Chapter 11: Reunion, Home and to many Hugs

Chapter 11

This is the first time I have been awake since I traveled through my rift the first time. Last time, I woke up already in my bedroom at Wayne Manor and only later learned what happened when dad showed me what happened when I arrived unconscious. It did not take me long before I saw the exit and tumbled out of the rift at the other end. Maybe I need to learn how to land on my feet like a cat.

After I stopped tumbling and came to a stop, I was about to stand up, but someone grabbed me from behind from under my armpits, turned me around, and gave me the biggest crushing bearhug. That's when I noticed it was dad, and I hugged him back with all I was worth, crossing my legs around him to maximize the contact as I started to cry. I was finally home.

I must have been crying and hugging dad for a while now, but I did not care. My inner child had been craving this moment for over a year now, and it was not going to let go until its battery was full with hugs and kisses. It was only later when I calmed down enough to notice the area around me that my mom had joined us at some point and was hugging me from behind me, making me happy, little Burrito. We would probably be hugging for a lot longer, but someone made their attention known to us by coughing to get our attention. I was still hugging my dad and only took a quick glance toward the person who interrupted our family reunion time. It was a police officer, but I was too preoccupied to care and buried my head back at my dad's neck and only listened to what they were talking about.

"Excuse me for interrupting your... Family reunion, but we would like to ask your son some questions and have medical staff look him over. And I think we should move you guys out of the room because of the…" He trailed off, probably hinting at something.

"Give us some time to talk to our son before you start to ask him your questions," dad said, a bit irritated at the man.

"Ok, I will tell detective Naomasa to take his time and send over an EMT to look your son over if that is ok." The officer asks

"Yes, that will be fine," dad says.

I took a quick peek and noticed the room was full of blood and gore, and I quickly buried my head again. Nope did not want to think about what I saw; I had mostly forgotten about it, and now it all rushed back to me. This was just before I had disappeared into the DC universe. I must have come back to just after I left, I thought to myself.

I feelt dad moved us somewhere else in the building and only looked up when we stopped. We were in the lobby, where they are keeping our lockers. My parents have extra clothing there in case I need to change my clothing if they get dirty. Dad sat down on a bench with my mom beside him, and I turned myself toward mom, hands outstretched, and she quickly pulled me into a tight hug, whispering that everything was going to be ok while rubbing circles on my back after she had peppered me with kisses and made me giggle from the kisses. I was ticklish; it's not my fault. I was wondering if she was telling me that everything was going to be okay to reassure herself or me. But I just wanted to reassure her that I was back, and the hugs and kisses were just a bonus, I thought to myself as I hugged her extra hard back.

An EMT soon came over to check my health and see if I was hurt. I did not want to let go, and mom held me close, but dad convinced her to let the EMT look me over in case I was hurt, and that finally made her let me get checked over by the EMT. Mom promised to hold me, so I reluctantly turned around and saw the EMT.

"Hello, my name is Takeshita Daisuke. What's your name?" The EMT asked me with a polite smile.

"My name is Le... I mean Sora Nakamura." I said, forgetting I was back, and I should use the correct name.

"Nice to meet you, Sora. Would it be ok to use my quirk to check your vitals?" the EMT asked while holding his hand outstretched half way towards me. I looked toward my dad for permission, because you never know with quirks, and he gave me a nod.

"Yes," I said, giving him a nod.

"Ok, let's see," he said playfully, putting his hand on my shoulder and froze with wide eyes, looking down at me. He was searching for something, and this alerted my parents.

"Is something wrong with my son?" my mom said.

"Is he okay?" my dad said.

"Well…" The EMT said clearing his throat.

"Are you feeling any discomfort, pain, or anything out of the ordinary?" the EMT asked me with concern. I looked down at myself, not understanding what he was getting so upset about, and then it clicked for me. Check my vitals. My body is frozen. I won't age. He is probably sensing that I have no heartbeat.

"Ehh, no, I feel fine." I decided to play ignorant for now. The EMT looked for a bit extra and then let out a breath.

"Well, your son seems to be okay, but he doesn't seem to have a heartbeat or anything else living. If I were not looking at him right now, I would think he was dead." The EMT said looking toward my parents.

"What? Are you okay, Sora?" My mom asked me while looking me all over for damage.

"I'm ok, mom," I said while getting manhandled by her.

"This is just a preliminary observation, but it might have something to do with your son's quirk, ma'am," the EMT said.

"Oh, my baby darling has a quirk," my mom said, hugging me tightly and giving me kisses all over the face. It was only now that she noticed, I thought, as I let her get this out of her system.

"Ehh, ma'am, could I finish the checkup to make sure your son is okay?"

"Oh, yes, of course," she said.

The EMT did a few more checks, but some things he was not able to check without any specialized equipment, as my quirk made that a bit hard, but after checking, I was ok, and the blood on my clothing was from the tumble. He said his goodbyes and left to go back to the other kids that were in a separate room. 

"Are you sure you are okay, sweety?" My mom asked me

"Yes," I said, giving her a nod.

"So you finally got your quirk," dad said.

"Ya!" I said it with a big smile. I can finally start to collect points so I can buy some powers.

"So what's your power? I saw that portal. " I did not want to lie to my parents, but I really did not know what to say to this. I had some theories and maybe some idea of how to explain it. My idea of how to explain it is some type of stockpiling quirk, as that is some way to explain my points, but how would you tie in the portals and me getting more quirk-like powers?

"Ehh," I said, tilting my head and thinking, and to also give me some time.

But before I had time to say anything, the detective came inside the room holding a small notebook and pen.

"Hello, my name is Naomasa Tsukauchi, and I am the lead detective. I have spoken with the EMT and would like to ask Sora some questions, if that is okay." Detective Tsukauchi looks like a young man in his mid- to late 20s with black hair, tall, and has an angler face.

I again looked for my parents permission, and my mom looked down at me and said,

"Do you want to answer these nice police officers' questions?" my mom asked.

"Ok," I said, knowing that I would need to do it sooner or later, so better get it over with.

"Ok, good," the detective said, giving me a friendly smile.

"Would you tell us what happened from your persp… from what you saw?" He corrected himself, forgetting he needed to use smaller words.

"Ehh, well, I was telling ehh" I had forgotten my kindergarten teacher's name.

"The lady, my tummy was hurting then, ehh." I tilted my head.

"Nothing?" I said it like a question, as I had no idea what had actually happened.

"Then I was there, and I saw mom and dad, and then I woke up at dad's house."

"Your dad's house?" the detective asked. Oh no, I called Bruce dad when dad was here. This is so embarrassing.

"I, erm, ehh, I called Bruce dad," I said, blushing and looking down.

"Who is Bruce?" asked mom and dad at the same time.

"Ehh" I had no idea how to answer that question, so I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Where does this Bruce live?" Asked the detective, who was trying to help me along.

"Gotham City," I said, knowing that they would never find Bruce Wayne.

"Do you know Bruce's full name?" The detective asked, writing down the city.

"Bruce Wayne," I said after pretending to think for a bit.

"Hmm." The detective hummed to himself, looking over the notes.

"Something doesn't add up here," the detective said while thinking.

"You said you met this Mr. Bruce, but you appeared here just a few seconds after disappearing naked." He said, thinking out loud

"Do you know how long you were there?" The detective asked me

"Ehh," I said, tilting my head to the side, pretending to think. Should I really tell him the truth? Wait, Naomasa, that name rings a bell. Oh no, is he not the guy with the lie detector quirk? Wait, did he not have a dog head, or am I thinking of someone else? Oh no, I might not be able to lie.

"Ehh, a bit over a year," I said, knowing that this might get me into deep waters and as predicted.

"WHAT!!!" My parents' reaction was explosive, as expected, but the detective's flabbergasted face was funny.

"This can't be real," my mom said, hugging me tightly.

"I lost a year worth of time with my poor little baby," she said, grinding her cheek on mine.

"Dad just looks like a fish out of water." It took them all a bit of time to calm down.

"Ahem, well, ma'am, I have a lie detector quirk, and I can tell you that what your son has said so far is all true," the detective said while writing something down.

"Oh, my poor baby boy," she said, and I knew I needed a distraction, so I pulled out distraction number one, a family picture frame of me and the Wayne family.

"Look, mom," I said, holding the picture frame up.

The distraction worked just as planned, and my mom took the picture frame from me and looked it over as my dad leaned over to look. I explained who the people were and praised Alfred's cooking, but mom asked me if her cooking was better, right? And I really wanted to lie and say yes, but if she tasted it, she would say his cooking is better, so I just said nothing, looking down, hoping she would drop it… She did not. 

She vowed to make better food than Alfred. No baby of hers would ever praise someone else's food over hers. Why does my mom have to be so hyper at times? It was exhausting. The detective asked to see the picture after my mom was done and asked me to show him who was who, and then he asked if he could borrow it, and I of course said no! I am not lending out my only copy. I wanted it in my bedroom. So he used his phone to take a picture and gave it back to me.

I put it back into my inventory. He asked where the picture went, and I only shrugged my shoulders. I was emotionally and mentally exhausted, and my mom noticed this and told the detective that the interview was over. He thanked us for our cooperation, but before leaving, he gave my mother a contact card in case something ever happened. We got to leave about an hour later, but by then I was already tired.

We got to go home a bit later. My parents were quiet most of the way home, only talking a bit, and I fell asleep on the way home. I was just too exhausted; too much socializing and questioning did not make me a happy boy.

I woke up the next day in my bedroom dressed in my old All Might onesie, snuggling close to Mr. Fluffels. This brings back memories. It's only been a bit over a year, but it feels so much longer, and I still fit my onesie, so I guess I really am stuck as a child, huh? How am I supposed to tell my parents all of this? Maybe I should just blurt it all out at the kitchen table, like thanks for the food, and by the way, I am stuck as a child. I giggled to myself as I imagined my parents' reaction to it.

I got out of bed and put Mr. Fluffels under my arm, because why not play up the child part of me a bit more? I thought to myself as I clenched him just a bit closer. I walked out into the living room but took a quick peek into my parents room. They are still asleep. I was going to wait for my parents to wake up, so I pulled out a new notebook to start writing in. I am trying to keep my different books organized, but I know sooner or later I will have to get a better system to keep my notes and ideas.

So first, I have not been using my shop system for anything since I got my inventory to make sure I don't get tempted. But now that I am home and I can spend my points, it's time to start planning for the future. First, I need more points, and I only get one a day, so I can't really speed that up. But I can get a lot of points by traveling to other worlds, and as time doesn't seem to progress here, I don't want to stay away for that long, so I would most likely travel back and forth for a few weeks here or there, perhaps.

First, buying the basic skills total cost: 150 points, so it will be about five months before I can start to travel to other worlds. Well, that could be worse.

I really don't want to travel alone when I travel to other worlds, but I don't know if my rift is safe enough for others to travel in. But what if the companion is made by my own power? I looked up from the notebook and thought of what power could fill my criteria for a companion. After thinking for a while about different summons or companions from the stories I read, I finally settled on something along the lines of the tailed beasts from Naruto. Tailed beasts are made out of chakra and take the form of creatures. They could both fight and empower the people they are bonded to, and I wanted something along those lines—someone that is bonded to me and can grow with me as I get stronger. After writing down different ways I wanted the power to manifest, I created the power, and the new power appeared in my basic list.

Basic Power: Cosmic Summoning - (Fluff Fox Companion)

Cost: 200 points

Description:

Cosmic Summoning - Fluff Fox Companion empowers and shares the user(s) power(s) and can be summoned. The Companion is a loyal and versatile cosmic entity known as the "[Redacted]."

Features:

Size Manipulation: The Fluff Fox Companion can shift between three sizes: Chibi (small and cute), Medium (twice the size of the user(s) ), and Big (four times the size of the user(s) ). Each size offers a unique advantage.

Strength: Regardless of its size, the companion has twice the strength of the user(s).

Telepathic Bond: The Fluff Fox and the user(s) share a strong telepathic connection, allowing them to communicate.

Inner Sanctuary: The Companion can retreat into an inner world to rest and recover if damaged, ensuring that it remains in optimal condition.

After I got done reading the new skill, I wanted him now! His title is Fluffy Fox. How can I not want to hug him? He has a chibi form. So it would cost me 350 points to get both sets of powers.

It was then that I heard Mom shouting for me.

"Sora! Where are you?" she sounded panicked.

"In the living room!" I shouted back, putting away the notebook that just had jumbled ideas for powers to get later.

My mother came and picked me up and gave me a big hug as she rubbed our cheeks together. I giggled.

"Mom!" I said it in the whiniest voice I could.

"Shh, baby mama is having her cuddle time." I guessed she panicked when she looked in my room and I was not there.

I hugged her back and let her get it out of her system as she sat on the sofa with me. My dad came down the stairs, yawning, when he noticed us.

"Good morning, you two."

"Good morning, dad."

"Good morning, darling."

It was nice being back home again. My inner child is content and happy.

My mom decided she was going to make a big breakfast, and while she and my dad were making breakfast, they asked me what happened while I was gone. I told them about how I appeared in the batcave and about the other people I lived with for the past year. My mother had a lot of questions, and my dad mostly listened. After breakfast, they asked me to show them my quirk. Both were excited to see my powers in action. First, I opened my inventory and pulled out a stuffed toy Batman to show them the inventory. My mother asked about the toy, and I told her it was Batman, a superhero from the world I was in and the same man that took me in.

I told them of the rift, and it let me travel to other worlds, but I don't know if it's safe for others to travel through, and my parents forbid me to let anyone near it until they know it's safe and that I am not allowed to use my quirk to travel to other worlds until I am older. I was going to break that promise because who doesn't want to travel to other worlds?

The next week went by pretty fast. The kindergarten had called and told my parents that I was not allowed back there again because I had traumatized the other children, and the parents of the other children did not want me to come back there ever again.

My parents had to find me another kindergarten further away from where we lived, but rumors had already spread, and it made it harder for them to find one that would take me. But they finally found one that would take me in. 

I started my new kindergarten a month after the incident. It would have taken longer, but under quirk laws, they could make an exception; otherwise, it would have taken months. My mother had been fuming over dinner a few times, angry with the other kindergarteners. And when she learned of the rumors going around about the exploding kid and that he was only trouble, it made her so mad. I was in the living room at the time when I heard THEY SAID WHAT NOW! Scream from the kitchen. Note: Do not make mom mad… like ever.

It was while I was at my kindergarten. Me and the other kids were outside playing when a man with white hair and red eyes walked up to the gate to the kindergarten. I saw one of the caretakers take some money from the man and point towards me while I was on the other side of the play area. I had noticed him because of his white hair and red eyes, and if my blood could, it would have frozen solid. I can't be this unlucky, could I? Right? I think that the caretaker sold me out to none other than All For One, the bad guy of the My Hero Academia universe. I could be wrong, but I was paranoid for a good reason. The guy collected quirks like it was a buffet. And I was today's special.

Thanks to my paranoia about needing to meet him in the future, I already had created a power called Special Little Snowflake that would make it so no one could steal, copy, or take my power's in any way. I quickly navigated over to the power and bought it because, fudge, no, I am not taking this gamble that it might not be him. 

Basic: Special Little Snowflake

Cost: 25 points

Description: Special Little Snowflake makes the user powers an integral and inseparable part of the user(s) being. This internal fortification ensures that the unique essence of the user(s) powers resists all attempts at theft, replication, or external interference, making them truly one of a kind.

I bought the power and waited for the man to come over to me, and sure enough, he came straight towards me.

"Hello, little guy, How are you doing?" He said it in a warm voice.

"Eh, good," I said, ready to throw up a rift and jump through.

"Well, that's good," he said, putting his hand on my head, and I shut my eyes tightly. Please work.

"Hmm." I opened my eyes slightly and looked up at him. The man looked down at me, then his hand, then back at me…

"Hmm, interesting," he said as he walked away, giving me a jaunty wave.

"See you around, kid!" Oh no! He was interested in me; that's even worse!

I tried putting the bucking I had been using to build a sand castle inside my inventory, and it worked. I let out a sigh. But holy hell, I had somehow survived meeting the main antagonist, and he had just walked away. I thought he would have kidnapped me, at least.

I told my parents about what had happened. A man with white hair and red eyes had bribed the caretaker to look the other way and then put his hand on my head and said, See you around, kid, before he left. My mother was furious, and if we were not in the car on our way home, my mother would have strangled the caretaker.

My dad reminded her about the detective who had interviewed us after the incident. She rummaged through her purse for a while before finding the number and calling the detective. She thankfully put the call on speaker so my dad could hear, but this also let me hear what had happened.

"Hello, detective Naomasa Tsukauchi is speaking." The man sounded tired, but it was only the afternoon.

"Hello, this is Maria Dubois. You interviewed my son after the incident," she said, keeping the anger at bay.

"The incident?" She did not like the rumor about me or the nickname the other kids called me.

"The exploding kid incident," she growled out. Oh no, she was even more angry now.

"Oh, eh, how can I help you?" he said.

"Today a man with white hair and red eyes came to my son's kindergarten and bribed the caretaker; he put his hand on my son's head and then walked away," my mother said.

"Did you say white hair and red eyes?" He asked in a no-nonsense tone.

"Yes," she answered, now apprehensive.

"I sent you a picture. Give me a sec. and tell me if this is him." The phone soon pinged with a picture.

She leaned to the backseat and showed me the picture; it was from a security camera. I pointed toward the picture and said it out loud so the detective could hear

"That's him!"

"Shit!"

"Hey, we have a kid in the car. You are on speaker."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Can you ask your son if he still has his power?" he asked in a worried tone.

"My mom looked at me, and I pulled out Mr. Fluffles from my inventory."

"Yes, he still has it; why?" She now asked in a worried tone.

"The man is a criminal. I got to go; we still might be able to catch him," he said and hung up the call.

The time after that was not fun. My mother did not let me out of her sight when she was around, and it was rather annoying. I like our cuddles, but this was just getting out of hand. I needed a vacation in some other world.

It was soon bedtime, and I decided now was the best time to flee to another world for a few days. I got out of bed and went to the door to look outside, and the coast was clear. I concentrated on opening a rift back to the DC universe, as it's the only other world I have the coordinates for. It's like whenever I go to a world, I leave an imprint or something within my power, and I think I just call it my bookmarks for simplicity. I opened the rift and jumped through with the sound of a tear. In reality, I was gone.

After a fun trip through my rift, I appeared at the mansion entrance, but no one was around. I looked through the window, and it was night here. So are the worlds connected to the same time, but how did I come back to the same time as I left? I wondered to myself. Off in the distance, I could see the bat signal, so I guess Bruce won't be home tonight. I started to make my way towards my room when I met Alfred.

"ALFRED! I'm back." I ran up and gave him a hug. Around his one leg, but instead of giving me a pat on the head and welcoming me back, he looked confused down towards me. Is it because I was in my Onesie All Might outfit? I don't think so.

"What's wrong, Alfred?" I was just confused.

"Excuse me, sir. but... do I know you?" Alfred said a bit confused but was trying to be friendly.

"What?" I said as I backed away from him.

"But you know me, Alfred," I said, almost wanting to cry what had happened. Why didn't he recognize me?

"Shh shh, calm down. Maybe you can explain how you know me and we can figure this out together, yes?" I wiped my eyes and got my breath under control. Ok, ok think what could be wrong. Could this be some sort of Justice League event where the entire world got rewritten or something? I.. I. i just didn't know.

"I…" I stammered. I didn't know how to start.

"Well, let's take it from the start. How did you get here?" He asked, getting down on a knee to get to my eye level.

"I got here through my rift from my world," I said with a sniff.

"So you have super powers?" he asked.

"Yes." That's how I appeared here a year ago and lived with you guys.

"Hmm," Alfred thought out loud.

"Maybe it's something with your power, maybe? Did you maybe go to the wrong world? Maybe you can check."

"Ohh," Alfred is smart. I did not think of that; I just went for the worst possible solution first. 

I once again used my bookmarks and could feel that I was, in fact, not in the right world. The power I got only protected me when I used my powers. Apparently it can misfire, or I am just bad at using my powers. I gave him a big smile and thanked him. I was about to give him a hug when I remembered that he was not my Alfred and did a half-stumble forward and stopped.

"Oh, eh, sorry, I guess I went to the wrong world, I said'' shuffling my feet in embarrassment.

"It's ok, young man. You are still learning about your powers, I guess, and with all the others in the mansion, I can understand that mistakes happen," he said with a friendly smile.

"Others?" like multiple

"Yes, like Master Dick, Jayson, Tim, Damian, Duke, and more have their own rooms and/or come and visit."

"I only know of Batman, Dick, and you," I said.

"Oh, hmm, it must be different times then," Alfred said while thinking out loud.

I yawned as I was tired, and I had planned to go to bed when I got to my Wayne manor.

"You look tired; you should get going, but before you go, what's your name?"

"My name is Leo," I said with a bright smile as I opened a rift behind me. 

"Thanks for the help, Alfred," I said as I got close to my rift.

"Goodnight, master Leo," Alfred said when we heard a yell from behind him.

"Hey, who is the kid?" A teenager asks

"Master Duke..."

That's how much I heard before I fell through the rift. I was not ready to stop in time to say hello, but he said, Duke, I had never heard of him before. He must be one of those newer superheroes that joined the Bat family. He looked to be athletic with black hair and some streetwear clothing, but I had not had enough time to see much else.

I appeared in the manor once again, in the lobby. Looking outside, still night no bat signal this time, so a good sign. I was about to call out when Alfred came out of the kitchen. I waited to see what he said this time.

"Welcome back, Master Leo," he said with a big smile.

"ALFRED!" I said as I slammed into him with a big hug. Alfred gave me a hug back and ruffled my hair.

"You made it back safe, I see," he said, looking me over in my onesie.

"You look very cute," he said.

I wanted to answer back with Bitch, please. I'm adorable, but I am not Cell, but I need to add it to my bucket list of stuff I want to do.

"Yupp," I said, yawning loudly.

"It looks like it's bedtime for you, young man. You can tell us all about what happened when you wake up tomorrow, yes?"

"Ok," I said, and he followed me to my room, where I fell asleep quickly, thinking that my power rocked. I get to take a vacation from home and just relax here. Even with the little mishap that had happened.