SWNOVELXO Chapter 2: 002
On a dark and rainy night in Japan, two figures stood atop a building, silently observing each other. The first person wore a long black coat that reached down to their knees, its hood partially obscuring their face, revealing a smiling white mask. The edges of the coat fluttered in the night wind, exposing tactical pants and combat-designed boots. Their gloved hands clenched slightly, as if preparing for the inevitable.
Opposite them, the second figure, dressed entirely in black, stood in a relaxed posture. Their form-fitting attire and reinforced boots contrasted with the dark tattoos surrounding their red eyes, which glowed with a confident gaze.
The two remained motionless, locked in a standoff beneath the rain that hammered against the rooftop. The tension in the air was almost tangible. Suddenly, a subtle shift broke the atmosphere. From a concealed corner, a figure emerged, briefly distorting the space around them. In the blink of an eye, Yuto appeared, confused and disoriented, unable to understand how he had ended up there.
He took a deep breath, still feeling the sensation of falling, as he tried to grasp what was happening. The rain soaked his clothes, but his mind wrestled with the question of whether this was real or just a dream.
"So, you've decided to face me. You know, I thought we'd make good friends," a deep and challenging voice said. Yuto flinched at the sound but quickly composed himself, remaining silent, careful not to make the slightest noise that could give away his position.
From his hiding spot behind the water tanks, he peeked out cautiously to observe the scene.
The first thing he saw was the back of the man with black hair, standing with a relaxed posture. In front of him was the man with the smiling white mask. The two seemed to be engaged in some sort of standoff, though Yuto couldn't quite discern the dynamics between them. The tension in the air was palpable, yet it had not reached its breaking point.
"We'll never be friends. You can shove your offer where the sun doesn't shine," Yuto heard the man in the smiling mask say, his voice sharp and full of disdain.
Was that Japanese? Yuto thought, frowning. He looked around, his eyes catching the signs scattered around, confirming what he had begun to suspect. Everything was in Japanese. His mind continued to struggle to make sense of what was happening. Am I in Japan?
Before he could process it further, the black-haired figure smiled faintly, his gaze fierce and calculating. "You've got a lot to learn—and a lot to lose," he said, his voice calm but laced with a latent threat.
The atmosphere seemed to grow heavier, and the sound of rain striking the roof faded, replaced by an oppressive silence. The man with the smiling mask stood firm, his posture flawless, his hands positioned in a clear martial arts stance. Though his face was hidden behind the smiling mask, his movements radiated a deadly calm.
The other, with black hair and red eyes, kept his hands in his pockets, exuding a defiant and relaxed attitude, as if he wasn't taking his opponent's threat seriously.
"Come on, don't keep me waiting," said the man in the mask, his tone soft yet venomous, while his muscles tensed beneath his tactical attire.
But then, something strange happened.
The sensation returned with force. Yuto looked at his hands, seeing them flicker between their normal shape and a distorted, deformed appearance, as if they were glitching. In a blink, the distortion vanished, and before he could comprehend what was happening, he was no longer there.
In an instant, Yuto disappeared from the scene, leaving no trace behind.
...
...
The sun rose slowly over the horizon, painting a deserted beach in golden hues. The waves gently lapped against the shore, but the landscape was marred by accumulated trash and a lack of life. On the sand, a young man with green hair struggled to drag a heavy refrigerator while All Might, in his thin form, watched with an encouraging smile.
"You can do it, Midoriya-shonen! Faster, stronger!" All Might cheered, his voice brimming with energy.
Izuku, sweaty and exhausted, strained every muscle to move the refrigerator. The sun bore down on them mercilessly, and the task seemed endless. However, suddenly, a flash of distortion shattered the tranquility of the scene. From behind a pile of trash, Yuto appeared out of nowhere, falling to the ground with a faint cry of surprise.
"What the hell...? Where am I?" he muttered, stunned by what had just happened.
All Might and Izuku froze instantly. The cry had interrupted their training, and both quickly turned toward the source of the sound. All Might, always ready for any threat, adopted a defensive stance, his body shifting from his thin form to his muscular one in an instant.
"Who's there?!" he demanded firmly, cautiously advancing toward the pile of debris.
Izuku, still catching his breath from the exertion, watched anxiously, wondering if someone had discovered his mentor's secret. Meanwhile, Yuto, hidden among the trash, felt his body begin to distort.
"Not again..." he whispered as his figure abruptly started to fade away.
By the time All Might reached the spot, he pushed aside the debris only to find nothing. He frowned, glancing around for any sign of the intruder, but there was no trace of anyone.
...
...
The place was an absolute mess. What had once been a carefully designed training area was now in ruins. Flames consumed collapsed structures, while columns of smoke rose toward the ceiling. The students fought with all their strength to hold back the villains who had stormed in without warning, deploying all kinds of abilities in a desperate effort to keep the situation under control.
Then, behind a pile of rubble, the air seemed to distort for a moment. Suddenly, Yuto appeared, his body briefly warping into a mix of shadows and flashes before stabilizing. He blinked several times, looking around in evident confusion.
"Damn it, I'm getting tired of these jumps," Yuto muttered in frustration, wiping his forehead as he took in the chaos surrounding him. In the distance, he saw several people fighting against some others. Yuto frowned, silently observing, unsure of what was happening.
"What the hell...?" he whispered, trying to make sense of the situation. Around him, the battle raged on, the clashes growing more intense by the second.
The chaos continued around him, but something about the scene made Yuto freeze. His eyes widened in disbelief when his gaze stopped at the center of the battlefield. There, among the rubble and smoke, stood a figure that needed no more than a glance to recognize.
"Is that Shigaraki?" he murmured under his breath, his voice barely audible amidst the explosions and shouting. Instinctively, he ducked, trying to stay hidden among the debris.
Shigaraki was there, no doubt about it, but unlike the photos and videos Yuto had seen in the news, he was wearing his early-days outfit, the same one he had used at the start of the series. Beside him stood a Nomu, the mindless creature that served as one of the villain's deadliest weapons.
It had been a while since Yuto had watched the anime, but something inside him told him he wasn't mistaken. He recognized the Nomu, he recognized Shigaraki, and that realization made him freeze in place.
"I'm in the past," Yuto thought with clarity, a chill running down his spine. The feeling of confusion grew, but understanding settled in quickly.
Yuto looked around more carefully. The chaos continued to overflow around him, but amidst the battle, he recognized several UA students. The sight froze him for a moment. He knew that most of those young people, according to what he remembered from his time, had died or disappeared during the war.
Before Yuto could decide what to do next, a loud crash to his left made him react quickly. Something smashed with a deafening noise, and the wind generated by the impact forced him to duck, instinctively covering his face. Debris flew through the air, but Yuto, still in shock, could barely process the scene.
A body hit the ground with a dull thud, sliding a few meters. Yuto squinted, recognizing the figure. "Is that Iida?" he murmured, surprised. Not wanting to be discovered, he quickly crouched down, hiding behind the rubble to stay out of sight.
But as he focused, his expression hardened at the sight of the boy's condition. Iida's torso was caved in, in a way that was clearly fatal, as if something incredibly heavy had crushed him. It couldn't be real.
Without thinking twice, Yuto moved toward the body, crouching beside it. The movement of Iida's breathing was nonexistent. There were no signs of life.
"What the hell?" he muttered, trying to process what had just happened. "Iida was supposed to be the first to escape and alert the teachers."
As Yuto processed the sight of Iida, a shadow rose behind him, enveloping him completely. It wasn't until he felt an odd pressure in the air that he quickly turned, his body frozen in fear.
What he saw left him breathless: the Nomu was standing right behind him. The creature, devoid of consciousness, raised its massive arm, preparing a punch. The air grew tense, and Yuto, paralyzed by terror, couldn't move a muscle.
But just as the Nomu's fist descended toward him, something inside Yuto reacted. His body began to warp, dissolving into shadows and flashes before disappearing entirely. The Nomu's fist crashed into the empty space where Yuto had been, slamming into the ground with a crash that made the area tremble.
...
...
The sky was clear, and inside an orphanage, the silence was only interrupted by the distant laughter of children playing outside. In a small bathroom with worn tile walls, a young Yuto, barely 8 years old, stood in front of the mirror.
"That's not how I imagined reincarnating in an anime," he murmured, crossing his arms and frowning. "I thought the only thing that would change would be the hair color or that everything would be more exaggerated... but this... going from 3D to 2D is too much."
He leaned forward, studying every detail of his animated face. "And it's not even a great design," he added with a hint of disappointment, examining his messy hair.
Suddenly, his body began to warp strangely. The lines of his figure trembled as if they were a poorly drawn drawing in motion, and his silhouette flickered between flashes before stabilizing again. His breathing quickened as he backed away, staggering until his back collided with the cold bathroom wall.
He looked around in fear, his heart pounding in his chest. The worn bathroom tiles and faint musty smell were strange, yet familiar. Yuto took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. After a moment, his gaze returned to the mirror.
He stood there, staring at his reflection. He raised a trembling hand and touched his face. The childish features, the messy hair, the wide eyes filled with a mix of wonder and exhaustion... Everything confirmed what he already suspected.
"I'm back..." he whispered, barely audible. His fingers ran over his cheeks gently, as if he needed to make sure it wasn't an illusion. The initial shock of the jump faded, replaced by a strange calm.
It wasn't hard to understand what was happening. After so many time jumps, this feeling of being torn from one place and thrown into another no longer confused him like it used to. Even the fact that he was in his younger body didn't surprise him as much as it might have at first.
"So here I am again," he muttered, letting out a sigh. "A child... Great." A bitter smile crossed his face as he ran his fingers through his hair. He turned, letting his gaze wander around the small bathroom. The cracked walls, the somewhat dirty floor, everything seemed painfully familiar.
"This is the orphanage, isn't it?" he said quietly, speaking more to himself than to anyone else. His mind filled with memories he thought he had left behind a long time ago. Moments of solitude, games with the other children, nights staring at the ceiling and wondering what would become of his life. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, and as he opened them, he looked at his hand, which seemed to deform briefly before returning to normal. But this time, he didn't experience the sensation of being transported to another place.
"I think I'm starting to get the hang of this," he thought as his gaze focused on the mirror. A faint smile appeared on his lips, and his fists clenched with determination.
"I guess I have time to change things up now."