CHAPTER 2: Dream

He tried to approach her when Eri suddenly shouted.

"Stay away from me!" She sniffled and broke into tears. "P-please… stay away…"

Yuta felt his heart wrench when he saw the little girl crying. She had dark circles underneath her eyes, her lips were cracked and the base of the horn on her forehead had scratches – she had tried to remove it with her own hands.

Seeing her like this, Yuta knew it would backfire if he tried to push things. He sat a bit away from her and did not speak.

His schedule for the next few days remained the same. After arriving at the kindergarten, he would sit near Eri and try to talk with her. If she told him to go away, he would stay quiet but remain in her vicinity. 

Yuta wanted to let her know that she wasn't alone.

Eri was the successor of the Yakuza Syndicate, Shie Hassaikai. Her mother disowned her after she accidentally erased her father with her "Rewind" Quirk and she had been left in her grandfather's care. 

Her grandfather cared for Eri, but being the head of an organization, he did not have much time to look after her. Other than her grandfather, no one wanted to be in her physical vicinity as they were afraid of being erased, and all of this led to Eri overwhelming herself with guilt and self-reproach.

"Why do you stay with me?" Eri spoke to him for the first time in weeks. Seeing as how she was not telling him to go away, Yuta knew his efforts had borne fruit.

"Because I want to play with you."

"But… But I can't control my Quirk. I…" 

She stopped talking as her eyes reddened. 

"Both of us are the same then! I can't control my Quirk either!" Yuta lied. A simple lie was fine if it could help Eri.

Eri blinked and raised her head, staring at him in the eyes. Confusion and a slight sense of camaraderie was reflected in her gaze.

"My mom helps me to train with my Quirk. She's a former pro Hero. How about you come to my house? You'll be able to learn to control your Quirk from Mom too," he offered. 

She shook her head and said no.

But Yuta knew it was only a matter of time before he could get Eri to open her heart and he did not insist too strongly. 

After the small talk, Eri started to talk more frequently. The others in the kindergarten still avoided her like a plague, but she had at least Yuta to play with.

"My grandfather isn't here," Eri mumbled while she stood at the kindergarten gate with Yuta. The two were waiting for their parents after school ended.

"He'll be here soon." 

Chisaki arrived soon after. He told Yuta to get in when Yuta got an idea.

"Eri, how about you come with us? Dad will drop you to your house."

"I can't…" She answered without raising her head. "I don't want to trouble anyone."

"It's no trouble, Eri. Yuta will be happy if you join us. I can speak with your grandfather to ask for permission," Chisaki spoke. He had already been told about Eri's situation by Yuta and he had agreed to help.

"But…" Eri fiddled with her fingers, trying to find an excuse.

"I'm a friend of your grandfather, Eri. He's busy with work today and will be late. I assumed he would have sent someone else, but it appears he must have forgotten," Chisaki explained.

"What kind of work is it that he forgot his family? Besides, he is the boss. He can leave whenever he wants," Yuta clicked his tongue. 

Hearing his words, Chisaki coughed.

"...I was the one who assigned him the task. The Shie Hassaikai falls under the jurisdiction of Special Zone 007, making them one of my subordinate organizations."

"T-then please, pardon my intrusion."

Eri agreed to go with them. She talked to her grandfather on Chisaki's phone and found that he would be very late today. After an intense debate, she agreed to her grandfather's request to stay at Chisaki's home until he came to pick her up.

Everything seemed too easy and Yuta suspected it had been an intentional plan on Chisaki and Eri's grandfather's part. Though the plan was probably made by his Mom.

The drive home was smooth. Eri was nervous, but Yuta engaged in conversation to keep her mind away from dark thoughts.

After being dropped at the mansion gate, Chisaki left to park the car when Mom came out.

"Eri!" Vanessa hugged Eri before she could react. 

The young girl was scared, obviously, but there was no way Mom was letting her go. 

"You look a hundred times cuter than what Yuta had said!"

When Eri entered Yuta's house, she noticed that no one was avoiding her. It felt surreal. Even in her house no one other than her grandfather treated her like this. She was completely overwhelmed. A new world seemed to have opened up to her. 

Inside the mansion, Vanessa brought out games. She played along with Eri and Yuta. 

He couldn't help but be impressed when he saw Eri opening up to his mom. What had taken him weeks, Vanessa achieved it in hours. Sigh. The extroverts were in their own leagues.

The three of them were busy enjoying themselves. It was evening before they knew it. Eri had a bath with Mom — Eri had tried to refuse but her resistance was very weak.

Her grandfather came quite late in the evening. The man had white hair and a sharp expression. Despite his age, he barely had any wrinkles on his face and wore a black suit. It was easier to believe he was a man in his 40s than in his 60s. 

Eri and her grandfather had dinner with Yuta's family. 

She looked reluctant when it was time to leave.

"Can… I come again?" She asked.

"Of course," Yuta smiled.

His mission to open Eri's heart had been a resounding success!

…

Two years later

It was a dream. The worst nightmare.

Yuta could feel his breath slipping from his grasp along with his life. A huge hole had been torn open in his abdomen.

All around him only wreckage and raging flames remained. His bones creaked as he tried to stand. To fight. To survive.

The dark shadow grinned. It crushed the corpses under its feet and launched itself towards Yuta.

"Huff! Huff!"

Yuta woke up. The bedsheets were drenched with sweat while warm sunlight seeped through the gaps in the curtains. 

"It was the same dream again."

One year ago, his Quirk reached C rank and he gained the ability Foresight. Yuta had been happy. He had a caring family, he was growing stronger at a swift pace, and Eri's situation was almost solved. 

But then it began.

The new ability remained dormant until five months ago where it started to show him the nightmare.

The dark shadow. Countless corpses. Yuta on his deathbed. And an overwhelming despair.

"Dammit, it's a shitty future," he cursed. "The foresight can't be wrong, It will definitely happen. But the dream is too vague. Who was the shadow? When will it happen?"

"I need to get stronger as soon as possible."

While he was drowned in his thoughts, there was a knock on the door.

"Yuta, mom is calling you for breakfast," Eri's voice flowed in.

"I'm coming!" He replied, then washed himself, slipped into a new set of clothes, opened the door and noticed Eri still standing outside his room. "Why didn't you go for breakfast?" 

"I was waiting for you."

"You could've entered the room instead of standing here."

The two walked down the corridor, towards the dining hall.

Eri's condition had improved considerably in the past years. Her silver hair had grown lustrous, her horn had grown a pointed tip and she had started to smile a lot more.

She had stayed at his home last night since today was a weekday. 

Yuta did not remember when it started, but it was normal for her to have a nightover.

The dining hall had an elegant chandelier, a long mahogany table with plush, upholstered chairs, marble floors, and large windows with rich drapes. The walls were similarly adorned with tasteful art, and a fireplace that added warmth and ambiance. 

Dad was already on the head on the table. Watching him, Yuta pursued his lips, wondering if he should ask to be trained. 

In the past years, Chisaki and Vanessa had helped Eri train with her Quirk and gain a tremendous mastery over it. If Yuta wanted to grow stronger as fast as possible, he would have to follow in Eri's footsteps.

He was still masking his high mastery of his Quirk behind purposely caused accidents. But it shouldn't be a problem if he acted as if he improved his control within a few days of training.

"Let's eat," Vanessa spoke while he brought the dishes.

She sat next to Chisaki and Eri and Yuta sat opposite to her.

The breakfast was nearing its end when Yuta spoke.

"Dad, I want to train. Can you help me?"

Silence.

Everyone stopped eating and stared at Yuta in stupefaction. Finally, Vanessa broke the silence.

"You? You want to train?"

"...Why are you talking as if I said something very surprising?"

"Well, you never train or study. All day you only sleep, eat and sleep like you are getting paid for it," Vanessa supported her face with her hand with a fake concerned expression. "You don't know how much sleep I've lost over the worry that my Eri would follow in your footsteps."

"..."

Yuta felt the tip of his ears burn with shame. 

Even though it wasn't his fault! He would've been a failure as a reincarnator if he had to study books for kids. As for the sleep, he was always tired since he overexerted himself while training at night and he wouldn't have nightmares when he was exhausted.

"We will start your Quirk training from the basics," Chisaki's voice cut through the room. He finished his plate and stood up. "Yuta, you can come to the training hall after Eri's training."

"About that. I want to train with Eri."

Chisaki stopped when he heard Yuta and stared at him. Eri's training had reached an advanced level. He believed Yuta wouldn't be able to keep up with her, since he couldn't even activate his Quirk properly.

Before he could refuse, Yuta gave the prepared excuse.

"Do you remember the dreams I've been having for the past months?"

Everyone nodded.

"I never told you what happened inside those dreams since I didn't think you'd believe me."

"What are you trying to say, dear?" Vanessa asked. She had seen Yuta waking from the nightmares but he never talked about what he had seen. With no other choice, they could only wait for Yuta to tell them.

"I'm always fighting a Shadow in those dreams. It's the same dream every night. And after spending months using my Quirk in the dreams, I feel like I can control it better."

Nobody laughed or even called him out as a liar.

Yuta had expected to be questioned but he never thought they would accept his words as it is.

Chisaki nodded and told him to follow him.

While they were on their way to the training hall, Eri came next to him and spoke in a barely audible whisper.

"Yuta, why didn't you tell us about your dreams? If you've been having the same dreams for months, maybe someone used their Quirk on you. We could have taken you to a doctor to check it out!"

"I don't think it's a Quirk."

Technically, it was but it was not someone else's Quirk result. Besides, he couldn't control his Foresight ability. If he could, he would've shut off the nightmares long ago.

They arrived at the training hall.

It was immense, with gleaming white walls, floor, and ceiling that seemed to stretch endlessly and various training equipment were neatly arranged in the corner.

The three entered the room and the door closed behind them with a woosh. From inside, Yuta could barely notice the indentations. If he hadn't seen the door before, he would've thought the room had no opening.

"We will start with assessing your level," Chisaki told him. "Is Target practice good? It should fit with your Quirk."

"I'm fine with it."

"Fight on, Yuta!" Eri cheered while he stood in the center of the training hall.

"Beginning Target Practice! Level 1." A loud voice boomed.

Several small holes appeared on the floor around Yuta. Three disks appeared through them. The disks were white in color with a small red dot painted in the center. They flew and circled Yuta.

"Begin." Chisaki spoke.

Three swords appeared behind Yuta. They moved swiftly, causing air to clap behind them, and shot the disks through their centers.

"Level 2!" The mechanical voice echoed.

Five disks shot out of the holes in the ground. These disks were twice as fast when compared to the previous disks. Yuta destroyed them with ease, hitting the bullseye again.

He continued mowing down the disks with relative ease.

"Level 3!"

"Level 4!" 

"Level 5!"

Finally, at Level 5, he couldn't keep up with the number of disks. There were thirty disks and ten swords.

Yuta raised his hand and slashed. The swords shot forward violently and took down three disks each.

Chisaki raised his brow. He couldn't help but be impressed. Although it seemed Yuta had used brute force, he calculated the path of each sword to make sure it would attack only three disks and that no sword collided. 

"The real test starts now," he muttered.

Eri, on the other hand, was cheering for him loudly.

"Level 6!"

The number of disks increased by only 10. However, Yuta frowned when he realized each of the disks were moving in an irregular pattern. Some disks were slow, some fast, while some circled him and some stayed at the same place.

He controlled his breathing, exhaustion catching up to him and attacked. 

His swords no longer hit bullseye – the red part in the middle of the disk. But he managed to take down all of them.

"Level 7!"

The number of disks doubled. 

While Yuta was reeling in surprise, a disk shot towards his head! He hurriedly used a sword to attack the disks flying towards him.

The disks were retaliating! 

He no longer had the leisure to stay standing. Yuta had to make use of his high agility and stamina to run, dodge and block the attacking disks while he constantly fought back.

By the end, he was breathing heavily.

"Level 8!"

"Dammit!" Yuta readied himself for another high-hurdle battle only to notice that the number of disks had increased by a measly 10.

"No, these are not disks but… Spheres?"

An ominous premonition overcame him and it was proved correct.

His sword bounced off the protective armor of the spheres and merely deflected them aside.

Yuta grabbed a sword and swung. He stopped attacking and stayed on defensive, slowly whittling down the numbers of spheres.

"Level 9!" 

The level 9 was… hell.

When Yuta barely dodged a sphere and it struck the reinforced ground and made a small crater, he knew he had stepped into hell.

He made all of his swords disappear for an instant and materialized three swords that were sharper, larger, and stronger.

The new swords were the same size as him.

Two swords floated next to him to guard his sides and he used the last sword to slash at the spheres. It took a large amount of concentration to defend against the fast-moving spheres. He couldn't make the last sword fly and had to swing it himself, thankfully, it was weightless for him.

"Level 10!"

He used the sword to support himself. All of his clothes were drenched in sweat and he could barely move.

If this was Eri's regular training, he was going to apologize for underestimating her.

Just as he thought like that, the last level began.

A single humanoid robot came out of the floor. It had a single eye and was made of titanium-reinforced metal.

"Pause," Chisaki's voice rang.

Only then did Yuta notice Chiskai staring at him with surprise and awe.

Before Yuta could speak, Eri pounced on him and hugged him tightly.

"Wow! How did you do that!? You reached the last level on your first try! Even Uncle Chisaki is shocked! Yuta, you were moving like a blur when you were fighting! You never told me your Quirk could boost your physical stats! It was so awesome!" 

"That thing is left," he answered in between his breath while pointing at the humanoid robot.

"It isn't something you can fight. Level 10 is to test the heroes who are already working in the field," Chisaki answered while he brought a towel.

Yuta shook his head.

"Let's continue."

"Yuta, it's good that you are motivated, but you need to know your limits. You are still far from heroes who are taught to fight villains," Chisaki admonished him.

True. Yuta could tell that even if he combined all of his swords into one he wouldn't have been able to scratch the Level 10 opponent.

He wasn't overconfident,

But he knew he would win.

"I'll continue." 

"Do as you wish," Chiskai sighed. "Eri, let's move to the side. Resume training." 

The training robot whirred to life. 

Chisaki and Eri had taken a single step when Yuta materialized a sword inside the robot and it short-circuited.

"Level 10 cleared! Target Training complete!"

Eri was dumbfounded. Despite herself, she couldn't say anything. The fact that Yuta could materialize his swords inside his opponents was enough to shut down her brain.

"Is that the last level? Why was it easier than Level 1?" he smirked.