The nightmares continued to bother him, followed by a headache, and even a nosebleed. In one of his dreams, he dreamed of strange silhouettes, he counted six of them, it seems, and a very scary man with a goat's head. - Why are you looking? - Nobu screamed through his sleep. - Cough... - he abruptly breaks away from the grip of sleep in tears, with shortness of breath, as if something was burning in his chest. They tried to talk to him or not... they looked at him with disdain, as if he were some kind of shit. A stream of blood flowed from his nose. Nobu pressed a handkerchief to his nose and went to the sink.
- Again? - Nezu helped the boy. - The human brain sometimes projects or imagines fake pain to protect from something that can threaten life.
It took some time not only to finish reading the entire encyclopedia, but also to come to conclusions, to learn about the terminology. Fortunately, there was enough time for this, there was nothing else to do, the village boys were not friendly, and he was no longer interested in playing strange games. Obviously, the boy was smarter than his peers, naturally all thanks to Nezu and his teaching talent, and Nezu's company was much more appealing.
In any case, he could no longer fall asleep, so he turned on the flashlight and began to read books. That night flew by very quickly while reading, Nobu did not even notice how it began to get light, the red giant was waking up again, warming the planet with its heat, soil, forests and fields.
The book flashed a lot of topics, from the very first and basic bacteria, prokaryotes, eukaryotes, virology, parasitology, fungi, and finally genetics. The last was the most interesting, but also proportionally more difficult. Combining, editing, cultivating gene data - that's what we are made of. Nobu thought this topic was very interesting and quite promising. There was also a separate paragraph about quirks, a story about how they suddenly appeared, that 80% of the population has them and the most important, key fact - they are inherited, mixed, become stronger.
Nezu suggested - If they become stronger, then sooner or later either the reverse process should occur, or self-destruction, if the quirks get out of control. Even quirks undergo selection and, as a result, evolution, perhaps a little faster than the human body has time to adapt.
- That sounds logical. Then how to explain the energy that is taken for abilities? Metaphysics?
- Hmm, if it is related to biology and chemistry, then all the organs inside a person are responsible for some functions, which means it is quite possible that there is an organ responsible for quirks that interacts with something that has not previously interacted. This is just an assumption, nothing more. In any case, if it is not available to the masses, then it is beneficial for someone not to know about it. - Nezu did not know how close to the truth he was.
- Someone? - Nobu was puzzled.
- For example, the government. - Although this was a conspiracy theory, it was, unfortunately, the only logical option.
- It sounds unpredictable. - Nobu said about governments.
- Of course, organizations put their goals above people first. They often try to sit on two chairs. - Nezu also thought about the value of human rights and organizations. At one time, the organization responsible for the protection of animals did not help him.
- Nezu, let's somehow take over the whole world!
- You are clearly crazy, you need a lot of resources for this!
- You only care about resources? Then we will take over all the people. Ha-ha. - Albino knows that it sounds absurd, but why not?
Nezu smiled, they would definitely be friends for the rest of their lives. - Okay, we'll think of something.
Nobu began to form questions "What are quirks made of, where does the energy come from, why is so little known about them, if they become stronger, should there be some kind of limit? How is my quirk different from others?".
One might wonder why they didn't send him to a kindergarten, like they did with other children? It's simple, there is no kindergarten in the village, of course they could have found a place for Nobu somewhere in a nursery (ha-ha), but the boy didn't like the idea of stepping on a rake again and receiving more bullying and humiliation. Teruko understood this too, but she also maintained contact with him so that he would not close himself off completely. The cynical old woman of Himura wanted to temper the mind and body of a potential successor of the family. The woman was old school, and preferred to do everything on her own and push her to self-development, responsibility from a young age.
Nezu helped a lot in raising him.
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The boy who used to bully Nobu with his small group was local. His name is Ryuji, a ten-year-old boy, he has a mutation quirk - Sting, he is Nobu's older brother and the current heir of Himura, but only Nobu did not know this. Why did they hide such a secret from him?
When Nobu was born, little Ryuji watched his mother give birth, watched how his brother was taken away by the midwife and his mother's death, how this impudent man dared to take his mother away from him. An oral agreement was formed between everyone - not to tell the child about his family in order to protect the child's psyche from the loss of family ties and guilt over the death of the mother. "Don't build sand castles, so you don't have to destroy them."
And seeing white hair on the child's head, it really alarmed them, the husband thought about betrayal, a foundling, or something else, maybe a curse, and everyone in their family had black hair. "Exactly, this cursed house of Himura, many said to be wary of them. I didn't think about it when I made a deal with them." This man made a deal with Himura a long time ago, which he now regrets.
Ryuji's quirk was a real manna from heaven for a family of farmers, the ability to carry and drag heavy things. This mutation allowed him to control a massive tail-stinger. Ryuji felt superior to others from birth, because he was important to the family, and his quirk was the envy of the neighbors, but the boy also knew what diligence and hard work were and respected those who worked hard. The quirk increased this bubble of self-confidence. People crowded around him, he was surrounded by attention, he was a part of many people's lives.
Nobu watched this dawn, it seemed interesting.
...
- Grandma, tell me about the heroes, Why does Kurose want to become one of them?
- In such a small village, few people have heard of them, which is not surprising, they work mainly only in cities, few are vouching to take such small villages as Shitara under their supervision. Heroes appeared as a counterweight to villains who imagined that with the help of the power of quirks you can get everything you want. The state sponsors heroes, giving them privileges and good benefits, in exchange they keep the entire system in balance. By the way, have you heard, a hero was assigned to us, now he will be interning here, right in our village - that's what the head said. I don't know when he will arrive.
Grandma helped him a lot to distract himself from unnecessary thoughts, even though she hadn't spent much time with him before, now they can communicate more often. To catch up. He needs mentoring more than anything now. Of course, the old lady wasn't simple either, she was rather callous and didn't like weakness in front of anything, an old-fashioned person. However, she encouraged work and respected patience.
- I wonder where the quirks came from?
- No one knows, and if they do, they won't tell. Too much time has passed, some think that they are aliens, some think it's God's punishment or a gift, now everyone seems to be obsessed with heroism. This bubble was inflated by governments, and big wars were left in the past, resolving conflicts locally, with the help of various detachments and mercenaries. The military was forced out, only small garrisons remained for the borders and cities.
- So you think that heroes are not who they claim to be?
- Exactly, and villains do not hide their intentions, they have nothing to lose. Of course, I do not justify villains. However, this category of people includes all those who resist the system of heroism. This system is not perfect, like the others. I recommend that you understand this issue better. You must be able to understand people and their intentions, only then can you survive in this complex world. - The old woman said this absolutely seriously, perceiving the five-year-old boy as a full-fledged interlocutor for such topics, she knew that he was smarter in his thoughts than in expressing himself to people.
- It would be great if some hero came to our village. It would be interesting to see what they look like and what quirks they have.
- You will definitely see, you will meet many different people. - The grandmother put down her glass of tea and looked at the fireplace.
- I have had this thought in mind for a long time. I dare to assume that villains will one day cause a pogrom in society. There will be unrest, faith in the hero system will be shaken. This is not only because heroes act more openly and you can learn more about them and their weaknesses, the downsides of quirks, while villains hide in the shadows and can only learn about them once you fight them.
The second reason may be a certain catalyst, something very influential will be shaken. Maybe the image of the savior itself? - said the old woman, looking at the fireplace with an empty look. After the winter, this fireplace is quite a hassle to clean. Nobu has already done this and really did not like this task, but he had to.
Nobu thought about the words spoken by a rather wise old woman, who does not often demonstrate reasonable thoughts. "The downsides of a quirk. Quirks are not omnipotent, perhaps at the basis of their nature lies a certain law of maintaining a balance between power and downsides. The more powerful the quirk, the more disadvantages it has." Nobu took out his notebook and wrote down the thought so that it would not disappear in the omnipresent stream of reason.
The boy wanted to ask about Ryuji, and that he was his brother, but he didn't.
They both heard screams in the distance, like panic. "What's that noise?"
Nobu ran out to the doorway and saw the village on fire, it was burning in the night glow. He had never seen anything like that before. It was called a fire, when there was a lot of fire. However, every fire must have a reason.