────────────────────────
[Take The Reins of Fate]
────────────────────────
| A couple of hours later, Nighteye's office… |
...
Nighteye sat at his desk, massaging his temple as both Taka and Mirio stood straight before him, like two soldiers awaiting a verdict.
"… So, what happened out there, Mirio?"
"We, uh… had an eventful patrol, sir. I don't know how else to describe it."
"You call 300% more arrests in a few hours than we manage on average in a full day… eventful?"
Mirio nodded sheepishly.
Nighteye adjusted his glasses, his frown tightening visibly. "… I suppose that's fair."
He let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers.
"Very well, let's agree that it was eventful—as you say. What exactly are these events that compose it?"
Mirio glanced at Taka with a nervous look.
Taka returned a look that said, clearly: "You're the senior here. You give the report."
Mirio ended up slumping forward in defeat.
"We—we altered our patrol route due to… having reason to suspect certain incidents might be occurring in the vicinity away from our normal route. And we did indeed come across such incidents, sir. Multiple times."
Nighteye massaged the bridge of his nose.
"And where would these suspicions have come from, if I may ask, Mirio?"
"…" Mirio's mouth stayed shut.
"Well?" Nighteye prodded.
"Feelings. We, uh, had a hunch."
"…" Not a single muscle on Nighteye's face moved.
The blonde rubbed the back of his neck, clearly pained by what was coming out of his mouth. "First I decided to make an exception and follow it quickly so we could get back to the route as soon as possible—but then it worked, and I decided to try a second time… and then a third… and then we fully leaned into following them, which is what led to the several other arrests."
"A hunch is what dictated altering the established route. Is that what you're saying, Mirio?"
"… Yes."
"Was it your hunch?"
"…"
Mirio fell silent. He didn't want to admit the hunches had come from their intern, and that he'd gone along with them when it was his responsibility to keep to the planned route.
Regardless of what he answered, however, Nighteye seemed to reach a conclusion on his own, turning to Taka.
"I suppose that answers my question. Takahashi—care to explain how your hunches led to this… rise in our usual level of performance?"
"Ask Nezu." Taka answered plainly.
Nighteye's eyebrow twitched at the unusually direct answer from someone who was supposed to be an intern.
However, he wasn't oblivious.
For them to have stumbled across several crimes after deliberately altering the planned route—the implications, if they were right, could be significant.
And speaking of it so openly, right here…
Nighteye's gaze shifted briefly to Mirio.
He was the boy he had chosen to be All Might's successor, even if that title ultimately ended up elsewhere. The boy he considered the most worthy of bearing the name of number one and symbol of peace.
That's how highly he regarded Mirio.
But without knowing the true weight of whatever Takahashi was hiding, he couldn't be certain whether to include Mirio in this conversation.
So…
'Talking to Nezu about this first might actually be the right call.'
He eyed Taka again, with a guarded look. The kid grated on him a little—between his bold declarations at the festival and the way he was now playing clueless about something as blatant as this. But his role here was as a mentor. He'd get the full picture from Nezu first, then decide what path to take with Takahashi for the rest of the internship.
Having settled on that—
"… Very well." He let out a sigh of reluctant acceptance and gave Taka a nod.
Mirio's jaw dropped at how easily they got off scot-free.
But since he wasn't in any position to object, and didn't think it would help if he did, he quietly let out a breath of relief—then shot Taka a bewildered sideways look.
'This freshman is something else.'
Taka, for his part, chuckled confidently in a low tone.
'I'm quite something.'
After that, the meeting wrapped up and both Mirio and Taka went on break.
Taka retreated to his temporary room right away, unpacking everything he hadn't had time for before being sent straight out on patrol, and taking his time checking in on what his classmates were posting in the group chat.
Most of it was just them sharing early impressions of how their respective internships were going.
—At least the ones who could. The rest were probably still too buried under whatever their supervisors were throwing at them to respond.
'Midoriya is probably getting kicked in the face right now.' Taka thought, amused at finding no message from the freckled broccoli—recalling the kind of training the show's version of him had gone through.
Although, this Midoriya had considerably more control over One For All than his counterpart. Maybe he was the one doing the kicking?
"…"
'Nah.'
Shaking his head at the idea, Taka pulled out some clothes and began folding and storing them in the room's closet.
As his hands went through the motions, his mind drifted back over the patrol, smiling to himself as he recalled Mirio's stunned face each time they stumbled over yet another crime just by following his "hunches."
His Trouble Radar's alerts, more precisely.
Of course, he had never intended to sit in the background like a good intern and take careful notes.
He was going to get hands-on experience, whether Nighteye approved or not.
Besides—going out into the streets and stopping crime, legally this time—wasn't that the ideal setup for aura farming?
It would have been genuinely stupid to waste that just because some rule said he shouldn't.
'Very much so.' Taka answered himself.
And today was only the beginning.
He wasn't sure what Nezu would tell Nighteye once the two spoke, but he hoped it would result in Nighteye giving him a bit more latitude going forward.
If not—he could always intervene in ways subtle enough to leave room for doubt for the authorities, but clear enough that anyone who'd watched the festival would connect the dots on their own.
—Or he could just bulldoze through every villain he came across without any pretense of subtlety. That would work too.
Huffing in quiet amusement, he decided to leave the matter to future Taka. Whatever Nighteye decided would determine which path he took—so there was no point overthinking it now.
He refocused on folding and storing his clothes.
'Hold on—why am I doing this by hand?'
He stared at the shirt in his hands, fully aware he could have the whole thing done in seconds with his aura.
Then he shrugged and went back to it.
'It's quite relaxing, honestly.'
Besides, he hadn't brought many clothes—it was only a week, so he didn't need much.
And if he ran short, he could fly home in under ten minutes and grab what he needed, checking on Eri and Seiji while he was at it.
'On second thought, that's not a bad idea regardless.' He mused, tucking away the last shirt.
Finished, he sat down on the bed and checked his phone.
A few new messages, but nothing substantial. The chat was still mostly quiet.
'Jiro hasn't posted anything either.' He thought, scrolling up and down in search of her name.
After a beat of silence while continuing to stare at the chat, he tossed the phone aside and stretched out on the bed, eyes closing.
'She must be getting worked to the bone,' he mused, the corner of his mouth curling slightly.
But then his eyes opened, staring at the ceiling.
'But I should be too, shouldn't I? Just because I'm already operating at a high level doesn't mean I should be wasting time.'
His gaze drifted to the saw cleaver leaning against the wall, then to the mask sitting on the small desk.
'This week—I'm going to make the most of it.'
...
°
°
°
| Nighteye's office, a few hours later… |
...
The sound of pages turning and a pen moving at high speed filled the room as Nighteye worked through the day's paperwork, his eyes steady and his focus absolute.
A minute or so later, he set the papers aside and leaned back in his chair, massaging his shoulders.
He let his gaze rest on what he'd written for a quiet beat, then opened a drawer and pulled out a small metal disk.
He placed it on the desk, pressed a button, and leaned back in his seat to wait.
A few seconds later it beeped, and a projection shone from the top—revealing a familiar rodent face.
{"Well, if it isn't Nighteye. To what do I owe this call?"}
"Nezu." Nighteye pronounced the name with weight. "I'd appreciate it if we skipped the pleasantries and went straight to why you thought it would be a good idea to send Takahashi here."
{"My, what happened? It's only the first day—I expected this call in a few days at least. Tomorrow at the earliest."}
"He…"
Nighteye walked him through the noon patrol—and then the afternoon one. Neither lacked for "hunches" that led Mirio and Takahashi straight to crime after crime.
Even Nezu sounded genuinely surprised.
{"Takahashi certainly chose the less subtle route. I expected him to at least try to keep a lower profile…"}
"So?"
{"Before I say anything, let me ask you something first."}
Nighteye frowned. Why was he the one being questioned all of a sudden?
Regardless, he assumed there had to be a reason, and gave a reluctant nod.
Nezu smiled.
{"Tell me, Nighteye… when you saw All Might's death at the hands of a villain with your Quirk—what did he look like at that moment?"}
Nighteye's frown deepened, an ugly expression crossing his face.
'Why is he asking me to recall this?'
Nezu bowed slightly before he could voice the dissatisfaction.
{"I know it's a difficult thing to revisit, but it matters. Please answer."}
Nighteye drew a slow breath, adjusting his glasses as if that might help him manage the pain of the memory.
"At that moment… he looked very thin. Almost what you'd expect of someone in the final stages of a terminal illness. Sunken cheeks, heavy eyebags, coughing blood. He… no longer resembled the hero who had once shone so brightly—except for his eyes. They still carried the same conviction as always, even in that state. But even those eyes eventually went dim. Like everything else."
A beat of silence followed as Nezu seemed to take in the words.
Then—
{"I see… that's good."} Nezu smiled, nodding to himself.
Nighteye's expression hardened, his eyes widening.
But before he could say anything, Nezu spoke again.
{"Because that vision of yours no longer exists."}
—Pulling the upset expression off Nighteye's face and replacing it with complete confusion.
"What do you mean?" He asked, voice tight with what that might imply.
{"The other day Takahashi performed a miracle. With his Quirk, he accomplished what every doctor and hero who'd tried before had concluded was impossible… he healed All Might. He isn't back to his peak, but the injuries, the stomach he'd lost—all of it is back to a fully healthy state."}
"…"
Nighteye went still. Eyes widening.
All Might… was healed?
The first thing he felt wasn't doubt or disbelief.
It was relief.
The injury that had reduced the once-greatest hero to a shadow of himself was gone. The man he admired most no longer had to spend his days enduring unimaginable pain while keeping a smile in place so the world wouldn't notice.
And beyond that—if the future had already changed once, then the vision he'd seen could change too. If it hadn't already.
There was a real chance that death he'd watched through his Quirk would never come to pass.
Nighteye leaned back in his chair and let it settle over him.
As the relief gave way to something quieter, a calm he hadn't known in a long time, his thoughts shifted toward the other part of this.
"Takahashi."
That kid was behind it.
Nighteye had already known he was exceptional—from what he'd shown at the festival, he had the qualities of a leader and the power to back them up.
But to cure what had been considered incurable?
That was something else entirely.
How had he even done it? His Quirk didn't seem to—
"…!"
His mind snapped back to the day's events. The hunches, and how he made Mirio alter the patrol route because of them, causing them to come across crime after crime, each located with apparent precision for what was supposed to be just "hunches".
Something clearly didn't add up.
"From the documents you sent me, his Quirk was described as converting physical strength into telekinetic force—but that's not it, is it?" Nighteye said, his finger tapping the desk as the pieces started falling into place.
Nezu smiled.
{"Yes. There's still some ambiguity around the precise mechanics, but the truth is clear enough. Takahashi's real Quirk is something vastly different, and considerably more complex, than strength feeding into telekinesis."}
"Like healing." Nighteye offered.
{"Like healing. And cloning, and conversion into electrical, thermal, or pure destructive energy, and a superhuman level of physical performance… and, of course, what appears to be a precognitive ability."}
"…!"
Nighteye went quiet again as the full picture continued to assemble itself.
He sat there in silence for a few seconds, letting his thoughts run.
It didn't take long for him to reach a realization.
"Rockinesis." He said, half in awe and half in something close to frustration.
{"You connected the dots quickly."}
Nighteye nodded.
Of course he had. Nezu wasn't the only one who'd noticed the pattern in Rockinesis's appearances—arriving at the exact moment a crime was unfolding, sometimes even before it fully began. Some had attributed it to staging, or claimed it was fabricated for attention. Others had settled on a heightened danger sense—picking up on criminal stress signals or environmental cues that hadn't fully registered with anyone else—rather than genuine future sight.
After all, there were arguments against precognition too. His behavior in many of his fights was reactive, not anticipatory—someone who truly knew what was coming in advance wouldn't need to react at all.
But none of that had made Nighteye take him any less seriously. Because ever since he'd seen All Might's death with his own Quirk, he'd been looking—quietly and relentlessly—for any ability that might offer a way to alter what his Quirk had shown him as an inevitable outcome.
Any Quirk even adjacent to that had earned his full attention.
He simply hadn't expected the person behind the one he'd been watching most closely to be a student currently sleeping in one of his visitor rooms.
The most popular vigilante of recent years. The most wanted by the police and the HSPC.
A U.A. first-year.
Nighteye opened his mouth to berate Nezu for it, but he closed it before anything came out.
On the surface, Nezu had taken in a criminal—well-intentioned or not. But on the other—he'd brought a child with unparalleled potential into the hero course and given him a path toward something legitimate.
Nighteye leaned back and gave it a proper thought, trying to hold both things at once without letting either one win prematurely.
In the end, he had to accept that while it wasn't optimal from a legal standpoint—and certainly not something the HSPC liked, given Rockinesis was bringing some bad fame to heroes due to his efficiency—it was likely the best possible outcome for Takahashi, and possibly for society as a whole.
Swallowing the small residue of dissatisfaction, he composed himself and returned to the conversation. Nezu had been waiting patiently.
"So… why did you send him here?"
{"You already know. He may not carry One For All, but his power is sufficient to consider him All Might's successor in terms of what he might represent for society—even with Midoriya-kun in the background as well."}
"…"
{"And with that power, and a precognitive ability in his arsenal… he may be exactly the answer to making sure the future you saw never comes to pass."}
"So what you're saying is that my only hope lies in this kid, and that reporting him would be stupid."
{"You can see it that way—or simply as me placing a rare, unpolished gem in your hands, and trusting you to make the most of it."}
Nighteye let out a long sigh.
Even if he wanted to argue the point, he wasn't going to refuse at this stage. So what was the point of making a scene?
"Very well." He agreed, leaning forward at his desk with a measured look. "What do you propose?"
Nezu smiled, cupping his chin.
{"Perfect. Then we simply need to determine how your abilities interact with each other. From what we see in this week of internship, we'll know whether Takahashi will find himself flowing with the future you saw—"}
A glint of genuine interest passed through his eyes.
{"—or whether he'll take the reins of fate into his own hands."}
…
────────────────────────
-To Be Continued...-
────────────────────────
Join my Pḁtreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.
pḁtreon.com/TheSynonym (Change the a)
─────────────
(A/N: More and more people are coming to know about Taka's secrets. Will this be a good thing, or not?
Maybe both.)