Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mineta 

Did... did you meet our grandfather?

I sigh as the younger me's voice rattles in my head. He's been silent— blessed silence —since Mom had told a fraction of her story, dealing with his own thoughts most likely. It wasn't that his silence annoyed me; it was more the fact that I was less annoyed by him. The very idea that I was getting used to the little troglodyte was sickening. It's like seeing someone you pity but are also pissed at because their actions led them to this point. It's a feeling I'm truly getting sick of.

When I was born, of course, he was there to see us brought into the world. He wanted to see his new weapon. I chuckle. Too bad we were a dud, hmm?

What is he like?

Not a man worth knowing about, I wave a hand dismissively. If you're looking for a family member to care about, he's not it. Feel free to remember that you've never seen him because, after learning about our quirk, about our lack of worth, he didn't want anything to do with us. He doesn't even visit Mom anymore. After harvesting her eggs, he had no more need—

He did what? The younger me's mental voice sounded... not disgusted. His feelings about Mom were too confused for that, but he sounded slightly disturbed, like a middle-income family hearing about a genocide halfway across the world.

Yeah, a real piece of work, but at least Mom doesn't need to be in some hellish cycle of being dicked down and pregnant for the rest of her life.

I saw a manga about that before.

Don't want to hear it! Oh god, the memories! You sick fuck.

I was morbidly curious! You read it too!

Yeah, and I was ashamed of myself for days afterward. Probably the longest time I went without fapping... wait, you didn't—

NO.

Oh thank gods, I lean back in relief. I'd have to kill you if you had. I will not allow a more fucked up version of us to exist.

The view must be great in that glass house, hmm?

Oh, and what do you mean by that?

You're good at hiding your little memory balls, but I bet that before Jackson fixed you, you tried some really kinky shi t in the academy. Am I wrong?

My mind briefly flashes to claws digging into my skin, a tongue licking blood off my neck, drugs altering my senses, changing the sensation of a tail with scales as rough as sandpaper rubbing against my— I punt that memory back into my mind before the vault triggers, shifting my legs to cover up a hardening problem.

Touché brat I think back. 

Did you meet them? I blink at the younger me's question, probably trying to change the conversation, probably to distract me from killing him. Who?

Them... you know, our siblings.

Siblings?

Yeah, if Grandpa stole Mom's... you know, eggs, didn't he use them?

Ew, don't say it like that.

I don't know how else to say it! Anyway, do we have any siblings?

I blink as I realize I hadn't mentioned my sister, which... is honestly fair since out of all the things the past version of me needs to know, our sister wasn't really one... or is it present me? Still thinking on that.

We actually have a stepsister, not from Grandpa's stash though. She's natural born. There is a villain named Kiruka Hasaki aka Slice who I want to research, but I doubt it. Then there are three that I know about from the future, but they died three minutes after I met them, so I have no idea what they were like.

You killed them!?

What? No! Jackson killed them, and they tried to kill him first. They also might have been lobotomized.

What?

Don't ask, nightmare fuel. Anyway, those were the only three I know of. Our sister is alive and well and normal, living with Dad and his wife.

What are they like?

I look out the window, watching cars cruise past as Mother slips in and out of traffic. I had put the address in the GPS and Mom had gone off into her own head as she drove. I didn't need GA training to see how tense she was. Her fingers tapped the steering wheel, her back was a bit too tense, eyes a bit too focused. Her eyes flipped to me and her look promised that if I was wrong, my nuts would be hanging from the car dashboard.

I don't know much about them. I met the wife at Dad's funeral. And I don't think the shell I saw that day is a good judge of who she is.

Funeral? The younger me sounded slightly panicked, which I chose to ignore.

Yeah, Grandpa found him and killed him. Jackson thinks he was gonna kill the wife as well, but she didn't take it well and was sent to an asylum. Our sister stays in Japan to care for her. I really only got to meet her when I came back to Japan. One of the things in life I'm happy about is that I got to talk to her before all that went down.

By ‘that’ you mean when you w—

Yes, yes, I burned down Japan. I killed heroes. I ripped down the foundation of the country we were born in. Pick another joke.

I was referring to you being arrested.

Ah... I believe you. I narrowed my eyes, wondering how the brat was learning to cover his thoughts so quickly.

So did you meet her before or after?

I met her before when I was fresh in Japan, though I did check up on her afterward—as Moonseed.

Memory moving around down here—is there a story behind that?

You can assume that there's a story behind everything. Consider it my dad lore.

Dad lore requires being a dad.

I look out the car window.

Wait, you are!? How the hell— it was a splash and dash, wasn't it?

First of all, ew. Second of all, this is another bit of dad lore you don't need to know.

How many do you have? One?

None of your b—

Three!?

I grit my teeth. While knowing every 7/10 thoughts of the brat was mostly useless, him catching every 3/10 of my thoughts was starting to piss me off.

Who's the mom? Or... Moms!? I could actually feel the stray thought get read. How did you manage to...You sly dog!

They are all adopted.

I can tell that's a half-truth. He laughs, and I almost cringe when he mentally holds a hand out as if wanting me to dab him up. Come on, you got to give me the deets!

I mentally rear my mind back and slam it into his, causing him to howl and for me to let out a silent hiss.

No! No deets! My mind isn't a dirty novel for you to read.

Oh, hi kettle, meet pot. So you get to read my mind up and down, but I can't see your rotten thoughts? That's perfectly fair. The sarcasm oozed and boiled from his mouth. If you're gonna get on my case whenever I ask about any part of your life, why don’t you start sharing info?

I can feel your anxiousness, and it's actually choking me.

The brat's words get caught in his throat.

Until we have the vault platform set up, I can feel your thoughts and taste your emotions, and ever since talking to Mom, you've been waterboarding me in your mental tears and dick-smacking me with self-doubt.

Can you blame me?

Yes! Get your shit together or stop drowning me in it.

Oh, I'm sorry that I'm not used to sharing mind space with the future version of myself that invaded my mind and locked me in a memory of his final fight with my classmate, the same classmate I have to see, talk to, and work with almost every day, the same final fight where he cut her flipping head off!

My eyes slowly roll as the mental voice starts shrieking.

I'm sorry if I'm a little anxious about all that and then, on top of that, I see said future me drug my mom and strip out her dirty little secrets. Said secrets also make me anxious.

There weren't really that many secrets. I knew most of them.

Mom hates us.

Which she has for years, I pointed out.

Dad ran awa—

Also something that happened years ago, I wave a hand. Also something we knew about.

My grandpa is apparently some mob boss. Is that why you came out the way you are?

Please don't give that man more credit for what I am than he deserves. You can, in part, blame him for how you came out, but I'd like to think Jackson, Justin, Ruth, Bastion, Denki, Midoriya, and dozens—no, tens of dozens—had more direct impact on how I came out than that man.

Oh, and I can't hate Mom anymore because she had a worse life than I did, he yipes as I mentally bop our minds together, albeit much lighter than before.

None of that now. It is your right to hate someone no matter what they have in their own life. You think my own issues stop people from hating me? No. You can pity someone and hate them. You can hate the outside elements that led them down this broken path as well as hate the person themselves.

But—

I'm—no—we are fu cked up. We grew up with mental problems in this crime family TV show bullshi t of a family. That doesn't excuse our problems; it explains them but doesn't excuse them. I try not to blame people for hating me. It's their right.

Is that why you still hate Mina and Jiro?

I don't hate them, not truly. I'm angry at them, bitter at them, spiteful of them, feel stuff I don't want to feel around them, but hate is not one of those feelings.

Do you hate anyone?

Tentacles, blood, orange, and blue eyes flicker in my mind.

I hate plenty of things, most of which I wouldn't call people, I sigh, leaning into the car seat. Don't you?

I... I don't think so.

Good. Hatred should be intimate, like a poison dagger. You should engrave your target's name on it, then nurture it, care for it, sharpen and clean it, and only draw it when your target is before you. Then drive it deeply into them with all your will. A personal kill should be almost as intimate as dancing with a new lover. I blinked as I could feel the brat staring at me. What?

You've thought of this a lot, haven't you?

I'm old, brat, I said slowly, idly pressing my nose against the car window, enjoying the cold feeling. I was never destined to live for a long time, but the academy kept me active even when we weren't on a mission. I've laughed and cried more than some people who lived a multiplication of my life.

The silence between us sat for the next couple of moments, and then the brat replied.

How did our sister react to us, or you, I guess?

It was... alright, I guess. She was kind enough, but she didn't know what to think about me.

Long-lost brother trope?

Not just that. It's a long-lost brother from a relationship that your dad was forced into, set up by your grandpa, who you know killed your dad. It also doesn't help that we look a lot like Dad, who looks a decent amount like his dad, I wave a hand as if trying to brush away the memory. It was awkward, to say the least.

Do... do you think I could meet her?

I consider it for a moment. Sooner or later, I would have to threaten my father. It wouldn't be the hardest thing to arrange. On the other hand, I wasn't sure I wanted the brat close to my sister. I didn't want him to interact with the outside world and mess anything up.

Thankfully, the car stopping cuts off the conversation.

"We're here," my mom says, opening my door for me and grabbing me by my face. I barely had time to undo my seatbelt before she rips me out of my seat and drops me. "Lead the way."

|~|

Fujitani Hospital was the usual white and sterile, with doctors and nurses walking everywhere. Thank the ever-loving fuckberries that it wasn't Jaku General Hospital. I really didn't need to worry about all the crap Kyudai Garaki was doing there and certainly didn't want one of the only good family members to get turned into a Nomu or something. 

Is Tsubasa a nomu at this point? question for later.

"Public?" my mother muttered as we walked in. "I assumed it would be private."

"Why waste the money?" I replied as she grabbed my hand and led me down a hallway, acting like she was a mom dragging her kid who knew exactly where she was going. When a doctor looked like she was going to ask us something, I put on a vault-assisted "I'm about to cry" face, which was good to scare them off. "Grandma's either not in the state to escape or she might not even be aware she should escape."

My mom bit her lip slightly, her head cautiously looking into each window.

"Third floor, 3rd wing. That's where they keep the people with mind issues."

"And how do you know that?"

"Looked it up," I lied. "You'd be surprised how much you can figure out by doing a little research." I tugged on her arm before she could lift it to hit me. "Ah, ah, ah, we're in public."

"Don't make it sound like I didn't look for her," she whispered down at me, her nails digging into my arm. “Just don’t”

I opened my mouth to reply, then remembered that Mom had probably spent a good portion of her life trying to see her mom again, dying before accomplishing it. "Wasn't what I was implying but fine mom card put back in the deck," I said after a pause, then leaned forward to lick her arm, making her pull back startled. "Now come."

Mom dies? Of course, the brat had heard that. I had always been the fastest to figure stuff out with the vault, something Bastion found annoying and Eero found infuriating. Seeing the younger me pick up skills in days was terrifying.

Yes, died. Everyone dies. Hell, if we don't grow to a certain height, we will probably die because our organs get too big for our body. That topic did what was intended and ran the brat's train of thought off the rails.

What!?

Don't worry, it's not a problem for another decade , and the GA can fix it. The only reason I never bothered to get the surgery was because the academy ran on a point system, and Class T went through enough nonsense that I would be able to get the needed points whenever I wanted. Also, the thought of my death never really disturbed me in the way it did others.

I tugged my mom's arm when we reached the third floor. "Wait a moment." I poked my head around the corner. Now, where are you, you little— My eyes trailed across the rooms. I had checked the room number from my memory with the vault, and sure enough, that door was closed but surprisingly unguarded. "That's different."

"What?" I hissed as my mom's hand tightened around my wrist. I slapped at her wrist until she let go. "What's different?"

"I was expecting a guard," I said. "Might be in the bathroom or something... gonna have to deal with that... maybe. Come on." I walked down the hallway, eyes trailing around, but no one was watching. Did I miss a lookout? Oh sh t, that could be bad... No, it doesn't make sense for them to have a guard and tell him to F off when the person he's defending against actually shows up. He might have been appointed later or something.

"366, 367, and here we go, 368." I tapped the door as Mom pushed past me, looking through the window and letting out a little gasp. A quick tug on the door showed it was locked. "Alright, let's find the doctor of this floor. You're hot enough to distract them while I steal the key."

I turned only to blink. What is she— I let out a startled yipe, spinning out of the way as her hair, shaped like a snake's head, slammed into the door. Thankfully, it hit with a glop instead of a smash, splatting against the door before regrouping and sinking into the lock. It was barely a second later before I heard the click of the door opening.

"Give me some warning nex—" Mom was already opening the freshly unlocked door, nearly smashing me with it as she walked in.

Guess she really likes her mom, the brat muttered, bitterness so thick that I almost had to spit it out.

I walked into the room, my eyes trailing across it, ignoring the elephants in the room to prepare for the emotions I would feel.

No extra machinery. Yet.  She had Mom at 37, Mom had me when she was 19, and this body is 14, so she should be 70 years old.

Finally, I dragged my eyes over to her. She didn't look it.

Murasakino Hanae, or her original name Nerukawa Hanae, looked a fraction of her own age, which was amazing since I was sure that she had never left the hospital.

It was clear why she was able to injure the pro hero who was my grandpa. She was tall, like 6'2" tall. My mom had gotten her heart-shaped face from her, as well as the pink eyes, though Grandma's were more neon pink than the electric pink of my mother. The main difference between them was her hair, which, besides being a bright magenta color, looked like normal hair despite the fact it appeared soaked.

What was gaining my internal worry was the confused expression on her face as my mother was hugging her, babbling something into her mother's chest. Her arms were half-raised as if she was about to push the smaller woman away.

Please let today become a good day.

"Miss Nerukawa?" I forced childishness into my voice. I didn't need to fake the nervousness, though; this was the first time I really spoke to my grandma. She had been unable to speak when I finally met her the first time, practically brain-dead.

"Hayate!" I barely had time to register my father's name before she scooped me up and hugged me tightly to her body, taking my feet off the ground. I should be focusing, calculating, trying to figure out how a woman with this much life in her practically turns into a raisin over the course of one to two years. But I was distracted by the hug. It wasn't like this was the first time I've been hugged or that I didn't know what a hug was; it's just been a while. A slight sigh from the brat showed that he was in a similar state.

Actually, this might be his first hug. When was the first time someone hugged me? Never happened in elementary school. Denki would fist bump me sometimes... was Ruth my first hug? Before I could really process that thought, I caught my mom's face from the nook of my grandma's arm. Her face was wrapped into a visage of sorrow and anger that I was surprised she hadn't dropped to her knees to cry or ripped me from her mom's arms. Time for damage control.

"I almost forgot, this is Momokurano Ayatsuri."

"Murasakino?" My grandma's face wrinkled in confusion.

"No, no, Momokurano . Though you will find it interesting that the connection to your family is closer than just some letters." I laughed at the joke. "Your family is apparently larger than we originally thought. How old is your daughter anyway?"

"Aww, already trying to woo my daughter, are you?" She flicked my chin. "She'll be joining UA this year."

Alright, so her mind is 30 or so years back. "Great. I hope she hasn't been so focused on training that she hasn't been visiting you."

"Nonsense, she was here just last week." I looked to my mom, prompting her to jump back in. 

"What did you guys talk about?" she asked, which reminded Grandma that she existed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear, we sort of pushed you out of the conversation," she said, then looked at me. "You said she's a relative of mine. How on earth did you find her?"

"She's your husband's sister." My mom shuddered silently at the idea, even as my grandma blinked in confusion.

"Really? Kagehiro never mentioned having siblings."

"Because he didn't know." I had no idea what I was trying to catch with this web of bullshit, but getting Mom in a position where she could interact over longer periods of time could only be better. "Apparently, she was lost at birth due to some accident in the hospital. We only figured it out because Father saw her and thought she looked just like M- Jushi... Jushi."

"What was that you were about to say? My Jushi, huh?" My grandma tried to tease me. It didn't work because I had almost said Mom. I put on an embarrassed smile even as the brat me was making the mental sounds of barfing in my head. Grandma had turned to Mom and was looking her up and down. "You're right, though. She could pass for Jushi when she grows up."

"Really?" My mom smiled as much as she could but couldn't help but look mildly constipated. "What's your daughter like?"

"Oh, she's reaching the point that all children do when they don't want to listen to their parents. A couple of days ago, she and her father were here, and she was begging for a new phone. I think it was an O something with a fancy case."

"The O-X57," my mom replied, eyes seeing something that wasn't there. "With a holographic camera case."

"That's it, dear! How did you know?"

"I had one when I was a k— younger," she corrected. "I begged my parents for one as well."

"Younger? That phone hasn't been out for more than a couple of months, has it? Bit too old to be asking your parents for phones, aren't you?" My grandma asked teasingly, and I flashed my mom a 'get it together' look. "Anyway, my husband could never say no to her, so I had to be the one to put my foot down, though I don't know how long it's gonna last. Since I have to stay here all day, I hope Kagehiro can stay firm with her."

"When did this happen?" I asked again.

"Oh, I don't know. I think 2, maybe 3 days ago. They try to visit as much as they can, but my husband doesn't have a lot of time with all his hero work, and my daughter always has other things to do than spending time with her family. Oh, are you alright, Ms. Momokurano?" My mom looked like someone had punched her in the soul, but she managed a nod.

"I'm alright. It's just that... I lost my mom a while ago, and you remind me of her." My mom sniffled, an honest-to-god sniffle. "It's been hard."

My grandma made a sound of understanding and in a moment had pulled my mother into a hug. My mom's arms instantly wrapped around her, and I took this heartbreaking scene to walk over to my grandma's hospital bed and slide a tracker under it. It was something I had won in the claw machine I had gone to a couple days ago, with some parts cannibalized from some phones to give it okayish audio. Its magnet side connected to the metal bottom, ensuring someone would have to go under the bed to find it.

"What are you doing in here?" A voice caused me to turn, and I saw a man in a business suit, the one I had been expecting earlier.

"Mr. Tanaka," my grandma said, a smile on her face, "you must meet my apparent sister-in-law."

Tanaka Genji looked just as I remembered him, except for the hole in his forehead Jackson would give him. He seemed to be in his late forties, with black hair and an average face that looked like it had taken a few too many punches over the years. He was in shape, but not a bodybuilder, wearing a cheap black suit with a purple tie, the only symbol of who he worked for.

"Ah, Mr. Tanaka," I said, walking over to him and acting like a kid with too much self-importance. "We were just talking about how Kagehiro and Jushi came here to talk about phones."

"Who are—"

"She's Momokurano Ayatsuri," I cut him off, stepping between him and my grandma. Once I was sure she couldn't see, I mouthed the words, "go along with it." "Yeah, I know I should've told Father I was bringing her, but you have to admit she looks just like Jushi, or how she will when she grows up."

Tanaka wasn't a smart man, nor was he a dumb one. He played along, which proved something I already suspected: whatever was going on with my grandma, they wanted to keep her in a certain frame of mind. It couldn't be to keep her calm, though. Unlike Mom and Dad, she had no hero training, and her quirk was perfume at best. It also wasn't because she could leak anything; she lived in a hospital ward and had a history of memory issues. Hmm, why else is Grandpa keeping her?

"I should contact Mr. Mineta. You know you're not supposed to bring guests here," he said, reaching for my arm.

"You're right!" I said, swaying and throwing my hand out as if I had an idea. My hand ‘accidentally’ smashed into his approaching pinky. "We should bring Father into this. They haven't gotten a chance to really talk. Can you call him?" I smiled brightly. "And I forgot, I haven't gotten her signed in as blood relation yet. Come on, we should do that next." I walked out the door, calling back to my mom, "Don't stress her out; she's in the hospital."

My grandma scoffed, but my mom flashed me a look as Tanaka followed. Was that concern? Interesting.

Tanaka closed the door, and the moment we were out of sight from the two, his fist balled itself into my shirt, lifting me up. "What do you—"

"Public," I replied calmly.

The idiot paused, looking left and right for witnesses. That was when I chose to strike. My hand left my pocket, mechanical pencil in hand. His eyes widened, but he didn't have time to react before it was buried to the grip in his arm.

"Aar—" My ball hit his mouth, muffling his screams as he dropped me. I slammed myself into his knees, causing him to stumble over before I pounced on him. I ignored the brat’s mental shouting as I grabbed Tanaka’s hair and gave it a pull exposing his neck.

"Shhhh, we're in a hospital," I whispered into his ear, a second mechanical pencil against his Adam's apple. "Now, I'm gonna pull my ball from your mouth," I chuckled at a dirty thought. "You're gonna be good and quiet and answer my questions, or I will draw my full name into your voice box. Nod if you understand."

He shook his head.

"No? You don't understand?"

Another shake.

Raising an eyebrow, I pulled the ball from his mouth.

"I'm not—" he started.

"Shhhh," I said again, digging the pencil in. "Quietly."

"I'm not gonna tell you anything," he replied in a more room-friendly tone.

"Really?" I tilted my head. "Why is that? Don't you care for your life?"

"You're not gonna kill me. Everybody in this hospital knows me. I'm a caretaker for your grandma."

"So you know who I am."

"Of course I do, Minoru. You're a spitting image of your father."

"Really?" I put on a fake face of surprise. I needed them to think I had no information on him. "You knew him?"

"Of course I did. Practically raised him and your uncle."

"You were his nanny?" I snorted. "You don't look the age. What were you, 16?"

"14."

"It seems like both my grandpas love using children for their goals, and now he has you babysitting an old lady?"

"It's what I'm good at," he said, a flicker in his eye, and my hand sat on his pocket, which his hand was reaching for.

"Is that a gun, or are you just happy to see me?"

"Pinning for children is more an aspect of your family tree then mine"

That wiped the smile off my face. For an idiot, this man was more informed than I had assumed, though that wasn't too much of a surprise since he had apparently worked for my grandpa for a while. "Toshe," I blinked as I felt his pocket, "not a gun... oh, a taser. Hmm, makes sense, much less illegal."

"How did you find her?"

"Google." At his confused look, I rolled my eyes. "No one remembers the classics. I'm a UA student now; I've been making contacts. Your turn. Where's my father?"

He snorted. "I'll answer this one for free. He left Japan years ago."

I cursed out loud, smiling internally. So they still don't know where he is. "Where did he go?"

"No idea. We think the States."

"You're gonna have to keep me informed on that information."

"Informed?"

"Yes," I said, blinking before making a show of tapping my head with the freshly stolen taser. "Oh, right, right. Got a little ahead of myself. I will be getting in contact with Grandpa."

Tanaka's face was one of pure confusion. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." I reached for his pocket, taking out his phone. "I want to clear our debt, free the Murasakinos from the Minetas... permanently. And if possible, I want my father's head."

"Your mother certainly shares her feelings. Didn't know she cared enough to indoctrinate you"

"Nah, this hatred is freshly grown and organic. He could've taken me with him but left me with Mom under my grandpa's thumb. So if you find him in America, I'll take that vengeance, and I'm willing to serve to pay off my family's debt."

"What could you have that we don't already own?"

"I'm a UA student. Think about it... or rather, let my grandpa have the brains for it." I typed on his phone with one hand. "Giving you my number."

"Not gonna call him?"

"No, he needs time to marinate." I held the phone out and made an 'O' face, taking a picture so it showed me on top of Tanaka before sending it over to the number named 'Mr. Mineta.' "I understand that I might have caught him by surprise, so I'll let him set up the appointment."

"He will kill you, you know that, right? He has no need for you."

"He will try, but he doesn't know how much I know. He doesn't know what plans I have. He also doesn't know how much I don't care for my mother. I don't know what deals or threats he has on her, but I know things. How much do you think he's willing to bet to see his little empire fall?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it. "You're insane."

"Not the first time I've been called that. I like to think of myself as enlightened."

"What is going on over there?" a new voice interrupted.

I rolled my eyes, thankful I had been using my body to hide Tanaka's bloody arm from that angle. I turned with a smile. "Sorry about that. He didn't see me and accide—"

I was startled by the white hair. I calmed as I noticed the boobs. I nodded when I saw the hips, then panicked when I saw the face.

"Rei?" I cursed in my head the moment I realized I had spoken out loud.

"How do you know me?" The mother of Shoto Todoroki looked at me in confusion and slight suspicion. Beside her, walking forward, was Fuyumi Todoroki as well. Guess it was a mother-daughter visit.

"I don't," I returned stiffly. "We've never met."

"I know that," she replies bluntly. I shuddered slightly at her look.

"Your son has your eyes, or at least your cold looks," I said, grabbing Tanaka's hand and pulling him to his feet, letting out a fake hiss when I saw the pencil in his arm and pulling it out, causing him to grunt.

"You're not supposed to pull it out," he growled/whimpered.

"Oops, sorry," I said with fake concern.

"How do you know my son?" I blinked and turned to Rei, who had gotten closer. She wasn't aggressive, but she had Shoto’s intensity.

"We go to UA."

"Does he talk about me?"

I snorted at the idea. "No."

"Then how do you know me?"

"You have matching sides." That got a flinch from her, and I frowned. Was I being too mean?

You're glaring... a lot. The brat mentally whispers. 

I widened my eyes as I realized the brat was right. I was way too tense for this situation. Why? Rei wasn't a threat, at least I couldn't see why she would be. It hit me then: this was the first time I'd actually had a blind spot in my knowledge. Rei was never important enough for much vault info to be put on her, and I never knew much about her in my first life.

She's a blind spot I confirm to myself idly reattaching the hairball I had used earlier and she's a blind spot close to my grandma. The first real issue I've dealt with.

"Sorry, that was mean. Shouldn't bring up situations that I don't know about," I corrected, not needing to expose the fact that I knew how Shoto got his burn.

"Mr. Tanaka, are you alright?" Fuyumi had gone to Tanaka and was fretting over his arm. Tanaka was proving what he said earlier, going from normal grunt to a slightly embarrassed cinnamon roll. It was honestly impressive. Rei was still watching me.

"Do you have something to ask?" I inquired.

"Did my husband send you here?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Your expression."

"Ask your son. I have a resting pissed face," I shrugged.

"You remind me of him."

"Your son or your husband? 'Cause I shall take offense to both."

She narrowed her eyes. "And what does that mean?"

"No offense, ma'am, but your son has the personality of a loaf of bread. He's stoic to the point that if he didn't have one of the strongest quirks in my class I probably wouldn't remember his name... and Endeavor is... well, you know."

"I do, and it seems that you do as well." Her eyes locked onto mine, but I was already getting used to being back in the game and let her try to read my black eyes.

I tilted my head, thinking for a moment, looking back at Tanaka, then grinning. His eyes widened as I turned back to Rei. "Your family isn't the only one with its demons."

Rei's eyes drifted to Tankaka for a moment. It was at this moment that my mom and grandma walked out of the room.

"Rei," my grandma smiled, turning to the future ice hero mom, "how are you today, dear?"

"Hanae?" It was the first time I'd seen Shoto's mom smile today as she went forward to hug the older woman. "You feeling better today?"

"Excellent, darling. I just met my step-sister, Momokurano Ayatsuri." She moved so Rei could see my mom, which immediately told me something was wrong. Rei's eyes blinked in surprise before she whispered, "Jushi?"

They know each other?   The brat asked.

Mrngogh was my elegant reply. My mind is too busy thinking to bother replying.

"Where?" I said, looking around as if I believed she was calling someone else.

My mom, who must've gotten her act together, giggled. "I suppose I should be grateful to be compared to a teenager." She flipped her hair, pretty hard since it's gel-like. "Guess my skincare is pretty good. Momokurano Ayatsuri, a pleasure to meet you." She held out a hand for Rei to shake, leaving her looking slightly confused. Thankfully she still took the hand.

I turned to Tanaka. "Funny how the family members of  two top ten heroes know each other."

"Oh," Grandma turned to Rei, "Enji's rising up the ranks so quickly? He must be strong then."

"It's a recent development," Rei said nervously. Fuyumi looked slightly disturbed.

Alright, so they know Grandma, they know she has a sickness, and Mom and Rei somehow know each other. I tilted my head and looked at Tanaka, who was trying to convince Fuyumi that he didn’t need a doctor at the moment and that he had just tripped. Does  Tanaka know how close the connection these two have? His expression makes me doubt it. did he even know that they know each other? So many questions.

And you're gonna ask them, right? the brat asked.

I was getting there.

"So, how do you guys know each other?" I asked, pointing at Grandma and Rei.

"She's been here for a year or two," Grandma replied, rubbing her hair. "She was a bit lonely, so I decided to check in on her every once in a while. Though sometimes she would check on me when I didn't remember her. But it’s fun to become friends all over again." She watched Rei's expression. "Oh, don't have that look, Rei. The doctors are helping me every day. I'm losing days instead of months."

You're losing decades, the brat thought to himself, and I had to agree. Rei burned Shoto when he was 5-6, so that's around ten years she’s been in her care. Even assuming 2-3 years of her not being allowed to interact with other patients, that's still 7 years of knowledge gone. It seems her illness blends the time together.

"Oh, I almost forgot." I slapped a hand to my head, getting everyone's attention. "I was so excited to introduce you two I forgot to get us signed in. Ayatsuri, you stay with Ms. Nerukawa."

"It's Ms. Murasakino, dear," my grandma corrected me. "Haven't used my family name in years."

"Right, right. Sorry." I nodded, then blinked at why my mom still uses her father's family name. Questions for later. "You two stay together. I'll sign us up. Fuyumi, how about you take Tanaka to get that arm checked up on?"

"That's quite alright, I'm fine." Tanaka really did play the 'person you can trust' role pretty well. It was clear he didn't want to leave either of us alone with Grandma.

"Nonsense, you had a pencil in your arm. Get that wrapped up." I turned, flashing my mom a look as I started walking down the hallway. "Be back in a moment." I blinked as I felt someone move in step with me.

"I'll go with you," Rei Todoroki said in a tone that left no room for argument.

“Is your doctor okay with you wandering away from your room?” taking the deadpan look I received as A yes I shrug and keep walking "If you wish,"

Once we were barely out of normal talking range, she placed a hand on my shoulder, and I shuddered at the cold but managed to keep my pace.

"You have questions, I take it?"

"Yes."

I waited for a moment. "Well?"

"I'm waiting for you to explain. I'm not in the mood to let you try and leave out information."

"You're more devious than I expected. You go to a hero academy?"

"No, you learn a lot in my family, and the way you know so much about my family history should also be in your explanation."

I rubbed my chin. "And if I don't? You can't really do much to me in the hospital, and you're a patient in a mental hospital. How much do you think you can do to me?"

She stared at me for a moment. And I feel A slight stab of embarrassment.

"Sorry, you were... not part of my plan, and to be honest your presence disturbs me."

"And yet you know so much about us."

"You want the truth?"

"Hanae is a good friend, one of the only ones I have in this place. And while Tanaka’s  been good to her, I've seen too many fake smiles in my family to fall for his or yours."

That was more because I wasn't currently using the vault to control my expressions. I needed to play the role of a new UA student, secretly training to be a hero and bitter at his father. And that meant showing confusion anger and all those things the GA teaches us to hide when needed,

"I guess both our families are good at hiding. I trust you will know what I'm about to tell you is a secret, yes?" At her nod, I continued. "I'm Mineta Minoru, son of Jushi Murasakino and Mineta Hayate, grandson of Mineta Daigo, who you don’t know, and Murasakino Kagehiro, who you might have known." Rei's face didn’t change. "You knew all that?"

"Hanae has pictures on her phone, and being married to a man hunting for the number 1 spot gives you some knowledge of the top ten heroes. I've also seen one of her episodes."

"Episodes?"

"You don’t know?" And my head shook. She continued, "She hasn’t had one in years, but maybe 6 years ago, she was screaming about an attack in her sleep, about drowning."

"You know who was attacking her?"

"I think we both know, and you're fishing for what I know."

I grunted at that and nodded. "What do you know?"

"It should be everything because you're about to tell me everything."

"Where was this spine when it came to—" I cut myself off.

"What were you about to say?"

"I think we both know, and you're fishing for what I know." The brief flash of annoyance on her face felt good.

Why don’t you tell her? the brat asked.

"I don’t fully trust you," I answered aloud to both of them. "You’re a blind spot in a plan I've set up, and with your connection to Endeavor, I don’t know your will, your allegiance, or anything."

"That's the most honest you've been with me yet."

"You also don’t fully trust me with what I know of my family. You don’t have many reasons to do so, so let’s make a deal. We need time to get to know each other, so you’re gonna help me and my mom keep getting access to this hospital and make sure they can’t move my grandma. I don’t know how much power you have here, but feel free to convince your husband it's good for your mental health if he cares for it."

"And what do I get in return?"

"You get to ask me questions that I’ll answer."

"Not enough."

"What do you want?" I was beginning to get used to her. She was like Shoto but with a little less cold anger. She was like the ice you have in your juice, not the ice that gives you frostbite.

"You go to school with my son, you said?"

"Shoto Todoroki. White and red hair. Personality of dry bread. Doesn't use his fire side because of beef with his father. Scar on his face." I listed off the facts, taking the moment to take out Tanaka’s phone and going to settings. A couple taps later, and all his phone data was being backed up into mine. "What about him?"

"He needs a friend—"

"No!" I crossed my arms, forming an X. "What the hell are we gonna talk about?  How much our families suck? No offense."

"Some taken, but you don’t have to be friends with him.  Though I think you could do him well. But if you could get him friends and maybe get him to visit me—" She trailed off.

Can you do that? the brat asked.

I don’t know! I mentally groaned. Shoto was a lot of things; we were classmates, but I don’t think we were truly friends. Ugh, I'm gonna have to toss Midoriya at him, but even that sun of friendship didn’t melt away that ice until the— That's it!

"THE OLYMPICS!" I said, tapping a fist into my hand. At Rei's look, I waved a hand. "Give me 2 weeks after the UA Games, and I can guarantee Shoto will have 2 friends and will visit you."

"That's a lot of time. Is that the next time you're gonna see your grandma?"

"I'm honestly not sure, but not gonna lie, your son’s got issues that I personally don’t know how to fix. And as you can guess, I have my own problems. But before that..." I groaned. "The Games are the quickest I can do it, but I might get him to visit you sooner. For now, let’s say you give me 2 meetings with Grandma, with your supervision, before this, and I’ll give you a 30-minute update on your son after the Games. We’ll talk about this more. This is all assuming that you can keep us in contact with her."

I let her stew on it for a moment as I went through Tanaka’s phone.

"Help him as much as you can," she finally said.

I tilted my head. "I’ll do what I can. I promise he will be using his fire by the end of the Games. Not sure if you're okay with that."

She’s silent for a moment before letting out a sigh “It's his quirk not his father's” she says “I won't blame him for what his father is” 

"Wise words." I held out a hand for her to shake, smiling. "Make sure it stays that way. It might be surprising, but your family is a little less ruined than mine. I’m certain you can fix it"

She takes my hand and shakes it. "I think you can fix yours as well."

You believe her?   The brat mentally asked.

There’s very little I truly believe in anymore.

\~\

"Go over it again," I mentally instructed the brat as goodbyes were exchanged. Tanaka was watching from the sidelines along with two doctors and a security guard. Apparently, he had gone to get the first doctor while Rei and I had retrieved the other. The security guard had appeared when the first doctor had tried to give my mom the 'you need to leave' statement, and my mom had given him a tongue-lashing that had him rushing off to get back up. Rei and I had returned just in time to witness the standoff between my mom and the guard. It was just an argument so far, but something told me it was rapidly leading down a path of my mom going to jail for assault. Rei managed to calm both sides down and got us permission to say goodbye. While that was happening, I was rooting through mom’s bag, giving the doctors medical files proving we were, in fact, related to the patients and requesting visitor rights

Mom pretending to be dad’s dad long lost sister, you're pretending to be dad as a kid. Grandma is about 30 years in the past mentally. Rei and and the grunt 

Tanaka I corrected you need to have all these names down in case you gotta play the role. 

Rei and Tanaka know the truth former gonna hide it cause she cares for grandma and the later because you don't know yet

We don’t know yet. I watc h Rei grab my mom's hand leaning in close and whispering into her ear probably saying how she's gonna watch over grandma. What was more surprising was the light flush on my mom's face as Rei leaned closer to her. For now, it's safe to assume they want to keep grandma's mental state healthy the doctors will also know who we really are as well.

Got it the brat replied but I still had him repeat the info as my mom hugged Grandma one more time before security ushered us out.   

"That went better than I expected," I say as we leave the hospital, a skip in my step.

"We couldn’t get visiting rights," my mom grumbles, stomping ahead of me. I had expected it, but watching Mom chew out the doctor was entertaining as hell.

"Yet," I point out. "Your father had it set up so that no one besides him, Grandpa and Tanaka Genji could officially visit her. He has legal authority as her spouse, and then Grandpa as next of kin. But he’s not around to contest the point, and there’s nothing they can hit you with to prevent you from visiting. Give it a week or two, and we should have visiting rights. Let's make it 3-5 weeks since Grandpa might try to slow down the process."

"And if he tries to move her?"

"I have the room bugged, and I cloned Tanaka’s phone. Not to mention, I now have both Rei and Fuyumi’s numbers, so we have contacts in case she disappears." Tanaka had proven to be smarter than I assumed, so I spammed viruses into his phone so he can’t tell what I did, hoping he thinks I was just being petty.

"And you trust them?"

Do you? the brat mentally echoed. I ignored him.

"You don’t?" I ask my mom. "I assumed you’d already have your periods syncing up with Rei the way you guys were talking."

"What?"

"Oh, come on, weren’t you flirting? You have to know she’s in a similar situation as yourself."

"Really?" My mom looks genuinely confused. "How can you tell?"

"How could you not? Wait, were you actually flirting? No, NO, I reject the notion of you dating my classmate’s mother."

"First of all, it wouldn’t be your choice," she says, poking me in the forehead. "Secondly, I was talking to her about Grandma." She wags her phone. "Thirdly, she’s straight, and if you ask me how I know, I’m going to send you flying."

"Anything can be bent with enough heat and friction," I say, quoting Quinn. I lean to the side as she takes a halfhearted swipe at my head. "I thought it was easier to see the issues from the outside, but I’ll illuminate you. Not sure yet, but from what I’ve seen from her kid, abuse or neglect is being passed around like candy in that family."

"I guess you would know."

"Oh, was that a jab at me?" I gasp in fake offense. "Shall the pot and the kettle dance in the inky black together?" I elbow my mom in the side, waggling my eyebrows and grinning as she rolls her eyes and shoves me away much softer than she normally did.

This is messed up, right? Like on some sort of ethical stance? I give the brat’s question a mental shrug as I continue my eyebrow wiggling at my mother.

"Come on, say it." I prompt fluttering my eyes. 

"Say what?"

"Don't edge me on this," I say, aware of the brat's sudden and heavy mental breathing in the background, couldn't tell if it was in laughter or surprise at my statement. "You’re practically skipping. That was almost an hour of seeing your mom. It might not have been the way you wanted, but..." I trail off, my eyebrows moving like cracked-out caterpillars, which I’ve actually seen thanks to Christopher.

"Alright, alright, I admit it. You did good, very good."

"I know." I turn and spread my arms. "You may now heap praise and accolades upon me as your prodigal son." I smirk up at my mom, only to blink as she crouches down and puts her hands on my shoulders. "Uh, what are you doi—" I blink as I’m suddenly pulled into her embrace. I wanted to be upset at how quickly both me and the brat melted into her grip. Two hugs in one day... This is new.

Can we do this more often?   The brat wonders to himself.

Don’t get used to it. I chastise the brat, idly listening to my mother’s heartbeat. Even so, if anyone asked why I didn’t try to end the hug until she decided to, I would say I was planning the next step of my something-or-other-step plan to fix everything.

"Did you know Rei and Fuyumi?" I ask. "Rei seemed to know you."

"It took me a moment to remember, but yeah, we sort of knew each other. Back in my early days of working with hair, I did her hair a couple of times before she was apparently sent here."

"Well, that’s useful. You guys have something to talk about." I pull out my phone. "I’m sending you her and Fuyumi’s numbers. Try to see if you can become either of their new hair salon girl."

"It’s called a hairstylist. How do you not know that?"

"I’m trying to destroy a criminal empire. I don’t have time to remember every little term. Anyway, Rei’s gonna try to get us visiting rights to her in case Grandpa is able to pull something. That’s gonna be a 50/50. If that doesn’t work, Fuyumi is gonna try to get her dad to let us in or at least you."

"You know the father?"

"You don’t? Number 2 hero, Endeavor?"

"You think I pay attention to the top ten anymore? Me?"

"Fair enough, but you might meet him.  But I doubt it. The family has too much pride and issues to report each other. Not in their culture."

"And we aren’t?"

"Oh, please." I wave a hand. "You’re telling me you haven’t leaked because of pride? In your family?"

My mom titters. "You know me better than I thought. Yeah, your grandfather has dirt on me."

"Will you share said dirt?"

"Maybe next storytime." She chuckles at my scoff. "I’m in too good of a mood to spoil it with my past."

"Speaking of grandpas, your dad’s dead, right?"

She shrugs. "Don’t know."

I stagger for a moment. "What do you mean you don’t know?"

"I honestly don’t know. I assume so, but your grandpa," she hisses and thinks for a moment, "your maternal grandfather, yeah that works, your maternal grandfather disappeared one day. Just up and left. That’s when your paternal grandfather started pressing me. No idea if he killed him or if he ran or whatever. Haven’t seen him in years. I like to think that he died slowly in agony. Just seems right. Honestly, I’m surprised the hospital still had him as legal authority and not your paternal grandpa."

"You can use his name, you know," I say as we step into the car. "I know it, Daigo Mineta. Wasn’t that hard to look up."

She grunts. "Daigo... D-A-I-G-O." I raise an eyebrow as she repeats the name a couple of times before sighing. "Nope, even after all these years, still can’t call him by his name. It’s like a mental block or something."

"I know how that feels," I mutter.

"What was that?"

"Can I drive?" I ask, suddenly changing the subject.

She’s quiet for a moment, turning to look at me from her seat. "Can you?" she finally asks.

No way, the brat mentally whispers. She nearly had my head when I accidentally touched her car.

"May I drive?"

"That wasn’t a grammar check. I’m asking if I’m gonna die if I give you the wheel."

I’ve driven motorcycles, cars, jeeps, tanks, airplanes, and a cracked-out bear.

A cracked-out what now? The brat ask

Tell you later.

"I’ve played a lot of car simulators."

"Can you reach the pedal?"

I blink, then close my mouth. "No idea," I answer honestly, only to blink as she moves out of her seat. "Really?"

She motions for me and with a grin and moves into the driving seat only to frown as I grab the wheel. Should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy. Curse these stumpy legs. Even lowering the seat as much as I could, I couldn’t hit the stupid pedals. "Damn it," I mutter.

My mom chuckles, taking the wheel once I return to the passenger seat. "Maybe when we get home, I’ll let you wear some old stilettos."

"Yeah, yeah." I wave a hand

"Or maybe I can get you a booster seat."

"Pushing your luck." She chuckles at my expression as we drive off.

"So, what did you and Tanaka talk about?" she asks.

"You're not going to like this," I warned. "But don't run us off the road. I want to talk to Grandpa."

Her hands tightened on the wheel.

"Why?"

"Not sure yet. Long-term, I want to kill him. But for now, I just want him to leave us alone."

"How are you going to do that?"

"No idea. I'm thinking of working for him."

Thank God I wasn't in the backseat because, with the look my mom gave me, she might have fully turned around to give it to me, car accident be damned.

"WHAT!?"

"No, no, hear me out."

"I really don't want to. What makes you think this is a good idea?"

"Honestly, I have no idea, but we know that Daigo loves to abuse children."

"Okay, I know you said his name, but you're making me think of my dad in the worst way."

"Alright, he loves employing child soldiers, as opposed to Kagehiro who loved exploiting childhood-."

"There is no way that sentence ends without me throwing you out of this car."

I smirked. "Too dark?"

"Too personal."

"Message received. Anyway, basically, no matter what I have to do to Daigo, working for him will make it possible. Blackmail on you? Find and destroy it. Kill him? I'll be in the place to drive in the knife. Blackmail him? Perfect place to steal it. It's perfect."

"Besides the fact that you might die or be exposed?"

"Is that a bad thing for you?"

"At the moment, I don't hate you, so I'd rather you not walk off to your death or, more importantly, get me dragged into it."

"Aw that was almost sweet, Don't worry he's not going to kill his money cow... most likely."

"I'd rather not test it. Being under his thumb isn't as bad as you make it sound."

It gets worse soon. Mom might be fine with the status quo at the moment, but with Overhaul's defeat on the horizon, organized crime in Japan is about to face a power vacuum. The rise of villains and the Meta Liberation Army causes a domino effect that she won't survive.

Which you will explain to me, right?

So impatient. Let me cook, brat.

Can't believe a serial killer got a hug from my mom before me.

All part of the original Mineta recipe. All nine original spices were cooked by the master chef Jackson.

"So?" my mom prompts 

"Huh?" I blinked.

"What do you plan to do if you're caught? If he doesn't want to make a deal? If he comes into my house guns blazing?"

"Well, you can save me. You have hero training." She scoffed at that. "Plus, going guns blazing in the house of a UA student isn't smart. They're going to try to be quiet or blackmail even more."

"Oh goody," she groaned.

"And thirdly, as you know, I know where my father is." I rubbed my chin. "You really think that Daigo will ignore such bait?"

"You'd put your dad on the block like that?"

"Out of the three, you're the only one I'm actively trying to keep alive," I semi-lied. "Dad still left. If it's you or him, then I'll take the parent who can't hold their wine over the one who ran off."

She was quiet at that one.

"Speaking of which, I don't suppose you could stop drinking, could you?"

"Is this an intervention?" There was a warning in her tone.

"Nothing so grand. I'm just wondering."  It was the only thing I could see the hospital using as an excuse to deny giving her visiting rights…besides abusing me but no one knows that.

"Maybe if you manage to kill the bastard."

"I'll hold you to that. But all in all, I think today worked out pretty well."

"I'd have to agree. In fact, go into my purse. I want to show you something."

"You didn't bring wine, did you?" I grinned, opening the purse. There were some bottles, but they seemed to be soda bottles. What was more surprising was the multicolored liquid in it.

"Not sure if you know with your freaky past knowledge, but that's your grandma's quirk."

"She was a singer, right?" I worked on the cap. "Does it make you a better singer?"

"Nope," she said as I opened the cap with a pop. I blinked as a strong scent of fruit filled the car. "Her hair gives off this nice-smelling stuff. Plants love it, but it's perfect for perfume and house freshener."

"I see," I nodded, sniffing the bottle. It was a sort of sugary smell, not exactly fruit pie or cake, but like sliced fruits being cooked in cinnamon water. "Makes me hungry a bit. How long does it last?"

"Months, if not years. The evaporation temperature is stupidly high." She breathed in deeply. "I missed that smell. Reminds me of home."

"Wait," I plucked a hairball and sniffed it. "Is that why I have grape-smelling hair?"

She laughed a bit before answering. "Got it in one. Honestly, I wonder if my hair were red, would it be strawberries? Life's little wonders."

"Nice."

"Still saying no to this idea."

"But Mom," I used my best bratty voice, "I need to overcome my ancestral trauma and defeat my grandpa."

"Do you think this is a game?"

"No, I think it's necessary for survival. But I can wait."

"For what?"

"For you. Grandpa is going to come to us because we found Grandma. He's going to walk over you, piss you off. It's been years since you've seen him, so you think you've matured, you think you've gotten used to your lot in life, but I come from you. If I've got a tenth of what I am from you, the moment he pulls on your chain, The fear you're trying to say you don't have will rear its head but along with it your bloodlust will come right back."

She was quiet for a moment. "I think it's time to talk about something else." Her voice had a bit of tension.

"Sure," I replied easily. "You think Rei is open to temperature play?"

My mom let out a startled cough. "What!?"

"Oh, come on, I know you were thinking about it."

"I was not!"

"You like your cake cold, don't you?"

"Shut it!"

"Hoping to warm up the ice princess with your fiery—" Goop surrounded my head, muffling my thoughts.

"Shut it," my mom almost shrieked as I laughed into her hair.

Do you think she will work with you on this? the brat whispered in my head.

I think so. She reminds me of who I was when I just broke out of the pit. Confused, conflicted, still trying to hold onto the status quo. She just needs a push to direct her to what she needs.

And you think this is the direction she needs? Didn't your life end sort of sad?

She has something to come back to when it's all over, and she won't be leading this fight. She has already shown she can't handle her family's demons. I'll do it for her and bring her peace in the matter, for better or for worse.

So you're trying to save everyone besides my grandfather, right?

Daigo dies. If Kagehiro is somehow still alive, he follows him to hell as well. Everyone else is currently on the live factor.

Are you gonna try to recreate my—our family? I blinked at the idea, tilting my head inside my mom's hair. She gave it space so I could breathe, already showing that she was better than this morning.

No. Too much damage between the two, and Mom and Dad never wanted to be together. I will try to fix the two of them, but separation. They don't need or want each other. If this ends right, we will have a father and mother, but they don't need to like each other.

So the best-case scenario is a broken family. I could feel the brat's sarcasm. A fitting role for our family.

Indeed. I chuckled, earning an annoyed shake from my mother. The future was shaky; everything could go wrong at any moment. My allies were almost none, and my enemies might as well be the stars themselves. Things are starting to get familiar.

Good familiar or bad familiar?

Interestingly familiar was my best response.

My phone rang, and I tugged on my mom's hair, getting her to let me go.

"Who is it?" my mom asked.

"Rei," I replied, reading the message out loud. "I forgot to mention this when I talked to you earlier, but your grandmother has this mark on the lower back of her head, and I wanted to know if you know how she got it."

"Let me see."

"Hold on, it's loading... there it is."

"What does it look like?"

I couldn't speak.

"Well?"

My lips didn't move.

Hey, what's going o—

I threw the brat into control of the body. I felt him giving the phone to Mom, but I just pulled the memory of it up in my mind, holding it in my mental hands that were trembling.

The scar was old, mostly healed, but the shape it made was familiar, something I never expected to see again. One that I refused to believe could be here in this time and on my grandma.

Mind Flayer.