Chapter 4 Officially Homeless + Quirk Attained!

Night 1 of being a homeless person…

Dante was sitting down on the edge of a rooftop once more, he was looking over the city below. The distant hum of traffic, the lights flickering in the distance and even the muffled sounds of people enjoying their night continuing without him—it all felt so… far away.

Dante pulled his bag onto his lap. It wasn't much, but at least it was something that reminded him of home. Aizawa hadn't mentioned the bag, but Dante could tell Aizawa noticed the way he clung to the it.

Even if Dante didn't have a home at the moment, he wouldn't go hungry. Well, not yet anyways.

The wind picked up, the night air biting at his soft tan skin. He adjusted his hoodie, trying to block out the cold. After he had split off from Aizawa, he spent hours walking, trying to find somewhere he could stay for a bit—somewhere hidden. He thought about an alleyway, but the thought of someone creeping up on him while sleeping in somewhere so open made his skin crawl, but differently than the earlier sensation. A rooftop was better anyways for now. Higher ground and less chance of someone bothering him.

Well, that's what he told himself.

Dante got off the ledge and sat against a wall, he pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin against them. His mind wouldn't stop racing.

'Hmm… what now?'

For as long as he could remember, his goal had been simple—survive. Keep moving. Keep pushing forward. No matter how hard it gets, keep pushing. But now he was here, all alone, no one forcing him to do anything, he didn't know what to do.

Everyone was gone. He had nothing tying him to this life anymore, obviously he wouldn't be going back to school for a while…

Then he thought back to Aizawa's words.

"You made this choice, so what are you going to do with it?"

Dante scoffed, what kind of question was that! What could he even do? He wasn't a hero, duh. He would probably get killed by villains. He was just… here.

Maybe if he could figure out his quirk and use it to become a hero, or even a villain at this point… maybe then he could start somewhere?

Maybe he should've taken Aizawa's offer. Maybe he could've found some stability. But then what? Let the hero's watch him? Treat him like some charity case? Hell no. He couldn't do that.

But then again…

Dante's gaze went back to the night sky. The stars were faint, barely even visible past the city lights.

He wasn't sure how much time had even passed before exhaustion finally crept in. His body ached, his mind was heavy with everything that had happened.

Slowly, reluctantly, he adjusted his bag into something that resembled a pillow and laid down.

The rooftop was cold and uncomfortable, but it was something.

And that something was all he had.

…

…

Dante woke up to the sound of the city stirring beneath him—car horns ripping through the air, people talking and birds chirping.

His body ached real bad. Sleeping on concrete was NOT ideal, and not exactly comfortable either… and the cold from last night too? Yikes… Dante sat up slowly, stretching his stiff limbs before rubbing some sleep from his eyes.

For a small moment Dante just sat there looking over at the horizon. The sun was rising, casting a pretty orange glow over the skyline. It was beautiful, but that didn't change his situation.

His stomach growled, and he sighed, reaching for his bag. He pulled out a small piece of bread—slightly crusted, though still edible—he tore off a chunk, eating it without much thought.

He had food and water for a while, that meant he could last a few more days.

Then what?

He wanted to call Aizawa, but he knew it was too soon for that, not yet.

Dante stood up with a yawn, slinging the bag over his shoulder and began thinking.

First of all, he should probably find a place to stay. Sleeping on rooftops forever wouldn't work—someone would notice eventually. He needed somewhere safe and out the way.

Second, there was the even bigger problem! MONEY!

He had nothing, no ID, no way to get a job, nothing.

For now, he decided to start with the basics. First, find out what his quirk was, how to use it and then think of how it could assist him now that the strange sensation beneath his skin had faded. Then, Find a safe place (maybe), figure out food. And then…

Then he'd decide the life he'd like to live.

…

Dante awkwardly placed his bag back on the floor, he wanted to find out how to use his quirk, and thought of going somewhere secluded. But the rooftop was secluded enough…

He stood in place for a moment, gripping his fists , his body still ached but that didn't matter.

He rolled his shoulders, shaking off the lingering exhaustion. He saw his fathers quirk, he could become a sludge monster thingy. And his mother? She could harden some of her body like a shell. It was quite weak though, more like holding her in place or making it so she doesn't fall apart if she were turned into a liquid, I guess… So what about Dante?

He took a deep breath and tried to focus, he thought of the strange sensation beneath his skin.

'Come on… do something!'

But… Nothing happened.

Dante frowned, he clenched his fists tighter, trying to force something out, anything! He imagined his body shifting, maybe even melting! But still, nothing.

His eye began to twitch.

"Seriously?" He muttered. "You're telling me, this dumb little 8 year old had activated his quirk before, but I, a literal adult can't!? Why'd I get reborn into this world of superpowers and shit if I'm not instantly gifted? Or if I don't have some sort of skill? A golden finger maybe?"

*DING*

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[DIVINE HAREM DEMON GOD SLIME TIME MEGA SLUDGE SSS+ LVL99999999 HUNTER SYSTEM IS LOADING…]

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Just kidding…

Annoyance bubbled up inside him. Maybe he was doing it wrong? Maybe he needed to force it.

He took another breath and held out his arm. His time he strained, trying to push something out. He focused so hard a vein appeared on his forehead and his fingers trembled, his breathing grew uneven, and even his eyes began to ache.

Then, something happened.

His eyes glowed slightly red and His fingers… Shifted!

Dante's eyes widened as his fingertips became a dark red, melting into something thick and wet. Sludge!?

His stomach twisted, his entire arm wavered at the sight, shifting between solid and liquid like it couldn't decide what to be.

Then—snap.

The sludge collapsed, splattering all over the floor beneath him like a spilled drink.

Dante looked at his missing arm in horror, a sharp, burning sensation ran up his shoulder. He grabbed his shoulder, watching in horror as his arm—slowly—grew back to normal and began trembling violently.

Dante's breathing was ragged and his heart was pounding out of his chest.

'That felt… DISGUSTING!"

"EWWW!" "EUGH!" "YUCK!!"

"What the hell man! Dude!!! Ew!!!!!!!"

Dante gagged and nearly even threw up, it kind of looked like his arm was melted under hydrochloric acid and then grew back, that was disgusting!

After a moment, Dante regained his composure and addressed the situation more… maturely.

"That did feel wrong though…"

It was like his body rejected the change. The transformation had started and then it completely… failed.

Dante clenched his jaw, flexing his fingers. His hand shook slightly but he ignored the pain.

"Okay… so I can get it started at least… I can transform," Dante muttered under his breath. "But dude, I suck!"

Dante exhaled sharply and shook his arm.

One.

More.

Try.

He held out his other hand, this time going slower. He didn't force it—he let the sensation spread gradually.

He could feel every single one of the atoms in his hand and then his wrist slowly change, but instead of just allowing it to collapse again by letting the atoms fully transform into sludge.

Dante focused on controlling it.

Slowly, he willed it to harden.

The sludge began to solidify, like another force was formed just to keep the sludge stable to not lose control. He watched it turn into something jagged, almost crystalline.

Dante's eyes widened. It was working.

A grin tugged at his lips—until, suddenly, the hardened part cracked and crumpled apart, dissolving back into sludge before splattering onto the rooftop again.

Dante groaned and ran his hand down his face in disbelief.

Well, great. He had a quirk, but its stability was a great reflection of his entire life right now.

He sat down, running a hand through his messy golden blonde hair.

Still, though, this was something.

His quirk was messy, yeah—but he could feel that after a while he would get used to it and make it even better!

Well, maybe.

Right now…

Growl~~

"Huh?! Did I not just eat!?" Dante thought out loud at the sound of his stomach growling.

Maybe this was a drawback of his quirk? Maybe it burned calories?

"Well that's terrible! I have no food!! Lord give me strength to get through this." Dante looked up to the sky and started pleading to god Almighty.

It was okay, though.

Now Dante had something to do! Dante loved writing about stuff, analysing things, and now, he could analyse his body!

Dante sat cross-legged on the floor, he reached into his bag and pulled out the notebook he had used in the house along with a pen.

If his quirk wasn't going to cooperate properly, well then he'd figure out why.

Dante was already extremely smart, being one of the brighest in his continent, but biology and chemistry were his specialties.

Flipping to an empty page, Dante tapped the pen against the paper before scribbling a title at the top.

Quirk Analysis: Name TBD

Dante's handwriting was sharp and precise, a habit leftover from his grueling first life. He underlines the title twice before pausing, replaying everything that had just happened in his brain.

Then he began.

1. Base transformation (sludge form thing / fathers quirk)

• Well, my body partially transforms into a non-Newtonian fluid similar to my fathers quirk.

• The first attempts at this transformation resulted in complete failure… the sludge collapses due to a clear lack of being able to control the density.

• Likely reason : I cannot control the viscosity of the sludge. My father's quirk allowed him to retain a retain a clear form despite being fluid—I cannot yet.

• Solution(?) : I could develop finer muscle control during the transformation, maybe I could figure out if external forces like movement or force exertion could influence the stability.

Dante paused, he tapped the pen against his bottom lip. His quirk seemed to be more complicated than a simple on-off switch. His body clearly wasn't naturally adjusting to that state the way his fathers did. That meant he would have to train it.

He groaned, then moved onto the next section.

2. Hardening Layer / Mothers Quirk (?)

• I can create a secondary hardened coating over my sludge form, like a shell, or a way to harden the sludge over all.

• This layer shares similarities with my mothers quirk, though the composition differs. Along with modifying my skin, the hardening seems to also be able to integrate with the sludge, making it harder.

• It feels similar to biological keratinisation—like an exoskeleton forming over a liquid.

• As of right now, the hardening is unstable and crumbles under stress, probably due to lack of proper control also.

• Possible applications:

- Defense: Reinforce body parts to create makeshift armour.

- Offense: Harden sludge into sharp/bladed weapons.

- Utility: If I can control the thickness of the coating, I could maybe use it for grappling or even mobility.

Dante let out a slow breath, he cracked his knuckles and stretched out his fingers. His hands were still achy from the testing earlier, but he was already seeing the potential of his quirk.

If he could properly refine the hardening process, he wouldn't just have a quirk that let him change shape—he could create weapons, armour, movement tools like wings or something like a grappling hook to swing across buildings. He could create any of that on the fly!

But that wasn't even the most interesting part.

He flipped the page.

3. Metabolic Requirements

• Transforming seems to energy-intensive.

• After using my quirk only twice, I already felt a slight drop in stamina.

• Conclusion : The quirk probably burns calories at an accelerated rate to maintain structural integrity.

• If true, that means I'm gonna have to eat a WHOLE LOT MORE than a normal person to sustain prolonged quirk usage.

• Maybe this will lessen the more my body gets used to the transformations?

Dante's pen hovered over the page as he considered something else.

4. Mass Generation (Potential Limitations and Future Capabilities)

• My body is Not losing mass when transforming.

• I am creating this sludge from seemingly nothing at all.

• Question : Where is this extra mass coming from?

- One possibility is that my quirk is converting energy into matter.

- If true, this could mean I have an infinite amount of sludge as long as I have enough energy intake.

- If refined, this could lead to :

- Extending my body indefinitely (infinitely stretching/morphing).

- Shapeshifting by controlling the density and structure of the sludge.

- Potentially even splitting myself into multiple parts—though that would be extremely dangerous.

Dante stared at the page, his mind whirling with ideas and possibilities.

If his hypothesis was correct, then his quirk wasn't about just turning into sludge like his father—it was about manipulating his mass itself.

If he could master this… there might not be a limit to what he could become.

A slow grin crept onto his face.

'Now this… this could be interesting.'

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A/N : AHHHH THIS TOOK SO LONG YO WRITE I EVEN HAD TO STUDY SCIENCE 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮