Chapter 4 – The Burden of the Incredibly Strong
Kai rose from the couch and walked slowly to the kitchen to help his mother prepare lunch. He grabbed a knife and began chopping vegetables with casual precision, the blade slicing cleanly through carrots and onions like paper.
As he worked, Inko turned to him with a warm and curious gaze.
— "Kai, what do you want to do when you grow up?"
Before he could answer, Izuku came soaring through the kitchen, floating just slightly off the ground, a bright grin lighting up his face.
— "Kai's going to hero school with me! Then we're both joining the Hero Association! I'm gonna become a hero just like the All-Mighty!"
Kai looked over at Midoriya with a faint smile. The kid's enthusiasm was contagious. But deep down, his mind wasn't in the kitchen anymore.
His thoughts were elsewhere — filled with everything he had learned over the past few years about this strange, merged world they now lived in.
> "Hero Academy… That part hasn't changed much. It's still about teaching people to control their powers and become professional heroes. But the Hero Association… That's where things took a turn."
After the fusion of so many different universes, the power scale had shifted completely. This wasn't just the world of quirks anymore. Superhumans, aliens, magic users, gods — they were all real now. And Kai had studied the new system carefully.
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Hero Power Ranking (Post-Fusion Era):
Rank F – Lifting up to 10 tons or equivalent power
Rank E – Up to 100 tons
Rank D – Up to 1,000 tons
Rank C – Up to 10,000 tons
Rank B – Up to 20,000 tons
From Rank A onward, the scale becomes exponential:
Rank A – Capable of destroying a city
Rank S – Home to heroes like Tatsumaki and the All-Mighty; the weakest can destroy countries, the strongest can wipe the surface of the planet clean
Monster Tier – Beyond measurement. Alien X, Saitama, divine beings who transcend logic
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Kai knew exactly where he stood in this scale.
He could qualify for S-Rank without trying, and even some Monster Tier beings might struggle against him. Not because he trained harder. Just because he was built different.
And in truth… it bored him.
After reviewing all of this mentally — once again — he finally answered his mother with a neutral tone:
— "I think I'll join. I don't really have anything else I want to do. Might as well kill time being a hero on my days off."
He said it like it was nothing. Like applying to be a god-level protector of humanity was no more than picking a side hobby.
Inko sighed softly, her knife pausing mid-slice. She knew her son well. Too well.
She knew what that empty tone meant.
> "The level Kai has reached… without even trying... Most people wouldn't get there in a hundred lifetimes. And yet, it doesn't bring him joy."
She resumed cutting vegetables, but her heart remained heavy.
> "I just hope you find something, my son… something more than strength. Something that makes you feel alive. Something that brings you happiness for real."
Kai didn't hear her thoughts, but he could feel the weight in the room. It wasn't guilt. It was just the quiet realization that even love from his family couldn't fill every part of the void.
He had power. More than most people could dream of.
But what was he supposed to do with it?
Save the world? From what? Most threats couldn't even scratch him.
Be a symbol of hope? That required believing in the world more than he actually did.
Chase a dream? What dream was even left for someone like him?
He wasn't trying to be cold. He wasn't a villain. But he was tired — tired of pretending that the world still surprised him. That it still inspired him.
The knife in his hand didn't tremble. It moved steadily, almost mechanically, like everything else in his life.
Midoriya kept flying around the house with excitement, and Inko kept cooking beside him. Their voices filled the space. Warmth. Familiarity.
Kai liked that. He really did.
But it didn't change the fact that he was a walking nuclear bomb with no target. A god in a human body… and no idea what being human was supposed to feel like anymore.
As he wiped the cutting board clean, he glanced toward the window.
> "Maybe I'll go to that school. Not for the title… but just to see if something finally makes me feel something again."
And maybe, just maybe, he'd meet someone strong enough to challenge him — not just physically, but emotionally. Someone who could shake him loose from the numbness. Someone who didn't see him as a weapon or a god.
But as of now, all he had was silence, power… and a family trying to pretend things were still normal.
And for now… that would have to be enough.
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