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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.
...
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| 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.
...
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| 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.
...
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| 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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(A/N: Three days later than expected. My progress bar of making this a habit must be regressing constantly thanks to university.
Maybe I should commit arson.
Anyway, we're finally done with the interlude before the Sports Festival.
Time to aura farm good, and get a nice power up!)