I hurried out of my room, the "Captain Celebrity" poster firmly taped over the evidence of my first lucky hit. I made my way straight to the kitchen, where the familiar, comforting smell of miso and toasted sesame filled the air. My mother, Aina, was busy maneuvering around the stove, her midnight hair tied back in a messy bun.
"Good morning, Mom," I said, reaching for the stack of plates on the counter. I started setting the table, my small hands moving with a coordination that sometimes made her look at me with a curious, proud smile.
"Good morning, Takeru-kun! You're helpful as always," she chirped, seting down a steaming pot.
When my father, Kaito, stomped into the room with his usual heavy-but-kind energy, the table was set. We all gathered to eat, the atmosphere warm and lively.
"Mom, Dad," I said, putting my chopsticks down. I tried to make my eyes go wide with "childlike" wonder. "Something happened last night. I think... I think I found my Quirk."
The kitchen went dead silent. Kaito froze with a piece of grilled fish halfway to his mouth. Aina gasped, her hands flying to her cheeks.
"Takeru! Really?" Kaito's voice boomed with excitement. "Already? You're barely four!"
"Show us, sweetie!" Aina urged, her eyes shimmering with delight.
I stood up and focused. I didn't want to show them the whole deck—that would be too much. I reached into the air and felt for the most basic constant in my soul. Joker.
With a soft, digital chirp, a spectral card appeared, floating just above my palm. It was the standard Joker, grinning with its jester hat, shimmering with a faint, holographic light.
"Whoa," Kaito leaned in, his broad shoulders casting a shadow over the table. "A card? It's a manifestation Quirk? My Tectonic Grip is all about physical contact and pressure... but you've created something from nothing." He looked at me, puzzled but impressed. "What does it do, son? Is it just for show?"
"Not just for show," I explained, pretending to stumble over the words like a kid discovering a toy. "If I... if I have the cards, and I 'play' them together in a specific way, I feel really strong. It's like a game! Playing certain cards multiplies how hard I can hit."
Aina and Kaito shared a look of pure joy. "A multiplier Quirk," Kaito whispered, his face breaking into a massive grin. "Takeru, that's incredible! You could be a hero with a power like that."
Later they go to the hospital for a check up and quirk registration.
The car ride to the hospital was filled with Kaito's booming laughter and Aina's gentle, excited humming. For them, this was the proudest day of their lives. For me, it was the first time I had to "perform" my reality-warping math under a microscope.
We sat in a specialized Quirk testing room—reinforced concrete walls, high-speed cameras, and a heavy-duty impact machine designed to measure everything from a light tap to a tank shell.
The doctor, a man with three eyes and a notepad that seemed to hover on its own, looked over his spectacles. "So, young Takeru-kun believes he has a Multiplier-type manifestation. Interesting. Most children your age just breathe a little smoke or grow a tail. Let's see the baseline."
He gestured to the machine's padded target. "First, a punch with just your own strength. No cards."
I stepped up, took a deep breath, and swung my four-year-old fist as hard as I could.
[THUD. Impact Reading: 12]
"A normal baseline for a healthy boy," the doctor noted. "Now... Takeru-kun, show us the cards."
Play, I thought.
With a digital shimmer, the air in front of me fractured. Ten spectral cards fanned out in a glowing arc. My parents gasped, and even the doctor leaned in. I scanned the draw:
* Joker (The reliable +4 Mult)
* The Magician (The glimmering gamble)
* Earth Planet Card (The Full House level-up)
* King of Hearts
* King of Clubs
* 7 of Hearts
* 7 of Diamonds
* 6 of Spades
* 2 of Hearts
* Queen of Hearts