Takeru Kurogane was born into the world quietly, without witnesses or explanations. The orphanage found him at their doorstep on a cold morning, wrapped in a thin blanket. The matron picked him up gently, whispering, "You're a strong-looking boy… let's call you Takeru. Kurogane Takeru."
He learned quickly. Much too quickly for a child his age.
In his previous life, he had been Aoi Kobayashi, an American soldier of Japanese descent—an Army Ranger Lieutenant who had died in Afghanistan. He remembered death vividly: an IED on a goat trail in Kandahar. And when he opened his eyes again in this new world, in a tiny infant's body, he immediately thought:
I'm in an anime.
Soon, he noticed something even stranger: the other children had superpowers.
A toddler produced sparks when he cried. Another sprouted feathers from her arms. A boy floated several centimeters off the ground during naps.
"Quirks," the caretakers called them—although, Takeru noted, the literal meaning was "personality."
Takeru watched with fascination, as if this was the beginning of an isekai anime—absurd, colorful, and brand new. He didn't have a quirk yet, but he stood out anyway. He was bigger than the other children, sturdier, with a quiet confidence that came from a lifetime before this one.
Children rarely bothered him. When they tried, he stared them down with the calm authority of someone who had commanded troops. Even without a quirk, he wasn't the type of child to be bullied. He was a head taller than kids his age, broad and robust.
He wondered often if he would manifest powers, although so far he had not.This disappointed Takeru to no end.
Great. My luck—I get reincarnated into some anime and I'm the only one with no powers. Just my luck.
Still, he wasn't one to dwell on things he couldn't control. He would make the most of what he had. He did basic physical exercises and even got permission from the matron to join a nearby dojo.
Heroes permeated every aspect of society. Unlike the comic books of his previous world, Heroes here were part celebrity, part police, and part athletes. The greatest of them were worshipped like demigods—celebrity culture turned up to eleven.
All Might was the strongest of them all. There were posters and merchandise everywhere bearing his face. Takeru had seen him on TV and could hardly believe someone could be that strong and that fast.
He didn't think he could be a hero, but the soldier in him refused to give up. Even average humans in this world could achieve feats that would be considered superhuman in his previous world through training and practice. He was an orphan, true, and lacked a billionaire trust fund to become Batman—but he had aptitude for martial arts, determination, and discipline.
I'll just stick to studying hard and working out.
Takeru held out hope for a quirk manifestation, but the quirk doctor said that an awakening after age five was impossible.
The doctor was wrong.
The accident happened without warning.
At five years old, Takeru was playing in the orphanage yard with Kana-chan, a cheerful girl with a flower-sprouting quirk. She grabbed his hand, tugging excitedly.
"Takeru-kun, come on! Let's play on the swings!"
He smiled and let himself be pulled.
Then it happened.
A sound like ripping fabric—wet, sharp.
Kana-chan collapsed to the ground, screaming. Blood sprayed upward, splattering across Takeru's cheek. Her left arm was no longer attached to her body. It dangled from Takeru's hand like a broken doll part.
He froze.
His adult mind tried to process what had happened, but his child body overrode everything. Panic seized him. His heart thrashed in his chest, and something deep inside him—ancient, genetic—snapped awake.
What have I done?!
His gut twisted in horror and guilt as he stared at the small limb in his hand, while Kana-chan bled onto the ground from the stump of her shoulder.
A surge of power exploded through him.
Before anyone could react, Takeru shot upward like a missile.
He burst through the roof, tearing through wood, tiles, and beams as if they were paper. His small body soared uncontrollably into the sky, propelled by terror rather than intent.
He screamed, but the wind swallowed the sound.
Moments later, he crashed into the top floor of an old apartment building several miles away, pulverizing concrete and steel. Rubble showered the room. Civilians shrieked. Dust filled the air.
Takeru sat among the destruction, unharmed—covered in Kana-chan's blood.
Hanabusa Sayo
Hanabusa Sayo arrived to a scene of chaos.
Three floors had collapsed; two city blocks were evacuated. Civilians were injured. A missing child had been found buried in debris—but completely unhurt. The reports spoke of a violent quirk awakening in a five-year-old that defied everything quirk science understood.
She stepped through the broken apartment. Dust floated around her like fog. And in the center of the destruction, a small boy trembled, silver hair coated in powder, eyes wide with guilt and terror.
"Takeru Kurogane?" she asked softly.
He looked at her as though awaiting a death sentence.
"Stay away… please. I don't want to hurt anyone," he whispered.
Sayo knelt, lowering her voice.
"No, Takeru-kun. I'm here to keep everyone safe. And that includes you."
The boy flinched at the word safe.
He tried to speak but choked on emotion. "I didn't pull hard. Kana-chan—her arm—I didn't know I was strong. I didn't know!"
His voice cracked into sobs. He was trying to be calm—Sayo could see that—but his child physiology betrayed him. He cried like a terrified five-year-old, overwhelmed by what he had done.
Sayo gently extended her hand.
"You're not a villain, Takeru-kun. But you are dangerous. And we will help you learn control."
After a long hesitation, the boy took several deep breaths to steady himself. Then he stood and walked through the rubble.
Sayo noticed him accidentally step on a refrigerator—and watched it crumple like tin foil beneath his tiny foot.
With her slow-motion quirk enhancing her perception, she saw every detail. The boy was completely unharmed—despite having flown at hundreds of miles per hour and cratering half a city block.
Super strength, durability, speed, and flight.The potential was terrifying.
The Commission would have no choice but to take him in—especially since he was an orphan.
As she led him out of the ruined apartment, Sayo realized the truth:
The Commission would need to control him.Shape him.Turn him into an asset.
She placed a gentle hand on his back. The boy flinched, but allowed it.
Sayo's thoughts raced. We'll need a team ready to examine him immediately.
"We'll keep you safe, Takeru-kun," she said with her warmest smile, nodding to the agents.
They stepped forward with quirk-suppressing cuffs.
The doors were opened.
And Hanabusa Sayo led the boy to the waiting vehicle.