"I love you too, little brother..." Himiko's soft murmur brushed directly against Reiji's ear. The boy simply stared at the ceiling, waiting patiently for his older sister to wake up on her own.
It was the weekend, which ant Himiko might wake up in five minutes—or he might be stuck in this position for another couple of hours. He didn't even dare to use his Quirk to free himself.
Ti had taught him that moving was more trouble than staying still; his ten-year-old sister had beco quite a lively person, but if sothing bothered her, she could make his day absolutely miserable.
Especially if it had anything to do with her younger brother.
However, miraculously, the door to the siblings' bedroom slowly opened.
"Breakfast is ready," the children's mother's soft voice drifted into the bedroom as her long hair peeked through the doorfra.
"Don't you want to give a hand?" Reiji asked, looking at his mother in the eyes. She gazed at her two children with a tender smile.
"I'd love to, but soone broke my vase and I still haven't figured out who it was…"
Reiji swallowed hard; he still didn't have full control of his Quirk, and anything could happen.
"Okay, we'll be right there… And I'm sorry about the vase."
Their mother smiled happily and left the room. Reiji banged his head against the pillow and sighed.
Himiko was a heavy sleeper and continued to sleep peacefully, her hands clutching Reiji's shirt and her legs wrapped around her brother's left side.
Reiji wouldn't be able to get out of there…
***
Reiji remained focused in the center of his garden; sweat trickled down the red marks Himiko had left on him from the tight grip she'd used to keep from having to get up. There was no noise around him, no distractions.
He was ho alone.
It turned out their mother had woken them up because she needed Himiko to go out with her—so impromptu mother-daughter outing. His father, as always, had already left for work long before the sun had fully risen.
Reiji had the house to himself, which was quite relaxing considering the constant noise his sister made.
Having Himiko was a gift, but the truth was that his older sister had a poor concept of personal space and tended to overwhelm Reiji at every mont of the day; having a little breathing room was good.
Besides, being alone allowed him to practice his Quirk without having a nearby source of blood to feed on, as bad as that might sound.
Reiji slowly stretched out his arm, feeling the tension build in his shoulder. He gently spread his fingers, as if touching an invisible surface. From his palm, a thin strand of blood erged with a slight, barely contained tremor, responding to his concentration.
He guided it forward, making it trace a circular shape in the air. The movent wasn't perfect, but it didn't break apart. That was enough to make Reiji smile faintly.
He no longer needed to be on the verge of an emotional breakdown to activate his Quirk.
Even so, control remained quite difficult. He didn't usually practice much with his Quirk; he was barely eight years old, and now with his classes, his free ti had been reduced.
Reiji guided the blood into his hand and thought about shaping it into a spear. The result was a bit elongated—it looked more like a staff than a spear—but it worked. Reiji gripped it firmly in his hand and tried to use it as a weapon to strike the tree in front of him with all his might.
When the compacted blood struck the tree, a large amount of blood scattered across the area, but Reiji's grip remained firm. He smiled and regrouped the blood to repeat the action.
He was trying to make his blood coalesce in such a way that it looked as if he were wielding a sword or so other weapon. Even though he had his regeneration ability to produce more blood at any mont, he knew that his body, just like his Quirk, had a limit.
He might not know his limit yet, but when that day ca, he wanted to be prepared.
As he went for his tenth strike, suddenly the grip of his hands loosened slightly and the red stick spread out like a puddle in all directions; if he hadn't known how to return the blood to his body, he would have been worried about the ss he'd caused.
Reiji took a deep breath, flexing his neck to release the accumulated stiffness. He felt his muscles crackle slightly in response. He was only eight years old, but due to his regeneration and specialized diet, his body had grown to the point where he looked older.
He was slightly taller than Himiko, who was already ten; it wasn't that surprising, since Himiko was on the petite side for her age. His body remained well-defined; even with minimal exercise, he wasn't skinny—on the contrary, he looked quite athletic.
He resembled Himiko. That was undeniable. His facial features had the sa proportions, but their expressions were completely different: Himiko radiated a big smile and tenderness, while Reiji was much more serious and his expressions were steadier.
His tousled hair was a shade darker than his sister's and fell haphazardly over his forehead. And his eyes, a fiery orange, had a more predatory look than Himiko's whenever she got angry.
He had inherited good genes, though it wasn't as if he particularly cared about being handso. In his previous life, he hadn't learned much about life's vanities and remained quite detached from that aspect of life.
Being a pretty face wasn't sothing that would protect Himiko, so it didn't hold much significance in his life. For that very reason, he trained his Quirk; he knew the dangers lurking in the world, especially in Japan, just a few kiloters from where he currently lived.
Regardless of whether Himiko wanted to get involved in that, Reiji knew that if she didn't start preparing now, both of their chances of surviving those kinds of dangers—and even worse, Himiko's chances—would diminish.
He knew his sister wouldn't beco the villain he'd once read about, but he also couldn't guarantee she'd stay away from the relevant characters and dangerous events.
And then there was the matter of both siblings' thirst for blood. Especially Reiji's, since Himiko was controlled precisely by her younger brother.
"I need blood… I've been playing with my Quirk all morning; I have to take advantage of this while I'm alone."
Inevitably, that urge hadn't faded over the years.
He used to drink in secret. Small animals, like squirrels, rabbits, or anything he could find that wouldn't get him in trouble. He almost felt like a murderer for killing so many animals, but he couldn't do much against his impulse.
His condition was much worse than Himiko's, since Reiji's was directly linked to the use of his Quirk. For now, he was doing just enough to keep that part of himself in check. It was his burden, and he preferred to bear it alone.
'One more ti and I'll find sothing; I can still control it...'
He raised his hand again, trying to form a spear of blood. He created it with more difficulty this ti. Less stable. He struck the tree again a couple of tis, focusing on the structure until it finally dissolved into droplets that fell onto the grass as if they had never defied gravity.
He let out a long sigh; he needed to feed soon or he would start losing his concentration. He looked up and watched the birds circling the area.
He stood motionless for a few seconds, watching intently for any animal that might land nearby so he could try to knock it down with his Quirk.
Then, after a few seconds, without knowing why, he felt a slight tingling at the back of his neck. An uneasy premonition, as if sothing were watching him from so corner of the world. He turned his gaze, slowly.
Nothing.
No shadows, no movent, no sounds. Just the garden bathed in the soft sunlight. Just the silent house. Just the plum tree swaying in the wind.
But the feeling didn't go away. He frowned at this; he knew perfectly well it wasn't the first ti it had happened, but whenever he turned around, there was nothing there.
"It can't be a simple coincidence, can it?" he thought. It couldn't be that he felt that presence constantly.
It had started a year ago, while he was in his Quirk education class, where he was supposed to learn to control the early stages of his Quirks. It was a class where they mainly explored the capabilities of Quirks a little and taught users how to prevent themselves from harming others with their Quirks.
In simple terms, it was a lesson on how to be a good citizen.
It was normal. What wasn't normal was that soone had two Quirks, and that's when it all started.
The discreet glances, hidden in the shadows, happened sporadically, and weeks could even pass between each one, but his instinct had a bad feeling about it.
He didn't know who or what it was, and that was worse. He knew perfectly well that his strength couldn't compare; he was still much weaker than rookie professional heroes, let alone the organizations deeply entrenched in Japan.
Anyway, he didn't have much to do. The only advantage he had was that he could pretend he hadn't noticed, and react when he could.
For now, his eyes remained fixed on the bird on the ground in front of him, drawn by the breadcrumbs from Reiji's breakfast earlier. A smile appeared on his face as a giant mass of blood spread from his fingers.
The bird had nowhere to escape as a giant mass trapped it.
"Forgive , bird…"
***
The sun was beginning to set behind the rooftops, tinging the streets with a deep orange hue. Reiji walked along at a leisurely pace, a paper bag hanging from his arm.
His mother had asked him to pick up so last-minute ingredients, and although he usually did this accompanied by Himiko, this ti she was busy at ho baking with absurd enthusiasm.
After spending the whole day training, stretching his legs beyond his house was a welco change.
The way back was the usual route. Because of the ti of day and the fact that it was a residential area, there weren't many people on the streets, nor was it anything to worry about—there wasn't usually much cri here.
Even though his family was well-off, it definitely wasn't profitable enough to steal in this neighborhood.
"Isn't that the neighbor's cat…?" Reiji wondered when he noticed a small orange feline slipping through the fences of so houses. He was still a few blocks from his ho, and Himiko used to play quite a bit with that little animal.
He watched the cat for a mont as the cat disappeared among so houses further ahead. Cats were animals that would eventually return ho; he was sure it would take a little detour before coming back, and Himiko would be playing with it tomorrow.
He turned around and continued walking calmly; he only had a couple more blocks to go before he arrived.
***
When he arrived, the door opened before he could even reach for his key.
"You took forever!"
Himiko was there, blocking the entrance with her arms crossed and a slight snort of annoyance. She was wearing an apron with poorly painted flower designs, stained in several places with flour, and had white smudges on her cheeks that she hadn't bothered to wipe off. Her expression tried to be firm, almost accusatory, but the way she looked at him gave her away.
It wasn't real anger. It was more like concern.
"I took a different route," Reiji replied, lifting the bag of ingredients slightly so she could see it.
"A different one? Why would you do that?" Himiko pressed, furrowing her brow even more. Himiko didn't move from her spot. Her eyes scanned Reiji from head to toe, as if searching for sothing specific she couldn't find.
From the kitchen, her mother peeked out upon hearing the voices.
"Himiko, dear, don't hound him. Sotis one needs to walk to think."
"Yes, but that's not like Reiji…" she muttered, without moving from the doorway, barely glancing at her mother. Her tone had softened, but the implication remained.
Her mother didn't think much of it. To her, it was just another reaction from her daughter, who was overly concerned about her brother.
Reiji let out a soft sigh and moved forward, forcing Himiko to step aside. He passed by her without pushing her, but close enough to break through the barrier she had ford.
He set the bags down on the counter, next to his mother.
"Everything's here. Although they didn't have a few things at the store, so I had to make a slight detour," he explained calmly, barely turning his head toward Himiko, maintaining a relaxed expression.
His mother began checking the items without asking any questions.
"Thank you, son. Go wash your hands; dinner's almost ready," she said as she picked up one of the containers and set it aside.
Then, without raising her voice too much, she added:
"As for you, Miss Himiko… Isn't sothing burning?"
It took Himiko a second to react.
Then she turned her head sharply toward the oven.
A small column of smoke was beginning to escape.
"No, my cake!"
She ran off without looking back, quickly opening the oven and urgently checking inside. She moved the tray, removed whatever might have burned, and turned off the heat imdiately.
Luckily, it wasn't anything serious.
Just a few crumbs.
Reiji let out a brief laugh at the sight, without dwelling on it too much. He turned on his heel and headed for the sink, letting the atmosphere return to normal without further intervention.
***
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