My Hero Academia: Aura Farming

[The Synonym]

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[Assault]
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…

"Come on, hurry it up with those boxes. That's our last shipment for today. You finish that, and you get to go home, bunch of losers!" A man in a puppet body wearing a plague-doctor mask barked at the thugs carrying crates into the truck.

They didn't answer. They rarely did. He was, after all, the Shie Hassaikai's General Manager. A single word of his would get them killed. So, even with those sour looks on their faces, they had no other option but to pick up the pace.

He huffed, satisfied at the response, arms crossing as he supervised the loading.

A few minutes later, the truck was full. Someone slammed the back doors shut, and the vehicle rumbled off through the residence's gate.

The puppet-bodied man, Joi Irinaka, nodded in approval.

"Alright, go home, you bastards," he said, shooing away the men wiping off grime with rags.

Again, no answer. Only tired steps as they shuffled toward the exit. Irinaka clicked his tongue.

As he watched them leave, a voice approached from behind.

"You're working hard, Irinaka."

"Boss!" Irinaka spun around, straightening up immediately when he recognized Overhaul. He even saluted. "The last shipment of the day is done!"

"Good work," Overhaul said with a curt nod. "Is business with our clientele going well?"

"Like never before! Our version of Trigger is hitting it big!" Irinaka said proudly. "At this rate, all the resources and machinery you asked for will be here in a week at most! Ah, I can't wait for your research to finish, boss! We'll be swimming in money, and no one will dare look down on the Yakuza anymore, Kyeeee!!" He let out a strange screech at the last part.

Overhaul exhaled through his nose—something between amusement and acknowledgment.

"Go rest, Irinaka. You earned a break."

"Oh!" The little puppet raised his tiny arm in a cheer. "Right away, boss, just gotta make sure these bastards left everything up to code!"

"Then, I'll leave that to you." Overhaul gave him a little nod, turned, and walked inside the traditional-looking house.

Left alone, Irinaka looked out over the parking lot with smug satisfaction.

Another day of managing the Hassaikai's logistics perfectly. With progress like this, it was only a matter of time before the Yakuza reclaimed their spot at the top of the criminal world, just like Overhaul envisioned.

He lifted a fist and clenched it in pride.

"Well, I should finish what's left and go to sleep soon. Can't have any bastard looking down on me because I look tired."

Nodding to himself, he turned to leave.

"...?!"

But when he saw what lay behind him, he froze.

Without having made even the faintest sound or stirring the air in the slightest, a dark figure had somehow made its way behind him. Towering over his tiny puppet body, two dim, red eyes stared down at him like twin embers in the dark.

"W-who are yo— ghk?!"

The question was strangled out of existence as Irinaka was lifted clean off the ground by seemingly nothing. Something clamped around his throat with brutal force, crushing any possibility of sound.

His eyes, filled with tears from the asphyxiation, turned to his foe.

It was a hooded man in a dark coat, with a full-face mask that left nothing to see except his red, eerie eyes, which seemed to stare into his very soul.

Then, the man brought up a single finger—And let out a chilling hush.

Like a button being pressed, it brought a little composure to Irinaka, one that made him realize that no matter who he was, he wasn't here with good intentions.

And at nighttime, when everyone had their alert at the bottom, he presented a danger to Overhaul.

So, in maximum alert now, and not about to let anything happen to his boss, he decided to change his approach, realizing that as things were, he was gonna be knocked out without fighting.

"Ky-k-kyeeee!"

He groaned as much as he could under the pressure on his throat as his puppet body began being ripped apart, revealing his much bigger, true form: a muscular, very spiky-haired blonde, with a furious expression, veins popping on his forehead.

He opened his mouth to shout, expecting that transformation to have given him at least a second to escape from the invisible pressure—

"O—"

–Bam!–

Sadly, he was mistaken. Before his mouth could even finish the first letter of his sentence, his throat clenched again, and this time he felt a wave of pressure fall down on him, stomping him to the ground mercilessly.

Struggling, he lifted his eye to see the man once again looking down at him.

That was an unfamiliar appearance, but amidst the pain and pressure, his racing mind recognized the abilities currently pinning him down—thus, making the connection.

"T-that shitty vigilante... R—rockinesis.....!" he was able to exclaim—at a very low voice, not any bigger than a whisper.

After a moment of silence, the man let out a snort. "You figured it out, huh?"

Despite his realization, the pressure didn't ease.

"W-why are you a—attacking us?" Irinaka struggled to speak. "We haven't done anything to warrant your attention on us!"

The man knelt to his level.

"You've done plenty."

With those words, Irinaka suddenly found the pressure pinning him ease.

No—that was wrong.

It had inverted.

He was now flying up.

"...?!"

As he ascended, his eyes couldn't help but fall on their opponent one more time.
He stood there, eyes gleaming at him without the slightest bit of mercy.

He wanted to scream, to alert Overhaul and give him at least some time to prepare against the threat that had arrived unannounced.

But his throat didn't allow it.

Even as he then began descending at rapid speeds, his voice continued to be gone until the last moment.

His screams remained only to himself.

—Crack!—

A second later, his body hit the ground nastily, knocking him out as his body rolled limply after the hit. His eyes completely rolled out.

—Step, step, step—

As he lay there, unmoving, heavy, almost metallic-sounding steps drew closer.

Soon, the same dark figure from before now stood beside him, eyeing him with narrowed eyes.

"One annoyance less"

…

°

°

°

| Inside the house… |

…

"—That's the combination and the path to the girl's room, I swear!"

"So you were right, Rockinesis." Gentle said, stroking his moustache with a surprised expression as he glanced between a scared Yakuza and Taka. "I didn't think you were lying, but I'm still surprised you knew about it."

Taka didn't answer him. Instead, he continued glaring at the Yakuza.

"And Chisaki?"

The Yakuza answered without hesitation. "He always remains in his lab until late. We aren't allowed to enter it, but I know it's taking a turn to the left three times, and then another one to the right. From there, it's a straight line!"

"I see."

—Bam!—

A sudden force struck the panicking Yakuza, hitting his face and sending him rolling across the floor like a tossed rag doll for several meters.

Seconds later, he lay flat on the ground, knocked out.

"Not a shred of mercy, it seems. Even though he told us everything." Gentle glanced at the Yakuza's beaten body and commented wryly, before turning to him. "By the way, how did you do it? You didn't even need to hurt him. He began speaking as soon as you stepped up."

"I can be persuasive." Taka simply said, before turning and reaching for what appeared to be a memorial in the middle of the hallway they were on, pressing a combination of buttons hidden under a flower base.

Seconds later, a hidden door opened, revealing a path underground.

The three stepped through it, going down the stairs until they eventually reached the labyrinth that was the Yakuza's underground facility.

As they stood at the entrance, which split into several more paths, Gentle sweatdropped slightly.

"It seems we are here at last… Are you sure we are actually prepared for this? I remember one of your old combat videos where you fought three A-class villains, and you seemed to struggle somewhat… The Eight Bullets of the Shie Hassaikai are on a similar level to them—at least most of them."

A beat of silence followed, making Gentle even more nervous, thinking he might actually be right.

But then, to his surprise, Taka's figure began dividing into several others like him, each staring ahead without even the slightest doubt in their gazes.

Then, the original turned to him, gazing at him calmly.

"If it had been me from that time, maybe... But you've seen the difference between the recent footage and those from back then, right?"

Gentle blinked, then nodded with a serious expression.

Superhuman feats were hard to measure perfectly unless you were a scientist or physicist, or at least had some knowledge of such things, and even less through mere videos. But despite that, he could clearly tell.

He had, after all, seen the battle between him and the Nomu.

Taka was stronger than before.

How much, he didn't know.

'Maybe La Brava would know more about things like this.'

As he had such thoughts, all the Takas took a step forward, the original one narrowing his eyes.

"From here on, we separate paths."

"Hold on, we already know where the child is. Why would we…?"

"I said it before. Saving the kid is priority number one." He lifted a finger before lifting the next one. "Wiping out the Shie Hassaikai is the other."

At his words, all the clones began walking in different directions, each taking a different path.

As did Taka, leaving a few words behind for Gentle, who remained at the back.

"So from now on, take care of any Yakuza that remain here."

"Where are you going?" Gentle asked.

Taka's eyes gleamed. "What I came here for."

Then—he vanished.

…

°

°

°

| Chisaki's laboratory |

…

Sitting in a dimly lit room, back hunched as he stared into a microscope positioned above a drop of blood, Chisaki's eyes remained unblinking, with a maddening light that almost went unnoticed due to how brief it was.

After a few seconds, he leaned back, looking tired.

"Just a bit more, boss… The future you envisioned for the Yakuza, it will come soon…" His pupils fell and focused on the blood again, this time with the same maddening glint from earlier. "Soon, the illness of the mind that Quirks have brought to people will cease. Then, the Yakuza will reign as they did in the past…"

Letting out a short and faintly exhausted laugh, Chisaki stood up and picked up the glass slide with the blood on it, preparing to put it somewhere to study it later.

At least that was the plan—

—Rumble…—

—Crack!—

Until the whole underground shook, causing him to drop the blood along with the slide.

"...?!" Chisaki's eyes widened as his head snapped around for a moment, seeing dust fall from the ceiling at the unexpected seismic movement.

—No, this was no earthquake.

In a hurry, he walked toward the door, leaving the room and stepping into the hallway to see what was happening outside.

—Rumble…—

Once again, the whole base shook like an enormous fight was taking place above.

The lights flickered as dust detached from the ceiling before falling onto him.

He quickly batted the dust away with a disgusted face, groaning as he continued looking around.

Only to—as the lights flickered once more—see a figure clad in black, almost camouflaged with the shadows, suddenly appear at one end of the hallway.

His eyes widened for but a moment before a frown took over his face.

"Who the hell are you?"

The man, however, simply took a step forward, not answering.

Chisaki immediately took one of his gloves off.

"Damnit… I heard noise upstairs. What did you do?" Annoyance began creeping into his tone. He had been making so much good progress lately. Why did someone have to pick a fight now?

He expected the police to notice eventually, so he had prepared a few things to escape—but this was too early to be having problems.

Who was this? A rival group seeking a monopoly over Trigger?

Someone who held a grudge against him?

"You better not have damaged my equipment."

Saying that, he swung his hand—aiming to reach him and activate his Quirk.

Only—

"What...?!"

Once he did, nothing happened.

Even as he continued touching the man's chest, activating his Quirk—nothing happened.

"...How—?"

His eyes widened as he realized the truth.

He thought he had reached the man—but he was wrong.

He was touching something that he could feel—but somehow, what he was seeing contradicted that.

There, his extended palm remained centimeters away from his objective, touching only air.

"A barrier type?!—Gakh!"

His voice was cut short as his throat was compressed, a tight force keeping it closed—then lifting him against his will.

He gasped for air, legs kicking in the air, eyes going wide at his enemy, and widening even more once he saw him not even bothering to take his hands out of his pockets for what he was doing.

That was enough for Chisaki to realize who this was.

There was only one such powerful telekinesis user in the present times.

'That vigilante..!?'

"—A—argh!"

Despite his shock, his fighting spirit remained.

As his legs touched the air, he continued activating his Quirk while trying to touch whatever energy was forcing him up and closing his throat.

But no matter how much he searched, how much he wanted something to be there, so he could disassemble it... There wasn't.

Gargling and gasping sounds came from him as air became scarce, tears leaving his eyes.

Eventually, his consciousness began fading due to the lack of oxygen. Helplessness settled into his heart as he realized he had met a counter to his own Quirk.

Was this how it was going to end? All his plans, the future he had envisioned, his boss's dream?

"Ghk—Haaaah?!"

His eyes snapped wide open as his vanishing mind recovered with a sudden influx of air.

And not only that, but soon, he also fell to the ground. Whatever force had been keeping him up there no longer applied.

He ended up on the floor, coughing and gasping, his chest rising and falling with the deep breaths he was taking.

Once he recovered enough for his mind to wander back to his current situation, he turned back to the man, eyes wide not with anger anymore—but pure terror.

And there he was, staring down at him, eyes narrowed into thin slits—revealing only a glimpse of red, murderous pupils behind the mask.

His mind became filled with confusion. Why had he not been killed? Why was he letting him go?

Had he not been here originally to kill him?

Sadly, he wasn't about to get his answers.

"Run."

The man only said that single word before his eyes gestured behind Chisaki.

"...!"

That was enough to get the adrenaline to kick in properly and snap him out of his trance.

In an instant, he scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping before bolting down the hallway in the opposite direction at full speed.

He had an evacuation route.

All he needed to do was reach it, and he'd live to see another day.

The Shie Hassaikai would live to see another day!

So long as he didn't die, he would rebuild everything in time!

With such thoughts, Overhaul, the feared Yakuza boss, ran away with whatever energy was left in him.

Meanwhile, the man didn't move at first. He simply watched Chisaki's fleeing back in silence.

Then, once it dissapeared around the corner, he let out a snort.

One filled with amusement.

—Step, step, step—

And then, began walking after him with complete calm.

Like a predator biding his time before starting the hunt.

…

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-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: I know Overhaul can heal himself, but the anime was a bit vague about its functioning, so I'm just gonna do my interpretation of it. Hope you don't mind. It will make the fight at least a bit more interesting.)

 

[The Synonym]

(A/N: Sorry for the wait, I sent my laptop to repair since the keyboard was faulty and caused me to always need an external keyboard if I wanted to use it. It's still on repair, but when it's fixed, I should be able to write even at university, where I feel like I lose a lot of time I could use in this. Though, I guess only time will tell if I'll be able to lock in.)

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[8 Bullets]
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…

"Who the hell are you?"

Rikiya Katsukame, one of the Eight Bullets, and a massive beast of a man wearing a plague mask, with muscles on his muscles and using metal gloves to add on to the imposing presence, frowned deeply as he stared down the hallway at the figure standing there with his arms crossed.

He had been in his room enjoying a good movie night, and he'd just stood up to grab a beer—

And then this guy suddenly appeared in the hallway.

"..."

"..."

Rikiya's eyes narrowed behind his mask as the man remained silent even after his question.

The silence stretched a bit more, with both men locking eyes with one another, hoping for the other to budge first.

Until Rikiya let out an annoyed sigh.

"What a pain… You're not a pretty girl, so whatever. If you walk away right now, I'll let this slide." He said, looking away, and waving dismissively at the intruder.

Yet the stranger didn't move.

An uncomfortable silence between the two stretched for a bit more.

Then, Rikiya snorted, turning back to him.

"Well, I was lying anyway. Good job not believing in me."

With an annoyed sigh, he began walking toward the man. Each step picked up speed until—

—Thunk, Thunk, Thunk!—

—he broke into a full charge, the massive difference in size making it look like a truck barreling toward a teenager.

"Hrgh!"

And as he entered combat range, Rikiya groaned as he wound up a punch, putting his full weight behind it as the stranger remained perfectly still.

Then, he struck.

—BAM!—

As the punch echoed in the hallway, its force more than clear enough with the thunderous sound the collision had made, Rikiya's eyes narrowed in delight as he saw his victim still standing there, meaning he hadn't missed.

Though once he paid closer attention, some of that delight wilted quickly.

He had reached his foe, yes. But his hand had been caught by the intruder's palm, making all the force he put into his punch earlier look like a joke.

However, while he was disappointed he hadn't sent him flying, Rikiya didn't feel worried in the slightest.

"Hoh? Man, you've got better reflexes than I expected, but—"

Tssssss…—

Suddenly, orange energy began oozing from the stranger and flew into Rikiya's body.

"—letting me come into contact with you was your last mistake."

The energy poured into him.

His muscles swelled, his frame expanded, and veins bulged beneath his skin—Within seconds, he had grown even larger.

If he had looked like a truck before—

Now he was a damn train.

"Hell yeah… that hits the spot." He let out a satisfied sigh before setting his confident gaze down at the hooded figure now dwarfed by him. "Now then… where were we, little man?"

"Hah."

But to his surprise, the intruder simply let out an amused snort.

Then their gazes met, two glowing red eyes staring straight through Rikiya—eyes that didn't hold a single shred of regret for his earlier "mistake", nor worry despite the apparent difference in power.

Having a bad feeling, Rikiya—whose fist was still caught in the man's palm—winded up a punch with his other hand.

But as he did, for the first time, the intruder spoke.

"I was curious how your power would work on me…"

Ignoring the man's talk, Rikiya's released his punch—but as he did, he met gazes with the man one more time.

Then, the intruder spoke again.

"Turns out it's nothing special."

"...!"

The energy flow abruptly stopped.

At the same time, Rikiya had felt it—something had pushed his caught hand centimeters away from the man's palm, nullifying his Quirk's further absorption.

"The hell—?"

Then—

—BOOOM!—

An invisible shockwave exploded outward, blasting him backward and sending him skidding several meters across the floor.

He dug his feet in before he flew too far, breathing heavily as he steadied himself.

After a quick glance over his body, he looked back at the intruder with a far more cautious expression.

"That's one weird Quirk… I didn't even see what hit me." He cracked his neck slightly. "Now you've got me curious."

Uncaringly, the intruder tapped the floor twice with his shoe.

His red eyes glowed behind the mask.

"Keep that curiosity to yourself."

Then—

He vanished.

His body became a blur of black and red streaks slicing through Rikiya's vision.

In an instant, he was already in front of him.

Then the fists came.

—TATATATATATATATATATATA!—

Rikiya couldn't even react.

Fists crashed into him from every direction, each blow landing with brutal precision.

The man flickered across his vision too fast to track. One moment he was in front of him, the next he vanished—only for another punch to slam into his ribs, his jaw, his gut.

It was like being caught in a storm.

A literal rain of fists.

Only after what felt like an eternity did the barrage stop.

Rikiya dropped to one knee, coughing violently as blood splattered inside his mask.

"Y-you hit pretty hard… for a scrawny guy whose energy I just drained…"

Behind him stood the masked man, leather gloves faintly smoking as he faced away from the fallen giant, not bothering to look back.

"And you resisted more than I accounted for."

Right after the man's words left his mouth—

Rikiya collapsed completely, his enormous body slamming into the floor.

Thus, one of the Eight Bullets was down.

…

°

°

°

| Somewhere else… |

…

"...You… you seem interesting."

Kendo Rappa stared at the figure now standing over the unconscious body of his boring partner, Hekiji Tengai.

They had been doing their usual chores around here, although he was leaving most of the work to his partner, while he lounged around, passing time.

Then, suddenly, that hooded guy appeared and attacked. Despite his partner's Quirk allowing him to create barriers harder than steel, the stranger had simply fired a laser from two fingers and shattered it in an instant—using that brief opening to knock him out without effort.

And thus, that now left only him and the hooded man.

Yet, despite the obvious predicament, Rappa could only feel the rising tension making his blood boil with excitement as he stared at the imposing figure before him.

"Hey…" he called out, eyes gleaming with a maddened hunger. "...Let's fight to the death."

The figure slowly turned toward him.

Then he raised a single fist.

"Come. I saved enough energy for you too."

"HAHAHAHA! THAT'S THE ATTITUDE!" Rappa roared with laughter as he lunged forward without hesitation.

The figure moved at the same time.

—RATATATATATATATAT!—

A storm of fists exploded between them.

Their punches blurred like twin Gatling guns firing at point-blank range, each strike crashing against the other before it could reach flesh.

Small shockwaves rippled through the hallway as their fists collided again and again in a relentless barrage.

And amidst all that, Rappa's surprised eyes widened slightly.

The exchange lasted less than five seconds.

Yet in that brief window, more than a hundred punches were thrown between them.

Then, almost simultaneously, both fighters jumped back, creating distance as the clash finally ended.

Rappa rolled his shoulders, breathing hard but furrowing his brows behind the plague mask he was currently wearing.

"Y-you… why aren't you shooting lasers as you did against that bastard?" He jerked his chin toward Tengai's unconscious body.

The masked figure answered calmly.

"It'd be less fun that way, wouldn't it?"

Rappa blinked.

Then he chuckled like a kid who had just found his favorite toy.

"You get it… You truly get it."

He shook his hands once.

His metal gauntlets that had been covering his fists until then immediately cracked apart and fell to the ground in pieces—the earlier exchange had completely destroyed them.

"THEN LET'S ENJOY OURSELVES TO THE FULLEST!"

Now unrestrained, Rappa lunged again, thirst for battle burning in his eyes.

The masked man moved as well, red eyes flashing beneath the hood.

—RATATATATATATATAT!—

And then, another storm of fists erupted.

But this time, the punches didn't stop at merely five seconds.

They broke through, going on for much longer.

Blows slammed into ribs, jaws, and shoulders as both fighters traded hits in the middle of the hurricane of punches.

Both figures were knocked back again and again, each sending the other sliding across the floor, neither willing to give an inch.

"HAHAHA! To think you'd keep up with my punching speed… just what the hell is your Quirk?!" Rappa shouted as the exchange continued.

His opponent didn't answer.

Then, inevitably, because of the nature of Rappa's Quirk, he had to pull back for a moment.

The intruder didn't let up.

He lunged forward and unleashed another storm of punches, forcing Rappa to raise his arms and block.

—RATATATATATATATAT!—

By the time it ended, his body was battered beyond measure, and the sheer recoil of the barrage eventually sent him rolling backward across the floor.

But as he recovered and looked up at the already approaching hooded figure, Rappa's eyes shone with pure ecstasy.

He dashed forward again.

And another storm of punches erupted between them.

Plenty of hits landed on his opponent—but just as many slammed into Rappa's own body.

Blood burst from his mouth mid-exchange, splattering across his mask and staining his flying fists in the process.

Soon both fighters' hands were slick with blood, leaving red streaks across each other whenever a blow connected.

It was a brutal, savage sight.

Yet exhilarating.

Until at last—

—BAM!—

The hooded man drove a final punch straight into Rappa's ribs.

The impact folded him over and sent him tumbling across the floor.

Seconds later, his back slammed against the hallway wall, leaving him slumped against it with both arms hanging uselessly at his sides.

Broken.

For a moment, he didn't move.

But he wasn't unconscious.

"Hehehe…" he chuckled, blood gargling in his throat as he did. "You… you're an amazing guy…"

The hooded man walked over and stopped in front of him, looming above the defeated fighter.

Both fists were still red, the blood on them beginning to evaporate from the heat and friction of the earlier exchange.

Rappa lifted his head and met his gaze.

"Now do it… finish it. End this fight to the death."

The figure didn't answer.

He simply raised a fist.

Then—

—SMACK!—

His punch crashed into Rappa's face, something cracking loudly on impact.

Rappa's body slumped to the side, unconscious.

The hooded man flicked his hands, shaking the blood off them.

"Sorry," he said flatly. "I'm not into that."

That made two less of the Eight Bullets.

…

°

°

°

| Another room of the underground facility… |

…

Gentle stood before three opponents, his eyes narrowing as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"To think I'd run into three of the Eight Bullets…"

Ahead of him stood Toya Setsuno—a lanky blond man whose Quirk allowed him to pull objects from others into his hands—Yu Hojo—a bald, stern-looking man capable of generating a sturdy, diamond-like material from his body and shaping it into weapons—and lastly, Soramitsu Tabe—a man draped in a mantle stitched tightly over the place where his mouth should have been, whose Quirk allowed him to eat anything with monstrous jaws.

"Who the hell are you? And how did you get in here?" Toya asked, glaring at Gentle.

Yu paused for a second. His eyes narrowed… then widened in recognition.

"Hold on. I've seen this guy before. He's that dumb idiot who uploads videos on YoTube doing crimes while trying to look cool."

Toya stared at him blankly for a moment before turning back to Gentle with a mocking grin.

"Don't tell me he thought it'd be a good idea to attack the Shie Hassaikai? Talk about stupid!"

Soramitsu said nothing.

But from the fixed, hungry look in his eyes… nothing good could be passing through his head.

Gentle sweatdropped slightly.

It truly seemed he had gotten himself into quite the predicament.

"But I suppose I can't leave everything to Rockinesis…"

His gaze briefly shifted to the camera he had placed earlier when he noticed the fight was inevitable, positioning it so it could capture everything.

A stationary camera wasn't ideal for filming combat, and La Brava often couldn't keep up with the speed and fierceness of some battles. That was why he usually cut his videos right as the fights began, only showing the aftermath of his victories.

Partly to avoid letting the authorities deduce his identity.

Partly to hide the tricks he kept in reserve for when he was outmatched.

And partly because he thought showing himself dispatching several of his enemies without showing the violence was pretty cool—very gentlemanly as he'd call it.

But this time…

This might be the most important video he had ever recorded.

He couldn't let Rockinesis be the only one stealing the show, even if he could only have a stationary camera to record it.

"Hoooh…" He exhaled slowly, his gaze sharpening as he looked at the three opponents ahead of him. "Very well, gentlemen… let us do what we must."

As he spoke, he tapped the earpiece hidden beneath his hair.

"And I'm counting on you, La Brava."

{"Gentle… don't lose!"}

At once, a pink energy began to surround him.

His hair spiked upward.

His moustache followed suit.

A confident smirk spread across his face.

"I won't."

…

°

°

°

| Evacuation path… |

…

Chisaki ran desperately down the hallway.

Sweat streamed down his forehead, and the sound of his hurried footsteps—along with his ragged breathing—echoed through the empty corridor.

Every few seconds, he slowed just enough to slam a hand against the walls beside him, activating his Quirk and raising thick barriers of stone behind him to block his pursuer.

But no matter how many walls he raised… No matter how thick they were… No matter how long he ran…

The footsteps behind him never stopped.

Each wall shattered with a thunderous crack.

And after every collapse, the same calm, steady steps resumed—like a hunter patiently chasing its prey.

"Damn it…" Chisaki hissed between breaths. "I can't let it end here. The boss's vision… I can't let it die with me!"

With every passing second, those footsteps grew closer.

So did the panic clawing at his chest.

At one point, he even reshaped the corridors themselves, tearing open new paths and sealing others behind him in an attempt to confuse the intruder.

But it made no difference.

No matter what he did… He couldn't lose him.

'What are those idiots doing?! Why did I even bother raising them into sacrificial pawns over this past year?! Can't they hold off a single intruder?!'

His mind went back to the Eight Bullets. In paper, and to the rest of the underworld, they were his henchmen. People worthy of carrying the name of the Shie Hassaikai.

But that wasn't the whole truth.

They were pawns he was ready to discard if it ever became necessary when the police discovered what was happening here, or when something else that risked the whole operation arose.

They were there to assure his escape, and with it, the survival of the Shie Hassaikai.

He and the boss.

So long as both existed, even if everyone else died or got imprisoned, the Shie Hassaikai would live on, and so would their ambition to rise to the top of the underworld.

That's why those eight existed, to ensure the core of the Hassaikai would remain.

And yet, despite the fact that he had been running like a madman for so long, none of them had shown up to sacrifice themselves.

Not even his more valuable pieces outside of the eight, like Kurono or Irinaka, had shown up.

Had something happened?

Had they all been wiped out before he became the target?!

'Fuck… FUCK!'

Frustrated to the limit, Chisaki kicked up the pace once again.

The chase dragged on until his lungs burned and his legs trembled.

Finally, he staggered to a stop, bending over with his hands on his knees as he sucked in desperate breaths.

He was close.

So close.

Just a hundred meters more…

And he would reach the hidden exit he had prepared as an emergency escape route.

He just needed to catch his breath.

Just a moment.

Then he would stand and—

"Why did you slow down?"

"...!"

Chisaki flinched violently and jumped away from where he stood.

He spun around, searching frantically for his pursuer.

But the hallway behind him was empty.

"Did you hear something?"

The voice came again… Right beside him.

Chisaki snapped his head to the side.

There—clad in black—stood the same figure from before, upside down, suspended in the air as if gravity meant nothing.

—Watching him with the same cold gaze as before.

Chisaki's hand shot forward instantly.

"Kgh…!"

But just like before, his palm stopped centimeters from the man's face.

The invisible barrier blocked him completely.

"Ack—!"

-Thud!-

Then, the same unseen force suddenly exploded outward, slamming Chisaki into the corridor's wall with crushing force.

Before he could recover, the masked vigilante was already standing in front of him… Blocking the only path forward.

He was cornered.

Taka had caught him.

"I thought you'd run faster if your life depended on it," Taka said calmly, looking down at him with clear disdain. "Guess there's a limit to what even desperation can achieve."

"Why…?" Chisaki snarled, fury and desperation bleeding into his voice as his carefully built plans collapsed around him. "Why is a bastard like you doing this?! Didn't you retire?! Why are you here?!"

"You should know yourself," Taka replied plainly.

That answer snapped Chisaki out of his anger.

'I should know?'

He had never met Rockinesis. He had only heard of him.

What's more, the vigilante had never even appeared in this city during the times he had been active.

So what the hell did he mean?

Was it the Hassaikai's crimes that had drawn his attention? There were dozens of organizations like his—and plenty far worse.

Then what?!

What could possibly—

Chisaki's eyes trembled as the answer finally surfaced.

"That kid…?"

"So you do know." Taka's voice carried a faint hint of amusement.

"How… how could you possibly know about her?"

There was no record of her existence, no documents, and no trace of her birth.

Chisaki had made sure of that.

And it had been a long time since she escaped—long before this vigilante had even begun operating.

So how?

A leak?

No, that was impossible.

He had personally explained to every subordinate what would happen if information leaked.

In detail.

Graphic detail.

He had made sure none of them would ever dare talk, no matter what their puny conscience told them.

Then how?

How—

-Pat-

A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance.

"No need to rack your brain over it," Taka said calmly. "You didn't do anything wrong in covering her up."

He paused.

"You were just unlucky."

—BAM!—

"Au—urgh…!"

A brutal punch slammed into Chisaki's stomach, folding him instantly.

Saliva spilled from his mouth as the air was violently knocked from his lungs.

Before he could recover, he felt himself lifted by the collar like he weighed nothing—

And tossed aside like trash.

He slammed against the metal floor and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop.

Coughing, he looked up.

The dark-clad figure was already walking toward him.

"There's a saying that no good deed goes unpunished…" Taka said with a quiet sigh, shaking his head slightly. "Of course, the same can't be said about bad ones. Plenty of bastards get away with whatever evil they're willing to commit."

He crouched down.

His face stopped mere centimeters from Chisaki's.

Red eyes gleamed through the mask as they locked onto him.

"But that's not your case."

He straightened again, looming over the sprawled villain.

Then he raised a hand.

A sphere of light formed above his palm, radiating heat intense enough to make Chisaki shield his face.

"I came here personally to make sure you don't get away unpunished. So, goodbye, Overhaul."

"No…" Chisaki muttered.

For a moment, time seemed to slow down. The heat and light were blinding him enough to bring a strange sense of calmness.

One that allowed for frustration and anger to no longer blind him to the truth.

That this… might be where it ends.

The Shie Hassaikai.

His plans.

His boss's dream.

All of it—ending here, at the hands of a damn vigilante.

Another deluded madman corrupted by Quirks… playing hero while deciding right and wrong for the world.

That's where the calm ended.

A vein bulged across Chisaki's forehead, and his eyes, afraid until then, shot at his enemy with a hatred so deep that it might as well burn like the energy in his hands.

Then—

"NO!"

His Quirk activated.

Both palms slammed against the floor—

—BOOOOM!—

—and everything changed.

…

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: Time to begin with the full fight. Hopefully you guys like the action.

Also, I'm moving the self-promotion down here cause of evil reasons.)

Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.

patreon.com/TheSynonym

 

[The Synonym]

(A/N: Kinda forgot to upload this after waiting for the laptop. Still, now you won't need to wait for the second part of the fight since it's a double release)

────────────────────────
[Showdown 1]
────────────────────────

…

It all happened in an instant.

The narrow, dark corridor suddenly expanded like a balloon.

Within seconds, it had turned into a massive arena.

Amid the violent transformation of the environment, Chisaki had already moved away from Taka. Now he stood at the opposite end of the newly formed space, his expression twisted with determination and rage.

He no longer trusted in his escape plan.

He no longer believed he could outrun the man before him.

Now he understood the reality of his situation—and what he had to do if the Shie Hassaikai was to survive.

He had to fight.

Cling to life like a cockroach.

Hold on until his nails tore off… and if that wasn't enough, bite down with his teeth and refuse to let go.

Nothing else—no plan, no subordinate—would save him now.

His eyes narrowed as he stared toward the place where Taka had stood moments ago. When he reshaped the corridor, he hadn't only created more space.

He had launched his attack at the same time.

"Tsk."

Unfortunately, that part had failed miserably.

Taka still stood exactly where he had been before.

But now, a massive amount of spikes lay around him, aimed directly at him—only, all shattered at their ends, having been unable to fully reach him in the end.

Taka remained at the center of the failed murder attempt, his gaze fixed coldly on Chisaki.

"So you finally stopped running."

—BAM!—

An invisible force ripped through the remaining spikes, shattering the ruined encasement around him, freeing him fully.

"Then let's not delay this any further."

Without another word, Taka moved.

His figure blurred.

"...!"

Barely reacting in time, Chisaki—already crouched with his hands on the ground—raised a massive wall of concrete filled with jagged spikes between them.

—BAM!—

A second later, the entire wall exploded apart.

A figure burst through it as if it were papier-mâché.

Even then, Chisaki didn't hesitate.

He was already sprinting away, having expected the wall to fail from the start.

As he ran, he slammed a hand against the half-crumbled remains of the barrier.

Dozens of concrete spikes erupted from the debris and shot toward the approaching Taka.

But with simple punches—and sometimes without even bothering to strike—Taka tore through them all.

His pursuit never slowed.

Within seconds, he was already upon Chisaki.

"You—Aack!"

The shout was cut short as Taka crashed into him like a meteor.

The impact slammed Chisaki into the ground.

—Crckcrckrkc!—

Taka dragged him across the floor mercilessly, the villain's body scraping through shattered debris as pained grunts and screams tore from his throat.

Broken chunks of concrete gouged his back as they slid across the arena.

Then, as if growing bored with it—

Taka's invisible force detonated forward.

Chisaki's battered body was launched at terrifying speed toward one of the arena's walls.

—BOOM!—

A massive cloud of dust erupted as he crashed into it.

Then, walking into the cloud, Taka waved a hand. His aura swept the dust away, revealing Chisaki embedded in the wall, his eyes threatening to roll back.

—Cough!—

A second later, a mouthful of blood spilled from Chisaki's lips, clear evidence of the damage he had taken.

Then the cracked wall holding him in place finally gave way, loosening and letting the gravely injured man fall to the floor.

Yet, somehow, at the last second, he caught himself—still awake despite the damage he had taken.

He coughed again, staining the concrete floor beneath and the surrounding debris with fresh blood.

"Hgrh…!"

—And then, in the next moment, his injuries repaired themselves.

Broken bones exploded, only to regenerate and realign themselves into proper shape.

Torn skin got ripped apart, before knitting back together with precision until he was flawless again.

In no time, Chisaki had gone back to top form.

Then, with both palms touching the ground, Chisaki activated his Quirk again.

"BEGONE!"

A wave of jagged spikes burst from the floor and surged toward the slowly approaching Taka, fast and powerful enough to impale anyone.

But the moment they reached him—

—Crack!—

—Bam!—

—Shatter!—

Not a single one remained intact.

Taka continued walking forward without slowing. Every spike shattered the instant they approached even remotely, the broken fragments lifting into the air and floating around him as if caught in an invisible current.

During all this, Taka's red eyes continued dead set on Chisaki, uncaring of the storm of attacks coming his way.

Gritting his teeth, Chisaki activated his Quirk again.

This time, the floor beneath him transformed into a rising pillar that launched him upward at tremendous speed, buying him distance and time from his relentless pursuer.

Taka reacted instantly, shooting after him.

As he ascended, vicious tentacle-like spikes erupted from the concrete pillar, lashing toward him in an attempt to pierce or at least slow him down.

But just like before, they were useless.

The dark figure of Taka's costume rose through the storm of spikes without hesitation. Concrete shattered around him as if he were an unstoppable force.

Before that overwhelming power, Chisaki's resistance meant nothing.

Within moments—just as the pillar reached its limit—Taka floated in front of him.

Chisaki trembled with fury at the sight of the man he couldn't even scratch.

"Why won't you die?!"

Desperation flooded his voice.

His hands slammed against the pillar again, and a barrage of spikes shot toward Taka one after another in a relentless assault.

Each one failed, shattered the instant Taka punched them.

—Crack!—

—Bam!—

—Shatter!—

Before long, the attack barrage ended, revealing a still unmoved Taka, looking at him from above with eyes that seemed to ask, "Is that all?"

Chisaki stared at the unmoving figure before him with wide, desperate eyes, his breathing ragged.

"...Why?"

—BAM!—

A fist answered him.

The punch blasted Chisaki off the pillar.

He shot across the arena and slammed into one of the distant walls.

Ironically, that actually saved him—allowing him to break his fall by creating a ramp to roll through, rather than plummet to his death.

Still, the force of the landing rattled his brain.

He bounced and rolled down the wall in a chaotic tumble, crashing against the ramp unceremoniously several times before finally landing sprawled on the floor below.

Slowly, he pushed himself up. A few times gravity almost dragged him back down, but in the end he managed to stand again—though only barely.

Then, once more, his injuries healed.

Yet even though his body had returned to perfect condition, his eyes told a completely different story.

Weariness.

A kind that simply reconstructing his body could not fix.

He was mentally exhausted.

To heal himself, he first had to disassemble his own body.

That process filled with pain, combined with the damage he kept sustaining—and the fact that despite everything he had done, he had not injured his opponent even slightly—was pushing him closer and closer to his breaking point.

—BOOM!—

The next second, Taka descended like a meteor. Concrete cracked beneath his feet as he landed only a few meters away from Chisaki.

Most of the lights in the corridor—now transformed into an arena—had already been destroyed during the fight. Only a handful still worked, barely illuminating the battlefield.

Even so, the entire place was swallowed by darkness.

And in that darkness, Chisaki saw him.

The figure clad in black, standing there completely unmoved by everything Chisaki had tried.

Red, eerie eyes staring straight into his soul—glowing even through the gloom.

Something inside Chisaki finally broke.

"Why?" he repeated.

He began walking toward his opponent.

Slowly.

Then suddenly—he ran.

Desperation and raw hatred burned in his eyes.

Mid-run, he crouched and brushed his hand against the floor, causing dozens of spikes to erupt from the ground and shoot toward Taka.

But the teenager simply punched, dodged, and walked through them without difficulty.

Still, Chisaki didn't slow down.

His hand struck the ground again.

Even more spikes surged forward.

Once again, they failed.

Fragments of shattered spikes floated through the air around Taka, like silent proof of his overwhelming power.

Tears ran down Chisaki's face as his teeth ground together in rage.

He grabbed a jagged piece of debris floating nearby, reshaped it into something sharper with his Quirk, and swung it desperately at Taka.

"Why are you so strong?!"

—Crack!—

The weapon shattered the instant it struck.

"...!"

Chisaki's hand remained frozen in the air, suddenly empty.

That was when he finally understood.

He was powerless.

And what angered him the most was something else entirely.

Until now, he had been allowed to fight.

No matter how he looked at it, the man before him could have ended the battle from the very beginning.

Yet he had been allowed to attack. Allowed to run. Allowed to heal himself.

To the man standing before him, this had never been a real fight.

He had simply been playing with his food.

That's when he understood it.

He never stood a chance.

And with that understanding came the realization of his reality.

His dream—no, the boss's dream—was going to end here because of the whims of someone with a powerful Quirk.

Once again, all of it because of the disease that Quirks were… and the madness they brought to people.

His fists clenched tightly, nails digging into his palms until blood began to seep out.

The Yakuza's bright future—rising beyond a decaying criminal group into one that would hold the world in the palm of its hand—was ending today.

All because of the deluded bastard standing before him.

—BAM!—

Mid-grief, once again, an invisible force struck him.

Chisaki was sent flying, crashing straight into a nearby wall.

Something in his back cracked on impact, blood spilling from his mouth as he crashed.

A moment later, he slid down the wall and collapsed onto the floor, like a puppet without strings.

All the strength in his body was gone now.

Of course, he could stand up, heal himself, and try again.

But what was the point?

No matter what he did, he couldn't defeat that monster.

No matter how hard he struggled, the future he had envisioned was ending today.

There was no escape.

'I'm sorry, boss… In the end, I wasn't capable of carrying on your vision…'

Chisaki lay on the floor, barely lifting his head to watch his opponent slowly approaching.

Like death itself, calmly coming to collect what it was owed.

Chisaki finally gave up.

His head lowered again, eyes falling to the cracked floor beneath him.

Was he going to kill him?

Or capture him?

Considering the man was a vigilante, not bound by law or popularity, Chisaki leaned toward the first option.

Either way, it meant the end of the Hassaikai today.

He had failed.

'Boss…'

As his consciousness began to fade, the first person that surfaced in his mind was the boss.

The man who had taken him in.

The reason he had done all of this for.

Only the two of them were needed for the Hassaikai to continue existing.

But today, Chisaki would be gone.

'I'm sorry—'

The thought halted midway.

His eyes suddenly widened as despair crept into them.

Realization struck.

If he died here…

If he were captured…

What would happen to the boss?

He had put him into a coma so that when he finally woke him up again, he could show him the results of his plan.

Show him that he had been right all along.

But if he died right now…

Who would wake him up?

Who would bring him out of that coma?

The realization hit like a shot of adrenaline.

His eyes snapped wide open, strength surging up from somewhere deep inside despite his battered body.

And then, as if fate had answered that desperate will—

Two figures stepped through the entrance of the arena.

"Overhaul!"

Two men wearing plague masks rushed inside, searching frantically for their boss.

One of them was Shin Nemoto, whose Quirk forced people to speak the truth—even if they didn't realize it themselves.

The other was Chronostasis, Chisaki's right-hand man. His Quirk allowed him to drastically slow someone down by touching them with two strands of hair shaped like the hands of a clock.

The moment they spotted him lying on the floor, both of them ran toward him.

'Nemoto… Kurono… Good timing.'

A faint smile appeared on Chisaki's lips.

"What the hell are those idiots doing…?" Taka turned toward them, his aura already gathering as he prepared to knock them aside before finishing with Overhaul.

But then—

—BOOOOOM!—

Enormous walls erupted from the ground, instantly surrounding him.

The source was Chisaki.

Both of his palms were pressed against the floor.

And the walls weren't the only thing he created.

The entire structure of the arena began shifting again.

Taka was pushed as far away as possible, while the two men rushing in were pulled closer.

"We received your alert and came as fast as we could," Kurono said, bearing a grave look.

"Overhaul, are you alright?!" Shin asked, staring at his boss's condition with alarm.

"Like never before."

Before, Chisaki might have fought alongside them.

But not now.

There was no more space for plans or useful people to make his allies.

There was only survival, and the boss.

So—

—Grab!—

His hand shot forward, seizing Shin and Kurono, who flinched in shock.

"You two will give up your lives for me, yeah?" Chisaki asked, a cruel grin spread on his face.

"Huh?"

In the next second—

—BAM!—

The disassembly began.

And so did the reassembly.

Soon, an entirely new figure was born.

"HAHAHA!"

...

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

────────────────────────

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────────────────────────

(A/N: Was wondering whether to make Chisaki take Trigger, fuse with his subordinates, or both. But in the end, I decided on the fusion only. It didn't make much sense for the provider to rely on the drug... At least, that's what I think. Giving it to the henchmen was fine, but not himself.)

 

[The Synonym]

────────────────────────
[Showdown 2]
────────────────────────

…

—BOOOM!—

Debris and rubble were sent flying violently as a wall was blasted apart, the impact making the entire arena rumble.

-Step, step, step-

From the cloud of rising dust that rose upon the wall breaking apart, a figure stepped out, cracking his neck to one side, then the other.

"This isn't what we agreed on... but I guess I should have seen it coming," The figure muttered, sounding mildly annoyed as it finally stepped out of the dust, revealing Taka, who stared forward with a collected gaze.

His gaze settled on the shifting figure at the other end of the arena, tons and tons of vapor emanating from it, and swallowing it completely.

Even so, the faint remaining lights around the arena allowed him to make out the general shape of what was happening.

The silhouette inside the vapor was changing.

What had once been a human figure was rapidly becoming something monstrous.

The body swelled in size, bones cracking and reshaping as its frame expanded into a towering form. Six massive arms unfolded from its torso, thick and uneven, each one ending in claw-like fingers. From its back, jagged appendages spread outward like twisted wings.

The violent and gruesome change continued for a few seconds more—until, at last, everything went to a still, silence completely taking over the arena in but an instant.

That's when Taka saw it.

Two golden eyes burned brightly at the center of the huge vortex of vapor, their murderous shine piercing through the haze and locking directly onto him.

"ROCKINEEEEESIIIIIIS!!!"

Chisaki's—No, Overhaul's distorted and ferocious roar rang out, powerful enough to fill the entirety of the arena in no time.

A quiet huff escaped the teenager.

"I suppose I have no other option but to play by it, then," He muttered, grin widening beneath his mask as his eyes took on an excited glint.

With that, he began walking forward.

At the same time, on Overhaul's side, the cloud of vapor that had formed burst outward in a violent rush.

The monstrous form of Overhaul emerged from within it, walking forward with furious stomps.

—Thunk!—

—Thunk!—

—Thunk!—

Before long, his stride broke into a full sprint, each step forward cracking the floor below and allowing him to reach a superhuman speed.

Taka did the same, slowly building up momentum—until he was speeding ahead too, his figure blurring amidst the dark surroundings.

A trail of destruction, product of their sheer speed and momentum, followed them as they charged against each other, like two titanic beasts about to pounce on each other.

Until, at last, the two collided.

—CLANG!—

The shockwave alone cracked the concrete beneath them and hurled both fighters several meters apart from the recoil.

—Crckckckck!—

As Overhaul was sent backward, both his hands slammed onto the floor and left a trail as they dug into it to stop his momentum.

And while he did, his Quirk also activated.

Suddenly, dozens—no, hundreds—of razor-sharp spikes burst forward, shooting across the arena in an enormous wave of stone.

Compared to Taka, the storm of spikes looked like a tidal wave ready to swallow him whole.

But even in the face of such an overwhelming attack, after recovering from the clash, Taka merely accelerated.

And as he dove inside it without fear, his body began moving through the chaos as if it belonged there.

He twisted left and right mid-flight, slipping between spikes that shot past him at lethal speeds. When one was unavoidable, he struck it aside, shattering it instantly. At other times, he used the sheer density of the attack to his advantage, redirecting spikes so they collided and shattered against one another.

He made surfing through that storm of blades look almost effortless.

And in no time—

He was already in front of Overhaul.

The Yakuza couldn't react.

His own forest of spikes had blocked his vision, and before he realized it—

—CLANG!—

A rising kick slammed directly into his enormous body.

The impact launched him skyward like a bullet.

But as Overhaul rocketed upward, Taka followed just as quickly.

Before the monster could reach the ceiling—

—BAM!—

"Ack—!"

Taka appeared above him, his leg crashing down in a brutal guillotine kick that slammed directly into Overhaul's stomach.

The force reversed his momentum instantly.

Both of them plummeted downward like a comet.

—BOOOOOM!—

Soon, they smashed into the ground together.

The impact carved a massive crater into the arena floor, causing fissures to spread around the point of impact in a single instant.

Then, as if that brutal exchange had only been the beginning, movement stirred within the rising dust. A moment later, it was blasted away, revealing both fighters already trading blows.

"I'LL TEAR APART THAT BARRIER OF YOURS! AND WHEN I DO, I'LL MAKE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR HEAD INTACT SO I CAN HANG IT FOR OTHERS TO SEE!"

Overhaul's enraged roar echoed as his six arms lashed out relentlessly, each strike powerful enough to create shockwaves on impact.

Taka dodged most of the attacks, blocking some and returning blows of his own.

Even so, the advantage of numbers began to show.

Soon, several strikes slipped past his defenses, threatening to land cleanly and shatter the barrier keeping Overhaul's quirk from reaching him.

At times, some of Overhaul's hands slipped away from the fight to touch the surroundings and send more spikes and other formations to interfere with Taka's rhythm.

Even though he was holding his ground, the sheer volume of attacks was forcing Taka beyond his current capabilities.

Recognizing the danger, Taka forced a time-out, releasing a burst of raw aura in Overhaul's face.

—BOOM!—

Instantly, the explosion of raw energy produced a shockwave that forced Overhaul backward several meters, his six arms and legs clawing at the ground to stop himself.

At the same time, however, Overhaul didn't let Taka take as much of a breather as he could have liked. As his hands clawed at the ground, he also used his Quirk to morph it into massive pillars that shot like massive hammers toward Taka.

"...!" Reacting quickly, the teenager simply tilted his body aside, letting the pillars graze past him as they sped by.

Then he used them.

The flying pillars briefly blocked Overhaul's vision, and in that instant, Taka launched himself forward, crossing the distance between them almost immediately.

Taka rammed straight into him, using his aura to form a barrier in front of him, allowing him to act like a literal shooting star that ran over the unsuspecting Overhaul.

—CRKKCKRKR!!!—

"AAAARGH!!"

With Taka's speed and momentum, Overhaul had no escape. He was rammed by Taka's vertiginous figure and dragged across the arena floor while Taka continued advancing mercilessly, carving a massive trench through the concrete that dug into Overhaul's back.

Throughout the entire movement, the villain clawed wildly at him, striking again and again at the invisible barrier protecting Taka from his deadly touch.

The teenager's eyes narrowed, feeling the barrier he had made beginning to dwindle in front of Overhaul's strikes.

Thinking quickly, he seized Overhaul's body with his aura and lifted him into the air.

Then he spun.

Using centrifugal force, he began swinging the villain faster and faster. Overhaul's massive body began whipping through the air like a spinning top—

Until Taka let go.

Overhaul shot away like a projectile.

—BOOOOOM!—

He crashed into the arena wall, smashing straight through it and triggering a massive collapse of debris.

Taka hovered in the air for a moment, catching his breath as small beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Then—

"ROCKINESIIIIIS!!!"

Overhaul's distorted scream echoed across the arena once again, making Taka wince slightly.

Moments later, the mountain of rubble from the crash exploded outward.

A furious Overhaul burst from the debris.

Then, grabbing huge chunks of rubble with his oversized hands, he hurled them forward at tremendous speed.

Of course, before such slow attacks, Taka dodged them easily.

But when one large piece flew straight toward him, and he began to evade—

Overhaul's massive figure suddenly appeared from behind it, having used the debris as a distraction.

Thus, the distance between them vanished instantly.

'Here we go again.'

Thus, the clash resumed.

Fists and kicks by the dozen flew in every direction, debris and dust rising just from the rhythm of their fight, as their sheer speed and momentum while fighting seemed to drill into the very ground.

They, however, didn't stay put in a single spot during all that.

Time and time again, shockwaves erupted between blows, hurling them across the arena from the recoil.

Yet, no matter how far they got separated, they always lunged back to each other without delay.

Neither seemed willing to give the other time to breathe.

As the battle grew in violence, with debris previously there turning into mere dust from the sheer intensity of their fight, their bodies ricocheted across the arena at terrifying speed, slamming into the ground, walls, rubble, and pillars as shockwaves exploded in every direction while the brutal clash continued.

"RAAAGH!"

"..."

At one point, much like many times already, the two rushed each other again, diving back into the fray as dust and debris exploded beneath their feet.

They separated for a brief instant—then lunged at each other once more.

Taka weaved between the incoming attacks, slipping through gaps in Overhaul's relentless barrage and striking whenever an opening appeared.

As the rhythm of dodging and counterattacking settled in, Taka's body instinctively began tapping into another reserve of power.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[Let's Dance] (ACTIVATED!)
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

His movements changed immediately.

Dodges that had once been rough and slightly desperate became smooth and deliberate. His body moved only as much as necessary, each motion calm and precise as Overhaul's attacks suddenly seemed slower—clearer.

Every time Overhaul struck, Taka slipped past the blow with effortless grace before retaliating with even greater force.

Somehow, six arms attacked him at once, and all six were handled with ease.

The sight only made Overhaul's fury grow.

But rage didn't make him stronger; it only made him sloppier in Taka's darting eyes.

As the fight dragged on, mistakes began appearing in his movements—small openings born from frustration and desperation.

Taka exploited every single one.

—BAM!—

—BAM!—

—BAM!—

Blow after blow slammed into Overhaul's battered body.

Then, when one of Overhaul's claws lunged too far forward, Taka slipped beneath him.

—CLANG!—

His leg shot forward.

The monstrous kick launched Overhaul across the arena in an instant.

But Taka didn't let the punishment end there.

With explosive speed, he shot after the reeling Overhaul, reaching him almost immediately.

And with the villain still stunned from the previous hit—and with no ground beneath him to properly defend himself—

—TATATATATATATATATATATA!—

—Taka proceeded to subject the villain to a relentless and ferocious assault. Overhaul's body convulsed under the barrage as hundreds of fists hammered into him without a single moment of respite.

All of it was happening while they were still flying through the air.

In seconds, they approached one of the arena's few remaining intact walls.

—At least, it had been intact until Taka decided to end the assault with a final punch.

One charged with every ounce of his physical strength.

—CLANG!!!—

The sound of bones cracking echoed through the arena as blood burst from the point of impact.

Overhaul's body blurred as he was launched toward the wall with unprecedented speed.

—BOOOOM!—

The entire wall—and much of the surrounding structure—collapsed under the force of the crash. Causing a large portion of the arena to crumble away, and many of the remaining lights to flicker out, plunging the facility into near darkness.

'Did that do it?'

Breathing heavily but steadily, Taka descended from the air and began walking toward the wreckage. His footsteps echoed through the now-silent facility.

Moments later, he reached the massive pile of rubble where the wall had once stood.

He watched it carefully, his eyes calm but alert.

Then—

—Swoosh!—

Taka tilted his head slightly as a small yet incredibly sharp spike shot from the debris, aiming straight for him.

It missed by centimeters.

The spike immediately retreated back into the rubble.

But Taka didn't let it go.

He extended a hand, and in tandem, his aura surged outward, spreading across the wreckage and pushing rubble aside as if it weighed nothing.

Stones shifted, metal screeched, debris rolled away.

Eventually, Overhaul's body was revealed.

He lay buried among the broken concrete.

Most—if not all—of his arms were broken. Bruises covered nearly every inch of his body, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

He looked so battered he might pass out at any second.

If he hadn't already.

Seeing him like that, Taka scoffed.

"In the end, even with a second chance, you still weren't up to the task," he mocked. "What a sad existence you are, Overhaul."

There was no response.

Overhaul's gaze remained vacant as he lay completely still.

Several seconds passed while Taka watched him silently, as if expecting a final desperate attack.

But nothing came.

Taka sneered.

The villain was still breathing faintly, but it seemed the last barrage had actually finished him.

'It was about time he went down. How many hits was that? This guy can really take a beating.'

He shook his head wryly.

Truthfully, he was running on fumes.

His aura reserves were still decent, but his body was thoroughly exhausted.

That fight had been harder than it needed to be.

'Though I guess that's partly my fault.'

Shrugging the thought away, he stepped forward.

Then his gaze turned cold as a cutting aura began to form along his arm.

'Luckily—or maybe unluckily for him—I'm still not at the point where I can kill someone…'

The energy sharpened.

'But that doesn't mean I can't take away his Quirk.'

His eyes settled on Overhaul's arms. The source of his quirk factor.

Once those were gone, Overhaul's power would disappear with them. Forever.

And with them gone, only a sad vestige of a man would be left.

Narrowing his eyes, Taka slowly raised his arm, like an executioner lifting an axe, about to deliver the finishing blow.

To end Overhaul, and with it, the Shie Hassaikai.

'Enjoy being powerless for the rest of your life, Chisaki.'

With that thought, Taka moved.

Then—

—Squelch!—

Blood sprayed, bursting, and covering the floor and debris around them.

"...!"

... But it wasn't Chisaki's

It was Taka's.

"Damn."

His pupils shook as his gaze fell on the culprit behind the splash of blood.

There was an incredibly sharp spike peeking out of his chest, having sprouted from the floor behind him, and piercing through his back until his chest.

"This sucks..."

As those words left his mouth, Chisaki's eyes, which until then had been blank and completely still—moved, locking onto Taka with maddened delight.

"Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!"

Loud, unrestrained laughter echoed through the ruined arena.

Slowly, Chisaki stood up, staring at Taka's wavering frame with eyes curled in manic joy.

"In the end, I survived… HOW'S THAT, ROCKINESIS?!" he shouted triumphantly. "The Shie Hassaikai lives on while you and your delusions die here!"

Taka, meanwhile, slowly raised a hand toward the hole in his chest.

His fingers touched the wound.

Then he looked at the blood staining them.

'So even the points I put into defense just in case weren't enough… huh?'

He scoffed. The motion forced a spurt of blood from his throat.

Staggering, he took a few unsteady steps back, a self-mocking sneer forming on his face.

"How the hell did I fall for the oldest trick in the book…?" he muttered.

He kept retreating until his back bumped against a massive chunk of wreckage.

Slowly, he slid down and sat against it—leaving a trail of blood on the rock—before staring at Chisaki as blood continued to seep from his chest.

The Yakuza approached at a leisurely pace, savoring the sight.

When he spoke, his voice carried both mockery and simmering anger.

"You mentioned you came looking for Eri, didn't you?"

He stopped a few meters away.

"Normally, I don't bother holding grudges against people who aren't the main source of my hatred… but you…"

His grin widened.

"Just for you, I'll make sure to enjoy taking that kid back. I won't even bother pretending to care about her feelings anymore while I cut her apart for the sake of my future empire. She will live and die for my research, nothing more and nothing less."

He leaned forward slightly, eyes gleaming.

"Die there, Rockinesis—knowing that because of you, that child will be going through a living hell from now on."

Taka didn't answer.

He simply closed his eyes, his head slowly lowering.

Chisaki frowned.

The calm reaction irritated him; he had wanted to see the despair of having failed in his "heroic mission" pass through his opponent's eyes. To make him feel even a tiny bit of what he had made him go through in the past hour.

But while he wanted it more than anything—he knew not to waste time.

He was not going to miss this chance to survive.

So, he raised a hand and prepared to reach forward and activate his Quirk at last.

Unfortunately for him—

He never got the chance.

—Squelch!—

Blood burst into the air.

Several heavy thuds followed as things struck the ground with wet, sickening sounds.

For a moment, Chisaki didn't understand what had happened.

Then he looked down.

And saw the cold reality.

All six of his arms—

Were gone.

"AAAAARGH!"

A scream tore from his throat as he collapsed to his knees, agony overwhelming him.

His eyes darted toward the man he had supposedly defeated.

"...?!"

Yet the body lying against the rubble hadn't moved at all.

That was when he felt something drape over his shoulders.

An arm.

"Looks like we both fell for the oldest trick in the book."

Chisaki's tear-filled eyes slowly shifted to the side—

And widened in horror.

Standing beside him, casually slinging an arm around his shoulders…

Was Taka.

Another one.

'How...?' Chisaki's mind struggled to comprehend reality. Until he recalled the thing that actually made Rockinesis blow up online in the first place.

Clones.

"You really messed up at the end there," another voice said from the opposite side.

A second Taka approached, looking toward the one lying against the rubble.

Then, another appeared, looking at them from on top of a nearby pile of debris. "Honestly, I can't believe we had to bail you out against Chisaki of all people."

Chisaki's eyes frantically darted around, terror spreading across his face.

"Well, at least now we know," another Taka said thoughtfully as he caressed his chin from some meters apart, "that we should blast enemies with a finishing attack before walking up to them… even if they look unconscious."

"I guess having the memories of all the power the original has makes us overconfident," another one who appeared from nowhere added. "Even though we're way weaker now."

"This is what happens when we rush things before developing a proper detection ability." Another Taka, standing behind Chisaki, commented.

As the seconds went by, more and more figures began to appear around him, each and every single one having the exact same appearance and the exact look in their eyes.

Disdain.

Despair slowly filled Chisaki's eyes.

But then—the voice of the fallen Taka echoed from ahead.

"To be fair, all of you. I'm not an expert on brain activity, so it was hard for me to know for sure. Plus, I only have a part of the original's power, so my reaction speed is also slower."

"You..."

Chisaki slowly turned his head back toward the body he had believed to be dying.

Only to be even more shaken when he saw his injuries healing at a rapid speed.

That, added to his words from just a moment ago...

"… You were a clone all along?" Chisaki asked, his voice trembling.

...

A small laugh escaped the fallen Taka.

"I think I left it pretty clear..."

"...?"

"I came here for the girl," Taka—no, the clone, said calmly. "You were merely secondary."

Soft snickers spread among the surrounding clones. Furthering Chisaki's broken state.

Then, the clone spoke again, his voice final and somewhat amused.

"You—no... your people, your henchmen, your boss, you yourself... The entire Shie Hassaikai you were so proud of…"

He stood up and walked up to Chisaki, before staring down at him with the same piercing crimson eyes that seemed to see everything.

"... Wasn't even important enough for the original to deal with personally."

…

°

°

°

| Underground facility, minutes earlier… |

…

—Rumble—

"Those guys sure are going wild…" Taka—the real one—muttered as he glanced around after the entire facility shook for unknown reasons.

After a small shrug, however, he turned forward again, gulping nervously as he stopped in front of a door.

'Alright… how the hell do I do this?'

Seiji had taught him how to fight, along with many parts of hero work, back when he had still been Quirkless.

But this…

This was something he hadn't been prepared for.

Talking to traumatized children.

Should he just tell her outright that everything was over and that she was safe?

Or was there some kind of tact he was supposed to use here?

-Scratch, scratch-

Frustrated, Taka scratched the back of his head before letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Whatever. I'll figure it out on the spot."

And so, without further ado—

He opened the door.

…

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-To Be Continued...-

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Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.

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──────

(A/N: Alright, and that concludes the arc, except for Eri's part.

How was the revelation? Had you already figured it out, or did I manage to fool you, even if only for a bit?

Hopefully, the revelation helped make the struggle the clone went through against someone like Chisaki feel worth it.)

 

[The Synonym]

(A/N: GAAAA, I'm losing my consistency! Activate super author mode 3!

Anyway, sorry for the wait, procrastination and university don't mix well together, and they make me very efficientn't)
────────────────────────
[He Must Be A Hero]
────────────────────────

…

—Creeeeaaak—

The door opened slowly, the dim light from the corridor quietly spilling into the room.

Eri, who had been half-asleep, slowly fluttered her eyes open.

For a moment, confusion spread across her face, drowsiness clinging to her mind at such an unusual hour.

Then, she noticed the light hitting directly onto her bedframe.

Her body snapped upright instantly, fear seeping in as she turned toward the door, expecting him to be standing there.

All traces of sleep had vanished by then.

But as her eyes landed on the doorway—

"...!"

They widened.

The figure standing there… wasn't the one she expected.

A tall silhouette clad in dark clothing, a long coat draping over its frame, stood at the doorframe. The light behind it obscured its features, leaving only a shadowed outline.

All except one thing.

Its eyes.

They were fixed directly on her.

Then—

—Step—

The figure stepped forward.

Eri flinched immediately, the grip on her sheets tightening as her expression grew fearful.

—But at the same time, the figure flinched as well, stopping right in its tracks.

""...?""

The mirrored reaction left both of them momentarily startled.

Then, the figure glanced down at itself before lightly slapping its own forehead with the lower part of its palm.

Right away, its hand reached for the hood currently projecting a shadow over its face. But the moment its hand caught it, the figure visibly hesitated for a moment.

But after a second or so of doubt, it just pulled its hood up, revealing a black full-face mask that seemed to resemble a skull slightly.

It then reached up and removed the mask covering its face.

As soon as he did, a young face came into view.

Black hair, sharp features, and far younger than the people she was used to seeing every day.

It was Taka.

Seeing a face, and not that cold, faceless mask, Eri relaxed slightly.

Only slightly.

Human faces didn't really mean safety to her.

Still clutching her pillow tightly, she watched as the teenager slowly approached.

Before long, he stopped right in front of her.

Silence lingered between them.

For a moment, it almost seemed like he didn't know what to say.

But then, he knelt down, lowering himself until he was beneath her eye level as she sat on the bed.

"Hey, kid," he said, offering a small, careful smile.

Something in his tone—soft, uncertain, but gentle—made Eri's guard lower just a little.

But the moment he extended his hand toward her—

Her body tensed again.

"...!"

—Only for that hand to land gently on her head, ruffling her hair.

She blinked, clearly confused.

She was not unfamiliar with the gesture, but it had become almost foreign since she got here.

The people from this place sometimes tried to act kindly because of Chisaki's orders, smiling falsely, or bringing her toys she didn't really play with.

They never did something like this. Which only made Eri more confused.

Her eyes lifted to Taka, inspecting his smiling face, wondering if he, too, was doing this because he was being forced to.

But then—

"...Hm?"

Her eyes widened slightly.

A warmth spread from where his hand rested, a soft aura flowing over her and wrapping around her small body.

It was cozy, almost soothing.

Like how her mother used to make her feel, long ago.

As the feeling settled on her, the tension in her shoulders naturally eased, a few tears escaping her unintentionally.

For some reason, through just that, she was able to understand.

This wasn't fake. This person wasn't like the others.

Slowly, she looked up at him again, her expression shifting into something more curious—though the worry never fully left, it shifted to something else.

Despite her age, she understood enough about her own situation.

People like him, actually caring for her… weren't supposed to be here.

Chisaki wouldn't allow it. She just knew he wouldn't.

And if he wouldn't, then the person in front of him was in danger.

As she parted her lips, determined to urge him to escape—

"It's over."

His voice cut in, calm and steady.

Eri tilted her head. What was over?

He stood up slightly, though his hand remained resting on her head.

"I came to an agreement with Chisaki. You won't be experimented on anymore."

"What…?" she asked, her face blank with innocent confusion, unable to process his words.

He looked at her, his smile widening ever so slightly.

Then, he spoke clearly.

"You're free, Eri."

…

Eri opened her mouth—then closed it.

A moment passed.

Then she tried again.

"Free?"

There was no excitement in her voice. Not even disbelief.

Just confusion.

As if the word itself didn't quite exist in her world, or at least, it had lost its meaning.

But after a brief pause, she spoke again, more hesitantly this time.

"I was… allowed to leave?"

Even as she asked, her expression betrayed her.

She didn't believe it. Not even a little.

Taka's eyebrows creased slightly upon seeing her like that. But he didn't stop.

"Well… not exactly," he admitted. "But I'm a very persuasive guy."

Despite his clearly cryptic way of talking, Eri seemed intelligent enough to get the grasp of the underlying meaning of it, making her eyes widen as panic flooded her expression.

"You can't! You have to run! He—he'll hurt you…!"

She scrambled forward on the bed, grabbing onto Taka's coat tightly, her small hands clutching the fabric as she looked at him with desperate urgency.

—Rumble…!—

Her desperate pleas were cut short as the entire facility suddenly trembled, like distant explosions were echoing through the walls.

Eri flinched, her body tensing as fear surged again, her mind clearly taking it as a sign of Chisaki's anger.

And while she wasn't entirely wrong about that—

Taka's hand soon ruffled her hair again, calming her down the next second, as she froze before the soothing touch.

"No need to worry," Taka said calmly.

"But—"

"I know he seems invincible, but the truth is…" he cut in, voice steady and confident, "he doesn't stand a chance. He's fighting me, after all."

Taka stood up, giving her a small grin—one he usually kept to himself.

"And I'm the strongest."

That seemed to halt her panic.

Her worried gaze softened, a faint spark of curiosity appearing within it.

"The strongest…?"

"It means no one can beat me."

He let out a short laugh, then suddenly picked her up.

"Eep—!"

Before she could react further, his aura gently lifted and stabilized her, settling her over his shoulder.

She stiffened for a moment, confused—but didn't resist.

Instead, she looked around, still wary, but no longer panicking.

She didn't want him to get hurt… But if he really was as strong as he said…

Could it be that she was actually free?

"Since we are clear on that, let's go."

Still lost in thought, she felt him begin to move, and before she could say anything—they stepped out of her room, onto the corridor.

She shut her eyes tightly for a second, like scared of getting out without permission.

But as Taka's hand fell on her head once again, her eyes opened, and her beating heart calmed down.

No Chisaki was waiting for them. Only a long, long corridor, leading to the exit.

She looked around.

No Yakuzas, no Eight Bullets, no alarms, no shouts.

Only silence.

She had walked out… and nothing had happened.

She stared around in amazement, still not appearing to believe it fully.

Regardless, Taka didn't allow her to dwell on it for too long.

Soon, they took off again, retracing the path Taka had taken to get here.

Silence accompanied them along the way, broken only by distant rumbles and the faint hum of failing lights.

Eri glanced around.

Figures lay unconscious along the hallway.

Some lights flickered overhead, some completely dead by whatever battle was going on in a distant spot.

As she glanced at it, she couldn't help but be struck by the sight.

The once cold, unchanging, unbreachable, and inescapable place now felt… way less so.

No longer was there fear in her heart as she glanced at the tall walls surrounding them.

Now, only a feeling she had forgotten since long ago remained, slowly rising unbeknownst to her.

Hope.

Maybe…

Just maybe…

The teenager wasn't lying… and she was finally going to leave this place.

"..." Her gaze shifted back to him, curiosity quietly replacing fear.

Who was he, and why had he come for her, she couldn't help but ask herself.

Right away, she arrived at the most reasonable answer.

'He must be a hero.'

Unaware of the thoughts going on in Eri's head, Taka continued walking through where he came from. Before long, they reached the exit of the underground facility.

But just as they were about to leave—

Taka stopped.

Someone was waiting there.

Eri noticed too, flinching slightly—only to cautiously peek over Taka's shoulder when she realized she didn't recognize the face.

A man stood there, bruised and a bit bloodied.

—Yet still standing.

Gentle.

His suit was scuffed, his face marked with injuries, but despite it all, he carried himself with a certain pride.

So, they made their way to him.

"You got a bit hurt," Taka's voice rang out as they got near enough.

Gentle straightened immediately upon noticing them, puffing his chest out.

"Rockinesis!" he declared, before clearing his throat. "Ahem—They were formidable opponents… perhaps the strongest I've ever faced. Their teamwork nearly proved my undoing."

He placed a hand over his chest dramatically.

"But in the end, they could not prevail against the combined efforts of La Brava and me."

Then his gaze shifted to Taka's shoulder.

To Eri.

"So this is the child you came to rescue…" he said, his expression softening slightly. "To think such ruffians would resort to using someone so young for such atrocities… truly, they lack even the most basic sense of gentlemanliness."

He clenched a fist, shaking his head in theatrical indignation.

But as he kept with it, Taka watched him quietly. His eyes squinted faintly upon noticing what Gentle was hiding behind his current act.

The guy was injured, dead tired, and it probably wouldn't be a surprise if he collapsed at any moment now.

And yet—

He had still waited here for both of them.

'Damn.' Taka nodded faintly in approval.

Feeling a bit guilty that he had left the guy to deal with all that, while he himself didn't really do much fighting—aside from some random Yakuzas he'd smacked on the way to Eri's room—Taka extended a hand, pointing at Gentle.

In tandem, his aura flowed out, wrapping around the man's body.

—Then he activated his healing ability, following it up with Clean.

In an instant, Gentle's injuries and bruises faded away. The stains of blood and dust vanished as well, leaving him spotless under both his and Eri's astonished gaze.

As the healing and washing finished, Taka spoke.

"Thank you for helping me in this."

Gentle blinked, clearly surprised more by the sudden gratitude than by the magical abilities.

And it was no wonder. Since they met, Taka had carried himself with a slightly superior air, as if everything were under his control—and, truth be told, Gentle himself had wondered whether Taka had even needed them at all.

Perhaps, in truth… he hadn't. But if he was thanking him…

'At least, we were still able to help,' Gentle thought, a small smile forming.

Just that thought gave him an incredible peace of mind. Something he himself hadn't expected.

His mind went over the day everything went to hell. The day he tried to help a person in danger recklessly, only to worsen everything in the end, sending both the victim and the hero who appeared at the last second to the hospital.

At that time, he was cursed, persecuted, and scorned for what he did.

And perhaps he deserved it.

But the thought that he had been wrong for wanting to help—for wanting to do good—never left.

But now… now at least, he felt that perhaps the feeling in itself was not wrong.

His new thoughts strengthened once his gaze fell on Eri again.

Today, he had actually helped do good.

Even though he still was, and planned on being a villain. His goal to make the world remember his name still hadn't ended, after all.

But perhaps he could be a bit more flexible with his criminal acts from now on?

As Gentle fell silent in thought, Taka suddenly took out his mask, putting it back on with a hiss. Then, he grabbed his hood and pulled it down as well, covering his face again, despite the mask doing roughly the same function.

Once that was done, he turned to Gentle again.

"You should leave. The police will be here any minute."

Gentle frowned slightly. "Hmm? How is that possible? I'm fairly sure our infiltration was perfectly stealthy."

"There's someone I need to come. Someone within the law."

Gentle blinked, then glanced at Eri before nodding in understanding.

"I see."

Given La Brava's investigation months ago which he had kept on his mind, he knew who Taka was talking about.

So, after giving Taka a dramatic bow, he used his Quirk to bounce away in place for a few seconds—before bouncing at high speed toward the exit and turning into a blur, leaving Taka and Eri behind.

With that meeting done, Taka ruffled Eri's hair once more before turning forward, his gaze hardening as he climbed the stairs out of the Shie Hassaikai's underground.

Before long, they reached the upper floor, then slowly made their way toward the main gate.

There—

"Rockinesis, get your hands behind your back!"

—A horde of policemen, just stepping out of their cars, awaited him with guns raised.

It didn't take long for them to notice Eri.

"Hold your fire, he has a hostage!"

'Look at these guys, pinning crimes on me for no reason at all,' Taka thought with a wry smile.

As that crossed his mind, several figures stepped through the police line, moving to the front to face him.

Nighteye, along with several of his sidekicks—one in particular being a blonde guy Taka recognized, but chose to ignore.

The others were pro heroes from the city, called in for the situation.

And lastly—

"There you are, you punk…"

Seiji stood at the front, wearing a thoroughly pissed-off expression that practically screamed: "You know it took me a whole hour by train to get here, right?!"

'They sure went all out of what they could afford,' Taka noted.

An entire apprehension squad had gathered to take him in, once and for all.

Unfortunately for them, that hadn't happened before, and it wasn't happening today either.

Suddenly, Nighteye stepped forward, adjusting his glasses as he fixed Taka with a stern gaze.

"So you are that famous vigilante from recent times… Rockinesis. I thought you had retired, given your lack of activity outside the digital world… and yet, here you are."

His eyes drifted briefly to the Yakuza compound behind him. It looked intact—but judging from Taka's spotless appearance despite infiltrating it, and his obvious monstrous power, it had likely been anything but peaceful.

His gaze returned to Taka, narrowing slightly.

"Not only did you sneak into a criminal base unprovoked… You also contacted a professional hero to come after you once you were done… why?"

As those words left him, Seiji did his best to look uninvolved off to the side.

Of course, his eyes still flickered toward Eri on Taka's shoulder, already forming his own conclusions regardless of the answer.

Taka, however, didn't respond immediately.

Instead, he set Eri down, then knelt to her height.

A barrier of invisible aura formed between them and the police—thick enough that even sound would struggle to pass through.

With their conversation now private, Taka muttered loud enough for only her to hear, resting a hand gently on her head.

"I'm sorry, Eri. While I said I was the strongest… I'm also not exactly a law-abiding citizen. So I can't take you with me."

She tightened her grip on his coat, her small hands trembling.

"Don't go."

In such a short time, Taka had become the only person Eri could bring herself to trust. Even if they had barely known each other, he was the only one who made her feel safe now that her world was shifting—and the only one who seemed to care for her after what she had done to her parents.

"Don't leave me alone." Tears ran down her face.

The only hero she had ever met, who dared to help her.

Suddenly, her head was ruffled again, that same warm feeling spreading through her, making her pained look ease.

"I won't leave you alone. You can be sure of that." Taka said, his voice full of certainty.

He turned slightly, glancing toward Seiji. "See that guy who looks kind of dumb? The one with the tail?"

Eri followed his gaze and quickly spotted Seiji. She nodded.

"I want you to go with him. When I leave, I want you to go to him and say you want to stay with him. If you do that… we'll meet again," he said gently, before flinching slightly. "Ah—don't mention the part about meeting me again to them. That's supposed to be a secret."

Eri looked a bit lost, but she still nodded, his certain tone managing to convince her, even if she hadn't understood completely why of all that.

"Smart girl."

With that, Taka stood up and waved the barrier away, allowing sound to flow freely between both sides again.

Nighteye's gaze sharpened slightly.

"Finished your conversation?"

Taka gave a brief nod.

"Then answer," Nighteye pressed, the stamps between his fingers rustling faintly.

"You asked why I came here?" Taka said, jerking a thumb behind him. "It's because these bastards thought it was fine to experiment on kids. I came here to put a stop to that."

Nighteye adjusted his glasses.

"There are proper procedures—"

"Spare me the lecture. I know about laws. I just don't care about them."

Nighteye's eyes narrowed further.

"Even if that makes it harder for us to properly imprison the Shie Hassaikai for everything they've done?"

"Prison or not, they won't amount to anything after today. And if they do…" Taka paused for a brief second before his tone turned colder. "I'll make sure to stomp them properly this time. No second chances."

Several heroes visibly flinched, understanding the implication.

Even Seiji's expression grew more serious.

Taka let out a quiet sigh. "I'm sorry if I'm making you all look bad. But that hardly matters to me if I can ease someone's pain sooner instead of waiting for procedures."

A few glances shifted toward Eri, connecting the dots between the jab of just now and the mention of experimenting on kids.

"Even if doing so worsens your already existing crimes?" Nighteye asked, sounding more intrigued than angered.

Taka met his gaze evenly.

"I wouldn't be here if that was a problem."

Silence stretched between the two sides. Eri looked back and forth, worry creeping into her expression as the tension thickened.

Until—

"I suppose you're right." Nighteye sighed.

"So we finally understand each other." Taka snorted humorlessly before speaking again, his gaze relaxing slightly. "Anyway, thanks for dropping by, all of you." He eyed the multiple heroes with a calm gaze.

Then, a smirk took over his face beneath the mask.

"I'll be taking my leave now," Taka said suddenly, drawing several frowns.

"I don't think we can allow that," Nighteye replied, his stance subtly shifting, ready for combat.

"I wasn't really asking for permission."

—Step—

—Step—

—Step—

As those words left him, several figures began stepping out from inside the Yakuza compound, surrounding him, and lining up at his side.

Rockinesis… multiple of them.

A ripple of unease spread through the police ranks.

"Which one's the real one? You decide." Taka gave a small shrug.

And then—

—SWOOOSH!—

All of them, including the original, shot off at once, moving faster than most heroes could even react to. Thus, leaving the police and heroes behind, momentarily stunned.

The police captain glanced at Nighteye, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. "Uh… should we—?"

"No need. Even I can't tell which one is real. For all we know, we might have been talking to a clone from the start, while the real Rockinesis was never here to begin with."

Then his gaze shifted to Eri.

"For now… let us do what we must, as heroes."

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: And thus, the arc it is truly done.

Next chapter: Consequences once again. They are everywhere.

Hope you liked the chapter.)

 

[The Synonym]

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[Consequences]
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| The next Morning… |

…

"I'm completely sore…" Jiro muttered, glaring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, her mood foul.

She reached up to her earphone jacks, gently massaging them—only to wince as a sharp sting ran through them.

"My poor earlobes…" she half-laughed, half-whined. "Why did I even listen to that guy? The only thing I'm training like this is my pain tolerance…"

With a sigh, she let go, then straightened slightly, her gaze hardening as she stared at her reflection—almost as if she were looking at Taka himself.

"When classes start, I'm telling him I'm doing my own training. No way I'm sticking with this weird routine anymore. At this rate, I'm gonna lose my Quirk because my jacks are going to snap off!"

She huffed, nodding firmly to herself before turning and leaving the bathroom.

A few minutes later, she stepped into the living room, where her parents were already seated, breakfast waiting.

"Good morning, Kyoka."

"Did you sleep well, honey?"

"Yeah," Jiro gave a small nod as she walked over and took her seat.

As she settled in, she poked at her food, her expression somewhere between moody and thoughtful.

"Something on your mind, Kyoka? You're not looking very rockin' today," her father asked, glancing up from his plate with a curious look.

She let out a tired sigh.

"It's just the Sports Festival. I was watching recordings from previous years, and… there aren't many events where I can really stand out."

"Your Quirk is great, Kyoka," her mother said, turning toward her. "I don't see why you're so worried."

Jiro rested her cheek against her palm, looking drained. "I know it's not bad. But the way the events are set up makes it hard to show what I can actually do. At this rate… getting an internship is going to be rough—"

Her voice slowed near the end, like there was something else she wanted to say.

She hesitated, then took a breath, looking away with a faintly annoyed expression before continuing.

"Though… a classmate's been helping me train. So maybe I'll figure something out with him before the festival starts."

"A classmate?" her mother asked, intrigued.

Jiro looked troubled by the question. "Yeah, he, uh…"

"HE?!" her father shot upright, his head snapping up from his food, outrage written all over his face.

Jiro stared at him flatly.

"Chill out, old man."

"You didn't tell us you had a friend." Jiro's mom covered her mouth, trying to hide her amusement.

"And a boy at that!" her father added, clearly outraged.

"Half of my class are boys. What the hell are you getting so worked up for?" Jiro shot back, her annoyance growing.

"You don't understand, Kyoka. Boys are all wolves!"

"…I'm just going to ignore you."

With that, Jiro pulled out her phone, effectively tuning out her father's ongoing rant.

She idly scrolled as she picked at her breakfast with her chopsticks every now and then, eventually opening YoTube to pass the time.

What she didn't expect, however, was the bizarre thumbnail and even stranger title that greeted her the moment the app loaded.

{"Super Vigilante/Villain Team-Up! Goes Very Wrong (For Our Enemies)!!!"}

The thumbnail showed a hoary—though not particularly old—man in a flamboyant costume, posing dramatically with his arms crossed, cape billowing behind him.

Beside him stood another figure, positioned slightly behind due to the camera angle.

Yet, despite not being at the center, she could affirm that the person drew far more attention.

Clad in a tight, sturdy-looking coat that hugged his frame, the figure's physique was evident even beneath the fabric. The coat extended into a hood that cast his face in shadow, while a mask beneath it concealed everything except a pair of sharp, determined eyes.

'Is that…?'

Despite the change in outfit, she recognized him instantly.

Rockinesis.

Whether it was the way he carried himself—even in a still image—or the overall simplicity of his gear, reminiscent of his earlier appearances… there was no mistaking it.

Without thinking twice, she tapped the video open.

If it turned out to be clickbait, she could just close it.

So she watched.

Minutes passed.

And she didn't move.

Her attention was completely locked onto the screen, her breakfast all but forgotten.

Eventually, even her parents noticed.

"What's wrong, honey? You haven't touched your food at all," her mother asked, pulling Jiro out of her trance.

Jiro blinked, snapping back to reality.

"Uhm, it's just that there was something interesting. I'm eating now."

Right away, she paused the video and went back to her breakfast, as if nothing had happened.

Minutes later, after helping her parents with the dishes, she returned to her room.

There, she grabbed her phone again and, without wasting a second, threw herself onto her bed to check on the video again.

It turned out she'd been right—the figure in the miniature was Rockinesis.

After three whole months of apparent retirement, with the only signal of him being alive being the new songs he uploaded now and then, the vigilante had finally reappeared... And he had a new costume, at that.

Although she was a sucker for the simplicity and underground feeling of the old one, she had to admit that this new one wasn't bad at all.

But the costume was the least of her concerns.

Not only had he come back from retirement, but he had apparently decided to do so with a BANG... Raiding a villain's hideout.

Right from the start, he tore through a criminal group, systematically weeding them out without mercy—all while being aided by the man beside him in the thumbnail.

She didn't know who he was, but from the looks of it, he was also pretty strong, given his ability to take care of three villains who looked pretty strong.

The video shifted constantly between the perspectives of him and Rockinesis' clones, dealing with the villains in the hideout, and ultimately wiping them all out.

That's where she had left it before her mother called her out for not eating her breakfast.

Now, though, she could watch in peace.

So, without wasting more time, she resumed the video.

Right away, it started playing from where she had left off. The real Rockinesis, facing off against the one who was clearly the boss.

It was a breathtaking fight. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to follow the rhythm of the battle.

There were plenty of things she was missing, since they were moving at such high speeds that even with the video clearly slowed down for spectators not to get lost, it wasn't being able to capture every single thing.

But despite it, she was getting a gist of the general situation.

That villain was on a completely different level from what students like her could fight right now. It'd probably take her becoming a pro before she'd maybe consider being able to do anything against him.

Maybe he was not as overwhelmingly strong as the Nomu had been… but still powerful enough that she couldn't even imagine beating him in a long time—if ever.

She didn't know what limits her Quirk would reach, after all.

And yet, despite the incredible combat prowess the villain demonstrated—

Rockinesis dominated.

Most of the fight wasn't even a fight. It was a hunt.

The villain ran with everything he had, while Rockinesis chased after him. Almost enjoying himself.

It was strange. Aside from his music, Rockinesis never seemed like the type to drag things out unnecessarily.

And yet now, he was deliberately making the man suffer.

"Do they have some kind of history…?" she muttered, eyes glued to the screen.

Eventually, the chase reached its climax. Her eyes widened as Rockinesis suddenly raised his hand, poised to strike the villain down.

But then—

Two other members of the group appeared at the edge of what had become their battlefield.

She recognized them. In another perspective earlier in the video, one of Rockinesis' clones had dealt with their partner—and, for some reason, let them go while following after them.

So they made it here, huh?

What happened next, however, completely baffled Jiro.

The villain suddenly broke away from Rockinesis, trapping him behind thick walls to slow him down even if only for a second, before lunging toward his own allies—

And fuse with them.

A horrifying transformation unfolded before her eyes.

What had once been a human form twisted into something else entirely.

A monstrosity of six arms, wings, and barely recognizable human features.

And the moment Rockinesis broke free from his prison—

The battle resumed.

This time… on far more equal ground.

A fierce battle unfolded—one where both sides went all out without holding anything back.

They tore through what had once been a clean arena, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake.

Just imagining those two fighting like that anywhere else made her shiver. If it happened in the city, it wouldn't be surprising if an entire district got wiped out.

'A villain this dangerous… was just out there?' Jiro wondered, a deep, unsettling unease settling in her chest.

They weren't on All Might's level—but even then, she could hardly picture another hero capable of handling something like that.

Even Endeavor… she wasn't sure how well he'd fare against a monster like this.

And somehow, a villain like that had existed quietly, completely under the radar.

It was almost lucky that Rockinesis was the one dealing with him now. Even if the fight was intense on both sides, she already knew how it would end.

Otherwise, the video wouldn't exist.

And just as she expected, as the battle dragged on… something shifted.

Rockinesis' movements grew smoother, more fluid, faster..

Before long, he began overwhelming the villain again. The until-then even match was crumbling to Rockinesis' side in one instant.

But as it did, her brows slowly furrowed.

There was… something familiar about the way he fought.

That style—efficient, sharp, almost like a dance…

One of her eyebrows lifted slightly as a thought crossed her mind.

But she quickly shook her head.

"No… that doesn't make sense," she muttered, a wry smile tugging at her lips.

Her attention snapped back as the fight neared its conclusion, with the villain crashing one last time against the borders of their battlefield, and with Rockinesis pulling him out of the rubble, standing eerily before the seemingly defeated villain.

—Until, suddenly, everything flipped.

A spike shot forward, piercing straight through Rockinesis by surprise.

Her eyes widened.

Rockinesis staggered back, a trail of blood marking his path until his back hit a chunk of debris, his body slumping down to the ground.

Somehow... the villain had won.

—Or at least, that's what she thought.

Because the next moment, several figures began closing in from all directions, unnoticed by the villain.

She blinked, her eyes widening in surprise.

Slowly, as the villain seemed to begin monologuing—something she couldn't say for sure since the video had no sound of them talking, only music—the several figures surrounded him.

All of them, Rockinesis.

And then—

The video cut, showing the usual "next in the playlist" screen, declaring the end of the footage.

"Argh—come on, how can it end like that?!" Jiro grabbed her head with a frustrated look.

What happened to Rockinesis after that?! What happened to the villain?!

'Wait… if all of those were clones… don't tell me the one fighting the whole time was a clone too?!' Jiro froze, her expression shifting into disbelief.

Annoyed, she let out a loud groan as she exited the video and immediately started searching for answers.

There were already countless commentaries, theory videos, and, of course, news reports covering the incident.

She clicked on an official news channel and watched their segment on it.

Through it, she managed to piece together a bit more context.

The villain's hideout had actually turned out to be the base of the Shie Hassaikai, the Yakuza group that distributed a new Trigger variant developed by them, and led by Overhaul, the villain who had appeared in the video.

The whole thing suddenly felt far deeper than she had expected.

It had gone from Rockinesis decimating a villain's hideout, to Rockinesis tumbling a drug empire and their incredibly dangerous leader, feared across the underworld.

There was also some information on Rockinesis' partner, Gentle Criminal. A villain who had begun recording his own crimes and uploading them online a while ago.

Even so, there wasn't much about why the raid had happened—or what became of Rockinesis afterward.

She did, however, learn what happened to the villain.

All his arms had been cut off. As a result, he'd lost access to his Quirk—the ability to assemble and disassemble anything he touched.

A terrifying power… and an even more terrifying person.

Still, it wasn't enough.

For the rest of the morning, she ended up completely absorbed, binging theory videos one after another. Most didn't add anything new—but it was oddly satisfying listening to people who were just as much fanboys of Rockinesis as she was.

Until, eventually, one video caught her attention.

At first, it didn't seem any different from the others. No new information, no particularly bold claims. Basically, nothing of note.

At least… not until the end.

The creator suddenly brought up an "anonymous" testimony from someone who had been present during the aftermath of the incident.

They went on to explain some pretty questionable information—about Rockinesis leaving the scene with a child on his shoulder, and that Overhaul had apparently been experimenting on her.

It sounded horrifying.

But she'd already seen plenty of videos making things up for views, so she didn't believe it outright.

But then—

The man mentioned something that made her freeze.

The reason the police's response had been so fast was that Rockinesis had contacted a hero beforehand and told him everything regarding what was about to happen and the location.

Super Monkey.

Of course, she already knew of him. He was the top hero currently stationed in Shizuoka, and also the first one to fight Rockinesis head-on—at least, until it was revealed he'd only been facing a clone.

But as she recalled that clash…

Her mind, almost on its own, made a connection she hadn't consciously considered before.

The similarity between Super Monkey... and someone she had met about a month ago.

Moving quickly, Jiro pulled up the official hero registry. Filtering it to Shizuoka and sorting by rank, she found him.

Super Monkey.

Along with a profile photo.

And that was all she needed. She instantly recognized the face there.

Super Monkey… was the man she had met after the entrance exams.

Taka's guardian.

As that realization dawned... Jiro's earlier thoughts began bubbling again.

'What if...?'

…

°

°

°

| At that moment, at Taka's home: |

…

—Yawn—

Taka pushed himself out of bed, rubbing at his eyes with a sleepy expression.

A quick use of Clean, and the stickiness and grime were gone.

Finally able to see without squinting, he sat at the edge of the bed, dragging both hands down his face as he massaged it.

"What a night…" he muttered, letting out a long sigh.

After a few seconds of staring blankly into nothing, he stood up and stepped out of his room.

Heading downstairs, he reached the living room—only to blink in mild surprise.

Seiji wasn't there. The usual rustling of him checking the newspaper, or the sound of the TV playing, were completely gone.

A second later, it clicked.

'Right… I dumped Eri—and all the legal trouble that comes with adopting her—on him. He's probably busy dealing with all that instead of coming home.'

A flicker of guilt surfaced.

But what else was he supposed to do?

He'd like to believe things would just work out now that Eri was safe, even if he left her to her own devices under the authorities… but knowing what the HPSC pulled with Hawks, he wasn't about to be that naïve.

So, in the end, Seiji got saddled with another kid.

Still… the guy had managed to raise him, so the tame Eri shouldn't be a problem.

…Then there was Nezu.

Fortunately, it was Saturday. He had a couple of days before going back to school... and facing whatever emotional fallout his "betrayal" had caused.

'Hopefully, he's not too pissed,' Taka scratched the back of his head, frowning slightly.

Worst case… Monday would be the day he officially became public enemy number one, with all his vigilante activities exposed.

Or worse—

He gets banned from participating in the festival.

…

'Yeah, no… that'd suck,' Taka winced.

If that happened, that was a massive power-up down the drain.

'Speaking of power-ups…' His eyes shifted to the side.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: (169 Base) 3000

▸ Defense: (338 Base) 5000

▸ Aura Projection: 40,000

─────────────

Total Aura: 48,217

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

His aura had increased again.

About four thousand gained from passive gains over the past few days, plus everything he'd earned after Gentle uploaded the video edited by La Brava a few hours ago, which was about a whole thousand.

But considering yesterday's events were only now starting to spread… it would probably keep growing.

At this rate, he'd break 50k in a few more days.

And that wasn't all.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[MISSION COMPLETE!]

[Having broken out of the illusion of false aura farming, it's time for you to shed that shiny but imperfect shell and become what you were meant to be.

The Aura Farmer, Takahashi Fukumoto.

And for that, what better start than to mend the mistake you made.]

Conditions for completion:

▸Wipe out the Shie Hassaikai.✔

▸Rescue Eri successfully.✔

▸Do it however you please.✔

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

<Calculating Reward…>

<+1000 Aura!>

<+Skill [The Throne]!>

After returning yesterday and receiving his clones' memories once they dissipated, he got completely drained mentally—so much so that he hadn't even checked the rewards for completing the mission, and instead simply chose to go to sleep.

Getting pierced by a spike, straight to the chest, wasn't a nice memory, after all.

'I guess that says a lot about my current carencies...' Taka thought, wincing slightly in both frustration at his clone, and at himself.

But leaving his mistakes aside for now, he went back to what he had gotten after yesterday's craziness.

Now, with the reward applied, his aura shot up to 49k.

50k was right around the corner.

Next, his attention shifted to the new skill. It had been a while since he'd gotten a proper one. The recent additions had all been sub-skills of Aura Projection.

Curious, he opened it, wondering just what a skill with such a strong name would—

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[The Throne] (Active)

Description: Even the strongest aura farmers need a place to rest, for a king cannot remain standing while everyone is sitting.

But even in what would be considered a vulnerable position, the aura farmer doesn't stop with his main goal.

Aura Farming.

For the true Aura Farmer gathers admiration and awe, even while doing something as mundane as sitting.

▸ You can convert a fraction of your aura into a seat of your choice.

▸ The seat will vanish after a while, and the aura will return to you.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"…Alright."

Rolling his eyes, Taka dismissed the system and headed to the kitchen to make himself breakfast. He wasn't even going to address the clearly bizarre skill in his repertoire now.

If he found a use for it, then he'd use it. Until then, he was taking it out of his mind.

So, having checked his gains from yesterday's whole raid and feeling lighter now that he had taken out one thing from his list, Taka refocused his gaze back on his original objective.

Preparing himself—and his classmates—for the upcoming festival.

'Two weeks... that's all I need.'

If he were allowed to compete, that is.

Nezu wasn't going to be pleased, that's for sure.

Wincing, Taka glared at the ceiling and narrowed his eyes as he pictured his one and greatest enemy.

Consequences.

…

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

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Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.

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──────

(A/N: Not much progress this chapter, at last in what regards time. Now, at least, Jiro's onto Taka's trail, and he doesn't know it.

It'll be about one or two more chapters—one for dealing with Nezu and whatever else that might need to be addressed after Taka's actions, and another one briefing on Taka's training for his classmates—before we at last jump onto the festival, which I already have many ideas for.

Hopefully you'll like them.

Anyway, off I go.)

 

[The Synonym]

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[Consequences 2]
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| Two days later, class time… |

…

"So, does anyone know what's wrong with this sentence?" Present Mic tapped the board, gesturing toward the English phrase written on it.

A hand shot up almost instantly.

Present Mic lit up. "ALRIGHT, show us what you got, Yaoyorozu!"

The girl nodded with a composed face as she stood up. "The issue lies within the third and fifth—"

Through it all, in the seat in front of hers, Taka simply looked blankly at the air, tuning the class out completely, his mind somewhere else entirely.

'Why hasn't that guy called for me yet…?'

His finger tapped lightly against his desk—quiet enough not to interrupt, but constant, betraying his impatience.

The fact that he'd been unusually silent today—leaving most of the answers to Yaoyorozu and the others—hadn't gone unnoticed.

Every now and then, a few glances drifted his way, eyes flicking between him and the rhythmic tapping of his finger.

But eventually, attention returned to the lesson—and to Present Mic's loud, energetic teaching.

Meanwhile, Taka remained elsewhere.

'Where are you…?'

His gaze flickered toward the speakers in the corner of the classroom, his brows knitting slightly as he half-expected Nezu's voice to come through at any moment and call for him.

He'd been like this since morning.

Now it was already the period after lunch—

And still, nothing.

Not even a hint of Nezu.

If anything, it only made Taka more uneasy.

He had walked into school fully prepared to face the wrath of that overgrown rodent.

Excuses thoroughly prepared, contingency plans in case he got exposed as a criminal, even backup plans for tricking All Might and escaping if things went south.

But instead… Nothing. Classes went on as usual, as if nothing was wrong.

And that unnerved him more than anything.

Still, he wasn't about to relax. He knew his worst enemy far too well.

Consequences.

They always came—no matter how long they took.

So Taka stayed alert, his eyes shifting between the ceiling speakers and the classroom door, half-expecting a teacher to barge in at any second and drag him out like a criminal.

Then—

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period.

For a moment, as Present Mic gathered his things, Taka even considered that the hero might suddenly turn around and try to subdue him.

But in the end, once he had his things, Present Mic called out a loud farewell as he left the room.

As he walked out the door, a hand suddenly dropped onto Taka's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yo, bro. Something wrong?" Kirishima asked, standing beside his seat with a slightly worried face.

Taka glanced at him. "No. Why?"

Kirishima scratched the back of his head, looking a bit troubled. "You just seemed… impatient about something. And you didn't answer a single question today. I mean, it's not like you have to, but… I guess I'm just not used to it."

A brief silence settled between them as they held each other's gaze.

Eventually, Taka let out a quiet sigh.

"Well, you're not wrong. I was distracted… but I guess it didn't matter in the end."

Kirishima raised an eyebrow at the cryptic answer but didn't push further.

With that, Taka stood up.

Seeing he'd seemingly snapped out of it just as suddenly as he'd fallen into it, Kirishima shrugged and followed as they both headed toward the group on the other side of the classroom.

As they approached, Kaminari was already groaning, slumped in his seat with a completely drained expression.

"Ugh, my brain can't handle both training and classes… couldn't they just give us these two weeks to train instead?"

"Why? So you can slack off for half of it like you're already doing?" Jiro shot back from the side.

"Hey, it's called resting! And whether my rest takes half the training time or not is none of your business!"

The group chuckled.

Then, they noticed Taka and Kirishima joining them.

"Yo, looks like you managed to snap Takahashi out of his trance," Sero said with a grin.

"Yeah, it was weird not hearing you race Yaoyorozu to answer first," Mina added, giving Taka a teasing look.

"I do not race anyone!" Yaoyorozu's voice came from across the room.

"It kinda looks like you do," Asui commented from her seat nearby.

"Anyway," Kaminari cut in, turning to Taka with curiosity, "what had you so quiet? More than usual, I mean."

"Yeah," Jiro added, a slight smirk forming, "you looked pretty impatient… almost like you were guilty of something."

Everyone turned to her, all sharing the same expression: Wait, he did?

Taka did too—though his was more of a flat, unimpressed stare.

"I think that's just your dislike of my training methods talking."

"Hah?!" Jiro snapped, shooting him an annoyed glare.

"Now, now, let's calm down," Sato said, raising a hand between them.

"Hell no! Do you have any idea how much my earlobes have been hurting since Friday?!" Jiro shot back, pointing accusingly at Taka.

"Not much?" Taka replied lazily.

"Not much?! Of course not, they've been hurting like—huh?"

Her hand moved to her earphone jacks, poking and pressing at them with a puzzled expression.

'They… barely hurt anymore?'

Her head snapped toward Taka.

He was staring back at her with a blank, almost innocent look.

"You were saying?"

"…Damnit."

Taka crossed his arms. "Then I assume there are no complaints about continuing my training."

Jiro gritted her teeth.

But before she could fire back—

{"Takahashi Fukumoto, please make your way to the director's office."}

"Oh shit," Taka muttered.

A second later, he realized he'd said that out loud.

Not just the group—half the class had heard. Although it had been a mutter, everyone had been silent to hear the speaker when he said it.

"..." He glanced around at the stunned faces, most of them already covering their mouths, clearly on the verge of bursting into laughter.

Taka just stared back at them, completely deadpan.

"I didn't know the class rep had that kind of mouth. I'm honestly shocked," Mina said, barely holding in her giggles.

Asui nodded. "That's not very nice to say."

"T-Takahashi-san! While I understand there are moments where one may lose control, this is a classroom—a sacred place of learning! You should refrain from such language!" Iida exclaimed.

"The class rep… cursed." Ochako, who hadn't been paying attention before, turned toward them with wide eyes.

Jiro didn't say anything, but the grin tugging at her lips—and the faint surprise in her expression—made it clear she wasn't that shocked.

Still trying not to laugh, Kaminari looked at him incredulously. "Dude… Takahashi, what did you do to be this scared of the principal?"

"Nothing," Taka replied flatly, rolling his eyes.

"That didn't sound like nothing, bro," Kirishima said with a wry chuckle.

Taka huffed. "It's a private matter. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

He brushed past them, heading for the door.

A moment later, he stepped out into the hallway, closing it behind him—

Leaving the aftermath of his slip for the class to deal with on their own.

He let out a sigh.

"Well, I said I wanted to shed the edgy persona, didn't I? Might as well let this be the first step…"

Grumbling, annoyed at the turn of events, he shook his head and began walking forward, his face steeling.

It was time.

To face the consequences.

…

°

°

°

| Minutes later, principal's office… |

…

"Would you like some tea?"

"Uh, no, thank you."

"Shame."

"…"

"Now, I know what you're wondering…"

"…"

"…How does the principal maintain his fur in such pristine condition?"

"…"

"Was that not it?"

"…"

"Then tell me, what is it you're thinking of, Takahashi?"

Taka sat in front of Nezu at his desk, a bit taken aback by the principal's apparent carefreeness.

'Does he not know? No, that's hardly possible… maybe he doesn't care?'

He eyed the giant rodent's face, who simply smiled at him.

'That, or it's all an act… I can't really read an animal's expressions.'

He frowned, his patience for all this theatrics wearing thin.

"Is it because of what I did yesterday?"

"What did you do yesterday?" Nezu asked, still smiling.

Taka scanned him.

Did he truly not know?

"I raided the Shie Hassaikai and beat up their leader."

Nezu nodded, taking a sip of tea. "Ah, yes, I recall that happening."

A beat of silence passed between the two.

Then…

"So?" Taka asked.

"So what?" Nezu asked back.

"Aren't you going to reprimand me for it?"

"Should I? Don't tell me you feel guilty for it?"

Saying so, Nezu stood up—or rather, jumped down from his chair—and began walking around the room.

"I mean, it would make sense. You broke your end of the deal by not only raiding a highly dangerous criminal organization, but you also did it under the same persona we had been trying to leave behind, and even went as far as recording yourself, along with your new associates, while you raided the base. Something that, if I may say, feels like you are quite blatantly mocking me."

"…" Taka's eyebrows creased even more as each point was laid out plainly in front of him.

"Hmm… yes, I think that makes sense. But before reprimanding you… I suppose it is my responsibility as a teacher to ask you…"

As he said that, Nezu stopped walking and turned to stare straight into Taka's eyes.

"Why did you do it, Takahashi?"

Taka's mouth opened.

For a moment, he considered going with the excuse he had prepared—that his "precognitive" skill had acted, sending a sharp alert that forced him to act.

As for why he recorded it, and why Gentle was there… he had planned to say that Gentle had volunteered midway, and that the idea of recording came from him.

Although he doubted Nezu would fully believe it, Taka knew that without proof, there wasn't much Nezu could actually do.

But just as he was about to say it—

He closed his mouth before a single word came out.

'Is his guilt trip really working on me?' Taka wondered.

Maybe that was it.

But looking at it again… maybe it was also his own promise.

To become an Aura Farmer true to himself.

If he couldn't even state his reasons confidently—if he had to sneak around the law using lies and deceit—then was he really staying true to himself?

It wasn't the smart choice. That much was obvious.

But he wasn't about to regret what he had done yesterday.

So, without a hint of hesitation, he met Nezu's gaze head-on.

"I wanted to rescue a girl who was being experimented on, and no, I don't feel particularly guilty about it."

Silence fell once more in the room.

Until—

Nezu's smile widened, this time less feigned.

"Ah, yes. Eri-chan. I heard of her from the heroes involved in yesterday's incident…"

Nezu walked back to his seat, climbing onto it before settling down in front of Taka again.

"While it's good that you don't regret your actions—given that you've already committed to them—I would like to understand your reasoning for attempting it alone. Leaving your associates during the raid aside, of course. You could have contacted the authorities and let them handle the arrest… and also—how you even knew about her—"

He grabbed the monitor on his desk and turned it toward Taka.

"—given that she has no records of any kind. That child is, quite literally, a ghost in the system right now."

The screen displayed what looked like an official government page.

Eri's profile picture was there—

But nothing else.

No data. No history. No identifiers.

Just an empty page.

Taka's mouth tightened slightly.

But he didn't back down.

"You know about my precognitive ability. The one that lets me sense rising danger?"

Nezu nodded.

"It also seems to let me glimpse a specific future."

Nezu blinked, his smile fading just a little.

"Go on."

"In that glimpse, I saw a raid on the Shie Hassaikai. A large-scale operation—heroes and police working together."

Taka's gaze sharpened slightly.

"But because of that… they were noticed beforehand. The moment they started gathering that kind of force, the Shie Hassaikai caught wind of it."

He leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing.

"And you've seen the video, haven't you? Overhaul's ability lets him fuse with his subordinates and manipulate matter. If he had time to prepare—if he knew they were coming—he could've gathered resources and turned himself into something far worse," His tone lowered. "Something that would've put everyone else I might have brought with me at risk."

A brief pause settled, in which both stared at each other.

Then, Taka spoke again, "Instead, I moved first and alone. Therefore, undetected and able to take Overhaul by surprise with zero loss."

Nezu stayed silent for a moment.

"And Eri-chan?"

Taka even blink.

"I learned about her from that same glimpse of the future. She was the reason for the raid in the first place. "

"I see…" Nezu murmured, slipping into thought as he scratched at his muzzle.

After a brief pause, he spoke again. "In that future, you said they almost failed. How did they succeed?"

Taka hesitated for a second, then answered anyway. "Midoriya was part of the operation. He joined the team, and with his Quirk working together with Eri's, he managed to power up enough to face Overhaul directly. Even then… There were still losses."

Something flickered in Nezu's eyes at the mention of Midoriya.

Taka continued regardless. "That's why I acted. To avoid that future—and to stop that girl's suffering from continuing needlessly. That's also why I don't regret it, Principal."

Nezu kept brushing the lower part of his muzzle as he listened.

When Taka finished, the silence lingered for a moment.

Then, Nezu smiled again.

"You truly are a very interesting student, Takahashi."

Taka deadpanned, having expected a stronger reaction—or at least something more after all that.

Even if he hadn't outright revealed everything related to his future knowledge, he had still dropped a big bomb here, you know?

Yet, to his luck—or maybe not—Nezu's questioning stopped right there.

"While I understand your motives now, I also cannot overlook the fact that you ignored our agreement. I'm sure we could have found a solution if you had simply come to me first."

Taka had no real answer to that.

Truthfully, he had just lumped the entire hero system into his "can't help" category, so the thought of going to Nezu hadn't even crossed his mind.

Still… the rat probably could have helped in some way.

Even so, he had been the only one confident enough to counter Chisaki's ability, so maybe his decision hadn't been that bad after all.

'Well, whatever. The past is the past,' Taka thought, brushing it off.

He lifted his gaze back to Nezu, preparing himself for whatever harsh punishment was coming.

"As for your punishment—"

'There it is…' He sighed inwardly, already imagining being banned from the festival—or worse, expelled.

"—I will decide it at a later date. Your training period is about to start, correct? You may go. I won't keep you."

Taka almost fell from the chair.

After straightening himself back up, he sent the rat principal a deadpan look. "… Just like that?"

"You would prefer if I barred you from participating in the festival?" Nezu asked, smiling in a way that felt just a bit too sharp.

"Uh… no." Taka winced, already backing off as he made his way to the door. "Goodbye, Principal."

"Before you leave…"

Taka paused, his hand already on the handle. He glanced back, a hint of wariness in his expression.

"Yeah?"

"You never told me why you recorded everything. I imagine it would have been far more effective if you had remained unseen."

"I, uh…" Taka blanked.

There was a tense silence in which Taka struggled to answer.

But having no answer to that which didn't reveal the outright nature of his Quirk, his mind involuntarily immediately reached for the excuse he had prepared earlier.

"That was… Gentle Criminal's idea. He did it on his own."

Nezu's smile softened slightly.

"I see. You may go now."

Taka nodded, a bit stiffly this time, before stepping out and closing the door behind him.

'My bad, Gentle.'

-Click-

Left alone, Nezu let out a quiet chuckle.

"I had wondered if it was simply a trait of our student… but perhaps there is more to it."

He opened a folder containing Taka's data, gathered since the day he had supposedly gained his Quirk.

Several details had been circled and annotated—most notably the dates he had recorded himself, the reach and popularity those recordings achieved, and a clear correlation with the growth of his power over time.

There was also a specific section saved for the recording of the USJ incident, taken by an unknown individual who had never been identified.

Normally, it'd be normal to think it had been a villain that had gone unnoticed, given the lack of reasons for someone to be there at that point in time, other than being part of the villain attack.

But given his student's clear interest in showing his achievements to the public eye, and the fact that he could make a clone of himself...

Nezu's eyes then shifted, flipping the folder's page to a new one, almost blank.

In it, the picture of Rockinesis' new suit was visible, along with a few sections for registering information about the Yakuza villains.

Another instance in which Takahashi shook Japan... And another instance in which he happened to have a camera registering everything.

"Perhaps, there's more to it."

…

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-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: Ahhh, I'm losing my habits, all due to my university assignments.
Maybe arson might be a feasible career instead)

 

[The Synonym]

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[Consequences 3]
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...

After the talk with Nezu, Taka walked through the hallways with a slightly dazed expression.

'I really went and spoke about my future knowledge...' He let out a dragged sigh. 'Just from that, I bet that damn rat already figured out a hundred things I didn't expect him to...'

Massaging his temples, he decided not to think about it. Talking to Nezu was too complicated. He'd probably spend a whole day turning over what the principal might have inferred from even the smallest, most inoffensive words.

So, deciding not to waste brain power on that, he looked ahead with a slight smile.

'Ignorance truly is bliss.'

Now that the consequences he'd feared had finally arrived and passed—that he'd chosen to set aside what he'd overshared with Nezu and the repercussions it'd probably bring, and now that the whole ordeal with Eri was at last resolved—Taka felt ten times lighter.

He was finally leaving a chapter behind and entering a new one.

And this one was called Sports Festival.

His grin chased away the daze, and his stride turned purposeful.

'One and a half weeks,' he reminded himself. 'I've got until then to get this class into shape.'

Whether he accomplished it or not, he'd make sure of one thing.

That at the festival, it wouldn't be only him who'd be aura farming.

...

°

°

°

| Minutes later... |

...

After a while, Taka arrived at the battle center, finding all of his classmates already deep in intensive training.

Iida ran at full speed along the outer walls of the battle center, back and forth without pause.

Kaminari released his lightning in careful bursts at an isolated zone, struggling not to make his usual dumb face.

Tsuyu used her tongue to swing herself around the mock electrical posts spread across the fake city... how she didn't mind having her tongue touch such things, he didn't know. But he admired her for it.

Sero attempted something similar, using his tape instead and moving at a considerably faster speed. Almost like a significantly weaker and plain Spider-Man.

Others, like Ojiro, Shoji, Hagakure, and Sato, stuck to physical training or combat drills.

As for the rest, plenty had gone to other sites across U.A. to train their Quirks more effectively, having put in a request through him, as class rep, a few days ago for Nezu to approve.

Tokoyami had reserved the school's baseball field at night, planning on using the powerful floodlights installed there to build his Quirk's resistance to light, since the Festival would be held in full daylight.

Koda had asked for a spot in the U.A. forest zone, planning on using his Quirk to communicate with the animals there, and... train somehow? Taka wasn't entirely sure how he planned to do that, but he'd probably ask him later. That guy could certainly use some help.

Bakugo had also asked for a private space in the same zone—though well away from Koda. Apparently, he'd decided the forest was the best target for his rampage.

Taka had considered refusing him, but in the end, he figured the guy just wanted to keep his training private, and whatever techniques he might develop there, secret. So he granted the request.

Though he did make him ask nicely first.

All in all, the whole class was going at it hard, and at the rate things were progressing, they'd be reasonably ready when the day of the festival arrived.

But reasonably ready wasn't enough.

He'd already studied most of their training and what each person needed in particular. On top of that, he'd had a clone write down everything he could recall about their training from the show, and planned on using it as a coaching reference.

Of course, he wasn't expecting most of them to accomplish in just over a week what had taken them a whole semester in the show.

But he'd at least help them reach what they could.

Arriving at that conclusion, and after a quick glance around and a nod to himself, he began making his way calmly through the mock city, eventually reaching the spot he was looking for.

'And it all starts with this guy...'

As expected, Midoriya was already there.

Unlike before, though, he was no longer struggling to move. Now he was moving like a proper fighter—dashing left and right, striking without hesitation, all while holding Full Cowl constantly without problem.

There was still some lag getting in and out of the state, but all in all, Midoriya had the hang of it.

Which meant it was time to move on to the next phase of his training and focus all that power into a proper technique.

As Taka walked up to him, Midoriya caught the approaching presence and turned.

"Takahashi-san!"

Taka gave him a quick nod. "Looks like you've progressed a lot."

"Yes! With this state, I can finally be confident I won't need to rely on destroying my body for the Sports Festival. It's all thanks to you, Takahashi-san!"

"So long as you know it."

Midoriya nearly stumbled at the complete lack of humility, but quickly caught himself.

As he glanced back ahead, however, he saw something odd.

Taka was stretching.

"... Um, Takahashi-san?"

Taka ignored him. "Since we can say you've mostly figured out that ability of yours, it's time to move on to the next part of your training."

Hearing that—and seeing him stretch—it didn't take much for Midoriya to connect the dots.

"I-I mean, you've already done so much for me, I think I can take it from here..."

Taka didn't so much as flinch. "You can take the reins of your training once we're fully done. But there's something I need to fix in you first—if I don't, I won't sleep peacefully for a while."

With that, he finished stretching, his aura beginning to seep off him.

Midoriya sweatdropped. "Um... can't you just tell me what it is I need to fix?"

Taka smiled slightly. "I prefer bashing the knowledge into your head. It's always the most efficient method."

Midoriya didn't look thrilled.

But by then, it seemed he'd understood there was no way out of it. So he stopped holding back and activated Full Cowl, his face turning into a mixture of reluctance and determination.

The two stood apart—one with electric current crackling across his body, the other with a calm crimson aura bleeding off him.

A beat of tense silence dragged on.

Then—

—BANG!—

Both shot forward.

...

°

°

°

| Minutes later... |

...

Taka walked calmly back through the Battle Center, unharmed, his eyes drifting as he moved with clear purpose.

He passed Mina's training spot along the way and saw her working alongside Uraraka, firing at rocks that the brunette was keeping afloat with her Quirk.

Kirishima's spot was nearby too. He caught the redhead jumping from the side of a building. Strange training, but if it worked for him, who was he to judge?

Eventually, he reached the area where Jiro usually set up. And yes—there she was, standing in front of a building wall, looking exhausted as she glared at it like it was her nemesis.

The surface was covered in small marks—all from her earphone jacks, driven into it again and again, some deeper, others shallow.

Despite her complaints, she was definitely putting in the effort.

As he approached, his footsteps grew a little louder, and Jiro's withering gaze shifted to him.

She was clearly not in a great mood.

"Oi, Takahashi, I did what you asked." She tilted her head toward the wall. "I can now pierce the damn concrete with my jacks."

"Well done." Taka offered a soft nod of congratulations.

Jiro's expression went flat. "Don't 'well done' me. I did what you asked—now tell me why this wasn't a waste of time."

Taka answered with an equally flat stare. "Don't ask me. Think of the answer yourself."

Jiro's brows furrowed, and her earphone jacks lifted slowly in a way that was, somehow, threatening.

"—But if you're that anxious about it, I suppose I can give you a hint." Taka offered.

"Just say it outright."

Ignoring her, Taka tapped the floor twice with his foot, then pointed a finger at it.

Jiro looked between him and the floor, then back at him, and then back at the floor again, before ultimately returning to him, this time looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"I'm not gonna bow down to you." She said dryly.

"I meant pierce the ground." Taka clarified, sounding a bit exasperated.

"...The hell?" She didn't look convinced, but did it anyway, kneeling down to let her earlobes reach the floor.

Then she glanced back up at him. "What now?"

He looked at her with pity.

"I thought it'd be obvious at this point."

A vein appeared on her forehead, the urge to fire a sound wave at him nearly overtaking her—until, just then, she realized she actually might be able to.

Without thinking twice, she sent a burst of sound through her jacks into the ground.

—BZZZZZZZ!—

The next instant, the concrete shattered, and a tremor erupted across the surrounding area.

The shaking threw off her kneeling position, and she stumbled backward.

Taka, on the other hand, was floating a few centimeters above the ground, so he avoided it completely.

By the time it settled, Jiro blinked.

"Whoa."

Taka said nothing, just let her process it.

He did float her back onto her feet, though. She let it happen—too focused on what she'd just done to pay the telekinesis much mind.

After a moment, she pointed at the shattered ground. "I did that."

Taka nodded. "Yeah."

She slapped her forehead.

"How did I not think of that? It's so obvious... sending the sound waves into the ground—it's exactly the kind of offensive move I'd been missing, and it was right beneath my feet the whole time. You were right, Takahashi. I was wrong..."

Taka smiled, closing his eyes and nodding faintly, as if proud of her.

"—IS THAT WHAT YOU THOUGHT I'D SAY?! You could've said something, you psycho! I thought it'd be some complicated technique I was missing, not just stabbing the damn floor!"

Taka's smile fell flat.

"Talk about ungrateful."

Jiro clicked her tongue and dropped onto a nearby piece of rubble that looked good enough to sit on, looking away.

"...But I guess I wouldn't have thought about strengthening my jacks without your training... so thanks for that, I guess."

"Add a sorry in there, and I might consider accepting it."

"Don't push your luck."

Snorting with a slight smirk, he sat on the curb and let out a low sigh—actually a bit worn out from his spar with Midoriya.

Just a bit.

'And that does it for Jiro's training,' He thought, smiling at yet another thing in his list getting checked, before his smile became crooked. 'If only Midoriya were like her…'

Taka couldn't help but compare both of them, recalling his spar from just a while ago with the greenhead.

There hadn't been much noteworthy about the spar itself. Just the fact that he'd kept attacking Midoriya's legs, and even left openings for him to use them—all of which Midoriya had somehow ignored, continuing to try overly complicated plans that accounted only for his fists.

Taka was fairly sure that fighting with your legs was basically instinctual, which made him genuinely impressed by Midoriya's ability to suppress that instinct completely.

He'd ended up beating him into the ground, with the greenhead never figuring out what the problem was.

He could tell him—hell, if he so much as said the word "leg," he was pretty sure Midoriya would realize.

But he wasn't going to.

In principle. Midoriya had to figure it out himself, for the sake of his self-esteem, and yadayada.

But also because it was such a simple thing that if he didn't, Taka might actually start wondering whether Midoriya had some kind of disability.

He would only spell it out if three days before the Sports Festival came and the so-called protagonist still showed no signs of figuring it out—but he wouldn't be happy about it.

'Actually, it shouldn't even take past tomorrow,' he thought grimly, reassessing the time limit he could tolerate seeing Midoriya not connect the dots.

"Hey." Jiro's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked over to find her watching him with an odd expression. "Anyway, what did the principal call you for?"

Taka looked away immediately. "Stuff. You know—class representative stuff."

"Is that so?" Jiro asked airily. "Hmm~."

She hummed, clearly not convinced.

A short pause followed, during which Taka thought he might have gotten away with it.

Then Jiro opened her mouth again.

"By the way, I was just thinking back to when we first met, and the funniest thing came to mind."

"...What?"

"You see, I remember that after I showed up, you beat up those delinquents, right? Then you made them float... but I don't remember you oozing that red aura you're always surrounded by nowadays."

"..."

She looked up at the sky, seeming to turn it over carefully. "And I remember the same thing one day during lunch, when you met my friends. You held your chopsticks in the air, but there was no red aura around them or you… It's funny, that kind of invisible telekinesis, it reminds me somewhat of a certain vigilante."

Her gaze dropped back to him.

"What's with that?"

A long pause followed.

Taka looked away, while Jiro's eyes stayed fixed on him.

For a moment, it looked like she was actually onto something here. At least, that was the case, until—

"Hmph."

He snorted, eyes closing, mouth curling into a faint smirk.

His eyes then opened again, settling on hers with easy composure.

"That's because my strength and telekinetic output were much lower back then. Because of that, the energy was fainter—and therefore less visible." He raised a finger, factually. "Remember my first days at U.A.? The energy barely seeped out of me at all. It only got violent when I threw the ball. The more output I use, the more visible and aggressive it becomes."

Jiro seemed struck by that.

"Tsk." She clicked her tongue and looked away. "I see..."

Seeing her reaction, Taka nodded slowly.

Internally, he let out a long sigh of relief. 'Thank god I'd already thought through that slip-up beforehand.'

Still quietly rattled, and not wanting to risk any more questions, he slowly began to rise off the ground—startling Jiro slightly, who settled back into a deadpan once the surprise passed.

"...Where are you going?"

"Maybe someone needs their class rep. You never know."

And without giving her a chance to ask anything else, he shot away.

Jiro was left there, staring at his retreating back with a flat expression, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

...

°

°

°

| Hours later... |

...

By the time evening came, school had ended, and Taka was already flying over Shizuoka.

He wasn't planning on doing anything with his clones today, so he stayed on course for home rather than the Rockibase.

As he flew calmly through the clouds, his mind drifted back to the approaching Sports Festival and everything he still had to do before it arrived.

Training his classmates was an obvious yes. Probably the most important thing right now.

But it wasn't the only thing he could do.

He'd been putting it off, caught up with all the chaos that he was sunk in for the past week or so—The USJ incident, then the realization of Eri and his own unhealthy obsession, and then the consequent raid on the Hassaikai.

But now that most of his problems were resolved, he could finally focus on what he'd been neglecting.

His projects—in other words, the other applications of aura he hadn't yet discovered.

He'd already accumulated quite a few ideas to try and develop into proper skills, and with a week or so left, he'd have enough breathing room to actually work on them.

Whether any of it would come in handy at the Sports Festival, he wasn't sure. But he wasn't about to pass up a chance to grow stronger—beyond simply accumulating more aura.

'I wonder how many of those ideas will actually pan out into something useful, though.'

His aura had proven remarkably versatile.

But it had to have limits, right?

Right?

He smirked faintly at the thought.

'Hopefully not.'

His eyes drifted downward as the thought passed. He was approaching his usual landing zone.

So he began descending.

A minute or so later, he touched down—quick and soft enough that he passed for nothing more than a large bird coming in to roost.

Then he covered the rest of the way on foot.

Shortly after, he stood before the front door of his house.

He pulled out his keys and opened the door.

… What he hadn't expected when he did so, however, was to see Seiji standing right there behind it, arms crossed, and with a thoroughly displeased look on his face.

"Well, well, well… look who it is," Seiji said with a dragged and clearly resentful tone.

"How's it going, Seiji?"

The casualness in Taka's tone only made Seiji's expression worse.

"Hohoho... look at you, having the nerve to ask, even after what you pulled the other day. Three days, Takahashi. I wasn't able to come home for THREE DAYS!"

Taka winced at that.

"My bad."

Seiji looked like he wanted to say some very bad words—but held himself back at the last second, for some reason.

"Whatever. Now that you're here, deal with the consequences of your actions."

He stepped aside.

Taka raised an eyebrow—then saw what lay beyond him.

Or rather, who.

'Oh shit.'

Consequences, it turned out, still had one more card to play. He had planned for this, of course—but not for it to happen quite this fast.

Seiji let out a sigh. "Luckily for you, this whole process was going to take more than a week or so, and I was going to come back utterly pissed—but your dear principal intervened yesterday and vouched for me to be the one to take her in for the time being. Thanks to that, I was able to come back today and not a whole damn week later."

'Damnit it, Nezu,' Taka winced.

Sitting there, on the couch, was Eri, watching him with an expression every bit as surprised as his own.

"You're that person!"

The last of the consequences had arrived.

Brotherhood.

…

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-To Be Continued...-

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[The Synonym]

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[Sports Festival]
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| Last day before the Sports Festival… |

...

-Clang!-

"Ah...!"

Yaoyorozu fell on one knee, her staff clattering to the floor alongside her.

Taka stood before her, expression impassive.

"Your reaction time has improved a lot compared to our first spar."

Yaoyorozu took a moment to collect herself, gradually pulling back to her feet. Despite Taka's compliment, she didn't look particularly pleased. "I see. Thank you, Takahashi-san."

Taka studied her expression for a moment before speaking again, his tone softer. "No need to look so down. There's still a lot to cover, but you're prepared well enough for the festival. You had only been lacking quick decision-making and assessment skills during fights. Now you have them, so there's no way you won't do well."

At that, she seemed to snap out of whatever self-deprecating thoughts she'd been having, looking at him surprised for a second before smiling a little. "Thank you, Takahashi-san. Truly."

"No need."

With that, he made a quick beckoning motion, and a box flew in from somewhere and landed in his hands.

He then tossed it to Yaoyorozu, who fumbled slightly before catching it—her eyes widening like platters the moment she got a proper look at it.

"T-this is... Golden Tips Imperial Tea—how did you get this, Takahashi-san?! It's an extremely rare product!"

"A friend gave it to me. I'm not much for tea, since I prefer stronger flavors, but I figured you'd like it. Consider it a congratulatory gift for completing the training before the Sports Festival."

"A gift from a friend..." Yaoyorozu murmured, eyes glistening.

Seeing that she had liked it—even though she was rich enough to probably track one down with minimal effort—Taka smiled, satisfied.

Then he raised his arm, and from somewhere, his backpack flew straight into his hand.

"It's late now, so I'll be going. Good luck tomorrow."

"Yes!" Yaoyorozu saluted, much to Taka's amusement.

Thus, he began to walk away, planning on returning home.

As he headed toward the exit, he passed several classmates still sunk in training of their own, making use of their last hours to the fullest—Sero, Kirishima, Shoji, and a few others.

Plenty had already relocated to better sites for their respective training. Tsuyu had gone to the school's pool, Mina, Uraraka, and Aoyama had ended up at the USJ facility, and Iida had moved to the track field, plus many others—leaving Ground Beta considerably emptier than when it had all started.

As he passed by, many of the remaining ones waved.

"Yo, class rep, you leaving?!" Sero called out, standing beside Kirishima and Ojiro.

Taka gave them a nod.

"See you tomorrow then!"

Taka waved back and walked on.

It had been one hectic week and a half, that was for sure.

Developing his own abilities while helping everyone else at the same time—it was an experience he wasn't sure he wanted to repeat. So much to keep track of, and so little time to breathe.

But he'd say the result was worth it.

For starters, he'd managed to give everyone at least some help with their training, and largely thanks to the impressive results he'd gotten out of Jiro and Midoriya, which prompted more and more of the class to ask for some coaching.

By the way, Midoriya had taken two full days to figure out he needed to kick rather than punch. He almost wanted to smack him for it, but he did exactly that plenty of times during their training to help him figure it out, so he held back.

Of course, he wasn't a miracle worker.

For some of his classmates, his help had been groundbreaking—like Tsuyu, Hagakure, or Tokoyami—or Jiro and Midoriya themselves, since their Quirks had a lot of untapped potential he'd been able to help draw out with his show knowledge, even if to varying degrees.

There were others he sadly hadn't been able to help much, or at all. Kaminari's Quirk, for now, only made him a living taser, and he would need some support items before he could get more use out of it. Todoroki and Bakugo were more or less training on their own terms, so he didn't have a hand in helping them either.

For others, his help had been more a matter of smoothing over rough edges—things that may or may not have been directly related to their Quirks. Like Yaoyorozu, whom he'd helped get accustomed to actual fights so she wouldn't freeze up as she had in the show. Or Koda, whom he'd taught a bit about controlling his voice. Or Kirishima, Sato, and Ojiro, whom he'd mostly done physical training with, helping them correct mistakes in their techniques and footwork. And lastly, Iida, whom he'd helped with kicking techniques after the bespectacled boy spotted his breakdancing-infused fighting style and came asking.

Speaking of Iida, he hadn't forgotten the canon event coming up that involved him. He'd already laid out a few contingency plans for that, so he wasn't too worried.

All in all, the Sports Festival showed promise, and Taka couldn't help smirking once the thought of it being tomorrow landed on his mind.

'And thus, the week of preparation finally ends,' Taka thought as the exit finally came into sight, letting out a long sigh.

Now all that remained was to wait until tomorrow, and things would play out.

'...Actually, I need to prepare the player's pledge,' he sweatdropped, immediately recalling the speech that the student ranked first had to give right before the games.

In other words, the one he had to give.

'I can't say I have stage fright, but this is my first time making a speech, isn't it?' He mused, sighing in a troubled manner.

His mind went over the one Bakugo had given in the show.

'I pledge to win... It's pretty good, I have to give it to him.'

The short-fused guy had been pretty inspired that day.

He could, of course, copy his and get done with it.

But that's the way losers think.

He had to make it better than that.

'An aura farmer never rests, I guess...' He thought with a sigh, aware that his duty still wasn't over.

...

°

°

°

| An hour later... |

...

Taka stood outside his house, rummaging through his backpack for his keys.

After a little while longer, he found them, let himself in, and closed the door behind him—letting out a groan as the soothing feeling of finally being home settled over him.

Only for the first thing to greet him—

"Welcome back..." A tiny voice greeted.

—to be Eri, sitting on the couch watching TV from the living room.

"Finally done, eh, Taka?" Seiji leaned sideways to peek at him from behind the couch, barely visible from the entranceway. He'd apparently been keeping her company through whatever they were watching.

"Yeah. It's finally over." Taka answered, pausing at the entrance to take off his shoes.

As he did, he found himself thinking about how things had gone since Eri arrived.

It had been awkward at first.

Since he spent most days at school until late due to the Sports Festival preparations, he'd had to rely mostly on Seiji to keep him updated on how she was doing.

During the first few days, she'd stayed in her room most of the time—only coming out to eat, or coming out when he returned from U.A.

But as the days passed and she grew a bit more comfortable with the house, she'd started moving around more freely. Seiji had encouraged it by letting her use the TV, which, as you can see, had worked wonders.

Still, beyond knowing she was somewhat more at ease than at the start, Taka was largely in the dark about how she truly felt.

He hadn't unlocked anything like telepathy, so there was no way to know what was going on in her head most of the time. She wasn't particularly talkative, either.

He could only assume she wasn't unhappy, at least.

But just like in the show, she wasn't smiling.

—And Taka wasn't planning on letting that go on for long.

The Culture Festival was still quite far off, roughly a semester away, so having his class put on a concert like in the show wasn't exactly likely.

With his clones, he could always put one together himself. But he wasn't sure whether it had only been the music that made Eri smile in the show, or whether other factors had played just as big a part. Like the effort that everyone put into it, and that she had seen.

Still, that didn't mean he couldn't try something.

'Good thing I've been working on a new song for this,' Taka thought, smiling faintly.

He already had a plan mostly sorted out, and while some of the arrangements had been tricky to put together, they were largely taken care of.

Now all that remained was to wait for the right moment.

Smiling faintly, he finished taking off his shoes and stepped into the house for good.

As he did, he couldn't help but notice the entranced look Eri had as she watched TV. Seiji stood behind the couch, leaning on the headrest with a smirk on his face.

The TV faced away from the entrance, so he couldn't see what was on. He walked closer and turned his head to get a better look at what had Eri so interested.

"..."

Then, his eyebrow twitched.

{"So what if you can see, the dark inside of——!"}

His gaze lingered on the screen for a beat, then shifted to the two watching it.

Seiji was grinning widely, sneaking glances at him as if it were the funniest thing in the world. Eri, while not smiling, was watching with a worrying level of focus.

Then, to top it off, she turned to him and pointed at the screen.

"That's you, Taka?"

Taka's mouth twitched.

"...Yeah..."

Eri nodded, seemingly letting that sink in, before turning back to the TV, eyes glued to it.

Taka stared at her with a slightly pained look, then turned to Seiji. "Why is she...?"

"You've gotten quite famous. A video of yours got recommended to her. I just caught her watching it and joined in." Seiji shrugged.

Taka gave him a flat look, then turned back to her and the screen.

'For real...?'

To his luck, after a few more seconds, the video ended—before then switching to another recording of Taka's "performances."

"That's also you?" Eri asked.

"Hm." Taka let out a loud hum of confirmation, doing his best not to let her notice he was massaging his temples, his face slightly hot from the embarrassment.

He really wasn't good with this kind of situation.

"I see..." Eri said.

Then she went back to focusing on it, eyes glued to the screen.

Taka's gaze slid to Seiji, and a silent back-and-forth started up between them.

'How long are you planning to let her watch that?' his side-eye said plainly.

Seiji's eyebrows rose, his expression unmistakably reading: 'Why? Embarrassed, Taka?'

Taka let out a sigh.

Then he reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat, snapping Eri out of her TV-induced trance and drawing both her and Seiji's attention.

Seeing he had it, he held up what he was holding. "Nezu was feeling generous today and handed me two tickets to front-row seats at the festival."

"Festival?" Eri looked uncertain.

"It's a very famous competition. Taka and his classmates will be participating in it." Seiji explained.

She still didn't seem to fully grasp it, but she got the general idea. "I see."

Taka stepped over and ruffled her hair. "Think you can make some time in your packed schedule to watch me win?"

Eri pursed her lips and gave a small nod under his hand. "Hmm."

Taka smiled. "Good. There's going to be a spectacle at the end. It'd be a shame if you missed it."

Seiji sent him a flat look. "Really?"

"Hey, I got permission this time." Taka shrugged.

Seiji didn't look convinced, but Taka simply ignored him, grinning slightly.

'It's all coming together.'

...

°

°

°

| The next day, U.A. stadium grounds... |

...

To say it was cramped would be an understatement. U.A.'s campus was packed with people in every direction—some coming and going from the stadium, others walking around and browsing the food stalls and souvenir stands, of which there were a hundred or so, and others simply chatting as they waited for everything to begin.

"Hey, what time was the third year's competition?"

"Later, in the afternoon. First, the first years and second years go."

"Bummer. I just came for the third year, so I guess I'll find something to do until then."

"You crazy? Why would you skip the first years with the bombs they've got this year?!"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been living under a rock? This year we've got Endeavor's son, Ingenium's little brother, and most importantly—the kid who was all over national television the other day. The one who saved the school from a terrorist attack."

"That kid was from U.A.?"

The school was the most talked-about it had been in a long while, with multiple names drawing the attention of people and heroes from all around the country.

The festival was an important event, sure.

But this year's was different, and everyone knew it.

"..."

Standing on top of the stadium, a figure looked down at the people below, his coat fluttering in the wind at that height.

And soon, many more—just like him—began walking to his side, striking similarly dramatic poses.

"And so it begins."

Then—they all disappeared.

…

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-To Be Continued...-

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Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.

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──────

(A/N: And so it begins indeed. At last, we got into the Sports Festival arc. Now, I could have liked to add what abilities or plans Taka came up with during the week of training, but I think it'd be better to keep the surprise.

There's one thing some readers have been asking, and it's honestly very feasible, so it will make its appearance here.)

 

[The Synonym]

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[Player's Pledge]
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| Class 1-A's waiting room |

...

"Huff... the nerves are killing me," Kaminari muttered, before glancing around at his classmates, most of whom were calmly lounging around.

His head snapped toward them, looking outraged as he slammed both hands on the table.

"Why do you guys look so calm?!"

"...We just prepared as much as we could. There's no point in getting nervous now." Sato, who was nearby said with a serious tone.

"Yeah, having given it my all... it kind of gives me peace of mind, you know? Whatever happens out there, it'll be the best I can do. No more what-ifs." Kirishima nodded, pumping up a fist.

"Look at you lucky guys who got Takahashi's help, being so optimistic..." Kaminari looked at them with deadfish eyes, grumbling gloomily.

He recalled that fateful day—the one where he'd asked Taka to help him like the others. His class rep asked for a demonstration, and he gave it.

But as he finished, he was met with a pitiful look.

"Can't help, sorry," Those were his exact words.

To make up for it, Taka had given him a few pointers on something he called "surrounding awareness" and how to use it better, but not much of it had stuck.

Thus, his training for the rest of the week ended up being rather plain: Releasing electricity constantly in an attempt to raise his brain-frying threshold—which, as you can expect, didn't work out at all.

So now, here he was, about to step into one of the most-watched events in the country, where his future as a hero would be put to the test, with nothing to show for it.

"Damnit..." He groaned, slouching over the table.

On the other side of the room, sitting against the wall, Taka gave him a pitying look.

'I'll tell him about getting support equipment like the one in the show once this is all done.'

Making that promise to himself, he went back to looking like he was thinking about something very important while everyone waited for the festival to start.

—At least, that was the plan, until a certain someone's footsteps approached.

"...?"

Taka opened one eye—and saw the familiar face of Todoroki heading his way.

'Right. This guy's one for dramatic challenges.'

Huffing slightly, Taka lifted his head and met the approaching mood guy's gaze head-on.

"Takahashi," Todoroki called him out once he stood before him, his tone solemn.

"Todoroki," Taka mimicked the tone.

Todoroki's eyebrow twitched at the mimicry. But he pressed on with what he had to say.

"I know you're stronger than me. That's already been made clear. No matter how much I deny it, or excuse my defeat back then on my emotions getting the better of me... the truth remains the same. You're stronger."

Bakugo, who was nearby, turned to look at them, his expression faintly surprised.

'Oh?'

Taka's eyebrow arched. That genuinely wasn't something he'd expected.

But then Todoroki spoke again, his tone shifting.

"But that doesn't mean anything." His cold eyes fixed on Taka. "Stronger or not... I'm telling you in advance. Today I'm going to beat you."

His eyes narrowed, determination and something sharper underneath it showing through.

"At this competition, I will win. And not even you, however superior you might turn out to be, will force my fire. I will win regardless of it all."

Silence settled over the entire room after those words.

Taka didn't say anything for a moment, seemingly musing on it.

Everyone else just watched the tense exchange with uneasy looks.

Then—

"Hah?! What are you talking about, you shitty half-and-half bastard?!"

Bakugo shoved his way into the conversation, stopping right next to Todoroki and glaring at him point-blank.

"...I think I heard you say you'll win—but that's not possible, because for that, you'd have to beat me too!"

Todoroki's gaze shifted to him, shooting back an unbothered look.

"I will."

"...Look at the nerve!" A vein appeared on Bakugo's forehead. Then he pointed at Taka with his thumb. "Let me make things clear for you. In this competition, the only one who's beating this bastard is me. So you can say goodbye to that little plan of yours right now—because if you want first place, you'll have to beat the one who beats him first... me!"

"..."

A silence full of collective disbelief washed over the room.

Nobody believed in him for a second.

Even Todoroki didn't know how to respond to that level of delusion.

Taka stayed quiet through all of it, eyes moving slowly between the growing number of challengers around him.

But then, just as he was about to say something—

"No."

A voice no one had expected broke through the awkward silence, coming from somewhere in the middle of the rest of the students.

All eyes turned—landing on an incredibly nervous-looking, but otherwise determined Midoriya, staring at them from his seat with visible conviction.

"K-Kachan, Takahashi-kun, Todoroki-kun... The one who will win today... is me!"

The declaration left everyone just as baffled as the other two times it had been said—especially because this time it was coming from Midoriya, of all people.

Eyes bounced between the four now tangled up in this standoff, blinking in disbelief at how things had spiralled in the few minutes before the main event.

"Everyone is so motivated..." Kirishima muttered, before going quiet and staring at his fist with a flicker of frustration—only to snap his head up the next instant and rise to his feet just like Midoriya. "—You know what? No. That'll be me. I'm taking first place from all of you!"

Everyone's eyes shifted to him, thrown off by the fact that someone else had jumped into the challenges' boat.

'What kind of youthful moment was this?' Some couldn't help but think, somewhere between amusement and disbelief.

—But before long, even the ones joking about it couldn't help but catch on.

All that training, all that improvement crammed into two weeks, just for this festival... and they were going to be content with anything other than first place?

What would any of that effort have been worth, then?

That thought struck a spark in the motivation that had been quietly building in everyone throughout the training the past two weeks.

"No, you all... I'm the one taking first place." Sato was the first, fixing the group with a serious look and pointing a thumb at himself.

"The peak may be lonely, but settling for anything less is improper." Tokoyami followed, arms crossed and eyes closed, while leaning on a wall at the corner of the room that was slightly darker than the rest.

"Alright, you've done it now! I'm gonna have to take first place from all of you!" Hagakure jumped from her seat and declared boldly, raising a gloved fist.

Sero let out an amused huff before shrugging with a wide smile. "I guess I'm gonna get a little serious and aim for first place then!"

"... You know what? I don't need any training to beat you all!" Kaminari shot up from his slouched position, putting a foot up on his seat. "My quirk alone is all I need to stand at the top!"

"Your zipper is down, Kaminari-kun—and also, I'm going to aim for first place too, everyone, and I won't make it easy-kero," Tsuyu said, finger at her mouth.

"Ah?!"

"I WILL DO MY BEST, YA ALL HEAR ME?!" Uraraka bellowed—apparently the most carried away of anyone, her expression nothing short of fervent.

"Yeey~ I'm gonna make you all eat the curb!" Mina shouted, riding the wave of energy.

"E-everyone, we are U.A. students—even if we're motivated, we should conduct ourselves with grace—still, I will say, I too shall aim for first place. I won't be left behind!" Iida started with a lecture—only to end up roped in along with everyone else.

"I shall aim for first place as well." Even the usually silent Shoji joined in.

"Me too," Koda added, though barely above a whisper and lifting his hand shyly.

"First place... maybe I can manage it?" Ojiro muttered, though without sounding entirely convinced.

"Don't count on it—I'm the one who's going to be the dazzliest of all!" Aoyama slipped in.

Lastly, there was Jiro.

Everyone looked at her, as if waiting for her to say her piece.

She didn't look like she wanted to join in—but, in the end, she couldn't hold out against the crowd.

Still, she did it her own way.

"I'm going to kick your ass, Takahashi."

Once everyone had had their say, they all turned back to the group that had started it, challenging looks falling upon them.

For once, Todoroki and Bakugo felt the pressure coming not from Taka, but from the classmates they'd already dismissed.

Taka, on the other hand, sat with his eyes closed, not looking remotely fazed.

'Bunch of cornballs...' He thought, trying his best to hold back the shudder he felt from showing.

Seeing him stoically dismiss their declarations, all eyes fixed on him with equally challenging stares.

"You're gonna get your ass kicked, class rep!" Mina shouted, lifting a fist.

"We're going to beat you!" Hagakure joined in.

"Don't think you're gonna speed-blitz through us, Taka!" Kirishima added.

"Yeah, today's the day we properly ground you!" Sero threw in.

Even the ones who stayed quiet felt it. They hadn't trained this hard to get outclassed today. Today, their training was going to show.

Taka opened his eyes, gave them a long, awkward look—before sighing.

"Couldn't have it any other way." He said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Everyone smirked at that. Their biggest opponent had acknowledged them—

"But I should warn you all. There's someone I'm planning on putting on a big show for today, so..."

His eyes swept across everyone, glinting faintly.

"I'm toning down the moderation for today."

That landed like a wave hitting a still lake.

Silence stretched across the room as everyone processed it.

And then—

"I-is that so... G-go for it!"

"W-we're not scared in the slightest!"

"Y-yeah, you can try, Taka, but you'll be c-crushed!"

"Can I forfeit now?"

Confidence collapsed in an instant.

Even Todoroki, Midoriya, and Bakugo felt cold sweat run down their backs.

Then—

-Click!-

The door of the room opened, and Yaoyorozu stepped through it.

"Everyone, please get ready—we're about to head out!"

Everyone swallowed nervously at that.

Everyone, that is, except Taka.

'Alright, let's do this.' He thought with a smirk.

He stood up.

It was time.

...

°

°

°

| Minutes later, main field... |

...

-BAM!-

-BAM!-

-BAM!-

Fireworks filled the sky with beautiful figures that set the cheerful ambiance, the roar of the crowd swallowing the explosions whole in response.

Soon, Present Mic's voice rang out across the stadium and beyond.

{"And thus, the U.A. Sports Festival at last begins, everyone. The grand battle where our fledgling heroes sharpen their swords once a year and compete for glory!"}

The crowd roared as the hype started building.

{"And what better way to kick things off than a warm welcome to the hottest topic around these days. The rising new stars who pulled off the impossible, and came out the other side through sheer perseverance and will!"}

Several small figures began emerging from the darkness of one of the gates, stepping into the light of the field with a confidence that felt almost contagious.

Leading the way at the front, a familiar boy was the first to pull every gaze in the stadium—and every camera.

"That's him!"

"Holy shit, look how he walks. He's like a pro already."

"U.A. students are just a different breed altogether."

One by one, the rest followed, soon revealing the full class.

Gasps followed as they crossed the field with unwavering gazes fixed ahead.

Even those who glanced around, with slight traces of anxiety before the ginormous crowd, didn't come across as nervous teenagers facing the public eye for the first time.

They looked like prepared combatants, even if slightly overwhelmed by the attention.

{"HERE IT IS, CLASS 1-A FROM THE HERO COURSE!"}

The crowd roared back.

With that entrance, the group made their way to the center of the field.

And following their appearance—

{"And of course, although they haven't had as much screentime, we can't forget about the other promising stars of the future—GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO CLASS 1-B FROM THE HERO COURSE TOO!"}

Several other figures began stepping onto the field, drawing their share of attention. They weren't the main draw of the event, but the crowd's curiosity was piqued, wondering what Quirks they'd get to see from them, seeing as how they had gotten into the hero course as well.

Taka glanced at them and sighed faintly.

'I'm sorry to all of you.'

Whether by his hand or his classmates', those guys weren't going to shine very brightly today.

'Or at least, less than they already did in the show.'

As Class 1-B made their way to the center and took their place beside them, a stream of other groups began filing onto the field through the remaining gates spread around the stadium.

"Next up, General Studies, classes C, D, and E!—Support course, F, G, and H!—And of course, the Business course, I, J, K!"

With a brief—and by comparison, slightly deflating—introduction, each course made its entrance and joined the growing mass of first years at the center.

The crowd buzzed with excitement as the presentations wrapped up.

Then, a striking figure stepped onto the stage set up before the sea of students, stopping at the microphone.

"It's Midnight!"

"Whoo!"

"So she's the one presenting the first years this time, huh?"

"Nezu must be busy preparing to do the same with the third years."

"R-rating is the best!"

-Whip!-

A sharp crack through the microphone silenced the restless crowd and the mass of students alike.

"Everyone, quiet. It's time for the player's pledge!"

She then snapped her whip toward the students, pointing it at one in particular.

"Representing the students is Takahashi Fukumoto, from class 1-A!"

Everyone turned to look, and the cameras snapped to him once again, his face filling the giant screens. His class didn't seem particularly surprised, but a wave of muttering swept through the other classes the moment his name was called.

"That's him, right?"

"He doesn't look that powerful."

"Did he really beat that villain?"

"I've heard some people call him the next All Might, but he doesn't have the same presence."

And the chatter went on.

His classmates didn't look particularly pleased at the doubts being thrown Taka's way.

But in the end, they didn't need to do anything.

All Taka had to do to put it to rest—was take a step forward.

-Crch-

"..."

The instant his shoe met the grass, all sound died.

Not from fear—but from something instinctual. The kind of silence that falls when someone demands a room for silence. Like a single clap cutting through noise, or a glass being hit with a spoon multiple times.

Only now—it was just his walk.

It was a strange thing. The until-then roaring stadium had gone completely still, and people were noticing it.

Yet no one dared anything beyond a whisper.

In that silence, the sound of each step became audible, sending a chill through the crowd.

—Thunk, thunk, thunk—

His footsteps echoed across the stadium as he climbed the stairs to the stage, one by one.

Until, at last, he stood before the microphone, every eye in the stadium on him alone.

And so—

"Today, I pledge—"

He eyed the camera, his voice echoing in the hearts of everyone listening.

And especially, on that of a girl watching him from the front rows.

"—to make history,"

…

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

────────────────────────

Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.

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──────

(A/N: Was that last line tuff? It's the best I could come up with that wasn't just a Bakugo copy, or overly cheesy stuff.)

 

[The Synonym]

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[Race]
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...

"Today, I pledge—to make history."

Taka's pledge echoed across the entire stadium, breaking the silence that had held it until now.

A long, stunned silence followed, as everyone turned the words over in their minds.

It was such an extraordinarily confident—bordering on delusional—statement that no one could even muster anger or offense, unlike if he'd simply declared he'd win.

This was different.

It was the sort of declaration that stopped making you think the person ahead looked down on you, and started making you wonder if they had a screw loose. After all, what kind of teenager set out to make history? Most just cared about their immediate future—like winning—not something so far-reaching.

This one was an outlier, apparently.

That, or he was trying to sound profound and important—which maybe he was.

But some—those closer to him, or simply more perceptive than others—caught a deeper meaning beneath the simple statement.

What did it mean to make history?

To win? Perhaps, but that was just a part of it.

To earn internship offers, then? Recognition was a closer truth to his pledge, but in the end, still just a fragment.

No. To make history meant to leave a bigger impression than any previous year of U.A.'s Sports Festival had ever managed—to imprint his name in the minds of everyone present, and everyone watching from afar.

To make this the most impressive year the competition had ever seen.

—Even more so than All Might's.

Whether because he'd be winning in a way never seen before...

—or because today would mark the day someone bigger than All Might made his official appearance to the world.

—Or because he'd be losing so spectacularly, it'd become history in its own right.

Who could say what he actually meant?

In the end, whether he'd be making a fool of himself or truly delivering on his pledge... it was about to be seen.

In the teachers' area, All Might sweatdropped—feeling, once again, the weight of his student pressing down on him.

'You certainly don't hold back at all, young Takahashi...'

As everyone was still processing his words, Taka quietly made his way down from the stage and slipped back into the mass of students.

"..."

Having seen the player's pledge wrapped up in such short order, Midnight let out a sigh before stepping up to continue. The Festival couldn't grind to a halt over an outrageous pledge, after all.

"Now then, let's move on to the games right away!" She cracked her whip against the air.

In unison, the giant screens at the top of the stadium shifted to a spinning slot-machine display, cycling through possibilities while everyone watched, slightly overwhelmed by how fast things were moving.

As it spun, Midnight smiled into the microphone. "The first game is what we call a qualifier! Every year, many students have to swallow their frustration upon being eliminated right here, before things even get good!—Now, let's see what kind of torment awaits them!"

Her whip snapped toward the screens, and the spinning display began to slow.

Until it settled, at last, on a game.

{Obstacle Race!}

Taka's mouth curled slightly upward.

'So this stayed the same as in the show…'

Perhaps the teachers had already chosen everything beforehand.

That gave him a great deal of peace of mind. At least now he knew his plans wouldn't be thrown off by the events actually being random.

'Although I still haven't figured out who I'm going to partner with in the second game,' Taka deadpanned, feeling his asocial tendencies flaring up again.

While he calmly pondered such important matters, Midnight proceeded to explain the rules—basically, stay on the course, and anything goes so long as you don't go full terrorist.

The race was four kilometers long, running all the way around the stadium circumference.

Everyone swallowed nervously at the realization that the first elimination round was a flat-out race—meaning that if they weren't fast enough, they were basically as good as done.

Everyone except Taka, of course. He simply closed his eyes through the whole explanation, either uninterested or focused on something else entirely.

Eventually, the explanation ended, and all students began moving toward the starting gate—a massive arch leading out of the stadium.

Slowly, they gathered there, some elbowing others for the best spots at the front and sparking small skirmishes, while others settled calmly for what they could get or simply didn't care.

Amidst it all, while they waited for everything to finally begin, Class 1-A scanned the crowd for familiar faces.

Todoroki picked out Bakugo not far ahead. The explosive teen turned and grinned wickedly at him once he spotted him in return.

Behind them, Midoriya swallowed, taking slow, steady breaths and quietly preparing to kick his Full Cowl into gear the moment the race started.

The others looked around too, searching for who had once been their classmates—but who today were their opponents.

-BZZZ-

One light went out.

Everyone stopped looking around and fixed their eyes forward, locked on a single thing.

First place.

-BZZZ-

Another went out, leaving only one light remaining. Muscles and tendons tightened in unison, adrenaline beginning to surge through everyone's veins.

Beads of sweat rolled down foreheads. For a moment, the collective nervous swallowing of hundreds of students seemed to converge into a single audible sound.

The crowd held its breath.

Then.

-BZZZ-

The last light vanished.

"START!"

Midnight's voice was barely into its first syllable before every student had already launched off.

Everyone scrambled toward the exit as fast as they could, flooding into the tunnel leading outside and shoving others aside to carve out any position ahead.

Unfortunately, that same desperate surge forward was precisely what led most of them to their demise.

"M—move!"

"Agh, don't push!"

"Damn it, I can't move!"

In no time, the furious forward press became its own obstacle. The mass of students began condensing—eventually too dense for the tunnel to handle properly.

What had started as a breakneck race ground to a dead stop as everyone tried to push forward and found they couldn't, each one blocking everyone else.

Not even fifteen seconds in, and the race had already hit an impasse.

At least—until the truly exceptional began to move.

—Tsssssss...!—

—BOOOM!—

—Swoosh!—

Three figures shot ahead of the pack the instant the mass got stuck.

Todoroki, who released an enormous wave of ice through his feet—propelling himself forward while encasing the feet of those around him in the process.

Bakugo, who detonated an explosion and blasted off like a bullet in an instant.

And Midoriya, who bounced between the tunnel's high walls until he finally found a way through, shooting out alongside the other two.

But they weren't the only ones who made it out.

Just a few seconds later, several other figures began emerging from the tangle.

A ray of light cut through the air as Aoyama launched himself over the crowd with his laser.

A mass of pure black catapulted overhead alongside him—Tokoyami, now wrapped in Dark Shadow.

Yaoyorozu vaulted over the mass using her staff, clearing the tunnel and sidestepping Todoroki's freezing wave in the process.

Uraraka skipped the congestion entirely by levitating herself overhead, releasing her Quirk only once she was clear.

Meanwhile, deep inside the crowd, a charging figure began shouldering his way through the students, shattering the ice encasing his feet with nothing but sheer forward momentum.

That being Kirishima.

"Oryaaaa!"

He broke through, quickly picking his pace back up and charging after the others.

With Kirishima acting as an unclogger, the pressure that had built up inside the mass released, sending a wave of students finally spilling out of the tunnel—though many stumbled from the sudden burst, or found their feet still locked in ice and couldn't advance.

Still, most of Class 1-A managed to get clear quickly and resumed the chase.

Class 1-B was fast to escape as well, with a girl whose hair grew in long, vine-like strands having taken the lead some time ago.

And so the race was underway. Class 1-A with the immediate advantage.

{"Whoa, I can't believe it. Most of Class 1-A cleared the first hurdle without even breaking a sweat! You did an amazing job with them, Aizawa!"}

{"That's nothing but the result of their own effort. I had little to do with their improvement."}

{"Then what wonderful students you have!"}

While that exchange played out over the speakers, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Midoriya were already approaching the first obstacle zone.

"T-that's...!" Midoriya gasped, slowing down as he recognized exactly what lay ahead.

Zero Pointers—the same robots that had cost him an arm to bring down during the entrance exam. And not just one. There were many of them.

Alongside them, at their feet, smaller robots ranging from one to three points patrolled the area.

'The path is completely blocked, there's no way we can—'

{"It seems our frontrunners have reached the first obstacle of the race... ROBO INFER—!"}

"Out of the way."

"DIEEEEE!"

His thought and Present Mic's narration were both cut short as Todoroki and Bakugo launched ahead simultaneously—one generating a massive wave of ice that swept over one of the Zero Pointers entirely—

—TSSSSSSS...!—

—BOOOOOM!—

—before Bakugo rocketed in and drove an explosion straight into the robot's face, toppling it completely as shards of Todoroki's ice rained down by the dozens.

The Zero Pointer in the middle crashed to the ground with a tremendous tremor, throwing up an enormous dust cloud that swallowed the whole area.

Bakugo and Todoroki used the cover to slip past the remaining robots undetected and kept moving.

{"Whoa, I didn't even finish presenting the obstacle, and these kids are already past it!"}

Midoriya, meanwhile, watched it all unfold wide-eyed.

But seeing Bakugo and Todoroki press on without a moment's hesitation, he bit back whatever he'd been about to say and kicked off as well, shooting forward with Full Cowl active.

Having paused even briefly while the other two hadn't, Midoriya found himself a step behind.

Meanwhile, the rest of the participants who reached the obstacle slowed to assess the Robo Inferno situation.

But while most hesitated, unsure about charging through a battlefield of hostile robots, the Class 1-A students pushed on regardless.

Robots were smacked aside or avoided outright. Within seconds, the 1-A students had made the whole thing look almost effortlessly simple as they sprinted through, leaving the other classes to fend for themselves.

Back at the front, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo soon arrived at the second obstacle and stopped for a moment to take in what they were looking at.

{"Now's my chance! Ahem—anyway, everyone, it seems our first obstacle was a piece of cake for those at the front. The rest of the students don't seem to be having much trouble either... but how about the second one?!"}

Stretching before them was a vast canyon-like obstacle—towering pillars interconnected by tightropes, serving as bridges all the way across to the far side.

{"If you lose your balance and drop, you're completely disqualified, so unless you're confident in your balance, crawl rather than risk it... this obstacle's name is... THE FAL—OH COME ON, THE THREE ARE ALREADY HALFWAY THROUGH IT, WHAT ARE THESE KIDS EATING?!"}

Just as Present Mic said, the three were already halfway across the obstacle, crossing it at a speed that was probably not intended for anyone to have—save Iida, who was unfortunately still on his way there, having fallen too far behind at the start due to Todoroki's ice.

By the time the rest of Class 1-A arrived at the second obstacle, with a few from other classes mixed in, the three at the front were already finishing it.

{"What's this?! These three are speedrunning through our carefully crafted race! Oi, Aizawa, tell your students to show some showmanship and let the audience enjoy it properly!"}

{"They're doing exactly as they should. This isn't an event where they can afford to hold back—unlike certain others..."}

{"Hmm? What do you mean, Aizawa?"}

As Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki finally drew close enough to see the third and final obstacle, they couldn't help glancing at each other.

A frown settled over all three of them.

Something had felt off all the way until now, but seeing each other's expressions now made it clear.

Something… No, someone was missing.

And as if in sync with that realization—

{"WHAAAAAAT?!"}

Present Mic's baffled shout tore through the microphone, a few decibels short of deafening everyone in the stadium.

Students mid-race, crowd, teachers—everyone flinched.

Before anyone could ask what it was, Present Mic gave them the answer.

{"The proclaimed history-maker, Takahashi—IS STILL AT THE START OF THE RACE?!"}

The three at the front felt their eyes go wide, brows pulling into deep frowns.

Takahashi... hadn't moved from the start?!

The cameras shifted, swinging back to the stadium gate.

There he was. Still inside, hands in pockets, eyes closed.

The crowd erupted.

{"Dear student Takahashi, you are aware that you need to complete the circuit for a result to count, correct?"}

Taka gave a visible nod. But didn't move.

{"..."}

Present Mic was at a complete loss.

Aizawa, meanwhile, stared flatly ahead, suppressing the urge to call his student out in front of all Japan.

In the end, Present Mic let out a shrug. {"Well... if that's his decision, I suppose we have to respect it."}

Outraged cries rang out from all around—especially after what Taka had declared—but despite them all, he didn't budge.

The cameras shifted back to the three frontrunners.

The three moved neck and neck, none of them able to break away from the others.

Soon, they reached the final obstacle at last, all three stopping in unison as it came into view, with Present Mic's narration following right behind.

{"At last, we've arrived at the final obstacle! Most of the students are still halfway through the second, and one in particular hasn't even started running yet—but those in pursuit will catch up soon enough, so let's get into it!"}

All three narrowed their eyes, wariness spiking.

{"In short—and it's fairly obvious at a glance—it's a minefield!!! The mines are visible enough that you can spot them if you look carefully. However, doing so will slow you down, so—WHAT WILL YOU ALL DO?! YEAAAAH!"}

"Mines... are they out of their minds?" Midoriya's eyebrow twitched.

{"By the way, they're recreational, so they don't pack the same punch as a real one—but they'll still knock you around, so don't underestimate them, contestants!"}

—BOOOM!—

"This doesn't affect me!"

The moment Present Mic finished, Bakugo launched off with an explosion behind him, sailing clean over the mines without ever needing to touch the ground.

Todoroki and Midoriya gritted their teeth and shot after him.

They broke through the minefield like it was nothing. Todoroki using his ice to create an ice surface between him and the ground to avoid triggering any, Bakugo flying overhead and landing only in clear spots to launch himself again, and Midoriya pushing hard with his enhanced state while keeping a close eye on the ground beneath him.

As they crossed, the gate leading back to the stadium at last came into view.

Still far off—but in sight. And with it in sight, all three turned on each other.

"Deku—don't even think about running beside me!" Bakugo snapped, swinging an explosion that Midoriya had to dodge, almost losing his footing and coming down on a mine.

Luckily, his training with Taka had given him enough experience with high-speed mobility. He recovered quickly and pushed on.

"I just told you—SCRAM!" Bakugo attacked again.

"No!" Midoriya answered with a kick, batting Bakugo's hand away before it could reach him—and nearly sending him stumbling into a mine in return.

Using their skirmish, Todoroki slipped into the lead.

The two noticed immediately, shook each other off, and surged back ahead.

With that, they finally cleared the minefield, the path ahead opening up clean.

{"It looks like we're on the final stretch! From here it's a pure, flat-out sprint to the finish line. WHO WILL BE THE ONE TO REACH IT FIRST?!"}

The three glared at each other, the competitiveness between them reaching a boil.

"I told you, half-and-half—YOU'RE NOT TAKING FIRST PLACE FROM ME!" Bakugo burst forward, swinging an explosion at Todoroki.

—BOOOM!—

Todoroki barely dodged, then sent a burst of ice back in return, which Bakugo dodged in kind.

Midoriya caught the edge of it and had to wrench himself sideways to avoid getting hit.

As he ran, he swung one arm with enough force to generate a gust that broke both their rhythms.

The two struck back.

And so it went—as the gate drew closer and closer, the three lunged at each other more and more freely, like animals growing greedier the nearer they got to the prize.

They were so focused on each other that they'd completely forgotten the most important variable in this race.

Fortunately, it was kind enough to remind them.

All at once—students, crowd, teachers, and beyond—everyone had the strange sensation of hearing a voice.

Not quite hearing it, more like imagining it—and yet it came through with an uncanny clarity.

"Time is up."

Everyone froze for a moment. But since it felt more like a thought than a sound, most brushed it aside—everyone except the three at the front, who knew exactly whose voice it was.

A deep sense of foreboding settled over them.

Then they understood why.

{"What is this?! TAKAHASHI IS MOVING!"}

The three's eyes went wide.

""He's coming!"" The three thought in unison, quickly stopping their fight and focusing solely on the goal ahead.

The cameras swung back to the starting line.

There, Taka had taken his hands out of his pockets and was calmly rolling his neck.

While all eyes fell upon him, wondering what he was about to do, Taka calmly muttered under his breath something to himself.

"Let's see… If my calculations are correct—4 kilometers should take me about 20 seconds more or less to cross."

His eyes fixed ahead, sharp and unblinking.

Then, it happened.

—FWOOOOSH!—

A deep, fierce aura erupted around him—almost like a blowtorch given form—wreathed in crimson lightning.

Every eye in the stadium snapped to his blazing figure, drawn to it like a beacon.

Taka then settled into a runner's stance.

"Let's make this good."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[Imaginary Technique: My Theme](ACTIVATED!)

Song chosen: Spitfire - Eurobeat

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The instant he said that, a sound—or rather, a melody—detonated into everyone's head.

It was sharp and climbing, like an engine roaring to life, or an alarm going off, warning of impending doom—or perhaps, something better.

Whatever it was leading to, or whatever it was happening, everyone felt it from the goosebumps building up in their body and their caught breaths.

They wouldn't be able to blink for the next few seconds.

From his runner pose, Taka huffed lightly, his mouth curling slightly upward. "You have twenty seconds before I catch up, you three,"

Then his smile widened into a smirk, eyes catching a gleam of pure excitement.

"Let's see if you can make it before then."

—BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!—

The next instant, Taka's crimson figure shot ahead at a speed that defied processing—so fast, so violent, that the sheer explosion of kinetic force blasted a massive column of loose dirt from the stadium floor straight into the sky.

None of it reached the stands, but every pair of eyes in the stadium locked onto that rising pillar of earth—shooting up, then crashing back down.

Then the cameras found him, and all attention shifted to the cause.

A blur of red, tearing across the course like a fired round, moving so fast the camera had to pull all the way back just to keep it in frame.

5 seconds.

The blur hit the first obstacle.

Scattered across it, Zero Pointers and smaller robots still prowled—keeping dozens of students from other classes frozen in place, unable to push forward.

They didn't have to wait long.

The sound of splitting air arrived before he did—a sharp, screaming tear that snapped every head around.

—WREEAAAAK!—

—BOOOOOOM!!!—

—CRASH!—

—BOOOOM!!!—

The blur of red ripped through the Robo Inferno like a round through paper. The Zero Pointers didn't even register him before they were gone—hurled sideways, crashing into the trees beyond the course in a chain of impacts that shook the ground—clearing the path entirely.

9 seconds.

The gap between obstacles vanished.

The second obstacle soon came into view. The Fall.

For a fraction of a second, the red blur seemed to slow at the edge.

Until—

—BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!—

The ground cratered. Cracks spidered outward in every direction as the blur detonated upward like a rocket, the blazing aura trailing behind him only making the image more accurate as he climbed—and kept climbing—clearing the entire obstacle in one unbroken arc, not a single tightrope touched.

11 seconds.

Of course, what goes up, comes down.

The red blur peaked.

Then dropped.

A crimson meteor, falling fast and getting faster.

—BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!—

The landing shook the earth. A section of the artificial canyon crumbled at the impact, dust surging outward in a ring that swallowed the whole area.

And before it could even settle, he was already gone.

—SWOOOOOOSH!—

14 seconds.

At last, he reached the last obstacle.

Students still carefully picking their way through the minefield heard it first—the sound of air tearing apart somewhere behind them—and spun around with wide eyes.

At the far end of the tunnel leading back into the stadium, the three frontrunners heard it too.

They turned.

Their expressions said everything.

Bakugo stripped his explosions back to pure propulsion and poured everything he had into them.

Todoroki drove his ice output higher, even as the cold began crawling up his own legs.

Midoriya pushed Full Cowl up a few more percentages, feeling the current surge through his muscles, and damaging them—but granting him more speed.

With that, they faced forward and ran. No longer daring to look back or to the side.

16 seconds.

With no more curves, no more obstacles, and nothing between Taka and the finish line but a straight run for it…

He hit the turbo.

—BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!—

Earth and wind split as he accelerated to the max. He moved like a bullet train that had cut its brakes—only even faster, a lot faster.

In his wake, mines the other contestants had carefully stepped around began detonating one after another—a chain of explosions ripping down the path behind him.

But none of it reached anyone.

The sheer vacuum of displaced air he left behind swallowed each blast as it went, collapsing them inward before they could spread.

Students in his path were already stumbling aside before he arrived.

Then he was in the tunnel.

18 seconds.

The three could see it.

The light at the end, the stadium, the finish line.

Victory.

So close they could feel it.

19 seconds.

—SWOOOSH!—

But just as they were a meter, maybe two from the exit—

He passed them.

Not through the middle of them.

Not by shoving them aside.

"Wha...!"

"That can't be...!"

"...!"

Up.

He was running on the ceiling.

—And worst of all... he was moonwalking while doing it.

Faster than them.

Inside the stadium, the crowd waited, breath held, already knowing somehow what was coming.

—SWOOOSH!—

A blur of red shot from the gate like a fired shell, spinning through the air—before slamming down onto the track and skidding, carving a long trail through dirt and dust that took a stretched, breathless moment to finally settle.

When it did, there stood Takahashi, frozen in the motion of finishing, completely still.

Then, slowly, he straightened up.

… And brushed his hair back as the cameras found his face, letting the sun fall on his smiling face.

{"TAKAHASHI FUKUMOTO WIIIIIIIINS!!!"}

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: Sorry for the wait, university wasn't kind this week. Lots of projects due, and homework. But we are back, and with a rather long chapter, since I didn't want this to encompass more than a chapter. How was the move Taka pulled up this time?)