Memories collided with each other in Julian's mind as he struggled with his sense of self, eventually after what felt like years after reliving both sets, but was only a few minutes, Julian settled on a train of thought. A mantra of sorts he repeated in his head to help with his identity issues. My name is Julian Ryukazi, a Japanese-American orphan I lived the life of Julian Antonio Rodriguez, a Mexican-American college student and soon-to-be EMT. My mother is Emily Anderson and my Father is Santiago Rodriguez. Neither are of this world, one due to tragedy and the other is from a different life.
A week passed in a haze as Julian focused on centering himself and trying to make peace with his sense of self. Being in a so-called "anime world" was the least of his problems, he was certain that despite his memories, this world- and its people- were real. The Ryukazis were never mentioned in the show, which could make sense given the clan's pr nightmare and withdrawal from the public spaces after the incident with Hiroshi. His mom's lack of significance also makes sense given how little they focused on American heroes. He was sure there was no way in hell someone like Hiroshi would sit still during the Tartarus breakout. Given the news reports following the incident, someone like Hiroshi would be a major villain. Maybe if the man only had super strength he could be just another side character left the wayside. Julian estimated Hiroshi's raw strength to be less than Muscular's, but his speed was something else, not to mention the man's accelerated healing factor. Hiroshi didn't go down until All Might himself showed up as he was quick enough to doge or strong enough to fight other heroes.
That's another thing, Julian had never been much of a strategist, but the combined experiences and memories led him to arrive at his current outlook. As Rodriguez he was an optimist, using naivety and passiveness as a shield to avoid his trauma, and in the end he accepted death and soul erasure much too easily, giving up on his hopes and dreams like it was nothing. As young Ryukazi he was a traumatic bundle of fear and despair, and it was time he became something more than the sum of his two parts. He would not let fear or despair paralyze him, and he would not easily give up. He would be a hero, for better or worse he would commit himself to helping others.
Sitting in a dumpster Julian had been using as shelter during his week-long haze he whispered to himself with conviction "I will become a hero, so no one has to suffer as I did." A weight seemed to fall upon his shoulders as he spoke his vow aloud as a cosmic gaze focused on him.
After a little bit more time spent strategizing, he came to realize what his powers were. Memories of a show he watched, a teenager who gained powers and had to fight against his dad; who was secretly a conqueror from an alien race. Maybe his old self was right for picking the middle card, the race of space conquerors lacked any glaring weakness and had enough strength to shatter planets. They could fly from one part of the universe to another in the span of a week, could resist the pull of a black hole, and destroy a civilization just by flying through the air fast enough. He had the powers of a Viltrumite and based on the speed at which he healed, he had also awakened his body's natural quirk.
Though contemplation about his quirk could be left for later, it was time to come home.
Arriving at the orphanage Julian took a deep breath and looked up at the sign Shizuoka Orphanage it read. With a sigh, he slowly released his breath and rang the doorbell. After a minute of rustling and muttering from inside an older portly woman opened the door. "Julian!" she exclaimed with surprise and warmth. "Where have you been, we've been looking all over for you" she questioned firmly.
"I'm sorry Ms. Watabe, I got caught up with something and lost track of time, please forgive me" Julian replied with a bow. Though his words and mannerisms were not unusual, the emotion put into them made the older woman freeze. Since the day she met the young boy he had seemed almost lifeless, going through things day by day and making no attempts to befriend other children, often keeping his sentences short and emotionless, engaging in only basic politeness. She feared that the boy's attitude and difficulty connecting with others his age would only make his situation worse.
"It's okay Julian I'm glad you're safe, do you want to talk about it?" She asked gently, hoping to coax more conversation from him. She could leave questions about where he went and what he did for later. Children running away from the orphanage at a young age wasn't uncommon and she was more relieved that he had returned than anything. Most who had been gone as long as he had didn't come back, either finding a sense of family among a gang or falling victim to the horrors of the city.
Julian paused, unsure how much he should tell her. Had his power awakened before the merge he would have likely hidden it, too scared to draw attention. The fear was still there, but so was the drive to be a hero. In this world that meant getting a license, and becoming a celebrity. Though he didn't like the system, he didn't want to find himself on the wrong side of the law, or worse hurt someone because he was inexperienced when professional training was available, not that he would let something like a license stop him from saving a life, it's just better to wait than immediately start patrolling the streets.
Julian blinked as realized the matron was still standing there, patiently waiting for him to answer. A small smile formed on his face as he thought about his answer, and went with a simplified version of the truth.
"I awakened my quirk" Julian said, his smile transforming into a beaming grin.
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A/N this chap was mostly finished on Friday but some stuff came up over the weekend so I didn't get to review/edit it until today. Also, I am going to change a sentence from the first chap to be a description of Mark Greyson/Invicnible instead of the viltrumite empire's crest. (!minor spoiler!) I think giving him Mark's powers would provide more opportunity for growth and fit better with the hero theme of that scene.
I was thinking about putting Julian's first fight in this chap but I couldn't write it in without messing up the flow.