[One Day Before the Sports Festival….]
Two weeks flew by faster than Yoshihara wanted to admit. For a while, the media continued to pump out stories about her, but after about the fifth day after the incident, the heat around it started to die down after magazine sales slowed. So, typically, they moved on to something more worth their time.
It had been a complete shitshow. She had been accosted for the last two weeks and then some by a bunch of people from inside and outside her school. Even some lower-ranked heroes tried to arrest her for the smallest things like accidentally jaywalking, or loitering by standing around a building for a bit longer than normal.
Those aforementioned Heroes were now in the hospital with broken noses and or bruised ribs, and this time it wasn't plastered all over the news. She simply had the right to defend herself, and she did just that. Quite frankly, she was starting to get sick of it, but at least she had other things to do that kept her mind off of the recent shitshow her life had become.
In the two weeks leading up to The Sports Festival, Yoshihara trained, sometimes by herself or, if time allowed for it, with Izuku. Most of the time, however, Yoshihara trained by her lonesome, seeing as she needed a wide birth to do what she wanted. Besides, if she wanted to spar, she had Midnight when she wasn't busy, or Izuku when he wasn't sparring with his mother and practicing Stand Awareness.
Speaking of Izuku, he had gotten better at tracking Stands and their movements, all thanks to his mother and her rigorous training. He was now able to tell where they were based on air movements. Just because people other than Stand users couldn't see them, didn't mean they couldn't be felt.
Of course, they were intangible, so he couldn't outright attack them head-on, but they could be dodged if one knew how to read the air and its movements. That had been the point of his training with his mother, and he had gotten good enough to dodge most of its attacks at a close range.
Dodging projectiles on the other hand, not so much.
Although, from what she had seen of his training, he had made some major progress. He wasn't breaking his bones nearly as often as he used to. He had also gotten fast. He said it had something to do with his mother and her projectile training requiring him to dodge things faster without getting hurt.
His explanation of how his Quirk stopped breaking his bones was… interesting, making a lot of references to plumbing. But, for a more basic explanation, he explained that he had been simply putting too much power into his attacks, and therefore, it was causing his body more stress, breaking his limbs in the process.
In a way, he also told her a way to easily beat him. That being: pressure him to the point where he broke his bones. Of course, that was only if she fought him in the Sports Festival. She had seen them before on her phone, and while the first two events were always random, the final event was always a 1 on 1 fight between the top 16 contestants.
But, for now, that didn't matter.
Then, there was Kujo. Every day, up until now, he lookedbeat. He was physically exhausted, and he had seemingly been exempt from the Hero 101 classes thanks to some strings being pulled behind the scenes. The mentor he had, Julius Caeser Zeppelli, or as Kujo had been quick to correct, Gyro Zeppelli, had been working him to the absolute bone.
She tried to ask Kujo what he had been working on, but all he would say was that it was a secret, and that "she'd see it at The Sports Festival." She wasn't going to lie, it kind of got her worried. Whatever he was training in, it was noticeable, too, seeing as his muscles had nearly doubled in size, though they kept their leanness, kind of like how hers did the same.
That, and seeing as his mentor was a Zeppelli, of which that family was a well-known hero family in Italy, it was safe to say that whatever was going to happen tomorrow was going to be devastating.
But on another, completely unrelated note….
Over the past two weeks, Yoshihara trained as hard as she could, physically speaking. She had been working out to the point where she could feel the results. Her arms took on more muscle, than before. She had a fully developed six-pack as well as defined back muscles. Her legs were the ones that changed the most, and most of all, her thighs. They went from thick skin to made almost completely out of muscle, as did her calves. There was still some body fat around her waist and chest, but that was fine.
There weren't any new developments with Killer Queen or Sheer Heart Attack. Although she did learn the limits on the sizes Sheer Heart Attack could take, as well as the numbers.
For a regular hand-sized Sheer Heart Attack she could deploy two of them, though the more she summoned the weaker they would get. She could also deploy 10 nail-sized ones, though their explosions were the weakest, only leaving small scrapes and bruises. Still, the skin that they blew up burnt to the touch, and usually left behind 1st-degree burns.
The one that did the most damage, however, was the one that took the size of half an averagely sized adult. She had never blown it up before, but that was because she knew instinctively that she shouldn't. If it blew up on someone, that person would die, regardless of what Quirk they had. She would only use that sized Sheer Heart Attack if she had to.
Another thing that happened in the last two weeks was that she and Kayama-san were able to move back into the suite on the top floor of the Love Love Deluxe, seeing as the elevator was fixed. After living with Hizashi Yamada and Shouta Aizawa for almost a week straight, in her personal opinion, she never wanted to do that again. She didn't mind Aizawa, it was Yamada who drove her up the wall.
He was just too damn loud. She knew he didn't mean to be and that it was a side-effect of his Quirk, but the point still stood. The guy could be annoying, intentionally or otherwise. Still, though, it didn't mean she wasn't grateful—because she was.
She was happy that, if something were to happen to Kayama-san or the building, she had a place to stay. Although the first thing she did the moment she got back to Love Love Deluxe was to catch up on all the sleep she lost thanks to Yamada's snoring.
Seriously, with his Quirk, the fact that he snored made it far worse. She was surprised to learn that Aizawa—who she was now convinced was gay and was, at the very least, the boyfriend of Yamada—was able to sleep in the same bed as that man and smother his face with a pillow.
He probably had earplugs.
Really good earplugs.
Also during that time, she got into a few fights with Kayama-san. Not arguments, but sparing matches. The results of which were staggering. She was able to win against her five times out of the ten battles they did. It was a far better margin than it was back before her tenor at U.A. began, where she only won 1 battle out of the 90 they did over nine and a half months of training she did for the recommendation exam.
Although, if there was one thing that she hated throughout the last two weeks; it had to be going to school. Not because she hated school now or anything—far from it. But it was because of the ripple effect caused by her battle with her mother having gone public.
To summarize what happened in the two weeks leading up to The Sports festival would be to acknowledge the fact that her class—outside Izuku, Kujo, Ashido, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Ida—were dumber than a bag of bricks.
Well, she could add Jirou and Ojiro to that list, They decided to find out the truth, and when they did, they decided to tell Kaminari and Sero. But the rest of them? The rest of them had decided to show no interest in finding out what happened.
Actually, no, she could add Bakugo to that list of people, too. True, while neither of them liked the other, Bakugo wasn't petty enough to blow her off entirely. There was a mutual dislike of one another that created a barrier between them as classmates, but he was one of the first people who approached her to know the truth.
While she was annoyed she had to say it again—his excuse was that his hearing was starting to go thanks to the constant use of his Quirk—but he at least believed her. Then he went on to tell her that "this doesn't change shit between us, you got that, blondie" before leaving. She found it kind of funny, all things considered. Out of everyone who believed her, he was the last person she thought about.
The same couldn't be said about Yaoyorozu, Aoyama, Todoroki, and Shoji. The same could be applied to Asui, Fumikage, Sato, and Koda. The other remaining students of Class 1 – A were firmly under the belief that she shouldn't be in their class—despite Izuku vouching for her.
Izuku was seen as the most trustworthy in the class. If he backed someone or believed that someone was trustworthy, then that usually extended to the other person they were vouching for. He just had that effect on others.
And yet, no one seemed to care for his opinion this time around. Or Ida's… Or Uraraka's… Or Kujo's. It was as if a fog of stupidity washed over the class, and now they weren't thinking straight. It didn't make any sense, either. It was entirely out of character for them to behave that way.
Yoshihara had been immensely confused. She had figured that she had cleared the air when she first explained what happened. But she supposed not everyone was going to take her at face value. That's just not how people worked—especially teenagers. While Class 1 – A was filled with good-natured people with good intentions, good intentions often lead to horrible misconceptions.
Good-natured people often were the most gullible as she had found out the hard way. Which, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. It was unfortunate that it applied to Class 1 – A.
Scratch that, it applied to most of U.A., and by most, she meant all of it outside of the staff.
To say that everyone hated her guts, or at the very least couldn't stand the sight of her within the building, was a massive understatement. There had been multiple occasions where some of the members of the General Studies course, Class 1 – B, some of the upperclassmen in the hero course, and even some of the support and business course students tried to attack her at lunch.
All of them would get a punch to the face, usually breaking their noses, and having them be sent to the infirmary after the fact. Funnily enough, the Big Three at U.A., a group of people rumoured to be the strongest in the whole school, all of whom she had yet to meet, had been the only ones not to confront her about it. Either they simply didn't care, or, they just decided to stay out of it.
Or, on the other hand, they just couldn't find her.
She hoped it was the former option rather than the latter.
The classes themselves weren't all that bad. The hero training stuff was abysmal when she was paired up with someone who hated her guts, but that was only 50% of the time, so she couldn't get too annoyed at it. However, if it was one thing that she could give one of her more persistent… would haters be the right word? Adversaries, maybe? Whatever, the point being, Yaoyorozu was persistent. Any time she got to defame her, which seemed like every time she opened her mouth, she did so with fervour.
Of course, there had been times when someone stuck up for her, which, depending on who it was, either shocked or annoyed her. Speaking of Momo Yaoyorozu, she had been the one person who was consistently on her ass about the thing she supposedly did. Well, not supposedly. She did murder Yoshikawa, her supposed "mother" if she would even dignify that word to her. That was an undeniable fact.
What was deniable, however, was her innocence. Every day, for the past two weeks, Yaoyorozu would harass, demean, and prosecute her over and over, trying to make her feel bad about what she had done, with zero success. Was this self-inflicted? Maybe, but that hadn't been the point. The point of this was to weed out those who were liable for the nonsense the media spat out.
For someone with the ability to look back into sources, Yaoyorozu sure was gullible. She might have been smart—she was the top student in the class, academically speaking—but she was most certainly an idiot when it came to looking into sources and doing some basic fact-checking.
Still, even if Yaoyorozu believed that Yoshihara had been a monster, a murderer, and a psychopath; that didn't suddenly mean she could shove her into lockers every chance she got. It didn't mean she should attempt to trip her in class whenever she got up to go use the washroom. It didn't mean she should write messages on her desk (Yoshihara could point out her handwriting pretty easily) or even purposely sabotage her in the Heroics 101 activities when they were paired up together.
But the straw that broke the camel's back was her directly pointing out her scars and making fun of them. Almost everyone collectively agreed that had been a step too far, seeing as everyone remembered how she reacted when all the girls saw them in the changing rooms back at the start of the year. Yaoyorozu knew, or at least she had to have known, that the scars came with a bit of trauma, so for her to make fun of them in front of her was outstandingly cruel.
If it had been her choice, she would've turned around and blown that pompous bitch sky-high. Unfortunatly, that would be a murder she wouldn't be able to get away with. Not that she wanted to commit any more murders, but that was beside the point.
She could handle a little bit of bullying. Yoshihara could see where she was coming from. But actively sabotaging both of their marks in the Heroics 101 course was beyond petty. Mocking her scars was heinous. Having zero remorse for doing either pissed her off, and she needed to pay for it.
A part of her thought about jumping her after class, but she was better than that. She wasn't the type of person to start a fight. She was the type of person to finish a fight. She didn't like conflict—with very few exceptions.
And so, she decided that she was going to let Yaoyorozu approach her first. She knew that this was reaching a boiling point, and there was going to be some kind of confrontation today. Yoshihara had made it very clear that after what she did when it came to mocking her scars if she spoke to her again, she was going to break her face.
Yaoyorozu had been glaring at her the whole day. Yoshihara knew that a confrontation was coming, and she was going to use that to hopefully put this behind them.
And if it didn't work, then so be it.
Currently, it was the end of the day at school, and Yoshihara was just about ready to pack up and go home when Yaoyorozu grabbed her shoulder. "I want to talk to you," Yaoyorozu muttered, harshly, under her breath, earning a silent nod from Kira.
There was a brief moment of silence as everyone filtered out of the room, minding their own business, though she did note Kujo's glance at the pair. Yoshihara gave him a small smile, which in response to it, Kujo left. Yoshihara's blue eyes wandered over to Yaoyorozu, shrugging the hand off of her shoulder so that she could turn to face her.
"All right, you wanted to speak to me, Yaoyorozu?" Yoshihara said, hopping up to sit on one of the desks, her arms draped over her legs as she slouched slightly. "Let me guess: it's about everything from last week and this week, correct?"
"Yes, it is," Yaoyorozu said, a clear hint of annoyance in her tone of voice. "I want you to be honest with me, Kira. Do you feel remorse for what you've done? Any at all?" Yaoyorozu questioned as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow. Had she seriously not been paying attention when she first explained the situation?
"Remorse?" Yoshihara said, taken aback slightly. "Is that a serious question?"
"Yes!" Yaoyorozu snapped, narrowing her eyes at Kira, and clenching her right hand into a fist, anger clearly shown within her eyes. "You murdered three people! You ended their lives! How can you sleep at night knowing that you're responsible for doing such a horrible act?!" Yaoyorozu continued as Yoshihara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, which caught Yaoyorozu's attention. "What? Am I asking a stupid question? Or are you—"
"Shut up," Yoshihara spat, interrupting Yaoyorozu before hopping off the desk. she dropped her hands to her sides, an unimpressed look on her face as she continued. "I don't need to explain myself to you for a second time. I already told you what happened—the circumstances behind everything barring personal motivations. What happened to Death Arms and Ichiko were mistakes driven by a Quirk awakening that went out of control. If I were to attribute any remorse to anything, it would be those two."
"And what about the woman you murdered? Did you ever think about what her family must be thinking right now, or—"
"I am her family, Yaoyorozu," Yoshihara bit out, making Yaoyorozu flinch. Shock took up her expression, the weight of Yoshihara's words sinking in as the former crossed her arms. "That's all I'll say regarding my connection to that woman. All you need to know is that she deserved it. There is footage of the entire event online. If you cannot even do the slightest bit of research on your own, then you are hopeless."
Yoshihara turned back to face the door to the classroom to leave, glancing over her shoulder and back at Yaoyorozu, who was still trying to process what Yoshihara had said. "If you care about the truth, then you'd recall what I said. If not, then please continue to live in whatever flowery delusion you've cooked up for yourself."
Just as Yoshihara was about to leave, Yaoyorozu spoke up again. "Was she your mother?"
That caused Yoshihara to stop moving. She didn't know why, but it did. A sudden wave of hostility washed over Yoshihara as she looked back at Yaoyorozu, a tinge of annoyance in her eyes. "And if she was?"
"Then why?" Yaoyorozu demanded, narrowing her eyes back at Yoshihara.
"That's none of your business. Now do the smart thing, and drop the topic, Yaoyorozu. Or else," Yoshihara said, venom dripping from every word, turning to face her again.
"Or else what? You'll kill me?" Yaoyorozu spat back, her heart racing as fear crept under her skin, watching as Yoshihara's eyes gained a violent shine to them. It made Yaoyorozu take a step back, though Yoshihara didn't move a single inch. She stayed where she was, glaring daggers at Yaoyorozu all the while.
"No…" Yoshihara said, but it didn't put Yaoyorozu at ease. She was about to say something when Yoshihara continued. "But I'll make you wish I had." As Yoshihara said that, she tilted her head ever-so-slightly to the left, as a small, barely noticeable smirk took up her visage, anger boiling within her eyes as she spoke. "So pick your next words very carefully, Yaoyorozu. I'm already at my wit's end with you. Don't push me over the edge."
Yoshihara took a step forward, prompting Yaoyorozu to take another step back, all of the colour in the latter's face draining as her eyes widened with a hint of anxiety and fear. How could someone who proclaimed to want to be a hero fit the mould of a villain so perfectly? The way her eyes lit up with what looked to be bloodlust and ill intent sent alarms off in Yaoyorozu's head.
Now that she thought about it, the number of people who had agreed with her about Kira Yoshihara's actions had dwindled over the coming days before The Sports Festival. Of course, Todoroki, Tokoyami, Sato, and Koda believed that what Kira did was worthy of her being removed from The Hero Course, but everyone else?
They were either indifferent from the start after her so-called explanation, or they had their minds changed. If Yaoyorozu had to bet, this was how she had done it. She must've scared them into thinking that what she had done was acceptable when it was the furthest from it.
"Y-Y-You—" Yaoyorozu stopped herself, feeling the building fear and tension rise in her chest as she took a step back, only this time, there was no more ground to cover. She was against a wall, with nowhere to run, as Yoshihara menacingly approached her, her posture straight and her hands behind her back.
"Tell me, Yaoyorozu. If you were in my situation, what would you have done? When you're met with someone who you believed had died years ago, and that same person was responsible for some of the worst stuff imaginable happening to you at a young age, and that same person having just recently killed someone you work with, what would you do? Stand there and let them roll over you?" Yoshihara said, her tone gaining a sickly sweet hint to it as Yaoyorozu narrowed her eyes, a tinge of bravado coming back into her voice as she spoke.
"No! But you didn't have to kill her! You didn't have to kill anyone! Whether you believe she deserved it or not, it's not up to you to take justice into your own hands! That's up to what the courts decide! That's why we have prisons! That's why—"
"They'll be released and allowed to do the same shit they were in there for again," Yoshihara spat, glaring daggers at Yaoyorozu, stopping just 2 meters away from Yaoyorozu, dropping her hands to her sides as she frowned. "It's happened time and time again. How many child predators, rapists, murderers, and traffickers get arrested and then released within ten years, Yaoyorozu? Because I can tell you. I've done my research. It's well over 50%. Think of how many more people they'll hurt, kill, and rob of their innocence."
"I want to change that. I know that my life is fleeting—humans only live for 100 years at most, and only half of that time can be used working. But for the time that I have, I want to ensure that scum like my mother, who would openly harm people as vulnerable as children for the sake of their own sick amusement aren't just locked up. That's being too generous. Those kinds of people don't deserve to be rehabilitated. The moment you take a life, on purpose mind you, you're scum."
"The only exception is if you're doing it to protect those around you and yourself. I shouldn't have to say why hurting children on purpose makes you scum, as well. Scum do not deserve to live. They revoked that right the moment they so much as laid a finger on anyone with meaningful and malicious intent. To say otherwise would mean you are delusional," Yoshihara continued as Yaoyorozu took a step forward, getting in Yoshihara's face, and causing her to recoil slightly from the abrupt action.
"That's what a vigilante would say, not a hero. You're not a vigilante, are you? You're trying to be a hero, in a class full of people who want to do things the right way, correct? So then start acting like it," Yaoyorozu said, glowering all the while as Yoshihara shoved her back, making her stumble over her own feet and hit the wall behind her.
"You don't get to tell me what to do, Vice President," Yoshihara snarled, turning her back to Yaoyorozu as she shook her head. "I'll do what I do because it works. If you want to keep kissing the boot of the system, then be my guest," Yoshihara continued, before walking away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm already late for my scheduled therapy session with Hound Dog. The Headmaster was insistent that I take them once a week due to what happened that started this whole mess, on top of The USJ incident."
When Yoshihara left Yaoyorozu all by herself, she found herself more annoyed rather than relieved. Truth be told, Yaoyorozu had a negative opinion of Kira ever since The Battle Trials and what she had done to Jirou. The fact that she had even thought that plan was okay in the first place, in hindsight, was insane.
While Yaoyorozu believed it was a good idea at the time as well, back then she had no idea just how powerful Kira's bombs had been. Speaking in hindsight, that should've been Yaoyorozu's first clue that not everything was as it seemed. That should've been clue number one as to how twisted Kira was as a person.
As she stood in the classroom of 1 – A, alone, Yaoyorozu felt a sense of justice flow over her. It was her duty, then, to expose Kira Yoshihara for the kind of person that she was. She couldn't let her fool the rest of the class into thinking that she wasn't as twisted and as evil as she was.
But how? How did she take on such a monumental challenge, before The Sports Festival?
Simple, she couldn't. She'd have to wait.
There was only one day left until The Sports Festival. She needed to train and be prepared for what was about to come. Then, once The Sports Festival was over, all she'd have to do was dig a little bit into just what kind of person Kira Yoshihara was. After all, it wouldn't take long for her to find what she was looking for.
She had the power, the money, and the time to do whatever she wanted. She was in the top 0.1%, and just as the saying goes: Money talks. Getting a free handout from The Yatsu Independent Support Group would entice anyone to do a little bit of dirty work.
"Just you wait, Kira. You won't get away with this for long. That, I promise you."
[XXXX]
Kyoka was nervous for two very good reasons. The first reason was that, as of now, she lived on her own. Standing in the entranceway of her newly purchased apartment, a shaky breath filled her lungs. It was a nice-looking place. A living room, a kitchenette, a hallway where a bathroom and two bedrooms were.
Ironically, and unintentionally might she add, she was now the next-door neighbour to Midoriya. When she started moving in, it was around the time that Midoriya was coming home from the gym, and he was shocked to see her moving into the apartment next to him. He even offered to help her move the rest of the boxes into her apartment.
She took up his offer, and he even helped her unpack. He then took it a step further and built her bedframe for her when she went to make herself something to eat—she had asked Midoriya if he wanted anything, but he declined saying he was on a diet—and when she returned to her room to build her bedframe for tonight, Midoriya had already beat her to the punch.
She also got to meet his mother, and they exchanged pleasantries, got to know each other, and she was invited over for dinner. Once again, she took up the offer, which was why now she was just entering her apartment.
It was… weird. Living alone. She hated it. She hated the idea of living by herself. It made her feel wrong. She was so used to living with her parents that now it just felt… off. When she left Mika, she screamed at her, calling her all sorts of things that she didn't bother to put to memory.
It baffled her how someone she used to look up to was nothing more than a shell of a person. The more spiteful part of her hoped she crawled into a hole and died. The more forgiving side of her hoped that she'd become a better person. The part of her that just didn't care was indifferent to either.
Maybe she'd better herself. Maybe she'd continue to spiral into a mess of a person as she had been over the course of the last few days when she realized that she had been talking to her Uncle and was moving out.
It was unfair. She thought that she had it good. Thought that she had parents who loved her, and while they did strange things it wasn't too bizarre.
But then she figured out what those pills had been. Beelz called CPS, and the reality of the situation weighed heavy on her like a pound of bricks.
Then there were those strange dreams she was having. Either of That Man or glimpses of what she now knew were memories, still blurred by the effects of taking those drugs. Memories of before she was even six years old. Memories of Mika arguing with Dad for some reason or another.
The scars around her neck swelled in pain as she flinched.
She still didn't fully understand why she did what she did that day. Why it was she had attempted to take her life, or what the cause had been. Maybe it was because of all of the Quirkist comments? Or perhaps it was the constant arguments her parents were having at the time. Maybe both.
All that she knew was that it was a stupid mistake. A mistake that put her into a coma, and resulted in a lot of weird things, and a lot of truths that she had the misfortune of remembering, all of which culminated in making the situation even worse.
But now, she was here. Alone. Without her parents. She had a classmate next door who could help if she needed it, and she was finally independent of that harpy she called a mother. Maybe in another place, in another time, things wouldn't have been that way. Maybe, she had decent parents.
Hell, she had a really weird dream, at one point. She was talking to what she assumed was a younger-looking version of her Uncle. They were both at U.A. and talking about someone named DIO and a barge. When she woke up, it made her head spin.
Some forums online mentioned how Dreams could let you peer into alternate realities if you enter a zen-like sleep. Maybe that was what had happened? Nonetheless, it was weird—really, really weird. Also, her Uncle had brown hair there, so clearly it wasn't actually him.
"Whatever, Dreams are weird," Kyoka thought, frowning as she walked over to a dark green leather chair that she had found online for cheap. She still had over 400,000 Yen in her bank account, which would be more than enough for groceries for the week. Uncle Jojo said he'd pay her bills until she got out of high school, so she didn't need to worry about that. Not yet, anyway.
Still, that didn't mean she shouldn't at least get a job. Maybe Beelz would like an extra hand? The current minimum wage was 3,102 yen an hour, and if she were paid every week for the whole year, she'd easily make 1,191,168 Yen a year, and that much for three years if she didn't get any raises, she'd have 3,573,504 Yen by the time it was all said and done. Assuming she didn't spend a single coin, of course.
A small frown took up her visage. The Sports Festival would start tomorrow, and she was extremely nervous. Moving into a new house and starting the next leg of her life so quickly… maybe she should've just stuck with her Dad? That might've been for the best, all things considered.
While her Dad was complicit with what her mother had done, it wasn't like he had been delusional to believe that she needed it. Of course, there was a conflict of interest between them, and it wasn't like she had planned on being a Yakuza. She was already set on being the best hero she could become. Nothing would change her direction in life.
Nothing at all.
Kyoka leaned back into her chair, a wave of comfort washing over her as she relaxed. It had been a while since she had the chance to… relax. She had been tense ever since she had found out her mother was an awful, no-good person. But now, she didn't have to worry about that.
So, she could finally relax.
Or, at least, she would, had it not been for…
"Jirou-san, Jirou-kun, we need to talk about your daughter's behaviour recently," A stern, sirly voice echoed in a small room coated in shadow. A younger Kyoka was sitting in a wooden chair, staring down at the floor. To her, it felt like a spotlight was shining on her, and ignoring everything else in the room.
"It must be a mistake. My daughter would never do anything like that!" Mika said a hint of annoyance in her voice as Kyotoko spoke up.
"Like my wife said, what the Sasaki's are saying have to be made up. I mean, have you seen Kyoka? She can hardly hurt a fly," Kyotoko said, frowning. "And even if she did punch that boy, there has to be a reason for it. My Kyoka would never do something like this without a reason."
"Well, Jirou-san. The security cameras show that she attacked him completely unprovoked," the voice spoke up again. "And now, you may not see the cameras. We have the right to withhold that information from you."
"THIS IS QUIRKISM!" Mika spat, glaring at the source of the voice, stepping into the light slightly, jabbing a finger in a general direction. Kyoka wasn't paying attention. She was too focused on her shadow to move. "I know this game. I'm not an idiot! This is because she's a Mutant, isn't it!"
"No. I am simply looking out for the student body. Kyoka attacked a student at random, broke the boy's nose, and ran away from what she did when she realized she would be caught. I have no motive behind this, I am simply telling you like it is," the person behind the voice replied calmly.
"Then show us the proof. We won't believe you if you don't," Kyotoko said, placing a hand on Kyoka's shoulder. "If you don't have a motive, and you have nothing to hide, then you'd show us. Otherwise, we'll have reason to believe that you're lying to me. To my wife. To our family."
"Again, our school reserves the right to not show the parents outside of the Parent-Teacher Group the security cameras regarding a student's misconduct. Besides, aren't you supposed to believe those above you in higher places of power? That is how it has been in this country for the last 100 years. Are you seriously trying to change that?" The man said, a dangerous hint to his voice as Jirou finally moved.
She looked up at the man in the chair, a frown on her face, her eyes narrowed as she finally said something. "You're a villain."
"Excuse you, Kyoka?"
"You heard me," Kyoka mumbled, looking back at the floor. "You're mean. I hate mean people. I hate villains. You're a villain. I hate you, headmaster."
"I see. Very well. I was thinking about just giving you a week-long detention. But, I've changed my mind," the headmaster said, a hint of malice in his voice, his ego insulted. "Suspended. You will be suspended for a month."
"WHAT?!" Mika roared, but before she could do anything, Kyotoko placed a hand on her shoulder, letting go of Kyoka before shaking his head. He then looked at the headmaster, a sneer on his face.
"I will be reporting this to the school district. You will not get away with this," Kyotoko said as he turned to walk away. As he did, he looked over his shoulder. "Kyoka, let's go."
Kyoka wordlessly got off the chair and followed Kyotoko out of the headmaster's office, but not before looking back at where the voice spoke from. When she did, she stuck her tongue out at him, before walking away….
Kyoka gasped, sitting forward as she closed her eyes, clutching her forehead as she frowned. That was a memory. One that she didn't remember until now. She was still remembering her childhood that had been repressed. She found herself scowling. That must've been in her early elementary school years, back when she was still experiencing a bunch of Quirkism due to being a mutant.
Not that she hadn't been on the receiving end of it anymore, but it was to a much lesser extent. Maybe it was because new reforms had passed in the last six to seven years since she had been that young.
Maybe it was because laws and such akin to that like the ones that the headmaster at that school had been using to suppress her parent's right to know what happened had been outlawed and could used against the individual in question in court. What made it worse is that, when it wasn't, they hid behind faux concern for others around them.
She was glad that those laws were now in effect. She just wished those were around to protect her when it mattered to her. At least no one else had to go through that bullshit without people getting the proper punishment.
A sigh escaped her lips as she stood up from the chair she was sitting in. It was starting to get late—around about 7:30 pm. She needed to get something to eat, and then she'd go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and she was going to need the extra rest. That much, she knew for certain.
[XXXX]
When Yoshihara got home, she was still riding off the coattails of the argument between herself and Yaoyorozu. The nerve of her to assert that she knew more about what happened than what was publicly available—as if she had the right to know, either.
She hated stupid rich people. Yaoyorozu represented that to a tee. Book smart, yes, that was true. Yaoyorozu was a genius in that regard. But social smart? Not even remotely. Gullible as hell, too. If she heard pigs could fly, she'd probably believe it. She was surprised that she didn't believe in any conspiracy theories.
Maybe that was knocking on her a bit too much? She'd be a bit of a hypocrite if she didn't give Yaoyorozu some slack. After all, it was clear that she was stubborn. The same applied to Yoshihara. If she believed something, she stuck to her guns. Of course, the difference between the two was that with enough proof someone could sway Yoshihara from her current stance.
Yaoyorozu was not like that. She was much more the kind of person who stuck to her beliefs and refused to budge—like those nutcases who believed in the Anti-Vax movement. They refused to budge on their stances despite being shown time and time again that the proof against their claims was so unbelievably simple to find.
Though, she supposed that if someone had been entrenched in a cult-like conspiracy movement for years one was trained to ignore simple reasonings. That and Yoshihara didn't exactly give Yaoyorozu to believe that she wasn't lying.
She wanted Class 1 – A to not be divided. She didn't like the fact that they were split between something that she had done. Half the class was against the other half, and with The Sports Festival having been coming up, it was starting to show.
Ironclad friendships that had started at the beginning of the year, like Asui and Uraraka were starting to break apart. Ida and Yaoyorozu were growing distant, as was Jirou and Yaoyorozu. For a little bit, Kaminari and Ojiro had been faltering until he recently opened his eyes to reason.
As Yoshihara laid down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling having changed out of her school uniform and was know dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a deep purple shirt with white and black stripes decorating the sleeves, her hands stationed behind the back of her head, she couldn't help but think about the upcoming party that about to happen in an hour.
Kayama-san had insisted that she wear some kind of dress or suit, but frankly, Yoshihara didn't want to bother to overdress. She knew that no one else was going to, so why bother? Unless Izuku wanted to get a little fancy, but she doubted it. He was as casual as casual got. He literally owned a shirt that just said "shirt" in katakana on the front.
A knock reverberated from the door to her bedroom, and without a word, she had Killer Queen open it. Kayama-san was standing in front of the door, a small smile stretched on her lips. "Yoshi-chan, are you ready to go?"
"Yeah," Yoshihara replied, bristling at the nickname. She still hated it, but she was slowly getting used to it. She knew Kayama-san was never going to stop calling her that. "Just… give me a minute. I—"
"Are you okay?" Kayama-san asked, concern in her voice as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?"
"I'm serious. Are you okay?" Kayama-san pressed, crossing her arms. "I know you don't like talking about heavy things, but the last few weeks have been utter chaos for you. You nearly died, again, for the third time in a little over a month and the media alongside most of the school has been harassing you about it. The staff has tried to mitigate it as much as we can, but it's been a bit of a hassle. I—"
"Just stop," Yoshihara interrupted, sitting up as she stared at Kayama-san. "You don't have to bend over backwards for silly stuff like that," she continued as Kayama-san frowned. "Besides, I've been keeping up my visits with Hound Dog. I'm making progress, if only slightly."
"Good… I just don't want you bottling things up," Kayama-san said, before turning to leave. She stopped, looking back over at Yoshihara, her concern ever-present. "If you… ever feeling like talking about something. Anything… vulnerable that you haven't shared with anyone… you know you can confide in me, right?"
Yoshihara felt a slight pang in her heart as a slightly sombre look took up her visage. She never considered that to be an option.
But… was that really all right? To burden Kayama-san with everything…?
"No. She doesn't need to know. No one does. No one needs to know. No one can know. You cannot let anyone know about what Yoshikawa did and forced upon you. You will never let it down. Do not burden anyone else with what happened. All you'll do is draw attention to yourself," Yoshihara thought, a faux smile pulling at her lips.
"Don't worry. I'm fine. But I'll keep that in mind, Mom…" Yoshihara said, still testing the word on her tongue when she applied it to Kayama-san. It… felt right, but she didn't like that word. It only reminded her of Yoshikawa. Which was weird, because she never really was a mother to her. She was a glorified egg donor, that was it.
Kayama-san hesitated for a moment, before nodding and leaving. The door was left open, not that Yoshihara cared all that much. She glanced around her room, just to make sure that everything was in its proper place before she left for the evening. Just as she was about to get up and leave, though, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.
It was a bag. One that she hadn't seen before. Confusion took up her expression as she walked over to the bag, and opened it. Inside was a card, and a wrapped present. The wrapping paper was All Might themed, so she had an idea of who it came from. The question was when? When did Izuku have the time to give her a present?
She took the wrapped box out of the bag, before taking the card, opening it, and reading it.
Congratulations, Kira-san!
I'm so happy that you got into U.A.! Let's hope that I get in to, right?
Enjoy the gift. I know how much you like Pre-Quirk Era Manga since you won't stop talking about it with everyone at the cafeteria table. So, I decided to get one you might like. I don't know if you will, though. From what I can gather people online keep saying that it was kinda trash, but I'll leave it up to you to decide.
Thank you for being my friend, Kira-san.
From: Midoriya Izuku.
P.S.: My Mom wanted to say sorry for all the trouble she's caused you. I hope you can forgive her at some point.
Within the letter was a 10,000 Yen note, which she took and held onto for a moment. On top of whatever series that he got her—because there was no way there was just one volume in that box—he also gave her a 10,000 Yen note. Why? It didn't make any sense. It should be her giving him that, not the other way around.
She'd just have to pay him back, she guessed.
Finally, she tore into the gift that Izuku got her and was shocked at what she found. The box was beautifully drawn by whoever it had been who had made the series. It showed a variety of characters, none of whom she recognized which was always a good start—the more obscure the better—and the title of the series was written out in plain kanji.
Kimetsu no Yaiba.
It was a Manga Series that she had no idea existed, let alone had heard about. The art from the box looked good, so she had to assume the rest of it would look equally as good. She didn't want to open the box yet. She would save that for when she got home. But a part of her wanted to know how much money Izuku spent on the gift so she could reimburse him for it.
He had no reason to spend this much money on her—because she knew this had to have been expensive. The box was in mint condition. The only tape on the box was the sealing tape of the original packaging, and there were zero signs of any fading. That meant that he must have gotten specially produced instead of getting secondhand.
Getting any company, even Hero Jump—formerly Shonen Jump—to do a reprint of an old series like this had to have been worth its weight in gold!
A small but noticeable blush took up Yoshihara's face as a genuine smile touched her lips. He had no reason to spoil her like this, yet he did… She felt like a giddy schoolgirl at the moment, and she didn't know how to take it.
What she did know, though, was that she had to pay him back. One way or another.
And she had the perfect idea.
He was coming to the party, after all. Ashido had said that the best time to confess one's personal feelings for another person was during a party. Ashido might've been a tad on the annoying side, but she was good at giving love advice.
So that was exactly what she was going to do. Tonight, she was going to confess her feelings to Izuku Midoriya.
She just hoped it wouldn't blow up in her face.
-To Be Continued-