Six months have passed since the girl went missing. During this time, the authorities have not been able to find even a trace in the forest. Organized rescue teams are perplexed as to how and why the search operation was delayed so much. In such situations, time is the most important resource. No one even suspected the true nature of the tragedy. The girl's parents are in mourning. In order to distance and not cultivate compassion in Taiko, Kyudai placed him in a laboratory room.

  Another reason was a potential destructive quirk that Taiko cannot control, as the scientist assumed. If such an incident were to happen again, it would cause more fuss on the surface, which could well lead to the exposure of his hiding place. Therefore, with all his charismatic mustache, he convinced the guy of the need for this.

  - "It seems that living within four walls does not cause him discomfort, of course, I have not noticed any emotional instability in him, but still, it is worth ending his stay here as soon as possible. Hell, he never even cried like normal kids. The death of a girl close to him caused him more confusion and curiosity about why it happened than sympathy. I need to continue moving his character towards the dark triad." - Kyudai kept records.

  - "In several weeks of living here, the quirk has not manifested itself. Absolutely no physical indicators have changed. The walls are reinforced concrete, so there is no need to worry about the strength of the foundation. He read, drew and wrote. At the same time, I taught him everything I knew, including the school curriculum. We will have to change our approach soon." - the scientist finished today's entry.

  - Dad, I'm hungry. - a child's voice was heard from the laboratory speaker.

  - I'll be there soon.

  Taiko was not locked up, and could freely walk around the laboratory, which was still quite empty. He ran, jumped, looked at medical instruments and lay on the surgical table, in general, occupied himself with whatever he could. Sometimes his father brought him snow-white rats in a cage. At first they seemed funny and cute to him, but the scientist cut out all empathy at the root by declaring what diseases these carriers of epidemics carry. Moreover, clearly and with pictures from the Internet.

  Taiko no longer saw them as cute and friendly rodents. Now for him they are pests, devouring grain, breeding epidemics at an unthinkable speed. What was the example of the bubonic plague of the 14th century worth.

  Reading for too long also left him undernourished, so the only useful hobby was dissecting rats. How else under the supervision of a scientist-surgeon?

  When Kyudai first showed how to dissect, he ordered to repeat after him and observe all the rules of sterility. Taiko understood why, but the question that immediately matured still burst out.

  - Father, remember you said that there are no rules, that they are only in your head.

  - That's right, I said so.

  - So why should I follow these rules too?

  - Reasonable people don't deny the rules - they use them and adapt to new ones. In this case, the rules are needed so that you don't get infected with something from this vile rat. Alas, there are fundamental rules even in science, the violation of which can cause a fatal outcome, and so it is with everything.

  Taiko remembered the key words and gradually began to understand the essence of the scientist's words.

  - Another thing... - he continued. - ... if you were so strong that even fundamental rules are nothing. Now we are talking not so much about science, but about society as a whole. - he cut out the rat's kidneys with pinpoint precision, a drop of blood splashed onto the mask. - But only a few people on the entire globe are capable of this. You are lucky to be here and not somewhere else. You are one of those very close to such a person.

  Taiko's eyes sparkled, he cut out the rat's heart with a scalpel, then carefully placed it in a metal tray.

  The old man smiled slightly, pleased with the result. He didn't even think that the usual dissection of a rat would be as exciting as a hundred years ago.

  -Almost an eternity...

  -What-what?

  -Ah..nothing. Let's go have lunch. Don't forget to wash your hands. - the scientist was happy, because he could always dump the work on the deputy head doctor. Otherwise, he would not have time to study the quirks.

  -Good.

  Washing his hands, Taiko did not reach the mirror, he put a chair and looked into the mirror. Short-cropped jet-black hair, a few freckles on his face, and green eyes like emeralds. The boy had no doubt about the incident in the forest, it was easy to guess about the spontaneous awakening of the quirk. As his Father said, it could be of the destructive type. Today he promised to present a new plan for activating the quirk. Kyudai said that after awakening the quirk, users can instinctively use it, but not Taiko. This is a signal that it is difficult to control, or a special condition must be met. However, as it turned out later, this quirk is far from being of the destructive type.

  ***

  That night, Taiko had a nightmare. Grotesque creatures with twisted and disproportionate limbs walked along the blackened soil. The procession lasted forever, the armada of creatures did not end, going far beyond the horizon. One step - and skulls cracked in the soil from the pressure of massive feet. The second - lightning opened up across the red sky, striking the creature with tentacles hiding in the darkness. The third - cracks spread across the ground.

  The dream ended abruptly, before reaching the fourth step. Taiko woke up from a sudden cramp in a cold sweat. The bedding was soaked with sweat. In the darkness of the room, only the sound of the fan and the light of the only night lamp standing at a distance from the bed were heard. In the cages under the lamp, even the rats stopped fidgeting and fell asleep.

  The scientist taught Taiko to be independent, so the child, physiologically 5-6 years old at most, was brought up enough to wipe his own ass and wash dishes. It couldn't be otherwise, Kyudai Garaki is the greatest scientist, not a nanny.

  Taiko went to the toilet. At first, he continued to see monsters in the dark, but after quickly going to the toilet and washing himself, his thoughts changed. He began to think about tomorrow's new method of awakening and analyzing his quirk. On the way back to bed before the difficult day tomorrow, the shadows in the dark seemed not so scary, and the outlines of the little devil in the corner of the room were even more interesting. Coming closer, the notorious shadow dissipated.

  Taiko was really afraid of them at first, after the nightmare everything seemed scarier than usual, but having calmed down, the fear retreated. This feeling came from within, he realized how easy it is to grip a person's mind with fear. Everything that exists in the world can turn into fear - a hypertrophied version (prototype) in the head.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  - "Psychology is a strange science." - with this thought, Taiko fell asleep in his gloomy cell. This cell had very strong metal bars holding someone inside, so it was a holding cell, there was nothing else for Taiko, so Doctor Ujiko simply opened this apartment for him, if you can call it that, and settled him there, holding the door open. Taiko was left to figure out for whom this cell was intended, or for what...

  ***

  The next day came. They had to get up really early, Taiko put on a sweater for the cool drizzling weather, and together with the scientist they went out through the corridor, at the end of which there was a small secret exit into the forest near the rocky area.

  Taiko inhaled the purifying forest air and looked at the city of Jaku and the hospital from a high forest hill.

  - Sometimes I also get tired of sitting in a dusty laboratory. - an old voice rang out from behind. They rarely exchange everyday and worldly conversations, preferring the relationship of a mentor and student, only partially replacing his father. Taiko really considered him his father, even though his advanced age seemed strikingly significant compared to the parents of other children. The boy had suspicions, but there was nothing to confirm them yet. After the project to create clones of All For One, Doctor Ujiko destroyed all traces, including some laboratory devices.

  They came out not very far from a secret and inconspicuous hatch leading to the underground laboratory. Ujiko told him this:

  - Until you awaken the quirk, you can not come back. - the scientist said, as if cutting off with a share of irony, so that the child would not return without results. He taught him to receive either success or failure. Even failure is a certain result, which will play a role in the future. - I can give you a hint.

  - No hint needed. - Taiko loved riddles from his father, so he took the hint as humiliating. His father entrusted him to do everything on his own. Chuckling, the old man said at last: - Sometimes self-confidence is a virtue, and sometimes it is a sin. Be careful and do not go too far into the forest.

  The first thing Taiko did was find a suitable place, spread some leaves under himself and sat down. He began to think logically. "What is a quirk? It is an internal tool that is powered by an unknown energy, or is a concentration of this energy. A person is definitely a place where this mysterious otherworldly energy is concentrated."

  Exhaling the morning steam from his mouth, Taiko sharpened his senses and concentrated on his internal sensations. "Where should I look? Inside, probably." He relaxed every part of his body, slowly moving into a lying position. The croaking and singing of birds was disturbing at first, but after a while Taiko filtered out these sounds too. Eventually, he fell asleep.

  A moment before waking up, he barely felt warmth in the area of ??his back. It felt like a couple of minutes had passed. Taiko turned his attention to the sky, and indeed, only a couple of minutes had passed. The sun was still early.

  -Ah-h...- Taiko stretched, throwing his arms high into the sky. The temperature outside was comfortable, despite the coolness in the forest. Although the reddened moon seemed unnatural across the entire sky. His satisfied eyes widened and at first he didn't realize what was hanging above him. Seconds. Two.

  The outlines began to resemble bird wings of an unreal size. It seemed as if a huge bird from the Jurassic period was standing right behind him. He turned around sharply, ready to run away, but he saw no one, and the wings remained above him.

  - What is this... - Taiko looked to the left and saw how the feathers spread out to the sides. With each passing second it became clear that the wings were coming from his back. Everything was leading to this.

  - But... how? - he pinched himself, checking if he was in a lucid dream. Doubts were finally dispelled when Taiko did not wake up. Taiko pulled his shoulder and the wings moved along with him, resting against a tree. The birds in the trees looked with obvious interest at this unprecedented huge bird with a human body.

  Fear turned into curiosity and interest. The idea of ??flapping his wings seemed funny. He began to stretch his wings with black feathers.

  - If you think about it... then this is not a destructive quirk. Mutation? Auxiliary?

  The wings were a couple of heads taller than him, and the wingspan reached five meters. At some point, he realized that the wings were resting and rubbing against the ground. Considering his small height, being on the ground became uncomfortable. He can control this part of the body, but not feel it. At some point, the wings began to get stuck between the branches.

  Taiko saw the nearest cliff leading to the city of Jaku and a risky thought came to him. He went through the branches, squeezing his wings so that they took up less space. Step by step, Taiko reached a rocky cliff several meters down.

  - Phew... - it's incredibly difficult to decide to fall and trust your wings when you've been walking on the ground your whole life as a human. For starters, he decided not to try to fly, but to dive and reduce the speed of the fall to land smoothly. Taiko tensed his wings and jumped. The wings significantly reduced the speed of the fall and a couple of meters did not seem like an obstacle to him. The next cliff...

  Every time it was getting better and better. Until he began to feel confident enough for a full-fledged flight. But a problem appeared. The wings suddenly began to fall apart.

  - No. No-no-no... - Taiko tried to collect the transformed dust, hoping to return everything to how it was, until the wings fell apart completely. Leaving two holes in his torn jacket and an aftertaste of disappointment. Suddenly Taiko remembered after which his wings grew. All the time this warmth spread first on his hands after which the tree flew apart, then on his back and wings grew. He was like... a miracle worker. He performed some incredible miracles with just one touch.

  The warmth manifested itself consciously and controllably, he concentrated this warmth on his back and thought about wings. Slowly but surely, those same black wings began to grow back, from the holes in the jacket that had already formed from the previous ones. Overjoyed, he stepped into the abyss.

  After some time, his silhouette hovered high above the city of Jaku. Having gained even greater altitude, he found himself above the sky and the beautiful view of the sun really turned out to be blinding, and the cold at high altitude penetrated to the bones, so he lowered his altitude. Until now, Taiko refused to believe what was happening. Yesterday he walked on the ground like ordinary people, and now he soared in the sky like a bird.

  Alas, as soon as Taiko realized the limitlessness of this power, the wings suddenly evaporated again, but he could not summon them again. A couple of kilometers to the ground, Taiko panicked. Consciousness completely switched off. The streams of descending wind blew in his face and did not allow him to concentrate. The ground was getting closer, gradually and inevitably.

  Taiko saw his short life pass before his eyes. A moment before he hit the asphalt in the middle of the city of Jaku and the prospect of being turned into a cutlet, Taiko opened his eyes and woke up.

  ***

  Taiko spent a couple of minutes recovering from what had happened and did not realize the sudden change in his surroundings. He was lying in the same place, still in the same forest. Disappointed and dejected, slightly scared. His heartbeat continued to beat strongly even minutes after waking up from a lucid dream. His little hands were shaking from overexertion and shock. At some point, he started to cry.

  It was incredibly quiet in the thicket of trees, which contributed to a quick calm. Taiko got up and ran to the hatch, now most of all he wanted to hide in his father's laboratory, but as soon as Taiko touched the steel lever covered by foliage, he stopped.

  He was ashamed to show himself to his father without success, but on the other hand, who claimed a significant chance of failure before? The alternative to stay and strain for success in the forest is the worst of all possible. Through his tears, Taiko decided that he would come here every day until he proved to the whole damn forest and every bird watching him that he was worthy of the quirk.

  As expected, Kyudai was not thrilled. It was morning, a couple of hours had passed since the start of training. Of course, Taiko was counting on his father's new method, but his expectations were too high. He thought that the old man would use his knowledge of biology or surgery, or maybe use some kind of super-secret drug, but as experience shows, everything turned out to be much simpler.

  Seeing Taiko's apathetic mood, the scientist decided not to press him, but this does not answer the question. What happened to Taiko? Kyudai was naturally nervous and worried about his creation, but one must not forget about the original idea - raising an heir. So far, Taiko has the best chances, but he should check the other clones.

  -"Whatever Taiko is planning, I think he should not be disturbed and left alone for a while. I need to check on the others. While I'm visiting the shelters, I need someone to look after Taiko." - The only person who comes to mind is the organizer who helped with the vats.

  Having dialed his number, Kyudai was surprised at how quickly the call was answered.

  -...

  -Mr. Ujiko, you are just in time, Sensei will be with you soon.

  -I see. After talking with Sensei, I will ask you to stay with Taiko for an indefinite period of time, look after him.

  -Oh. That's great, no problem. I hope nothing bad happens. - the happy voice of All For One's loyal subject was heard.