The lock barely made a sound when Reiji opened the front door. He took off his shoes on autopilot and hung his jacket on the coat rack without paying it much attention. Exhaustion still weighed heavily on his body, mingled with the dried sweat from his workout.
The house was practically pitch black.
Only the faint glow from the TV partially lit up the living room.
When he turned the corner of the hallway and looked toward the couch, he stopped for a few seconds.
Himiko was asleep on the couch, right in front of the TV.
Her legs were tucked up on the sofa, an open U.A. book resting on her chest, and an empty teacup abandoned on the coffee table in front of her. The remote control was barely perched on the edge of the cushion, dangerously close to falling to the floor at any mont.
The TV was still playing a rerun of an interview with Mt. Lady. The heroine was speaking exaggeratedly about the increase in heroic activity in Musutafu and the importance of "strengthening regional security," gesturing far more than necessary as she smiled for the caras. The volu was so low it barely sounded like a distant murmur.
Reiji stood still, watching the scene.
Himiko's blonde hair fell ssily over the open book, and her slow breathing barely stirred the pages.
'When is she going to stop falling asleep like this on the couch…?'
The small smile that appeared on his face lasted barely an instant before turning bitter.
Because even scenes as ordinary as that ended up feeling complicated.
He sighed slowly before approaching the sofa without making a sound. He grabbed the remote just before it fell to the floor and turned the TV volu down even further.
At that mont, Himiko seed to sense his presence and shifted on the sofa with a soft, sleep-induced murmur.
"I love you..."
The voice ca out barely as a disjointed sigh; Reiji didn't need to hear anything else to understand perfectly who those words were ant for.
His eyes remained fixed on her for a few seconds. Then he took the blanket folded over the back of the sofa and carefully arranged it over her body before turning off the dining room light he'd turned on earlier and began to walk away silently toward the second floor.
His room was exactly the sa as always.
Tidy.
Too tidy.
The cold air ca in through the slightly open window, gently moving the curtains. The notebook was still on the desk, the pencils lined up, the sheets perfectly stretched over the bed. Everything seed to be in its place.
He slowly took off his sweat-soaked T-shirt and ended up stopping in front of the mirror almost out of habit.
Lately, he'd been doing that too often.
Observing himself.
Looking for changes.
And finding them.
His jawline looked more defined than it had just a few weeks ago. His features were slowly becoming more defined, and the dark circles under his eyes made his expression even harsher. Even his neck and the way the veins stood out beneath his skin.
He was growing; he'd had a couple of growth spurts in the last few months, and his body was taking on a much better shape, whether due to his constant exercise or his nearly perfect genetics thanks to his regeneration.
'Is this how I should have developed in my other life?' The thought ca with a hint of bitterness; he loved his new life, but that didn't change the fact that a small part of him also wanted that old life—the life of soone completely normal.
Sure, his mother had died in childbirth, but even so, he would have preferred a first and only normal life, so this life wouldn't be so complicated. His traumas, his knowledge. Himiko's feelings. His own feelings.
'It doesn't matter anymore… I have things here I'd never change either.'
It wasn't a constant thought, but the "what if" was powerful for anyone experiencing a mont of bitterness, loneliness, and stress like Reiji was right now.
The investigation into the experints had ended, and with that, anyone who was suffering would no longer have salvation; he couldn't interfere in sothing he didn't even know where it was happening, or if it appeared anywhere.
AFO was too careful; it would be almost impossible to do it on his own, and even with help he hadn't achieved anything—all that was left was… to wait. AFO wouldn't be in hiding forever; until then, all that was left was to wait…
Just as he hoped his traumas would disappear. Just as he hoped his feelings would disappear.
After all.
Ti heals all wounds.
***
The second week since classes began passed without much happening. At least, nothing visible.
Sumr was officially behind them, but the heat clung to Musutafu's atmosphere with unbearable persistence. The air seed trapped between the buildings, and the concrete had been soaking up heat since early morning, making even a walk after lunch exhausting.
The streets were still filled with students, office workers, and heroes patrolling with the city's typical superficial calm. Shops were open, traffic lights were constantly beeping, and giant screens played heroic advertisents at every major corner.
Normalcy.
Or at least, a very convincing version of it.
Reiji walked alongside Shinso down one of the side streets near the station as they both made their way back after lunch. Shinso wore his tie slightly loosened and held a cold drink in his hand, clearly trying to survive the heat, while Reiji kept his hands in his pockets with his usual calm expression.
"I'm starting to hate uniforms," Shinso muttered after taking another sip of his drink. "Who the hell decided that wearing multiple layers in Japan was a good idea?"
"It's not that bad, honestly."
"Your body regulates the heat… You don't get a say here."
Reiji let out a barely audible nasal chuckle as they continued walking through the crowd; that was a good point, though it didn't entirely spare him from the sensation of heat and cold.
"Just take off your jacket already. When winter cos, you'll end up whining too."
"Do you know how much I want to use my Quirk on you and order a car to run you over?" Shinso threatened with a face far more expressionless than usual.
"It wouldn't work even if you wanted it to; it doesn't work against ." Reiji, on the other hand, acted relaxed and unfazed. Just like Aizawa's Quirk, Shinso's Quirk, for so reason, didn't apply to him.
"Want to try it out in the middle of the street?" Shinso pressed on anyway.
"No thanks, or I'll make sure the car runs you over too," Reiji retorted, his blood swirling around his hand, just enough for Shinso to see.
"You look like that jerk from an Arican movie…"
"You an the one the frustrated protagonist almost always wants to be because he's handso, strong, and wealthy?"
"The only thing bigger than your strength is your ego..."
The conversation continued a little longer as they walked down the avenue without much haste. The sounds of the city constantly filled the air, and they walked easily toward the gym where they used to train every day.
Suddenly, Reiji's sense of sll picked up sothing strange, and he slowed his pace slightly.
His gaze swept the street almost reflexively as his mind began to automatically analyze everything around him.
Shinso took just a few more steps before noticing they were no longer walking side by side.
He turned his head slightly.
"What's going on?"
Reiji didn't answer imdiately.
His eyes kept darting between the buildings, searching for the source of the scent he'd picked up. His gaze finally settled on a direction, when in the distance, rising above several buildings, a column of smoke began to rise toward Musutafu's clear sky.
Dark.
Thick.
Too dense to be a normal fire.
The sound ca a second later.
A distant explosion.
Deafening.
Loud enough to make so nearby windows rattle slightly.
The people around them began to react almost imdiately. Several people looked up at the smoke while others automatically pulled out their phones.
"Was that an explosion?" Shinso asked, frowning.
Reiji didn't take his eyes off the black column rising in the distance.
The smoke kept growing.
And sothing about the irregular way it moved struck him as strange right away.
Sirens began to sound just a few seconds later. First in the distance. Then closer as several patrol cars and hero vehicles began to race through the streets toward the incident.
The sense of normalcy vanished quickly.
Too quickly.
"It must be so villain," Shinso muttered as he watched several people already start running toward the area out of sheer curiosity. "Musutafu can't stay calm for even two weeks in a row."
Reiji watched the column of smoke for a few more seconds before finally starting to walk again.
But this ti, straight toward the scene of the incident.
Shinso blinked when he noticed.
"Wait, are you going over there?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Curiosity," he replied simply; he couldn't tell them the thousand and one reasons he had for approaching a situation like this.
Shinso looked at him with utter distrust.
"That's exactly the answer people give before they end up in the hospital."
"Don't be dramatic."
"You're literally walking into an explosion."
Reiji didn't respond; he just kept walking. Shinso, for his part, followed behind him with a small sigh.
"Okay, maybe strength also cos with stupidity…" he muttered loud enough for Reiji to hear, though the Toga said nothing.
The crowd was slowly beginning to move toward the smoke, a mix of curiosity, fear, and excitent—exactly as it always happened when a villain appeared in Musutafu.
***
I hope you're enjoying it. We're almost at the start of the canon storyline, and with that co the most significant changes resulting from Reiji's intervention.
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