Yamazaki Manor, Year 2311.
Seiki.
'LoadS...!'
Seiki felt his mattress beneath him, Michiru on top of him. Blood immediately exploding out of his eyes, nose, and ears.
He blacked out.
*
*
*
...And then he immediately woke up again, his mattress beneath him, Michiru on top of him. But instead of blood exploding out of his orifices a second time— which, by the way, ouch— all he had now was a headache. Still painful, but not nearly as bad as it was just moments prior.
"Mom," Seiki instantly concluded.
It was the only thing that made any sense— for him to get rid of his Quirk exhaustion, Seiki needed to wait it out in a dead timeline... and the only way for that to happen without him knowing about it, was for him to die before he wakes up. Something that would almost never happen here of all places... unless his mom specifically ordered it.
Which she had to have done for a reason.
"M-Mom?" Michiru asked, bewildered. Still straddling him. "D-Did... did you just call me–?"
'LoadS.'
Seiki instantly felt his headache worsen from that. Just a little bit. But even so... he still had a timeline that desperately needed culling.
'Save1. Load1. Save2. Load2. Save3. Load3. Save4. Load4.'
"Mmmmm," Seiki hummed, clenching his jaw from the pain. 'Alright, I'm just gonna have to wait this out, I guess,' he thought, before sitting up, and flipping Michiru over. Despite being depraved enough to ask one of his maids to wake him up via riding his cock... he wasn't really in the mood for sex at the moment. "I wanna cuddle," he mumbled, wrapping his arms around the raccoongirl he was still ballsdeep in, holding her in a tight, firm hug. Nuzzling his head into her neck, giving it a couple dozen small kisses.
"U-Uh, if t-that's what y-you want, S-Seiki-chan..." she mumbled, clearly embarrassed.
"Soft..." he murmured directly into her fur.
"T-Thanks?"
And while this was fun and all... Michiru making for a great distraction... Seiki still had stuff that needed addressing.
Stuff that he really shouldn't put off, even if he did have infinite time.
"Razor, mission," he muttered, and he felt the slips of paper on his back stiffen. The ones currently floating around the room stiffening as well.
"Bring my mom here. I wanna cuddle with her too."
Then the slips relaxed, a few of them prickling his skin slightly.
He heard a faint, exasperated huff.
"Right away, Seiki-dono..."
*
"Seiki... um, you're still indecent," his mom said, blushing. "And in bed with Michi." As well as Staring. "And a few others." Still staring. "And Konan said you wanted to c-cuddle...?"
"You've got a message," Seiki said, his voice... tired.
His mom froze. All of her hesitation vanishing in an instant.
"I see," she muttered, briskly walking over to his bedside, and gently grasping his hand.
A few seconds passed.
A few more.
Seiki raised an eyebrow. 'She must be really combing through it, huh,' he realized. Because while his mom could find something specific in an instant, actually viewing everything that he did in the last twenty-four hours would take her a bit longer than that.
Then her grip on his hand tightened. Staggering backwards slightly as she came back to.
"Fuck."
Seiki let out a mirthless chuckle. "Heh. 'Fuck' is a pretty damn good summary of what happened."
"This isn't a joking matter, Seiki," his mom scolded. "Mirai, Hiraki, and Nezu all 'know' that you are a precog. The HPSC suspects that I am a precog, having awakened my Quirk after Hiroshi's death. They aren't actively monitoring us– but it's still not good. Not to mention... him. And he knows about Firestarter. About Deathclaw. He already knows about Atlas– about you. And... and none of that can be undone," she rambled. "Not... not without..."
His mom stared down into his eyes. Afraid.
"S-Seiki, are... are you..." she trailed off, not even able to ask the question.
And there was his answer.
"No." He said, his voice cold. "Fuck that. My Quirk lets me do whatever I want, so I'll be damned if I let anyone take what I've built so far away from me."
She breathed a sigh of relief, before going right back to her 'serious mode.'
"Then we should leave Japan immediately," she told him. "Like, today."
'Leave Japan?' Seiki wondered... yeah, they could do that. Either to a country without a major player, or to a country with a major player... that's been personally vetted by him.
But even then...
"You're actually worried about him," Seiki muttered.
"Of course I'm worried about him! How are you not?!"
"Because if he truly was a threat, then I would already be dead."
"What?" his mom balked. "He almost fucking killed you!"
"Yes. Almost," Seiki said. And before his mom could interject... "Take me and the Thief. Put us both in an empty white room, no one else, nothing else, except for our base Quirks. Who wins?"
"...You would win, Seiki," she eventually answered. Begrudgingly.
"Now put us on other sides of the world. We know of each other, we both know each other's Quirks, we both awaken our Quirk at the same exact time. Who wins?"
His mom let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. "You."
"Don't misunderstand me, mom, I'm fucking terrified of him," Seiki admitted. "This guy... if the myths are even remotely true, than he's been around since the Dawn of Quirks. He's so well connected that he knew of Atlas, some random brat who's made like maybe a dozen appearances to an underground fighting ring... and now that I think about it, with his Quirk, it makes sense to watch all kind of places like that. And who knows just how many corners of the world that he's got his hands on," Seiki wondered aloud.
"He's got over 200— no, nearly 300 years of experience... and all he was able to manage was a draw."
"Seiki, he, he still nearly fucking killed you—!"
"Yeah. He nearly did," Seiki agreed. "He's a monster of a man that, in a straight fight, I'd never stand a chance against. He's far scarier than All Might could ever be, at least for me. I didn't even think he was a real fucking person... and our first interaction with each other, is him reaching his hand out of a portal behind my head to take my Quirk. That's out first fucking interaction. How fucking crazy is that?" he chuckled darkly. "No, I'm never going to fight him again."
"Good..."
"Yeah... I'm just going to kill him."
"...Sei-chan."
"But before I can do that... I need information. All the information I can get. Because if his Quirk makes him an absolute monster during the fight... then mine makes me the devil himself every single second leading up to it."
"Uh," Rinka grunted, just waking up. "I... I feel like we're intruding."
"Yeah... but he sounded really fucking cool at the end there," Azula muttered.
"You don't need to throat his cock."
"I'm not, not at the moment. But oh how I wish I was..." she mumbled, biting her lip.
"Are you going to tell them about your Quirk?" his mom asked, still ignoring his maids and his girls currently in bed with him. "When... when D'Vorah died, and when Konan watched it happen... that hurt you. I could see it in your eyes. And even if we live in a world filled the brim with mind-readers, info-gatherers, and the like... I feel like its worth the risk."
Seiki let out a sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. I already decided to before the fucking boogeyman of all people showed up out of nowhere. But not now. I'm gonna have to load my soft-save again."
"Wait, why? You're erasing this?"
"My Quirk is still taxed. Yeah, it'll heal eventually on its own, but I want to have my earliest possible save in this timeline with zero Quirk exhaustion attached to it. Which means... oh god dammit," he grumbled.
"What's wrong?"
"My earliest possible save is a soft-save."
"Yeah?"
"So I can't sleep this off. I need to literally stay awake, with this goddamn headache, until I heal completely."
"Oh... that sucks. Or actually," his mom hummed, frowning in thought. "We could just, what, drug you? With like a bunch of Nyquil? And then kill you before you wake up again?"
"Well fuck I guess that works," Seiki chuckled. "Never change, mom."
"...So, time-travel?" Konan eventually asked.
"Yeah. Time-travel." Seiki admitted. "Can we have this conversation... later? When you'll all actually remember it?"
"Uh... can I... not know?" Michiru squeaked. "I... that's like, a lotta trust. I, I kind of knew you were some sort of precog— everyone in the manor does at this point— but that... that feels like a secret too important for me to know. I just want to... be your maid?"
"Huh," Seiki muttered, genuinely caught off guard. "Well, I guess I can always ask..."
'So, sleep first. And then,' Seiki thought, his face scrunching up in annoyance.
'And then I've gotta track down yet another fucking phone number...'
*
*
*
Yuuei Highschool, Principal's Office.
Later That Day.
Nezu.
His phone rang. And his phone wasn't just any phone.
"You've reached Nezu," he replied. "On his private cell at that. Who's calling?"
"Seiki Yamazaki."
Nezu blinked.
"Well... this is quite the surprise," Nezu said. "So you know I know– of course you know I know, I already knew that you knew I knew about each of us knowing. Now, what does the world's greatest fortune teller want from little ol' me? I'm just a highschool principal."
"How good of a hacker are you?"
"Pretty good," Nezu admitted. "And why are you asking me? You know the answers, there's no reason for us to pretend to have a conversation."
"I need you to hack into the Japanese Quirk database."
"And why would I... oh no."
The boy laughed. "Wow, that's really all it takes huh? The moment you realize I need to ask someone for information, you realize I'm not a precog at all. Or at the very least, I'm not a traditional one. Christ, just how fucking smart are you..."
"This changes things," Nezu said. "Your Quirk is somehow even more outlandish than I thought possible, but now it has weaknesses that can be exploited."
"His fingers grazed my hair, Nezu," Seiki said softly. "His fingers."
Nezu's heart skipped a beat.
"Oh... I see now. And now I have to help you."
"Huh?"
"Which is worse? Seiki Yamazaki, with Time Loop? Or the Quirk Thief, with the power to take the Quirks of others... as well as Time Loop? The obvious answer is the latter."
"That... that isn't how I expected you to respond," he admitted.
"Well, I did say the obvious answer, not the correct one," Nezu cackled. "For all I know, you're somehow even worse! But to think I could catch the not-quite-a-precog on the off foot. Does that mean we're trudging through new territory? That this is the furthest we've gotten on this loop?"
"I call it Save and Load," Seiki said. "Saving and loading points in time. I won't reveal any more than that... honestly, I'm not really revealing it at all."
"Yes, well, that's perfectly reasonable," Nezu agreed. "You hardly have a reason to trust me– I'm assuming I haven't been vetted yet?"
"No, this is our first conversation, real or false time."
"Truly?"
"Yeah... but when Mirai visited you... he might've been bugged."
"Oh... hohoho! Clever boy," Nezu cackled. "And you still are a boy, aren't you?"
"What... what do you mean?"
"Well, how many times can you use your Quirk? Will it ever run out?"
"It... it negates Quirk exhaustion."
"Ah, and now we're getting into philosophy," Nezu sighed. "You're still young. I can tell. Far younger than me... I'm nearly 50!" he exclaimed. "And I can tell that, while you have thought about what your Quirk means for your future, you've mostly ignored it. Because you will only continue to grow older and older, even if no time passes. And depending on how that aging happens, you could eventually become an even crueler monster than All For One."
A pause.
"W-Wait... no. There's— no. That's who you guys were talking about???"
"Um... what do you mean?"
"The Quirk Thief. The Boogeyman. The Soul Thief. The Stealer. The Taker. The Soul Reaper. Hell, even just The One," Seiki listed off. "There's so many names that— that he didn't even have to come up with, that are so much better than fucking All For One. That— not only is it the most chunni shit I've ever heard– it— it's a better name for his Quirk, honestly," Seiki eventually said.
"It is the name of his Quirk," Nezu told him, his voice flat. His tone giving off the impression that he's correcting him, and not currently grinning like a mad man.
"Oh... oh, okay, I guess," Seiki muttered.
"And it's also what he goes by!" Nezu cackled.
"Well... ugh. If it's the name of his Quirk, then that's less chunni, and more lazy. Overhaul's just as lazy. Same as everyone else that does it," Seiki said begrudgingly. "Like, I'm never going to call myself Save and Load. Sure, my Quirk isn't the best for that in the first place, but I'm going to put at least a little thought into it. Something like—"
"Atlas."
Another pause.
"I feel like you're doing this on purpose."
"And it's such a good name! It's got spunk, it's got creativity, and it's vague... all while subtly hinting at exactly what you can do!" Nezu complimented. And he truly meant it— so many heroes, and even villains, don't put nearly enough thought into their names. A bad name— or even worse, a bland one, could only set you back. "At first, I thought it was a reference to how you're able to navigate the world however you wanted... but no, that's the wrong Atlas. No... you're holding the world hostage... because at any moment, you can decide to erase it!"
"Well I'm glad you like it. Fuck..." Seiki grumbled. He took a deep breath.
"I'm stuck, Nezu. I usually have my saves spread out— and I would have eventually 'interviewed' you, getting a feeling of whether I should trust you or not— but I wasn't able to. And now I'm forced to trust you," Seiki told him, sounding... tired. "Why do you think I want you to find a Quirk for me?"
A pause.
And this time, he was the one doing the pausing.
"All For One used a Quirk on you," he said.
Nezu bit his lip. He had already narrowed it down to either Seiki wanting to find someone with a specific Quirk, or find a Quirk for a specific thing, or... for this.
Scenario 3.
"Red and black metallic spikes, extending from each finger. They stabbed through my chest, arms, legs, neck. And then... and then he activated my Quirk." Nezu's heart skipped a beat. "All of my manual saves forced to activate. If I didn't have automatic ones... well, I'd be dead. And then everyone else would be dead shortly after."
"Thankfully your Quirk isn't as reckless as you."
"Hey! Yeah, that was fucking stupid of me... but I didn't think he was fucking real. Not to mention— his hand grazing my hair? That was our first fucking interaction."
"Ah, well, that paints you in a better light," Nezu admitted. "Thankfully you were quick enough to activate your Quirk... if he can even steal your Quirk."
"Ah... yeah. But it's safe to assume."
"If you die, you get sent back in time automatically. Correct?"
"Yeah. I also can't be knocked out... under normal circumstances. And I know what you're getting at," he huffed. "Do you really want me to test it?"
"Heavens no," Nezu said. "But still. It's something at least worth considering. You might be a true natural counter to his Quirk. Well, ignoring the other meta Quirk that he collected."
"Yeah... what're your thoughts on that?"
"I believe he has a Quirk that lets him extend red and black metallic spikes.... and a Quirk that lets him forcibly activate the Quirks of those he touches," Nezu guessed. "It would be a good way to publicly nerf the Trigger Quirk— making it look like it needs to be used through spikes of red and black, as you put it. But I'll also hack into the mainframe, as the youngsters say, to figure out their previous owners. Or owner, if it truly is just one Quirk."
"Ah... shit, that's not good. So any part of him can likely do it. Bad, but it could always be worse I guess. And while I still don't know the limits of his base Quirk... now I truly have to kill him."
"You do? You can't just flee?" Not that Nezu wanted him to flee— and nor did he want the boy to have to kill All For One himself. Oh, Seiki was almost certainly bloodied— at least in false time– but killing someone in real time, well, that was a completely different matter. At least in the eyes of the law.
But if he could just get Seiki to help them...
The boy didn't even have to fight.
He'd just have to save before their battles, and load after.
All For One could only lose.
Nezu wouldn't force him. He would never force a child to become a hero.
But he would ask.
And how could anyone resist his mousy charms?
"Let's say that I'm asleep. All For One stands above me, his hand on my face. Then he tries to takes my Quirk– if that happens, then either he wins, or my last save loads automatically. He still doesn't even know that my Quirk exists, so it's incredibly unlikely... but.
"In the event that he can't take my Quirk... he can still forcibly activate it. He can override all of my hot-saves with just a touch. And then the question is... is he petty enough to wake me up? Is he petty enough to force my soft-save to activate, to make all of my saves unviable, unlivable? Leaving me with just my hard-save?
"Taking away everything except my Quirk?
"Because I think he just might be.
"And then... then you might be left with a monster worse than All For One."
Nezu gulped.
"... So you can go all the way back," he eventually said. "You will always have a way to hide your Quirk from everyone else. However, it'll cost you something you'd never want to pay... and if you're forced to pay it anyway..."
"Then the world will suffer for it. Maybe I'll mentally recover and do just fine, but you don't know me well enough to know that. I don't even know me well enough to know that."
"I see. So what happens now?"
"Save," Seiki said. "I just used my Quirk. If you couldn't tell."
"I may be a rat, but I'm not a stupid rat at that."
"And now you're going to find those Quirks for me, right? And if I need you to find a different Quirk— because let's be honest, he's going to be using Quirk after Quirk after Quirk once I truly start to push him— then I'll come right back here."
A pause.
"Save," Seiki said. "Used it again, so you know, I don't have to explain that every time."
"I've got it. You can stop saying save out loud."
*
*
*
"Load."
"Now you're just messing with me," Nezu sighed, shaking his head. "And I didn't even notice a single thing. It's just as incredible as it is horrifying."
"It wouldn't be a very good Quirk if you did."
"Certainly. Now, what Quirk do you need me to find this time?"
*
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