1st Person POV, Chifuyu
The first thing that I noticed the second I set foot back in my room was how much of a warzone the place had turned into.
The first person to greet me was none other than Kota, along with his new friend Totodile.
The two of them tackled me into a hug, which drew the attention of my aunts' two new assistants Jessie and James.
A little backstory on these two goobers.
Long story short, if you readers have read the Flashback Time event about the first trip into the Metaverse and meeting my contractor, then let us just say these two were my "patient zero" in the Pokemon world.
Basically they kinda began following me when I started out in Kanto, and at one point I got so frustrated with them I just went "Fuck it," and decided to see what their big deal is by going into their "palace."
What I found in their memories made me feel bad for them in the end.
So rather than roughing them up, I decided to help them out. One of them is dealing with that stupid arranged marriage of James and get his best friend Growlie back to him. And then helping Jessie get licensure to become a nurse.
After all was said and done (especially after I officially took down Team Rocket), they wanted to know what they can do to repay me.
Well, as it turns out, my aunt needs a few extra helping hands so I called her up and see if she could offer them a job.
Auntie's workload had decreased significantly by at least half ever since.
As for their talking Meowth, he became part of my team, although he was more of a housecat around the place.
Though when asked, he'll help out with my group....
But I think that's more to do with spending time with a certain female Meowth that had also become part of the team some time back.
Coming back to the present...
"So does anyone want to explain why one of my former babysitting clients is in my room?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms, with Katakuri, my Pink Greninja, mirroring my actions.
James gulped before answering. "Well.. he kinda just came in a couple of hours before you just did..."
"Kid won't tell us what was up until you got here," Jessie added.
I looked at Kota as he hugged my leg as Totodile did the same to Katakuri.
"Kota," I spoke in a serious tone. "Did something happen back at that training camp?"
Kota then began to explain what happened from the time I left my little "gift" up until now.
Turns out, the next day after I did my delivery, he had begun to sneak off into the woods so he could play and bond with his new friend Totodile.
Which was going well given his aunt and her co-workers were always busy with the heroes in training...
Unfortunately, Midoriya, the meddlesome prat, had noticed Kota's absences and his blatant dislike of heroes in general (and refusal to see things his way), so he at one point tried to follow him to see why he had been disappearing so much.
To make matters worse, Kota got defensive when Midoriya caught sight of Totodile, and things took a turn for the worse when the serial killer villain Muscular made his appearance.
Thankfully for Kota, Totodile had an Eject Button on him handy so he was able to get him and Kota out of danger when Midoriya began to fight Muscular.
With that information in mind, we immediately went to my aunt to see if the LOV was involved.
Because I had a distinct feeling that Shiggy was somehow involved.
And much to my chagrin, my gut was right.
He and his ragtag team had decided to attack the camp, aiming to get ahold of a few of the powerhouses of 1-A.
One of them being Bakugo.
With the way he acted out in the Sports Festival, this was not too surprising to me.
Normally I would not care about this and let nature take its course, but there was one glaring problem.
Turns out, Toga Himiko, Mustard, and Dabi were all involved in the attack.
And if Gardevoir's vision is right, then that means Mustard will be getting into a spot of trouble. Which will involve him getting arrested.
Sighing to myself, I grabbed my Adamant Crystal and then summoned Hoopa (in his confined forme).
"Sit tight," I told Kota. I turned to Jessie and James (who are referred as Musashi and Kojiro whenever in public). "Call up Auntie and see if she can find a suitable guardian for him as after this the Wild Wild Pussycats will no longer be fit to raise a kid."
With that I jumped through the portal, making sure I have Kinggambit and my strongest Charizard on hand as I had something special in mind for Muscular.
Meanwhile in the camp...
Midoriya was on the verge of passing out as he knelt in front of the serial killer known as Muscular who was laughing maniacally before he prepared himself to end the hero student.
"Dammit!" Midoriya cursed to himself. "I lost Kota..! And I haven't been able to show Nanami-san the light we heroes bring!!"
Just as he thought the end had come, time had suddenly stopped.
Muscular had froze midswing seeming to be put on pause. Even Midoriya seemed to be frozen even though he was seeing all of this happening.
Suddenly two creatures, one that looked like a samurai and an orange dragon with dark orange stripes appeared, and they did not look happy with either the greenette and the murderer.
(Yeah I'm throwing in the clone Pokemon, let's go!)
The dragon nodded to the samurai, who merely grunted before a dark energy encased the blade on his head, before aiming it directly above Muscular's neck.
Midoriya could only watch in paralyzed fear as Kingambit mercilessly chopped off Muscular's head. To make things worse (or better), the orange dragon suddenly blew fire on the body, ensuring that Muscular had nothing to revive. After all to make regeneration successful, you need healthy cells. So the solution? Burn 'em. Dead cells mean no regeneration.
Eventually all that was left is a pile of ashes.
The striped Charizard merely huffed at the time-frozen Midoriya, his nostrils flaring. A hand on the flank courtesy of the Kingambit was enough to take his attention of the greenhaired pest, making them both turn and leave through a portal that suddenly opened up next to them.
As soon as they passed through it, time resumed.
Leaving Midoriya to explain why there was a pile of ashes when the authorities showed up.
Back with Chifuyu
The portal opened up to reveal my clone Charizard and Kingambit have returned, with Kingambit with a amount of blood on his blade.
"Guess he used the Kowtow Cleave on him..." I thought with a slight sweatdrop, but didn't reprimand him. I mean that was the least we could have done to the serial killer as he was getting off lightly especially after what he put little Kota through.
"I take it that it was done?" I asked them, not that I needed to know.
"Yes," Charizard replied.
"He won't be a bother anymore..." Kingambit added.
I noted the irritated look on Charizard.
"What's the matter, old friend?" I placed a hand on his knee area.
He chuffed, smoke rising from his nostrils. "That meddlesome prat you have told us all about was there..."
I sighed, having an idea who he meant. "Midoriya?"
He nodded. looking irritated.
I gave him an affectionate pat on the snout. "Don't worry about him. He says a word then that means a farewell to his career as a so-called hero. Not like he can trace the whole thing back to me anyway and prove it..."
Charizard seemed to feel better after that.
"Now both of you return," I said holding up my Pokeballs. "I'll make sure to reward you after this shit blows over." They nodded before I returned them.
I then went up to Jessie (aka Musashi) and James (aka Kojiro). "So what's going on?"
James was the one to answer, holding Growlie in his lap. "Well, your aunt had arranged someone to take up guardianship of the little guy."
I raised an eyebrow. "Any intel on them?" I asked. Last thing I want is for Kota to end up in a worse household than before.
"Actually yes," Jessie then handed me a file. "Your aunt figured you'd want to have a look, especially with your history as his babysitter and she wanted your say-so on the matter."
I opened up the folder, seeing a clip of a girl with dark brown hair and glasses, and bright amber eyes.
"She seems interesting..." My eyes narrowed as I read her file.
Name: Kokoro Mitsume
Occupation: student
Age: 16 years old
My eyes widened at her Quirk Registry.
Quirk: Illusion; Mind Reading; Dark Magic; Teleport
Good Sinnoh, this kid has four quirks?!
Reading further, I saw that she goes to UA and she is in the General Course.
"How did I miss that?!" I wondered to myself as me and the vast majority are in the general course during the witness protection program.
"Probably because you don't pay enough attention to your surroundings, child." Gallade decided to add his two cents.
"Silence in the peanut gallery," I snipped right back. Reading further I relaized she was more of a recent admit to UA, which may explain why I did not see her. Which gained me a triumphant smirk in Gallade's direction in the empathy link.
Reading further I saw that she rather be in the medical field aspiring to be a therapist rather than a hero.
"I personally think I wanna meet this chick..." I thought to myself.
"This from you?!" Hisuian Samurott exclaimed. "I daresay the world might be ending!"
I sent a dirty look at the Water/Dark type. "Shut up, you."
Though I was serious; call me crazy but I have a strange feeling that this girl may be more than just another face in the crowd, and I'm not basing that off her Quirk, or Quirks.
I turned to Jessie and James. "Yeah, can you ask her if I can meet this chick? Just to... make a final decision."
Jessie gave me a raised eyebrow but she seem to choose not to add her input before going to get my aunt.
A few minutes later, my aunt appeared.
I gave her a quick debriefing on what I thought of the candidate and asked if perhaps a trial run is in order. Basically send in Kota and see how he likes her and vice versa. And then, since it is found that she wants to learn under Miaya Gekkogohara, also the former Ultimate Therapist of Hope's Peak, and also my go-to therapist since my return from Hisui (dying more than a few times and the emotional trauma and the near assassination attempt from Beni did a number on my mental state). And I've been visiting more often since the whole UA witness protection program started, and it wasn't because of the USJ incident have traumatized me.
Aunt Chifuyu nodded. "I understand. I can call her up and ask for a meeting before we make a final decision. How soon would you like to do this?"
I yawned, the time jumps and differences catching up to me. "Maybe tomorrow... or the day after.... I think the travel lag is catching up to me..."
She nodded, understanding. "I'll set Kota a futon up with Kotoko and Jataro... I'll tell the others not to bother you."
I smiled gratefully. "Thanks, auntie, I owe you one."
With that, Jessie and James have left with my aunt, intending on turning in for the night.
I sighed to myself as Nezuko and Daki, my shiny Johto Sneasel, have curled up next to me in bed.
"I got a feeling that the next week is gonna be a shit show..." I thought with dread before sleep overtook my senses.
The Next Day
The first thing that we saw on the news was that the training camp was in absolute chaos.
Turns out, Bakugo got kidnapped by the LOV, and the staff are making a statement.
Of course I could care less about the matter as this was no surprise to me.
"Since that stupid sports festival it was only a matter of time before those guys took an interest in him.." I rolled my eyes.
On other news, I managed to get Mustard out of that bad spot when the woods caught fire (thanks to Dabi being extra), as Hoopa managed to use one of his rings to escort him out before he was surrounded by 1-B's students.
He had been passed out on the living room couch, his villain gear splayed across the floor below him as he snored away.
I'm guessing he hadn't been resting lately with him playing a big part in LOV's plan and with Shiggy's apparent disregard for him had made him turncoat.
The only ones who knew of Mustard switching sides is Toga and Dabi, and they promised not to tell. I also sent them a message saying that they might as well cut their losses sooner than later unless they wanna lose their friends to Shiggy's bullshit. And that's if certain heroes get to them first and do something "questionable."
With a sigh I decided to get ready to meet this Kokoro Mitsume, Kota waiting at the door for me, a mix of nervous and excitement on his face.
"Poken for your thoughts?" Tinkaton asked, her tone concerned within the link.
I sighed as I grabbed my bag and Rotom phone. "Not much aside from the usual with the bullshit going on..." I responded mentally as I got Kota to return his Totodile to his ball as to not draw suspicion.
"Aren't you worried if his aunt will come after us?" H. Decidueye asked.
"Auntie's handling her and her team as we speak," I responded, letting Kota hold my hand as we headed for the address given to me to meet Kokoro.
"What about the LOV situation with the Boom Boom Pinata?" Mawile asked, using the nickname coined by the rest of us.
"Don't really care to be honest." I shrugged mentally, "It's just gonna backfire on them horribly so it is not my problem. I only hope that Toga and Dabi get out of there before things get super messy..."
I wanted to say with complete confidence they won't get caught, at least not for long, I still can't help but worry...
As we walked, I couldn't help but feel chills up my spine, as if someone was watching us, or me in specific.
"Any of you feel that?" I asked in the link.
"I believe we have some new stalkers in our midst," my Mabostiff growled within the mind link.
"Are they league related?" I asked my Hisuian team, as they are more familiar with them.
"No." H. Lilligant responded. "They seemed to have pulled back for now..."
"Probably didn't want a scene with a kid involved," I thought.
"We should all be more careful..." Drampa commented. "It would appear everyone is walking on eggshells these days..."
"Ain't that the truth..." I agreed, as earlier that day I had Meowzie drop a recording of the 1-A students planning to go and rescue their explosive classmate rather than let the heroes deal with it.
I saw this as both an opportunity to gather more dirt to use against UA in order to get us from Hope's Peak Academy out from under their thumb, and as a means to blindside 1-A and screw them over. And to see how their teacher is gonna handle it.
It could end in one of two ways, either of them being useful to our end goal no matter what.
"We're here," warned Meowzie, who sat on my shoulder.
I looked over at Kota.
"You ready?" I asked him, his hand still on mine.
"No." He answered honeslty, gripping my hand slightly harder. "Let's go."
"He's a little trooper that one," Azelf commented with a hint of admiration as I rang the doorbell.
I was mildly surprised to see that it was none other than Miaya Gekkogahara herself that answered.
Hi! Her AI Usami, basically a plush white rabbit dressed like an iconic magical girl, greeted us from the screen. Did not expect to see you here today, Chifuyu-chan!
I couldn't help but smile a bit at Usami. "Well me and my little buddy here are here on business." I said getsuring to Kota who was looking at the white rabbit with awe.
Miaya nodded. Ah! Because of little Kota here!
I nodded. "Yup. Auntie sent me to do an interview of sorts with the candidate to give the last word."
"I suppose you mean me, yes?"
I looked over Miaya's shoulder to see the girl in question.
"I take it you are-"
"Kokoro Mitsume, yes." She finished for me. A black and white crow, similar to Junko's marketed Monokuma, sat on her shoulder.
"Er, right." I muttered after an awkward moment. "Kinda reminds me of Cheren when we first met with Professor Juniper. Though I can appreciate cutting straight to the point..."
"I am glad to see you don't mind me being straightforward." She said, seemingly in response to my thoughts.
"I wonder if that means she can hear even my friends..."
"I noticed an abundance of different voices in your head as well, but seeing as they do not pose a threat to your well-being I will not bother you over it."
Me and Miaya blinked, though for different reasons.
"Damn this kid is good," Gardevoir whistled, impressed.
"I'll say," Mewtwo added. "And she doesn't seem to hold any malicious intent from what I and the other Psychics can see with her mind..."
"Tell them both thank you for the compliment," Kokoro said. "And I hope I gain your trust despite just meeting."
"They can hear you," I shrugged, seeing no point in denying it. "Just don't go spreading that around... I gotta keep a low profile, especially where certain groups of celebrities are involved."
"I'm already aware of your situation," Kokoro said. "Please come in, and we will discuss more. But first," She then turned to Kota. "How are you, young man."
Kota seemed to puff up with pride, though he seemed to be blushing a bit. "I'm doing fine."
Kokoro ran a hair through his head. "You are very strong you know." His eyes widened for a moment before he suddenly hugged her, crying.
Well, at least he did not try to kick her...
Timeskip
Long story short, the interview was a cinch and Kokoro passed with flying colors.
Kota likes her and that was more than enough to get my seal of approval.
Of course, she is to be supervised by Miaya Gekkogohara to make sure things will smooth over, especially where legal matters are concerned. So she has something of a guardianship over the matter. However that works...
Anyway, as long as Miaya is on the case everything will be fine.
After the interview, Kokoro asked if we could hang out at some point, which I agreed to, surprisingly.
I suppose making all of those connections with all of those trainers in all of those regions helped me open up and give a reason to let some people in. Besides that, Meowzie had taken a liking to her as she jumped into her arms at one point in the interview and let her pet her.
Miaya offered to help Kota settle in while she shooed me and Kokoro out the door.
We sweatdropped at the closed door in front of us.
"Did I just get kicked out of my own house?" Kokoro asked rhetorically.
Still I answered. "I think you just did."
We faced each other. "So..." I began awkwardly, "wanna go get a coffee or something?"
Which is how we ended up in Le Blanc cafe in the Shujin district.
Man does this place bring back memories...
The Shujin area, not Le Blanc itself.
Though I gotta hand it to the old guy behind the counter, this is some good curry. And that's saying something coming from me after traveling through Galar and have dined on a LOT of varieties of curry.
"So," Kokoro began, "How are the Pokemon treating you?"
I nearly choked on my drink as she asked that, nearly making me do a spit-take.
I have nearly forgotten about the mind-reading thing. On top of that I did not think on how deep it went as she knew what they were called.
"I suppose I should be level with you from the start." Kokoro began, leaning across to table as she lowered her voice. "I have been sent by Nedzu to try and convince you to quit your current school and join UA, by any means necessary."
I narrowed my eyes at this, my hand drifting to the hilt of my nichirin katana.
"Hold it, young one," J. Slowking stated, "Hear her out first."
"I understand your wariness," Kokoro continued, "but please know that I have no intention of doing so."
"And why is that?" I questioned, my hand still on the hilt.
"After seeing your memories and what you have been through, I refuse to do something so despicable, with or without my Quirks. And besides that, even if I were, I'm fairly certain you would have me killed before I could attempt it."
"Smart thinking," I responded, still on guard. "So what now?"
"Well being that the cause you and your friends are fighting for are much more nobler that that rat's own goals, I humbly ask that I join you."
That took me by surprise. "What do you hope to gain from all of this, though?" I asked.
"Even though I am in the General Course, I am faced with harrassment from both my class and outside of it." She seemed very tired as she spoke of it, as if she aged a few years in just a few short moments.
"I'm listening," I pressed.
"Nedzu and many others are trying to drag me into the Hero Course, and I won't have any of it. The vast majority of 1-A as a whole are full of idiots filled with delusions of grandeur." She seemed very bitter as she spoke. "I find 1-B to be much more tolerable. Even though I am annoyed by a select few, a good chunk of them are more likable than those simps in 1-A."
"Simps," I repeated.
She sighed. "Unfortunately yes. Midoriya and Bakugo being the worst ones... and I rather not go down the long list of others that are always bothering me. The only ones I like are Tokoyami, Koji, Tsuyu, Jirou, and Shoji. They are the only ones with any sense in the whole bunch. The rest are either annoyances, I harbor a great dislike, or I'm neutral or somewhere in between."
"So we have a common enemy," I stated than asked.
She nodded. "And as a sign of good faith, I can offer up any information you need on any of the enemies you want to take down. And I do mean anyone."
"Oh really?" I smirked as she also gave one of her own, though I'll admit it looked weird on her. "So what do you want out of this?"
"I humbly ask if I may get something of a recommendation to Hope's Peak Academy. I aspire to be like my mentor Miaya Gekkogohara. I have no intention to be like those idiots who promote mindless violence. And honestly," she began to blush, "I kind of admire you."
That got me drawing a blank.
"Eh?"
"Please let me elaborate!" She almost begged before she composed herself. "You see, you and I, we are not that different from one another..."
"How so?" I asked.
"You remember the vision with the killing games?"
My eyes widened. She took that as a yes as she continued. "I'm from a timeline where the games happened and there were also two more that happened after the one known as V3.... I was in the final one, where, similar to Jabberwock Island killing game, we were on Utsuroshima, only, like the second killing game, it was also a simulation, but also with Sword Art Online features."
I felt my blood turn into ice at the implication. "Don't tell me.."
She nodded, her face haunted. "Yes. You die in the simulation, you also die in real life." She looked up. "I... was one of the victims.... I died.... by being froze to death... my hands and feet were also severed..."
I shuddered. That had to suck, and that is a gross understatement...
She nodded, her eyes shadowed with fear at the memory. "I was reborn in this world... and I have the voices of my fallen companions from the killing game inside my head, both the victims and the killers. Though now the ones who have killed are not malicious now. Even though they argue sometimes," she laughed without humor. Her duotoned crow nudged his head against her, offering some comfort.
I reached across the table to grasp her hand in mine. "I understand your pain, as you probably know, I have felt the sting of death... many times..." My hand drifted to my side, where I felt the death blow from the frenzied Kleavor that left a rather nasty scar on my side.
"While we may have come from different paths of life, I see that we can get along well. And our goals are alike so why not help one another? So what do you say?" I offered my hand to her. "Do we have a partnership?"
She stared at my hand for a moment. She then seemed to steel herself before she took her pale hand into my weathered and slightly scarred one.
"I believe we have a deal." Her duotoned crow, Monocrow, seemed to preen happily as he flew to the top of my head.
"Glad to see you are also on board, fellow feathered friend," I smiled up at him.
I turned back to Kokoro. "Welcome aboard, Mitsume-san."
She offered a smile back. "Call me Kokoro. I don't care for formalities."
"Fine by me. Then you shall call me Chifuyu. Let's work together."
She nodded. "Hai."
With that, we were ready for the bill.
After deciding to split the bill (even though we had a goodnatured argument over it), we walked out of Le Blanc cafe with smiles on our faces. Monocrow happily perched on her shoulder as Meowzie was back in her ball after a full stomach.
Unfortunately, our good time was put to an abrupt end when we felt the cold metal of a gun being pressed into our backs.
"Don't move or you will not like what will happen to you both."
AANNNDDD CLIFFHANGER!!
Well the MLA slaughter chapter is upon us, so let's have some fun with making their heads roll!
Also, thanks KaoTamashi for giving me permission to put your version of Kokoro in here! This is gonna be fun!
So yeah, a bit of filler before we jump into the next mini arc while everyone is distracted with the LOV kidnapping a UA student so this is the perfect opportunity for Chifuyu to strike back without getting busted for multiple homicides.
This is ArtVampire signing off!
Ja ne!