Walking beside Jiro, Tsutsumi let out a long yawn, the fatigue from today's world-hopping catching up to him. He had started to grow more accustomed to his ability to travel between dimensions, especially when it came to returning to his home world.
At the very least, he no longer feared getting lost in the void.
Still, his control over the Aurora Curtain was far from perfect. While it could transfer anything it enveloped into another world, that didn't mean he had fine-tuned control over what could or couldn't pass through.
From the fragments of his dreams, he recalled that the Aurora Curtain had once been used to block Kadoya Tsukasa from crossing into a world, functioning more like a barrier than a portal, forcibly separating realities.
"Hey, Ryo," Jiro's voice broke the comfortable silence between them.
She stepped a little ahead of him, hands loosely holding her school bag behind her back. Turning about 45 degrees, she tilted her head to glance back at him, her short hair fluttering softly in the warm orange hue of the setting sun.
"Wanna go out or something?" she asked, her calm black eyes meeting his.
Tsutsumi considered refusing. He was tired, having skipped both breakfast and lunch, and had done two world jumps in a single day. He was starving.
"Sure," he answered simply.
...
After some time, he and Jiro exited the convenience store, each holding two bags of groceries. With the quiet streets bathed in the fading orange light of dusk, they made their way back to Jiro's house.
"Ryoko-kun, glad to see you, dear," Ms. Jiro, Jiro Miko, greeted with a warm smile as she opened the door.
"It's good to see you too, Ms. Jiro," Tsutsumi replied politely, offering her a small bow.
"Ryoko, my boy!" Mr. Jiro, Jiro Kyotoku, waved him over with a grin. "Come, I've been working on this new beat. Let me show you."
He disappeared into the other room, presumably to grab his guitar.
The Jiro family had known Tsutsumi and his mother for years. Ever since her sudden disappearance, they'd been checking in on him from time to time, inviting him over for meals so he wouldn't be alone in that quiet house of his.
As Kyotoku began strumming out a rough new melody in the next room, Miko gently pulled Kyoka into the kitchen to help with dinner.
Later, seated around the dining table, Miko turned to him. "So, Ryoko... I heard you're aiming for U.A.?"
Kyoka must've told her. Tsutsumi nodded slightly, unfazed.
"I'll be fine, Ms. Miko," he replied calmly. With his recent discovery about his quirk, he wasn't too worried about the entrance exam anymore.
Kyotoku, however, leaned forward, eyes filled with concern. "Ryoko, I know you're a good kid, believe me. But the hero path is brutal. And... well, your quirk doesn't exactly suit hero work."
Like his wife, Kyotoku had a soft spot for Tsutsumi, treating him like a second son. Kyoka's choice to become a hero had surprised them, but at least her quirk had clear combat potential. Ryoko, on the other hand... From what the world knew, his quirk was just Belt. Flashy, maybe, but with no real utility.
Trying to get into U.A. with a quirk like that was basically walking in quirkless.
Tsutsumi had heard it all before, from teachers, from students. Most of the time, he just let it go in one ear and out the other. He hadn't revealed the full extent of his ability yet. Not because he was afraid, but because he simply didn't feel the need to.
But the Jiros weren't just neighbors. They treated him like family.
So this time... he decided to share just a glimpse.
"I appreciate the concern, Mr. Kyotoku, Ms. Miko," Tsutsumi said, reaching into his bag. "But you don't have to worry. I recently discovered something... interesting."
He pulled out a card.
Attack Ride: Earphone Jack.
As he activated it, the tips of his earlobes morphed into plug-like jacks, identical to Kyoka's and her mother's.
"Ehh!?" the whole Jiro household exclaimed in unison.
He could've gone a step further. Form Ride: Earphone Jack would let him fully transform into Kyoka, but turning into a girl, especially one sitting right across from him, might stir up more trouble than it was worth.
Best to talk to Kyoka privately before trying something like that.
"No freaking way... You can actually copy quirks?" Kyoka leaned in, touching one of his earphone jacks with her own. His jack responded in sync, moving under his command.
"Not exactly," he replied, careful with his words. "I can access them through cards. But... how I got them is still unclear."
That was only half true. He knew how, sort of, but explaining that he gained them through dreams would only raise more questions. If he revealed everything now, it might seem like he'd been hiding his real quirk all along.
Without hard proof, even the truth can sound like a lie.
Still, both Kyotoku and Miko were visibly relieved, even excited. Even if the hero path didn't work out, Kyotoku could already imagine Ryoko becoming part of the family's music legacy.
After dinner, Tsutsumi returned home.
As he stepped inside, he was greeted by the usual: silence.
The house was dark, still, and cold, such a stark contrast to the warmth of the Jiro household. But he had gotten used to it.
He showered, changed into casual clothes, and sat down in the living room.
Then he got to work, practicing with the Aurora Curtain, trying to get better control and use of it.
The next day, when Jiro came over to drag Tsutsumi out of bed, she found his room empty, no sign of him anywhere. The only thing left behind was a note:"See you at the U.A. entrance exam."
After that, Tsutsumi's presence at school became increasingly rare. Eventually, he only showed up to take exams before vanishing again, as if slipping between the cracks of normal life.
If she didn't camp inside his house to catch him, then he might really disappeared without a trace.
"Alright, spill it! What's with you skipping class all the time!?" Jiro snapped, walking briskly beside him.
Tsutsumi shrugged, raising his new magenta Blackbird Fly 135 Twin-lens Reflex Camera to capture the glow of the setting sun.
"I just don't see the point in studying things I already know."
That blunt response earned him a swift kick to the chin.
"Baka! If you keep acting like this, how do you expect to even get into U.A? Worse, what happens if you actually make it in, are you just gonna keep skipping classes then too!?"
"Don't know. Maybe." He replied flatly.
Another kick.
"Say, Jiro, have you ever trained in martial arts?" Tsutsumi asked, glancing at her with a half-lidded gaze.
"No." She puffed out her cheeks and turned away, arms crossed. "My hero path is support and rescue, not front-line fighting."
"Skip school tomorrow. Meet me at the training ground behind my house. I'll teach you how to fight."
He snapped another photo as if the conversation were already over.
"Huh!? Are you crazy!? My mom will kill me if she finds out I skipped school to hang out with you!" Jiro shouted, half-ready to punt him again.
"Just tell her I made you." Tsutsumi stepped in front of a takoyaki stand and ordered two bags like it was no big deal.
"Tch! I hate that I can't blame you…" Jiro muttered under her breath, stopping herself from kicking him a third time.
"Relax. There's an old saying." He handed her one of the bags. "Everything is Decade's fault."
Jiro: "..."
"...Huh?"
Jiro stared at him, visibly confused. She gave up trying to make sense of it and took the bag anyway.
The two walked home together in silence, quietly munching on takoyaki beneath the fading orange sky. Tsutsumi continued taking a few more photos along the way, one of which caught Jiro mid-bite, eyes wide as she chewed.
The next day, to Tsutsumi's genuine surprise, Jiro actually showed up.
"You actually came?" he blinked, staring at her standing outside his door in sportswear instead of her usual outfit.
"Tch! What's that supposed to mean!?" she snapped, throwing a kick his way, one he smoothly sidestepped.
"I called in sick," she muttered, puffing her cheeks and crossing her arms.
"The teachers actually bought that?" he asked, raising a brow.
Jiro gave him a deadpan look. "You skipped fifteen days out of twenty-one and called in sick five. Do you really think anyone believes you're dying of anything besides laziness?"
"Point taken," Tsutsumi nodded, unbothered.
Being the son of a pro hero came with its perks. One of them was the hidden basement training room, complete with reinforced flooring, strong ventilation, and professional-grade equipment. Surprisingly, there was even a gun range… though no guns or ammo anywhere in the house.
Tsutsumi stepped onto the mat and turned to face her.
"Come at me."
He stood casually, but his stance was solid, grounded in the experience of countless battles across countless worlds. His movements were second nature now, honed by memories and muscle forged through the skills of his cards.
Jiro threw a few punches and kicks. They were decent for someone untrained, but to him, they might as well have been in slow motion. He blocked each one with ease and countered with quick, light taps. They didn't hurt, but they were enough to knock her off balance and send her tumbling.
"Hmm. With technique like that, even becoming a sidekick might be a stretch," he remarked coolly.
Jiro's eye twitched. She sat up and scowled. "Fuck you."
"Is that supposed to be an insult or a to-do list?" Tsutsumi said without thinking.
Her cheeks instantly flushed a deep red.
"Quiet!" she shouted, scrambling to her feet. "Let's go again. I'm gonna kick your ass now."
Tsutsumi chuckled.
They went a few more rounds. And each time, Jiro ended up either on the floor or launched out of the ring. She was pissed. Somehow, that led to Tsutsumi treating her to lunch and dinner afterward.
This routine continued for the next few days, training, crashing, grumbling, and eating until they both returned to school. Naturally, Tsutsumi called in sick again the very next day.
"Jiro-chan, did you two get into a fight or something?" one of her classmates asked, teasingly grinning as they walked together.
"Tch! What's that supposed to mean?" Jiro replied with a scowl, subtly rubbing her sore shoulder from yesterday's beatdown.
"I mean… aren't you two, like… a thing?"
"A thing?" Jiro scoffed, glancing away with a light blush rising to her cheeks. "More like a pain in the ass."
Their relationship was close, undeniably so, but frustratingly undefined. Somewhere between best friends and something more, floating in a space neither had labeled yet.
After school, Jiro headed home, a bit tense. Tomorrow was the U.A. entrance exam. Tsutsumi had told her to get some rest and mentally prepare for it.
Her eyes wandered to a framed photo on her desk.
It was the one Tsutsumi had taken of her, the takoyaki shot under the orange sunset. Somehow, the photo looked slightly off, distorted. Her image overlapped, creating a faint double-exposure effect.
"…He really sucks at photography," she murmured.
Still, she didn't throw it away.
In another world, Tsutsumi sat on the edge of a tall building, his eyes trained through a window from a distant rooftop.
Inside, a girl sat by her desk, stargazing. She looked to be around fourteen or fifteen. Her hair, a vibrant blend of purple and pink, was shown in the bright light of her desk lamp.
She looked just like her...
Tsutsumi slowly raised his camera.
As if sensing him, the girl turned. Their eyes locked, curious, unsure, connected.
A silent moment passed.
Then Tsutsumi turned away. He stepped down into a nearby alley and disappeared into a Aurora Curtain.