"Naturally. I imbue it with my Quirk to make it denser," Gen boasted, nose in the air. "I only handle the important orders. Fabric for superhero costumes, for example."
That was interesting. Gen's Quirk was something like "Magnification," but instead of making an object physically larger, he created space inside the object, allowing more homogeneous mass, like fabric fibers, to fit into the same volume.
That's a weird Quirk. Especially considering fabric isn't exactly a homogeneous material. It probably depends on Gen's perception and how he views the material.
"Could you fit something other than fabric inside?" Enega asked after a moment of silence. "Like... a soul?"
"What?" Gen leaned against the counter, squinting in thought. "I'm not sure. My Quirk usually only allows homogeneous material to pass into the space."
"And Zeri's Quirk?" Clint asked.
"Perfect Connection. No welding torch on earth can compare to her!" Gen laughed. "But don't tell her I said that."
"Hmm... Is it possible that you accidentally pulled a human soul into the fabric, and she sealed it inside the doll?" Enega asked, staring up at the ceiling.
"I doubt that's possible..." Gen scratched the back of his head and glanced at his watch. "What's taking her so lo…"
Suddenly, his phone rang. He picked up, and an excited voice immediately blasted through the speaker.
"That is some killer editing! Since when do you know how to do special effects?!"
"Zeri, it's not editing. It's... possibly a consequence of our Quirks..."
"Come again?"
After some explanation, and introducing Clint and Enega to Zeri, she admitted that she had felt something nasty coming from the doll as soon as she finished it. That was why she put it up for sale immediately. But the feeling was vague, so she wasn't sure what it was.
"But honestly, if he hasn't killed you in a whole month, it doesn't look like he plans to," Zeri started rambling, clearing her throat. "After all, he's a victim here too. Imagine: you're floating around peacefully after death, and suddenly you get shoved into a doll. You're tethered to it, you can't talk properly... it sucks."
"You sound like you're trying to defend him..." Clint asked suspiciously.
"Well, technically... he's Gen's and my son," Zeri said.
There was a pause. Even over the phone, you could hear the exact moment she realized how that sounded and slapped a hand over her face.
"Bwahahaha!" Enega burst into loud, unladylike laughter.
"F-Forgive her! She says weird things sometimes!" Gen covered his face with his hands, trying to hide his burning humiliation.
"I-I didn't mean it like that!" The voice squeaked from the phone, though nobody was really listening anymore.
….
"AUGHHH! How much longer?!"
A whole week in isolation! No way to entertain myself! It's pure torture! I had to learn how to telekinetically shove my doll body more than a few meters just to look out the damn window. My only source of fun!
This is drastically different from my past reincarnations... Back then, I at least had problems, and I had ways to solve them. But here? Hunger? I physically can't eat or feel hungry! I'm literally a ghost; I don't have problems... and I don't have entertainment!
Even when I was sitting in... Limbo? Flying through the cycle of rebirth? Wandering the world as a spirit? Basically, when I was dead, I didn't get bored because... well... I couldn't? No matter how long I drifted in the darkness, I only ever felt peace.
And it would have been great if the window solved my problems, but NO! This kid lives in the most boring neighborhood on Earth. No homeless people, no drunks, no punks beating each other up. Snooze-fest!
The idea that I need a body has taken root deeper than ever. As soon as he comes back, I'm hijacking his meat suit and going out to explore the world.
Speaking of which, I am definitely in a very weird world. There are mutants here, people with bodies altered by some bullshit. I saw a girl with slime for hair and a guy made of rock whose only human trait was his humanoid shape.
It looked gross, but considering it's the only spectacle available to me right now... I had to watch. Ironically, it was painfully similar to life itself: forced to sit and watch a boring movie you can't even skip because it's your own damn life.
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening echoed through the apartment, followed by footsteps in the hallway.
At first, I thought my involuntary roommate had returned, but nope. Two strangers stood in the entryway. One, looking like a cowboy, blew on his index finger, the tip of which had morphed into the shape of a key. The other was scanning the objects around him intently.
"Told you. I can open ANY door." The guy shook his hand, and his finger morphed back to normal.
"Yeah, yeah. Keep it down. We might not be alone," the second one ordered in a whisper.
"Huh?" The first guy looked at him in confusion but shut up.
"The door hasn't been used in a few days, but the nightstand was opened yesterday." He pulled a knife from inside his jacket.
Interesting skills. One has metamorphosis, and the other can apparently see the last time an object was used. Looks like my new life might start sooner than I expected... before that brat even gets home.
They moved deeper into the apartment, checking every room for living people. They found no one, of course, because the only entity here wasn't exactly alive.
"You were worried for nothing. Place is empty," the lock-picker said, flopping lazily onto the sofa.
The scanner guy, however, remained tense, clearly trying to figure out why his skill was giving him weird readings.
"Someone was definitely home, but they didn't leave through the door..." he whispered, looking around.
"Maybe it was a suicide case? Jumped out the window?" the burglar suggested with a chuckle.
The scanner glanced at the window in the living room and activated his skill. Slowly, his tense expression shifted to surprise, and then... to pure fear.
In his vision, a timer floated above the windowsill, counting the time since the object was last touched.
"1 sec" "1 sec" "1 sec"...