"She escaped?" Taisuke hissed, fury etched in his eyes as Kai stared across the room from him, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall closest to the entrance of Taisuke's office. Said office now had a new desk—a copy of the old one that he had broken when he had lashed out against Asahina. He had also installed new drapes because the old ones were getting tacky, replacing them with new vanta black curtains.

"Yes. Eri, at some point in the night, escaped The Shie Hissaikai headquarters. Over fifteen personnel were brutally slaughtered in the process, though I've been able to bring them back using my Quirk," Kai stated, looking at his gloved hand with a hint of disdain. "That being said, Eri, at some point, seems to have figured out how to use her "sister's" Stand in a combative sense. Either that, or it was Noroi's doing," Kai explained as Taisuke took in a deep breath, and exhaled.

Of course. Why wouldn't this happen now, of all times? Just as things were somewhat going well, even if it was at the cost of one of his prized assassins, something had to fail him. Frustration filled his very being as Taisuke pinched the bridge of his nose. No. He didn't need to lose his cool… if he did, he'd do something stupid.

"Then I'm assuming you're working on a way to get her back?" Taisuke demanded as Kai frowned, narrowing his eyes in a glare. Taisuke met his glare with one of his own, snarling. "Chisaki…."

"If you want her back, then go find her yourself," Kai spat. "I'm not going to be apart of this anymore." As soon as those words came out of Kai's face, Taisuke's nostrils flared with indignation.

"Who said you had a choice?" Taisuke growled, standing up from his desk as a dark blue aura began to flow off his body. His deep purple eyes ebbed and flowed with nothing but contempt, and even though he cut an imposing figure, Kai remained standing still, as if unimpressed and unaffected.

But deep down, Taisuke knew that Kai was afraid. He just simply wasn't showing it. He was putting on a brave front.

"I do, and I'm tired of pretending that I don't," Kai bit out, his right hand clenched into a fist. "And let's face it, Yagi. If you want your plan to work, you know damn well that you need me. All of your threats to kill me? Bluffs. I should've known that, but you truly did scare me. Not anymore."

Taisuke… smirked. And for a moment—just a moment—the brave mask that Kai had put on slipped. All of his bravado had been swept out from underneath him, and it was all because of an expression he wasn't expecting Taisuke to make. Taisuke capitalized on that, by continuing. "You know what?" Taisuke began as he crossed his arms, the aura surrounding him fading as he sat back down. "I respect that."

"What?" Kai said, venom dripping from his tone as his eyes narrowed further, his mask of bravado slipping back on, pretending as if Taisuke hadn't noticed it fall off not just a few moments ago.

"I respect that kind of bravado. That right there. That's the sign of someone who is more than willing to make a few sacrifices to get what they want," Taisuke continued as a dangerous gleam filled his eyes. "If that's what you want, then so be it. You're right. I do need you. Both you and the girl. But everything else? Not so much."

"Wha—" before Kai could even begin his sentence, Taisuke smiled—a smile filled with nothing but faux appreciation as realization began to settle in. "W-Wait—"

"You know, I've been wondering why it is that my money keeps tumbling down the drain. Now I know why! It's because I keep your organization afloat. My money keeps The Shie Hissaikai alive. But if I were to, say, get rid of it, then I would have a lot more money now wouldn't I?" Taisuke continued, before his expression turned from a faux smile into a scowl ripe with disappointment. "Although, it is a shame. I would have loved to see The Shie Hissaikai come into the new age of Japan, where the Yakuza ruled with an iron fist. But alas, if that is what you want, then—"

"No! Please, don't!" Kai begged, taking a step forward as Taisuke raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Have you changed your mind, Chisaki?" Taisuke asked, tilting his head to the left in a taunting manner as Kai gritted his teeth underneath the medical mask he wore over his nose and mouth.

"I'll—" Kai paused, clear frustration and annoyance written all over his face, all the while Taisuke smiled, enjoying every single second of his floundering before Kai continued. "I'll hire a Stand User to find her. Just… leave my family alone. They're all I have left…" Kai said as Taisuke nodded, satisfied with himself.

"Very well," Taisuke said as he looked at the watch on his wrist, before looking back at Kai. "You have a week to find her. If you can't find her within a week, Chisaki, then I will destroy The Shie Hissaikai. I am being lenient with you only because I am aware of how much family can mean to someone. From one man to another."

Kai said nothing, but Taisuke could tell that Kai only held him in nothing but contempt and disdain, and as Kai left, Taisuke couldn't deny that the feeling was mutual. But, unfortunately, Kai was right. Taisuke needed Kai in order to get his plan off the floor. It was annoying. It was frustrating. But once he had at least half of Japan turned into Stand Users, he could then be rid of Kai and that little brat.

"If only my Stand was just a little more stronger… I wouldn't have to put up with them…. Unfortunately, the only way to have that is to get The Requiem Arrow, and it's currently with La Passione. Even if my Stand is stronger than all of theirs combined, it's not them I'm worried about. It's being rejected by The Requiem Arrow that I'm worried about, and I'm not going to gamble my life away just for an, admittedly intense, boost in power."

Drifting his attention away from the issue regarding the disappeared Eri and her annoyingly persistent other half, there was another thing that he needed to get done. Something that he couldn't entrust to that loathesome vampire or any of his other assassins. He had other branches, though, and it was about time he put them to use—more specifically, his second favourite branch to use.

Damnatio Ad Bestias had five branches. There was, of course, Percussores Damnatorum which was his assassination unit. Then, there was the debt collector unit, which he had dubbed Collectores Aurei of whom Makoto, and then Asahina formerly led. Then, there was his trafficking unit, of those which were called Latrocinia de Vita Miserabilis. After them, there was his drug smuggling unit, who were called Qui Veneni Vivunt. Finally, last but not least, there was the unit of people who made sure all of their money was clean. His money laundering unit, or as he called them Qui purgant sordes.

Out of those, his most useful one, aside from Percussores Damnatorum was Latrocinia de Vita Miserabilis. It was headed by someone his father had worked with before those who had previously been with The Yagi Clan went into hiding, that person being a man by the name of Kojiro Mineta.

Kojiro Mineta, while not a Stand User, was still someone that Taisuke kept around for one sole purpose: his charisma. It was that charisma of his that allowed him to get as many people as he had. He also had been the one to carve out the trafficking rings all on his own, and had done so in such a way where no one would expect them.

Granted they have had a few hiccups over the years. But, luckily for them and unluckily for everyone else, no one had been able to find their routes. Oh, sure, people have come close, but when they do they usually end up dead.

Although, apparently, Kojiro had a son a little while ago, or however many years fifteen years ago would be considered. That son had apparently awoken a Stand completely on his own just about three months ago, conveniently coinciding around the time that Kojiro had said that his son attempted to become a hero student at U.A., and failed.

Granted, his reasoning had been that he had only wanted to be around, as his son had put it, drop-dead gorgeous women. It was ironic. He was a pervert, which made sense given that he was being raised by someone who was constantly trafficking men, women, and children for various reasons, some of which being for sex-trafficking. The sole exception of which being the children they smuggled. Those were mostly North Korean kids wanting to go to other places. After all, the underground was staunchly against molesting children for obvious reasons.

Although, speaking of North Korean children they had smuggled out of North Korea and into other places such as Japan. That Yun Jae-Seong woman had failed to kill Kira Yoshihara according to one of his henchmen who had witnessed the event from across the street. He should've expected that—Kira was a formidable foe. But, if nothing else, it forced Kira into a position of discomfort, and that was all that mattered to Taisuke. He wouldn't allow her an ounce of peace whilst she looked into The Stand Bullets; and one of these times, it would lead to her death. Hers and everyone else who knew her and was apart of her little group.

Tangent aside, and back to the main topic at hand, with no where else to turn, Kojiro's son came back to his father and asked for a job, which, while not surprising, was still rather annoying. The last thing Taisuke wanted was for a nepobaby to be lurking amongst their ranks, but then again, they needed members and they needed them in droves—especially Stand Users.

Although, he found it ironic that it was those kinds of people—the kinds of people who only wanted to be around women for the sole purpose of trying to get frisky with them—that flooded the members of Latrocinia de Vita Miserabilis. Kojiro and a few others were the only people who were a part of that group that weren't like that, but either way, they got the job done.

However, before he would allow Kojiro's son to come anywhere near the organization, he needed to be shown to be loyal. Kojiro accepted that, and had already relayed the information to his son. Now all he had to do was wait for the results. Results of what? Well, simple. The results of the boy's capture of Jirou Kyoka.

Now, granted, he didn't need to go this far to have Jirou at his beck and call. Naturally, he could just… show up to her apartment and give her a job. After all, it wasn't as if she was aligned with either The Speedwagon Foundation or U.A. However, there was the fact that she had that heroic spark in her, now matter how skewed, that would force her to disagree. If he exposed himself for what he was to her and she rejected it, that would mean he'd have no choice but to kill her.

That was something that Taisuke wanted to avoid. He wanted to avoid having to kill her. If he wanted The Speedwagon Foundation off his back, then this needed to work. He just hoped that Kojiro's son was competent with his Stand. Because otherwise, that would mean he'd need to have Takiyuma capture her, and that wouldn't be great.

Speaking of Takiyuma, he had become more than a little antsy as of late. Now that he had gotten a taste of the air again after twenty years, he wanted to do more. But, the issue was that Takiyuma was far too volatile. Far too violent. Far too… aggressive. There had been times when Taisuke played with the idea of just getting rid of him, but in the end he always came back around to letting him live.

While Takiyuma wasn't the strongest Stand User they had, barring himself, that title went to The Tengu. If Shigaraki considered that Nomu his All Might Killer, then The Tengu was that for Damnatio Ad Bestias. Except, unlike The Nomu, The Tengu wasn't a monster created out of corpses. The Tengu was the codename to a very powerful Stand User.

That being said, All Might was still All Might. No matter how much Taisuke discounted his little brother, he was still The Symbol of Peace for a reason. No one just became someone with that title without the power to back it up. Toshinori had always been the runt between the two of them, but when powered by One For All, Toshinori was a force to be reckoned with.

However, that was beginning to change. Even if Tooru prolonged the inevitable, that was all he had done. Prolonged it. Toshinori was going to lose the embers of that pesky Quirk, and when he did, The Tengu would swoop in and do him in.

After all, their father had wanted Taisuke to finish the job as soon as he got the chance to. Their father viewed Toshinori and their mother as traitors to the clan, and they would be dealt with as such. Taisuke would do it himself—he could do it with relative ease, as well—but he also didn't want to be the one to kill his brother.

There were just some lines you didn't cross. It was already bad enough he was willing to do it, but to do it with his own hands? That was a step too far for Taisuke.

Although, on the topic of things that needed to be done with his own hands, there was one thing that he needed to do sooner rather than later.

He needed to kill All For One.

The League of Villains, while a worthwhile partner, was an asset to that old fossil. It was about time that he met his end. All For One was a wildcard that Taisuke hadn't truly expected to come back, and because he was around, he needed to die. The only problem was locating him and or forcing him out of hiding.

Although, he was fairly certain that All For One would do that himself. After all, he had an agenda that he needed to complete. All For One was nothing but greedy. He would jump at the opportunity to get One For All. Seeing as someone had dug up a bunch of information regarding the Quirk and had discovered who the current user of it was, All For One would jump at the chance to snag it.

Which meant that the moment All For One showed his ugly mug…

A dark blue and white Stand manifested behind Taisuke, though only the top portion of it. The Stand in question had dark purple eyes and masculine features—a sharp skin, defined cheeks, and a thick neck with broad shoulders—much like Taisuke himself.

It wore a gladiator's helmet with spiked ends mimicking tusks. Its skin was white in colour, and its armor, which consisted of dark blue shoulder pads that ended in curved sharp points, a pair of vambraces that exposed its inner forearm, and nothing else above it, revealing muscles. Its chest was bear of any armor, although it appeared to have an opening in the center of its torso that seemingly opened up to a vast expanse of nothingness, tainted by a light blue colour.

And just as it appeared, his Stand looming over him, only one thought flowed its way through Taisuke's mind. "I'll be there to put an end to him, for nothing in this universe is stronger than my Stand! Once he's dead, and once All Might is taken care of, nothing will stand in my way. Not Jonathon, not The President, and most certainly not that Rat!"

[XXXX]

Shigaraki Tomura was a fledgling. That was the first lesson that was drilled into his head by Sensei. He was nothing more than a common street thug looking to make a name for himself, just like every other villain out there. And his gangly appearance matched that mentality. Mere bullets could bring him down, as Snipe had made clear. That was why when The League of Villains attacked Hosu, he had only used The Nomu and not himself.

His Sensei didn't want to risk having Shigaraki die. His appearance at The USJ was already risky enough, and it nearly got him arrested. Had it not been for Kurogiri, Shigaraki would've been in Tartarus right now, festering away in a cell that would hold him until his sentence was up, or until he was executed. Hence why he kept his distance and allowed the Nomu to wreak havoc.

However, because he wasn't around to lay claim to the attack, and because the Nomu had yet to be linked to The League of Villains, and because The Hero Killer had been made the center of attention, all the credit for the attack was given to him.

That had seriously made Shigaraki annoyed.

The attack on Hosu was Shigaraki's idea, not The Hero Killer's—of whom was sitting in the back behind the purple curtain, recovering from his brief fight with Ida Tenya. Broken, bruised, bloodied, and nearly left for dead. His excuse was that Ida had, somehow, evolved his Quirk into a Stand.

Now that… that was strange. How did a Hero Brat naturally evolve his Quirk into a Stand? It made Shigaraki wonder if everyone had that capability. Could his Decay evolve into a Stand? If so, what would it turn into?

It was food for thought.

Anyway. Had it not been for someone from Damnatio Ad Bestias—some high level villain named Takiyuma who went by the codename The Tamer—The Hero Killer would've been killed. Instead, Ida Tenya was killed, and it delivered a heavy blow to the heroes.

Not that Shigaraki would've cared if The Hero Killer dropped dead. He was nothing but a nuisance anyway. A strong, powerful nuisance, but a nuisance nonetheless. Although, the way Shigaraki saw it, he traded one nuisance for another. One less hero hopeful in the world in return for a competent villain.

But with that all said and done, now, he was left without a plan. The Hosu incident was supposed to put The League's name out there—even more so than the USJ attack. But now that The Hero Killer was given the credit for that, what was he supposed to do now? He didn't want to rely on Sensei and get all of his plans from him. That would make him look dependent and weak.

If he looked weak, how was he supposed to be The Symbol of Fear?

If he constantly relied on other people, then how was he supposed to become the successor to Sensei? If he was weak and lacked power, then that meant that Sensei wasted his time, and that was just not an option.

Which was why he was left sitting at the bar hideout, his right hand balled into a fist and resting against his cheek, staring lazily up at the TV in the corner of the bar, watching the evening news. It was covering more of the fallout regarding the Hosu event. People were finally starting to speculate if The Hero Killer really had worked alone in the attack, and theories were tossed around.

Apparently, the news—read as the HSPC—were under the belief that this was the return of the Meta Liberation Party. Or, at least, that was what they were telling the public. From a political stand point, it made sense. Which, while Shigaraki hardly paid attention to that kind of thing, viewing it as nothing more than white noise, he still kept up with it from time to time.

If the heroes were to reveal that a new villain organization was gathering strength and becoming a threat, that would cause chaos, fear, and uncertainty in what was supposed to be an era of peace. The longer they could keep the mask on, the better.

So, if for nothing else, at least he was making waves. He would've liked for it to be more public, but he could see what the HSPC was doing. His Sensei had taught him to look out for those types of things. If they were trying to keep him quiet and trying to pawn his hard work off on pre-established individuals, then that meant it was working.

So, maybe, he shouldn't be so annoyed that Stain took all the credit….

"Nah, I can be a pissed. That was my doing, not some Diamond Rank scrub…. I'm Grandmaster. I shouldn't be having my Elo stolen by some noob…" Shigaraki ranted internally. Before he could get too heated, he pivoted his train of thought.

"What now?" Shigaraki grumbled, scratching at his neck absently. He needed to destroy something. He needed to do it soon, too. But what was there to destroy? He couldn't do anything public… at least not yet. It would be too soon, although his Sensei would argue he wasn't acting fast enough. Problem was, Shigaraki knew his limits, and he had currently reached those. While he thought on that, he looked over to Kurogiri. "Did we find any new recruits?"

"Aside from street thugs, not many are worthy of joining the Vanguard Action Squad you proposed. Giran, however, did find at least two. He was going to bring them in person, but he wound up getting another job from another rich client of his. However, he gave me their addresses, and they were told that if a portal appeared to step through it," Kurogiri replied as Shigaraki frowned.

"Then bring in the ones that were deemed worthy. Can't base them off their hypothetical stats and classes," Shigaraki mused which prompted Kurogiri to open the portals. After a few seconds of them being opened, two figures stepped out.

The first one that caught Shigaraki's attention was a tall, black haired man with pale skin—or at least, what was left of his pale skin due to the fact that his neck and what he could see of his upper body was covered in hideous dark purple scars that seemed to be from burns. Oh, and they were on his face too. Under his eyes and his entire lower-jaw, to be exact. His hands too. He also wouldn't be shocked if most of his body was burns, actually.

He was dressed in a black torn jacket and loose fitting white shirt, alongside black pants that were held up by a belt. He had a tired look in his eyes, and he had what appeared to be staples keeping his chin skin together. All in all, he looked kind of weak. But, if Giran considered him strong, then he must've been. He respected Giran enough to not believe he'd fuck The League over.

Then, there was the other person. A girl, who looked no older than those hero brats at the USJ. She had cream-coloured skin with light dirty blonde-hair kept in two messy buns with random strands of hair sticking out from every which-way, and she had a permanent blush on her face. She was dressed in what appeared to have been an off-white sweater with a kansai collar, underneath which he could tell she was wearing a seifuku based on the skirt that was apart of her outfit. To complete her outfit, she was wearing a pair of below-the-knee socks and a pair of dark brown slip-on shoes.

"Gotta admit…" the heavily-scarred one began, "In person, you're super gross, dude." While Shigaraki didn't respond, he did have a twitch in his right eye. Before he could say anything, though, the dirty-blonde spoke up next.

"Whoa! This handsy guy's your friend, Mr. Stainy?! Right?!" The girl said, her arms bouncing up and down like an excited school girl. "I wanna join too! Your League of Villains!"

"A brat and a guy with no manners…." Shigaraki growled internally. The crimson red eye that peeked out from underneath the hand on his face narrowed, as he overlooked them. His first judgment was to send them packing and to make them run off elsewhere. Although, recently, as he had begun to realize, his first judgment wasn't always correct.

After all, it was his first judgment that had nearly got him stabbed by Stain. Blackwell bailed him out of that but it was still fresh in his mind. So, he kept his first opinion to himself, and judged them based on Giran's opinion of them.

Clearly, they were strong—don't judge a book by its cover so goes the quote—and if he was going to let these two join…. "So, you wanna join The League of Villains?"

"That's why we're here," the scarred one said, his tone blunt. "You said you partnered with Stain, yet he ain't here."

"Actually, he's in the back," Shigaraki stated, jabbing a thumb over to the purple curtain. "He's recovering from getting his ass kicked in through his teeth by a Hero Brat," Shigaraki replied as the school girl's eyes widened.

"Wha?! Mr. Stainy's all beat up?!" The girl exclaimed, although her expression was less distressed and more… dare he say—and he felt like he was going to barf just thinking it—aroused. "Is he covered in blood~?"

"Um…" Shigaraki recoiled, glancing over at Kurogiri who shook his misty head "no", and while he wasn't going to verify the truth of that statement, Shigaraki didn't want to know what would happen if he said yes. So, even if it was a lie, he replied with a blunt "No." As soon as those words left his mouth, the girl deflated like a balloon.

"Oh… That's boring…"

"What the hell is wrong with his chick?" Shigaraki thought, his right eyebrow rising in disturbed intrigue. According to the info that Giran had sent about the people in front of him, the girl was probably the one responsible for all the horrendously bloody slaughters. Her latest one was a gaggle of high school aged boys, their wrists slit and their throats slashed with eerie precision.

If nothing else, she was an effective killer—extremely effective. According to all profiles regarding the villain data-base, while her name, face, and gender were being kept secret, currently, she was being dubbed The Vampire of Tokyo.

"Alright… what's your name, or at the very least, you're alias?" Shigaraki questioned as the girl smiled.

"I don't got an alias, so just call me Toga Himiko!" The girl, Toga, announced loud and proud as Shigaraki frowned. That was going to be a problem, especially if she was trying to live a double life. If she joined the league, that would up-end that in a heartbeat. Although, given her relaxed and semi-uncaring demeanor, that probably didn't matter to her.

"Okay, and what's your Quirk? I gotta know what your Quirk does if you wanna join, otherwise, you gotta scram," Shigaraki stated matter-of-factly as Toga nodded furiously.

"Yup, yup! Understood, boss man! My Quirk is Transform! If I ingest anyone's blood, I can turn into them—clothes and all! Downside is that after the transformation, my body sheds everything, down to my clothing. So I gotta strip if I wanna keep my outfit! Learned that the hard way when I was wearing a designer coat I stole and it liquified!" Toga explained as she smiled—and it was freaky as all get out. "The more blood I ingest, the longer I can transform! One cup equals one day, so the more blood I have, the better~!"

That… was actually extremely useful. No, like, seriously. She was a rogue/assassin class with some of the best stealth tech in the game. She could be anyone she ingested the blood of, and if that wasn't useful then he didn't know what was. His mind began to stir with all the ways it could be used in their advantage. It was blatantly unfair just how powerful that Quirk was.

"That does it. Even if she's a little weird, she'll be perfect for the League. Just gotta make sure she doesn't go completely loopy on a mission," Shigaraki thought as he stuck a thumbs up. "Alright, you're in."

"Seriously?! You mean it Mr. Tomura?!" Toga exclaimed as Shigaraki nodded, trying to keep his annoyance at bay.

"Yes, now go find somewhere to sit. Kurogiri will get you something to drink—"

"—Can it be Mr. Stainy's blood?!"

"No. You gotta earn that," Shigaraki said, ignoring the fact that he was cut off, as he could hear a muffled "huh" coming from the back. Seems like Stain was listening in. "You heard me, pig-nose. Shut up." And to that, he heard an offended shout of "excuse you" but Shigaraki elected to ignore that and Toga's semi-excited squeal.

Shigaraki then turned his attention to the scarred man. "Alright, your turn. Name or alias, and Quirk." He really wanted to get a move on with this. He was already running thin on patience, and he needed to air out his grievances to the world before he accidently clawed his head off his shoulders.

According to Giran, the guy in front of him was… actually quite the mystery. The only thing that Giran could link him to was a bunch of murders, the method of which having been some sort of extremely powerful flame Quirk. Apparently, the flames were so hot, that not even Endeavour could stand to be around them for too long.

If this guy's Quirk was that strong…. "Hopefully, he doesn't try to bullshit me. Otherwise, I'll be pretty pissed," Shigaraki thought as the scarred man smirked, huffing as he did.

"Cut to the brass tacks. Good. I don't do lengthy introductions," the scarred man said as he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. "Don't gotta name I care to share, so for now, call me Dabi," the man began as blew out a stream of blue flames from between his lips. "As for my Quirk, I call it Cremation. I can spew blue flames from any part of my body, and they can get up to 1,300 degrees Celsius."

"So, he's a Todoroki…" Shigaraki deduced rather quickly. They were the only family with that kind of fire-power. Literally, in his case. Most fire Quirks were extremely fringe like breathing fire, or manipulating fire, or having parts of your body become fire or had fire hair. The Todoroki family were the only family that straight up created and manipulated flames. It was a simple case of deduction, really. "Whether or not he's Endeavors kid or some off-shoot, I don't care. We need a powerful mage like him."

"Well, whatever your sob-story is, and whatever reason it is you're here, I don't care. We need someone with fire power like yours, so you're welcome to join," Shigaraki replied as Dabi smirked.

"You must be desperate to accept anyone who walks through the door," Dabi replied as Shigaraki scowled.

"You wanna be turned to dust, or do you want a place in The League?" Shigaraki spat as Dabi huffed.

"I dunno, do I? Or do I just wanna—" before Dabi could finish his sentence, Shigaraki's hand was mere inches away from his face, which made Dabi recoil slightly. He hadn't even seen him move… "Fuck…"

"Dead," Shigaraki spat out like a poison. "You're cocky. Perhaps too cocky," Shigaraki noted, narrowing his eyes. "You carry yourself with a lazy manner. But you've got the fire power to back up that laziness. That being said, you're speed and perception is lacking. Had I not stopped before I touched you, you would be a pile of nothing right now. Think on that before you back talk," Shigaraki spat.

He was taking a page from Blackwell with that one. The best way to stop a dog from barking was barking louder. As he lowered his hand, Dabi gained a ferocious smirk, clearly impressed. "That settles it. You've got guts. If there's one thing I like in someone who considers themselves a leader, its someone with guts. I'm in."

"Good," Shigaraki said, balling his hand in and out of a fist. "Take a seat. Kurogiri will get you something to drink as well. Personally, I'm going on a walk. Being cramped in this building for almost a week is frustrating enough as is…"

As he turned to leave, he approached a barred windowed door, before snagging a hoodie off a coat rack and slipping it over himself, doing so carefully so that he didn't use his Quirk on it. For extra measure, he also took the hand off his face and laid it on the bar counter. "If any of you touch Father, you die, understand? I'll be back."

Once he said his peace, Shigaraki opened and closed the door, slamming it behind him. He needed some advice, but he didn't want to bother Sensei, nor did he want to get in the way of Blackwell. Partners they might have been, but allies they were not.

Maybe, if Fate permitted it, he could run into someone who would inspire him?

[XXXX]

"So, this is where you live now," the voice of Yoshikage Kira's spirit said, sitting across from Yoshihara on the desk she had been provided by the school. Her room was similar to her old bedroom back at the love hotel, minus the mirror and bookcase and pink walls. All of her books—the ones that she brought with her—were all carefully lined up on the top of her dresser. Although, she did take down the drapes and replaced them with the black out curtains that she had back at the suite. "I won't lie, I expected something… more."

"It's a dorm, there isn't much to expect," Yoshihara replied curtly, flipping through the pages of one of Izuku's notebooks that she had snagged when he wasn't looking. It was Journal #1. It was clearly made by a young kid, but even so, the information was still good. Even his kanji was good for someone presumably so young. Just went to show how smart he was.

"What are you reading?" Yoshikage asked, his eyebrow raised as Yoshihara glanced over at him. Knowing what he was, or at least, what he used to be, made her really off put by him. She was being haunted by the ghost of a serial killer, and said serial killer was a part of her bloodline. On top of that, said serial killer also used to have Killer Queen, and wasn't that just something to make her self conscious?

If he was the previous user of her Stand, and Stand's were the reflection of someone's soul made manifest, then what did that say about her? That she was a killer at heart? That would definitely explain why she had no problem with killing people, her sociopathy notwithstanding.

Granted, according to him, there were differences. What those differences were she didn't know and he wouldn't tell her. Though, if she had to guess, her variant being able to use The Spin to aid in its Bomb Transfiguration ability was probably one of those things—something that she was actually going to get Josefumi to help her perfect.

Yoshikage had told her that Killer Queen had a third ability, and she highly doubted that Sheer Heart Attack was that third ability. She also didn't count her Bubble Bombs as a separate ability from Bomb Transfiguration. Maybe perfecting her Spin would allow her to unlock something more… powerful.

Theories about Killer Queen's potential aside, she closed the notebook and set it to her left, looking back up at Yoshikage with a neutral expression. "A notebook my boyfriend made. It details the Quirks from heroes he likes. Which, actually, that makes me wonder…. Were you around when Quirks became a thing?" Yoshihara asked as Yoshikage frowned, crossing his arms as he hummed.

"I believe they were just starting to crop up. Although, in Morioh, Quirks must have only shown up long after I was dead, because I hadn't encountered anyone with a Quirk. When I first re-appeared in the mortal world as a spirit was my first major exposure to them," Yoshikage explained as Yoshihara hummed.

That certainly explained why whenever he was around, he made passing glances at those with obvious Quirks like Asui and Ojiro. He had never truly seen them before, and probably saw them as weird. Abnormal. Fitting for someone who was around when they were barely even known.

Although, of note, she wasn't reacting to the name of her hometown anymore. Well, not violently anyway. She did feel a shudder crawl up her spine upon hearing it, but she could ignore that sort of thing.

For the next few minutes, as Yoshihara picked back up the notebook and read it, silence began to brew between the two, until finally, just as Yoshihara turned over the next few pages nearing the end of the book, Yoshikage spoke up again. "How has your therapy with that dog counsellor man been going?"

That made Yoshihara close the book again and look up at him. Why would he want to know that? "Why?"

"I'm curious. That's all. You've been going to his therapy sessions every other day. In fact, you're supposed to go today if I recall," Yoshikage said as Yoshihara frowned. She had entirely forgotten about that. The last time she had gone to therapy with Hound Dog was just before The Sports Festival. The day before, to be exact. It had been nearly over a week since then.

It wasn't even as if Hound Dog hadn't been doing a good job, either. While she hadn't shared much and only told him what she wanted him to know—her former suicidal tendencies, her being a sociopath and how best to work with that condition and relearning her emotions—it had been proven fruitful.

But, at the same time, she didn't want to go today. Yoshihara simply wasn't in the mood. It had nothing to do with Hound Dog—he was a good counsellor and a great therapist despite his ticks—but she simply wasn't in the mood for it today. She'd have to email him telling him as such and reschedule for Tuesday, since that was the next session anyway.

"I'm not in the mood for Therapy today. Besides, I've told him all of what is currently bothering me. There would be no need to repeat myself over and over again," Yoshihara replied as Yoshikage frowned. There was a gleam in his eye, and it confused Yoshihara for a split second, until she realized that she had slipped up.

"You're lying to yourself, you know," Yoshikage stated as Yoshihara glanced over at him. What was he talking about? Lying to herself? No she wasn't. There wasn't anything that she was lying to herself about. "Don't try and hide it. I can read you like a book, you know. You're a lot like me in that regard. You bottle your true feelings up and refuse to let them show."

"Shut up."

"You're also still not over what happened in your childhood, which, honestly, I don't blame you. That could take up to years of therapy to resolve if at all."

"Shut. Up."

"And, to top it all off, you're still bothered by the accident—"

"I said. Shut. Up," that finally got Yoshikage to be quiet. Although, he had a sly smirk on his face, which just went to show that he knew he was right. Yoshihara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Now that she knew his ghost was watching over him, and now that she knew he could read her easily, she guessed there was no point in lying to him. "Alright, fine. You've proven your point. I need Therapy…."

"Or, you just need someone to talk to about your problems. Someone who you trust?" Yoshikage said, leaning back against the wall. "I know that list doesn't contain many people, but, I don't know, perhaps try talking to the guy who you allowed to be the most intimate with you?" Yoshikage stated, and while he was saying it in the most obstuse way possible, she knew what he meant.

But, at the same time…. She didn't know if she wanted to tell Izuku all of that. What happened to her… It wasn't exactly something she liked talking about. Hell, just thinking about it made her stomach churn in ways that she didn't think possible. The constant violations, the constant abuse… It was horrible and she hated every second of it.

There was also the fact that she didn't know if she could explain to him what happened without going into hysterics. She had already buried most of it, so to dig it up again—to re-open old wounds and expose them to the light—she didn't know if she could that.

Of course, it was made easier by the fact that Izuku was her boyfriend, but that still didn't change the fact that she was uncomfortable with the idea. "I… don't know. Telling Izuku everything isn't exactly something that I want to do."

"Well, perhaps don't tell him everything. Just the stuff you're comfortable talking about?" Yoshikage suggested.

"But I've already done that," Yoshihara said, narrowing her eyes as she rubbed at her left arm with her right hand. "He knows my past occupation to an extent… he doesn't know about my previous plans for suicide though. He doesn't know about my scars, though…. He asked where I got them from after we, um… finished. I didn't answer him."

"Well, to me, that sounds like you hardly told him anything at all. Maybe talking about it will help lift the burden off your shoulders?" Yoshikage replied earnestly, arms crossed as he stood up off the desk and floated in front of her. "My parents…. They affirmed my actions. When I killed Sugimoto Reimei, they didn't admonish me. They didn't send me to the police and had me put behind bars. They helped me hide her body in a suitcase. They helped me store her corpse in the basement of the Kira Estate—although that was before it was apparently sold to someone else."

"But that aside," Yoshikage continued, before putting a hand on Yoshihara's shoulder. "While in the long run all it did was create Morioh's infamous serial killer, in a bizarre, twisted sense, it helped me. So, maybe, in a less twisted, morbid sense, having the person who you are closest with know something, or perhaps, everything, might help you heal. While therapy helps, it can only help so much."

It was at that moment that there was a knock at Yoshihara's dorm room door. Yoshikage vanished into thin air, as Yoshihara walked up to the door and opened it. As soon as she did, she was greeted with Josefumi. "Yo!"

"What is it, Josefumi?" Yoshihara asked as Josefumi smirked.

"Well, I'm bored. I figured I could take a couple people to the mall. Midoriya, Uraraka, and Todoroki are coming so far. You wanna come with? I can pay for whatever it is you wanna get," Josefumi asked as Yoshihara frowned.

"The last time I was at the mall, I got jumped by a Stand User. I think I'm good," Yoshihara said as Josefumi nodded, his expression semi-disappointed but understanding.

"I get it. Just figured I'd ask. Text me if you change your mind!" And with that, Josefumi closed the door. For a split second, Yoshihara went to reconsider, but in the end, chose not to. Besides, ignoring what Stroheim did, she was recently attacked by a Stand User already. Not that she believed there would be a Stand attack at the mall, but given her track record of being jumped in public spaces, she'd rather not risk it.

She sat back down on her bed, and looked at the floor. Maybe Yoshikage was right? Maybe… talking about her past with Izuku would help her out in the long run? Besides, if she wanted to know about Izuku's secrets, it was about time that she told him hers. Although, if he was going out with Josefumi and a few friends, she could wait until he got back from that.

And so, with nothing else better to do, Yoshihara went back to looking over the notebook she took from Izuku's room. She was on the tenth speculation on All Might's Quirk, which, if she had to guess, wasn't the last…

[XXXX]

It had been a while since Izuku had been to any kind of mall. The last time he had been to one was with his mother, and it wasn't this mall. It was a mall in Saitama. This was the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall: Wookiees. Despite the different locations, it hadn't changed the fact that the last time he had been to a mall it had been his twelfth birthday, and they were out to buy him an All Might action figure. It was a happy memory, and one he cherished.

Izuku paused on that thought, before moving past it. He was slowly moving on from the death of his mother. He wasn't going to be dragged down by it—she wouldn't want him to be constantly thinking about her death anyway. She'd probably call him silly for making himself depressed over it….

"Midoriya," Todoroki's voice cut through his thoughts as they arrived at the entrance to the mall. Kujo, Todoroki, and Uraraka had tagged along, although it was Kujo's idea. He had asked a bunch of people from the class, but only the aforementioned other two wanted to go. Everyone else was busy preparing for the final exams.

Izuku was confident that he'd ace his exam. At least the written portion. Sure, he had been training with One For All in the background, and he was managing to get up to 10% without hurting himself too badly, but he was still hurting himself. He needed to get better control. He needed to be better.

"Midoriya!" Todoroki said his name, again. Izuku chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Are you okay, Deku-kun?" Uraraka asked, concern in her tone of voice. "You've been spacing out a lot more recently…"

"O-Oh, it's nothing. Just… thinking about… things…" Izuku said, although it betrayed his true feelings. A lot had happened rapid fire. The pregnancy scare with Yoshihara, his mother's passing, Ida's passing, the Stand Bullet fiasco, The League of Villains…. It was a constant train of events that didn't seem to want to let up.

He just hoped that things would go better, and soon. He didn't know if he could take another dose of fear right now. He had already lost so much in such a short amount of time. He lost a friend and he lost his mother…. He didn't know if he could lose anything else.

Uraraka went to say something, but Kujo put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, which prompted him to speak. "How about we split up, yeah? We're here to shop first and foremost. At noon, we'll meet up together at the food court. How does that sound?"

Izuku glanced over to Kujo, puzzled by that decision. Why would he want to split up? If there was a Stand User nearby, that would make them easy pickings? Then again, maybe he was too paranoid…. Being this paranoid wasn't good for his mental health. He needed some time to think without being around Class 1 – A anyway.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Uraraka said whilst Todoroki nodded.

"Great! See ya guys then!" And with that, Kujo departed, going north, Uraraka went east, and Todoroki went in a vaguely similar direction as Uraraka though splitting off into the crowd afterward. Izuku decided to go west. His package was still arriving in the mail, and most likely wouldn't be there until after the final exams were over.

He couldn't wait to see Yoshihara's reaction to it!

Although, he did have to admit, he felt like he was spoiling her. After all, he had gotten her that boxset not too long ago. What he was getting for her now costed him well over 10 million yen, and it was a custom made. He knew that she liked statues to put together, but he didn't want to get her a basic one, either. He wanted to get her something special.

He also didn't want to sound greedy or anything like that, but… aside from the date and, well… "the devils tango" she hadn't really given him a gift. He felt bad for thinking that, though. Just her being there for him was a gift enough. After all, she was the one that helped him install some confidence in himself. She was the one who was there for him when his mother died and went out of her way to try and comfort him when she was still in pain after taking those pills to fix a mistake that was mostly his fault… After all, he had been the one that had forgotten to pull out in time…

"Don't think about it. It won't ever happen again," Izuku thought as he let out a sigh. If Yoshihara hadn't gone to America, and hadn't gotten what she needed, then she would've been screwed out of being a Hero. Even then, what she had done was illegal but luckily The Speedwagon Foundation covered her tracks.

That was extremely dystopian, the more he thought about it. Just how many people had been screwed over because of the current laws in Japan? Why hadn't they been changed despite the several changes in leaders since the law got instated? It was severely unpopular, and most Heroes were against it—even Endeavour, who was in favour of Quirk Marriages.

If Endeavour was against something, then that's when you know something is unpopular.

That aside, he was lucky they were able to handle it discreetly. If anyone managed to find out, then it would be bad. Luckily, no one was that invested in a couple of U.A. students to dig up something like that and use it as blackmail.

Right?

Izuku kept wondering aimlessly through the mall, head down as he sifted through the thoughts bouncing around in his head. Although, the aimless chatter around him was making it easier to sift through them. He had a lot of questions on his mind. Such as how he was able to see Automatic Type Stands.

It was something that he had been confused about. He was able to see that Asahina guy's Brittle Bones Nicky, and the last time he saw Dr. Tomioka at the Sports Festival infirmary he had been able to see his Wonder Of U, although he said nothing about it. He was able to see that Utsagi girl's Leading The Pack.

Was it because of One For All? Was it because of the man who had called him Ninth? What was the truth behind One For All? All Might had told him it was special, but just how special was it? Sure, it was passed down from user to user over the generations, but why? There had to have been a reason behind it, right?

"Oh, cool…! You're from U.A.!" A raspy sounding voice called out behind Izuku, causing him to look over his shoulder. The voice came from a guy wearing a black hoodie and matching black pants with familiar looking pale blue hair. "Can I get an autograph?"

"Huh?" As Izuku said that, the guy approached him and placed an arm around his shoulder. It was really uncomfortable. "Hey, can you—"

"You're the kid that beat up that Todoroki guy from The Sports Festival, yeah? That was pretty brutal, ya know, breaking his arm and all that," the guy said, keeping his head down as if trying not to be identified. That sent Izuku's alarm bells off rather quickly, but at the same time, he didn't want to cause a scene in public.

"Sir, can you please take your arm off me?" Izuku asked as the man, who was about to say something, stopped midway from beginning to speak, before clearing his throat. Slowly, he slipped his arm off him, before putting his hands in his pockets, although he made sure to keep one finger out for some reason.

"Sure," the man said, although he cracked a grin, and Izuku didn't know what to think of it. There was something about him that made Izuku's skin prickle out in goosebumps and the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. "Ya mind comin' with me. I need to get my pen from my car and I have something I want you to sign there. If ya don't mind, that is."

Frankly, Izuku shouldn't have agreed with the guy, but he also seemed crazed, and a part of him didn't want the man to be left to his own devices. So, he chose to follow him, nodding silently which made the man chuckle. "Great. Follow me."

And so they walked. As they did, the walk was mostly silent until they made their way toward a fountain in the middle of the mall, when the man again put his arm around his shoulder. "Sir—" before Izuku could finish his sentence, the man's hand snaked around his neck, save for one finger, as two crimson red eyes glared down at him. That was when Izuku realized exactly who it was he was talking to, and why he looked somewhat familiar.

"Move even an inch out of line, Midoriya Izuku, and I'll turn you to dust," Tomura Shigaraki spat with enough malice to burn through a small city. "Now, we're gonna act like a couple of old pals, 'kay. Last thing either of us wants is to make a scene, right? Let's take a seat, you and I," Shigaraki continued as he gestured with his free hand at a nearby bench. "Right there, and just remember, if you try to run, I'll turn you to dust. It wouldn't even take long. Less than a second, I'd say."

"You sick bastard…" Izuku muttered as Shigaraki barked out a laugh.

"Good one! Yeah, I'd say that describes me," Shigaraki replied as the two took a seat next to one another, Shigaraki's hand still firmly gripped on Izuku's neck. After a few seconds, as Shigaraki looked out at the sea of people before them, Izuku thought of ways of getting out of this scenario, but no matter what he thought of, it all ended in him being turned into dust.

Shigaraki looked around, before glancing back at Izuku with a frown. "C'mon man, try to relax. Don't want anyone staring at us and thinking something bad's gonna happen. Cuz if they assume that, then something bad will happen," he gestured out toward the crowd, a small, disturbed smile on his face. "I've gotten pretty fast as of late. I could probably dust twenty people before you could use that flashy lightning charge of yours. So take a deep breath, relax, and calm yourself. If you do that, then I might let go of your neck. Maybe."

Izuku frowned, sweat trailing down the side of his face. He knew to not trust Shigaraki. After all, why would he? The guy was a psycho. "What makes you think I won't capitalize on you letting go of my neck?"

"I'm betting on you being smart, that's what. See, I've become a bit of a betting man recently, and I bet that I'm faster than you. I've also become a lot more confident ever since the Hosu attack. Speaking of… I heard you lost a friend. Tenya Ida or something like that," Shigaraki taunted, his smile turning into a viscous smirk. "That's gotta rattle the cages a little bit, right? Might not be my fault but it certainly brings a smile to my face knowing another potential hero bit the dust."

Izuku tried as hard as he could to keep calm. One wrong move and he was dead. Even if he was slowly getting angrier and angrier with each word Shigaraki spoke, with each stroke of his free finger at the air around Izuku's neck, the more he was reminded that things would not end well if he lashed out—which was what he was assuming that Shigaraki wanted him to do.

So, with no real choice in the matter, he exhaled, his shoulders loosening and his posture relaxing, as he eyed Shigaraki with a hateful glare, of which Shigaraki responded to in kind. "Smart boy." With that, he let go of Izuku's neck, neither of them moving after that. Five painstakingly slow seconds followed suit—Shigaraki most likely testing the waters to see what he'd do—before he finally spoke again.

"I bet you're wondering why I went out and about, right?" Shigaraki asked as Izuku scowled. "I'll take your scowl as a "yes." See, even if I view the Hosu Attack a success, I'm still pretty peeved The Hero Killer got all the credit."

"Wasn't he working with you?" Izuku questioned as Shigaraki shrugged.

"Eh, sorta," Shigaraki gestured with his hand flopping left and right. "He was and he wasn't. We both had mutual goals in Hosu. Killing Heroes. It was for different reasons but the results were all the same in the end." Shigaraki scowled. "But see, here's what's pissing me off. They gave credit to The Hero Killer for everything, Nomu included. You'd think the media would've linked the Nomu from the USJ attack and the Nomu from the Hosu attack to the same people. But no, they linked it all to The Hero Killer!"

As Shigaraki spoke, his voice got a little loud, and a few people saw him, looking at him funny. Shigaraki, in turn, scoffed. "Oi, mind ya damn business." As soon as he said that, the group of people turned and looked away, scuttling off elsewhere. Shigaraki chuckled. "Close one, eh, Midoriya?"

"What's your point?" Izuku bit out, prompting Shigaraki to hum.

"My point?" Shigaraki murmured, scratching at his chin, before responding. "My point… My point is that I don't understand The Hero Killer. See, even if he wants to grandstand on that pseudo-intellectual pedestal of his about how he's cleansing society of all the "fake heroes", at the end of the day, we have the same desire: Destroying what we hate."

As soon as Shigaraki said that, his expression twisted into one of annoyance, as he once again grabbed Izuku but throat, making him jolt in shock as Izuku felt a wave of pressure exude off of Shigaraki—nothing but murderous intent. "Crap! What's he doing now! He's not actually going to kill me, is he?!"

"For example: I hate you, Midoriya Izuku. Out of everyone that I have had the displeasure of knowing, I utterly despise you. You and your heroic spirit. I don't know why I hate you, I just do. It's as if something in my brain is hardwired into loathing your very existence, down to your pathetic soul. It's the desire that I feed off of—my hatred and want to destroy. My goal has always been to destroy the things that I hate. So, to that, I ask the question, Midoriya Izuku… What makes me and The Hero Killer so different?"

Izuku paused, trying to think of an answer to appease Shigaraki. His mind raced and raced as he carefully watched Shigaraki's finger wave around the Adams apple on his neck. With each passing second, it seemed to come just a little bit closer, which made Izuku's heart nearly beat out of his chest.

"W-what makes you different?" Izuku stammered out, sweating bullets as he glanced from left to right. The others hadn't circled back around to the center and toward the food court yet. He was really hoping they would, that way Josefumi could bail him out and maybe even deactivate Tomura's Quirk with his Stand, Todoroki could flash freeze Shigaraki, or Uraraka could get rid of his gravity. Thankfully, though, before anything bad could happen, he was able to come up with an answer.

"What makes you different from The Hero Killer, Shigaraki, is that while I don't accept what he's doing… I understand him." As Izuku said that, Shigaraki raised an eyebrow, which prompted Izuku to continue. "I understand The Hero Killer… because both of our inspirations lead back to All Might. F-From what I understand of his ideals, he wants the world and its heroes to replicate All Might… To do it for the sake of doing it and not for money or power… That, I can understand. Unlike you, The Hero Killer sticks to his ideals. He sticks to that single notion of wanting the world to replicate All Might."

"Back at The USJ, you wanted to kill All Might, but when he didn't show up, you wanted to leave, like you were bored. You were only there for fun… The Hero Killer takes himself and his ideals seriously. So, like you said, while you might share a common goal, The Hero Killer seems to truly believe in it. But you, on the other hand, don't. You don't take your goal seriously… Not even remotely."

"So, if you're looking for an answer about what makes you and The Hero Killer different, it's the fact that he actually believes in his goal, whereas you only have it working in the background. You're not striving for anything. That's what makes you different."

As Izuku finished his explanation, he felt a pit develop in his stomach as Shigaraki stared at him, his eyes narrowed as his frown on full display. He then looked around the mall, before lowering his head. The moment he did that, a shudder crawled up Izuku's spine as a wide, demented grin took up Shigaraki's expression.

"Ahh… It's all so clear now…! It feel's like I've connected the dots about why The Hero Killer pisses me off so damn much, and why you irritate the crap outta me! I get it now, I truly get it!" Shigaraki ranted, his fingers—save for one—crushing Izuku's throat as Izuku felt his blood run cold, made all the worse when Shigaraki turned to face him, his face nothing but a cracked and heavily scarred twisted visage of a smile, made even worse by what he said next.

"It's all because of All Might!"

"What? How can it—"

"Right…? Right! That's the conclusion here. Man, what was I so hung up on anyway?" Shigaraki continued as he looked up at the sky, cackling as he did. "The reason these fools can smile and live their lives without a care in the world is cuz All Might's always there to them. He gives them a sense of relaxation and peace—gives them a reason to never reach out to those who need it! They use him as an excuse! They always think a hero will be there to save them or the people around them!"

Shigaraki looked back down at the floor, his laughter just as dry as the words that he was speaking, sighing heavily as he let go of Izuku's neck, allowing him to catch his breath, coughing all the while. "Now I get it… Now I get why, out of all the people who helped me that day, it was him. No one else but him would step in to save me from my situation… because they believed a hero would help instead, so why bother trying to help those in need when some stupid hero can do it for them?"

"Huh—"

"Thanks, Midoriya. I mean it. You really helped clear things up for me. Now I know what The League's gonna do next; once we recoup, of course," Shigaraki said as he stood up, putting his hands in his pockets. As he began to walk away, Izuku rubbed at his neck, and just as he was about to charge up One For All to strike him, Shigaraki cast him a glance, sticking one hand out of his pocket. "Don't even try it," he made a subtle movement toward a small child with white hair and a horn on her head wearing a red and gold dress with white sleeves and leggings, as if to say that if he moved, he'd kill the kid.

And just like that, Shigaraki vanished into the crowd. Izuku went to stand up, but was too scared to move. He knew that if he followed Shigaraki, Shigaraki would kill a bunch of people before he could so much as even touch him. The only thing he could do is call the police…

And that's exactly what he did.

It didn't take long for Kiyashi Ward to be shutdown, and for everyone in the mall to be evacuated. Kujo, Uraraka, and Todoroki weren't able to get anything that they wanted from the store as a result, and while he re-laid everything that happened to them, one question bloomed in the groups mind….

What the hell was Shigaraki going to do now?

[XXXX]

Leaving U.A. was… well, it was a choice. Frankly one that Kyoka didn't want to make, but after what happened with Ida, and after her uncle had been adamant that she stay as far away from the school as possible due to the constant screw ups with safety, Kyoka had a feeling that arguing with him was a bad idea.

She was… lost. Lost and had no idea what to do. Uncle Jojo was paying for her bills so she didn't need to get a job—although it would definitely help with the boredom. Not to say that there wasn't anything for her to do. She had her guitar and she had her electric stand-up piano. There was her TV that she had taken from her parents house after their deaths—which was something that she didn't want to think about.

It was funny how her life had went belly up in such a short amount of time. Two months was all it took from her somewhat average, albeit drug-fueled life to go from "meh" to horrendous in the blink of an eye.

"Such is life… One week its good, and in the next it's a sack of mouldy potato's festering in a sea of rot…" Kyoka thought, a bitter hint to her inner monologue. In her apartment, there was a record player off to the left side of the living room. It used to be her fathers. Now it was hers. Right now, she was using it to play the first record in the Please Please Me album—the signed one that she got from Beelz.

Speaking of Beelz. He was the first to visit her after her mother and father had died. Jojo was next—Josefumi, not her Uncle—along with his girlfriend. He had been the one to help bring the record player and her piano to her apartment along with her guitar. Midoriya showed up next though it was mostly because he was making sure his stuff from next door had been all properly packed up and ready to go.

Kaminari stopped by, too. It wasn't for long, but it was nice to see him. Him and Ashido. So, essentially, all of her friends. She would've complained that none of her extended family came down to see her, but they were all extremely busy people so she wouldn't harp on them. Although, Josuke's son, Norisuke, had given her a call.

She had never met the man before. Neither had she met Josuke or anyone from the Higashikata Family. Apparently, Uncle Jojo had told them to look out for her when he couldn't, which was nice. The call was a long one. Norisuke had essentially told her that if she ever felt unsafe that she had a place in the Higashikata Fruit Parlor estate in Morioh, and that he'd get his eldest son to take her there.

She had to admit, though. To suddenly have so many people who she had never met before come to help her just because she was tangentially related to the Joestar family due to her mother's sister having married Uncle Jojo… Kyoka would admit that it was more than a little overwhelming.

Not that she was complaining, mind you. She was glad that she had people who actually cared about her—not that her father hadn't cared about her. In fact, before he died, it was fairly evident that he did, but considering he was always off working and she was left with her mother most of time, and with hindsight to work off of regarding the last few years, the impression was pretty striking.

"I need to stop thinking negatively," Kyoka chastised, fiddling with one of her jacks, twirling it around her pointer finger as she reclined in her chair. She needed more hobbies—something to do. She could re-tune her guitar, but she did that not even a half an hour ago. Jam out on her piano? She'd get a noise complaint from the next door neighbours.

Standing up from the chair, Kyoka rolled her left shoulder before stretching. "Maybe I should go on a walk?" Kyoka mumbled, yawning. "Or have a nap. Or I could apply at Beelz's music store and make some money?"

There was also the silent thought to do some vigilante work. Although, that was too dangerous. She might've been physically capable but she didn't have the money to afford any support gear or the potential medical bills—and God forbid she got caught, because the last thing she wanted was to be arrested.

That was the one thing that she hated. That you had to have a license to use your Quirk to save someone, and that if you didn't you could be fined. The HSPC had put that law into place over 60 years ago, so well before she was born, and far before All Might was a thing. It was stupid—to require a license to use something that you were born with.

Kyoka had a habit of looking into the past. She didn't know why she did it, but she did. She might not've been a history buff, but she did enjoy looking back on past events and reflecting how society had changed from it. For example, the Liberation Army and their ideals. They were one of the most vocal groups who demanded that people have free use of Quirks. Even nearly started a civil war over it.

Of course, Kyoka knew that the Liberation Army were foul. They simply used their so-called "movement" as a way to hurt the innocent. It was entirely an ego-related motivation and nothing more and to say otherwise was foolish. Terrorists using the guise of human rights to put themselves on top. It had been seen time and again in history.

Looking over to the record player, she extended one of her jacks to push the needle off the record and flipped the switch on its base to turn it off. After that, she looked back over at the entrance to her apartment and approached it. Slipping her runners on at the front door, she stepped outside, walked down the hall and down the massive flight of stairs, before making her way onto the sidewalk.

There wasn't much to do, so she ultimately decided on going on that aforementioned walk. As she walked, she saw many people, each of them seemingly happy and enjoying life. Little kids running and playing down the sidewalk with their action figures. Teens sitting around at the newly cleaned Dagobah Beach and swimming in the water. Adults talking with one another and discussing things to do for the day.

It made her blood roil with jealously.

All of these people were allowed to live their life seemingly strife free. Of course, she knew that wasn't the case—knew that some of these people probably had issues that they didn't let show but it was all the same.

They weren't controlled by their problems.

They were able to ignore their issues.

They were able to do the one thing that Kyoka couldn't do, and it made her jealous. Her life was moulded and shaped by the mistakes of her parents. That was her identity, and she hated it. She wanted to control her own life, and yet she couldn't because of what happened.

Even now, she was being controlled by Uncle Jojo….

"Why did I listen to him? Because he paid for my apartment? Because he's paying my bills? Because he was being kind?" Kyoka questioned as she stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Because he thinks knows what's best for me?"

It was all about control.

That was all this was. Sure, Uncle Jojo was being nice—doing things to help her and protect her—but he was controlling her life. No. She was letting him control her life. She didn't have to drop out of U.A., she could've stayed. There was no going back now, though. Even if she wanted to go back to U.A. she'd be forced into general studies and at that point what was the point?

The only reason why she went to U.A. was so that she could become a hero. So that she could make money and be famous. So she could eclipse the shadow she had been forced to live in her entire life all thanks to her stupid Quirk.

She also had to give Uncle Jojo credit. She would give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he wasn't trying to control her. After all, if it wasn't for him she still would've been living with her mother. Still having to put up with her nonsense. Granted, she was dead now, but that was irrelevant.

It was also thanks to him that she was given an easy ticket through life—at least until she was an adult. And while a part of her was fine with that, she wanted more, and more importantly, she didn't want to be coddled.

Kyoka Jirou wanted to be in control of her Destiny. To be in control of her Fate.

Kyoka Jirou wanted to defy Gravity.

And as she ducked around a street corner, a curly purple haired, five foot eleven muscular man with cream coloured skin and black eyes watched her turn the corner. He was dressed in a purple short-sleeve shirt with a golden chain around his neck with a grape motif hanging off the end of the chain. Accompanied with the shirt, he wore a pair of faded blue jeans along with a sleeveless leather jacket.

The man had grape-themed piercings in his ears and a lip ring. The belt he wore to keep his jeans up was a deep shade of purple, and he had two more golden chains looped around the sides of his belt, along with several rings on his fingers.

The man looked down at the photo he was given by That Man, then smirked. "Yup. That's her." His voice was slightly nasally—a genetic condition that even his new-found physicality and months of hard work couldn't get rid of—and it had just a hint of surprise in his voice. "Thought she'd look better, but whatever. I gotta job to do."

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he began to follow his target. Of course, she was wanted alive. All he cared about was getting paid. U.A. had rejected him due to his lacklustre performance in the entrance exam, specifically in the physical section so his future had been upended, and he needed to make money. If being a criminal would pay the big bucks, then so be it.

And after his upgrade, it would become a hell of a lot easier to do just that.