Chapter 1

"Toga-kun, could you stock the cans on Aisle 8?"

"Mhm."

It's been 18 years since I was reincarnated into this world, and life has turned out... well, different than I thought it would.

A lot has happened since then. For starters, my little sister Himiko grew up to be the handful I always expected her to be. Her quirk, Transform, allowed her to become anyone she wanted, but only if she ingested their blood. That ability caused my parents to resent her even more than they ever resented me.

The hunger for blood her quirk demanded was no joke, it would hit her every 24 hours like clockwork. If it weren't for me, Himiko might've spiraled into something dark, losing herself to the constant cravings. My parents? They wanted her to "deal with it on her own." As if that was a solution. I couldn't let her go through that.

I threatened them once, telling them I'd report them to the authorities if they didn't help her. They got mad, truly furious, for the first time. But it worked. Himiko was officially registered as having a quirk disability, which meant she started receiving small blood packs from the local hospital every four days. It was just enough to keep her stable without feeding the darker impulses of her quirk.

When she turned ten, I convinced my grandmother to help me get Himiko into a real school. My grandmother was the only adult I could count on, someone who actually cared about us. Thanks to her, Himiko got a chance to meet other kids and make friends. That small step made all the difference.

As for me? I went down a different path.

At fourteen, I enrolled in a local high school in Hosu. It wasn't flashy like UA, but it was practical a school focused on teaching the business side of the hero industry. I wasn't interested in being a hero myself, but I figured learning how to manage hero agencies and businesses might be useful someday. After four years of hard work, I graduated with a business degree.

Since in this world any school that was technically classified as a Hero School was technically a college for Middle Schoolers.

Now? I live in Mustafu, working as the manager of a small grocery store owned by an elderly couple, the Okuro family. It's not a glamorous life, but it's steady, and it suits me. The store isn't big it's just me and one other employee, a kid named Shuichi.

"Thank you, Toga-kun. I'll be leaving the night shift to you," Okuro-san said before heading out.

"Understood," I replied, already making a mental checklist for the night ahead.

Shuichi, or as I like to call him, Gecko, has a mutation-type quirk that makes him look like, well, a gecko. His family all have quirks like his, and because of that, they face constant discrimination. He's here working part-time to help them make ends meet.

"Shuichi, could you clean the fan in the vent? Okuro-san said it wasn't as cold as usual."

"Got it!"

He's a good kid. Hardworking, polite. He reminds me a little of what I imagine Yuji might've been like if he'd been born in this world.

"You can take your lunch break once you're done," I called after him.

"Thanks, senpai!" he shouted back with a grin.

It was just a normal day for us. Shuichi handled the tasks I couldn't reach literally, given his agility while I made sure everything else was running smoothly.

The truth is, I didn't mind this life. It wasn't heroic or grand, but it was peaceful in its own way. After everything I'd been through in both lives, peace felt like enough.

Of course peace came at a price.

"Shuichi is that you!?"

I looked at the 4 students who came in a few moments ago, they were wearing the same uniform Shuichi did before he took his shift.

"Bullies huh."

It was a common thing for other people to bully those like Shuichi, humans truly are cruel creatures.

I could see the poor kid shaking in fear.

I stepped out from behind the counter, my shoes squeaking a little on the floor. The four boys were already surrounding Shuichi, their voices low but mean enough to make him flinch.

"Hey, Gecko-boy, hiding out here now? Figures I Bet you make the whole place smell like lizards," one of them said, shoving Shuichi lightly.

It wasn't a hard shove, but it made him stumble back. His big scared eyes glanced at me.

I took a deep breath, before taking another step.

"Is there a problem here?" I asked, my voice calm but loud enough to get their attention.

The biggest boy turned to me with a smirk, clearly amused. "Who're you supposed to be? His babysitter?"

Babysitter. Sure. Let's go with that.

"I'm the manager," I said, crossing my arms. "And unless you're here to buy something, you shouldn't be here."

The boys glanced at each other, one of them laughing. "Buy something? Nah, we're just here to chat with our buddy Shuichi. Right, Shuichi?"

Shuichi didn't answer. He was frozen in place, his hands clenched at his sides.

"That so?" I said, pushing off the shelf and taking a slow step toward them. "Well, your 'chat' looks a lot like bullying to me. And I don't allow that in my store."

The leader rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. We're just messing around. Don't get your-"

"Out," I interrupted, my voice dropping lower.

The smirk faded from his face for a second before he tried to act tough again. "Or what?"

I stepped closer, and in the next second I began emitting curse energy, they couldn't feel it but they could clearly see the blood dripping from my eyes as they began to float into orbs.

"Or I'll make sure you regret it."

The leader hesitated, his confidence faltering as my words sank in. He looked back at his friends, who were already shifting nervously.

"Whatever," he muttered, turning to leave. "This place sucks anyway."

The other three followed quickly, one of them mumbling, "Freaking weirdo," under his breath as they left.

I watched them go, waiting until the door jingled shut behind them before turning back to Shuichi. He looked down at the floor, his hands still trembling.

"Hey," I said, my voice softer now. "You okay?"

He nodded quickly, though his shoulders stayed tense. "Yeah… thanks, senpai."

I gave him a small smile and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't let them get to you, Shuichi. They're not worth it."

He nodded again, this time with a little more confidence. "Okay."

As he walked back to the vent to finish his task, I sighed and went back to the counter. Peace comes at a price, But it's worth paying.

But what I didn't expect was turning to the TV and seeing my little sister on the news, with another picture of a boy in the hospital with multiple bandages.

"Oh no..."