Chapter 2: Time to Learn

◇Melody's POV◇

"Hahh..." I stretched my arms, breathing out as I looked behind me. I see my children working so hard while having fun tinkering with gears and metallic parts. *Sigh* I feel very proud as their mom, but...

I've been talking with my friends from Tokyo and they said their kids weren't this calm and quiet, theirs were rowdy at most times that they couldn't even catch a single break. Is this still normal? I guess we were just lucky... Hihihi... I can't help but just love how my little angels act...

I can't believe it has been almost two years since my children first asked me to teach them how to work in the lab. All I can say is that they're geniuses, their creativity is astounding even for me. Nothing has ever been more fun and exciting than working with your children on something you've been passionate about for a very long time.

"Okaa-san! Will you help me for a bit? I can't seem to finish this part..." I heard my son say while he showed me an almost complete miniaturized spherical smoke bomb.

"Hai, hai... Show them to me and watch closely, okay?" I said to him as I stopped in surprise when I looked at what he made.

What's this...? His attention to detail is really phenomenal, is it perhaps his quirk? Alright, let's do some teaching!

"You just have to put this here and this one here... and it's done!" I finished working on it as he focused and waited patiently.

However, I accidentally clicked the release button and large volumes of gas began filling up the room. I panicked and began turning my head left and right looking for my children.

"Mei!? Ken? Can you cover your noses and mouths? I am very sorry!" I shouted in a worried voice.

"*Cough* We're here mom!" I hear my son calling as he grabbed my wrists, his eyes glowing green and beside him was his worried sister.

I hugged them and apologized once again before Ken let me carry Mei as he went into a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm... It seems like I have to adjust the bomb's release sensitivity to avoid any other situations like this... *Murmur* *Murmur*" I hear him muttering in seriousness.

"*Chuckles* Even in this situation, you're like this! You remind me of your dad." I chuckled as I looked at his face funnily.

"Oh... haha..." He says while rubbing the back of his head.

"Speaking of... where's your father?" I asked him as the gas began to subside after the set-up ventilations were activated.

"Oh, he said he went out for a call from someone at work..." He said.

"Oh, that... I think it's about time we moved back to Tokyo too... We still need to go back to work..." I said, thinking.

"Yeah, about that... Why don't we move to Tokyo after at least the kids finish nursery school here... I believe travelling at a very early age would be really tiring. Also, in this way, they can familiarize themselves more with their hometown." I hear Kaito answering from behind me after he arrived.

"Sure, I guess you're right," I said.

"Okay~!" said Ken while his sister suddenly woke up from my arms, perhaps having slept amidst all that commotion...

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◇Ken's POV◇

I guess it has been two years since we started learning some engineering and tailoring stuff. I think I can already consider myself proficient in the field, but I don't think I can focus on it since my primary goal right now is to become a hero. This is why most of the things I am building right now are related to that.

Considering I will become a hero, I might need to learn how to fight. I should probably ask dad if I can learn some martial arts and if he knows a place that can teach me from nearby.

I went home from the lab and proceeded to my dad's office and knocked on his door.

"Oto-san! May I come in?" I said, loud enough for him to hear.

"Alright! What is it?" He answered as I went in and see him currently working on some projects.

"Umm... Oto-san, will you allow me to learn some martial arts? I really want to learn because knowing how to fight is important if I were to become a hero, so..." I said, a bit nervous that he might reject the idea.

"Okay! Though, considering we're from a rather rural and traditional area of Kyoto, it might be hard for us to look for a dojo that teaches more modern martial arts..." dad said, thoughtfully.

"We can try to look for one tomorrow! At least, there should be dojos for Japanese martial arts like kendo, judo, karate, aikido, and the like..." he added.

"Really!? Thank you, Oto-san!" I said happily as I went back to the lab, excited to design some more ideas for future support gears.

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◇General POV◇

The following day, the Hatsumes decided to go out as a family to find a dojo for Ken and to see what beautiful sights there are in Kyoto. Also, they brought Mei with them as well in hopes that she could learn martial arts with Ken so that she can also defend herself in times of need.

While they were walking, Mei suddenly started singing a Japanese nursery rhyme, cutely.

"Maigo no maigo no koneko-chan~!"

'Eh? Didn't know she could sing... Where did she learn it from?' Thought a confused Melody.

"Anata no ouchi wa dokodesu ka!"

"Ouchi o kiite mo wakaranai..."

"Namae o kiite mo wakaranai..."

"Nyannyan nyannyan! Nyannyan nyannyan!"

"Naite bakari iru koneko-chan!"

She then paused for a minute and turned to her brother.

"Kenny! Come on, sing it with me!" said Mei.

"Uhh... eh... alright" Ken answered while nervously looking around.

Mei then started singing again but this time Ken sang with her.

"Inu no~ omawarisan!"

"Komatte shimatte... Wanwan wawan! Wanwan wawan~!"

"Maigo no maigo no koneko-chan~!"

"Kono kono ouchi wa dokodesu ka!"

"Karasu ni kiite mo wakaranai..."

"Suzume ni kiite mo wakaranai..."

"Nyannyan nyannyan! Nyannyan nyannyan!"

"Naite bakari iru koneko-chan!"

...

They continued on singing until they arrived at their destination.

"Alright, kids! We're here!" shouted Kaito while everyone else deadpanned at what they saw.

'Eh? This doesn't look like a dojo, it's better to call it a shed!' thought Ken, confused.

"Alright, don't look at me like that! The ads said that this one's the best in town!"

"Oto-san... You sure, you weren't scammed?" said Ken.

"Why don't we try knocking first?" said Kaito. But before he could knock, the door opened to show a short old man with a signature grumpy look. Behind him was a much younger woman wearing a business uniform, she looked like she was about to go out.

"What do you want? If you're here for my land, then just screw off!" said the grumpy old man.

"Ah... We're here because we, I mean, I saw an ad that this place was the best dojo in town... so..." said Kaito, nervously.

"See, Oji-san! I told you those ads I put up on the internet would pay off! You with your silly old ways!" said the woman.

"Get out of here already, Chizu! Back in my day, the dojos don't look for the students. It was the students who tried hard to get in and join one!" shouted the old man.

"Alright, alright~!" she said.

"Also, you guys... Please don't mind that grumpy old look of his... He might look like that, but he's actually a softie." she added while laughing, before leaving, against the angry glares of her grandfather.

Meanwhile, the Hatsumes were just looking at them while they thought, 'They seem pretty close...'

"Anyways, what are you still doing here?" said the old man.

"Uhh... We wanted to enrol our children on your dojo if that's still possible..." said Kaito.

"Okay, where are they?" said the old man.

"Oh, here..." said Melody while ushering Mei who was hiding behind her and Ken who was holding her hand, to move forward.

"Hmmm..." the old man was in thought while moving around the kids, sizing them up.

'This old man... It might be unnoticeable because of his small old body but... He has a terrifying aura around him and I can tell that his body is actually toned well behind the loose clothing he was wearing...' thought Ken while also looking at the old man.

"You have good eyes, kid..." said the old man.

'Did he notice me looking at him!?' thought Ken.

"Yes, also from your eyes... It seems like I can feel or rather see what you're thinking... Is this that Quirk thing that Chizu told me about?"

"What? from my eyes...?" said Ken, confused.

'Eh? Do my eyes do that? It shows others my thoughts...? *Phew* Good thing I learned of this early on... Wouldn't want my enemies to know my next moves so I might make a support gear for that too...' thought Ken.

"Are you perhaps Quirkless, sir?" asked Kaito, approaching the old man.

"Yeah, I think so... So what? You gonna back out now!?" said the old man.

"I can teach them if that's what you're worried about!" he then added.

"Oh, not at all... I was just curious, that's all..." said Kaito, nervously.

"These kids can come here every afternoon... From the looks of it, they're about to start nursery school so they can come after that..." said the old man.

"Also, don't bother paying, it's free... No, actually, scratch that... Pay that girl who was just here, Chizu... You can negotiate with her next time." he added.

"Can we ask for your name and contact number, sir?" asked Melody.

"The name's Shimada Makoto, just call me Old-man Mako! Here..." said Old-man Mako as he handed over a piece of paper with his contact number.

With that, the family went back, passing through some food stalls, and eating some takoyaki. Then going through some picturesque views where they took some family photos. After that, the sunset arrived and their thoughts were all the same, 'Today was fun...'

Just like that, time passed by as the kids fit their days with training martial arts from Makoto, learning to engineer and design from their parents, and attending pre-school. Meanwhile, Ken was also training his Quirk and looking for ways where he can cover his weaknesses.

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◇Ken's POV◇

I was inside the lab, tinkering with some glasses. Now that I know that people can read my thoughts from my eyes, I might need to make some glasses or contact lenses. Good thing for me, I was once an Ophthalmologist so simple things like these are easy for me. The only problem is that I don't know how to alter how people see my eyes through the glasses. Maybe I should make it so that the lenses can change to darker shades, to make people have a hard time seeing my eyes. Time for some experimentation, then...

...

For a while, I made a few glasses and I think that it's almost done.

"Nice!" I said as I fit the new glasses to my head and went to my mom.

"Okaa-san! Can you look into my eyes, please!" I said.

"Okay!" said mom.

"What do you see?" I asked her.

"Oh? What's this? I can see my son's very beautiful eyes~! Hehe..." she teased.

"Other than that, what else?" I ignored her teasing and asked.

"Hmmm... Nothing... Just the eyes and your pretty eyelashes..." said mom while thinking.

'I might have to train Mei in protecting his brother or else hungry wolves will flock around him all the time...' I saw my mom's thoughts and decided to ignore that as I left, happy that my invention worked.

"Yes! One more task is done!" I shouted as I thought that this life is getting more and more exciting.