The Next Morning
When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that my arm didn't hurt anymore. At all. I wiggled it a little under the blankets just to make sure, and yep — no pain.
Not even a pinch.
I grinned. The lizard healing actually worked.
I will admit it felt different from when my face shifts. that feels like a change in instincts and structure. That just felt energy draining.
Before I could jump out of bed to test something else, the door opened and Hank walked in with his usual "I'm too big for every doorway in this building" posture.
"Morning, champ," he said. "Mind if I check your arm?"
"Sure!" I said, way too excited for someone who was supposed to be recovering from a dog attack.
He unwrapped the bandage
And froze.
"…huh?"
My arm looked perfectly normal. Like the dog incident was something I dreamed up. Hank blinked at it, then at me, then back at it like it might magically grow teeth again.
"Uh… Eli! come see this darlin"
Mrs. Jhones, which I guess is eli i guess, hurried in first, wings fluttering like she was buzzing with curiosity.
When they saw my arm, her eyes widen'd a bit but not overly, just a light suprise.
"I healed!" I said proudly. "Like . . . shoom! Whoosh! Green glow! Gone!" ok that's a bit weird way to describe it but it felt right to descibe it like this.
Mrs. Jhones/ aka eli laughed softly. "Shoom and whoosh, hmm? That's quite a medical description."
Hank raised a brow. "Kid, that wasn't just healing. That was… overnight regeneration."
I beamed."Cool, right?!"
He gave a stunned nod. "Yeah… cool is one word."
Eli knelt beside me, not worried , more like a supporting mother woud. "Tod, sweetheart, can you try to use your quirk again? Only if you want to."
"Oh yeah! Watch this!"
I focused hard — thinking about the weird stretchy feeling in my jaw from last night. And sure enough, bone shifted, muscle moved, and my face slid into snout-mode.
My mind felt lightly fogged and i felt new insticts not nearly enough to intefer with my judgment.
I poked my own snout with my good hand.
"Ta-da!"
Hank blinked. "Well… that's definitely something."
I let the quirk fade and felt my jaw snap gently back.
"See? I can turn it on and off!" I said proudly.
Eli clapped softly like I'd just performed a magic trick. "Wonderful control, Tod!"
The praise made my chest feel warm in a I used to as a child. . . which I kinda am now. And it wasnt emotional or heavy — just… happy. Like when you show off something cool and adults actually think it's cool too.
"So," I asked eagerly, "does this mean I get to try more stuff? Like… what if I can climb walls? Or smell danger? Or heal MORE things? Or—" I felt an excitmenet for something i havent felt for something in so long.
Hank chuckled and gently tapped my head. "Easy, tiger. One step at a time."
"I'm not a tiger," I said. "Well… not yet. Maybe."
Eli laughed again. "We'll schedule some safe testing later, okay? Let's see exactly what your quirk can do."
"YES!" I pumped my fist. "Quirk testing!"
Hank added, "Please don't bite anything before then."
"No promises!" I said cheerfully.
Hank sighed. while Eli simply giggled.
But me?
I felt AWESOME.
I wasn't scared, I wasn't confused, hell I now have a super cool quirk, and I was ready to figure out what else I could do.
Let's go out and figure this out i thought to myself
Yet before I could get carried away daydreaming about all the cool things I might be able to do, I was reminded—very quickly—that I wasn't the only kid in this orphanage with something special.
Because apparently?
My quirk wasn't the only thing that got people excited.
The moment the staff left me alone, the other kids swarmed. Not in a scary way—more like a herd of curious baby animals all coming to sniff the new thing. They checked my arm, poked at my sleeve, asked if it hurt, then… wandered off just as fast. Like they'd seen this kind of thing before.
But three kids stayed close.
Lily. Luke. And… Hope.
Hope standing behind me sent a full shiver down my spine.
I could feel her staring. With way too many eyes.
Luke bumped my shoulder with a huge grin. "That is SO cool! I can do something kinda like that—look!"
He scrunched his face and pushed, and the bump on his forehead suddenly popped outward, growing into a big rhino horn. His tiny frame bulked up a little too, muscles tightening like he was flexing.
Oh.
So that's what that bump was.
Lily blinked at me, thinking hard, then pointed her finger and said with perfect seriousness:
"So you do eat bugs."
I stared at her.
For a whole five seconds of pure confusion.
"NO, I DON'T EAT BUGS!" I snapped—way louder than I meant to.
And immediately regretted it. Why did I yell?
Ugh. Stupid tiny-kid emotions.
I was about to apologize when Lily kept going, completely unfazed.
"But you regrew your arm," she said, sniffing loudly as a line of snot began sliding down her upper lip. "And you bit that dog. So your quirk is you bite stuff and then you get their stuff."
She said it so confidently.
Which would have been impressive if she wasn't, leaking snot.
Gross.
And the worst part?
A tiny part of me wondered if she was right.
I decided right then that, during playtime, I'd… test it out.
Just in case.
I didn't argue with her. At this point, she was definitely trying to push my buttons. And then there was Hope.
…Hope didn't say anything.
She just stared.
All those eyes fixed on me like I was a TV show she didn't want to miss.
Creepy.
But… maybe she didn't know how else to interact. The thought simmered in the back of my head, uncomfortable but true.
Eventually, we were called for breakfast. It wasn't amazing, but it was good enough. Halfway through eating, Eli tapped a spoon against a cup until everyone quieted down.
"Today," she announced brightly, "we'll have a visitor. They're looking to adopt someone!"
A ripple of excitement went through the room—especially the younger kids. Chairs squeaked, eyes sparkled, and someone immediately fixed their hair, or for her it was snakes, with her reflection in a spoon.
But when I glanced at the older kids…
they weren't excited at all.
Some scowled.
Some looked away.
Some stared at the little ones with something like pity.
I didn't understand it, but Eli definitely saw their faces. She just… pretended she didn't.
Later That Day
We were all sent outside and told to "play and have fun."
The younger kids took that as a mission—to become the cutest creatures on the planet. Some put bows in their hair, wore little vests, twirled, giggled on purpose. Anything to get a grown-up's eyes on them.
Watching them made something twist in my stomach. Not in a sad way—just…
uncomfortable.
I didn't like seeing them try so hard.
I stuck to the sandpit again, working on a new tower.
And—of course—Hope sat right beside me.
I sighed at first, but then noticed something surprising:
She was actually really good at this.
Like… amazingly good.
Her sandcastles had perfect lines, tiny details, smooth edges—way better than anything I could manage.
"I guess she has an 'eye' for detail," I thought immediately… ok I thought it was funny.
Hope didn't say a word the entire time.
But she had dressed up today—a light pink princess dress, gloves that covered most of her arms. And I realized, looking closely, that many of her eyes were closed, and several small mouths were sealed tight. Almost like she didn't want to scare anyone.
Only a few eyes stayed open.
And they were all watching me.
I paused, suddenly aware of how hard she must try just to exist around others without freaking them out.
'...She's still creepy' I thought to myself to myself.
"But… maybe she's trying."
i thought to myself
And somehow, that made everything feel a little heavier.
But also… a little warmer.