Chapter 1 – Learn and Adapt

"Word" - Dialogue

'Word' - Thoughts

Chapter 1 – Learn and Adapt

All I could remember was playing several games of League of Legends after getting home from school, losing a few but winning more overall, then reading some updated stories before literally passing out in my bed. Looking back, I probably should have been alarmed at the condition I was in at the time, with each game I could feel myself gradually growing weaker for some reason, even though I took breaks in-between before queuing up. By the time I was in bed, my vision slowly became blurry, unable to even properly make out a sentence of the screen on my phone. I was positive it was from sleep deprivation, it was just like any other night and didn't feel like anything was "wrong" with my body, so I didn't think too much about it.

It might sound weird to say, but I accepted my death gracefully.

There was a reason for that, because it was swift and over within a flash.

The moment my ears were met with dead silence, I started to feel scared. Where am I gonna go? Is this it? A black void where time was irrelevant and existence itself was once but a thought. After a countless amount of time passed, the unthinkable happened.

I was given a second chance at life.

I could remember my birth quite clearly, can't say I enjoyed reliving that experience. As you know, when a baby is born it's normal for it to cry, meaning the child gives off a good sign that it's healthy.

Me, however, when I first set sight on this new world, I mostly screamed at what the first thing my eyes witnessed, a giant bear in a doctor's attire. His large hands holding my small frame like it was nothing. Safe to say, he was shocked at the behavior as I could only scream at the top of my lungs and kick away to not get eaten. Actually, looking back on it, I think my reaction was perfectly acceptable.

Aside from re-experiencing infancy once again, I learned very quickly this wasn't the same as in my old life. Somehow, I was reborn into the My Hero Academia universe. How was I sure? Well I was in Japan, in the twenty-third century, with technology and superheroes I've only seen in fiction were very real. There were many examples that I came across, I didn't believe it at first, but as more time passed I came to the conclusion this was my reality now.

I was an infant, sure, but I was positive my mind wasn't playing tricks on me, there was no point in denying it. It wasn't the most ideal place or my first option if I could choose, but it could have been far worse honestly.

I was reborn into a new world, with the name Yukio Toshiaki.

My new Mother and Father, Ahmya and Riku Toshiaki, couldn't be any more overjoyed. Father was fairly tall with green eyes and short messy black hair, rarely having any facial hair. Mother had long white hair that complimented her ocean-blue eyes. They owned a house in a lengthy neighborhood with each one resembling the same in appearance with different sections rearranged, the two-color scheme giving it an appealing look.

Only my Mother had a Quirk, which was essentially Plant Manipulation. She mostly used that to decorate the house with colorful plants and maintain a jaw-dropping garden, several tall trees in unorthodox growth patterns that give it a unique appearance, various flowers scattered around with a nearby pond. Personally, I enjoyed when I was outside with her and watching her work, it was an impressive sight to admire. I spent an equal amount of time with both of them, their personalities complimenting each other the more I observed them. Life was weird, but I was adjusting since I didn't know any Japanese which took some time to get a hang of as I couldn't properly understand what my parents were saying, but overall, life in the Toshiaki household was normal.

Then it happened.

Ahmya, my mother, got into a terrible crash after getting off a long shift from the hospital, some idiot not looking ran across a red light and directly hit the driver's seat. Sadly, before the ambulance even showed up it was already too late.

Even though I didn't know her for that long, I was still devastated after hearing the news from that phone call late at night.

My new Father went through a difficult time for the first few weeks, something that was out of his control. I couldn't blame him for losing focus or not able to stay concentrated for even the simplest of tasks, it was a natural grieving process. My presence to him was a mix of joy and grief, with no sign of his behavior changing any time soon.

Until I said my first words. When my vocal cords formed to properly construct a sentence out loud, I told him, "it's not your fault, daddy" several times on repeat. When I said that, it sent him off the edge, spending half the day in tears and inside his room when he would put me to sleep. I didn't see much of him that day, and could only wonder what kind of thoughts went through his mind, fearing I made the wrong decision.

However, ever since then, the changes were slowly starting to show.

The transition moved at his own pace, gradually picking up the pieces to turn his life back into order. He was more attentive, caring, and most importantly, he was healing. Getting back into the groove at work, everything was going back to how it used to be.

I, however, didn't stop with the surprises. The daycare that I was enrolled in wasn't prepared for me, the lady almost regularly contacting my father to talk about my "abnormal" behavior. Considering I could communicate either through talking or in written form, as well to actually "know" stuff a toddler couldn't even fathom. I was behaving way older than my small form displayed, which was questioned early on. Even some of the doctors were speechless when I took several tests. Father was shocked at the results, having a little "genius" in the making, my level of maturity with my playfulness. At home I'd watch dozens of TV shows that were expansive in terms of storytelling, and I could understand it all, as well as the concept of keeping things clean and organized.

Everything I did in my old life, I was doing now because I mean honestly, they had good programming in this universe, why wouldn't I abuse that?

To say Father was stunned is an understatement, he couldn't believe it so soon because each time I'd impress him more. Since both of us experienced different transitions around the same time, the barrier and level of understanding evened out, becoming more normal in what can be considered an abnormal case.

Initially, they believed that I had an intelligence Quirk, as it easily explained how quickly I "learned" and showed a high level of understanding at such a young age. I never spoke directly about that topic, as it was a blatant lie, nor did I want to get into it. After a while, the adults assumed that was the reason, some actually helping me when I was at the daycare and not focused on playing rather than learning.

It was a very good thing, actually, as there was a little helper capable of doing daily tasks and chores. Naturally, he wouldn't simply allow me to do it, but I insisted nonetheless, so it kind of became a habit. It also enabled us to connect a lot easier, such as his hobbies and life at work.

Turns out, he was the owner of a fairly sized automobile repair shop. Born Quirkless, I learned he was okay with it, even if he had one he implied the superhero business never really interested him all that much. While the profession was cool and a dream-come-true for many people, some preferred not risking their safety every single day for the rest of their lives.

I could respect that. While there exist other jobs to apply Quirks to, it pales in comparison to becoming a licensed hero.

He could tear apart a car and fix it up twice as better. In the twenty-fifth century, cars have evolved quite a bit, on the inside and outside. Every area was upgraded, abusing the advanced technology whilst having many similarities to how they looked like several centuries prior. Father liked doing the work himself rather than sitting inside the office to simply collect the payment when it's done, but as a result, had lots of paperwork to take care of at home. While it was tedious, it was his passion and it paid fairly well, a win-win situation in my book.

Now I was five years old, reasonably adjusted to my new life, albeit annoyed at my small form. My room shared some resemblance to how I kept my old one, only way cleaner than how I was known to keep it. To occupy my boredom, and not waste time, I filled it with a mix of games and books, the ladder mostly on technological advancements over the course of three centuries. It was a hassle but I was slowly figuring out how everything worked and getting more familiar with technology.

I enjoyed how I spent my free time, and will definitely pay off in the long run.

---LineBreak---

Looking at my reflection of the large mirror in my room, I still kind of found it unbelievable how my appearance changed. From my memory, I resembled my younger self but instead of chocolate brown hair was silver hair for my two short bangs and a small part of the front, from there, was a messy black for the rest. My Mother had stunning white hair, so I inherited some trait from her, at the right spot I might add. My skin was lighter than I remember it to be, my body on the leaner side. I wore a loose white t-shirt a few sizes larger with black sweatpants that fitted neatly. I had a bit of a growth spurt, now standing at three feet and eleven inches, making me quite tall for a five-year-old.

It was weird, but it was growing on me.

"Hey, dad," I called out to him while passing through the living room. "I'm going out for a walk, gonna stop by the store on my way back, need anything?"

It seemed I caught him at a bad time, his hands searching through piles of paperwork while his gaze kept shifting to the screen of his laptop. "What? Oh, yeah umm, there's a list, somewhere. I don't know where I- oh, the fridge, it's on the fridge."

He was so focused on his work, he was barely able to formulate a reply, his hands fidgeting as he remembered where he put the shopping list. Snatching it off the massive fridge, I looked over what's needed.

"Sorry, forgot to go for errands after work, this paperwork is driving me-"

I interrupted him before he could finish by snatching the list from him. "Don't think about it, why do you think I asked? I can see you have your hands full, so I don't mind helping out."

He turned his gaze towards me, a soft smile on his face. "Thanks, son, I appreciate it. My wallets on the counter, take a little more with you and buy yourself something while you're at it."

Flashing a smile and thumbs up, I went to the front door to put on my shoes, then taking the amount to get everything on the list. With that, I was on my way.

I was born into this world a little over five years ago, and yet, I still couldn't get used to it. It was surreal, to be honest. I was never much of a believer in reincarnation, and it certainly boggles my mind I was now living in the crazy world of My Hero Academia. In Musutafu, wherever you looked you could spot some sort of superhero walking about, and since there were plenty of criminals, you could witness them in action first hand. It's weird when I think about it thoroughly, several centuries ahead of what I was used to now had advanced technology and superheroes that were once fiction.

Well, twice if you count my predicament.

With eighty percent of the world's population possessing some sort of power, the odds are in your favor to get something. I, sadly, think I'm in the other twenty percent that receive absolutely nothing. To be fair, I was still only five years old, meaning the possibility of awakening some sort of power is alive, but lately, I'm thinking it's just not going to happen. We've yet to go to the doctor to confirm if I'm actually Quirkless, and to be honest, I didn't want to at this point.

In the previous year of kindergarten, almost every kid developed their Quirk roughly the same time, all except me. At first, I was crushed. Given a second chance at life at a world where superpowers exist and I was left out. It was thought, but I decided crying over spilled milk wasn't going to get me anywhere.

It was reality, one I didn't want to accept but know there was no changing that.

In this world, the same world I thought to be fictional, doesn't make all men equal. I was bitter, and reasonably disappointed by my crappy luck.

Nevertheless, I could use the opportunity to my benefit, not wallow at what could have been. There were various ways I could go about my new life, since I got a restart button I can use the time to learn as much as I can, I always was interested with technology, and I can take this chance to center my life around that. The chance to make tons of fun and useful gadgets was the most appealing option to me, so maybe hope is not all lost.

The laws of this reality were unfair, but not permanent. If I work hard enough I could make some sort of breakthrough, maybe even change the quota in various fields in the meantime. Countless sources of study programs were all but within my grasp, so I'd very much like to devote my time to explore the second-most intriguing concept that was overshadowed by Quirks.

Who knows, I maybe I could the next Steve Jobs of this universe.

But that's a problem for another day, right now, shopping duty is the main priority.

"Afternoon!" I greeted the clerk behind the counter with a wave as the sliding doors opened.

"Oh, hey Yukio-kun!" The teen worker waved back with a smile. "What brings you here?"

"Simple shopping," I held up the list. "That and might rummage through your ice-cream

"Heh, shopping," the teen chuckled as he put down his magazine. "When I was your age, all I knew was how to fall off a bicycle, let alone follow a list on what to buy in the store."

I shrugged with a smile. "What kind I say, I'm a special case."

"If ya need anything, I'll be right here."

Giving another wave for a response, I took one of the smaller shopping carts to fit my height, proceeding to lurk around the familiar store. Since the list was relatively simple, there wasn't anything too heavy for my child body to handle, some ingredients, premade meals and bread. Within about a few minutes, I pulled the small shopping cart towards the counter, the teen helping me to take all of it out.

While digging through my pockets to find my money, I remembered I had more on me, totally forgetting I could snag a few things for myself. "Would it be a problem if I leave my bags here? Wanna get something from the ice-cream section."

"Sure, I'll just set these off to the side until you get back."

Muttering a quick thank you, I went off to the far end of the store towards the freezers, wanting to see if they had any good ice-cream for the taking.

'C'mon, can't stay here all day, just pick something,' I thought furiously, unable to decide what to buy. While my head was focusing between my options, I could hear the beep of the sliding door opening but I ignored it. "To Hell with it, this better be good."

Just as I was about to turn back, I saw two clouds of dust flying above the tall isles, obliterating the camera in the far left corner, the same cloud maneuvering to others in quick succession. Before I could even register the sudden action, I heard something I wasn't hoping to hear.

"This is a robbery! Put everything you got in here!"

My blood ran cold, the sound of those words, the unsettling feeling making my stomach flip upside down. Dashing to the edge of the isle for cover, I moved so I could take a peek at the ones at the counter.

'Three of them, but I can't see clearly from this angle!' I thought worryingly, as well as mentally cursing myself. 'For fucks sake I should have just left the first time!'

Moving one more section to get a better look, I could clearly see all of them. One was fairly tall with a bulky frame coated with scales, its head somewhat resembling a dinosaur with human features. The other two, albeit normal in appearance, wore identical black sweatpants and hoodie that covered their faces.

"Oi! Rakkī, go into the backroom with this twerp and crack the safe!" The man with dust spears around him pointed at the clerk, then turning to the taller one. "Kyōro, round up everybody here and take whatever valuables they have!"

With a grin, the dinosaur fellow walked towards the nearest civilian, making the man scream in fear. From there, more and more screams could be heard as the dinosaur walked around to capture them all. Thinking on my feet, I moved the stack of boxes placed on the lowest shelf, taking advantage of the empty space from within to box myself in. Albeit scared, I was careful to not cause any noise nor blow my cover. Once I was in, I took slow but heavy breaths, trying to keep it at a steady pace.

'Oh god, this is way worse than how I imagined it!' I screamed inside my head, trying my absolute best to remain calm, but couldn't stop my body from shaking. Most of the noise from the outside grew silent, the one and only sound of heavy footsteps gradually increasing.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain erupted in the center of my chest.

"Aaghh!"

I clutched my eyes as hard as I could, but it was to no avail. It was like they were on fire, no, more like they were dunked in a tub of acid. The sensation spread across my whole body, I could only squirm and clutch my sides until this goes away. It may seem like an exaggeration, but it felt like my cells were burnt to a crisp before instantly repairing themselves from top to bottom.

'W-What is this?!'

My brain was working overtime to figure out what just happened to me, something was different, I'm sure of it.

Then it hit me, my Quirk manifested!

Pretty crappy timing, but that wasn't anything new when weird phenomenons happen randomly to me.

I looked over my body, noticing there weren't any kind of transformations or alterations, although my insides felt different. I couldn't explain it, but I sort of felt... hungry?

My thoughts were broken when the boxes covering me were tossed aside, the sudden occurrence of light blinding my vision momentarily. When my eyes reopened, I was greeted with the ugly smirk of the dinosaur-humanoid hybrid.

"Found you!"

Before I could even attempt at an escape, or get over my discomfort, his abnormally large hand capturing my entire frame, only my left arm free from his hold.

"Let go of me, you fossil!" I yelled while trying to break free. The oxygen my lungs could take decreased as his hand gripped my body, only making me even more desperate from some sort of plan to get out of this scenario. I managed to squeeze out my right arm, digging my fingers into his scale-like skin.

It was all I could do, and it made no difference.

Or so I thought.

My eyes were closed shut to withstand the feeling of being squashed, but his grip was loosening. Simultaneously, I could feel a warm sensation surging through-out my body, the palm of my right hand being most prominent. When I opened them, I saw the dinosaur with an exhausted expression, breathing heavily as the last of his strength in his arm was gone, releasing me to fall back on the floor. Once we broke skin contact, the warm feeling was cut off, but it was still very much present.

When my feet were on the floor, something else… happened.

It may sound weird, but I was positive I could feel my insides starting to change. Looking down at my arms, the sleeves of my shirt were slowly tearing apart as my arms grew twice their original size, my shoes becoming increasingly tight, but my pants still seemed to hold on. My skin had a similar pigment to his, while also growing scales that were less mixture with my own skin color.

The effect lasted a few short seconds, but the transformation my body had undergone was fast. Even the way I breathe was different.

The dinosaur criminal groaned, his eyes solely focused on me while breathing heavily. "I'll squash you for that…!"

When his hand made another attempt to grab me, I noticed it moved a lot slower than the first time. Taking advantage of that, I ducked then dashed to the side, once again my brain going into overdrive to analyze my situation when I stood up.

'Okay, I think I figured out what my Quirk is,' I thought while closely observing the weakened criminal. 'It's an absorption ability it seems. I don't remember hearing one going to these lengths, with the body mutating from the subject the user absorbed. I know that 1-B student could copy two Quirks at a given time, but fully copying someone? This is something I have to explore once I get out of here.'

Turning around, the dinosaur charged with both his arms wide open, with me sliding between the large opening between his legs. While doing so, my fist met his crotch, a loud and ear-piercing shriek could be heard afterwards. Clutching his nether region, the criminal fell to his knees with his head crashing into the freezers,

Looking down at my arm, several thoughts ran through my mind. "Seems like I got some of his strength, that's good to know. But if I can already absorb stuff, is there a limit to it?"

"Kyōro! What the hell is going on back there!?" The leader shouted toward his friend.

There was only one way to find out, and I had my chance right in front of me. Slapping him on the back with my open hand, I tried doing the same thing I did not even a minute ago, with one single thought in mind.

To take his powers for myself.

The more I concentrated, I could feel it working, I think. My fingertips were like tiny vacuums, sucking all the criminal had to offer. Just like before, my body started to change, although the sensation wasn't as uncomfortable, unlike the first time. My arms grew twice their size, the sleeves tearing into shreds with my pants ripping from below the thighs. Shifting my focus to the side, I could faintly see my reflection from the glass door of the freezer that was undamaged. While my facial features were almost entirely covered in scales, my hair and facial structure were the same. Judging by a rough estimate, I grew around an additional fifteen inches, with my overall physique bulkier in numerous places. I felt… amazing, not to mention

Throwing a glance at the criminal I absorbed, I noted his body deflated slightly, but nothing major.

Huh, interesting.

No! Stay focused, dammit.

"The fuck are you doing, Kyo-" The criminal speaking stopped mid-sentence as he turned the corner, eyes wide as dinner plates at the sight of his companion kneeling down, unable to even stand up. When he spotted me, his face turned to one of full rage.

Extending his arms, dust from beneath the shelves moved towards him, creating several spears from it. Throwing both arms out, they were sent flying towards me. Tilting my head slightly to dodge the first one, I broke off into a run towards him, zigzagging to evade the incoming spears. Since he focused solely on projectiles that weren't that fast, he was totally defenseless, one good hit would be more than enough. However, I got too cocky, a single spear moving towards my head. With my instincts taking over, I shielded my face with my arms, preparing for the impact.

Instead of feeling any kind of injury, I felt a slight tickle, nothing more. Checking my arms, I observed how the dust slid down my newly changed skin, some embedding itself between the scales. Establishing eye contact with the criminal, his face perfectly described how screwed he was from this moment. Grinning, I charged in with no fear.

More spears came my way, either dodging them by an inch or tanking it with my reinforced skin. At best, I could feel on each spot they hit leave a faint sting, but nothing more than that. The closer I got, the more panicked he got, flailing his arms around rapidly as result, precision slowly giving out on him. Reaching the end of the aisle, I used the built-up momentum to my advantage, shaping myself into a human-sized cannonball when I jumped forward.

When I crashed into him, all he could do was release a loud gasp as his body went flying backwards, knocking down the small metal stand behind him. I was lying on top of him, now sitting on his stomach as I was the first to take action. Before he could even lift himself up, I aimed for the throat with my two fingers to keep him down. It wasn't that hard of a hit but was very effective. As he clutched it while gasping for air, I finished the job with a clean hit to the temple, the enhanced strength knocking him out instantly. I grabbed the fallen metal stand and took the shelf part with ease, making make-shift cuffs.

Touching the parts of the shelf, my mouth was met with a sour and very bitter taste, noticing my fingers turned from a scaly green color to a dark silver. They also felt… heavier?

'Okay… I didn't expect that.' I thought confusingly.

As my hands touched his exposed skin while restraining his hands then his ankles, the vacuum-like sensation returned on the tip of my fingers. I didn't feel any kind of change to my body, rather a simple taste of "uncleanliness" around my whole mouth. Seems like I can take multiple powers while I already took one.

An unexpected surprise, but a welcomed one.

So his Quirk is to manipulate dust, which means this type of power revolves around feeling and concentration to properly control. With the whirlpool of emotions, alongside the abundance of adrenaline, I envisioned the object I wanted, the dust around me flying to the tip of my finger, forming a thick collar that loosened the moment I started losing focus.

'Simple, but I could use this.'

Since two were out, I should take out the last one while I still have the element of surprise. Going towards the backroom, I climbed on top of the refrigerators that were right beside it, the anticipation from waiting slowly annoying me as I controlled a cloud of dust above my hand.

"Boss? What's going on back-"

The dust cloud swooped down directly into his mouth and eyes when he stepped out, instantly disorienting him. To seal the deal, I dived in with a punch to the nose when he positioned himself at just the right angle, effectively breaking it. The man could only groan as he fought to stay conscious, while I got up to push the shelf beside him, his eyes instantly widening at the sight of it wobbling. Alongside it, dozens of canned food fell on top of him, one last groan escaping his lips before fully passing out.

Falling to my knees, I breathed in and out slowly, finally able to gather my thoughts in peace.

Did I just take out three thieves just like that?

To be fair, they were pretty incompetent at their job, so some credit I deserved I think.

Soon after, an odd but reassuring silence was met within the isles of the grocery store, the people taken hostage slowly rising up to reassure themselves they were now safe. The workers were the ones who were the most careful, in the fear that their troubles weren't over. The last thing they expected was a kneeling boy with scale-like skin wearing torn clothes that barely stayed in place.

As I formed eye contact with the two workers, I realized I had nothing to say for myself. The more time passed the more awkward this became, opting me to choose the most logical option I could do at this moment.

Run away.

"I'll just take my bags and… go… now…"

I choked on the latter half of my sentence, unable to think of any kind of excuse at the moment. Slowly backing away, I scurried to my groceries once they were in my sights, then booking it for the exit. On the other side, a hefty amount of people showed up around the entrance, quite possibly a Hero or two not too far off. Not taking the chance with how many eyes were already on me, I simply squeezed through the growing crowd, not necessarily pushing anyone aside but not waiting for them to move on their own.

My legs moved on their own, even if I commanded them to stop I probably couldn't. I didn't concern myself how my little stunt may seem to all those people, the adrenaline was still pumping inside of me so there wasn't a chance of me stopping anytime soon.

If anything, I started running faster.

While I undoubtedly felt vastly different, I also felt surprisingly normal. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I think my body adapted to the changes almost instantly. The answers weren't all too clear to me at the moment, but I'll start from

For now, I have to find somewhere to think.

---LineBreak---

After that little display, all I wanted to do is get some peace, even for a few short minutes.

If even that was possible.

I ran for the next ten or so minutes, taking advantage of this newfound stamina and strength to put some distance from the store I was just in, in the off chance that some Hero or the authorities are on my tail. Right now, I was kneeling down on the grass beside a river, carefully going every detail on my "unusual" face. The place itself was a spacious park my Mother would use to take me when I was a baby plenty of times, deeming it the "most beautiful place" in all of Musutafu by how the numerous river streams are laid out, ultimately choosing this as I didn't know any other place.

I'm positive I attracted some attention from the people who saw me on the way here, whether it was gasps or gossip because of my appearance, to which I couldn't really blame them to be honest. My clothes were torn and ripped, only holding to the spots where the cloth stayed resilient. While looking at my reflection in the river, I wasn't panicked or concerned, simply breathing in and out to remain focused.

I could only theorize for the time being, careful to not come to a sudden conclusion at my newfound abilities. These types of Quirks existed but to a very limiting extent, while my predicament was much more complicated. This wasn't simple power and ability absorption, my body mutated the more I took with my power. I could also gain other perks, as being a child restricted me from "grow up" situations I'm used to. I was able to jump in seemingly easier as I got an idea of how to react with the power I stole.

Countless questions were born that overtook my plans prior to going into the store. How much can I take? What are my overall limits? Are there even any? Possible side effects? Probability of damaging my physical or mental state the more I take?

I knew what this kind of power does to people, becoming drunk with power and losing any sense of sanity, my paranoia kicking in to counteract that fear. I was too careful to not mess with that, if I would notice that kind of behavior I'd put myself in check. I couldn't underestimate this Quirk's capabilities, if I'm careful with my cards I can train to overcome that problem down the line.

The more I focused on my mutated expression, the more I wanted to know what my Quirk was. Turning to my left, I saw a small pile of mud that barely met the river's touch. Curiosity taking over, my hand went over to touch it. If I can absorb stuff, it begs the question can I take from living or non-living entities. Placing my hand into the mushy substance, I focused on one singular thought while I tried to concentrate.

Several seconds passed, I once again felt that vacuum-like sensation. Although it felt sloppy and somewhat unappealing, it wasn't too bothersome. Examining my hand, there wasn't any kind of change, until I slapped my other hand with it causing it to dissolve, leaving a small smudge where my fist was that quickly regenerated from the mud before it formed to the "familiar" scale-like skin.

Interesting, very interesting.

This sort of puts a solution to some questions at least. I can absorb anything, which kind of helps me in fact. I can take properties and use them to my own will, the only limit being the ones I set by myself. This kind of ability reminds me of one power from a favorite franchise of mine, the Osmosian from Ben 10.

It made sense. If I can take any property and use it to my command, it's logical I can absorb energy as well. I was quite a fan of the Osmosian aspect from the Ben 10 franchise, the possibilities of using their powers in various ways to fit any need was amazing, to say the least. To my delight, in a world where I'm able to copy any Quirk and have it for my own and mix with others, I took prior, I can boost my capabilities by a large margin.

'But.'

I can't be careless with this powerful Quirk, not in the slightest. At best, you are able to at least get two Quirks through that marriage system, but having more the longer you live is quite the dilemma. The only person notable of this trait is All For One, but there's a major difference. He steals Quirks, I only get one-tenth of a Quirk and retain it. It would still paint a difficult picture for me and how to describe what I do, plus I don't think whatever I come up with will last forever.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, I looked up to the sky. "Later. I'll think about this later, as for now..."

Focusing on my reflection, I need to return to normal before anything else. Now, I know for a fact this state is only temporary, as the properties I absorbed are still in effect, nor did I focus on "turning it off" for that matter.

Inhaling deeply, I clasped my hands and tried clearing my mind as best as I could, which was quite difficult. The fear of being unable to turn back to normal or if the theory of my powers being false slowly grew in the back end, but I had to ignore that for the moment until I was absolutely sure.

I kept thinking of a "revert" feeling that would change me back, using the same determination like when I wanted to copy the criminal's Quirks, taking it slowly yet elegantly. It might take some time, but I started to shrink, as well as deflate to an extent. I didn't break this concentration until I was positive I couldn't go anymore, soon returning what I thought to be my regular self.

Looking around my arms and legs, I was back to how I was before, but I felt stronger somehow with my small frame. Glancing at the river, I indeed was back to normal, to my relief. However... there was something new, two small horns both upright on my forehead, the same color as my skin it seems. Feeling them with my fingers, I jolted slightly how sensitive they felt.

It kind of made me want to touch them again.

Before I thought about leaving, I had to fix my attire the best that I can. Ripping a piece from the bottom of my shirt to tie my loose pants around the waist, keeping them from falling down quite nicely. It was rather warm outside during the sunset so I won't have to worry about it getting cold until I get home. The shoes might be the only issue since they are unusable by this point, so sacrifices had to be made.

Picking up my grocery bags, I set my sights to home. Before I made the first step, a critical thought came to mind I didn't account for.

'Shit... how am I going to explain this?'

---LineBreak---

"[-Lastly on the Five O'clock News, a small local grocery store on " " street suffered from an attempt of robbery. The workers, alongside several civilians, were taken hostage while the robbery was underway. The witnesses were restrained for the whole duration, with only one worker revealing the "true" story of what happened. In his own words, the worker said it was the doing of a child, who miraculously single handedly knocked out all three thugs, on his own. The details are left unclear as the security cameras inside the store were destroyed when the assailants entered inside. The hero-]"

While on any given day, Riku wouldn't bother too much with the news, it's close to repeating every time he tunes in. At best, he'd pay attention here and there when anything worthwhile was going on. This time around, his eyes couldn't avert from the TV screen. For some reason, his insides were wrapped in knots, the thought of continuing his work going into the back of his mind.

Looking at the mounted digital clock on the wall, his worries only grew bigger. It's been quite a while since Yukio went out, he usually doesn't stay outside too long or stray far from home. While his son was by no means a regular five-year-old kid, Quirkless or not, Yukio was way older mentally than any child his age should be. Even without his parenting, he was sure his son would stay safe and would run the moment danger would pop.

Besides, this couldn't be the same thing that was on his mind. There was just no way.

'Then why do I feel something's wrong…'

Hearing the door open only for it to be closed a moment later, followed by an "I'm home!", his worries vanished.

With a sigh of relief, Riku took the recently filled cup of coffee into his hand and stood up, making his way towards the front door to greet his son.

"Oi! Yukio!" Riku called out, taking a sip of his coffee. "I forgot to tell you to buy some eggs before you went out. Do you mind if for dinner we make-"

The moment his head turned to take in the view of the hallway, his heart skipped a beat or several in fact. His grip on the ceramic cup loosened instantly, making it fall and shatter on the floor. Riku tried uttering a single word, but failed each time, only incoherent noises when he would open his mouth. The clothes that once perfectly fit his son were all torn, shredded pieces of cloth used to tie his shirt and pants in place, all the while barefoot. On his forehead, there were two small but clearly visible horns both vertically standing upright, something that wasn't there before he left.

With an enormous and somewhat cocky grin, his son spoke like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Dad! You won't believe what just happened!"

They say if you describe a horrific event more cheerfully, then the final story won't sound so bad.

Of course, I picked the worst possible way of explaining my day.

---LineBreak---

Welp, that went as poorly as I expected.

Turns out, giving a valid reason to endangering your life and proceeding to fight people with Quirks that intent on hurting people in the process is more difficult than it would seem.

Now, I may have only known my father for five short years, but over time you get to learn about people's behavior and characteristics. My father wasn't the type of person to easily get angry, almost always cool-headed and whenever would approach a situation would stay calm and work it out. At best, I'd only seem mildly irritated when he tried fixing his car on his own, nothing more than that. From that day until the rest of my life, I won't forget the exact shade of red his face was for that whole conversation.

Naturally, I had to tweak some parts of the story that would ease my situation, such as my Quirk manifesting and how the actual confrontation looked like. Since the security cameras were destroyed, along with nobody actually witnessing how the fight went down, it was my word against his. It was a good hour or so of non-stop screaming and lecture after lecture, it took some time until things settled down. After he regained some sense of rationality, we talked extensively about my new Quirk. I didn't tell him everything, as it would only raise more questions than anything, so I was careful on what to say. I did only have it for an hour and a half at that time, logically, I would only know so much.

At night, where it was dead quiet, my mind was loud as can be.

There wasn't any possible chance of sleeping peacefully, so I dedicated that time to exploring my Quirk. After getting another chance to test it first hand, that being some metal and wood, I was more inclined to believe I indeed had Osmosian powers. The biggest evidence to this theory are the two miniature horns that grew and thin black lines around my eyelids after my Quirk awakened, having some resemblance to their species.

I was honestly more shocked after I got concrete proof than when I was in the dark. I can't say what kind of luck I had to be gifted an ability from a totally different franchise, but maybe that was compensation for getting me stuck into a different reality altogether. The universe works in mysterious ways, so I won't question it too much.

Truth be told, I was beyond ecstatic after I confirmed what my Quirk was, for two reasons. Firstly, it was a childhood favorite ability along with the concept of Osmosians as a whole, Kevin Levin easily taking first place. Secondly, it was probably the most useful skill I could be granted in this crazy world. Just because you're in the eighty percent who are born with a Quirk doesn't necessarily mean it would be of any use, or even worse if it restricts you in some kind of way. It's a blind game of chance, which was the biggest flaw in this world. You're either born strong or weak, with not much room in-between. Sure it's possible to train up, improve your Quirk to the best of its capabilities, but even that might not be enough.

This world was simply unfair, there's no arguing about that.

To my delight, lady luck was on my side this time.

There wasn't a single moment of peace inside my mind, thinking and planning and theorizing all I could do. From my point of view, the world was my sandbox, I could take anything then use it for my own, the type of Quirk people would kill to have. It's just too versatile. I can make countless combinations from an array of powers to fit the time and situation, you can say the possibilities are endless.

However, a certain issue has to be addressed.

All For One.

This issue was more complicated to give a simple answer to. After a certain amount of time passes, the off chance he learns there's someone who can have multiple Quirks that don't disappear, I'll be right on top of his wanted list. Under no circumstance can I be careless with my Quirk, I'm not sure what kind of resources he has at this point of the timeline, nor in the foreseeable future. The risk is too high, so I will have to treat lightly moving forward. No point looking online for it, it will only paint a target on my IP address if the government sees that in my history, not like I need to even do it since I know how the series would play out. To make an assumption, since my memory is a bit loose on the details, but I'm positive the general public doesn't know about AFO.

Which was perfect.

I don't want to have any similarities to that bastard, having more leeway will help me out later on. Aside from a few people, who will have their own theories, nobody will label me as one of his spawn. That man isn't the only problem, I can't rub off the possibility of any other threats that might aim for me, but we'll cross that bridge when we get remotely close to it.

In fact, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to trick people how my Quirk actually works, if I can. I'm fully prepared to be called a freak or whatever society would label me as, it honestly made no difference either way. I got a small taste of how it's like to be called that in the past year, it didn't bother me then and neither will it now. I literally died, harsh words meant nothing to me at this point.

'But what do I want to do…?' I uttered slowly, unaware I said that thought out loud.

For the first time ever since the store, I didn't think of my powers, yet what I wanted to do with them. I was set using the second childhood to suck in as much knowledge I otherwise wouldn't even know about for someone my age. I'll admit, I was slacking off a bit in my old life in regards to learning, but since I don't have to go from scratch for a second time, I could use the time to focus on my training and skills that would come in useful. If I figure out the correct training method, I'll be considerably strong the more I use it. Kevin and Aggregor displayed how powerful this ability can be used if in the right hands, and I plan to reach impressive feats with it.

Before I died, my life had just barely started. There were many things I didn't get the chance to try out, experience life to the fullest, nor get to the point in life where I could make my own choices. In this world, there are a whole lot more opportunities for me to take a shot at that just weren't possible in the twenty-first century. Right now, I could quite easily be able to do anything, not a single line of work out of my reach with my Quirk.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be a hero. I always had a dream in the back of my mind to help people, since if I knew someone was in trouble, my moral compass would make me help them otherwise it would eat me up if I didn't.

However, my moral compass wasn't entirely spotless.

I knew you couldn't just be a goody-two-shoes and expect to fix every issue, it just doesn't work. Here, you get in trouble for helping someone in danger if they aren't a registered hero and get ridiculed if you try to be one without a Quirk. Years of fiction taught me that sometimes it's necessary to make hard choices if it means for the greater good. But by doing anything remotely out of line in the eyes of the heroes, and the general media, you taint your name because of that. There's a fine line of what you can and can't do here, so I'll have to put a pin into this problem for another time.

All in all, I wouldn't say no to the hero gig. I'd get to experience a dream of mine that was otherwise impossible, make a good career out of it and have some fun along the way. I wasn't too keen on doing this type of thing forever, since I can obtain resources and actually make a real difference. Before I was a realist, but I was still a nerd with countless fandoms in the back of my mind along with the thought of "what if" I could do those things.

I got a one-of-a-kind opportunity on my hands, one I wouldn't dare to waste. There were many things I wanted to try out to fulfill dreams that now can become reality, only I could set the limits to my potential.

I planned on delivering.

Feeling the sudden urge to yawn, I did so while looking at the digital clock on my nightstand, my eyes slightly widening when realizing how late it was. By now, I'm worse than Izuku when overthinking is concerned. I won't get far if I think about every single detail all at once without even starting, time is on my side, I will be sure to use every second of it to not fall behind.

'This will be difficult… and mildly troublesome if things go off the rails at the same time. Who am I kidding, this is where the fun begins.'