The pen was proof.
But Kael needed more than proof.
He needed control.
The morning after the dream, the power still simmered beneath his skin like a fever. It wasn't burning—it was waiting. Listening. Like it was alive.
Kael kept his head down at school. He didn't speak much. He couldn't. Not when his heart was racing every time he brushed past someone in the hall. Every handshake felt like a loaded gun. Every accidental bump was a risk. What if he pulled something out of someone without meaning to? What if he gave it away without realizing?
He needed answers.
And the only way to get them was to test it.
The Target
Kael's classmate, Ren Sato, was the obvious choice.
Ren wasn't exactly a bully, but he had that self-righteous edge common among early bloomers. His Quirk was minor—he could harden his fingers into glass-like blades. Flashy. Useless outside of schoolyard intimidation.
More importantly, Ren loved to show off. And Kael had seen him use it hundreds of times.
So when Kael approached him during lunch, smiling nervously, it wasn't hard to convince him.
"Hey… uh, can I see your Quirk up close?" Kael asked. "It's cool how it crystalizes. I've never seen anything like that before."
Ren's grin spread wide. "Yeah? You finally appreciating greatness, Kael?"
Kael forced a laugh and held out his hand. "Yeah. I wanna feel it up close. Just… humor me."
Ren blinked. "You want to… touch my hand?"
"Yeah. I read Quirks with crystalline structures give off weird textures. I just wanna see."
Ren shrugged. "Your funeral, Quirkless."
He extended his arm and hardened his fingers.
Kael reached out—and touched.
The Transfer
The moment skin met skin, Kael felt it.
Like a lightning bolt firing through his spine. His vision dimmed at the edges, and everything else—Ren's voice, the sounds of the cafeteria, the ambient chatter—faded into static.
He felt the Quirk pull. Not physically, but energetically. Like a thread being tugged across dimensions. Like something was being unplugged from Ren's soul and socketed into his.
There was no scream. No flare of light. Just a silent, invisible snap—like a puzzle piece shifting places.
And then… nothing.
Ren blinked.
Kael staggered back.
The tips of Ren's fingers softened. The glass-like sheen vanished.
"What the hell?" Ren muttered, shaking his hand. "Why won't it activate—?"
Kael held up his own hand and thought, Activate.
The air shimmered. A subtle crackle. And then—his own fingers hardened into sharp, glassy blades, perfectly replicating Ren's Quirk.
He felt it. The tension. The fragility. The sharpness balanced on a molecular edge.
But more than that—he felt wrong.
The Consequences
Kael ran.
He didn't wait to see Ren's reaction. He didn't stop to explain. He bolted from the cafeteria, down the hall, and into the nearest empty classroom.
His breathing came hard and fast.
He stared at his hands—still glowing faintly, crystalline, deadly.
And then he did something that terrified him even more.
He focused—and gave the Quirk back.
This time, he imagined the thread unraveling. The energy leaving his body, flowing into the void, seeking its original source. It took effort. Focus. Precision.
But it worked.
The glass vanished from his hands. A faint sensation tugged through his chest—like a sigh, like an apology. A strange emptiness remained.
Kael collapsed into a chair, cold sweat clinging to his back.
This wasn't just borrowing.
This was removal.
He could take someone's power away without their permission.
And if he wanted to—he didn't have to give it back.
Aftermath
That night, Ren went to the nurse, confused and angry. His Quirk returned without explanation minutes later, but he kept insisting something "felt off." The staff blamed stress, maybe a sugar crash. Nothing serious.
But Kael knew better.
He stared at himself in the mirror that night, studying his eyes.
He hadn't meant to hurt Ren. But he had.
It was a small taste. A harmless Quirk, taken and returned. But what if it hadn't been harmless? What if he'd taken someone's wings in midair? Their healing factor during a fight?
Kael clenched his fists.
He didn't want this power to make him a villain.
But if the world ever turned on itself again…
If Quirks ever tipped the scales too far…
Then maybe the world would need someone who could take it all away.
Someone to reset the board.
Someone to keep the balance.
…