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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.
…
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| 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: In the middle of class, can't talk, if I'm quick enough, chapter tomorrow)