Tokyo General Hospital
The world returned to Shigeo in pieces.
First, the sharp sting of antiseptic. Then the steady beep of a heart monitor. Finally, the dim whiteness of fluorescent light overhead. His body felt heavy, like he had been pinned under rubble. Slowly, he realized he was lying in a hospital bed, an IV taped to his arm.
He blinked, struggling to focus. A man in a white coat stepped into view, clipboard in hand. "Kageyama Shigeo?" the doctor asked gently.
Shigeo's throat was dry. "…Y-Yes?"
"You're awake. That's good." The doctor pulled a chair beside him. "Shigeo, you were found unconscious at your school. There was…an incident. A terrible accident. The building was destroyed. Many of your classmates…" He hesitated, his eyes flickering away. "Some didn't make it."
The words dropped like stones into Shigeo's chest. He sat up too quickly, wincing. "What? No…no, they…they can't be…!"
The doctor rested a hand on his shoulder. "We don't understand how you survived when so many didn't. You're very lucky, Shigeo."
His hands trembled. His classmates had hated him, mocked him, prayed for him to disappear but the thought of them dead because of him sent a sharp pain through his heart. He didn't want anyone to die. Not like this.
The door opened, and two uniformed officers entered, notebooks already out. One of them spoke in clipped tones. "Kageyama Shigeo, we need to ask you questions about what happened yesterday."
Shigeo blinked at them, panic rising. "I…I don't remember. I don't…" His voice cracked. "I don't remember anything."
The officers exchanged a look, clearly skeptical, but pressed him anyway. "Think carefully. Did you see who caused the explosion? Did anyone threaten the school?"
"I don't know!" Shigeo's eyes brimmed with tears. "Please, I really don't know!"
The frustration on the officers' faces said enough. They left a few minutes later, muttering to each other about "strange cases" and "unreliable witnesses."
Not long after, his parents arrived. His mother rushed to his bedside, her face painted with an almost theatrical worry. "Shigeo! My poor boy!" His father followed, his expression stiff, his tone overly sweet. "Son, we've been so worried. You gave us such a scare."
But even in his dazed state, Shigeo noticed the cracks. The smiles didn't reach their eyes. The concern was thin, almost rehearsed. Still, he nodded weakly, desperate to believe that at least here, someone cared.
Hours later, when he was discharged, they helped him into the family car. The moment the doors shut and the hospital was behind them, the masks fell away.
His father's hand struck him across the face before he could even fasten his seatbelt.
"Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you've caused us?" his father snarled, each word punctuated with another blow. "Police questioning us, wasting our time, embarrassing us in front of everyone!"
Shigeo curled against the car door, silent, his cheek burning from the strikes. His mother said nothing, her eyes fixed forward on the road, her hands gripping the steering wheel tighter.
The door clicked shut behind them.
Before Shigeo could even set down his bag, his father's fist cracked across his cheek. His mother's hand followed, shoving him into the wall. Then the beating began with fists, nails, kicks.
"You're a waste of space!"
"Should've drowned you at birth!"
"Worthless little mistake!"
He didn't scream. He didn't beg. He didn't make a sound. His face was blank, but tears blurred his vision.
Something inside him shattered.
The air trembled. His hair floated. His eyes turned pure white. Without lifting a hand, he hurled his parents across the room and slammed them against the wall. Invisible force wrapped around their bodies like iron bands, tightening with every heartbeat. Their screams filled the house as their bones strained under the crushing weight.
For the first time, Shigeo saw fear in their faces.
The front door burst open.
Wolverine strode in first, claws gleaming. Cyclops followed, visor burning red. Jean Grey stepped softly behind them, and Gambit spun a charged card lazily between his fingers.
"Kid," Wolverine growled, "let 'em down. This ain't the way."
Shigeo didn't move. Didn't blink. Just tightened his grip on his parents.
Cyclops raised his voice. "Shigeo Kageyama! We're not here to fight you, but if you don't release them….."
The room detonated with psychic force. The X-Men were thrown back as if a bomb had gone off.
Gambit skidded across the floor, flipping back to his feet. "Mon dieu, kid's got a temper." He flicked a card and it hissed through the air, glowing pink. It exploded harmlessly against a telekinetic barrier before it even got close.
Cyclops fired a precise optic blast. Shigeo's eyes glowed white; the beam bent around him, deflected by unseen walls.
Wolverine lunged next, claws out, only to hit an invisible wall mid-charge. Sparks flew as adamantium screeched against the barrier, but he couldn't cut through. He snarled, muscles straining. "Gonna make me earn this, huh?"
Shigeo's power surged, slamming Wolverine back into the far wall like a rag doll.
Jean held her ground, her hair whipping in the storm. "He's not fighting us but he's drowning in himself."
Another shockwave ripped through the house, tearing plaster from the walls. Shigeo hovered slightly above the ground, eyes glowing, silent tears running down his face. The longer the X-Men tried, the stronger the storm grew.
Cyclops braced himself, shouting, "Jean! Now!"
Jean pressed her fingers to her temple, pushing through the psychic hurricane. She slipped inside his mind.
There, in the darkness, was not a monster. It was a boy curled into himself, knees to chest, sobbing silently. He didn't look at her. Didn't speak. Just shook, as though every word his parents had ever spat at him was carved into his skin.
The storm faded into silence. Jean knelt in the dark void, pulling the trembling boy into her arms. He resisted at first, stiff and afraid but the moment her arms wrapped tighter, he broke, clinging to her like he'd never been held before.
"It's all right," Jean whispered, her voice gentle but steady. "I've seen what they did to you. Every cruel word. Every strike. The loneliness." Her fingers brushed his hair back. "No child should ever carry that weight."
Shigeo's eyes widened, tears streaming silently.
"You're not a monster, Shigeo. You're not a mistake. You're special. And I promise you that there's a place where you'll never be hurt again. A place with people like you, who will accept you, protect you… love you."
Shigeo looked up at her, his small voice cracking as he asked, "…Really?"
Jean smiled, her own eyes damp. "Really."
For the first time in his life, Shigeo let himself believe it. His lips quivered into the faintest smile. "…That sounds amazing."
He hugged her back. Tightly. Desperately. And then, as the void dissolved, his body went limp in her arms.
Back in the Real World
Jean opened her eyes, cradling Shigeo's unconscious body. His head rested against her shoulder, peaceful now. "He's just a boy," she whispered. "A broken, terrified boy."
With a thought, she projected Shigeo's memories into the minds of the others of his parents screaming, the abuse, the laughter of classmates, the endless cruelty.
Wolverine growled low in his throat, fists tightening. Cyclops' jaw locked. Gambit's expression darkened with rare seriousness.
Without a word, Gambit stalked to the parents who were scrambling on the floor, sputtering excuses and fear and slammed his staff across the father's face. The man dropped like a sack of bricks. "That's for every bruise you gave him, mon ami."
Scott, keeping his temper in check, pulled out his comm. "This is Summers. We've got evidence of prolonged child abuse. Send law enforcement immediately."
As sirens wailed faintly in the distance, Cyclops looked to Jean. "We need to move."
Jean nodded, rising carefully with Shigeo in her arms.
Minutes later, aboard the Blackbird, the boy lay stretched across a seat. His head rested in Jean's lap, her hand gently brushing through his messy black hair as the engines roared to life.
"Sleep, Shigeo," she whispered. "You're safe now."
The jet soared into the night sky, carrying him toward the first real home he'd ever know.