UA High School – Principal's Office – 5:17 PM (Three Hours Earlier)
Principal Nezu sat behind his desk, paws folded, his perpetually pleasant expression unchanged despite the gravity of the situation.
Around him stood three pro heroes, Eraserhead (freshly bandaged from Recovery Girl), Vlad King, and Ectoplasm.
"You're certain?" Vlad King asked, arms crossed.
"Quite certain." Nezu pulled up a holographic display. A student file appeared—Yamamoto Kaito.
But large sections were blank and missing.
"When I first reviewed his entrance exam results, I thought little of it. A transfer student with moderate scores. Unremarkable."
"But?" Eraserhead's visible eye narrowed.
"But his background check came back... almost empty." Nezu tapped the screen. "No elementary school records before age eight. Inconsistent hospital records. Birth certificate exists, but the issuing office has no digital backup. His parents' death certificates are genuine, but their own records are similarly sparse."
"That's not uncommon for people who move around a lot," Ectoplasm suggested.
"True. But combined with today's events at the USJ..." Nezu pulled up footage—grainy, distant, but clear enough. Yamamoto's fist connecting with the Nomu.
Half the creature's body simply ceasing to exist. "This level of power from a 'kinetic energy storage' Quirk? Stored from a few minutes of combat?"
The room fell silent.
"You think he's connected to All For One," Aizawa said. Not a question.
"I'm uncertain. But my intelligence network has been monitoring suspicious activity around his apartment building for weeks. Anonymous individuals. Surveillance patterns. And today..." Nezu's expression darkened slightly. "The same people who've been watching him have gone active. They're moving tonight."
"Tonight?" Vlad King straightened.
"My sources indicate an abduction attempt on his younger sister, Yamamoto Hana. It's meant to control him. Break him. And possibly recruit him."
"Then we need to—"
"I've already prepared a response team," Nezu interrupted. "We'll be watching. If Yamamoto-kun comes to us for help, we'll intervene immediately. If not..." He paused.
"We'll still intervene. But I need to see how he handles this first. His response will tell me everything I need to know about whose side he's truly on."
"You're using his sister as bait?" Aizawa's voice was cold.
"I'm ensuring her safety while testing his character." Nezu's smile didn't waver. "The team is already in position. The moment she's taken, we'll track her. The moment he breaks... we'll be there."
Present – Hana's School – 7:21 PM
I reached her school. The gates were closed. Not a single light shone from the building.
However, the guard's cabin near the main gate still had a light on. An elderly man sat inside, reading a newspaper.
I stumbled toward him. "Hello, sir. Have you seen my sister?"
He looked up, squinting. "Your sister? How am I supposed to know who your sister is, young man? Does she have a name?"
"Ah, yes. Sorry." I scratched my head, forcing words through the fog in my mind. "Yamamoto Hana."
"Yamamoto..." He stroked his chin, thinking. "Oh! The sweet girl! Yes, she left at the end of school hours. Why? Something wrong?"
"Did she..." My throat felt tight. "Did she leave with friends?"
"No, she went alone today. But she stopped by to give me a candy!" He smiled, pulling out a wrapped sweet from his pocket. "Always such a thoughtful girl. Said it was for my hard work."
"Ah... okay."
That sounded like Hana. Always kind. Always thinking of others.
I looked up at the dark sky. Stars were starting to appear through the light pollution.
My legs gave out.
I fell to my knees on the pavement.
"Hey! What happened, young man?" The guard rushed out of his cabin, hand outstretched. "Are you okay?"
I couldn't hear him. His voice was distant. Muffled. Like I was underwater.
My eyes felt empty. Lifeless.
She left alone. She should've been home by now. Where did she go? Where is she?
"Hey! Tell me if something happened to her!" The guard shook my shoulder.
"No..." I stood up mechanically. Started walking. "Nothing."
"Wait! Where are you going? Should I call someone?"
I didn't answer. Just walked. One foot in front of the other.
Random direction. No destination.
Just movement because stopping meant thinking and thinking meant—
My phone buzzed.
I pulled it out. Screen glowing in the darkness.
A text. From Hana's number.
"I'm home, Oni-san."
Relief hit like a tsunami.
"Oh thank god." The words came out as a gasp. "Thank god, thank god, thank—"
I ran.
Not normal running. Not holding back.
The world blurred. Wind screamed past my ears. The guard's startled shout vanished in an instant.
Buildings became streaks. People became shadows. Sound distorted into a continuous roar.
She's home. She's safe. I was paranoid for nothing. The USJ had me seeing threats everywhere.
She's home. Everything's fine.
It only took me a few minutes to reach back home.
I burst into the apartment building. Up the stairs in three bounds. Fumbled with the keys.
Door open.
"HANA! I'm home! I got your message! You scared me so much—"
Silence.
The lights were still off. Exactly as I'd left them.
"Hana?"
I flipped the switch. The apartment lit up.
Empty.
"Hana? Are you hiding?" My voice cracked. "This isn't funny. Come out."
I checked the bathroom. Nothing.
The closet. No one.
Under the futon. Behind the table. In the kitchenette.
Nothing. There's nothing.
"Hana, please—"
My phone rang.
It was Hana's number.
I snatched it up so fast I nearly dropped it. "HANA? WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU—"
"Hello, Yamamoto Kaito."
The voice was wrong.
Male. Low-pitched. Distorted by a voice modulator.
Not Hana.
"Who—who is this?" My hands started shaking.
"We have your sister."
The words hit like a physical blow.
"We've been watching you for quite some time. Today's display at the USJ was... impressive. But also problematic."
"WHERE IS SHE?!" I screamed into the phone.
"Safe. For now. But that depends entirely on you." The voice was calm. Too calm. "Here are your instructions. Listen carefully."
"If you've touched her, if you've hurt her in any way, I'll—"
"You'll do nothing. Because if you do, she dies. Understood?"
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. My entire world was collapsing.
"You will leave UA immediately. Drop out. Abandon your hero career before it begins. You will cease all training. All combat. All public appearances."
"What? Why would I—"
"Because if you don't, we'll start sending pieces of your sister back. One piece per day. Starting with fingers. Then toes. Then we get creative."
My vision went red.
"Within the next six months, we will provide you with clues. Hints about a location. Find it. Come to us. If you fail, or if you involve heroes, police, or anyone else..." A pause. "Well. You understand the consequences."
"You FUCKING—"
"Six months, Yamamoto. The clock starts now."
The line went dead.
I redialed. Number disconnected.
Tried again. Again and again.
Nothing.
"NO! THESE FUCKING ASSHOLES! I KNEW I SHOULD'VE SAID EVERYTHING TO NEZU!"
My fist went through the wall. Plaster and wood exploded.
Not enough.
I punched again. And again. The wall disintegrated.
"YOU BASTARDS! GIVE HER BACK! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, ASSHOLES! GIVE HER BACK NOW! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ALL AND FEED YOUR BODY PARTS TO PIGEONS AND DOGS!"
My entire body shook with rage. The air around me started to shiver. Power I'd been suppressing for months surged upward, uncontrolled, bursting the entire apartment ceiling.
Shockwaves splattered across the entire neighborhood.
Thoughts crashed through my mind like breaking waves.
My old life. Dying in that street. Leaving my little sister all alone in that scary world.
Then, waking up in Kaito's body. His final request: "Take care of her."
Three months of threats. Three months of paranoia.
And I did NOTHING. Just hid away like a coward.
I could've gone to the heroes. To Nezu. To All Might. I even thought about it.
But I was too afraid. Too selfish. Too worried about my own secrets. Became the biggest fool in the entire universe.
And now SHE'S paying the price.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
I couldn't contain it anymore.
Power exploded outward. The apartment windows shattered. The floor cracked beneath my feet.
I looked up through the broken ceiling at the night sky.
A world without my sister. Twice. I don't need it.
I bent my knees. And Jumped.
My bones creaked under the acceleration. Blood pounded in my ears.
The apartment building disappeared below me. The entire city shrunk.
Higher. Even Higher. Until Tokyo became a carpet of lights beneath me.
Time... slowed.
I could see individual cars on highways, their headlights crawling forward at a snail's pace.
I could see the Earth's curvature. Its rotation. The slow spin of the planet beneath me.
I could see light itself moving—photons streaming from streetlamps, trailing like comets across my enhanced perception.
This is my true power.
I'll kill everyone who touched her.
I'll level cities.
I'll tear apart the world if I have to.
I angled downward. Clenched my fist.
Started falling.
Faster and faster. The air ignited around me. My body became a meteor.
My apartment. Where the call came from. Where they contacted me. I'll start there. Obliterate it and kill everyone, everything.
The ground rushed up to meet me.
My fist pulled back. Ready to impact. Ready to unleash destruction that would crater the entire country—no the entire continent.
Ten meters.
Five.
Three—
FLASH.
Something in the back of my mind. A memory? A warning?
Hana's face. Smiling. Laughing.
"Oni-san, you're overthinking again!"
Two meters.
My power flickered. Wavered.
Wha... What am I doing?
One meter—
Everything went dark.
My consciousness shut down like someone had flipped a switch.
The last thing I saw before my eyes closed completely was a small figure entering through my broken apartment door.
Rat-like. Dressed in formal clothes.
Principal Nezu.
Then nothing.
TO BE CONTINUED... [END OF VOLUME 1]