Yamazaki Manor, Year 2311.
Seiki.
Sitting alone at his dining room table, eating a hearty breakfast cooked with the love and devotion of one of his many maids, Seiki hummed.
It's been a few days since Seiki met with his uncle, and all in all... Mirai seemed like a pretty cool guy.
Not that Seiki trusted him. Not yet.
Thanks to the nature of Save & Load, Seiki could not only hide his cards, but prevent anyone from knowing that he even had them. That's why Seiki wasn't shy about using his Quirk to make money, to recruit, and so forth– because unless he purposefully put himself out in the open, or announced his Quirk to the world... no one would ever know.
No one knows that he was an HPSC recruit gone rogue in a timeline that never was.
No one knows that Rinka, Konan, Azula and D'Vorah were destined to be villains without his direct intervention.
No one knows that his mother's wealth was acquired with Seiki's Quirk.
But he was walking a tightrope of sorts.
If no one ever suspected that Seiki Yamazaki was a precog– if no one ever made that first connection– then he would forever slip under the radar, without a single worry to his name. Tracking down a criminal on the run was one thing, but trying to find a criminal for a crime that only exists in an abandoned past, for a crime that only exists in the mind of the criminal that you're trying to convict... you would literally have better luck finding a needle in a haystack.
Not to mention that the only way the HPSC would ever be able to 'prove' his illegal Quirk use– the National Quirk Registry– didn't even have his real Quirk.
And 'Trickshot' was hardly worth any sort of investment.
But for this smokescreen of his to work, Seiki could never challenge that notion. Because the second that he stands out, the second that Seiki Yamazaki gives the world a reason to look into him, into his family, than that connection could– no, that connection would be made.
That was why, despite securing wealth, loyalty, and power, Seiki's made sure to never cross that line. Making sure that, no matter what, his actions what never gain the ire of the government. Every time Seiki's investments appeared 'too perfect,' warranting an investigation, he would Load. Every time a recruit proved to be volatile or unsavory, he would Load. Never risking the life he had here, the life he had with his mom. And that was also why, despite brazenly recruiting some of the most powerful female villains that he could find... Seiki has never stepped a single foot outside of Japan in real time.
Because Japan's heavy hitter, Japan's weapon, was All Might.
The absolute pinnacle of strength, of power. A physical powerhouse that Seiki could never hope to match, at least not with just Save & Load... and that was perfectly fine. Because even with the unfathomable power gap between him and the Symbol of Peace, All Might only had strength at his disposal.
No matter how hard All Might tried, he would never be able to 'beat' Seiki Yamazaki.
That was just the nature of Seiki's Quirk.
But when it came to the other powerhouses of the world... well, Seiki wasn't nearly as certain.
The United State's #1
Star & Stripe, or Cathleen Bate. [img]
South America's #1
~Levi-tan~, or Serafall Leviathan. [img]
Australia's #1
KHEPRI.
The United Kingdom's #1
Chronos, or Julius Novachrono. [img]
Russia's #1
Oathbreaker, or Ryomen Sukuna. [img]
Hong Kong's #1
Mófǎng, or Zhang Wei. [img]
Just to name a few.
The greater world was home to Titans that Seiki didn't know the limits of, that no one knew the limits of. Powerhouses that have spent their entire lives honing their skills as well as their Quirks, each becoming their country's uncontested top Pro. And when Star & Stripe could manipulate reality itself, or ~Levi-tan~ was an actual magical girl (at least according to the woman in question), Seiki had every right to be wary. Not to mention the others, who wielded mass hypnosis, time manipulation, conceptually binding vows, and power manipulation respectively...
In Seiki's mind, there just wasn't anyone outside of Japan worth recruiting, not it if meant encroaching on the territory of those Titans.
Well, besides Killer Frost.
Killer Frost [img]
'But she turned out to be a total fucking nutcase,' Seiki thought with a grimace. Killer Frost had potential... but it was just that. Potential. Because even if Crystal Frost was one the most powerful cryokinetic in the world, Quirks weren't everything.
Not even in a world of Quirks.
*
Hudson University, New York, 3 Years Earlier.
The Killer Frost Incident.
Public knowledge of the crisis was rather limited, but people had a general idea of what happened. Crystal Frost, now dubbed 'The Killer Frost,' was a student at Hudson University when she suffered some sort of psychotic break. Because Crystal never aspired to be a hero, her Quirk, Heat Conversion, had completely slipped under the radar. Before her debut, no one knew what Crystal Frost was truly capable of, or even who she was. But when you encase the entirety of Hudson University in ice, and most of upstate New York... killing 58,000 people in a matter of minutes, and injuring hundreds of thousands more... people learn who you are.
A villain like no other, with the highest death toll in human history.
The modern equivalent of Hiroshima. The Killer Frost.
But despite the incredible power that she wielded, Crystal Frost's rein didn't even last a single day. After all, New York was Star & Stripe's backyard, so it was only a matter of hours before Crystal Frost was brought to justice, and the 'Killer Frost' met its end.
And when Seiki (as well of the rest of the world) learned of her wrath, Seiki decided that Crystal was worth his first venture outside Japan.
Because if there was anything that could deter the HPSC from interfering with his life ever again, it was that.
But when he 'interviewed' Crystal Frost, wanting to understand the woman behind the mask... Seiki couldn't help but cringe.
Seiki understood that the concepts of 'hero' and 'villain' were heavily misconstrued. In fact, having recruited Konan, Rinka, D'Vorah and Azula, turning them from potential villains into productive members of society, he probably understood that better than anyone else. Seiki truly believed that no one was born evil, and at some point, everyone had at least some good left in them. Not that he was about to start 'spreading the love' or some crap like that.
But Crystal Frost was just... unhinged. Batshit crazy. There was no other way to put it.
With an obsessive, one-sided love towards Martin Stein, a college professor that just so happened to be nice to her, she was all but impossible to reason with before she snapped. Which just led him to the question... just why did Crystal snap? Well, when Martin wasn't willing to date Crystal, because she was his student, Crystal went from a timid anti-social college girl to a psychopath who killed everyone in her wake, with an avid hatred of men. Because since one man wasn't willing to date her, that meant that all men were evil, vile creatures to be killed on sight. The levels of hypocrisy and delusion were honestly repulsive, and after a couple dozen Loads of listening to Crystal's bullshit, it wasn't long before Seiki completely gave up on Crystal's recruitment.
But to make the weeks of preparation, of acquiring passports and visas for him, Narumi, Konan, Rinka, and Azula worth it, Seiki decided to use this as an opportunity to put America's weapon to the test.
*
Standing just outside Hudson University, Seiki let out a breath. It's been about half an hour since he sent his mom and his followers away, giving them just enough time to escape the endless ice that awaited him. Because even if they wouldn't remember their deaths, Seiki would.
Checking his phone for the seventeenth time, it read 2:08pm.
"I think that should do it," Seiki quietly muttered to himself, before dialing the most important number in the United States. 300 years ago, that number would have belonged to the President, but in the era of Quirks...
RING! RING! RING–! *This is Cathy. Who's this?*
'You have no idea what a fucking pain it was to get this number,' Seiki grumbled internally, before asking, "Are you a hero?"
*You could say that,* Cathy answered with a bit of cheek. *Why do you ask?*
"Because I am about to die."
There was a pause.
*I'm sorry?* Cathy asked, her voice much more serious.
"My Quirk, Pathway, lets me view my own future, and in the next 20 minutes, I am going to die," Seiki explained, his voice shaking slightly (on purpose). "The only path that I saw to survival was calling this number. C-Can you... can you save me?"
*Of course I can. Where are you, sweetheart?* she assured him, not even hesitating for a moment.
"H-Hudson University, New York," he replied quickly. "I don't know exactly what happens, but the entire University, as well as most of New York will be c-covered in ice," Seiki mumbled, "and now that I've told you that, my path to survival is clearer. The culprit is a student at Hudson, a girl with an ice Quirk... blonde hair, white skin, petite figure... her name... is... Crystal Frost?" Seiki asked, slightly bewildered. His reaction had actually been genuine when he first learned her name, because really? Crystal Frost?
*Don't worry, I'm already on my way. What's your name, sugar?*
"It's S-Seiki. Seiki Yamazaki," he answered truthfully. "I-I'm from Japan. I'm with my mom. She's t-touring potential colleges," he quickly added. That wasn't completely true, but it also wasn't something that Cathleen or any of the military personnel listening into their call could verify. At least not in the next twenty minutes.
*Don't cha worry, Seiki. I'll save you. See you in a few.*
And while Seiki hadn't outright lied to Star & Stripe, he hadn't been completely honest, either. After all, Seiki would be dead in less than 20 minutes if Cathleen didn't manage to save him... in 12 minutes, to be more exact. It took him a couple of Loads to time it right, but he eventually got it to where Cathy, despite rushing to Hudson University at full speed, would only make it to his location moments after the Killer Frost debuted. Giving himself a front seat to what would eventually be known as the most heinous villain attack in the world, as well as the perfect view of how Star & Stripe would stop it.
Cathleen was a distant whistle, just a dot in the sky when the Frost hit.
One second, it was mid-afternoon in June, one of the hottest times of the year. But before Seiki could even blink, there was ice. A thin sheen of frozen moisture so cold that Seiki couldn't even feel it, even though it covered everything in sight. At least not at first. But it wasn't long before his fingers, his toes started to burn. Before his eyes that had been frozen open started to sting. As a painful warmth spread throughout his body, Seiki recalled that little tidbit about how, just moments before you froze to death, you'd feel your body surge with heat. The last bit of warmth before the eternal freeze.
And as Seiki's vision blurred, his thoughts slowing as his consciousness dimmed, the forced Load just seconds away from activation... he heard it.
"☆Ice. This ice... will melt instantly!☆"
"☆Atmosphere. The atmosphere from here... to 1km in front of me, cannot lose heat!☆"
Seiki's heart skipped a beat as the strongest woman in the world spoke, and the world obeyed.
'Voice activation,' Seiki noted, not that that was new, or even useful information. The important bits, like what she could affect, how many 'orders' she could make, and how long her orders could last... that was something that no one knew. The only thing Seiki managed to piece together was that Cathleen needed to name a target to affect it, but for all Seiki knew, Cathy just had to say 'Japanese boy,' and then she was free to manipulate 'Seiki Yamazaki' however she so desired.
But most importantly, Seiki did not know the depths that her voice could reach. For all Seiki knew, Cathleen could say, "☆Seiki Yamazaki can no longer use his Quirk,☆" and that would be it. Checkmate with just a single phrase.
This was the power of Star & Stripe, of Cathleen Bate. The strongest woman in the world.
"Load2," Seiki muttered, immediately leaving that timeline behind him, returning to the safety of Japan with just a single thought.
*
Yamazaki Manor, Present Day.
Star & Stripe. ~Levi-tan~. KHEPRI. Oathbreaker. Chronos. Mófǎng.
These were the Titans that sat at the top of the world. Titans that were currently vying for the top spot, the entire world silently deciding who would eventually replace All Might, Japan's prized Symbol of Peace. A list that Seiki Yamazaki would eventually find himself on, believe it or not.
But even as these threats silently loomed over his head... Seiki still felt safe. Relatively speaking.
After all, they were heroes. Heroes didn't kill unless it was absolutely necessary, and Seiki wasn't about to test that theory. Not to mention that, as long as he never left Japan, he'd most likely never have to worry about their interference.
And if all else fails, Seiki still had his 'lifeline,' Save4.
Two months, three days, sixteen hours prior. Seiki moves it up every once in a while, but only after he's absolutely certain that the true nature of his Quirk still eludes the HPSC... which results in a lot of 'terrorist attacks' in dead timelines. And even if they will never remember it, Seiki was still grateful for all of his companion's contributions. Hawks' feathers were a lot more manageable when you had a fiercely loyal strike team underneath your command.
And now that Seiki's met his uncle, he's not moving Save4 from it's spot for a long, long time. Because not only is Mirai Sasaki one of the very, very few people who knows his mother personally, including her Quirk... but it's only a matter of time before he learns of their 'rags to riches' story, and as a precog himself, Seiki is almost certain that his uncle will eventually make that connection.
He'll just have to wait and see what Mirai does once he makes it.
But before Seiki clashed with the rest of the world, he'd have to survive the Titan looming in the shadows, the Titan hiding in his very own backyard.
Despite both living in the same island nation for over a decade, neither All For One nor Atlas knew that the other existed. With All For One slowly eroding his traces from Japan's history, turning his Quirk into little more than a myth... and Atlas having been slowly pushed into a corner, before erasing every trace of his Quirk from history in an instant... it was nothing short of a miracle that they have had yet to meet.
But it was only a matter of time before one of them permanently discovered the other, and the world could only hope that it was Atlas who did it first.
Because if All For One managed to get the drop on Atlas, if the Demonlord of Japan were to get his hands on both immeasurable power AND infinite time... the world wouldn't survive the aftermath.
But that fated encounter was still a few months away.
*
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