(A/N: Day hasn't changed, so I didn't lie.)
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[Debut]
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…
Across the city, people went on with their daily activities like any other day. Taking the bus, calling a cab, going in and out of all sorts of buildings, or just walking by alone or with friends.
In a less central part of the city, life wasn't so different. Purposes just varied a little.
Some people were heading out to restock food, others were waiting at bus stops to go elsewhere, and some were sitting calmly on benches, relaxing.
Yet none of them were able to remain indifferent when, all of a sudden, two figures appeared around the corner and made their way down the street unhurried, but carrying themselves with a quiet confidence that drew the eye.
One of them was a broad-shouldered blonde in a white, gold, and red hero suit with the number 1,000,000 on his chest. His steps were confident but light—almost bouncy—like he was radiating some inexhaustible good cheer.
This was Mirio Togata. A hero in the making already in his third year, also once a primary candidate to become All Might's successor, and the future number one ranked hero… in another timeline at least.
As he walked, he turned toward his patrolling partner.
Takahashi.
He studied the way the kid carried himself on what could reasonably be considered his first real patrol.
(Image)->
Absolute confidence.
He really couldn't describe it any other way.
His way of walking didn't look extraordinary at first glance—but there was something in the way he carried himself that gave off the feeling of a seasoned hero whose mere presence was enough to make anyone nearby feel safer.
Strange, given that Mirio was supposed to be the one showing him the ropes.
Still, regardless of whatever he was feeling, he had a job to do.
"I bet you're nervous. I was incredibly nervous during my first internship. I wanted to absorb every bit of wisdom I could from my senior heroes, even from the most ordinary moments. But don't worry, being a hero is hardly sixth dimensional science. Just do your best, and people will start looking up to you right away!"
"But you're not a full hero yourself yet either, are you?" Taka gave him a look.
"Well, I'm sure I'm not wrong regardless!"
Taka nodded, not exactly agreeing with the optimistic outlook, but not arguing it either.
"By the way—we've put our costumes on and stepped out into the streets, which makes us heroes right now. But we haven't told each other our hero names, have we?" Mirio pointed out, gesturing between them.
"I believe we haven't."
"I'll go first then. I'm Lemillion. I know I can't save everyone, but I want to save at least a million, that's the goal. Hence the name. What about you, Takahashi?"
"My hero name is Auros—"
Taka paused, weighing whether to go into the explanation about gold and the old terminology for mountain.
However, after a beat, he just gave a thumbs up.
"... I chose it because it sounded neat."
Mirio nearly tripped, sweatdropping.
"Because of that…?"
"There were other reasons. But if I'm being honest, that's the main one."
'Plus it's kind of my power, so it fits neatly—but no one's going to figure that out, given that no one here actually knows what aura is.' Taka added inwardly.
"Well…"
Mirio seemed to turn the name over a few times, tasting it, before giving a wide smile and a thumbs up back.
"It does sound pretty cool, I'll give you that. Fits the serious vibe! If I were a villain, I'd be scared."
Taka nodded, the corner of his mouth lifting ever so slightly.
'So the vibe is still there. Good.'
He glanced down at his new outfit.
It was similar to the old one—just a bit more personalized and less dark-fantasy.
The hat was gone. As much as he liked the shadow it gave off, it was a nuisance during combat and high-speed movement. He could keep it in place, sure—but it was still an unnecessary thing to focus on.
He'd taken it off during the Nomu fight for exactly that reason. Fighting something like that with his aura reserves at the time, while also keeping a hat pinned would have been pretty auratic, yes, but also pretty idiotic.
So he'd dropped it from the suit. He still had it stashed somewhere for the occasion that called for a dramatic hat-tip. But for now, no hat.
Next, the cloth that had covered his mouth was replaced with a proper mask with an air filter. Easier to breathe in, and it looked more modern.
His long coat was no longer worn—instead it hung over his shoulders, the way a mafia boss might wear one, or a certain Viltrumite with the most iconic drip in the universe.
He was testing a less bulky silhouette without completely removing something for the wind to catch.
The belts were also gone as they had been a tad unnecessary in the context of a hero suit.
Overall the changes weren't dramatic, he was still wearing practically the same clothes, but the effect they gave him now was different.
Equally serious but less villainous.
Something like Gang Orca.
—Although the saw cleaver hanging at his waist did push things back toward villainous a little.
'But I wouldn't give you up for anything.' Taka gave the weapon an affectionate caress.
He'd grown attached to the thing. Though, mostly for the aesthetic and how good it looked. In the practice, even a stick could replicate its function with the aura he now carried, but it certainly wouldn't look half as cool.
—Unless he was cutting a mountain or something. In that case the stick would probably look cooler.
Or maybe his bare hand would be cooler, going for a mere gesture being enough to cause all that devastation.
'Guess the art of farming aura is too versatile to categorize properly.'
While he turned that over idly, both heroes in training continued the patrol with not much happening, following the route Nighteye had given both—which was standard for this early in the shift.
At least, that's how it usually went for Mirio.
But that was about to change.
"Hey, Lemillion." Taka suddenly spoke up.
"What's up?" Mirio turned, tilting his head.
Taka jabbed a thumb toward an alleyway at their side.
"I'm getting the strangest feeling that something might be happening about two streets over in that direction… can we check it out?"
Mirio slowed, then stopped altogether, giving him a perplexed look.
Then a wry smile.
"You're… having a feeling?"
"Yeah."
"…"
Mirio fell quiet, scratching his head with visible internal conflict.
On one hand, this was an official patrol—they couldn't just reroute on a hunch. On the other, this was Taka's first patrol, so turning him down felt a bit wrong.
'Well, patrols are somewhat flexible as long as the whole area we're responsible for stays covered… so I suppose it's not a huge issue.'
Sighing, he gave Taka a nod.
"Alright. But we're making it quick. We don't want to stray too far from the route."
Taka nodded calmly.
Seconds later, the two had crossed two alleyways and one street, stepping back into the light at the road Taka had pointed toward.
Both stood there for a moment, scanning their surroundings.
As the seconds ticked by with nothing happening, Mirio felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead.
"Well, don't sweat it too much, Auros. I've had feelings like this plenty of times myself. Usually it's just hunger or boredom making me believe they are some sort of sixth or seventh sense. Sir's patrol routes are designed carefully to minimize anything slipping through, so don't worry too mu—"
—VROOOOOOOM!—
—CRASH!—
"Outta the way!"
Without warning, the window of a small store around the corner exploded outward as a motorcycle carrying two figures burst through it, each of them loaded with bags stuffed to the brim with cash and goods.
The people on the street scattered in a hurry as the bike accelerated, weaving through them without the slightest regard.
It sped up and away—clean, fast. The perfect crime, over before anyone had fully processed what had happened.
Or so everyone thought.
-Tap-
Lemillion's eyes widened faintly as he heard Taka's foot touch the ground once.
Then—
—CRASH!—
The motorcycle slammed into something invisible and came to a violent stop, the impact launching both riders into the air.
They hung there for a moment—suspended, motionless.
Then, slowly, they began to descend. After a while, they settled onto the pavement exactly where they'd crashed. The motorcycle followed, lowering beside them without a sound.
Mirio stood watching the whole spectacle with his mouth open.
"Well, what a coincidence. A small pebble just so happened to block and overthrow both of them" Taka said, already walking toward the downed robbers at an unhurried pace. He glanced back at Mirio, who was following beside him, still too shocked to say anything, and gave a thumbs up.
Mirio gave one back, too surprised to do anything else.
"By the way, you're not going to believe me, but that direction is giving me a feeling too…"
...
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| Somewhere in the Nagano mountains, underground… |
...
In a dark room, All For One sat calmly in his chair, one finger tapping the armrest as the steady beeping of medical equipment filled the air with a heavy, ominous rhythm.
—Bzzzz!—
A portal opened several meters behind him, and a figure stepped through.
"I'm back, master," Kurogiri announced as the portal closed.
"Welcome back, Kurogiri. How did it go, has Tomura settled into the new base?"
"He has some complaints about the internet connection." Kurogiri said, with a faint helpless note in his voice, before giving a nod. "But nothing beyond that. We've also made contact with several local villain figures and more influential names in the underworld. A number have agreed to join us, or at least to ally. I believe the pressure Takahashi's presence has been applying has done a great deal for Tomura Shigaraki's growth. All Might had been an static target, Takahashi however has proved himself a looming threat, fueling his focus to great lengths."
All For One's smile shifted into a grin. "Good. Very good. Perhaps the safety net we'd been giving Tomura had been stunting him without our realizing it. A real threat may be exactly the pressure he needs to become something greater."
Kurogiri listened in silence.
Then All For One tilted his head slightly, as if regarding Kurogiri from the corner of his perception, even though he couldn't see.
"Besides that—how have our little tests gone?"
Kurogiri gave an affirmative nod. "You were right, master. Our people among the civilian population noted consistent surveillance on the bar over the past week—several individuals of similar appearance, some aerial, others at street level, all of them, however, oddly interested in our previous base, and all of them with their face mostly covered up. I made appearances at regular intervals to make it seem we were still operating from there... And given their lack of reaction or behavioral change, it's unlikely they know we've relocated."
"So I was right." All For One laughed quietly. "Takahashi-kun really did have eyes on our previous location—"
He turned toward one of the nearby monitors. On it, feeds from various cameras showed the surrounding forest and mountain terrain—undisturbed, no movement beyond the occasional bird crossing the frame.
"—And yet, he has yet to appear anywhere near this one. Is he managing to evade our detection somehow… or is this clear evidence of the limits of his unusual knowledge?"
He chuckled to himself, then tapped the monitor and brought up a document on the larger screen showing Taka's registered internship placement under Nighteye, turning it toward Kurogiri.
"According to our informant, Takahashi-kun chose Nighteye's agency for his internship week."
Kurogiri's yellow eyes amidst the mist widened, interest growing in his tone. "An alleged clairvoyant, going to another clairvoyant for training… If our suspicions are wrong, that would be an extraordinary coincidence,"
All For One nodded, his quiet laughter continuing as the evidence piled up.
"Beyond that, it presents us with a perfect opportunity."
"Master?"
"Takahashi-kun is powerful. Based on the doctor's analysis of available footage, even deploying another Nomu at the level of the one used at U.A. would likely accomplish little—he's already grown past that. A conventional villain wouldn't fare much better. If we want to move against him decisively, the options narrow considerably—down to taking action myself."
A brief silence settled, heavy with the weight of that implication. Taking action himself—with his deteriorating condition, it was as significant a risk as it was a threat.
They had remained hidden all these years for a reason.
Even if they took care of Takahashi, what good would it be if his master ended up captured, or worse, killed, once the heroes arrived?
Kurogiri shook his head. It wasn't a wise decision, no matter how much of a threat Takahashi appeared to be.
"But that's only if we face Takahashi at his full strength." All For One suddenly added, and Kurogiri straightened slightly.
"What do you mean, master?"
"His cloning ability has proven extremely versatile. He can be in multiple places at once without needing to be there himself—and each clone carries tremendous power, from what the recordings show. In effect, he is an army unto himself… However, I highly doubt those clones come without cost, or that they're equal to the original. If they were, he would have deployed them against opponents that clearly gave him trouble in the past, rather than facing those situations personally."
Kurogiri nodded, recalling the handful of notable instances—the three A-class villains Taka had dealt with when he first came to attention, and Gigantomachia. Both situations where the clones would have helped considerably if they had been that powerful, and yet he'd largely managed them without them.
It strongly implied a real cost per clone—a portion of his power, perhaps more.
"'Divide et impera'… divide and conquer," All For One said with quiet amusement. "—Only this time, we will be the ones doing exactly that, in the most literal sense."
Suddenly, the entire base began trembling rhythmically, as if something enormous were approaching.
The monitor feeds shook.
"And once we have spread Takahashi-kun thin, we will draw the real one out."
A shape appeared on one of the cameras—enormous, like a shadow moving across the sun itself.
"And when we do, we'll be able to deal with him once and for all."
He leaned forward, pressing a button at the edge of the monitor.
"Isn't that right, Machia?"
"Master..."
...
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: All For One has Taka completely figured out.
Or does he?)