"Asahina…" A low, thunderous growl trailed from The Boss' lips, a sneer taking up his visage as Nicholas swallowed down the slowly growing fear building up in his throat. He was still shaken up after his defeat against both the Midoriya's, and he knew that The Boss would be furious.

He just never expected this level of anger from him.

"N-Now I-I know I failed, but—"

"You didn't just fail, Asahina. You exposed yourself," The Boss snarled, slamming his right fist against the desk, the sound reverberating throughout the small room as Nicholas flinched. "You blew your cover. Your face and name are now all over the internet and in the newspapers despite my best efforts. You're lucky that you didn't blow everything. If you had, I would've killed you myself."

Nicholas inched back further in his chair, sweat trickling from the side of his head as he began to panic. He had never heard nor seen The Boss this mad before. The way his eyes gleamed with hatred and anger was second to none. The way his lips curled back, revealing his teeth as a low snarl followed it…. It was almost like he was staring at a rabid dog moreso than a man.

"I-I know I failed you, Boss… B-But I promise that next time—"

"Next time?" The Boss snapped, shooting up from his chair as Nicholas leapt back, barely avoiding a fast-moving dark blue blur that cleaved through the air and cut perfectly through the floor and The Boss' desk. The Boss pushed past the destroyed furniture before grabbing Nicholas by the collar and lifting him off the ground. "There will not be a next time. I do not accept failure, Asahina! You know this more than anyone else. I will not tolerate this for a micro-instant! You're lucky I still have a use for you."

The Boss threw Nicholas to the floor as Nicholas shuffled away, trying to create distance between himself and The Boss. Not that it particularly mattered, as it only took a few shuffles before he was pressed against a wall. The Boss glowered at Nicholas, a hint of disappointment bleeding into his glare, mixing and combining with hatred and rage.

"You should count yourself lucky, Asahina, that Makoto is no longer with us. I was looking for someone to replace her, but I suppose I won't have to look too far after all, now will I?" The Boss snarled, looming over Asahina as he shoved his hands into his pockets, his shadow covering Asahina as the latter's eyes widened.

"Y-You're… firing me?"

"Firing you from Percussores Damnatorum, and re-hiring you to work as the head of The Debt Collection Unit. Be glad I don't kill you. You're too useful to let die. Besides, you work better as a Debt Collector than you do an assassin, anyway," The Boss spat, before kicking Asahina in the chest, forcing the air out of his lungs, and digging his heel in, doubling the pain Asahina was feeling. "But understand, Asahina, that if you fail me again I will not be as lenient."

With a final kick to the chin that sent Asahina sprawling to the ground on his side, The Boss turned his back on Asashina, walked over to his desk and frowned. He looked over its destroyed form, a small snarl taking up his visage. "You're dismissed. Do not speak to me for the next month. If you do, you're dead. Starting now."

With a silent nod, Asahina slowly picked himself up, before rushing out of The Boss' office. For his part, The Boss, aka Blackwell, was furious. He wanted The Midoriya's dead for two reasons. One: Inko, aka Terrible Tornado, knew far too much to be kept alive anymore. Especially now that she was tangentially involved with The Speedwagon Foundation.

Two: Izuku Midoriya had now possessed One For All. How did he know this? Well, All For One said as such. How did All For One know? Because Shigaraki experienced the brunt of it when he almost got decked in the face by Izuku Midoriya.

This was his chance to erase that pesky Quirk. All Might was no longer in possession of it, and if he could get rid of it before All For One could attempt to snatch it, then he'd do it. Because once One For All was gone, that would mean he could get rid of All For One consequence-free.

It was time for a change in the criminal underworld. All For One had reigned for far too long. It was about time that he met his match, and was bested by it. No amount of planning could save All For One from the sheer destructive might and prowess of his Stand.

The only thing that came even remotely close was that stupid intern from The Speedwagon Foundation all those years ago. Back when he and his former clan stole The Stand Arrow. He would forever remember the name of that man and his Stand. Yoshimura Kira and his Cloud 9.

It was ironic. Now, another Kira was getting in his way. Yoshihara Kira. He knew that girl was Yoshimura's daughter. After all, who else could she be related to aside from being a Joestar? That was a nasty combination. A busybody and someone with a grudge. Although, that was assuming she knew who it was who killed her father.

A small, sneering smirk took up his visage.

This was poetic justice for him. For the people who wiped out his clan to die by his hand, and to make sure that All Might would forever grieve the loss of not only his pathetic Quirk and his star pupil… yes, that would be poetic justice.

That weak, pathetic, snivelling, frail old man wouldn't know what hit him.

A part of him wanted to just attack The Sports Festival. It would be so easy to just go in there, kill Kira and her friends, and not have to worry about a damn thing.

There was just one problem.

He was going to be there.

Both himself and That Man had serious problems with one another, and unlike Cloud 9 and its terrifying ability, That Man had a Stand even more dangerous than it. It was in a league of its own—it was beyond reason and logic.

It was one of the only Stands that could directly counter and ignore his Stand's ability.

So, for that reason, he wouldn't attack The Sports Festival. It was neutral grounds, so to speak. Not even Shigaraki wanted to attack The Sports Festival—which had gone to show that he wasn't as trigger-happy as Blackwell had assumed him to be. To give credit where credit was due, Shigaraki had seemed to be genuinely learning.

Blackwell grabbed the two halves of his desk and tried to piece them together before they fell apart again. A frown took up his visage. "Damnit. I really liked that desk… Now I have to get a new one."

A sigh escaped his lips as he grabbed his cell phone. He had an order to place online for a brand-new desk. Hopefully, it wouldn't cost too much. Not that he cared—Blackwell had plenty of money to through around. He just didn't want to toss around too much of his money on something as simple as a desk.

As the phone rang, he looked out of the window that overlooked the city below. For too long, things had been in a state of stagnation. For too long, the world had forgotten just who it was who ruled the world and was getting far too comfortable with the concept of heroes.

For too long, Japan was slowly decaying from the inside out. A wound that would infect the rest of the world if not treated. Quirks were the root cause, and he wanted to make sure that he weeded out those who would drag society down even further.

And he was going to be the one in charge.

He was going to be The King.

He was going to make everyone bow down to him. After all, a higher power gave him his power. He was gifted what he now had at the behest of something above them all—or so he'd like to think.

Blackwell would cut through anyone and everyone to get what he wanted. Come hell or high water, he would remind the world of what it had lost and do so violently.

But first, he needed someone who understood just how foul the world was. He needed to find someone who he could mould into the perfect successor for him and his ideals. Someone who harboured a lot of hate toward those who looked down upon them, and viewed them as weak.

Someone who had faced adversity.

Someone who had the background and, more importantly, the courage to stand up to it all.

Of course, he didn't have to look far. He had already found that person. Someone who fit all of those qualifications. All he needed to do was a little bit more research, and he'd have exactly who he was looking for.

He had hired Giran to find information on the person in question, and he expected results within a couple of days—either right before or after The Sports Festival. But regardless of when the only thing that mattered was this:

Kyoka Jirou would make for a perfect successor.

[XXXX]

As Kayama-san's car pulled up to the venue that she had reserved for the party that she had planned to hold out of gratitude for Dr. Tomioka, Yoshihara had to admit she had expected something a little more… fancy.

The place they were arriving at was a local bowling bar called Knock Out Lane. Typically, only adults and children above the age of 16 with parental supervision were allowed to enter the place. But, seeing as Kayama-san was a Pro Hero they allowed her to bring anyone she wanted as long as they weren't below the age of 14.

Thankfully, no one that young was coming. If they were, Yoshihara felt as if she probably would've pulled her hair out. Don't get her wrong, she didn't mind being around little kids. But at the same time, she didn't want to be around little kids at the moment. Not with what she had planned.

"You know, Yoshi-chan, I wish you would've at least humoured me by wearing a suit," Kayama-san said, glancing back at her in the rearview mirror. They parked just in front of Knock Out Lane, and they were the last ones there if the Ford Ranger was anything to go off of. If Yoshihara remembered correctly, Akira agreed to pick up Izuku and Inko, along with Dr. Tomioka as well.

Yoshihara looked back at Kayama-san and frowned. "I didn't want to over dress. Besides, I do my own laundry. I hate having to hand press by suit unless I absolutely have too. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to get out wrinkles in that thing?" Yoshihara replied as Kayama-san sighed.

"Fine, fine, I'll relent," Kayama-san said as she stepped out of the car, followed by Yoshihara. The car horn reverberated throughout the empty parking lot as the doors locked at the click of a button. Moments later, they were inside Knock Out Lane. The song 1999 by Prince was playing—a personal favourite of Yoshihara's.

Alongside Pre-Quirk Era Anime and Manga, she was quite the fan of Pre-Quirk Era music up to the early 70s. She had a whole playlist on her phone using Spotify. It was mostly a random collection of music that she had accrued over the years. Some were modern but most were Pre-Quirk Era.

Of course, she had a few personal favourites. Killer Queen was one of them—hell, it was the name of her Stand—and 1999 was a close second. That aside, it was probably just a coincidence. Unless, of course, Kayama-san had got them to play her playlist. She doubted it, though.

Knock Out Lane wasn't a bad-looking place. Passing the security—both of whom were mutant Quirk users with animal characteristics like that of bears—it was a nice quaint little place. There were tables and seats in sets of six with twelve lanes for bowling—two lanes for each set of seats and tables. The first three had guard rails for the lanes, and the last three did not.

Rainbow fairy lights lined the walls and gave the place a nice casual and relaxed feeling. Monitors hovered above each lane that showed the current scores, and each set of seats and tables had enough spots to fit at least twelve people comfortably.

Off in the back, there was a bar that was manned by another mutant Quirk user—another bear person. "Ah, so this place is family-owned, then," Yoshihara deduced as she spotted Akira sitting next to Inko, the two talking to one another as Izuku and Dr. Tomioka were also talking to one another.

When Kayama-san and Yoshihara approached, conversations died out as Akira smirked. "There you guys are. We were wondering what was keeping ya!" Akira said, a sly smirk on his face. Akira was dressed in what he typically wore—a white button-down shirt with brown slacks held up by black suspenders.

As for Izuku, he was dressed in the same casual wear that he typically wore—a shirt and pants combo. This time, though, it was an All Might-themed shirt and a pair of dark blue pants. His hair looked more tamed than normal, but it still kept its usual bushy, broccoli-like appearance. He smiled, waving at both Kayama-san and Yoshihara, "Hi!"

"If you don't mind me asking, what took you two so long?" Inko asked, looking over at Kayama-san. Inko was dressed in a warm green sweater, and she had on a pair of black pants to contrast the sweater. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she had a red bow in her hair which kept the ponytail up.

"Ah, I was trying to get Yoshihara to wear something formal, but I guess it wasn't needed," Kayama-san said, scratching the back of her neck with a small, embarrassed. She was dressed in a form-fitting black dress that reached down to her ankles and barely touched the floor. It had an exposed back and arms, so the dress had a small button-up collar that rested on her neck which kept the dress from coming undone.

"Well, it was the effort that counts," Dr. Tomioka said, a small smile on his face. He, like Kayama-san, was dressed in more formal attire, that being a black dress suit with a dark blue tie and white shirt underneath. He had a teddy bear pin tabbed into the left side of his suit which seemed to be a signature of his.

"Well then, I suppose we should get to the drinking and the bowling!" Akira said, clapping as he stood up with fervour. "I'll go order the drink for the adults. Bowling's already set up, so whoever wants to start first can start first." As Akira said that, he walked over to the bar whilst Kayama-san and Yoshihara took their seats.

Kayama-san sat across from Dr. Tomioka, whereas Yoshihara sat next to Izuku. It didn't take long for the rounds of bowling to begin, with Dr. Tomioka going first, Kayama-san going after him, and then Yoshihara, Inko, Izuku, and finally Akira once he returned with the drinks.

Yoshihara had to admit that she was pretty bad at bowling. She could hardly knock down three pins every time she had a go at it. Frankly, it was embarrassing. But at least Izuku wasn't fairing much better.

Unsurprisingly, Akira was the best. He was a national bowling champion and even had his name printed on newspapers from last year's bowling championship. Although, he wasn't the only one who was immensely and surprisingly good at bowling. Dr. Tomioka was, too. Both he and Akira were evenly matched even when they got three to four beers deep.

By the time Kayama-san and Inko got to their third drink, they were a little on the tipsy side, Inko moreso than Kayama-san. Yoshihara and Izuku weren't allowed to have alcohol, so they had milkshakes instead—a family recipe that the people who owned Knock Out Lane had created on their own.

It was only after the fifth to sixth beers that everyone was drunk, and even then, Dr. Tomioka could at least stand up straight, though not for long. Kayama-san had passed out on the table, as did Inko, and Akira was in the bathroom vomiting. Dr. Tomioka had won at bowling, having gotten a single strike more than Akira.

Yoshihara and Izuku were the only ones sober, and it was a little embarrassing on Yoshihara's part. She hated seeing Kayama-san drunk. It wasn't a good look for her, period. Though, she supposed she earned it. Kayama-san had been extremely busy lately. Crime rates had skyrocketed, no thanks in part to that attack on downtown Musutafu and the stunt The League Of Villains had pulled with The USJ.

"It's weird…" Izuku said his tone just above a whisper. "I've never seen my Mom drink that much before. Not even on her birthday," Izuku continued before looking at Yoshihara. "Does Kayama-san drink often, Yoshihara?"

"Very often. Though this is a new record," Yoshihara replied, crossing her arms. "Especially with beer. She doesn't like beer typically, but I guess this stuff isn't disgusting," Yoshihara concluded before glancing at Izuku. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat. She guessed now was better a time than ever.

If she was going to get this over and done with, then it would be now. Just as she was about to open her mouth to say something, Izuku spoke up, a nervous hint to his voice as he did. "S-So, uh… The Sports Festival, yeah. That's tomorrow…"

"It is," Yoshihara said, sighing. "I'll wait. But I will bring it up at some point," Yoshihara thought before smiling. "You excited?"

"Kind of..." Izuku replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm mostly nervous. I-I mean, the whole country if not whole parts of the wordl will be watching! T-that's a lot of people! N-not to mention all The Pro Heroes who will be there to scout for internships; I completely forgot that was happening soon, too! Ohmygodwhydidntithinkofthatohnowhatifiembarassmyselfi—"

"Izuku, calm down," Yoshihara interrupted his rambling, placing a hand on his shoulder as Izuku snapped out of his mumble rant. "It'll be alright. You won't embarrass yourself. You'll do just fine."

A faint blush covered Izuku's face as he smiled, glancing away as he looked at the floor. "You think so?"

"I know so. Besides, you've been working hard on training your Quirk. Besides, if nothing else, your Quirk is pretty flashy! That'll definitely catch the attention of a few people, wouldn't it?" Yoshihara said, taking her hand off his shoulder before leaning back onto the bench that she and Izuku were sitting on.

She relaxed into the cushions, glancing over at Izuku with a faint smile touching her lips, her eyes gaining a brief look of satisfaction. From Izuku's point of view, the light was hitting her in such a way that it cast a delicate shadow over her, and it extenuated parts of her face and made it as if her eyes glowed in an ethereal kind of way.

It was alluring—catching his attention in such a way that it was almost far too hard to look away. The way the fabric of her shirt clung to her body, alongside how comfy she appeared… his mind was going into overdrive, and he had to physically stop himself from staring after a certain point. He didn't want his thoughts to fall down that rabbit hole.

She was just a friend. That's what Yoshihara was. Nothing more… Besides, he didn't deserve to have any other kind of relationship. His having friends was already bad enough as it was. Even if he had a Quirk now, it was essentially stolen valour. It wasn't his Quirk. It was All Might's that had been passed down to him.

"Izuku? You okay?" Yoshihara said, sitting up forward, hunching just a little bit to look at his face. He tried to look away, but she physically stopped him from doing that by grabbing his chin and making him look at her. His face was bright red, his eyes unfocused and a little on the confused side of things.

Their faces were pretty close.

A little… too close.

Yoshihara could feel her heart pound against her chest, and Izuku was very much the same in his case. There was a shared look in their eyes that both screamed how close they were to one another, but neither of them wanted to back away—as if they were pulled together like magnets.

Maybe it was because of the charged nature of everything, or maybe it was because it felt like no one was watching them. Whatever the case was, something in the air sparked, and what started as a harmless gesture changed.

In the heat of the moment, without really thinking much about the implications of what they were about to do, the mood and the atmosphere shifted ever-so-slightly as the two's faces slowly inched closer. Yoshihara's lips parted briefly, before seizing Izuku's, as she pushed forward and leaned into the sudden and abrupt kiss.

Izuku was caught off guard, but he wasn't entirely offended by the action. He didn't stop it or try to resist, either. He felt a warmness in his face as he reciprocated the action. Yoshihara guided his hand to the side of her face as she pressed herself closer to him. The way her body moulded into his, and the way how she dominated the interaction was intoxicating, as if they were meant to be part of one another.

After another moment, Yoshihara pulled away, a small line of saliva trailing between their lips as Izuku and Yoshihara breathed heavily with their faces turning a light shade of red, bordering on pink.

"Uh…" Izuku murmured, shying away slightly as he slowly looked away, a hint of shame taking up his visage, a small chuckle following suit. "Hehehe… um… wow…" With each passing word, his voice became quieter as Yoshihara felt a small smile take up her visage. She pulled back the rest of herself, kneeling across from him as she rested her hands on her knees.

"Wow indeed, Izuku," Yoshihara teased, a glimmer of light appearing in her eyes. Her heart was racing, and a part of her wanted more—needed more. But she held back. She held back a lot. She didn't want to make Izuku uncomfortable.

"So… uh…" Izuku faltered slightly as he sat up slightly leaning against the bench, holding himself up with his arms behind him. "I, um… I-I-I don't really know what to say… I—"

"The first thing you say is "it's a date" Izuku," Yoshihara joked, interrupting Izuku whilst bopping the tip of his nose with a hint of pizzazz in the movement of her hand. "And by the way, you're a great kisser~"

Izuku's face lit up like a Christmas Tree at the compliment as he folded in on himself, embarrassment washing over him Yoshihara giggled at the scene, an almost childlike sense of joy washing over her as for the first time in a long, long time, Yoshihara felt happiness. She felt fulfilled.

She felt whole.

Even if it was for just a brief moment, she felt normal.

Not too long after the brief encounter, Yoshihara paid the family who ran Knock Out Lane—the Kumayuri's—to call a cab for the adults who by that point were well past passed out drunk. The Kumayuri's helped Yoshihara and Izuku bring everyone out to their respective cabs, and in return, Yoshihara and Izuku helped them clean up.

Once it was all said and done, Yoshihara and Izuku stepped outside of Knock Out Lane, and just as they were about to depart to their cabs with their parents, Yoshihara grabbed Izuku by the hand, interlocking her fingers with his as he went red in the face. She turned to face him as he looked at her, a smile taking up Yoshihara's visage.

"After The Sports Festival, no matter the outcome, I want to take you out on a date," Yoshihara said as Izuku nodded, a hint of hesitation in his eyes that quickly faded away.

"O-Okay! Um… how about a movie? T-Tomorrow, the Millenium Theatre is doing a throwback day. I-I can get us s-some tickets i-if you want," Izuku said as Yoshihara shook her head, confusing Izuku.

"No, if anyone's buying tickets, it's me. Besides, you already gave me a 10,000 Yen note and a collectors manga box set for Kimetsu no Yaiba—which, thank you, by the way. I forgot to thank you for that. You've spoiled me enough. I think it's about time that I repay the favour," Yoshihara said, pulling her hand away from his as she turned to go to her cab. "See you tomorrow, Izuku!"

Izuku waved goodbye, watching her depart in her cab with Kayama-san. Izuku quickly followed her example and got into the cab with his fast-asleep mother. Thankfully, the Kumayuri's already paid for the cabs, otherwise, he'd be stranded here because he was broke, and so was his mother until tomorrow.

As they drove away from Knock Out Lane, Izuku couldn't help but feel a little taken aback by everything that just happened.

He felt good. He felt outstanding—as if nothing in this world could possibly touch him. That was how good he felt right about now. Why? Because he did the one thing that no one ever expected him to do.

He kissed a girl~!

Or, well, the girl kissed him but that was semantics. It was a teenage boy's dream come true! Even if Izuku didn't necessarily think that he was deserving of that kind of affection, that didn't change the fact that what happened, happened. All that he knew was that it made him feel warm and fuzzy and he wanted it to happen again.

And, from the looks of things, it would.

Of course, there was the self-doubt bubbling just underneath. What if this didn't work out? What if this backfired massively? What if his mother didn't approve? What if, what if, what if?

But, as of recently, he buried those feelings. He buried them deep, deep below the surface. He refused to acknowledge his doubts. He was in a better place now both mentally and physically. Sure, he still flinched around Kacchan from time to time, but it wasn't as if he was scared of his own shadow anymore.

His friendships had made him stronger, better, and overall a more fulfilled human being. Never in his sixteen-year-long life did he think that this type of thing would happen to him. Having friends, let alone potentially having a significant other, was never something he imagined for himself.

Yet, here he was. It made him wonder just what else life would have in store for him. Things were only looking up and up from here, that much he knew; and with The Sports Festival happening tomorrow, all of his hard work was about to pay off.

He was going to take Japan by storm. He would make All Might, his mother, and his friends proud.

He would show his class the true power of his Quirk. The true power of One For All.

He would show them that just because he was a "late bloomer" that didn't mean he couldn't catch up to the rest of them. That he could become a hero who wouldn't be a liability to everyone around him.

Meanwhile, in the other cab, Yoshihara was still mulling over what had just happened.

She kissed Izuku. A part of her told herself that she had jumped the gun and was lucky he didn't reject her. But, then again, what was life without taking a few risks? Besides, it was in the moment and completely unplanned. She had only initially intended to ask him out on a date. Not to kiss him.

But, she was glad that she did.

Although, it took a lot out of her to hold herself back. She blamed her past experiences with that type of thing and… everything else… that got her worked up so quickly. Her body was programmed to jump from one base to another when it came to that kind of thing, and it was a part of her that she utterly loathed.

Even at that moment, a regularly innocent experience had brought forth a very lustful side of herself that she had buried underneath layers and layers of protective walls. A side of herself that only ever came out when she used to be working. Even then, it took effort to draw out of her.

But, with Izuku, it brute forced itself out before she could blink.

She had no idea why that was. Izuku simply had that effect on her. As if his mere existence around her pressed the right buttons to allow her to… unravel around him. He gave off this protective aura that made her feel safe around him. That made it so that she felt as if she could just… unwind and be herself.

Izuku… completed her. That was what she realized as the cab stopped at a red light. It was in that realization that she realized just how deep that desire had gone. That desire to be with him. When it started up till now.

It started all the way back after the day they first met almost two months ago, right before the beginning of the year at U.A., when she woke up sleeping next to him. It should've been so obvious, but hindsight was 20/20. Now, she knew.

Now, she understood.

Now… she felt kind of stupid that she didn't notice this earlier.

But that was beside the point. Tomorrow was going to be a deciding factor. Tomorrow was The U.A. Sports Festival.

Tomorrow was the day that everything would change, either for better or for worse. Yoshihara was already a social pariah—frankly, how the Kumayuri's didn't know about the drama surrounding her had baffled her but she was otherwise glad for it.

She knew that she would be harassed. She knew that she would more than likely be attacked. She knew that there were going to be people protesting her even being there—she had seen the forums so it was hard to ignore. But she wouldn't let them stop her.

She wouldn't them trample over her and try and silence her voice.

Yoshihara Kira was a lot of things. She was unrelenting, unremorseful, sociopathic, brutal, borderline murderous, frustrated, and quick to anger. But something she was not, as she had noted time and time again, was a quitter.

She would not back down. No matter what anyone said about her, or lied on her name, or spread misinformation about her, she would not be impeded by them.

She was going to claw her way, tooth and nail, to achieve what she wanted most from The Sports Festival.

And that was to win.

And if she didn't win, then she'd at least aim to be in second or third. Anything below that would be utterly unacceptable. After all, if you don't give it your all, were you even trying to begin with?

So, with that in mind, as the cab pulled up to the entrance of Love Love Deluxe, with the help of Killer Queen, she took Kayama-san up to the suite floor, took her to her room, and as soon as she put Kayama-san to bed, she walked to her room. She changed out of her current outfit and got dressed in some pyjamas, before crawling into bed.

She needed to get as much rest as she possibly could because she was going to need it for tomorrow. As she closed her eyes, she envisioned herself standing on the victory podium, before she drifted off into the land of slumber.

-To Be Continued in: The Sports Festival - Part 1-