Yamazaki Household, Year 2304.
Seiki.
Seiki was still on the fence concerning his father.
He was all for his mother divorcing the guy, that was a given. It was what both his current mom and his future mom wanted after all. But Seiki still thought that this was going to go poorly. As for what 'this' was, his genius of a mother was going to demand a divorce. Today. As soon as his father got home from work.
As Seiki suspected, his mom's 'plan' did not go well.
In fact, it went even worse than he thought.
"You... you think we should stop seeing each other?" Hiroshi asked in disbelief. "Why?"
"Well, that's– it's because you don't care about Sei-chan," Narumi answered, fumbling her words slightly. Unfortunately, his mother didn't have his Quirk to rely on. "Or at least, not as much as you should."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes." she answered firmly.
Then Seiki watched as his father slapped his mother.
"I married you, provided for both you and the brat, and this is how you repay me? By shitting all over it?! Did you hit your fucking head, woman?!"
Seiki saw the pain, fear, and confusion wash over his mother's face. She looked lost, scared, and confused. Seiki knew that his father wasn't going to take this well, and that his parents used to get into arguments from time to time, but this... this was not something that he thought Hiroshi was capable of. To be fair, it had been quite a long time since Seiki had actually seen his father.
Not that Hiroshi was his father anymore.
Seiki clenched his jaw.
'Save2.'
*
Narumi.
Narumi reeled backwards from the slap, falling over in shock.
Her eyes watered, her vision blurred, and her face stung quite a bit. Narumi knew that Hiroshi wasn't going to take this well, but to think he would hit her. Hiroshi had roughed her up a few times before, but never in front of Seiki, and never as hard as this. Narumi was scared, confused, and most of all, she was heartbroken.
Narumi was still recovering from heartbreak.
She desperately needed to distance herself from Hiroshi, not just because he was fine with abandoning their son, but because she couldn't bear to look at him. Deep down, she still loved Hiroshi... and knowing that Hiro was willing to leave them both, that their relationship had a goddamn price tag... it hurt. It hurt far too much. A not-insignificant part of her wanted to just take Seiki and leave Hokkaido forever, maybe even Japan. But Narumi couldn't just up and leave without saying a word.
'But to think he'd hit me,' she lamented, tears streaming down her cheeks. Narumi didn't know what to do.
Then she watched as Seiki lunged at Hiroshi.
Sei-chan kicked Hiroshi in the back of the knee, and then he palmed her husband in the back of the head. However, even with his precise strikes, Seiki's adorable little fists just weren't enough to bring Hiroshi down.
Hiro stumbled forwards, whipping his head around to see Seiki standing behind him.
"You–! What the fuck are you doing?!" he reeled.
"Piss off. You hit mom. For that, you'll die." Seiki responded coolly.
Narumi shuddered. There was barely any heat behind his words, so Hiroshi probably thought that Sei-chan was just saying it... but no. Seiki was going to kill his father.
For her.
"Sei-chan, just go–"
"No," he cut her off. "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to enjoy it. And then, when I go back, I'll plan his death in a way that sets us up for a while."
Narumi took in what he said... and she had a lot of problems with it. How would he get away with it? What will they say to the cops? What if someone witnesses it? What if someone finds out about his Quirk? But after asking herself all those questions, it finally hit her.
It didn't matter. If Sei-chan wanted something, he'd eventually get it.
And as for the fight, well, Narumi found herself in awe. She had already seen Seiki fight using her Quirk, watching her little boy repeatedly correct his mistakes, but now she was viewing the finished product.
Hiroshi swung at Seiki, and her little boy dodged by a hair, palming his throat. Then he kneed Hiroshi in the groin, and just barely dodged his hold. "Urgh! Fuck!" Then Seiki did a perfect side flip, kicking Hiro right in the ear. That one caused him to stumble backwards.
'Beautiful,' Narumi couldn't help but think.
There were no mistakes, no flaws. Despites Seiki's tiny stature, every single movement was pristine. Cold and calculated. All moves that were slowly but surely chipping away at Hiroshi's stamina. It was fascinating to watch a grown man slowly lose a fistfight against a toddler... but no matter how ridiculous it looked, there was a chance of it happening. Even if the odds were only 1 in a billion, there was still a chance. And because of that, her little Sei-chan could only win.
"What the fuck!" Hiroshi growled, his disbelief apparent.
With a flash of sky blue light, a baseball bat appeared in Hiroshi's hands.
"Wow, using a Quirk to assault a child unprovoked," Seiki drawled. "How many years in prison would that get you? 10? 15?"
"WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!" Hiro screamed.
"You betrayed us," Seiki answered coldly. "My Quirk, Backpedal, lets me go back in time. Yes, I can time-travel. It doesn't even take you a single day to abandon us for 50 million yen. That was enough for mom to divorce you, and I was fine with that. But then you hit mom."
"B-But that's– I didn't do that! That wasn't me!" he sputtered.
"I don't care," Seiki replied. Then Narumi watched as Seiki charged Hiroshi once more, but this time, instead of going for a punch, he... stabbed Hiroshi in the gut. 'Where did he get the knife?' she wondered.
"Ah– ARGGGGGH! Fuck, fuck, fuck! FUUUUUCK!"
"Holy shit, fighting as a child is annoying," Seiki said to no one in particular. "It took me almost an entire hour to just get used to throwing punches, but actually taking down a grown adult... yeah, I'm probably just going to have to keep a weapon on me. Not to mention that this body is just, well, weak."
"W-What is– what is w-wrong with you?" Hiroshi rasped.
Seiki ignored him completely, before turning towards his mother.
"Alright, I'm going back. Love you mom."
"Ah– yeah. Love you too, sweetie."
LOAD1.
*
Seiki.
Watching her eyes come back into focus, Seiki sent his mother a flat look.
"I told you it was a stupid idea."
"Well I– I didn't think he'd slap me!"
Seiki rolled his eyes. He loved his mother, he really did– she was kind, caring, and she was willing to do anything for him, turn on anyone for him. It was impossible for Seiki not to love her. But at the same time, Narumi Yamazaki was human, and every human had their flaws.
His mom could be unbearably naïve at times.
"Don't worry, mom," he assured her. "Let's just play house for the next few days. I promise that he'll be dead by the end of the week."
"Do– Do we have to kill him?" she asked. Seiki saw... reluctance? 'Oh, right. Even if Hiroshi's a right bastard, she's only known that for a couple of hours tops. She must be heartbroken... shit.'
"No," Seiki answered, "But it's the best decision."
"Why?"
Seiki bit his lip. 'How the hell do I phrase this?'
'Save2. Load2.'
"Because we can't tell the truth," he answered. "As of now, you are the only person that I can trust with the true nature of my Quirk. I can't trust the government, and I sure as hell can't trust that bastard, either. But if you're going to split up with him, you'll have to talk to him. You can't just up and leave, since not only is he my blood-related father, but he technically hasn't done anything wrong. So our only real choices are for you to stay with him, fight him in court and probably lose, or I kill him. And I really, really want to kill him," he added helpfully.
His mother got on her knees and pulled him into another hug, their heads over each other's shoulders.
"That one took you a while to answer," she chided.
Seiki scoffed. "I hate you."
"I'm not happy with it, but I understand," she said with a sigh. "I just..."
"You wish he was a better man," Seiki finished for her.
"Yeah."
They stayed in each other's arms a while longer.
"Why did you call your Quirk Backpedal?" his mother asked, her curiosity plain as day.
"Well, even if the Hero Public Safety Commission is a cruel, controlling, vindictive organization, I still got a lot out of it. One of the many things they hammered into my skull was that whenever I was living in 'false time,' I should try to tell as many believable lies as possible. Not to mention that explaining the full nature of Save & Load to people who won't even remember it is a hassle."
"Makes sense, I guess," she mumbled, still hugging him tightly.
Now Seiki just had to plan his father's death.
*
5 Days Later.
Hiroshi.
Driving home after a long day at work, Hiroshi couldn't help but grumble underneath his breath. "Fucking bitch..."
He married Narumi, provided for her and the damn brat that she wanted for years, and then she goes and leaves him high and dry for an entire week? 'Narumi doesn't even do anything. She's a fucking housewife. If I find out that she's been sleeping around... I'll beat the shit out of her.'
"Turn green, dammit! Finally."
Hiroshi kept on driving, completely oblivious to the slight strain of his brake pedal. These last few nights, almost every single part required for the brake to function had been worn down immensely. Almost to the point of failure, but not quite. It was something relatively minor, the way it had more 'give' than usual– if you weren't a car person, you'd probably never even notice it.
The emergency brake would've been worn down too, but not only would that draw too much attention, it'd only take someone a little bit of probing to find out that Hiroshi didn't actually know that cars had those. Funny that.
Hiroshi didn't even realize that there was an issue until his final red light.
The light had turned yellow just a couple dozen meters out, so he put his foot down on the brake pedal a little harder than usual. That was when Hiroshi heard a CRACK, the pedal snapping off its hinge. The car not slowing down at all.
"Huh?" His eyes widened. "Fuck!"
Hiroshi reflexively slammed his foot back down on empty air– the pedal no longer there– even though a small part of him knew that it wouldn't help in the slightest.
HOOOOONK!
Hiroshi Yamazaki could only swerve slightly to the side before a semi-truck slammed into the front half of his car.
*
Seiki.
It was almost unsettling just how easy it was.
After skimming through a dozen different YouTube videos, and then erasing his search history (by saving and loading), Seiki Yamazaki made for a half-decent car opener. He wouldn't call himself a mechanic, not really, since all he really learned how to do was how to get inside a car. He also learned what parts were needed for the brake to function, what material those parts were made out of, and the best way to quickly wear down said material.
It did take a couple days for his grubby little hands to file them down though. It also took him a couple of loads to ensure that his father actually died, but Hiroshi's luck eventually ran out.
Hiroshi Yamazaki was no more.
Two police officers had showed up on their doorstep the following morning, and Seiki stood right behind his Narumi, peeking around her hip as they broke the news to her. Seiki hadn't actually told his mother how he would do it, just that he would– that way his mom wouldn't be able to accidentally incriminate herself.
His mother burst into tears, and then fell to the ground as she hugged him tightly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry Seiki, I'm sorry..." she muttered, and while the officers didn't say anything, Seiki understood. His mother was apologizing for forcing him to go through with something so horrible... but that was pointless. With the Hero Commission's training, he's long been desensitized to this kind of stuff. Hell, Seiki hadn't even been at the scene of the crime this time.
There wasn't even an investigation.
In fact, there was no reason for him to worry at all.
Hiroshi Yamazaki was gone, and the HPSC no longer knew about his Quirk. Seiki and Narumi now had their entire life ahead of them, and with Save & Load, they could quite literally do anything that they wanted. He already had a plan laid out– in a few weeks, Seiki would awaken his 'Quirk,' something bland and uninteresting. At the moment, Seiki was leaning towards Trickshot, the ability to, well, make trick shots. Then a couple of weeks after that, they would win the lottery. Seiki would also be homeschooled, since not only did he not want to interact with children his age, he'd also be able to spend more time with his mom. And after that...
Well, Seiki had all the time in the world to figure it out and more.
But even so, watching his mother slowly sink into herself made his chest hurt. Seiki had been the one to kill his father, and his mother was sad because his father was dead, so it was his fault that she was sad.
He knew that wasn't logical, but humans were rarely logical.
Hiroshi's funeral was no better.
Seiki knew Narumi had no living relatives, or at least, not any that she knew of. A handful of her friends had come out for the funeral to support her. They weren't people that he knew himself, but his mother seemed to know them, so Seiki didn't see a reason to pry.
As for his father, he didn't have anyone at all. It almost made Seiki feel bad. Almost.
Leaning into his mother's side as she cried above Hiroshi's casket, the casket of a man that he himself killed, his chest tightened. 'Was there a better way...?' He shook his head. 'No. There were certainly other ways, but this was the easiest. The fastest. The safest.' But that didn't mean it didn't hurt. It hurt him to watch his mother cry like this, and it hurt him even more to be the one who caused it.
Seiki would make sure that his mom got better.
But for now...
'Load3.'
"Sei-chan!" his mother cheered, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into the air with a grunt. "Ugh, you've gotten so fat," she muttered. "I can barely lift you."
"It's all muscle, mom," Seiki retorted, a small smile creeping onto his face.
"Whatever. We've got 3 entire days together... and we're spending them at Universal Studios Japan!"
This was 6 years after he had awakened his Quirk. Far enough into the future that his mother had gotten over Hiroshi's abandonment, and just a few months before the Commission started to truly pressure his mother. Back when his mom was still happy, when she had smiled just at his presence. Back before either of them had any real worries. Seiki has long lost count of the amount of times that he's used this Load, and at this point, he still wasn't sure if he'd ever use Save3 for anything else.
Part of him wishes that he could pick up right here, and continue with this life, but no. The Hero Public Safety Commission in this timeline knew about him, about his Quirk.
This timeline was uninhabitable.
But that didn't mean Seiki couldn't still slip into it from time to time, enjoying a weekend with the mom he left behind all over again.
*
*
*