Chapter 2 - The Sports Festival: 7

"So, while we wait for everything to be fixed after that climatic battle… are we going to talk about Midoriya, or what?" Present Mic, aka Hizashi Yamada, asked Shota Aizawa, who simply sighed as he adjusted himself in his seat.

"What's there to discuss, Hizashi? It's clear that Midoriya is strong, and it's clear that he's taking his training seriously. He wants to be a hero, and therefore he's going all out. What more is there to add?" Aizawa asked as the blond-haired radio announcer and Pro Hero shook his head.

"Well, first of all… never, and I mean never, in the history of U.A. has anyone progressed that far in their training since All Might did when he was still a student at this school! Since All Might, Shota! Think about it! We might be seeing the second coming of the Symbol Of Peace!" Hizashi exclaimed as Shota rolled his eyes.

"Midoriya's strong, yes. But he's nowhere near as strong as All Might," the tired Pro Hero retorted, only to earn a groan from his partner.

"Oh come on Shota! Can't you see it? Even All Might wasn't as strong as he is now when he was a kid! Sure, he was strong, but he wasn't at all like he is now! I've personally watched his old battles against Endeavour when they were students at U.A.! They BOTH weren't as strong as they were back then as they are now. All Might wasn't as fast as Midoriya, mind you, but he was just as strong if not just a tad bit stronger! I—"

"That's enough, Hizashi," Shota groaned as he interrupted the man, glancing over at him with a sharp glare in his eyes. "I am aware that he is strong. I am aware that he is fast. I am also aware that he's still breaking his bones. While he isn't breaking whole arms and legs like he was before, it's still a pattern of behaviour revolving around his Quirk that needs to be ironed out," Shota retorted, his frown growing underneath the bandages as Hizashi raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? I mean, yeah, he's still breaking his bones but—"

"No buts, Hizashi. I believe in Midoriya, even if I don't outwardly show it. He's an underdog, and people like an underdog story, but don't say nonsensical stuff like that. Breaking his bones, small or otherwise, will still make it so that he will become unable to battle after a certain amount of time, no matter the amount of pain endurance one might have. While it's not as much of a detriment now as it was during the beginning of the year, it will still be a problem for him in the future," Aizawa interrupted, only for Hizashi to frown.

"Oh come on! For once get your head out of your own ass and see with your eyes! Stop thinking with cold hard logic and at least entertain the thought! Can't you see it? Midoriya might become the next Symbol of Peace! I—"

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Aizawa shouted, raising his voice for the first time in a long time. He cleared his throat, shaking his head as the anger in his eyes dissipated. "Now, can we please move on? we need to continue the Festival. I'm sure Midoriya will become one of the strongest students in my class, which I have no doubt about. What I doubt, however, is him becoming the next Symbol Of Peace. There can't be a new Symbol Of Peace. Once All Might inevitably retires, or worse, no one will be able to replace him. It was a one-time thing, and that one-time thing can never happen again. People can try, but it will never happen. You can't catch lightning in a bottle twice."

Hizashi mulled over those words as his frown deepened. "Whatever. You just don't see what I see in him. Either that or you don't want to get your hopes up. Which, to be fair to you, I can't blame you for doing that. The last time that happened…."

"Don't. Just don't, Hizashi," Shota interrupted, though with a tinge of pain in his voice. It wasn't enough to be noticeable to a normal person who didn't know Shota, but it was there. For Hizashi, though, he recognized it, his shoulders sagging in the process. He felt sad that he almost said something that he would've regretted, and seeing the hurt in his partner's eyes, he too felt a little bit of pain in his chest. The black-haired man turned to face the arena once more along with his partner, Aizawa's eyes filled with a sort of grief that he hadn't been able to let go of. "I don't want to remember that day. We both don't. Let's just get back to commentating."

There was a suffocating silence filling the commentator's booth as Hizashi nodded, looking at the Microphone and turning the system back on. He shoved back all the sadness that he had accidentally drudged up, replacing it with an almost happy-go-lucky attitude. As soon as all his energy came back, he spoke out to the crowd within the stadium with all the enthusiasm of a professional football commentator after their eight extra-large cup of coffee.

"ALRIGHT, FOLKS! THANKS FOR WAITING! NOW, LET'S MOVE ON TO THE NEXT MATCH! BUT BEFORE WE DO THAT THOUGH, GIVE A MASSIVE ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO CEMENTOSS FOR REBUILDING THE ARENA FOR THIS NEXT ROUND!"

As Present Mic's voice echoed throughout the stadium, a roar of excitement reverberated throughout the building as the next two combatants stood in front of one another, both wearing the U.A. gym uniform. One was tall, his skin a shade of brown, and was muscular to all hell. The other was also muscular, but not nearly as much as the former. His skin was pale in comparison, and he had engines sticking out of his calves.

These two were Rikido Sato and Tenya Ida. This was the second round of the quarter-finals, and therefore, the fight before them would be a difficult one. Both of them knew that, and both of them wanted to win. The two went in with that mentality, at least, initially. For one of them, however, something happened that left their mind unfocused on the match set out before them.

"ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ARENA, ONCE MORE FROM CLASS 1 – A, WE HAVE THE LITTLE BROTHER OF INGENIUM! IDA TENYA!" The arena once again was filled with cheers as the pro hero cleared his throat, taking a sip of water before continuing. "AND ON THE RIGHT, YET AGAIN FROM CLASS 1 – A, WE HAVE THE SCHOOL'S RESIDENT SWEETS AND SUGAR EXPERT! GIVE HIM A KILOGRAM OF THAT WHITE SUGARY GOODNESS, AND ANY VILLAIN WORTH THEIR SALT WILL BE SHIVERING IN FEAR! IT'S SATO RIKIDO!" The arena was filled with cheers of excitement as Rikido smirked, staring down at Ida with a face full of determination.

The two opponents stood a good space from one another as Sato cracked his neck from side to side, stomping his feet down into a bracing stance, all the while Ida stretched out his legs. There was a mixture of emotions in the blue-haired teen's eyes as he got into a runner's stance. The pair's eyes met, and for a moment, those emotions dancing within Ida's eyes caused the larger of the two to flinch though only for a moment.

"I don't plan to go easy on you, Ida!" Sato stated, flexing his muscular body with a face full of confidence. Ida said nothing in response, only narrowing his eyes. He had a lot on his mind right now, and as soon as this battle was over, he had to confirm if the worst was true or not.

Right before the match, he found out through the almost choked-sounding voice of his father that his brother, Tensei Ida, was in the hospital.

His father didn't yet say why knowing full well that Tenya was in a competition at the moment, and didn't want to worry or distract him too much. However, that didn't stop the boy from speculating who or what could've possibly put his brother in the hospital. And right now, it was muddying his mind and preventing him from fully focusing on the battle at hand.

"AND BEGIN!"

As soon as Present Mic said those words, Ida launched toward Sato at blinding speeds, taking the sugar-based hero-in-training off guard. The big brute of a teen braced himself for impact as a speeding leg rounded for his head. In preparation, Sato brought his arm up as fast as possible, bringing it near his cheek as he attempted to catch Ida's leg, to no avail.

The foot slammed into Sato's open palm, striking with enough force to knock the boy out of his braced and offensive stance, sending him to the ground with ease. The larger of the two boys bounced off the ground, tumbling near the disqualification line.

Acting quickly, Sato rolled out of the way of another kick that was meant to send him out of the arena. The sugar-amped teen jumped up from where he lay as he came at the blue-haired class president with a strong uppercut. Ida was just barely able to dodge to the left, avoiding the attack, not expecting it to be that fast. Although, he was distracted by his own personal matters to fully focus on the battle, which was why he wasn't expecting the uppercut to be a fake out.

Another fist slammed into Ida's side, catching the teen completely off guard. He activated his Engines to attempt to get out of the way of the next attack, only for yet another fist to clobber him in the gut. Ida spat up some saliva, his lungs forcing out all the oxygen in his body, winding him. Due to being stunned by the previous blow, he got clocked in the face by another punch from Sato, staggering him near to the disqualification line.

"IT SEEMS SATO ISN'T GIVING IDA ANY TIME TO REACT TO HIS ATTACKS! HE'S USING THE TRIED AND TRUE "OVERWHELM YOUR OPPONENT" TECHNIQUE TO BEAT IDA DOWN!" Present Mic announced to the audience, who cheered the combatants on. Ida was in a tough situation and knew that the only way to get out of it was to activate his engines at full speed. Just before he could muster up the energy to do so, however, Sato kneed him in the gut, staggering him some more and washing away his concentration.

Ida nearly fell backward and out of the arena but was able to keep his balance. Had that been all, Ida might have been able to turn this whole thing around on Sato. But that knee in the gut hadn't been the last that Sato could dish out, as it was followed by a shove of all things, knocking Ida off his balance and sending him over the line and out of the bounds, ending the fight.

"AND MUCH TO MY SHOCK, IT WOULD SEEM AS IF IDA HAS BEEN QUITE LITERALLY SHOVED OUT OF BOUNDS BY SATO! MEANING THAT RIKIDO SATO MOVES ON TO THE SEMI-FINALS!" Present Mic's voice echoed throughout the stadium as Ida looked down in shame. Sato reached out to help Ida up, to which the blue-haired boy took his hand in stride.

"Sorry 'bout pummeling you so badly. I did notice you looked distracted, though. Is everything alright?" Sato asked, a hint of concern in his voice as Ida smiled, though hollow as it might have been.

"Don't worry about me, Sato-kun. All though I shall thank you for your concern, my problems are hardly worth discussing on the battlefield. If you excuse me, I have a call I need to make. I bid you good luck for the semi-finals." And with that, Ida left as fast as he could without the employment of his Quirk, leaving behind a concerned Sato. The boy turned and left the arena through the opposite gate, a small frown on his face.

Sato hadn't known Ida all that well, but he could tell when someone was worried or upset rather easily. His mother was extremely emotional at times, which allowed him to pick up on things like that. He just hoped that whatever was going on in Ida's life wouldn't impact the blue-haired teen too greatly. Though judging by the look in his eyes, he couldn't be too sure of that.

But, it wasn't any of his business. He wasn't going to pester Ida. Besides, he hardly knew the guy, even if he was the class's president. It would've been weird if he started asking questions he had no business asking. All he could do was hope that everything was alright, and carry on to the Semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Kira sat in the prep room, flipping a coin in her left hand. With each flick, a metallic sound and a whoosh of air followed suit. Her opponent for the up-and-coming round was Fumikage Tokoyami. He was one of the people who were heavily against her for the reason of murdering her mother—who was believed to be an innocent woman fallen prey to a psychotic child masquerading to be a hero student. The blonde-haired teen was mulling over what to do against the boy, seeing as his Quirk was rather unique, to say the least.

His Quirk acted like an Automatic Stand, where it had a personality separate from the user. However, it wasn't a Stand, at least she thought it wasn't anyway. She had drawn out Killer Queen on several occasions around the teen and he simply did not bat an eye, raise an eyebrow, mutter something, or acknowledge Killer Queen's existence.

This led her to the obvious conclusion that he wasn't a Stand User, and that overwhelming Tokoyami would be the best way of taking the fight with ease. With that done, she could then move herself along to the next stage in the tournament. She could see no flaws in her plan, at least not yet. If there were any, they'd make themselves known in battle.

An announcement came over the intercom for the next two contenders to come to the arena for the next round of fighting. Without so much as a misplaced thought, Yoshihara stood up from her chair and made her way to the entrance of the arena.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't cocky. Almost all of her classmates wouldn't, nor couldn't, stand a chance against her; Izuku and Josefumi being an exception. Though, seeing as Josefumi failed to move on from the last round due to bad injuries sustained from All Out War, she needn't worry about him getting in the way of her victory. Not to mention, the culprit behind Josefumi's injuries had been the wolf-like Stand she caught a glimpse of during Izuku's rather anti-climatic fight against it and its user. Making her only true obstacle the aforementioned green-haired teen, soon-to-be-boyfriend; assuming the date went well.

However, before getting to him, she had two more fights to win. This one, and the one after it.

"LOOK ALIVE LADIES, GENTLEMEN AND PEOPLE IN BETWEEN! WE HAVE ANOTHER EXCITING MATCH-UP FOR YOU HERE! ON THE RIGHT, WE HAVE THE ONE WHOM SHADOWS CALL THEIR FRIEND, IT'S TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE FROM CLASS 1 – A!" Present Mic announced, the audience going wild with cheers of excitement. "AND ON THE LEFT, WE HAVE SOMEONE WHO MADE A RATHER EXPLOSIVELY BRUTAL ENTRANCE INTO THIS TOURNAMENT, GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR KIRA YOSHIHARA, ALSO FROM CLASS 1 – A!"

Instead of applause, there were mostly boos and angered shouts, though mixed in were some cheers, so that was a bit of a plus. Once again, Yoshihara didn't care, though it was starting to get a little annoying. Just before the battle was about to begin, she heard a deep-sounding voice coming from in front of her, a voice belonging to Tokoyami.

"There's a darkness about you…" Fumikage said, the feathers on his head ruffling with what appeared to be some form of anger. "A murderous aura coats your soul. I can see it—feel it wafting off of you like an unclean stench. It's the same one that I get whenever Dark Shadow gets out of control. But for you, it's different." As Tokoyami said that, Dark Shadow came out from his stomach, its black shadowy claws splayed out in a taunting fashion. The Shadow let out a roar filled with victory and gusto, all the while Yoshihara narrowed her eyes.

"Get to the point. Our fight is about to begin, and with it, you'll be defeated." Yoshihara said, feeling herself cringe after saying that. Regardless, it seemed to do the trick by seemingly making Tokoyami more frustrated, prompting him to continue.

"For you, that stench is always coating you. You're like a rat, worming your way into a place where you do not belong. You, a murderer, have no place in this class! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL YOURSELF A HERO-IN-TRAINING!" Tokoyami shouted, a violent gleam in his eyes as Present Mic shouted out the call to begin the fight.

As soon as the call was given, Dark Shadow slinked its way toward the blonde, going full speed toward her. Yoshihara simply planted her feet on the ground as a pink aura washed over her. For a moment, Dark Shadow seemed to tense at seeing the aura but continued charging nonetheless. Once it got within two feet of Yoshihara, the blonde summoned Killer Queen in front of her, the Stand crossing its arm in a guard-like stance as its dark pink cat-like eyes bored holes into Dark Shadow's sharp pointed yellow slants.

Dark Shadow's fist clashed with Killer Queen's arms, physically, making Yoshihara's eyes widen. From what she knew, Quirks couldn't interact with Stands. But for some reason, Tokoyami's did. As for Tokoyami, he frowned at what he saw, narrowing his eyes at Kira. "Dark Shadow, what seems to be the problem? Why did you stop your assault?" The bird-headed teen questioned as his Quirk's eyes narrowed as well.

"You can't see it? There's a cat thing in front of Kira!" Dark Shadow said to its user, making Yoshihara raise an eyebrow, her expression going back to a flat neutral one as a result.

"Interesting. Your Quirk can see Killer Queen, but you cannot?" Yoshihara said with a small amount of surprise in her voice. Killer Queen batted away Dark Shadow's fist and went in for an attack of its own, slamming its right fist into Dark Shadow's "stomach" and knocking it back by a few feet.

Tokoyami's eyes widened. He saw Dark Shadow get pushed back by an invisible force, though according to Dark Shadow, there was something there. Something Kira somehow brought out. That, however, made no sense to the bird-headed teen seeing as Kira's Quirk was based on explosions and bubbles. Yet, he saw no such thing in front of her. "Dark Shadow! What are you talking about, nothing is there! Now is not the time to be playing tricks on me!" Tokoyami hollered as Dark Shadow shook its head in frustration.

"I'm not Joking, Fumikage! There's something there!" Dark Shadow responded, blocking what appeared to be another punch from nothingness, sliding back more with each punch it blocked. Dark Shadow continued to block seemingly nothing, all the while trying to slip in attacks on the void of space between Yoshihara and Dark Shadow, its attempts being thwarted each time.

Tokoyami tried his damndest to help his Quirk, but without being able to see what it was Dark Shadow was fighting, he was pretty much a sitting duck.

As for Kira, she was intrigued by this development. This raised a lot of questions about Tokoyami and his Quirk, which she was beginning to think was an underdeveloped Stand, something like how Killer Queen had been for the majority of her life until recently. The cat-like humanoid Stand continued to slam its fists into Dark Shadow, dodging and weaving the punches that Dark Shadow threw out.

It was slower than Killer Queen, that much was for sure, but its strikes did hurt whenever they did land. She knew it was going to leave bruises on her arms if nothing else. As both her Stand and herself inched forward, pushing the shadow creature back, Dark Shadow seemed to grow faster with each punch it threw, something that Yoshihara noticed right away.

"The closer we get to the user, the faster Dark Shadow gets. It's exactly like a close-range Stand. Perhaps my assumption was right!" Kira thought as she amped up the speed Killer Queen blocked Dark Shadow's punches with while simultaneously increasing the speed of the punches that Killer Queen dished out in response to its openings.

Tokoyami feinted to the left. He wanted to avoid being pushed out of the arena. If Dark Shadow got too close, Dark Shadow being pushed back would also make him get pushed back as well. He wasn't about to lose to some murderer. And so, he shouted. "DARK SHADOW! I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO SEE WHAT YOU'RE FIGHTING, BUT YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO BE AS VIOLENT AS YOU NEED TO GET PAST IT!"

As soon as that declaration was made, the yellow eyes of Dark Shadow switched to a more bloodthirsty red. Rather than punching, Dark Shadow changed to using its claws to dig at Killer Queen. Once the claws made contact with Killer Queen's arm, it drew blood on Yoshihara's, slash marks appearing on Yoshihara's arm.

This made Yoshihara back peddle, now being put on the defensive thanks to Dark Shadow suddenly becoming more violent, something that it took notice of. "You scared or something?! Is it 'cause I drew some blood? PATHETIC!" Dark Shadow shouted at Kira, slinking forward faster than it did the first time.

In response, Killer Queen made a small bubble appear just a few meters in front of her. The bubble made contact with a blood-lusted Dark Shadow, and as soon as it did, the bubble exploded, knocking Dark Shadow back a few feet, its eyes switching from red to yellow, then back to red.

Before it could get the chance to do anything to retaliate, Killer Queen closed the distance and grabbed Dark Shadow by the neck, slamming it to the ground with enough force to cause small fissure cracks on the arena floor.

Several members of the audience were dumbfounded by what they were watching. Yoshihara wasn't moving at all, electing to stand still while something did all the work for her. The only time she flinched or moved was when her arm was slashed by Dark Shadow, but even then Dark Shadow didn't even hit her.

The audience, at least some of the more analytical ones in the crowd, deduced that her explosions could go microscopic, effectively creating a barrier between her and her attackers, while also giving her an offensive edge, and that the slash across the arm she received was only there because Dark Shadow had somehow found an opening within the barrier.

Others chalked it up to either foul play or her Quirk being more than what it let on. Those in the know knew that it was her Stand, and as for her Classmates that weren't aware of her Stand agreed with those who chalked it up to her Quirk being more than what Kira said it was.

For Fumikage, he was utterly stupefied by what was going on. He couldn't even begin to understand where the sudden speed was coming from. Despite the fact he couldn't see what was attacking Dark Shadow, he had a hard time recalling a time when anyone was able to outspeed Dark Shadow when it became blood-lusted. Not even his Parents who had Shadow Controlling Quirks could outspeed Dark Shadow when it got angry or wanted a fight.

Whatever Dark Shadow saw Kira use clearly was stronger and faster than Dark Shadow in both states. He tried to reign in Dark Shadow, but it was of no use, as whatever was attacking it continued to catch up, landing body shots on it at fast speeds. When the distance got increased, Kira closed it and the beatings continued.

With narrowed eyes and an exhausted grunt coming from the bird-headed teen, he began to notice some patterns with Kira and what was going on. "Whatever she is using is close-ranged. She can't get too far away, otherwise whatever she's using gets out of range for her to attack. To make up for that she can create bubble bombs that move extremely fast. She has all of her weaknesses covered. As it stands, I have no chance of beating her like this. I have to—"

Fumikage's thoughts were cut off when he watched Dark Shadow try and get close to Kira, its eyes fiery with determination as it straightened out its claws into a spear-like shape. Tokoyami's eyes widened in horror. He knew exactly what his Quirk was trying to do. It was Blood-lusted, after all, and therefore he should've seen this coming, but even then he hoped that Dark Shadow wouldn't have been that stupid to try and go for such a deadly move.

Dark Shadow was attempting to impale Kira on its clawed hands.

"DARK SHADOW! NO!" Fumikage cried out, trying to reign in his Quirk, but to no avail. It had gotten out of hand again, even in sunlight. The best he could do was step out of the arena and forfeit and get knocked out by Midnight, which was looking like a possibility seeing as she going for her arm to remove the easily tearable cloth to expose her skin and activate her Quirk.

However, from Kira's perspective, she wasn't worried at all. Dark Shadow was fast, that much she could acknowledge, perhaps faster than Killer Queen when she wasn't trying all that hard. But in this case, she was trying. That meant that Killer Queen was faster than even a slightly amped-up Dark Shadow. Knowing this, she used it to her advantage.

Killer Queen got between its user and Dark Shadow. Then, with accuracy akin to that of an elite sniper kicked the speeding Quirk in the face, knocking it back towards Fumikage. Dark Shadow, now dazed, shook its head and was about to continue its assault, only for The Stand to then dash forward, cock back a punch, and aimed it at the bird-faced human. Seeing this, Dark Shadow tried to get between Killer Queen and Tokoyami, however, it was too slow.

Killer Queen's fist slammed into Tokoyami's beak, cracking the tip of the beak and sending him flying out of the arena. Tokoyami's eyes widened as he went flying. Whatever had hit him did so with the speed and force of a truck. He felt a ringing in his head as his eyes slowly closed, hitting unconsciousness, making Dark Shadow forcefully retreat back into its user. Safely ending the fight between the two opponents.

"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE AND HIS DARK SHADOW HAVE BEEN SENT OUT OF BOUNDS! KIRA YOSHIHARA MOVES ON TO THE SEMI-FINALS!" Present Mic announced as Kira retreated away from the arena, cupping her slashed arm with a small grimace.

The fight went differently than she would've hoped. Although she now had some information on how Fumikage's Dark Shadow worked. It seemed to hold all the properties of a Stand. It could even see Stands, however, despite that, it was not a Stand. Her initial theory of it being an underdeveloped Stand was something she thought about throughout the fight, and she decided that had to have been the truth.

Or, perhaps, because it was Fumikage's Shadow, perhaps it counted as his soul as well, which allowed him his Quirk to see Stands. Some people believed that the shadow of a person was their soul given physical form. While that was not the case for most people, and nor was it the truth, perhaps it could have very easily applied to Fumikage.

"Whatever the truth might be, I do not care for that. What I care about right now is seeing who my next opponent will be. Will it be Neito Monoma, or shall it be Itsuka Kendo. I don't know much about them, but perhaps seeing them in combat would allow me to garner on what my next move should be. Though it will be easier to beat them, seeing as they do not have anything like Dark Shadow to throw me off."

As Kira thought that, she left to head back to her seat in the student-specific seating that had been allotted to her and Class 1 – A.

xxXXxxXXxx

Taisuke had left the Stadium as soon as he finished watching the fight that Yoshihara Kira had won. He had to be honest with himself, he hadn't been expecting what he had seen, but nonetheless, it gave him plenty to think about.

It was clear that Kira's Stand, whatever it might have been named, was powerful. In terms of speed, it was on par with his Stand—at least, from what he saw. He had no idea if it could be faster or not, but then again he knew that what he saw in that fight would be the fastest she would've shown it to be capable of. None of the other contenders were Stand Users, nor did they have anomalies like Tokoyami Fumikage's Dark Shadow, so he saw no reason to stick around.

Physically speaking, however, he knew his Stand was far superior in every way. If it came down to a fight with sheer physical strength he would win. His ability also far outshined hers by a million years, hyperbole notwithstanding. However, just because he knew he was stronger than her did not mean he was going to fight her the moment he got the chance to.

The Kira's, and especially The Joestars, proved to be extremely hard-willed people. They were determined to the bitter end and would do anything in their power to cripple or kill their enemy if they had to. It was how he got gravely injured when fighting against Yoshimura Kira and his Cloud 9.

He remembered his fight with Cloud 9 almost as if it happened yesterday. It had the ability to suck out the oxygen in people and use it against them. Yoshimura could also have his Stand manipulate the O2 particles in the air and create weapons out of them. Effectively speaking, its ability was Oxygen Manipulation. Had it not been for his Stand and its busted ability, he probably would've died against Yoshimura.

With his offspring, however, he still had certain questions that needed to be answered. He wanted to know the true extent of her Stand and its bombs. From what he saw, they were based on contact. He had to assume that she could also plant them in people seeing as they came out of her Stands fingers. Bubbles could be blown in people's skin if one tried hard enough. Seeing as her Stand produced explosive bubbles it only made logical sense.

He had a feeling that he was only seeing the surface level of what Kira could do, so he put a tab on that thought. For now, he had enough information to go off of to say that he was satisfied with what he observed.

Then there was the other Joestar. Kujo Josefumi. His Stand wasn't nearly as dangerous as Kira's, however, it was his usage of The Spin that scared him. The Spin was an extremely dangerous ability. He knew about the lengths it could go to thanks to watching a few classified battles that never went public with Joekid, aka Jonathon Kujo, the father of Joseph "Josefumi" Kujo.

If the younger Kujo was able to get stronger with The Spin, and if he learnt about the boss of Damnatio Ad Bestias's identity—that being him—it would spell out his end and the end of Damnatio Ad Bestias, seeing as he had no next of kin to take over the business.

Therefore, he arrived at one conclusion he had made a while back, but for pettier reasons than he had now: Both of them needed to die, and both of them needed to die soon.

He knew a certain group of people who would be interested in getting them out of the picture. However, they were his rivals. Approaching them and getting them to deal with HIS issues would cost him his dignity. As far as it stood, he didn't want to get his hands dirty. Not right now. Not to mention they refused to leave Morioh.

In other words, he had to somehow get those two into Morioh for a prolonged period of time without catching their suspicion, while at the same time working out a deal with that particular group. He would either have to get them in an internship after the festival ended and internships were opened, then he'd have to go to Morioh with them while also not catching their attention. And then cover up their deaths as an accidental occurrence out of his control—something that not even the dumbest of police officers would believe, even with bribes. The press? Maybe? The police? No. Especially with Hero Students. Especially when one of them is the literal son of the United States' second most powerful hero. Absolutely not!

But even then, he could shift the blame on that particular group. He would still be held accountable for their deaths, but that wouldn't phase him nearly as much as keeping them alive and constantly sticking their noses into his work and eventually fighting him. Depending on how that fight would go, he would either be dead, or he would be exposed to the world as a villain and lose everything he had built up for the last several years.

The latter was something he was not about to risk. He refused to let it get to that point. Not only did he refuse that, but he also refused to lose everything he and his family had built. Damnatio Ad Bestias would remain the strongest Yakuza in all of the country, and he wasn't about to let two teens with a hero complex ruin everything he had!

"Why do the Joestars and Kira's keep wandering their way into my work?! How does this keep happening? If it hadn't been for that nearly botched raid, I wouldn't have them breathing down my neck!" Taisuke thought to himself while he walked down the halls of the Stadium to reach the exit. As the black-haired man walked toward the exit to the stadium, he stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing a voice he hadn't heard in decades.

"Taisuke? Is that you?" The man froze, his shoulders stiff as his eyes widened. He turned around and was greeted by his younger brother, staring at him with eyes just as wide as his. Last Taisuke had seen Toshinori, he had looked far more sickly than he had now. Granted he still looked like a walking skeleton with flesh slapped on him, but he now looked a lot more… full. While the only reason he knew about his sickly skeletal state was because of a photo he had of him, that still didn't mean he was shocked to see him looking like he was beginning to recover.

Before, when he saw the man in the stadium's seats, he thought that he had just been seeing things. But now, it was clear that his brother truly was on the mend. He knew why, too. It was because of Tooru. He also had to assume that it was also thanks to the person standing right next to him.

And that person next to him was Recovery Girl, whose left eyebrow was raised in confusion.

"Toshinori, who is this? Do you know him?" Recovery Girl asked as the noticeably healthier Toshinori smiled, though it was hollow.

"Yes… he's my older brother. The reason why I never told you or Sir Nighteye that I had a family was that my family disowned me for, reasons…" Toshinori said, looking at Taisuke, who still stared with wide eyes. The black-haired man shook his head, frowning slightly as his purple eyes looked into Toshinori's blue ones.

"Correction. Our parents disowned you. I would never disown you as my brother. I'm simply disappointed you didn't continue the family business alongside me. Even if mother and father would have disapproved," Taisuke said, crossing his arms. Toshinori narrowed his eyes at him, frowning.

"The Yagi Clan was something I never wanted to continue in the first place. I hoped it died with our parents. I didn't know you were going to continue it," Toshinori said, though it was barely above a whisper. In response, Taisuke shook his head, a sense of disappointment in his demeanour.

"The Yagi family has been a Yakuza family since the early 1900s. Out of the tens of generations that our family has seen, only a handful of Yagi's refused to continue the business and left it to their siblings to pursue greener pastures. Nowadays, the Yagi Clan is all but defunct and had to go under a rebranding. The only reason you're the Symbol of Peace is that no one knows your true name. If the public found out your name was Toshinori Yagi, you would be shunned. I'm surprised your student hasn't clued in on that."

The moment Taisuke dropped that droplet of information, Toshinori's eyes widened. "How do you know about—"

"The underground has a lot of information that most would consider to be… unnatural. The same thing goes for how it's obtained. All you have to know is that I know about the truth of "your" Quirk. But I have no plans on stabbing you in the back!" Taisuke began, stifling a laugh as he spoke. "Honestly, Toshinori. Did you really think you could keep any secrets from your older brother? Be real with yourself. I know more about you than you probably even realize!"

The older of the two approached the younger, placing a hand on his shoulder before squeezing ever-so-slightly. "I also suggest you pay attention to what your student is up to. He's digging into things he shouldn't be, and if it continues, I'll have to axe him before All For One does. Who, by the way, is very much still alive. I've talked to the man recently, but haven't told him anything regarding who the ninth holder is. He might've already found out, though."

Even though his voice was barely above a whisper, it sent a loud and defining message that made Toshinori's heart pound against his chest. "You… you talked to All For One?" Toshinori said, making Taisuke scoff.

"How do you think I found out about One For All in the first place, Toshinori? That I asked a random man off the street who was somehow in the know? Be real with yourself." Taisuke let go of Toshinori's shoulder and put a good distance between him and his brother, dipping his hat ever-so-slightly in a sign of respect. "Now, If you excuse me, I have places to be, people to see, and a few deals to make. The next time we see each other, Toshinori, let's hope it's not on the opposite side of a fist, m'kay?"

With that, Taisuke made his exit, leaving behind a stunned and betrayed feeling Toshinori. The blond-haired man couldn't help but have his jaw drop as he watched the orange-suited man who knew to be his brother leave the stadium.

All the while, Taisuke felt a chill go up his spine. He didn't know why, but he felt as if he was being watched by someone other than Toshinori. Glancing behind him, he saw a man wearing a hoodie with bear motifs on it. He was looking down, a cigarette in his mouth as he glanced at his phone, earbuds connected to it as he was no doubt listening to music.

Taisuke knew immediately who it was and sped up his walking speed, keeping his hat down as he emptied his mind full of thoughts. Yakuza or not, there were just some people you didn't mess with. As he entered his black and yellow Lamborghini Centenario, the man approached him without Taisuke even noticing, placing a hand on his shoulder before he could close the door.

"Let this be a warning to you, Taisuke Yagi. If you openly threaten anyone that man holds dear, brother or not, I will kill you before you have the chance to blink. Do we make ourselves clear with one another?" The man asked as Taisuke cleared his throat, nodding. The man seemed content with that before turning to leave. Just before he did, however, Taisuke felt his toe get crushed, causing him to lurch back.

"That damn bastard!" Taisuke thought. He looked down to see the tire of his car had moved just close enough to where his pinkie toe had been that it was able to crush it. "He broke my toe using his Stand… damnit. I gotta get out of here before I think or say something that'll trigger it again."

Without so much as another thought, Taisuke started the ignition, closed the door, and sped off back to his house so that he could nurse his toe. The last thing he wanted to deal with was going to work and having his pinkie toe shattered. He was a tough man, but he cared about his health above all else. As he drove, he couldn't help but think about Tooru's threat and laugh. He thought nor said anything, knowing damn well it would trigger Wonder Of U's ability.

All he filled his mind with was the smell of sweets and the satisfaction of knowing that the two biggest thorns in his side would soon be nothing more than a bad memory.