\\ Rini //
.
.
.
Everyone is the main character in their own story. They are also the Hero in their own story.
I too believed that for a while like every other person following their own path and making something of themselves. However, it did not occur to me in the slightest that some people are just destined for something greater. That they were the leading roles in some unnamed secret play while others were casted as supporting characters.
And I realized that very fact about myself when I joined UA and began my journey as a class 1A Hero course student.
At first, I didn't read the signs or notice the defining traits that followed said leading characters. But eventually they grew more and more obvious over time.
And that was another thing. Time always seemed to reveal all. . . Especially to me because of my quirk.
At the very delicate age of five, I discovered and used my quirk for the first time. Because the average age to receive a quirk was four, my parents got worried after nothing manifested when I turned five. However, like a flash of lightning, it came to me one day and I jumped ten years into my future conscience.
During my mental leap into the future, I saw flashes of memories I had not yet made. I saw it all fly by as if they were pressed between the pages of a book and someone rapidly flipped through them. And then, before I could comprehend what I saw, I crashed into a mental brick wall of sorts and landed in my fifteen year old conscience. I saw a glimpse of my high school life in UA and took note of my classmates.
It was very confusing for me, a five year old girl, to suddenly see the future. And as a side effect of my quirk, I fell into a coma that lasted ten days. One day for each year I saw with my future vision. And when the Doctors and nurses looked me over and ran a series of tests, they diagnosed what my quirk was: future vision.
Time certainly revealed all to me.
With such news, my parents were happy but they were also taken by surprise. Nobody in our family lineage had a quirk like mine or anything similar to it. Nevertheless, they were pleasantly surprised and my quirk got registered that same day.
And me? I remained blissfully unaware of the true quirk I had been born with: cognitive time travel.
My ten year leap into the future was a sneak peek of my life. Those kids in that classroom were going to be my friends one day. We were going to be studying at UA to become Pro Heroes. And the future was going to be bright. . .
Or so I thought.
That first original future I saw was nothing more than a pipe dream, or rather, a half truth. If only I knew how to use my quirk the way I do now. I could've looked further to see the trouble that awaited us - me - at the training camp. If I wasn't blissfully ignorant and had looked into the future, I wouldn't be stuck in the mess I'm in now.
The "mess" being my repetitive evasion from that stupid menace All For One.
The first time I came face to face with the man, I honestly froze over in fear. His aura was pure evil. He spoke in a monotone and had an air of confidence surrounding him as if he was unstoppable. The experience had me shaken to my core.
However, after seeing him time and time again through multiple timelines, it got old. He'd say the same thing over and over again. The same stupid monologue that he just had to get his hands on my quirk to become the oh-so-powerful demon king he always dreamed of becoming.
But I never did grant him time to steal my quirk.
Ever since that night when the training camp got attacked, I've been jumping forward and backward through time like a damn bunny trying to get it right. To secure not only my future, but humanity's future. I have to admit there were a few close calls, but I always managed to evade capture - and sometimes death - just in time to jump backwards and restart my mission.
If he ever manages to acquire my quirk, he could jump to any point in his lifetime and change things to his benefit. . . It will be the end of society and possibly the world as we know it.
But before I get ahead of myself, let me take you back to when I turned five. My original timeline I thought was my only timeline when I joined UA's Hero course. When I made friends and grew alongside them. When I thought seeing the future was the only application of my quirk.
And when I thought I was the main character in my own story.
.
.
.
\\ Original Timeline //
\\ In Rini's Home //
.
.
.
"Lunch is almost ready!" My mother, Aimi Otani, hollered in a jovial voice from the kitchen.
"Alright, we're coming!" My father, Kaito Otani, hollered back with a smile as he put my girly doll down.
We were on the floor in my bedroom playing heroes and villains with my toys. I would always play the hero role by using an old All Might stuffed doll and the villain role by using an Endeavor stuffed doll since I didn't have any other interesting dolls. . . Also because he looked like a villain to me. And then I'd make my dad play the damsel in distress with one of my girly dolls.
It was a complete role reversal, I know, but my dad didn't care so long as he could see me smile.
"Wait! We can't eat wunch when there's a villain running loose!" I squeaked and mixed my pronunciations as my dad got off the floor.
"But All Might already beat him up. The villain lost-"
"Nooo! The villain needs to go to jail now!" I whined.
"Oh, really? Where's the jail?" My dad stopped and put his hands on his hips in question.
He humored me and waited expectantly for my answer, so I quickly looked around my room to find something.
"Um. . . Um. . ." I trailed with my finger on my chin until I spotted a basket full of junk on my bookshelf.
My eyes lit up when I saw the item, so I quickly crawled across the floor to grab it. With a smile on my face, I dumped the contents out, causing a bit of a ruckus.
"What was that noise?" My mom questioned from the kitchen.
My dad simply laughed at my actions, and my mothers concern, while I crawled towards him. Once I was back in my spot, I proudly presented the basket with a huge grin on my face.
"That's a basket, Rini."
"No it's not! Its jail!" I pouted before turning it upside down and covering Endeavor with it. "See! Jail." I gestured to the doll with a challenging look in my eye.
"Ah, I see. . . So now that he's in jail. . ." My dad hummed with a faux pondering tone while slowly approaching me. "We can go have wunch now!" He finished by snatching me off the floor and placing me on his hip. He then proceeded to tickle me until I could hardly breath between laughs.
"No! H-He's not in j-jail yet!" I squealed with laughter.
"No? But you put the basket- I mean the jail on top of him. Looks like he's in jail to me."
"N-No you t-tricked me!" I whined before burying my face into his side.
My dad simply laughed in reply and stopped tickling me. Since I gave up, he carried me out of the room and towards the kitchen where my mother started dishing out our bowls. She glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of my face buried in his side, so naturally she questioned my demeanor.
"What happened this time?" My mom asked with a humorous tone.
"Rini didn't want to stop playing with her toys," he replied while setting me down at the table, then he took his own seat.
"You can play some more after lunch Rini," my mom announced, knowing how I get when it came to playing with my toys.
At my moms words, I pouted and crossed my arms which caused her and my dad to laugh.
"Every time," my dad sighed in amusement.
"She gets it from you," my mom joked while bringing the bowls over.
My dad, in return, feigned hurt by placing a hand on his chest and sending my mom a look.
Meanwhile, my mom perfectly balanced the three bowls on her arms like a skilled waitress before placing them down in front of us. She then took her seat on the opposite side of me and nudged my elbow with her own.
"Come on Rini, it's time for wunch!" She prompted in a cheery voice while holding out a spoon full of broth.
I was still pouting like the silly five year old I was until the smell hit me. My nose immediately took in the delicious aroma and my pout slowly morphed into a smile. My mom saw this and began inching it closer, gesturing for me to take the spoon and eat. But before I could accept the spoon in my own hand and take a sip of the soup, it hit me.
Without warning, I closed my eyes and instantly found myself flying days, weeks, months, and years into the future. My head felt like it was splitting with each passing moment. I couldn't comprehend the feeling so I focused on what I was seeing instead.
Like a calendar showcasing every day in a month, I saw the pages being flipped one month after the other. It all flew by and I watched along with each page flip as memories I hadn't made flashed before my eyes.
I saw a small boy with purple hair at a playground in my neighborhood playing by himself, so I walked up to him and introduced myself.
"Hi, I'm Rini Otani. What's your name?"
"Hi. . . I'm Hitoshi Shinso."
Then I saw schoolmates laughing and bullying us in middle school.
"Heroes? You two are going to be Pro Heroes?"
"Yes. We are."
"You two are delusional if you think your quirks are Pro Hero material!"
Next, I saw Shinso and I training for UA's entrance exam.
"Are you sure this isn't cheating. . ."
"I'm telling you, it isn't cheating if I use my quirk to see the future. If I was a Pro Hero right now, wouldn't I use my quirk to see the villains every move and help defeat them?"
And before I could fathom what I saw, it all came to a screeching halt on the day we made it into UA.
When everything froze, it allowed me to see what was in store. It allowed me to see fellow classmates aiming to become Heroes. I saw Bakugo and Iida arguing. Then, along with everyone else in the class, my attention went towards the green haired boy - Midoriya - now standing in the doorway. He was instantly greeted by Iida, then Ochako arrived behind him, and some weird yellow caterpillar appeared behind her.
Since I could only observe through my future self's eyes, my focus shifted to Shinso who turned in his seat to ask me a question.
"Hey, can you believe it- wait, Rini, are you listening?"
As much as I wanted to say something, I couldn't. It was one of the limits of my quirk; I could jump ahead and see the future but I couldn't land in my future conscience and speak or do anything. It was simply to observe and report back to my present self.
With that in mind, when I tried to speak, it's like my quirk acted on its own and slingshot me backwards. I suddenly found myself flying backwards and the mental calendar had its pages restored one by one until I was back in my present self.
And the second it was over, I cried.
My parents, completely confused as to why I started bawling like a baby all of a sudden, jumped in their seats and frantically started looking me over.
"What's wrong honey?"
"Rini are you okay?"
They asked one after the other, but all I could manage to do was cradle my head with my hands and sob. The mental leap into the future created a massive headache I never experienced up until that point in my life.
"What is it honey, you gotta tell us something," my dad coaxed with a gentle voice as he rubbed my back.
"M-my head. . . It h-hurts. . . I saw s-stuff in my head. . ." I finally mumbled as I leaned over and buried my face in my moms shirt.
While I clutched onto her shirt, my parents looked at each other in disbelief knowing what this sudden experience could mean for me: my quirk was manifesting.
"Do you think it could be her quirk?" My mom whispered.
"It could be. . . Something similar happened to me when I first got my quirk," my dad muttered back.
My dad had a quirk that allowed him to see everything within a thirty foot radius. He called it Spatial Awareness and he used it for his job as a Search and Rescue worker. So when he uses it, he gets images in his head and can help locate people in danger. I could understand why he thought I inherited his quirk, but boy were we all wrong.
"What should we do?" My mom asked as she cradled me in her arms.
I let out another whine from the splitting headache and my mom rubbed my back while my dad looked at me with worry written all over his face. Most naturally they were extremely worried, so they looked at each other and seemed to communicate telepathically. Without another word, my mom handed me over to my dad and he held me close to his chest. Then we headed back to my room with my mom in tow.
Once we reached, my dad sat me down on the bed and steadied me while my mom got one of my outdoor outfits from the dresser. She came back and started changing my clothes while my dad held me up. I didn't protest at their actions, I simply allowed them to dress me like a doll.
But then another vision hit me and I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't know how far it took me, but I saw myself in a hospital. I cradled my head again and let more tears flow down my cheeks, causing my dad to plant a soft kiss to my forehead.
"Don't worry Rini, you probably inherited my quirk, but to be on the safe side we're going to the doctors. Just hold on for a little while longer," he said in his tender fatherly voice.
"D-Doctors. . . But didn't w-we just go there?" I glanced between them and questioned.
Since I jumped ahead and saw that future, it felt like I had already lived it. And since I couldn't tell the difference, I simply blurted what didn't take place yet.
However, my parents picked up on it and froze. They looked at me with furrowed brows and I could see the gears turning in their heads.
"No. . . we didn't go there yet honey," my mom answered as she got my socks and shoes on.
"Oh. . . B-But I saw us there. . . And there were balloons. . ." I mumbled.
"You saw us there just now?" My dad asked softly.
I gave a nod and wiped some tears off my cheek.
My answer made my dad frown in slight disappointment since he thought I was displaying signs of his quirk, but after my answer it clearly meant something else. It also meant he had no idea how to deal with this, so the doctors was undoubtedly the only option to figure out my quirk.
"Alright then, I believe you kiddo. When we get to the doctors, just tell them what you saw and I'm sure they'll tell us what your quirk is, sound good?" He said with a smile.
"Okay. . ." I muttered, but then my eyelids became heavy with fatigue.
Due to the massive leap into the future, my mind had an adrenaline overload, but it began to wear off. My eyes felt heavy and my head felt numb. As I stared at the floor, it warped like waves as black dots danced in my vision. I could feel my body sway forward and backward like a drunken sailor while my parents steadied me.
Everything turned into muddy blobs, and before I completely passed out, my parents worried voices was the last thing I heard.
"Rini? What's wrong honey?"
"Talk to us kiddo. . ."
Well, there's always a first time for everything right?
.
.
.