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[Future]
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| An hour later… |
...
The door to the agency opened, and Takahashi stepped inside as he closed it behind him, being greeted by Bubble Girl at the entrance, who waved at him with a smile.
"You stayed up late, didn't you? It's almost closing time."
"Sorry." Taka bowed slightly. He had relaxed a bit too much at home and was a tad later than he'd expected. He'd had to push his flight a bit faster just to make sure he'd get here on time.
Hopefully he hadn't triggered any alarms for the sky police.
She smiled calmly. "Just be more mindful of time. We won't lock you out, but there are specific times for closing."
Taka nodded, his expression a bit wry.
After that small exchange, he made his way inside toward his room, ready to drop on his bed and call it a day.
As he walked through the agency's hallways, he let out a yawn, rolling his shoulder with a groan as his body seemed to start realizing the day was ending.
It had been a good day, that was for sure.
A bit odd, considering his meeting with Mineta, but overall good. He'd aura farmed well, got to chillax at home for a bit, and chatted a lot with…
"Ahem," He cleared his throat, deciding he was wasting time recollecting his day.
So he simply turned off his thoughts and kept walking. There wasn't much left, just around the corner.
But just as he turned that corner—
"Takahashi."
The tall figure of Nighteye appeared blocking his path, looking at him while his glasses gleamed with mystery. Shrouded in the dimly lit corridor, he looked a bit more stern than usual.
"… What?" Taka sweatdropped. He hadn't been found out about his trip between cities, had he?
"There's something I must speak to you about. Follow me to my office."
And so, without further context, he walked off.
Taka hesitated for a second, then heaved a sigh and followed.
He might be about to get reprimanded for his outing.
A minute or so later, they were at Nighteye's office.
Nighteye took his seat in silence, interlocked his fingers, and rested his chin on his hands, hiding his mouth. Taka decided not to let the awkwardness sit for too long.
"So… why did you call me here?"
There was a beat of silence between the two that Taka couldn't account for, given his question was quite simple.
He discovered why pretty soon, however.
"Takahashi… You're Rockinesis." Nighteye said, loud and clear. Not a hint of doubt or hesitation in his voice.
"Wha—?" Taka's face scrunched, a bit startled by the directness.
It hadn't even been a question, but a statement. The guy already knew his identity and wasn't going to beat around the bush.
Yeah, he had expected him to figure it out somewhat after he and Nezu talked… but to be this sure—had Nezu not even attempted to mask his identity a little?
Seeing the stern look on Nighteye, Taka feared the worst.
'I guess this is as far as my hero career goes. It was a good run, but it's time to return to my vigilante roots.'
"Don't worry, I won't report you." Nighteye's assurance arrived midway through his derailing thoughts. "Given how far you're into the path of a hero by now, I'll overlook it."
Hearing that, Taka blinked in surprise before heaving a relieved sigh. "Then…"
"However, let me ask you something, Takahashi… What is your motivation for being a hero?"
Taka froze at the question.
"My what?"
"Your motivation. I want to know what drives you toward this life path. From what Nezu told me, he somewhat coerced you into joining this career after figuring out your identity as the vigilante… However, it is also true that, given your Quirk's power, even if he had revealed everything, you probably wouldn't have been very affected by the consequences. You were already as strong as the top heroes of our country by then. So him forcing you to become a hero is barely a good excuse for why you did it, and aside from it, you had already written down that you planned to join U.A. even before meeting him. So—why?"
"…"
Taka fell silent, eyes slowly drifting away as he thought about it.
The reason was pretty clear at first sight.
Farming Aura.
Ever since gaining his system and the memories of his previous life, he'd gotten control of his own life back.
No longer was he an apparent Quirkless kid with an uncertain future.
He had received the power to change it—and to become stronger.
All he had to do was go to U.A. to foster that power.
And he did, which was why he was here now, at this level at that.
Other than that, he supposed Bakugo's read on him wasn't entirely wrong. He liked attention to a worrying degree, and although he hadn't been totally sure about it at the beginning, the adrenaline and dopamine rush he felt when he performed at the music festival during his first few months with the system had shown him what he truly enjoyed.
In the end, those were the two things that had put him here, and they were still his main drive even now.
After that bit of introspection, Taka smiled dryly, eyes dropping slightly.
"If you're expecting an answer like All Might's, I'm sorry to disappoint. My motivations aren't as selfless as his."
"And they are…?" Nighteye pressed.
Taka hesitated. Revealing his worst aspects was something he didn't do these days, other than with Seiji maybe.
And he was talking with Nighteye here—someone with a moral code that aligned pretty closely with All Might's. Just the thought of revealing the murk behind the shiny and powerful image he'd been building so far gnawed at him.
But, strangely, as he found it harder and harder to speak—a conversation from just today ran through his mind as the words stuck in his throat.
"I don't want to pretend to be something I am not, even if it helps my goal come true."
Taka's eyebrow twitched.
Was Mineta really being his motivation here?
...
Taka stifled a laugh, his mouth curling as he ended up covering part of his face with his palm. Somewhat ashamed, somewhat amused.
'I suppose he is.'
"Is something funny?" Nighteye asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Taka answered, calming his expression.
"…"
Then, Taka looked at the wall—or rather, his eyes landed there, while what he was actually looking at lay much further away.
"My motivation… It's fame and power. I find joy in being looked up to and cheered on, and I certainly like the feeling of growing stronger. These two were the core of why I decided to become a hero back then, and even up to this day—since my goal is to one day reach my limits, stand at the top of the world, and laugh loudly as everyone cheers and celebrates from below."
"…"
"How is it? Not as noble as you were expecting, was it?" Taka smirked wryly.
"… Hmm, it appears your attitude shifted somewhat." Nighteye noted, adjusting his glasses again. "But no. I was expecting it to an extent. You're a teenager. Even if I asked your motivations for becoming a hero, it's not something someone your age needs to think that deeply about."
"…"
"Plus, your behavior as both a hero and vigilante until now had already told me as much."
Taka's mouth twitched. 'Right, my motivations aren't all that subtle if you connect both identities.'
Nighteye leaned forward, a really serious look on his already serious face.
"I'll be blunt. With your power, you stand a high chance of eventually becoming a symbol similar to All Might in terms of your importance to society."
Normally, Taka would have taken pride in the comment.
"..."
But something in Nighteye's tone turned what would usually have been cause for smugness into a heavy feeling of responsibility suddenly falling on his shoulders.
"Maybe what you become won't be a symbol of peace like he achieved. However, it's undeniable that it will be grand, and your impact on society will be enormous, whether you like it or not."
Slowly, he stood up, walked to the window of his office, pulled the blinds aside, and looked out at the night city with squinted eyes, giving Taka his back.
"Your motivations are yours alone to decide—that's not for me to impose. However, I wanted to make sure you're aware of what you are, Takahashi."
"What I am?"
"A giant."
"…?"
"A figure whose mere steps send tremors through all of society, and who, if not watching his steps carefully, might cause a disaster. All Might was a giant too. However, he managed to become a pillar of society through his ideals, his selfless nature, and his incorruptible mind. The ripples he could have caused—ones that might have ripped through society in destruction or corruption—instead turned toward its betterment."
Slowly, he turned back to Taka.
"Fame and power are fine. They are basic human desires, and without them one cannot reach the top. Even All Might has such desires, and just as they did for you, they fueled his rise. Ambition, anger, desire for recognition—he experienced these in his own measure. However, at the end of the day, he didn't let them sway his conviction about the ripples he wanted to send through society, ones that brought an era of peace and calm that Japan hadn't seen in many years."
His brows furrowed, eyes set directly on Taka's, unwavering.
"You're still a teenager for now, Takahashi, so like I said, these feelings are fine… But when you stand at the top, when you've become a giant whose mere movements send ripples through society—whether good or bad, because believe me, you will—will you truly hold these feelings as the ones that guide you?"
"… I…"
Taka fell silent, staring back at Nighteye with his mouth open but without words.
Seeing his look, Nighteye sighed, his expression easing.
"Give it a thought. You have many years ahead of you, so it's fine if you don't reach an answer right away."
Taka nodded, looking a bit lost, but otherwise still firm.
After a small pause, Nighteye turned slightly to the side, walking across the room and examining his very precious limited-edition All Might posters.
"Having said all that, there's something I want to ask of you, Takahashi."
Taka glanced up at him, a bit caught off guard that the deep hero lesson had suddenly shifted into the hero asking something of Taka.
However, Nighteye didn't say it outright.
"You must be a bit confused about my sudden interest in guiding you toward a proper path, right?"
Taka raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it because of what you learned from Nezu?"
"Yes. But to go deeper—are you aware of what my Quirk is, Takahashi?"
"It lets you see the future?"
"That's a basic interpretation, but yes, I can see the future. However, for that I must touch the person whose future I plan to see and establish direct eye contact. Once I do, I become able to see clearly one hour into their future from a third-person perspective. Almost like watching a movie."
Taka nodded, somewhat aware of this, but still appreciating the detail since his memories had grown diffuse after so long.
"However, this also comes with some other effects. For one, I can see further into a person's future than that mere hour—much, much further. But the further I go, the more vague and fragmented what I see becomes."
His face scrunched, a pained look appearing.
"And second, the future I see is… unchangeable. No matter what I do, or what I've tried, none of the futures I've seen with my Quirk have changed in the slightest."
He turned to Taka.
"—At least, until I met you."
Taka's face shifted slightly at the mention of changing the future.
"How so?"
Nighteye didn't answer right away. "Nezu told me you can see the future as well. You've had long visions of a future that is no more after your direct interference—the day you rescued that girl, for example, was am action prompted by one such vision—and you also seem to have a faint precognitive sense toward where crimes might emerge, as seen by your activity as Rockinesis. So perhaps you've seen something similar to this."
His eyes drifted away, toward something well beyond the wall.
"Years ago, I saw All Might's future. A disastrous future that ended with his death in a horrible way. The image I saw that day is still imprinted deep in my mind. All Might's hollow, wasted appearance, his dying state, and the heroism that persisted in his eyes until the end slowly fading away."
For once, the sternness lifted faintly, his eyes gleaming as he looked back at Taka.
"And yet… you cured him. The image I saw of All Might in that state is no more. Just like that, without even my interference, the future had changed—thanks to you."
Through all of the explanation, Taka remained silent.
'That's a given. My interference has already vastly derailed fate, it'd be weirder if it hadn't.'
The vision Nighteye had seen was from many years ago—right after All Might's catastrophic fight with All For One—and thus, well before Taka had obtained the system and his otherworldly memories.
Well before he had wrecked the way things were supposed to progress.
"Do you understand what that makes you, Takahashi?"
"… Pretty great?"
"That makes you the only answer to solving the unchangeable future I saw… and always see. The only thing that can bend what had seemed unbendable until now—of course, perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself here. Perhaps your appearance is just the byproduct of something else, invisible, that happened during these past years—"
'He actually got it right.' Taka thought, sensing the presence of his system in the background.
"—However, Takahashi, I'm willing to bet everything on you. Which is why…"
He extended his hand in a handshake—a gesture ordinary enough, but given that it was Nighteye making it, the other meaning was clear.
Though he said it himself the next instant, in case it wasn't.
"Please, let me watch your future."
Taka fell silent at the question, eyes dropping to the offered hand while his body showed no signs of reciprocating it.
'Do I really want to let him see my future?' He asked himself.
It was a genuinely complex question.
On one hand, he trusted Nighteye. The man had a true moral code, and Taka really doubted he had anything bad planned with whatever he saw—that is if he could even see anything, considering his current status as an anomaly actively changing the timeline might make Nighteye's Quirk act weirdly.
On the other hand… he didn't quite trust himself.
Like Nighteye had said, his motivations weren't ones he should let guide him once he stood at the top.
But what if he didn't care about that as time passed? What if he stayed as he was, and one day slipped?
He could tell himself perfectly well that he wouldn't. That despite his more human side, his ethics were stronger.
But such words were meaningless against the weight of time.
He wasn't a perfect hero like All Might, nor selflessly self-sacrificing like Midoriya.
Would his future… really be a bright one, leaving power aside?
What if what Nighteye saw, looking at what awaited him at the top, was something bad.
A careless giant, as Nighteye had put it.
"…"
The silence stretched as Taka didn't answer for several seconds.
But just as Nighteye was about to drop his hand, a wry look crossing his face as he took in the apparent rejection—Taka's hand moved, slowly lifting to meet his.
"...?" Confused by the change, Nighteye gaze lifted to Taka's face—only to see him smiling calmly.
And so, just like that, the handshake that had seemed about to be rejected, was done.
As it held, Taka met Nighteye's gaze without any worry, as if everything from before had been unnecessary, much to the hero's confusion.
And it really was, since…
'Maybe I don't trust myself—but I trust the people around me. Seiji and Eri will give me an earful if I do something bad. My classmates will too.'
Maybe before, when he'd first gained his system, there had been a chance he would have taken a wrong path even as he achieved ultimate strength.
But now, with all these people around him… he could say he trusted them to keep him in check.
So there was nothing to worry about here.
'And besides…'
Nighteye's vision about All Might had been from years ago—well before his path for the future had derailed enormously thanks to the system.
So it was safe to assume that whatever the system was, Nighteye's vision hadn't accounted for it, or at least not for its appearance.
Which made him wonder…
'What will his quirk see now? Will it keep seeing the future that should have been, had I not changed things? Or will it see—me?'
He was genuinely curious about what would result from this.
Thus, with the approval given, Nighteye gave Taka a short nod.
"Then, if you're willing, I won't dilly dally. Here I go, Takahashi."
Taka nodded back.
The next instant, the hero's eyes went dark as his irises turned a mystic purple, taking on an almost mechanical shape—like a highly detailed gear—that soon began spinning clockwise.
Taka could only stand there awkwardly, his hand held in place, watching Nighteye freeze as he seemed to observe whatever his Quirk was showing him, while all Taka could do was stand there, stifling a yawn as bedtime approached.
'Did he mention how long this was supposed to take…?'
On second thought, he hadn't.
'It won't take a whole hour, will it?' Taka wondered, swallowing nervously at the prospect of standing there holding his hand for over an hour.
Luckily, a minute or so later, the effect on Nighteye's eyes disappeared.
Unluckily, Taka saw what he had hoped not to.
A distraught look on Nighteye's face.
His heart skipped a beat—the bad kind.
"What… did you see?"
As he worried over it, Nighteye gently shook Taka's hand off, not appearing angry, but still taking several steps back until he met his desk and sat on the edge of it, dragging a hand over his forehead as he seemed to process what he'd seen.
Taka could only remain silent, feeling like he'd done something wrong, and that anything he said now would only make it worse.
Contrary to what he expected, however…
"I didn't see as far as I expected."
"Huh?" Taka's worried expression shifted into confusion, his frown deepening.
Nighteye took a deep breath, eyes landing directly on Taka's.
"Takahashi, what I saw… was your death."
...
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: Stays silent for dramatic effect*)