[Scene – Recess time, school hallway]
The bell rang with the same energy as an evacuation alarm in the middle of a war.
Before I could even process the sound, thirty creatures —sorry, kids— shot out of the classroom like they were escaping from an underground prison. Screams, laughter, shrieks… a true quirk-zoological chaos.
I stayed still, like someone who had seen that kind of stampede before and knew better than to move. Like a stray cat faced with a horde of baby strollers.
Izuku looked at me. He was about to speak, but I stopped him with a single glance.
"If you say 'let's go to recess,' I swear I'll use my backpack as a blunt weapon."
Izuku shut his mouth immediately. Though he still followed me… like I was his tour guide through school hell.
I stepped into the hallway. Damn it, it looked like a lost episode of My Little Quirk: Chaos on the Playground. Kids flying. Others blowing up slime bubbles, sliding on walls, or screaming for mysterious reasons I didn't want to investigate.
And right behind me, of course, Izuku. Walking like he didn't know whether he should get closer or not. Like a park puppy following you but too shy to bark.
"Did you know that kid can turn his breath into shaving foam?" said Denki, appearing out of nowhere, pointing at a kid who was clearly in full foam mode.
"Did you know I'm considering faking a nervous breakdown so they'll send me home?" I replied without turning.
Denki laughed. He always laughs. Like life is a comedy anime and he's the lead with one and a half functioning brain cells.
"Come on, Goo! Chill a little. It's just the first recess. What could go wrong?"
"Do you want the list alphabetically or by trauma level?"
Izuku let out a nervous laugh behind me. I turned to look at him.
"Are you also in 'this is normal' mode?"
"Well… I've actually never been in a school with so many active quirks. It's… exciting. Right?"
"Yeah. Exciting. Like sticking your face in a running blender."
Denki gave me a pat on the back.
"Let's go to the yard, bro. I wanna see if the gravity-sensor swings are still there."
"And if I don't go?"
"Then Izuku is going to shadow you in silent mode for the next thirty minutes."
I turned to look at Midoriya. His face said: Yes. That's exactly what I was going to do.
I sighed.
"Great. To the zoo it is, then."
And with that mood as bright as a solar eclipse, I headed to the playground, surrounded by a shiny idiot, a nervous puppy, and an army of infants with superpowers and zero self-control.
[Scene – Playground, minutes later]
The sun kept shining like it didn't care about my suffering.
All the kids were running, screaming, and throwing colorful projectiles as if their brains came with a built-in "chaos mode" button. One was climbing a wall using suction cups on his hands. Another one was throwing mini tornadoes that lifted dirt and candy at the same time. Denki… Denki was trying to balance on an invisible rope. Spoiler: he wasn't succeeding.
And me? Well… I had found refuge.
A tall, isolated tree with roots big enough to serve as my improvised throne. I sat with my back leaning against it, one arm resting on my knee, like a jaded emperor watching his kingdom of power-wasting brats burn through their life force.
Izuku was playing pretend-playing. That is, he was pretending not to look at me while edging toward the field holding a ball he clearly didn't know how to use. I appreciated his attempt to give me space. Though honestly, it also seemed a little sad. He looked like… me. At eight. In another world.
I sighed. Not one of those theatrical ones. A real one.
"AI."
[Present, lord and master of the antisocial corner.]
"Tell me about my quirk."
[Oh. You're interested now? What happened? Did the tree inspire you with ancient wisdom? Or are you just tired of being mistaken for ornamental foliage?]
"Just tell me."
[As you wish. Your quirk still doesn't have a standard classification in this reality. It behaves like a latent ability. Dormant. But not passive.]
"So does that mean I can activate it?"
[No. Not yet. The body you have doesn't have the capacity to support it. The system has blocked 90% of its functionality.]
"And the other 10%?"
[Available. But unstable. Like a matchstick in a storm. You could light it… or burn yourself with it.]
I stared up at the sky for a moment. The clouds looked like they couldn't care less about the madness going on below.
"What does it do?"
[The matchstick?]
"My quirk."
There was a brief silence. Unusual for my AI.
[And this is what I know so far. It doesn't have a name, but it has a signature. Your quirk reacts to emotional states. Not with fire, not with lightning. With… something deeper.]
"Define deeper. Psychic?"
[Not exactly. It's like something inside you… breaks to release something else. It's not a physical explosion. It's a conceptual rupture.]
"Rupture?"
[The closest I have is a signal recorded during your transition between worlds. It was like your soul collapsed… and something was born in its place.]
I didn't say anything. I just let my head fall back against the tree trunk, staring at the sky.
"… Rupture and birth."
[Sorry?]
"That's how it feels. Like something has to break inside me… so something else can come out. Like my power isn't a tool. It's a price."
The AI didn't respond right away. Which worried me. Because if even it went quiet… it meant something wasn't quite right.
[You might be closer to understanding it than I thought.]
"What happens if I use it now?"
[You could unleash something you won't be able to put back. Or nothing could happen. You're still a child, Goo. And this body… isn't ready.]
"But it will be."
[With time. With rage. With pain. Or with all of the above.]
I closed my eyes again. The voices of the children still echoed in the background, but they didn't bother me as much anymore.
Because for the first time since I got here…
I felt real.
And that… was more terrifying than any quirk.
The wind blew softly through the leaves. The tree creaked lazily. And for a moment, everything felt… bearable.
Until the voice echoed in my head again.
[By the way… for now you can use this body's quirk.]
I blinked.
"…What?"
[This body. The childish one. The one with loose teeth and rainbow trauma.]
"Are you telling me I have another quirk?"
[Did you think they just handed you a universal power and that was it? Your imagination is so basic, Goo.]
I straightened up a little, frowning.
"I thought… that was my quirk. The one you said was blocked. The emotional matchstick one, or whatever."
[That one's yours. Original. Personal. Glued to your soul like a bad life decision. But this body… it had its own quirk before you took over, you know?]
I stayed silent. The breeze didn't feel so gentle anymore.
"…And you're just telling me now?"
[You didn't ask. And let's be honest, the day wasn't exactly screaming 'plot twist'… but here we are.]
I ran a hand down my face. Not sure if from frustration or the urge to slam it into the tree.
"What does it do? Is it useful?"
[Depends. Do you like seeing things that aren't really there?]
"What kind of answer is that?"
[The quirk is called Echo Sight. A passive ability. This body can perceive traces of emotional energy. Like it can sniff out strong thoughts… or pick up on intense intentions. What people leave behind when they feel too much, too fast.]
"I can see feelings?"
[Sort of. You can see the leftovers. The echoes. The scars that powerful emotions leave behind. A useless quirk if you were an accountant. But considering the world you're in…]
I went quiet.
Because now everything made more sense.
The times I saw something "weird" moving through a hallway. Or when I knew a kid was going to cry before he even started. Or why that corner of the classroom made me feel like someone had screamed there… without actually doing it.
"Goddamn it…"
[Yes. Two goddamns. One that burns from the inside, and one that lets you see what burns in others. Pretty poetic, if you ask me.]
"What if I don't want either of them?"
[Too late. You're already sitting in the tree. You're already seeing.]
I closed my eyes.
Izuku was tripping over a ball in the distance.
Denki was hanging from a bar that clearly couldn't handle that much optimism.
And me…
I was in a body that wasn't mine.
With one quirk that burned like an unpaid price.
And another, that showed me everyone else's cracks.
"Great," I muttered. "I'm a walking emotional radar."
[And a matchstick about to ignite. What a healthy combo.]