Chapter 6 - Sports Festival Prep: 4

"KILLER QUEEN!" Yoshihara shouted, the stand appearing before her as it blocked a kick aimed at her head, grabbing the ankle of her perpetrator. The pink cat-like Stand threw the attacker away and towards a wall as said attacker spun in the air, their feet connecting to the floor as they backflipped several times before getting into a defensive stance, a smile on their face.

"Good job, Yoshi-chan!" The excited and cheerful tone of voice belonging to Nemuri echoed throughout the training dojo that was co-owned by the titular pro hero, located deeper within Musutafu city. She was dawned in her hero costume, and in her left hand was her signature weapon, that being a whip. "One critique, though, was the shouting of your Stand's name. While I may not be able to see it, shouting its name will cause your opponent to grow wary of you and what you might do next. You've become too reliant on your Stand. We will go again, but next time, I want you to come at me with your own physical strength. Not Killer Queen's." Nemuri explained, tossing her weapon aside, which was caught by one of the sidekicks stationed near the timer reset.

"Yes, mother," Yoshihara said, bowing her head as Killer Queen returned to its user. As the blond did this, Nemuri nodded, looking over to the timer as it reset, the person behind this being one of Nemuri's sidekicks. The two sparring partners got into defensive fighting stances, and as soon as they did, the timer began.

The two charged at one another, Nemuri reeling back her left hand for a punch, while Yoshihara stopped to put up a block. As soon as she did, Nemuri switched her movements on a dime and went to sweep Yoshihara's legs out from underneath her.

The attack hit, knocking her feet out from underneath the blond. Just before she landed, Yoshihara's right hand hit the ground. Using her leverage in the air, she pushed with all of her might to jump up and backward, landing on her feet almost perfectly, slipping up at the last second, which allowed Nemuri to punish her by closing the distance and kneeing the blond in the chest, sending her close to the edge of the arena, which would have disqualified her from the sparring match.

Balancing herself in a split second, she dodged out of the way of an overly choreographed right hook, which was then followed up by a less choreographed left jab, which Yoshihara was able to grab, locking Nemuri in place.

Before the ravenette could react, Yoshihara delivered a swift knee to the gut, winding Nemuri, then, judo tossed the ravenette over the shoulder, sending her out of the arena. The timer rang out, Yoshihara taking heavy breaths from all the physical exertion she had expressed.

"Very good… Yoshi-chan…." Nemuri breathed out, collecting herself. "It seems that all this training is paying off. Though, I must ask, have you been practicing during your free time?" Nemuri questioned, slowly picking herself up as Yoshihara hummed.

"Yes, I have. I need to be ready for the Sports Festival. I'm not about to look like a fool during the events. I've also limited myself to only using my Bubble Bombs. Just because the staff knows about my Stand, doesn't mean the rest of the world needs to know," Yoshihara said, earning a nod from Nemuri. The ravenette walked over to a bench, and picking up a black water bottle before squirting water into her mouth, sighing out of refreshment.

Yoshihara joined the pro-hero, sitting beside her, fixing the collar on her black crop top. She had elected to wear it for flexibility's sake, though she bandaged up her waist so as to not show her scars to anyone who didn't need to see it. She was also wearing a pair of black shorts, and black stockings that usually went with her school uniform.

She grabbed the plastic bottle of water she had brought with her and took a few sips from it, putting the cap back on before standing up again. "I'm ready to go again if you are," Yoshihara said as Nemuri laughed.

"I like your spunk, Yoshi-chan, but I need to stay in tip-top shape just in case I get deployed again. Aizawa is busy today, and so is Hizashi, so unfortunately we'll have to cut this short. Tomorrow, though, we can go again," Nemuri stated, standing up from the bench, hugging Yoshihara—she still wasn't used to that—who slowly returned it. The two separated, Nemuri ruffling the top of the blond's head. "Also, don't think I didn't notice you growing out your hair, young lady. I, for one, am a fan of you doing that. I've always thought you'd look better with longer hair," Nemuri said, earning an embarrassed flush of red from the blond, who looked away.

The ravenette snickered lightly, brushing her long black hair over her shoulder. "Trust me, Yoshi-chan, having long hair is high maintenance. It also means I'll have to start buying more conditioner, not just for myself, but for you, as well," Nemuri said, looking to the entranceway of the dojo when the bell chimed, letting everyone know that someone had entered the building.

The person in question was an old man wearing an orange Buddhist robe, underneath which was a black bodysuit. The man was holding a brown wooden cane to use for support. The man's eyes were half-closed yet also half-opened. His skin was wrinkly, and his hair was old and grey, but he had a lot of muscle.

"Ah, if it isn't Jiji, how're you doing, gramps?" Nemuri said, walking over to the man, who smiled. He dropped his cane and stood up fully, losing the hunched-over appearance for his slightly taller stature that he gained from standing up straight, going from 4'11 to 5'1, which wasn't too impressive, but for an old man, it was.

"Nemi-chan, it's good to see you alive and well!" the old man said, hugging the woman as she did the same, though with a gentle touch. The two parted, and Nemuri looked over to Yoshihara and smiled. "Yoshi-chan, this is my grandpa, Takemura Kayama. He is also the owner of this Dojo. Jiji, this is my adopted daughter, Yoshihara Kira, who is also doubling as my pupil," Nemuri introduced as the blond approached the man. The two bowed in greeting, and as soon as that was finished, the old man smiled.

"Such a respectful youth. I've heard all about you from Nemi-chan. You have my condolences for what you had to go through in your early childhood. No child should have to live on the streets. I'm just glad to see that Nemi-chan is just as caring as her mother was, and I'm glad that you now have a roof over your head," the old man said, the blond nodding in response.

"Thank you, Kayama-san," Yoshihara said, earning a bop on the head from Takemura's cane, making the blond flinch.

"None of that, Jiji works just fine for me. And since you will call me Jiji, I request that I may be allowed to call you Yoshihara. Is that alright with you?" Takemura said, earning a small smile from the blond, a rarity that Nemuri cherished whenever it happened.

"That is fine, Jiji," Yoshihara said as Takemura scoffed, shaking his head.

"And lose that stiffness, young lady. You don't have to be so formal all the time," Takemura said, his expression shifting into that of a sly smirk. Yoshihara frowned, Killer Queen showed up to knock the man on the head in retaliation for the knock on her head with his cane. Just as it came inches away from his head, however, a blue hand appeared out of the old man's shoulder, catching Killer Queen's hand, earning a wide-eyed look from the blond.

"Tch, c'mon young lady, do you really think I wouldn't notice you planning to retaliate that head bop? Even I should know how to see that coming from miles away," Takemura said. As he did, a small smile crept up on his face.

"You're… a Stand User?" Yoshihara questioned, Killer Queen disappearing as she earned a raised eyebrow from Nemuri. The ravenette looked between Takemura and Yoshihara, before gasping.

"Gramps?! But, you're Quirk… how…?" Nemuri said, earning a sigh from the man.

"You remember the attack in Esuha? Yeah, I was there. I got shot by one of those bullet things, and my Quirk evolved into one of these Stand thinga-muh-do-hickeys. That Dr. Tomioka guy and his Wonder of U is a godsend, he prevented me from dying using it. Said something about not wanting an old man to die a pathetic death. When he saw what my last name was he asked me to say hi to Kira if I ever met her for him. So, uh, yeah, he says hi," Takemura said, causing the two girls to look at one another, then back at Takemura.

"I… I knew you were in the hospital, but… oh my god," Nemuri said, gaining a determined expression on her face. "That's it! I'm dragging his ass for a thank-you dinner. I'll drag him here whether he likes it or not! Actually, screw it! I'm throwing a random party. Akira and his friends are coming too! I'm gonna rent out a venue and…." Nemuri started ranting as she left the dojo, earning a snicker from Takemura as her sidekicks followed her hurriedly out of the building.

"There she goes again, jeez. Never change, Nemi-chan, never change," the old man said, looking over to Yoshihara. "Oh, I suppose since it's proper etiquette," Takemura began, a blue aura covering his body as a thin blue humanoid Stand with what appeared to be elf ears, black eyes with red pupils, and elf shoes showed up floating beside him. On its body were a few tubes protruding from its head, shoulders, and back, all of which had black tips.

"This is Alkatraz," The old man began, the Stand floating up to the girl, being met by Killer Queen.

[Tan~nini] Alkatraz said, tapping Killer Queen on the nose, making Killer Queen flinch. The smaller Stand floated away from Killer Queen, who tried to catch it, which made the small blue stand snicker. The old man shook his head, sighing.

"He's nothing too special. Effectively speaking, its ability is the same as my Quirk, which puts people to sleep once they inhale a special gas I used to be able to excrete. Funnily enough, it's the exact same ability as Nemi-chan's Quirk. The only difference is that it took way more for my Quirk to actually knock someone out, and I could only excrete it from my fingers. This little sucker, though, makes it so that whatever actually inhales the smoke also gives them pleasant dreams. So I decided to help Dr. Tomioka at the hospital once he found out it was good for that use. I was a doctor back in my day, so, basically, I came out of retirement, though I'm only called if a patient is too feisty," Takemura said, turning to watch as both of their Stands seemingly played tag around the room.

Yoshihara shook her head as the old man snickered. "Seems like they get along just fine, right?" Takemura said, walking over to grab his cane. The old man twirled it for a split second before slamming it down, getting his Stand's attention. Alkatraz noticed and immediately floated over to its user before disappearing, the old man smiling once again, "Well, I must be off. Do try to leave soon, the janitor will be coming to clean the place up. Have a good day, Yoshihara," Takumura said before leaving the dojo.

Yoshihara watched the man leave the area before letting out a tired yawn. She didn't give herself a chance to rest today and seeing as it was nearing 6:30 PM, Yoshihara not only was hungry, but she was also extremely tired.

Killer Queen floated over to Yoshihara, wrapping its arms around her shoulders. "I'm fine, we should go, though," Yoshihara said, acknowledging her Stand's existence. The Stand purred like a cat, floating away from Yoshihara as she rolled her eyes. She had a lot on her mind ever since she had pieced together that Izuku's Quirk was given to him by All Might.

At first, she doubted herself, but the more she thought about it along those lines, it made Yoshihara harden her belief in it. Izuku had been Quirkless all of his life from what she knew—and considering someone can't just lose a Quirk, then that had to have been the case—so for him to just awaken a Quirk 10 months before he got to U.A. seemed far too convenient. Not only that but at the battle trial, All Might seemed invested in Midoriya for some reason.

At first, she thought that maybe All Might and Izuku were perhaps tangentially related, but she quickly threw that out of the window. If that had been the case, why wasn't Izuku's family living in a mansion or something like that? All Might seemed like the type of guy who would go crazy with his family to make sure they live a lavish life.

That meant that Izuku MUST have acquired All Might's Quirk. How he did, she didn't know. Although, she had planned on asking Midoriya after school, but had been stopped by him being busy with his mother. She was originally just going to ask him right then and there in front of the gates, but that would've been a dick move, and she wouldn't have gotten anything out of him.

It was unfortunate that he didn't have the time to talk. "Oh well… maybe I can go over to his place and I can talk about it there…." Yoshihara muttered, frowning.

Another thing on her mind was her feelings for Izuku. Never in her life had she ever felt any sort of way for anyone. She thought back to the times she would be around Midoriya, or just talk to him. She noted that her heart would beat just a little faster than usual and that whenever she looked into his eyes, she felt her cheeks light up just a little bit.

It was weird. Especially seeing as she never had those feelings for anyone before. "Ashido-san said that I had a crush on Izuku… does that mean I'm… in love with Izuku?" Yoshihara thought, looking at herself. The mere idea that she was somehow in love with Izuku made her heart race just a tad bit faster than usual. "Maybe I should talk to Nemuri about this kind of stuff… she knows more about love than I do…." Yoshihara thought again, taking a deep, calming breath.

She made her way toward the front door of the building, but just before she could open the door, she stopped. For a split second, she felt a sense of… dread… wash over her. She didn't know why, but it immediately put her defences to a maximum. Killer Queen also seemed to feel it. It was the same feeling she got when encountering Taro in the forest. The same feeling she got when she felt the rogue Stand User at the USJ.

Killing Intent.

She saw a cab pull up just a few buildings down, toward a hotel across the street from Love Deluxe. She withdrew her Stand, forcing it back inside of her as she ran to one of the walls. In that cab was the source of the killing intent. Something, or someone, was in that cab. She pressed herself against the wall, looking out the window to her left as the passenger side door opened.

The person who stepped out was a woman, a blond-haired woman. She couldn't make out the colour of the woman's eyes, but she didn't have to. She didn't have to because she could never forget the placid, emotionless expression. Ever. The posture of someone confident, too confident. She could even make out the same love and hope tattoos on her knuckles.

Her heart skipped a beat, and a headache that she had become accustomed to, hit her like a freight train. Her hands shook, her pupils shrank, and then, she slid down against the wall, her hands covering her ears as they began to ring, and her vision began to fail. She was so caught up in who she saw that she failed to hear the bell ring, signifying that someone entered the building.

But that didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that she saw someone that Yoshihara never would've thought in a million years would pop up in her line of sight ever again. No matter how long it had been, Yoshihara would remember that bitch's appearance for the rest of time. It was a scar on her psyche that would never fade.

It was her.

The last time she saw her she was drunk, blabbering about something then walked out of that house, leaving her with a stranger covered in scars, that same person who saved her from being poisoned to death by that bitch. An hour later was when she remembered running away.

"No… no… no…"

"HOW DARE YOU!" an angry, vitriolic voice roared.

"She can't be…."

"C'mon, brat, I thought you could actually take more than that?" the same voice... the one from her memories...

"I… I thought she died…"

"Yeah, do whatever you want to her. I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, she's a goddamn mistake."

Just before her vision failed her, she saw someone with black pants standing in front of her. She couldn't make out what the person was saying, but she could feel that the person had begun dragging her somewhere else. Finally, she faded into unconsciousness.

[Friday, May 30th, ?]

"Ma'am, what exactly do you want me to do?" A male voice spoke up, sounding exasperated, while also a tad bit worried. "You just dragged me off the street and pointed at the closet and said 'do something.' I don't exactly understand what you want," the voice spoke, echoing within a rather vacant house. The only thing in the immediate area of the room that the male was in, was a couch, a table, and a suitcase, one that was in the hand of an adult woman.

The woman in question was red in the face. Not out of anger, but out of drunkenness. Said woman also was wearing a black business suit, with a white shirt underneath and a red and yellow striped tie that hung just by her collar, though only barely. As for the proof of the woman being drunk, there was a smashed bottle of vodka over in the corner. However, that wasn't what made the male worried, far from it.

He could understand getting drunk—hell, even if he was technically only 15, he understood why getting drunk was a fun thing to do. After all, he had partaken in his fair share of booze drinking whilst he found himself on the streets of the small town of Morioh, but he digressed.

No, what was worrying was not the fact that she was drunk. What was worrying was something just by the shattered bottle. There was some blood spatter over by the couch if one squinted hard enough, as well as some of the very drink spilt, wasted like it was cheap booze—technically it was, but not that brand.

However, that wasn't what was bothering him. No, not the spilt drink, but the blood. It was the blood that worried him. The male didn't exactly have to think too hard to realize that the woman had someone else in the house. After all, the drunken woman had no open wounds on her body, so it was safe to assume that the blood belonged to someone else.

And seeing as there was a closet in the corner that read as 'the timeout closet' the male didn't have to think too hard about who that blood belonged to. That, and the vomit by the table set off some alarms as well.

It was then that the drunken woman groaned, snarling at the man. "Look, I'm telling you, I don't care what the fuck you do to her, do whatever it is you feel like. Beat her, molest her, kill her, I don't fucking care. Just make sure she dies, or at the very least leaves, and doesn't come the fuck back," the woman spat in a harsh tone of voice. Not even a second before the man could react, the woman then stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her, suitcase in tow.

The man, dressed in a black jacket, white shirt, and black pants, did a double-take, looking over to the front door, to the closet, to the door again, then back to the closet. The person scratched the back of their neck, sighing. "What the fuck…?" He groaned. He could hear a shuffling coming from the closet, which made him tense.

It was clear to him that there was a kid in there, but the way the woman spoke, made it sound like the kid didn't belong to her, or they did, and she wanted to get rid of them. "Oh, I'll get rid of them, all right. Just not in the way you want…." The young man thought, approaching the closet.

Within the closet, a young, 6-year-old Yoshihara sat, covered in scrapes and bruises, a vacant look in her eyes as she sat huddled in a corner, violently shaking, her skin pale with flecks of blood around her mouth. She was wearing a torn-up white shirt that barely fit her and torn-up black pants. Her lip was bleeding after getting punched in the face by that woman, and in front of her was a small puddle of blood from all the coughing she was doing.

She was scared. Scared of whatever that woman had said. She blocked it out like she normally did. Her stomach felt weird. It hurt, it hurt a lot. That woman made her eat some sort of food that tasted awful—like normal—and because of that, she felt like vomiting. In fact, she had. That was why she was in the time-out closet.

She felt weak, shaking like a leaf in the wind as a cold feeling took her over. She was taken out of school yesterday after someone called some heroes over to her house to see if everything was alright—that woman was a good liar, so they left without consulting Yoshihara, but that was to be expected.

That woman had ordered someone to look after her. But it seemed like whoever it was probably was going to do what that woman said. She knew those words, hell, she was familiar with the concepts. Except for that second one. But if it was what she thought it meant… it made those footsteps that were coming closer to the closet door more intimidating.

That woman had dragged other people in before, told them the same things, and then they would do them. They would never outright kill her, they usually just stuck to option one and what she thought was option two. Every time no one did the third option, she would kick them out and call the heroes, saying there was a break-in.

Every. Single. Time.

It had become a routine, what with the woman bringing other men who would do strange things to that woman in exchange for money. That woman seemed to have fun when they did, but when they set eyes on her, suddenly it got worse. Things would happen that she didn't like. Things she didn't understand, yet they would happen anyway.

So could you blame her for fearing whoever was coming closer to the closet? As the closet door opened, slowly, and when the light hit her eyes, she leaned further away into the closet, away from whoever was there.

"Hey now, don't try and hide… I'm… I'm not going to hurt you," the voice of… someone, spoke to her. It was relaxing, almost reassuring. Yoshihara looked over to the person, their hand outstretched to her. There were some purple patches on their arm, as well as some stitches, but that was about it from all she could see. She slowly took their hand, walking meekly out of the closet with his help.

She got a good look at his face and was met with a boy with black hair, a purple patch of something on his cheek, and a small smile. "Don't worry, that woman won't hurt you anymore, I promise," the… man? Yeah, the man said, sitting down on the couch. Yoshihara began to cough, small flecks of blood coming up as the man's eyes widened. "Hey… are you okay?" The man asked. He began to look around the room, frantically, almost as if he was searching for something, or maybe someone. Maybe that woman? Yoshihara didn't know, nor did she care.

Actually, she did care, she cared a lot. But that was beside the point.

"Ow…." Yoshihara said, shaking. Her hands were shaking as she slowly sat beside the man. She held her stomach, coughing again, more blood coming out of her mouth as she did so. The man looked worried, but Yoshihara simply looked at him with little to no worry in her own eyes. "D-Don't worry… I—" she coughed again, wrapping her shaking arms around her stomach once more.

She didn't know what that woman made her eat, but it made her stomach feel worse every second. It made the cold air hurt, it made her sweat. Whatever it was, she didn't like it.

"Hold on," the man said, digging around in his pocket for something. "I usually have something for things like this… as a Villia—I mean, Vigilante, yeah, Vigilante… I kinda have to have stuff like this on me anyway, you know, in case I run into anyone with a poison Quirk," the man said, grabbing what appeared to be a needle with a green liquid inside of it. "This might hurt," the man said once more, jabbing the tip of the needle into her arm, specifically her wrist, pressing down on the flat end of the needle, Injecting the green fluid.

The needle stung, but that didn't matter to Yoshihara. He said it would help, or at least, he said something that made her think it would help, and if it made the pain go away, she would take it without hesitation.

That didn't mean she liked the fact that he practically forced her to take it, but, yet again, she didn't care. "W-What—"

"A cure-all for poisons," the man interrupted with a small smile on his face. "It was invented four years ago when Poison Quirks started to become far too common-spread. It works wonders. It'll take about a minute or so to actually work, but once it does, you'll feel better."

As the man said that, he stood up from the couch, checking out the front window and scowling at something he saw. He closed the curtains, then turned back around, scanning around the room, once more seemingly looking around again. Yoshihara could feel the pain subside, so whatever it was he gave her, it was working.

She coughed again, though this time there was no blood coming up. That was a good sign, at least.

"Get out of here kid. Go through the backdoor. That psycho most likely will be waiting for me to walk out saying that I did what she asked, and then she'll probably check to see if I have actually done it. Go, now," the man said, gesturing for her to leave.

"W-Wait…." Yoshihara coughed out, breathing heavily. The man stopped doing whatever it was he was about to do, looking over his shoulder, vibrant blue eyes staring into distressed ocean blue ones. "W-What… w-what's your name?" the blond kid asked.

For some reason, the man seemed to look at her with a strange look. The look of nostalgia, but also a look of hatred—one she had seen time and time again from that woman, though not directed towards her, but to someone else. "I don't have a name, kiddo. But… just for reference. You can call me Dabi ."

[Present Day]

Out of all the days Natsuo Todoroki actually had to show up to work, he came in time just to see some blond-haired teen pass out from something or another. It looked like a panic attack—something he used to see Fuyumi go through whenever Endeavour would drag his ass home. Thankfully, he didn't actually live in the Todoroki Estate anymore. He lived in a dorm apartment located by his college. Unfortunatly, that meant he had to get a job. Being a personal cleaner of a Dojo that Mr. Kayama owned.

"I don't know, Fuyu, she passed out before I could talk to her!" Natsuo responded over the phone as he sat down beside the girl to whomst he lent his jacket while she lay on the floor, unconscious or at the very least passed out.

"Well, maybe you should try to wake them up and ask them why they were having a panic attack? I—Tomodachi-Kun, if you don't stop using your Quirk indoors, I swear to high heavens that I WILL freeze your hair in the style you will not like"—Sorry Natsuo, I have some rowdy kids to deal with, talk to you later, bye-bye!"

The called end abruptly after that, causing Natsuo to groan. Of course, Fuyumi was busy. Then again, she was a Daycare attendant and a teacher, so she was usually incredibly busy. He couldn't call his younger brother, Shoto. From his personal experience, talking to the kid was like talking to a brick wall. He blamed Endeavour for that, but that wasn't the point.

It had been twenty minutes since he last found the kid, and she showed no signs of waking up. "Maybe if I… force her awake?" Natsuo mumbled to himself. "That could work? I mean, I really need to start cleaning this place. I can't take care of her forever," the white-haired boy stated, frowning. He placed both of his hands on the sides of the girl's head, and when he did, he focused his Quirk on the palms of his hands.

The moment he did that, the girl's eyes snapped open, and he withdrew his hands immediately. "There we go! Rise and shine stranger, sheesh," Natsuo stated, standing up from his kneeling position. The blond teen slowly sat up, shaking her head.

"Ugh… where am I?" the blond-haired teen murmured, causing Natsuo to sigh. The college-aged man reached a hand out to the kid to help her up, which she took with a slight bit of hesitancy. After that, the two stared at one another, and he got this creepy feeling that the teen was staring into his soul. After a few seconds of the teen looking around, her expression morphed from a serious expression to one of fright almost immediately.

The teen looked at Natsuo and then spoke. "This is Takeyama Kayama's Dojo, correct?" the teen asked her tone of voice a mix of deadpan and worry—a combination he hadn't heard before, not even from Shoto.

"Yeah…" Natsuo replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I work here as a janitor. I walked in and found you passed out by the doorway. Sorry for, uh, forcibly waking you up, I, er, kinda need you to leave. The place is closed for the night and I don't want to get in trouble, sorry?" Natsuo stated, earning an annoyed expression from the blond. He thought that she was going to protest the idea, but instead what happened was that the teens simply got up, and walked out of the building.

"Tch, not even a thank you. Hmph," Natsuo grumbled, sighing. He overlooked the Dojo, frowned, then walked to the janitorial closet. "Welp, time to get to work."

Meanwhile, outside of the Dojo, Yoshihara looked around the area where she last saw that woman, i.e. just outside the Dojo. From what she remembered before her panic attack, she saw her nearby. How on EARTH she was alive, Yoshihara would never know. That wreck of a woman shouldn't have been alive, though, something she was going to have to change extremely soon. The cab that she arrived in was gone, so she had to have been either nearby or staying within the hotel where the cab had parked.

She wanted to so badly just ignore her presence, but even just thinking about them made her skin crawl and her heart race. "I need to deal with this, now," Yoshihara thought, speed-walking over to Love Deluxe as fast as her legs would carry her without making her look suspicious. After all, she just ran out of a Dojo, there would be some assumptions made by the general passerby.

Walking into the love hotel, she looked at the counter, only to find nobody. "That's odd, Tatsumi is usually working this shift, maybe she's just in the bathroom?" Yoshihara reasoned, walking over to the elevator. Unbeknownst to her, Tatsumi was indeed there, however, she was laying in a pool of her own blood headed by a hole in her neck, her eyes vacant of life.

As Yoshihara entered the elevator, she felt a cold chill run up her spine, almost as if someone had placed a small warning to go through her body. She didn't know how to feel about it, but what she did know, however, was that it felt awful. She pressed the button to go up to the suite that she lived in with Nemuri, but the button wouldn't work.

"Huh…? Whatever, I'll just take the stairs up to the top floor via the secret entrance," Yoshihara grumbled, pressing the button that led her to the top floor.

Just before the elevator doors could close, however, orange-clawed fingers stopped the doors from closing. Yoshihara stepped back, summoning Killer Queen. The doors were forced open, and as soon as they were, Killer Queen threw a punch, only for it to be grabbed by the orange-clawed hand. Red-coloured pupils stared into Killer Queen's pink ones, and then, the clawed hand twisted Killer Queen's without warning.

Yoshihara had to hold back a gasp of pain, her wrist twisting at the exact same time that Killer Queen's did, blood squirting out from the now torn skin and a potentially broken wrist. The Stand in front of Killer Queen then pulled with all of its might, throwing Yoshihara and Killer Queen out of the elevator and through the receptionist's desk.

She skidded to a halt, crashing into the wall, leaving a sizeable indent. Her back screamed in pain as she coughed from being winded. Her eyes travelled down to the corpse of Tatsumi, which made her blood freeze. "T-Tatsumi?" Yoshihara said, coughing up her left lung. Her wrist hurt, a lot, and she hated it.

"Well, well, well. Look what the fucking dogs dragged in, huh?" a soothing, yet also harsh voice spoke out as Yoshihara's eyes widened. "Here I thought you died years ago, brat, and now here you are, somehow still alive after all these years," the voice that haunted her nightmares spoke to her as her skin went cold.

"Keep it together… you can't have a panic attack now. Not while she's here!" Yoshihara thought to herself, doing everything in her power to calm herself down from the sight before her.

Just a few feet away, standing with a hand on her hip, dressed in a black business suit, a white dress shirt underneath with a black and purple striped tie sitting just on top of the shirt, tucked within the suit, was a woman—no—a harpy that Yoshihara never wanted to see again. Her hair was long and down up in a massive braid, her eyes were cold and filled with wrath, and on her hands were those stupid tattoos.

However, outside of Yoshikawa Kira being the person that was in front of her, the woman she used to call her mother, there was something else that scared Yoshihara even more. It was the fact that she had a glowing orange aura about her body that made her fear the woman more than she usually did. "N-No… she can't be…!"

Beside Yoshikawa Kira was a humanoid stand. It had grey skin from what Yoshihara could make out, as well as an orange armour covering it. It had slanted eyes with black sclera, red pupils, and no mouth to speak of, nor did it have any ears. It looked feminine, resembling Yoshikawa in more ways than Yoshihara could count. Underneath its chest, which had the appearance of breasts, was a black diamond of sorts. The breasts were covered up with orange armour of sorts, while its midriff was exposed, showing two black spiral markings on either side. The rest of its body, such as its legs and arms were covered in orange armour, though there were spikes on its elbows down to its forearms. The legs had the same thing going for them, as well. Its hands were clawed, and the claws looked as large and as potentially sharp as a set of butcher knives.

"I must admit, brat, the last thing I was expecting was for you to be a Stand User. I'm actually kind of glad I accidentally scraped my knuckle on that stupid arrow back at the Foundation. Regardless, that doesn't matter. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to set things right so that I don't have to think about you. I'm going to finish the fucking job I told that villain to do all those years ago, and snuff out your FUCKING LIFE!" Yoshikawa snarled, causing Yoshihara's eyes to narrow as she slowly got up, using her hand that didn't have its wrist broken.

"I…" Yoshihara began, glaring at Yoshikawa, who glared back at her. "… am going to kill you first, woman," Yoshihara snarled, Killer Queen standing beside her. "And I'm going to make it slow, and painful, just for my amusement," the blond teen spat clenching her non-broken hand into a fist. "You ruined my life, made me into an uncaring, unfeeling monster. I'm honestly surprised I haven't become some sort of serial killer yet," Yoshihara said, scoffing to herself as Yoshikawa narrowed her glare toward her.

"The fuck are you going on about? Are you seriously trying to waste my time?" Yoshikawa spat, a small smirk on her face. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. Monologue all you want, I'm going to—"

"For some reason, though," Yoshihara ignored the woman, as well as interrupting her, not falling for her taunts, and not looking her in the eyes.

"Are you ignoring me you—huh?"

Yoshikawa's eyes blinked rapidly as the mistake's aura flashed, though it looked nothing like the regular aura of a Stand. It made her do a double-take, and then, she felt fear. Replacing Yoshihara's normal pinkish-purple aura, was a black haze, slowly rising off of her body, her eyes glazed over like a corpse. It made Yoshikawa take a step back out of fright. And then, something worse showed up. Something besides the mistakes Stand. The figure standing beside Killer Queen for some reason made her blood chill, and she didn't know why.

The figure in question was a man in a suit—a pink Valentino suit, to be exact—with short blond hair, blue eyes, and what appeared to be sunken cheeks. The figure was ghostly, see-through, like a ghost. He had a strange tie that had strange cat-like skulls on it, bordered off by golden lines going in a criss-cross pattern. The ghost was taller than Yoshihara by at least a foot and then some.

"What… no… who is that?!" Yoshikawa thought, her Stand moving in front of her in a protective stance.

And then, both Yoshihara and this mysterious figure spoke at the exact same time. "I have a feeling that if I don't kill you, I'm going to lose sleep at night."

and then... All hell broke loose.