章節 42: Chapter 2 - Meet The Joestars: 4
Yoshihara didn't know what to say. In fact, stringing together any sort of coherent thought to respond to what Josuke Higashikata had requested of her made her mind grind to a halt. What was there to say to that? That he tried his best? That he did all he could? If he did all that he could, then why had she still suffered? Why had she been put in any of the situations that she had been put in?
If he had tried all that he could, then why did she come out the way she did? Yoshihara put her hands in front of her face whilst looking at the ground. Gritting her teeth, she clenched her hands into fists until her palms bled. And then, only after that did she calm down, lazily dropping her hands to her sides as she looked at Josuke, who still had that pathetic pleading look on his face.
"No," Yoshihara spat, turning to walk down the hallway. "I don't forgive you. Besides, what's there to forgive? You did nothing wrong. You did what you could, and failed. How can I forgive something that didn't happen, anyway? It wasn't as if you were close to helping me in the first place. You still chased my father out of town, though. For that, I can't forgive you, either."
Josuke's head bowed to the ground, all the while Joseph and Johnny looked on in confusion at the situation on display. Joseph was about to say something, only to earn a pointed stare from Johnny, resulting in him keeping his mouth shut.
"I'm not saying that I can't forgive you, though," Kira said, glancing over at the kneeling Josuke, who whipped his head up to look at the blonde. "For starters, you can get off the ground. I hate it when people try to beg and grovel. Not that anyone's done that for me, but the mere idea of it pisses me off, it makes you look weak, which I can tell that you aren't, so stop it already," Yoshihara stated, earning a wide-eyed look from Josuke.
Instead of doing nothing, Josuke did as he was asked, and stood back up, dusting off his knees and grunting. For a moment, there was silence, until finally, after five long quiet minutes, Josuke spoke up again. "Then… what can I do for you so that you can forgive me?" Josuke asked as the blonde Stand User smirked, a knowing gleam in her eye, turning to fully face Josuke.
"You have to do the one thing I know you'll never do, and that's to forgive Yoshikage Kira for the actions that he committed unto that beloved town of yours," Yoshihara stated as Josuke's eyes widened in surprise. Offence quickly filled his facial features as he balled his hands into fists, his body taking up a pinkish-blue hue, indicating that he was mere moments away from summoning his Stand.
"You want me to forgive that bastard?!" The pompadour-haired adult spat. For a moment, there was a flash, a figure nearing its materialization, only for a pink and black blur to jab the greying old man in the mouth, knocking him back a few steps. And just as quickly as it appeared, the blur was gone, the source of the blur not appearing nor showing itself, as Josuke's Stand never managed to fully summon to its user's side, fading away back into nothing.
Josuke's hand hovered around his now busted lip, looking back at his bloodied index and middle finger, to Kira, then back to his hand. Once again, silence took up the room, and Kira now had a pointed glare focused on Josuke. Then, Yoshihara spoke.
"Not in the stupid "I forgive you, you did nothing wrong" kind of way. But the kind of forgiveness the Christians do," Yoshihara explained, crossing her arms before then continuing. "It's the kind of forgiveness that allows bygones to be bygones, and for both parties to move on. To move past it all, and become a better person for it. It's a step I'm taking regarding my birth mother." Yoshihara paused, her glare softening, as her expression turned from neutral, to a touch sadder. "For example, while I "forgive" her for all of what she did to me, I do not forgive her actions, if that makes any sense," Yoshihara said as she looked down at the ground, no longer making eye contact with anyone.
The silence in the room was deafening. Around the corner, Gyro was patiently listening, not wanting to interrupt anything by walking into the room. And as the silence permeated, tension began to fill the room. Not the kind of tension that was related to a fight, but rather a tension based around emotion, something akin to the mourning of something, like the death of a loved one, or a tragic moment marred with darkness.
And it was in that tension, that Yoshihara continued speaking.
"You see, I forgive the person, that being Yoshikawa Kira; my mother. But, I do not forgive the actions committed by that person, because I can never bring myself to do that. What she did, and by extension what Yoshikage did, was horrible and should be rightfully condemned. But in that same breath, you, and by extension, I, have no idea why they believed these actions were considered "right." In that sense, we cannot judge them based on what they believed. That is what I mean by you forgiving Yoshikage Kira. That way both sides of the family do not have to be in this constant state of fighting. I've seen enough of that as a late, and I'd be more than happy to move this trainwreck along."
"Now," Yoshihara said, glancing at the time, that being 5:30 PM. The blonde let out a small sigh, turning to face away from everyone. "I'm going to get changed into something more comfortable. Joseph, call me down or text me when dinner is ready, I need some time to myself before I continue any conversations with that man." And with that, Yoshihara walked away and down the hall, passing Gyro, who only nodded to her as she went toward the elevator.
Those who were left in the room did not utter a single word to one another, instead, they went about to do their own things, the heavy silence that had been left behind notwithstanding. Johnny got to work making burgers while Josuke helped, leaving Joseph to himself, ruminating on the information he was given.
And while everyone was content to do their own thing, for Joseph, it was something that he couldn't stomach doing, especially after the bombs had been dropped. This was the first time he had heard anything regarding Yoshihara's mother, other than that she was a real piece of shit. Physical Abuse? Malnutrition? Other unspeakable things? "What the hell is going on here…?"
Joseph wasn't about to take any of this information lying down. He wanted to know more. However, he knew that approaching anyone on the topic would be a bad thing, and seeing the shocked, borderline betrayed look on his father's face, it was clear that he was just as in the dark about this as he was. When he looked over to Josuke, he had a conflicted, thoughtful, and deeply saddened expression on his own face.
And then, the silence was broken by Gyro, who walked into the room before speaking up. "So, we can safely agree that Yoshihara was abused, yes?"
When those words left the Italian's mouth, Johnny slammed his fist against the counter, making everyone snap their attention in his direction. "DAMNIT!" The sheer power that when into the slam shook the whole counter, making the knife block bounce, and one of the glasses on the counter to fall and shatter on the floor. Equally, Josuke seemed upset about it as well, but not to the extent that Johnny was.
"I should've known…. I should've known something was wrong when Yoshikawa told me her child died…. I should've looked into it…! I knew that she was a part of a child abuse case, and I defended her…. When I heard the child died, I… I thought that it was just too convenient. My friendship with her blinded me, and because of that…!"
Mid-rant, Gyro slapped Johnny across the face with a calm expression, earning shocked ones in return. Johnny didn't react, nor did he move after that, he just stood there. "Johnny. You and I both know you could've done nothing about it anyway. It's best to let it go and not mention it during supper. Kira wants to avoid talking about it, you all saw the look on her face when she left, right? Just talking about it pained her enough as it is. We have no idea to what extent her mother abused her, and I don't think we ever will. Besides, It would be rude to go prying into things that we have no reason to pry into."
Gyro then turned his attention to Joseph. "And that applies to you, especially. I know how much you like to sleuth about when it comes to this stuff. Keep your nose out of the pie, capiche?"
Joseph nodded, albeit reluctantly. Gyro sighed, looking down at the floor whilst putting his hands on his hips. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go and try and talk to Kira. While I may be no therapist, as a doctor and a pro hero, it is my duty to make sure everything is alright. That, and sometimes familia can get overprotective. Not being related to her might help me disassociate from the topics. Besides, I need to give her a basic border crossing check-up anyway and file it back to U.A. So I'll use that as my excuse to speak to her."
Gyro began to leave, though before he did, he turned around and looked over at everyone in the room. "Oh, and by the way, this will all be under doctor/patient confidentiality. So no asking questions, understood?"
With a series of nods obtained, Gyro hummed, before further walking down the hall and into the elevator, leaving both of the Kujo's and Josuke alone in the kitchen.
xxXXxxXXxx
She spoke too much. She said way more than she had initially wanted to, and for the first time in a long time, she felt skittish. Any other feeling washed away when she started talking, as did common sense. At least she didn't say too much, because otherwise, it would've seemed stupid. She barely knew them, any of them, and she had been so ready to dump all of her problems onto their laps as if they'd care. The only one there who might've shown any sort of sympathy was Joseph, or Josefumi, or whatever the hell his name really was.
But none of that mattered because she had been a few seconds away from revealing everything. She didn't want to re-live all of that, nor did she want to think about it ever again. She vowed to herself that she would never think about it, never mention it, and never talk about it. Because, if she dragged it all back up again, it would only make things worse.
And so, out of habit, she started biting her nails.
Whenever Yoshihara got nervous, or skittish, or anything that made her overthink things, she bit her nails, often to the point of bleeding on rare occasions. It was a trait that she had adopted from her old boss, Akira, back when she was still living in that shitty apartment. Back when things were far worse, financially and mentally speaking. Back when she didn't have any problems to deal with outside worrying about the rent.
Back when she wasn't—"Shut up, don't bring it up, stop it!" Yoshihara thought, gripping the side of her head as she stopped chewing her right hand's nails. Everything was going wrong, and all in the worst ways imaginable.
She had been so bloody confused for the past three days. Her mind was a mess, she was sleep deprived, and recently she had been starting to get headaches and for some reason a craving for fish. She HATED fish, and yet now she wanted to eat fish! She could barely catch a wink of sleep, and due to the constant use of the bathroom, any sleep she did get was interrupted by having to pee. Hell, there was one time when she saw blood in the toilet. Blood!
She had already HAD her period two days before her date with Izuku and what came after said date, so why the hell was she bleeding down there again?! Granted, it wasn't even comparable to what it normally was, only a few drops, but even then, she found it strange.
Everything was reaching a boiling point. She was going crazy. The lack of sleep, the constant use of the bathroom, the constant drowsiness, the pressure of being a hero student, the too frequent for comfort Stand battles, the judgement she was facing for killing her fucking abuser, all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry.
Yoshihara wanted to be with her boyfriend because maybe he'd know what to do. Now, she had someone that she could rest her head on, to get comfort from, to trust with everything that she wanted to trust him with. But now they were, quite literally, continents apart. Sure, he was just a phone call away, but he was getting ready for his internship. She knew just how much all of this was for him, so butting in with all of her problems would be getting in the way of all of that.
That, and he was probably asleep. She didn't know what time it was in Japan, so she didn't want to wake him up either.
Breaking her from her thoughts was a knock at the door. She froze, eyes glancing over to the doorway as she waited in silence. The knock happened again, and once again, she stayed silent. Finally, a voice. "Kira. It's Dr. Zeppelli. Can I come in?" She remained silent. Another minute passed, and a sigh made its way to her ears. "I know you wanted to be left alone, but this is urgent. U.A. needs to know your current medical status. It is a standard procedure that, when on a school trip across the world, a doctor does a standard check-up. Seeing as I am a licensed doctor, I was requested by Johnny to do the check-up. So, I ask again, can I please come in?"
It only took her a split second to think it over before getting up, walking over to the door, and opening it slowly. She peeked out the cracked open door and saw Gyro. She didn't know Zeppeli was his last name, so that was why she was a bit apprehensive.
Kira then fully opened the door, allowing Gyro inside the room. Gyro then closed the door as Yoshihara sat back down on the bed, hands on her knees and head lowered so that she didn't have to make eye contact with the man. He didn't need to know that she had been crying. It would make her look—
"I see you've been a bit upset, seeing as when I saw you through the door your eyes were a little red. And seeing as I don't smell any marijuana in here, I can safely conclude that you were crying, am I right?"
"Damnit." Yoshihara thought, looking up at Gyro to see a smile on his face. "Can we get this over with, please? I just want to be left alone," Yoshihara grumbled as the Italian sighed. The man walked over to the chair by the desk, pulled it out, then sat down. In one hand, he had a clipboard, and in the other, he had a pen. Clicking the top of the pen, the man began to write down… something, then cleared his throat.
"Well, I can try to make this as fast as possible, but then I won't be able to cover what it is that I need to cover. This will take a while, so your patience is required," Gyro responded, looking over to Yoshihara with a professional gaze. She hadn't known Gyro Zeppelli for more than a grand total of five minutes and had already gained a pretty good picture of what kind of man he was.
When he wasn't working, he seemed to be a goofball that took virtually nothing seriously, cracking jokes even when they weren't exactly in good taste. However, put something serious in front of him, and all of that goes down the drain. Suddenly there were next to no jokes, and no beating around the bush. It didn't matter what it was you were feeling, if he had an objective truth that needed to be told, then he would tell it to you like it was.
In that regard, it reminded Yoshihara of that one drama that Nemuri watched off and on called House MD, a pre-Quirk era show about a doctor who quite literally had zero capacity to care for patients due to his own problems, but as a result, was a damn good doctor, but a horrible human being.
And while Gyro wasn't that, it still reminded her of Dr. House, and how blunt he was, though without the clever wisecracks that House uses to piss people, mostly Cuddy, off. And seeing as that was the case, there was no point in arguing with him against that idea.
"Fine. You have a point," Yoshihara responded to the doctor, who smirked.
"Glad you can see to reason, even in a time of emotional stress," Gyro complimented, before clearing his throat again. "I really should've brought a glass of water with me… oh well, hindsight is 20/20 after all. Now, I want you to tell me if you have been feeling any sort of symptoms of illness, even if it seems underwhelming to you. Tell me everything."
The look in Gyro's eyes was of utmost seriousness, and with the way he was looking at her, it made her spine shiver. Aizawa-sensei probably contacted Johnny about the whole test bullshit and seeing as Gyro was probably looking for a reason to make her take the test, a part of her wanted to spite him and lie. Then again, Gyro would probably see right through it, so there was no point in lying. A small frown appeared on Yoshihara's face while she looked at the ground.
Silence washed over the room for another minute, Gyro patiently waiting for her to speak. Finally, after another minute passed, Yoshihara spoke up.
"I… I've been restless as of late, and also drowsy at the same time. I've been using the bathroom far too frequently, and I've been getting an off-and-on headache for the last 12 hours. I think… I think that's everything. I don't know what's happening, doctor, and I'm just so… confused," Yoshihara explained as Gyro pursed his lips with a questioning look in his eyes. When he finished writing down everything on the clipboard, he put the pen up to his lips, tapping it against the side of his mouth.
"Hmm… this might seem like a bit of a strange question, and it may be a bit personal for me to ask this, but… do your breasts feel… how do I say this, soft? Tender?" Gyro said, earning a glare from Kira, to which he immediately put his hands up in defence of himself. "I don't mean it in a perverted sense! I mean it literally!" Gyro reassured as Yoshihara sighed. She looked down at her chest, as the frown increased.
"Why is that important to this conversation?" Yoshihara asked as Gyro sighed.
"Because, Kira, those symptoms you just listed off, sound an awful lot like… well, you know. Another sign of that is that your breasts become tender and slightly swollen, or more noticeable blue veins show up as a result of your body gearing itself to, well…. A-hem, anyways, you don't have to check now, but if you do, and you notice any of the following, I would highly suggest you use the pregnancy test that Aizawa emailed me about you having."
Yoshihara grumbled at the mention of that device. "I don't get why everyone is so hellbent on saying I'm pregnant, because I'm not! I would know because it's my body. Doesn't anyone think about that?" Yoshihara ranted as Gyro's expression grew flat, all the while he tilted his head slightly to the right, a knowing gleam in his left eye.
"Well, when you have unprotected sex so close to after your period, and then wake up feeling like you've been hit by a shitpile of bricks, then I think it would be safe to say that red flags are up, and alarm bells ring," Gyro said flatly as Yoshihara sputtered.
"H-How did you—"
"Your teacher said as much in the email he sent. You know, the same one that said you had a pregnancy test that you can use. But that's not my point Kira, and I'm pretty sure you know it. I'm sure you've heard this before, but you need to take that test. Doctors orders." And with that, Gyro stood up and made his way for the door. All Yoshihara did was stare at the ground as the door closed behind the doctor.
"If it's doctor's orders, then I guess I don't have much of a choice."
And so, she got up from the bed, walked to her suitcase, grabbed the stupid box she had buried underneath all of the clothing she had packed, then left her room for the bathroom.
xxXXxxXXxx
If there was one thing that Joseph could wholeheartedly agree on, it was that his father's burgers were the best. In fact, he was eating one right now! Everyone, except Yoshihara, was sitting down and eating dinner. Despite having texted Yoshihara on numerous occasions, she didn't reply. It had been a full hour since she disappeared to her room, and even though he did try and get her attention, she was completely unresponsive.
Joseph was a little worried, namely because the last time she was this unresponsive was when she had a panic attack, and passed out for hours on end. The last time she had a panic attack was this morning during that battle with Outrunning Karma and that assassin. And if she had another one while everyone was preoccupied with dinner, then sitting around here, doing nothing, seemed like a very scummy thing to do.
But, then again, if Kira did have a panic attack, she would've done so in the living room when confronting Josuke. And seeing as no one had said anything on her list of triggers, it was good enough to believe that she didn't have a panic attack.
But, that still left the question of why Kira was still in her room, and not down here eating supper with them. A question that he asked. "So… why isn't Kira eating with us?" Josuke asked between bites of his burger, to which Johnny shrugged.
"I don't know. Gyro, do you have any idea?" Johnny asked as Gyro took a sip from his glass of water, before frowning. Gyro frowning, as Joseph learned, was not a good thing. Whenever he frowned, it was usually because something bad happened, or if someone had set him off. Seeing as Yoshihara wasn't the type to openly antagonize someone, Joseph had to assume it was the former.
"Yeah, but it's not my business to say. When she's ready to come here, she will." With that awfully cryptic response, Gyro finished his burger and started snacking on the fries on his plate. Joseph scratched his cheek with an eyebrow raised, though Gyro either didn't pay attention to his questioning glance or if this was a part of the whole doctor/patient confidentiality thing.
It was probably the latter.
"On another note," Gyro spoke up again, looking over to Joseph. "Did you do your upper body training, Jojo?" Gyro asked as Joseph swallowed the piece of burger in his mouth, chasing it down with a sip of iced tea.
"Yeah, my arms are really sore, as are my shoulders. I added an extra 50 pounds to the triceps machine, so I'm gonna pay for it in the morning," Joseph said, rolling his right shoulder as Gyro nodded.
"Good. That means it's working. Now—"
A pair of footsteps interrupted the conversation as Yoshihara walked out of the hallway. She wasn't in her school uniform anymore, but rather a black baggy shirt with some anime character on the front, a pair of white jeans, and was barefoot. Giving her a once over, Joseph realized that she was a little bit pale, and had a very, very conflicted look on her face.
"Kira?" Gyro spoke up, his tone knowing-sounding if that was even possible. All Kira did was nod, and Gyro sighed. "Do you wish to speak about it in private later?" Once again, Kira nodded. Gyro nodded as well. "Okay then. Johnny, we'll need to talk about this after dinner."
Joseph watched the whole conversation with a skeptical gleam in his eye, glancing over at Josuke, trying to gauge if he knew anything. But, based on the confused expression on his face, he was just as clueless as him. The purple-haired teen watched as Kira grabbed her plate off of the counter, before then sitting down next to him. Shooting her a concerned glance, the blonde didn't even seem to notice it, too absorbed in whatever it was that was going on in that head of hers.
After that, dinner was silent for the rest of the evening. No one made any effort to talk, preferring silence. When his father, Gyro, and Kira were done eating, they excused themselves all at the same time, the group of three walking down the hall and into Gyro's office on the first floor. That was when Josuke finally let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head.
"I don't know what it is about her that makes me uncomfortable. Maybe it's because she looks so much like him… but… seriously, forgive Yoshikage Kira…. How the hell does she expect me to do that? She clearly doesn't know a damn thing, and I don't know where she got the idea of me chasing Yoshimura out of Morioh from…. he was like a cousin to me, and he was related to the reason why I wanted to stop Yoshikage… I would've never chased him out of town for any reason, so why does she think that?" Josuke murmured, standing up from his seat.
"Where're you going, gramps?" Joseph asked as Josuke smirked.
"My hotel room. I know things between your dad and me are still dicey, so I have a hotel rented out nearby. If you ever want to talk, I'm just a five-minute walk away. See ya later, Joseph," Josuke said, ruffling the younger Kujo's hair, before making his way toward the entrance, getting his shoes and jacket on, before leaving.
And once again, Joseph was alone. Slumping against his chair, Joseph glanced over to the time and frowned. It was 6:30 PM, so that would mean that it was probably the next day over in Japan, meaning everyone's internships were starting there. And when he thought about Japan, he remembered Karera and Midoriya.
"I wonder what they're up to?"
xxXXxxXXxx
Midoriya was conflicted. Well, not conflicted, but rather he had a lot of things on his mind. So many things were happening far faster than he ever even considered, but it all came to a head yesterday, on Saturday, when everyone was in class discussing their internships, and when Aizawa-sensei went over it with everyone. The discussions had started on Friday, but come Saturday, chaos had… practically erupted in the classroom.
Specifically because of two missing people.
Yoshihara Kira, and Josefumi Kujo.
And he remembered it going down something like this.
[Yesterday – Homeroom, U.A.]
It was a day like any other. Izuku was walking to class, joined by Uraraka and Ida, as per usual. Well, he'd say per usual, but one person was missing from their little friend group, that being Yoshihara. She'd usually join up with them at the front gate, but she was surprisingly late for once, something that Ida was quick to catch on to, and admonish.
It was weird, seeing as Yoshihara was always on time, so for her to NOT be here made Izuku worry a little bit more than usual. Nevertheless, they entered the school, figuring that Yoshihara would catch up eventually. When they got to the classroom, and ten minutes went by with neither Yoshihara nor Josefumi walking to the classroom, to say Izuku was a little more than just worried was an understatement.
In fact, he wasn't the only one to notice both of their absences, either. In fact, surprisingly enough, he was approached by Bakugo about it. "Oi, Deku, where's that shitty girlfriend of yours?"
When Bakugo asked that, Izuku nearly jumped out of his seat in shock. "A-Ah, Kacchan! W-What're y-you—"
"Shut up, nerd. It's fucking obvious and you know it," Bakugo sneered, rolling his eyes. "Whatever, not the point. Point is, where the fuck is she? Isn't she always on time or some shit?" Bakugo asked, tapping his foot against the floor impatiently. "Same with Pompadork, he's not here either. He's usually on time, as well," Bakugo grumbled as Izuku rubbed the back of his neck.
"A-Ah, well, I don't know about Fumi-kun, but I know Yoshihara was in pain yesterday. Maybe she took the day off?" Izuku theorized as Mina spoke up.
"Yeah, Kira-chan could barely walk yesterday, let alone stand up straight without leaning on something. Did she get into an accident the day prior or something?" Mina asked as Bakugo snorted.
"You fuckin' kidding? You saw just how badly Deku beat the snot out of her with those punches of his. She was probably still recovering from that!" Bakugo quipped as Izuku let out a quiet nervous chuckle, gaining Bakugo's attention. "The fuck you laughing for, huh?! You saying I'm wrong, Deku?!"
"W-Wha— No! Kacchan! You're not wrong," Izuku replied as Bakugo clicked his tongue.
"Tch, whatever."
One after the other, everyone else walked into class and took their seats, followed by a tired Aizawa-Sensei, which was the usual, to be completely fair. "Alright, class. Before we begin homeroom, let's address the elephant in the room. I'm sure someone has figured it out by now, but for those who haven't—"
A hand shot up, unsurprisingly, it was Ida. Aizawa sighed, before calling out the boy to the class. "Yes, Ida?"
"Aizawa-sensei! Does this have to do with Kira-san's, Jirou-san's and Kujo-kun's absences?" Ida asked as a few murmurs rippled throughout the classroom. Apparently, not everyone had noticed the two empty desks, which, to be fair, was kind of hard not to, seeing as those two were so quiet during classes and serious about getting work done, that they just faded into the background. Even during downtime, Kujo was probably studying, and Yoshihara was usually reading Manga, rather than socializing.
Jirou, on the other hand, was a bit different. Jirou never struck Izuku to be the type of girl who'd go out of her way to start things like internships off early. But, then again, according to an overheard conversation with Kaminari and Kirishima, she had been offered an internship by Blackwell, Japan's number 11 pro hero, with the condition that she had to start early.
Getting an internship with someone THAT high up in the rankings was exceedingly rare for first-time internships. In fact, Izuku was pretty sure that was a first, with the exception of Todoroki-kun, which was rather obvious as to why.
"Yes, that would be correct, Ida. You see, they've started their internships early, Jirou with Blackwell, and Kira and Kujo abroad in America."
When that was mentioned, a bunch of people practically jumped up from their seats with alarm and confusion. Aizawa was able to get everyone to settle down as he massaged the sides of his head, muttering something unintelligible. That was when Kaminari spoke up.
"Who's Kira and Kujo interning with to have them go overseas?" Kaminari questioned as Aizawa sighed.
"Normally, I wouldn't answer that, but seeing as it's on topic, both Kujo and Kira are interning with Joekid, America's second most ranked pro hero, and head of The Speedwagon Foundation; one of U.A.'s top investors and known confidants. I can't disclose why, but what I said is more than enough information."
And once again, the class erupted into chaos, and, once again, Aizawa was able to calm everyone down. "That's enough! Sheesh, you kids are annoying sometimes…. Now, as I was saying…."
[Present Day]
Izuku shivered at the memory. He wasn't one to complain about noisiness, at least, usually. "Maybe Yoshihara is rubbing off on me a bit more than I imagined…." Izuku thought as he walked down to the location where his internship was supposed to take place. It was located on the outskirts of Hosu, bordering between Musutafu and Hosu city.
But who was he interning with, exactly? Well, none other than All Might's former teacher, Gran Torino. He remembered All Might's conversation with him about Gran Torino, and just by talking about him alone did Izuku understand something vital about this "Gran Torino."
Gran Torino scared the socks off of All Might.
"A hero who scares the pants off All Might… Gran Torino, hmm? I've never heard of him, but if he was able to scare All Might, then he's gotta be one awesome guy!" Izuku thought, rounding the street corner to the address provided to him. And what he came across was an old, rundown apartment complex. It stuck out like a sore thumb compared to all the other advanced buildings surrounding it, which, in Izuku's eyes made it look like an eyesore.
"Huh…. Not what I was expecting…." Izuku muttered. Walking up to the front door of the rundown building, Izuku gently opened the door and peeked inside. Surprisingly, the inside of the building was rather clean, though it was pretty dark, and hard to see the inside of. "Uh… Gran Torino, Sir? My name is Izuku Midoriya, and I come from U.A., it's a pleasure to meet…!"
His eyes cast down to the floor and saw a small, old man in a bright yellow and grey hero costume, surrounded in what appeared to be the colour of blood and his intestines hanging out. Just as Izuku was about to shout, he sniffed the air and got the distinct smell of Ketchup.
Running inside, he closed the door behind him and knelt to the old man, who groaned. "Ugh…" Without hesitation, Izuku helped the old man up, as he adjusted himself with his cane. "Thank you, sonny. And to think I'd slip and fall on my lunch, what a waste…." The old man drawled as Izuku dusted his hands off. "So, who are you?" the old man asked as Izuku raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… I'm Izuku Midoriya, the boy who you—"
"No, I said, who are you, boy," Gran Torino repeated as Izuku was beginning to get a tad bit annoyed. He didn't have time to play games with an old man. It was only after a few seconds that he caught on to what the man was saying, as he mouthed an "oh" sound.
"Ah, I'm Dekiru, Gran Torino, Sir," Izuku said as Gran Torino smirked.
"Good, you caught on sooner than I thought. Dekiru, huh…? "I can do it." Quite the claim, sonny. We'll see soon enough. Now, get your hero costume on, and fire off an attack on me. I want to see just how much control you have over One For All."
Izuku nodded, looking over to his suitcase. "Right away, sir!" Something told Izuku that he was going to be in a long internship, but not a painful one.
xxXXxxXXxx
To say Karera had been excited to work with Eraserhead was a bit of an overstatement. Don't get her wrong, Aizawa, or she guessed it was going to be Eraserhead-sensei for the next two weeks, was a nice person, but he was also a grouch, a total contrast to Sekijiro-Sensei, who was upbeat, bombastic, and all for competition.
Karera had heard horror stories from Josefumi about just how much Aizawa pushed them during hero 101 courses. There was a time when Aizawa had caused one of the people in his class to faint of exhaustion because he wouldn't allow for any breaks in between exercises. Now, granted, it was the type of thing that needed to be overcome when it came to hero work; quite often someone would have to go from call to call without a break, so increasing ones energy and fighting against exhaustion was key.
However, to get to that point was a bit much, actually, no scratch that, fucking ridiculous. Even so, Josefumi liked his teacher, as did a majority of those in Class 1 – A. Sure, he was tough on them, but it was for a good reason. You didn't become a hero by faffing around and goofing off. She would admit that Sekijiro-Sensei gave them a bit more lenient time-tables, and also gave them more breaks so that they could relax.
In comparison to Class 1 – A, they were ahead of schedule, yes, but they had more hands-on experience than them, not of their own volition, of course, but that wasn't how most of Class 1 – B saw it.
Still, when Eraserhead approached her after school and asked for her to work with him over the internship, Karera of course accepted, though as previously mentioned, she wasn't too thrilled about it. She had actually planned to work with Fatgum and reach out to him.
So, if that was the case, why ultimately pick Eraserhead?
Simple, he was an underground hero. That meant he dealt with back alley criminals. That also meant that there was a chance he could have a chance encounter with the people who dish out the Stand Bullets, or as the media was calling them, The Yellow Bullets. It was a boring title to call them, but seeing as the world at large was still blind to Stand's existence as a whole, she guessed it made sense. That, and if the media started calling them Quirk Evolving Bullets, that would make the drug more sought after, and that was no good.
And seeing as Josefumi wouldn't be able to do much of anything regarding the Stand Bullets, what with him being in America with Kira, that meant that she and the Midoriya's would have to pick up the slack. Though granted, Inko had her hands tied behind her back at the moment, so in reality, it was just Izuku and her. Of course, Karera didn't mind, hence why she chose to work with Eraserhead.
Most people never gave her enough credit. She was smart when she needed to be, damnit!
Standing outside of an alleyway, I.E. the meetup location, Karera was decked out in her hero costume. It was a rather simple stretchy black leotard, along with a black shoulder vest with a black fluffy interior. She had spiked cuffs on her wrists with fingerless gloves and stretchable over-the-knee-high slip-on boots. She also had a black eye mask just for shits and giggles. She blamed her recent Persona 5 binge playthrough over Sunday for that one.
The stretchy material allowed her more open movement options when in a close-quarters fight, and the same went with the leotard. It gave her the freedom to move around without having anything to get caught on. As for the shoulder vest, it was there purely for the design. And the all-black was so that she couldn't be seen easily at night, giving her that extra amount of camouflage. Seeing as her hair was black, and seeing as Love Love Deluxe allowed her to manipulate her hair to the point of being as dense and as strong as metal, nightly ambushes would be EASY in her costume.
Unlike Josefumi, who wanted to be like his dad and live up to the Joestar Family Legacy, Karera wanted to be an underground hero. She never really wanted fame, though a part of her couldn't lie and not say that it wouldn't have been cool to be seen all over the world as a bigshot hero.
That being said, however, she also didn't want to be seen in the same light as people like Mt. Lady, who seemingly became heroes just for the clout. She probably had her own reasons, though if Karera was being honest, she didn't quite care. She had already made waves with the public due to her first appearance, and it was all the worse when she practically took every sponsorship offered to her at once.
Not that she cared, but… it did seem kinda greedy.
"You're early. That's good, it means you're on top of your priorities." A sharp voice spoke out to Karera, breaking her from her thoughts as her head whipped around to see Eraserhead, decked out in his equipment, arms crossed and leaning up against one of the walls of the alleyway. He scanned her up and down, and huffed with a glint of approval in his eyes. "All black… good for hiding in the darkness and ambush maneuvers. I like the way you think, kid. That being said, lose the shoulder jacket next time we meet up, it can get caught on things and make fighting a pain."
Karera nodded, a small smile taking up her visage. "Maybe he's not so bad after all…!" Karera thought as Eraserhead grunted.
"Now, seeing as it's 10:45 Am, and I haven't had my morning coffee, we'll stop by a coffee shop, and after that, we'll get to patrolling. That'll be from 11:00 Am to 6:00 Pm. After that, we'll call it a night. Understood?" Eraserhead asked.
"Understood, Eraserhead-sensei!" Karera replied as the shaggy-haired man rolled his eyes a little bit.
"Calm it with the sensei crap. As far as I'm concerned, you're a sidekick. After all, you and Kujo are looking into those bullets with Kira and Midoriya, right?" Eraserhead asked as Karera nodded, a serious expression on her face.
"That would be correct, sir," Karera responded as Eraserhead shook his head, sighing.
"Well, normally, I would tell you to drop it. You're students, not heroes, and seeing as this can be counted as Vigilantism, I could technically report you to the school," Eraserhead started as Karera froze. "However, seeing as this is mutually beneficial to my own investigation, and seeing as you have backing from The Speedwagon Foundation, on a technical term, I can't do much of anything. All I can do is frown upon it."
Karera let out a sigh of relief as Eraserhead cleared his throat. "Now, let's go get that coffee. I'm not doing anything until I have caffeine in my system."
And with that, the two set off for the nearby coffee shop. Already, Karera had to say that this internship with Eraserhead was going to be a lot more interesting than she had initially believed. "I knew I made the right choice with Eraserhead!" Karera thought, following close behind her boyfriend's teacher.
However, unaware to both Aizawa and Karera, the makings of a tattered red cape folded away from the back of the alleyway, as two bright golden eyes gleamed in the shadows.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票