Thump! Thump! Thump!
Footsteps approached quickly, but Kurogai remained calm. At the same time, the strange eye-shaped totem slowly receded beneath his skin, leaving his forehead smooth and unmarked—no sign it had ever been there.
This was the only progress he had made in the last few days: he could now sense the totem's presence and control its appearance and disappearance.
"Oh, Asta! There you are! Didn't I tell you to get some proper rest? You just got over a fever two days ago."
The voice came from a plump, middle-aged white woman with motherly features and a warm smile. This was Mrs. Mary, the director of Mary's Orphanage. She wasn't frightened by Kurogai's heterochromatic eyes like others might have been. Instead, she embraced him with kindness and motherly affection.
"There's someone here looking to adopt. Her name's Mrs. Steve. Come on, you should meet her—maybe she'll take a liking to you."
Kurogai nodded quietly.
As for "Asta," it was the name the orphanage had given him when he arrived—meant to signify "bright star," in reference to the unique sparkle in his eyes. Still, he preferred his real name.
"Okay, Director Mary. But… please call me by my real name—Kurogai."
"Alright then, my little gentleman," she chuckled affectionately. "Let's not keep Mrs. Steve waiting."
Together, they headed into the orphanage's main hall. The moment Kurogai entered, his gaze locked onto a woman standing in the center of the room, surrounded by excited children. She wore a simple white dress and glasses, her demeanor modest, even gentle. But the subtle allure in her smile, the sharpness in her posture—it triggered something in his memory.
Kurogai's eyes narrowed slightly.
That's… Black Widow!
He recognized her instantly—Natasha Romanoff, the infamous Black Widow from the Avengers. Her resemblance to Scarlett Johansson was uncanny, but it was more than that. There was a depth to her presence, a quiet sharpness that couldn't be mistaken.
He guessed quickly why she was here. The alias "Mrs. Steve" must've been a cover. If he remembered correctly, according to S.H.I.E.L.D. records, a bank nearby was scheduled to be robbed soon—and the culprits were expected to use the orphanage as a hostage fallback. Natasha was likely here undercover, waiting to intercept the threat.
"Come here, sweetheart. What a beautiful child… Let me hold you," Natasha said gently, her voice filled with warmth. She knelt and opened her arms.
"This… might not be appropriate."
Kurogai's cheeks flushed slightly, but his small feet carried him forward anyway. Who could resist? This was the Black Widow, after all. Her charm was overwhelming.
Natasha smiled and scooped him up effortlessly. "Such a shy little guy," she teased.
Held in her arms, Kurogai was overwhelmed. She smelled faintly of lilac and danger. Her embrace was soft yet confident. His face turned even redder.
But just then—something changed.
Deep beneath the skin of his forehead, the eye totem stirred.
His heart skipped.
That feeling…
His bicolored eyes lit up with a strange brilliance—gold and amethyst flashing like twin stars. The totem had responded.
"What's wrong, sweet boy?" Natasha asked, her tone filled with concern as she looked at him. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, Mrs. Steve," Kurogai replied with a polite smile, snuggling closer into her shoulder.
Outwardly, he looked calm.
Inside?
He was ecstatic.
By sheer coincidence, or perhaps fate, he had just learned what the eye totem truly was.
The Ultimate Eye.
Or rather—an immature version of it.
That was the feedback he'd just received from the totem when it activated in Natasha's embrace. The trigger wasn't random.
It was emotion—specifically, sudden emotional fluctuations. The joy, the surprise, the nervous flutter in his heart as he was hugged by a legendary woman like Black Widow.
That was the activation condition.
And now, the totem had passed along its first message to him:
The Ultimate Eye held twelve concentric rings—each one representing a dormant eye technique. If he could awaken them one by one, he would unlock powerful new abilities.
Techniques that could rival or surpass legends like the Sharingan, the Rinnegan, or even the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
Abilities that defied logic—some bordering on divine.
Kurogai's breath caught in his throat.
Each ring had its own condition. Fulfill it, and the corresponding power would awaken. One by one, until the entire totem evolved into its final form:
The True Ultimate Heterochromia.
With that kind of power, surviving in the Marvel Universe was no longer a dream—it was a real possibility.
Power was everything.
Kurogai's amethyst and gold eyes gleamed with hidden fire.
He didn't care if his heterochromia was natural or the result of the totem. All that mattered now was what it allowed him to become.
Each eye technique would be a step forward.
And with them, he would one day carve his place in this chaotic world of gods, monsters, and heroes.
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