Kyoka was a little on edge today, as would anybody after what she had just experienced a day ago. It was because she had been on edge that she had decided to leave home for the afternoon and go on a walk. Not to mention that her mother had tried to convince her that her father was suddenly a bad person.

She remembered the conversation vividly, seeing as it only happened an hour ago. She was screaming, begging and crying, telling her that her father hit her and choked her and whatever it was she could to try and get her to feel some kind of sympathy for her. But, all Kyoka did in response was slap her across the face, call her a manipulative bitch about lying about her Uncle, and left the house.

She honestly wouldn't be surprised if she returned home to find the front door locked. Her father wasn't even in the same house anymore. He had moved out last night, having already found a place in Hosu. Her father shot her a text message, saying that he had a spare room she could move into if she so chose, and considering that her mother was having a mental breakdown of the worst calibre, she was heavily considering taking that offer.

Anything to get away from that bitch. She couldn't believe she turned out the way that she did. How on Earth had she never noticed it? Maybe it was because she never paid too much attention, or maybe it was because of the pills she had been forced to take for years on end that made her forget all of the terrible stuff.

That was probably what it was. All things considered, it made the most sense.

Currently, she was walking toward Beelz shop. She wanted to tell him in person the news, especially because he'd get a kick out of it. It was a little chilly this morning, so she had decided to wear a dark purple hoodie and a pair of black pants to trap in the heat from the sun, along with a pair of slip-on sneakers. Her hands were stuffed in her hoodie pockets, and she was keeping her head low so as to not stare at anyone just in case she spaced out.

Aside from what happened this morning, all she had on her mind was the USJ, and what had happened—specifically at the place where she had encountered those villains at the Moutain Zone.

Kyoka knew she had a penchant for being a little aggressive. She never had the chance to show it off during the battle trials due to what Kira did. But at the USJ, against a bunch of lowlife villains and a katana, albeit dulled, courtesy of Yaoyorozu, she got the chance to show up just how "aggressive" she could get.

She distinctly remembered cutting off a guy's hand after they tried to grab her, before knocking him out with a punch to the jugular, and slashing another villain across the chest, drawing blood and knocking him out with the butt of the hilt of her freshly made katana. It was only when the electricity villain showed up that things became a problem.

Of course, Snipe saved the day, and they were able to avoid the problems that came with an amped electricity villain thanks to Kaminari's lack of smarts in the brain department. But, at least it ended well.

She distinctly remembered Yaoyorozu telling her that what she had done was wrong and that the sword was only meant to be a show of force—which, for starters, what the hell was she talking about? What did she expect to happen when she was given a sword? To not defend herself? Even Kaminari, once he regained his motor functions, told Yaoyorozu that her complaint was stupid.

Then she tried to pull the whole "vice class president" thing, but Kyoka shut her down. Honestly, what was it with rich people and being entitled? Maybe all that nepo-baby money went straight to her boobs instead of her brain.

She hated rich people. Loathed them. Especially dumb ones. Though, she guessed the sole exception now would have to be her Uncle. But at least he earned his wealth instead of it being inherited. His father refused to baby him, or something like that. She didn't know. She just asked Josefumi about how his father got so rich, and that was what he had told her.

Anyway, that didn't matter. What mattered was that the USJ happened and that she had a hard time sleeping last night because of it. She was more than likely traumatized, and probably needed therapy. Which, apparently, once school kicked back in, everyone was supposedly going to get a therapy session courtesy of Hound Dog, the school's Therapist.

Of course, there was what transpired after the USJ. When her mother and father found out what happened, to say they had an argument was an understatement, and she was forced to witness the whole thing. It was that argument that solidified her father's idea to move out after her mother attempted to attack him.

It was also that had fully proven to Kyoka that her mother was a scumbag. It was a shame, too, because she'd like to think that had the circumstances been different, she'd have a happy family. That, unfortunately, was not the case. Her family was fractured, and she was stuck in the middle of it.

The thing that she worried about most was finally getting to meet her Uncle, and things getting worse. That was actually something that she was excited about. Her Uncle was going to pay a visit to her father, and she wanted to be there. He was planning on coming down when the Sports Festival happened so he had an excuse to be in Japan.

However, after the events of the USJ, Kyoka didn't know if the Sports Festival was going to happen. Maybe she was being a little paranoid, but personally, she wouldn't want to do anything off campus after what happened at the USJ. Though she supposed since it was a national event, it would have tighter and better security than the USJ did.

Kyoka stopped walking the moment she found herself standing outside of Loja de Musica Classica, and immediately stepped inside without looking around. When she did, she was welcomed by the familiar buzzing of Beelz, who, upon noticing her, clacked his mandibles together in greeting.

"Kyo! Sup!"

"Nothing much, Beelz. You see the news?" Kyoka asked, taking down her hood as Beelz's wings stopped flapping, resting on his back as he crossed his arms, leaning against the side of the glass counter.

"Yeah, I did. You kids okay? I never did get to congratulate you on getting into U.A., and the first thing I find out about you being there is that one of the facilities is attacked, and with students being there no less… Deve ter sido uma bagunça," Beelz said as Kyoka rubbed the back of her neck, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Uh… no idea what that means, but I'm assuming it's not good," Kyoka replied as Beelz chuckled, shaking his head.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Also, seeing as you didn't place an order, I'm assuming you know that your father and I talked," Beelz said, standing up straight as his mandibles clacked together again, though this time she was fairly certain it was a tick rather than anything else.

"Yeah, I know. He also got called by his former boss. Kai, I think his name was or whatever. My Dad decided to rejoin the Yakuza…" Kyoka said as Beelz's eyes widened.

"He's joining back up with the Shie Hissaikai?! What about you, though? He does know that he won't be able to see you again, right? I mean, you're practically enemies now! Not to mention, Mika would tear him a new asshole!" Beelz said as Kyoka smirked, putting her hands in her hoodie pockets.

"Yeah, about that. Mom and Dad are getting divorced, and I'm probably going to move in with my Dad once everything gets settled. Until then, though, unless my Mom kicked me out for what I did this morning, I'll be forced to stay with her," Kyoka said as Beelz huffed.

"About damn time that idiot gave in to reason," Beelz muttered, shaking his head with a disappointed gleam in his eyes. "But that sucks, Kyo. Having to go through your parent's divorce… Do you know what brought it on?"

"Dad stopped being a pushover and confronted Mom about the whole pills thing. Turns out, she didn't expect him to get all snippy with her about it, and they fought over it. Dad had enough and decided that he wasn't going to stand for it. Originally, he was going to stay at home and sleep on the couch, but yesterday, Mom attacked him and he decided to move out effective immediately," Kyoka said as Beelz nodded.

"No shit…. But still, I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like the Mika I knew. Sure, she was an uppity bitch, and a little bit on the snarky side of things…. But she was never like this before. Unless… she could be relapsing. I remember her getting pretty bad when she was doing coke," Beelz said, scratching the back of his head as his wings fluttered slightly.

Before Kyoka could say anything, the front door of the shop swung open as the bell chimed. Beelz looked up, and his eyes widened the moment he did. Kyoka even took a step back, as a large, bulky, completely clean-shaven man dressed in all white with the CRC's logo tattooed over his right eye glowered down at Beelz and her, but mainly her.

"So, you're the pipsqueak who got a couple of my enforcers arrested, aye?" The man said, a snarl pulling at his lips. Without warning, he struck at her with his right arm, grabbing her neck and lifting her off the ground. She grabbed at his wrist, feeling the air forced out of her as she struggled to breathe. She tried lashing at him with her Earphone Jacks, but it didn't seem to do anything.

"Not gonna work, brat. My Quirk, Iron Body is heavily resistant to physical attacks. That won't do shit to me," the man said, cackling to himself as Beelz took a step back from behind the counter, and reached for something. Before he could, though, the man drew out a gun from his pocket—a pocket pistol—and aimed it at Beelz with his left hand, stopping him from moving. "That's right, freak, don't make another move."

Kyoka tried to do something, anything to get out of his grasp, bashing her hands against his wrist, but she could feel herself getting woozy. Her face was starting to turn a light shade of red from the asphyxiation, and she was beginning to vocalize her choking.

"You shouldn't have stuck your nose into something that wasn't your problem in the first place, brat. You freaks are all the same, so I wouldn't mind getting rid of two in one go. I—" Before the man could finish what he was saying, he suddenly, and without warning, dropped Kyoka to the ground, who fell on the ground in a collapsed heap, trying desperately to breathe as much air as she could.

Suddenly, and without warning, the man's left arm began to bend inward, shocking the man as his eyes widened. "T-The fuck! The man exclaimed as his the gun in his left hand, along with his arm, slowly but surely made its way to sit next to his left temple, panic in his eyes. "W-W-What the fuck is going on!? Who—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the gun fired, and blood and brain matter splattered against the wall to the right and splattered against some of the displays on the wall and in the window. The man slumped forward and fell to the floor, his gun clattering to the floor along with his body just a few inches away from Kyoka, who was slowly regaining her breath.

Standing just behind the man was, of all people, Blackwell, who adjusted his orange fedora and sighed in defeat. "I should've known he was going to attack a mutant-owned business. That was why I followed him. But to think I would run into you here, Jirou Kyoka. What are the odds?" Blackwell said, looking down at her, before reaching out to help her up.

Beelz stared at Blackwell, clearing his throat and bowing his head. "Blackwell sir, thank you, I don't know how I can repay you…" Beelz said as Blackwell smirked, dismissing him with a wave.

"I'm just doing my job, sir. As for the scumbag in question, I'll dispose of it in my own time. Can't have you facing any charges because of my actions," Blackwell said, before picking the body up off the ground and hoisting it over his shoulder. He looked over at Kyoka, who was a little unnerved by how calm Blackwell was with what he had done.

But, that didn't stop her from saying something. "U-Uh, Blackwell-san… I want to talk about what's happening at home…"

That got Blackwell's attention, prompting him to give her a stern look, making her flinch. "What's happening, kid."

"I-I—" she paused. Why was she feeling the way that was? All nervous and all that. It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong by reporting what was happening at home. "I-I wanted to report on how my mother's b-been… uh, mentally unstable. S-She might be a threat to me or herself, a-and I was wondering… just in case she tries to do something… if I can get you as a sponsor for what could potentially end being a custody battle between her and my Dad…"

Blackwell nodded, before patting her on the shoulder, smiling. It was eerily similar to All Might's smile. A part of her thought about how they could be related, but she quickly dashed that notion completely. It was just a coincidence. "Of course, kid. You've got my support. If it does happen, call the number on that card I gave you."

Kyoka nodded silently, and with that, Blackwell left. Shortly after, Kyoka left the store as well, but not before helping Beelz clean up all the blood with a mop and bleach. But as she left, she failed to notice how Blackwell was glaring at the back of her head, a sly grin taking up his visage, before disappearing into the alleyway.

[XXXX]

Yoshihara sat at her desk in her bedroom, her notebook open with various notes taken revolving around the Stand Bullet, including a detailed sketch of the object in question. Various notes about the Stand Bullet were pointed at various aspects of the drawing, such as why it looked the way it did, why it had Old Latin scrawled into the side of the casing, and how it functioned.

She was watching through past news reports on the attack carried out by the mysterious gang that used them, trying to get down as much information on it as humanly possible, to no avail. At every possible avenue to gain information about them, nothing came from it. It was as if they were actively being scrubbed from the internet, which was frustrating.

That, and all the stuff that she did find was all stuff she knew about it. She knew it would've been pointless to search for information regarding the Stand Bullet on the internet, but she had to at least try. Two weeks into the investigation, and they had nothing to show for it.

It made no sense. She had a feeling that it was the Hero Protection and Safety Committee that was burying the lead. They often did stuff like this to hide their fuck ups. It was common knowledge to anyone with half a brain cell or who didn't believe the HPSC had their best interests in mind.

It was getting to the point that she had been extremely close to just giving up on the endeavour and moving on with something else—like going on a run, doing homework, or catching up on some well-deserved sleep. She slumped back in her chair and looked out her bedroom window, watching as birds flew by, the wind blowing away cherry blossoms into the air as they decorated the ground below, floating down with serene grace.

It was a peaceful sight, and had she been any semblance of normal, she probably would've cracked a smile. But, she wasn't normal. Far from it. So all she could do was look away and stare at her phone which sat on a phone stand that Kayama-san recently won in a raffle. Staring at the redirected search, all Yoshihara could do was frown.

"Damnit," Yoshihara groaned, her head hitting the desk as she sighed. "This is going nowhere…." It was at times like these that Yoshihara wished that her friends weren't busy. Kujo was off doing the same thing she was, and Izuku was doing homework and training with his Quirk to get a better handle on it with All Might, after which he and his mother were going to have some mother-son bonding time over old pre-quirk era movies.

She briefly considered calling Karera, but she assumed that the happy-go-lucky girl was busy doing the same stuff that Josefumi and herself were up to. Slipping out from her chair, she stretched, yawning in the process. Sitting down for too long gave her neck and back pains, and that was something that she was not willing to deal with, on top of doing boring research.

Currently, she was wearing a short-sleeved pink T-shirt with white vertical stripes going across the center, a pair of black jeans held up by a belt with a golden belt buckle, and a black scrunchie that Kayama-san gave her out of the blue this morning along with the phone stand.

She glanced over to the mirror and saw that her hair had grown over the last month, and scowled. It used to be just shoulder length, but now it was reaching past her shoulders and going down to the top of her back.

Maybe she should try something new with her hair. She always saw Kayama-san do cool things with her hair, like braid it, or even that one time when she wore it in twin ponytails with paintbrush tips. Or maybe she should just cut it? Bring it back to how it was before. After all, normalcy was something she preferred to change.

Leaving her bedroom and entering the bathroom, she walked over to the mirror and grabbed a pair of scissors, grabbed the excess hair, opened the scissors, and put the open blades around the hair, moments away from cutting it, when she stopped. Did she want to cut her hair, or was she just forcing herself to? Strangely enough, it felt wrong.

Yoshihara hated change. It was one of the things that made her life as shitty as it was when she first moved to Musutafu at the tender age of six years old. Her life just got worse after that, doing humiliating things just to get money to buy food, even committing a cardinal sin as a pre-teen and selling her body for money.

Before that, her hair was long and flowed down to her back. When she cut her hair for the first time, it was when she got a job as a custodian at Akira's Club. After that, she didn't stop cutting her hair and always kept it short.

She saw herself having short hair as an omen for good things to come, and the inverse to be an omen for bad things to come. But now it was getting longer, and as if the world was trying to prove her wrong with her personal beliefs, she was in a far better place, while at the same time having longer hair.

She was living with someone who cared about her, had friends that she was willing to stick her neck out for—something she never had before—and was at a school to become a hero, even if it was for all the wrong reasons. All of the things she would've never seen herself doing, having, or even attempting. And it was all because of change.

If she really hated change so much, why did she cut her hair in the first place? If she really hated change so much, why did she accept Kayama-san's offer? Why didn't she just storm out of that room and end it all like she had planned if she really hated change that much?

What harm would there be growing out her hair just a little bit? Honestly, the more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded and the more Yoshihara decided against cutting her hair. She put the scissors down back on the counter and let her hair flow past her shoulders.

Now that she saw herself in the mirror, and turned her head from side to side to see it at different angles, she had to admit that it did look a little better. Although, for a split second, she was reminded of her, and it almost made her trip over herself and fall down. She had never realized it until now, but she and her shared a striking resemblance.

It was almost uncanny. It made her second guess her choice to not cut her hair until she shut out that stupid thought in her head. "Don't let her weigh you down. It was inevitable that you would share a resemblance to her. You were born because of her," Yoshihara thought, cursing under her breath.

She knew her father had brown hair. A part of her wished she had inherited that trait. But, she didn't. She the rarer of the two shades of hair, and was a natural blond. But, such was life. She had to deal with it, and so there was no point in complaining. Not when it was a dumb thing to complain about in the first place.

Just as Yoshihara was about to leave the bathroom, she noticed the star-shaped scar thing by the nape of her neck and frowned. She remembered seeing a glimpse of something similar on Kujo during the battle trial. That would be something she would have to ask him about at a later time. But for now, she was going to stay out of his hair, just so he could focus on the Stand Bullets.

She covered the scar with her shirt and left the bathroom, walking down the stairs to the main floor, where Kayama-san was watching a rom-com about a Quirkless girl falling in love with a boy with a Quirk that gave him a plant-like appearance. "Honestly, the stuff they put on T.V. now is kind of boring. I'll stick to my pre-Quirk era Anime and TV shows, thank you very much."

"Oh, Yoshi-chan, you're out of your room?" Kayama-san perked up at seeing her enter the Kitchen. "How's the homework coming along?" She asked as Yoshihara stuck her thumbs up. That was the excuse she told Kayama-san when she went to research the Stand Bullets. She seemed good with the answer and went back to watching her show.

Putting a piece of bread into the new toaster they got yesterday, Yoshihara stood around and waited for the toast to pop. While she did so, she scrolled through her phone until she got a text from Karera. Opening the message, the blond read over the text that her acquaintance sent.

Karera Sakunami: Hey Bestie! I was just wondering if you plan to join Mina, Kirishima, and me at the Mall later today, kinda like how you said you would? If you forgot, here's your reminder. What time do you want us to pick you up?

Yoshihara inwardly sighed. She forgot about that. At the time, she had more important things to think about and thus forgot the mall trip she and Ashido had haphazardly planned about doing.

Kira: 2:30 PM is a good time.

Yoshihara grabbed the toast that popped out and put it on a plate. She walked over to the fridge and grabbed some margarine to put on the toast when another text from Karera came in. She put the plastic container down on the counter and then opened up the text message.

Karera Sakunami: 2:30 PM sounds good. Be ready at the door for 2:15, m'kay?

Yoshihara sent an 'OK' in response and then put her phone back into her pocket. It was 1:45 PM right now, so she had around 1 hour and 25 minutes to get prepared for their mall trip. All she needed to do was put on her leather jacket and get her shoes on, so in other words, she had all that time to do whatever it was she wanted.

Besides, since she couldn't do any more research on The Stand Bullets, she had the rest of the day all to herself. Taking her toast up to her room, she closed the door behind her with Killer Queen and put the toast down on the table before grabbing Volume 1 of Fire Force. Nemuri bought the whole box set for her on her way home from the meeting after the USJ attack.

Speaking of the USJ attack…. "There's no way they didn't have a mole in the school. Someone has to be giving them information. Furthermore, they have to be someone in Class 1 – A because it was us who they attacked. There was no way it was a coincidence. But who? Who would be stupid enough to do that?" Yoshihara thought as she bit her lip to stop herself from openly talking about it, then grabbed a piece of her toast, then took a bite out of it to keep her mouth full so she didn't speak her thoughts out loud.

She really didn't want to believe that one of her classmates was a traitor, but it was becoming more and more unavoidable. The mere idea that one of her classmates had been a rat… was something that was so unbelievable that she almost wanted to disregard the idea. Even if she didn't know them enough, it was clear to her that it could only be someone from their class… "Unless, of course, it was one of the staff members."

For a moment she played around with the idea that it was one of the staff members. They'd have easier access to the schedules, and it also cleared everyone in Class 1 – A of suspicion. But, in the same breath, Nedzu would have caught them immediately. So it couldn't be any of them. Not to mention what self-respecting Pro Hero was going to side with the enemy? A hero in training who had doubts about the current system, however, was perfect for spy material.

Yoshihara pushed those thoughts away, a scowl taking up her visage. She didn't want to think about that kind of crap right now. Yesterday was already a shitshow, so she didn't need to be reminded of that garbage. All she wanted to do was forget about it and move.

Besides, it was a one-time thing. She was sure she wouldn't have to worry about that nonsense again. As of now, she just wanted to read to pass the time. That, and the less her head hurt from overthinking about something that really didn't matter in the long run, the better. Besides, the idea of a traitor was idiotic. There was no way someone would be stupid enough to divert paths in their lives just to fuck themselves over.

Changing subjects, the reason why she decided to get Fire Force was that, according to some online forums, it was a pseudo-prequel to Soul Eater, and she wanted to see what it was that linked the two, outside of the same Mangaka being the one who did it. It didn't take her long to make it through the first volume and get deep into the second before it was 2:10 PM.

Closing the book, she put it down on her bed, walked out of her room and went downstairs, grabbed her leather coat, told Kayama-san she was going to the mall with Ashido, Kirishima, and Sakunami, put on her shoes, and then got into the elevator. It didn't take long for the elevator to make it to the foyer, and after greeting the receptionist, she made her way out of the building.

Once she exited the building and stood at the entrance, she waited for a car to come to pick her up. A couple of minutes passed as she scrolled through Twitter, until she heard the honk of a horn, indicating that Sakunami was there, and upon looking up from her phone, she noticed what appeared to be a convertible.

Sitting in the driver's seat was Sakunami, who was wearing a black shirt and red puffy jacket with a fluffed collar and jean shorts. Her hair was done up in a braided ponytail with the same two rolls on the sides, and the same orange bandana she wore around her head—Yoshihara assumed she liked bandanas, seeing as that was the only hair accessory she wore.

Then there was Mina, who was wearing a giraffe-patterned top with one of her shoulders exposed, and black yoga pants. Her hair was just as puffy as it always was. Ashido waved to her, and as she scanned the car, she noticed that Kirishima was not in the car with them. "Yo, Kira! Get in!" Ashido shouted as Yoshihara couldn't help but smirk. She walked over to the car and got into the back, buckling herself into the seat as Sakunami-san took off.

"So, where's Kirishima?" Yoshihara asked as Ashido sighed, looking over her shoulder and back at her.

"He decided to opt-out at the last second. Said he had homework to do. Whatever, besides, no offence to Kiri, but he would drag down the vibes. Besides, I like the idea of a girls-only get-together, don't you?" Ashido said as Yoshihara shrugged, not caring either way. If Kirishima wanted to opt-out, then he wanted to opt-out. Not that she knew him all that well, but the same could be said for Ashido, so it really didn't matter.

Yoshihara watched as they drove past other cars, and as they did, Yoshihara came to a conclusion she hadn't really considered. Surprisingly, Sakunami-san was a good driver. She stopped at all the red lights and used her turn signals. She even didn't pull the 'speed through yellow light' Kayama-san did a majority of the time.

The car ride to the mall to silent, and It didn't take them long to make it to the mall, around 30 minutes in total, when they did, Sakunami-san parked in one of the spots closest to the store's entrance, two spaces behind the Handi-cap spots. As the group of three got out of the car, Karera made a smirking expression and spoke.

"So… I heard that a certain blonde has a crush on a certain green-haired hero nerd, huh?" Sakunami-san teased, elbowing Yoshihara lightly as she jolted, sending a scathing look over to Mina.

"H-Hey! Don't look at me like that!" Ashido pouted, crossing her arms. "Besides, if there's anyone who can help you with getting the right clothes to look appealing for Midori, it's Kunami-chan! Ain't that right?" Ashido asked as Sakunami-san blushed with embarrassment strewn all over her face as they walked through the mall's entrance.

"O-Oh, please! You don't have to say that!" she said, rubbing the back of her head before straightening herself out. "Well, she's not wrong. I do have a knack for spotting people in terms of fashion. Speaking of which…!" Sakunami-san said, suddenly turning around and getting in Yoshihara's face unexpectedly, which caused her to recoil.

"Too Close…! Too Close!" Yoshihara thought. A light blush scattered across her cheeks as Sakunami-san smiled. Yoshihara never really had people act like this in front of her. The only times that she's ever blushed and not felt sick about it afterward was when she found herself sleeping next to Izuku, and now, with Sakunami-san's face being a fraction of an inch away from hers.

It was also time for Yoshihara to face the facts and admit the truth. Sakunami-san, in no uncertain terms, was cute—hot even, but that was stretching it. It was hard to avoid that fact now, and if she wasn't already dating Josefumi, and if Yoshihara didn't already have feelings for Izuku, Sakunami-san would've been the other person who she had fallen for, hands down, without question.

"From what I can tell, your style of fashion seems to be a mixture of normal civilian clothing and punk. I've seen you wear more than your fair share of leather jackets and ripped jeans. But you don't have any piercings, so I can assume you dislike those. You usually wear pink… so… hmmm…. Not pastel goth…. Damn Kira-chan, you're strange. Maybe just street fashion is better suited for you, kinda like what I'm wearing, just…. More conservative," Sakunami said, nodding slightly, almost as if it was a signal to acknowledge the obvious.

Yoshihara nodded in agreement, both knowing exactly what each other meant, though Ashido was a tad confused. "Does this have something to do with… those?" Mina asked, catching Kira's attention. A silent nod was all Ashido needed to understand before she smiled. "Gotcha, well, let's not waste any more time, let's get this party started!"

The group of three wandered deep into the mall, although, unbeknownst to any of them, was that someone was following them. The person in question looked down at two pictures that had been given to him, one of Karera, Mina and Yoshiahra, with a question mark underneath Karera's photo that said 'potential Stand User, if so, kill immediately'.

The person grimaced, pocketing the photos before sighing. "Two of those kids were from class 1 – A, the victims of the USJ attack that he spoke about… that other one, though, she wasn't. If I were to assume, I think she was in class 1 – B." The person shook their head, their eyes narrowing as they cracked their neck from side to side. "I swear, if that guy doesn't give me what I want after this crap, I'm gonna have one hell of a guilty conscience after this," the person mumbled, flipping a hood up over their head to obscure their face.

Their shoulder-length blond hair obscured their blue eyes, their mouth was covered by a mask with some sort of mechanical giraffe motif on it, their right arm was a metal prosthetic, as was their left hand, and while their entire body was covered by a black hoodie and black pants, if one listened hard enough, one could hear the sound of whirring gears as the person moved using their right side.

They followed the group of three, all the while making sure they were not spotted stalking the group, with every so often going into a store, waiting five minutes, then coming out. Every time he exited a store, a ghost-like wire would come out of their pinky finger and hook up to a camera to spot where they were going next, then follow them after the fact. Finally, after twenty minutes of them constantly wandering around, they stopped and entered a store only known as Kahana Kishibe's Fashion Parlour.

"Now all I have to do is wait for them to seclude themselves, then I will attack…." The mysterious person said, sitting down in a chair a few feet away from the entrance of the store. "This better be worth it. If he said he can revert my body back before The Accident, then I can finally do what I've wanted to do for so long."

Inside the store, the group of three went snooping around for some new clothes, and with a shared amount of 150K yen between one another, they went on a shopping spree. Yoshihara spent more of her time in the jacket and shirt section, Ashido was in the pants and shoe section, and Sakunami-san was bobbing between every aisle possible.

As Yoshihara combed through the jacket section, she came across a pink leather jacket with black shoulder pads, spiked cuffs, and side pockets that were deep enough to carry a phone. Yoshihara smirked, looking at the price tag, only to frown. "50K yen… that's all my money… I'm not about to blow it all on one jacket. I'll come back in my own spare time with more cash next time," Yoshihara muttered, putting the jacket back on the rack.

She spotted a shirt nearby, a pink shirt with black waist stripes, on the back, there was a giant black bubble inside which said: "I'm a bad girl" in white hiragana. The price was 5K yen, and it was the right size, and therefore, she put it over her lower arm then continued her search. She ended up picking up a pair of sweatpants which cost her 6K Yen, and a few pairs of jeans, which cost her a total 38K Yen, 8K yen per pair. In total, she spent 49K Yen, with 1K left over for something at the food court.

Using the money she had, she purchased her clothing, put it all in a bag, and waited at the front for Ashido and Sakunami-san. It took them another thirty minutes to finish doing what it was they were doing, and when they met up at the front of the store, Ashido was smiling ear to ear.

"Well, I got what I wanted, and I know Kunami-chan got what she wanted, but what about you, Kira-chan?" Ashido asked as Yoshihara lifted her bag with all of the clothes she bought while shrugging at the same time.

"Well, there was a jacket I wanted, but it would've cost me all of my money. So I settled for a shirt, a pair of sweatpants, and a few pairs of jeans. I have around 1K yen left, which I plan to use half at KFC for the 500 Yen meal deal. The other half I'll give back unless you just want the 1K Yen back, Sakunami-san," Yoshihara said as Sakunami waved her off.

"Nah, just keep it all. My mom sends me more than enough money to keep living in the city. 150K Yen is literally nothing, especially with the money that Fumi-kun gets from his parents," Karera replied, smiling as Yoshihara nodded. "Anywho, I have some extra money on my debit card, and—my treat—I'm gonna get everyone new top-of-the-line iPhone XVs!" Karera said as Mina's jaw dropped.

"Aren't those, like, 199K Yen each!" Ashido freaked out as Sakunami-san shrugged, scrolling through her bank account on her phone. Ashido looked at Yoshihara, who simply shrugged. "Why aren't you freaking out, Kira-chan! She's going to buy us the new phone that Apple made a month back!" Mina said, grabbing Yoshihara by the shoulders and shaking her like a drama queen, and despite the worried look that Sakunami-san gave her, Yoshihara allowed it to happen. She knew Ashido meant no harm and was just being goofy.

"Well, I can cover the costs since Sakunami-san treated us to this in the first place, but you have to pay for the phone bills. I have like… 20 Million Yen in my account that my Guardian gave me. Something about feeling guilty about what happened at the USJ. Honestly, I had no idea she had that much money, but beggars can't be choosers, so—"

"20 MILLION YEN?!" Ashido shouted, throwing her arms up in the air as Kira repressed a giggle. "How do you have that kind of money? How long have you been this rich!?" Ashido exclaimed, her shoulders sagging as Yoshihara smirked. Before she could say anything, though, Sakunami-san spoke up.

"Well, I wouldn't say rich. That's like… 130k in American money, but still. That, and it pays to have a Pro Hero as a parent, you know? Mine might be from a backwater town, but Kira's is literally Midnight, so she probably has more money than my mother does at the moment," Karera said as Kira nodded.

"Yeah. Considering the hotel made 500 Million in the second quarter. She just got the report at the beginning of this week, which is why I have that amount of money in my account," Yoshihara said as Ashido's jaw dropped.

"I'm surrounded by rich people…." Ashido groaned, looking down at the ground as Sakunami-san suppressed a snicker. Yoshihara put a hand on Ashido's shoulder, in a joking attempt to comfort her.

"Don't be a downer Ashido-san, I used to be dirt poor. The only reason I have the money I have now is because of Midnight-Sensei," Kira said, patting her on the shoulder as Ashido pouted. "I don't know about Sakunami-san, though. Like she said, her mother's a Pro Hero in…." Yoshihara stopped, sighing before continuing. "In her hometown, therefore, it should be no surprise. Oh, and Sakunami-san, if you could, a pink phone, please, with a pink phone case. I'll cover that bit as well as the bill," Yoshihara stated as Sakunami-san nodded.

"Sounds good enough for me!" Sakunami-san said, smiling like a kid in a candy store as they walked out. As they left, the person in the chair stood up, a figure summoning behind him for a brief second before flickering out. The person huffed, clenching his metal hand into a fist.

"Come on, Dakima! They're just kids! They're sitting ducks! They can't fight back against Steam Powered Giraffe! So why are you hesitating!" Dakima thought, clenching his jaw. He continued to follow the group of three through the store, making sure to look as inconspicuous as possible as he entered stores, buying small things, then popping out, using Steam Powered Giraffe's ability to see through the cameras, then followed them once more.

The blonde-haired kid seemed to stop as the other two entered a store. Dakima sighed, knowing what it was he had to do. "Damnit. I hate hurting kids. But if I get my humanity back, then I'll be damned if I'm going to let a guilty conscience stop me!" Dakima roared in his head, tapping the kid on the shoulder. The blonde spun around, narrowing her eyes at him, as did he at her.

"Who are you?" the blonde kid asked as Dakima's eyes narrowed further. He let out a sigh before glowing in a bright grey light. The blonde stepped back, glowing in a purple light before Dakima shrugged.

"Nothing personal, kid," Dakima stated as ethereal yellow wires shot out from his back, created by Steam Powered Giraffe. The blond summoned her Stand, and it appeared to be a pink cat-like humanoid. The Stand's fist came extremely close to Dakima's face, but it stopped short of his nose as, the wires wrapped around her.

In a split second, she was electrocuted, smoke rising off of her before she was turned into electricity, and as soon as she did, her Stand disappeared. Her eyes went wide as Dakima pulled out a cell phone, and her entire being was warped into it.

Inside the phone was a static facial profile of the blond with her eyes closed. Underneath was the name of the girl. Yoshihara Kira. "Right… now to grab the other two, then smash the phone, then report back to him," Dakima said, letting out a shaky sigh. He really didn't want to do what it was he was doing, but he wanted to feel like a human again.

He would do anything to have his body returned to normal. So if That Man was willing to do that, he would do so within a heartbeat. He didn't know how he would do it, but if he could, and if he was like him which he had demonstrated, then it had to be possible. He wouldn't promise it otherwise, right?

Behind him was an exact model of a human, with a framework-like body, seemingly made out of metal scaffolding, coloured black, while its insides were made of wires that mimicked organs, muscles, veins and human features, all colour-coded to fit each part of the insides of a human body. Red wires mimicked muscle, yellow mimicked facial features and veins, and blue mimicked organs.

"Steam Powered Giraffe is the fastest Stand known to man. If it wasn't for its speed, it might as well be useless…." Dakima muttered to himself, Steam Powered Giraffe disappearing behind him as he watched the other two look around for the blond.

"Kira-chan?!" the pink-skinned girl called out as Dakima frowned. The pink girl looked over at him, paused for a second, and then walked over to him with a worried expression, as did the other girl, which only furthered the build-up of guilt in his chest.

"Hey, have you seen a blond-haired girl? Dull expression—not to be mean—black leather jacket, jeans, pink shirt with white stripes?" The teen asked as Dakima pointed over to the food court. A good place to nab her. That way he could blend into the crowd. The two girls nodded, then ran past him. However, he couldn't help but notice the girl wearing a bandana slipping him a glare for a split second.

"Is she onto me? Is she also a Stand User?" Dakima thought, frowning. "Or, perhaps it's something else. With Quirks and whatnot and how crazy their abilities can get, I don't need to worry about being outed as a Stand User. I just need to corner them both, zap them into the phone with Steam Powered Giraffe, and then smash the phone. It's not that hard…." Dakima thought, following the pair discretely, sliding the phone into his pocket.

As he watched them from a distance, he saw the pink-skinned girl separate from the other girl. Without hesitation, he followed the pink girl, shoving his hands into his pockets, grabbed his phone, and as soon as he got behind her, he summoned Steam Powered Giraffe. Yellow wires wrapped around the pink girl, whose eyes widened upon feeling the constricting snag.

She was turned into electricity, and zapped into his phone, her picture showing up on the screen, along with her name, Mina Ashido. He slid the phone back into his pocket and then looked over his shoulder. That other girl was somewhere within the crowd. "Collect her… go to him… smash the phone… Get my prize…." Dakima thought, his narrow-track mind sinking in.

He was going to finish the job. He was going to get what he wanted. He was going to get his humanity back, no matter the cost.

[XXXX]

Josefumi had been discharged from the hospital a couple of hours after the USJ attack's conclusion, much to his and Sakunami's relief. Recovery Girl and Medi-lady were pretty good at doing their jobs, which was to be expected, especially given how both of their Quirks were perfect for healing.

Medi-Lady was Recovery Girl's ward and trainee. She was being set up to take over for Recovery Girl once she retired in a year or so. In his opinion, Medi-lady was a sweet woman in her early twenties, and her Quirk, Heal Gel, was much like Recovery Girl's Heal.

She said that there would be some light scarring on his back, but that was about it. No permanent damage was caused by Die Very Rough, which was a good thing. The last thing he wanted to be was a paraplegic because of a Stand battle.

Currently, he was wearing a black shirt and blue pants—clothes given to him by the hospital while his Hero Costume was being patched up after the USJ attack, as it was in shambles the last time he saw it.

Karera had been extremely emotional the whole day after the fact, not once leaving him alone, and often crying into his shirt because she had been worried about losing him. Of course, he knew he would've been fine, but Karera didn't even know about the attack, so it was unfair to assume that she was fine as well. When she saw his scars when they went to bed, Karera almost cried again.

Josefumi made sure that he made her "feel better" after the hell he put her through unintentionally. After that, they slept peacefully, and the next morning, she was happier than she had the night prior, which was all that mattered to him. Seeing her happy was the only thing that mattered to him.

That fight hadn't been the first near-death experience he had. He had plenty in the past, and while a majority of them weren't when he was with Karera—they had only gotten together two years ago—when he was with her, he never did once. Although, he supposed there were a few things he had said were never going to happen until something else happened before it, and yet it happened anyway.

One of those things was that he planned to stay a virgin till he married her after High School. However, he decided to change his mind after getting a little too frisky with her one night. Besides, he used protection, so nothing bad was going to happen. That, and he got to make his girlfriend happy, so it was a win-win. And right now, she was out shopping with a couple of friends, leaving the house all to Josefumi.

At the moment, he was sitting in the shared room that he had with Karera in the one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, typing away on his computer as he analyzed the sample that was inside the Stand Bullet. The equipment was the same stuff the scientists at the Speedwagon Foundation had in their complex labs. He was able to get his hands on the stuff thanks to his father and the access he had within the Foundation seeing as he was the CEO.

Joestar Privilege. He loved it.

"That's… concerning…." Josefumi mumbled, reading what the sample came back with. "Human tissue, though untraceable due to the heavy altering. The same virus that The Stand Arrow has, meaning that whoever is doing this has a Stand Arrow and is making bullets out of it. The needle at the end is made of the same metal, meaning they probably have more than one arrow, either that or they found more of the same material somehow. Either or makes sense, especially if they're able to make 200 and use them all in the span of one night," Josefumi muttered as he wrote.

He took the sample bullet out of the container and placed it on a piece of paper towel. The yellow shell casing was used to hold all of the vital compartments that were mixed together in the chamber as soon as it was fired. However, there was one thing on the bullet that confused him.

There were etchings on the bullet, and those etchings were in Latin. The etchings said: De mortalitate hominis. Using a Latin to English Translator, and then translating that into Japanese, it roughly came out as "Mortality Of Man."

"Ominous…" Josefumi said, typing out the information and his findings on a private Google document that he planned to share with Karera, Kira, Midoriya-san, and Midoriya-kun. He did a little bit more research on the bullet, but when he came up with nothing, he saved the document and then closed the laptop. "And now I'm at a dead-end… great," Josefumi said, cupping his chin. There wasn't much else for him to do, so, he decided to take a break for the time being.

He got up from his chair and walked out of his and Karera's room, looking over at his phone. Karera said she was going to be at the mall with some friends, Kira being among them. He couldn't call Kira then. He was about to phone Izuku, then stopped.

"No, can't call him either. He's having a family day with his mother." Josefumi groaned to himself, grabbed his phone, popped earbuds in and put on a song. "Ah, Sono-Chi-No-Sadame. I remember when my father created it as an homage to Jonathon Joestar, and then he and his friends started making songs for the rest of my ancestors. They just finished one on Great Grandma Jolyne, so the next one would be himself…. Though he doesn't want to do it yet. Said something about how he was getting too old. Whatever." Josefumi finished his thought as he sat down on the couch in the living room.

The living room was small, but it was nice. There was a wall with a small opening that separated the kitchenette and the room, both of which were technically connected, but not really. The living room had one loveseat, one small coffee table, and a flatscreen TV propped up on a wooden TV stand that Josefumi bought for relatively cheap.

There was a small shelf off to the right corner of the room with a photo of himself, Karera, and his father, though the portion with his father's face was out of frame, seeing as the guy was just that much of a giant.

His mother died when he was born, and despite getting multiple chances to re-marry, his father never did. The picture was taken a week before he moved to Musutafu to track down the Stand Creating Bullet, or The Stand Bullet as he and everyone else at the Speedwagon Foundation called it now.

However, just before he left for Musutafu, his father gave him a small round ball made of metal. It was completely smooth on each surface, and on both the left and right hemispheres of the ball, there were the words 'JoJo' engraved into it.

The ball was sitting on the coffee table with a mug tray underneath it so it didn't dent the wood. Josefumi took in a deep breath and reached out for the ball. He had nothing else better to do, so why not attempt using that, just to see if he still had the potential to use it?

He doubted it, but there was no harm in trying, now was there?

He summoned Soft & Wet to his side and closed his eyes. He got a good, solid feel for the object, and inspected each side for any imperfections, just like his father told him to do all those years ago. He placed it in the palm of his hand and opened his eyes.

He looked down at the ball and its surroundings. After a few seconds of concentrating, the ball began to Spin. As it spun, golden energy flittered off of the object, but, as soon as his eyes widened, and the elated expression appeared on his face, the ball stopped spinning before it could get any real meaningful velocity.

But Josefumi didn't care. He was just happy it spun.

"YES! YAHOO! I DID IT!" Josefumi said, hopping up from the couch and looking into the Steel Ball with a wide smile on his face. Ever since his Grandfather, Jouta Kujo, met someone extremely vital in his family's history, every Joestar or someone with Joestar blood could use The Spin.

And it was thanks to Jouta meeting a man by the name of Julius Caesar 'Gyro' Zeppelli on an outing in Italy. He befriended the man, and after knowing him for over five years and travelling the world with the man, Julius, or Gyro as he had preferred to be called, taught Jouta The Spin, after that, Jouta taught his father The Spin, and ever since then, The Spin became a technique that was passed down from Joestar to Joestar.

However, his father only started teaching him it when he was 14, and even then, he showed no potential in being able to use it. But now, after all of his failed attempts, he was. He could finally make his father and his grandfather proud!

Then, a thought came to his mind, and he made Soft & Wet shoot out a bubble, just out of curiosity's sake. What he saw, made his eyes widen. As he paid closer attention to the bubble, he noticed that every few seconds, he could see a glimpse of some sort of line show up in the center of the bubble, and that was when it hit him.

"The 'Bubble' is spinning…. That means…! I've been using The Spin ever since I got my Stand, and I didn't even know it?!" Josefumi thought, clenching his fist in both annoyance and joy. He always wondered why his bubbles didn't act like normal bubbles—outside of the obvious fact that they were created by a Stand, but still—and now he knew why.

The "Bubble" wasn't actually a bubble at all, it was a piece of string of some kind that was constantly spinning that acted like a bubble and had bubble-like properties. His Stand was linked to The Spin, just like his father's Stand was.

This was a shocking development. It explained why Soft & Wet was as powerful as it was. It was why his father even bothered trying to teach him in the first place. It was why his father kept trying to teach him even though he showed no ability to actually use it! It was because he was already using it with Soft & Wet and didn't even know it.

Despite how exciting the development had been, he was going to have to wait to continue to test it out. He had other things he had to do at the moment, and if he was going to try and learn how to effectively use The Spin, he was going to do so in the forest, that way, he could train his ability in peace and without damaging something important in his house.

After all, the last thing he wanted to do was break something of Karera's that would make her upset. "Speaking of Karera, I wonder how she's doing right now?" Josefumi thought, shrugging before turning on the TV.

It was time for a break to watch some good old-fashioned TV.

[XXXX]

Karera was NOT having a good time. At first, she thought that Kira-chan was playing a practical joke on her, but now Mina was gone, and she was freaking the hell out. She had a feeling someone was after her, but now with Mina disappearing, it more than confirmed it. And she wasn't being paranoid either. Mina wasn't answering her phone, and Mina always, without fail, answered her phone.

Whoever the person was, they were either making her friends disappear somehow using some sort of busted Quirk, or they themselves were a Stand User, and they had just been incredibly good at concealing it, to the point where she couldn't even sense it.

She ran through the halls of the mall, looking over her shoulder and all around her just to try and spot the bastard who was doing this. But she couldn't find anyone suspicious. No matter where she looked, everyone just seemed to be minding their own business.

Whoever this person was, they were good at blending into the crowd. And that was when it hit her. "That guy wearing the hoodie! He was the guy outside the store Yoshihara was waiting for us outside of! And then he directed us toward the food court where Mina vanished from! He's the Stand User!" Karera thought, immediately turning around as she stared at the man in the hoodie, who had been following her, a short distance apart from her and himself.

"You! You're the Stand User who kidnapped my friends!" Karera snarled as the man stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes narrowed towards her, knowing full well his cover had been blown. "Well, speak up! Tell me what the hell is wrong with you!" Karera shouted, earning looks, gasps, and whispers from the crowd. The man closed his eyes, taking the hood off of his head and the mask around his mouth as Karera gasped.

Half of the man's forehead was made of metal, including his left ear and parts of his jaw were made of cold steel. His entire right arm was made of metal, as shown by him rolling up his sleeve with his left metallic hand, which was all the extent of his prosthetics on his hands and arms. She didn't know how much of this man's body was made of metal, but one thing was for sure.

Something horrible happened to him that caused him to look like this, and now, for whatever reason, he was hunting her and her friends.

"I was offered something that I couldn't refuse. Someone told me to come after you and your friends and kill you guys. I haven't killed your friends yet, they're simply trapped in my phone. But if you think that I, Dakima Stroheim, am going to stop just because you asked me to, you've got another fucking thing coming!" The man, Dakima, spat, summoning his Stand, which made her eyes widen even more than they were before.

The stand Behind him was an exact model of a human, with a framework-like body, seemingly made out of metal scaffolding, coloured black, while its insides were made of wires that mimicked organs, muscles, veins and human features, all colour-coded to fit each part of the insides of a human body. Red wires mimicked muscle, yellow mimicked facial features and veins, and blue mimicked organs.

"By that look in your eyes, I can tell that you're a Stand User. This means only one thing. THIS IS ABOUT TO GET INTERESTING!" Dakima shouted, his eyes lighting up with righteous fury. "But it won't matter. I'll get you, and then I'll get my humanity back! Besides, my Steam Powered Giraffe will be more than enough to get rid of you!" Dakima exclaimed as a bright gray aura coated his entire body.

In response, Karera's body glowed in a bright yellow aura, and a figure appeared behind her. It was a humanoid Stand, that much was obvious. Its body was mostly featureless and had a feminine appearance. It had gray mechanical joins at the waist, hips, shoulders, elbows and hands. A set of metallic cables also connected its chest to the neck.

The Stand was covered in orange patches of fur that covered its legs, arms and body in a way reminiscing of a dress with arm gloves and tights. It also had a large orange, almost afro-like head of hair with a braid going down the middle of it, resembling a zipper. The main body of the Stand was yellow, and its eyes were a bright, brilliant, ruby red.

"I'm not gonna let you take me without a fight. My Love Love Deluxe will make sure you pay for taking my friends!"

- To Be Continued -