It's Just Another Muscle

"Go on, do it."

She insisted from behind me, watching me over my shoulder as she rested her hands on her hips.

"..."

I was there, on the rooftop, cross-legged with one hand up, just as she had instructed me.

The icy wind ruffled my orange curls as I tried to think clearly before I acted.

It was winter and, despite that, I was wearing a tank top and shorts, not shivering as I usually did.

In London, I was normally forced to wear big winter coats and scarves, but this time was different.

Why?

She had explained to me that, like the progenitor of this body, things like cold were not a problem for us as long as the sun was overhead. It seemed that clouds weren't a problem either, because there were some and these didn't bother.

"Come on, just do it. It's not that hard. The first time you managed to activate it while conscious and not sleeping was with your hands, right?"

I wanted to ask, "Could you be more explicit? You can't expect me to do it just like that," but that question got stuck in my throat, unable to get out due to the fact that this body didn't allow questions with that tone, much less would it fit with me being a kid right now.

Although, in truth, I hadn't been trying to stay true to the role of a child. I didn't care but this body apparently did.

So I simply said:

"How?"

My childish voice irritated me, such a thing was totally discordant with my true self.

"Huh..."

She averted her gaze from me, as if lost in thought.

Didn't even someone native and who had been raised entirely in this world know that?

I frowned, not at her, but at my own mistake. Instead of sleeping, I should have researched heroes with light powers. With 80% of the population having some kind of power, surely there would be some example to emulate.

"You know, when I was a little girl, I used to open my mouth while thinking 'I want to talk as cool as daddy'."

Just thinking...?

I thought about it for a few seconds and came to the conclusion that it made sense.

As the page where I researched the information said, the Quirks were just another muscle. Nothing special. We all have muscles and most of us can use them without any effort.

Just do it, and that's what I did.

I strengthened my raised arm strength and simply thought: "Obey me and come out."

From my palm, the light of a poor quality and, moreover, damaged flashlight came out and was practically dulled by the sunlight.

"What a disappointment," was my first thought, though I quickly pulled myself together to savor the new sensation I had discovered.

Could it be that the sun was really bringing peace in me or was this new 'taste' I had just discovered responsible?

I repeated the process to check.

Light again, light again, light again, light again....

It was addictive the sensation it left in my hand and, with the Sun above me, I felt as if I could never get tired.

I must admit that both of these factors seemed to really affect my mental state.

"Wow, Nate!"

I had completely forgotten that she was still behind me, but the raucous applause brought me back to reality.

"Can I do it with just my hands?"

I asked as I continued to shoot light that didn't reach more than 20 centimers away; this time, I raised my remaining hand.

"No, no, you can do it with your whole body! Well... actually, with your whole skin."

Hands, arms, feet, legs, chest, back and maybe even the head. Well, that sounded adequate enough. However, the distance my lights traveled was not enough.

"Hahaha, thinking about that makes me remember how your dad used to dress up for Halloween. He'd put on a white sheet with two holes in the eyes and light up all over to complement the costume."

Making the whole body glow sounded ideal for someone who wanted to become a laughingstock. It was definitely not what I was looking for.

Meditating on that, with my hands still radiating light, I recalled the scene that had played out for me the day before in "my" bedroom.

The room was streaked with black lines, as if a car had driven carelessly by, and the bed was stained completely black.

Was the harmless, almost tender light emanating from my hands responsible for such a mess?

"Well, Nate. I'm going downstairs because, unlike you, I can't stand the cold. You can stay and play, I'll call you later for lunch," she said as she hugged herself and retreated, leaving me alone on the rooftop.