Chapter.3: Breaking Out Of The Shell

~8 years later~

The hikikomori was reading his book in his room in peace like he wanted. Years had passed since he was reborn, he was now going by the name Koutetsu Hayashi, the name his Mothers gave him. Koutetsu discarded his original name the moment he was given this one, completely ignoring it from his mind.

In this new world, he learned many things to help him understand how it operated in order to live comfortably, the first things he learned were as such.

1. The world was populated with 80% women. Men were very limited now. The Ghast virus he heard about from his birth was designed specifically to kill men to erase humans' abilities to reproduce. Men were rarely born now, and the process to help give birth to them was difficult. Worse, anyone bitten by a Ghast became one too, and they evolved as well making them more a threat.

2. Humans who were born lucky enough were gifted one of two classes. Either they were born Espers, humans who possessed powerful abilities due to advanced minds unlocking their potential, progressing further due to extensive knowledge of science and logic. Or Casters, the ones who used magic and a connection to cosmic forces yet to be fully understood.

Prime Calibers were those who were considered to be Demigods. Those who mastered both classes gained absolute power, however, the training to do so was extremely difficult with many dying in the process or going mad from the overflow of power. Since Koutetsu was born with that class he had to train immediately when he reached age five the age at which the powers would manifest.

3. Because of the power he was born with he finally had the body he always wanted. He was adorable for his age, athletic, and since he was an excellent student before died he was already smarter than most kids his age, something he was extremely proud of and a little arrogant with.

Koutetsu was enjoying his new life greatly, he felt a slight bit of enjoyment with it. All the complaining he did before and hating himself seemed so useless now. In fact, he felt ashamed. But that was the past, he was leaving that life behind and focusing on this one. Thinking about his old body made him want to vomit, this was his new body and he was happy to have it handed to him.

Koutetsu finished the book on basic combative techniques, he let out a long yawn after all the reading. He wanted to go outside and practice the moves he read, he wasn't trying to be a hero in this Isekai world, just wanted to see what he could do to show off or small instances of he needed to defend himself if the situation called for it. He was ready to leave for the backyard when he heard footsteps coming to his door, from the sound of it, it had to be Mana coming over. Mana knocked on the door before entering the room with a tray of food and juice.

"Good morning Koutetsu. I brought something for you to enjoy with your morning reading." Koutetsu was happy about the food, however, he still didn't fully love Mana in the way a child should love a parent. Because of his bad thoughts and judgment toward his old parents, he didn't care for the idea of new parents at all.

To him Mana and Akane were good people, he respected them and was thankful for raising him, but he didn't feel a real obligation to actually love them.

"Thanks, Mom. This looks great. Itadakimasu!!!" Koutetsu ate his food completely. He loved Mana's cooking above other things. Her cooking skills were top-notch, worthy of the success her restaurant was praised for.

"Hehe, my someone's very hungry. Enjoyed your breakfast?"

"I did yes. I finished reading some of Grandpa's old training books. He really was a genius leader. Momma Akane must have been proud of him to keep all his stuff."

Mana smiled, she was happy Koutetsu respected his Grandfather with such high regard. His new grandfather, Sei Hayashi, was a brilliant Esper in warfare. His death was devastating to the Army, more so to Akane who was her hero.

Koutetsu was never close to his Grandparents in his previous life. They were estranged and never visited more than once a year if lucky.

After the meal and talk Koutetsu and Mana got ready to head to his school. The parents scowled seeing them arrive, they envied and hated the sight of Koutetsu from him being born with his abilities while their children were not.

Mana handed him his lunch for later and gave him a goodbye kiss. He would have felt embarrassed by people seeing that, instead, he felt smug about his current situation. Giving a devilish smile to the other kids how good his life was.

The school bell rang for the first class to begin. Koutetsu made it to his homeroom on time, the class murmured seeing him. They never liked his attitude and how arrogant he was, he couldn't help himself. He felt so superior to them because of his already smart mind, he viewed them all as primitives.

"Good morning class"

"Good morning Teacher!" The whole class said.

"Now then, before we begin a new assignment has everyone reviewed the study material from earlier this week on the math questions?"

The class was silent. Most of the students didn't study or want to answer the questions on the board like a teacher's pet. Koutetsu didn't care he answered all the questions correctly, he wasn't even trying to be humble about anything.

The class murmured. As much as they didn't like each other they hated Koutetsu more. The class went by quickly, Koutetsu sat under a tree to enjoy his boxed lunch alone without the kids annoying. Mana packed an onigiri the size of his face with many fried tempura and milk tea, his favorite drink. Koutetsu had to consume a large amount of food due to his body burning through calories faster than others being a Prime Caliber. He didn't mind, he never gained weight and he didn't have to worry about his body getting fat, he could a lot and never have to care about his stomach getting big.

"You love showing off in class as always don't ya." A voice said. Koutetsu looked up, in front of him was a little girl with short jet-black hair, a white hair ribbon, and amethyst eyes. Her name was Itsuki, Itsuki Shirayuki. She was the only one who didn't hate Koutetsu like the others did. She was raised by a proper family who was against discrimination. To them, it was unrefined of nobility and a waste of effort.

"Hey Itsuki, how are you?"

"Hmph, getting cocky calling me by first name basis now Hayashi. You forget you're not completely forgiven for the nonsense you pulled when you first arrived."

"Hehe, my bad. Forgive me Shirayuki-Hime." That annoyed her more. Itsuki's family was one of the Great families. There were five families at the moment with Itsuki's among them. They were the lead in developing agriculture technology and weather equipment that replenished the world's health by cleaning the soil and air in the countries along with perfect warnings of storms and other natural disasters. Koutetsu would make fun of her at times with the princess nickname because of her family wealth.

A vein bulged on Itsuki's forehead, she looked at the bottle containing Koutetsu's milk tea. She let out a small breath and turned the drink into ice. Itsuki was a Caster, she specialized in ice magic, a trademark of her family's magic speciality. Koutetsu went to drink his milk tea only to have the ice cube of his drink slide out and hit his lips instead.

"Itai!"

"Haha." Itsuki tried to hide her laughter with her eyes halfway closed and her hand cover mouth.

"Not funny." Koutetsu looked at her with annoyed droopy eyes at her trick on him.

Itsuki got her laughs in for now, she always gave a prank or two on him when he would act out. Koutetsu would never fight back against her because of how she was honest with him, he respected her in a way. They used to not get along in the beginning but that changed over time. He used his abilities to warm the drink up back to liquid form by heating the molecules in it, his studies on the basics with magic paying off.

"What are you doing out here anyways don't you normally eat inside. What's the change?"

Koutetsu didn't want to tell the truth. He didn't want to eat inside the school because it was starting to remind him of his old one. He flashbacked to when he hid in storage rooms to eat in peace after years of his bullies stealing his food or ruining it. Granted, he did it to himself due to his own attitude and inability to stand up for himself when it got physical. All the whispers and gossip about him he heard inside form the jealous students were starting to annoy him, leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

He shrugged it off and offered Itsuki a tempura, being nice to for a change of pace when it came to food.

"I just…just wanted to try something different is all. That a problem." Itsuki nodded no, she could tell he didn't want to answer her with what was bothering him. She took the tempura from Koutetsu and sat next to him to eat her own lunch of gourmet cooking the family cook prepared, though she also liked Mana's cooking. Had that touch of tender love in it the cook's was missing.

The two sat under the tree talking and eating. A peaceful afternoon was much warranted for them to have for their youthful bliss. Itsuki and Koutetsu were practically friends at this point, even if they still called each other by their family names. The rocky start they had at first, mainly due to Koutetsu's arrogance, faded over the years. They got along well, with Itsuki taking a liking to Koutetsu, especially after what he did for that changed her opinion of him.

They sat still just talking about random stuff like the music they were listening to currently or movies that came out. Even though Koutetsu didn't like to socialize as much, still unable to completely break free from his hikikomori days, this was nice for him long as it was at school were he felt comfortable at.

The class bell rang again signaling the five-minute warning that the end of the lunch period began. Itsuki and Koutetsu rushed off as they went back to classes, everyone in class still didn't want Koutetsu to answer the questions again when the class started as the teacher called out for answers to the lessons. The teacher would punish them save for Itsuki, she would answer the questions regardless of what the others thought. She was a good student, that and the opinions they had of her didn't matter anymore now like they did before.

The school day ended, Koutetsu went outside to what he thought was Mana picking him up, however he was being picked up by Akane this time, she wanted to spend time with him before she left again for military business. Koutetsu hoped in the car regardless, Akane was just happy to see her son again for a bit with the time she had. Her schedule was getting crazier with increased Ghast sightings and terrorist activities.

"So how was school today?" Akane asked wanting to know her son's mood more often. She always felt like she was missing out on his childhood when she was away.

"Same as always know complaints yet." Akane could see he wasn't trying to socialize much at his school. He didn't leave his room that much either other than to practice outside the house or when he had to. Whether he would admit it to himself or not It wasn't easy to break free from those habits or feelings even with a new life.

Akane wanted to help him out and get him to be comfortable with leaving the house more often besides for school. She decided to take a detour to someplace fun to change that feeling. She drove in a different direction, she was heading to the arcade center at the mall to treat Koutetsu.

"Were we going? This isn't the way home." Akane didn't answer. Koutetsu wasn't pleased with this, he started getting nervous. In his head, he believed Akane was going to punish him for his unwillingness to do more with his youth. She made it to the arcade center, and Koutetsu begrudgingly followed her inside, he stuck close to Akane to avoid most of the crowds, being around them was making him anxious. The kids at school and the teacher were not as bad since the school was a place he felt safe at, after that when he became a hikikomori he refused to go out anymore save to take out the trash or do a bank run to deposit checks he got for online work or playing online games before he lost interest leading to the suicide.

Akane saw his anxiousness, she held his hand to make him feel secure to steady his nerves. Koutetsu wasn't warm about it, but he did appreciate her attempt at helping him out, he wasn't that heartless with that kind of attempt.

They walked to the laser tag game. Akane figured this would be perfect, she eagerly paid for them to play for a full round so they could have fun. Koutetsu sighed in disbelief, he just wanted to go home and read his books more, not do something he was bad at. The clerk let them in with the rest of the group, Akane set up her gear first then Koutetsu's, she was smiling at how embarrassed he looked being in the laser gear.

"I want to go home." His voice said out with a bit of annoyance and a semi-quiet tone.

Akane could see he hated being here, but she wanted to be with her son, the military life was hard on her already, and it hurt her not to be around her child when she wanted to.

"Tell you what. You get one clean shot at me at the end of the round than we will. I get you, you have to get some ice cream with me. How's that sound."

Koutetsu didn't want to take that bet. He wasn't good at sports before, even with the new athletic body he just did the bare minimum to get by at school. If he had to he was going to show her up at laser tag if it meant going home quicker.

"Fine, you're on."

Akane was happy he agreed, she even gave him a hug for how happy it made her that he accepted her bet. The siren for the game to start went off, both of them ran off in opposite directions, Akane shot at the other players with ease because of her training. Koutetsu struggled a bit but his little body got better, adapting quickly, letting him sneak up on people more easily.

He was noticing the change in his body habit, it wasn't feeling anxious or halfhearted, it was excited like adrenaline flowing from chasing after the other players like he did in his old games. The feeling overcame his anxiety, he was having fun for once.

Akane and Koutetsu were getting the other players fast, Koutetsu was enjoying himself further, something he didn't want to admit out loud when Akane called out to him if he was having fun.

The last minutes of the round came, it was just Akane and Koutetsu left. Koutetsu tried to find her, so he concentrated on hearing nothing except her breathing or footsteps, he eventually heard a breathing noise from the left side. He ran towards it thinking it was Akane. He was wrong, it was one of the little traps set up in the game, a vent that shot out air and smoke. He realized he messed up, he didn't train himself to completely discern a difference in a real breath or a fake one.

Akane jumped from the corner and got him on the center sensor of the vest, she won the match in the end. Koutetsu grumbled that he lost, he should have known better than to beat a trained soldier.

"I won. So what ice cream do you want?" Akane asked feeling joyous with the game.

Koutetsu didn't answer. He was a little annoyed, but he felt like he wanted to go again against her. The feeling of wanting to go back to his room faded out during the game.

"Can we go another round? I want to beat you at least once."

Akane was taken aback, he never asked to hang around with her that often. Let alone she was surprised he wanted to go again of his own volition. She was happy, her smile was brimming that her son liked being near her and wanted to play more.

The two continued their duel till closing time. Koutetsu didn't beat her, but he came close towards the end. He was improving, even liking to be more active in sports instead of skating by for grade's sake. Akane drove themselves home after the arcade center closed for business and picking up the ice cream she mentioned earlier. Mana was waiting for them at as she had dinner prepared for them ealrier. Akane parked the car in their driveway, she then carried her little boy to his room to put him in bed. He little body in her arms made her blush remembering how she didn't do this since he was a baby, it made her feel those old memories again.

She laid him on his bed, removed his shoes and covered him with a blanket, her humble eyes enjoying the sight of her son sleeping soundly.

"Should we wake him up to eat at least?" Mana had asked entering the room. Akane shook her head, her hand was rubbing Koutetsu's hair, with her fingers combing through it.

"No, let him sleep. He exhausted himself today hanging with me. You should have seen it, first time he looked happy outside of his room. Let's me and you eat, we haven't had a night to ourselves in awhile. Think maybe me and you should have a goodnight before I leave again." Akane rubbed Koutetsu's hair more. She kissed his forehead before leaving the room to spend time with her loving partner, picking her up like she did Koutetsu, with Mana giggling.

"Goodnight, my miracle child." Akane said before closing the door. Koutetsu slowly opened his eyes to a halfway reveal. He was rethinking things in his head.

'I won't say it to her. Not yet anyways. But I'm glad she took me there. She got me to not want to come back to my room. I didn't like sports or any physical activity much before, even now I just do what I can to get by or show off when I feel like it. I see now that wasn't a beneficial choice for me. I can't be a shut in forever, this isn't the old me anymore. I may not be comfortable yet being outside completely unless for school, but I'll get there. I don't want to go back to that old way of living, I want to enjoy this life and the advantages in it. Maybe I should try more a little bit to see what I can enjoy outside of being a bookworm this time. Just maybe, I'll try this time.'