Tsuki POV
The final bell sounds as we all gather our things to go home for the day. I wave off to the girls as I exit the classroom, looking back after having the feeling of being watched to be met with a pair of familiar crimson red orbs following me from the other end of the room. Shrugging it off, I turn back around and continue to exit the classroom.
I direct my way down the large hallways until I stop myself at the doors to the design studio. Knocking as I invite myself in, I greet Mr. Power Loader while he works away at one of his latest creations. I continue my way through the workshop, following the noise until I find the two remaining students who are to blame.
I lean against the nearest wall looking to the first student. I see a girl around my age with pink hair and steam punk-like goggles in a black tank working away diligently, not even noticing my presence. The second being a young boy whom I know all too well.
"Hey squirt, come on and wrap it up. I'm walking you home today." I say, folding my arms.
"Alright just let me finish up real quick and we'll be good to go."
"Try not to take too long mkay? I've been craving boba all day so I was thinking we could get some on the way."
"Sounds good. Meet me outside, I'll be out in a few."
Jienni Shikaumo
Jienni is my 12 year old little cousin, although he's more of like the little brother I never had. Since I'm an only child, he's the closest I'll probably ever get to having a younger sibling or any sibling at this point. Because of this, it's pretty fair to say that we're super close.
He and I basically share the same quirk, but the only difference is that he's more of a human-wolf hybrid rather than feline. So he has very fluffy ears, a thick furry tail, sharp fangs, and long nails that he usually keeps cut short for his own convince. He also has enhanced abilities like me as well, but choses not to use them as much. Only when necessary. They do tend to come in handy here and there though when creating new things.
His Morph: Mutated quirk trait comes from his father Ritsu who is my mother's twin brother. Because they were twins, Ritsu shared the original Morph quirk with my mother Riya. Jienni's mother, Keina, is quirkless but she's extremely intelligent. She is one of the most well established inventors/engineers in all of Japan.
Like his mom, he's exceptionally intelligent and exceedingly observant; almost nothing gets by him. Because of this, he was able to secure himself a spot in the support course here at UA despite being 2 years younger than everyone else.
He's actually the one who came up with the design and created my retractable staff and tactical knives a few years back with the help of his mom since he was still fairly small back then. Because I know the quality of how well things are made coming from them, I asked him and Aunt Keina to create my hero suit too instead of having it made by some other agency.
I head on outside of the school and decide to wait for him in the courtyard. Searching the area for a place to relax, I settle on a nicely shaded cherry blossom tree. I set down my things and lean my back against the tree, resting my eyes for a bit. After a few more minutes I can hear someone coming out from inside the school.
"TSUKI!" he shouts from behind, grabbing my attention.
"Took you long enough," I yawn stretching my arms and flicking my tail. I remove myself from the ground, dusting off my skirt to remove any excess dirt and grab my belongings.
"Whatever punk. Let's just go already," he laughs. "You got me craving boba now."
We exit the gates and start on our way down the busy streets to the boba shop.
"It's only the first day of school and you've already started a new creation. I wouldn't expect anything less from you squirt," I say to him while ruffling his hair.
"Ughhh, stop that. I know you're only doing that to mess with me," he whines swatting my hand away.
"Only because I love you ya little runt. Now tell me about your new doohickey you were working on," I laugh.
"Well that so called 'doohickey' is a prototype of a new shock absorbing shield I've been wanting to make for a while now. When I'm finished it'll be able absorb the shock from any outside force, big or small, without any damages or recoil." He explains.
"Sounds pretty cool. You never cease to amaze me kiddo," I say patting him on the back. "Aside from that, how's your first day been?"
"It's been alright I guess. I did feel a little out of place here and there in the beginning since I'm younger than everyone and visibly smaller too. But, after while I made some new friends; a few in the support course and one in general studies. They were all pretty impressed by how I was able to get into UA at such an early age. Other than that, I was allowed to go down to the design studio for a while until it was time to go." He rants on.
"Well it looks like everything turned out pretty good for you, so I'm happy. I was sure I'd have to kick someone's ass today if they ended up being a bother to you, but it seems like everything worked itself out." I turn to him smiling.
"You're unbelievable," he chuckles.
"Whaaaat? I'm serious," I laugh. "I can't have anyone messing with you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you weren't ok."
We both stop when we make it to the boba shop and walk inside, going toward the counter to wait in line.
"I appreciate it Tsuk. I really do," he smiles at me. "So, you never told me how your day went."
"Oh right! Hmmm, let me see," I think back to today's events. "Well to start it off, I sort of went off on one of my classmates from waking me up from a nap. Then dad showed up in his sleeping bag which freaked everyone out for some strange reason. We ended up changing into our gym uniforms then and went outside for a quirk assessment test where I ended up in third overall. I made a few more girl friends along the way too, but I think that's really about it if we're just talking about the interesting things."
"NEXT IN LINE PLEASE."
The two of us move forward and I begin to order for the both of us, already knowing what Jienni wants.
"Hi, can I have two strawberry milk teas, a vanilla and a strawberry cake pop, and a blueberry muffin please?" I ask, reciting our order.
"Sure thing, that'll be 2,000 yen." The cashier states. (A/N: That's like 20 bucks in US dollars)
I reach into my backpack to retrieve my card and pass it to the cashier. She swipes it across the register before handing it back along with the receipt.
"If you'll just wait a few minutes, we'll bring it right over to you." She says, flashing us a smile.
We thank her and take a seat at one of the booths in the front.
"So let me get this straight," he starts.
"....."
"You went off on someone....because they woke you up from a nap?" He questions, his face showing little to no emotion.
"Yes but it wasn't just that. He kept nagging at me and other classmates too like an old granny, shit was getting annoying." I cross my arms pouting, mumbling the last part under my breath.
"You and Uncle Sho are one in the same," he says shaking his head.
"Yeah, but can you blame me?" I shrug.
"Here you go. Two strawberry milk teas, a vanilla and a strawberry cake pop, and a blueberry muffin." The cashier says, handing us our snacks and drinks.
"You guys have a nice day," she smiles as she walks away.
"You too," we say together.
"Come on, lets go." I say standing and grabbing my items.
We exit the shop, stepping outside and begin on our way to Jienni's house. As we near an alleyway, I begin to smell and oddly familiar scent that I can't seem to put my finger on.
"Do you smell that?" I ask in curiosity.
"Smell what?"
"I'm not sure, but it smells familiar."
When we're in front of the alleyway, I begin to follow the scent until I'm met with a stray cat with white fur.
'The cat is what I was smelling?'
I slowly kneel down to try an pet and it flinches backward, slightly frightened.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I apologize. "Here," I say reaching out my palm for it to sniff me.
After timidly sniffing my hand for a few moments, the cat finally nudges it's head against my hand allowing me to pet it. Upon closer inspection, I notice that the cat has blue eyes and a black patch of fur on its head in the shape of what looks like a sun.
"A sun huh?" I mumble to myself.
As it continues to slowly make it way to me in caution, I can see that it's limping due to it's back left leg being hurt.
I sit on the ground and search through my backpack until I find the tape my dad gave me to use to bandage my fingers when I practice with my knives.
I gently pick up the cat and sit it in my lap, still petting it to keep it calm. I motion for Jienni to slowly make his way over to us so he can keep it still as I tape up its back leg.
'I wonder if dad would mind if I kept it. Oh who am I kidding, he probably wouldn't give a shit. If it was up to him, we'd have a thousand cats at home already. Crash and Mochi probably wouldn't be too fond of a new friend though.'
Once I'm finished bandaging the cat's back leg, I set it down beside me scratching it behind its ear.
"There you go. Good as new," I say getting up from off the ground.
"Thank you," the cat says as it makes its way back down the alley.
I smile and join Jienni back at the sidewalk.
"I promise you're like the cat whisperer or something," he jokes.
"Well I mean....I am a cat myself," I say tickling him with my tail and laughing.
After walking a few more blocks, we finally make it to Jienni's house. He hangs up his key and we set down our backpacks as we make our way inside. I take off my shoes and place them by the door, Jienni soon following suit.
"Mom I'm home!" he shouts as we go further into the house.
"In the lab hon!" he eventually gets as a muffled response.
We follow the stairs down until we reach the outside of the lab. Looking in, we could see my aunt working away diligently at something on a workbench. Jienni places his hand on the security pad to scan his hand, granting us passage into the lab. As the doors slide open we step inside, walking our way over to where she is.
Keina Shikaumo
"Hey Aunt Kei. Where's Masako?" I ask looking around.
"Oh she's upstairs," she looks up pointing to a baby monitor, "I just put her down for her nap not too long ago."
Masako is the cutest little nugget ever. She's only 2 years old, but she's a very bright and very busy kid. Unlike Jienni and I, Masako didn't come out of the womb with animal features. So as far as we know she's quirkless, though it's still too early to tell. Quirks usually don't manifest until your like 4 or 5, or in some rare cases they manifest later on.
Masako Shikaumo
Jienni doesn't waste any time jumping in to help his mom with what she's working on and I can't help but smile at the fact. He's always so adamant to get to work creating new things, similar to how I am when it comes to training. The spark in his eyes tell it all. He's always had a knack for these kinds of things and I'm pretty sure he always will. I have no doubt in my mind that he'll be taken in by a company by the end of our first year from the way he works. He'll probably be able to create a company of his own by the time we graduate.
I'm proud of the kid.
"So how've you and Shota been? It's been a little while since you guy have last visted." Keina asks.
"I think he's doing ok for the most part, though it is kind of hard to tell here lately since I don't catch him at home as much anymore," I look up resting my hands behind my head. "He's been taking at lot more night patrols so he's usually gone by the time I get in."
I remain silent momentarily before turning my full attention to her.
"My classmates asked about mom today." I finally say.
"Really?" Jienni asks surprised.
"How're you holding up?" Keina questions in concern.
"Yeah. I didn't tell them too much though since it's still a pretty touchy subject to talk about," I start messing with my tail. "All in all I think I'm doing ok. I can't help but feel lonely at times though, especially when dad is working extra late at night."
"In addition to that, I can't help but feel some sort of emptiness inside of me for some reason. It's almost feels as if I'm missing something. I don't know why though. It's all just really strange to me." I consult, looking to her for a second opinion.
For a moment I'm almost sure I can feel her tense at the last part before catching herself and acting as if nothing had happened.
"Do you think it could be that you're missing your mom more than usual since your father isn't home as much anymore? I mean, it's only been a little over three years sweetheart."
"Hmmmm," I hum in thought.
'I mean, I guess she does have a point. That could be it.'
I decide not to look to much into it, before agreeing with her suggestion.
"Well aside from that, you guys should come by one night for dinner. I've been practicing some new recipes since I've had the time and it's been a while since we've all eaten together as a family," I remark.
"That's a great idea Tsu, we'd love to." She replies agreeingly.
"Oh, I also meant to ask. How has Uncle Ritsu been? It's like I've been seeing less and less of him as well. Are him and dad working on another case together or something?"
Ritsu Shikaumo
"Come to think of it, I think your uncle did actually mention helping your father out sometime tonight." Keina says thoughtfully.
'Again? They've been doing this for a while now. I wonder what's the reasoning behind it.'
Ritsu is more of a more "well known" and "out there" hero in contrast to dad, so the fact that they've been working together as frequently as they do strikes me as pretty odd.
Aunt Keina and I talk for a little while longer until I look down at my phone to check the time. Seeing that it'll get dark pretty soon, I order myself an uber to take me home.
"I oughta get going. The sun will be setting soon and dad doesn't like for me to be out after dark." I say heading toward the doors.
"Oh right, let me drive you," she offers.
"Thanks Auntie, but I don't want to be of any trouble. Plus I've already ordered an uber and I'm pretty sure Masako will be waking up soon. I don't want to make her cranky." I say turning down her offer.
"Okay. Be safe hon, love you!" She shouts as I exit the lab.
"Love you too!" I shout back in response.
By the time I put my boots back on and gather my things, my uber is waiting for me outside.
I climb into the backseat while telling the driver my address and we're on our way. Setting my backpack down in the seat beside me, I decide to play a game on my phone to pass time. After some time we eventually come to a stop, arriving in front of my house.
I thank the driver and pay him before exiting the vehicle, proceeding up the walkway to the front door.
Putting my key in and turning the knob, I open the door to be met with silence. I close the door after stepping inside, hanging up my keys, and taking off my boots.
I sigh, dragging myself through the living room, up the stairs, through the hallway, and into my room. I set my things down by the door and plop down on my bed, deciding to turn in early for the night.
Shota POV
As the sun sets and darkness creeps its way into the sky, I stealthily maneuver my way through the city. I roll up the sleeve of my suit to check the time as I dart across rooftops leaping from building to building, barely making a sound, until I finally reach my destination.
I stand atop a building looking out to the city below.
"It's almost eight-thirty. Where is he?" I say impatiently, waiting for my brother-in-law.
"I'm right here. Cool your wig." I hear a large winged shadow reply from above.
I look up to the sky to see him gliding down, landing on the building beside me. He morphs his wings away and comes over to stand by my side, joining me in looking to the city.
We've been tracking a group of villains for a while now who've been kidnapping people, conducting illegal underground fight clubs, and selling quirk serum.
Despite being on their case for years, putting their crimes to an end has proven to be no easy feat. Whoever the mastermind is behind this organization, they always seems to be three steps ahead of us no matter how much information we're able to get on them.
Riya was the only one able to come close to taking them down three years ago.
But...
We weren't quick enough.
By the time Ritsu and I came to back her up, they had already ended her life and fled the scene.
After that day they made sure not to appear at the same place more than once, making their patterns even harder to follow.
The whereabouts of their main base is still the biggest mystery of all.
"Any new leads?" I ask hopefully.
"Not at the moment, unfortunately." He responds.
"We have to be making some kind of progress. It's been nearly twelve years for fucks sake!" I say growing angry.
"We'll find her Shota," he reassures me.
"She's out there somewhere."
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Word count: 3251
•~•A/N•~•
Oooooo. Who do you think they're talking about???
I'm still trying to get out as many chapters as I can this month and part of next month as promised. My family and I are actually supposed to be moving houses within the next two weeks and I'm supposed to be packing right now, but that hasn't been happening😅. Instead I've been putting it off, writing new chapters and adjusting my notes. Priorities am I right😂? Anyways, I just wanted to give a huge thank you to you guys for all of the support I've been getting so far along the way. I wouldn't feel motivated to keep writing if it wasn't for you lovelies. I love you all and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!
Carter xoxo