Chapter 7: The Future
Takumi's Sunday morning began at 10:44 AM after he got home following his bout with Reika Shiranui at 3:14 AM, his quirk having him experience five 90-minute sleep cycles to balance his recovery and productivity. Had it been a school day, it would've forced him to get up at 7:44 AM sharp to keep sleep to a minimum and his alertness to a maximum.
"Seriously?" He exhaled. Somehow, Power was still sound-asleep on her futon with Meowy loafed atop her stomach, despite the fact that her only contribution to the rescue mission was the creation of her blood-ladder.
Takumi couldn't help but shake his head like a disapproving mother. Soon, he knew he'd have to decide what he was going to do with the girl. Toss her back out onto the streets like he originally planned? Let her stay awhile longer? Find something permanent? He wasn't sure.
He had thought about finding the girl some manner of employment, but that was much easier said than done when she didn't appear to have so much as a single method of identification on her, nor seemed to understand the concept of 'government documents' as a whole.
Oh, and there was also his quirk's conclusion that there was a 94% chance Power wasn't even a human from the way she addressed others, and her striking ignorance of how the world operated. The other 6% betted on the possibility she was some recluse raised in the mountains.
Not that it mattered to Takumi, whether someone was human or not, his quirk forced him to see them as an equation all the same.
'I should probably worry about myself first.'
Takumi whipped out an old ThinkPad laptop and fired up a set of documents he had been working on since he began his third year of high school.
University applications.
There was no way Takumi would be able to afford a four-year's or more worth of tuition, even a government-subsidised one, which is why he needed to find someplace that'd offer him a full-ride scholarship. Which in all honesty, he had a fairly good shot of achieving. He had perfect grades, perfect attendance, perfect conduct, and most importantly of all, a principal's letter of recommendation.
His high school wasn't exactly one of particular renown, ergo a full-ride to somewhere like the University of Tokyo or Kyoto University seemed unlikely, but for some of the lesser-known universities? They'd have to have some kind of personal grudge against Takumi not to at least consider.
Therefore, he had created a list of five schools that he, or rather, his quirk believed would be most willing to pay for the full length of his education.
1. Naruhata Municipal Hero University — Urban Heroics & Patrol Operations Course.
Most aspiring heroes began their educational foundations in high school, but not everyone was skilled or financially capable of pursuing that path, hence why it remained open to people in universities as well.
Technically speaking, anyone could attempt the Hero Licensing Exam, but without some kind of educational background your chances of actually passing were minimal. And even if you did pass, it'd be hard to kickstart your career without having the prior connections hero programs offer, like the work-study internships for example.
Location didn't matter with NMHU since they arranged dormitories for their students, something that'd be paid for Takumi if he successfully managed to get a full-ride. It was known for training more local, community-based heroes rather than national celebrities. A place perfect for an aspiring hero without any interest in forging their own media and merchandise empire.
2. Kanto Community Hero College — Applied Hero Tactics Course.
Takumi couldn't help but sigh. He understood why Battle Algorithm had put hero courses at the top, it wasn't just because of his grades or letter of recommendation, it was because of his quirk. It was immensely useful not only from a one-on-one engagement perspective, but in terms of team operations too.
It could help him command even a ten-man or bigger team with ease, calculating the most optimal routes and tactics to utilize in any given scenario.
As a strategist, Takumi was invaluable.
3. Tokyo East Public Safety College — Quirk Crime Investigation Course.
If Takumi didn't want to become a professional hero, he also had the option of joining the HSPC. A parallel path that'd effectively make him the 'hero police'.
To be frank, he didn't find the HSPC particularly appealing. Too much bureaucracy, too much red tape, it was like taking the same negatives a regular policeman experienced and multiplying them by ten.
A college like that would love Takumi for his analytical ability and discipline, but even so, he had little interest in throwing himself into such a hyperpolitical den of vipers. He'd rather just be an ordinary police detective.
4. Sumida Technical University — Support Equipment Systems Course.
Monetarily speaking, working on support gear was an excellent choice for Takumi. His ability to perform a full evaluation of someone's quirk was nigh-godlike, determining the type of equipment that'd benefit someone the most on a day-to-day basis, regardless of whether they were a civilian or pro hero would be a breeze.
And it was no secret respected inventors raked in cash like it was no one's business.
5. Katsushika Metropolitan University — Disaster Response & Crisis Logistics Course.
The school's focuses were centered around disaster planning, evacuation modelling, and emergency management. Areas Takumi's quirk would help him excel in.
He didn't have any particularly strong feelings towards KMU. It wasn't a bad option for him, nor one he was especially keen on choosing either. It registered as the perfect middle ground on his limited emotional spectrum.
Takumi murmured a low hum as he thought his options over.
The first two choices would result in him becoming a pro-hero, a career which he believed to be a double-edged sword for him.
On the one hand, fighting crime was bound to strengthen his quirk, which for Takumi, was the last thing he wanted. The more fights he got in, the more Battle Algorithm would learn. Its tactics would become cleaner, its strategic processing quicker, the information it could take in from its surroundings more abundant.
An overall increase in his quirk factor. An overall increase in the information it crammed into his mind on a day-to-day basis.
Even his short battle with Reika had improved his quirk's algorithm.
Takumi couldn't avoid the passive progression of his quirk tied to his brain's natural development, once he was 25 years of age, his quirk would be at 100%. That was inevitable. It was a medical fact that applied to him, and nearly every other intelligence-quirk wielder on earth.
It's active progression on the other hand? He didn't have to fight people. He didn't have to boost his quirk's progression. He didn't have to let it reach 110%, 120%, 130%, so on and so forth.
On the other hand, being a hero could reinforce his sense of humanity. It was hard to forget human kindness when you went around saving the innocent on a daily basis.
If Takumi helped enough people, maybe, just maybe there was a slight chance his own 'goodness' could become a core, irreplaceable part of his quirk. A dataset that would never be buried or extinguished in favour of one it believed was more effective.
But that was just a gamble, nothing more. His own humanity wasn't a guarantee, but his quirk's active progression most definitely was.
'How troubling.'
He looked at his fathers' portrait and let out a heavy, mournful exhale.
'If only you had lived a little longer, I could really use your help right about now.'
There was little use in dwelling on the past, Takumi was on his own now, and unless he figured his future out for himself chances were he wouldn't even have one.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Unsurprised, he faced his door. Upon hearing the footsteps, his quirk had already calculated the visitor's stride interval and estimated weight in order to conclude who the person that decided to bother him on a Sunday morning was.
"Huh, you actually live here, four-eyes?" A familiar voice greeted him the moment he opened his door. "Man, this place is an absolute dump! Surely you could've found somewhere better?"
Reika Shiranui was at his door. As a yakuza boss in his local region, it was no surprise a name was all she needed to find his address.
"Not with my tax-bracket," he noticed the beer-case she was holding. "Is there a reason you're here? I believe you gave me your word yesterday that you'd leave me alone."
She chuckled. "So? I only meant that in the sense of pursuing you. There's nothing wrong with me just popping in to hang, is there?"
Reika tried to walk past him, but Takumi stretched out his arm, blocking the door.
"What?" She asked in irritation.
"No alcohol in my house," his eyes were laser-focused on the case. "Leave it outside. Throw it over the railing. I don't care what you do with it, I just don't want it inside."
Ignoring the fact that he was underage, Takumi had a principle of forbidding himself from interacting with alcohol in any way, shape, or form.
Alcohol dulled the brain. For Takumi, that meant he'd experience far less equations via his quirk while under the influence. He knew full-well that experiencing such a thing, even for the briefest amount of time, would result in an immediate, impossible-to-break addiction.
Even just having it around him was bound to be tempting.
Reika took a mental step back. On the surface it seemed like Takumi was just being overtly prim-and-proper, but at second glance, it was clear he was being dead-serious.
"Alright, alright. No alcohol." She sighed, leaving her drinks at his doorstep. "A booze-ban kinda makes for a boring chill sesh' though, don't you think?"
"If you can't interact with someone without alcohol in your system, what point is there in interacting with them at all?" Satisfied, he allowed her in.
"Ooo, aren't you Mr. Philosophical?" She waved her hands dramatically, taking immediate notice of Power's sound-asleep state upon entering. "Seriously? It's almost 11'."
"She's still somewhat malnourished, and your grunts taking her cat away put her under a lot of emotional stress. It's only natural that she needs some time to readjust." He replied calmly, crossing his arms and scrutinizing the yakuza lady-boss. "More importantly, why don't you tell me why you're really here? I know for a fact this isn't a social call."
Her brows lifted halfway. "You noticed? Heh, and here I thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping it lowkey. Or maybe it'd be more accurate to say your quirk noticed?"
Ever since their battle, Reika couldn't help but ponder over the nature of Takumi's quirk. Initially, she believed it to be something based on precognition, but just knowing the future didn't mean you knew how to react to it.
The high schooler didn't strike her as someone who had done much combat training either, if any at all. Which suggested his quirk was somehow giving him the ability to fight as if he were the word 'prediction' in human form.
"Maybe." He replied, unbothered. Reika was free to speculate all she liked, her knowing or not knowing how his quirk worked made no difference to him.
He even considered giving her the basic run-down, if it weren't for the fact she was trying to steer the conversation so she'd remain the dominant speaker. Exactly like she had done when they first met.
"You iceman types are a serious pain in the ass to deal with." Reika groaned in resignation. "Fine then. Takumi, I'm here to offer you a position—"
"No."
She blinked, mildly offended by his interruption.
"You didn't let me finish."
"Why should I? I have no interest in being involved with a criminal organization. What you offer me is irrelevant, my answer won't change."
"Why not?" She gestured to his abode in a less-than-pleasant manner. "You're capable of taking me one-on-one, yet you live like a peasant. Don't you think it's a waste? Don't you think you deserve more than this?"
He adjusted his glasses. "We deserve what we work for, not what we steal from others. I work as a part-time cashier, and I live in conditions befitting such a position. That's all there is to it."
Shunpei Kisaragi lived a humble life as a priest, but that didn't make him any lesser in Takumi's eyes. On the contrary, it made him even more deserving of respect. It was easy to give to others when you yourself lived in abundance, but to still give when you barely had anything yourself? That took serious character.
"That's all?" Audaciously, she laughed in his face. "Don't give me that nonsense! You, Takumi Kisaragi, are born to fight! You've got the mind of a hunter, I can tell! I'm not buying this whole 'humble keep to yourself' act you've constructed no matter how you try to spin it! At the end of the day, you're human, even if it isn't money I know there's something you want, right? So tell me! Tell me your wish and I'll help you achieve it!"
Takumi paused, his quirk quantifying Reika's words like usual.
'Conversation pattern detected: recruitment attempt. Persuasion tactics identified: flattery, incentive framing, urgency pressure.'
'Recruiter motivation probabilities. Talent acquisition: 48% Strategic advantage: 31% Personal interest: 13% Hidden motive: 8%.'
"First of all, lower your voice, Power's still asleep. Secondly, even if I did have a 'wish'," he maintained his dead-calm poise. "You are the last person in the world who could help me attain it. Besides, my future's already laid out right there." He pointed to his laptop.
Curious, Reika went to take a look.
"University?" She scoffed. "Can you even afford that?"
He shook his head. "No, those are just the five schools most likely to grant me a full-ride scholarship."
She clicked her tongue. "You call that a 'future'? You're just leaving it all up to chance."
"Perhaps, but my chances are a lot better than you seem to think." He looked to Power. "If you really want to make yourself helpful, arrange some identification for her so she can actually do something with her life other than relying on handouts."
"Done."
Reika's response came in a split-second, which Takumi met with a suspicious glare.
"Don't give me that look, I'm not doing it because I want something from you in exchange. I just want her cat to be with someone actually capable of looking after her." She shrugged. "That said, I do still want you in my Shiranui-kai, and believe me, I'll find a way to make it happen."
The tigress seemed to grasp that she wouldn't be making much headway with Takumi today, causing her to walk towards his door in preparation to leave.
"I'll have the girl's documents set up by tomorrow." She took one step out the door, offering Takumi a parting smile of confidence. "But don't forget, our affairs are far from over."
Takumi couldn't help but groan.
'This is what I get for sticking my nose where it doesn't belong.'
///
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