never thought about how he was feeling and what would her parents think of her and-).
"I...I guess there's just been a lot on my mind, that's all," Izuku replied.
Several more seconds of silence passed throughout the group before Tenya added in his own two cents. "You know, Midoriya-kun," he began, with his voice low. "It's okay to be scared. I would have never expected to have to deal with a Villain attack so soon, but this is what we signed up for. I understand there are some things that are too personal to share with friends, but I highly recommend at least talking to the guidance counselor."
Izuku really wanted to dissuade everyone's thoughts and clear things up, but ultimately decided it just wasn't worth the effort. "I appreciate it, Iida-kun," he said with a smile. Tenya nodded, and with that, everyone went back to focusing on their meals, but Izuku was left back to his thoughts. For some reason or another, he couldn't remember what it was he was so lost in thought about, but it had to have been something interesting, he knew that much, at least.
Sighing, he went back to finishing his rice, and hoped that they'd be able to get back to training since-
Arrivederci, Giorno...
His eyes widened.
There. That. What was that voice he was hearing? It was undoubtedly male, but...it sounded ethereal, in a way. And was that Italian?
Being an average Japanese teenager with a barely-intermediate knowledge of English, Izuku barely knew any other foreign languages (well he could read some Chinese, but that was a different story altogether), so why would he be having random thoughts in Italian?
But seeing as how the internet and pop culture were things that existed (not to mention the fact that Nintendo was still kicking after all this time), he'd obviously recognize it as the word for 'goodbye', but he was also reminded of a similar experience some time ago, although he couldn't remember exactly what it was.
But more importantly, who the hell was Giorno?
"So this is the famous Class 1-A," Hitoshi Shinsō drawled, as he forced his way to the front of the crowd that stood in front of the classroom. "Gotta say, I'm not exactly impressed."
Katsuki only continued to stare at him with a raised eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Hitoshi smirked as he stepped closer. "I've seen your type before, the way you carry yourself. You think just because you survived a Villain attack that you're hot shit?"
At the mention of the USJ incident, Izuku noticed Ochako stiffen out of the corner of his eye, to which he gently grabbed her hand and squeezed it, causing her to relax and look back to him with a grateful smile.
"You probably don't know this," Hitoshi continued. "But a lot of the people in General Studies are only there because they couldn't get into the Hero Course. If someone from the General Studies Course ends up doing well in the Sports Festival, there's a chance of getting transferred into the Hero Course, but since there's only nineteen of you, then that means it's guaranteed. And make no mistake, I will be taking that spot."
A few moments of tense silence passed before Mina piped up. "Well, as long as you're not a perv like Mineta, then I guess I'll root for you." The rest of the girls and most of the boys murmured their agreement at her comment.
Histoshi turned his gaze back to Katsuki. "You may have gotten the top score in the entrance exam, but don't think it gives you an excuse to be arrogant. Just letting you know." With that, he turned back around and walked through the crowd, leaving a a rather loud student from 1-B called Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu to take his place.
Later during the evening...
At Takoba Municipal Beach Park, Toshinori had spent several minutes walking along the shoreline thinking to himself, when he spotted the familiar figures of Izuku and and Katsuki walking towards him. With a brief wave, he made his way over to join them. "Thank you for coming," he greeted.
"Well, it's not like we would've said no," Katsuki replied, with Izuku nodding in agreement.
Toshinori laughed. "I guess not. You said you wanted to ask me something back at school, right?"
"Yeah," Katsuki replied. A moment passed where he closed his eyes and breathed in, before he opened them. "Some of the others in 1-A...they're saying you killed someone at USJ. Is it true?"
Izuku sharply turned to Toshinori in alarm.
Toshinori sighed. "There's...a whole lot you two don't know about," he explained. "Especially when it comes to what happened there. I know how it looks, but I can promise you that thing wasn't human. Not anymore, at least. All I can tell you is that it's being looked into by the higher-ups." After a few moments of ominous silence, he shook his head. "But enough about that! The Sports Festival is coming up! Exciting, isn't it?" At the two boys' enthusiastic nods, he continued.
"Well, I'm sure you already know the entire point of it is for the students to get internships with the Pros, but it's also so you can make your mark and tell the world 'I am here!' It's your first step to coming into your own as Heroes." Here, his expression grew But also, after the attack on the USJ, the League of Villains and other groups are starting to mobilize, and that's something I won't be able to help you with for long."
"Wait. what do you mean?" Katsuki demanded. "Aren't you the strongest hero? Why can't you just-"
"Kid, I'm pushing fifty," he interrupted, palm raised in front of him. "Even if I still have all my organs back, I can't keep doing this forever. I can only keep this up for maybe another ten, maybe twelve years before my body won't be able to handle my Quirk anymore."
"What's gonna happen to One For All, then?" Izuku asked.
Toshinori raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell you actually want it, after all."
"No, not that," Izuku replied, quickly shaking his head. "But wasn't the entire point of you coming to U.A. was because you needed to find a successor?"
Toshinori sighed and looked up into the night sky. "To be honest, with everything that's been going on, I honestly forgot about that. I only needed to find the next user because of my time limit, but since I can stay-" He pushed One For All through his body. "-like this indefinitely-" As quick as it came, he deactivated it, shrinking back down. "I don't know if I need to anymore." He turned to Izuku and Katsuki. "I told you how One For All stockpiles power, right?"
At both of their nods, he continued. "Well, because Quirks in general are getting stronger by the generation, that ends up making mine an eighth-generation Quirk. It's the strongest it's ever been, and with each user that comes after me, it'll only keep exponentially getting stronger until a user ends up killing themselves after their first punch."
"Oh...oh that's right, you mean the Quirk Singularity," Izuku said quietly. "I never thought about it like that."
Toshinori hummed. "Yeah...that's why I wanted to talk to you two in private. Because there will come a time where I'm going to be retiring." Dramatically, he turned back around and pointed to the two boys. "And eventually, I want you two to take up my mantle as the Symbol of Peace."
Izuku and Katsuki said nothing as they only looked at him in shock.
"Well, not the Symbol of Peace exactly," he backtracked. "They might end up calling you 'The Second Symbols' or something like that, but I want you to have your own identities. You obviously don't have to tell me what ideas you have right away, but I just want you to keep that in mind for the future."
"I mean...Symbol of Victory does sound pretty catchy," Katsuki admitted. Izuku, meanwhile, looked like he was in deep thought, which Toshinori caught.
"Something on your mind, Young Midoriya?"
"Yeah, I just..." Izuku looked up. "All Might...do you know anyone called Giorno Giovanna?"
I promise part 2's gonna be the actual Sports Festival.
Tokoyami being the only one to understand Dark Shadow while everyone else hears "Ora" just seemed too funny for me to pass up (and also because I wanted another parallel to Jotaro besides Joshiro as a character).
To Deadrose (Guest): There will be more of Team Bucciarati showing up, but I'm not gonna tell you who and in what capacity. All you need to know is that it's no one in 1-A.
To: D.O sama: In this story, it's both, but Giorno x Trish in the JJBA fandom as a whole is a pretty damn uncommon rarepair because of how homoerotic the characters are shown, even though there's only one confirmed gay couple, and it's heavily implied in-universe that they don't actually dress that way. There's a manga page that says that Gangsters try to dress to blend in with the public, so by that it's easy enough to think that everyone actually just wears normal clothing and that the way Araki draws them is just for the reader's viewing pleasure. Same goes for poses.