The Shie Hissaikai Headquarters were often quiet during the night. Most of the members of The Shie Hissaikai were asleep at this time and the only person who was up was Kai. It was in those times that he was allowed to think clearly. It was also one of the only times he could have the masks off, and sit at this desk, mulling over the various things that needed to be done.
He needed to ensure the drug trade routes were secure. He was the producer and distributor of The Yellow Bullets, so it was on him to ensure that he could have the safe transfer of them over to Damnatio Ad Bestias. Otherwise, it could blow a hole open in their operation.
There was also the human trafficking ring that he was trying to get shut down. One of the rival families trafficking women and children ages between 23 to 13, and they do it on his turf. It was making them look bad, so he had Chronostasis and Nemoto looking into it, with Rappa and an army of grunts acting as the bruiser when they do find the ring in question.
Yu, Setsuno, and Tabe were off collecting various payments at the moment. He knew it was late, but those three slept in most of the time anyway. It was better to have them out doing things before they took their mandatory 10-hour rest. It was something they wouldn't budge on, and while Kai wasn't necessarily a fan of it, there was nothing he could do about it aside from splattering them against a wall a couple of times to rearrange their brains so that they wouldn't question him.
But, only a psychopath would do that, and last he checked, he was perfectly sane. Though he was starting to question that recently. But that was neither here nor there. Nor was it important at the moment.
Katsukame, Sakaki, and Tengai were all asleep. Which left him as he went through all of the documents that he needed so he could properly set everything up for the next couple of weeks. He tried to think of something else other than what happened earlier today. The last thing he needed was to go into another spiral.
Today was… rough. For the first time in a long time, Eri fought back against the procedure. He was proud. He had been worried that her fighting spirit had been crushed because of what they were doing, but to see it still being there, albeit muted, was good. But that didn't stop Kai from having to explain to Eri, again, why they were doing what they doing.
It was to keep the both of them safe. To keep both of them from being "hurt" by the scary man. Those were his words exactly, and reluctantly, she calmed down. After the procedure, rather than sending her to her room, he took her to get something to eat at her favourite ice cream place. He made sure to make her wear long-sleeve clothing, of course—he couldn't have people be suspicious.
It had been a long time since he had seen Eri happy. But having that Ice Cream and being able to go play at a park… It was simple, but it was something she had been deprived of for months at that point.
A monster he might've been for doing what he was doing to her, but he wasn't completely heartless. He understood the importance of making sure that she had something to do. To stop her from fully relying on him. To make sure that she had some semblance of humanity without being a simple machine.
He might not've been the best person in the world. He might not've been a great caretaker—he was the exact opposite, actually—but at the very least he wanted to make sure that once he spirited her away to someplace safe he knew she could be a child. That she didn't have to be so scared all the time.
It was why he let her play games in her room. It was also why did let her have Pre-Quirk era game consoles. It was also why regularly fed her food to keep her healthy. Making sure she got the right vitamins to make sure she was strong. For the day when they finally took their stand against That Man.
She had the best chance, compared to him, though.
She had a secret weapon.
She had her Big Sister to fall back on.
A knock came from his office door, prompting him to clear his throat and speak. "Who is it?"
"It's Noroi," a woman's voice spoke from behind the door as Kai pressed a button under his desk, prompting the doors to open on their own. When the doors opened, Noroi stepped through the doors, and to say she looked eerily like Eri was an understatement—which would make sense. They were sisters, after all.
Noroi stood at the height of 5 foot 7 inches. She had long, flowing black hair that reached down to the middle of her back, and she was dressed in an off-white sleeveless shirt, accompanied by black sports shorts that reached down to her knees. She was barefoot, and she had bright pink eyes.
Unlike her younger sister, she didn't have a horn on her forehead, but that was because her Quirk wasn't the same. Most siblings had similar Quirks, and hers was to an extent, but it wasn't at the same time.
If Eri could rewind a person by touching them, then Noroi could do… something similar. Well, not similar. But it had the same idea, just in reverse. At least, according to Noroi. He had never seen her Quirk before. Apparently, it was a last-ditch effort kind of thing. She never used it unless she had to.
"Good evening, Noroi. What can I do for you?" Kai asked as Noroi frowned.
"You know why I'm here. Eri was complaining again. What happened today, and why did you make her cry?" Noroi said, a seriousness in her voice as Kai frowned.
"She fought back against the procedure and got upset. I reminded her why we were doing it, and she went through with it. I bought her ice cream and let her play in the park the rest of the afternoon as an apology," Kai replied as Noroi's frown deepened.
"I told you to find a way out of this scenario. You haven't yet. Explain yourself. My patience wears thin, Kai. You know what happens when I do, correct? I've made it known that I am more than capable of ensuring her safety," Noroi said, narrowing her eyes as she approached Kai's desk, before slamming her hands palm down on the table, making Kai flinch.
"Well?"
Kai was silent for a moment, trying to think of a way to get around the situation. Noroi was the kind of person to do whatever she wanted. It was what made her a little bit of a liability, but there was nothing he could do about it. If, for whatever reason, she decided to report this whole operation to the police, then it was over.
The worst part was that he couldn't get rid of Noroi. Not because he didn't want to. He very much did. But the problem was because he, quite literally, could not get rid of her. He hadn't tried before, mind you, but that was because he didn't want to.
It wasn't worth the risk.
The only thing that he could do was keep her satisfied. But that was starting to become impossible. She was starting to become agitated with that situation, and the promise he had made to her was starting to wear thin.
He had to think of something. That was when he had an idea.
"You know why I haven't been able to, Noroi. We have to wait for the right time, and then, when we have the opportunity—when that opening reveals itself—you're free to do whatever you want. But please, be patient, Noroi. Wait until the time is right. I promise you it will be worth it," Kai placated as Noroi narrowed her eyes.
For a moment, there was nothing but cold, unforgiving silence. For a moment, he was worried that she would try and do something. It wouldn't be the first time that she had tried to kill him. He only survived because of his Quirk.
No one knew what Noroi's Quirk was. Although, he was starting to believe that Noroi didn't have a Quirk, and probably had one of those ghost things that his "partner" was so interested in. Regardless of those facts, if it wasn't for Kai being able to use his Quirk on himself, he would've died at least twice because of Noroi's impatience.
Even if she was 10 years older than Eri, she still acted like a six-year-old.
"Fine. But you have two months. two months until I decide that enough is enough. If nothing gets done by then, or if Eri isn't somewhere safe by then, I'll make sure that everything you've ever worked for is destroyed. Mark my words, Kai. Next time, you won't be so lucky," and with that, Noroi left his office, the doors automatically closing behind her.
Kai closed his eyes, leaned back against his chair, and sighed. "two months… How do you expect me to do that, Noroi?" Kai thought. That was when he had an idea. He'd have to find a safe time to meet him, but if he could pull it off…
A small smile took up his visage. He had an idea, now all he had to do was pull it off. Before the year was out, Eri would be safe. He just had to wait for the right moment. Right when everything is already going to shit for him. Then, he would spring his trap, and finally take that bastard down.
Then, Eri would be safe.
[XXXX]
"KILLER QUEEN!" Yoshihara shouted as her Stand appeared before her. It blocked a kick aimed at her head, and as soon as it did, it grabbed the ankle of her perpetrator. Killer Queen threw the attacker away and towards a wall as said attacker spun in the air, their feet connecting to the floor as they backflipped several times before getting into a defensive stance, a smile on their face.
"Good job, Yoshi-chan!" The excited and cheerful tone of voice belonging to Kayama-san echoed throughout the training dojo that was co-owned by the titular pro hero, located deeper within Musutafu city. She was dawned in her hero costume, and in her left hand was her signature weapon, that being a whip.
They had decided to do combat training to further prepare her for The Sports Festival after school, and today was one of those days. Not much had happened at school, other than Heroics 101 classes, which was a redo of The USJ trip that had been planned before The League Of Villains attacked.
It went well. Or at least, she thought it did. Everyone was exhausted afterward, herself included. She had to rescue fake droids acting as people from several burning buildings, and she was paired with Ojiro. They were able to rescue 10 out of the 15 people from inside the building before it collapsed.
Needless to say, Ojiro was upset. He wanted to save all of them because it reflected on both of their ability to save the people inside the building. She tried to tell him that was what training was for, but he was too tired and caught up in his feelings to listen.
When they were graded on the rescue attempt, Aizawa-Sensei was rather scathing. He pointed out every flaw and made sure they knew that five lives would've been lost because they didn't do it properly. Next time, he expected better from them, and Yoshihara agreed with him. She didn't vocalize it, but she would do better.
That was the highlight of exercise for her. It wasn't a good highlight, mind you, but it was a highlight that stuck out in her mind. The rest went rather well. Her other partners for the tests were Kaminari in the Storm Simulator trying to help bunker down places for people's safety, Sato in the Landslide Zone to try and find people buried under rubble, and her last partner of the day was Koji in the Mountain Zone.
"One critique, though, and that's the shouting of your Stand's name. While I may not be able to see it, shouting its name will cause your opponent to grow wary of you and what you might do next. You've become too reliant on your Stand. We will go again, but next time, I want you to come at me with your physical strength. Not Killer Queen's," Kayama-san explained, tossing her weapon aside, which was caught by one of the sidekicks stationed near the timer reset.
"Yes, Sensei," Yoshihara said, bowing her head as Killer Queen returned to its user. As she did this, Kayama-san nodded, looking over to the timer as it reset, the person behind this being one of Kayama-san's sidekicks. The two sparring partners got into defensive fighting stances, and as soon as they did, the timer began.
The two charged at one another, Kayama-san reeling back her left hand for a punch, while Yoshihara stopped to put up a block. As soon as she did, Kayama-san switched her movements on a dime and went to sweep Yoshihara's legs out from underneath her.
The attack hit, knocking her feet out from underneath her. Just before she landed, Yoshihara's right hand hit the ground. Using her leverage in the air, she pushed with all of her might to jump up and backward, landing on her feet almost perfectly, slipping up at the last second, which allowed Kayama-san to punish her by closing the distance and kneeing Yoshihara in the chest, sending her close to the edge of the arena, which would have disqualified her from the sparring match.
They were running on the same rules that the 1-on-1 battles at the Sports Festival were going to have, that way she knew what the limits were. It wasn't cheating if there was a chance that she wouldn't make it that far.
Balancing herself in a split second, she dodged out of the way of an overly choreographed right hook, which was then followed up by a less choreographed left jab, which Yoshihara was able to grab, locking Kayama-san in place.
Before she could react, Yoshihara delivered a swift knee to the gut, winding Kayama-san, and then, Judo tossed her over her shoulder, sending her out of the arena. The timer rang out, Yoshihara taking heavy breaths from all the physical exertion, and having to flip Kayama-san over her shoulder.
Kayama-san wasn't light. She was 230 lbs of pure muscle, which made it really difficult to throw her. While Yoshihara was physically strong, she could only lift 110 lbs with one arm, and she could barely bench 200 lbs. Having to flip someone 30 lbs over her limit wasn't easy, but she guessed the adrenaline aided her in doing it.
"Very good… Yoshi-chan…." Kayama-san breathed out, collecting herself. "It seems that all this training is paying off. Though, I must ask, have you been practicing during your free time?" She questioned, slowly picking herself up as Yoshihara hummed.
"Yes, I have. I need to be ready for the Sports Festival. I'm not about to look like a fool during the events. But, I'm not going to limit myself. Kujo said he's going to limit himself, but I'm not going to be stupid. I'm going to use all of what I have. Besides, limiting myself would be pointless. The whole point is to show the world what you're made of," Yoshihara said, letting out one final exhale before she fully caught her breath.
"Good! You're right, limiting yourself is kind of lame. But, I suppose he has his reasons," Kayama-san said as Yoshihara went to disagree, but decided against it. She was right. He probably had his reasons for it. Whatever those reasons were, though, Yoshihara didn't know nor care.
Deciding to take a break, Yoshihara joined Kayama-san, sitting beside her, fixing the collar on her black crop top. She had elected to wear it for flexibility's sake, though she bandaged up her waist to not show her scars to anyone who didn't need to see it. She was also wearing a pair of black shorts, and black stockings that usually went with her school uniform.
She grabbed the plastic bottle of water she had brought with her and took a few sips from it, putting the cap back on before standing up again. "I'm ready to go again if you are," Yoshihara said as Kayama-san laughed.
"I like your spirit, Yoshi-chan, but I need to stay in tip-top shape just in case I get deployed again. Aizawa is busy today, and so is Yamada, so unfortunately we'll have to cut this short. Tomorrow, though, we can go again," Kayama-san said, standing up from the bench, hugging Yoshihara—she still wasn't used to that—who slowly returned it. The two separated, Kayama-san ruffling the top of Yoshihara's head.
"Also, don't think I didn't notice you growing out your hair, young lady. I, for one, am a fan of you doing that. I've always thought you would look better with longer hair," Kayama-san said, earning an embarrassed flush of red from Yoshihara, who looked away.
Kayama-san snickered, letting go as she turned to walk away. "Well, I'll see you back at the suite. You mentioned about something you wanted to do first?" Kayama-san asked as Yoshihara nodded.
"I just wanted to check out the local café that opened. I heard from Sero that it has really good tea there. He mentioned it to me at the end of Heroics class today," Yoshihara replied as Kayama-san smiled.
"Well, it's good to know you're making friends, Yoshi-chan. I'll see you at home," Kayama-san said, and just as Yoshihara was about to retort, the bell at the entrance of the dojo chimed, letting everyone know that someone had entered the building.
The person in question was an old man wearing an orange Buddhist robe, underneath which was a black bodysuit. The man was holding a brown wooden cane to use for support. There was nothing special about it, although it did have a small knob on the top that Yoshihara had to assume was for fidgeting. The man's eyes were half-closed yet also half-opened. His skin was wrinkly, and his hair was old and gray, but he had a lot of muscle around his arms and legs.
Kayama-san seemed to recognize him immediately, and before Yoshihara could ask who he was, Kayama-san spoke up.
"Ah, if it isn't Jiji, how're you doing?" Kayama-san said, walking over to the man, who smiled. He dropped his cane and stood up fully, losing the hunched-over appearance for his slightly taller stature that he gained from standing up straight, going from 4'11 to 5'1, which wasn't too impressive, but for an old man, it was.
"Nemi-chan, it's good to see you alive and well!" "Jiji" said, hugging the woman as she did the same, though with a gentle touch. The two parted, and Kayama-san looked over to Yoshihara and smiled.
"Yoshi-chan, this is my grandpa, Shishido Kayama. He is also the owner of this Dojo. Jiji, this is my adopted daughter, Yoshihara Kira, who is also doubling as my pupil," Kayama-san introduced as Yoshihara approached the man. The two bowed in greeting, and as soon as that was finished, Shishido smiled.
"Such a respectful youth. I've heard all about you from Nemi-chan. You have my condolences for what you had to go through back at that awful, awful place. No child should have to live on the streets, and certainly not do that to survive. I'm just glad to see that Nemi-chan is just as caring as her mother was, and I'm glad that you now have a proper roof over your head," Shishido said, Yoshihara nodding in response.
"Thank you, Kayama," Yoshihara said, earning a bop on the head from Shishido's cane, making her flinch. Before she was about to say something, Shishido spoke up.
"None of that. Jiji works just fine for me. Adopted or not, you're still my granddaughter now. And since you will call me Jiji, I request that I be allowed to call you Yoshihara. Is that alright with you?" Shishido said, earning a small smile from Yoshihara, a rarity that Kayama-san cherished whenever it happened.
"That is fine, Jiji," Yoshihara said as Shishido scoffed, shaking his head, before bopping her on the head with his cane, making her grumble under her breath, and rubbing the spot that was hit.
"And lose that stiffness, young lady. You don't have to be so formal all the time," Shishido said, his expression shifting into that of a sly smirk. Yoshihara frowned, Killer Queen showed up to knock the man on the head in retaliation for the knock on her head with his cane. Just as it came inches away from his head, however, a blue hand appeared out of Shishido's shoulder, catching Killer Queen's hand, earning a wide-eyed look from Yoshihara.
"Tch, c'mon young lady, do you really think I wouldn't notice you planning to retaliate that head bop? Even I should know how to see that coming from miles away," Shishido said. As he did, a small smile crept up on his face.
"You're… a Stand User?" Yoshihara questioned, Killer Queen disappearing as she earned a raised eyebrow from Kayama-san. She looked between Shishido and Yoshihara, before gasping. The realization of what happened set in, as she looked over at Shishido with concern in her eyes.
"Gramps?! But, you're Quirk… how…?" Nemuri said, earning a sigh from the man.
"You remember the attack in Downtown Musutafu? Yeah, I was there. I got shot by one of those bullet things, and my Quirk evolved into one of these Stand thinga-muh-do-hickeys. That Dr. Tomioka guy and his Wonder of U is a godsend, he prevented me from dying using it. Said something about not wanting an old man to die a pathetic death. When he saw what my last name was he asked me to say hi to Kira if I ever met her for him. So, uh, yeah, he says hi," Shishido said, causing the pair to look at one another, and then back at Shishido.
"I… I knew you were in the hospital, but… oh my god," Kayama-san said, gaining a determined expression on her face. "That's it! I'm dragging his ass for a thank-you dinner. I'll drag him here whether he likes it or not! Actually, screw it! I'm throwing a random party. Akira and his friends are coming to! I'm gonna rent out a venue and…." Kayama-san started ranting as she left the dojo, earning a snicker from Takemura as her sidekicks followed her hurriedly out of the building.
"There she goes again, jeez. Never change, Nemi-chan, never change," Shishido said, looking over to Yoshihara. "Oh, I suppose since it's proper etiquette," he began, a blue aura covering his body as a thin blue humanoid Stand with what appeared to be elf ears, black eyes with red pupils, and elf shoes showed up floating beside him. On its body were a few tubes protruding from its head, shoulders, and back, all of which had black tips.
"This is Euphoria," The old man began, the Stand floating up to Yoshihara and being met by Killer Queen. The two stands looked at one another, and that was when Euphoria floated around Killer Queen.
[Tan~nini] Euphoria said, tapping Killer Queen on the nose, making Killer Queen flinch. The smaller Stand floated away from Killer Queen, who tried to catch it, which made Euphoria snicker. Shishido shook his head, sighing.
"He's nothing too special. Effectively speaking, its ability is the same as my Quirk, which puts people to sleep once they inhale a special gas I used to be able to excrete. Funnily enough, it's the exact same ability as Nemi-chan's Quirk. The only difference is that it took way more for my Quirk to knock someone out, and I could only excrete it from my fingers," Shishido said, wriggling his fingers as he chuckled.
"This little sucker, though, makes it so that whatever inhales the smoke also gives them pleasant dreams. So I decided to help Dr. Tomioka at the hospital once he found out it was good for that use. I was a doctor back in my day, so, basically, I came out of retirement, though I'm only called if a patient is too feisty," Shishido said, turning to watch as both of their Stands seemingly played tag around the room.
Yoshihara shook her head as Shishido snickered. "Seems like they get along just fine, right?" he said, walking over to grab his cane. Shishido twirled it for a split second before slamming it down, getting his Stand's attention. Euphoria noticed and immediately floated over to its user before disappearing, Shishido smiled once again, "Well, I must be off. Do try to leave soon, the janitor will be coming to clean the place up. Have a good day, Yoshihara," Shishido said before leaving the dojo.
Yoshihara watched him leave the Dojo before letting out a tired yawn. She didn't give herself a chance to rest today and seeing as it was nearing 6:30 PM, Yoshihara was not only hungry, but she was also extremely tired.
Killer Queen floated over to Yoshihara, wrapping its arms around her shoulders. "I'm fine, we should go, though," Yoshihara said, acknowledging Killer Queen's existence. Killer Queen purred like a cat, floating away from Yoshihara as she rolled her eyes. She had a lot on her mind ever since she had pieced together that Izuku's Quirk was given to him by All Might.
At first, she doubted herself, but the more she thought about it along those lines, it made Yoshihara harden her belief in it. Izuku had been Quirkless all of his life from what she knew—and considering someone can't just lose a Quirk, then that had to have been the case. Not only that but at the battle trial, All Might seemed weirdly invested in Izuku for some reason.
She might've been reaching, but that meant that Izuku must have acquired All Might's Quirk. How he did, she didn't know. Although, she had planned on asking Izuku after school. But, before she could ask him, he was already gone. It was annoying, but there was nothing she could've done about it.
"Oh well… maybe I can go over to his place and I can talk about it there…." Yoshihara thought, frowning. Aside from that, out of all of the things that she was more perturbed about had nothing to do with him, but it had to do with herself.
Her feelings for Izuku.
Never in her life had she ever felt any sort of way for anyone. She thought back to the times she would be around Izuku, or just talk to him, and all of those times she had felt… better. She felt more alive. She had noted that before, but this time, now she had a reason for it.
It was… weird. Really, really weird.
"Ashido-san said that I had a crush on Izuku… does that mean I'm… in love with Izuku?" Yoshihara thought, looking at herself. The mere idea that she was somehow in love with Izuku made her heart race just a tad bit faster than usual. She had to admit that Izuku was… cute. His face was cute, and the way he acted was cute.
He was the only person she had ever met that she felt like she could lower her guard completely around. She felt safe around him. She felt like she could trust him with anything. There was also his physical appeal, too. She would be lying to herself if she said that she didn't have dirty thoughts about him from time to time.
It was… surreal. She had never felt that way before toward others. Izuku had been the only one to make her feel that way, and now she was faced with a dilemma. She had no idea how to process her feelings because she had never felt that way before. Ever. Period.
"Maybe I should talk to Kayama-san about this kind of stuff… she knows more about love than I do…." Yoshihara thought again, taking a deep, calming breath.
She made her way toward the front door of the building, but just before she could open the door, she stopped. For a split second, she felt a sense of… dread… wash over her. She didn't know why, but it immediately put her defences to a maximum. Killer Queen also seemed to feel it. It was the same feeling she got when she encountered Taro in the forest. The same feeling she got when she felt the rogue Stand User at the USJ.
Killing Intent.
She saw a cab pull up just a few buildings down, toward a hotel across the street from Love Deluxe. She withdrew her Stand, forcing it back inside of her as she ran to one of the walls. In that cab was the source of the killing intent. Something, or someone, was in that cab. She pressed herself against the wall, looking out the window to her left as the passenger side door opened.
The person who stepped out was a woman—a blonde-haired woman. She couldn't make out the colour of the woman's eyes, but she didn't have to. She didn't have to because she could never forget the placid, emotionless expression. Ever. The posture of someone confident, too confident. She could even make out the same love and hope tattoos on her knuckles.
Her heart skipped a beat, and a headache that she had become accustomed to hit her like a freight train. Her hands shook, her pupils shrank, and then, she slid down against the wall, her hands covering her ears as they began to ring, and her vision began to fail. She was so caught up in who she saw that she failed to hear the bell ring, signifying that someone entered the building.
But that didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that she saw someone that Yoshihara never would've thought in a million years would pop up in her line of sight ever again. No matter how long it had been, Yoshihara would remember that bitch's appearance for the rest of time. It was a scar on her psyche that would never fade.
It was her.
The last time she saw her she was drunk, blabbering about something then walked out of that house, leaving her with a stranger covered in scars, that same person who saved her from being poisoned to death by her. She remembered running away and being saved by him again, taking a hit for her as he told her to run. He said that he'd deal with her.
But now, she was here.
She was still here.
And she had found her.
"No… no… no…"
"HOW DARE YOU!"
"She can't be…."
"C'mon, brat, I thought you could actually take more than that?"
"I… I thought she died…"
"Yeah, do whatever you want to her. I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, she's a goddamn mistake."
Just before her vision failed her, she saw someone with black pants standing in front of her. She couldn't make out what the person was saying, but she could feel that the person had begun dragging her somewhere else. Finally, she faded into unconsciousness.
[Friday, May 30th, 2114]
"Ma'am, what exactly do you want me to do?" A young-sounding male voice spoke up, sounding exasperated, while also a tad bit worried. "You just dragged me off the street and pointed at the closet and said 'Do something.' I don't exactly understand what you want," the voice spoke, echoing within a rather vacant-looking house. The only thing in the immediate area of the room that the male was in, was a couch, a table, and a suitcase, one that was in the hand of an adult woman.
The house itself looked as if it had seen better days. Like, talk about pigsty. What was worse was that, if it was cleaned up a little, it wouldn't be a bad place to call home. But right now, it looked like a crack den.
Then, there was the owner of the home.
The woman in question was red in the face. Not out of anger, but out of drunkenness. Said woman also was wearing a black business suit, with a white shirt underneath and a red and yellow striped tie that hung just by her collar, though only barely. As for the proof of the woman being drunk, there was a smashed bottle of vodka over in the corner. However, that wasn't what made him worried, far from it.
He could understand getting drunk—hell, even if he was technically only 15, he understood why getting drunk was a fun thing to do. All of his villain buddies did it, and so did he. He'd be lying if he said that he hadn't partaken in his fair share of booze drinking whilst he found himself on the streets of the small town of Morioh.
He knew it was bad for him, but with his body being as fucked up as it was, frankly, what did it matter if he fucked it up a little bit more? So he wasn't one to judge someone getting drunk. Even if their house looked like this.
No, what was worrying was not the fact that she was drunk. What was worrying was something just by the shattered bottle. There was some blood spatter over by the couch if one squinted hard enough, as well as some of the very drink spilt, wasted like it was cheap booze—technically it was, but not that brand.
However, that wasn't what was bothering him. No, not the spilt drink, but the blood. It was the blood that worried him. The teen didn't exactly have to think too hard to realize that the woman had someone else in the house. After all, the drunken woman had no open wounds on her body, so it was safe to assume that the blood belonged to someone else.
And seeing as there was a closet in the corner that read as 'the timeout closet' the teen didn't have to think too hard about who that blood belonged to. That, and the vomit by the table set off some alarms as well.
It was then that the drunken woman groaned, snarling at the man. "Look, I'm telling you, I don't care what the fuck you do to her, do whatever it is you feel like. Beat her, molest her. I'd prefer if you killed her, but I don't fucking care. Just make sure she dies, or at the very least leaves, and doesn't come the fuck back," the woman spat in a harsh tone of voice. Not even a second before the man could react, the woman stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her, suitcase in tow.
The teen, dressed in a black jacket, white tattered shirt, black pants, and light purple scarring around his eyes and arms, did a double-take, looking over to the front door, to the closet, to the door again, and then back to the closet. The teen scratched the back of his neck, sighing. "What the fuck…?" He groaned. He could hear a shuffling coming from the closet, which made him tense.
It was clear to him that there was a kid in there, but the way the woman spoke, made it sound like the kid didn't belong to her, or they did, and she wanted to get rid of them. That… and what he was told—not asked or suggested to do—told to do… it made his blood boil. "Oh, I'll get rid of her, all right. Just not in the way you want…." The teen thought, approaching the closet.
He hesitated to open the closet. He didn't know why, but he didn't know if he'd like what he saw in there. For a moment, he thought back to his own home life. He shivered. That Bastard never did anything like this, but that still didn't mean this didn't give him the willies. The worst he had ever done to him was neglect him like his other siblings.
He didn't know about Shoto, though. He barely saw that kid. But from the sounds of things, it wasn't pretty. He never personally saw anything regarding Shoto—he had been burned, brought back, and then ran away again before he came here so he really hadn't had a chance—but he knew That Bastard wouldn't do anything like this. He was an abuser. Not a monster.
Slowly, he grabbed the handles of the closet, and after inhaling and exhaling to prepare himself for what was inside, and then, he opened the closet. A part of him hoped to find an older kid. Like, maybe something like… 12. Not that it would justify what he heard and saw, but, in some twisted way, it would make it not as bad. Maybe.
But that wasn't what he was greeted with.
Within the closet, a young, 6-year-old, blonde-haired child sat, covered in scrapes and bruises, a vacant look in her eyes as she sat huddled in a corner, violently shaking, her skin pale with flecks of blood around her mouth.
She was wearing a torn-up white shirt that barely fit her, and she was wearing torn-up black pants. Her lip was bleeding after getting punched in the face by that woman, and in front of her was a small puddle of blood from all the coughing she was doing.
The pure shock, dread, and disgust he felt at that moment was enough to knock out ten elephants. A six-year-old—a fucking six-year-old. He felt his stomach churn, but he did his best to keep his lunch down.
He wasn't going to sit down and do nothing. He refused to do that. He knew what being neglected and abused felt like, maybe not like this, but he knew. He knew the pain it left. Knew what it often led to. He wasn't going to let this slide. Not even for another second. He knew he wasn't the best person in the world—hell, he'd rank pretty low for his age. But this? This was so beyond fucked that it made his dead heart beat.
As for the girl, she was scared. Scared of whatever that woman had said. She blocked it out like she normally did just so she could continue to pretend none of this was happening. Her stomach felt weird. That woman made her eat some sort of food that tasted awful—like normal—and because of that, she felt like vomiting. In fact, she had. That was why she was in the time-out closet.
She felt weak, shaking like a leaf in the wind as a cold feeling took her over. She was taken out of school a week ago after someone called some heroes over to her house to see if everything was alright—that woman was a good liar, so after a day of monitoring them, the hero left without consulting Yoshihara, but that was to be expected.
That woman dressed her up nice and clean when she knew the hero was going to show up. She cleaned the house, fed her properly, and acted all sweet and nice. When the hero arrived, the hero stayed around and lounged around the house, keeping an eye open and making sure everything was alright.
Then he left. He left halfway through the day when he thought everything was okay.
If it wasn't for that woman having been over her shoulder the whole day, she would've called out for the hero to help her. To take her with him. But she was too scared that the woman would've done something if the hero didn't say yes.
She did something anyway.
That day, she was pulled out of school.
She didn't know why the hero didn't stay the whole day like he was supposed to. He did go somewhere with that woman, and he was counting money…
Yoshihara didn't know what that was about. But he left not too long afterward.
Regardless, it didn't matter. What mattered was that she was still here, and that was a week ago. She had genuinely thought that she would be saved. She thought—she hoped that someone would see what that woman was doing to her and save her. But that didn't happen.
And like that, any hope of escaping had left her.
Now, that woman had ordered someone to "look after" her. It seemed like whoever it was probably was going to do what that woman said. She knew those words, hell, she was familiar with the concepts, especially that second one. If it was what she thought it meant… it made those footsteps that were coming closer to the closet door more intimidating.
That woman had dragged other people in before, told them the same things, and then they would do them. They would never outright kill her, they usually just stuck to option one and what she thought was option two.
Every. Single. Time.
It had become a routine, what with the woman bringing other men who would do strange things to her that made the woman a lot of money. The woman would rattle off things they could do, the men would give the woman money, and then they would come to her closet, take her out of there, and bring her upstairs…
That was up there, in the woman's bedroom, that it would happen.
She hated it.
She hated it so much.
But every time it happened, she had to ignore it. She had to let those people do what they wanted. Otherwise, the woman would do worse. She remembered the woman said something about wasting money and "not being a good little girl." Then the knife would come out and a new "punishment mark" would be added.
She did a lot of things when it happened. She didn't like thinking about it, though. She was made to… uh… well, it was like sucking on a lollipop. But grosser. Other things, too. She didn't know what they did, but it hurt. She never looked because she didn't want to. But it was below her waist.
It hurt to sit, sometimes afterward.
Sometimes, they'd do it in the closet because they got too impatient to wait for her to get up. That was why there were some of those weird stains in the closet. They smelt awful, but she got used to it.
Why did those men do it to her instead of to the woman? That always confused her. Why her? What was so special about her? Was it supposed to feel good? That was what the woman said. But it didn't feel good. It hurt. A lot.
Well, sometimes she tricked herself into thinking it was good. Or, was that just her brain doing that? She didn't know….
She didn't know a lot of things. All she knew was that it was awful.
She coughed again. Small droplets of blood dripped to the floor, and all Yoshihara could do was shutter as the footsteps grew closer and closer. She was afraid. She didn't want to do it again. She just wanted to rest. She was tired. She had already done it three times today. She didn't want to do it a fourth time.
As the closet door opened, slowly, and when the light hit her eyes, she leaned further away into the closet, away from whoever was there. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to go. She—
"Hey… kiddo? Uh… I'm… I'm not going to hurt you," the voice of… someone, spoke to her. It was relaxing, almost reassuring. Yoshihara looked over to the person, their hand outstretched to her. There were some purple patches on their arm, as well as some stitches, but that was about it from all she could see. She slowly took the hand, walking meekly out of the closet with his help.
She got a good look at his face and was met with a boy with black hair, purple patches around his eyes and some around his mouth, and a small smile. "Don't worry, that woman won't hurt you anymore, I promise," the… man. Yeah, man, said, sitting down on the couch. Yoshihara began to cough, small flecks of blood coming up as the man's eyes widened. "Hey… are you okay?" The man asked. He began to look around the room, frantically, almost as if he was searching for something, or maybe someone. Maybe that woman? Yoshihara didn't know, nor did she care.
Actually, she did care, she cared a lot. She didn't want that woman to see her. If that woman saw her, then she'd start making suggestions. Start poking and prodding again. Show what she wanted him to do. She internally shuttered. She was still sore from a few hours ago. She didn't want it again.
"Ow…." Yoshihara said, shaking. Her hands were shaking as she slowly sat beside the man. She held her stomach, coughing again, more blood coming out of her mouth as she did so. The man looked worried, but Yoshihara simply looked at him with little to no worry in her own eyes. "D-Don't worry… I—" she coughed again, wrapping her shaking arms around her stomach once more.
She didn't know what that woman made her eat, but it made her stomach feel worse every second. It made the cold air hurt, it made her sweat. Whatever it was, she didn't like it.
"Hold on," the man said, digging around in his pocket for something. "I usually have something for things like this… as a Villia—I mean, Vigilante, yeah, Vigilante… I kinda have to have stuff like this on me anyway, you know, in case I run into anyone with a poison Quirk," the man said, grabbing what appeared to be a needle with a green liquid inside of it. "This might hurt," the man said once more, jabbing the tip of the needle into her arm, specifically her wrist, pressing down on the flat end of the needle, Injecting the green fluid.
The needle stung, but that didn't matter to Yoshihara. He said it would help, or at least, he said something that made her think it would help, and if it made the pain go away, she would take it without hesitation.
That didn't mean she liked the fact that he practically forced her to take it, but, yet again, she didn't care. "W-What—"
"A cure-all for poisons," the man interrupted a small smile on his face. "It was invented four years ago when Poison Quirks started to become far too common-spread. It works wonders. It'll take about a minute or so to work, but once it does, you'll feel better."
As the man said that, he stood up from the couch, checking out the front window and scowling at something he saw. He closed the curtains, then turned back around, scanning around the room, once more seemingly looking around again. Yoshihara could feel the pain subside, so whatever it was he gave her, it was working.
She coughed again, though this time there was no blood coming up. That was a good sign, at least.
"Get out of here kid. Go through the backdoor. That psycho most likely will be waiting for me to walk out saying that I did what she asked, and then she'll probably check to see if I have actually done it. Go, now," the man said, gesturing for her to leave.
But before Yoshihara could so much as take a step toward the back door…
"Are you done in there?!" The voice of the woman hollered as she came storming inside. Yoshihara hid behind the man, cowering for her life. No. Not her. Anyone but her. Not her. She muttered "no" over and over again as the woman snarled. "Why isn't she dead yet!?"
"Fuck you, that's why," the teen said, snarling. Blue flames formed around his right arm, anger evident in his eyes. He never cared about others. That was why he aimlessly burned people because he saw no value in human life. Not even his.
But when it came to children… There was a certain code in The Underground that everyone followed. You can kill and hurt whoever you want. But if you did anything to children below a certain age? You were immediately on the shitlist. The only exceptions were Hero Brats and accidents. But those accidents had to be proven.
And this lady… she broke all of those rules.
"Here I thought I was a horrible person, and I'm a serial killer. But you? You're the worst, harming kids… that's low. I don't care what kind of person you are, that's some sick shit. There's a reason why I loathe Endeavor, and that's one of them. Not that it matters. What matters now, though, is that I deal with you," the teen spat, before thrusting his arm forward, unleashing a cone for fire in the woman's direction.
The woman had dodged out of the way, a deadly glare taking hold in her eyes. As soon as she got away from the burning section of the house—specifically the closet—with a sneer and a full-on death glare, she snapped her fingers, and when she did, something slammed into the teen's stomach, making him double over in pain.
Yoshihara saw this, and took a step back, tripping over herself as the woman snarled. "I should've just done it myself," the woman drunkenly slurred, making her way over to Yoshihara. She swayed from left to right. She looked like a fool, but to Yoshihara, it looked as if the devil themselves was about to take her.
Before the woman could do anything, though, the teen got up and punched her across the face. Fire burst to life around the area of impact as the woman screamed. As she screamed, the teen looked over to Yoshihara, and yelled "Get out of here, kid!"
And Yoshihara did exactly that. She ran. She ran as fast as her little feet could take her. When she ran out of that house, she looked back if only briefly, and when she did, a large explosion of blue flames erupted out of the roof, causing Yoshihara to stumble and fall from the pure heat and shockwave of the attack.
When Yoshihara carried herself to her feet, she watched with wide eyes as the house that she had been held within was ablaze. She didn't know if the person who saved her was still inside, but she couldn't afford to run back in to check. She knew that much.
Rubbing at her eyes, she ran.
From that day forth, she would forge her own path. If that man was still alive, then she would find him one day, and give him whatever it was he wanted as thanks.
He was her hero.
[Present Day]
Out of all the days Natsuo Todoroki had to show up to work, he came in time just to see some blond-haired teen pass out from something or another. It looked like a panic attack—something he used to see Fuyumi go through whenever Endeavour would drag his ass home. Thankfully, he didn't live in the Todoroki Estate anymore. He lived in a dorm apartment located by his college. Unfortunatly, that meant he had to get a job. Being a personal cleaner of a Dojo that Mr. Kayama owned was that job.
"I don't know, Fuyu, she passed out before I could talk to her!" Natsuo responded over the phone as he sat down beside the girl to whomst he lent his jacket while she lay on the floor, unconscious or at the very least passed out.
"Well, maybe you should try to wake them up and ask them why they were having a panic attack. I—Kagagura-kun, if you don't stop using your Quirk indoors, I swear to high heavens that I WILL freeze your hair in the style you will not like—Sorry Natsuo, I have some rowdy kids to deal with, talk to you later, bye-bye!"
The call ended abruptly after that, causing Natsuo to groan. Of course, Fuyumi was busy. Then again, she was a Daycare attendant and a teacher, so she was usually incredibly busy. He couldn't call his younger brother, Shoto. From his personal experience, talking to the kid was like talking to a brick wall. He blamed Endeavour for that, but that wasn't the point.
It had been twenty minutes since he last found the kid, and she showed no signs of waking up. "Maybe if I… force her awake?" Natsuo mumbled to himself. "That could work? I mean, I really need to start cleaning this place. I can't take care of her forever," Natsuo stated, frowning. He placed both of his hands on the sides of the girl's head, and when he did, he focused his Quirk on the palms of his hands.
The moment he did that, the girl's eyes snapped open, and he withdrew his hands immediately. "There we go! Rise and shine stranger, sheesh," Natsuo said, standing up from his kneeling position. The blond teen slowly sat up, shaking her head.
"Ugh… where am I?" the blond-haired teen murmured, causing Natsuo to sigh. He reached a hand out to the kid to help her up, of which she took it with a slight bit of hesitancy. After that, the two stared at one another, and he got this creepy feeling that the teen was staring into his soul. After a few seconds of the teen looking around, her expression morphed from a serious expression to one of fright almost immediately.
The teen looked at Natsuo and then spoke. "This is Shishido Kayama's Dojo, correct?" the teen asked her tone of voice a mix of deadpan and worry—a combination he hadn't heard before, not even from Shoto.
"Yeah…" Natsuo replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I work here as a janitor. I walked in and found you passed out by the doorway. Sorry for, uh, forcibly waking you up, I, er, kinda need you to leave. The place is closed for the night and I don't want to get in trouble, Sorry?" Natsuo stated, earning an annoyed expression from the blonde. He thought that she was going to protest the idea, but instead what happened was that the teens simply got up, and walked out of the building.
"Tch, not even a thank you. Hmph," Natsuo grumbled, sighing. He overlooked the Dojo, frowned, and then walked to the janitorial closet. "Welp, time to get to work."
Meanwhile, outside of the Dojo, Yoshihara looked around the area where she last saw that wench, i.e. just outside the Dojo. From what she remembered before her panic attack, she saw her nearby. How on earth she was alive, Yoshihara would never know.
She saw that explosion of blue fire all of those years ago. No one could've survived that without having some form of scarring. Yet, when she saw her, she looked perfectly fine. As if nothing ever happened to her in the first place.
That wreck of a woman shouldn't have been alive, though, something she was going to have to change extremely soon. The cab that she arrived in was gone, so she had to have been either nearby or staying within the hotel where the cab had parked.
She wanted to so badly just ignore her presence, but even just thinking about that woman made her skin crawl and her heart race. "I need to deal with this, now," Yoshihara thought, speed-walking over to Love Love Deluxe as fast as her legs would carry her without making her look suspicious. After all, she just ran out of a Dojo, there would be some assumptions made by the general passerby.
Walking into the Love Hotel, she looked at the counter, only to find nobody. "That's odd, Tatsumi is usually working this shift, maybe she's just in the bathroom?" Yoshihara reasoned, walking over to the elevator. Unbeknownst to her, Tatsumi was indeed there, however, she was lying in a pool of blood due to a bullet hole in her neck, her eyes vacant of life.
As Yoshihara entered the elevator, she felt a cold chill run up her spine, almost as if someone had placed a small warning to go through her body. She didn't know how to feel about it, but what she did know, however, was that it felt awful. She pressed the button to go up to the suite that she lived in with Nemuri, but the button wouldn't work.
"Huh…? Whatever, I'll just take the stairs up to the top floor via the secret entrance," Yoshihara grumbled, pressing the button that led her to the top floor.
"In front of you…" A hushed, masculine voice invaded her mind as she clasped her forehead. She looked around, but couldn't find where it came from. Yoshihara blinked, shaking her head. Whatever that was, it was nearby, and she wasn't all that fond of it.
Just before the elevator doors could close, however, orange-clawed fingers stopped the doors from closing. Yoshihara stepped back, summoning Killer Queen. The doors were forced open, and as soon as they were, Killer Queen threw a punch, only for it to be grabbed by the orange-clawed hand. Red-coloured pupils stared into Killer Queen's pink ones, and then, the clawed hand twisted Killer Queen's fist without warning.
"Do not worry, my dearest descendant. Just endure for a little bit longer…" The voice came again, just as Yoshihara bit back a gasp of pain as her wrist began to twist at the exact same time that Killer Queen's did, blood squirting out from the now torn skin and a potentially broken wrist. The Stand in front of Killer Queen then pulled with all of its might, throwing Yoshihara and Killer Queen out of the elevator and through the receptionist's desk.
She skidded to a halt, crashing into the wall, leaving a sizeable indent. Her back screamed in pain as she coughed from being winded. Her eyes travelled down to the corpse of Tatsumi, which made her blood freeze over. "T-Tatsumi?" Yoshihara said, coughing up her left lung. Her wrist hurt, a lot, and she hated it.
"Well, well, well. Look what the fucking dogs dragged in, huh?" a soothing, yet also harsh voice spoke out as Yoshihara's eyes widened. "Here I thought you died years ago, brat, and now here you are, somehow still alive after all these years," the voice that haunted her nightmares spoke to her as her skin went cold.
"Keep it together… You can't have a panic attack now. Not while she's here!" Yoshihara thought to herself, doing everything in her power to calm herself down from the sight before her.
Just a few feet away, standing with a hand on her hip, dressed in a black business suit, a white dress shirt underneath with a black and purple striped tie sitting just on top of the shirt, tucked within the suit, was a woman—no—a harpy that Yoshihara never wanted to see again. Her hair was long and down in a massive braid, her eyes were cold and filled with wrath, and on her hands were those stupid tattoos.
However, outside of Yoshikawa Kira being the person that was in front of her, the woman she used to call her mother, there was something else that scared Yoshihara even more. It was the fact that she had a glowing orange aura about her body that made her fear the woman more than she usually did. "N-No… she can't be…!"
Beside Yoshikawa Kira was a humanoid stand. It had grey skin from what Yoshihara could make out, as well as an orange armour covering it. It had slanted eyes with black sclera, red pupils, and no mouth to speak of, nor did it have any ears. It looked feminine, resembling Yoshikawa in more ways than Yoshihara could count. Underneath its chest, which had the appearance of breasts, was a black diamond of sorts.
The breasts were covered up with orange armour of sorts, while its midriff was exposed, showing two black spiral markings on either side. The rest of its body, such as its legs and arms were covered in orange armour, though there were spikes on its elbows down to its forearms. The legs had the same thing going for them, as well. Its hands were clawed, and the claws looked as large and as potentially sharp as a set of butcher knives.
"I must admit, brat, the last thing I was expecting was for you to be a Stand User, but that doesn't matter. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to set things right so that I don't have to think about you. I'm going to finish the fucking job I told that villain to do all those years ago, and snuff out your worthless life!" Yoshikawa snarled, causing Yoshihara's eyes to narrow as she slowly got up, using her hand that didn't have its wrist broken.
"I…" Yoshihara began as he glared at Yoshikawa, who glared back at her. "… am going to kill you first, woman," Yoshihara snarled, Killer Queen standing beside her. "And I'm going to make it slow, and painful, just for my amusement. But there's something I can't shake… it's almost like…." she began, pausing as she clenched her non-broken hand into a fist. Instead of the usual pinkish aura rising off of her, a black steam began to roll off of her body. At the same time, something else flickered into existence just behind her, but no one noticed it.
"You ruined my life, made me into an uncaring, unfeeling monster. I'm honestly surprised I haven't become some sort of serial killer yet," Yoshihara said, scoffing to herself as Yoshikawa narrowed her glare toward her.
"The fuck are you going on about? Are you seriously trying to waste my time?" Yoshikawa spat, a small smirk on her face. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. Monologue all you want, I'm going to—"
"For some reason, though," Yoshihara ignored the woman, as well as interrupting her, not falling for her taunts, and not looking her in the eyes. They were filled with an unnerving rage. Not only that, but they almost… glowed. Almost as if she was possessed by something. But that didn't matter, as the blackened smog began to transform into a more congealed mass that rose off of her body.
"Are you ignoring me you—huh?"
Yoshikawa's eyes blinked rapidly as the mistake's aura flashed, as only now she saw it. It made her do a double-take, and then, she felt fear. It made Yoshikawa take a step back out of fright. And then, something worse showed up. Something besides the mistakes Stand. The figure standing beside Killer Queen for some reason made her blood chill, and she didn't know why.
The figure in question was a man in a suit—a white and green striped Valentino suit, to be exact—with short black and white hair, blue eyes, and what appeared to be sunken cheeks. The figure was ghostly, see-through, like a ghost. He had a strange tie that had strange cat-like skulls on it, bordered off by golden lines going in a criss-cross pattern. The ghost was taller than Yoshihara by at least a foot and then some.
"What… no… who is that?!" Yoshikawa thought her Stand moving in front of her in a protective stance.
And then, both Yoshihara and this mysterious figure spoke at the same time, almost as if they were the same person. "I have a feeling that if I don't kill you, I'm going to lose sleep at night."
-To Be Continued in - C'est la vie, Heart Attack - Part 1