Chapter 14 - Theresa Fernsby

A wide-body aircraft flew over Saitama city, casting an enormous shadow over the area in which it passed. The first-class suite on this plane featured a queen-sized bed, a flat-screen TV across the bed, and a black chair next to the window.

Sitting on the chair was a striking teenage brunette, gazing at the city below her with a distant look in her eye. She has a honey tan skin tone with green eyes and a lean, athletic body, wearing a simple black sleeveless blouse, blue jeans, and black heel boots.

"What do you think of the city, Theresa?" A middle-aged woman, who looked like an older version of the girl, with light wrinkles under her eyes, and a lighter skin complexion, asked. "Isn't it better than Corpus Christi?" She lay on the bed, wearing a dark blue suit with a sky blue dress shirt, a necklace, and multiple bracelets on her right wrist. Her shoes were on the floor beside the bed, and in her hand was a book she was reading.

"Huh? What?" The girl, known as Theresa, asked, turning to her mother. "What did you say?"

"The city." The woman repeated, "Do you like it?"

"You are asking me when we haven't even landed." Theresa mumbled, sighing. "No, mom. It's not my cup of tea. Corpus Christi was way better than this."

"Come on. You have lived there for your whole life. You should be excited to come to a new city." The woman smiled, "I know you have all your friends back in Corpus Christi, but here you are going to meet new people."

"I never said I wasn't excited." She replied, rolling her eyes and looking back out the window. "I don't like the fact I have to speak Japanese here. And as you said, all my friends are back home."

"Right. Speaking Japanese." The woman nodded in understanding, smiling afterward. "Don't worry. You will get used to it eventually. Besides, you will finally get to meet your father for the first time! Isn't that thrilling!!" She grinned, feeling more excited than her daughter.

"You mean that man that never visited us after my birth then one day suddenly forced us to move from Corpus Christi to live with him here?" Theresa scoffed, shaking her head. "I thought I didn't even have a father till I started to wonder where you get all the money you were spending lavishly without working." She took out her phone. "Though it will be interesting to meet my half-siblings."

Her mother understood what her last statement meant, chuckling. "I doubt he would marry anyone other than me." She was confident, looking back at her book.

"You are right." Theresa admitted, causing her mother to smile. "I mean he only married you because you told him you were pregnant with his child after he knocked you up and left for Japan." Theresa held back her laughter, covering her mouth, "He then sent the marriage certificate over to America when you told Sign you were pregnant already signed, with a message that literally stated, 'Signe this, Dinah, and give it to the court. We are married from now on.' You guys didn't even have an official marriage."

Her eyes moved to her mother's fourth finger of her left hand. You don't even have a wedding ring." She couldn't hold back her laughter, bursting out into roaring laughter. "I will admit. That was savage of him."

Dinah paused as she realized what had just come out of her daughter's mouth. "Who told you that?"

"You. Who else?" Her eyes returned to her phone. "You told me on your birthday when you were drunk out of your mind."

Realization dawned on her as she stared at her daughter, wide-eyed, "Fuck." She covered her face with her book, mumbling, "Holy shit. I shouldn't drink anymore..."

"Don't worry. That man is an asshole." Theresa said with a shrug, glancing up at her mother, who was still covering her face. "So yeah, coming here to live with him make me wish I had used my quirk to make you---"

"No." Dinah immediately cut her off, "Do NOT do that, Theresa. I am serious."

"I get it, mom. Why do you think I haven't done it?" Theresa asked, looking out the window as the airplane reached the massive airport. "But I am not sure I can stop myself from using it on my 'dad.'" She muttered, her green eyes flaring.

"Don't even think of it." Her mother snapped, with Theresa snarling in response. "Besides. It won't work."

"We won't know until we try." She mumbled, this time much lower, but her mother still heard. Before she could get scolded, an amusement came,

[Ladies and gentlemen, Endeavor airline welcomes you to Saitama. The local time is 12:15 pm. We ask that you remain seated or in your suite until we are parked at the gate for your safety and the safety of those around you.]

They both fell silent as Theresa kept staring out the window as the plane touched the runway, soon coming to a halt. They both got out, making small talk while they got their luggage.

They only had four luggage, Theresa's backpack, and Dinah's handbag. Due to the fact they didn't need to bring any furniture as the house they were coming to in Japan was already fully furnished, all they needed to bring were their clothes, documents, and other things of significance. In fact, most clothes were left behind since they could just buy new ones.

"Where are you?" Dinah spoke into the phone, looking around. She was now standing outside the airport with Theresa by her side, waiting for her husband.

"Where specifically are you?" The voice from the other side came. "Outside can be anywhere."

"Right." Dinah cleared her throat. She was about to meet her husband for the first time in so long, so she was nervous. Looking around, she quickly described where she was.

"Will be there. This place is FUCKING PACKED!" The man shouted and honked multiple times, causing Dinah to hold the phone away from her ear. "Don't park in the middle of the street and load luggage into the car. Get the fuck out of the road---" He kept shouting, causing Dinah to quickly hang up, turning to her daughter, who was staring at her with a knowing look.

"So that's my 'father's' voice." Theresa mumbled, emphasizing the father. "I hate it."

"Give him a chance, Theresa." Dinah chuckled, returning her phone to her pocket and shaking her head at a taxi driver that signaled at her.

They fell silent as Theresa continued using her phone while Dinah focused on looking around for her husband, not that she knew his car. About three minutes later, she noticed a towering man walking toward them.

It was a sturdily-built dark-skinned man that stood almost seven feet tall, with a very muscular physique, sharp red eyes, a bald head that reflected the sunlight, and donned a red dress shirt, black slacks, and black dress shoes.

"That's your father." Dinah smiled, waving at the man who started speed walking toward them, people making way for him. "He looks as stunning as ever."

At her mother's word, she looked at the man standing out from the crowd like a sore thumb. "I really don't see what you find attractive in a man that abandoned you for 14 years." She scoffed, returning to her phone.

"Been a while, Dinah." The man smiled, extending his arm to shake her, which genuinely shocked her. He noticed this and quickly drew back his arm. "That was a mistake on my part. I thought since we hadn't seen each other for 14 years, you know..." He trailed off, chuckling.

"R-right." Dinah stuttered, nodding. "Glad to meet you too...Garrick..."

"Awkward." Theresa mumbled, noticing the interaction between them.

Her words attracted Garrick's attention, and he turned to her with a smile on his face. "I assume you are my dearest daughter."

"Dearest." Theresa mocked, "Right."

"Theresa!" Dinah elbowed her, smiling at Garrick. "She can't help but be excited to see you."

"I know she hates me." Garrick turned to her, not affected by his daughters. "I don't have any fatherly affection for her either, so the feeling is mutual."

Silence dawned on them as those who were nearby glanced at the 'family' before going on their way. Noticing what he said, Garrick cleared his throat once more.

"Would you look at that?" He mumbled, looking down at his empty wrist. "It's almost time to head to work. Why don't I take you two to my, no OUR house."

Without waiting for their response, he grabbed two of their largest suitcases in each hand, carrying them and walking away. He quickly walked to his blue Subaru Forester, packing all the luggages in the back. Getting into the driver's seat, his wife got in the passenger while his daughter sat in the back seat behind her mother as he started the car.

The drive was awkwardly quiet, something that Garrick was used to but not Dinah, while Theresa was looking out of the window absentmindedly. Clearing her throat, Dinah turned to the Garrick.

"I never asked. What job do you do?" She questioned, hoping to learn more about the man she had married for 14 years. "I mean after you retired as a hero."

This caught Theresa's attention as she didn't know he was a hero but kept looking out the window to make it look like she wasn't listening. "I am the vice president of the Japan branch of the Hero Public Safety Commission." Garrick answered as he turned into a highway.

"...WHAT!" Mother and daughter simultaneously shouted. "How were you able to get that position?" Theresa asked, emphasizing the 'you.'

"She meant no harm by that." Dinah quickly said, to which Garrick nodded.

"I have been working there for more than thirteen years," He looked at the rearview mirror to notice Theresa staring at him, "I believe one year after Theresa was born?" He shrugged, "Well, money was a problem after I got released from a fucking psychiatric ward that scammed me from my seven billion dollars!" He was already getting mad from remembering that day but calmed himself with the thought that they did, after all, save him from killing himself. Seven billion is not even enough to pay them.

The mother and daughter duo were silent before Dinah asked, "You were in a psychiatric ward?" She narrowed her eyes, "Why? When?"

"...I don't want to speak about it. It's in the past." Garrick replied, glancing at his wife. "What about you? What have you been doing?"

Seeing he was trying to avoid the subject, Dinah abridged. "I got my quirk license in the America HPSC branch, worked as a hero for two short years, retired because it was too much fighting, and I didn't like it."

"Right." Garrick nodded, "Your quirk isn't really suitable for saving people, only confronting villains."

"Exactly." Dinah sighed, "And I was kind of a pro at it too. My hero's name was 'Scream,' and I got into the top thirty in only two years. Quite an accomplishment." She said with her chin up. "Yep. Top thirty."

"Right. That's okay." Garrick humored her, smiling. He had been in the top ten in both Japan and America for more than 25 years before he retired. Therefore, he didn't get what her excitement was about. He's a billionaire with 100 billion, while she's a poor woman who got one billion. "Do you still have your license?"

"Of course!" Dinah replied, "Even though I am not a hero anymore, I kept renewing it every year so I could use it when I needed to in public." She nodded, reaching into her purse and bringing out her wallet filled with her bank cards, ID, quirk license, and many other cards. "Though I have been reduced to a type two license since I am no longer a hero."

Garrick nodded, understanding why her license grade was lowered. There are three types of quirk license ID. Type 1 is the one every hero has, enabling them to utilize their Quirks to protect civilians from Villains, natural disasters, or any other kind of harm. Type 2 is only for retired pro heroes or those with one year of hero duty. This permits them to use their quirk in emergencies. Type 3 is the one students get after the Provisional Hero License Exam, permitting them to use their quirk only when a pro-hero is around.

"What of you, Theresa." He asked, looking at the rearview mirror and his daughter staring out the window. "How have you been these past fourteen years?"

"Nothing much. Just live life." She replied, turning to face her father. "I guess you wouldn't even know since you didn't bother to call. Once."

"*Chuckle* She is just excited." Dinah said, glaring at her daughter behind her.

"Well, we are here." Garrick quickly announced driving through a gate and entering a compound. The house was a traditional Japanese house, standing three stories high with multiple smaller buildings around it. Noticing his wife's stare, he explained, "I have become interested in Japanese architecture."

"Interesting..." Dinah realized now she knew nothing about the man beside her, who was also her husband for 14 years.

All three of them got out of the car after it parked in the garage with two other cars, with Garrick turning to them. "You two should rest. I will take care of the bags." He gestured at the door, throwing a keychain with only one key at Dinah, who caught it. "That door led to the hallway of the main building, and that's the key."

"Ok. Because I am beat." Dinah stretched, walking to the door with her daughter behind her. Before she could even put the key in the keyhole, the door opened to a boy standing across them.

He is a fairly tall young man with messy, indigo-colored hair that flares out in large tufts around his head, purple eyes with white pupils, thin and somewhat triangular, pointing downward, and no visible eyelashes. His eyes were half-closed, and he had very dark eye bags underneath them. He wore a simple short sleeve white shirt, black pants, and sleepers.

The most notable things were the bruises around his face and body.

The three of them stared silently at each other before Garrick's voice interrupted them. "Oh, this is Hitoshi Shinso, my son from another woman and your stepson." He introduced them casually, now standing behind them with two of the luggage, "And you half-brother, Theresa."

"S-stepson?..." Dinah muttered, staring silently at the boy who was almost her height.

"That was before I knew I had impregnated you." Garrick explained, not wanting to start any misunderstanding. "A one-night stand woman had taken the condom from the garbage and injected herself with my sperm, and he came into being. I gave her money, and she left him with me, but he still took her last name."

Spinning on his hill, Hitoshi walked away from them, not saying a word. "He hates me. Maybe due to my parental neglect, but I don't know how to be a parent." Garrick said, smiling down at his wife, whose head only reached his chest. "I hope you can take care of him even though you have no affection for him."

With that, Theresa and Dinah quickly parked in their new house, putting their things in their room. Theresa got her own room and locked herself in her room with her two luggage, with Garrick and Dinah having separate rooms due to their stale relationship.

"...So...have you been..." Dinah didn't know how to put her thoughts into words as she watched Garrick brew tea for the both of them in the kitchen from her position sitting on the counter.

"Beating him?" Garrick finished her question, shaking his head. He knew how it would seem with Hitoshi having those bruises and both of them having a sour relationship. "No. Those bruises are from bullying."

"Bullying!?" Dinah shouted, taken aback by his words. "And you say it so casually? How much have you been neglecting that child!?"

"I can see what you are thinking, but no. Hitoshi said he doesn't want me in any of his business, and he can deal with it all, so I let him be." Garrick replied, quickly adding before his wife could say anything else, "It's not like I will be with him all the time at his school. His heavy bruises from school bullying have changed to light bruises after learning how to defend himself. He is a strong boy, Dinah. I trust he can handle a few 10s middle scholars with no insane quirks."

"As much as you are right, I still heat it." She sighed, taking the coffee and taking a sip. "Mmmm~ This is amazing."

"Courtesy of working overnight." Garrick nodded, taking a sip from his. "I know you will ask, so I will just say. His bullying only started because of his quirk."

"His quirk is like yours?" Dinah asked, looking over to her husband, who leaned on the counter beside her. Even while sitting on the counter, her head only reached his neck.

"No. It's not the same as mine one bit.." Garrick sighed, "His mother's quirk is to weaken the effect of other quirks that respond verbally to something she says. I guess when we..." He paused, thinking of the right words, "...made Hitoshi, her quirk didn't blend well with mine and weakened it. So, his quirk can only brainwash those who verbally respond to something he says."

'That's bad.' Dinah murmured. She knew how strong her husband's quirk was since it is a quirk that helped him become the No.4 hero in America and the No.2 hero in Japan. "But bullying for 'villainous' quirk only goes as far as verbal abuse and destroying one's property. It never gets physical."

Garrick gazed into his coffee mug at the brown coffee. "That's in America," he said. "After the Tokyo Suicide Holocaust 14 years ago, discrimination against those with villainous quirk heightened in Japan. Especially those with any form of hypnosis or brainwashing."

"...Right." Dinah understood why discrimination got worst in Japan.

Tokyo Suicide Holocaust was the effect of a child with a brainwashing quirk going berzerk under the control of a madman named Ankoku, brainwashing approximately 490,000 people to commit suicide, which destroyed a large landmass of the Tokyo wards.

Understandably, people would shun those with brainwashing quirks, but "Don't they fear that bullying and discrimination would lead to someone becoming a villain who would cause another mass death?" What was her name again..." She thought for a while, "Yeah, Horror Vessel."

"Not knowing the gender of the child is annoying." Garrick mumbled, drinking his coffee. Many call the child he, and others she, but most just say the child is an it. "But, I guess that doesn't go through their mind when they do it." He said, answering his wife's question.

Just then, Theresa walked into the kitchen, still dressed in the clothes she wore on the plane. "I am about to explore the city." She said her statement was aimed at her mother.

"Ask your brother to go with you." Dinah said, getting down from the counter. "You two should use this to learn more about each other. Besides, he knows more about the city."

"You mean, half-brother." Theresa corrected, pointing at her phone. "I have a map. I won't get lost."

"Ask Hitoshi to go with you." Dinah sternly commanded, giving her no choice. "He might say no, but just ask."

"This is bullshit." She mumbled under her breath, something that her mother heard but ignored. Turning around, she left the room to ask her half-brother to walk with her.

"Is she always like that?" Garrick asked, taking his wife's empty coffee mug from her hand to wash it in the sink.

"Pretty much." Dinah replied with a nod, "She acts rebellious but always listens to me so I don't care."

"That's alright, I guess." Garrick mumbled, putting the cup in the cup rack to dry. "Well, since we are both energized, let's fix your room before I head to work."

"Yes!" Dinah shouted, grinning, "I already like how the room looks. I can't wait till we fix everything up."

Chapter End~~

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Word Count: 3638

As you might have noticed, this chapter was to introduce the new OC we will be following and give some explanation on what changed in the world during the huge 13 years time skip. The MC, Kyoki, is going to be a villain, and I can't write a villain well without having another character as the 'hero.'

I spent more than three hours brainstorming different plots where Kyoki would be the main focus, but nothing worked well. I even tried reading some chapters of some villain MC fanfiction, and I noticed that the MC's villainous nature shined more when it is from the perspective of others.

Am I the only one who noticed that?

So, I decided to make an OC but did not want to bring a random guy out of my ass. So, I just used Hypnotic's daughter, who I was never planning on introducing. It might be hard seeing a female MC but bear with it. Trust me. It is hard for me too. But I will make it as interesting as possible.

Just take a moment to think about it. That girl is Hypnotic's fucking daughter. She is beyond OP.

Of course, I could have used an already existing character as the other MC, but I didn't think it would be interesting.

So now, there are TWO main characters. Kyoki and Theresa.