Chapter 3 the tiny tremors

The morning sun glinted off the glass towers of Neo-Tokami City, casting long shadows across the bustling streets below. Even at six years old, Yuto Matsumoto had learned to wake before most of the city’s residents, eager to train, explore, and test his powers.

F-rank didn’t mean he was weak. Not in his mind. But the reality of it stung—the Hero Association had labeled him raw, unstable, and unrefined. And if he wanted to rise in the ranks, he needed experience, control, and confidence.

Yuto stepped onto the rooftop behind his apartment. His small feet barely made a sound on the concrete. The city below was alive with the hum of traffic, powered children darting across the skyways, and the occasional flicker of supernatural energy.

“Time to practice,” he whispered, crouching. His left wrist glowed faintly, the mark pulsing as if it could sense his focus. He extended his hands toward a loose metal pipe lying near the edge of the rooftop. Concentrating, he felt the pull in his chest, the tug in his fingers.

“Come on… gravity…”

The pipe wobbled. Then, with a small, satisfying jerk, it rolled toward him. Yuto’s eyes widened, and a grin spread across his face.

“Yes! I did it!”

He jumped backward, then forward again, testing his new control. For the first time, he wasn’t just moving objects—he was feeling the gravity around him, bending it subtly to his will.

But the moment of joy was interrupted by a sharp, distant rumble.

Yuto froze. The vibrations beneath his feet were faint at first, like a small tremor—but then they grew stronger. Buildings shook slightly. Glass rattled. And from the alley below, he could hear screaming.

Something unnatural was happening.

Without hesitation, Yuto leapt down from the rooftop, landing lightly on the street. His tiny body wove through panicked citizens as a shadowy, amorphous figure emerged from the alley. It wasn’t fully human—its edges flickered like distorted light, and its movements were jagged and unpredictable.

“A… a monster?” Yuto whispered, his pulse quickening.

He crouched, instincts taking over. Gravity Pull. He extended his small hands toward the creature. The air around him seemed heavier, tugging at the ground, at the figure. The shadow hesitated, its form wobbling unnaturally.

Yuto’s heart raced. It’s working… it’s really working…

He leapt forward, attempting to push the creature away with Gravity Push, but his timing was off. The shadow flickered faster than he anticipated, dodging the attack and sending a weak tremor that knocked him backward. The city around them seemed to react to the encounter—the trembling ground and flickering streetlights giving the scene a surreal, almost supernatural aura.

“Think… focus… control…” Yuto muttered, recalling his guardian’s words.

He concentrated again, slowing his own perception for a fraction of a second. The world seemed to stretch and lag—the street, the creature, even the people running by. He felt the strange pull of time bending around him, and this time, when he activated Tiny Time Ripple, a wave of temporal energy spread outward, disrupting the shadow completely.

The figure faltered, wobbled, and finally dissolved into a puff of smoke, leaving behind a faint, glowing residue that Yuto instinctively examined.

He exhaled deeply, his small chest rising and falling. That… was amazing.

The boy glanced at the glow on his wrist, feeling both awe and determination. This was just the beginning. He may have been F-rank, a six-year-old child in a city full of extraordinary beings, but he was learning to bend the rules of time and gravity itself.

Yuto grinned, brushing dust from his knees. “If this is what I can do alone… imagine what I’ll be able to do when I really train.”

And somewhere in the shadows of Neo-Tokami City, eyes watched the boy who had survived his first real encounter. Eyes that would not forget the tremors he had caused.

Because even the smallest tremor can grow into a quake.