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Ren Mikage’s house.
“Mom, I’m done eating!”
After dinner, Ren set down his bowl and chopsticks.
The moment he had an opening, he slipped out of the dining room and went straight to the training room.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The wooden dummy rang under his strikes.
This was his daily routine, something he had kept up for more than ten years.
Tonight, though, Ren was clearly distracted.
He did not even notice his mother walking up behind him.
“Ow!”
Ren yelped and spun around with both hands on his head.
Sure enough, Mika Mikage was standing there with anger written all over her face.
“Mom, how many times have I told you not to hit me in the head?” Ren complained, rubbing the sore spot.
“You’ll make me stupid.”
Mika narrowed her eyes.
Ren, who had been full of momentum a second ago, immediately deflated.
Then his eyes shifted.
He put on the most sincere smile he could manage.
“Actually…
Mom, perfect timing.
I wanted to tell you something.”
“Oh?” Mika folded her arms.
Her expression did not change.
“And what would that be?”
She looked exactly like she was waiting for him to start lying.
Her gaze, however, never left Ren’s altered pupils.
“So, the thing is…
I awakened my Quirk today.”
“Oh…”
The drawn-out sound set off every alarm in Ren’s head. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Normally, she should have given him a dismissive look and walked away.
Before he could figure out what was different this time, her knuckles landed on his head again.
As expected, gentle motherhood had never really found a place in his mother.
Since the distraction tactic had failed, Ren decided to drop a bigger bomb.
He lifted his chin and said proudly, “I also got a special admission slot for U.A.’s Hero Course.
No entrance exam, and full tuition covered.”
“Oh…”
Mika answered in that same low tone.
Her brown eyes stared straight at Ren, and a terrifying pressure began gathering around her.
“M-Mom, please don’t look at me like that.
I’m getting a little scared.”
“What Quirk did you awaken?”
The dead silence returned to normal only after Mika spoke.
But why was that the part she cared about?
“Copying,” Ren answered quickly.
“My Quirk copies any Quirk I’ve seen.”
It was not the whole truth about Insight, but it was not exactly a lie either.
“Is that so?”
Mika studied him suspiciously.
Ren blinked several times, doing his best to look honest.
After a long silence, Mika left him with one sentence and turned away.
“If that’s the case, I won’t say more.
You’re grown enough to have your own ideas.
Just…
whatever you decide, remember that you still have a home.
And a mother.”
Her retreating back and the ponytail swaying behind her looked lonelier than Ren expected.
Only after he was sure she had left did Ren drop the exaggerated smile.
His face darkened.
The power that awakened when he nearly died during the day should have been Insight.
Calling it a copying Quirk was not wrong, but like most Quirks, it came with a cost.
All Might’s One For All was the clearest example.
Tremendous power came with tremendous strain on the body.
Once Midoriya inherited it, broken arms and legs would become almost routine.
Ren took out his phone again.
Just as he had guessed, Insight was a survival power.
Its cost was the overwhelming force it could release, or more precisely, the life span it burned to create that force.
Copying other abilities was a way to fight without touching the core of his own power.
On the other hand, if burning life force was the side effect, then avoiding the core power should be enough.
The truly terrifying part of Insight was that it could reproduce what it understood.
Quirks, skills, biological functions, even abilities that looked impossible on paper.
If Ren could observe the mechanism clearly enough, Insight could learn it.
And if he wanted access to a wide range of Quirks, what place could be better than U.A.?
He had not lied to his mother about that either.
All Might himself had offered him a special admission recommendation for the Hero Course.
“Still, I haven’t tested the copying part yet.” Ren rubbed his chin.
“Guess I’ll have to pick a fight with explosion-head tomorrow.”
With that settled, Ren headed for the bathroom.
Early to bed, early to rise.
Healthy body, healthy life.
Meanwhile, inside the principal’s office at U.A.
High School, a large desk sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
A cup of steaming tea rested on top of it.
All Might, the very person Ren had just been thinking about, sat awkwardly on the sofa across from the desk.
“Principal,” he said, “I realize this is sudden, but I would like to request a special admission slot for the Hero Course.”
His gaze fixed on the small figure seated behind the desk.
Yes.
The small figure with a scar running down from his right eye and a fondness for tea was none other than U.A.’s principal.
Principal Nezu.
If Ren had seen this scene, he would not have been surprised at all.
Nezu might look harmless, but his Quirk, High Specs, gave him intellect far beyond any ordinary human.
With enough calculation, he could identify a weak point and create devastating chain reactions from it.
He also had a rather wicked sense of humor.
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I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.