Chapter 5: Trust

Kael had always loved quiet mornings in the bakery.

Before the ovens heated up and the scent of sugar and yeast filled the walls. Before customers bustled through the front door and the cash register clattered. Before the day could press too hard on his shoulders.

It was just him, his aunt Nari, and the soft hum of old jazz playing from the radio in the corner.

He sat at the counter, legs swinging, sipping hot chocolate from a chipped mug with a worn-out smiley face on it. Twelve years old, still small for his age. Still figuring things out.

Aunt Nari wiped her flour-dusted hands on a towel and smiled at him. "You're up early again. Bad dream?" Kael hesitated.

"Sort of," he mumbled.

The dream wasn't bad. Not exactly. It had been powerful. The same dream again — glass fingers, glowing threads, the rush of taking, the peace of giving.

He couldn't hide it forever.

And maybe… maybe he didn't have to.

Kael lived above the bakery with Aunt Nari and her two kids: Yuto, who was fifteen and permanently glued to his phone, and Hana, who was eight and liked drawing on everything that didn't move.

They weren't rich. They weren't powerful. Just a small family getting by. But to Kael, they were safe.

After his parents died in a villain raid when he was six, Nari had taken him in without hesitation. She treated him like her own, even when the money got tight. Even when Yuto resented the extra mouth to feed. Even when Kael started showing signs of being… different.

Later that evening, while Hana colored on the bakery's chalkboard menu and Yuto half-watched TV, Kael found Nari alone in the kitchen, kneading dough.

He took a breath. "I need to tell you something."

She glanced up, brushing a loose strand of hair from her cheek. "What's wrong?"

"I… I think I have a Quirk."

Nari blinked.

"Kael, you've been tested before. It came back negative—twice."

"I know. But something changed."

She put the dough aside, giving him her full attention now.

Kael hesitated, then held out his hand and focused.

It wasn't much—just a shimmer. A small sliver of glass formed at his fingertip, pulsing faintly with light before it faded.

Nari stepped back, eyes wide. "What was that?"

"It's not mine," he said quietly. "It was… borrowed. From someone else. I can take Quirks. And I can give them back."

Silence.

Only the hum of the refrigerator filled the space.

"You what?" Yuto had appeared in the doorway without Kael noticing.

Kael flinched. "It's true."

He turned his hand again. Another sliver formed—then vanished.

"I touched a kid at school, and I took his Quirk. Just like that. And then I gave it back. But it stayed with me for a while."

Yuto's eyes narrowed. "That's not a Quirk. That's dangerous."

"Yuto," Nari warned.

He ignored her. "You could screw someone up for life. You could take someone's Quirk and not give it back. Or sell it. Or—"

"I wouldn't!" Kael snapped, his voice cracking. "I'm not a bad guy!"

Yuto scoffed and walked away, muttering, "Freak."

Nari sat Kael down in the tiny living room after dinner.

She didn't speak for a long time. Just watched him.

Finally, she asked, "You gave it back. Voluntarily?"

Kael nodded. "I didn't want it. I just… needed to know.

"Does anyone else know?"

He shook his head. "No. You're the first person I've told. I didn't think I could trust anyone else.."

She reached over and took his hand, squeezing gently.

"I don't know what this means for us yet. But you're not a freak. You're a kid with a heavy gift. And if you trust me with it… I'll help you carry it."

Kael blinked hard, the tightness in his chest easing just slightly.

She didn't say she understood it. But she believed him.

And that was enough.

But not everyone in the house saw it that way.

Yuto stood just outside the door, back pressed against the hallway wall.

He hadn't meant to eavesdrop. But once Kael started talking, he couldn't pull away.

He stared at his phone, thumb hovering over the contacts list.

A few weeks ago, a man in a suit had visited the shop pretending to be a supplier. He'd slipped Nari a flyer — some private "research foundation" looking into Quirk evolution. Nari had tossed it.

But Yuto had kept a copy.

And now, staring at the glow of Kael's strange power, the pieces started falling into place.

The man had promised money. Big money. For information about rare or "unstable" Quirks. Especially new ones.

Yuto opened his contacts.

At first, his thumb hovered over the screen.

It's just Kael, he told himself. He's not even family.

Then he thought about the bills. The creaky plumbing. The rent notices.

What if we could finally get out of this place?

He tapped the number and saved it under a fake name.

…

Kael lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

The stars barely peeked through the small window. His hands still tingled faintly.

He'd never felt so vulnerable—and yet, so relieved.

He had told them.

And he hadn't been cast out.

Maybe now he could train. Maybe now he could grow stronger without hiding.

He didn't know that one of them had already made a silent choice.

One that would change everything.