Yamazaki Manor, Year 2311.
Narumi.
"N-Narumi-san!"
All of the sudden, the lights were on in her room, someone calling her name. Then she felt someone shaking her awake– urgent enough to me uncomfortable, but not enough to hurt.
"Narumi-san!"
"Ungh," Narumi grumbled, eyes scrunched shut. "Gimme five more minutes..."
"I-It's Seiki-dono! He's hurt!"
Her thoughts grinded to a halt, her eyes snapping open wide. Konan's partially materialized body hovering above her mattress, tears in her eyes.
"What?"
"H-He... he snapped awake, only to immediately black out, b-bleeding from his eyes, nose, and ears. W-We, we don't know what's wrong. We don't know what to do," she rambled, sounding lost. "S-Should we call an ambulance–?"
"NO!" Narumi yelled. Perhaps a bit too loudly. "No. Take me to him."
She quickly got out of bed, not bothering to change out of her nightgown. Walking down the hall as Konan anxiously floated alongside her.
'Sei-chan's most likely fine,' she thought. 'But I... but I might not be.'
Because in the same way that Seiki feared the true nature of his Quirk, Narumi did as well— perhaps even more.
What happens to the world when her Sei-chan goes back in time? Best case scenario, she no longer exists. Or even better, she technically never existed, something akin to Schrodinger's dead cat. Worse case scenario... let's just say it was a question that she hoped to never learn the answer.
The door to Seiki's room was already open.
Narumi's heart clenched.
Most of it had been wiped away, but blood still stained his shirt, as well as the bedsheets. Rinka, Azula, and D'Vorah– as well as more than a few maids– were all standing around him, panic stricken. And given that her son was still alive, it had to be...
"Quirk exhaustion," she muttered.
"Q-Quirk exhaustion? Quirk exhaustion?!" Rinka growled, visibly shaking. "I've f-fought him thousands of times, and he's not so much as got a fucking headache–!"
"He hides it well," Narumi said softly. "Sei-chan's Quirk is very good at things like that."
Because that was the truth.
Seiki's Quirk let him undo any and all negative consequences. He could rape, murder, torture whoever he wanted, as much as he wanted, and then undo it all with just a thought.
And the same thing went for Quirk exhaustion itself.
That was why both she and Seiki "knew" that he wasn't a simulation precog, because if he was a precog, then surely Quirk exhaustion would be unavoidable? If he was a precog, then he shouldn't be able to "wait out" his Quirk exhaustion in a dead timeline, only to go right back to the Save where he had accrued said exhaustion in the first place.
However... that just raised another question. Before now, the furthest that Seiki had pushed his Quirk was to that of a slight headache... because even if someone were to force Seiki to overuse his Quirk, he could always abandon the fight, and come back to it hours, days, weeks, or even months later, all without a single "real" second passing.
So just who— or what— had managed to push her son into such a wretched state?
Narumi bit her lip, and gently grabbed her son's hand.
'Flashback.'
*
*
*
Narumi canceled her Quirk. "Fuck," she mumbled, staggering back.
"W-What's wrong?" Konan asked, sounding genuinely afraid.
And wasn't that the million dollar question.
The Quirk Thief was real.
The Quirk Thief was not only real, but still alive, and operating out of Japan.
The Quirk Thief had nearly taken her son's Quirk.
The Quirk Thief had repeatedly overwritten Saves1-4, pushing him to Quirk Exhaustion... which led to him passing out. Passing out in a way that negates his auto-load.
If Seiki didn't have Saves S and H... the Quirk Thief would have his Quirk. And her Sei-chan would be dead. Permanently.
Her world would end.
Then the world itself would end.
And if Seiki had passed out at Saves1-4... the same result.
Or if Seiki had passed out at SaveH, overwriting SaveS, which he very nearly did... she would've forgotten everything. Her son would've lost everything except his Quirk.
And now, if he wanted to keep this timeline, then Mirai, Mirai's mom, and Nezu would all know that there was "something more" to his Quirk.
'You idiot,' Narumi thought to herself, even though she understood her son's panic. Having your Quirk fail on you like that... it'd mess with anyone's head.
It was time for her to do some damage control.
*
40 Minutes Later.
Maki Mono.
Maki Mono was a relatively simple guy. Brown hair, brown eyes. No visible mutations. A relatively minor emitter Quirk, one that just so happened to make him extremely well suited to be a doctor. So he ended up becoming a doctor.
And while he was relatively normal, his Quirk managed to snag... attention, which resulted in him getting a second job.
Which was why he had three phones.
A personal phone.
A work phone.
And a work phone.
His work phone buzzed. Maki answered it.
"Private medical checkup, priority 2," a woman's voice asked. "You'll take it?"
"Hmm... and the Commission wants me to intercept? Why?"
"Your target is the half-sister of All Might's former sidekick, the Foresight Hero. And her Quirk is far less restrictive in its activation– she can use it dozens of times a day, maybe more." And then Maki understood. People that could extract info in any, way, shape or form would always be more dangerous then a strength Quirk... unless that person was All Might. But there was only one All Might. "However, she can only see into the past of others, and only up to 24 hours at that."
And that explained why they weren't speaking in English or Japanese, but Russian.
"Only the past?" Maki repeated. "And only 24 hours?"
That was good... but not enough to make her priority 2. That was maybe a 1.
"7 years, 2 months ago, her husband passed away in a car accident," the woman said. "Then she went from a lower-class widow... to a small time lottery winner... to a stock trader... to a millionaire. And now she owns a mansion in Chiba, and has full time staff of maids and bodyguards. Some of them B class threats, and one A class."
"Aaaaaah, gotcha," he muttered. 'A Quirk Awakening. Or at least, a suspected one.'
They still weren't fully understood... but it was possible for people to unlock more of their Quirk. It was incredibly rare, but it was possible.
It also explained the Commission's current approach.
It was mandatory to register your Quirk, but to report every single discovery? Every single bit of growth? Trying to enforce that would be an absolute nightmare.
"But what's the assignment?" he asked. "You know I can't confirm anything Quirk-wise. At least not without touching them before and after their awakening. And even then..." his Quirk just wasn't made for things like that. There was a reason he was a doctor, not an investigator. At least to the general public.
"We aren't acting against her. Her goal isn't tyranny, but security. Hence why she's a 2, not a 4, or god forbid a 5," she explained. "No, this is more akin to building a profile. We want you to figure out anything you can about her without tipping her off... and if you could use your Quirk on her, it certainly wouldn't hurt. Then you'll report back on your findings, 48 hours after the last time she lays eyes on you."
'Ah...' one of the most common Quirk awakenings was the removal of range limitations. So that meant their current theory was that she could now see 24 hours into the future as well, and that her Quirk might even work by line of sight, not just touch.
"Alright, send me the address."
*
Yamazaki Manor, 15 Minutes Later.
They pulled up in a non-emergency ambulance. Two nurses, one driver, and one doctor— him. In truth, it was just one nurse, and three medically trained HPSC agents.
Not that they'd be doing anything more than observing.
"Woah, this girl's freaking loaded," Sumi mumbled. Sporting bright pink hair and a million freckles, Sumi was his junior at the hospital. Currently a nurse, but she was well on her way to being a head nurse. And she was only twenty-two... which explained why she still acted like a child. The motormouth reminded Maki a bit of his own daughter, Yasaki.
She was also the only one present who didn't know they were on a "mission."
"Shush," Maki muttered, rolling his eyes. Not that he disagreed.
Over a hundred acres, in Chiba? This place must've cost a fortune.
It took them three whole minutes to get from the property entrance to Narumi Yamazaki herself, who was waiting just outside her front door, two maids in tow.
"Thank you for coming. It's my first time calling for non-emergency dispatchers, so I'm not quite sure how to..." Narumi Yamazaki trailed off tiredly, rubbing at her eyes. She sounded a bit worried, but not overly so.
"It's no problem, miss Yamazaki," he responded earnestly. Regardless of why he was here, he was a doctor first, investigator second. "We can checkup on whoever you need us to first, then if necessary, escort them out to the ambulance. It's decked out with top of the line medical equipment– anything short of open heart surgery can be treated on site."
"That's good to know, but my son's injuries aren't that serious," she told him.
"Your son?" he asked, trying to hide his surprise. He knew that she was well off, but not having read her file, he wasn't aware that she had any immediate family.
He thought he was here for one of her maids, one of her bodyguards, or for Narumi herself.
"Yes, he passed out while exercising– it's happened before, but this is by far the worst. He's always working out way too damn much," she complained, sounding both worried and exasperated. "I just want to know how badly he's overworked himself this time... and once he wakes up, I want you to order him to tone it down."
"You want me to order him?" he repeated.
"Yes. He's..." Narumi sighed. "He's dead set on being a hero of all things, and I admire that drive of his, but... he shouldn't be pushing himself to exhaustion. Not to the point of passing out."
Well that explained things a bit better. "I can't say I disagree," he eventually said. "I'll examine him with my Quirk, and then we'll go from there."
"Hmm... and what's your Quirk, exactly?" she asked.
Normally, asking for someone's Quirk outright– like she just did– was considered a little rude.
But considering he was about to use his Quirk on her son...
"Diagnosis," he told her. "It's an emitter type, basically giving me get a medical diagnosis of anyone I'm touching. It'll let me know everything remotely possible about your son, from every ingrown hair, to every overworked muscle, all the way to his risks for every type of cancer."
"Oh, wow," she muttered, sounding genuinely impressed. "Actually," she started, taking off her glove, extending out her hand. "I wouldn't mind a quick check up, if that isn't too much to ask."
Maki hesitated. "It'd take a few minutes," he lied. It'd only take a couple of seconds. "Surely I should check up on your son first...?"
To which Narumi just scoffed. "I've told him a thousand times to lay off the training, but no, he never bothered to listen. My son can wait a few minutes."
She held her hand out further.
"Wow," Sumi muttered, and Maki had a knee-jerk reaction to kick her shin... but he refrained. Sumi didn't know they were on a mission... and yeah, this was a pretty trashy move.
So Maki took Narumi's hand, and activated his Quirk.
Gender: Female
Age: 30 years, 4 months, 22 days
Blood type: AB
Height: 168 centimeters
Weight. 58 kilograms
Overall Health: Good
Genetic Mutations: Heterochromatic hair. Unnatural eye pigments. Enhanced neurons.
Emotions: Worry, Stress, Suspicion
In an instant, Maki could know absolutely everything about a person's physiology.
But the most useful aspect of his Quirk...
Change! Eye color— Yellow to Red.
Change! Multiple instantaneous neuron connections. Multiple instantaneous neuron connections. Multiple instantaneous neuron connections. Multiple instantaneous neuron connections.
...was to see changes happening in real time.
Maki briefly glanced up at Narumi's eyes, only to see her squinting, looking disgruntled. Rubbing at her currently covered eyes with her free hand.
A mostly natural looking action, but Maki's Quirk knew better.
He couldn't see Quirks. Not directly. But with Quirks being so intertwined with the human body, he could tell. 'She used her Quirk on me,' he immediately concluded. A little unnerving, but given that he knew what it was (at least before it awakened), he wasn't worried about her actually harming or affecting him in any way. No, all he had to worry about was her reading his past... or maybe his future.
Then a few seconds later... and she was done.
Change! Eye color— Red to Yellow.
Change! Emotions— to Anger, Hate.
He schooled his features, doing his best not to react. He slowly looked up to Narumi's eyes, who just looked back at him with a single raised eyebrow. None of her apparent hatred showing.
"So what's the diagnosis, doc?"
"...Everything seems to be fine so far, but I just need about a minute longer to be sure. Checking for long term risks are a bit more time intensive," he lied.
"I can wait," she answered.
They stood there in silence a few minutes longer.
"Alright... nothing too bad to worry about. You do have a slightly higher risk of skin cancer, but if you keep the sunburns to a minimum, you should be perfectly fine," he told her. The truth this time.
She blinked at that, looking genuinely surprised. "That's good to know," she murmured. "Okay, now lets go see my son."
Then she guided them through her house, to her son. Laying on his bedspread, he was covered in sweat— and looked slightly uncomfortable, his face scrunched up in pain.
Not to mention he was unconscious.
"He passed out in our gym. I had the maids bring him to his bedroom," she told him.
"Understood. Now just to see what's wrong..." he muttered, reaching out and gently grabbing the boy's forearm. Activating his Quirk.
Gender: Male
Age: 11 years, 6 months, 18 days
Blood type: AB
Height: 162 centimeters
Weight. 74 kilograms
Overall Health: Great
Genetic Mutations: Heterochromatic hair. Unnatural eye pigments. Enhanced neurons.
Emotions: Fluctuating
Injuries!
Overstressed neurons. Will heal without interference.
Slight brain hemorrhaging. Will heal without interference.
"What's your son's Quirk?" he asked, trying his best to hide his surprise. Not just at his genetic mutations, but at his age— Maki could've sworn the boy was at least fifteen. And he had no traces of steroid use, either, which only surprised him further.
"I don't see how that's relevant," Narumi told him.
"He's showing signs of extreme Quirk overuse. If I knew what it was, then I could better understand its affects on the body, and how quickly he'll recover," he lied.
"Oh, in that case, it's called Trickshot– he has absolute control over his hands, and can throw anything with perfect aim."
Hands: no discernable mutations
No mutations in his hands, the location of her son's supposed Quirk.
Eyes: Unnatural eye pigments.
Brain: Enhanced neurons.
But mutations in both his eyes and his brain, both eerily similar to that of his mother's.
'Something that I'll be reporting immediately to the HPSC,' he thought. 'Well, as soon as 48 hours have passed.'
"Alright, he should wake up in... I want to say four, or five hours. But he shouldn't use his Quirk for the next three weeks at minimum."
'That should give us more than enough time to work with, if we even decide to do anything... but falsifying Quirk records is a pretty serious offence,' Maki thought. In truth, the boy was mostly fine to use his Quirk the moment he woke up, as long as it wasn't anything overly strenuous. Whatever his Quirk may be.
"If he were to use his Quirk one more time, right this second– would he be okay?"
"Uh... he's asleep," Maki said.
"His Quirk sometimes activates in his sleep."
"Well... if that were to happen, then his injuries could worsen dramatically," he lied. "And if your son's Quirk activates while he's asleep often, I'd recommend taking him to a hospital immediately– in his current state, any further Quirk overuse could lead to permanent injuries." It was complete bullshit, but it was mostly believable. Or so he thought.
"Hmm... I see," Narumi muttered. "Razor, spare the doctor. Kill the rest."
She said it so casually, that Maki didn't even realize what happened until a hundred slits of paper were in the air. Until dozens of slits were in his friend's necks and chests.
Until his friends collapsed to the floor, dead.
"You figured out there was something off with my son's Quirk," she said, her voice calm. "I'm not sure how much you know, though..."
"W-What," he stuttered. "What did you just do?" He asked, still trying to wrap his head around it.
He was used to seeing death. He was a doctor. But... she had called them to his house. She knew this. She should know that this would implicate her in their deaths. Not just implicate, but she'd be the first suspect. The only suspect.
It was completely irrational behavior.
And now two Hero Public Safety Commission agents were dead.
Sumi, his junior at the hospital, was dead.
"Damage control," she said. As if that explained everything.
"Damage control..." he repeated, his voice hollow.
"Now just what did you figure out when you touched him? I'm not fond of torture, but if it'll protect Sei-chan, there is nothing I won't do."
Maki believed her. He decided to lie anyways.
"That your son is a precog, like your brother– but with far fewer restrictions," he bullshitted. "And now the HPSC knows as well, given that their listening in—"
"They're not. I'm only a priority 2, after all," she said, smiling sweetly.
"You speak Russian." Maki said. 'Fuck!'
"And to think that the HPSC has started to close in on me... all because I reached out to Mirai. Like a fucking idiot. Fuck," she cursed, clenching her jaw. "And Sei-chan only has one save earlier today, and one seven years prior. And the moment he wakes up... he'll still only have one save in the current timeline. A save in which I've killed four HPSC agents," she said. "That's not good at all..."
"You w-won't get away with this," Maki stuttered, his hands shaking. He didn't miss how she implied that she was planning on killing him as well. "And it was th-three HPSC agents, one nurse. Sumi had n-nothing to do with this, you b-b-bitch!"
"Ah... but that's just the thing. None of this happened," she said. "Because we don't exist."
Maki blanked.
"What?"
"Razor, slit."
A slip of paper tore open his throat. Maki stumbled backwards, instinctively grabbing his neck with his hands.
Injuries!
Slit throat. Rapid blood loss. Will die without immediate treatment.
Will pass out in 52 seconds. 51 seconds. 50 seconds.
Will die in 1 minute 28 seconds. 1 minute 27 seconds. 1 minute 26 seconds.
"Konan, listen to me very carefully. Sei-chan is not a pre-cog. His Quirk, Save & Load, lets him save a point in time, and then load it with just a thought. And the most important part— if he dies, whether its a bullet to the head, suffocation, or even total matter destruction— his last used save automatically loads," she explained. Not to him, but he heard her regardless.
And what an explanation it was.
Will pass out in 26 seconds.
Will die in 1 minute 2 seconds.
He was going to die. He could feel it, the way blood poured out of his throat as well as down it. There was nothing he could do about it. Even his Quirk knew. But even so... he still took one of his hands off his neck, reaching for his work phone. He needed to tell someone, anyone–!
"There is a canister of carbon monoxide in the garage," Narumi said. "We need to kill Seiki before he wakes up. Then, he will wake up with Michiru... and then he'll no longer be suffering from Quirk Exhaustion– at least not to the same degree."
"Wait, if he can just ignore Quirk Exhaustion like that... then how'd this even happen?" the wolfgirl maid grunted.
"Because Seiki's a fucking idiot sometimes," Narumi said, sighing. "Hell, this exact thing could've happened before— and we'd never know. Well, I might, but no one else would."
Will pass out in 11 seconds.
Will die in 44 seconds.
His hand weakly fumbled with his pocket. It was getting harder to move. It was... it was getting harder to think. He was about to pass out.
Then he saw Narumi Yamazaki, the devil herself, crouch down in front of his point of view. Her face wearing a light smile.
Will pass out in 5 seconds.
Will die in 39 seconds.
"And I know you're scared... and angry... but don't worry. You aren't dead."
Will pass out in 1 seconds.
Will die in 36 seconds.
"After all, we don't exist."
And then Maki knew nothing.
*
*
*