….
=========
[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
[Welcome!]
=========
Toya sat alone in the quiet room, staring at the blue screen floating in front of him.
For a moment he just looked at it.
Didn't touch it or think too hard about what it meant - part of him still wasn't sure if any of this was real.
The whole situation felt like something out of a fever dream.
Wake up in a burned body that isn't yours, escape from some villain's lab, and collapse on a random doorstep only for it to be the best person he could have hoped for.
Was this all luck?
And now this, a game like menu hovering in mid-air.
Was he simply lucky or unlucky?
Whatever… he could feel it.
From the moment he opened his eyes in this world, something deep inside him had known this wasn't a dream.
He couldn't explain how he knew, but he did.
As for his past life?
He had lived alone, an orphan, and nevertheless, it was a decent enough life, all things considered. And he died in an accident.
"Can't even remember my own name." he muttered, flexing his fingers.
The staples pulled at the grafted skin, it was strange how quickly that sensation was becoming normal.
He shrugged. Didn't matter now anyway.
For a second he wondered if maybe he should be more freaked out about all this.
Normal people didn't just accept waking up in someone else's body with a system interface.
But the feeling passed quickly.
Maybe he was just broken in some fundamental way.
He had already used up his lifetime supply of panic during his last movements of death in his past life.
Also, now he has Toya's memories, all of them.
The training sessions that left him vomiting from heat exhaustion, the smell and pain of his own flesh burning against his quirk.
…and most importantly, the desperate, clawing need for his father's approval.
Sekoto Peak, then three years of absolute nothing.
It was all there in his head like a movie he had watched too many times, except he could feel every frame of it.
"The main objective right now is to survive."
He focused on the screen, dismissing the existential questions for later.
Survival first.
========
[GENETIC MILESTONE SYSTEM]
| LIFE SPAN LEFT: 69 DAYS
| THREE EVOLUTION PATHS:
>[BREATH OF THE SUN] - 0/100%
>[SUPER SOLDIER] - LOCKED (Requires Breath of the Sun 100%)
>[ARACHNID GENOME] - LOCKED (Requires Super Soldier 100%)
=======
Fortunately, everything was straightforward, with a clean enough interface, without any need of an instruction manual.
He tried not to look too hard at the number of days left and managed it…. mostly.
"Breath of the Sun? That's the sun breathing technique from Demon Slayer, right?" He tapped on it with his finger, half-expecting nothing to happen, only to be–
–flooded by information in his mind instantly.
It wasn't like reading it or watching a tutorial.
More like someone had cracked open his skull and poured the knowledge directly into his brain.
He knew all the forms, breathing patterns and the footwork.
The way his body should move, the exact angle of each strike, the rhythm of inhale and exhale that would push his body beyond human limits.
All twelve forms downloaded directly, complete and perfect.
His hand went to his chest instinctively. His heart was racing.
"Damn. Learning this in my current condition is going to kill me."
His eyes drifted to the other two paths.
"Super Soldier serum? Captain America one? And the last one..."
"Radioactive spider bite? At least that part should be easy."
He hoped, anyway.
Though given his luck so far, the spider would probably be the size of a car and be actively trying to kill him.
No point in waiting around.
The system had given him the knowledge. Might as well see if his body could handle it.
He shifted into a cross-legged position on the bed, straightened his back, and closed his eyes. The room was quiet except for the distant foot taps of Gran Torino moving around in another part of the house.
Toya focused inward, found his breath and slowed it down.
Then adjusted the rhythm.
In through the nose, hold and out through the mouth.
Following the pattern that now felt as natural as his own heartbeat.
Deep breath in.
Total Concentration Breathing: Sun Breathing, First Form-
He activated the technique.
One second passed.
His lungs seized up and it wasn't from lack of air but from too much of something else.
Oxygen flooded his half burnt internal organ at ten times the normal rate, rushing through blood his dead vessels almost reviving them, but his current body wasn't meant to handle this kind of pressure.
Heat exploded through his chest, not from his quirk but from his own cells suddenly working in overdrive, generating energy his damaged body couldn't process.
Within two seconds, his circulatory system felt like it was being scoured with sandpaper from the inside. The regenerative tissue Dr. Garaki had 'grafted' into him rejected the technique violently.
His eyes burned, blood tears rolling down, and instantly evaporating before they could fall.
His entire skin felt like it was being peeled off layer by layer.
Three seco-
"Ughhh…"
Blood filled his mouth, and nose with a copper smell, while his beat almost reached two hundred.
The world tilted sideways and he was falling, hitting the floor hard enough to knock what little air he had left out of his lungs.
The impact sent staples digging into grafted skin. Somewhere in the distance he could hear footsteps running.
The last thing he managed before everything went black was a single thought:
=====
[BREATH OF THE SUN] - 0.01/100%
====
"Fuck this—"
….
Gran Torino was in the kitchen making tea when he heard the crash.
It wasn't a loud crash.
Just the dull thump of a body hitting the floor.
But after decades as a Hero, he knew that sound.
Even with his tiny figure, he crossed the house in seconds, his quirk activating from pure instinct, kicked the door open hard enough that it bounced off the wall.
The kid was on the floor, with blood coming from his nose, his mouth, even the corners of his eyes.
"Shit!" Gran Torino dropped to his knees beside him, fingers going to his neck. Pulse was there. Thready but present. "What the hell did you do, kid?"
He pulled out his phone.
….
The Recovery Girl showed up again.
She had arrived within twenty minutes of Gran Torino's call, taken one look at Toya, and gotten to work without a word.
Her quirk had its limits but she pushed it as far as she could, healing internal bleeding and stabilizing his vital signs.
The whole time she kept muttering about not understanding what had happened.
No external injuries aside from the ones he already had, or signs of quirk use unlike before.
Just his body tearing itself apart from the inside like he had been poisoned with excessive oxygen out of nowhere.
She had done what she could.
….
The day passed–
Toya woke up and his eyes landed on the old lady and he recognised her immediately.
This was the first time Toya had actually met her while conscious.
Last time she left before he woke up. This time she stayed, settling into the chair beside his bed with the air of someone preparing for a long conversation.
Her medical bag sat at her feet, and she had brought what looked like charts - probably Toya's vitals from last night.
"How long was I out?" Toya asked.
His throat felt raw. When he swallowed it tasted like old blood.
"Half a day, give or take." The Recovery Girl studied him over her glasses. "I am Recovery Girl. Chiyo Shuzenji. A doctor and an old friend of that stubborn fool."
"Gran Torino."
"Yes. Sorahiko and I go back many years." She pulled out a small penlight. "Now then, young man, I need you to follow this light with your eyes. Don't move your head."
Toya did as instructed. The light was annoying but he managed.
"Good. Pupils are responsive." She clicked the light off. "Now, I want you to listen carefully. Your body has been through significant trauma, but you're stable for now. The internal bleeding has stopped and there's no sign of organ failure. Whatever happened last night, it seems to have passed, so I don't want you worrying about—"
Toya stopped listening.
He pulled up his system interface while she was talking, the blue screen materializing silently in front of him.
Recovery Girl kept going, something about rest and recovery and not overexerting himself.
====
LIFE SPAN LEFT: 64 DAYS
====
His stomach dropped.
"What the... I have only got sixty four days left now?"
The words came out before he could stop them.
Recovery Girl froze mid-sentence.
Her eyes went wide behind her glasses, her mouth still open on whatever she was about to say.
The door burst open hard enough to rattle the frame.
Gran Torino stood there holding a glass of water, his face twisted in anger and something that looked like betrayal.
"Chiyo!" His voice came out as a yell. "I thought we agreed we wouldn't tell the boy!"
"I didn't tell him anything!" Recovery Girl shot to her feet, her own voice rising to match his. "I was in the middle of explaining his condition!"
"Then how the hell does he know?!"
"How should I know? Maybe you said something in your sleep! Heaven knows you talk enough when you're awake!"
"This isn't the time for your sarcasm! A kid is dying and you're making jokes!"
"I'm not making jokes! I'm being completely serious! I haven't said one word about his condition!"
They went back and forth, voices getting louder with each exchange.
Gran Torino's face was turning red.
Recovery Girl had her hands on her hips, chin up in that way that meant she wasn't backing down from anything.
Toya watched them for a moment, then let out a tired sigh–
"....I didn't know you had a girlfriend. Must be nice. Though she's a bit loud, just like you."
Both of them stopped mid-argument and turned to stare at him.
For a second they looked offended. Gran Torino's mouth opened, probably to snap back.
Recovery Girl's eyes narrowed.
Then they just... stopped. The anger drained out of both their faces.
"Haa." Toya let his head fall back against the pillow, managing a small smile. "You two are made for each other."
To him it was just a joke, that was meant to break the tension.
In actuality, they indeed had been arguing like an old married couple.
But Recovery Girl's expression crumbled.
Her hand went to her mouth, and she turned away quickly. Gran Torino's jaw tightened, a muscle jumping in his cheek.
He set the water glass down with deliberate care and looked at the wall.
They both saw the same thing: a dying kid trying to make them laugh.
Obviously they don't feel a single thing for his statement. All they could see is Toya, a kid who is aware that he doesn't have much time, yet trying to lighten the mood.
"Anyway, I don't know what you guys are talking about." Toya said, letting the smile fade. His voice was quieter now. "But I am not dying anytime soon. I want to get married someday, have kids. Get old like you - sit beside my wife one day and make sure I go before she does."
He meant it.
With the system, there was no way he was dying in sixty four days.
The counter was probably just measuring something else.
Time until the next evolution phase, maybe. He just couldn't explain that part to them.
But for the two old fellas, his statement only made it worse.
Recovery Girl was out of her words.
What kind of doctor gives up on a patient before the patient gives up on themselves? She had been in this profession for fifty years and the guilt still hit the same.
Gran Torino's expression darkened.
Not at Toya, at something bigger.
At a Hero society that pushed children to burn themselves alive for approval, and on Endeavor for being too blind to see what he was doing to his own son.
…and lastly on himself for not being able to fix this, for being too old, slow and useless when it always… mattered.
Toya noticed the shift in mood but didn't understand it.
"Uh. You guys okay?"
Neither of them answered right away.
"Sorahiko." Recovery Girl said quietly. "I need to do a few more tests again."
Gran Torino nodded stiffly and left, closing the door behind him with careful gentleness.
In the hallway, he stood there staring at nothing, one hand pressed flat against the wall. From inside the room he could hear the soft sounds of Recovery Girl working, and occasionally the kid's voice asking questions.
Marry. Kids. Getting old.
The kid wanted a future he wasn't going to have.
"I am too old for all this." Gran Torino whispered to the empty hallway.
His fist hit the wall once.
….
.
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
[Author: Mass Releasing the first 7 chapters!!]