Ren opened his eyes.
The sharp scent of antiseptic assaulted his senses.
I hate this fucking smell… he thought. He already knew where he was.
Hospitals.
His most dreaded place. He had spent so much time in them that even breathing their air made his skin crawl.
"H-He's waking up!"
A startled voice reached his ears. Ren turned toward it, but his vision was still blurry—only a vague silhouette greeted him.
"Mr. Kabaya?" Ren said as his sight finally cleared.
The doctor who had once taken care of his mother stood there, frozen in disbelief.
Around him, several nurses stared at Ren as if they were looking at a ghost.
"How is this possible…?" one of them whispered.
Ren frowned, confused.
Why are they acting like this?
"Ren!"
Soft arms suddenly wrapped around his neck.
Momo.
"You're alive! You're alive!" she cried, tears streaming freely down her face as she clung to him.
Then—
"Ren!"
All Might and Midoriya rushed in as well, relief clear in their voices.
Ren blinked, even more confused now. "S-Sorry, guys, but… what's going on—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Something felt wrong.
Warm liquid dripped from his nose.
"…Ah."
Ren touched it with his fingers. The blood was thick—almost black.
"What's happening, guys?" he asked again.
Doctor Kabaya finally spoke, his voice still trembling with disbelief. "When you were brought here yesterday, we ran several tests, and… your brain was in an extremely critical condition…"
At his words, Momo's grip around Ren's neck tightened.
"You were supposed to remain in a vegetative state," Kabaya continued. "But then… you woke up."
Ren finally understood why everyone looked so shaken.
Gently, he lifted Momo's chin.
"Momo," he said softly, "you don't need to worry."
"B-But—" she started.
Her words were cut off.
Ren kissed her.
"Quick! Grab a camera!"
One of the nurses—apparently a huge fan—scrambled to snap a picture of the moment.
Midoriya turned beet red.
All Might, on the other hand, looked… strangely proud. He promptly smashed the fangirl's camera.
That's my boy, he thought.
Momo, meanwhile, was seconds away from fainting. Being kissed by Ren was already overwhelming—doing it in front of so many people completely fried her brain.
Ren finally pulled back.
"This is for yesterday," he said with a smile. His revenge was complete.
Momo couldn't even form a proper sentence anymore. "R-R-R-R-Ren…" she mumbled.
Ren just smiled.
Overdrive is more dangerous than I thought… he reflected, glancing at his bloodied finger. If I go too far, I could actually die.
Then, a wicked grin crossed his face.
Seraph… after being fused with Super Regeneration… is completely broken. It even healed my brain. They say that once the brain is damaged, regeneration stops—but Seraph doesn't seem to care at all.
...
After running several tests, the doctors confirmed that Ren's brain was still damaged—but it was regenerating at an absurd pace.
"Three days…" Ren muttered.
That was Doctor Kabaya's estimate. At this rate, his brain would be fully healed in just three days.
All Might supported Ren as they exited the hospital, one massive arm steadying him. Ren's sense of movement was completely off; the world felt slightly tilted, his body lagging half a second behind his thoughts.
Behind them, Momo followed stiffly, almost like a malfunctioning robot. She still hadn't fully recovered from the kiss.
Midoriya, meanwhile, was eerily quiet. It looked like he was physically restraining himself from blurting out a thousand questions at once.
Then they saw them.
The entire class was waiting outside.
"Ren! All Might!"
Midoriya and Momo hurried forward as everyone shouted in unison, "Thank you! Thank you for saving us!"
They bowed deeply.
Ren felt something tighten in his chest.
Being… appreciated like this. Being thanked. His heart skipped, then thumped harder than it ever had before. He had never—never—felt something like this.
All Might glanced at Ren's stunned expression and smiled.
"No need to thank us!" he boomed. "You all did a splendid job as well! And most importantly—none of you suffered any serious injuries!"
He paused, then grinned wider.
"Except this little rascal!"
Thwack.
"—Ghk!?"
All Might punched Ren square on the head.
Ren immediately coughed up blood as the regeneration in his brain stalled for a moment.
"O-Old man!?" Ren shouted hoarsely. "Why right on the head?!"
Momo rushed to him, gently wiping the blood from his mouth, her face pale with worry.
The class grew quiet.
Guilt weighed heavily on them. Ren had been hurt because of them. He had risked—no, nearly lost—his life to protect his classmates.
"Um… Ren," Midoriya finally spoke, hesitating. "There's something we need to ask you."
Ren blinked. "Huh?"
"We… know your secret."
Ren frowned. "My secret?"
"Yeah…" Sero scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Todoroki stepped forward, eyes sharp and serious.
"Your Quirk. The things you did—erasing quirks like Aizawa-sensei, regenerating like that Nomu, and the strength you showed at the end. That's not something you can do with 'energy' alone."
Ren opened his mouth, ready to cover up anything.
But before he could—
"And even if you could," Bakugo cut in, stepping forward with a scowl, clearly enjoying the chance to loom over Ren while he was weakened, "why the hell would you wait that long to use it, huh? Don't feed us bullshit, bastard."
Ren exhaled slowly.
"…You're right."
Everyone stiffened.
Ren hesitated. His mother's voice echoed in his mind—never tell anyone. Growing up, he had understood why.
But these people…
"…Just promise me something first," Ren said quietly. "Don't tell anyone."
Silence.
Then, one by one, they nodded.
Ren turned slightly and placed his hand against Momo's arm for just a moment.
From his palm, a baseball materialized.
Every eye widened.
Momo's eyes widened the most.
That was—
Her Creation Quirk.
"My Quirk," Ren said calmly, "lets me copy other people's quirks. Permanently."
The silence shattered instantly.
"What?!" Kirishima blurted out.
"That's—" Hagakure started.
"INSANE!" Mina exclaimed.
Ren gave a small, wry smile. "Yeah… now you get why I never told anyone."
Bakugo's shoulder twitched.
This bastard…
Everyone gets one Quirk—and he can just take any he wants?
I trained harder than anyone… and I'm still an ant compared to him. Compared to someone who just needs to touch people to get incredibly strong!
The class was flooded with complicated emotions—shock, awe, admiration.
"Ren, that's incredible!" Midoriya exploded, finally unable to contain himself. "I had suspicions, but I never imagined something like this! That's easily top ten Quirks of all time! How does it work? Do you need to touch them? Are there conditions? Is there a limit—"
Ojiro's tail snapped around Midoriya's mouth.
"Mmmph!?"
Ren chuckled softly.
Then he felt fingers lace through his.
He turned.
Momo was holding his hand, smiling brightly up at him.
"You get more incredible every time," she said.
"Yeah," Ren replied, smiling back. "I know."
He leaned down and kissed her.
Momo froze.
Her eyes went wide—
—and she collapsed.
Between the kiss earlier, and now this—in front of the entire class—her heart finally gave out.
"Ohhhhhh!" the class chorused instantly.
All Might steadied Ren while Ren caught Momo, holding her carefully as he smiled.
Then Ren looked up at the sky.
Mom… please hold on.
I'm coming.
Just wait for me.
To be continued...
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