Parting (1)

Soon, I reached the middle school and stopped before the gates. Being summer, the entire place was desolate.

"Kinda creepy if you think about it."

Mumbling under my breath, I jumped over the school gates.

- Creak~

..... The gates were open. A fact realized too late.

"I hate this world. Death is truly the one and only savior for all of humanity."

I grumbled all the way inside.

"Here!"

Near the shoe stand, Kaito raised his hand as if one wouldn't be able to see him.

Was there that huge of a crowd around? How come I didn't see it?

Those sarcastic thoughts were buried deep but my smile wasn't.

"Eww~ Why are you smiling like that?"

He retorted in disgust, covering up his chest with his arms.

"Shut it, Kid."

"What happened to you?"

Noticing the dirty clothes and deadly pale face, Kaito couldn't help but ask.

"Training~"

"Yeah? With whom? A dumptruck?"

Was I really that messed up?

My body felt a bit sore and it slightly hurt to move, sprinkled with a hint of nausea. Similar to when one pushed himself too far during training.

"Whatever. Follow me."

He waved it off quite easily. Like he had no shred of care for me. 

'I'm hurt.'

..... Yeah, my body hurts.

"Hey, can I get hand?"

"... How much?"

"Are you charging me right now?"

"You do have an illegal part-time job."

I frowned at his phrasing.

"Not illegal, per se. Think of it as me helping a friend, who gifts me New Year's money.... Monthly."

He raised an eyebrow and gave a 'Really?' look.

Dumb politicans banned child labor. What else was one supposed to do?

Still, that law was probably good from perspectives other than mine. 

'So it's my fault for reincarnating without consent?'

"Just hurry up."

Even after all his two-faced habits, he was good guy. Giving out a hand for support.

"Sorry, I don't bend that way."

Leaving behind a baffled Kaito, I moved forward.

'That felt oddly satisfying.'

"You bast-Hahaha! You got me good."

A smile that was exactly the epitome of happy, appeared on his face. His eyes formed crescents, hiding all the killing intent along with his pupils.

"Where is Kid 2?"

"The usual hang-out spot. What have you been busy with recently?"

For the past 14 days, he had been ignored. Which was fine.

"Toga-san's pissed at you for ghosting us. She might just drink 5 liters of your blood."

He said that in a kind tone but one could sense the glee hidden underneath.

"...."

5 Litters? Humans die after leaking 1-2 litters of blood.

"Ahem! I will apologize with all my heart."

"Really?"

"I can't beat her in my condition so apology must do.... Until I recover back to my peak!"

There was no way men would apologize that easily. We were stubborn and dumb for a reason.

"Achoo! Did you just diss me?"

Rubbing his nose, he pushed back his wavy hair, looking cool and mysterious.

'Damn you!'

Even Kaito's sneeze was handsome. For a two-faced guy, image was the most important thing. But how could one not look bad while sneezing?

I look like a monster incarnate while sneezing.

'Is this the difference in our power levels?'

Sure, I had yet to fight him seriously but the odds were leaning on his side.... For now.

"Don't worry. If I wanted to insult you, I would do it to your face."

".... Should I be thankful for that?"

Tilting his head, Kaito seemed to smile wider.

After a while, the door to class 1-D was opened.

As if she noticed our presence, a girl came out of the class and glanced down the hallway. Glaring straight with a malicious intent.

"No violenc-"

- Grab!

Just as I was about to spout some passifistic lies, Kaito grabbed me from the back. His grip was honestly strong, hard for someone weak to get out.

At full strength, it was no problem but I wasn't at full strength.

"Oi, you!"

"Here! Himiko-san!"

Selling his friend with a smile. Someone could take a lesson or two on shamelessness from him.

"Oi, when did the two of you even become so close?"

"When we found a common enemy. The one who never picked up our calls."

.... Was it me?

No, that would be too scary.

'I don't want to imagine what would happen if the two of them want to beat me.'

Death was one thing but death by friends was another.

Imagine the headline {A young teen killed by two friends! Hanged naked on school gate!}.

Yeah, they would probably even try to embarrass the dead.

- Woosh!

Himiko instantly showed up before me. Like the bat of the night and had her head held down, mystifying her emotions.

Was she angry? Or sad? Either could be detrimental to my health. 

"Can we talk this out?"

Losing twice in one day would break my confidence, especially since my stats had grown.

__________________________

Host: Anzai Masato

Age: 12

Condition: Weight Constraints (40 kg); Stamina decreases at thrice the rate/ Tired; in need of rest

⟨Attributes⟩

- Physique: 41 (36) -> 44 (38)

- Agility: 17 (37) -> 14 (39)

- Stamina: 51 -> 53

- Senses: 19 -> 22

Note: Average attribute of an adult is 10.

⌈Skills⌋: ⟪Hachimon Tonkou(3/8); Rank S⟫ ; ⟪Blood Recovery; Rank C⟫ ; ⟪Taekwondo; Rank E (Growth)⟫

⌈Items⌋: ⟬Personalized Training Module⟭

⌈Quests(2)⌋

_______________________________

My senses grew by 3 while the rest of the growth was negligible. Because of the weight bracelets, physique was slightly elevated by 6 but agility decreased by 25.

The best stat of them was stamina, which was more than five times that of an average human.

".... Hand."

She spoke like one would order a dog.

'But it might be better to become one. Ruff!'

Anything to escape beating.

- Pat!

I gave her my pa-hand. Not paw, hand, definitely hand.

- Glomp!

And she bit it?

"She's can tell the state of your body by drinking blood now. A complete diagnosis, in simple words."

It seems that Himiko's ability underwent a change in just 14 days.

Her quirk [Transform] allowed her to change into a person other than herself. She actually changed into me quite a few times. Pretty handy when you need to have high attendence but don't want to go to school.

Anyway, quirks usually respond to the call of their wielders. She must have been really worried if her quirk evolved.

Her desire to know more about the opposite party and care for their well-being evolved her quirk. To suit her needs more perfectly. Though it was a level below the power of her counter-part, who could copy even quirks.

It was a new development. But the future was already screwed with Stain being erased and Himiko becoming more.... happy.

"How do you know that, explanation character?"

Kaito tilted his head as if not understanding his duty in this world.

This is the problems with extras. They don't get their role.

"..... I was the first subject."

.... He had it hard too.

"Not really that bad a deal since I can call her by her first name now."

'Oho~ A casanova! Tch, handsome bastard.'

- Pwah!

Letting go of the arm, she looked a bit teary. Her face morphed to look like mine but anyone could see that my face was definitely better.

"You're hurt!"

- Slap!

And she increased the damage.

My cheek stung a little. But somehow, she was the one crying.

"Why didn't you ask for help? Were we that unreliable?"

She noticed the subtle changes that took place in my blood, that was oxidized only to some extent. In simple words, the blood was spent. Entirely used to support the body which removed the limiters, it was about time to replace the entire stock with a new one.

Normally, one would take days to get better after this but [Blood Recovery] made it possible to get better after a night's rest.

But they didn't know that.

Lately, I've noticed that 'Hachimon Tonkou' isn't nearly as deadly as it was in its original world. Was it nerfed on purpose? After all, Akaguro could take me on when 3 gates were opened.

Maybe my body is just lacking. This technique does change from person to person.

"You had a fight?"

Kaito went back to the first thing we talked about today.

"I call it training."

"You lost, huh?"

As expected of my 'son', he knew me too well.

It becomes training if you lose and a fight if you win. Simple yet intricate to understand.

"Why did you call me here?"

Himiko didn't answer anything while bandaging my arm. She honestly took the first advice I gave out.

"She picked up something."

Seeing her silent, Kaito had to interfere.

"Like a dog?"

He shook his head.

"Cat?"

Another denial.

"Better not be a carnivorous one."

Apparently, that wasn't it either. The guessing game just started to get fun.

However, as time flowed, it started getting scarier. Only a few options remained.

"It better be an alien."

"It's a human kid."

"Oh, great. We're kidnappers now!"

Himiko flinched and looked away guiltily.

"Not exactly. The kid's.... special."

"Are the parents stacked?"

"..."

Baffled, the two friends looked at me horrendously.

"Why is your first thought related to money? Are you thinking of exchanging the kid for money?"

"I think Anzai-kun was just trying to easen the atmosphere..... We can try to ask for ransom if you really want to."

With an innocent look, Himiko said the second sentence. Her eyes were almost sure that I was about to ask for ransom.

'Oi, Himiko, don't you trust me? And go all the way to protect me if you're trying.'

"Hey, you're the kidnappers. Don't try and make me the bad guy!"

"Aren't you though?"

That was....

"I plead the fifth."

"Not America."

Kaito kindly pointed it out.

'Damn you! Politicans!'

"Ahem! I meant good and bad is all about perspective."

Shaking their heads, they dragged me forward.

Clearly, they kept the kid in that classroom.

'A stolen kid was kept in a public space. Jeez, these noobs.'

At least, they should have worn masks when 'picking' up the kid... Right?

Soon, we all entered the class.

There was a solitary figure in the room, which actually cleared a lot of questions.

'He looks a bit like Himiko, when I first met her.'

Yeah, things started to make a lot of sense now.

And they were about to get crazier as the dreaded moment of parting was coming soon.