(3rd P.O.V.)
The Mist Sea, Unknown Island, Sky Guild Home Base
"So let's start with trying to stand up." A young man less than eight years old could be seen sitting on a king-size bed. But as he started to crawl to the side of the bed, the door flew open, along with an angry warning.
"Not without my watching eye, young man."
This entry caused the kid to flinch for a second before looking at the door with a wary smile. "G...Good morning, Mom." She came closer without answering and hugged him.
"Good lord... now I'm worried that something is wrong with your head. I don't even remember the last time you smiled and greeted me?!" After saying so, she started to fake sniffing sounds, not even hiding the happy voice under it.
Yuki looked at her with a deadpan gaze. 'Is that what a mother says to a just-awakened son?' But he sighed and hugged her back.
"Sorry," he said while burying his face in her bosom, causing her to flinch and ask, "Why are you apologizing for?"
Yuki looked into her eyes for a second. "Everything? I kind of never really even said a word to you for years." He—or more precisely, his 'autopilot' body—had no real interaction with his mother and hardly talked to her outside of, "How are you doing?" and, "I'm good."
Yuki looked away and continued. "I know you were always busy with all the work you had, but I kind of thought that you hated me and never wan—" But before he could continue, she wrapped him in a tight hug and said, "Never, ever say that again."
She put his head between her hands and looked at him straight in the eye with a warm and motherly smile. "You are my only son and my treasure. There is no way I will hate you."
After a moment of silence, Yuki smiled back at his mother. "I know."
Anna smiled at her son before remembering something that turned her smile mischievous. "So, what kind of storm do you intend to raise?"
Hearing this, Yuki didn't know how to answer, thanks to the embarrassment about his cringey words and freaking out inside from the fear of her being there the whole time.
With a red face, he asked, "You heard that?"
Anna nodded, then sighed playfully. "I kind of felt my heart stop there for a second. One moment I hear you talking about me being cool and super mom and stuff, and you wanting to be like me, then a second later you start to scream out of nowhere."
Yuki looked at her with a weird face. 'My mother is a narcissist!?'
But before he could start to talk, she looked at him seriously. "So who were you talking to?"
The reason Anna's question was fueled by the thought that her son was helped in his awakening by someone trying to take advantage of him—as waking an ability was no easy feat, and the only people known to have such abilities could be counted on one hand.
Yuki looked troubled for a second before scratching his head. "I wasn't talking to anyone."
She looked confused, but he continued. "After I woke up that night, I noticed some changes. First, I got this... chance? To awaken some power. But to do that I had to go through some pain." Scratching his head again, "And honestly I underestimated the level of pain. I should have prepared before doing that."
Anna nodded and patted his head. "Good that you know. And what kind of power did you get?"
Yuki looked at her and nodded. "I got something called The Mist, and…" Yuki explained how the Mist Instinct worked, leaving out the part about the system, as he never intended to tell anyone about his reincarnation. But since his mother heard his talk, he intended to tell her about the Scan part—that was all.
On the other hand, Anna started to get a complex feeling. Should she be happy that her son had an out-of-chart ability, or worried about him getting kidnapped? She leaned on the last one.
After the explanation, Yuki looked at his mother, waiting to see what she would say.
What he got was a nod. "Don't tell anyone you really don't trust."
Yuki looked at her in surprise, thinking, 'That's it?'
As if reading his mind, she laughed. "What? Thought I would tell you not to use it in public or something?"
Yuki nodded in confusion. "At least I thought you would say something like 'don't use it in public' or 'hide the true use of your power'?"
She laughed at that. "The fact you think like that means you have quite the understanding about what it can do—as expected from my son!" Then she continued in a natural but prideful tone. "And you're an Alexander. People should hide from you, not the other way around."
All Yuki could do was open and close his mouth in surprise before he started to laugh, but he stopped short at his mother's next words.
"So can I know what you know about me, to say those words?"
Yuki tried to play the innocent kid. "What words?"
Anna looked at him for a while, then nodded after petting him. "Cute and all, but start talking. And if you don't remember, it was something like 'My mother is the dopest and coolest mother in the universe, so as her son, I have to be like her,' or something."
He gave her a look saying, 'not even close,' but sighed. "Well, worthy try."
Anna laughed at that. "Was a good one, I give you that."
Yuki looked at her seriously. "This is the second change or ability I got, as I had it the moment I woke. It's something like Scan—it allows me to get information about things around me, and the information can be very, very specific. I could say everything in some cases."
He stopped talking for a second to let his mother adapt, as she became tense.
He sighed seeing this and remembering what he read in history, thinking, 'Anyone would be tense to be told that someone knows everything about you, especially with her past.'
But what he didn't know was that she was tense because the said person was her son—as she gave no sh*ts about anyone else's opinion of her. But with the past slaughter of the Akai family, her anxiety started to rise in her mind.