Chapter Text
Kyōka Izumi
She had heard about mainland Japan, Mori-san Chūya-san and Kōyō-san have been talking about a certain mission for a few months now. Apparently abilities are commonplace there. They also have heroes and villains, how cliche. They have a million laws regarding their abilities and honestly it seems very restrictive. She doesn't get what Mori wants to know about these, quite honestly mediocre, people.
They just seem like thorns in his side. For some reason these heroes have taken a liking to Yokohama, because we have had our borders closed for hundreds of years. They have decided that we need saving from being "overrun by villains”. We just didn't like the idea of becoming so reliant on abilities or as they call them “quirks,”.
This is all she has heard from eavesdropping. As far as she's aware Akutagawa-san didn't seem too on board with this idea, but Kōyō-san and Mori-san were his superiors so he had to follow their requests and orders.
She doesn't know when they decided to send her off to a school somewhere in Japan, Musutafu? She thinks. Apparently it's a mission to gain Intel on these “quirk users”, what an odd name for abilities. She doesn't know why they sent her. Maybe because of her age, and the fact that it's a high school. Her ability is flashy so she doubts that she won't be noticed. Why her?
Next thing she knew, she was being put onto a plane with clothes, money, and just about all of her belongings (the few she was allowed to keep) to fly to this mysterious city. She would be all alone in this city, but that's okay because she's usually alone, right?
Maybe she was a little scared, but mafiosas aren't allowed to be scared. She had to not be scared. Maybe she would have some freedom. Yeah, that's a nice thought.
Kōyō was sitting across from her, she didn't seem mad or sad even just… contemplative. She keeps her head down attempting to avoid her eyes. Kōyō Is supposed to leave shortly after helping her settle in.
She instead decides on looking out the plane window. It sure is pretty up in the sky. She just wants to get this mission over with. She doesn't want to spend a year here, maybe longer depending on how well she performs in this mission (and how cruel Mori is feeling.)
On the brightside she wouldn't be near anybody else and didn't really have to interact with anyone else, she just had to gather information.
“Kyōka,” she suddenly hears the woman in front of her speak. Her spine straightens and she meets her eyes. “Remember you cannot kill anyone, and you should keep injuring others to a minimum. Use Demon snow more as an extra set of hands and less as a weapon. We put a lot of work into getting you into this school, I would hate for you to be expelled in the first week.” her nose scrunches in distaste at the mention of the ability.
Right. Apparently getting in on “recommendations” (bribery in her case) was a difficult feat. “Of course Kōyō-san" she says almost robotically.
The woman sighs and Kyōka thinks that she almost looks sad. Suddenly the woman drops the professionalism and she seems almost like a mother. “Kyōka dear, try to have fun…” she pauses. “And maybe make a few friends?”
It's almost as if she's asking her to do it for her sake. Kyōka just nods, not expecting the older to be so… compassionate. Kyōka runs her fingers over the phone hanging from her neck, a nervous habit she picked up a while ago.
“Alright. Let's go over a few more things until then.”
~
It had been around a 4 hour flight filled with going over extra school material (which Kyōka hates). They landed at an airport and Kōyō and her made their way to an apartment. Technically Kōyō was renting it, but she would head back to Yokohama after helping Kyōka settle in.
They both carried all of Kyōka’s belongings into the small apartment. Kōyō gave her a quick goodbye and swiftly left.
Whelp, guess she's stuck here for the next year. She sighs then moves to start unpacking her bags. She doesn't have much to do otherwise. She brings her clothing bag into her bedroom and starts to place her clothes into the drawers. (There's not much however) She empties that bag and then moves to another. She slowly unpacks bag after bag.
She then decides to look around. She walks into the living space, it's got a couch and simple little TV with a few bookshelves. It's quite cozy. She then turns her attention to the kitchen, it's pretty small too, but it holds an island connecting the living room and kitchen. She then looks to the short hallway just past the kitchen there's two doors, one leads to her bedroom, (where she just was and therefore doesn't have to explore) and the other leads to the bathroom.
She walks into the bathroom and is surprised by how clean it is. It's decently sized and has a good amount of counter space along with a full shower and bath.
Not bad.
Now that she has thoroughly explored her new house, she supposes she'll get reviewing her school work. She'd only been in school for about 3 years before her parents died and in turn she lost her education. Her first year at UA high is going to start in exactly a week. Fun.
Kyōka doesn't hate people… she just doesn't get the point of talking to them. It makes no sense in her mind. The last time she talked to a stranger, well, he brought her into this whole Mafia mess.
She didn't particularly like the idea of being stuck for eight hours with hundreds of people she didn't know and possibly didn't like, it just seemed exhausting. Even thinking about it tires her out.
She sighs and decides to take a shower and change into more comfortable clothes to get her mind off of things. Studying could wait.
~
Eventually she steps out of the bathroom into the now cold apartment (the bathroom was a bit hot because of her shower). She shivers slightly but is glad that she's now wearing loose gray sweatpants and a loose lavender hoodie, also socks.
She steps into the living room and plops onto the couch slightly curling into herself. She looks around. Is there a TV remote? She finds herself fidgeting with her phone again, even if it is hidden under her hoodie, she messes with the bumps of the phone through the fabric.
There's something about this place that makes her feel uneasy. She finds the remote and turns on some random sitcom idly watching until she feels her stomach grumble.
Right, she has to eat. She stands from her position on the couch and walks towards the kitchen area. She hopes there's food because it's already 7pm and she is not looking forward to going to the store to buy food.
She opens a cabinet looking for anything. Nothing. She then opens another, then another, until all the cabinets have been searched. Still nothing.
Great.
She sighs deeply before walking into her bedroom and grabbing a wad of cash Kōyō gave her. She then slips on some tennis shoes and grabs the keys to the apartment before walking out.
She feels almost like she has free will. She's not stupid though, she's aware of the fact that the whole place is probably bugged and her every movement is being watched. That's why she feels so uneasy, and it's also why they allowed her to be alone here.
Normally they would send Akutagawa or Kōyō with her, but this was a long term mission and they both had duties to do. So Mori decided that Kyōka would be fine on her own (with the help of bugging everything she has and having people constantly watch her.) She would be stupid to try anything.
She locks the door and puts her hands into her hoodie pocket, dropping her keys into the front pocket, as she leaves the building. It's quite chilly.
She has a peaceful walk to a convenience store. She'll probably go grocery shopping tomorrow, but for now she just needs food for tonight.
She opens the door to the shop and a bell rings out indicating a new customer. She walks over towards the food aisle and looks for quick meals like ramen or microwavable meals, even canned foods will do.
She grabs a handful of ramen then walks back to the front of the store towards the checkout. The man there is older, probably in his late 40's. He quickly checks her out and wishes her a good rest of her night as she waves back and leaves.
She walks back to her apartment with groceries in a bag in her hand. The night is quiet and there's a slight chill in the air. She feels almost normal out here.
What a funny thought.
She then makes her way back into the apartment building and up the stairs to her room. She unlocks the door and throws the ramen onto the counter before boiling some water and putting a packet into it along with some broth.
She quickly eats and cleans up before realizing it's already past 9pm. She really should get a more “school appropriate” sleep schedule.
She'll study for an hour before heading to bed. That'll be a good balance hopefully.
~
She huffs out a breath. Why is this so complicated? She was sure that when she was in school it wasn't this bad… was it? No. So then why does math suddenly have numbers? And why does she have to know all these things about plants and the human bodies? And why didn't her parents teach her better language skills? Yeah she can speak and understand Japanese just fine, but reading and writing it is suddenly so difficult. Why does she have to know all these rules?
She lets out an exasperated sigh and leans back into the couch before running her hands down her face. She was exhausted and this studying wasn't helping.
She shut all the books in front of her and moved them into neat piles before cleaning up the table in front of the couch.
She then stands up and makes her way around the whole house making sure all lights, sinks, and stoves are off before she finally retires to her room.
She closes her door and takes off her socks before crawling into the surprisingly comfortable bed in the corner of the room.
She finds herself staring at the ceiling a bit, not able to sleep despite repeatedly trying.
She finally lets out a huff before turning onto her side and forcing her eyes shut. She feels so unsafe here, maybe that's why she can't sleep?
She gets out of bed and walks towards the window a few feet from her bed. She messes with the latches a bit making sure that it's fully locked. She then opens the door to her room and walks into the living space and she repeats the same with all the windows there.
She still doesn't feel safe. She walks to her front door and double, no triple checks that it's locked and no one can get in. She then walks into her bathroom and even though the small higher up window is most definitely not big enough for anyone to fit through, she still checks that window too.
Once she's finally checked all entrances and exits she makes her way back into her room. She locks the door behind her and lays back down into her bed, sinking into the mattress. She sighs and closes her eyes trying again to fall asleep.
It's around an hour before she finally feels her eyes droop and her body lulls her to sleep.
Kyōka woke up the next hour in a puddle of sweat. She didn't know when she had fallen asleep or why she had awoken, but she could tell that she was terrified. Damn nightmares.