章節 20: Chapter 4 - Sports Festival Prep: 2
Yoshihara sat at the back of the class, as per usual, fiddling with a strand of hair that had fallen over her right ear to keep herself from getting bored. Classes were a few minutes away from beginning for the morning, and with Aizawa being in the ER, there was a high likelihood of there being a substitute teacher. However, while she was given this time to think, she had come up with some… interesting thoughts.
Last week had been, by far, one of the worst weeks of her life. The USJ attack, the rogue Stand User at the mall, and the mention of some suited individual manipulating people to come after her and her friends, it was all too much. For some reason or another, someone or something, or maybe even some group, was out for her head. The reason? Well, she was still working on the potential reason—perhaps it had something to do with the Stand Bullets, and if it did, then perhaps that mysterious individual was behind the creation of them—but she digressed.
If the group had been able to create all of those bullets, and if this group was a part of the League Of Villains—which was starting to become more and more likely as the days rolled past—then that had to mean that this man who had tricked that Stroheim individual to attack her was the person in charge of the whole charade.
It was in her personal opinion that the blue-haired hand-covered wacko couldn't have been the person in charge of The League Of Villains. Granted, she hadn't been there to see him in action, and it was not like she wanted to, either. That man creeped her out far more than she would've liked, and she was personally glad that she had been on 'fetch the heroes' duty.
She learned that the rogue Stand User was dead and that Josefumi had been the one to kill them, obviously. However, before Nedzu or anyone from the media could do or say anything, the Speedwagon Foundation had made it extremely clear to Nedzu and every single one of the media stations that if the information had been leaked to the public, they would sue them into the ground. So, that kept everyone silent.
Josefumi's father was NOT going to let his son's future be ruined because of some slanderous harpies and a principal that didn't want a bad reputation reflected on their school because of an incident. Though Nedzu had said that he wasn't going to anyway, self-defence and all of that jazz, whether or not his response was out of fear from the threat that The Speedwagon Foundation posed to him, or if he was being genuine, the blond did not know for sure, nor did she wish to find out.
Yoshihara looked out the window, watching as the trees swayed in the wind. She covered her mouth before letting out a rather soft and silent yawn, her eyes washing over the class as Ida stood upfront, taking his role as the Class President far too seriously, while also being an ironic hypocrite for being the only student in the room for standing. Upon realizing this, he walked to his desk and sat down, and as the door opened, something rather… interesting happened.
The man was covered from head to toe in bandages, and his hair was somehow even shaggier than before. However, regardless of what it was that caused his face to be covered, only one man would ever have his hair like that, and NOT garner any sort of embarrassment.
"Mornin'," The voice of Class 1 – A's teacher spoke out into a room of flabbergasted teens.
"YOU'RE BACK ALREADY, AIZAWA-SENSEI?!" The voices of the nineteen other students of Class 1 – A hollered out as Yoshihara smirked.
Of course, Aizawa Shouta, otherwise known as Eraserhead. Why on earth he was back after being so thoroughly mutilated was beyond the blond. However, because of that, he earned quite a large amount of respect from the girl. "Well, I'll be damned…." Yoshihara thought, scoffing to herself. It seemed as if the man had decided to go against what she probably assumed to be "doctor's orders" and come to work anyway.
However, she had also been concerned. The fact that he was here, standing in front of the class in such a heavily bandaged state showed that he had absolutely no intention of just letting himself heal. He had what looked like two broken arms, and whatever was behind his face bandages was probably not pretty. Overall, the man looked like shit. He seemed to have no sense of self-care, and part of Yoshihara was a wee bit worried about that.
Even if Recovery Girl was a good nurse, it didn't matter. He shouldn't be at school. He should be in the hospital healing, resting, and getting better. Not in the classroom, teaching, even if it meant he'd be in excruciating pain.
As he walked to the front of the class, he wobbled, having to slowly meander his way to the front space before slowly but surely turning to face the classroom. Despite this display of weakness and pain, Ida still greeted him as if he had seen nothing. "I am glad to see you doing well, Sensei!" The blue-haired boy said as Uraraka commented on how he looked anything but "well" which would be correct.
"At least Uraraka-san has a good sense of pointing out the obvious…." Yoshihara thought, looking to Aizawa, the man brushing off her comment. "My well-being does not matter. Besides, your fight is far from over," the man said, earning a few raised eyebrows and not-so-hushed whispers.
"Our fight?" Bakugo growled out, giving a slight tilt of his head and a raised eyebrow.
"You don't mean…" Izuku muttered, a slight look of worry on his face.
"M-More villains?!" Ashido stammered, looking up at Aizawa, who squinted his eyes.
"U.A.'s Sports Festival is fast approaching!" Aizawa stated as everyone in the class had a reaction of shock and confusion. To be fair to everyone else, Yoshihara couldn't help but agree that it was something that was considered 'regular.' She could also agree that he could've worded what he said better, too. That being said, however, it got everyone's attention, so in that regard, it did as it was intended.
"Uh, Aizawa-Sensei. Wouldn't it be better to hold off the Sports Festival after such a prominent attack on the school? It could be dangerous, kero." Tsuyu asked, tilting her head to the side as Aizawa resolved to answer the question as a continuation of his statement.
"It's necessary to demonstrate that U.A.'s crisis management protocols are sound. That's their reasoning, apparently. Compared to past years, there'll be five times the police presence. Anyhow, outside of security concerns, it goes without saying, but, Our Sports Festival is the greatest opportunity you'll get. It's not an event that can be cancelled over a few villains," Aizawa explained, turning to Tsuyu. "I hope that answers that irrational question of yours," the teacher stated as Tsuyu hummed leaning back in her chair.
The question was anything but in the mind of the blond. While the group of villains were defeated, they, outside of that creature called a 'Nomu' that she had heard being tossed around, hadn't been captured. They were still on the loose. While it would be suicide to attack The Sports Festival, they could still plan another attack, and maybe that next attack would be far more devastating.
Their original stated goal was to kill All Might. She didn't know how bad it got, but from what she saw, the Hero in question had been battered, badly, if the blood had anything to go by. He was put into a rough shape by the end of the battle, and if they were given a second chance at All Might's life… there was no telling what might have occurred. Hell, they might even succeed.
The keyword there is "might." After all, All Might was the Symbol of Peace for a reason. But at the end of the day, he was human. He had weaknesses. Every human had weaknesses, no matter how strong they might have been.
"Back to the topic at hand. Our Sports Festival is one of Japan's biggest events. The Olympics were once the world's Sports Festival. The whole country would be whipped into a frenzy over them. But as you know, that tradition has shrunk to a shell of its former self. And as far as Japan's concerned, What's taken the place of the Olympics is the U.A. Sports Festival!" Aizawa continued as Yaoyorozu chimed in.
"That means the Nation's Top Heroes will all be watching, Right? They'll be there as scouts!" The heiress said with a small smile on her face. It was then that Kaminari spoke up, which resulted in the blond-haired Stand User tuning out the conversation.
To her, the U.A. Sports Festival was just a bragging rights competition. Whether she won it or not was something that she did not care about. The same went for internships. She planned to become an Underground Hero, anyway, seeing as that was the best choice for her. That way she could still live the Peaceful and Quiet life that she had intended to do before all of this hero nonsense. However, she couldn't deny that the experience would be needed. While getting her name out there was something she was against, the attack on the USJ was something that already did most of the work for the Sports Festival. Everyone knew who was in Class 1 – A.
Everyone knew she was part of Class 1 – A. That meant that people would know about her. Thankfully, she wasn't really part of the attack and was just playing hero-fetcher duty, but the point still stood. People knew her name, and her face, as well as her "Quirk."
Before she could continue her train of thought, Aizawa caught everyone's attention by clearing his throat. Yoshihara was drawn out of her thoughts as the teacher began to continue his pseudo-speech. "Naturally, you'll gain valuable experience and popularity if you're picked up by a Big-Name Hero. But your time is limited. Show the Pros what you're made of here. And you'll make a future for yourselves. This happens once a year… so you've got three chances. If you're hoping to become a hero, this is an event you can't miss!"
After Aizawa's resounding speech, classes went on as per usual. By the time the fourth class ended, Yoshihara was beginning to tune everyone else out, preparing herself to go on another one of her loner walks that she did every lunchtime until Josefumi had walked over to her. She looked up at the boy, who looked down at her. There was a vague expression on his face, a mix of confusion and also accusation. Whatever it was that got his panties in a twist, it had something to do with her.
"Kira. I want to talk to you at lunch. I have… some questions I'd like to ask if that is okay with you?" Josefumi said as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow.
"What for?" Yoshihara questioned as Josefumi's eyes narrowed. There was a seriousness in his eyes. One that she hadn't seen since they were meeting before U.A.'s Recommendation Exam was but a few weeks away. It was the same seriousness that he gave her when the boy had introduced the Stand Creating Bullets to her.
And if that was the case, she needed to meet the seriousness with a seriousness of her own.
"Yes or no. Simple as that, I'm not playing around about this. Just answer my question. Is it okay with you if I—"
"Back of the school. We'll talk there," Yoshihara interrupted, reflecting that seriousness as Josefumi afforded her a nod. The bell rang for lunch, and Josefumi left through the front door, taking a sharp left turn. The blond waited for a few seconds, then got up, and followed him. Unbeknownst to them, a certain dual-haired boy had been intrigued by their secrecy and had decided to follow them.
Shoto had been suspicious of Kira since the day he met eyes with her back at the Recommendation Exam. There was no doubt in his mind that she had bad blood in her veins. There was evil within her, an evil that he had seen deep within many of the villains he had seen on screen, and at the USJ. But unlike those villains, Kira had devastating levels of power, what with her self-proclaimed 'Cellular Annihilating Bombs.'
He didn't believe her statement at first until he saw them at the combat trial. When they had blown up in Jirou's face, he noted that they were strong, that much was given, but not cellular annihilating. Then, almost as if he had been spat in the face, Josefumi had mentioned that those were their weakest setting and that he had personally seen stronger.
The fact that the bubble bombs that had blown up Jirou had, according to her, shattered two of her ribs, caused several gnashes across her body, and even busted one of her knees—all of which healed by Recovery Girl and her intern Medi-Lady—and on their weakest setting was something that gave him a decent reason to be wary of Kira.
And what made it worse, was that she clearly knew how to use her Quirk effectively, never once using it to show off. Even Midoriya showed off with his Quirk in the battle trial, and while his Quirk had a pretty dangerous drawback, Kira's did not.
In a way, Kira was like him. She had an insanely powerful Quirk with no drawback. That made her a threat. A threat that didn't let information about herself leak out easily, no matter how hard he observed.
And that wasn't even to mention that dead look in her eyes. She always had it when she thought no one was looking, but he always was. He knew that the Sports Festival was coming up, so he watched his future opponents rigorously. But every time he laid his chromatic eyes on her, she seemed dead. Void of any semblance of emotion.
Shoto had heard about a mental condition known as Sociopathy, and his sister had made him do a mental evaluation to check if he had it before he went to the recommendation exam. He didn't have the condition, obviously—there was a difference between repressing emotion and completely lacking it—but he digressed. However, the more he looked at Kira, the more he saw what the doctor had described to him when he was taking the test; a lack of emotions, physical and verbal, and the tendency for rage and lashing out, as seen at the recommendation exam when she had tripped him up using one of her explosions, though more discreetly—at least he thought that was what it was—and even manipulating people by faking her emotions, something she did constantly if what he had believed to be the truth was, in fact, true.
All of those things were clear lines of being a Sociopath. If she truly was a Sociopath, then that made her far more terrifying if that had been the case. If she was a Sociopath, that must've meant she had no qualms in, as a hypothetical, giving some villains information about the school and its schedule if it meant it suited better for her. After all, she even got to escape the USJ relatively unharmed, and the mist villain had hesitated in warping her, staggering when she merely looked at her, almost like he let her escape.
Shoto had questions. Questions that demanded answers. When he rounded the corner and he followed both Yoshihara and Josefumi, he watched them enter a crack behind the school, and then, he overheard them talk.
"What is this about, Kujo? I thought I made it clear to you that I haven't found any information regarding that," Yoshihara stated. He knew it was her for obvious reasons. But what exactly was she talking about? And what did Josefumi have to do with it?
"This isn't about that, Kira-san. This is about something else. May I check your shoulder? Karera said she saw something that, if true, will explain a lot. Please?" Josefumi asked as Yoshihara sighed.
"Is it about that strange star-shaped thing I have? I was actually going to ask you the same thing. You have it too, what does it mean?" Yoshihara asked, genuine curiosity in her voice as Shoto's eyes widened.
"They're both… Joestars?! What?! How!" Shoto thought, frowning. "Something isn't right here… that can't be right… she acts nothing like them! From what I know, they are innately heroic to a fault. Kira isn't. She's evil to the core. I can see it, but I'm not sure anyone else can…." Shoto thought, his frown deepening. He had to leave, this conversation would hold no use to him. Not anymore. Though now he had something to ponder about. What exactly did Kira think the conversation was about? Were the two of them in on something that not even U.A. knew about?
Were they possibly moles sent in by some organization that was linked with the League of Villains? Have the Joestars turned evil over the years? Whatever the case had been, he needed to sort some things out, and if what Shoto had thought the two had been a part of was true, then their principal needed to know immediately.
But just before he was going to leave, he heard Josefumi mention something that caught his attention even more. "It means we're related. My great-grandfather, Jouta, had several children. One of them is here, outside of my father's mother. That means either your father or mother is directly related to the Joestar family, as are you. How that came to be, I don't know. But I think that might also be the reason why your Killer Queen and my Soft & Wet have nearly the exact same ability, you know, with the whole Bubbles thing," Josefumi explained as Shoto narrowed his eyes and cupped his chin.
"Killer Queen and Soft & Wet? Aren't those the names of Pre-Quirk era songs? Wasn't Kira's ability called Bomb Creation? Kujo's ability was called Soap Bubbles. So why are they calling their Quirks different names? Is it some sort of code language? Are they… perhaps… spies?" Shoto thought. Now he knew he had to leave. He was going to keep this to himself, and perhaps use his bedroom for something else other than sleeping for once in his life.
He had some thinking to do after school today.
However, as he was about to leave, he felt something grab his shoulder, and when he looked over, he saw nothing, but what he did see was Kira, glaring at him. "How much of that conversation did you hear?" Yoshihara said, her tone of voice filled with a hint of annoyance, however, before Shoto could do anything, Josefumi showed up, a bubble moved its way over to Shoto's face, and when it popped, he shook his head. He felt whatever it was grabbing him let go, and then he felt… confusion?
Why was he here? He didn't remember. "What conversation?" Shoto asked as Kira looked over to Josefumi, then back at Shoto.
"Nevermind, forget it. Let's go, Kujo," Kira said, and then, Shoto left as well, having no recollection of why it was he was at the back of the school. He needed to eat something before the bell rang for the next class, so he decided to go to the cafeteria. After all, his sister didn't raise him as a fool. He knew the importance of eating before something important. After all, he had foolishly skipped out on breakfast, and he was starving.
As Shoto left the area, Josefumi let out an exasperated sigh. "That was close…." Josefumi muttered, wiping his forehead from the worry he had been feeling when he had seen Shoto. "If I hadn't used Soft & Wet to remove his memory from five minutes ago, we would've been found out," Josefumi stated as Yoshihara raised an eyebrow. She knew Soft & Wet could remove things from people, but she didn't know to what extent that meant. If he could remove memories, then what couldn't he remove?
"Your Stand can do that? I thought it was just physical attributes?" Yoshihara asked as Josefumi sighed. He looked around himself a few times before nodding, confirming that no one else was around, then looked over to Yoshihara.
"Soft & Wet can do a variety of things. Normally it can only remove physical aspects of a person, but if I really concentrate, and so long as it isn't a lot, then I can remove mental aspects from people as well, though only partially. I can technically only do it in small amounts, my maximum being 5 minutes. Any second longer and we would've been compromised. If I try and wipe someone's memory for longer than five minutes, then it could end up having horrible consequences. Thankfully, it was just on that threshold. However, when I do use it, it takes 24 hours for it to remain permanent, so I can't use Soft & Wet's ability until 12:43 PM tomorrow. If I do, he'll remember everything," Josefumi explained as Yoshihara nodded.
"Hmm… interesting," Yoshihara hummed, quickly changing the subject to something she was interested in. "So, The Spin, huh? Do you think Killer Queen can use it?" Yoshihara asked as Josefumi shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets.
"I honestly don't know. Soft & Wet developed in me when I had that fever when I was four. But it didn't fully show up until I began my Spin training. For you, it was that day we met, so I don't know. Maybe, it might have the chance to use it. But if I were to guess, probably not," Josefumi stated as Kira nodded.
"So, in other words, there is a chance, but I shouldn't get my hopes up? I see…" Yoshihara murmured as a thought came to her. The idea of using The Spin seemed interesting, however, there was something else that was bugging her. If she was related to Josefumi, would that make them… cousins? "So… hold on, does that mean we're cousins?" Yoshihara asked as Josefumi stopped, blinking.
"Uh… I guess so. I never really thought of what would happen after I told you. Hmm… well, that also makes my father your Uncle. Oh! Speaking of him!" Josefumi began, smirking. "My father has extended his hand to accept you as an intern at The Speedwagon Foundation. While it is America's version of the HSPC, it also doubles as a Hero Agency. Many of the United States' greatest heroes came from The Speedwagon Foundation. So… what do you say?" Josefumi asked as Kira crossed her arms.
"I don't even know him, and you're saying I should just accept his offer?" Yoshihara asked as Josefumi sighed.
"I knew I should've seen that coming, but it was worth a shot. My father has been doing check-ins on what his father had done, I.E. spreading the Joestar bloodline around in a similar way an ancient nemesis of our family had done so many years ago, though for completely different reasons. He only just found out that your branch of the family existed, and he wants to meet you. He's a nice man, though jaded in some aspects. He's a Stand User, and he's been one since he was my age. So if there's anyone who can help you train your Stand, it's him. Not to mention, if you have potential with The Spin, he can train you with that as well, seeing as he is considered an official Spin Master. So… what do you say now?" Josefumi asked, finishing his explanation.
Yoshihara wasn't the type of person to just jump on an idea right away. However, she did want to figure out of she had the potential to use The Spin. Even if she didn't have any potential with The Spin, she at least got to meet her Uncle. "Hmm… I'll think about it," Yoshihara replied, earning a nod from the pompadour-haired boy.
"I kinda figured that was all I was going to get out of you," the boy said, shrugging. "Eh, I'll take what I can get," the boy said, picking up the pace. "I'm going to go find Karera, see you in class, Kira-san!" Josefumi said, jogging away from the blond as Yoshihara sighed. It was already 20 minutes into the Lunch period. She decided right then and there that she was going to get something to eat. Besides, she had yet to try out Lunch Rush's food, so perhaps now was a good time as ever.
xxXXxxXXxx
The Boss sat at his desk within the Damnatio Ad Bestias headquarters, picture profiles of each U.A. Student sitting face down on his desk. He frowned, taking a drag out of his cigar before putting it out in the ashtray next to his nameplate. "So… Stroheim failed. Oh well, I had a feeling he would. Then again, he was just a civilian. It wasn't like I should've expected anything out of him. He didn't see my face, so I don't need to kill him either. He's not a threat to me or anyone in my gang."
The Boss shifted through the pictures on his desk, circling a picture of Karera Sakunami. "She's a Stand User, but she's under the protection of The Speedwagon Foundation. She's not in class 1-A, but rather Class 1 – B, as my intel has told me…." The Boss said, looking across his desk to see a man in rags. He wore a black shirt with ripped sleeves and a ripped-up bottom. He wore sweatpants with holes in the cuffs and knees, some covered with patches and others left open. He had a tattoo on his left arm that looked like a tiger's head, opening up to breathe fire on his hand. He had budding facial hair, and long black hair tied up in a man-bun, with his bangs brushed over to the left, allowing his natural yellow eyes to stare into the Bosses violet ones.
"You do know you don't have to be in that disguise all the time, right?" The Boss said, frowning, as the man shrugged, straightening in his chair as he clasped his hands together.
"Keeps me in touch with the people below us. Besides, I don't see an issue with it. So long as I blend in with the crowd of the poor people, no one will suspect a thing," the man said, his tone of voice rough, battle-hardened, almost. "So, you got a target for me, Boss?" the man asked as The Boss smirked.
"That I do. You see, I had All For One's spy's mother email me about something interesting. You see, they learned through their son that the class has Stand Users, which was obvious when Makoto was killed, but, he also learned that those Stand Users had been forming a group consisting of Kujo Josefumi, Kira Yoshihara, Karera Sakunami, Inko Midoriya, and Izuku Midoriya. He learnt this through eavesdropping on them when they thought they had been alone. Now, Kira Yoshihara, Kujo Josefumi, and Karera Sakumani are too dangerous to be targeted, for now. You see, they're protected by the Heroes and or The Speedwagon Foundation, or both, which isn't exactly ideal," The Boss explained, earning a nod from the man.
"That's obvious. Angering the Speedwagon Foundation is a death sentence. Heroes, though, depending on who it is, is a risky gamble. I thought you were a gambling man?" The man asked as The Boss scoffed.
"Only when I know I can win. You can't always be certain about Pro Heroes, they can be tricky. Don't forget, just because we have Stands, and therefore an advantage, it doesn't make us invincible. We've lost people to folks like Endeavour and Mirko in the past. Hell, even to that bumbling shmuck Wash. We can't let our guard down, so, as of right now, refraining from attacking those three is something I would prefer. Inko Midoriya and Izuku Midoriya? Well, that's a completely different story," The Boss said, a wide smirk on his face as he brought out a shot glass and a bottle of whisky. He popped the cap off of the bottle and poured the shot, then downed it in one go. "That's for knowing I'm gonna win," The Boss said, and then, he poured out another shot glass and slid it over to the man. "If you drink that, that'll mean you're confident in knowing that you'll win. If you don't, that tells me you know you won't, so what are you going to—"
The man downed the shot glass in one go, earning him a massive smile from The Boss. "Attaboy! Now that's the confidence I like to see! Alright. The mission is simple. I have Inko's address for obvious reasons. Right now the boy is at school, so just deal with the mother for now. We don't need to attack U.A. if we don't have to. Besides, the League of Villains is still recovering from that mess-up at the USJ."
"Got it, Boss. Me and Brittle Bones Nicky will be more than enough to deal with her," the man said as The Boss frowned.
"Don't be too confident, Nicholas. You know she can be dangerous. After all, she used to work for us in the past. So she's pretty capable. Just because she's a bit overweight and is a mother now, doesn't mean she doesn't have the skills to kick your ass," The Boss stated as the man smirked.
"Brittle Bones Nicky is an automatic Stand. All I have to do is give it a command, and it'll do it where I can be safe. That way, it also gives me a chance to scope out for when that brat gets home. Two birds, One stone. You can count on me, Boss."
And when Nicholas made his confidence clear, that being of a wide smirk and clear determination in his eyes, he left through the main door. The Boss re-lit his cigar and took another long drag out of it, leaning back in his chair as he blew out a puff of smoke. "I can't believe I'm sending one of my personal Assassins after a group of rookie Stand Users. I really am getting desperate. Makoto's death shook me, but it really shouldn't have. Not once in my lifetime of leading Damnatio Ad Bestias have I lost someone as powerful as Makoto… I can't afford to send one of my division leaders out with the league again, and Nicholas is one of my three Assassins. If he can't do it, then I'll have to send another one out later," The Boss said, looking at a picture on his desk.
In the picture was a family. There was a man with slicked-back blond hair, tan skin, a rather normal build for a man in their late 40s, bright blue eyes, and a beard. The man wore a white button-up shirt and black shorts, as, at the time, it was summer when the picture was taken. There was a black-haired woman with violet eyes, pale skin, and a small, barely noticeable smile on her expression beside the man, a ring on her ring finger with a black diamond as the jewel that was held within it. She wore a black dress and white gloves, almost like she was a wealthy billionaire. In front of the man was a small blond-haired boy with long blond hair, a bright, hope-bringing smile, large blue eyes, and tan skin, wearing a white shirt and brown shorts, tugging on the black hair of a taller, older boy with violet eyes and pale skin, wearing an orange tuxedo with a black tie.
"Ah… It's funny. If only my little brother took up the family business… Oh well… Mom and Dad had a weird hatred for Quirkless people, despite being Quirkless themselves. When I got my Stand, they mistook it for a Quirk and hoped Little T would get one. Fools. But whatever. I run Damnatio Ad Bestias now, and Little T is… well, Little T is doing his own thing now, so I can't fault him," The Boss said, smirking. "But now's not the time to look back on the past. The future is more important. And if I can't stomp out this little snag in my pants with my assassins, and I have to dip into my commanders… then I might as well do this shit myself."
And as The Boss got up from his chair, he fixed his fedora over his eyes and looked out the window overlooking the city of Esuha. "Nicholas better get this shit done. If not, I'm gonna get pretty pissed off…."
xxXXxxXXxx
Inko Midoriya was having what one might call an interesting day. Izuku had left the house with what one might only assume to be the world's widest smile on his face. His reasoning? Well, he was able to see his friends again at school. Inko was proud of her son, seeing as he had made so many friends already, and he hadn't even been at the school for a month.
Part of her wanted to meet them, but another side of her told her to just let her son be, and let him grow up on his own without her interference. Besides, if her son was going to be a pro hero, then he would need some time to just be himself around his friends. After all, if it was one thing that she knew, it was that building connections were important in any business venture. Period.
Fly, Fly Away lifted one of the couches so that Inko could vacuum underneath it, then gently set it down once she was done. She wiped the beads of sweat off of her forehead from the heat of the vacuum cleaner's vents blowing directly into her face. She had the trusty piece of tech for twenty years, although as each year went by, the thing was beginning to fail on her. Perhaps it was time to retire the old piece of machinery and get something new.
"I need a new vacuum cleaner…." Inko muttered, placing it against a wall. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. A small smile took over her face as she looked around the now clean house. It was a mess when she had fought Yoshihara, and even now, some bloodstains wouldn't get out of the walls, but would only fade—a permanent reminder of her mistakes.
"Nice house you got here, ma'am," a voice spoke to her, which made her jump, and when she did, she was face to face with a…. skeleton. A dapper one at that. The skeleton had golden teeth and bright red glowing eyes. Atop its boney head was a top hat with a red ribbon wrapping around the bottom part of the stem. Around its neck was a tattered cape, the edges singed as if it had been in some sort of fire. Covering its body was a black waistcoat with golden stitching. Its pants were the same colour with the same golden stitching, the only difference being that on the knees were golden skull emblems.
When she finished observing the skeleton, the greenette jumped back, Fly, Fly Away putting itself between her and the skeleton, who simply pushed it aside. "Now, now. We don't need to get violent here, I mean, what's the point in that!" The skeleton said, reaching its hand out in a friendly nature. It was almost tempting, but before her hand could unconsciously make contact with it, she recoiled back, narrowing her eyes as several knives pulled themselves out of the drawers, a green aura forming around them as Inko sneered.
"You're a Stand. If you weren't, you wouldn't have been able to touch my Fly, Fly Away. Where is your user!" The Midoriya matriarch snarled, causing the skeleton to roll its eyes.
"Oh, please! Not every Stand is an enemy! Jeez, I thought that maybe you would know a thing or two about that, Tornado," the Skeleton said, meandering its way over to one of the couches, sitting with one leg over the other, its hands clasped together with what appeared to be a smirk on its face, or, well, the best a skeleton could do to imitate a smirk.
Inko faltered for a second, her eyes widening as she stared at the skeleton. "How did you know that?" Inko snapped, clenching her hand into a fist. "I buried that life behind me a long time ago…. Are you someone that I wronged in the past? If that's the case, I'm sorry for what I did, but I can't exactly correct my mistakes from that long ago," Inko stated as the skeleton glared at her.
"Oh, actually, Inko Midoriya, it's quite the opposite. Do you remember a group known as Damnatio Ad Bestias?" The Skeleton said as Inko's eyes widened even further. Fly, Fly Away slung the knives toward the Skeleton, who caught them without even standing up. "Whoa! You've gotten faster. The Assassin Team would love to have you back, Tornado! You were a good Assassin! Even if you never went after the heroes and strictly went for the villains, The Boss loved you! Besides, I'm sure your old friends would LOVE to see you again! Hell! They know about your son and his little entourage, so maybe you could—"
"I cut ties with Damnatio and the Assassin team to raise a family! The Boss said he wouldn't go after me or my family! Why the sudden change!" Inko snapped, interrupting the skeleton as Fly, Fly Away grabbed the skeleton by the neck, who simply chopped the arm off with a clean slice with its hand. Inko felt the pain in her arm as Fly, Fly Away lurched back. The Skeleton had a dark expression on its face, kicking the greenette's Stand to the ground and pinning it.
"Because, Tornado, your son and his friends are stepping into territory that they shouldn't be. Hell, one of them killed Makoto. You remember her, right? You used to go to the pub with her. Well, she's dead now, all because of one of your brat's friends. The Boss said, and I quote, that so long as your family or any friends of your family don't mess with Damnatio Ad Bestias, he wouldn't eliminate you. But now that they have, there is nothing you can do about it," The Skeleton said, taking its foot off of Fly, Fly Away's back as it sat back down.
"But, alas, as much as I, Brittle Bones Nicky, would love to do things the quick and easy way. You know me. The rules are simple. Since I know you won't take one of my bargains, let's cut right to the chase."
As soon as Brittle Bones Nicky said that an ethereal table appeared before Inko as Fly, Fly Away's right arm was trapped into a holder in an arm-wrestling position. "Technically speaking, all that really has to happen is for a Stand or a person to touch me and BOOM! I can use my ability. And since you made the mistake of grabbing my neck, all that has to happen is for me to win this arm wrestle, and you're done for. But, as per the rules of my ability. If you win, then I will have no choice but to leave you and your family alone," Brittle Bones Nicky explained as Inko paled. "So, Inko Midoriya. Do you think you can win against me?"
Suddenly, Inko's interesting day went from "interesting" to "horrifying" in a matter of moments. Staring down Brittle Bones Nicky, Fly, Fly Away locked hands with the enemy Stand. "Three. Two. One. BEGIN!" The Enemy Stand shouted as the two began to put as much strength into their pushes as possible. The two arms flopped left and right, one trying to pin the other down. Fly, Fly Away's arm would come close to the table's surface, but it would be able to push it back up to the middle and move Brittle Bones Nicky's to the edge, and that cycle would repeat.
The match had now been lasting for five minutes, and it seemed like Brittle Bones Nicky was having a harder time pinning Fly, Fly Away's arm to the table. Each passing swap over became harder and harder for the skeleton as Inko began to feel more and more confident.
"I have to win this for my son. This guy is difficult. I can't have him hurt my son. Besides, I've always been able to beat Nicky! A few years ain't going to change a damn thing!" Inko thought, her will building and building until it came to a boiling point.
Inko smirked, watching as Brittle Bones Nicky was beginning to sweat as its arm nearly touched the table. "What's the matter, Nicky? Gotten weaker over the years?!" Inko taunted, as Brittle Bones Nicky simply smirked. Then, with a surge of power that she hadn't felt from the Stand before, Brittle Bones Nicky immediately slammed Fly, Fly Away's arm down on the ethereal table, which caused Inko's eyes to widen.
"Nah, I got stronger. Inko. That's what happened. By the way… I WIN!" Brittle Bones Nicky snarled as Fly, Fly Away began to crumple and smooth out into a coin-sized object. Inko felt weak, and her body turned into stone and shrunk down to the size of a trophy. Brittle Bones Nicky opened up its waistcoat and revealed a suitcase.
Brittle Bones Nicky opened the suitcase and placed the trophy version of Inko into the suitcase, which housed a bottomless pit. The green coin version of Fly, Fly Away went into the bottomless pit as well, and the suitcase closed. "One down… one more to go."
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