Chapter 7 - Dense Protagonist

Dolian got out of the bathroom and quickly put on his clothes; a long-sleeved gold shirt and black pants, paired with shiny black leather shoes and a cute little black bow tie.

He stared at his reflection in the mirror and intuitively changed his posture. He straightened his back and curled his lips. Moreover, he activated his quirk and manipulated his own mind, and subconsciously changed his body language with his warped thought process.

In an instant, his childlike charm fully erupted like a candlewick turning into burning flames. His charisma and appearance seemingly turned dazzling even though nothing has physically changed about his body.

'Charisma sure is easier to control now that I have a greater degree of control over my mind.' Dolian wore a cheeky smile and winked, 'Once I gain more experience, even if I had looked like actual crap, I can even charm kingdom-toppling men and women with ease.'

Shaking his head at his wondrous, newfound abilities that gave him more and more absurd possibilities, he turned on the tip of his heel and headed downstairs.

As he was going down the flight of stairs, he adjusted his unnerving charm and made it more subtle and less obvious, 'Dealing with parents that can instantly notice my actions sure are scary. If I'm not careful, even the tiniest mishap would be noticed by them and place me down the fiery pits of hell.'

After he arrived at their living room, he saw both his mother and father already prepared and waiting for him. Upon glancing at him, Hope immediately had her eyes lit up as she said, "Aww."

"My little man is looking cute today!" Hope said and hurriedly picked up Dolian.

Hope smooched Dolian on the cheeks with a grin and stared at his face with a beaming smile, "Are you excited?"

He smiled in response to her question just like an excited child would, and responded with an answer appropriate for his persona as Dolian Tatori, "Mmm!"

Ayumu then approached the two with a smile and said, "Well, you two better hurry up because we might be unprepared for your own party!"

"Gasp!" Dolian sucked in a breath of air and said to his mother in an urgent tone, "Let's go already!"

"Yes, yes." Hope nodded her head and put down Dolian who hastily rushed out of the house and ran towards the distant garden, grabbing the decorations in the process to help out the maids and butlers all moving around their family manor.

Sighing at their child's exaggerated energy after successfully manifesting his quirk, the two parents rolled up their sleeves and went along with Dolian to not waste time.

…

The sky was already turning dark, and a young girl with blond hair and blue eyes stared out of the window with a slightly excited gaze. She had rosy white skin and a tall build for a girl her age, and she seemed to be bestowed with a slim and athletic body as one can sense the vigor from her with just a glance alone.

"Are you excited for Dolian's birthday?" Her mother asked with a smile while her father drove the car towards a distant manor.

"Mmm…" She nodded her head silently and looked at the tall, aesthetically pleasing black gates of the Tatori Family Manor and thought with a slightly anxious voice, 'I hope that he manifests his quirk soon.'

Unable to hide her worries, her father who was driving the car looked in the rearview mirror and said, "You don't need to worry."

"Even if he is quirkless, that boy will still shine brightly in this world and make it a better place. His talent alone proves a testament to that claim." Hearing her father, the young girl calmed down and nodded her head to show her understanding.

Just as she calmed down, she saw the black metallic gates open on their own and she instantly saw the dazzling party in the distant manor, along with numerous people, both young and old, that she was familiar with.

Some were famous pro heroes, others were young children of the same age as her that were her classmates, and even relatives of Dolian's family. All in all, any random spectator would be able to tell that it was a lively occasion.

As her father parked the car, she hurriedly opened the doors and slowly stepped out. In an instant, the entire party seemed to quiet down as the people all around looked at the dazzling young girl step out.

She wore a simple white dress and had her hair flow down naturally, giving her a natural beauty that made many children around the party blush with slight affection. But amidst all the staring, one pair of eyes seemed to capture her entire attention, a pair of golden vertical slits like that of a dragon.

A shadow instantly rushed out of the crowd with fast footsteps, treading along the ground with each step nearly shooting it forward like a bullet. The shadow collided with the young girl as she felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around her, bringing her out of her shock as she stared at the golden vertical eyes in a daze.

"Dolian?" She asked with an uncertain tone.

"Aleksandra!" Dolian cheered in joy as he nuzzled his head against her cheek, causing her to blush within an instant as her's and Dolian's parents grinned with a knowing smile in the far distance.

"You…" She asked after a short while of processing things, "Manifested your quirk?"

"Hehehe." Dolian laughed with a smug smile, answering her question in an indirect manner.

"That… that's great!" She breathed out a sigh of relief before then promptly shouting with an angry tone, "But that's not an excuse to just tackle me in public, d-dummy!"

She punched Dolian in the face, catching the young boy in surprise as he was pushed back and fell to his butt.

'Oh no! I used too much strength just now-'

"Ow…" Dolian rubbed his face before glancing at Aleksandra with a sorry smile, "That hurts…"

'Eh? Even though I just used more strength than I intended. Did his quirk also enhance his physique?' Coming up with a theory, she walked up to Dolian and asked, "Hey, what's your quirk anyways?"

If an adult were to ask this question to another adult, it might appear as impudent and rude as quirks are quite a sensitive topic for many people. Their quirks might be something they are proud of, and divulging details about them may potentially bring harm to them, especially with pro heroes.

Having their quirk's full strengths and weakness wouldn't just mean that villains may use that information to their advantage, but they might even suffer from life-threatening situations due to those bits of knowledge.

Quickly explaining his quirk, the girl's eyes widened with shock at how ridiculous it was, "So it's a mutant-type quirk, but grants abilities similar to an emitter because of the dragon scales and mind tether… You have a hybrid quirk?"

"Hehehe, pretty cool, right?" Dolian flashed a toothy grin and rubbed his nose.

'It is amazing…' She didn't want to admit her true thoughts and said, "But I'm also the same. I have a mutant-emitter quirk too you know."

"I can fly, have a supernatural body, and can shoot lasers from my eyes. I think that's much cooler than seeing other's emotions…" Aleksandra crossed her arms and said with an arrogant tone.

While that was happening, Dolian was instead analyzing every single detail about Aleksandra. 'Good! I knew spending all that time back then, getting punched in the face and getting kicked in the gut to act as a dense romance protagonist paid off.'

'Her surface thoughts and body language are just screaming that she loves me!' Dolian's smile deepened as he let some of his actual emotions leak out for added emotional impact, 'If I play my cards right, I'll have bootleg Supergirl in the palm of my hands!'

Noticing his wide smile, Aleksandra's cheeks turned pink and she darted her eyes around, asking with a shaking voice, "What are you looking at."

"I'm just happy that you're my friend, Aleksandra." Dolian stepped forward and grabbed her hand out of nowhere.

Her face turned a deeper shade of red as she wanted to pull it back, but Dolian tightened his grip and looked at her right in the eye, and his golden vertical slits seemed to hold a magnetic pull to them as she can't turn her eye to any other way.

"After my quirk manifested, I realized a lot of things, and I finally saw just how lucky I am to be your friend. Even if you don't say it directly, your care for me has been the greatest gift you've given me all throughout this entire year we've known each other." Dolian pocketed one of his hands and pulled it out in a closed fist.

Aleksandra's heart fluttered as she can feel butterflies in her stomach, her emotions seemed to be pushed to the extreme as her thoughts turned chaotic, 'Wh-What is happening right now! What am I feeling!"

Just as she felt her mind turn blank, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck, and the sound of metallic clinks rang out. Refocusing her gaze, she looked down and saw a golden necklace hanging from her neck.

"What's this?" She asked with a turbid voice, glancing back and forth at the necklace and Dolian with rapidly dilating pupils.

"It's a necklace. On the locket, you'll see a special surprise." Dolian pointed at the heart-shaped locket on the end of the necklace which made her all the more flustered.

Grabbing it with her firm hands, she slowly opened the heart-shaped locket and saw inside a simple picture.

There were two children standing with big bright smiles in front of a white background. The girl had a head of blond hair and blue eyes, while the boy had black hair and dark brown eyes.

"This…" Aleksandra looked up at Dolian, "Isn't this the first time we met each other?"

"Hehehe, I still remember when you were more gentle. Now you're punching me all the time." Dolian laughed but wasn't greeted by the same usual aggressive response from Aleksandra.

As he looked up in surprise, he saw the young girl blushing to the point that her face appeared as red as a ripe tomato. Her eyes seemed to tear up slightly as she hurriedly turned around.

"Stupid!" She shouted while her legs trembled.

"Eh?"

"Stupid!"

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

"You're a big dummy! Dolian is a big dummy!" She continuously shouted without pause as she ran off to her parents in big wide strides, leaving behind Dolian who could only stare at her receding figure.

'Why are you so stupid to not notice my feelings already!' She continued inside her mind as she ran with tears welling up in her eyes.

'Even though it's your birthday, why did you have to give me such a precious gift when I should be the one giving you a gift!'

'Argh! People always call you a genius when you're as dumb as a rock!'

"Dolian, you stupid dummy!" She shouted while stomping her feet as she arrived at her parents and lunged at her mother, burying her head into her mother's stomach as she hid in her mother's shadows.

Looking at their flustered child, the two parents sighed and thought at the same time, 'Sigh, she really is just a child.'

While that happened, Dolian's mother and father laughed in the corner of the crowded party as they nearly broke out into tears, "Our baby boy is such a lady killer!"

"Maybe his quirk should be called the Dragon of Romance already!"

"He's even better than you were at his age, honey."

As the two laughed merrily at the antics of the two children, Dolian grumbled amidst countless clamors and said, "What did I even do?"

Immediately after asking that, a hand wrapped around his head as he can feel the clear animosity behind him, "You really are stupid, Dolian."

"Uncle Albion?" Dolian immediately yelped upon seeing the pair of rainbow-colored eyes appear behind him.

Shaking his head, the man crouched down and stared at Dolian right in the eye, "You really are just like your dad."

'A dense rock that's denser than a thousand suns. If it was not for me, you wouldn't have been born in the first place. I guess it is true that even density is hereditary between parents and offspring.'

AN: This chapter has 2099 words.

Oh god, it's still so fluffy (in a weird way). I don't know how this story's plot went from manipulative psycho acting as a dense protagonist to a multiversal god toying with the flow of fate in innumerable realities. Heck, even in the chapter I am working on right now made a lot of shit go down.

(March 17, 2023 - 477th day of writing)