(Kata POV – Kata's House, Next Morning)
I step out of my bedroom calmly, ignoring the dragging footsteps and pitiful groaning behind me.
"Why do I have to get up so early…" Himiko whines, rubbing her eyes, her hair a mess. The dark bags under her eyes make her look more like a zombie than a schoolgirl.
"That's what happens when you start going to school." I reply, a little smug satisfaction tinting my voice. Watching her suffer bring me a bit of satisfaction after her behaviour last night.
She mutters something about it being unfair under her breath, but I leave her to grumble as I head to Eri's room.
Eri blinks awake when I nudge her, stretching with a squeaky yawn, arms raised over her head like a cat before hopping out of bed with an excited energy.
"Good morning, Kata!" She beams as she scurries into the hall. "Good morning, Himiko!"
Then she freezes. Her eyes widen, face tightening in worry as she notices Himiko's exhausted state.
"Are you sick?" She asks anxiously, peering up at her. "Do you feel okay?"
"I'm not sick…" Himiko sighs dramatically as she slumps her shoulders. "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep much last night."
"Why not?" Eri tilts her head in confusion, innocent curiosity written all over her face.
Himiko perks up, suddenly blushing, a dreamy grin spreading across her face as she cradles her cheeks. "Because~ I finally got to kiss Kata! I was so excited, how could I sleep after that?"
Eri frowns, brow furrowing in deep thought. "Is a kiss something really, really special?" She asks seriously.
"It's very special." Himiko nods enthusiastically, leaning closer like she's about to reveal national secrets. "It makes you feel so happy, especially if it's a kiss on the—"
I flick her forehead before she can finish, cutting in smoothly: "Cheek. Or forehead." I glare at her. "Don't corrupt Eri."
She clutches her forehead in fake agony, pouting like a scolded child.
Meanwhile, Eri's eyes sparkle as she turns to me. "Kata, do kisses make people happy?" She asks earnestly.
My brain stalls. 'If I'm not careful, this could become a disaster.'
"Of course!" Himiko blurts out before I can think of something to say, puffing her chest proudly. "But only kisses from Kata and people you love. And I love Kata the most!"
I lower the invisible gag I'd been about to clamp on her mouth, sighing inwardly. 'It could be worse… but it definitely could've been better.'
"Eri…" I say carefully, crouching a little to meet her eyes. "You shouldn't go around kissing people. It's something you do only with people you're very close to, people you care about very, very much. Got it?"
She nods seriously—then I make the mistake of adding, "But never boys. If a boy ever asks you for a kiss, or if you ever want to kiss one, you tell me first." I say resolutely.
'I'll deal with them… Immediately.'
"All boys?" She asks nervously.
I freeze. Himiko's eyes widen, a mischievous glint sparking in her eyes, and I recreate and snap the gag onto her this time.
"…Is there a boy you want to kiss, Eri?" I ask cautiously, trying not to sound as panicked as I feel.
She nods innocently.
My mind races. 'She's only been at school one day. Or was it someone from the karaoke night? Did I miss something—'
"What's their name?" I ask softlt, trying to keep calm even as dread coils in my stomach.
She smiles sweetly. "It's you!"
I blink. "…Me?"
"Mmhmm." She hums, eyes bright with certainty.
The panic drains away, replaced by a strange relief. But she's still staring at me expectantly, lips pursed in a hopeful little smile.
"What's wrong?" I ask gently.
"You said no boys…" She says softly. "Can I still get a kiss from you, even if you're also a boy?"
Her words hit like a jab to the chest. I pause—then sigh.
"You can." I lift her into my arms and kiss her cheek, smiling at the giggle it earns me. "Does that make you happy?"
She nods quickly. "One here too!" She says, tapping her forehead, right next to her little horn. I oblige with another peck, earning a delighted laugh.
"Hmmm!" Himiko hums loudly, tapping her own cheek like an impatient customer ringing a bell. The gag muffles whatever she wanted to say, but her meaning is quite clear. With a long-suffering sigh, I drop the barrier.
"I want kisses too!" She shouts instantly.
Both she and Eri stare at me with wide, expectant eyes. Resistance is futile. I give Himiko a quick kiss on the cheek—though she tries to twist for a proper one at the last second, which, with a bit of Telekinesis, does not happen. Not in front of Eri.
While I'm distracted, Eri suddenly leans in and plants her own kiss on my cheek. I pause, looking at her.
"Did that make you happy too, Kata?" She asks with a joyful smile.
And I laugh softly. "…Very happy. Thank you, Eri."
"You're welcome!" She chirps proudly, puffing her chest out, while Himiko takes the chance sneaks a kiss onto my other cheek.
"Thank you too, Himiko." I say, forced to set a good example for Eri.
"You're welcome." Himiko smirks mischievously.
The rest of the morning blurs past as everyone scrambles to get ready for school. I finish first and, with time to spare, find myself drifting back to last night.
I didn't sleep much—not that I need to—and spent the hours dissecting OFA's strengthening function, finally testing and adapting it to match my needs.
It… didn't go as planned.
I channeled Telekinetic Energy into my body, mirroring the way OFA stores and enhances the user and their quirks, but—
Nothing.
'Of course. My quirk is now part of my mind and is no longer physical. It seems that the ability can only enhance the body, nothing else.'
Unlike what I expected, the ability doesn't convert energy into power. It superimposes and stores all physical growth, and redistributed it to enhance every physical aspect of the user, including their quirk.
So of you train and your body gets stronger, the ability stores that growth, allowing it to be used. And since quirks are like muscles, getting stronger with use, it enhances quirks too.
Still, it's not entirely pointless. I expand my Radar outward to my current limit of just over 2km, the strain building behind my eyes. After pushing for a bit longer, I slowly feel the strain decreasing, and activating the ability, There's a noticeable decrease in fatigue.
My quirk already lets me improve these areas, and the ability just speeds up the process. My ability to process information and brain power are what currently hold me back from unleashing my full potential, and now, I can fix them faster.
'I should take my training more seriously. I'll keep expanding my Radar's range to just beyond what I can handle, and also focus on improving my quirk's raw power while training and improving the abilities and uses for it I've already unlocked.'
Finally, I'm pulled from my thoughts as Himiko and Eri shuffle into the living room.
Himiko's glares at me, frowning as she observes me. "You didn't sleep much either. How come you're not a zombie like me?"
"I don't really need sleep." I shrug. "Fatigue comes from adenosine buildup. That's just the body forcing you to rest so it can repair itself. I can just skip the process with my quirk and only really need sleep if I'm mentally exhausted."
She blinks, then suddenly lights up, all her tiredness forgotten. "Wait, you can do that for me too? I don't wanna go through the day half-asleep."
"That's not unreasonable." I use my quirk and heal her body while clearing up any fatigue she has, effectively simulating a good night's rest.
Her eyes snap open wide, energy flooding through her. She spins on her heel in a full twirl, skirt flaring. "Ohhh, that feels amazing! I could stab people all day!" Her grin nearly splits her face.
I don't grace her with a response, but I notice that the uniform suits her better than I expected. "You look cute."
"Of course I do." She strikes a pose, smirk in place.
But my gaze shifts immediately to Eri, who's watching with wide eyes. "And you…" I say, smiling as I pat her head affectionately. "Are the most adorable in the world." I extend the same energizing treatment to her without hesitation.
Eri's whole body brightens. She pumps her tiny fists, bouncing on her toes. "I feel super good now!"
Her attempt to imitate Himiko's twirl earns a laugh from me.
"Alright, that's enough chaos. It's time to go to school."
Eri slips her hand into mine, gripping tightly like we're going to walk instead of teleport. On the other side, Himiko loops her arm through mine with a smug hum.
"I'm dropping Eri off first," I remind her flatly. "You could just wait here."
"Nope." She leans her head against my shoulder, grinning. "Walking to school together is important. Quality time, y'know? Even if there are detours."
I glance down at her, tempted to argue, but decide against it. There's no chance I could convince her otherwise.
So, with both of them attached to me, I teleport us to Eri's school. After making sure she's settled and wishing her a good day, Himiko tugs at my arm.
And by her insistence, we return home—just so we can walk the rest of the way to U.A. hand-in-hand.
***********
A/N: Hello Everyone! How are you all today? If you've enjoyed the chapter and book thus far, please consider leaving me some comments, reviews, or power stones. It really helps the book out.
So, to be honest, this chapter was quite sweet. Felt a bit weird with the missing stuff since it's not a cultural thing where I live, but we make do. It's always fun to see Kata skirting the line between actually being a teen and being a dad for Eri, worrying about her liking boys🤣. He doesn't really get nervous much, so this was quite novel.
As for OFA, to clarify, he doesn't have the quirk. He's just replicating the way it stores power and boosts physical abilities permanently with his own quirk. To be honest, supercharging it with TK energy would've been a disaster. Wouldn't want him going multiversal the next day. But actually, the reason I made it this way was because that's how it works. Had a little realisation that it'd be better to do it this way, so I did.
The next chapter is gonna be more fun (in my opinion), so you should look forward to that. Yoga in U.A. is grounds for lots of chaos, and I can imagine a few people's reactions. Finally, I want to end the slice of life and get to the final exam, so I'm probably gonna Timeskip the remaining 2 weeks till the entrance exam soon. Mainly just have summaries of him helping his classmates study (quite literally the only significant event that happens is them going to Momo's house, which I'm slightly sad to skip over).
I'm trying to stick to the schedule, so please forgive little delays like this🫠. Danmachi will be coming out tomorrow!
You can also read 10 chapters ahead and support me at [email protected]/AMV_WEAKLY
But yeah, that's all from me. I hope you all have a wonderful day/night, while I head to bed🤣