Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Silvia POV.
I got out of the car without waiting for the driver to open the door for me, quickly got out and walked through the streets of Piltover without caring who saw me and headed towards the Kiramman estate.
I could hear Sevika cursing behind me as I quickened my pace, but I ignored it.
The images were still burned into my memory. The fight that had taken place in Japan had been broadcast all over the world.
All For One. That name sent a shiver down my spine. I had heard that name more than once years ago, but the destruction it caused had remained mainly confined to Japan, and although its influence extended throughout the rest of the world, it had never touched Piltover and Zaun.
Zaun was still a lawless land during the time AFO was still alive; a few Zaunites had joined her cause, but there was no formal group within Zaun, let alone in Piltover, so we had been safe.
When I became leader of Zaun almost a decade ago, people claiming to represent her called, trying to force me to join them. It was fortunate that months later, All Might and Ryuma killed her over eight years ago, and All For One's group was virtually wiped out.
But it had stayed alive, like a cockroach, waiting to attack again.
The fight that aired shook me to my core. Neither Zaun nor Piltover had anything strong enough to stop All For One if she had wanted to come and claim it… or destroy it.
I almost sighed with relief again when Ryuma cut her to pieces. But that wasn't important, no… what was important was the boy… Jinx's boyfriend… Ryuma's grandson… we had to act now before it was too late.
The gates were open, so I pushed them open forcefully and strode inside. I approached the mansion door and prepared to knock quickly, only for it to open and Cassandra to open the door.
"Cassandra, perfect, is everyone here?" I asked quickly without waiting for an invitation and went through the front door. Cassandra didn't say anything, she just sighed and quickly followed me.
"Yes, we're all here," Cassandra said, keeping pace with me. I headed to the living room, where Violet, Caitlyn, and Tobias were waiting, watching television; they were still broadcasting the Kamino incident in Japan.
I saw All Might on TV looking directly at the camera without smiling. He just raised his hand and pointed straight at the camera. And I understood: his finger was pointing at anyone watching; his message was for everyone.
"NEXT, IT'S YOUR TURN!" I shuddered completely. Fuck. It was good, it was damn good. A message for all the remaining villains, it was for them. And damn, did I feel it, it gave me goosebumps, and the message wasn't even directed at me.
That's what a national hero was, one of the greatest heroes in the world.
"All Might is so cool!" Violet squealed like a little girl, stamping her feet happily. I almost wanted to smile seeing her like that; seeing her like that reminded me of years ago, when Violet's father was still—
I stopped my thoughts and shook my mind; it wasn't a time for reminiscing, maybe never.
"We need to talk." I said immediately. Violet cursed as she jumped.
"Silvia." Violet grunted as she stood up, immediately crossing her arms and becoming defensive. I rolled my eyes.
"Violet." I said simply while sighing.
"So? What do you want? You sent the message to meet up. If it's about the news, we're already up to date," Violet said immediately.
"It's not because of that, it's something more important." I said with a grimace, glancing at Tobias slightly. He looked at me awkwardly and then at Cassandra.
"Should I... retire?" Tobias asked awkwardly. Cassandra sighed and approached her husband.
"I'm sorry, darling," Cassandra said apologetically. He simply nodded, kissed Cassandra's cheek, nodded in our direction, and quickly withdrew.
"I'm sorry." I said to Cassandra in apology, but she quickly dismissed it.
"Don't worry, he doesn't like to get involved in politics and all that," Cassandra said casually. I simply nodded.
"Okay, important things to attend to." I said immediately.
"Oh yeah? What could be so important that you called us and not our mother? " Vi asked defensively.
"Vandra has nothing to do with this," I said with a grimace. Violet snorted with a grimace.
"Of course not, you surely have some idea to take advantage of the fight that broke out in Japan, right? Too much of a coincidence that you called right after the fight ended." Violet said with a frown.
"It's not what you're thinking." I rolled my eyes.
"Of course not," Violet said sarcastically. I grunted in annoyance.
"For the love of—can you stop being against me for one minute!" I snapped, startling everyone. "This isn't about me! It's about Jinx! " I exclaimed forcefully. That made Vi straighten up.
"What's going on with Jinx?" Violet asked urgently, her tone completely changing. "Yeah, she's dating that Miyamura guy. I mean, it's amazing to know he's the grandson of a national high-ranking official. He's practically royalty! But I didn't see Jinx during the fight! Is she okay?" Violet asked quickly, and I took a deep breath trying to calm down.
"It's fine, as far as I know, it's fine," I said quickly with a grimace, or at least I hoped so. I resisted the urge to call her; there were more important things to attend to. "The problem isn't the fight, the problem is what it means." I pointed intently, and Violet frowned.
"Its... meaning?" Vi asked, confused. She looked at her wife, but Caitlyn seemed equally confused.
"What the hell are you teaching them?" I asked sufferingly in Cassandra's direction, ignoring Violet's indignant shout; Cassandra just frowned.
"I must admit, Silvia, that I'm confused too," Cassandra said, frowning.
"She's not the only one, I'm worried too." Sevika mocked from behind me, leaning against the wall. "I'm not talking to anyone, she just ran off when the fight was over. I understand you're worried about Blue, but like Violet said, she wasn't even in the fight." Sevika said with a shrug.
I closed my eyes tightly. Idiots, all idiots, and I was surrounded by them. I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. I looked closely at everyone.
"Jinx is a damn Kiramman, you girls took care of that," I said slowly, word by word, almost hissing, as I looked at Violet and Caitlyn. To my relief, Cassandra's eyes widened as she paled, followed a few seconds later by Caitlyn. The only one who still seemed confused was Vi. Even Sevika seemed to understand, if the long curses were any indication.
I almost sighed. Vi was intelligent; she could easily follow the cases she worked on as an Enforcer. But I knew she wasn't very well-versed in the politics of Piltover and Zaun simply because she wasn't interested, at least not on an international scale.
"That's a problem," Caitlyn said, swaying slightly.
"It's a huge problem," Cassandra said shakily.
"Can you speak directly for those of us who aren't understanding?" Vi grumbled in frustration. To my relief, Caitlyn began to speak.
"Vi... Jinx is now a Kiramman, legally and in every sense of the word. That means she represents the entire Kiramman family in Japan, but it's more than that. As Mom is part of the council and the Kirammans have been an important family in Piltover, Jinx represents all of Piltover and Zaun in Japan."
"The Piltoverans, especially the councilors, didn't really care at first; in fact, they were more than happy to let Jinx go since she was Silvia's daughter. But now that she's dating Sword God Ryuma's grandson... her value to the Council will change immediately." Caitlyn said with a frown.
"They want to use Powder for their own benefit?!" Vi asked indignantly, sounding almost furious. I bit my tongue to avoid correcting her name; it wasn't the time.
"They will. The Piltover Council, as much as we've tried to change it for years, still has many who prioritize personal gain. Now that Jinx is too valuable as long as she maintains a relationship with Ryuma's grandson, they'll treat her like a true Piltoverian, just to get closer to him." Cassandra said with a sneer.
"Those daughters of—" Vi growled. I could see Sevika growling too, and Caitlyn and Cassandra seemed annoyed as well. At least I could count on all of them to get angry on Jinx's behalf and defend her if necessary.
"It's more than that," I said solemnly, all eyes on me once again. "Jinx, despite having the name Kiramman, is still MY daughter, and Zaun hasn't forgotten that. To Zaun, she's still a Zaunite daughter, so they'll fight tooth and nail to keep Jinx on their side." I said with a growl, and Cassandra's eyes widened even further.
"A damn war over Jinx? Why? Because she is dating Ryuma's grandson? " Cassandra asked solemnly, and I nodded quickly.
"And perhaps more. Neither Piltover nor Zaun ever had an S-rank within their ranks at any point in their history; we still have to rely on foreign countries and guilds to close the occasional S-rank door that opens in our cities."
"They know they can't touch Ryuma's grandson. We definitely can't bring him to our side; Japan would instantly destroy us. So they're going with the next best thing. Sword God Ryuma is a damn monster. He was one of the first National Rankers, active for decades, and even at over 80 years old, he was able to fight at a higher level than any of our fighters."
"His grandson, Izumi Miyamura, is barely 18 years old, 18 damn years old, and he was able to fight, maybe not at the same level, but head-on without completely losing against a villain who faced two national ranks."
"He still has a wide range of improvement; perhaps he'll reach Ryuma's level at his peak, perhaps even surpass him, who knows? But at this moment, he remains firmly an S-rank without a doubt. A whole family of monsters. Both grandfather and grandson."
"Ryuma's daughter may not have inherited his talent, but since his grandson did, it's possible it could skip generations. They won't be able to bring Ryuma's grandson to anyone's side, but Jinx's son with Miyamura? His grandson? Definitely."
"And I have no doubt that both Piltover and Zaun will want to keep them for whatever reason, and won't let the other side have them. An S rank completely changes the game and will break the balance." I said solemnly, and everyone paled completely as they staggered.
"No." Caitlyn gasped in horror.
"Can we—can we tell Pow -Jinx to stay in Japan?" Vi asked quickly, sounding almost panicked. I groaned.
"As if Jinx would accept that, she'll come back, she has to at some point. I don't know if she'll stay with Miyamura, but if they have any children, they'll come with her," I said with a grimace.
"That sounds like Jinx." Sevika grumbled, running a hand through her hair. "Are they really going to risk angering Ryuma?" Sevika asked. I nodded without hesitation.
"Ryuma is around 80 years old, who knows how many more years he might live, not to mention that, even at this age, Ryuma is still classified as National Rank, and Japan will refuse to lower his rank regardless of his age, so he cannot leave Japan."
"They won't care about making Ryuma angry when he can't do anything," I said with a grimace.
"Can't you control Zaun?" Cassandra asked almost pleadingly. I glared at her.
"Can you control Piltover?" I asked back, she grimaced and looked away, I sighed wearily.
"Would Japan be happy about that?" Caitlyn asked, frowning.
"It won't matter. As long as the child isn't a man, Japan has no laws forcing Jinx's daughters to remain within the country, so it doesn't matter. Both sides, Piltover and Zaun, will try to compete for Jinx's attention. Whichever side she chooses will win." I said with a grimace.
"And neither will accept losing, not when the prize is a future S-rank, even if the odds are minuscule. And if the worst happens, Piltover won't accept Zaun having anything of such power, while Zaun won't accept Piltover becoming more powerful. They'll start attacking and sabotaging each other," Sevika said, close to a growl. I nodded.
"You're the damn leader of Zaun, can't you do something?" Violet asked as she began pacing nervously.
"It's not that simple, Violet. I'll be 'forced' to act. If I do nothing, the Chem-barons and the Zaunites will be unhappy. They'll think I'm letting Piltover win, that I'm handing them a future S-rank, who is even my own offspring. They'll try to remove me from office, one way or another." I said seriously. Vi snorted.
"So much for the Watchful Eye of Zaun." Vi mocked. "I thought you had control of Zaun, that's what you did all this for." Violet growled, glaring at me.
"Piltover's in the same boat," Cassandra chimed in with a grimace. "Even if we magically managed to convince the rabbit not to do anything, the Piltoverans would start to fear an S-rank officer from Zaun and begin a revolt." Cassandra began massaging her temple.
"Is the only solution really to force Jinx to stay away from Piltover and Zaun?" Caitlyn asked with a sigh.
"No, we'll find another solution." I said immediately, completely rejecting the idea of Jinx being exiled from Zaun.
"Can't we hide it?" Sevika asked, frowning.
"Impossible. The fact that Ryuma has a grandson and All Might a son is far more important than the fight itself. Everyone will want to know everything about them, and soon everyone will have all the information about them."
It had really been clever of Ryuma's grandson, I completely underestimated him. He had caught me off guard by showing excitement because I had researched him before we met, and I showed him all the information I had gathered about him. Then I didn't think about it anymore since it seemed he had nothing to hide.
I thought it was genuine curiosity and joy; I was so used to Jinx's mood swings and quirks that I didn't even bother to consider whether there was something hidden in it. In retrospect, I was checking to see if there was any information about Ryuma.
I didn't even bother to investigate further after that encounter. I was completely taken in. I was duped by a damn 18-year-old kid.
It would have been more annoying if it weren't for the fact that it might be impossible for me to find any proof of it even if I investigated. Ryuma hid it for a reason, and a national rank has far more resources than I could muster in another country. I mentally shook off the thoughts and returned to the conversation.
"Violet, you uploaded pictures of us on I-Island to your social media, along with Caitlyn. Both Jinx and Miyamura appear in those pictures looking like a couple; all of Piltover must have seen it by now. I also have information that that idiot Ekko has been ranting about 'damn Miyamura' to anyone who will listen. And Jinx and Miyamura themselves have uploaded content together as a couple."
"All reporters and investigators must already know they're a couple, everyone must know, and if they don't, they soon will. This is world news; every television channel and social media platform and practically every media outlet worldwide will be talking about this, and eventually, that information will come out. It's impossible to hide." I finished my rant, and everyone grimaced.
"Well, that means we have to move first, and it's not so bad. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's good that Jinx has mandatory service after finishing college. It gives us a lot more time to act—years."
"In that time, we can pretend or act as if we're bringing Jinx to our respective 'sides' while we figure out how to resolve this," Cassandra said, frowning.
"We have a lot to do," I said, nodding in agreement.
"Should we tell Vandra?" Violet asked, frowning. "...Should we tell Jinx?" Vi asked cautiously. We all grimaced.
"Do whatever you want with Vandra, I don't care, as long as she doesn't interfere." I said, almost dismissively. "And about Jinx, I'll call her when we're done here. I'll talk to her and tell her everything we discuss here. It's a bad idea to keep things from her, especially things like this." I said, massaging my temple.
"Okay, let's start planning," Cassandra said, clapping lightly. "...Does anyone have any ideas?" she asked wearily. I sighed, equally tired.
It will be a long day.