Megumi turned twelve without remembering what birthdays were supposed to feel like. No cake, no candles, no celebration. Just a quiet hospital room and the soft hiss of machines keeping his sister alive.
He sat beside Tsumiki's bed, elbows resting on his knees. Her fingers were still warm, but unmoving.
"You'd probably scold me for skipping homework," he murmured. "Or tell me to stop glaring at nurses."
His voice was steady, but inside, he felt the familiar ache spread through his chest.
'If you were awake… maybe I wouldn't feel like I'm walking in circles.'
He adjusted her blanket carefully, like touching something sacred, then stood and left the room. Nurses greeted him on the way out. He nodded politely, but that was all he could manage.
Pretending everything was normal felt harder than training.
Outside, the evening air stung his skin. Gray clouds hung low, the sky threatening rain.
Megumi followed the narrow path to the riverbank clearing where thick trees blocked the city lights. As soon as he stepped onto the grass, the tension in his shoulders loosened.
"Divine Dogs."
His shadow stretched as the two familiar figures emerged, moving to his sides with silent loyalty.
"Let's begin."
The Dogs lunged. Megumi sprinted.
He weaved between roots and branches, feeling the wind scrape against his cheeks. His muscles burned, but he pushed harder. Each dodge sharpened his footwork; each near miss honed his reactions.
When he stumbled and caught himself on the dirt, his lungs screamed.
'Good. I want to be tired for the right reasons.'
He stood again.
"Once more."
The Dogs obeyed.
Hours passed before Megumi collapsed on the grass, sweat cooling on his skin. His breath shook, but his heartbeat was steady.
'I need to get stronger. Not for me. For her.'
The Dogs nuzzled him gently. He closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, he would train again.
The next day, and the next.
Because he refused to let the world decide Tsumiki's fate twice.
At school, Megumi became "the quiet kid." Not because he was shy, but because silence was easier than explaining himself.
He overheard whispers sometimes:
"Does he ever talk?"
"I heard he takes down bullies."
He didn't correct them.
What mattered was simple. When he saw someone hurting a weaker student, his body moved before he could think.
One afternoon, he turned a corner to find a boy shoved against a locker. The bully loomed over him, laughing.
"You gonna cry? Come on, man-"
"Let him go."
Megumi's voice was quiet, but firm.
The bully snorted. "Mind your business."
Megumi watched him carefully.
'Walk away. Just walk away.'
He didn't.
He swung.
Megumi sidestepped, caught the wrist, twisted, and swept his leg. The boy hit the ground with a thud.
He could've said something cutting, but instead he said:
"People aren't tools to make you feel bigger."
The small kid whispered a thank-you after the bully ran. Megumi just nodded and continued on.
'I don't save people because it makes me a hero. I save them because this is what Tsumiki would've done.'
At thirteen, Rabbit Escape became his new training partner. They were unpredictable, fast, jittery, and chaotic.
Megumi stood in the clearing as Rabbits flickered around his ankles.
Divine Dogs crouched behind him.
His heartbeat quickened, but this time with anticipation.
"Go."
Rabbits launched, kicking the ground in rhythmic bursts that propelled Megumi forward. He nearly tripped on the first burst, crashing into a tree.
The impact rattled his spine.
'Great. Pain is part of the process.'
He stood again.
"Again."
Rabbits zigzagged; Dogs chased from behind. Megumi learned how to ride the momentum instead of fighting it. His movements became sharper, quicker, even if they almost threw him every time.
When he finally collapsed to his knees, gasping, he let himself smile faintly.
'I'm getting faster.'
Toad arrived when Megumi was thirteen and a half. It didn't appear dramatically, it manifested because Megumi needed it.
He was dragging heavy logs uphill, trying to simulate rescue weight. Halfway up, his grip slipped.
The log barreled toward him.
He braced instinctively, eyes widening-
A massive toad burst up from his shadow, catching the log in its mouth.
Megumi gasped.
"…You showed up just in time."
The Toad croaked proudly.
...
He spent weeks training Toad for rescue drills. It learned to scoop him up in its mouth without hurting him, to carry weight steadily, to stabilize him on rough terrain.
It was patient. Dependable. Solid.
Everything he wished Tsumiki had in her life besides him.
At fourteen, Megumi started aerial drills with the Toad. Some were… questionable.
He stood on its back.
"Toad, don't throw me too hard."
The Toad wrapped its tongue around him.
"…Not too har-"
He was launched like a fastball.
Wind tore at his face. His stomach flipped. His brain went blank.
'I hate this.'
He tried to stabilize his balance.
He was practicing being thrown or hit into the air by a villain.
Another launch. Higher. Faster.
Megumi's heart hammered so loudly he could hear it echo in his skull.
Then instinct clicked into place.
His hands moved into a new sign before he knew why.
"Nue."
Thunder cracked overhead.
A massive bird burst from the shadows from down below, talons gripping him midair. Electricity bursted around them. As Nue descended, Megumi exhaled shakily.
"…Thanks."
The thunderbird screeched in approval before retreating to his shadow.
Megumi glared at the Toad, breath still unsteady.
"Don't do that again."
The Toad blinked. It definitely would.
At fourteen and a half, Megumi searched for something more subtle, an ambush tactic. He trained at dusk.
He set up toad in the middle of the clearing.
Divine Dogs hid. Rabbits scattered. Toad stayed planted.
He snapped his fingers.
The Dogs lunged too soon. Rabbits ran into them. Toad reacted. Megumi got caught and flew shoulder-first into the dirt.
He groaned.
"This is terrible."
But he didn't stop.
He refined timing. Corrected mistakes. Adjusted angles.
Still not enough.
He sat in the clearing as the sun dipped, sweat dripping from his chin.
'I need something faster. Something precise. Before people get hurt.'
His shadow responded.
A deep instinct prickled down his spine.
He raised his hand, breath steady.
"Great Serpent."
The ground erupted.
A colossal serpent burst upward, coiling around toad and restricting him instantly before sinking back into the shadow.
Megumi stared, chest tight.
"…That's it."
It felt right. Sharp. Controlled. Protective.
By fifteen, Megumi had transformed his daily life into a rhythm.
School.
Hospital.
Home.
Training.
His muscles strengthened. His footwork tightened. His coordination with his Shikigami became smoother every day.
He wasn't chasing glory.
He wasn't trying to impress anyone.
He wasn't even sure "hero" was the right word for what he wanted to be.
But whenever he thought about Tsumiki, her kindness, her gentle smile, her belief in people
he knew he needed to stand where good people stood.
He needed to offer what the world withheld from her.
I'll be strong enough to protect people like you.
On a cool night before the U.A. Entrance Exam, Megumi stood in the moonlit clearing.
He looked at his hands.
At the shadows that obeyed him.
At the sky, dim and quiet.
"For Tsumiki," he said softly.
He wasn't a hero yet.
But he knew what kind of person he wanted to become:
Someone who protects good people in an unfair world.
Even if he had to do it the hard way.
Even if he had to do it alone.
Because Tsumiki would want him to try.
And Megumi wanted to live in a world where someone like her could smile without fear.