By the age of ten, I had learned that being a "One-Man Army" was significantly less cool than the anime made it look.
While other kids at my elite private school were busy showing off their minor mutations, I was locked in a constant internal debate with three other versions of my own face. Being a reincarnated adult meant I had the discipline of a veteran, but it also meant I was fully aware of the absurdity of my daily life.
"Focus, you degenerates!" I—the Lightning-Original—shouted. Sparks danced across my shoulders like hyperactive fleas.
We were in the backyard of the Arisawa estate, an area larger than most public parks. My main goal for the last year? Synchronization. I needed to learn how to pull my "shards" back into my body at will.
Earth-Kenji was sitting on a summoned rock throne, leaning back with his brown cap pulled low. He was slowly chewing on a bag of artisanal dried mangoes. "The 'Sync' isn't working because you're too loud, Sparky. Your frequency is a high-pitched scream; I'm a low-frequency hum. We don't fit. Now leave me alone, I'm watching this beetle."
Wind-Kenji was floating forty feet in the air, spinning like a blue-capped helicopter. "GUYS! THE NEIGHBOR HAS A TRAMPOLINE! WHY ARE WE TRAINING WHEN WE COULD BE BOUNCING?"
"Because we have a Quirk to master!" I yelled, a bolt of static jumping from my finger and singeing a nearby hedge. "Now, everyone... grab hands. Focus on the core. Think 'One.' Think 'Single Occupancy!'"
We grabbed hands. I closed my eyes, trying to reel them in. For a second, I felt the magnetic snap—the feeling of becoming a whole person again.
"Wait, I left my mangoes on the rock," Earth-Me said, his mental "weight" suddenly shifting away.
POP.
The connection shattered. The recoil sent me face-planting into the grass, while Wind-Me drifted off like a lost balloon.
"I hate us," I muffled into the dirt. "I really, really hate us."
The "Operating System" Problem
I sat up, brushing grass off my yellow cap. This was the curse of my Quirk. Since the day I split at age four, Earth and Wind had become Load-Bearing Walls.
My "Lightning" soul was originally too much energy for one body to hold; to keep from exploding, I had leaked that excess energy into Earth and Wind. They weren't just clones; they were the "Stable Operating Systems" of my personality. Earth held my logic and cynicism; Wind held my joy and wonder.
If I just "de-summoned" them without a proper Merge, I wouldn't be a whole person. I'd be a hollow, hyperactive taser with no common sense and no soul. I was stuck with them until I could master the Sync.
The Camping Trip (Nature's Worst Mistake)
My parents, bless their wealthy, wholesome souls, decided that the cure for my "Sync-Stress" was a family bonding trip to the mountains.
"Nature is the greatest teacher, Ken-chan!" my mother, Hana, chirped. She radiated so much Aura of Bliss that a nearby squirrel actually walked up and tried to share its nut with her.
My father, Masaru, was wrestling with a high-tech tent. "A man must master the wilderness before he masters himself, son! Authenticity is key!" (He had accidentally pinned his own designer loafer to the ground with a tent stake, but he was smiling through the pain.)
As night fell, the mountain air turned biting. Masaru was hunched over the fire pit, frantically rubbing two sticks together while Earth-Me watched him with deep, existential pity.
"Dad, I can just friction-heat the minerals in the pit and—"
"No!" Masaru grunted. "Survival! Bonding! Authenticity!"
I (the Lightning-Original) felt a weird pressure in my chest. It wasn't the inward pull of a Sync. It was an outward Overflow.
"Uh, guys? I think I'm about to have a biological meltdown."
"You always smell like burnt toast, Sparky," Earth-Me muttered.
"No, I mean—HNNNNGH!"
FWOOSH!
A pillar of crimson fire erupted, and a fourth body joined the party. Blaze-Kenji stood there in a red-and-black hoodie. His eyes were glowing like stovetop coils.
"YOU CALL THAT A FIRE?!" Blaze-Kenji roared, his hands igniting into fiery chakrams. "I'LL SHOW YOU THE SUN!"
He turned the fire pit into a miniature volcano.
"WHO WANTS TO FIGHT?!" Blaze screamed at a nearby pine tree. "SQUARE UP, NATURE!"
"KENJI! NO!" Masaru yelled, running out with a bucket of water.
"GET THAT WEAK LIQUID AWAY FROM ME!" Blaze-Kenji shouted, vaporizing the water—and the bucket—instantly.
"I'll handle it!" Wind-Kenji chirped, swooping down. But adding high-velocity oxygen to a raging inferno is how you make a jet engine.
KABOOM.
The campfire exploded into a fire-tornado. The luxury tent was reduced to atoms. Masaru's "Dad" hat was turned into ash.
"Enough." Earth-Kenji stood up and slammed both palms into the ground. "Earth Wall: Mud Avalanche."
A massive wave of wet sludge rose up, completely swallowing Blaze-Kenji and the fire-tornado.
The Aftermath
An hour later, we were all sitting around a very small fire. Blaze-Kenji was de-summoned. Unlike Earth and Wind, Blaze was a "High-Demand App." He was pure adrenaline and aggression—too much of a drain on my battery to stay out for long. Once he hit his limit, he just flickered out of existence.
"Well," Masaru sighed, looking at his singed eyebrows. "At least we don't have to worry about bears."
"He unlocked Fire!" Hana cheered, wiping ash off my nose. "Our little Kenji is a one-man boy band!"
I looked at my hands. I still couldn't "Sync" Earth and Wind back into one body. They were my foundations, and they weren't going anywhere. Blaze was a guest, but these two were family.
UA High School isn't ready for us, I thought, watching Wind-Me try to high-five a firefly. And honestly? I need to start a 'Property Damage' savings account immediately.
——————————————————-—
If you like my story comment and if you have any ideas for the story the let me know through the comment.