Yuichi stood at the entrance of his new school classroom, his mind racing. Though it wasn't his first time in a school, it felt strangely foreign.
The years spent in the normal world, the time he had spent as a disembodied soul watching his body undergo horrific experiments, and the mess of the past few weeks had all left him feeling displaced.
He was in someone else's life, someone who had lived through trauma that was utterly alien to his own experiences, yet strangely familiar in its own kind of pain.
Walking into the classroom, Yuichi's eyes scanned his surroundings. He quickly found his assigned seat and sat down without engaging much with anyone.
He could feel eyes on him, hushed whispers around the room as the students watched the "boy who returned from the dead."
There was no sympathy in their glances, only curiosity and suspicion.
As the day moved on, he started to catch the odd smirks from a few students, the subtle exchanges of glances that made it obvious they were talking about him.
It didn't take long for Yuichi to understand, this body had been bullied. The truth of it settled like a weight in his chest, thick and heavy. But Yuichi wasn't the same person anymore.
.
.
Later that day, after returning home, Yuichi found himself in the boy's old room. The house felt cold and empty, a haunting reflection of the loneliness that had consumed the previous owner of this body.
He had decided to clean through the remnants of the boy's life, hoping to find more clues about what had transpired before his accident.
As he moved aside some old textbooks, Yuichi noticed a worn, leather-bound diary wedged between two books on a shelf.
He picked it up, flipping through the pages, his fingers tracing the scribbled handwriting. Each entry bled a sense of isolation and fear, detailing moments of torment, bullying, and helplessness.
"They said I don't belong here. They said my quirk is worthless. But what can I do? I can't fight back… I don't even want to anymore..."
The words hit Yuichi like a punch to the gut. Reading through the diary, the full scope of the bullying became clear.
Photos were tucked between the pages, pictures of the boy's bruised and battered body, his torn school uniform, his face twisted in pain.
There were screenshots of texts; vile, threatening messages sent by his classmates. Videos, too, showing how the bullies had toyed with him, laughing as they used his own quirk against him, knowing that his ability to heal would let them harm him over and over again without consequence.
"Weak. That's what they called me."
"Useless. Worthless."
"I wish... I could disappear."
Yuichi closed the diary slowly, a deep, sinking feeling settling in his stomach.
This kid had lived through hell, trapped in a cycle of abuse that no one seemed to notice or care enough to stop. And now, here he was, in this body, carrying the weight of someone else's suffering.
As he sat back, staring at the ceiling, his mind began to churn. He knew what he had to do. These bullies, whoever they were, had tormented the boy in a way that mirrored what he'd been through in his past life. Though his experiences were different, he understood pain. He understood being trapped. But unlike this boy, Yuichi had the strength to fight back.
"I can't let them get away with this," Yuichi muttered to himself, his voice dark with determination.
The next day, he gathered all the evidence, the diary, the photos, the videos. He wasn't going to let the torment continue, not under his watch.
If there was one thing Yuichi had learned in his past life, it was that power, no matter how subtle, could change everything. And right now, the power he held was knowledge.
He had all the evidence he needed to expose these bullies and put an end to their games.
.
.
Back at school, Yuichi stood in front of his class teacher's desk, presenting the stack of papers and images he had collected. His teacher, a tired-looking man in his mid-40s, looked through the documents, his eyes narrowing as he realized the depth of what had been happening under his nose.
"This…" The teacher hesitated, the color draining from his face. "This is… serious. Why didn't you come forward sooner?"
Yuichi, sticking to his role as the boy with amnesia, shrugged, keeping his expression blank. "I didn't remember anything before now. I found these while going through my things at home. It jogged my memory."
The teacher frowned. "I'll need to report this to the administration. If this is true... the consequences will be severe."
Yuichi nodded. "Good."
As he walked out of the teacher's office, Yuichi felt a strange sense of satisfaction.He didn't want to waste his time dealing with these bullies directly; reporting them was the cleanest way to handle the situation.
He had bigger things to worry about, like figuring out how to use the quirk he had inherited from this body and navigating a world filled with heroes and villains. But first, he needed to make sure the loose ends of this life were tied up.
.
.
That evening, as Yuichi lay on his bed, the house silent around him, he opened his new phone and began scrolling through more old messages.
The bullying wasn't the only thing recorded in this boy's phone. There were fragments of conversations, moments where he had reached out to a few friends, trying to connect, trying to find someone who would stand by him.
But in the end, it was clear that no one did.
"I'll be okay, I promise."
"I just have to get through one more year."
"Then I'll figure something out."
But there was never an answer. The boy had always been alone.
Yuichi lay there, staring at the ceiling. His mind was racing with thoughts of what he had discovered, about the boy's tragic life and how the system had failed him.
The weight of this new existence pressed down on him. He had inherited not only the boy's body but his past, his trauma, and the pain that came with it.
In this world, where heroes roamed and people looked up to them for hope, it was clear that not everyone was protected. This kid was one of the many who had fallen through the cracks, forgotten in a world that idolized strength and victory.
But Yuichi wasn't going to let that define him.
"I have a second chance," he whispered to himself, his resolve hardening. "And I'm going to make sure no one walks over me again."
With that, he closed his eyes, a determined smirk forming on his lips.
Tomorrow would be a new day, and he had a lot of work to do starting with mastering the quirks that lay dormant inside. But tonight he decided to rest.