A Festival from Another Side
It's early morning at the Katsuragi household. The sound of a box fan whirring comes from two bedrooms, one for Ashleigh and the other for Mio. An alarm buzzes loudly, waking up the older of the Katsuragi sisters. Mio's once still form starts to shuffle from beneath the thin sheet she had been covered by and crawls over to her phone to shut off the noise coming from it. With a groan, she picks herself up and starts on her morning routine. Preparing her clothes, getting nice and clean, and then heading to the kitchen to start on her breakfast. While she would normally cook herself something nice to eat, today she opts to go for a simple bowl of Popsy-O's.
Mio is tired. So very tired. Her work with the Enforcers has been a terror to her sleep schedule as of late. For almost the entirety of her summer break, Mio has been spending most of her sleeping hours decommissioning newly retired Enforcers, replacing their old memories with fake happy lives. While it was amazing practice for her to improve her memory creation and speed, it was simultaneously the most mentally exhausting thing she has ever done. The money was good, but this kind of schedule is running her ragged. She's so glad it's finally over. She's never been so happy for summer vacation to end. This was not how she wanted to spend her senior year—the year she thought was going to be one of the best of her life.
She places her food down at the dining room table and lazily glances across towards her sister, who was in the middle of eating her own. Still dressed in her sleepwear because Mio takes up the bathroom first in the mornings, Ashleigh keeps her head down and aimed at her plate. She was already resolved to endure another round of verbal torment... but nothing came. Mio's lack of sleep was really catching up now, and she doesn't have the energy to spare to dig into Ashleigh's memories of the last day. She's barely keeping her eyes open as is as she slowly shovels her spoon into her mouth. Her vision and focus keep fading, and her thoughts trail off in nonsensical directions as her body keeps trying to lull her to sleep once again. Every couple of seconds, she has to shake her head to stave off the next wave of drowsiness.
Ashleigh would normally be thrilled to have a peaceful morning without having to deal with Mio's normal attitude, but seeing her sister in her current condition did bring to mind a question she's had on her mind for a while now.
"You've been... out late a lot lately."
"None of your business."
Mio shuts her down quickly. She's already been told (read: threatened) not to speak of any of her work as an Enforcer to anyone unrelated to the operations, including family. Ashleigh's words help her shake out of her cycle of nearly falling asleep. She couldn't wait to get back to sleep, but she had to get up early, even though there wasn't any school. After all, today's the day of the Summer Festival! The festival itself didn't open to the public until later, but Mio and several other students from 3-D were going to help run a stall for a while, and so she needed to be there to make sure everything was in ship shape. She stretches, relieving some stress in her back, before looking back at her sister once again.
"Ash, you're going to the Summer Festival, right?"
Ashleigh looks up from her plate for a moment, only to look down right away once again. She shakes her head in the negative.
"That's just like you. What's your excuse? Scared of something?"
"No... I just don't want to go."
"Stop it. We both know you're lying. Tell me the real reason."
"I don't-"
"Now."
"...My yukata doesn't fit anymore."
Mio laughs, not trying to hide how dumb she finds her sister's reasoning.
"Is that really it? You just want to look good? That's not right. That's not you at all."
She takes a moment to eat another spoonful of cereal. She's not going to let it get too soggy if she can help it. Disgusting. She'd rather pour it down the drain than eat it when it's all mushy like that.
"This is about Imai, isn't it?"
Ashleigh doesn't respond, but her averted eyes and sudden movement tell Mio everything she needs to know.
"God, you're pathetic. Well, don't worry, Ash. You'll get a new one. Your blonde classmate will drop one off for you later in the day."
Her sister looks up, clearly confused about what Mio is talking about.
"Blonde... Bobby? No, Inigo? Wait, how could you possibly..."
Mio gives her a flat look that says what she's about to ask is so obvious that it isn't even worth asking. Ashleigh sighs and looks down again.
'Right. Of course Mio somehow knows that.'
"Anyway, since you'll be going to the festival, I need you to do me a favor, Ash. I need you to bring my yukata to me when you get there."
Ashleigh is about to just nod and accept the request without any fight, but at the last moment she decides to ask about it.
"You're not bringing it?"
"No. There's no way I'm going to risk getting my nice yukata dirty while setting up 3-D's stand. And before you ask, I'm not going to have it get wrinkled sitting in my bag for who knows how long. Just do this for me, and I'll repay you, okay?"
"...Repay me?"
Ashleigh's expression turns into a mix of disbelief, suspicion, and confusion. The question she wants to ask is clear as day, but Mio puts a finger to her lips and gives a coy smile.
"It's a surprise! You know I like surprising people. It'll be a good one, promise."
She lets out a long yawn and has to blink back the tiredness from her eyes once again. She quickly finishes off her breakfast and tosses the plastic bowl into the sink for later cleaning.
"Anyway, I'm off. I'll see you tonight, Ash. Bye bye!"
She grabs her purse and swiftly leaves in order to not miss her train. The door closes, leaving the bluenette sister once again alone with her thoughts. She knew she was going to have to bring Mio's yukata with her later; it was practically a forgone conclusion. If it was just that, it wouldn't be so stuck in her head. The part that's still got her mind clouded is the repayment Mio has promised her. Knowing Mio, she'll likely keep her promise, but the problem is what her older sister would consider "a good one".
Several Hours Later...
"Ganto, can I get two more clones, please? We have more orders coming in, and Lily just went out with Johanna to get more batter!"
Now this was more like it! The festival has arrived! Mio, now dressed in her yukata and running off the energy of a two-hour nap, is surrounded by her classmates of 3-D. Several of the more prominent members of the senior class have been coopted to help man the taiyaki stand at this year's Summer Festival. With Mio being the class representative, she was naturally expected to join in on this endeavor.
"I guess if I have to..."
From the corner of her eye, Mio can see her classmate starting to form more clones of himself using his quirk. It would take a few seconds for the clones to be ready, so she turns back towards the customer with her usual plastic smile burned onto her face.
"Your food will be right o-""HERE'S YOUR FISH, MISTER!"
Mio is nearly bowled over by another one of her classmates, who springs up right behind her with two taiyaki cakes still sizzling in his hands. The class rep has to quickly rip some paper towels off a nearby roll and pry her classmate's hands apart before he burns the customer.
"Enjoy your food, sir. Careful, it's hot."
"IT'S DELICIOUS!"
Mio's ear rings from the tiger mutant boy's loud voice being so close to her. She even has to cover her ears for that one. Once the customer has gotten his food and carefully carried it away, Mio looks up at her classmate with an expression that reads, "What am I going to do with you?"
"Jīnsè, come on! We agreed that you'd stay in the back and hand the food to me. You're taking my job!"
"Sorry! But making people smile should be EVERYONE'S JOB!"
She flinches back a little from his loud voice and lets out an exaggerated sigh. Shaking her head, Mio smiles up at her classmate.
"Okay, okay. You can help out handing out food if you want, but make sure it's cooled more first, okay? I don't want people to have to wear oven mitts to hold their taiyaki!"
"YES, MA'AM!"
Jīnsè gives her a quick two-finger salute before popping back inside the stall. Simultaneously, all the other seniors thought to themselves that this would not be the last time a near-burn would occur tonight.
Giving herself a mental reminder to keep an eye out for that, Mio turns back to the festival and sees a face looking at her from the front of the line that she was hoping wouldn't pop up tonight.
"Ah, Sandatsu! Good to see you again!"
The homeless member of "The Boys" has wandered his way over to the taiyaki stall for one reason or another. Mio smiles up at him and turns back to the other seniors.
"Everyone, this is Sandatsu, our kouhai from 1-D! I met him back when they asked to use the court about... Huh, it's been over two months now! Say hi, everyone!"
A few waves and voices come from inside the stall. Some friendly, a bunch of overlapping lazy ones, and a very loud "HELLO!" from the fryers. In return, Sandatsu just gives them a small nod, barely acknowledging them.
"So what brings my little kouhai over here, huh? Wanting to try some taiyaki, right? It's good!"
"Give me some money."
...
Mio just stares at him for a second, registering what he said. She couldn't just tell him off for asking for something so boldly... normally, anyway.
A fresh memory is formed in Sandatsu's mind. A clearly artificial one, given its contents. In it, he's sitting at his school desk, but instead of his normal classroom, it's one he's only seen in fake memories like these. The class is empty except for one other person. Mio is sitting at another desk facing his, but instead of looking like her normal self, she looks like a stylized cartoon version. Probably because it's less of a hassle to make.
The Memory Mio gives him a flat look and starts talking in an annoyed tone.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
It's something he's experienced before. Mio makes a memory in his head so she can say rude things to him in public. In practice, it's like a one-way communication system, as long as she's within range.
"Sorry, you need some money? What for?"
At the same time, the real Mio speaks with her fake cheery attitude. She can't let people think Sandatsu is just talking to her in a one-sided conversation, after all. That would look weird and suspicious.
"I want to play more games."
Memory Mio scoffs while Mio places a hand on her chin to think.
"Festival games? What are you, a child? You want to go win a goldfish so you can eat it for dinner later? Fuck off, you dirty beggar."
"Don't you have any money, kouhai? Spend it all on food and games already, huh?"
"I don't, so give me some."
"God, will you just lay down and die already? You look pathetic right now, you know. Everyone's looking at you like the dirty homeless piece of shit you are."
"Hmm... Well, I don't think I..."
An idea sparks in Mio's mind. One that will profit Sandatsu, but more importantly, profit her even more. She starts patting the front of her yukata as if looking for something.
"Well, I guess I can't just leave my kouhai high and dry like this. It's my responsibility as your senior to make sure you're having fun!"
A "THAT'S RIGHT!" yells out from within the stall. Mio's hand digs into her yukata, but she starts to pout.
"Ooh, I think Ash forgot to give me my money clip when she brought me my yukata. I'll have to go see if she has it on her."
Mio turns back towards Ganto with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry, Ganto. Can you have one of your clones run the front while I go find my sister? I'd really appreciate it."
"Yeah, yeah..."
He waves her off and starts making another clone to handle the busywork he doesn't want to do.
"You might want to take the rest of the night off. You look exhausted, Mio."
"Do I? Sorry if I worried you! I'll be sure to take it easy! Thank you so much, Ganto! I owe you one!"
As this exchange is going on, a new memory is implanted in Sandatsu's head. A map showing a location and the directions to get there is placed on his desk.
"I need you to get someone who looks weak and bring them here. Be there in fifteen minutes."
"I'll meet up with you when I can, kouhai! I'll see you soon!"
Mio steps out from within the stall and bows quickly before heading off into the crowds of the festival. Sandatsu, with nothing else to do, starts scanning the area for someone he thinks Mio would think looks weak.
In a spot outside the festival grounds, there's a small clearing in the trees. The sun was on the cusp of setting, so an orange hue blanketed the area (don't mind the colors of the image I couldn't find anything better so shut up). It's completely clear of people, aside from one girl who found it by chance while setting up for the festival.
Mio impatiently pulls out her phone to look at the time. She had told Sandatsu to meet her here in fifteen minutes, and it had already been twenty. Her eye starts to twitch.
'Who does this homeless shithead think he is making me wait like this?'
She was getting ready to get up and leave when she felt two minds enter the range of her quirk. Finally, it was time to get started.
"About time you showed up, you emo fuck! Do you know how long I've been..."
Mio's furrowed eyebrows crease even further in confusion and rising anger. While the person who appeared in front of her was Sandatsu, the thing he was carrying under his arm was pissing her off.
"Hey, slime toad. What's that?"
"You said to-"
"I know what I said. What is that?"
"A kid."
Yes, the thing Sandatsu was carrying was a scared looking little girl. She was shaking in every direction, trying to get away from her kidnapper. A piece of tape covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming for help.
"Yeah, it's a kid. Why the FUCK did you grab a kid? I legitimately cannot understand how one person can singlehandedly lower the entire population's average IQ like you do. When I said get someone weak looking, I didn't mean a little girl!"
Mio locks eyes with the child in Sandatsu's grasp. From the expression on her face, she wasn't sure how to feel about Mio, but their conversation had given her the clue that Mio was her only way out of this. She tried yelling through her tape and asking for help, but Mio ignored her. Instead, she reached into the girl's mind, going through her memories to see the events that had just occurred.
"At the very least, you made sure nobody saw you take her, so you haven't ruined everything yet. I meant that I wanted you to find someone who was below the level of a hero student. It's really not that complicated. How did you even expect me to get money from a kid, huh?"
Sandatsu looked down at the child under his arm that was desperately fighting against him. He blinked and looked back up at Mio with his usual unconcerned expression.
"Sell her?"
His tone was flat as he said that, which made the child's freak out session get more intense. She did everything she could to get him to let her go, flailing wildly.
"Great, you scared her even more. Please think for once in your life. You expect me to sell a kid this close to the festival? I'd need a buyer lined up for that. Give me the kid, and I'll get her squared away. How about you do your brooding loner routine you love so much, huh? Anything to get you to stop fucking talking and making it worse."
"I don't think I can trust you with a kid."
"Yeah, you're the arbiter of morality alright. I'm just going to fix up her head and bring her back to the festival. Drop her."
Sandatsu shrugs and literally drops the child, letting her flop onto the dirt without warning. The child immediately tears off the tape from her mouth and darts towards Mio, thinking the short girl will be her savior. Before she can reach Mio, she slows down her dash until she's standing still in front of Mio, her expression blank and eyes unfocused.
"Okay, now go find a weak adult who has money if you actually want to get somewhere with this. If that's too hard, maybe we can switch to a different activity that's more your level, like talking about what your favorite flavor of crayon is."
"I'm partial to red."
"Get the fuck out of here. We need a new meeting place now because we don't want to raise suspicion. Meet me... here in twenty minutes. If you're even a second late, I'm reporting you for kidnapping, and I wouldn't even need to forge anything."
Mio beams an image of a location and route into Sandatsu's memories. Without a word or second glance, he walks away towards the festival grounds once again. Meanwhile, Mio constructs a new set of memories about how a kid wandered off and got lost in this part of the forest. Then it was a simple matter of walking the very grateful child back to the festival and reuniting her with her worried parents.
The new location was not as good as the first by nature of being a backup spot. A short walk away from the festival grounds and into the city proper was a children's park that was currently empty. In the corner of the park was a small public bathroom, in which Mio waited on the female side.
It wasn't long before she could feel people approaching once again, and a quick cursory look into their heads confirmed it was Sandatsu and someone of appropriate age. The two stand outside the bathroom for a few moments, quietly talking to each other before they head in. First comes Sandatsu, and right behind him was a young adult man in his mid-20s with a red yet excited face.
Immediately, the man stops in his tracks, and his expression goes blank. His red face slowly starts to turn to its usual pallid hue. Without a word, Mio walks up to him and plucks his wallet out of his pocket. Sandatsu takes the opportunity to wave his hand in front of the man's face.
"You did that to the kid too."
"Surprisingly observant for a slug. I'm erasing his memories as they're being formed, so he's stuck like this without being able to really think about what's happening to him. And before you say anything, no, I can't use it in a fight. People who have good enough instincts and reflexes can act on them. Anyone worth talking about wouldn't be beaten by this. That's why I wanted you to grab a schmuck like this guy."
"Alright. Didn't ask."
Mio shoots him a glare and starts to check on the man's memories. She touches upon his most recent ones to make sure Sandatsu hadn't messed up again somehow, and that's when she paused. Her expression curls into one of loathing.
"What the FUCK!? That's what you told him to get him to come here!? That's so fucking disgusting!"
Sandatsu hadn't been paying attention, simply passing the time by looking through the female bathroom with this rare chance to be in a place most men have never been. He was messing around with the toilet when Mio yelled at him.
"It was what I could think of to make him want to go into the girl's bathroom. He looked like the kind of guy to go for it."
"...If you weren't absolutely correct, I'd smash your face into the sink and drown you in it. You're both still putrid degenerates. That memory is definitely getting changed."
"So you wouldn't have done it?"
"NO!"
"Shame."
"SHUT UP!"
Mio growls at him and turns back to the stunlocked man. She was just about to wipe out those filthy memories from his head and start reconstructing new ones, but she hesitates. It would be so easy. A simple story about coming over to help Mio get part of her yukata unstuck from under a car's tire. Inconspicuous, and she could even move the times in his head a little just in case.
But that was so... boring.
"Alright, if we're doing this, we're doing it my way."
Mio puts the man's wallet back into his pocket, still full of money. She then starts to dig further into his head, diving in to find something juicy she could work with.
"Hmm... Gross. Gross. Gross. Gross. A lot of gross stuff, but nothing- Ah! There we go! That'll be perfect! Oh, do you think he'll cry? I hope he cries. He looks like a crier."
A bright smile appears on Mio's face, and her voice becomes genuinely excited. She presses her hand against her head and pushes into her temple, causing something to start popping out. With a pull, she plucks out a small external storage device from her head, and it lands in her hand. Without missing a beat, she plugs the device into her phone.
"Hey, dog breath. Just stand there and brood. If you say anything to mess this up, you're not getting a single yen. You don't even have to watch if you don't want; I don't care."
Sandatsu just shrugs and turns his attention back to the bathroom, uninterested in what she is doing. Mio releases the man's mind and watches his eyes focus once again. They lock onto Mio immediately, and his face starts to turn red again.
"A-Are you-"
"No. I'm afraid you've been lied to. Sorry, Mr. Chabashira, but the real reason we've brought you here is to talk about this."
Mio directs her phone's screen towards the man's face and presses play on the video. Immediately, his eyes dilate, and the color drains from his face. It was like he was looking at the executioner's axe falling down onto him. Mio's smile turns sinister.
This was going to be fun.
After some time, a grown man rushes out of the woman's restroom in an abandoned park, tears streaming down his face. Soon after, he's followed by a tall teenager and a miniature one.
"Bye bye, Mr. Chabashira! I'll be sure to check on you next week!"
He only lets out a sorrowful wail as he runs away with all his might. Inversely, Mio was positively glowing. It was like she just came out of a luxury spa, having been able to have her form of fun for the first time in a long while. In her hands, she held 10,000 yen. It was all the man had on him for tonight, and now it was all hers. Well, theirs. Remembering her little agreement with Sandatsu, Mio hands him 2000 of it and tucks the rest into her yukata.
"Our cut is different."
"You fucked up once already, and I did more work than you. Cry about it and try harder next time. See ya~"
Still in her fantastic mood, Mio returns to the festival once again to enjoy herself with her new little bonus of wealth. As for now, she decides to head towards one of the stalls that acts as a mini shrine, offering fortunes for free. Mio isn't superstitious, but a lot of the other girls from 3-D had talked about getting one and showing it off later, so she might as well grab one while it's nearby and on her mind.
There was just one little issue with all of that.
"Why are you following me?"
Even after getting to the festival, Sandatsu hadn't gone off on his own, instead going wherever Mio was. She looks over her shoulder at him, squinting a bit in confusion and suspicion.
"Because it annoys you."
Now back in public again, Mio is forced to act sweet once again. But then again, she was feeling good, so it wasn't all that hard right now. She giggles, pretending Sandatsu's words were just a joke.
"No need to be shy, my little kouhai. Do you want to hang out with your senpai that much?"
"Weren't you going to play your little games? What, do you need someone to hold your hand so you don't get lost? Good. Get lost."
Memory Mio has her legs kicked up onto a desk in front of her. She doesn't look towards him and makes a "shoo shoo" motion with her hand in a dismissive manner. It could go without saying that Sandatsu ignored that, but I said it anyway.
The fortune stall is free (they asked for donations but were not required), but it limits people to one pull per person. No take-backs or redos. There's no scamming the Gods here; only luck will tell your fortune.
Mio, acting like the friendly and cheerful class rep, takes a moment to give a small donation to the stall. While she's busy doing that, Sandatsu cuts in line and pulls out the fortune that was going to be for her. Mio side-eyes him as he does so but doesn't say anything about it. She restrains herself from rolling her eyes and simply takes the next fortune available.
Sandatsu takes a few steps away from the stall as he stares at the piece of paper in his hand. He's curious about what these fortunes are all about, so he unfolds his and looks blankly at the words written within.
Misfortune.
"Oh, that's unlucky! Well, better luck next time, kouhai!"
He looks up at Mio again. She's got her fortune held up near her face with an infuriatingly smug expression. Knowing what he was going to ask, she flips around her fortune for Sandatsu to see.
Great Blessing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's what you get, you gross worm! Thanks for taking the bad lot! Hoping my good luck will rub off on you? TOUGH SHIT, LOSER! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
Memory Mio rolls around on the ground, pointing and laughing at him wickedly. Sandatsu looks at his fortune once again, and in the next moment, it bursts into flames and turns to embers. Said embers dance in the air for a moment before they touch Mio's fortune as well, and she has to toss it before the fire can get to her. Despite nearly being burned, Mio puts on an awed expression.
"Wow! What a flashy trick! It's like one of those you'd see from a magician!"
Of course, Memory Mio was not nearly as cheery.
"Hey, asshole! Watch what you're doing! If I find even a single strand of my hair is singed, you're going to be paying for my haircare for the next month!"
"Oops."
Memory Mio grits her teeth while pulling out a gun and pointing it at him.
"'Oops'? The fuck you mean 'Oops'? You did that shit on purpose! You are, bar none, the worst liar I've ever met. I've met animals that are more convincing than you."
With the shrine's dumb rule of one pull per person, she can't show the fortune to her classmates directly. She'll just have to make a photo from her memories later. She turns away and starts to shuffle off quickly to avoid having to be around Sandatsu anymore. He follows anyway.
"Still following me, huh?"
"Yep."
"...Okay. Well, I'm gonna get something to eat."
Mio spins, turning towards a particular stall she's had her eye on. There is a colorful array of sweet treats displayed in front to show off their product to anyone passing by. Mio pulls out a little bit of the money stashed in her yukata and approaches. She takes a moment to decide what she wants to snack on. She could get a cup of shaved ice or some sweet potato sticks... but in the end, she settles for a different treat. She hands over 1000 yen and is handed a chocolate-covered banana on a stick. It's pricey, but it's festival food, so it comes with the territory.
She walks away from the stall, and Sandatsu once again follows her. She doesn't say anything about it this time, as she's decided to pretend he doesn't exist. She uses one hand to brush some stray hair away from her face and takes a few quick licks to test the quality of the chocolate. Watching this, Sandatsu begins to feel something bubbling within him. The sight of Mio carefully licking at the tip of the banana is making him feel...
"Can I have some of that?"
...hungry. One of those bananas would cost half of his current budget, so he'd rather have some of Mio's instead. She continues to ignore him, perfectly content to pretend she can't hear him.
"Hey, give me a bite."
He pokes at her head, adamant about getting a piece of her treat. No longer able to simply snub his existence because of his continual prodding, Mio sighs and shakes her head.
"No way, silly! Come on, I already licked it. We can get you back in line if you want to buy your own. I gave you some money, didn't I?"
"If you're just going to beg for food, drop dead and leave me alone."
As if expecting her answer, Sandatsu has already planned what he is going to do next. Looking down at her food, he carefully lines up his shot and spits directly on Mio's treat.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Can I have it now?"
Mio's expression doesn't shift at all, but her eyes burn with rage. Her hand is clenching the stick of the banana so tightly that her knuckles turn white, and the stick snaps under her grip. Then she gives him a small smile.
"You know what? Sure."
"Oops."
Mio lets go, dropping the banana onto the dirt at her feet. She reaches into her yukata and pulls out a wet wipe to clean her hands.
"Go ahead. Eat it off the ground like the hog you are."
Sandatsu looks down at the banana on the ground. Dirt was already clinging to its sticky side. Without hesitation, he reaches down, picks it up, and starts to eat it.
"Ew! Kouhai, no! That's filthy!"
Mio's expression curls into surprise and revulsion. She starts to back away from him before taking off on her own. Surprisingly, Memory Mio remains perfectly calm.
"You know, if it were anyone else, I'd enjoy seeing them eat my scraps from the ground. When it's you, though, I'm repulsed. How about you come back when you have the tiniest shred of dignity?"
She then flips him the bird, and as Mio gets out of range of her quirk, she fades away. Sandatsu shrugs, taking another bite of his free meal before walking off towards the festival games.
Seems he got pretty lucky after all.
Night has fallen upon the festival grounds. Paper lanterns hanging from almost every stall light up the festival, refusing to die down until everyone's gotten their fill of fun and excitement.
After Mio had lost the boy who had been latched to her side for the last hour, she's been free to enjoy the festival on her own for a while. She got another snack for herself (goya, yum!), showed her face to more of her classmates, and got stuck talking to some of them for a while.
Currently, she is alone once again, freed from her obligations. She's simply wandering at this point, wondering what she could do next to pass the time before the fireworks show. It was still a bit away, so she's considering either getting something bigger to eat for dinner or possibly going over to the games area to mess with people trying to win prizes. Both have their merits, but in the end, neither option wins out. Instead, her decision changes the moment she sees two people in particular.
Her little sister and her friend, Imai. A smile blooms on Mio's face. She had almost forgotten the promise she had made to her sister. The two were away from the rest of their class, wherever they were. And so Mio approaches them with a bounce in her step.
"Hey, Ash! There you are!"
The two of them startle at her voice. Imai is usually much more observant than this, so he must have been quite... distracted by something. They both look at her, Ashleigh's skin paling a little and Imai's expression tightening subtly.
"...Mio-senpai."
"Hey, Imai~ Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I wanted to spend a little time with my sister."
He and Ashleigh glance at each other. It was obvious they were having one of their little mental conversations. Mio could envision what was going on between them in those sparse moments.
A chibi Imai and a chibi Ashleigh appear in the center of a stage, and spotlights cast their lights upon them. Chibi Ashleigh is crouched down, hands on the floor, in despair. Chibi Imai kneels down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Ashleigh, my beloved. Please, you do not need to do this."
"But... I must."
Chibi Ashleigh puts a hand to her head and cranes her neck back to look up at Chibi Imai.
"If I do not, I fear the worst will happen upon me once I reach home. I... I must go along with that witch. It's the lesser of two evils."
"Then let me go with you!"
Chibi Imai takes Chibi Ashleigh's hand into his own, his eyes burning as he stares into hers.
"If I am there, I can protect you from that vile evil!"
"You mustn't! If you were to come too, my sister would only make it worse! Please... I must do this alone..."
Chibi Ashleigh droops, placing her hands onto the floor once more in a classic orz position.
"What a tragedy... Very well, but remember... I am always here with you... in your heart!"
"Imai!"
"Ashleigh!"
"Alright, I'll be around when you're done."
"Thank you, Imai! I promise we'll be back in time for the fireworks show. I know you don't want to miss those, right?~"
Her words don't get a reaction from him, but they do from Ashleigh. She averts her gaze and looks to the ground before moving over to Mio's side.
'He puts up a strong front, but my little sister is dragging him down in this regard. How... pitiful.'
"Come on, Ash! Let's go play a game together!"
She doesn't wait for a response before she grabs her sister's arm and lightly pulls her along. Ashleigh takes one more look at Imai before continuing with Mio. She doesn't say anything, unsure what she should even be saying in this position. Before she realizes it, they're standing in front of a stall that's running a ring toss game.
"We'd like to play, please! It's on me!"
Mio retrieves some more money from within her yukata and hands it to the stallholder, getting three rings in return. She hands them over to Ashleigh, a bright smile on her face.
"I wanted to repay you, remember? After you brought me my yukata. Thanks again, Ash."
Ashleigh looks at the rings in her hands, clearly confused about what kind of game Mio was playing by... trying to get her to play a game. Her eyes glance over to Mio's smiling face for a moment before she turns towards the ring toss. It's a simple concept: throw the plastic rings onto small pillars on the floor, with the further back rings representing better prizes. Just as she was about to toss her first ring...
"Aim for the one in the back."
Memory Mio is placed in her head. Sitting across from Ashleigh at a table very similar to the one at their home, Memory Mio stands up from her seat and approaches her.
"The pillar in the back. The most difficult one. Aim for that one."
Ashleigh holds back a sigh and half-heartedly tosses her rings one by one at the furthest pillar. None of them come even close.
"...Thanks, Mio. Can I-"
"More rings, please!"
Mio ignores what her sister is about to say, paying for another chance at the game. She smoothly hands over the rings to Ashleigh once again, her smile still ever-present. Ashleigh kind of wants to deny her, but she can tell her sister is in one of her moods, so it was best not to.
She tries and fails again, and Mio gets her more rings before she can excuse herself.
"Mio... don't... you want to try?"
"No, I'm good. Thank you, though!"
"This isn't about me. This is about you. Do it again. You use a whip. I know you have a good arm. Use it."
Ashleigh holds back a nervous sigh, feeling the pressure from her sister. However, Mio isn't threatening her or messing with her head yet, so she feels like it would be an overreaction to try to say anything to Imai. She doesn't want to bother him with nothing.
She tries again and again, getting more frustrated about her inability to make the shot as she goes on. It felt like she just couldn't do it. But despite that, on her eleventh attempt, Ashleigh's last ring hooks against the furthest pillar and falls, winning her the largest prize.
"There you go! Nice one, Ash! I knew you could do it!"
"Now doesn't that feel good? To rise up and overcome things on your own, without any help? Without having to lean on someone else as a crutch?"
Ashleigh is handed her prize, a huge stuffed toy in the shape of some cartoon character from a kid's show she's too old to have seen. She nervously looks towards Mio, anticipating what comes next.
Mio starts to gush about the large toy her sister had won, examining the details of it. Memory Mio takes a few steps back, taking another seat, before looking Ashleigh dead in the eyes.
"This is my way of repaying you: a lesson from your big sister. Let me word it in a way... one of your teachers would put it. When you get knocked down, you have to stand back up stronger. You've never been good at that. When you get knocked down, you stay down and cry, wishing someone would help you."
She stands up again, her voice rising in volume as she does.
"You don't NEED help. You can get stronger by yourself. Take the ring toss. If you were here with one of your classmates, what would have happened once you started getting upset about not being able to win? They'd either win it for you, or they'd tell you you did your best and move on."
She walks a few steps to the side, leaning against the table.
"You'd learn nothing. You wouldn't get better. You would stagnate. And the worst part is that you'd be okay with that. You've always been willing to settle for mediocrity or worse. Your ambitions end at the level of being a sidekick who doesn't get in the way."
She stands up straight again and walks away, starting to fade as she does.
"But at the end of the day, when everything is over and done with... deep down inside... is that what you really want?"
"...I know it isn't."
Ashleigh isn't sure how to respond to all of that. She looks at the prize she has won, contemplating a lot of things. Mio pats her on the shoulder lightly, her movements bouncy and excited.
"Hehehe~ You can go ahead and give that to your boyfriend or whatever. I hope you consider my favor repaid. I'm going to go..."
Mio's eyes lock onto a certain stall, one she hasn't noticed before. Someone has set up a big prize for whoever can correctly guess how many pieces of candy are inside his giant jar. The prize? A trip to a mountain resort in Hokkaido! There are bound to be many tricks hiding inside that jar to prevent people from calculating how many were inside, but all of them would be useless in the face of Mio. If she just read the proprietor's memories, it'd be a cinch for her to get it exactly right without even having to try.
Mio's smile widens, and she steps towards the stall. Then, in the next moment, her smile starts to fade. Her eyes flicker around the area, taking in every detail that stands out to her. Shadows that don't align well with the various sources of lighting. Incongruent sources of sounds. Edges that are a bit too sharp around the corners. A lot of tiny things that normal people wouldn't notice. Hell, even a lot of pros might not have noticed them. But for the girl who just spent most of her summer break constructing years worth of memories from scratch?
'What is this, amateur hour?'
Mio blinks, and the illusion shatters. The stall she thought was there is nowhere to be seen. It's all fake. Not only that, but she had taken more steps forward than she realized. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices several other festivalgoers walking in the direction she was about to. Not to mention that one blonde classmate of her sister's was hurriedly heading off that way as well.
"Mio?"
"Ashleigh, go on ahead. I have something else to do."
Without another word, Mio walks away from her sister, leaving her confused. As for Mio, she could smell a juicy secret she needed to dig her nose into.
Mio does her best to stalk behind her sister's classmate. She's not what anybody would call stealthy, but thankfully, Inigo is much too distracted following after the tranced festivalgoers. She's also not fast, especially in a yukata (don't even get me started on the geta), so if it wasn't for the glowing green dragon sitting on his shoulders, she likely would lose him. Mio sticks behind the tree lines as she follows him to a pond on the outskirts of the festival grounds. She lowers herself into a sneaky spot behind some bushes to watch the events unfold.
Honestly, she couldn't help but get her hopes up about whoever was controlling these people. It was an interesting quirk—preying on people's weaknesses to control them... It sounds familiar, doesn't it? And at last, the man of the hour reveals himself: a white-haired man with golden eyes wearing an equally golden kimono who has a... similarly golden dragon by his side. Right when she was about to listen in on their conversation, someone enters her range.
She was on them in an instant, diving into their memories, but... ick. Their memories were so... gross to get through. If a normal person's memories are like a book, this... thing's are like if someone tore out half the pages, glued them back in, tore out the other half, stapled them onto the first half, and then threw the book into a lake and let it sit at the bottom for ten years. Mio could still look around in them, but it was not an enjoyable experience. Still, she had to do it quickly to gauge the intentions of whoever it was that was approaching her position. She pushes her quirk to its limit to rush through the most recent pages of the mucky book. It's a big strain on her mind, but a necessary one.
Mio blinks.
This was... a case very high on her list of the most bizarre sets of memories she's ever encountered. Definitely top 5. The thing approaching her changes personalities practically on a day-by-day basis, so it was hard to piece together what was going on in its head. That's in addition to all the times it speaks in languages she doesn't know. From what she could gather, however, it was currently not in a mood to fight or kill. If anything, it was legitimately just curious about what was going on here. It was basically just a bystander at this point.
"What you watching?"
Mio turns her head around to see what she knew was coming: an enormous blue demon of a man standing behind her. When he emerged from the brush and looks down on her, a hint of familiarity came to him.
"Tiny one has not been eaten yet? Better at surviving than Drekus first thought."
He then turns his attention to the Dai-Icchi brothers and the spat they're going through.
"Spying on people not nice. Drekus knows because Drekus does it."
"Shush. Crouch down before we're both seen."
"-to kill you and your friends, I would've done so already. Our eldest brother will be coronated soon. I want you to join me in my claim as heir. I even left my pawns at home as a courtesy. I come to you-"
"What the fuck? What a letdown. This was just because of family bullshit?"
"Why you look sad?"
Mio's eyes flick over to... Drekus. Yeah, its name is Drekus... kind of. It's a lot to unpack, and now's not the time. Since he wasn't going to do anything, Mio had been intending to ignore him. However, with the payoff she was looking forward to being such a disappointment, she didn't really have anything better to do. And it wasn't like she needed to be nice to whatever this thing was. If she offended it, she could just wipe that little memory out before it could realize it. The big blue thing lowers itself down near Mio to hide as well.
"Ugh, you smell like you just dragged yourself out of the sewer."
"That exactly right. Ball-shaped girl has good nose."
Drekus nods approvingly, which only makes Mio roll her eyes. She quickly moves further away from him to avoid catching his stink.
"I was hoping the gaudy golden boy over there would be more my speed. Instead, he's... well, look at him."
"Drekus does think he overdressed for the occasion. Kimono is not made for summertime festival."
"Not that. I-"
"NEVER CALL ME THAT!"
Mio looks back over to the scene to see that Luccione has taken a hostage in the form of a little girl she had seen not too long ago. First getting kidnapped by an Enforcer, and now a Yakuza?
"Oh hey, it's that girl. She's got some real rotten luck today."
"Small child your friend?"
Mio looks at Drekus for a moment before looking back at the hostage. The panicked and terrified girl was inches from being shredded to pieces by Luccione's construct. And yet...
"No."
"Our legacy may be tainted, but that doesn't mean we have to follow its path. I WILL CHANGE THINGS!"
They watch as Inigo rescues the small girl from his brother and announces that reinforcements are coming.
"Smiling boy have good heart."
"How incredibly cheesy of him."
"Cheesy? If smiling boy's heart cheesy, maybe Drekus try a bite later."
"If you weren't... you, I would think you were making fun of me. As is, I don't think you're even capable of it."
"Drekus doesn't like making fun of people. Sometimes bad voices do, but not Drekus."
"...I'm not commenting on that."
When the two look again, Inigo and Luccione take off into the sky and out of earshot. Mio lets out a frustrated huff and squints her eyes to try to see what's happening.
"Dammit, I can't tell what's going on anymore."
"Here, use this. Drekus doesn't mind sharing."
Mio looks at Drekus' hand to see him holding out a pair of binoculars. She looks up at him, then down to the binoculars again.
"...Why you would bring those here? You know what? Never mind. It's probably for something disgusting I don't want to know about. Anyway, I'm not touching those. You look at them and tell me what's going on."
"Good idea. Too big for ball-shaped girl's eyes. Drekus will commentate."
Mio's eye twitches, but she bites her tongue at his comment and watches as he puts on the binoculars to see the action.
"..."
"..."
"...So? What's going on?"
"They go above clouds. Drekus can't see them."
"AAUUGH!"
Mio picks up a rock and throws it into a tree to vent her frustrations. This whole trip over here has been for nothing! Disappointment after disappointment! How worthless! She may as well just leave now. She stands up from her spot but immediately ducks down again once she sees people coming.
Nearby, the students of 1-D make their appearance and begin their rescue mission to pull the drowning festivalgoers out of the pond. Mio had almost forgotten those people even existed for a while there. As for those events, they could mostly be skipped over.
The teleport guy teleported, the floaty girl floated, and the gun girl shot her guns in the air like a school quirker. All basic stuff, really. There wasn't that much coordination, but it was a minor emergency anyway, so it didn't matter.
What was interesting to watch was how some people were being snapped out of their states of pseudo brainwashing by Imai's mental pushes and by Ashleigh's memory erasing. Imai was able to get more people freed quickly, but Ashleigh was able to cover large swathes of people at a time as long as they were lined up right. By her count, Ashleigh was a bit ahead of Imai in terms of how many people they addressed.
"What tiny girl smiling at?"
"Hm? I'm smiling? Oh, I guess I am. Don't mind it."
Her eyes drifted, watching the people waiting to be freed by Ashleigh's quirk. They kept trying to walk into the pond to drown, and were being corralled by a bunch of the students with nothing else to do, like the lightbulb kid, the gooks, and... Sandatsu.
"Smile gone."
"Did it? I guess it did. Why aren't you watching the skies for those two?"
"Ah, Drekus wanted to tell you that he sees smiling boy and golden boy again."
"You did? Why didn't you say so earlier? Come on, tell me what's happening!"
"Ball-shaped girl shouldn't be so demanding. Did parents not teach you manners? Drekus' mother would put him in a box for a week if he was rude to guests."
"Ugh. Never mind, I'll do it myself. Just keep watching."
Mio dips into Drekus' memories for a slightly delayed view of what was going on in the air. It still felt yucky to touch his mind like this, but she was willing to tough it out for now. Honestly, she wasn't really invested in the backstory behind their fight anymore. Luccione already turned out to be a disappointment. She was hoping to see someone get their head cut off, beg for their life, or do something else interesting.
A clash of claws, the two grappling, and the roars of furious dragons. It was pretty showy. Inigo got the upper hand over his brother, squeezing him tightly.
"Come on, make his eyes pop out!"
And then... Inigo went catatonic. He slumped and fell unconscious. Then his brother just grabbed him and started flying away with no fanfare.
"Drekus can't see smiling boy or-"
"Oh come on! That was so anticlimactic! God, Luccione sucks! What a lame villain!"
Mio huffs and throws her hands up in anger. This was all such a letdown and a waste of time. She was not going to spend even a single moment longer hiding behind a bush next to a smelly blue thing. Making sure she was still hidden from the students of 1-D, Mio gets up and starts to walk away.
"Ball girl leaving? Drekus find something else to do too."
"I could not care less about what you do next. Also, never go near my house again. I hope I never see you again in my life. Toodles!"
Mio continued to walk for a few minutes, still brewing in her anger. She was in no hurry now, so she was taking her time. She didn't want to hurt her feet running in geta. When she got back, she could waste some more time around the festival, watch the fireworks show, and finally head home after this headache of a day.
She held back a yawn, trying to fight back the exhaustion that was trying to tell her to sleep. She shook her head, not willing to listen yet. She still has stuff to do, so she wasn't going to just get up and take another nap yet. Another yawn bubbles in her throat, and she can't fight it. She yawns, feeling her eyes struggle again. She needs a distraction, and soon.
CRASH!!!
As if God himself were answering her wishes, a loud impact slams against the ground further into the forest. Mio's anger starts to fade a bit. She isn't exactly sure what made that noise, but she has hopes. She takes off as well as she can through the forest towards the landing site.
It was easy to tell when she was near. Moonlight was appearing from between the trees, and there was no wildlife willing to be near this area right now. Mio slowly gets closer and closer. She didn't need to be that close; she just needed...
A mind enters her range. Another couple steps forward, and so does another. Perfect. She was still quite a ways away, but she's gotten what she needs.
'Itadakimasu!'
She starts diving into their memories, soaking up all of what happened. Luccione was beaten bad. Unconscious now, with Inigo standing as the winner. Inigo had been enraptured by Luccione's quirk, being shown an idiotic version of his ideal future. Some sappy "everybody wins" scenario that had all his friends and family in it and-
Wait.
What was that?
Mio rewinds the memory, watching through it again. Right there, next to Sandatsu. He was laughing with a... a talking ball?
...
...
...
Was that supposed to be her!? Luccione, what the fuck!? And how was that not the detail that tipped off Inigo that it was fake!? She was being ridiculed. By some stupid fucking Yakuza punk. That is the last straw. Mio has finally had enough of this pompous golden boy loser. He wasn't even able to beat the "Skyterror". God, what an idiotic villain name. A joke in and of itself, but that's not what matters to her right now.
'Well how about this, Luccione? Let's have some fun in your head, huh? Let's see, how about a cringey high school memory to haunt you for a while? Yeah, that's not good enough. Here you go. Now you'll think you've been pissing the bed for the last week and had to get it cleaned discreetly. That'll make him freak out for the next couple of mornings. Oh, and how about...'
It was just some petty revenge from a girl he'd never even met before, but it started to make her feel better. She made sure not to go overboard. Nothing that would cause any reason to suspect anything. Just a bunch of small things, really.
She knows it's time to leave when she hears Inigo make a call on his cell phone. With fucking Desolator of all people about to show up, she could not be anywhere near here anymore. While she'd normally love to make a connection with someone like that, she was much too tired to play the mental chess necessary to do that. And with her current ties to the Enforcers, there's the possibility he already knows who she is and considers her a threat.
Oh well, maybe next time. For now, she's had her fun. It's time to go back to the festival for the last time. She hopes she didn't pass anyone on the trip back, but she didn't feel anyone enter her range at the very least, so that's something.
It's the grand finale of the Summer Festival: the fireworks show. Instead of being with the people she says are her friends, Mio is hanging back behind the rest of the festivalgoers, sitting down on the grass and leaning against a tree. Her lack of sleep is catching up with her again, and her eyes continue to droop every few seconds. Her body is demanding rest, but she only needs a little while longer before she heads home and gets to bed.
This was one of the few days she was actually able to go out and enjoy herself all summer break, so she wasn't going to let her own body ruin it. Now if only the fireworks would start already!
And then, a means of distracting herself from her tiredness appears from within the trees. Sandatsu pops out from behind her and stands beside Mio without saying anything. She considers staying silent as well, but if things continue in that direction, Mio would likely fall asleep. And so she's the one to start the conversation. With them being so far behind everyone, she's able to keep their conversation private as long as she keeps her voice down.
"Nice toy. Win that with your stolen money?"
She motions towards the small stuffed cat he had stuffed into the eri of his yukata. Sandatsu looks down at it as if he had forgotten he even had it. Then he pulls it out and holds it towards Mio.
"What? No, I don't want some dumb toy. You probably shoved it down your pants or something disgusting like that to mess with me."
"I'd probably stuff it with shit instead."
"Even worse than I thought. Keep it away from me."
He tucks the stuffed animal away again. Mio huffs, shifting her sitting position a bit to be more comfortable.
"Have fun playing hero for the day?"
"...Playing?"
Mio gives him a viciously smug grin.
"Yeah, playing. Come on now. We both know you're not really a hero. Not after everything you've done. Forget being a hero, you're more like an attack dog with a really short leash."
Sandatsu turns his head over towards Mio, his expression as neutral as always.
"Better than you, who sits on their fat ass all day and blackmails people."
Mio narrows her eyes at the boy in front of her. Her smile remains, but it's quickly turning into a scowl the longer they talk.
"Okay, first of all, my ass is perfect. Second, I know I'm better than some wild animal who's barely smart enough to respond to their own fucking name."
"Weakling."
"You're a lunatic whose mommy issues are so bad you're probably asking her permission to yank one out every night."
"Cunt."
"Mooch."
"Midget."
"Schizo."
POP! POP! BOOM! POP!
Fireworks erupt in the sky, the light illuminating both of their faces for seconds at a time. Mio looks away, towards the groups of people watching the pyrotechnic display. Some are watching in awe, some are enjoying the times with their families, and several more of the younger groups are... snogging.
"God, these people need to learn to keep in their pants until they get home. How disgusting."
"You've never had a boyfriend, huh?"
"Of course not."
She wasn't certain if Sandatsu's words were a jab or a real question, but Mio was unashamed of herself.
"People have asked in the past, but I'm not going to delude myself into thinking there's anything special about seeing someone more often than others. Hell, I see you more than most, and I hate every minute of it."
"You're gonna make me blush."
"Shut up. Not like you're any better off. I've already seen your life through your eyes. Too busy being led around by the nose by mommy to try to get with a girl before. You still have to pretend we're dating for your friends. You haven't even kissed a girl."
"Yeah."
Similarly, Sandatsu doesn't show any shame about this topic. He just shrugs and continues to watch the fireworks.
"God, you're no fun. You don't even react when I'm openly mocking you. I thought I told you to come back with some dignity. I don't know how anyone could consider you to be their friend."
"It's my winning personality. At least I don't have to pretend to be a different person to make friends."
"I don't want friends. I pretend I do so that people don't look at me like a freakshow like they do you."
A few beats of silence passed between them. Another round of fireworks bursts into the sky.
"Sounds lonely."
"You'd know, wouldn't you?"
"...Yeah."
More silence goes on, but this time for much longer. The fireworks burst in the air in several complex shapes, likely the work of a quirk. The warmth of the summer night continues to stick around even now that the sun has left. Finally, one last explosion in the air caps off the festival, with "THANK YOU!" written in the sky in several bright colors.
"Hey."
Sandatsu looks down towards Mio, wanting to bug her more, but doesn't get a response. The short girl passed out, sleeping like a log with her head tilted down into her chest. Implanting memories to communicate, rushing through Drekus' memories, and dealing with the people's memories she had to change have been straining her mind and draining the pitiful amount of energy she had left throughout the night. She had finally pushed herself to her limit and was suffering the consequences: being an eepy girl.
Her fellow Enforcer continues to stare at her, not sure what to say or do. Then, after a few moments of thought, he reaches down and picks her up. He was kind of rough with her, but Mio was too far gone to wake up from just that now. The girl just mumbles in her sleep and rests her head against him.
Silently, the boy enters the treeline once again and heads away from the festival. It would take a while to get to Mio's house, but he's walked much much further before, and it's not like the girl in his arms weighs that much. Besides, she's surprisingly soft. Kind of like a pillow or a marshmallow or...
Mio shifts in her sleep, and her hands find the stuffed cat he had tucked away. Slowly, she pulls the stuffed animal towards herself in a hug and settles again.
...Or something like that. Whatever. He's starting to get confused thinking about this stuff.
