BNHA: Force Within

Dr. Nakamura's office looked smaller now that Anakin was nine. His legs, once dangling from the chair, now reached the floor. The toys that used to fascinate him had been replaced by more advanced training equipment

"Show me what you've been working on," Dr. Nakamura said, her kaleidoscope eyes shifting through colors.

Anakin held out both hands. Three metal spheres of different sizes rose from her desk, spinning in a complex orbit around each other. He'd spent weeks perfecting this move, practicing until he could maintain it without visible strain.

"Much better control than last month," Dr. Nakamura noted. "How long can you keep them up?"

"About ten minutes now. Longer with lighter stuff."

Megumi watched from her chair as her son demonstrated his progress. His blonde hair had darkened slightly over the years, though his blue eyes remained as bright as ever. He'd grown tall for his age, all long limbs and nervous energy.

"And the sensory aspects?" Dr. Nakamura asked. "Any changes there?"

Anakin lowered the spheres carefully back to the desk. "I can feel people's emotions sometimes. Not always, but when they're feeling something strong."

This was new. Megumi sat up straighter. "You never mentioned that."

"It started last week," Anakin said, looking slightly embarrassed. "I could tell when Kenji was upset about failing his math test, even before he told me."

Dr. Nakamura's eyes shifted to a thoughtful blue. "Emotional sensitivity is an interesting development. Have you noticed any patterns? Certain emotions being easier to sense than others?"

"Strong ones are easier. Anger, fear, excitement." Anakin fidgeted with his sleeve. "Sometimes it's overwhelming, especially at school with so many kids around."

"We can work on mental shielding techniques," Dr. Nakamura said. "Help you filter out the emotional noise. But first, let's test your telekinetic limits. Ready to try something heavier?"

She led them to a training room adjacent to her office. Various objects were arranged by weight - from small wooden blocks to a heavy metal cabinet.

"We'll start with the fifty-pound weight," she said. "Remember, focus on your connection to the energy, not just pushing with your mind."

Anakin took a deep breath and held out his hand. The weight trembled, then slowly rose from the floor. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he held it steady.

"Good," Dr. Nakamura encouraged. "Now move it to the marked spot on the floor. Gentle control."

The weight drifted across the room, wobbling slightly but maintaining its height. Anakin set it down carefully in the designated circle.

"Excellent precision," Dr. Nakamura said. "Much better than last time. Ready to try the cabinet?"

Anakin nodded, though Megumi could see he was already tired. The cabinet was easily three times heavier than the weight.

He stretched out both hands this time, face scrunched in concentration. The cabinet groaned, lifting perhaps an inch off the ground before dropping back with a heavy thud.

"That's okay," Dr. Nakamura said quickly. "Remember what we discussed about quirk stamina? You've already used a lot of energy with the sphere exercise and the weight."

"I can try again," Anakin insisted.

"Not today." Dr. Nakamura's tone left no room for argument. "Pushing too hard can cause setbacks. Instead, let's work on your emotional sensing."

They returned to her office, where she pulled out a set of cards. "These have different emotional scenarios printed on them. I'm going to think about each one, and you tell me what you sense."

The exercise proved challenging in a different way. Anakin correctly identified most of the strong emotions - anger, joy, fear - but struggled with subtler feelings.

"It's like... trying to hear someone whisper in a crowded room," he explained, frustrated after missing several in a row.

"That's a good analogy," Dr. Nakamura said. "And it gives us a direction for training. You need to learn to focus on specific emotional 'voices' while filtering out background noise."

"I'm recommending we increase to twice-weekly sessions," she told Megumi. "His quirk is developing rapidly, and proper training is crucial at this stage."

Megumi nodded, thinking of the kitchen cupboard Anakin had accidentally pulled off its hinges last week when he was angry about his homework.

"What about school?" she asked. "Should we be concerned about the emotional sensitivity affecting his concentration?"

"We'll work on it," Dr. Nakamura assured her. "Many empathic quirk users go through this phase. The key is learning to maintain healthy boundaries."

On the train ride home, Anakin practiced with his All Might figure - the same one he'd first lifted when his quirk manifested. He could now make it soar through complex aerial maneuvers without looking at it.

"You should have told me about sensing emotions," Megumi said softly.

Anakin let the figure drop into his lap. "I didn't want you to worry. I know you get scared sometimes about my quirk getting too strong."

"I'm not scared of your quirk, Anakin. I just want to make sure you're handling it okay."

"I am." He paused. "Most of the time. Sometimes it's hard, feeling what everyone else is feeling."

"That's why we have Dr. Nakamura. To help you learn to handle it."

They walked home from the station in comfortable silence. Anakin used his quirk to carry both their bags, an exercise in sustained control he'd been practicing.

"Mom?" he asked as they reached their building. "Do you think I'll ever be able to lift the cabinet?"

"Probably. But Dr. Nakamura is right - these things take time."

"All Might didn't need time. He was just naturally strong."

"All Might worked very hard to master his quirk, just like you're doing." Megumi ruffled his hair. "Besides, you can already do things most telekinetic quirk users can't. Remember what Dr. Nakamura said about your precision control?"

This brought a small smile to his face. "Yeah. I guess I just want to be stronger faster."

"You're nine. You have plenty of time to get stronger."

Inside their apartment, Anakin immediately went to set up his practice space - carefully arranged objects of increasing weight that he used for training. Megumi watched him begin his exercises, following Dr. Nakamura's structured program with determined focus.

Her phone buzzed with a message from her father, checking how the session went. She typed a quick update, including the news about Anakin's emerging empathic abilities. Ben's response was immediate: "That kid never ceases to amaze me."