"I Reincarnated in Boku no Hero but They Forgot to Give Me a System"

Chapter 13 — Flames That Reach the Sky

The change came quietly. No boxes stacked in the hallway, no long, tearful goodbyes at the doorstep.

Rei Todoroki simply left.

The car eased away down the street, carrying with it the woman who had held the house together with the silent strength of someone who bleeds without a sound. Aoi remained standing at the entrance, watching until the vehicle finally disappeared into the distant horizon.

Inside, Fuyumi clung tightly to Natsuo, trying to hold herself strong for both of them. Shoto stood motionless, clutching one of the toys their mother had left behind, as if it still held her scent — a faint memory of warmth in the cold emptiness.

"Are you not going with her?" Fuyumi asked, her voice soft and uncertain, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she searched his face for an answer.

Aoi looked at all three of them. Inside, he felt everything — the emptiness that echoed through the house, the silent anger simmering beneath the surface, the unfair guilt that lingered in the shadows like a thick smoke curling across the floor.

Yet, he answered with a small, half-formed smile.

"No.

She needs peace now.

And you… need someone here."

He paused, gazing deeply into each of their eyes.

"Even though I'm the youngest… I'm the oldest inside."

They didn't fully understand, but they accepted it.

Because Aoi didn't speak like a child anymore. He spoke like someone who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders — and still chose to smile through it all.

Later that same afternoon, he made his way to the backyard.

With calm, deliberate movements, he strapped the heavy weights around his ankles, took a deep breath, and felt the familiar heat pulsing deep within his chest — a heat that didn't burn but pushed outward, a fierce, quiet power. It was more than fire. It was pure will.

"Flames that don't burn… but press forward," he whispered to himself, focusing every ounce of concentration.

Closing his eyes, he summoned the image of Shinra Kusakabe in his mind:

The firm stance, the unwavering focus on the feet, the explosive burst of energy.

He recalled the graceful leaps, the feeling of lightness, the taste of freedom in the air.

Aoi concentrated the heat into his feet. Blue flames flickered to life, undulating softly like sheets of glowing silk — delicate yet intense. This was no ordinary fire. It was as if the very air around him danced with the flames, alive and responsive.

"Go…" he whispered.

He leapt upward, driving the pressure through the soles of his feet with all his might.

— BOOM!

He was flung sideways, crashing headfirst into the bushes bordering the garden.

"Argh…"

He struggled up, coughing out leaves and branches tangled in his hair. But despite the rough landing, a grin spread across his face.

"Okay. Almost. Again."

The backyard quickly became his personal testing ground over the following days.

Attempt after attempt.

He was thrown backward.

Bounced hard on the ground.

Slammed into the wall.

Dug his feet deep into the grass to stabilize.

Nearly shattered Fuyumi's flower pots in the process.

But with each failure, something shifted. Aoi didn't see defeat — he saw adjustments. Each fall brought him a little closer to mastering the flame he carried within.

Gradually, he realized his flame wasn't unstable. It was simply untamed.

"The secret isn't brute force. It's control," he mused. "Pushing harder just sends me flying off course. Guiding gently… that keeps me afloat."

Slowly but surely, the results began to show.

First, he managed to hover for half a second.

Then, a full second.

Two steps in the air.

Three.

The flame responded to his will with terrifying precision, as if it were dancing alongside him, yearning to soar.

One clear night, after another exhausting session, Aoi stood in the backyard, his chest heaving, sweat dripping down his skin, muscles humming with exhaustion and adrenaline.

Above him, the sky stretched wide and deep, studded with countless stars.

"Mom… just wait a little longer, okay?" he whispered, eyes fixed on the heavens.

"When I master this… I'll visit you whenever I want.

Flying."

The blue flames bloomed again on his feet, soft and steady, casting a gentle glow across the ground like folded wings ready to unfurl.

He pushed off the earth.

And for three glorious seconds… he stayed aloft.

Suspended between the earth and the sky.

Between who he was… and who he was destined to become.

"I'm almost there."

In that shining moment beneath the stars, he wasn't just a boy dreaming big anymore.

He was a blue phoenix, ready to take flight and claim the heavens as his own.

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