章節 48: Chapter 8 - Stain's, Viper's, and Bone's: 4
Out of all the things that Inko Midoriya had seen in her life, the news was something that she never really bothered to pay attention to. There was no real reason as to why that was the case, other than that she had no reason to follow it. Every headline was about some tragedy in the world or something to do with a grand villain attack that occurred in some far-off place away from Musutafu, or in a neighbouring city.
Quite frankly, she believed that the news was solely designed to bring down people's moods, and make everyone feel miserable. For the longest time in her life, she followed the news cycle, and during that portion of her life, she remembered feeling horrible; constantly doubting that the world was progressing, and only regressing to a bygone era before Quirks.
However, when she stopped paying attention to the news, at least as frequently as she used to, she paid more attention to the actual world around her. While she could still see what it was that the news was talking about, the news sensationalized things to a downright psychopathic degree, making it so that even the smallest of setbacks looked like the most devastating of failures. Things were not nearly as bad as the news was making them out to be. And so, from that day forward, 10 years ago, she stopped paying attention to the news cycle.
Of course, there was the time when she had the news on in the background during the Sludge Villain incident. That was just about the only time she gave a damn about the news, mostly because her son and… well, she didn't know what terms Izuku and Katsuki were on nowadays, but she assumed that at the time they were at least somewhat friends still, not that it mattered. She was glad that All Might was there that day to save her son. Now she had more of a reason to actually like All Might, outside of him being the strongest hero in the world.
From that day forth, Izuku got roped into things that she feared he'd get into. Back when Izuku was four, she was secretly relieved that he didn't have a Quirk. She didn't want her old Boss to gain an interest in him and do something without her knowledge. For as much as she respected her old Boss, he was the type of person to manipulate the gullible into taking the plunge with those new Stand Bullets of his.
So, she was glad that Izuku was born without a Quirk. Granted, his quality of life was miserable, and she knew it, but at least he didn't get turned into a Stand User, and have his life ruined because of her old Boss, or worse, ended if the bullet killed him.
And then, Izuku met Yoshihara Kira. A Stand User. She had to admit that what she did after that was kind of an overreaction. She feared that Yoshihara had been sent by her old Boss to scope out things because she knew he was watching her and her family. When she felt that pull that all Stand Users felt from Yoshihara, she panicked and attempted to end her life.
That backfired massively. However, instead of killing her as Inko had anticipated, all Yoshihara Kira did was knock her unconscious, and called emergency services. Ever since then, they had become fast allies, with the common goal to eliminate the person who produced the Stand Bullets.
However, there was just one small issue. She already knew who was making them. She already knew where they were being made. Or at least, a vague idea of where they were being made. So if that was the case, why hadn't she told them? The answer was simple. She knew that they weren't ready to go up against those people.
The Stand Users that they would be up against would kill them in seconds. Their abilities were beyond normal, and even more insane because, the leader of the assassination team, or percussores damnatorum as her former Boss called it, wasn't human. And while she was sure that the past members might have come and gone, or were switched around to different parts of Damnatio Ad Bestias, she still knew that they were extremely loyal to her former Boss.
She didn't want them to go on what amounted to a suicide mission. She didn't want to endanger her baby boy more than she already was being forced to. In fact, after the USJ incident, she had intended to remove Izuku from U.A. completely. But, as Izuku demonstrated to her, he was ready more now than ever to be able to defend himself.
Technically speaking, she was withholding important information, and that could get her in serious trouble with the law. But then again, she was a former assassin, so being in trouble with the law was something that she had already become accustomed to. Besides, this was for the safety of those she deemed dear to her. She wasn't about to allow her son to be caught up in something that he didn't need to be caught up in. Especially after Nicholas came and nearly succeeded in taking both her and her son out.
Truth be told, she was terrified of Nicholas. His Stand, Brittle Bones Nicky, while the weakest Stand in all of percussores damnatorum, at least physically speaking, had a devastating ability. If he, or his Stand, came into contact with you, all he'd have to do is dare you to do something, otherwise, your soul would be removed from your body and turned into an antique coin, along with your body. After that, you'd be at his mercy. How Izuku was able to beat Nicholas without a Stand baffled her, but she was thankful for it.
It wasn't that she didn't believe in her son. Inko did. She truly did. But Nicholas was known in percussores damnatorum as "The Collector" for a reason. Everyone in percussores damnatorum had a code name. Hers was Terrible Tornado. Nicholas's was The Collector. The leader of them was known as The Tamer, and nobody, besides perhaps her ex-husband, The One Who Has No Name, could ever hope to beat him. That, or The Boss.
"And if Nicholas was sent after us, and failed, that would mean that he might take matters into his own hands…." Inko thought, frowning, as she finished putting away the cutlery from the sink. She had just gotten home from work thirty minutes ago and had decided to clean up last night's dishes. Without Izuku being home, things were quite silent. Something that she wasn't a fan of.
Everything being quiet was something she wasn't used to. Even the smallest of noises that Izuku made when he was home was enough to make her feel less lonely, be it scribbling on paper, the tapping of the keyboard of his laptop, his muttering, or even him silently watching the T.V., it made the house feel more lively. Er, well, apartment, in any case.
To Inko, the past week had been utter torture. Without Izuku around, she felt miserable. It was also a small glimpse of what the possible future could've been. That if Izuku continued to go after Damnatio Ad Bestias, this might've very well been the future.
And she hated it.
Everything was so… stock still. So… void of life. It was like living in a time capsule. There were times she caught herself talking to herself, trying to strike up a conversation with no one at all, and it hurt. She knew Izuku wasn't dead, but it was that dread and feeling of no one else being there that made it that much worse.
This morning, she told herself that it was only going to be one more week. One more week, and she'd get to see Izuku again. And then, the house would go back to its usual self-contained chaos.
When she left for work that morning, she cleaned the house but left the dishes to do later on when she got home. Everything was right where it needed to be, perfectly safe and sound, right where it was supposed to belong. Everything was in working order, and she expected to come home to a clean house.
So, colour her surprised, and a little bit on edge, when she came home to see that a picture on the wall had been tilted on its side and that the curtains by the window had been displaced. Her guard was on high alert the moment she walked through the door because she was not alone anymore.
However, she couldn't allow the person who was probably still in her home to know that she was aware of the fact that someone had broken in. And so, she did the dishes. It not only served as a way to make the intruder believe that they had the upper hand, but it also allowed her to set up her counterattack if need be.
Due to how Fly, Fly Away functioned, she had to touch something first for her Stand to use it as ammunition. Henceforth why she did the dishes the moment she walked through the door. She waited, as she began to fold the cloth that she used to wipe down all the dishes. Lowering her head to look down at the sink, she waited.
And waited….
And waited….
Until she heard the creaking of wood. Inko did not move, however, she did blink, which was all she needed to do to summon Fly, Fly Away. The moment Fly, Fly Away came out, the cutlery drawer opened, and several knives flew out of the drawer, all commanded by Fly, Fly Away to shoot toward a figure standing in the corner of her living room.
In the blink of an eye, a boney, ethereal arm reached out and caught all of the knives in a single fell swoop. Inko looked over her shoulder, glaring at the figure in the shadows. The figure said nothing, as the rest of their Stand formed out of the darkness. And what she saw made Inko's eyes widen. The Stand in question was a skeleton, a familiar one, at that. However, it lacked certain things and had different characteristics compared to the last time she saw it. Such as how it was far bulkier appearing than it had been before. It lacked the top hat that it wore, and in the skull's eye sockets, there were bright glowing yellow lights, rather than a pair of golden spectacles with blacked-out lenses. The final detail was that its face looked more jagged, and half of its cape was torn off.
But she recognized that Stand from anywhere. No matter what form it took, no matter how much The User had changed, Inko knew exactly who this Stand was and who its user was.
"Nick… You came back? That's kind of pointless, don't you think? Your Stand's ability doesn't work on me anymore, nor my son. So why even bother?" Inko said, glaring at the figure in the shadows. The figure only narrowed its eyes in response, wordlessly commanding the Stand to rush forward. Inko sighed, before shaking her head. "I guess you're serious, then. Oh well, this should be easy. I can win this with only one punch. Watch."
Fly, Fly Away rushed toward Brittle Bones Nicky, cocking back its arm, ready to dish it out toward the Stand's jaw, only for the enemy Stand to do the same, and far faster than Inko had expected, and least of which she had expected to hurt nearly as bad as it did when the punch collided. As the fist made contact with Fly, Fly Away's chin, Inko felt the pain, as well as the blast back from the attack, almost as if it was implanted on her face. Due to the momentum of the punch, her face was wrenched to the side, knocking her into her stove, along with her Stand, creating a dent in the cooking apparatus.
Blood trailed down the side of her mouth as she spat up a tooth, wiping the copper-tasting liquid away with a single wipe. And while normally that'd be enough in terms of the consequences, she felt slightly… weaker…. Almost as if the energy had been sapped right out of her by some powerful vacuum cleaner. That, and Fly, Fly, Away looked a lot more… paler than she remembered it looking.
"Soul Snatch." The voice of the figure in the shadows, Nick, spoke, before stepping out of the shadows. He wasn't wearing his usual bum attire, but rather, he was wearing a brown suit with a black tie, and a white shirt underneath. His hair was cut short and brushed back with some sort of gel. His eyes were cold, calculating, and filled with contempt. "I thought I'd give you at least a tiny amount of information before I kill you. Traitor."
Inko barked out a laugh, pointing at Nick as she slowly stood up. "Traitor? I never betrayed anyone. I retired. As far as I'm concerned, Terrible Tornado is dead, and won't be coming back," Inko spat. "I have my hands busy raising my kid anyway. I don't have time to be killing others for profit anymore."
Nick tilted his head to the side for a second, the corner of his mouth twitching in a rye grin for all but a moment before his expression went back to being stone-cold. "Fair enough. You always did prioritize yourself over your job. Not that I care all too much. Bosses orders. Otherwise, I would've never come after you again. That, and I can't lie, a bit of this is personal vindication."
Inko scoffed, as her eyes darted from side to side, looking for something to activate Fly, Fly Away's ability with. "Yeah, sure, whatever. But here's a better question. Which boss? You have two. Is it that bastard who runs percussores damnatorum, or is it The Boss?" Inko questioned, earning a shrug of the shoulder from Nicholas.
"That's classified, sugar tits," Nick responded, before scoffing. "And did you really think I wouldn't notice that bullshit?" All of the sudden, the potted plant that she had sent toward Nick using Fly, Fly Away was swatted away by Brittle Bones Nicky, shattered to bits like it was nothing but a piece of glass and nothing more. "I don't think you've realized it yet, but ACT 2 is an entirely different beast from ACT 1."
Suddenly, and without warning, ACT 2 shot forward and dealt a hammer blow toward Inko. Fly, Fly Away parried the strike away, just barely, before landing a gut shot of its own…. Which did absolutely nothing to it, only seeming to make it angrier. Inko's eyes widened before more cutlery had its way fly toward Nicholas, as well as the cutlery that fell on the floor, and the shattered remains of the potted plant, surrounding him completely.
"There's no way that he can dodge all of that!" Inko thought, a confident smirk on her face, only for it to falter when the aura around the items began to fade away, as all of the items that were affected by Fly, Fly Away's ability fell uselessly to the ground. "What the…?"
"Your Stand's been weakened, Ink. Or did you not hear me the first time? I said Soul Snatch, did I not?" Nicholas said, scoffing. "Honestly, not only did you let yourself go, but it seems your hearing's starting to get affected, too!" Nicholas mocked, before jabbing a thumb at his Stand. "In case you don't understand, ACT 2 drains the soul out of whoever it punches. Even if it's just once. Your soul slowly begins to wither away and die, like a sort of spiritual decay! And since I punched your Fly, Fly Away, the process is more direct and far more sufficient! I'd give you 30 seconds before you die! So… what are your last words? I'll be sure to give them to your son before I kill him too.
Inko felt her heart drop, as she coughed, small flecks of blood spattering out like little confetti strands. She looked down at her skin and noticed that her fingers were starting to wrinkle. Fly, Fly Away, who still had its fist lodged into ACT 2, trying desperately to get its hand unsnared from its boney ribcage, started to fade away, as dust that had been coming directly from her Stand began to travel into ACT 2's mouth like a vacuum cleaner, almost as if Fly, Fly Away was being devoured by ACT 2.
She had to do something. Anything! She hadn't expected Nicholas to become this strong, or expected him to even have such an ability in the first place. But, she had to do something. Anything! She knew that if she activated her Stand's ability, it wouldn't do much, mainly because all it'd do was float the objects toward Nick by a few inches, then fall uselessly to the ground again.
In other words, she was backed into a corner, with no way out. She was out-skilled, outpowered, and getting weaker by the second. The more she sat around and did nothing, the less she could do.
And by her count, she had about 25 seconds remaining, as her vision slowly started to fade. She had to think of something… anything! She couldn't let him beat her, and go after her son next. With a Stand Ability like the one his Stand now had through some sort of evolution, Izuku would stand absolutely no chance against him, no matter what he did.
And then, Inko smirked, as finally, an idea came to mind. "I can't believe that you got this strong…." Inko said, dropping to her knees. Her legs weren't able to hold her up anymore. They had become far too frail. "You were always the underdog… no matter what you did…. No matter how much you tried…. You were often ignored, and that pushed you to become stronger. In many ways, you and my son are alike, Nicholas…." Inko said as Nicholas huffed.
"Trying to get me to pity you? Wow, you fell pretty far if that's what you're doing," Nicholas said, crossing his arms. "Is that all? Is that what you want me to say to that insufferable brat?"
Inko smirked. 15 seconds. She had to make this count. "No…."
Nicholas raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Why not? You have nothing to say to your son before you die? Damn, you're a pretty shitty mother then," Nicholas said, turning his back on Inko as ACT 2 dematerialized. "Oh well. I feel pretty confident that my job was done. There was nothing you could've done against my ACT 2 with that pathetic Stand of yours. So how about you—"
"Because you won't be leaving this apartment alive!" As Inko exclaimed that, she had already been in mid-air, butcher knife in her hand as she landed on Nicholas's back, plunging her knife through Nicholas's neck from the back through front, blood spewing all over the floor as Nicholas gagged on the steel blade, and as blood began to trickle down the corners of his mouth, all the while he spat up a large glob of the life liquid.
Nicholas's Stand faded away, crumbling as any other Stand would once its user died. Inko's breathing was laboured, as she rolled off his back, while the man came crashing to the ground with a loud thump. Her body was wrinkled, like an old woman in their late 80s. Her eyes were far too heavy to keep even at half-mast, and Fly, Fly Away had pretty much all but been a shadow rather than a fully manifestable Stand.
She had done it. She killed him. She killed Nicholas and stopped his Stand's ability at the last second. But what did that exactly leave her with? Her body was fragile, so much so that if she moved too fast, her neck would probably break. Her Stand was useless now, what with its ability being unusable now. It hardly even counted as a Quirk.
Her eyes trailed off to look out the window, as a wave of regret hit her, and hit her hard, followed by a chill that she hadn't felt before. "The night sky…. It's so…. Beautiful. I wonder… if you can even appreciate that right now… Izuku?" Inko thought, a small tear trailing down the side of her face. And while she couldn't see it, dust began to pour off of her body, trailing upward in the sky, as the light slowly began to leave her eyes. "I'm… so… sorry I couldn't… stay to watch you… become… the number… one… Izu…ku…."
[On June 8th, 2123…. Inko Midoriya, mother of Izuku Midoriya… has died. Also on that day, Tenya Ida, class president of Class 1 - A, died.... ]
xxXXxxXXxx
Somewhere, in the far-off land of America, Yoshihara and Josefumi were about to head out on a patrol with Johnny, when the two stopped. They both felt a chill run down their spines. It was almost as if something major had happened, but neither was there to see it. The two looked at one another, as a sense of dread overcame them.
"What are you two waiting for? Get moving, we don't got all morning," Johnny said, huffing as the two looked at him, then at each other, nodded, and kept going. Whatever it was that happened, they would look into it later. They had a patrol to do, even if it was super early in the morning.
But deep down, the two knew that whatever it was that happened, would change things drastically. However, for Yoshihara, a small pang of pain lurched in her chest, as they stepped outside to greet the morning sky….
Only to look up, and see two silhouettes made of golden clouds, resembling the shape of both Inko Midoriya and Tenya Ida. They both looked down at them, as rays of sunshine gleamed down on the pair. They both smiled, before fading away in the breeze. Johnny stopped to look at them, and as soon as he saw the look of utter dismay and pain on their faces, he knew. He knew that look. It was the look of someone who had lost someone close. Coupled with the fact that they had just looked up into the sky….
"Inside…" Johnny said, earning looks from both Yoshihara and Josefumi. "I said, inside, now."
And they listened without any sort of argument.
xxXXxxXXxx
Back in Japan, in a hotel, both Aizawa and Karera were about to get ready to sleep and head to their respective hotel rooms, when a chill ran down Karera's spine. Her eyes got a little watery, and she had no way to explain it. Something happened. Something bad happened, and she couldn't pinpoint what it was. Wiping away at her eyes, Karera collected herself, before walking down the hallway to her hotel room.
When she got in there, she looked out the window and saw two golden cloudy silhouettes. One looked like that boy from Class 1 – A, Tenya Ida, and the other was Inko Midoriya. They both stared at her, before fading away, the silhouette of Inko, however, before she left, waved goodbye.
And then, she was gone.
Karera fell to her knees, eyes watery and she let out several choking sobs. Aizawa, who had heard a thump come from Karera's room, opened the door to her hotel room to check on her, only to see her on her knees, staring out the window, crying.
"Oi, Sakunami-san, you're not crying, are you?" Aizawa asked, stepping into the room. "Look, I get it, seeing a murder can be taxing on the mind, but you can't let it get to you. Get up, and go to—"
"Ida-kun…. Midoriya-san…." Karera said, turning to look at Aizawa, tears running down her cheeks as her upper lip quivered. "They're… they're dead!"
Aizawa tried to not look phased, but all it did was get him angry. "Karera Sakunami… joking about things like that is not good for pranks."
Suddenly, Aizawa found himself taking a step back, as Karera shouted at him. "Why would I joke about something like that!? I just watched their souls fly away! They're dead! I saw it with my own two eyes!" Karera said, earning a pair of wide eyes from Aizawa. "Stand Users can see souls! We can see dead people if we really focus, or if they were close to us! Stands and souls are the same thing! I'm telling the truth! Ida and Midoriya's mother are both dead!"
Aizawa felt his right hand unconsciously clench into a fist. There was silence in the room, mixed with Karera's occasional sobbing until finally, Aizawa spoke. "Tomorrow… we're returning to U.A…. The internships are ending early. All of them."
And with that, Aizawa stormed out of the room, and retreated to his hotel room, a large sensation of failure washing over him. "It happened again…. It fucking happened again…." Aizawa thought, gritting his teeth. As he entered his hotel room, he slammed the door behind him, earning a few concerned glances from the staff. When he got inside his room, he punched the wall next to the door, slamming his head against the wall alongside it, before exclaiming, "GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!" at the top of his lungs.
Composing himself, Aizawa, looked up at the ceiling, before marching over to his computer. He had an urgent email to write.
xxXXxxXXxx
In a hospital within Hosu, just waking up from being knocked unconscious, Izuku Midoriya turned to face the window of the hospital room he resided in that overlooked the city which had been attacked by some strange version of Nomu. The same city where Ida, their class president, had died. And the same city where he had almost lost his life. Where Shoto had practically saved him from what seemed like an unkillable monster.
Although, there was something… wrong with the outside. Not anything related to the incident. In fact, it looked like it had been all cleared up from the looks of things. What was wrong was how the outside didn't look dark out, like it was supposed to. It was Daylight out there, and it seemed to be peaking over the mountains, which drew concern for the young boy, thinking that he had been asleep for a little over a few hours, and had how it had quite possibly turned to the next day.
However, it didn't appear to be that way for everyone else, seeing as the time read as 12:20 AM, meaning it should still be dark out, and no one else was reacting to it. So, if that was the case, why was it light outside? Was he hallucinating? It was possible. He could've gotten a serious concussion from what happened, which probably would've messed with his vision.
And that was when he saw it. In the clouds, there was a silhouette. Two, actually. Both of which were familiar to him. One looked like his mother, no… it didn't just look like his mother. It was almost as if he was staring at her directly. It, or rather she, stared at him, a small smile on her face, before blowing a kiss at him, and fading away like a wisp in the wind. The other one resembled Ida to a haunting degree. He looked at him, smiled, then he nodded at him, before he too faded away into nothingness, as the sky was replaced with the same darkness that night could give him.
And then, a chill cascaded over Izuku. Like death itself had brushed up against him. And that was when he was able to put two and two together, and the realization that had followed made his eyes shrink, and his skin ashen white.
He knew that Ida was dead, and he saw his corpse. It was hard not to miss, seeing as it was the next glaring thing that he saw in that alleyway. And if he was in the clouds, next to his Mom, then that could've only meant one thing. His lips quivered, his hands trembled, all he could do was cry, and all the while he screamed, jolting up from laying down as his heart rate began to go into the triple digits, as the realization dawned on him that his mother was dead.
Shoto, who was just about to leave to head home for the evening after checking on Midoriya to see if he was going to be okay, stared over at the sobbing green-haired boy, as several nurses crowded over the boy, trying to lay him down on the bed. Shoto had no idea what was going on to give him such a visercle reaction. He knew that Ida and he were close, but never that close. So something must've happened to make him react in that way. His crying was far too much to get any coherent sentence out of him, but a part of him worried for the boy.
"GET HIM DOWN! HE'S HAVING A PANIC ATTACK! CAN SOMEONE GET ME SOME XANAX TO GET THIS KID BACK ASLEEP!? HIS WOUNDS ARE TOO MUCH FOR HIM TO BE JOLTING LIKE THIS!" Shoto heard one of the nurses shout, as he recoiled. From the doorway, Shoto saw Fuyumi stare at him, then over to Midoriya, before gesturing him to come with her. And so, Shoto did just that
"Whatever happened, Midoriya… I hope that it is not as bad as it might seem…." And with that, Shoto left the hospital, completely unaware of the tragedy that had occurred in the Midoriya household.
xxXXxxXXxx
Sitting in his office, fingers interwoven together, Taisuke stared at the desk, a half glass of vodka with ice sat just a few inches away from him. "So… he did it… but at the cost of his own life. Good job, Nicholas. You've redeemed yourself in my eyes. It's just too bad that you died so soon…." Taisuke said, looking up at the ceiling fan in his office.
He didn't expect Nicholas to die. It seemed that, in the end, Inko still had some fight in her. Now he was down the head of the Debt Collector unit, again, and he was down one of his most powerful assassins, again. He had 5 assassins left out of the 7 that he had started out with this year, and it was starting to get infuriating.
However, even though it was infuriating, he wasn't about to get his own hands dirty when he still had people like Coco Loco, and Takiyuma, or even… them. He shuttered at the thought of bringing in that guy, but it was probably going to become unavoidable. That was if things kept going the way they were. And that wasn't even mentioning the fact that he now had that other gang on speed dial. So, in case he needed backup, and in case he didn't want to use his men, all he'd have to do is know if or when Kira and Kujo are in Morioh, alert them, and their deaths would be guaranteed.
"I will revel in the day that those two die. And when they do, I won't have to deal with the Joestars anymore! I'll be able to do whatever I want because no one will be able to stop me!" Taisuke thought, smirking to himself. However, just as he was about to close shop for the day, and get Jirou so that he could take her back to the hotel, there was a knock on the door, which caught his attention. "Yes, come in," Taisuke said, as Kyoka Jirou entered his office. It was rather convenient, but instead of complaining, he took advantage of it. "Ah, Jirou, what brings you to my office?" Taisuke asked as Kyoka sighed.
"Just checking out for the night. But, uh… well, how do I put this…. My parents aren't answering the phone. Do you… know why that is?" Kyoka asked as Taisuke raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I know why your parents wouldn't be answering their phones? It's late, Jirou. They're most likely in bed, I—" that was when his desk phone rang, almost like the person on the other side of the phone had perfect timing, or something to that end. "It would seem as if that's Takiyuma calling me to report if the mission is complete." "Give me just a moment," Taisuke interrupted himself, before picking up the phone.
"Done." The voice Takiyuma stated as Taisuke feigned shock and surprise, before his expression returned to neutral, before humming. This was part of the plan. He had called off Takiyuma from killing Izuku for the time being, namely because he didn't want him to find out about any of that just yet. That, and he didn't want this phone call to be late. The next step of the plan was to make it look like he was on the phone with someone important, and at a time when Jirou wouldn't assume anything, or be too tired to activate her Quirk.
"I see… That is… ashame. Thank you for contacting, Detective. I'll let her know right away," Taisuke said, hanging up the phone, before looking Jirou dead in the eyes. "Jirou-san…. It has come to my attention that not only has Tenya Ida passed away, but so have your parents. Both unrelated, of course, though I doubt that last part hardly matters."
Jirou, who had been holding her phone, dropped it as her eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape, and all the while her face paled.
And Taisuke couldn't have been prouder of himself. "Now that Jirou is in a weakened mental state, once she collects herself, I can offer her to stay at one of my hotels. Then, I can probe her for information! Once I do that, I can—"
But before he could conclude that thought, his cell phone buzzed. Pulling it out of his pocket, he saw that it was an email notification, with the header that said: The Internships are ending early. Return all Students to U.A. ASAP. This is an Emergency. Taisuke didn't bother to open the email. He already knew why. What he hadn't expected was for the rodent to act so quickly. However, now that he had, his plan couldn't continue. He'd have to put a peg in it.
"And… it would also seem that your Headmaster has declared the Internships over due to an emergency," Taisuke said, a hint of disdain in his tone. Jirou looked at him, a mix of emotions in her eyes, as Taisuke sighed. "I know all of this is sudden. However, you need to get some rest. I will take you to the hotel you've been sleeping at, and in the morning, I will drive you back to school. The email wants all students who are out for internships on campus. And knowing Nedzu, this is non-negotiable."
Even though Jirou's hands shook, and even though she was bottling up her emotions, she nodded and left the room without another word, probably not wanting him to see her reaction and think that she was weak. To be honest, he wouldn't have cared either way, but at least he didn't have to see a child cry over the tragedy of their dead parents.
Taisuke sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Teenagers… always so emotional. Though, I guess it's reasonable. Her parents are dead after all. No thanks to little ol' me, hehe...." Taisuke thought, before standing up and following Jirou. "Well, no sense in making this drag on more than it has to. Don't want to arouse suspicion from Nedzu. That, and the media will wail on U.A. infinitely from here on out. I can see it now "prestigious hero school lets a student die during internships! It would be the same thing that happened to that Shirakumo boy 20 years back! Ha! Maybe this time, U.A. will fall!"
Taisuke exited the building, as Jirou continued to walk ahead of him, her distance sobbing echoing over to his ears, though he ignored it. "Bah, who am I kidding…. Nedzu is a God when it comes to PR. He'll be able to flip the tables just like he did 20 years ago. That man is dedicated to making sure U.A. stays afloat. Not to mention that the HSPC sees U.A. as its golden boy, so they won't have a reason to cut funding. And even if they do, The Speedwagon foundation makes up 55% of their budget anyway, so if push comes to shove, they could just buy U.A. and declare that it is a Speedwagon Foundation asset. The HSPC couldn't do shit from there. And I bet that's what Nedzu is banking on happening if something does happen."
As Jirou entered the limo on the side street, Taisuke quickly followed her and got in as well. "On second thought, Jirou. We're heading to U.A." Taisuke said, expecting a reaction, only to not get one. Jirou simply sat there, ignoring him, facing away from him entirely as she rubbed at her eyes. "If you're concerned about your stuff," he continued. "I'll have it mailed there in the morning. Nedzu probably has something planned, so don't be surprised that you might be staying on Campus for the rest of the evening."
All Jirou did was nod, still not looking at him. Once again, it wasn't as if he cared. And so, closing the door to the limo, he told the driver where it was they were going to go, and with that, they were on their way to U.A. High. And as they drove, he looked out the window and saw a familiar figure. One wearing a hoodie, with bear-like motifs on either side of it.
Taisuke avoided eye contact, not wanting him to see anything. Chances were, however, that he was aware of Inko's death and probably suspected him of the reason behind it. And while Taisuke feared no Stand User, because no one was more powerful than his Stand… He was the only exception.
"Don't focus on it now, or his ability will activate. Focus on the objective…." And with that last thought, Taisuke reclined in his seat, closing his eyes, and waited for them to get to their destination.
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