LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 4: Flux
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"As I'm sure you all have heard and seen, there's a new superhero in Musutafu. The Pro hero Mt. Lady made her first public appearance today, and thank god she did. Along with the assistance of no. 7 ranked Kamui Woods Mt. Lady managed to take down an unknown villain with zero civilian casualties. Surprisingly, both share the same quirk of gigantification, but Mt. Lady proved victorious, as seen in this picture."
I watched as the new channel switched to a picture of Mt. Lady in her enlarged form, striking a pose in a skin-tight costume that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
"Well, that's one way to climb the rankings," I muttered while licking the last smear of pudding off my plastic spoon.
It had been several hours since I had woken up in the hospital, feeling like a truck had run me over, and then proceeded to drag my lifeless body down the freeway.
According to the doctor, the woman I rescued had carried me to paramedics and recounted my story of epic heroism.
The doctor attributed my current state to overusing my newly awakened quirk. However, he also informed me that I was anorexic and malnourished, which only made using my powers more taxing.
Fortunately, there weren't any long-lasting consequences, and I would recover with time, rest, and a decent diet. Something that I had been avoiding, afraid that I would slip into my old habit of using food as a means of escape from my depression.
But when the nurse came in with my food tray, my dormant appetite woke up with a vengeance. I eagerly devoured every bit of food as if I could compensate for the last eighteen years of starving myself.
More than just my appetite had changed as well. The world felt warmer, colors seemed more vivid, and my mind no longer lingered on the worst moments of my life.
I didn't understand what had caused my sudden mood shift until the nurse informed me that I had a visitor.
I expected my mom, and I had been somewhat right. It was a mother, but the one I had saved after she was thrown from the train.
She was with her husband and son, who all thanked me profusely. Unaccustomed to such praise, I lamely accepted their thanks, claiming that it was only the right thing to do.
But I couldn't express in words how much seeing them affected me. Had I not intervened, their budding family would have been irrevocably destroyed before it could begin.
With their thankful gazes, I found a purpose for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. This notion was only reinforced when I was visited by each of the school girls I had recused, along with their parents.
With every heartfelt thank you, I grew more confident in my decision.
"Where is he!? Where is my son!?"
As a familiar screaming voice reached my ears through the door, I broke out of my train of thought.
"Mam, please, your son is fine if you would just-"
The meek reply was cut off as the door to my room slammed open, and I smiled as I saw my mother standing in the doorway, her face contorted in a mixture of rage and grief. I could see the redness in her eyes; she had been crying, but why wouldn't she? I could only imagine the panic when she got the call that I, her only son, was in the hospital.
In that moment, a pang of overwhelming guilt nearly crushed me as I acknowledged how shitty of a son I had been, "H-hey, Mom."
My voice cracked with emotion, and before I realized it, I was enveloped in a crushing embrace. For a long moment, neither of us spoke as I felt my mother's tears drip onto my shoulder as her body trembled.
"Thank god you're okay...I don't know what I would do if I lost you." My mother's haunting words drifted up to my ears, making my heart throb as I knew all too well how painful it was being all alone in the world.
Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around my mother, pulling her against me, "I'm sorry I've been such a shitty son all these years, Mom. But I promise you won't ever have to worry about me again, I swear it."
[Two Days Later]
"So your results came back, and I must say, young man, I've never seen a quirk quite like yours." The quirk specialist muttered as he walked into the room and sat behind his desk across from my mother and me with a file in hand.
"Is something wrong," My mother asked worriedly, only for the doctor to shake his head.
"No, no, quite the opposite, in fact. After analyzing the tests you performed and the samples you gave us, I can safely say your quirk has tremendous potential, " The doctor replied enthusiastically, his eyes almost glowing.
"So you're saying I can do more than shapeshift and create appendages?" I asked cautiously, still not wholly believing the doctor's sales pitch.
"Indeed, allow me to explain." The doctor answered before pushing up his glasses and sliding the file across the desk for me to read, "The first anomaly with your quirk is that it fits underneath all three categories: transformation, emitter, and mutation. While the first two may be obvious, we found obvious signs of mutation and abnormalities related to your quirk when we scanned your body."
I flipped open the file to see two black-and-white photos set side by side for direct comparison. After a moment, I realized I was looking at a microscopic picture of cells, but the image on the right was unlike anything I had seen before.
"Photo A is what a normal red blood cell should look like. You see the concave shape," The doctor pointed out, tapping the photo on the left.
My mom's brow furrowed as she leaned over and pointed at the image on the right, "Then what about this one?"
The blood cell on the right was covered in a hexagonal lattice, each shape impossibly small. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, covered the entire cell, which was already minuscule in proportion.
"That one of several mutated cells discovered in the blood sample Kenji provided us," The doctor explained, "As you can see, it had undergone quite a drastic change."
As I stared at the lattice, I suddenly remembered the resonating feeling that rippled through my mind after I transformed my body into a hexagonal sphere. Was this somehow related?
"Should we be worried," My mother asked, concern evident on her face.
"Absolutely not; what you are looking at is, in fact, Kenji's quirk factor, the biological component vital to his powers." The doctor proclaimed, "We compared the fluid produced by your quirk to these mutated cells and found them to be one and the same."
My face paled momentarily, "So you're saying that black stuff is my blood?"
"Not precisely," the doctor answered, shaking his head, "It's more accurate to say that your blood is responsible for carrying the fluid when your quirk is dormant. Then, when you activate your quirk, the lattice detaches and expands, becoming a liquid, which is why your veins swell and turn black."
"How can that be healthy?" My mom asked.
The doctor grinned, "Ah, now here comes the good part. The fluid you produce, young man, is unlike anything we've ever seen."
'I don't completely love the way he said that.'
"From our test, it seems it can adopt any physical or chemical property, " the doctor exclaimed, his eyes burning, "And I mean anything; the possibilities are quite literally endless."
I could only shake my head in disbelief, "That seems too good to be true."
The doctor coughed, clearing his throat. "Yes, well, there is one current limitation to your quirk. Your blood sample showed a very low mutated cell count from your blood sample, which directly correlates to how much of this fluid you can create."
"It can't be that low," I muttered, thinking about the heroic feats I performed during the train.
As if following my train of thought, the doctor sighed, "I would like to point out that the potency of your quirk was most likely heightened by adrenaline and its awakening. The drawback of which left you hospitalized for three days. At the moment, I estimate that you can only produce a gallon of fluid before you suffer adverse and prolonged side effects."
'Okay, we have to come up with a better name than just fluid.'
"However, there is hope. While we only found a few fully mutated cells in your sample, a large percentage showed signs of forming a lattice. Your blood cells will mutate over time and with frequent use, increasing your capacity, just like all quirks." The doctor finished before glancing at his watch. "I'm afraid that we're running out of time. The file I gave you contains a detailed report about your quirk, which I strongly advise you to review. There is only one thing left on the agenda: what would you like to name your quirk? I know it can be daunting. If you need some time, you can email-"
"No need, I already have a name," I interrupted, as it was the first thing that came to me being able to control a material that could be anything and everything, "The name of my quirk is Flux."