Ch3 - How to Trick the Devil

Read ahead: https://www.patreon.com/bloooog

A/N: Probably my favorite 'mental battle' that I've ever written.

***

Show and Glow.

His mom could cast illusions, and his dad was a nightlight.

There was a lot of wiggle room with that– illusions and illumination could be interpreted in plenty of different ways, so it took Yoshiki a while to settle down on a specific power. Then there was the fact that he had to save up for said power. This wasn't just going to be something one-off, no, this was going to be his 'Quirk.'

All in all, he was pretty happy with his decision.

"Mom!" Yoshiki hollered, smiling ear to ear. Sure, this wasn't his main Quirk, or even his first sub-Quirk– that had been months ago– but why wouldn't he be excited?

He was awakening his Quirk!

"Mom, I got my Quirk!"

It was only a few seconds before Fumika was in his room, lifting him up by the armpits and spinning him around in a circle. "Huuu, I'm so happy for you Shiki!" she cooed. "C'mon, show me, show me!"

Yoshiki let out a huff. "Please put me down first."

"Alright, alright."

Yoshiki furrowed his brow, holding up his hand in concentration. Having acquired it just a few minutes ago, he was nowhere near a master yet. After a couple of seconds, the light in front of his outstretched hand distorted, condensing into that of a pale yellow cube.

It had taken him way too long to for it to be useful in combat... but he would get there.

"Ahhh!" Fumika squealed, curiously reaching out for it.

"It's just like mommy's–" She stopped talking, her eyes going a little wide as she physically grabbed it out of the air. "Huh." She chuckled. "I guess it's a little different."

'A little different indeed,' he thought, a little smug.

Lightcraft: Create and manipulate tangible light constructs. Sense and control all light within range in any way, shape, or form. *Focus. 3m range.

Full and total light control. Yes, the range was a little short... but not only was he able to make literally anything with it, it was also strong and fast. And while it was a long ways off, Yoshiki had total control over light– and light, well, it moved at the speed of light.

At the very least, he would eventually be able to attack at the speed of thought.

The sensory aspect was a little disorienting, though. All Yoshiki could really tell was that light was fast, sporadic, and literally everywhere. He could sense where light wasn't– as in, inside of solid objects– but trying to focus on that was annoying.

"It's still rather early," his mom muttered, picking him off the ground once more. "But we should be able to get it registered today."

Yoshiki bit his lip.

It was time to meet one of Japan's most horrific criminals face to face.

Kyudai Garaki.

***

"Hello there, young man! I'm Dr. Tsubasa," he started, smiling warmly. "You're mom said that you manifested your Quirk today, 'sthat right?"

"Yeah!" Yoshiki answered, smiling brightly.

'Two men both wearing masks. One is a vile monster of a man that pushes humanity to the brink, experimenting and killing his fellow kind in the name of science. The other has a power that could bring nations to its knees, but only if he's able to keep it a secret, since the very second he's discovered too soon... his life is forfeit.'

Alright, maybe he was being a little overdramatic. But still.

Yoshiki held out his hand, squinting... and about five seconds later, a cube of solid light appeared. "Fascinating," Kyudai said. The man plucked the cube out of the air. "The ability to make solid objects out of light, huh?"

They ran a few tests.

As far as Kyudai knew, Yoshiki's Quirk was extremely limited. It couldn't really hold anything up, it shattered under the slightest bit of pressure, and he couldn't make anything more than pale-yellow cubes. The limitations that he imposed on himself made Lightcraft seem like a pretty shit Quirk.

Not to mention that the entire time, he made sure to furrow his brow. All to make it seem like his Quirk required intense concentration at all times.

In reality... the only limitations were strength and range. It hadn't even been a full day, but Yoshiki was already getting a good feel for Lightcraft. He could already form simple constructs in less than a second, and in any shape or color too... but he wisely didn't show it.

"What do you want to call your Quirk, young man?" Kyudai asked.

"Um, Lightcraft!" he answered. "Since I can make things with light."

And that was that.

Getting into the car afterwards, Yoshiki had nearly slumped into his seat, all of the adrenaline leaving his body. Sitting across from that Kyudai Garaki, a vile monster of a man, and watching him take interest in his Quirk... it was honestly terrifying.

But at the same time, it was kind of thrilling.

For all Yoshiki knew, All For One could've been in that very room. Watching kid after kid, all to see if anyone with an interesting Quirk was stopping by today.

That's why he had prepared thoroughly.

DNA Lock: Conceal any aspect of your DNA. Concealed aspects cannot be passed on or replicated in any capacity. Aspects include hair color, eye color, skin color, genetic disorders, Forge and its sub-Quirks, everything. *Toggle.

Sincerity: Believe what you say as you say it. Minor self-hypnosis. *Toggle.

With DNA Lock, Sincerity, and Blank, Yoshiki had his bases covered. Even if the Quirk Thief himself was staring down at him with both Lie Detector and Scanning, all he'd ever see was an honest little boy with a light manipulation Quirk.

And since he still wasn't exactly sure how Kyudai Garaki cloned Quirks, Yoshiki had preemptively removed their presence from his DNA. That should've done the trick.

But there was one little flaw in that plan.

That plan hinged on Yoshiki's knowledge of canon. The Scanning Quirk that Nine used in the second movie couldn't see how Quirks functioned in depth... but what if All For One himself had a Quirk that did just that?

So just in case, Yoshiki had devised one more layer.

LC_decoy: Create small, weak, pale-yellow cubes of light. *Focus. 3m range.

With Blank, Yoshiki could completely hide the presence of Forge and all of its sub-Quirks, leaving only LC_decoy behind. No matter who watched him, no matter how much they tried to analyze him, all that they'd ever be able to see was a useless Emitter Quirk, one that could only be used to make fragile cubes of light.

Even if it was the Devil himself.

'Heh,' Yoshiki smirked. 'I totally cooked there.'

Maybe he was being a little paranoid. But to Yoshiki, it was justified. After dying the way he did in his first life... he would no longer leave things up to chance. By a miracle, he had been granted a second shot at life, and on top of that, an incredible power. He'd be damned if he let a century old manchild take this from him.

Yoshiki was going to live this life to the fullest, and by any means necessary.

Meanwhile...

RING! RING! Click.

"Anything of interest, Doctor?"

Kyudai Garaki huffed. "You know that's not why I work here."

In all honesty, Kyudai didn't have to work at all. Yes, he needed a cover, but there were much easier ways for him to acquire one. However, despite all the things he's done over the years, all in the name of science... Kyudai simply liked Quirks. Even the weakest of Quirks, like the ability to make fragile cubes of light, were incredibly interesting to Kyudai.

Even if Lightcraft had no use outside of party tricks... 'how is a child able to grab light out of the air, and give it mass?'

It was simply fascinating.

Not that Lightcraft was worth cloning, let alone taking.

Especially with the boy's backing.

"Nothing you'd want," Kyudai assured. He knew his friend quite well.

'Actually...' Kyudai thought. His copy of Scanning wasn't all that accurate, and while he could see dormant Quirks with it, Kyudai couldn't test them. At least not in depth.

But this specific Quirk certainly had promise.

"On second thought, there might be one that you'd like."

"Oh?"

***

***

***

Yoshiki's Sub-Quirks:

New: Lightcraft, DNA Lock, Sincerity, LC_decoy

Index: Blank, Cost, Notepad, Identify, X-ray Vision, Lightcraft, DNA Lock, Sincerity, LC_decoy

Total: 9