Chapter 3

SEVEN YEARS LATER.

AGE: 12.

KYOTSU ESTATE.

"Wakey wakey, shit stick! It's time for training!" Irritation swirled within my chest as I flopped over on the other side of my body. Taking my pillow as I wrap it around my head in a shoddy attempt to block out Haisei's screaming.

"Shut up!" I growl back, hoping my voice would reach the first floor dining room. A comfortable silence flooded the room, making me feel triumphant over the stupid bastard that intruded upon my life seven years ago.

"What was that? That sounded like you want extra training~" My eyes shot open as I shot to my feet, a frown on my face as I sent a spinning kick to the person that magically appeared on my bed.

"Why do you have to be so damn annoying!" I yelled out, completely okay with the fact that Haisei had caught my foot with ease. The man smirked, swinging a pan at the inside of my thigh.

But before it could even hit me, I disappeared from my old spot and appeared behind him, a pencil in hand.

"Time stop? Wow… I didn't even notice." He muttered. Smirking, I press it harder into his back, threatening to pierce his spine with it.

"Kidding~" He continued, and I sputtered as I suddenly found myself fully dressed and sitting on a chair in my dining room. Koshige was whistling while he prepared breakfast; which happened to be pancakes and french toast with bacon and oatmeal on the side.

Sputtering, I swiveled my head in the direction I sensed Haisei, the man already looking at me with a victorious smirk. "How the hell did you do that! Countering time stop with.. What? A time stop I couldn't see?" Koshige chuckled but said nothing, placing a cup of apple juice and sliding a plate of food in front of me.

Haisei rolled his eyes. Something I found extremely annoying, alongside his shitty attitude. "I see things you don't see. And, I'm stronger than you, something that's well~ known within this house already." He takes a bite of bacon as he pauses his narcissistic sentence, "Wow, Koshige this is really good, great job."

The butler smiles proudly, and bows. "It's my pleasure." Haisei brushes my butler's words off and continues on with what he was saying. "It's kind of pathetic don't you think? I mean, seven years with a master like me training you and you still can't hold a candle to me. Jeez man, have some pride or something."

"You-!"

"Please eat your food, master. Getting so worked up this early is bad for your heart. I'm sure you two will have time to bicker and complain later on during today's training session," Koshige interjects, turning to Haisei to continue his sentence, "by the way, please start with his daily studies. I'm getting quite tired of handling his professional business."

Haisei raises his eyebrows. "Why don't you just sell the assets and give whatever money you make to the little ol' young master over here? That way he can use that money to do whatever he wants in life instead of following his parents footsteps." I smile, finally liking something that came out of his mouth.

"Exactly! That's what I've been telling you, Koshige! I already have a fortune from my heritage alone, but bidding the assets and selling them to the highest bidder sounds like a surefire way for us to never even have to worry about money again." I pressure, the old man looks completely unmoved though…

Curse his stubborn mind.

Sighing, Koshige rubs the bridge of his nose. "Okay, let's say we do this… Plan of yours. You now have more money than you know what to do with, but how do you plan to keep up with the expenses of whatever you plan to use? How will you have a stable income? Your money will not be infinite after you sell these assets, but it will be something the Government would want a piece of if it sits for too long."

Haisei nodded along, "Good point." I roll my eyes and shove a fork full of french toast in my mouth. Savoring every taste that blesses my tongue. 'Koshige really is a master class chef…' I muse, finding his every meal to be better than the last.

"Koshige, I know what to do with money. I can go into real estate, put my money into some business. Since I have a lot, I'm sure I can get some really well thought out business plans to flourish." I stop, feeling my mouth get dry. The room falls into a temporary silence with Haisei smacking his lips obnoxiously as he eats his food.

"And! That will get me favors! Connections with people who now have their foot in the world of business, and it would all be thanks to me." Koshige actively falls into thought, thinking over my words.

In all honesty, I would've sold the company and whatever assets the LLC held a year ago had I not respected my parents choices on who would manage their money until I was old enough.

I never wanted to go into this.. Hero fashion image building bullshit. I wanted to go into.. Well… Freedom. I have all the money in the world now, which is like.. A couple hundred million to my name.

But that's nowhere near enough in my eyes. I want billions. And what better way to reach that number than to sell a multi-billion dollar LLC and all its assets worth millions?

Sure, the tax would be horrendous and I'd make less than what I'd hoped. But still, it's a step in the right direction towards my goal. I'm pretty good at everything I do, almost reaching the realm of perfection.

I'm pretty confident I can handle this as well.

…

We ate in silence- Well, whatever silence came in between Haisei's loud smacking and the clicking of his glass plate every time his metal fork hit it. The conversation from before never came up again, but before we leave the table, I'm planning to hit it on the nail and secure my goal now before me and Haisei break off into our daily routined training sessions.

As I take the last bite of my pancakes, I see Koshige stand up to take care of the dishes. I let him do it, but before he could leave after cleaning, I pulled his sleeve, getting his attention.

"So~ What do you think? I know I can do it, Koshige… Please just give me a chance." The old man sighs, turning his thoughtful eyes away from mine as he sets a cup full of orange juice down.

"Have you thought about the government tax? They will take about twenty-five percent of what you sell unless you sell to an employee.. Then it would be a bit lower and you'd leave with more than originally." He turns away, his back now to me as he wipes down a separate glass with a rag.

My eyes lit up hearing that, "I can sell it to you!" I swear I see him coughing up a lung… He spins on his heel and grabs my shoulders, his eyes dreary from fatigue.

"Yuji, I cannot buy that business from you… My paycheck does not allow it and I'm not that young. I would have to pass it down to you again or sell it completely, keeping the true gain from you." I sigh, this was harder than expected.

I really don't want to have to deal with a business I wanted nothing to do with from the start. It was my parents dream, not mine. Mine is freedom, and being tied down to an inherited business is not freedom.

"Oh! I can sell it to one of the top investors, can I not?" I beam, my chest filling with endless pride at my idea. Koshige shares a shaky smile, causing me to raise a brow.

Patting my shoulder, "...I'll handle the bidding… Just.. Just don't let me down- Or your parents." I force a smile, hiding my irritation at his words. My parents wouldn't give a damn.

'They're dead anyway.' I tell myself, spinning on my heels to meet Haisei in the study room across the hall. Mentally preparing myself to study with the egotistical narcissistic bastard that happened to be my master, I suck in a cold breath and push open the doors.

What greeted me was the sight of him laying on the white leather couch we had set up in there, mostly for design purposes as leather feels kind of funny.

"Oh hey, knew you wouldn't pass up on this chance to learn something from me." How does he manage to make his every word insight a deep, seething hatred form in my chest?

'That must be his quirk… Nothing time related at all…' I roll my eyes and sit down at the desk on the other side of the room, facing some windows that were currently blocking the morning sun with its curtains and blinds.

Feeling the world freeze for a moment only for it to resume a second later, I sense Haisei now standing beside me, a random loli-pop in his mouth as he sets some books on the table.

"Okay~ First order of business. You're going to read and memorize everything in these books." As he speaks, I look through the various covers and internally groan.

There were some books ranging from economy, to business management to the laws of Japan and the Hero Agencies laws regarding quirks and they're expectations.

A whole bunch of bullshit I don't plan on following.

"Hey~ I know that look.. You better not be thinking about sticking to the rules!" Haisei flicks my forehead; in return, I glare at him out of confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I growl, Haisei eyes me for a few seconds before humming, teleporting back on the couch behind me.

"Well.. Our- Your quirk, excuse me, is out of this world. Your teleportation alone would put you at the top of the food chain just because of how rare it is, but in essence, your eyes, time stop, analytical abilities and the sheer control over your perception is enough to make every hero, or villain, in the world want you."

I spin around in my rolly chair, confused on where this is going. Haisei reads my face and only sighs, likely disappointed I don't understand where he's going with this.

"What I'm saying is- You'll be invaluable when you learn to fully control, master, and awaken your quirk." Awaken? That's new.

I raise my hand, wanting to ask about it but he interrupts me by throwing his loli-pop at my forehead. The sheer power behind it causes it to shatter.

"Damn… That's a hard ass head." He mutters, but shakes his head and gets back to what he was saying.

"Anyway, stop interrupting me. *sigh* Basically, you're above everyone else. A truly unshackled being with the potential to be a God. What the hell are the use of some rules? Do you really think a perfected being such as you should be held back by such things?

No! You shouldn't! The only reason I'm having you read them and memorize the laws of the superpowered world, is so when you step out there, still weak and frail, you'll have something to protect you! Something for you to fall back on in times of need!" I stare at him, his words grinding in my mind.

'Perfected? God?' Those words chew me up like a wood chip grinder. Who wouldn't want to be a God in a world full of people that you control?

My hand shoots to my mouth, covering the excited, crazed smile I couldn't hold back. Locking eyes with him, I nod.

"Okay. I understand."

Haisei nods with a smile, "Good! Now get to reading dumbass. You're nowhere near being perfected." He deadpans, teleporting beside me and spinning me around, facing the books.

I sigh, the excitement that bubbled up within me nowhere to be found.

***

After a couple hours of none stop studying. I was finally released from my hell. Haisei was getting bored so he decided to, in his own words, 'bless' me with freedom.

So! While my brain cools down and I get back my will to live, I decided on practicing with my quirk. Over the past seven years i've been training it none stop, and during those years i've made amazing discoveries and broke through some limits.

While also finding a few.

One limit is my stamina pool. I need a lot, and I mean A LOT of stamina in order to keep up with manipulating time as I do. My quirk, which I decided to name, 'Eyes of God.' bless me with all sorts of incredible abilities, but it's very taxing. Mentally, and physically.

Which leads me to my next discovery. Haisei's own eyes are very much like mine. In fact, they're so similar I swear we have the same quirk. Especially with how we both can teleport utilizing time, which I like to call, 'blink,' since I'm hopping in and out of time to get where I want in a quick manner.

It's like hopping forward in time by only a few minutes or seconds and my body just moves there.

Anyway, I pull myself out of my thoughts and head towards the backyard. The only thing separating the inside of my house and the wondrous forestry in the back, was a wall of glass with a door attached to it.

Sliding said door open, I slip on my white sneakers and head towards the patio, sitting on one of the lawn chairs that lined up with the pool.

I also grabbed a brick on the way, just to test my grip strength. Plopping down on the chair, I lean back with a hearty sigh. 'Relaxing the brain never felt so amazing.' I muse, letting the afternoon sun bathe me in its glory.

After a couple minutes of resting, it's time to see how much progress my physicality has made. Haisei said that part of my quirk was supernatural strength, a strength that I have to make sure I exercise or I'll lose it.

He knows a lot about my quirk and my body, also about Koshige's body as well. I think he knows just about everything there is that deals with human biology… Kind of cool.

I'd never tell him that though, his ego is already insane.

Anyway, I grip the normal, reddish orange brick with my right hand and squeeze with all my might, first splintering cracks throughout it, then shattering it as a whole.

I smirked, 'Still got it.'

Looking off towards the distance, a bird that entered my range of field caught my attention. Flying low enough to land on the beach umbrella that was situated on my right, held in a holster to block the sun.

I love messing around with my quirk, especially since I can do it unhinged within my own estate.

With a single thought, time stops all around me. Everything frozen in place as I slowly stand up, feeling my stamina drain rapidly as I did so. Haisei says that moving through time is like forcing your body to walk naturally with no hassle in a pool of quicksand. It's a weird comparison, but it makes sense.

Looking up at the frozen bird in the air, I blink, teleporting right underneath it and toss a piece of broken brick at it. The rock moves freely even frozen in time because I allowed it too. I shared part of my freedom with the rock, allowing it to move like it normally would.

The rock soon made contact with the creature, and a moderate sound of rock cracking flesh and bone sounded in my ears.

And with a snap of my fingers, time resumed. My body battling fatigue as I look at the now dead bird at my feet.

With a bead of sweat running down my face, I can't help but dwell on Haisei's words.

'A perfect God…'

"Yuji! It's time for martial arts!~ Hurry up or I get to beat you freely for five minutes… In my time!" I froze, my eyes shooting to where the voice came from and saw Haisei with a cheeky smile, disappearing the next moment.

Following his footsteps, I teleport to the basement, completely excited about learning under Haisei.

There's no doubt in my mind that Haisei can bring me to great heights. I don't know where the trust and familiarity come from, but I know that it's what makes him so charismatic around here.

"So~ Hand to hand or weapons? Haha, who am I kidding… Hand to hand. You don't have a choice." Haisei smirks, motioning with his fingers for me to attack.

I sigh, steading myself for the battle that's to come.

'I'll get my answers one way or another..' I think to myself.

Lunging at the prideful bastard in front of me.