Chapter 7
As I'd said to myself the night before, I left "tomorrow's problem" for myself to deal with the next day.
Sure, anyone half my physical age would've been shouting from the rooftops if a Quirk-like event manifested itself, but it had been late, and I didn't want to drag anyone out of bed. Way I figured it, if it wasn't a one-off, what was potentially my Quirk wasn't going anywhere. If it was a one-off caused by dain bramage, better I found out in the morning where everyone was amenable and not dragged out of bed in the middle of the night.
It was important to treat people the way you wanted to be treated, because that shit did pay forward!
I mean… Isekaitis was real, so that meant Karma was a thing? Right? Right?!
Moving on, with all that in mind, once Hitomi had arrived for her morning check-in, the staff and I got to work to see if what happened last night in front of the bathroom sink was my Quirk.
The lazy option to check for this sort of thing was to take an X-Ray of both feet and see whether or not a certain joint in the pinkie toe was absent. However, that method's infallibility had been disproven years ago since it didn't account for Latent Quirks; Quirks that manifested not through the body's maturation like the X-Gene in Marvel, but instead activated in response to external stressors like the Meta-Gene in DC Comics.
Though in my opinion, a missing toe joint just seemed like lazy, lazy writing…
The more-accurate, labor-intensive option, was to run bloodwork and/or tissue samples and seek out the Plus Alpha, the "Quirk Factors" summing the physical and genetic traits that composed a person's Quirk. Say a person had [Fire Breathing]; not only would their body have the instructions to convert chemical energy into thermal energy, the body would also have the instructions to create the necessary "insulation" to stop you from cooking yourself from the inside out.
On the inverse however, Quirks didn't always come with secondary powers that made them actually usable. Sometimes a person with a Fire Quirk would utterly lack the necessary [Fire Proofing] or [Fire Immunity] to make use of their Quirk, so they would either exhaust themselves, or in the worst case, inflict crippling first or even third-degree burns on themselves. A person who could protrude bone spikes like the "Wolverine Frog" might lack the Healing Quirk necessary to close up after they retracted aforementioned bone spikes. A person who could fire concussive blasts from their eyes might utterly lack the "bracing" necessary to use their Quirks without snapping their necks and killing themselves, if they were lucky.
The above cases were known as "Secondary Quirk Dysfunction", a percentage of Meta Abilities expressing this property. Sometimes a person could grow out of that phase through the natural maturation that came with growing up into an adolescent or to adulthood, as a more-mature body was simply better-suited to handling the power; like how "Kid" Goku in Dragonball GT could still use his [Super Saiyan] transformation, but his ten-year-old body wasn't mature enough to handle that much power running through it. On the inverse, a Quirk could remain self-destructive no matter how mature the body was.
The concept of Quirks in of itself was fascinating, even if only from a spectator's point of view. However, happening upon the "Quirk Singularity Theory" by now-disgraced Quirkologist, Kyudai Garaki during the course of my studies… While the theory itself isn't a popular one, given this new world places so-much value on how-strong one's Quirk is and/or how-well one can control it… at the very least I can understand why people would want to bury their heads in the sand on such a subject. If Quirks became something rampant, uncontrollable, it could undo the quote/unquote "peace" this world has managed to achieve.
The even-less-popular "Quirk Extinction Theory", a follow-up to Kyudai Garaki's work by another Quirkologist (who had the good sense to publish this theory anonymously), postulates that as Quirks continue to grow stronger and more complex, so too would the level of Quirk-related violence. This could either be caused by mental disorders brought about by the onset of Quirks requiring more processing power than an un-augmented brain could provide, or just their sheer destructive capability that the older generation can't hope to match and the temptation therein.
That was the short-term.
In the long, the growing complexity of Quirks and violent incidents could result in either the complete extinction of all mankind as mass conflicts and hysteria broke out, or the self-destructive end of all those with paranormal powers leaving those without Quirks to pick up the pieces after the literal-and/or-metaphorical fur stopped flying.
This part of the "Quirk Extinction Theory" was doubly-unpopular because of the religious undertones it brought to mind.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5
And make no mistake, mothers could still lift their cars off of babies, brilliant minds could create world-changing technologies, but to be Quirkless was still synonymous with being "meek".
The only reason David Shield, greatest Support Item and Hero Costume designer in the world, and Nobel Prize winner on top of all that, got as many accreditations as he had was because he had a Quirk. Had he not had one, it was likely he'd have spent his career being passed over for those only passably brilliant, as long as they themselves possessed even the most minor of Quirks, if not having his work stolen outright under the pretense that "a Quirkless person could never come up with something so-brilliant".
A depressing thought, to be honest.
Doubly-so because in my case, the Villain that had attacked "Takehiko" in the orphanage had directly damaged the Quirk Factor, meaning if this body's original Quirk was still in there, it no longer had the software necessary to activate it.
Sooo… barring some sort of "Quirk Factor Transplant" or something else equally shady, in this country, I was potentially doomed to working in a Black Company until all the overtime, mental, and physical abuse of an over-worked and under-paid manager killed me. That, or all those things caused someone else to go postal, killing everyone in the building with a runaway Quirk during a Death March when the flesh was spongy and bruised.
At least if I didn't play up my "tiger hair" for everything it was worth. Even Heteromorphs with the most vestigial of physical abnormalities were better-off than those without any Quirk at all.
Of course that, was a story for another day…
*AHA*
"I'm worried about him…" Hitomi hummed somberly as she picked at her mid-day meal.
"Take-chan? About what?" Kaminaga asked.
"It's about his bloodwork…" she said somberly. "What he said happened to him last night sounds like a Quirk, but if he's still Quirk Factor Negative, then…"
Kaminaga simply nodded, since it went without saying what that'd mean for his future.
"I'm scared… I'm scared of what's going to happen to him," she said turning her gaze out the window. "Kids will make fun of you if your Quirk is 'lame', but it's even worse if you don't have one at all. Doubly so if you go to school near a Hero Academy."
Quirkless Abuse was allegedly at its absolute worst in Musutafu near the Shizuoka Prefecture because of its proximity to Yuuei. Not like that was something people liked to advertise, given how "un-heroic" it was, especially in the shadow of All Might's alma mater. And given half the juvenile Villains that cropped up were Hero School Rejects who couldn't make the cut but still felt like the world owed them something… well…
There was a reason being a Hero, and being Altruistic, tended to be mutually exclusive.
"But didn't Takehiko have one to start with? What was it called? [Structure Appraisal]?"
"Yes, it was…" Hitomi hummed, a little embarrassed she'd let that detail about him slip in the past year. "However, if he goes back into the public school system, I don't think they'll take him at his word if he says 'a Villain stole my Quirk'."
"Even though there are guys out there like Eraserhead or Negator that can cancel Quirks?"
"Both of them are Underground Heroes who largely conceal the fine print of their Quirks, and even then it's only temporary. What happened to Takehiko… Having your Quirk outright stolen is the stuff of old wives' tales. If he says that, then-"
"They'll double down and bully him even worse," Kaminaga hummed somberly. "Well… How long do the brass need him around for?" she questioned, since being Quirkless was of less social import the further from Elementary School one got.
Sure, people without Quirks did get passed over for promotions and career advancement in the working world, but that was only in the absolute worst of circumstances. If you were good at your job, and people could recognize that, it stopped mattering whether you had a Quirk or not.
Contrary to popular belief, it was possible to have a fulfilling life without a Quirk. You just had to work for it a little harder, was all.
"I don't know… And I haven't been able to tell him about… about…"
"Abouuuut the crazy guy who was carving him up in his sleep?"
"Well, I mean… Dr. Shiga never left any marks so-"
"Hey, at least that creepy-ass surgeon can't cut him up now that he's awake, right?" Kaminaga asked.
"Yes… I suppose he can't…"
*AHA*
Based on my testimony from the night prior, the possibility existed that what occurred was a visual and auditory hallucination.
Dain bramage could still come about from those recovering from comas, especially if the coma was Quirk-related, so after lunch while my bloodwork was being run, Hitomi wheeled me into a room with a large CT Scanner; a technology that hadn't changed, at least on the exterior, very much since the 21st century. Apparently this model could also do live screenings of neural activity, which became increasingly important as Quirks and Quirk Factors came further into play in the field of medicine. If dain bramage could make a Quirk run rampant, that shit needed to be locked down pronto!
"Takehiko-kun, do you have any fillings or piercings we need to worry about?" the technician inquired from the adjoining room.
"Pretty sure I don't," I say picking at my teeth.
At the very least, Takehiko had stayed abreast of his oral hygiene before switching to an all-liquid diet…
"Don't worry, he doesn't," Hitomi reassured.
Well, if anyone was to know the intricacies of my current body, it would be her.
"Alright, then. If you can just lay down, we can get started."
After that, there wasn't much I needed to do other than lay back and let myself be slid into the machine's interior. I'd have tapped my finger on the slab I was laying on, but I didn't want to do anything that'd skew the results.
"So, can you repeat for me what it is you saw?" the technician inquired.
"Well, I was brushing my teeth, my hand spasmed-"
Hitomi winced.
"-, I dropped my toothbrush, I reach down to grab it, and suddenly, everything just freezes like I hit the Pause button on the remote."
"And the reason you didn't bring this to anyone's attention then?"
"I didn't want to drag anyone out of bed in the middle of the night," I answered. "If it wasn't a one-off, it'd be there regardless of when I told anyone about it. If it was a one-off, well… Better I find out in the morning where everyone is amenable from not getting dragged out of bed in the middle of the night."
" . . . A fair assessment," the man conceded. "I don't want to get your hopes up, but it might be possible to possess powers independent of the Plus Alpha."
"What, like ESP or PK?"
"I'm amazed someone your age even knows what that means."
"Oh, Takei-kun is very, very smart!" Hitomi said singing my praises. "Before I met him, I never knew about the Russians attempting to harness psychic power before Paranormality. Something about how during the Cold War when everyone was pointing nukes at each other, the East and the West kept searching for the next big weapon to throw over the Iron Curtain."
"Oh? Sounds like Takehiko is very knowledgeable," the CT operator conceded. "You must really enjoy history."
"I suppose…" I hummed aloud.
It wasn't that I was a history buff; I was the farthest thing from. It's just, in the 23rd century where everyone paid attention to nothing but Heroes-this and Heroes-that, any special attention paid to the time before Paranormality without looking it up from a book or a phone was considered amazing. Almost like everyone forgot there was a world before superpowers.
Well, their ignorance is my gain, I suppose. Unfortunately, I don't think my meta-knowledge will do anything about Japanese history…
But that's a story for another day.
"That time-stopping sensation. Do you think you can activate it again?" the technician asked.
"Maybe… If I focus on the memory, I might be able to 'trigger' it again," I say aloud. 'Unless it's like in Attack on Titan where Eren couldn't Titan Shift until he had a 'task' in mind, like that thing with the spoon. Or was it a fork…?' I mused to myself.
"Alright then. I'll keep the scanner running for any abnormalities, although…"
"I won't get my hopes up," I assured him. "At the very least, I want to put this thing to bed."
Inhaling through my nose, and exhaling through my mouth, I emptied my mind, recalling as much of that memory as I could; the sensation, the urgency, of wanting to catch my toothbrush before it hit the ground.
After a few moments, that foreign rumbling hit me like a quake, that high-pitched whine heralding a sudden vividness of clarity before my eyes, while everything else delineated between red and blue.
*AHA*
"Hmmmmmm…" Hitomu hummed, squinting through her special mono-lensed glasses since the monitors' "blue light" wasn't exactly present; a common issue amongst mono-eyes. "I'm not really sure what any of this means."
"It's understandable. Neuroscience had to rapidly evolve as the Plus Alpha changed what went on upstairs," the CT technician replied. "Emitter Quirks, 'Elemental' especially, use a lot of processing power, while Transformation-Type rely more on muscle memory. Mutant Quirks can radically alter the shape of a brain based on what additional limbs and physical attributes one possesses. In special cases, it'll take two or three experts just to find out what's wrong with a single brain."
"And is there anything wrong with his?"
"Well… The coma didn't do him any favors, but what I'm really worried about is the damage we can't see."
" . . . "
*Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!*
"W-What's happening?!" Hitomi cried out.
"His brain's lighting up like a Christmas tree," the CT technician replied. "Takehiko, are you alright in there?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" Takehiko replied, a hand going up to his forehead. "It… It wasn't a full 'stop' this time. More like… slow motion, I guess?"
"You guess?"
"I mean… unless there's just something wrong with that clock across from the CT machine," Takehiko replied. "It kinda looked like the second hand got lazy all of a sudden."
"Hmmm. Interesting," the technician mused. "Think you can do it again?"
"That feeling of an icepick between my eyes tells me 'noooooo'."
"Well, at least he isn't putting on airs," Hitomu mused cutely.
*AHA*
"So… What's the verdict?" I asked.
"Well… I'd need to pass these findings along to a specialist, but there's definitely something going on up there," the technician mused looking at his monitors. "That being said, this ability of yours… I'd hesitate using it too-frequently."
"Why so?" I asked, ceding toward the opinion of someone infinitely more-knowledgeable about the human brain than I. "Icepick-feeling notwithstanding, I mean."
"The human brain only takes up 2% of the body's weight, barring deviations caused by the Plus Alpha. Despite how-little mass it takes up in comparison, at-standing, the brain consumes 20% of the body's sum energy reserves."
"And you're afraid I might empty my battery?"
"In a sense," the doctor admitted. "I'm no expert in ESP, and most PK users are phonies, but this ability in of itself… It could put a tremendous strain on your neural tissue, and that's even if we discount the pre-existing damage."
" . . . !"
"…Oops," the technician winced at Hitomi's look.
"No, no, its fine. I kinda suspected I was dain bramaged," I returned, the two of them blinking at me for some reason. "Anyway, it's not like dilated time is actually good for anything unless I can act on it."
One such example I can recall is from the second season of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Like myself, the antagonist Kyoya was someone who had Reincarnated from their original world; while his [All-Seeing Eye] did grant him accelerated perception, 300x normal speed I think, that ability was all but useless against someone who could match if not completely exceed that perception. When Hakuro used his [Crestwater Slash] at his opponent's neck, Kyoya had been completely incapable of dodging because while he could see the world around him at 300x speed, he may as well have been standing still; which in context he was given Hakuro's skill with the blade.
Thusly, in the end, all that Kyoya's [All-Seeing Eye] had done for him was give his decapitated head more time to reflect on all the evil he'd until his mind caught up to his body and died.
"At least we can put this matter to bed," I sighed. "Maybe I can use it for test-taking, or something."
"Mental fatigue aside… that's actually a pretty useful Quirk, if you can get a handle on it," the technician hummed, ushering Hitomi and I out.
"Takei… Takehiko-kun," my nurse said to me as soon as we were outside.
'Uh oh… I know that tone.'
"Can I… have a word with you?"
*AHA*
As it turned out, Hitomi had received the results of my bloodwork between the end of lunch and my appointment with the CT Scanner. As far as I was concerned chemically, I was Quirk Factor: Negative.
Thus, with the added affirmation that I was likely going to remain "Quirkless", at least on paper, I decided to redouble my training and my studies. If knowledge was "power", then ignorance was "weakness", and in a world like this where those without "powers" were ostracized in a turnabout reversal to the popular trend in fiction…
According to Hitomi, Yuuei was not only one of the greatest Hero Schools in the world, but its other acclaimed academic courses could equally lead to great things. Even if the General, Support, and Management courses weren't as-glamorous or make you a household name like All Might, Endeavor, Best Jeanist, and so-on, simply graduating from Yuuei, on any level, opened up more doors than any other high school could provide.
Even the most-prestigious non-Hero-affiliated high school couldn't hope to compare, and the only ones that could were the greatest Hero Schools in America, Russia, and Europe, who instead of nukes possessed the greatest quantity and quality of Quirk-wielding individuals as a "deterrent".
Turns out China was no longer a world superpower, but that was a story for another day…
Hitomi herself had graduated from Yuuei's Class C at the near-top of the General Course, and as such was able to attend Tokyo University with a full scholarship. While the complete and utter lack of binocular vision due to her mono-eye made her ineligible to become a surgeon, she had been able to earn her nursing degree because she simply loved to take care of others. While it was true that anyone with a doctorate could do much the same, she admitted to not having the constitution to actually tell someone they were going to die and that there was nothing to be done about it.
And of course, her aversion to blood, was yet another deterrent from that career path.
Now, in my previous life I only knew about Tokyo U from my collection of Love Hina manga. However, that Tokyo U had been able to withstand the "Neo Dark Ages" and persist into the modern day, made it the ideal choice for a Quirkless individual like myself. And given I no longer had the "Autism Debuff", it was actually very possible that I could graduate from top-of-the-line schools and make a fulfilling life for myself.
Or at least more-fulfilling than I had previously been able to attain.
Not that there was anything wrong with the life I'd made for myself! Though dying definitely had put a stop to any upward mobility I'd been working towards…
Of course, unlike the "big break"s to be found in Isekai stories, if I wanted a successful future in this world, I'd have to actually work for it. There was no God with a capital "G" to give me a "Cheat Ability" out of pity for the way I'd died, and I hadn't been Reincarnated into the scion of an affluent family, rife with socioeconomical opportunity regardless of how-many or how-few "fucks" I gave. Being Quirkless, it was completely possible I wouldn't be able to achieve any of that, but at the very least I could try.
Thus, with Yuuei and/or Tokyo U in my sights on the horizon, I scarfed down my lunch and resumed my studies.
You'd be surprised how much study and research one can accomplish when one's brain has dibs on the domestic blood supply.
*AHA*
Later that afternoon, Hitomi sat in with me as I watched yet more old Hero TV footage, the accompaniment of violin, cello, trumpet, drums, xylophone, and other instruments for their orchestral score always able to get me pumped. The glitz and glamor of Sternbild only further reinforced my desire to visit the megalopolis someday; though to that end, I'd need money to really enjoy any of it. You don't go on vacation to spend all your time in a hotel room, after all.
For the time being, watching then-Live recordings of Hero TV had become my favorite past times.
On the one hand, I was pretty fucking stoked that the events of Tiger & Bunny were a part of this world's history; the "Corporate Age" of Heroism always fascinated me due to the deeper layers, like interpersonal politics between heroes who simultaneously competed against and worked with one another. On the other, all the familiar faces had been dead for around a century on the tail-end of the "Corporate Age" where heroism shifted to the "Commercial Age", which in itself was depressing.
Sure, there were museums and monuments dedicated to all the old Heroes that Apollon Media, Helios Energy, Helperides Finance, Kronos Foods, Odysseus Communication, Poseidon Line and Titan Industry all sponsored out of the world-famous Justice Tower… but if I'd had any choice in the matter, I'd have wanted to be Reincarnated into Sternbild instead...
'Oh well. At least for the time being I have all this great footage!' I beamed with a shit-eating grin as Kotetsu unleashed his "Wild Roar" in the pursuit of justice.
Sure, his more-traditional costume of cowl-type mask and cape was considered outdated by today's standards where secret identities were a rarity, and back then it was affectionately referred to as the "crapsuit" by the fans… but Kotetsu Kaburagi aka Wild Tiger represented an ideal of heroism that was in short supply in the modern era.
The noble, altruistic spirit of self-sacrifice; a more-honest, heroic motivation that I valued above the more or less literal "corporate shills" that dominated the Corporate Age. Thanks to my "meta knowledge", I was probably the only person alive who truly knew how-much Kotetsu had to give up and endure, just to stay true to his heroic ideal. Sure, his heroic ideals may've been inspired by the charlatan, Mr. Legend, but Kotetsu made that heroic spirit a reality through his own hard work.
This is of course assuming all that stuff with Maverick and Ouroborous remained unchanged in this timeline. I couldn't exactly go digging for that sort of thing because on the off-chance Ouroborous was still around…
'Wait…' I mused as Blue Rose used her signature "Cutie Slide" to escape gunfire; a cringe-worthy "Super Move" if ever there was one. 'If Tiger & Bunny really happened in this timeline, what about series like Talentless Nana…?' I pondered, a shudder rolling through me.
It wouldn't really surprise me if in the earliest days of Paranormality, that world governments sequestered Quirk-users to isolated islands and had them kill one another off Lord of the Flies style. And since the Multiverse was no longer theoretical, at least to me, it only made the possibility greater that someone without power could trump those with through skill and deductive reasoning alone.
"Takei-kun? Is something wrong?" Hitomi asked.
"I-I'm fine! Just a chill!" I returned as her beautiful pink eye regarded me.
Sure, she may've been a Heteromorph, but to me she was still a good person, and that was what's important, both here and in my old life. To me, it didn't matter if you were white or black or whatever. If you were a good person, I had no problem with you. If you were an asshole… well… It was less that I was racist as I hated all assholes "equally".
It truly did sicken me that with the sheer diversity of body types, racism still existed. Not to mention all that bullshit in the middle east that was still going on…!
"So, who's your favorite for this season?" I asked in the same tone as someone asking about a live season of spectator sports.
"Hmmmmmm…" Hitomi hummed, tapping her finger on her chin. "I think I like Origami Cyclone. His kabuki poses in the background always make me laugh."
"Yeah, he is kinda funny…" I admitted. It wasn't that I disparaged Ivan Karelin's conduct; [Shapeshifting] only gave him so-much mileage since he didn't possess a "Copy Ability" to go with it. It's just… in the context of the Corporate Age, for the majority of his career, Origami Cyclone was more of a "gag character"; someone that companies could hire cheaply to sneak their corporate logos into the screenshots of other Heroes as they took center stage and posed for the camera.
He definitely had his moments of badassery, which only went to show how-amazing ordinary humans could still be, independent of their Quirks.
Of course, it was only an eventuality that such celebrated individuals fell to the wayside, the Olympics going the way of the Dodo as televised events like the Yuuei Sports Festival and its foreign equivalents became the hit broadcasts of each quarter.
"For me, it's the same as always. Wild Tiger!" I said striking a pose in my bed, Takehiko's child-like exuberance shining through to the surface.
I blame the juvenile brain housing my consciousness.
"Yes, I really like him too," Hitomi smiled. "You know, he reminds me a lot of All Might."
"How so?" I asked. As far as I knew, All Might was just a more-streamlined version of the Hulk with great PR. Sure, he was amazing by this age's standards, but I just couldn't bring myself to find him very interesting, what with how-easily he beat all the baddies.
I had no problem with the fact that he could save lots of people, but just like with Superman in my old world, I just didn't find "god-tier protagonists" to be very interesting unless there were even-stronger god-tier antagonists to keep challenging them. You'd think a manga where the bulk of the cast was Immortal in one way or another would be boring, but Ken Akamatsu proved me wrong on that front.
Not to mention, that god-damned smile weirded me the fuck out… The only people who smile like that are those with some horrible secret.
That or a disgusting fetish on their internet search history.
"I guess it's how he always prioritizes the people over Points," Hitomi hummed.
"Yeah… He'd have been a great Hero if he were born in this age," I nodded. Throughout the bulk of Wild Tiger's career, even though he saved so-many people with his [Hundred Power], he was always in second-to-last on the Hero TV Leaderboards; at least until Barnaby aka "Bunny" came onto the scene and the two pooled their resources.
Sure, other Heroes like Sky High, Blue Rose, and Fire Emblem had a ton of stopping power, but their self-aggrandizing would hardly ingratiate them to the current generation if they were here. Endeavor, I could tell at a glance, was the sort of Hero who cared more for the fame that saving people got him, than the saving of people themselves.
It really was depressing how-few Heroes like Wild Tiger there were in the present. And sure, this All Might guy was the "Symbol of Peace" and all, but there was something unsettling about that smile of his. Not "villain in disguise" or "presidential candidate"-levels of unsettling, but the Genre Awareness I carried with me from my old life… just gave me a gut feeling there was more to his story. Most Heroes would flaunt their Quirks whenever they got the chance, if not make their own opportunities to do so unprompted, but for some reason, All Might always seemed to deflect when that line of questioning came up. The guy had been a licensed Hero for more than three decades, and people still didn't know what his Quirk was.
That line of thought was cut short as Wild Tiger's eagerness to save the day necessitated a premature interruption in the usual thirty-second commercial break Hero TV tried to squeeze in between lulls in the action.
Maybe it wasn't healthy, escaping from the present by obsessing with the Heroes of the Corporate Age, but it was still my decision to make.
Chapter 8
In my previous life, outside my Autism, I was completely ordinary. I wasn't especially strong, or handsome, or sociable, nor overtly successful with the opposite gender. Just your average run-of-the-mill guy you could find anywhere; someone who keeps their head down and not drawing attention to themselves.
With how-infrequently I could even use my [Tactical Time Dilation], a reference to The Outer Worlds since this and that looked almost exactly the same, I suppose it only made sense to count myself among the unfortunate few born without "power", in a world where people wanted it since they could think. Sure, I could say that was what my Quirk was, but I'd seen a similar ploy royally backfire in Iris Hunter, so I decided it was easier to be upfront with my Quirklessness; bite the bullet instead of keeping up an impossible façade. After all, it'd be too easy for a close associate to slip up, for someone with a Quirk-copying or Quirk-appraising ability to oust me, and even if I could keep up the lie, it'd only sour any relationship I might make with a girl in the far-off future.
Not that I'd actually want to use a Quirk even if I did have one. Other than it being troupey as hell for the Isekai sub-genre where the MC wakes up with a "cheat ability", a minor Quirk if nothing else would've at the least made my life a bit easier. Sure, "Hero" was the go-to occupation that everyone with a pulse wanted to be when they grew up, but there were those with "Hero-grade" Quirks who by their own volition would rather live an ordinary life.
Oh well. No use crying over spilled milk.
I experimented with my [TTD] over the next few days, and discovered that my "ZA WARUDO!" episode was a one-off, as I'd not been able to replicate the feat since. Instead, it seemed to be a 1:60 "dilation" of time as I perceive it; where I can "stretch" an entire second real-time into a full minute "imaginary time". Not that I could measure it exactly, counting to 60 in your head isn't exactly something you can set your clock to. In fact, counting was about as precise as eyeballing a bubble in a tube of water…
Other than the fact that my movement isn't accelerated, and all my [TTD] does is give me "more time to think" if I'm in a bind, the "cooldown" between each use sucks eggs. After my first test-run, using the memory of the falling toothbrush as my psychosomatic "trigger", I discovered that my brain would send me a little "warning" before my cooldown period had ended in the form of a little twinge of pain between my eyes; the equivalent of an Ability icon "flashing red" as it were. Trying to force my [TTD] into action gave me the mother of all migraines, so I eventually found out that my cooldown was around 8 hours. With 24 in a day, and at the very most, I'd be able to use my [Tactical Time Dilation] 3 times without making my brain feel like it were melting.
Maaaaybe that cooldown and/or duration would shrink/grow respectively as I got older and/or used it more, but in all honesty, it seemed like a really useless power not worth the pain of "leveling up". I mean sure, half the Isekai sub-genre is about taking crappy powers that everyone writes off as "useless" and making them- "Okay I know it's rich coming from me, but your powers are bullshit!" -, but really, if I wanted to help people, I could become a cop or a doctor, and if this body happened to be a closet adrenaline junkie maybe I could become a firefighter.
As it stood right now, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my second life. I had no idea what this body's limits would be when it was grown, nor did I know how-many of Takehiko's original memories would float back to the surface and influence my decision-making. As much as it sucked, I was starting life over again from that of a pre-teen, so I decided to do what came naturally; live my life, take my time. Because that was all I could do.
If I had to explain it to another person, the whole "reincarnation" thing to me would've been like re-playing a favorite video game years after you'd beaten it the first time, only it didn't have New Game+. Sure, you knew where all the treasure chests were, the 'Invincibility Frames' of your Super Moves, and even how to beat the Final Boss with some obscure Key Item, but without the Stat Bonuses that came with New Game+, all you could really do was slog through it from Level 1 all the way to the Level Cap like the first time you played the game.
I mean sure, even if people accepted I was a late-20-something in a prepubescent body and didn't burn me at the stake for it like the Catholic church did to Joan of Arc or Pope Joan aka "Johanna", there's no way anyone would entrust "Takehiko" with adult responsibilities.
But hey, all that was still years and years away. For the time being, I chose to focus on what I could do right now.
Get well, and get out of the hospital.
Tomorrow's problems for tomorrow's me.
*AHA*
Something both disturbing and wildly offensive I discovered today was that as a parallel to people being told in my time that drinking Bleach "cured" Autism, apparently in this timeline, drinking Bleach, for whatever reason, is not onlyaccredited with "curing" Quirklessness, but is still being used as a quote/unquote "Life Hack" to "cure" Autism.
I mean… honestly! You'd think after two centuries with so many advancements in medicine, neurology, and all the other "-ologies", that people would've wisened up to the fact that drinking Bleach, is BAAAAAD!
Then again… To quote Agent K from the original Men in Black…
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals."
I guess even in a world filled with superpowers, superheroes, supervillains, and everything in-between, some things just don't change. You'd think with Meta Abilities rising to prominence that there'd have been some sort of… spiritual awakening… renaissance... somethingthat would naturally make people worldwide better versions of themselves… but no. People are still the same self-centered, self-destructive assholes they were in my time.
Honestly, two centuries and people still think chugging Bleach like a fish does water is a good idea? What the hell, humanity? What the actual hell…?!
Well, at least people are smart-enough in this century not to believe that chewing on Cynaide stops tooth decay.
. . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
I stand corrected.
*AHA*
"Takei-kun, what are you doing today?" Hitomi asked cheerfully.
"Oh, you know… Losing all faith in humanity…"
"Huh?"
"Nothing, never mind," I say putting the tablet down. "So, what's new with you?"
"My family's coming by to celebrate you waking up!" she smiled happily. "Unfortunately, I can't bring them up here to see you, sooo…"
"That's okay. It's the thought that counts," I wave off.
"Maybe, but I hope you can meet them someday. You're just around my sister's age and it couldn't hurt for her to make another friend," the cyclopean nurse hummed.
"I'll worry about friends as soon as I'm well-enough to leave," I hum back.
The corner of Hitomi's mouth jerked nervously, but in a hospital on the face of a nurse, that could mean just about anything, really.
Or at least I assumed. In my previous life, I was fit-enough to have never had lengthy hospital stays, so I could've easily been misreading my nurse's expression.
Then again, no nurse back home would've been cycloptic to this degree…
"It might not be in-person, but let me introduce you," Hitomi hummed, pulling up her phone.
*AHA*
The pictures hadn't been completely up-to-date, but thanks to Hitomi I was able to get a pretty good idea of what her family was like.
Her father, Kuma, was a bespectacled bear of a man literally instead of metaphorically; basically, his Heteromorphic Quirk made him resemble a large humanoid bear with black fur and a pale muzzle. Hitomi's mother, apart from having two eyes, looked almost exactly like her but with a slightly smaller chest. Her little sister, Mitsumi similarly took after their mother, the difference being instead of one eye like Hitomi, she had three, the third being on her forehead, but she was undeniably cute. Lastly was her younger brother Fumio, who like his mother looked perfectly ordinary, with an ordinary number of eyes I could still see through his long bangs. So suffice it to say, the children of the Hitomi family leaned more towards their mother's side of the gene pool than the father's.
Of course, a minute later I found out her mother had passed away while she was in high school…
That of course, on top of my apparent age, would've made it really awkward to tell her how cute she looks with her hair up.
After a little more physical therapy, Hitomi took her leave of me, and I went back to my own studies.
Normally that'd be where my evening bled into all the others, but this time was different.
In the evenings, this floor of whatever building I'd been in had always been quiet, but this time, it was almost eerily quiet, the hall lights completely out.
It was probably paranoid as hell to lock the door to my room, but despite doing so anyway, well into the evening, someone turned the lock with a key, and the atmosphere that leeched into the room would've caused ominous music to play were this a light novel-type game.
"W-who is it?" I found my voice stuttering as a tall figure peeled away from the darkness in the hallway.
"Oh, you're still awake I see," the man said sounding almost disappointed. "Well, you can call me Dr. Kyu Shiga."
-is what the Western-oriented part of my brain told me. What came out of his mouth was- "Dr. Shiga, Kyu".
"I'm the doctor who's been looking after you the past year."
"Ah, well, it's… nice to meet you…" I returned, the hairs on my neck standing on end as I appraised the guy.
If I didn't know about Quirks, I would've immediately thought this Dr. Shiga was some kind of Undead. Ash-colored skin, prominent cheekbones, ominous eyes, pointed nails and ears; all the hallmarks of a Western Vampire. And not the shitty Twilight variety either. The only normal thing about him was the shoulder-length black hair.
Which reminds me, I really need to apologize to that guy I screamed- "Werewolf!" -at.
"So… You mind telling me why you're here?"
"Oh, I just need to give you a… vaccination~"
Right, because that isn't ominous at all.
"I think Hitomi would've told me if I needed another shot."
"Yes, well, unfortunately Nurse Hitomi can be a bit of a spaz."
Not arguing with you there, but…
"I know my rights!"
Kinda.
"I can refuse at any time I want!"
" . . . Haaaaah. Why'd you have to wake up so willful?" Dr. Shiga asked as he withdrew a syringe filled with ominous blue fluid from his coat.
Aaaaand that's my cue!
"I! DO NOT! CONSEEEEENT!" I screamed grabbing everything within arm's reach and chucking them at the vampire-like doctor, the man blocking his face with his arms before one object struck his hand sending the syringe to the floor, my tablet catching him in the groin a moment later. "WOOP WOOP-WOOP-WOOP WOOP-WOOP WOOP-WOOP!" I woop-ed as I ran past the doubled-over doctor. "HEEEELP! HEEEEEELP!"
My panicked screams sound way more masculine in my head.
At present, it was nothing but high notes…
'Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! What is it with this body and Villains?!' I cried as I ran for my life, the hallway eerily dark and bereft of other people. 'I'm near the stairs. Gotta get to the stairs. If I could just get to the stairs, I-'
*Click*Click* *Click-Click-Click-Click* *Click-Click*
'Aaawwwwwwwww-'
*Fwtt!*
"AGH!" I cried as something stuck me in the back.
Pulling the needle-tipped object from my back, my stomach sank as I saw the tiny cylindrical dart in my palm.
I'd played enough video games to know what it was.
"Fuuuck...!"
*Whump*
*AHA*
Elsewhere…
"Onee-chan! Onee-chan! What's Takehiko-chan like?" Mitsumi asked cutely, three eyes open and innocent. Off to the side, Hitomi's father sighed while cleaning his glasses, lamenting that his son wasn't in attendance as well.
"Oh, well, he's very hard-working, really good with English," Hitomi replied with the smile of a proud mother. "Honestly, he speaks better English than I do most of the time. Whenever we watch old Hero TV episodes together, I need him to translate half the time."
"Hero TV?" she blinked.
"Oh yes, way, way back, Heroes used to wear corporate logos and pause for commercial brakes during the chase," Hitomi began.
"Really?" Mitsumi blinked cutely, trying to imagine what that was like.
"Ramen's up!" the family joint's waiter announced expertly balancing three large bowls of ramen in his arms.
"Onee-chan, did you remember your goggles?" Mitsumi asked cutely.
"Yep! I suuure did!" Hitomi grinned as she withdrew her Detnerat Brand 'Anti-Hot Broth & Fogging Goggles' from her purse and put them over her eye.
At the sight of this Kuma let out a good-natured sigh. Sure, it was a bit frivolous buying a Detnerat Brand lifestyle support item just to stop hot broth from getting in her eye, but it was her own money, and she was a grown woman…
*AHA*
'Well… shiiiiit…' I thought as I came to, strapped down to an operating table in nothing but my boxers, a large Y drawn on my chest in marker. 'So. This is how I die. Again.'
"Hoh? You're awake sooner than anticipated~" Dr. Shiga hummed idly as he adjusted his tools, everything beyond the overhead spotlight shrouded in darkness.
"Do I really have to be awake for this?"
Hey, if I'm going to die horribly, I might as well be as sarcastic as I damn-well please. And on the off-chance I can stall long-enough for some… janitor with laser eyes or something to wander by, well…
Crazier has happened in comic book worlds.
Then again, this body's got shit luck, soooo…
"Part of me wants to sedate you, but it's so hard to get data from a sleeping subject," Dr. Shiga mused idly as he stroked his chin.
Holy crap it's actually working…
*AHA*
"Holy crap! He's gonna get dissected!"
"Only if he's euthanized first. If he's still alive when it happens, it falls under the category of 'vivisection'."
"How can you be so calm about this?!" Sigmund demanded as Clank continued to watch the dual feeds of Nurse Hitomi with her family, and Takehiko on the operating table, each with separate timestamps from their sanctum within The Great Clock. "This was supposed to be his second chance! Why aren't you doing anything?"
"You know, they have an old saying amongst Humans," Ratchet hummed as he adjusted his grip on his Chronoscepter, wielding it like a pool cue, his eyes locked on Hitomi's screen. "Less… is more."
*AHA*
*Crack*
"Aack!" Hitomi cried as a crack suddenly ran up the side of her teacup.
"Onee-san, are you okay?" Mitsumi asked, the eye on her forehead closed.
" . . . I have a bad feeling," Hitomi suddenly said, her eye darting before she grabbed her purse and got to her feet. "I'm sorry, but… I need to go."
"Wait," Kuma hummed.
"Otou-san, don't try to stop me!"
"I'm not," he said rising from his seat as well. "I'm going with you."
"Otou-san…" Hitomi said smiling sweetly.
"I'm going too," Mitsumi said, her third eye narrowed and her arms crossed.
"When you're like this, we couldn't stop you even if we wanted to…"
*AHA*
"I wish I wasn't awake for this. I'm not a big fan of mad scientists."
Stall… Stall… Stall…
"Mad?" Dr. Shiga groused. "Hm, yes, I guess I am a little mad, but not without reason. I have my reasons," he assured himself, hands trembling.
"Lunatics tend to justify why they're lunatics. It's called paranoia."
Huh, being this lippy is kind of fun.
Hope I live long-enough to enjoy it.
"I am scared; but my fear of Trumps is very justified."
'Trumps…' I hummed testing the word on my lips in the proper tense. Given how-obsessed everyone in this world is with superpowers, I'll rightfully assume he's talking about Quirks that directly affect other Quirks; like Rogue's mutant power from the X-Men franchise.
"One who controls the powers of others become controlled by their power. They steal Quirks from others to increase their power. I used to work for a Trump, you know; until he let the experiment of his pet scientist take my Quirk. I would've died if he hadn't given my Quirk back after his experiment failed. So much pain, the feeling of weakness, the violation…"
Stall. Stall. Stall. Stall.
"So a Mad Scientist was nearly killed by the experiment of another Mad Scientist. Oh the irony."
"I don't need your comments. What I want is protection. I want to block the powers of Trumps and you are going to give me my answers!" he raged.
'Weeeellllll shit. Guess that lippiness kinda backfired…'
"If I had some duct tape I'd seal that mouth of yours shut, but I guess we're all making concessions today."
Stall! Stall! Stall! Stall! Stall!
"You won't get away with this!"
Oh my god, really? 'You won't get away with this'? That tired old line?!
Dammit, brain! Get your shit TOGETHER!
"Ohhhh… I very much think I will," Dr. Shiga hummed as he eyed a wicked-looking scalpel. "People nowadays rubberneck around Villain attacks when they should be running, yet they run for the hills over something as insignificant as a little 'fumigation' scare. Oh the irony~"
'Well, at least I know how he cleared the building, apparently. Also-'
DammitIreallydon'twannadielikethis!
*BANG!*
"GROAAAAAWRRR!"
"WHAT?!" Dr. Shiga raged as the door suddenly exploded inward, an enormous, literal bear of a man in a button-up shirt and creased pants shouldered through the barred door like it were plyboard.
"TAKEI-KUN!" Hitomi cried coming in from behind him, big fat tears dribbling down her face.
"Hi… Hitomi…!" I found myself crying, hope swelling in my chest cavity.
"Alright, buddy…!" the literal bear of a man growled as he pocketed his spectacles, cracking his huge knuckles and rolling his shoulders. "Hands off Manaka's patient, and maybe I won't maul you to death," he snarled as his lips drew back revealing ivory fangs.
"You fools! His blood could save all of us, but only if you let me do my work!" Dr. Shiga growled moving to the opposite side of the operating table, interposing himself between Hitomi's father and myself.
"Not going to happen…!" Kuma growled as he stepped forward, the implements on the nearby tray rattling as he leaned into his girth.
"Fine, you leave me no choice then!" Dr. Shiga growled as he withdrew a syringe of purple fluid from his coat and jabbed it into his own neck.
'Super-steroids? Crap!' I swore as the mad doctor's veins began to bulge. His ash-colored skin paling to a shade like ivory, bones crackled and popped as he grew in height, his muscles beginning to bulge. As his clothes began to tear, his ears became more-prominently pointed, and his eyes bled to a pure scarlet, a jet-black tongue licking at his lengthening fangs. The final changed made by his transformation was that his once-black hair bleached to a shade of platinum and grew down his back.
Kuma grappling with the mad scientist in a deafening *WHUMP!* of two muscular bodies colliding, as the two of them roared at one another with furious expressions, Hitomi and her little sister rushed into the room and-WHY THE HELL'D THEY BRING A LITTLE GIRL HERE!?
"Don't worry! We'll get you out of there!" Hitomi cried with something between a smile and a panicked expression on her face as she frantically worked the leather straps on my right, Mitsumi working the ones on my left.
"Forget about me! Call the police! Get-"
*CRASH!*
"Huh?" Mitsumi blinked looking over her shoulder, her face paling and two of her three eyes going wide as she spotted Dr. Shiga post-throw, the top half of her father's body through the nearby wall. "O-Otou-san!"
'CRAP!' I swore as the mad doctor rounded on us, that lolling black tongue giving him an even more vampiric look.
"D-D… D-D-D-D-D-Don't come any closer!" Hitomi stuttered with arms spread out, shielding Mitsumi and I with her body. "I-I-I-I won't let you hurt him! You're going too far!"
"Hey asshole…!" Mitsumi growled, her top eye leering at the mad doctor. "Keep your damn hands… off my sister's patient…!"
"Hoh? Quirk-Dependent Personality Disorder? How rare~" Dr. Shiga purred as his eyes roved over her prepubescent frame.
'Dammit, this is not good…!' I shuddered as I eyed Hitomi's father through the hole in the wall. 'Kuma's down for the count, and he was the only heavy-hitter we've got…! Everyone else is out for the night, so I've got only one choice left…!'
Tactical Time Dilation!
" . . . !"
" . . . ?"
" . . . !?"
" . . . ?!"
' . . . Dammit, I've got no choice…' I thought as I 'came down' and time moved again. "Mitsumi."
"Huh?" she blinked, this time with all three eyes.
"Listen, I need you to douse me with that Ethanol from the cabinet and then light me on fire. While that mad doctor's trying to save his 'precious research material', you and your sister make a run for it. It's the only chance you have."
It wasn't that I was un-heroic in my past life, per-se, it's just that I was never put in a position to show that trait off. So either I was always this self-sacrificing and was just lacking for opportunity, or maybe this was "Takehiko" talking and I just couldn't tell the difference with my terror-addled brain…
"Don't you dare!" Dr. Shiga growled, though he stopped just-short.
'Dammit, he heard me! Stupid vampire ears…!'
"No, Takehiko! I-I won't let you sacrifice yourself!" Hitomi whimpered looking over her shoulder.
"Hitomi… It's fine… As long as your safe, I don't care what happens to me…" I said trying and failing to hold back the tears in my eyes. 'Best and/or worst case, I just reincarnate into another world…'
Oh well. This life was nice while it lasted.
"Someone your age… shouldn't have to sacrifice themselves… for an adult!"
"O-Otou-san!" Hitomi cried as her father dragged himself from the wall, blood matting his muzzle from his forehead and the glasses in his pocket utterly ruined.
"I might not be a Hero… but I have my pride as a father, god damn it!" Kuma growled furiously, his own muscles straining against his non-threatening attire.
"You simpering fools… You just never learn!" Dr. Shiga growled as he lunged at Kuma with a scalpel and slashed at him, blood matting the man's fur as Kuma shielded his vitals with his forearms.
"N-No…! Stop this…! Stop hurting him…!" Hitomi whimpered as the two men continued to grapple, claw, and slash at one another. At the sight of the two of them fighting tooth and nail like wild animals going for the jugular, her body broke out into a cold sweat as she trembled like a leaf.
'Crap, this just went from bad to worse…' I thought to myself as Hitomi completely froze up, her sister having no luck with the restraints either. "Mitsumi, the ethanol, while he's distracted," I whispered as the fighting intensified.
Even though the floor was getting stained with both their blood and medical equipment was flying every which way, it was obvious Dr. Shiga had the advantage. Whatever Venom-expy bullshit he dosed himself with was no joke…
"No! I… I won't let anyone else get hurt…!"
"O… Onee-san…?" Mitsumi blinked as the space in front of her sister began to shine a crystalline shade of pink, particles of light visibly gathering into her eye even as she shook like a leaf.
'Wait, hold on…' I blinked as Hitomi shakily put her index and middle fingertips to her temples. 'Is this…?'
Awakening: A phenomenon following initial Quirk manifestation where, through the experience of intense feelings of stress like that of a life-or-death situation, a person's Quirk is able to evolve on the spot, gaining a new level of strength and/or new aspects to its nature than were physically thought possible.
Sure, it sounded like the same sort of horseshit you'd find in a every Shounen battle manga ever; but scientifically it made sense in a world of superpowers for enough physical and/or psychological duress to cause a "Meta Ability" to grow in power as a defense mechanism. Treating Quirks and their development like "overcompensation" in the muscular system instead of "magic", it felt a lot less Deus Ex Machina-y.
So here's hoping Hitomi can actually hit this guy with whatever she's got cooking…!
"What…?!" Dr. Shiga hissed as he shielded his eyes, the light from the nurse's eye intensifying.
"Ultimate Move: Pure Cure… Lovely… CYCLOOONE!" Hitomi cried leaning forward, a blinding beam of prismatic light firing from her mono-eye and catching Dr. Shiga head-on, a deafening *BOOM!* and a cloud of dust kicked up as the room shook, Mitsumi shielding her eyes with my prone body while Kuma threw himself to the ground.
*AHA*
Elsewhile…
'Damn, what a waste of time…' the No.3 Pro Hero in Japan, the Wing Hero: Hawks, said to himself as he flew over the Kasumigaseki District in Chiyoda special ward, Tokyo. 'That tip was a big fat bust, so either the lead was faked, or someone inside the HPSC leaked that I would be there.'
Honestly, the No.3 Hero was nostalgic for the days when his reputation was almost nonexistent. Back then, no-one would've cared if rumors of an "up and comer" being around a certain place at a certain time trickled down the grape vine. But now, with him being so-close in rank and ability to the No.2, the Flame Hero: Endeavor, criminals of all stripes would head for the hills whenever they caught even a whiff of him.
'Oh well. Maybe I'll grab some ramen on the way home,' he thought to himself as he avoided some nearby birds.
*PEW!*
"WHOA! What the fucking hell?!" Hawks yelped as a prismatic beam of light almost nicked the front of his visor.
His super-acute eyes tracing the path of the beam by the lingering light particles in the night sky, half an instant later he found the origin to be from within one of the HPSC HQ's hospital wings. The lights were all out so to anyone else it would've looked like everyone had gone home for the night.
But it was exactly when a building like that was vacant that trouble reared its ugly head.
*SIIIIIGH* "So much for my free time…" Hawks sighed before schooling his features and shooting off towards the site of the conflict.
*AHA*
"Uwaaaaah~ Sugoiiiii~" Mitsumi cooed after poking her head over my prone body, her three eyes wide with child-like adulation.
'You're lucky I was willing to immolate myself a second ago, otherwise I'd be a lot more pissed.'
-thought I to myself as Hitomi's little sister stopped using my prone body as cover.
Then again, my mind waaaas a little pre-occupied by the fact that one of Hitomi's "Chuuni" moments came out like word vomit, and that it actually paid off!
Still! It seemed to work if all the dust was-OH GOD DAMMIT!
"Ohhhh what the SHIT!" Mitsumi growled, leering into the clearing smoke with her third eye as Dr. Shiga staggered forward. Most of his right deltoid muscle had been burned away, as well as most of his upper arm and shoulder, the limb completely useless as copious amounts of blood poured out of the injury. Other than that he looked perfectly fine.
Must've been whatever 'uppers' or some shit was in that concoction he'd taken that let him out-wrestle a bear.
And to make matters worse…!
"My… My eye! I can't see!" Hitomi cried pawing at the ground like a certain turtleneck-wearing red-head "paranormal" investigator bereft of her corrective lensing.
'Dammit, universe, make up your mind! Do you want me to live or not!'
No wait, this could still work out. That laser blast had to have done some damage to him, so if Kuma plays his cards right-
*CRASH!*
'Yeah… Like that…' I blinked as Kuma got his second wind and caught Dr. Shiga in the side with a thrown vital sign monitor. By the sound of it and how far Dr. Shiga flew, it must've been like getting hit by a small car, or maybe a motorcycle.
"Dammit, Hitomi! Get up! I can't get these restraints off myself!"
'Right, that's still a problem…' I thought as Mitsumi leered at her sister with her third eye while struggling with my restraints.
She really must've had Multiple Personality Disorder…
"You…! Always getting in my way…!" Dr. Shiga growled, his right arm hanging limply as he forced himself to his feet, bloodshot eyes absolutely glowering at Hitomi. "I WON'T STAND FOR THISSS!"
"That's quite enough."
The next moment, crimson feathers shot out of the darkness from around the corner like things alive and pinned the mad scientist to the floor by his clothes. Before Dr. Shiga could push himself up, Hitomi's father leapt forward and dove at the mad doctor with a Slam Masters-grade Body Splash, flattening the mad doctor to the floor with a powerful *WHUMP!* that shook the building.
'Thank you, Hero Ex Machina,' I thought as a guy dressed so-ostentatiously he could only be a Hero came around the corner. It was kind of dark so I couldn't get a clear look at him, but with those big red wings sticking out of his back and that visor over his eyes, he could only be the No.3 Hero, Hawks.
All Might and Endeavor were kind of boring since their powersets were so-common in fiction, so it was actually quite a treat getting to see Hawks' [Fierce Wings] in action.
"So… Anyone want to tell me what I missed?" the No.3 Hero asked eyeing A) the prepubescent child on the operating table, B) the mono-eyed woman fumbling around blindly like she'd lost a contact lens, C) the bear-shaped hole in the wall, and/or D) the Villain whose legs were flailing out from under the man who'd made aforementioned bear-shaped hole in the wall.
Between Hawks' top-notch Quirk and Kuma flattening my would-be vivisector to the floor, I finally felt like this harrowing ordeal was behind me.
*AHA*
Thankfully, Hitomi got her vision back after a couple minutes of scurrying about under her sister's watchful eye(s). Since Hitomi's mono-eye wasn't connected to a "pure energy dimension" like Scott Summers/Cyclops' were, I had no way of knowing the exact 'mechanics' of how her laser eye worked. Of course, I imagined it wasn't something she could whip out whenever she felt like it if the "Velma Dinkley" she pulled after using her "Pure Cure Lovely Cyclone" was any indicator.
Between getting his arm practically seared off and having a full-grown bear flatten him to the floor, there really wasn't much left for the cops to do when they arrived other than scraping what was left of Dr. Shiga off the floor and fit him inside a Villain-grade restraining jacket like someone stuffing a meat pie. Of course it probably helped that whatever super-drug he was on had worn off, which actually worsened the effect having a full-grown bear/man Body Splash would have.
Quirk Restriction Laws, I would later learn, only directly affected Emitter and Transformation types; for Heteromorph/Mutant-type Quirks, there was a lot more of a gray area surrounding them because you couldn't just fine a person for being taller, or stronger, or simply looking different than someone else. As such, Hitomi's dad didn't get in any trouble for using his bear-like strength on another person, since technically it counted as the Right of Self-Defense.
That in of itself had been iffy for a long time at the start of Paranormality when countless KKK and Third Reich knockoffs were running around on their "Freak Hunts", but all it took was enough upstanding politicians (surprised those ever existed) swapping the word "Ability User" with words like "Black", "Jew", "Chinese", and so-on to finally get people to accept the fact that beneath the Meta Abilities, people were ultimately still, people.
Real shocker.
Of course in my opinion, it was probably that "Meta Discrimination" being spun into "Racial Discrimination", simply made it too-difficult for politicians beholden to their constituents to keep their jobs if they did anything but support the Paranormal populace, which enveloped all races.
Of course after the Quirk Saturation Threshold passed the 50% marker, it was all over for the non-powered individual in politics and it basically became a Dog & Pony Show with a side-order of professional mud-slinging.
Ah, wait… Nothing's actually changed, then…
Back to the present. It felt quite good to get out of those restraints, and I won't pretend that the first thing I did wasn't to run out of that room as fast as my legs could carry me. Nor am I "toxically masculine"-enough to pretend I didn't bawl my eyes out as soon as Hitomi found her way over to me. Since I'd never been in a life-or-death situation like that in my past life, I had no way of knowing if this was me crying, or "Takehiko" crying and I was just along for the ride.
"Takehikoooo *sob* I'm so glad you're okayyyy…!" Hitomi sobbed loudly as she held me to her bosom, big fat tears matting my hair to my skull. I chose to ignore the little girl my own age leering at me with her third eye, though the fact that I was being smothered in a "Marshmallow Hell" probably helped…
"How… did you know to find me…?" I asked, jockeying for air.
"Well… a little while ago, my teacup broke, and I had a really bad feeling, so I just went with my gut and ran over as fast as my legs could carry me," she said in a relieved tone, though the way she was squeezing me hinted she might have been putting on a brave face…
"Thank you… for coming back for me…"
"No need to thank me. After all, you're my No.1 patient," she grinned finally letting me come up for air.
"Ha… I'm… Haha… your only patient…" I muttered weakly as all the adrenaline I'd been swimming in finally ran out, and blackness creeped around my vision. "I'm just… gonna pass out… now."
*Boing~*
Tomorrow's problem for tomorrow's me.