The world swam back into focus with the taste of salt and sand on Eizo's tongue. Distant, happy shrieks from his friends echoed in his ears, and his head throbbed a dull, rhythmic beat against his father's broad shoulder.
"…and then he just poofed! Like a glitch!" Mina's voice, full of breathless excitement, cut through his grogginess.
"He overexerted himself, is what he did," Akane replied, her tone a mixture of amusement and gentle chiding. "His body isn't a battery you can just drain to zero, no matter how cool the trick."
Tetsuo's rumbling laugh vibrated through Eizo's small frame. "But what a trick! Teleportation! Did you see his face, Akane? The kid was as surprised as we were!"
Eizo groaned, forcing his eyes open. The setting sun painted the sky in hues of orange and purple over the beach.
Eijiro was now free from the sand, showing off his hardening to a captivated Mina, while Hitoshi observed from his shady spot with a faint, knowing smile.
"He's awake!" Mina chirped, her golden eyes locking onto him. She bounded over, her pink skin glowing in the twilight.
"That was the coolest thing ever, Ei! You just vanished and then reappeared! You've gotta teach me how to do that!"
"Can't," Eizo mumbled, his voice hoarse. "It's part of the whole… pixel package. And it feels like my insides got put through a blender."
Tetsuo gently set him down on his own two feet. Eizo's legs wobbled, but held. Akane was there in an instant, pressing a water bottle into his hands. "Stamina, Eizo. We've talked about this. Pushing your limits is good, but shattering them is how you get hurt."
The memory of the strange, stretching sensation—the world dissolving into data streams before snapping back into place—was both terrifying and exhilarating.
He had done it. He'd unlocked a new aspect of his Quirk.
Fueled by that triumph and a stubborn refusal to be beaten by his own body, Eizo, after gulping down the water, fixed his gaze on Mina.
A spark of his usual competitive fire returned. "You're still it, Ashido."
Her eyes widened, then narrowed with a competitive gleam. "Oh, you're on, Glitch-boy!"
He took off, his bare feet slapping against the hard-packed sand near the waterline. He was slow, clumsy with exhaustion, but the chase was on.
Mina's laughter echoed behind him as she gave chase, her energy seemingly inexhaustible. For a few precious minutes, the fatigue was forgotten in the simple, joyful chaos of a summer evening chase.
Three Years Later
The air had cooled, trading the salty tang of the ocean for the crispness of a city night. Streetlights cast long, overlapping pools of orange on the pavement.
At 7, the Kirishima twins and their friends were navigating the awkward bridge between childhood and adolescence.
"I'm telling you, the combo is only viable if you cancel the heavy punch into the special!" Eijiro argued, his voice a little deeper, chopping a hand through the air for emphasis.
"That's if your opponent is asleep, Eiji," Hitoshi retorted, his hands stuffed in his pockets, his perpetual tired gaze fixed ahead. "Any half-decent player would block and punish you into next week."
"You guys and your fighting games," Mina groaned, though a smile played on her lips. She stumbled slightly, the day's activities finally catching up to her.
They had spent hours at the park, pushing their Quirks in playful spars and obstacle courses. "My feet are killing me."
Eizo, walking beside her, glanced over. Her usual boundless energy had dimmed to a faint flicker. Without a word, he shifted his backpack to his front and crouched slightly. "Get on."
Mina blinked. "Huh?"
"You're dead on your feet. Just get on. I'm not carrying you the whole way, but it'll give you a break."
A light blush tinted her cheeks. "I'm not little anymore, you know."
"Could've fooled me with the way you were trying to lick your own elbow earlier," Eizo shot back, a grin tugging at his lips.
That got a giggle out of her. "It was a bet!" She relented, hopping onto his back and looping her arms around his neck.
Eizo straightened up, adjusting his grip under her knees. She was light, and years of relentless training had made him very strong for young child.
Her head came to rest on his shoulder, her pink curls tickling his cheek. He caught a faint scent of citrus and sweat.
"Don't fall asleep on me, Ashido. You drool."
"Do not!" she mumbled, but her protest lacked its usual fire.
Eijiro and Hitoshi shared a look. Eijiro's was a simple, brotherly smirk, while Hitoshi's was a more calculated, knowing arch of an eyebrow.
The dynamic between Eizo and Mina had been subtly shifting for months, a slow, almost imperceptible current beneath the surface of their friendship.
They turned a corner onto their quieter residential street, the familiar sight of their homes a welcome sight at the end of the block. The peace was shattered in an instant.
From a perpendicular alley, a man on a battered, silent bicycle shot out like a bolt from a crossbow. There was no warning shout, no bell, just the whisper of tires on asphalt and the blur of motion.
"Look out!" Eizo yelled.
His body reacted before his mind could fully process the threat. The world flickered. There was that nauseating sensation of being digitally compressed and pulled through a straw. POP. He rematerialized two yards to the left, Mina still clinging to his back, her sudden gasp hot in his ear.
Eijiro, startled by Eizo's sudden disappearance and the onrushing danger, froze for a critical half-second. He began to harden, but it was too late.
The bike's handlebar clipped his back, spinning him around. He cried out as he hit the pavement with a heavy thud, his head snapping back against the concrete. He lay still, unconcious, the rock-like texture of his skin receding.
As the bike shot past Eijiro's falling body, the rider's free hand—a taloned blur—shot out. He seized Hitoshi by the collar and, without breaking momentum, hurled him sideways.
Hitoshi's body was flung like a ragdoll, crashing against the brick wall with a brutal finality before slumping to the ground, unconscious. A dark thread of blood began to weave its way through his hair.
The bicycle screeched to a halt...
The rider planting a foot on the ground. The man was unnaturally tall and gaunt, draped in dark, tattered clothing.
But it was his head that stole Eizo's breath. It was twisted almost completely around to face them, supported by a flexible, owl-like neck.
His eyes were massive, black orbs that reflected the streetlights with a predatory gleam, set in a heart-shaped facial disc of mottled feathers. Taloned fingers, not human hands, gripped the handlebars.
Mina, jolted fully awake by the teleport and the landing, let out a small, terrified whimper. Her arms tightened around Eizo's neck like a vice. He could feel her heart hammering against his back. "E-Ei… don't let me go," she whispered, her voice trembling.
The man's head tilted a full ninety degrees. "The night is no place for chicks like yourselves. A pity your flight ends here." he hissed, his voice a dry rustle. "Should've been in your nest."
Rage, cold and sharp, cut through Eizo's initial shock. This man had hurt his brother. He was threatening them.
He carefully pried Mina's arms loose and set her down, pushing her gently towards a nearby light pole. "Stay behind that," he commanded, his voice low and steady, belying the storm inside him.
The Owl Villain abandoned his bike with a dismissive shove. It clattered to the ground as he stalked forward, his talons clicking on the pavement. "Feisty one, aren't you?"
Eizo fell into a stance his father had drilled into him a thousand times.
'Stamina is your bottleneck. Be efficient. Make every second count.'
He didn't activate his Quirk fully, not yet. Instead, he let the energy pool in his core, a buzzing, ready potential beneath his skin.
The Owl lunged, his talons swiping in a blur. Eizo waited until the last possible moment. His right arm pixelated in a shimmering cascade, the flesh and bone transforming into a solid, blocky shield.
The talons screeched against the digital surface, sparking like grinding metal. The impact shuddered up Eizo's arm, but he held firm. The moment the attack was deflected, he let the transformation drop, conserving energy.
The Owl hissed in surprise, retracting his talons. "What's this? "Your shell is... unexpected?"
He attacked again, a flurry of swipes and jabs. Eizo became a whirlwind of controlled, minimal transformations.
A pixelated forearm to block a strike to the head; a hardened shin to check a low kick; a flickering, solidified hand to deflect a talon aimed at his throat.
He was a fortress that only materialized at the moment of siege, his movements economical and precise. He was testing the villain's patterns, looking for an opening.
The Owl was fast, his head constantly swiveling, his incredible hearing and night vision making it nearly impossible to land a surprise blow. He grew increasingly frustrated, his attacks becoming wilder.
"Stop dancing, you little bug!" he screeched. His massive eyes darted past Eizo, landing on the terrified form of Mina peeking out from behind the light pole.
A cruel grin stretched his beak-like mouth. "Let's see how you dance when your friend is screaming."
He feinted towards Eizo, then changed direction with impossible agility, lunging straight for Mina.
"Mina, move!" Eizo roared.
Mina yelped and threw herself to the side. It wasn't enough. The Owl's outstretched talons, meant for her back, raked across her upper arm.
She cried out in pain, stumbling and falling, clutching her arm. A line of crimson welled up through the tear in the bottom of her sleeve, stark against her pink skin.
Something in Eizo snapped.
The careful control, the stamina management, the strategic defense—it all evaporated, replaced by a white-hot inferno of protective fury.
Seeing Eijiro hurt was one thing. Seeing Mina bleeding on the ground was another entirely.
A low, digital growl emanated from his throat. His Quirk erupted, not in controlled bursts, but in a full-body surge. From the tips of his hair to the soles of his feet, his entire form dissolved into a roaring torrent of shimmering, hyper-defined pixels.
He no longer looked like a boy; he was a human-shaped entity of pure, volatile data, his eyes glowing with searing white light.
"You," Eizo's voice was distorted, layered with static, "shouldn't have done that."
He moved. There was no teleportation, just raw, pixel-enhanced speed. He closed the distance in an instant.
The Owl Villain had time for one last look of shock before Eizo's fist, a solid block of crushing data, slammed into his feathered midsection. The air left the villain's lungs in a choked gasp.
Eizo didn't let up. A pixelated knee crashed into his jaw. A hardened elbow hammered into his back. It was a relentless, brutal assault, a storm of digital fury.
The Owl tried to block, to counter, but Eizo's transformed state was too strong, too durable. His talons scraped harmlessly against the pixelated armor. His bones cracked under the overwhelming force.
Eizo was a berserker, every punch a vengeance for his brother's concussion, every kick filled with revenge for the bleeding head of Hitoshi, and every blow a punishment for the cut on Mina's arm.
Finally, with a final, thundering punch that cratered the pavement, the Owl villain crumpled. He lay in a tangled, twitching heap of limbs and feathers, completely unconscious.
The pixelation collapsed. Eizo staggered, his body screaming in protest, his vision spotting. He ignored it, rushing to Mina's side. Her eyes were wide with pain and fear, tears tracing clean lines through the dust on her cheeks.
"Hey, look at me," he said, as he forced his voice back to normal, though ragged with breathlessness. He ripped the bottom half of his t-shirt, creating a makeshift bandage. "Here, press down. Keep pressure on it. I'm getting my parents."
He sprinted the last hundred yards to his house, his heart pounding. He burst through the front door. "MOM! DAD! HELP!"
Tetsuo and Akane were in the living room and were on their feet in an instant. They took one look at Eizo's panicked face, his torn shirt, and didn't ask questions. They ran.
The scene they came upon was one of chaos. Eijiro was groggily trying to sit up, a bleeding Hitoshi kneeling beside him, trying to keep him still.
Mina was huddled by the pole, clutching her bleeding arm. And in the center of the street lay the broken form of the Owl man.
Akane, ever the triage expert, went straight to Eijiro, her hands gently probing his head. Tetsuo's face was a thundercloud as he took in the scene, his own hardening Quirk making his skin ripple.
He immediately pulled out his phone, calling the police and an ambulance.
The aftermath was a blur of flashing lights. A Rookie Hero—the Rabbit Hero: Mirko, as it turned out, who had been on patrol nearby—arrived first, her sharp eyes assessing the situation. She whistled, looking at the defeated villain and then at the 7-year-old boy standing protectively near his friends.
"You did this, kid?" she asked, her tone impressed.
Eizo barely heard her. His focus was entirely on Mina, who was now being comforted by her parents as a paramedic cleaned and bandaged her arm.
His focus was on Eijiro, who was being loaded onto a stretcher, Akane climbing into the ambulance with him.
Mina's father, a large man with a kind face, gripped Eizo's shoulder. "Thank you, son. Thank you for protecting our girl."
As the paramedics finished with Mina, she slipped from her father's arms. Before anyone could stop her, she crossed the short distance and threw her arms around Eizo, burying her face in his chest. He stiffened for a moment, then gently hugged her back.
"I was so scared" she mumbled into his shirt, her voice thick with tears. "And you were so..." she whispered, "...cool."
He just held her, the adrenaline finally fading, leaving him hollow and exhausted.
With the civilians being cared for and the scene secured, Mirko found herself with unanswered questions.
The official response felt strangely compartmentalized, leaving her out of the information loop.
A flicker of irritation sparked within her—not just at the situation, but at being so completely dismissed by the kid. She slipped away from the chaos to check in directly with the police investigators.
7 Years later
The memory of that night was a ghost that followed them, a foundational trauma that had forged their resolve into something harder than Eijiro's Quirk. Training was no longer just a game; it was a necessity, especially now that the UA entrance exams were only ten months away.
The four of them walked home from school, the routine as comfortable as an old shoe. They were taller now, their features sharper, standing on the precipice of their futures.
"I still say you button-mash," Hitoshi droned as they reached the Kirishima household.
"It's not mashing! It's aggressive strategy!" Eijiro retorted, already pulling out his keys.
They filed into the familiar, welcoming chaos of the living room. Eijiro and Hitoshi immediately beelined for the game console, their argument continuing without pause.
Mina, however, lingered by the door, her gaze following Eizo as he headed down the hall towards his room. She had something she wanted to ask him.
She followed him, a playful smile on her face as he pushed his door open and stepped inside, already pulling his uniform shirt over his head.
"Hey, Ei, are you gonna—WOAH!"
The sentence died in her throat. Eizo had his back to her, and the shirt was off. The years of brutal, dedicated training since the owl villain attack had carved his physique into something far beyond that of a typical fourteen-year-old.
His back was a defined map of muscle, his shoulders broad, and as he half-turned in surprise, she saw the clear definition of his abdominal muscles, the powerful lines of his arms.
A brilliant, hot blush exploded across Mina's face and neck. She let out a high-pitched squeal and spun around, covering her eyes. "What are you doing?!"
Eizo yanked the shirt back down, his own cheeks flushing a deep red. "I was changing! What are you doing? In my room, Mina!"
"You just walked in and started stripping!" she accused, her voice an octave higher than usual.
"It's my room! and I was about to close the door, You're supposed to knock!"
Flustered and embarrassed, he marched over, placed his hands on her shoulders, and gently but firmly guided her out into the hallway. She kept her back resolutely to him.
"Just... wait out there!" he muttered from behind the now-closed door.
Mina stood frozen in the hallway, her heart doing a frantic tap-dance against her ribs. She brought her fingers to her lips, biting down on one lightly as the image of his sculpted back and the glimpse of his ridged stomach burned itself into her mind. Since when had Eizo gotten so… built?
Downstairs, the sounds of virtual combat continued, oblivious.
A few minutes later, after taking a moment to collect himself and change, Eizo found them all in the family's expanded training room, now dressed in his training gear.
Eijiro and Hitoshi were already doing light sparring, the latter relying on his agility and capture weapon practice since his Brainwashing Quirk was useless without a verbal response.
Mina was stretching near the weights, trying and failing to look nonchalant. A light blush still dusted her cheeks. When Eizo approached to grab a set of dumbbells, she sidled up to him.
"Hey," she whispered, her voice low. "Sorry for… barging in." She couldn't quite meet his eyes.
Eizo looked down at her, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a faint, understanding smile. He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a matching whisper. "It's okay. Just don't be mad if that ever happens to me when you're changing."
Her blush deepened from pink to a flustered magenta. Her response was a soft, half-hearted punch to his shoulder. "Jerk."
Eizo chuckled, feigning great pain and rubbing his arm. "Ow! Worth it."
She stuck her tongue out at him, but the smile she tried to hide was genuine. As they all began their training in earnest, the easy camaraderie returned, but for Mina, the air in the room now carried a new, electrifying charge.
And for the first time, she found her eyes constantly drifting, seeking out the boy with the pixelated Quirk and, she was now realizing, a surprisingly hero-ready physique.
(A/N)[I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for your continued patience and support despite the longer wait between uploads. And sorry for not being able to upload frequently anymore.]