Chapter Text
“Remember, son: All people have strength. If you want to be a Pro Hero, you have to share your strength - your Quirk - with and for others, to let them know that they’re safe.”
The little pitter-patter sounds of a four-year-old Shinsō Hitoshi quietly echoed through the house as he made his way down the stairs to the kitchen. It was early in the morning on Saturday in the beginning of spring; the cherry blossom tree in the front yard garden already blooming and shedding some of its petals.
He hoped his parents would wake up soon; he wanted to go on a biking adventure. Hitoshi loved biking. It was so freeing. Being able to sit and feel the wind on his face, watching the world steadily pass him by. All with the security of knowing that his father wouldn’t let him lean too far to a side and fall off.
However, as he looked at the countertops, he knew he had other plans. One: getting his cereal box. Two: getting his little sister down so that she didn’t spill his cereal, and/or fall off the counter and crack her head open.
“Akari, get down!”
“Nu-uh!”
He glared up at the smaller figure that was trying to climb up inside one of the cabinets, like it was a mountain and she had just discovered some kind of hidden cave. Akari was three-and-a-half years old, only a year and three months younger than he was, and despite her youth, she was quite crafty. Hitoshi could overhear his mother say she acted much younger than she really was more than a few times lately, due to her mischief.
Akari was the Shinsō household’s resident "problem child". Now, Hitoshi didn’t deny that he loved his sister and cared about her, like any good older brother. But, like any three-and-half-year-old, she got into her fair share of trouble- even for someone who’s Quirk didn’t even come around yet. Climbing onto the countertops and into the cabinets seemed to be her number one pastime lately.
“Akari, come on! Get down!”
“No!”
Whether it was the first thing in the morning, or randomly disappearing from another room, their parents had now almost made it a habit to check the cabinets for their daughter. It was definitely an upgrade from her smushing all her crayons together against the wall and dragging it from one end to another because of the lack of blank drawing paper in the living room. The complaints that he heard from his father lasted nearly the entire day whenever that happened. Yet, they were muddled and muffled in his memory. His mother’s hands covering his ears probably had something to do with that.
Hitoshi balled his hands into fists as he glared up at his sister, who had stuck her tongue out at him and perched inside the top right cabinet, her little legs swinging casually in her toddler defiance. ‘Come on! Listen to me!’
“Akari, if you don’t get down from there, I’ll tell Dad to take away your chocolate crackers!”
“No!”
Hitoshi wasn’t sure whether that was for “no, don’t take away my crackers” or “no, I won’t come down”. It seemed to be the latter because she wasn’t budging.
‘Listen to me!!’
Regardless, he could hear the shuffling upstairs get louder. If their parents came down and found her there again, she would get in trouble for sure. And he really didn’t want to hear Akari scream and cry for two hours straight, just like how she did when their mother scolded her for locking the door when she took the garbage and recycling out. Or worse: scream for three hours and set a new personal record for herself.
Hitoshi locked eyes with Akari, not backing down either. “Get down, Akari! Before you get hurt!”
“No!”
‘Come on!!’
“Akari!”
‘Get down from there!’
“Nu-uh!”
“Akari!!”
The amount of force he used surprised him, but it showed just how irritated he was getting with his rebellious sister’s attitude. She needed to learn how to listen, before she got herself hurt or-
"Get down!!”
It didn’t happen instantly.
He expected her to say "no" again. He expected her to perch inside more firmly. But, about a few seconds later, she started to move. Hitoshi didn’t even notice that the color of her eyes had drained until she started to swing a leg down towards the countertops.
His eyes widened in shock before he took a step over to the counter as she started to descend feet first. Hitoshi grabbed one of the small stepping stools from under the stairs and ran to the counters, setting it down with a THUNK.
And the shuffling from upstairs was slowly getting louder.
“Go slower, Akari, I don’t want you to fall!”
She listened to him, slowly sliding her legs down the edge of the cabinet. He got a glimpse of her eyes- irises drained of their usual blue hue to a blank and dull white. His little heart started to pound. ‘Her eyes don’t look like that…!’
Akari turned towards him fully as she finally lowered herself down. Her expression was blank, mouth open slightly, eyes wide and staring straight ahead. She was looking right through him.
He stretched a shaking hand out towards her. “T… Take my hand.”
She did as she was told. Her movements were robotic. Hitoshi held her hand and intertwined his fingers in hers, just to have a good grip. She didn’t grip back. She always, always, held his hand...!
Pulling her towards him, he led her off of the counters and slowly down their stepping stool stairs until they were both back on the ground. He couldn’t break away from her face- she wasn’t even in the verge of tears. She always reacted!
“Akari?”
Hitoshi took both her hands in his and squeezed them gently. She didn’t respond. It was if she was in some kind of trance. A trance that he put her in!
Fear coursed through his veins. There were steps creaking as their parents made their way downstairs.
“Akari!” Hitoshi, with shaking hands, grabbed his little sister by her shoulders and made eye contact. “Akari, what’s wrong with you?!”
No answer.
His shoulders started to tremble.
A pressure was starting to build behind his eyes, burning with the fear that he somehow broke her. His knees started to shake. Her lack of protest, her compliance, just listening to him… He turned her into a robot! And he had no idea how to make it stop! ‘What did I do?!’ Make it stop, make it stop, makE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP-
“Akari!! Snap out of it!!”
Nothing.
The shakes were gentle at first. He started to shake her a bit harder. Still no reaction. He shook her harder as he felt hot tears brim at the corner of his eyes. “Akari!! Come on, talk to me-!”
A gasp from her made him freeze. All at once, the color had returned to her eyes and she locked gazes with him. Hitoshi stared back at her, hands still gripping her shoulders tightly as he stared at her; studying her.
“Kids, what’s going on in here?”
“What’s with all the shouting?”
The two turned towards the foot of the stairs. Their parents were standing there, still dressed in their pajamas and with slightly less eyebags than usual.
Tears suddenly gushed out of Akari’s eyes as she let out a wail, startling everyone. She broke away from Hitoshi’s grip, not caring that he was tearing up too, and rushed to their mother. She quickly kneeled down to her daughter’s level and scooped her up in her arms, stunned and confused, but still gently shushed her to try and calm her down.
“T-To… Toshi!! H… He diiiiid…!!”
Akari couldn’t form coherent sentences she was crying so hard. Her tears stained their mother’s shirt, gripping on with so much force that it threatened to pull and rip the seams. Her cries filled the house, making their parents look at each other in concern.
“Hitoshi?”
The older Shinsō sibling looked up towards their father, still shaking and tearing from what had just transpired. He saw no anger, but still felt the fear from earlier grip any sort of control he had on himself.
“I-I f…found Akari in th…the cabinet again a-and I…” A lump was forming in his throat. He forced himself to swallow it down. “I talked to her… and I…sh-sh-she…”
A hand gently combed through his messy purple hair. Hitoshi opened his eyes- he didn’t even remember shutting them. Shutting them tight, for that matter. The tears had started rolling down his cheeks. Akari’s crying had been reduced to soft sobs, but she seemed to hiding from him by burying her face in their mother’s neck. He looked up to meet his father’s eyes, still finding no hint of anger within them. Despite that, he didn’t feel any less afraid.
“It’s okay, son. You aren’t in trouble.” He smiled softly at Hitoshi. “We just want to know what happened. Okay?”
Hitoshi still shook from the shoulders down. The way Akari looked at him; her eyes blank and her expression so still and void… He wanted that image to be burned out of his memory!
He managed to swallow another lump in his throat while his father continued to run his hand through his hair. “I t-talked to her and she…started acting w-weird. She listened to me, b-but she...” Tears started to fill his eyes again. “She w-wouldn’t answer me! And she moved like a…a ro…robot!”
“A robot?"
Their parents exchanged glances, confused.
"Hideaki, do you think...?”
Hideaki’s eyebrows furrowed forward as he stared at his wife. She had a similar expression to his. Hitoshi recognized those looks anywhere- their thinking faces.
“It’s possible, Ayame,” Hideaki said, raising a finger to brush away some of Hitoshi’s unshed tears.
While his parents talked softly, Hitoshi spared a glance at Akari. She had calmed down enough to where she was reduced to just small sniffles, but her face was streaked with tears and her nose slightly red and runny. She was still clinging to Ayame’s shirt with an iron grip, silently telling her mother not to let her go just yet.
Eventually, Hideaki turned back to Hitoshi and smiled gently and reassuringly. “Hitoshi, after we eat breakfast, do you want your mother to take you to that doctor we told you about? The Quirk doctor?”
Hitoshi blinked. The fear, while still settled in his chest, was slowly but surely beginning to ebb away. He knew about the Quirk doctor. Everyone who wanted to know more about their Quirks went to them. If they wanted to take him there, then-
Hitoshi’s heart sank to the bottom of his guts. He couldn’t have something like that for a Quirk, could he? “I…” He couldn’t be a hero if his Quirk scared his sister! What kind of hero could he be if he scared other people with his Quirk?!
The hand that was tousling Hitoshi’s hair mussed it up a bit more. Hitoshi could feel his body still from his fearful shaking, before being lifted up into his father’s arms. He immediately relaxed and looked up to Hideaki, comforted by his father’s hug and smile.
“Don’t worry, Hitoshi, you did nothing wrong,” Hideaki’s smile widened as he held his son close. “We’ll get this sorted out, okay?”
Hitoshi spared a glance at his sister. Ayame was cleaning up her face, gently shushing and comforting her. Akari still seemed to be a little shaken, but was undoubtedly much calmer than before. Especially since she was able to look at him again, and not seem as scared.
He nodded.
Per Hitoshi’s request, Ayame was bike riding to the Quirk doctor’s office. The day was gorgeous; sunny skies with very few clouds, a gentle breeze, and warm enough to wear a t-shirt without being too cold. Hitoshi liked days like this, it was perfect biking weather. And after the whole ordeal that happened before breakfast, it felt nice to have the wind against his face as he leaned against his mother.
Whenever he breathed in, it felt as if he was being refreshed from the inside out. All his troubles and worries seemed to melt away and fade into nonexistence. It was only him, the wind, and the sound of the pedals creaking and rotating. The only thing that could make this feel even better was if there was a cat lying down in the bike’s basket, enjoying the sights and smells with him.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when a mechanic click came from the bike. In front of him was a rather large hospital, the exterior shining a brilliant white in the mid-morning sunlight. If he squinted, he could see past the blue hue of the windows and see people walking in and out of the rooms on the first few floors above.
He looked towards his mother and watched her put the kickstand out before lifting him up into her arms. He clung to her shirt sleeve a little, clearly nervous. He had never been to a Quirk hospital before, much less a hospital in general. It seemed both inviting and unnerving at the same time, a feeling that Hitoshi knew that he would experience if he ever got hurt bad enough.
He really didn’t want to think about something like that happening.
Their reflection on the automatic doors parted as they made their way inside. The waiting room was somewhat filled, mostly with other parents and their young kids, some older than he was. While Ayame checked them in for an appointment, Hitoshi watched over her shoulder. A blue-haired girl with a third open eye on her forehead played around with water from her mother’s water bottle, turning it into various shapes. Another was tapping at his ribs, listening to them make a sound whenever he did so. It almost sounded like music. Another kid, one with wild and messy green hair, was sitting patiently in his chair until he was called into one of the doctor’s offices with his mother. He clung to her hand and his All Might figurine the whole time as they walked away.
“The doctor will see you shortly,” the nurse behind the counter said with a smile.
Ayame nodded with a smile of her own. “Thank you.” She said before turning around. She took a vacant seat in a row of chairs set against the wall, Hitoshi still in her arms.
He settled down on her lap as they waited for their name to be called. Despite being in her arms and close to her, he still felt rather unsettled. He wasn’t sure if it was being in a new, strange, and imposing place, or from watching the other patients use their Quirks out in the open. They seemed to be so…happy. So carefree, eager to see what they can do with their new set of abilities. He wanted to go and talk to them, ask them about their Quirks, how they got them. But…if he talked to them, would the same thing happen to them like it did to Akari? Would they be able to snap out of it? Would they be scared, or get mad at him?
Hitoshi realized that he was staring at the other kids for too long and promptly looked away. Instead, he rested his head against the crook of Ayame’s neck and settled his focus on one of the faux potted plants somewhere further down the hall. He felt his mother gently rub his back and gently tousle his already-messy hair. It relaxed him a little. Until she kept doing it and he got tired of her mussing and pulled away with a tiny whine.
Ayame laughed softly before simply deciding to hold him close. One look at her son and she could tell that what happened in the kitchen had started to replay in his head again. She knew he didn’t make Akari cry on purpose; the fear and worry in his eyes was evidence enough. And while the commotion between her children did alarm her, like how it would with any good mother in that situation, it didn’t take long for her to connect the dots on what happened. Given that her Quirk was "Clairvoyance", she was given the ability to predict and see objects and events not yet known to the senses. It was a small wonder to her husband that she had caught on so quickly. It was only natural that he would inherit her Quirk, or even inherit a stronger version of it.
Considering her position in the medical sciences: vaccine development, her Quirk was honed to perceive which outcome would have the greatest probability of being achieved. It was a valuable ability to have in that sort of field, especially when injuries and backlashes of toxic Quirks or self-inflicted wounds from poorly-controlled Quirks were beginning to appear more and more. The statistics within hospital patrons in Japan- especially in their hometown within Musutafu –was alarming, especially since when most instances were made from Transformation Quirks. There were also plenty of Mutant or Emitter injuries, but they had paled in comparison unless the Emitter type was of some type of substance that the user could spray. Unlike her son, she was rather calm and collected about this whole thing.
Hitoshi wasn’t sure how, but from just talking to his sister, he had somehow gotten complete control over her. She did whatever she was told to do. It was as if she had no choice in the matter and was forced to do as he said. Any other attempts he had made to tell her to do something in the past, she only listened half the time. Since she was still a toddler, it was given because of her age, but having her just mindlessly listen to him…
It wasn’t right. It was like some kind of…hippo? Hypno…tics? No...
He couldn’t help but wonder; was it really just him talking that made it happen? He hadn’t done or said anything different compared to other times when Akari was disobedient. Granted, she wasn’t disobedient all the time, mainly when both their parents were filled to the brim with their workload. But if it happened whenever he would talking, would there be any way for him to turn it off?
“Shinsō Hitoshi?”
Hitoshi snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of his name. Gripping his mother’s shirt sleeve, he was lifted and carried towards one of the many examination rooms. The nurse led them down to one the farthest rooms of the hallway, just before the turn towards the vending machines and stairways. She opened up the door and let them walk inside.
It was a rather spacious room with three beds and curtains between to separate them into their own spaces, a large x-ray monitor that took up most of the opposite wall, a small shelf with some books in various shapes and sizes, a few computer monitors, a laptop, and a few medical stools. On the farthest bed, there seemed to be another patient with their parent with them, but the curtain was pulled far up enough so Hitoshi couldn’t see who they were.
Ayame placed her son on the bed and took a seat beside him, gently patting his back. He smiled up at her and felt a little reassured, but still felt a little nervous. The images that were displayed on the laptop monitors were of pictures of bones, each skeletal structure from a different patient that was here before him.
Just as he was about to ask his mother about the x-rays, the doctor walked in; a woman with gray skin and stitches along the joints of her limbs. “Hello, Hitoshi-chan and Shinsō-san. I’m Doctor Hatori.”
She would’ve been intimidating if it weren’t for her large and friendly green eyes and gentle smile. Ayame bowed towards her, and Hitoshi quickly mimicked his mother’s action. She walked over to one of the stools and sat down, carefully rolling over towards Hitoshi and Ayame.
“Now, Shinsō-san, you came in for a Quirk examination for your son, correct?”
“Yes, thank you for squeezing us in on such short notice.” Ayame nodded and smiled at the Hatori as Hitoshi held her hand. “My son had an incident earlier this morning that might involve his Quirk. I personally didn’t see anything happen, but my daughter looked like she was in some kind of hypnotic state before being shaken out of it, quite literally.”
“I see.”
The doctor kneeled down to Hitoshi’s level. Hitoshi squeezed Ayame’s hand a little tighter in his nervousness. But as he stared at the doctor’s kind smile, he felt his anxiety slowly ebb away until his grip became a little less firm.
“How old are you, Hitoshi-chan?”
Hitoshi raised up his free hand and held up four fingers, “This many.” He wiggled them for emphasis.
"He'll be five in July."
“You’re so big!”
He beamed a little in pride. His nervousness was slowly starting to fade away; he was talking to the doctor, and she wasn’t in the same state that Akari was in!
“Now…” Hatori raised her clipboard up and checked a few boxes on the paperwork before looking back at Hitoshi. “Do you know what happened, Hitoshi-chan? Do you know why your sister became so different?”
All at once, his mood dropped. The memory of his sister being unresponsive and moving almost like a robot made him shiver uneasily. But, he was still able to shake his head in response to her. “No… I just… I just talked to her, a little loudly, because she wasn’t listening to me.”
“And what happened after you raised your voice? Did you speak more firmly?”
Hitoshi nodded. “I… I think so. I remember getting angry because I wanted her to get down from the cabinets and not get hurt.”
“My daughter has a habit of climbing the furniture.”
Hatori nodded in understanding. Toddlers and young children were curious by nature and explored their environments like it was some kind of adventure. And it only got even more chaotic once Quirks started becoming a thing in society.
“And how many times did you tell her to get down, Hitoshi-chan?”
“Three.” Hitoshi held up his fingers for emphasis. “And then, she became…weird.”
Hatori glanced at Ayame, “and that’s where I can safely assume that’s when his possible Quirk came out?”
“Right around there, yes. And he had to literally shake her out of her trance to get her back to normal.”
“What did her eyes look like when she was in the trance?”
“White. But her eyes aren't white normally!”
She let out a soft hum before writing something down on her clipboard. “Hitoshi-chan, when you spoke to her, did you want her to do as you say?”
Hitoshi tilted his head slightly in confusion. The doctor smiled softly. “Did you want her to listen to you?”
“Uh-huh! Because if she didn’t, she could’ve gotten hurt! Really badly too!”
Hatori nodded and wrote several things down on her papers, as well as checking things off. She reread the answers; while Hitoshi’s concern for his sister seemed to be the main reason why his Quirk suddenly appeared, she figured that wasn’t what activated it in the first place. His will for her to listen to him was that had activated it in the first place. But, she needed to test the theory before confirming it with her patient.
She stared at the papers in front of her, resting the tip of her pen cap on her chin. Ayame and Hitoshi watched as she stood up and walked to another bed in the room. They could hear her speak quietly to the other patients, and eventually, an eager shout of affirmation came from the other kid. Hatori and another woman, presumably the kid’s mother, laughed softly at the eagerness before Hatori came back over with them.
A boy his age with yellow eyes and wild blonde hair that wasn’t nearly as messy as Hitoshi’s. He had a fringe parted at the right with a jagged black streak on his left. His face and right leg had bandages that seemed slightly red, indicating that those cuts were either new or were just starting to heal up. He had a bright, eager smile on his face as he bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Denki-chan, you said you wanted to help Hitoshi-chan figure out his Quirk, right?” Hatori made eye contact with Hitoshi as she spoke to Denki, silently letting the other boy know that it was okay.
“Yah!!”
Hitoshi shrank back a bit. This boy was loud, and energetic; almost as much as Akari. But this was different. It was if he was constantly charged up with hyperactive energy, a level of motivation that he only felt when he saw the Pro Heroes on TV.
He suddenly felt gentle pats being placed on his head. He looked up towards his mother; she was smiling at him. “Don’t worry, Hitoshi, this will help the doctor help you. Just talk to this boy like how you did to Akari earlier, okay?”
“…”
Hitoshi, despite the reassurance, didn’t feel so sure. He didn’t know this kid, which made the idea of trying out his potential superpower on him instead of using it on his sister a little easier. But, could he do it? He didn’t know if he could make it work, especially since it took him by surprise in the first place. And, if he could, what would the other kid think? What would he do? Would he cry like his sister, or get scared to the point where he couldn’t look at him because of it?
He seemed to hesitate for a moment longer, before nodding and hopping off the bed. The three women stepped back so the two boys could have some space to move around, if necessary. With at least three feet of space away from the adults now, he faced the boy in question. Denki was still bouncing on his heels, clearly still excited.
Hitoshi tilted his head slightly in confusion. “Why are you doing that?”
“Because!!” Denki beamed a full-tooth grin at Hitoshi that could rival the sun in brightness. “The doctor said your Quirk is really strong, and I wanna see it!”
“See it?”
“Uh-huh!”
“But what if you can’t see it?”
“I will! Because you gotta learn what it is, right?”
While he spoke, Denki didn’t stop bouncing on his heels. If Hitoshi was being honest, it was making him a little dizzy. It wasn’t easy trying to keep eye contact with a pair of eyes that kept moving up and down so much.
A hand shot out to Hitoshi for a shake. “I’m Kaminari Denki, by the way!”
“Shinsō Hitoshi.”
“Nice to meet ya!”
While it was easy for him to take his hand, it was less easier to keep a firm grip on it. Denki still bounced on his heels, making the handshake a little awkward. If it could be called that. It was more like a half-swing, half-shake due to the constant up and down motion. Hitoshi kind of wished he would stop that.
‘Cut that out!’
The three women chuckled softly in the background as they watched the interaction. Hatori smiled at Denki's mother and whispered, "Uki uki suru". The women all laughed again, his mother nodding her head.
Yeah, Hitoshi really wished he stopped bouncing now. Denki hadn’t surrendered grip yet, and the bouncing made their awkward half-handshake pull at his joints.
“Come on, stop so I can shake your hand right!”
"Why do I-” Denki froze in place, still as a statue and the color vanishing from his irises. Just like how Akari reacted.
Hitoshi froze as well, his eyes widened in fear; the nervousness and anxiety swirling around in his heart while the adults looked on in surprise. Hatori was busy writing down some notes on her notepad while Denki’s mother leaned towards her son, staring at his vacant, thoughtless expression. Hitoshi didn’t register Ayame’s backrubs until the doctor called his name.
To his utter surprise, Hatori was smiling. “Hitoshi-chan, can you tell Denki-chan to do something? Like, bounce on his heels?”
He would’ve said no if it weren’t for his mother gently patting his back to reassure him. And after sparing a glance at Denki’s mother, who didn’t seem upset or angry at all, he nodded. Balling his hands into fists, he took a step closer to Denki. “Stand on your toes.”
And he did. It seemed to take a second or two, but Denki found the balance he needed to stand firmly on his toes.
“Stand normally!”
He did that too. It was like the boy before him had turned into a puppet, and he was the mastermind behind every action!
“Hitoshi-chan, tell Denki-chan to say what his mother’s name is.”
He nodded at the doctor before turning back to Denki. “What’s your mom’s name?”
“…”
Hitoshi stared at Denki. He waited several seconds for a response, but it never came. While he heard the doctor scribble down some more notes and flip through several pages on her clipboard, he stepped closer to Denki.
“What’s your mom’s name?”
“…”
“Kaminari, what’s your mom’s name?”
“I don’t think he’s going to answer you, son.”
“That’s because he can’t.”
All eyes turned towards Hatori. She had a few pages flipped over the top of her clipboard, skimming over a paragraph before turning back to Denki. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. It took a second or two, but the blonde-haired boy snapped out of it and regained control.
Denki let out a soft sound of awe as he stared at his hands and wiggled his fingers experimentally, testing to see if the mental grip Hitoshi had on him was fully gone. While he did so, Hitoshi stared at him in his nervousness, half expecting him to cry like his sister did, or step back and cower beside his mother because of what just happened to him.
Ayame placed a hand in Hitoshi’s hair, mussing it up a bit as she looked at Hatori. “What is it, doctor?”
“It seems your son has developed a Quirk called “Brainwash”, Shinsō-san.”
A piece of paper was handed to Ayame, and both she and Hitoshi looked at it together. Within the latest tests involving a Quirk like this, its power revolved in the user taking control of their target’s mind and forcing them to do as the user says. The user must be thinking about which target to control, but needed to get some kind of verbal response for the user’s Quirk to take effect. The kind of verbal response didn’t matter, nor did a sentence have to be completed in order for the brainwashing to take control over the target. Brainwashing also could not take effect if the user didn’t allow it to, making the Quirk easy for the user to master.
Studies also showed that people with the “Brainwashing” Quirk are able to control more than one person, but each separate target needed to be brainwashed one at a time. There have been instances where multiple targets have been brainwashed all at once, but these findings were rare and very little known data was recorded. Targets that have come under the control of “Brainwashing” cannot follow commands that require brain function, i.e. talking, drawing, or writing a name down from memory. People with “Brainwashing” also cannot use their Quirk through artificial speakers since it turns their voices into electronic signals, cancelling out the Quirk’s control, and prevent any action being made from their already-brainwashed targets.
“Although these studies were focused on villains who have this Quirk, I can’t imagine the effects would be different if a Hero were to have this Quirk.”
“I see…” Ayame muttered to herself, rubbing her chin in thought.
Hitoshi looked distraught. What did that mean for him? If villains were only associated with the “Brainwashing” Quirk, does that mean nobody would make a good Hero if they had it? “I have a bad Quirk…?”
“No, Hitoshi.” Ayame reached over and held her son in her arms. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead to comfort him. It didn’t take a scientist with her intellect that Hitoshi meant ‘bad’ in a villainous manner. “You don’t have a "bad" Quirk. There's no such thing as good and bad Quirks. You have a very strong Quirk that’s just different compared to most other kids.”
“…” Hitoshi glanced down at his hands, fiddling with his fingers. “I scared Akari… It can’t be good if I scare people with it…”
“A Quirk is only as good as the person using it.”
Hitoshi turned and looked up at Denki’s mother. A young woman with a warm smile, brown eyes, and golden yellow hair with three black streaks that had clearly been passed down to her son. “My Quirk can easily be used for evil because of how strong it is. But I choose to use it for good, because I know someone needs my help. I choose to be good. Your Quirk doesn’t choose that for you. You define your Quirk, Shinsō-chan. You have good intentions, and you don't plan on using it to hurt others; you aren’t a villain.”
“Yeah, exactly!!” Denki was bouncing on his heels again, his mood undeterred. “Besides, your Quirk is crazy strong!”
“It is?” Hitoshi looked stunned, from the revelation and how excited Denki was. “How?”
“It feels weird, kinda feels like how static TV sounds when I can’t move. But once ya got me, I couldn’t break outta it, no matter how much I tried to move on my own!”
“But isn’t it…scary?” The image of Akari bursting into tears after breaking out of the mental grip made his heart sink into his gut. “You… I can make you do almost anything I tell you to do…”
“And you didn’t make me do anything bad! And, if you got a villain, they wouldn’t be able to run away and make harder for the Hero to catch them!”
Denki could be compared to the sun in the window from how bright and happy he made the room. The amount of pride he had in his eyes the second he looked up at his mother, and seeing that very same pride being reflected in her eyes towards her son, was almost like looking in a mirror. "My mom would know, she's a pro!!"
“You’re a Pro Hero?”
The awe and amazement in Hitoshi’s voice was evident, and the sight warmed Ayame’s heart. She sent the other woman a grateful smile, who returned it. From one mother to another.
Denki’s mother looked back at Hitoshi and nodded, still smiling warmly. “I’m still going as a sidekick, but yes, I do work for and with Heroes. I plan on making my own agency once I get through my mandatory sidekick work.”
“What’s your name?”
A proud smile appeared on the woman’s face, “The Recharge Hero: Voltage.”
“Do you work with other Heroes? Like All Might?”
The blonde woman laughed and shook her head slightly. “No, not him, unfortunately. His agency is in Tokyo, I can only work for heroes here in Musutafu, and I have to stay close because of this little lightning bug!” She ruffled up her son’s hair before hugging him close, squeezing his face against shoulder slightly. It made him laugh and playfully squirm in her arms, but didn't pull out of the hug altogether.
It was then Hitoshi realized little bits of static electricity sparking off of the ends of Denki's mother’s fingertips, and at the edges of Denki’s hair. He looked down and saw a long braided ponytail behind Denki’s mother; there were little bits of electricity sparking out from there as well.
“Hey, Shinsō!! Lookit, lookit!”
Hitoshi watched as Denki stretched out his hand and started to make the same little bits of electricity form on the palm of his hand. He stared at it in wonder before his mother’s hand went over his, neutralizing the static.
She turned back to Hitoshi and Ayame with a slightly apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. Denki and I just got the full schematics of his Quirk and he’s a little excited to show off, but he can’t.”
Hitoshi blinked in curiosity. “Why not?”
“Denki can’t control it as well as I can, and we don’t know his limit yet.” She ruffled up her son’s head a bit more, making him giggle and squirm. “And we don’t want him to short-circuit without getting some practice in first.”
“Mooom! Lemme go!”
Ayame nodded in understanding, smiling herself. “That’s understandable, Kaminari-san.”
“Oh, I never introduced myself, did I?” With a small laugh, Denki’s mother bowed her head towards Ayame and Hitoshi. “I’m Kaminari Hotaru. A pleasure to meet you both.”
“The pleasure is mine. My name is Shinsō Ayame.”
“Hey, Mom?”
Denki, who was still squirming in Hotaru’s arms in excitement rather than discomfort, was looking up at her. “Are we done yet? I wanna go to the park!”
Both mothers laughed a little, making the little blonde boy pout a bit before deciding to wriggle a little bit more in his mother’s arms. He was clearly unsatisfied with that answer. Or, lack of thereof. “Mooom!!”
“Okay, okay. Matte kudasai, Denki. We’re almost done. We just need to wait for the doctor to give us the green light.”
“Hey, Shinsō!” Denki beamed at him, watching as the other boy blinked in surprise. “Wanna come with?”
Hitoshi blinked again. He had just met him and he already wanted to hang out? While he didn’t think that it was a bad idea, he didn’t feel okay going somewhere new without telling his father about it, since he was the head of the house. His eyes traveled down to the floor, unable to meet the anticipating eyes of the boy before him. Neither Hotaru nor Ayame voiced any disagreements with it, which made him feel less anxious about it.
Not only that, but he still felt horrible for scaring and making Akari cry earlier, and wanted to make it up to her. And if there was one thing Hitoshi knew about his sister, it was that she loved to spin around on the merry-go-round and swing high on the swings.
Finally, he looked back up to meet Denki’s gaze. “Can, uh… Can my sister come too?”
“Heck yeah! Why not?”
“Denki!”
“Sorry, Mom.” One apologetic smile up towards Hotaru later, and Denki looked back at Hitoshi with not a second to spare. “I mean, yeah! She can!”
Ayame laughed softly, though Hitoshi didn’t notice. He was too busy staring at Denki, amazed and drawn to how optimistic and easygoing he was. And at how...nice it felt.
Thanks for reading! This story prequel has been in the works since January 2020 so a lot of thought and prep has gone into it. I can only hope it shows!
If you're curious, I got Denki's mom's appearance from this video here.
"Why crossover with DDLC?" you ask, and it's because the Dokis deserve better and to be happy and you can't change my mind.
There will be art posted in each chapter. How much will vary on chapter length and if I don't hit a burnout too quickly, but there will be at least one picture for each installment. If you want to see more art that I've drawn, head to my Instagram and ArtStation.
Translations:
Uki uki suru = someone that's in a bouncy, excited mood
Matte kudasai = Please wait
See you next time!