“I'm home!”
I called out as I stepped inside our house, taking off my shoes and walking into the living room.
The one who responded to me, as usual, was my mother.
“Ahh, Seiji, already back from the center. How was training today?”
“Tiring, Mom. I'm spent. I just want to take a shower and rest before dinner.”
“That's fine, you can go rest for a while. I'll call you when dinner’s ready.”
“Thanks, Mom, love you.”
“Love you too, sweetie.”
After taking a shower, looking in the mirror, I see a boy with a slender build, straight black hair, dark brown eyes, and standing around 130 cm tall, a little more than average. I suppose that training is paying off.
I lay in my bed thinking about all that has happened over the last couple of years.
First, I'm 7 years old now. I started attending elementary school last year; time sure does pass fast when you are busy learning new things and trying new ways to use your power.
It was like yesterday when I was still learning or relearning how to walk and talk.
Second, I also started receiving proper training last year at the center, as my mother mentioned; it's a facility created by a retired hero where young kids and teenagers can come to receive training, exercises, and even use their powers, but under supervision.
It's like a hero preschool. They teach a variety of martial arts like karate, boxing, mixed martial arts and grappling; the proper forms to exercise so that you don't end up injuring yourself or with hidden injuries that show up once you're older.
I'm even sure I've seen a young Bakugo a couple of times. This would place me in the middle of the main timeline for this world.
Third, I now have better control and understanding of my power. I can confidently say that while it shares many similarities with the original, mine is different. But who would think that the one to help me most with understanding my power would be my parents?
The premise for using my power is staying calm and being able to visualize the effects wanted.
Take, for example, my paralysis scream. If I just scream and wait for an effect, most of the time it doesn't even activate; first, I have to visualize the other person being paralyzed by my voice, and the duration will depend on how loud I can naturally scream.
Devices like a telephone or a megaphone reduce the effects of my power when used, and I discovered that my voice also has a natural charm that generally gives people a good first impression and makes them listen to me more.
To help me control it, my mother taught me how to meditate to stay calm to better visualize the results that I want.
Turns out when your quirk is to manifest emotions into color, you learn how to stay calm and not let it be seen at all times.
The trick is to not suppress the emotions but to understand them and what is causing them, then to let them flow out so that you can stay calm and visualize the effects you want.
It can be to hide your emotions or, in my case, paralyze someone with my voice. Right now, the duration of the paralysis can go from 10 seconds to a minute, and it’s still growing. I can also have my black ghost use it.
That takes more focus, but it's worth it.
Imagine you are walking with no one around when you suddenly hear a scream beside you, and you suddenly realize you can't move anymore and that an invisible entity is attacking you.
Besides that, my father also taught me how to focus better and how to maintain that focus for a long period of time without forgetting your surroundings.
In his own words, “telekinesis, no matter how small, it takes focus, and you should also learn; it always helps to know how to stay focused.”
Once manifested, the black ghost is semi-independent based on your desire when you summon it, but to effectively control it and share your senses, it takes a lot of focus. Also, the longer you've manifested the black ghost and let it interact, the stronger it grows; that’s why I always try to have it by my side at all times.
By sharing my senses and focusing on the black ghost, I have also learned that I can change its shape; nothing great for now. I can extend his fingers, make him lean or slightly more muscular; small changes, but with more time I wonder what I could do. For now I can only keep training.
“Seiji, dinner ready!” seems like it’s time to stop thinking and go get dinner.
“Mom, let me set the table, dad you can let me take care of that.”
“Seems like you're all grown up now; you even help around the house.” My father said to me as I approached the dinner table.
It's less about helping and more about having the black ghost do it for me, but if my parents are happy, who am I to say no to praise, right?
“Yes, Dad, I want to help.”
“Ok, no problem. Once you're done, don't forget to wash your hands.”
After dinner, we sat in the living room watching TV when my father asked me
“So tell me, how’s school, any new friends?”
“Sigh, Dad, I think I've overdone it.”
“Oh, tell me more”; that would be my mother.
“Can you believe this, Mom? All I wanted was to show everyone my quirk; next thing I know they are all saying that I'm throwing a tantrum and paralyzing all my classmates.”
‘ Yeah, my bad, turns out using every little disagreement as an excuse to use your power on your classmates multiple times is not, in fact, a good idea.’
“That's” my mom started.
“Listen to me, Seiji, even if your quirk is awesome and you want everyone to know you should still hold back a little on showing it off, do you understand?”
“Yes, Dad, I'll be more careful.”
‘Yeah, don't worry next time, I'll find a better excuse to use my power on them so that they can go complain and get me in trouble.’
“Don't worry, sweetheart, I'm sure it's just all a misunderstanding, and you can still be friends.”
“Don't worry, Mom, I'm sure I can make a lot of friends.”
‘ Yes, how can I let those kids go after they've gone and complain about me?’
“Good, you have school tomorrow, you should go to sleep.”
“ok mom, dad good night.”
‘ Tomorrow will be a brand new day.’