It was early morning at the Yamamoto household.
The alarm clock buzzed loud, cutting through the quiet. From under the covers, an arm lazily reached out and slapped it off. A minute later, it blared again—only for a dark hand to shoot out, snatch it up, and crush it in one squeeze. The broken pieces hit the floor as the hand slipped back under the blanket.
On the bed, a black-haired boy with a buzz cut rolled over, still knocked out, face peaceful.
That peace didn't last.
BANG! The door flew open.
"Ayo, Toshiro! Get yo' lazy ass up, we finna be late!"
No reply.
A brown-haired boy stomped over, grabbed him by the shoulder, and started shakin' him.
"Bruh, wake up! You gon' have us late 'cause of you!"
Toshiro groaned, still not opening his eyes. "Man, chill… tell Ma gimme like, five more minutes."
"Pfft, nah. She said I gotta drag you down myself. And she told me I can use any means necessary."
Silence.
"Aight, bet. Don't say I ain't warn you." The brown-haired boy grinned, hopped up on Toshiro's bed, and started bouncin' like it was a trampoline.
"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" he chanted.
Toshiro cracked his eyes open, red with sleep, glaring.
"Ken, get yo' goofy ass off my bed."
"Not—UN—TIL—YOU—WAKE—UP!" Ken yelled, still bouncing.
"This yo' last warning, bro."
"NO—!"
Ken didn't finish. Toshiro lunged, tackled him clean off the bed, and pinned him to the floor. He swung, but Ken's skin shimmered silver right before impact as Toshiro's punch landed with a clang causing him to cry out in pain , shacking his hand .
"Ha! You thought I wasn't ready? I came prepped this time," Ken smirked, lying on the floor while Toshiro held him down.
"Predictable as hell—" Ken started, but was cut off as Toshiro's fist turned jet black and smashed into his face. His head dented the floor with a loud thud, a gust of wind rattling the room.
"Don't play with me, Ken," Toshiro muttered, scowling.
"Imma tell Ma you was beating me!" Ken shouted, shoving Toshiro off him. He stormed toward the door, fists clenched, ready to run.
"Ayo, bruh, hold up! I was playin'!" Toshiro yelled, leaping up and grabbing Ken's wrist just before he could swing the door open. He yanked him back with all his strength.
"Ma, help! He's—he's bullying—" Ken cried, trying to squirm free and yell louder.
Toshiro clamped a hand over his mouth, pressing him against his chest. "Shh, shh… if you snitch, you're lookin' like a woman, got it?" he whispered, his eyes gleaming with mischief.
Ken's eyes widened. "Wanna bet? He says I look like a woman" he shouted, struggling against Toshiro's grip .
"All right, all right… how 'bout I let you hit me back instead?" Toshiro said
Ken paused mid-step and grinned. "Imma hit you where you hit me."
"No way, bruh," Toshiro shot back, holding up his hands defensively.
"Well… imma tell Ma that you said I'm a woman," Ken said, marching toward the door like he had all the power.
"Fine!" Toshiro groaned.
Ken spun back, fist cocked, and punched Toshiro square in the face. Toshiro stumbled back, rubbing his cheek.
"Happy now?" he asked, wincing.
"Nah… I was hopin' to bust a lip," Ken replied with a smirk.
From the hallway, a soft, feminine voice called out:
"Ken! Have you woken up Toshiro?"
"Yeah, he's awake," Toshiro answered.
"Then come have some breakfast!"
"Comin'!" Ken replied, turning toward the kitchen. Toshiro leaned close and whispered, "No word of this."
"Yeah, I gotcha… but Ma's gonna kill us when she sees the floor," Ken muttered, pointing at the dented floorboards.
"Yeah… we cooked," Toshiro muttered under his breath.
Ken shrugged and left for the kitchen. Toshiro quickly made his bed, then followed him.
When they arrived, Ken was already seated at the table, chowing down breakfast with their mother—a beautiful brown-haired woman in her mid-thirties.
"Morning," Toshiro muttered as he slid into a chair beside them.
"I can't believe you were about to oversleep and miss the U.A. entrance exams," Naori, their mother, scolded.
"You should've seen him, Ma—he was droolin' all over the pillow!" Ken laughed, nearly choking on his food.
"Hey! I don't drool!" Toshiro barked back, face flushing red.
"I had to drag his ass outta bed, and then he straight up punched me in the face!" Ken added dramatically.
The table went quiet. Both twins froze, turning toward their mother.
Naori's face was shadowed by her hair, an unmistakable menacing aura radiating from her as she spoke through gritted teeth.
"What did I tell you about speaking like hooligans? And fighting. In. My. House?"
Ken shot a finger at Toshiro instantly. "It was him! He started it! He's the one who taught me how to talk slang!"
---
Minutes later…
Toshiro sat with his cheeks bulging as he stuffed food into his mouth, a big swollen lump on his head. He glared daggers at Ken across the table.
Ken, who also had a fresh bump on his skull, nervously glanced toward their mother.
Naori, now smiling sweetly like an angel, ate her breakfast in peace—as though nothing had happened.
Toshiro wasn't truly angry at Ken. The glare he was shooting across the table was more about the snitching than anything else. Deep down, he was actually… happy. It felt good to be a kid again.
Sure, certain privileges of adulthood had been stripped away when he was transmigrated into this world, but he didn't mind. Not one bit. After all, his previous life had been nothing but hardship.
He grew up with his mother, who struggled every single day to make ends meet after his father had walked out following an argument. She worked herself to the bone, making sure he was fed, clothed, and even had small things like deodorant—tiny acts of love that cut deeper the older he got. But he had failed her.
He failed matric four times before giving up entirely. Out of shame and desperation, he joined a gang and started selling drugs, telling himself it was "income," but really, it was just another way to run from his failures. What ate at him most wasn't the danger, but the fact that his mother was still the one holding him up while he dragged both of them down.
One day, while posted up with his gang, a shootout erupted. He died on the spot. No last words. No goodbye. A part of him was glad—it meant he wouldn't be a burden to his mother anymore. But another part was crushed at the thought of leaving her behind without ever making her proud, without even a final chance to say he loved her.
And yet… here he was. Alive again, in a new world, with a new family. A second chance.
Ken was his twin—loud, annoying, but his brother all the same. Toshiro was older by five minutes, which meant he had seniority forever, whether Ken liked it or not. Ken had inherited a steel body quirk that allowed him to harden his flesh into metal. Naori, their mother, had the same quirk and worked as a medic at the local hospital. Their father was quirkless, but a brilliant engineer, the kind of man who left for work before dawn and only returned late at night.
For the first time in his lives—both of them—Toshiro felt like he had something solid. A family. A shot at happiness. And this time he wasn't planning on wasting it.
End of chapter