Light again. Even faster this time.
Like the void was getting impatient with me. Or maybe I was getting used to this whole "forced therapy session through dead kid's memories" thing.
The colors sharpened. A park. Afternoon sun. Different location from before.
Kaito stood in the middle of an empty field, older now. Nine, maybe ten. Lankier. Still had that same stupid confident grin though.
A stack of cinder blocks sat next to him. Five of them. Each one had to be at least twenty kilograms.
What's he doing?
He cracked his knuckles. Stretched and then grabbed the bottom block with both hands.
Lifted it. It looked easy as if it was made of foam.
He then tossed it up. Caught it one-handed. Switched hands. Repeated.
Training. He's training his Quirk.
The MHA wiki I'd read in my past life mentioned this—Quirks are like muscles. Push them, they get stronger. Use them repeatedly, increase capacity.
Kaito wasn't just playing hero. He was actually working at it.
He set the block down. Grabbed two. Lifted them together. Held them overhead. Arms shaking slightly but stable.
"Fifty... fifty-one... fifty-two..."
Counting reps at ten years old.
Meanwhile, at ten, I was probably stealing food from convenience stores to eat at night.
Different worlds. Different lives.
He dropped the blocks. Breathing hard but grinning. Grabbed three this time.
The struggle showed. His face was bright red and his arms were trembling. But he lifted them. Held them. Ten seconds. Twenty.
"Come on... come on..."
Thirty seconds. Dropped them with a crash.
"YES!" He pumped his fist. "New record!"
He's proud of lifting three cinder blocks. If I could do that at ten even I would be.
A small voice piped up from behind a nearby bench.
"Oni-chan! Did you do it?!"
Hana. Three years old now, maybe four. Pigtails. Bright eyes. Clutching a stuffed rabbit.
She ran over, nearly tripping on her own feet.
"I did!" Kaito picked her up, spun her around. "Three blocks! That's sixty kilograms!"
"That's so much!" Hana had no idea what sixty kilograms meant. But she clapped anyway. "You're the strongest!"
"Not yet. But I will be!" He set her down. Ruffled her hair. "Gotta be strong enough to protect you, right?"
"From what?"
"From everything!"
He meant it. Every word.
"Can I try?" Hana reached for a block.
"No way! These are super heavy! You'll hurt yourself!"
"But I wanna be strong like Oni-chan!"
Kaito paused. Thought about it. Then picked up a small rock. "Here. Lift this."
Hana grabbed it with both hands. Lifted it over her head. "I did it!"
"See? You're already super strong!"
Lying to make her feel included. Classic big brother move.
I should've done stuff like this. Instead I kept her at arm's length.
Movement at the park entrance. Three boys. Older. Maybe twelve or thirteen. Sneering looks.
"Yo! That your baby sister?" The tallest one called out.
Kaito's expression shifted. Smile gone. "Yeah. So?"
"She's in our spot. We always hang out here after school."
"It's a public park."
"Don't care. Move."
Oh great. Bullies.
Kaito stepped in front of Hana. "We're not done training yet. Find another spot."
"Training?" The boy laughed. "With baby blocks? My little cousin could lift those!"
His friends laughed too. Moved closer.
"Come on, Hana." Kaito grabbed her hand. "Let's go."
Smart. Avoid conflict. De-escalate.
Wait. This is Kaito. He doesn't de-escalate.
They turned to leave. One of the bullies stuck his foot out.
Hana tripped and fell hard. She scraped her knee and started crying.
Everything stopped.
Kaito's face went blank. Not angry. Not scared.
Empty.
Fucking assholes. Hurting a sister in front of her brother? Yeah. Kill them, Kaito.
"You made my sister cry."
"So? She—"
Kaito grabbed the kid's shirt. Lifted him off the ground with one hand. Nine years old, holding a thirteen-year-old in the air like a doll.
"Apologize."
"W-what—"
"APOLOGIZE!"
The bully's friends backed up. Fast.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Kaito dropped him. The kid fell on his ass and scrambled backward.
"If I see you near my sister again, I'll throw you into the sun. Got it?"
They ran. Actually ran.
Kaito turned back to Hana. All the anger drained instantly. Knelt down. "You okay? Let me see."
Well, I guess you wouldn't want your kid sister to witness violence. That was a stupid thought.
There was blood on her knee. It was not much, just a scrape.
But Hana was sobbing. "It hurts!"
"I know, I know." He pulled a bandaid from his pocket. Applied it gently. "There. All better. See? You're tough."
"I'm not tough! It still hurts!"
"Pain means you're strong. Heroes feel pain all the time. But they keep going." He stood up. Held out his hand. "Can you keep going?"
Hana sniffled. Grabbed his hand. Nodded.
"That's my girl."
He had a bandaid ready. Probably for any mishaps during training sessions.
I'd seen bullies before. Been one of their victims in my old life. Got beaten up plenty for being a street rat stealing food.
But I never fought back. Not once. Too weak. Too scared. Too busy surviving.
Kaito didn't hesitate. The second someone hurt Hana, he became something else. Protective instinct overriding everything.
That's what I should've been doing these past months. Not hiding. Not making excuses about "changing the timeline" or "staying low profile."
I should've been standing between Hana and danger. Like he did.
Instead I let paranoia win. And now she's gone.
The memory suddenly started to shift. Same park but later. Sun lower in the sky.
Kaito and Hana sat on a bench. She was eating ice cream—bribe to stop crying, probably. He stared at his hands.
"Oni-chan?"
"Yeah?"
"Why were those boys mean?"
"Because some people are just mean. That's why heroes exist."
"Will you be a hero?"
"Yeah. The best one."
"Better than All Might?"
Kaito paused. "Maybe not better. But just as good. I'll save everyone who needs saving."
"Will you save me?"
"Always. I promise."
Another promise. He kept making them so easily.
A woman's voice from across the park. "KAITO! HANA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Their mother. Finally showing up. Hours later.
"We're here!" Kaito called back.
She ran over. Not concerned but angry. "I told you to watch her! I've been looking everywhere!"
"We were training. Then we got ice cream."
"Training?! You're ten years old! Stop playing hero and act normal for once!" She grabbed Hana's hand. "Come on. Your father's waiting."
"But—"
"Now!"
Kaito followed silently. Head down.
She didn't even notice Hana's bandaid. Didn't ask if she was okay.
Just angry that Kaito was "playing hero."
These so-called parent—
The memory flickered and distortion started to happen with weird sounds.
But I caught one last snippet. Their mother muttering to their father as they walked away:
"...can't keep doing this...the organization needs results...payment is overdue..."
The father's response was quieter but I caught fragments:
"...another month...they're getting impatient...boy's quirk factor is developing slower than expected..."
Quirk factor? Developing?
They weren't just neglectful. They were actively monitoring his development and reporting to someone.
The "organization" wasn't just paying them. They wanted something specific from Kaito. Is it his quirk? But All for One could take it in one go.
Anyway, how long had this been going on? Since birth? Since his quirk manifested?
And the empty background checks—the missing records—that was intentional. Someone definitely erased Kaito's past to hide whatever experiment or deal his parents made.
The memory shattered.
The void returned.
But my mind was racing.
Kaito... he had no idea. Just kept protecting Hana. Kept training. Kept making promises.
While his parents were—
My chest felt hollow. Even in this non-corporeal state.
I took over his body. His life. His responsibilities.
And I didn't even try to live up to what he'd built.
He trained at ten years old. Prepared bandaids. Protected her from bullies.
I just hid and made excuses.
That kid was more of a hero than I've ever been.
But watching these memories wasn't just guilt anymore. It was intel.
An organization with enough power to erase records, make people disappear from databases.
That same organization might know about me. About the transmigration. About everything.
They might even be connected to whoever took Hana.
The threats I'd been getting for three months—anonymous messages about "knowing what I am"—those weren't random. Someone knew. Had known the whole time.
And I'd been too paranoid and stupid to connect the dots.
What if the kidnapping wasn't just about controlling me? What if it was about reclaiming their investment? Getting back what Kaito's parents sold years ago?
Another light appeared. Brighter and closer.
Too close.
This time I wasn't just watching to understand Kaito.
I was watching to survive.
Because somewhere in these memories was the answer. The key to who took Hana. Why they wanted me. What the organization had been planning for over a decade.
Six months, they'd said. Six months to find them or Hana starts losing pieces.
The light pulsed urgently. Like it was running out of time.
Like Hana was running out of time.
Whatever came next had to matter.
It had to give me something. Anything.
Because if these memories ended and I woke up with nothing?
Hana was dead.
And I'd have failed her twice.
The light exploded forward. Swallowed everything.
I couldn't afford to look away.
TO BE CONTINUED...