Yoshihara expected a lot of things when it came to Midoriya's mother. What she hadn't expected was for her to be so nice. Then again considering just what kind of person Midoriya seemed to be, for Inko Midoriya to be practically the same should've come as no surprise to her. "Thank you," Yoshihara said as Inko took a step back and over to the left, giving Yoshihara room to enter the apartment.
When she did, Yoshihara slipped off her jacket and held it in her hands, looking for the nearest place to put it. Next to the entrance was a coathanger made of metal. It was convenient to say the very least. Hanging up her leather jacket, Yoshihara turned to face Inko, a semi-apologetic look on her face. "I know I'm a little early. Sorry about that."
"There's no need to apologize! You're alright," Inko placated, smiling as she clapped her hands in front of herself. Her smile was beyond infectious, something that Yoshihara was admittedly jealous of. She always wondered how anyone could have that kind of positivity about them. It had illuded her for all of her life, so to see others show it without a care in the world made her feel insecure about herself. At least in that regard.
"I see. Thank you, Midoriya-san," Yoshihara said, bowing ever so slightly, before standing up straight. "By the way, is Midoriya-kun here? I had thought he would be. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to go out on the weekends. No offence," Yoshihara said as Inko brought her hands to her side, nodding.
"None taken. And no, Izuku isn't home at the moment. Normally you'd be correct, but as of recently, he's gotten himself a personal trainer. About an hour ago I got a text from him saying he was still at the beach, and that if you came here to let you in. He had expected you to be early. Something about you "giving off that kind of energy" so to speak," Inko replied as Yoshihara hummed.
…
"Izuku's analysis of people being right. What a shocker…" Bakugo drawled as Izuku laughed sheepishly.
"Yeah…"
"Well, at least Ms. Midoriya and Kira are getting along so far," Ochako said, "I don't know why but I was a little worried they wouldn't."
"Oh please, unless I thought Izuku would be in danger from being around someone, I'm always nice and cordial with others. It's always polite to be polite," Inko said, smiling.
…
She supposed that she did give off that kind of vibe, didn't she? Yoshihara never was the kind of person to mess around, nor want to be late to things that she had planned in advance. She was always straightforward and to the point. If she had an agenda, she made it clear to all of those who needed to know—which wasn't many people. She wasn't a big fan of wasting time like a lot of others were. If there was something that needed to be done, it would get done.
After all, in the past, she wasn't often afforded time to joke around and waste time. Nine times out of ten if she wanted something done, it needed to be quick. Else she would never get the chance to get what she wanted done in time. While it sounded like a broken record, living on the streets tended to drive home the fact that time was a valuable thing. And if there was one thing that she valued more than anything else, it was time. The less of it she wasted, the better.
It was why she had a lot of habits that pertained to using up her time as effectively as possible. It was why she had a routine. It was why she never wasted even a second on something useless. It was why she hyper-focused on tasks and made sure to get things done. There was one thing you simply couldn't get back, and that was time. That was why her mentality when it came to doing things was the way it was.
…
DIO rumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes. He was still trying to understand how Kira acted, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't put it together. There was still information he was missing—he knew it, but that little snippet was interesting.
They shared a mindset in regards to time. Wasting time was simply not allowed, especially when there was limited time in a day. Humans had more time in the day to act rather than a Vampire, so it meant double for him.
"So far, this Kira person is a straightforward type of individual, who values their time and prefers to avoid conflict if possible, either by not getting involved outright, or getting rid of the problem entirely, most likely driven by how they were homeless… Interesting, and familiar…. Uncomfortably so…"
That was something that was bugging DIO. Just how similar this girl was to him, and how dissimilar they were at the same time. Then again, a lot of people have crappy upbringings, so he chalked it up to that.
…
She was getting sidetracked. This wasn't important, at least right now. "I see. Well, it's not like I'm not obvious about it. Even at school, I'm early to hand things in. So maybe he noticed that about me and applied that to how I work outside of school. He wouldn't be wrong to assume that," Yoshihara said as Inko chuckled softly to herself.
Yoshihara's eyes wandered over to where the older woman had pointed, as her smile faded away into a neutral expression. The kitchen was clean, almost too clean for Yoshihara's liking. If one were to look into the wooden cabinets decorating the walls of the porcelain room, one would see their reflection glistening off of it. The counters were clean and the sinks were empty of any possible dishes.
In other words, it was clean. Too clean. Then again, perhaps her standards were just that low for what she considered to be "clean". That was most likely the case, although she was still on edge after what Kujo had told her. But, then again, there was no need for her to think she was in danger.
So far, Yoshihara's overall impression of the Midoriya Matriarch was that of a good mother and a clean freak. It wasn't bad, mind you, far better than what her poor excuse of a mother had been—dare she even call that wench a mother—by a fair margin.
"Thank you, Midoriya-san," Yoshihara said as Inko waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh, please, no need to thank me. Oh, and by the way, you can call me Inko. Midoriya-san is too formal. I've never been a fan of formalities," Inko replied as Yoshihara nodded.
"Then you can call me Kira-chan. It's better than the other nickname my Guardian calls me. That and Kira-san makes me sound old," Yoshihara replied as Inko raised an eyebrow.
"Guardian? What about your parents?" Inko asked as Yoshihara glanced at the floor, a displeased look on her face, which Inko caught on to quickly. "O-oh, touchy subject, got it, my apologies," Inko said, stiffening, a look of concern on her face as Yoshihara sighed.
"It's fine. You couldn't have known," Yoshihara said, looking back at Inko.
"Well, take a seat, I'll get you something to drink," Inko said before trotting off to the kitchen. Yoshihara looked around herself once again, before sitting down on the couch that faced the hallway next to the kitchen. Her overall opinion of the house was that, despite its size, it was rather cozy. It reminded her of the suite that she lived in, just less spaced out and more compact.
Peering down the hallway that was in front of her, Yoshihara was able to make out several rooms—most likely bedrooms—two on each side of the hallway. She guessed that the one on the far right was Inko's, as the one on the far left, across from that one, was obviously Midoriya's, given that it had a sign on the door that said: "Izuku's Room – Don't enter without knocking."
Yoshihara couldn't help but snicker to herself. It was parts funny that Midoriya felt the need to put a sign on his door, and also parts interesting that he felt like he had to. From what she knew, it wasn't like he had any friends outside of her. Maybe his mother was prone to walking in on him? If that was the case, then Yoshihara found that quite funny.
Speaking of Inko Midoriya, she had come back from the kitchen with two cups of tea. The cup placed in front of Yoshihara was plain—just a simple white mug with nothing attached to it. The liquid within was plain, regular tea with no additives, save for perhaps honey due to its sweet smell.
Muttering a thank you, Yoshihara took the tea and watched as Inko sat down in front of her placing both of her hands in her lap as she did so. She took a sip of the tea and immediately felt warm afterward. While she was more of a coffee person, tea was still something she'd have if there was no coffee.
It was ironic, all things considered. Not but a few months ago, eight if she were counting right, she had never so much as tasted coffee or tea before. She had been far too broke to afford either, let alone proper food. Yet now, she had a preference. It would be funny if it weren't so depressing.
Looking at Inko, Yoshihara was already able to make a key few traits about the woman just by how she sat. It was thanks to her being able to read others' movements and memorize how they acted—yet again, another thing she picked up on after living on the streets for most of her life.
It was plain as day that Inko held herself to a high standard when around guests. The way she sat proved that showing that, while she was giving off the presence of a host, she also didn't think too highly of herself to believe herself able to command a situation should something come to pass. However, there was a contrast there in how she sat, with how her eyes focused on Yoshihara.
What Yoshihara saw in the eyes of Inko Midoriya was a mix of concern, worry, apprehension, yet also joy. Concern for who Yoshihara was as a person. Worry for the obvious—Midoriya was a teenager, and so was she, and they were both of the opposite sex. Not that she needed to be worried about that, of course. Apprehension because, of course, Yoshihara was a stranger and therefore a level of distance needed to be maintained. However, it was the joy part that caught Yoshihara off guard.
Self-admitted, Yoshihara was not exactly the best to pick up on emotions. That was always something that she would be bad at reading. Not abysmal, mind you, but still bad. If she were to guess, the reason why Inko was joyful was because Midoriya had someone over. It must've been a long time since he had a guest over, so that was her assumption.
"So, Kira-chan, I heard both you and my son applied to U.A.," Inko began their conversation with a rather basic question. One that had a simple answer.
"Yes. Funnily enough, it was the day when he applied that we met," Yoshihara replied as Inko blinked in surprise.
"Oh? Then why didn't he say anything earlier? I would've had you over sooner had I known," Inko said as Yoshihara shrugged.
"Dunno. I guess because both of us were busy, training and whatnot. I also have a job at the building I live in, so I guess I never really had time until today. I guess it was the same with him." As Yoshihara said that, she took another sip of her tea.
It was true that Midoriya had been busy. That much was glaringly obvious. After all, it was because of his Quirklessness that he needed to work harder than most. Midoriya was, without any offence meant to him, a meek, and physically weak teen with no Quirk, and therefore, because of that, he had an upward hill to traverse.
He had aspirations of being a hero without the body nor the power to have it. It didn't help that he was timid and jumpy. If he wanted to be a hero, he would have to grow out of his comfort zone. And considering that he still stammered when talking to girls… Well, it was safe to assume that it would take a lot of effort to shake him off his shyness.
…
"I can attest to that," Kyoka said.
"Is this just gonna be a roast session?" Izuku asked, glancing at his friends with a bemused look.
"No! It's just that…you were very shy, dude. You could barely speak full sentences around me, at least not without sounding like Porky Pig."
"This is a roast session."
"It's a roast with love!"
Gyro snorted, patting Izuku on the shoulder. "That sums up her sense of humour quite nicely, Nyo ho! You just gotta accept that this is the price to pay for being friends with the likes of us."
Inko chuckled to herself as she watched her son's friends continue to poke at him, not with cruelty or judgment, but with affection. Just like the Izuku on screen, her son had a rough life with a very small amount of people he could truly call friends, mercilessly belittled to the point of tears.
Here, she could tell that he was among people who saw him as the kind, reliable, and brave boy he was.
'A roast with love indeed.'
…
It was then that Yoshihara was pulled out of her thoughts by Inko speaking up. "So… Aside from meeting him when you applied for U.A., how exactly did your meeting go, I know my son can be a little… jumpy at times, and I don't want you to get the wrong impression of him, so…?" Inko asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.
"I'm surprised he didn't tell you. Our initial meeting happened after an incident between himself and a few others," Yoshihara said as Inko's eyes widened ever-so-slightly.
"An incident…? What do you mean?"
"Does she even know what's happening at Aldera?" Yoshihara thought, her expression twisting into that of discomfort. If she didn't know what was happening to her son at school, then either a massive case of miscommunication was happening, or… "No, I can't assume the worst just because of my own experiences. Give the woman the benefit of the doubt." She thought, her contemplative expression changing to a frown.
"Er… Kira-chan? Are you okay?" Inko questioned, her eyebrow raising as Yoshihara cleared her throat, adjusting herself in her seat and putting down her cup of tea.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Yoshihara apologized as she straightened out her posture while resting her hands on her legs. "Well… I met Midoriya-kun in the hallway at school. When I saw him at first, he was getting picked on by some of his classmates. I didn't see what it was fully about, but after I saw him I wanted to cheer him up. So I took him to the side, and we talked," Yoshihara responded, a faint smile on her face as Inko covered her mouth in shock.
That practically confirmed to Yoshihara that Inko had no idea what had been going on at Aldera. It was weird because she would have assumed that Midoriya would've told his mom everything. But, then again, given that he was as shy as he was, he probably didn't want to upset his mom with that kind of information.
"When I saw him like that, I got the impression he didn't have many friends, so I decided that I was going to be his," Yoshihara continued as Inko lowered her hand, glancing at the floor. Seeing this, Yoshihara continued, trying to change the subject. "Although that technically wasn't the first time I saw Midoriya. The actual first time was when I saw that video where he saved that blond boy's life—Bakugo if remember his name correctly—with the help of All Might. In fact, that was the reason why I wanted to meet him… because I thought what he did was cool," Yoshihara explained, unaware of the slight red hue that made itself apparent on her face.
When she felt the heat on her cheeks, she pushed it down. It was weird that she felt that. She didn't understand why, but it had been happening a few times when she thought about Midoriya, and his actions that day. It was cool, so maybe that was it.
Yet again, she was broken out of her thoughts by Inko speaking up. "Izuku is getting… bullied?" Inko asked, a look of worry on her face as Yoshihara folded her arms across her chest.
"Yeah…" Yoshihara began, before sighing. "Well, actually, I wouldn't call it just "getting bullied." I'd say it like it is, and that's when he gets full-on assaulted by some of the other students. I think it has to do with the fact that he's Quirkless. I take it he doesn't tell you anything, right?" Yoshihara asked as Inko looked away, her expression dripping with concern.
"I had my suspicions, and I've asked him if anything was happening at school multiple times, but… he never tells me anything. I think it's because he doesn't want me to worry, but… at the same time…" Inko said, looking down at the floor as Yoshihara's frown deepened.
She hadn't planned to cause the Inko any stress, at least any more than she had already had by being in her home, but that wasn't what she was thinking about. Yoshihara could understand not telling a parent a detrimental secret like a job one was embarrassed about, or having wasted all of one's money on candy at the corner store, but something like being bullied? Why on Earth would anyone not tell their parents that they're getting bullied?
It was something that she just didn't understand. Why even put up with that sort of thing? Yes, she knew Aldera as a school sucked. But even still, even if he got in trouble, why didn't he stand up for himself? Maybe it was because of his own image of his self-worth being the problem, but still.
Why would he let himself get bullied? "It just doesn't make sense…. Unless he thought that he deserved it?" Yoshihara thought, her frown forming into a half-serious scowl. No. There was no way that he genuinely believed he deserved the treatment he was receiving at the hands of everyone else. That was just pure lunacy.
…
"Izuku, I swear to God that better not have been why you didn't tell anyone about you being bullied…" Johnny said, glancing over to Izuku, who shrunk into himself.
"Um…"
"Izuku!"
As Johnny shook Izuku back and forth like a ragdoll, Inko frowned. Not at the actions happening, but at the fact that Izuku would've thought that remotely. That only went to show just how poorly he must've been treated at school.
'Poor Izuku… I'm so sorry…'
…
Pushing that aside, Yoshihara looked back at Inko, her expression returning to a neutral one as she spoke. "Are you okay, Inko? Do you need me to get you something?" Yoshihara asked as Inko looked back at her, a forced smile on her face.
"I… I'm sorry Kira-chan, I shouldn't be moping about like this. It's just… I wish I heard this information coming from my son rather than from someone he just met a day ago," Inko said, a sigh escaping her lips. "Well, on the bright side, at least he has you and Katsuki, so that's a plus," Inko said as Yoshihara bit her lip.
"Here we go…." Yoshihara thought, inhaling deeply, "About that…" Yoshihara said while exhaling, glancing over her shoulder as Inko raised an eyebrow.
"What… what do you mean? You're not seriously about to accuse my friend's son of being a bully?" Inko asked, a fierce gleam in her eyes as Yoshihara unfolded her arms and drooped them across her lap, her expression dropping as she looked Inko dead in the eyes. There was something… defensive in that sentence that she had spoken that had ticked her off.
How had she not noticed the bullying and torment coming from Bakugo? Midoriya might not've known that she had seen it, but there was a burn mark on his shoulder that stretched all the way to the base of his neck, only barely being obscured by the collar of his uniform.
Yoshihara could only assume was the result of Bakugo placing his hand there whilst activating his Quirk. There were probably other bruises and burns all over his body, and not once did Inko ever find it suspicious that they were there. While she was assuming Inko had seen them, when you live in the same house as the person who is actively being bullied by people, and you know that said person knew another person whose Quirk was directly tied to blowing things up, the burn scars that covered that person's body should tell them just who the culprit was.
What made things worse was that she claimed to be friends with the parents of Bakugo Katsuki, which meant she had to know something about what was going on. Yoshihara wasn't going to accept the fact that she was just that dense. A parent should be more diligent about the going-ons of their child, and if she didn't put the dots together, that meant that either she was blissfully ignorant of Bakugo and what he was doing or, the more heinous of the two ideas, she was maliciously aware of what Bakugo was doing and ignoring it.
…
"I didn't really know how to process it either," Inko said, frowning. "I…don't know if I'd immediately go into denial though, if anything I'd go to Mitsuki."
"And I'd be six feet under," Katsuki muttered.
"Well, people have slight, or even major differences between universes," Gyro commented, tapping his forehead. "There could be a reality where I'm the same exact guy, except I have a giant mole on my forehead, or there could be another where I'm an asshole."
"So one reality where you have a mole, and this one, got it." Kyoka quipped, earning a glare from the Italian.
"I doubt that this version of you is a very drastic change, you seem to be roughly the same," Jotaro said, turning to Inko. "Then again…the Joestar Family Tree is all screwed up, so anything is possible."
…
Again, however, she had to give Inko the benefit of the doubt. She couldn't just say that Inko was a lousy parent. In fact, from what she had seen from her, she'd say that she was an exceptional parent—at least, in her eyes and standards. And while granted her standards weren't all that high, being the bare minimum, it was still better than nothing.
But, just because she was seemingly a good parent didn't mean it was okay that she either didn't or couldn't have seen the bullying going on between Bakugo and Midoriya. She had to have known something, even if it was small. It was too big for her to ignore.
"I may not know much about your son, nor do I know his relationship with Bakugo, or "Kacchan," or what-have-you, but I know what I saw. Midoriya-kun was being threatened by Bakugo, and I stepped in to stop it. And unless Midoriya-kun has a habit of pissing Bakugo off on purpose to get that sort of reaction, I hate to say it, but Bakugo seems to be just as bad as the others I saw assault Midoriya-kun when we met," Yoshihara explained as Inko faltered.
"But that doesn't make sense. They've been friends since pre-school. I would've seen or heard something from either of them if something was going on. I know those two like the back of my hand…" Inko replied as Yoshihara rested her elbow on the armrest of the chair she sat in and then rested her cheek on the knuckles of her hand.
"Apparently, there are just some things that escaped your view. It happens, believe me. I would know," Yoshihara said as Inko deflated, a sullen look on her face.
"I see. I'm sorry. It's just, I don't understand… why am I not hearing this from my son? Instead, I'm hearing it from someone I just met. Does… does he not trust me?" Inko questioned as Yoshihara shook her head.
"No, I don't think he doesn't trust you. In fact, I think he trusts you more than he trusts even All Might. The problem is the fact that he's shy, and he doesn't want to trouble you or make you worry, kind of like what you said earlier. I doubt you're a bad parent, Inko. All I'm saying is that perhaps you should have a talk with him about what is happening with him at school," Yoshihara suggested as Inko smiled.
"Thank you, Kira-chan," Inko said, the smile on her face dropping and her eyes widening as if she had just remembered something crucial. "Oh! I just remembered. I wanted to ask you a few questions if you don't mind?" Inko asked, changing the subject.
"Sure, I don't mind. What is it?" Yoshihara replied as Inko reclined in her seat, her expression returning to that of the content smile that it had been before.
"Thank you. You see, my son is a bit of a Quirk nerd, as am I from time to time, so, if you don't mind me asking, what's your Quirk?" Inko asked as Yoshihara hummed, her expression remaining neutral as she contemplated her answer.
She couldn't tell her that she was a Stand User, that much was obvious. It wasn't because she was suspicious of Inko, nor that she trusted her—though, given that she just met her, it would be understandable if she hadn't. Rather, her reasoning for not telling Inko that she did not possess a Quirk and rather a "Stand" was far simpler.
Simply put: Yoshihara didn't want to expose a secret like that to some random woman she had just met. For starters, she would be stupid to expose someone who, for as far as she knew, had no connections to the world beyond Quirks to that world. And second of all, Kujo had said that Stands were supposed to be secret. Ergo, she was doing her part in keeping it secret.
That, however, left Yoshihara in a tricky situation. If she wasn't going to tell Inko that she was a Stand User, then what was she going to say to her? Well, once again, the answer was simple. She was going to lie. Well, not lie per se. It was more of a white lie than anything. But, a lie nonetheless.
"I'm Quirkless," Yoshihara replied as Inko blinked a few times, shock evident in her expression and voice as she spoke.
"Oh? Your Quirkless? I never would've guessed. I mean, it's rare to see another Quirkless child. The chances of that happening are, what, a 1 in 100,000 chance? I know it fluctuates from country to country, but here it's pretty rare. That explains why you and my Izuku became friends, then, right?" Inko asked as Yoshihara rubbed the back of her neck.
"Partly. While yes that had something to do with my choice to be his friend, most of it had to do with him simply needing one. He's a nice guy, sometimes too nice in my opinion, and it's probably why he gets bullied more often than not. But, hey, price to pay for being kind to others. Even to those who don't deserve it," Yoshihara said, a slight frown forming on her face, which in turn earned her a raised eyebrow.
"That being said, I sympathize with Midoriya. Before I started standing my ground, I was walked all over by others. Students and grown men alike. It was worse because of my gender. But, that's changed now. I want to help Midoriya get a bit of a backbone so that when he makes it to U.A., he'll be able to grow and be able to stand up to those who'll try to put him down," Yoshihara continued as Inko smiled.
"That's really sweet of you, Kira-chan. I'm glad that Izuku met you. You seem like a nice girl. I'll admit your appearance at first threw me off, but I'm glad you could prove me wrong. I'm thankful for this chance to talk," Inko said, reaching for a cup of tea. Her hand barely reached the cup, an annoyed look on her face. Then, out of nowhere, in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, a green hand with a red arrow atop the hand came out of Inko's.
…
"...oh."
Izuku was understandably taken aback by the brief look at what was clearly this version of Inko's Stand.
"That was…definitely a tactic to trick Kira into revealing that she herself is a Stand User, right?" Momo asked, narrowing her eyes. "I hate to say it, but this might not be the Mrs. Midoriya we know after all… in a world where most people can't see them, an EXPERIENCED Stand User could easily detect another by exposing theirs."
"Oh my god… Kira's gonna fight my mom." Izuku said, looking at his mother, and back at the screen. "I've never seen my mom fight someone before… this is gonna be weird to watch…"
"It isn't so strange, she's probably going to bat for you," Johnny responded.
"JoJo, your dad has been kicking ass since high school! You're used to seeing him do that stuff!"
"Well, I'm not a fighter," Inko said with a nervous smile. "But… I'd certainly try if I felt you were in danger."
"Yeah… by sitting on them." Susan scoffed, and the next thing she knew, Izuku Midoriya was giving her one of the coldest stares she had ever seen on the kid. He didn't say anything…but the look he was giving her was eerily similar to the one Kyoka gave her when the musician vowed to kill her.
Not exactly killing intent…but it was pretty damn close.
Inko, however, just smiled at her.
"If that's what it takes, I'll do anything for my son! You'd do the same, right?"
Susan blinked, her mouth agape, as Inko turned her attention back to the screen, still smiling as if she wasn't just insulted. Then, of course, Kyoka started chuckling.
"Wow…that was sad," DIO remarked, and Susan angrily gritted her teeth and kept quiet.
…
It was spectral in appearance, like that of a ghost. In that regard, it was very similar to Killer Queen. And just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared when it retrieved Inko's tea cup, placing it in her hand. When it appeared, Yoshihara had to stop herself from going wide-eyed, ensuring the mask didn't slip as her thoughts rapidly converged to a single idea that nearly made her lose her cool.
"Is Inko a… A Stand User?" Yoshihara thought, forcing her expression to remain neutral so as to not show any signs of her having seen the near-invisible hand. If Inko was a Stand User, then would that mean she was in danger? Would that mean she could have to fight her friend's mother?
Did she see through Yoshihara's white lie and play her hand, no pun intended, to show Kira that she knew that she was lying? Was it a gesture to call out a challenge? She knew so very little about the world of Stand Users that she was truly, genuinely, puzzled. What was she to do?
The idea that she had to fight her friend's mother didn't sit right with her. Not one bit. The last thing that she wanted to do was to fight Inko, not least of which being that she was, again, Midoriya's friend. It simply felt wrong to fight Inko. She was such a nice, kind, and caring person that laying so much as a finger on her just felt like the wrong choice to make.
But, if that was the case, if Inko truly was a Stand User, then why hadn't she done something yet? "No, that can't be right. I don't feel any kind of pull to her on a spiritual level like Kujo-san had mentioned back in the hospital. So… are my eyes playing tricks on me?" Yoshihara thought as Inko raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, did you finish your cup of tea, Kira-chan? Would you like another?" Inko asked, her tone of voice carrying a level of innocence that almost felt forced. Of course, that could've been her paranoia telling her that, but still, it didn't feel right. Now that she had seen, well, that, it felt almost as if whatever Inko said or did next was a provocation.
Yoshihara knew better, obviously, but that still didn't shake what she felt to be an aggressive undertone from what Inko had just said. "No, you're being paranoid, again. Stop it. You probably just saw something. Get over yourself," Yoshihara thought, looking up at Inko before politely smiling.
"Oh, no thanks. I still have some in my cup," Yoshihara declined, before glancing down the hallway. She needed a place to think without being seen. That was when an idea struck her, "But, I need to use the bathroom. Can you tell me where it is?" Yoshihara asked as Inko gestured down the hall behind her, pointing at the first door on the left.
"It's just over there," Inko replied as Yoshihara stood up, bowing to her before she walked to where Inko directed her, closing the door behind her when she entered the room. Locking the door, Yoshihara slid down the white-painted wooden door and sat down, legs tucked into her chest as she narrowed her eyes in thought.
"Alright, let's go over the situation…. Inko's nice, if not slightly protective, and she may or may not be a Stand User," Yoshihara thought, frowning as she looked around the bathroom. It was your standard bathroom, with a small bathtub attached to a shower that had been pressed up against a wall with a stained glass curtain that prevented peering eyes from staring.
To the right of the tub was a toilet with what appeared to be a button flusher, and in front of both was a standard-sized sink with a large stone countertop, some drawers and a wall-sized mirror that stopped a foot away from the door so it wouldn't get cracked by the door if it was swung open.
It was a small, quaint bathroom, with nothing too special in it—not that she expected there to be, but still. More importantly, it was a nice, small, quiet place to think without having to worry about privacy.
For starters, she didn't know what she was going to do with the information she had. Did she try to expose Inko for the Stand User that she was? Or, rather, did she pretend she didn't see anything? And that was assuming she was a Stand User.
Was it naïve to believe she wasn't despite seeing what could have only been explained as a Stand? Definitely. But, it was better for her to not have to deal with a battle after just coming out of one just a day ago.
But… if she wasn't given a choice, then she would do what needed to be done. However, if peace could be maintained, she'd try that. Again, assuming that Inko was a Stand User. For all she knew, she could've been seeing things and her paranoia from yesterday was making her see things that didn't exist. After all, she had been thinking about Stands, so it could've been a trick of the eyes.
Ever since she had learned all that information from Kujo, she had become incredibly weary around those she trusted. Not to mention the fact that being a Stand User also brought dangers into her own life, regardless of whether or not she was "safe" at school. Letting out a sigh, she clapped the sides of her face a few times before standing up and walking over to the sink, before promptly looking down at it, her eyes still narrowed.
If what she was seeing was just that, something she was seeing, then what? Did that mean it was someone else's Stand? No, that was too coincidental. That wasn't the case either. Damnit! What the hell am I going to do?!" Yoshihara thought, biting the corner of her lower lip.
She brushed the thought aside and looked at herself in the mirror. In the reflection, she noticed that her eyes looked dead and emotionless. Hollow, with no soul. Blinking a few times, they returned to appearing as if they had light in them, and with that, she turned on the sink. That way, if Inko questioned anything, she would see the wet hands and assume that she had actually used the washroom.
…
"Please tell me I wasn't the only one who saw that," Toga pointed out as Compress snickered.
"No, you were not. How interesting. It seems Kira might have a darker side to her after all…" Compress mused as Dabi snorted.
"Duh, that was obvious from the start. Wonder why her eyes were like that, though. That's not normal, isn't it? Not even for Pillar Men, right?"
"No, it is not," Santana murmured, stroking his chin in thought. Just what could that have meant? 'What are you hiding, Kira Yoshihara?'
From where Josuke sat, he felt his blood run cold. 'She's a psycho. She's gotta be… Oh crap, the Izuku in that universe is in trouble!' Josuke thought, biting the inside of his lip. "You saw that too, right Jotaro?" Josuke whispered as Jotaro grunted.
"Yes. But I'm not casting my judgment yet. Something's not adding up here."
"Same," Aizawa drawled as Josuke frowned.
"Has anyone else?" Josuke questioned as Jotaro glanced at where Johnny at the others were seated. If they had figured something out, Johnny would've said something.
"Doesn't seem like it."
'Damn…' Josuke thought. He wanted to remain optimistic, but those eyes…. They reminded him of Yoshikage. It was way too similar for him to ignore. 'But at the same time, there's still more here. There has to be…' And with that in mind, while he was cautious, he continued to watch.
…
For extra assurance, she flushed the toilet, just in case the "washed hands" didn't seem enough. When that was done, and with all of her worries and concerns thought out—even if she didn't have concrete answers with her—she took in a deep breath, she stepped outside of the bathroom, a calm expression on her face.
Upon exiting the bathroom, at the end of the hallway, she saw Midoriya walk through the door, greeting his mother with a smile. The way he smiled looking at his mom was heartwarming, and it made her jealous. Why did he have to be the one to have a caring mother? "No, stop that…" Yoshihara thought, checking herself from her own thoughts. The last thing that she needed right now was to deal with that.
After a few moments of talking to his mother, saying what his personal trainer recommended for him to start eating and what things to cut out of his diet, mainly most forms of chocolate, when his eyes landed on her, he practically jumped in place, as if he hadn't been expecting her to actually be here.
"Oh, K-Kira-san! I wasn't expecting you to actually come! It's good to see you. How are you doing?" Izuku asked as Yoshihara approached him, watching as Inko slinked away down the hallway. When he first walked through the door, he was wearing a blue-zip-up tracksuit, which was now off. had taken off, revealing a yellow shirt with the kanji for "hero" on the front. He was still wearing the tracksuit pants, along with a pair of black socks.
"Good to see you, Midoriya-kun," Yoshihara said, putting her hands in her pants pockets. "How was the beach?" She asked as a small bead of sweat trailed down the side of Midoriya's face, either from having just gotten home from working out with his personal trainer, or from anxiety. Either or worked.
"O-Oh, it was fine! I'm helping someone clean it up as a part of my training! It sounds mundane, but considering there are at least 100,000 kilograms of stuff on that beach, it's a lot harder than it seems. That and my personal trainer is a bit of a busy body himself, oh, but whoamikiddingitdoesn'treallymatterwhomytrainerisI—"
"Midoriya," Yoshihara said, her voice a little louder than it normally was, interrupting his mumbling, a drop of sweat on her forehead as she looked at him with a concerned gleam in her eyes. "Have you ever considered rapping? I mean, you talk so fast you're practically bred to be one, no offence," Yoshihara said as Midoriya rubbed the back of his head.
"A-Ah, sorry about that, Kira-san, I tend to go overboard when I'm passionate about something…." Midoriya said with a goofy smile on his face as she chuffed, returning his smile with one of her own. What could she say? His smile, much like his mother's, was deeply infectious.
"Understandable. I'll let you finish getting through the door, and then we can go talk somewhere that isn't the doorway," Yoshihara said as she stepped away from the entrance, walking down the hall as Midoriya finished taking off his shoes. Whilst she walked down the hallway, she couldn't help but stop at the doorway to Midoriya's bedroom, which was cracked open just a tiny amount, something it hadn't been before.
Curiosity absorbed Yoshihara as she glanced in through the small crack just to see what was going on. When she peered through the door, she was greeted by Inko touching things seemingly at random. There was a determined expression on her face, like one someone would wear when they were about to do something.
And then came the things that she was touching. Small figurines, pieces of paper, and even a few pencils, pens, and scissors. It was almost erratic behaviour, typically something that a kleptomaniac would do. But, Inko wasn't a kleptomaniac, was she?
…
"Heheheheheheh…"
Izuku shot DIO a look, knowing full well that if the vampire found something about the situation amusing…it wasn't good. DIO met his eyes, a devilish smirk growing on his face.
"Curious behaviour, don't you think?"
"...can you go one 'episode' without rubbing stuff in our faces?"
"It's just, that she's clearly experienced in deception and utilizing the Stand to the best of its ability. Heheheheh…I wonder, has she worked for this world's me? That's the kind of efficiency I like in an assassin."
Izuku bit his lip, annoyed…but knew that since this was an alternate reality, DIO could very well be right. The timeline of events was different on the Joestar side of things so far, who's to say it would be different with everyone else?
So, he just kept watching…wondering how much was truly different from the life he knew.
…
That was when Inko turned to face the door, causing Yoshihara to zip out of sight and over to the bathroom door, assuming a bystander position as she looked down at the floor, her eyebrows knit with confusion.
"What was she doing in there…?" Yoshihara asked herself lowly as Inko walked out of Midoriya's bedroom, glancing over at Yoshihara. Once again, she had a smile on her face, but unlike all the other smiles she had seen on her, this one seemed just a tad bit forced.
"Oh, Kira-chan! I didn't expect to see you there!" Inko said, before rubbing the back of her neck, a somewhat haphazard look on her face. "Just so that you know, I'm heading out for a bit. I'll leave you and Izuku by yourself for a while. If you need anything to eat, just check the fridge. I won't be back for a while. If anything bad happens, my number is on a piece of paper on the fridge, call me!" Inko said as she left the hallway.
"Yeah, that's not normal," Yoshihara concluded, watching as Inko turned the corner. It was bluntly obvious that something was up. It was almost as if she wasn't even trying to hide it anymore. And frankly, it was belittling to her intelligence. She didn't want to think that what was happening was happening, but the more that small, innoxious things like this continued to happen back to back, it was almost as if she was blatantly spelling it out to Yoshihara that something was going to happen.
And yet, despite that, she couldn't bring herself to do something about it. She couldn't bring herself to summon Killer Queen and settle whatever it was that was going on right there and then, just on the off chance that her assumption was wrong. Doubly so now that Midoriya was here.
Yoshihara heard the mumbled voice of Inko speaking to her son outside of the hallway. A moment later, Midoriya began to walk down the hallway as the sound of the front door closing echoed throughout the apartment.
Yoshihara narrowed her eyes in the direction of where Inko left. If something was happening, it was more apparent than ever. And yet again, she was doubting herself. Because there was no way in hell that a woman as nice as Inko would be plotting something nefarious. Right?
"Calm down, it's probably nothing, stop being paranoid," Yoshihara thought as Midoriya looked at her, a confused look on his face.
"Uh, Kira-san, are you okay?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara looked up at him, sighing. "I-Is everything alright? You look a little, uh, stressed," he continued as Yoshihara waved off his concern.
"I'm fine, Midoriya. But, uh, quick question, what is your mother's Quirk?" As she asked that, Midoriya's confusion only doubled, as if to say "why", further compounded by his response.
"Huh? Oh, uh, it's called Attraction Of Small Objects. It allows her to pull small things toward herself when she motions her hand to them. She calls it "the tractor beam wiggle". Uh, in simpler terms, her Quirk's kind of like a magnet. It's nothing special. Why?" Midoriya questioned as Yoshihara hummed.
"Then why would she be touching things at random for no reason?" "Does she usually need to touch something first?" Yoshihara continued her line of questioning as Midoriya hummed, rubbing his chin in thought.
"I… don't know. I've never really paid attention to how her Quirk worked. All I know is what it can do. But, u-uh, again, why?" Midoriya asked, again, as Yoshihara crossed her arms before leaning against the wall.
"Well, that went nowhere. Wonderful," Yoshihara thought, frowning internally."Nothing, just curious," Yoshihara said as she motioned her head to his room. "You wanna talk in your room or—"
"NO!" Midoriya interrupted, causing her to flinch as he blinked, scrambling before chuckling to himself, rubbing the back of his neck with an embarrassed look on his face. "I-I mean, no, I-I, um, don't like other people in my room, it's… uh… an embarrassment thing, er- I mean, well—"
"It's fine. I get it. You just don't want a girl in your room 'cause it makes you feel weird, it's fine. We've all been there," Yoshihara said, playfully jabbing his shoulder as Midoriya stiffened like a rod.
"I-I, Uh, I—"
"Seriously, dude, it's okay," Yoshihara said, deadpanning as she walked past him. As she walked into the kitchen and looked around, checking to see if anything moved before she walked down the hallway, Midoriya followed after her, speaking up as he did so.
"Uh, Kira-san… uh, back at the school, when you attacked Kacchan with your Quirk… what exactly is it? is it some sort of psychic imprint Quirk?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara glanced over her shoulder.
"It's… a bit more complicated than that, but, yeah, sorta," Yoshihara said, turning to face him. "Hey, Midoriya-kun, is there, by any chance, that your mother is a bit of a… neat freak or something?" Yoshihara asked as he tilted his head.
"Uh… not particularly. She knew a guest was coming over, so she cleaned up the house while I was training at the beach. I would've helped if I was home," Midoriya replied as Yoshihara hummed.
"I see… sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions. It's just that, recently, I was attacked in my own home yesterday, so I'm on the bit of the paranoid side as of late," Yoshihara said as Midoriya gasped.
"A villain attacked you! Did the heroes come and help?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara shook her head once in the negative.
"Nope, had to deal with it myself, the heroes couldn't make it there in time, and it was a case of life or death," Yoshihara explained, "from what I know, the villain is in prison, so that's good," Yoshihara finished as Midoriya paled.
"H-How are you not scarred from that?! If I were you, I wouldn't have just left to go to a friend's house the day after!" Midoriya stressed as Yoshihara shrugged, an uncaring look on her face.
…
"Damn, you're really green," Gyro said, and everyone groaned at his pun. "Oh come on, that was clever!"
"Well, aside from the obvious dig at my hair, he's right. I was…pretty naive when it came to the grittier stuff. I had a very black-and-white mindset at the time, but the school year certainly beat that mindset out of me pretty quickly." Izuku replied. "That…and you and my childhood best friend killed the President of the United States, and it was actually a GOOD thing."
Inko blinked. "Wait…this is the first time I've heard about this. What's this about killing the President?"
Johnny and Gyro looked at each other, and then responded in unison:
"It's complicated."
…
"Been through worse, way worse. That's nothing compared to…" Yoshihara paused, biting her lip to stop herself from continuing that line of dialogue. The last thing she wanted to do was to accidentally blabber about one of the things that she had buried. Why she had almost said that she didn't know, because frankly, Midoriya didn't need to know that. She chalked it up to him being so open about things and being a good listener.
She had just met him not even a year ago. The last thing she needed to do was trauma-dump on him. Especially considering everything that had happened. "Let's change the subject, okay?" Yoshihara said as Midoriya nodded.
"Y-Yeah…." Midoriya said as he snapped his fingers, the spark of an idea in his eyes as he spoke. "Uh, what was your inspiration to become a hero?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow. "That is, of course, if you want to tell me…." He continued, chuckling silently to himself as Yoshihara sighed.
She could tell him. Or, she couldn't. It was smarter to not tell him, but the urge to do so was far too heavy on her. Once again, she blamed his openness and his ability to listen. That was one of the many things she liked about Midoriya, was his ability to be a good listener. Of course, she could keep some of the more… personal details to herself, but as for the rest of it, she was all right with telling him.
Her only qualm was him telling this to anybody else. No one, not even Akira knew why she had decided to become a hero, aside from the obvious, that being to get out of the dead-end job that she was in before this whole thing. So, before she continued, she had to get him to promise to not tell anyone.
"If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone?" Yoshihara stated as Midoriya raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… is it that personal? If you don't want to tell me, t-then you don't have to, Kira-san…." Midoriya said as Yoshihara rolled her left shoulder, clearing her throat in the process, before looking back at him with a straight face.
"Midoriya, I know more about yourself than you know about me. I know you want to be a hero because you've always wanted to. I shouldn't keep everything about myself, to myself. Besides, so long as you don't stick your nose deeper than what I'm going to tell you, then I think everything should be fine. Now, do you want to know, or not?" Yoshihara asked as he nodded.
"Y-yeah, if you don't mind, that is," the green-haired boy asked as Yoshihara sighed. She was going to leave out most of the… gross details but she'd tell him the basics. And besides, being honest with him would've been better in the long run.
"Well…"
[Flashback – 4 years ago]
A chilly evening breeze blew through a lone alleyway in the streets of Musutafu. Needles covered the floor as several homeless people wrapped themselves in blankets given to them by a few generous passersby—a rarity, nowadays, what with the populous believing that it was the heroes' job to give handouts to the homeless, and not them.
Sitting in the corner of the dusty, mouldy alleyway, a broad and large box sat all by its lonesome, turned over on its side with the flaps cut off. Within the box laid a few stapled-together newspapers acting as a blanket laid upon a young, blond-haired girl, barely looking a day over ten years old, wearing nothing but scraps for clothing.
She wore a ripped-up T-shirt and a pair of torn blue shorts. The only thing that was truly hers was a golden necklace that hung around the collar of the T-shirt. Her hair was matted and messy, dirt covering parts of her body and her hair as she tried desperately to get some sleep within the box.
There was a sign beside the box. The sign was made of cardboard and written in black felt. The sign read: Will Do Anything for money. It was written sloppily, but it was legible. And by anything, the little girl meant anything. Including "forbidden things" as a few people had questioned her about. It made her the most money from the first time she was asked. The guy paid 10,000 yen, and "gave her the works," as he called it.
It… well, she didn't truly know how to feel. First, he took her back to his place and let her have something to eat before anything, saying, "he was a nice guy." Afterward, he took her up to his room, which was where it all began. He… did things to her. Things that she didn't want to remember. All she fully remembered was that it hurt… it hurt a lot. But at least he was… gentle about it. After he was done, he gave her some money, around 10,000 yen just as he said her would, told her to never talk about it, and left her back in the alleyway.
It flashed in her mind time and time again how he had violated her and how, even though she barely understood it, her brain had made it evident that it was pleasurable, like eating chocolate or drinking yogurt.
Don't get her wrong. She knew what… sex was. How could she not… her mother was surrounded by it and she had personally seen it from that… place she was forced to sleep in for years. She had known what it had felt like before… and those times she especially wanted to forget about it. Every time it happened she felt used. She felt disgusted with herself. She felt like she wanted to die every time.
However, it gave her money… a lot of money. So much money that she could actually buy some clothes, even if they were from the bargain bin. It was miles better than the other clothing she got from the dumpster. Heck, she was able to get some food! Something that she used to have to beg for and… do things for. Of course, the money didn't last. She recently ran out, and now she was back to begging.
…
Kyoka was going to throw up.
It was disgusting, plain and simple. No sensible person would ever think this was okay…even Susan was cringing. A child in the streets, giving out "favors" to sick and twisted assholes…was revolting to no end.
It was unacceptable, and it was everything she stood against. Especially with her own boyfriend's experience with abuse and neglect, stuff like this made her livid. The worst part was, this was an alternate universe, and this shit already happened…it was too late to prevent it, too late to do anything about it.
Johnny was shaking. Even though he had made considerable progress…no one is ever free from their scars. What Yoshihara went through is ten times worse than anything Susan ever did to him, and like how he was when he found out what was happening to Eri…this bit of backstory invoked all the wrong emotions.
"Why…didn't anyone report this?" The former jockey asked, softly. Kyoka glanced at him, worried…she knew damn well that he was keeping a lid on his anger. Whenever there was a child suffering involved…it took all his resolve to keep his cool.
"A hero can save as many people as they can…but no one can reach out to every individual that's in pain," Aizawa replied, giving Johnny one of his rare sympathetic looks. "People assume that a hero will take care of it, but heroes are people too. Sometimes we fail, and sometimes it goes under the radar because normal people think they don't need to help. That's a flaw of the system we live in."
Johnny remained silent, and Kyoka gently prodded him with a jack. Sometimes he needed a moment to collect himself, and she was always happy to provide him with it. He nodded, giving her permission to touch him, and she took his arm. "Easy there Blondie…I've got you."
"I know."
"This is why there needs to be change." Santana looked furious, which was of little surprise. He was the champion of the outcasts after all, these exact situations, people like Yoshihara… they were what he was fighting for. "Heroes are needed, but the lack of aid towards the unfortunate is OUTRAGEOUS. No one is helping her! No one is taking a stand, and it's the same in our world!"
"We try, Santana," Gyro said, eyeing the Pillar Man.
"I never said YOU didn't. It's a statement about Hero Society as a whole." Santana huffed and turned his head away from the starving Yoshihara on screen. "Can we please get this segment over with?"
Johnny huffed, squinting his eyes as his temper started to fizzle out. "God, it makes me sick. Every time…"
"Oh my God," Susan muttered, disgusted. "There he goes."
Johnny just ignored his "mother", but pretty much everyone else looked like they were about to burst a vein. Kyoka was about to open her mouth, but Johnny turned to look at her, and she reluctantly backed down. It did no good to preach to ears that were unable to listen, Susan's narcissism made it impossible for her to accept guilt.
It wasn't worth wasting breath.
…
She'd most likely have to do it again. She really, really didn't want to do it again. But she had no choice. She had to make money. She needed to make money. From what that… horrible person told her, their family used to be well off until that horrible person's father had gambled it all away on machines and drugs.
The kid in the box had lived in the alleyway for at least a year. Beforehand she had been wandering from place to place, sleeping in shelters. However, when she ran out of shelters to sleep in and money to donate, they stopped letting her sleep there. So she resorted to an alleyway next to an abandoned Apartment building.
The people in the alleyway changed from time to time, but one person stayed. He was young, with a little bit of stubble on his chin and atop his lip. His head was covered with a black beanie, and he wore a brown, patched-up jacket. Underneath the coat was a hole-filled shirt, with some ripped jeans on his legs and ruined boots.
He had treated her with kindness and shared the food he'd get from others with her, whether it be a half-eaten burger or an entire happy meal from McDonalds. They didn't speak with one another. He'd just throw her food and observe her. He'd even stare at the sign with disgust on his face.
He looked like he wanted to say something about it. But he let it be. Why would he be disgusted? Was it disgusting? She had no idea if it was or not. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. She wouldn't know. It was so normal to her that it didn't seem wrong. Was it wrong to have sex at such a young age?
What even was sex? She knew what it was, obviously, but she didn't understand it. Maybe it was that that he was disgusted with?
Was it disgusting?
"Hey, kid…" a voice spoke out as the kid opened her eyes, pulling her out of her thoughts. Looking over to where the voice came from, she saw that it was the man who shared food with her. His name was Wakuraba, from what the kid remembered when one of the other homeless folks spoke to him.
"Yeah…?" the kid asked as the man coughed into his bare hand.
"What's your name again?" The man asked as the kid blinked.
"Kira… Yoshihara Kira. What's it to you?" the blond kid asked as the man frowned.
"How old are ya… that sign… you know what it means, yeah?" Wakuraba asked as Yoshihara's eyes narrowed.
"I… know what it means. And I'm 12 years old. Again, what's it to you?" Yoshihara now demanded as Wakuraba sighed.
"Nothing. It's just, we've been in the same alleyway for a year now, and… well, that sign… I won't lie, it's gross. But then again, who am I to judge… get your bag, I guess," Wakuraba said, coughing again. "My brother owns a brothel. He's a nice man. His name is Akira. If you talk to him and ask him for a place to stay, he'll let you sleep and eat there, so long as you pull your weight and do some work for him. He doesn't hire minors to do dances or do the backrooms. He's got better morals than the fucktwits you allow to violate you. But he does hire people like you as cleaners and labourers. It doesn't pay well, but it'll be enough for someone such as yourself to clean up and get a place to live," the man said as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you telling me this? Why not just do that yourself?" Yoshihara asked as Wakuraba chuckled, coughing into his hand.
"I'm not long for this world. You see, I have lung cancer. It's hereditary, so it was bound to happen, no matter how healthy I tried to be. Plus, my brother and I aren't on the best of terms. But, I'm sure he'd help you. Currently, he's doing his "special" viewing. However, if you talk to his guard, Otoshi, he'll let you in to speak to him. Don't tell'em about me, or else he'll turn you away," Wakuraba said as Yoshihara nodded.
"T-thank you, Wakuraba… I, I'll repay you somehow," Yoshihara said, getting out of her box and waving to the man as he chuckled.
"Good luck on your ventures, Yoshihara," Wakuraba said, coughing into his hand once more as Yoshihara left the alleyway. She made her way down the street, looking for a brothel with a bodyguard. It didn't take her long to find it. After all, she had known her way around the streets, so it wasn't too bothersome to find.
Upon finding the building and talking to the guard, Otoshi, and explaining her situation, Otoshi spoke to Akira, who let her in on the condition that she worked hard. Eventually, she climbed the ladder to become a professional private sex worker, much to Akira's chagrin, until she met Nemuri Kayama, aka the pro hero Midnight, and began her training to become a pro hero.
[Present Day]
With that, Yoshihara finished telling Midoriya everything that had led up to her current predicament. She left out the part of her allowing herself to get molested by those men as a child and kept most of everything else vague. The only thing she was really honest about was Wakuraba, what he told her, and her past job as a sex worker, but not who had hired her or Otoshi's name.
She wondered what happened to Wakuraba. Did he die? Or was he still living in that alleyway? The chances of him being dead were higher than him being alive. He had cancer after all. She just hoped he didn't die in that alleyway all alone. Even if Akira and Wakuraba were on bad terms, leaving your brother out to die alone just sounded awful.
…
DIO had fallen silent, and for the first time…he seemed to be taking it somewhat seriously. Yoshihara's struggle on the streets, unfortunately, reminded him of his life before the Joestars took him in.
He didn't like reminiscing about his human past, but recently…his battle with Kyoka on The Barge forced him to confront it, and his own shortcomings. So, unfortunately, it was still fresh on his mind.
'Why is it that she has no real ambition? Someone who has been so low should CRAVE the top! Is she just content with what she has?'
It didn't make sense to him. He was in a very similar situation back in the day, a deadbeat parent, living on the streets…yet instead of seeking to defy the life the world shackled her with, she is simply SETTLING for the life Nemuri provided for her.
Everyone else was silent as well, clearly mortified by what had been described. Of course, such situations could be found in every universe, but that didn't really lessen the impact of seeing it. DIO had seen it a million times, even lived it…which is why current Yoshihara was really starting to piss him off.
It made Kyoka's jab at him carry more weight.
"However…for someone who talks about 'peace of mind'...I don't think you'll ever find it yourself. You're the type who will never be satisfied."
Yoshihara could settle, but he never could.
…
Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Yoshihara looked back at Midoriya, who was staring at Yoshihara with wide eyes. The pair had gone from standing in the kitchen to sitting on the two living room couches, both of them staring at one another. Yoshihara told him her story, or at least what she had been willing to share, and that alone got him to react like that.
Honestly, she didn't know if it would've been a good idea to tell him the rest, given his near-teary-eyed face. If she had decided to tell him the whole thing, what would his reaction be then? It was only then that she realized that she had been rubbing her arm uncomfortably, causing her to stare at the ground. It was then that Midoriya spoke up after a full minute of silence. "O-Oh, my god… Kira-san, I…"
"I know, right? It wasn't a very pleasant time in my life, and I'd rather not talk about it again. But, you asked, and since I know your reasonings, you now know mine, even if they aren't exactly the most… ideal of reasons. Kayama-san saw something in me that even I don't see, so… I've just been doing it because she says I can be a good hero…." Yoshihara said as Midoriya nodded.
"No! T-That's not true! So long as you save and protect people and do your job as a hero, you'll make a fine hero! I mean, look at Kacchan, h-he wants to be a hero for the fame, but he still has the potential to be one of the best ones out there!" Midoriya said as Yoshihara smiled.
"Thank you, Midoriya-kun. You have no idea how much that means to me," Yoshihara said. She could feel the sides of her face heat up slightly, though this time she didn't try and push it down, she simply looked away as Midoriya smiled back, an innocent look on his face.
"N-No problem, Kira-san," He said before turning to look over to the kitchen. Whatever it was that he had started to do, he stopped as his eyes widened, staring up at the ceiling. Why? Because there, in the center of the kitchen, was a floating knife, a green aura around it. It stayed put for about half a second, before it honed in on the pair, causing Midoriya to flinch.
"W-Wha—" Before he could finish what it was he had begun to say, the knife went flying towards them, specifically, heading straight for Yoshihara, who had raised an eyebrow.
"What's going—"
"Kira-san! Watch out!" Midoriya called out as Yoshihara turned to look in the direction of where he had been looking, her eyes widening as the knife sped toward her like a bullet after it had been fired from a gun. Before she could react, Killer Queen came out from behind her, reared back its right arm, and punched the knife out of the way.
[SHIBO!]
As soon as Killer Queen punched the knife, it flew into the wall as the aura died down around it, the blade stabbing into the wall with small cracks around it as if someone had slammed it into the wall. Yoshihara stared at it, her eyes narrowing, her neutral expression turning into a full-on sneer. "Just great…" Yoshihara snarled as Midoriya took a step back.
"K-Kira-san, what's—"
Before he could finish his sentence, several other utensils, such as chopsticks, forks, spoons, butter knives, and steak knives, came out of the drawers that had opened on their own and flew toward the pair at high speeds, most of them aiming toward Kira. "Midoriya-kun! Duck!" Yoshihara cried out as he ducked behind the couch. Killer Queen swatted as many of the utensils as it could, some of them cutting the Stand, leaving the same wounds on Yoshihara as she winced.
"Tch, this isn't good, of all the times…." Yoshihara groaned, looking over to Midoriya, her expression serious. "Midoriya-kun, we have to make a break for it to your room. I'll explain as much as I possibly can, but right now, we need to get over there, now!" Yoshihara stated, Killer Queen returning to her as Midoriya nodded, his arms and body shaking.
"Y-Yeah, o-okay," Midoriya replied shakily as the utensils that had been knocked and swatted away began to rise from the floor and out of the walls. The two ran down the hallway as the utensils were shot toward them, flying at blinding speeds, scraping the walls and carpet as they went. Thankfully, the pair was just quick enough to duck into Midoriya's room as the utensils flew past them and into the wall at the end of the hall.
When they got into the room, the blonde slammed the door shut, causing the things on the shelves to shake. Yoshihara let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't known she had been holding as she looked around her friend's room.
Midoriya's room was… interesting, to say the least. She hadn't expected the amount of All Might merchandise to be as much as it had been. All Might figures, all different from the last and seemingly all in perfect condition despite having been out of the box. All Might-themed posters covered the walls in various spots, leaving only a few bits of the white walls visible. All Might slippers sat at the foot of Midoriya's bed which had been dressed in an All Might-themed blanket.
…
*snort*
"Here they go…"
Kyoka put a hand to her mouth and patted Izuku on the shoulder. "No, we're done picking on you for now. I'm actually kind of disappointed in this version of you…he's slacking on the merch."
"...slacking?" Dabi muttered, sweat travelling down his face.
Momo glanced at her best friend and smiled. After that bit of backstory, they could always count on a few lighthearted jabs to lighten the mood. "Now Kyoka, keep in mind that this is a different Izuku, he might not be as motivated as ours."
"I don't know whether to be disturbed or impressed," Jotaro commented, sharing a worried glance with Aizawa.
"Uh, no judgment Deku…but…you know All Might personally. He's pretty much your father at this point, Doesn't this seem a bit weird that you have this stuff now that you're close with him?" Ochako asked.
"No."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...I have no regrets."
…
"Wow…" Yoshihara whispered, a hint of nervousness in her voice as she looked over to the green-haired teen. "I… uh, see you're a fan of… All Might, Midoriya-kun," Yoshihara said, a bead of sweat trailing down her cheek as Midoriya chuckled to himself, a nervous and embarrassed blush on his face as he looked away.
"Y-Yeah, I guess I am," Izuku said before clearing his throat. "U-Uh, Kira-san, what exactly is going on out there? W-Why were those things… attacking us?" He asked as Yoshihara sighed.
"Right… well, as I said, I'll try my best to explain it. We're being attacked by someone, but they aren't here. And it's not the effect of a Quirk, it's… well…" Yoshihara sighed. She didn't want to talk about Stands so soon after just learning of them herself, but she didn't really have a choice, now did she? "What we're being attacked by is something called a Stand. Meaning that nine times out of ten, whoever is attacking us, is either nearby, on a different floor, or the house next door," Yoshihara explained as Midoriya gasped.
"Y-You mean, we're being attacked by villains! We should call the heroes, they can—"
"Absolutely not!" Yoshihara interrupted, her eyes narrowing at him as he flinched. "We are not calling the heroes. You can't attack or arrest something you cannot see. You remember how I said that my Quirk was a "bit more complicated" than that?" Yoshihara asked as Midoriya raised an eyebrow.
"Y-Yeah, but… wait a minute, does that mean…?" He questioned as Yoshihara nodded.
"Yes, I am a Stand User. Meaning that I alone can see what is currently attacking us. Not even All Might can help us. All he'd do is get in the way and get hurt in the process. The only way to defeat a Stand is with another Stand," Yoshihara explained as she summoned Killer Queen. "You can't see my Stand, Killer Queen, but…." Yoshihara started, the Stand tapping Midoriya on the head as he blinked, looking around the room.
"Huh, did…"
"Yes, Midoriya-kun, Killer Queen tapped you on the head," Yoshihara said, smiling at his confusion. The smile dropped, her expression returning to a serious one. "But now is not the time for goofing around. We need to find the Stand user and do either one of two things, convince them to de-activate their ability, or…." Yoshihara started as, suddenly, a wave of killing intent washed off of her and through the room, causing Midoriya to flinch. "We'll have to kill them."
His eyes went wide at her declaration, flinching again as if he were disgusted with her suggestion. "Kira-san did you… did you just say… kill them? That… That's not heroic at all!" Midoriya said as Yoshihara narrowed her eyes. She wanted to argue, but… if she wanted to be a hero, she couldn't just go around killing people who slighted her. Not anymore, anyway. Sighing, Yoshihara let up on the narrowed eyes but kept the serious gaze.
…
Johnny smirked.
He and Izuku had a very similar conversation back in the day. Of course, killing was a last resort in Johnny's book, but nonetheless, it was sometimes a necessity. As nice as the thought was, talk-no-jutsu wasn't going to work 100% of the time. Sometimes, a fight to the death is impossible to avoid.
Stand Battles made that outcome more likely in both universes, although in most cases Johnny just ended up retiring them.
At first, Izuku was clearly uncomfortable with doing something "unheroic", but he gradually came to grips with the unfortunate truth. A certain zombie-spawning mass murderer brought him to that realization, and he's been far more mature since.
Hell, just recently he had fought Kars with the intent to kill, although Kars just happened to be the one person who couldn't die from OFA's attacks. As of right now, Izuku's hands were clean, but it was really only a matter of time.
Still…Izuku's strength was always saving people, not distributing lethal force, so Johnny really wasn't keen on the day when his friend would be forced to cross the line.
It was best to let the chips fall where they may, in that regard.
…
"Fine, we won't kill them. Unless, of course, they refuse to de-activate their Stand. If they don't do that, then I'll do whatever it takes to stop them. Even if I have to kill them, alright?" Yoshihara stated as Izuku nodded, a grim look on his face.
"I don't like that last part, b-but… do we even know what this Stand looks like? You can see it, right, so… is it nearby?" Izuku asked as Yoshihara looked around the room, and as soon as she did, a hand grabbed her Killer Queen by the neck.
The hand was green, and it had a blue arrow pointing toward the palm. The rest of the arm was green with grey metallic patches, and the arm was attached to a lean silver body. The other arm was the same as the first one, except on the hand was a red arrow pointing toward the Stand. The legs were completely green, except the feet were red with black stripes. Its face lacked any human features. The only things that even resembled it being human were the eyes, which were completely purple ovals. It had a grey helmet on its head with two wings on its sides.
When Yoshihara saw the hand with the red arrow, her eyes widened. "No… there's no way… she can't be…!" Yoshihara gagged as the Stand continued to squeeze Killer Queen's throat.
KURRSHA…
The Stand groaned as Killer Queen punched it in the face, making it let go and slide back a bit in the air. The Stand reached its left arm out, the one with the blue arrow, as it faded away. Several All Might figures floated upwards and spun. Yoshihara coughed as the figures began to fly towards her at fast speeds.
"KIRA-SAN!" Midoriya called out, rushing in front of her, protecting her. As soon as they came close, and as Midoriya braced for impact, Killer Queen punched the figures out of the way in a flurry, the figures flung in different directions, hitting the walls of the room as they broke into several pieces. She felt bad for destroying them, but she couldn't leave them intact for The Stand to use them again.
Midoriya opened his eyes, glancing behind himself. "Kira-san…? Are you okay?" He asked as Yoshihara nodded, rubbing her neck.
"Yeah… but now, this just went from something simple to something that's become personal," Yoshihara stated, narrowing her eyes. "I can't believe it… why would she do this? Damnit! I should've confronted her before she left!"
"Now what… What are we supposed to do…?" Midoriya asked as Yoshihara shook her head in disbelief, looking around the room. Why? Why did she have to be a Stand User, and why on Earth would she attack them? Whatever the reason was, it wasn't a good one, and it frustrated her to no end.
"We know its ability, at least, vaguely. It can levitate objects, and it can propel them at fast speeds. However, we can't be sure just how it works. Plus, its user is nowhere to be seen. We find the user, and we defeat the Stand. The problem is, we don't know just who the user is," Yoshihara explained, and while she knew who it was, the last thing she wanted to do was tell Midoriya that she was attacking them. So, she lied to make sure that he didn't lose trust in her.
After Yoshihara explained what she wanted to do, Midoriya snapped his fingers in a kind of eureka moment. "If we can get it in a room without any objects to throw, we can trap it! But… then, how are we going to find the user?" He asked as Yoshihara hummed.
"Well, whenever I use my Stand, an aura flares around me. So, that means, whoever the user is, will have an aura around them. They stick out like a sore thumb, so once we find them, or once I see their aura, I'll know who it is. Until then, let's stick with your plan," Yoshihara explained as Midoriya nodded.
Killer Queen opened the door as the pair slinked out. As soon as they did, several objects began to float and fly towards them, the Stand glaring them down as the objects flew. Killer Queen deflected several of the objects as she charged toward the Stand.
The Stand flew backwards, phasing through the front door as Midoriya flung open the door. Yoshihara ran beside him as they looked down the outdoor hallway. "W-Wha—! Where did it go?" Yoshihara asked.
Suddenly, without warning, the fridge from the kitchen flung towards them, a green aura covering it as the heavy object hit Yoshihara, sending her over the edge, and plummeting to the bottom floor, the refrigerator following suit.
…
"Oooooooooh, that's got to leave a mark," Josuke said with a wince.
"It's not that bad. I had a fridge thrown at me once when I helped Tsuyu and those seafaring heroes beat up some One Piece fans. Remember Johnny?" Gyro asked with a smile.
"It broke three of your ribs, and you were shrieking your head off about how it hurt for a good ten minutes…and it was a mini-fridge."
"Full of cheap beer! The nerve of those guys…" The Italian muttered. "Still…survivable!"
"One Piece fans?" Kyoka asked, confused.
"Yeah, they were trying to be pirates, it was like their whole gimmick," Johnny replied, snorting. "Not a very memorable fight, they all went down in one or two hits…basically fodder."
"Still…that's a nasty hit no matter how you look at it," Josuke said, frowning. "This Mrs. Midoriya is definitely fighting with killing intent, and that makes Stand Users even more dangerous. At this rate…this may end violently."
It made sense. Stand Battles were more dangerous and unpredictable, and a serious fight could easily lead to a fatality. A lot of times, people received injuries that retired them for life, if they were lucky to survive. It was pretty clear that Inko was serious, and was definitely aiming to kill here… meaning that in order to survive, Yoshihara would have to respond accordingly.
Someone was definitely going to get their shit rocked, and it wasn't going to be pretty.
…
"KIRA-SAN!" Izuku called out, reaching out to her as The Stand grabbed Izuku and pulled him inside the house, covering his mouth as his eyes went wide. While Izuku couldn't see the hand, he could feel the Stand's hand over his mouth, keeping him from screaming or calling out for help.
A loud crash could be heard from around the street, and Izuku's eyes began to water. "Kira… no…" and before he could do anything, he was dragged back into the apartment by the Stand.
As the screen faded out, and as the ending began to play, Blue materialized in front of Johnny. "I apologize for the triggering imagery…I know we warned you already, but still."
"It's nothing to worry about."
"Yes, it is!" Kyoka lightly smacked her boyfriend on the back of his head. "Don't just brush it off."
"Oi, you didn't need to do that," Johnny muttered, rubbing the back of his head as Kyoka crossed her arms, huffing.
"Ain't you two just the nicest people I've ever met," Red drawled sarcastically, sighing before looking over to Inko. "You good over there? You look a bit pale," Red asked as Inko shook her head.
"I just… don't understand. If that's me, then why would I… Why would I do something like that?" Inko asked Red as Red shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Infinite universes, infinite possibilities. In some universes, you're a sweet, if not slightly overprotective mother, in others, you're not. Also in others, you're not exactly… Well, that's spoilers. So I can't say that," Red explained, though cutting himself off with a frown. "Now, I think I've been neglecting the two little'uns. How do you two feel about this?"
"What happened before the fight? I couldn't see anything… Or hear anything…" Eri asked as Red stiffened, chuckling to himself.
"Uh, very, very bad things. Just… uh… crap…" Red grumbled.
"Did you just censor yourself?" Blue asked as Red huffed, shooting a glare over at Blue.
"Quiet you! Doesn't matter," Red said before looking back at Eri. "Look, kid. Whenever I blind and deafen you, just know it's for something you shouldn't see or hear until you're older. Way, way older."
"That's lame!" Kota quipped, crossing his arms. "I'm old enough, so why didn't I see it!"
"Now, now, Mr. Red is right. It was pretty bad..." Inko said, placing a hand on Kota's shoulder, making him grumble. The green-haired mother looked up at Red and smiled. "And thank you, Red. I was actually worried if they heard or saw… that."
"Please, I like traumatizing my people, not Blue's," Red said, crossing his arms. "'Sides, it gets MUCH worse, this is like… scrapping the tip of the iceberg."
"It gets worse?" Dabi gawked, blinking. "How the hell can it get any worse than that?" Dabi questioned as Red smirked.
"You of all people should know that one, Dabi. There was a reason why Yoshihara was in that position. It wasn't because she wanted to be. But you'll find out why that is later on," Red said as Dabi lowered his head, pursing his lips, humming to himself.
"That actually raises a question of mine I've been meaning to ask," Jotaro began as Red glanced at the user of Star Platinum. "Do the other Joestars know Kira is a part of the family? If so, why haven't they stepped in yet? I doubt anyone in our family would have sat ideally by and just let what we've seen happen to her happen."
"That's fairly simple, actually, no one knows she's a Joestar. Not even Kira herself knows she's one. As far as she's concerned, she has no family," Red replied as Jotaro nodded.
"What of The Brando's, then?" DIO asked. "Am I still active in this world?" The Vampire asked as Red smirked.
"I can't say. Well, I can say, but I don't want to. I want to keep you guys in the dark as much as possible. All I'm going to say regarding that is that The Brando Family, despite being fractured, is going strong. That's all you have to know for now," Red said as DIO scoffed. Red then turned to the table with the Heroes-in-Training and spoke.
"What about you lot? Are you gonna comment on something or save it for later?" Red asked as Momo spoke up.
"We've elected to save our comments for later. We're still trying to process what we saw, though Dr. Kujo has already asked one of our questions," Momo said as Red nodded, giving the rest of the group a passing glance, before teleporting back to the front, just as the ending finished.
"Very well then, once again, does anyone need to do anything before we continue?" Red asked, to no comment or anything of the sort. Red nodded, then snapped his fingers, refilling drinks and generating other food-related aspects for those who wanted it—which were now starting to shrink down to only the two kids wanting a chocolate bar of their desires, and DIO getting a full bottle of red wine, while Susan, on the other hand, was gifted with a bottle of tequila.
"Blue, you've been awfully silent, you have something to say?" Red asked as Blue sighed.
"I'm just contemplating on whether or not I give myself a physical form like you have," Blue replied as Red shrugged.
"Up to you. Either way doesn't matter. Are we ready to begin the next episode?" Red asked as he reserved a mix of "yes's" and "go-ons" and what-have-you. Red smirked, and clapped his hand, as the screen began to fade to black, beginning the next episode.
-To Be Continued-
