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[Last Effort]
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| The next day, sixth day of the internships… |
...
It was now a few hours past noon, around lunch time. Taka could be seen at the Nighteye agency's cafeteria, eating a sandwich while still wearing most of his hero costume, save for the cape which was hanging on the back of his chair.
-Crunch-
As he bit through his lunch without much expression, he took out his phone, browsing through his chats—most specifically, the class's group chat.
During the past few days, it had turned a lot more silent than it had been at the beginning. Of course, it wasn't like everyone stopped talking, but the sharing of experiences had severely diminished.
Though, that was probably because everyone was too busy surviving their internships to constantly share everything that happened.
Still, that didn't mean the chat was completely dead.
{Kirishima: To think there's only one and a half days before we return to school. With everything I've experienced, I feel like an experienced hero already, so going back to school feels a bit odd.}
{Kaminari: Bro, you've only followed the pros around and carried their coffee while watching them work from a distance, what experienced hero?}
{Kirishima: They said everyone was a hero in their own way. Interns were theirs, their "coffee heroes".}
{Kaminari: bro.}
They were still having… interesting conversations from time to time.
{Uraraka: I think this is just standard for first internships. I heard from some of the pros that once you get your provisional hero license, you're supposed to start doing actual hero work.}
{Kaminari: Really?? Our class rep sure seems fine without that license tho.}
{Sero: Yeah, what's up with that Takahashi? I've seen like ten or twelve clips online this past week of you folding thugs or stopping robberies. They're letting you help without a license???}
On paper, no.
And it better stay that way.
Taka tapped the keyboard with a solemn look.
{You: That ain't me.}
{Sero: Look at this guy, lying to our faces.}
Taka closed the chat, escaping the incoming interrogation before it could begin.
They wouldn't get him to admit anything. That much he had made up his mind about… Even if the videos online made it pretty obvious he was behind the several arrests.
He snorted, smiling faintly as he knew they were aware they were being gaslighted.
Yet, just as his smile rose, it soon dropped again, his gaze turning serious and distant.
'How would they react if they knew I'm marked for death?'
Midoriya would most likely go on a kamikaze attempt to save him. The guy had zero self-preservation instincts.
Todoroki would most likely still sport the same stoic face.
Bakugo would probably be overjoyed that his biggest foe would be gone.
Kirishima, he might act somewhat like Midoriya. Kaminari might also try to help, but not be very happy about it.
Jiro…
...
'I wonder how she'd react?'
Taka shook his head.
What was he doing? Asking himself such existential questions like a guy on his deathbed—he was still very much alive, and with an ongoing plan to solve it all. He was just jinxing it by having such thoughts.
But as he reprimanded himself, he glanced at his hand holding his sandwich.
It was steady.
'Do I fear death?' He asked himself.
He had already died once—although, he didn't exactly cross over to an afterlife. He just regained his memories one day while having breakfast.
So he couldn't say he had developed an immunity to the fear of death because of that. Aside from his unremarkable final moments, he hadn't truly experienced real death—only a loss of consciousness, and then the reawakening in a new life that had already been going on for a while.
But watching his path until now, he couldn't say he was particularly worried about it either.
The three villains, Gigantomachia, the Nomu—the number of times he had faced a life-threatening situation weren't few. And besides some agitation and worry, in none of those situations could he say he had truly feared death.
Though, in none of those times had he really come that close to dying, so he couldn't say for certain.
The villains hurt him, but not extremely so. Gigantomachia only broke his arm. And the Nomu he could have dealt with any time he wanted, despite the difference in physical stats.
But this time was different.
This time the near-death event hadn't even happened yet. Instead, his death had simply been announced in advance, by fate of all things. A very… reliable source for such verdicts.
This was, in a way, the closest he had ever been to death in this life.
So, could he say he was scared?
...
He didn't know.
He sure wasn't calm. But neither was he agitated and in anguish. He was frustrated, angry—but those feelings were mostly directed at how the world seemed to be unleashing backlash for the life he had been able to live since gaining the system. How it wanted to take it away, like revoking a premium license or something.
Not because of a fear of death.
Or at least, he didn't think so.
"…"
He shook his head.
'I really gotta stop these thoughts. It's like I'm asking for a tragic death.'
And you know what angered him the most about that?
It was that if he died like that, Midoriya would probably use it for character development, having constant flashbacks of him whenever he faced a challenge, and powering up consequently.
'Hell naw. I'm not becoming a martyr for that guy's development.' Taka thought, his determination not to die multiplying tenfold.
With those thoughts running through his mind, he prepared to close the app and focus on his lunch.
However, just as he was about to, a notification popped up at the top of his screen.
Someone had written him, and it hadn't been the group chat.
"…!"
Upon checking his messages, he saw who it was.
La Brava.
His until-then serious and focused expression turned sharp, brow furrowing.
Without wasting a second, he opened the chat.
{La Brava: Rockinesis, me and Gentle have news about what we talked.}
Taka read the message, took a moment to process it, then shoved what remained of his sandwich into his mouth and slammed both hands on the table as he stood up.
—Flap!—
He grabbed the cape from the chair and swung it over his shoulders in one dramatic motion, then calmly exited the cafeteria.
Before long he arrived at the agency entrance, where Bubble Girl gave him a curious look at his sudden reappearance in full costume, minus the mask.
"You're going out, Takahashi-kun?" She asked, tilting her head.
"Something came up. I'll be back before the afternoon patrol."
Bubble Girl nodded, though showing a hint of concern at how hurried he seemed.
'Hopefully nothing bad happened.'
While she had that thought, Taka walked out of the building, made his way to the nearest alleyway, and—
—SWOOSH!—
—shot away into the sky.
...
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| Minutes later… |
...
After a quick trip back to Tokyo, Taka descended onto a tall residential building near the lake, slowly touching down on the rooftop.
And as he did, someone was there to greet him.
Standing at the building's edge, facing the city as the wind howled and snapped his cape, with La Brava in the same pose alongside him—Gentle Criminal was there.
-Tap-
They only turned around as Taka's foot touched the rooftop.
"We meet again, Rockinesis." Gentle said with great theatricality, turning and sweeping his cape across himself as he did, leaving only his eyes visible for a moment, until the cape receded and settled over his back. "Or should I say—Auros?"
Taka could only stare speechlessly at all the theatrics.
It was one thing to hear it over the phone, but it was another thing entirely that it happened every time they met in person.
"We saw your official hero name! La Brava added context. "As expected of our rival, even as a hero your name commands respect!"
Sweatdropping, he shrugged it off. "There's no need to use those names. I don't even have my mask on, so you can just call me Taka or Takahashi. Whatever fits you."
Gentle seemed a bit surprised by the disregard for the pseudonyms they had been using until now, but after a second, he smiled with a nod. "Very well, if that's what you wish, I shall address you as such."
He proceeded to sweep the cape again as he walked down from the ledge and began walking toward the rooftop exit, with La Brava tagging along.
"Now then, judging by your worried tone the other day, I imagine we're on a short schedule, so let's not waste unnecessary time in chatter and get moving toward our base of operations!" Gentle said.
"We discovered quite a few things." La Brava, the one in charge of the research, offered.
Taka nodded, and followed, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead as he wondered what they would have found.
A minute or so later, they arrived before one of the many apartments in the area.
Upon entering, Taka noted that it looked—very apartment-like, for what Gentle had called their "base of operations."
'Well, not like my base is any better.'
That one was an abandoned school filled with dust and cobwebs. If anything, at least this one was comfy.
Soon they entered one of the rooms—much like the rest of the apartment, a bit plain. However, it had a decent PC in it.
The moment they entered, La Brava hurried toward it and hopped onto the seat.
Gentle, on the other hand, stayed at the door while holding it open saying something along the lines of "I'll go make us some tea," before walking away.
With him gone, La Brava beckoned Taka over and pointed to a folding chair in the corner of the room.
After setting it up, Taka sat down. "So, what did you find?"
She let out a sigh. "Plenty of things, as well as a lot of nothing… these villains you'd been watching, they're not as ordinary as I'd originally thought."
She opened her browser, which was crowded with open tabs.
She began clicking through them in rapid succession. "I managed to dig up some of their financial records and old server metadata—partially wiped, but enough to confirm what you suspected. As you thought, they moved away, and quickly erased all their traces not long ago, all very suddenly. Roughly a day or two after the Sports Festival."
Taka's calm expression twisted into a frown, his eyes dropping into deep thought.
A day or two after the Sports Festival. What had happened around that time that might have made them so cautious of him?
He reached an answer pretty quickly, his eyes widening briefly at the realization.
Stain.
Kurogiri had been right about to recruit him when his clone disguised as Rockinesis appeared and put the Hero Killer down.
That… had told them what they needed to know. Plus whatever other mistake he may have made without realizing it.
'They figured I knew in advance what they were planning—and so, they assumed I probably knew even more,' he concluded, scratching his head in frustration as he realized his mistake.
It turned out that interfering this much with canon had consequences.
Who could have thought?
"Do you know where they went?" Taka prodded.
La Brava shook her head. "That's the bad part. I managed to get evidence that, just as you thought, they moved suddenly, and how they did erased their traces—but whoever these villains are, they were prepared to be searched for, even through this method. So they didn't leave a single clue about where."
Taka's face grew more and more grim the more she revealed.
However, her next words brought back a small hope.
"That's not to say everything is lost. They were very careful, but I'm confident that in just a few days I'll be able to get a track on them. After all, no matter how much they erase their trail, there's always something that ultimately leads back to this kind of organization. I just have to investigate any possible connection that may have been left behind and tada!—So don't worry. Give me a few days, and we will get these guys, Rocki—Takahashi-san!"
Hearing her, Taka let out a sigh, visibly more relieved than before.
"Tea?" Just then, Gentle entered again, holding a tray with two cups in one hand and a kettle in the other.
Seeing no reason to refuse, Taka accepted. La Brava did too, then Gentle poured for both of them.
After that, Gentle poured some for himself as well and dragged a chair over to join them.
Meanwhile, La Brava turned away from the PC and back to Taka.
"Having said that—I don't know how big this organization is, but given their capabilities, I'd say pretty big. That's why there's a chance they still haven't been able to erase every single trace, or move all their assets to wherever they relocated. That's why I needed to ask you, Takahashi-san—do you know of any other place they used?"
"…" Taka fell silent.
There wasn't, was there? The show wasn't very specific about their whereabouts save for a few moments. But given All For One's influence, asking where he might be was the same as asking where he couldn't be.
The guy could be anywhere.
So—
'Hold on, there's that place!' Taka thought, a memory of later seasons coming to mind.
He had completely forgotten it existed since it only appeared briefly, so he had never put surveillance there. However, that may have been for the better. If they had checked for surveillance there and found nothing, they might not have moved everything out yet.
If it was that place…!
-Screech-
The chair let out a small shriek as he stood up, pushing it back.
"There's one place. It's not certain, but there's a good chance they haven't vacated it yet."
The two brightened.
However, seeing him move toward the door as if about to leave, they became confused.
"Takahashi-san?"
"Investigate as much as you can, please."
"Then you…?"
Taka turned, his gaze gleaming with dead-set focus.
"I'll go pay a visit myself."
The two villains blinked in surprise, before nodding.
"Where is this place?" La Brava asked, ready to start right away with getting the most she could from it.
Taka smiled.
The heart of All For One's experiments.
A den of Nomus, and later the birthplace of Shigaraki's transformation into a genuine threat and All For One's ideal vessel.
Garaki's laboratory, right below Jaku General Hospital.
...
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| Minutes later… |
...
Jaku General Hospital was as busy as any other day. Doctors and nurses rushed left and right, patients remained at bed, sometimes calling for attention, other times for food.
A very busy day, as was the usual.
So much so, in fact, that no one noticed the moment a shadow blurred through hallways and rooms, moving so swiftly that the only thing anyone caught—hurriedly performing their jobs—was the faint breeze it left in its wake.
Before long, the shadow stopped at a door, opened it, and entered what appeared to be a normal janitor's room.
Revealing Taka, who closed the door behind him and approached a wall, before knocking on it with two knuckles.
-Knock, knock-
It sounded hollow.
The instant he made that assessment, he reeled back a fist and—
—BAM!—
—slammed it into the wall.
The wall crumbled instantly, revealing a thick metal door hidden behind it, which slipped off its hinges and fell catastrophically to the floor.
—CLANG!—
Yet, the sound of both the punch and the falling door never made it outside the room—a bubble of red aura caught and muffled it.
The most that escaped was some vibration through the walls. But without sound, no one was likely to start searching very urgently.
Which gave him enough time to take care of his business here.
Snorting, Taka took a step forward.
The moment he did, his figure blurred. The next instant, he was moving at impossible speeds through the secret passage, advancing toward whatever lay at the end.
However, just as he was catching sight of the far end of the hallway—his speed enough to cross the incredibly long distance that it seemed to extend for in just a few seconds—the walls shifted, revealing several chambers with…
"…!" Taka's eyes widened briefly.
Nomus.
They emerged from their compartments, eyes locking instantly onto his approaching figure with growing fury.
"WRYYYYYYYY—"
Yet, despite their raging cries as they prepared to rush him, the next instant Taka passed through them like a blur...
—SPLAT!—
And in his wake, all of them were destroyed—arms, torsos, legs, and heads sent flying, along with murky blood that painted the walls.
None of it reached him.
—CLANG!—
The next instant, Taka arrived before the doors at the end of the hallway and kicked them open without the slightest subtlety.
As he skid to a stop several meters inside, his eyes widened.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
This place too was abandoned.
Not entirely—there were still a few large machines around, and the earlier Nomus from the hallway, so the transfer must have been mid-process. Or perhaps what remained here had simply been deemed unnecessary.
Regardless of the answer—it wasn't what Taka was looking for.
He had arrived at another dead end.
All For One remained hidden.
His death, its time and circumstances, remained vague.
And there wasn't a single clue to follow.
All this power accumulated, all this year spent focused on growing stronger so he wouldn't be caught like this.
…Yet still unable to do anything as his death approached silently.
'La Brava might be the only way I'll have to find them.' Taka thought, fist tightening and teeth grinding as he felt powerless.
That was, of course, if she could find anything before whatever they were planning got carried out. Nighteye's prediction had been vague at best, specifying that at least within the month his death would occur.
Which meant that whatever those bastards were planning could happen any day now, or in weeks.
He couldn't help but feel in a hurry to discover as much as he could, just so that the possibilities of him defying fate increased… But, as seen just now, his only possibility right now was to wait and hope for the best.
'Can I truly do nothing?' He asked himself.
Silence passed. Maybe some seconds, maybe a whole minute. He didn't know, lost in his own thoughts as he searched for even the smallest possibility.
But then, just as he seemed to be ready to give up—something changed, Taka's eyes widened.
'There is one thing left.'
One they couldn't have moved away or hidden in any way possible.
One that might hold the answers to what awaited him, and how his death would come to be.
And one in plain sight this whole time, and that maybe he had subconsciously ignored.
The mole of U.A.
Aoyama.
...
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-To Be Continued…-
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(A/N: Binged Edgerunners 2 in one night. Pretty good, although clearly too ambitious for the number of chapters it had. It was a bit harder to connect with them like I did with the ones from the previous season because of that. Still pretty good though.)