While Mei was at school, Takuma busied himself scrounging every bit of info he could about U.A. From the curriculum to the alumni and anything in between, he spent his entire week collecting and classifying any relevant data to help him understand what he was aiming for. The campus was massive, far larger than he would've expected. The reason came from the different Grounds. Ground Alpha to Zeta were made to represent different aspects of any potential rescue the students from the hero course could encounter. How the school could afford to maintain entire mock cities he didn't know, but he felt the need to send a gift basket to the accountant who had to deal with this. Whatever budget was allocated to the hero course didn't pale in comparison to what was offered to the other courses. Support had nearly every available material the school could get their hands on and the latest tools and technology only surpassed by I-Island, since they were the ones who made the stuff to begin with. Business had the power to make deals with up-and-coming heroes, and their contracts were bargained and held by the monolithic power that was U.A. The general course produced the best of the best in their respective careers, with graduates receiving job offers from prestigious institutions before they even had their degrees. It explained why everyone and their mom fought for a place at this school.
How Nedzu, the supposed smartest being in the world, managed to do that would probably be an entertaining tale. Not that he ever wanted to be in the same room as him. He didn't know how an incredibly smart stoat experienced the world, but he hoped it wouldn't send him into a fit when he witnessed it.
All things taken into account, it was an informative search, stifled only by his care not to use any information his knowledge of the future provided him for his search. He was paranoid for some very good reasons and didn't want to bring unwanted attention to himself with some too-specific searches, like All Might joining the teaching staff or the fact robots would be used for this year's practical exam. Takuma wasn't worried; robots may not have been his favorite enemy, but he had an advantage over the other competitors. He knew about the Rescue Points awarded for acts of heroism during the exam. His plan was to hunt down participants who were in trouble while maybe smashing one or two robots along the way. He would have to search the schematics of the most used ones in the market so he could start learning how to dismantle them efficiently. Another thing added to the list.
Something worth mentioning was that Takuma wasn't solely preparing for the entrance exam; he needed to be ready for the U.S.J. It was his true goal because if he did a well enough job at playing with Tomura's mind, he could probably have him stay away from the school indefinitely. He wasn't willing to do a lot of things to normal people. Villains were free real estate, and he wouldn't bother going easy on them, not when their master was the Symbol Of Evil himself.
In the case of All For One, he had no clue how to go about dealing with him. Takuma doubted even if he used the full potential of his Quirk, it would do anything against the old monster. Strong personality and sense of self made playing with emotions difficult. He didn't know if it was the same for his memory manipulation due to how little practice or use he ever had for it. And it wasn't like he could just practice on random people; even common thugs didn't deserve to be used like lab rats. Villains were too few to be a good resource either.
Going out in search of trouble wasn't in the cards. Mei would probably have some very strong words with him if he started putting himself in danger for seemingly no good reason. And since he didn't want to start lying to her or couldn't afford to reveal his knowledge of the future, he was stuck. In a warm home with some nice food and nicer company. Truly, he was suffering from success.
To his chagrin, Mei was still reeling from his hiccup on Sunday. It was a monumental fuckup on his part, and he should have done a better job at masking how he felt. His pink-haired girlfriend had barely entered the warehouse in a week, focusing her efforts on helping him prepare for the entrance exam and cuddling with him every chance she had. He felt even worse. Sure, he loved the attention, but Mei had better things to do than deal with him. She had her own craft to perfect, and he hated seeing her waste time trying to make him feel better.
In the end, he had a pretty good idea of how to integrate into U.A. in the four months he had to prepare for the entrance exam. He only needed to know one last thing before he could go forward with his plan.
Was Izuku Midoriya still the heir to One For All?
This single question kept popping into his mind. Most of his knowledge revolved around him and his childhood. He was a bit too much of a wet blanket for his taste, but he hoped he would shape up into a hero able to fight against All For One soon enough. And so, for the first time, Takuma looked into meeting a member of the future Class 1-A. If he was still the heir to the number one hero Quirk, the butterfly effect could show itself in unexpected ways, and he dearly hoped the new heir, if a new heir existed, wouldn't be worse than the last. Here's hoping.
His need to check on how things were going turned into an opportunity this coming Saturday when it was time for another date.
"Wanna go dumpster diving?" he asked Mei as they shared breakfast in the morning.
"Oh, where?!" she replied with a burst of energy he had expected. "I know the best spot around here, but they've been emptied of anything interesting in the last few years. We could try the new landfill that opened close to the train line?!"
He let her finish her excited retelling before speaking again. "Well, I was browsing around the local news and there's a beach in Mustafu. It's close enough to be a day trip, and for some reason, a lot of things wash ashore. TVs, stoves, and even a few cars if the news sites tell the truth. The weather is a bit cold, but what do you think about a walk on the beach and some treasure hunting?"
"Yes!" She jumped from her chair, too much energy coursing through her to stand still as she started bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Oh, I need to grab my tools and some gloves-"
Whatever else she said was lost in translation between her mind and mouth as she started mumbling to herself, filling a bag with all the things she would need for their trip. 'Two birds, one stone,' he thought. He could check on the beach. If Midoriya was cleaning it, then it would absolutely be on the order of All Might. He didn't even need to see the boy. As long as a patch of the beach was cleared, he would have his answer. And he could enjoy his day with his gremlin of a girlfriend without worry. He was happy his offer had grabbed Mei like he hoped it would. He only needed to survive the drive there. Not a small feat.
Soon enough, they were out the door, and he was praying for a swift end as Mei drove like a madwoman around the curves and inclines of the Japanese roads. After an hour of driving, they finally arrived at the beach.
"I'll never get used to this," he bemoaned, a single step away from kissing the ground. "I need a driver's license, and so do you."
"Nah, that's boring," she denied without losing a step. "Alright, I have my gear, let's go!"
He shook his head at his girlfriend's antics and followed right after her. She was wearing her usual coveralls. The only difference was that due to the weather being a bit windy and cold, she had it zipped up entirely for warmth. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, her steampunk goggles left back at home for the time being. As for himself, he was wearing a set of comfy pants and a warm hoodie, the same baggy and unremarkable clothes he wore every day.
They walked to the beach itself, going through the stone stairs that led to the sandy bank. They were welcomed by a small hill of old and rusted equipment at the bottom. The beach was beautiful, even with the garbage taking a few points off the tally.
"Think you're going to find something interesting in there?" he asked, the close reminder of the death pile he had to contend with in the first few weeks of his stay with her still fresh in his memory. "Please don't get stuck under an avalanche of garbage and rusted sharp pieces of steel."
"I promise nothing~!" she singsonged as she started looking around, moving a few of the larger pieces of equipment around to start looking in its gut.
Takuma decided to quickly check who was in the range of his Quirk, finding only a few joggers and cyclists around. He had all day to look for clues, so he focused back on the present and joined his girlfriend at the foot of the pile. "Anything interesting?"
"Nope, help me move that one," she asked while grabbing the side of a refrigerator. He followed her command, and they both worked to move the kitchen appliance out of the way. "There, now let's see if there's anything worth my time in there."
She dug around the entrails of a heavy-duty printer. It wasn't rusted by the waves because someone had actually left it there. This place had turned into a dumping ground, and he could easily pick apart which parts had come here naturally due to the damage the water had caused. He didn't have a clue as to what phenomenon caused so much stuff to wash up on the beach, but he could admit he didn't care enough to find out.
"Did you find something you like?" he asked as he saw her carefully pry some components.
"I got some small lasers from the printer. With the ones I already have, I could totally build a sensor for one of the babies I plan to make for the sports festival. I can't make the stuff I want without a nano-printer, and the only ones available to the public are just cheap knock-offs, so I'm stuck with the basics until I can use the tools U.A provides. Can you imagi-"
She cut herself off, stilling for a second. "Why did you stop, something wrong?"
She let out a sad chuckle as she looked at him. "Force of habit. Most people don't like it when I start rambling."
Takuma hummed while scratching his chin. "Give me names."
She giggled with genuine humor. "No."
"I'll be done before sundown," he added with a bit of feral energy that made her blush. "They will never find out who did it!"
"You're not hunting anybody down. You have to study for the entrance exam," she reminded him with a shake of her head as she started working on extracting the components again.
"Drat, my scheme has been foiled yet again," he said, making a parody of himself to her delight.
He wasn't going to go after her classmates or teachers for some mean words. He would keep the breaking and entering and then snapping of kneecaps for a good reason if he ever needed it.
They spent an hour on the printer, tearing it down until all that remained was a pile of unusable scrap. Takuma was, of course, useless, more of a bag carrier than any actual help since he had no idea what components were worth her time or how to take them out without breaking them. He assisted where he could and tried to smooth out the process as best he could by moving and holding the printer in a way that allowed her to dive into its guts easily, until it was all but scrap and lying on the sandy floor.
"And done. I don't think there's anything else of worth in that printer. I can't believe someone would just leave something this pricey on some random beach," she commented idly as she wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve. "There's nothing else interesting; we should move up the beach."
"Alright, after you," he invited her after helping her to her feet. "Another hour and we can go look for someplace to eat. What do you think about that?"
"Oh, I could totally go for a milkshake right now," she said with gourmandise.
"Chocolate shake, I assume."
She gasped in mock outrage. "Who do you take me for? Of course with chocolate !"
"You cheeky gremlin," he chuckled as he laid his hand on her hips and brought her closer as they walked. "A day will come when all the chocolate in the world will be gone. What will you do then?"
"Time travel."
He laughed at her assured tone. "Is that really your first idea?"
"Huh, I'm sure I can make it work," she shrugged without a care in the world. "Fair warning, I'm taking you with me."
"I have been fairly warned," he drawled before kissing her on the cheek. "We mig-Ah!"
He choked back a scream as something tore through his guts. Once, twice, thrice. Again and again, a full loop of ignominable pain that seemingly went on forever. He fell to his knees, clutching his abdomen where his stomach should be.
"Takuma?!" Mei screamed in fright as he writhed on the ground. "Talk to me, what's happening?"
"Someone...pain...too much," he gasped as his nails dug into his hoodie, the only thing stopping him from digging into the skin of his belly. "Can't..." his last word was a whimper.
Mei was panicking next to him. There was nothing she could do. There was nothing he could do. The feeling intensified as the origin of the pain closed in on him. Takuma screamed. Mei called for help. A rush of air and as heavy boots landed right next to his field of vision, he lost consciousness.
Oh dear, it looks like the shit just hit the fan. The next chapter is going to need some heavy rewrites. Don't expect anything else this week. Thanks for reading.