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[The Guardian]
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…
"Boring," Seiji grumbled as he flipped channels, sprawled lazily across the sofa.
One channel. Two. Four. Nine.
His rapid-fire channel surfing continued without pause, his bored expression never shifting.
As he did, his eyes drifted toward the front door, one eyebrow creeping up.
"That kid… It's getting late. Why is he still out? Don't tell me he went to do another one of his shows." He frowned, thumb shifting over the remote. "Better check the local news and see if that brat is at it again."
He punched in the channel number. After a moment, the familiar intro of ShizuokaNews came up.
However, instead of anything exciting, they were covering the usual fluff. Small-time villains getting arrested, comedic clips, city events or celebrations—nothing out of the ordinary.
It seemed Taka was actually not out there committing crimes; otherwise, there was no way a channel focused only on the city would ignore him.
'That kid, I wonder why I'm even allowing him to do such things? Every time he beats a villain, he lengthens his possible sentence if he gets caught… I'm such a shitty guardian, aren't I?'
Seiji's memories went back to the day he fought Rockinesis… or, as discovered and theorized later, a clone of him.
Until then, all he'd had were mere suspicions about the vigilante's identity being Taka.
The vigilante used a suspiciously similar guitar to the one he'd given Taka, wore identical clothes to the now edgy kid, and one appeared whenever the other was gone... at least until the clone matter, but that was after his fight, not before.
The only reason he hadn't been sure of it was because the guitar he had given the kid had quite a common design amongst other guitars, and because he'd never seen Taka outright using the same outfit of the vigilante when appearing in front of him. Always wearing a piece less or different.
Albeit nothing said that Taka didn't just change outside the house to fool him. He tended to go out with a backpack most of the time, so he could easily have carried extra clothes inside there.
But after that fight, his suspicions were basically confirmed.
Similar voice—even if sounding a bit off,—pretty much the same height and contexture, same fighting stance he taught him, same edginess and sassiness.
The vigilante was indeed Taka.
Which came with quite a shock.
He'd believed Taka's Quirk converted his physical force into some telekinesis.
But Rockinesis' display of power was enormously higher than what Taka had shown at the examination months ago.
Unless the exchange was exponential, there was no way the growth Taka had undergone in their training would have made him so strong.
Not to mention the fact that now Rockinesis had a cloning ability, which literally had zero connection with Taka's supposed Quirk.
So, either he was being paranoid and Rockinesis was actually not Taka… or Taka had lied about his Quirk.
But given all the coincidences and Taka's rather bad acting skills, it seemed that he had indeed lied about his Quirk.
So what the hell was it even?
'Too troublesome.' Seiji shook his head, not feeling like bothering with it. For now, the two things he had shown, Telekinesis and cloning abilities, seemed a bit too far apart to reach a conclusion. All that was left was to wait for internet addicts to make their theories and do the job for him.
But talking about jobs, and going back to what he had asked himself earlier—
'Why the heck do I let him do all that?' Seiji wondered, staring at the TV with a puzzled expression.
He was Taka's guardian. His job was to protect the kid—to keep him from doing reckless, dangerous things.
And yet… he never stopped him.
Of course, he had tried at first. When he was deployed to deal with Rockinesis and realized mid-fight that the vigilante was actually his ward, he'd tried to suppress him before the boy could get himself into even deeper trouble.
But everything changed after he discovered Taka could clone himself. Whatever his Quirk was, it was clearly far more complex than simple telekinesis.
That had given Seiji enough justification to look the other way, even though the kid was breaking the law by fighting villains. If Taka could just send clones to do the dirty work, then there wasn't any real danger… right?
Sure, the legality was another matter, but if Seiji was honest…
He liked seeing the kid like that.
Taka had been ostracized for being Quirkless. He'd given up on becoming a hero earlier than most kids even learn what a Quirk is supposed to do. That left him with little to talk about, few friends, and fewer dreams.
As his guardian, it had been a painful sight—one Seiji never really found the right fix for. Without a Quirk, the kid had just grown hopeless. All he could do was cheer him up when possible.
But now? Now he was out there, fighting villains with a confidence and ease that even surprised him.
Seiji would bet anything the kid was grinning like an idiot behind that mask whenever he appeared.
It was a good look for him—far better than the hopelessness he'd carried for years.
Maybe that's why Seiji let him keep doing this. Maybe that's why he kept pretending he didn't notice. And honestly? The kid really was strong. Way stronger than he let on during their training sessions, judging by how he handled his fights against villains.
And yet, in their spars, the kid always lost. Never using his telekinesis or whatever that quirk was, even though he could very well beat Seiji with it.
Was he trying to defeat him with nothing but skill?
That… was actually kind of cool.
Seiji snorted at the thought and casually glanced at his wristwatch.
"Still, that doesn't explain why the heck he's out so late." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Don't tell me that kid finally got a—"
-Chan chan CHAN!-
"...?"
His speculation was cut off by an ominous chime. The wordsBreaking News!flashed across the screen.
A deadpan spread across Seiji's face. "Don't tell me—"
{"We are getting word that, right at this moment, Rockinesis is engaged in a fearsome fight with three villains!"}
"Of course he is—wait, WHAT?!"
Seiji shot to his feet so fast the sofa bounced. He leaned close to the screen, eyes widening.
Three villains?! That was too much! He'd fought three heroes at once before, sure—but heroes never went for the kill.
Villains were different. They had no such qualms.
'Shit… well, Taka's pretty strong as Rockinesis. He should be able to hold out against some no-name villains until a hero arrives… or until I get there myself.' He calmed himself, rubbing his temple and wondering if she should go grab his suit.
The TV's next words left him speechless, however.
{"The conflict is currently taking place in the western district. We don't yet know what triggered this clash between the infamous vigilante and the three villains. However, police have reported minor crimes erupting all over the city—an operation previously identified in an investigation as a coordinated diversion, allowing these three confirmed A-class villains free rein to carry out their plans."}
"A-class villains?!" Seiji's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
A-class villains—those were the kind of criminals whose very existence endangered entire city blocks. The kind normal heroes struggled with. The kind that usually required multiple high-ranking heroes working together just to take down.
He'd fought a few in his active years. None of those battles had been easy.
And Taka was fighting three of them at once?
He didn't even want to imagine the outcome.
He grabbed his phone and dialed immediately.
After several rings, someone finally picked up.
{"What do you want, Super Monkey? Isn't today your off day? I'm extremely busy, don't you see the news?"}
"Oi! What the hell are the other heroes doing?! Tak—I mean, that vigilante guy is fighting three damn A-class villains by himself! Why hasn't anyone been deployed?!"
{"We're aware of the situation. We were aware of the villains even before this escalated. But all our preparations were for intercepting them at the bank they planned to hit. Since the vigilante exposed them early, we're scrambling to mobilize as fast as possible."}
"Shit. And why hasn't any hero nearby stepped in?!"
{"There are none. The entire city has fallen into small-scale pandemonium. Minor crimes are breaking out everywhere, and they've pulled all available heroes away."}
Seiji ran a hand through his hair in frustration, eyes flicking back to the TV.
There, the screen showed Taka being hammered by dozens of attacks from the trio of villains.
"Crap." He clicked his tongue and brought the phone back to his ear. "I'm going personally."
{"Sigh… Alright. I'll notify the higher-ups."}
-Click.-
With that done, he hung up.
Seiji immediately began searching for his suit—only to end up taking way longer than he expected.
"Where is my super SUIT?!"
He tore through every corner of the house, frustration growing by the second—until suddenly, he froze.
"…It's in the washing machine. Shit!"
Cursing under his breath, Seiji sprinted to his room and threw on a simple tracksuit, one that conveniently had a hole in the back for his tail.
"I'll just go like this," he muttered, grabbing for his keys in a hurry—
{"What's this? Rockinesis is showing a new power!"}
"Huh?" Only to stop dead when the TV's narrator suddenly raised his voice.
Seiji's head snapped toward the screen, confusion plastered across his face.
On the TV, Taka floated high into the sky.
'What? He's just flying. How's that a new—'
His thought cut off abruptly as Taka lifted his arm—
"...?!"
—And a beam of pure, blinding light blasted from his palm, streaking straight toward one of the villains, who only avoided being vaporized by teleporting at the last second.
The beam ended up simply hitting the ceiling of the building, but even then, it melted a hole into the concrete, like it was mere butter.
After that, a brief pause came, where Taka himself seemed briefly surprised by the new ability he'd unleashed.
But once the surprise was gone, the villain's break ended.
A barrage of beams rained down on the villain.
One after another, light shot from Taka's palm like divine artillery.
The sniper teleported desperately, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, narrowly avoiding each beam by a hair's breadth. His eyes didn't have time to look for distant places; the lights were coming at such speed that he had to teleport to the first place that was in sight.
And so far, he was managing to avoid being turned into ashes like that... But it was clear he was weakening with each teleport. His posture sagged more with every jump. His landings grew sloppy, sweat poured from him like a cascade, and his legs trembled harder each time he reappeared somewhere else.
Until, finally, after the thirtieth beam—he couldn't keep up.
A beam struck him.
"...!" Seiji's eyes widened. "Crap!"
Had Taka actually crossed the line? With an attack like that, there was no way—
But before he could finish that thought, the camera zoomed in, revealing the villain alive, panting on his knees, inspecting himself as if shocked to still exist. Not a scratch on him.
Seiji exhaled.
It was a fake?
That's when Taka descended, arms crossed and legs floating leisurely beneath him, backlit by a beam of sunlight as he stared down at the defeated villain.
The next instant, the gun the villain had been using to shoot crumpled like paper before being tossed away like trash, far from the villain's reach.
It was an imposing scene.
Even the villain seemed to have thought so, as soon he shut his eyes and slumped his head in surrender while still on his knees.
He had given up on escaping.
But then, the camera suddenly jerked.
A shadow streaked from below, rising like a rocket.
Right away, it became clear who it was. Titaniphite, one of the three villains who had been fighting Taka earlier.
He launched himself like a missile toward Taka—his rocky form reconfiguring midair, sharpening into a massive spear-like horn twice his size. The intent was clear: impale the teenager straight through.
But Taka was no unaware target.
Before the giant could even blink, Taka turned lazily and pointed a hand at him.
Instantly, Titaniphite's incredible momentum bled away—slowing… slowing… until he hung suspended in midair, helpless.
And with a single, effortless motion—
Taka slammed the two villains together.
Reaper Sight, being a normal human physically, took the brunt of it and went limp instantly.
Taka flicked a hand, sending the unconscious body plummeting to the ground below.
Only Titaniphite remained—struggling, twitching, frozen in place.
Taka floated toward him, the two facing each other in midair.
Then—with one decisive downward gesture—
Titaniphite was hurled earthward like a meteor.
The camera shook violently as the villain crashed into the street. A massive dust cloud erupted, swallowing the scene.
Through the haze, Taka began descending calmly, hands tucked casually in his pockets.
When the dust cleared, Titaniphite was forcing himself up—glaring daggers at his opponent.
His breathing was ragged, but his fury burned bright.
Then, he noticed not his companions lying just a few steps away from him, one to the right, and the other to the left—even though they shouldn't have been there, having been defeated in completely different places earlier...
So why were they there?
It instantly clicked in his mind.
The man in black was preparing a scene in which the three lay defeated on the ground orderly, while he stood victorious before them.
He was using them to look cool.
With a feral scowl, the giant took another fighting stance, his rocky armor sharpening to its absolute limit.
As he did, Taka finally landed, hitting the street, and then, seeing Titaniphite's readiness, he too readied himself.
He rolled up his sleeves and waved his hand as if beckoning Titaniphite to come.
That was enough to spark the droplet of conflict into a full-on blaze.
Titaniphite launched into his strongest—and likely final—charge of the fight, his massive frame thundering forward like an unstoppable train. The ground split beneath each step, cracks spiderwebbing outward.
Taka moved as well. No telekinesis this time and no flating. Just a full sprint, fists clenched and muscles ready.
And then… they collided.
The clash was brief.
With ruthless precision, Taka punched straight through Titaniphite's rock armor using nothing but raw, unrestrained strength—strength far beyond anything he'd shown earlier. Titaniphite clearly possessed the higher physical power on paper, yet Taka's sheer resilience ignored it entirely. Blow after blow, the only one taking real damage… was the villain.
Within minutes, Titaniphite's armor shattered completely, every rocky plate on his front obliterated. His body finally gave out, collapsing backward with his eyes rolling up, landing right between the already-unconscious Electraction and Reaper Sight.
Just like that, the trio of A-class villains… fell.
And Taka, realizing his victory, raised a fist to the sky.
The helicopter camera caught him perfectly—sunlight breaking through the clouds at that precise moment, casting a radiant beam over his form. The image was nothing short of dazzling.
And then, in an instant, Taka took flight, faster than the camera could follow, disappearing into the sky.
Like that, Seiji collapsed on his couch once again, his mouth twitching. "Haha… That kid… he's even more of a monster than I thought, huh?"
He ran a hand through his hair, letting the unease from before disperse, and even laughing humorously at the unbelievable situation.
"I might be the guardian of a future number one hero."
…
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: There, I was wondering about whether to do another chapter of Taka's fight with the villains, but honestly, I felt like I could just cover it from a spectator's point of view as it's more epic that way.
And since I was lacking a chapter delving into Seiji's mind, here it is.
What did you think? Was it good? Or did I screw up the guy?
Also, sad news for all of you, we've reached the limit of the chapters I had stacked up, so daily updates will hardly happen from now on.)