NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Awakening My Quirk, Meeting Nejire Hado
When I turned 4, everything changed.
I still remember the day vividly. It started like any other, with my mother teaching me kanji at the low wooden table in our sunlit living room.
The morning air smelled faintly of jasmine, and the soft hum of the news played in the background.
"Renjiro, focus," she said with a playful sternness, tapping the table. "If you don't learn this one, you'll never be able to read street signs!"
"Yes, Mama," I replied, grinning.
Despite my agreement, my attention wandered. It wasn't like me to get distracted—I'd spent my past life valuing every moment of focus I could muster.
But something about this body made me feel... different.
My curiosity was sharper, my impulses harder to suppress. It was as if my 4-year-old brain occasionally wrestled control away from the 12-year-old mind within.
That's why my gaze kept drifting to the vase.
It was a striking piece, tall and intricately patterned, perched precariously on a shelf nearby. Something about it drew me in, as it always had, but I knew better than to touch it.
"What's that vase for?" I asked, pointing at it.
"That's not a toy," my mother warned gently, already sensing where this was going. "It's an antique—very expensive. Just leave it be."
I nodded, fully intending to listen. But the urge wouldn't go away. My small hands fidgeted as if they had a will of their own.
The logical part of me screamed to stay put, yet the impulses of this new body overpowered me.
Just one look, I rationalized. It won't hurt anything.
It didn't take long for things to go wrong.
As soon as my mother stepped out of the room, I found myself climbing onto a chair near the shelf. My tiny hands reached for the vase, trembling with excitement. I just wanted to see the intricate designs up close, to hold it steady for a moment.
But as I touched it, the vase wobbled dangerously.
I froze, trying to steady it, but my hands weren't steady enough.
In what felt like slow motion, the vase tumbled off the shelf and shattered against the floor with a deafening crash.
My heart sank.
I stared at the shards scattered across the floor, my mind racing. Before I could think of an excuse, my mother rushed back into the room, her eyes wide with alarm.
"Renjiro! What happened?"
"I-I didn't mean to!" I stammered, tears welling up—not from sadness, but from frustration at my own lack of control.
And then, something clicked.
I reached out to the broken pieces instinctively, driven by a desperate wish: I have to fix this.
A strange warmth surged through me, radiating from deep within my chest to my fingertips.
The air shimmered faintly, and before my eyes, the shards began to move—no, reverse.
They reassembled themselves piece by piece, the cracks sealing until the vase stood whole once more.
I blinked in shock, my hands trembling.
"Renjiro…" my mother whispered, her voice a mixture of awe and disbelief. "You… you fixed it."
That was how I awakened my quirk.
News of my quirk spread quickly within the household. My mother, after recovering from her initial shock, was ecstatic.
She tested it with small objects—a cracked plate here, a torn pillowcase there—and every time, I restored them effortlessly.
"You're amazing, Renjiro," she said, cupping my face with a beaming smile.
She must have told my father that evening because the next day, she mentioned that an old friend was bringing her daughter over to meet me.
"She's about your age, and I think you'll get along well," she said while brushing my hair.
…
When Nejire Hado walked through the door, I froze.
Her shoulder-length, wavy blue hair shimmered in the sunlight, bouncing slightly as she moved with energy that seemed endless. Her wide smile radiated warmth and excitement, and I immediately recognized her.
Nejire Hado—one of U.A.'s Big Three.
My mind raced.
'Why is she here?'
'Wait… She's my childhood friend?!'
"Hi! I'm Nejire!" she said, bounding toward me without hesitation. "Your mom says you have a really cool quirk. Can I see it? What's it called? How does it work? What happens if you try it on something alive?"
Her rapid-fire questions left me completely stunned.
"Nejire," her mother said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Give him some time to answer."
"Oh, right!" Nejire said, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry! I get really excited when I meet someone with a cool quirk. So, what is it?"
I glanced at my mother, who gave me an encouraging nod.
Hesitantly, I picked up a small, cracked teacup from the table.
Concentrating, I let the familiar warmth flow through me. Within seconds, the crack sealed itself.
Nejire gasped, her blue eyes sparkling with awe and excitement.
"That's so cool! You can fix things! Do you think you can fix, like, my broken hairpin? Or maybe even—oh, oh! What if you could fix, like, a broken bone? That'd be amazing!"
I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Maybe. I haven't tried anything like that yet."
Her grin widened. "Well, if you ever want to test it, you can use me! I don't mind!"
From that day on, Nejire became a constant presence in my life.
Her endless curiosity and unbridled enthusiasm brought an infectious energy to every interaction. Her questions never stopped, but somehow, they made my days brighter.
For the first time since my reincarnation, I felt like a normal kid—laughing, playing, and sharing moments that I hadn't thought were possible.
Looking back, awakening my quirk wasn't just the start of my journey as a hero—it was the beginning of a friendship that would shape my new life.