The afternoon sun hung low, its golden light casting long shadows through the streets.
Ren walked lazily along the sidewalk, his schoolbag slung over one shoulder.
"I miss private school…" he muttered, dragging his feet as he turned the corner. The new public school was noisy, crowded, and filled with kids who picked fights for sport. It wasn't that he couldn't handle it — far from it — he just didn't see the point.
But All Might had insisted.
"You need to understand people, Ren. Learn to see what you're fighting for — not just how to fight."
Ren sighed. "That old man… always talking about spirit."
He kicked a pebble along the curb, watching it skip ahead of him. The truth was, he practically lived alone. Toshinori was always traveling — saving lives across Japan, appearing where the Symbol of Peace was needed most. But ever since that devastating battle two years ago — the one All Might refused to talk about — his strength had begun to fade. He could no longer stay transformed for long, and Ren could tell it frustrated him more than he'd admit.
Still, he kept fighting. Because that's who All Might was.
'There are no good quirks either…' Ren thought bitterly, glancing down an alley as he passed.
He'd been searching for new, compatible quirks for months, but nothing worth copying appeared. Most were weak, unstable, or redundant. He needed something clean — something neutral.
At least the dojo helped him sharpen what he already had.
After classes, he trained almost every day — karate, judo, jiu-jitsu, aikido, kendo, taekwondo, muay thai, boxing…
Every instructor said the same thing: "Come by whenever you like."
Why wouldn't they? He'd mastered each style the day he saw it demonstrated.
By turning Copycat inward, channeling it through his eyes, Ren had discovered a new function — he could memorize and replicate any technique he watched once. His body would move perfectly, instantly, as if he'd trained for years.
He didn't go to the dojo to learn anymore.
He went there to think. To spar. To keep his body moving when his mind wanted to stop.
He was about to turn onto the main road when a flicker of movement caught his eye — a flash of color, a shout.
Down a narrow alleyway, a professional hero was cornered, bleeding, about to be struck down by two grinning thugs.
Ren sighed.
He dropped his bag to the ground. "Such a drag…"
His hair began to shimmer with pale, crackling energy.
"Volt Hair," he muttered, the air around him buzzing with static. His white strands lifted slightly as electricity danced across them.
A second later, he whispered: "Hair Shock."
A burst of lightning exploded from his head, arcing through the narrow street. It struck both criminals cleanly, paralyzing them mid-motion with a burst of white light.
Ren didn't waste the moment. He dashed forward — a blur of movement — and struck the first man in the solar plexus with a clean punch. The criminal folded instantly, gasping for air.
The second one barely had time to curse before Ren's heel crashed against his face, sending him stumbling back, blood spraying from his nose.
"You… you shitty kid!" the second villain roared, clutching his bleeding nose. His partner was still wheezing on the ground.
He lowered his stance and his forehead began to glow — a horn-like spike jutting out, humming with energy.
He charged. "You're dead!"
Ren tilted his head slightly, unimpressed.
'How did that hero lose to weaklings like this?'
He waited until the last second, then sidestepped effortlessly. His leg swept out, tripping the charging villain, who went crashing face-first — or rather, horn-first — into the pavement with a dull crack.
The man went limp.
Ren exhaled slowly and walked past the unconscious bodies. As he passed the one still groaning, he discharged a small jolt.
Zap!
The man convulsed and fell silent.
Only then did Ren approach the injured hero.
"You alright?" he asked, extending a hand — his tone cold, but not unfriendly.
The hero blinked, dazed. "Y-Yeah… thanks, kid. Those two… they ambushed me when I hit my weakened phase."
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
Ren's eyes scanned the man's mechanical joints, noting faint gears embedded around the elbows and knees. "What's your Quirk, sir?"
The hero hesitated, then smiled sheepishly. "Ah, I shouldn't say this, but… since you saved my life, I guess I owe you one. It's called Joint Reactor!"
He raised an arm dramatically. "I can store kinetic energy in my joints and release it for massive impact attacks! Pretty cool, right?"
Ren sighed and placed a hand on the man's shoulder.
'Found it.'
The faint hum of Copycat stirred in his core. For a split second, Ren's pupils flashed with a soft glow. He didn't even need to think about it anymore — his body knew when a useful quirk was nearby.
He felt the essence of Joint Reactor flow into him, catalogued and stabilized by One For All's inner vessel.
Another tool added to his arsenal.
"Be careful not to overuse Joint Reactor next time," Ren said simply, retrieving his bag.
He didn't look back as he walked away, the faint crackle of Volt Hair fading behind him.
...
The riverside was quiet that afternoon, sunlight spilling lazily across the water. It was Ren's hidden training spot — far enough from the city that no one would bother him, yet close enough that he could still feel civilization's hum in the distance.
Ren exhaled softly, lowering his stance.
"Let's see how this one works…"
He clenched his fists.
A faint vibration rippled through his arms, his joints tightening as if coiled springs had awakened beneath the skin. He could feel energy building inside him — subtle, but dense.
"Joint Reactor."
He stepped forward and threw a punch.
Thud.
The air shivered. The water's surface rippled slightly. A satisfying shock ran through his arm.
"Yeah… I can feel it," he muttered.
He rolled his shoulders, letting the pressure gather again, then kicked — the ground cracked faintly beneath his heel. Each movement released bursts of compressed energy, sharp and precise, almost like controlled detonations inside his body.
He wasn't breaking boulders or blowing apart trees — not yet. But every motion carried a kind of raw precision, the weight of perfect mechanics.
...
After several rounds, Ren's breathing grew heavier.
He sat on a nearby rock, rolling his wrist. His joints ached — the dull, biting pain of overuse.
"Healing Light," he whispered.
A warm glow enveloped his hands and seeped into his elbows and knees. The throbbing eased. The light didn't fully restore him, but it let him move again — good enough for another round.
He stood once more, eyes half-closed in thought.
"This quirk… builds kinetic energy in my joints," he said, murmuring to himself. "But what happens if I combine it with Volt Hair?"
His white hair began to shimmer — faint electric arcs danced between the strands. He clenched his fists again, letting the hum of kinetic energy blend with the crackle of lightning. Slowly, he released both.
Zzzzt—thmp!
A spark burst from his fist, followed by a low shockwave that rippled through the grass and water. The two energies — kinetic and electric — flowed through each other naturally, cycling, feeding, converting.
Ren's eyes lit up.
"It converts both ways…"
Kinetic energy became electricity.
Electricity became motion.
It was almost perfect synergy — just like the fake "Energy" quirk the Municipality believed he had. Except this was real. He was making it real.
Ren looked at his palm, where faint arcs still danced.
'Really… this quirk of mine is amazing,' he thought.
To be continued...
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Sorry If I made you wait, I was kinda busy those days.