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[Terrorist attack incoming!]
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…
After the day of the press invasion, the rest of the first week at U.A. passed without much of note.
Aside from the now-recurrent after-class training sessions, aura-farming opportunities dropped dramatically. After all, the in-between events of the show were mostly composed of long, boring classes.
Sure, there were occasional chances to shine—like answering questions no one else knew—but even those were scarce.
And worse yet, a rival had emerged to take those away from him.
Yaoyorozu, of course.
Time and time again, she stole his chances to answer first, responding with terrifyingly fast, almost robotic precision. After several such incidents, Taka officially reassessed her threat level to be comparable to Midoriya's.
One was a threat to his aura-farming moments during major events.
The other was a threat during filler arcs.
Truly, U.A. was a dangerous place to be an aura farmer.
Still, he wasn't one to accept defeat that easily. With his clones arduously studying at home so the chance of him looking like a dumbass would never come to happen, the classes' contents became fresh in his mind, and he even began getting ahead a bit.
With such academic prowess at his disposal, Taka managed to beat Yaoyorozu in answering first seven out of ten times on average.
A total victory, as far as he was concerned.
However, while their academic rivalry intensified—at least within Taka's competitive mind, who couldn't allow the spotlight to go to anyone else—they were also forced to cooperate closely as class representative and vice-representative.
Hero Basic Training class reports had to be documented and handed to Aizawa. Schedules had to be organized and last-minute changes announced. Information about anything particular needed for classes needed to be relayed daily to their classmates, and they were also the ones who were in charge of the class's chat, often reminding everyone about stuff the teachers had asked for or homework.
Truly perilous tasks.
Tasks that Taka abhorred with every fiber of his being.
What was worse, he couldn't create clones to handle them while at U.A., and barely any of the class rep work reached his home since they stayed as long as required to finish them at school—meaning his clones couldn't help even there.
For a brief moment, he even considered sending a clone to class whenever nothing important was happening while he instead remained home to relax for a bit.
But the mere thought of letting paperwork defeat him made his blood boil.
He was above that.
Besides, considering his clones' strange tendency to be wilder than himself—something even the system couldn't explain—who knew what they'd do if he let them roam his prime aura-farming grounds?
They'd probably reveal all his secret powers just to flex.
No. Unacceptable.
Thus, Taka swallowed his frustration and handled the paperwork with grim determination.
Thankfully, Yaoyorozu took care of half the burden, which made it a tad more tolerable.
Beyond that, the rest of the Hero Basic Training classes they had after the first were disappointing to say the least. They had focused almost entirely on disaster control and logistics, with zero combat involved.
Which meant zero worthwhile aura farming, much to Taka's further dismay.
As for the after-class training sessions he had every once in a while with his new classmates, the group became far more coordinated than on the first day, displaying excellent teamwork in their attempts to finally beat him.
Unfortunately for them, after the first session, Taka no longer hesitated to activate Let's Dance.
Thus, even as their coordination improved by leaps and bounds, without Quirks involved, Taka remained decisively superior.
And so, the first week at U.A. came and went without anything truly important happening.
Then, at last, arrived the weekend.
Now with some time off from aura farming at school in his hands, Taka focused on composing new songs, reading fun stuff online, and exercising a bit. Meanwhile, his clones continued grinding away at everything he didn't want to get rusty in—namely, his fighting skills, breakdancing, and mastery over his many instruments.
Of course, he didn't forget to experiment a little amidst all that. Just because he was already at U.A. didn't mean his abilities had to plateau.
His aura had proven to be incredibly versatile, after all. Who knew what else he had yet to discover?
So, sitting in his backyard, Taka stared at the flaring aura in his hand with narrowed eyes.
"Where am I even supposed to start?"
His current objective was to unlock some form of astral projection.
Or at least something that would let him observe things from afar—like an aura-based drone.
Anything that could give him an edge in sensory abilities. He was quite lacking at that right now.
At present, he could spread his aura and get a faint sense of what lay around him, since it worked like some sort of ethereal sense of touch.
Not quite like a touch, but weirder. Still, it was effective.
That was how he'd focused on the balls from each team during the combat exercise to rig his own match—Don't laugh.
But that wasn't enough.
He didn't want blurry impressions or vague shape awareness—he wanted to see beyond the limits of his own eyes.
Unfortunately, connecting the concept of aura to something as precise and seemingly unrelated to it, such as vision, was proving difficult.
A few minutes later, Taka scratched the base of his chin in deep thought and decided that sitting there just wasn't leading him anywhere.
So he tried the first thing that came to mind.
"Let's see… how about this?"
He severed a tiny speck of aura, which formed into a small bubble of red light that slowly floated away. Then, he attempted to connect with it—really connect with it.
"Hmm… oh!"
For a split second, it worked.
Only—
—Pop!—
The moment he tried to actually do something through it, the bubble exploded.
There wasn't much aura in it, so all it produced was a soft breeze before dissipating entirely.
Still, Taka didn't look displeased. Instead, he blinked in mild disbelief.
"…That's not what I was aiming for, but at least now I know I can give my energy attacks a delayed effect."
He glanced around, raising an eyebrow.
"Doesn't that count as an extra skill?"
"Whatever. It's still useful," Taka replied flatly. "Now I can copy that technique I've had in mind for a while."
A sphere of pure energy rose from his palm, humming ominously—
—only to fizzle into nothingness the very next second as Taka went deadpan.
"…But trying that in my backyard probably isn't the smartest idea."
Letting out a wry chuckle, Taka shelved the matter for the next week, or rather, tomorrow. It was already Sunday after all.
He could always ask Nezu for access to one of the disposable city facilities to test destructive techniques properly. He recalled that class 1-A had been given access to them before the sports festival to train, and probably other classes too, albeit off-camera.
So there shouldn't be any reason for the rat to deny him access.
'But that's for tomorrow-me.'
Saving the matter in his "to-do" folder inside his mind, he returned to his original objective.
To become omnipresent.
So, he got to work.
"Alright… how about I try forming an eye or something?"
The lightwork was very pretty—but it didn't go beyond that.
"Aura shooting from my eyes?"
Nothing came out.
"Connect to my very essence and open my third eye!"
He spent about ten minutes sitting in a lotus position. Then his ass started to hurt, so he stopped.
His weekend continued like that: flimsy attempts, half-baked theories, and a lot of trial-and-error focused on something he wasn't even sure his aura could actually do.
Perhaps he was overestimating his own potential.
Or perhaps, in the end, it would all prove to be worth the effort.
Either way, until next weekend, he'd have to wait.
Because just like that, his weekend ended—and Monday came knocking the next morning… along with the workload that followed as a class rep.
…
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| The next day, class time… |
…
"Very good, Takahashi. You solved it quite fast," Ectoplasm said, nodding as he eyed the board now filled with advanced calculus all over it.
Taka nodded plainly, a bored expression on his face, chalk still in hand.
Then, receiving permission to return to his seat, he calmly walked back and sat down. His movements and attitude were fluid and calm, like still water.
At least externally.
If he hadn't possessed such strong self-control, he might've turned around and sent Yaoyorozu a smug smile.
But he was an aura farmer. Mocking an already defeated opponent wasn't auratic.
'Hmph.' He snorted inwardly.
After that, the class continued without a hitch. Ectoplasm carried on with the lesson before shifting to a more practical approach, handing out a set of exercises.
Which Taka, of course, finished in record time. He couldn't afford to be some lame second place.
Soon enough, the hour passed, and the recess alarm rang throughout the school.
His classmates immediately began standing up from their seats, some lingering behind to chat or eat something quick.
Taka, however, seemed intent on staying where he was, calmly waiting for the next class with his usual arms crossed and eyes closed.
That plan didn't last long.
"Takahashi," Ectoplasm called out, snapping him out of his very serious meditation, and forcing one of his eyes open—barely.
"Yes?"
"Power Loader asked me to tell you to stop by his office," Ectoplasm informed, "He says he finished what you requested, and that you can go retrieve it right away."
Taka's eyes snapped open, a faint glimmer of excitement slipping through his otherwise unreadable poker face.
With a nod, he stood and made his way out of the classroom.
His classmates stared after him, baffled.
What would someone like him even need? He already seemed practically invincible.
That was the collective thought.
Leaving behind a thoroughly confused class, Taka stepped into the hallway and headed toward the support workroom.
It took him about two minutes to arrive, stopping in front of a massive door that rumbled with the sounds of machinery—and the occasional explosion—coming from inside.
Without hesitation, he opened it.
And immediately—
—Swoosh!—
—Clank!—
A blunt chunk of metal came flying straight toward his face.
Fortunately, he caught it with ease in his palm before it could hit him.
"Sorry!" a pink-haired girl with messy dreadlocks apologized—turning for a second, probably to check whether he was dead or not, before snapping back to her work, disregarding him completely.
Taka sweatdropped as he recognized her instantly, despite barely getting a brief second to see her face.
The best support equipment creator—or at least in the distant future: Mei Hatsume.
He would've thought the world was small to have met her already, but he was literally standing in the one place she was most likely to be, so her presence wasn't exactly surprising.
Still, getting greeted by a flying chunk of metal wasn't very nice.
'Should I throw it back at her when she's not looking…?'
Before he could entertain the thought further, someone else spoke up.
"Oi, Hatsume! How many times have I told you to be careful of your surroundings? If you make the same mistake again, I'm restricting your access to this room for an entire week!"
The girl froze instantly, like a statue.
Ignoring her horrified expression, the newcomer turned his attention to Taka.
It was Power Loader, the instructor of the Support Course.
"Takahashi, was it? Come. I have what you asked for."
With a nod, Taka followed him deeper into the workshop.
They soon arrived at a large table cluttered with all kinds of equipment—devices of wildly different shapes, purposes, and frankly confusing designs. Power Loader knelt beside a large storage box and rummaged through it for a moment before finally pulling something out.
"I have to ask," Power Loader said, eyeing Taka curiously, "what would you even need this for? I read about your Quirk. It doesn't seem to mesh well with this—at least not in a way that isn't redundant or unnecessary."
"I discovered another application for my Quirk," Taka replied calmly.
"Is that so?" Power Loader hummed. "Well, in that case, no problem. Though, good thing you specified no sharpness. Otherwise, I might've thought you were planning a murder or something."
In his hands lay a strange weapon—something between a massive cleaver and a grotesquely uneven saw. Its handle was long and bendable, allowing it to shift between longer reach and close-quarters use.
A saw cleaver.
Taka couldn't stop a small smile from forming the moment he saw it.
'This shit is so cool.'
As Power Loader handed it over, Taka felt the sheer weight of the raw iron settle into his grip, his eyes glinting with excitement as he inspected it.
He had already taken inspiration for his hero suit from a certain game character from his previous life. Borrowing yet another piece from that same source felt only natural.
Of course, unlike in the game, the weapon in his hands had no sharp edge whatsoever. Any cutting or piercing capability had been completely removed. What remained was pure aesthetics—and an absurd amount of weight. A blunt replica made of solid iron.
But that hardly mattered to Taka.
After all, he had a skill that could grant sharpness to anything.
Even if the weapon itself wasn't lethal, in his hands, everything was.
'And what better test subject than the Nomu?' Taka smirked inwardly at the thought, already looking forward to seeing whether that abomination would be able to stand his ground, with everything he had prepared for it.
Maybe three months ago, he might've struggled fighting it. Maybe he would've even lost.
But now?
Now—he didn't know for certain.
Still, considering his performance against Gigantomachia three months ago, when he'd been three times weaker than he was now… he liked his chances.
The thing supposedly had a monstrous regeneration Quirk, along with another that allowed it to absorb All Might's punches like they were nothing.
That sounded intimidating.
To most people.
To Taka, though, it sounded more like: "I'm a very durable punching bag."
No—scratch that.
To Taka, it sounded more like: "I'm a very durable piñata!"
And instead of candy spilling out, it'd be aura. Lots of aura.
'Hehehe…'
As Taka laughed creepily inside his mind, Power Loader handed him a belt attachment designed to integrate the weapon into his hero suit.
Accepting it with grace, Taka bowed faintly before turning and leaving the room, heading back toward his classroom.
Just like before, the walk didn't take long. Only a few minutes later, he stood once more at the classroom door.
The moment he stepped inside, however, all eyes turned toward him.
—Or rather, toward what he was carrying.
"W-what the hell is that?" Kaminari blurted out first, seated near the front and getting a clear view.
"What's with that big-ass saw?!" Mina exclaimed next, eyes wide as she stared at the weapon in Taka's grasp.
In the next instant, nearly everyone stood up and crowded around him.
"D-dude… that's sick…" Kirishima muttered, his hands trembling as they hovered near it. "C-can I hold it?"
Taka nodded curtly and handed it over.
Kirishima accepted it eagerly—
"Ugh—!"
—and almost buckled under the weight.
It was, after all, made of raw iron. Just because it lacked sharpness didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. One solid hit could easily crack a skull.
Of course, Taka had no intention of being that crude with it.
"W-what the hell?! This thing's heavy!" Kirishima exclaimed, struggling just to lift it properly, let alone swing it.
The others leaned in closer, inspecting the weapon with fascination.
"Huh?" Kaminari squinted at it. "Why doesn't it have an edge? And what's with the saw teeth if it can't even cut?"
The confusion spread.
Jiro narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Taka. "More importantly, why do you need this? Isn't your whole thing telekinesis? This seems kinda unnecessary."
"Yeah, can't you just crush everything with it?" Sato asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion.
Asui chimed in, placing a finger on her mouth in curiosity. "Taka, do you plan to swing it around with your telekinesis? Like a remote-controlled blade?"
"Couldn't he just swing other things if that was the case? With how blunt it is, debris or anything else could have done the job." Sero pointed out.
"This blade reeks of darkness, a blade of the void, perhaps?" A certain Tokoyami muttered from amidst the crowd, eyes glinting like stars despite the serious tone he was using.
By then, curiosity had reached its peak. Everyone was waiting for Taka's answer.
However, just as he was about to offer either a dramatic reveal or a very convenient excuse—
"To your seats, you irrational kids."
His savior arrived once again.
The voice alone sent everyone scrambling back to their places. Kirishima hurriedly handed the saw cleaver back to Taka before sprinting to his seat.
Aizawa snorted, then glanced at Taka, frowning faintly.
"What's with the blade, Takahashi? As far as I know, you don't need it."
The class tensed.
Their perpetually grumpy teacher had actually voiced everyone's question.
Unfortunately, less than a second later—
"Well, whatever. Go back to your seat." Aizawa waved him off, already losing interest.
Taka nodded calmly and did as instructed.
The rest of the class deadpanned in unison.
Unfortunately, they didn't even have time to sulk.
"For today's Hero Basics class, it'll be a joint lesson with three instructors. All Might, myself, and one more." Aizawa announced from the podium.
Several heads tilted at once. Three teachers for a single class? That alone was enough to grab everyone's attention.
Sero raised a hand. "Uh—excuse me, sensei. What are we doing today?"
Aizawa slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a card, much like All Might had during their very first lesson.
Unlike back then, however, this one wasn't about combat.
It read something that made Taka's previously calm expression twitch for the first time.
"Today, we'll be doing rescue training," Aizawa announced.
That was all it took.
'This is it… It's finally here.'
His heartbeat quickened, blood beginning to boil in his body.
His gaze flicked to the weapon resting against his desk.
'And just in time.'
For once, his mouth curled up into a faint smile.
USJ was coming.
...
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: Now our dear protagonist has an equally edgy weapon to combine with the rest of his aesthetic.
After this, though, I think I'm gonna start making him drift toward a more personal style, rather than just let him cosplay as a game character. Maybe I'll get him to take some of the stuff off, or add stuff that might help with aura farming further.
Anyway, that's all for this chapter, bye bye.)