Chapter Text
“You know, you don’t have to be such an asshole.”
The boys in the room go still at the comment. Izuku stiffens when he realizes he said that out loud and looks away from Bakugo like his life depends on it (and it would if the boy were any more murderous).
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” The question was rhetorical if the venom in his voice is any indication. His hands start to pop like firecrackers and Izuku is too busy trying not to swallow the lump in his throat. “Say it again, you fucker.”
Izuku makes no notion that he heard him and continues to put his books and notebooks away. Praying to some god, that ignoring him for once would work in his favor.
Bakugo practically lunges and grabs the last remaining notebook on the desk. The smell of burning paper and caramel floods the room. “Don’t you fucking ignore me you little shit.”
(He’s starting to think that the god he prays to may be a god of misfortune…
…That or the devil)
“You’re still writing these little hero notes,” he says while flipping through it. “When are you gonna get it through that brain of yours that you can’t be a hero without a quirk.”
“Bakugo-”
“I don’t wanna fucking hear it.” The snarl he sends Izuku’s way is enough to make him flinch, mouth setting into a thin line. He sneers as he sets fire to the notebook, the pages turning black and filling the air with smoke. He throws it through a window (that leads to god knows where) and crouches so he’s eye level with Izuku. “Don’t you backtalk to me again, you quirkless piece of shit. Try it again and it may be you instead of the notebook.”
Izuku doesn’t say too much of anything. He doesn’t even look Bakugo in the eye. He stares straight ahead looking at nothing in particular as he waits for something to come. Anything.
“Let’s go, extras. The hag wants me at home early.” They remain silent, watching, before shuffling out of the classroom with the blonde. The sound of the door shutting causes Izuku to release a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.
He sighs. “Ironic that we used to call each other best friends.”
“There it is!” He nearly trips over himself running to grab the notebook. It landed in a Koi Pond to Izuku’s dismay. The notes would surely be ruined. He didn’t even know if he’d bother to copy it over. Maybe some of it was salvageable.
He swatted away the koi that nibbled at the pages and picked it up gingerly as if the smallest touch could ruin it any further. He flipped through the pages and notes that most of the pages were smudged and faded, but readable to an extent. He’d take that. A win's a win, and he couldn’t be too choosy these days.
He placed it in the back of his bag and checked his watch. It was getting late and he had to be at the library soon. So with a heavy sigh of resignation, he made his way to the library.
At least he felt at peace there. His mom made him start volunteering. It was never anywhere consistent. If they were hiring, or in need of help, she made sure that he was there. When he was younger, he didn’t know why. To him, it felt like they were just going on field trips and doing odd things, but he had to admit he enjoyed them. Once he got older though, he realized that she did it because his social life took a nosedive after he was diagnosed as quirkless. It was pathetic, but he was thankful all the same.
It got him out of the house and he always met interesting people and did something new so he took it in stride. He found himself getting to know his community, a quiet little suburb he had taken for granted, and became familiar with the nooks and crannies of Musutafu. He never got close enough to call some people a friend but he was happy to just be known (without the reason why being his quirklessness).
One such person was a girl named Hime. They often volunteered at the library together. He didn’t know much about her but she was nice. Once they got more acquainted, he realized she had a mouth like Bakugou’s. He was still figuring out whether he liked that or not. (Seeing her every Wednesday didn’t exactly give him much of a choice though).
“You look like shit.”
He sighed. “Is it that obvious?” She snorted and he felt his face go warm with embarrassment. “It’s not my fault the people at school suck.”
“You could, you know, fight back?” She said wryly. She placed a book on its shelf and turned to face him fully. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was pristine as always and her red eyes sparkled underneath her equally bright red glasses.
“Are you sure you’re not related to anyone named Bakugo?”
“The way you talk about him, God I hope not.” She picked up a few more books and went back to placing them on shelves. “Mom never mentioned any family. Why? You want to get to know your future in-laws-”
“I do not like him.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. Liking your bullies is a part of the gay experience.” She snorted and nearly dropped all the books she was holding when Izuku lunged at her.
“I used to! There’s a difference.” He huffed. “This is why I don't tell you anything.”
“Fine, fine. Just help me put up these books.”
He complied but made sure to hit her with a book as payback. She huffed out a string of curses but didn’t make any move to fight back. They chatted while they worked. It was never about anything specific. Good news, the weather, heroes, anything that popped in their head promptly became conversation while they moved all over the library reshelving books and giving help to anyone who needed it. It was peaceful and time passed quickly, as it usually did to Izuku’s chagrin.
The sun was setting outside and it was about time for them to wrap up. Luckily they only had one book left so there wasn’t much left to do anyway.
“Hey, this last book doesn’t have anything on it. Where should I put it?” He asked. The book itself was blue and was exceedingly plain. The only feature was the spine. It had gold swirls in intricate patterns that looked oddly familiar.
“Ask Morimoto-san. She would probably know. Plus-” She clicked her tongue and eyed him mischievously. “I'm going home and don’t have time to help those who like to hit innocent girls like me.”
He rolled his eyes and huffed. “Innocent my ass and of course you’d leave me to put everything back up.”
“It’s just the cart, don’t be so dramatic.”
“Whatever,” he huffed. “See you next week.”
“Bye Izuku!”
He watched her leave the library before he set off to find Morimoto-san. She was the head librarian and pretty sweet. They were supposed to be just volunteers, but she always paid them or gave them gifts for their time. He was surprised he hadn’t been offered a job yet. He got lost in his thoughts and accidentally bumped into someone before he could realize it.
“Izuku! Good to see you.”
“Ah, Morimoto-san. It’s good to see you too. Sorry for bumping into you.”
“It’s fine. Did you need something?”
“This book doesn’t have any numbers or markings so any idea what section it’s supposed to be shelved in?
“Anything in it?”
He opened it and expected to find maybe the title of the book or some other information but it was completely blank. He flipped through to check and see but it had nothing in it. Odd.
“No-”
“Well, then why don’t you take it home? You always write journals and everything. You could use this?”
“I guess, but it’s a...book? I feel like I would be wasting it.”
“It’s empty anyway. Can’t do too much harm to it. Plus, I know you’ll find some use for it. Spread some of your creativity.”
He shrugged. “If you say so.” He didn’t have any idea what he would do with a blank book but he’d use it if that’s what he said she should do.
“Good.” She straightened her posture and smiled at him. “Now I’ll be off. See you next week!”
Izuku stood there dumbfounded for a bit, debating whether to take it home as she suggested. He flipped through again, stuffed it hurriedly in his bag, and quickly finished his work so he could go home for the day.
School ended without much fanfare, much to Izuku’s surprise. Bakugo looked like he wanted to tear his head off with his teeth but that wasn’t anything new. He kept mumbling about how much of an ‘idiot’ Izuku was and making dramatic gestures at him but Izuku elected to ignore him out of self-preservation. He expected him to retaliate at the end of the day but the most he did was shoulder check him, call him an ‘idiot,’ and storm off like there was a fire somewhere. Izuku decided not to question and think maybe a god had finally answered his prayers and responded in kind.
(in hindsight, he’d get beat up by his lackeys later anyway)
“Oh! Don’t forget the school trip is tomorrow! Be sure to come to school packed and ready.” the class responded with a-slightly-dead ‘Yes sensei.’ Izuku tried not to let his mouth hang open from shock. He desperately tried to remember any sort of trip and vaguely remembered something about Kyoto. He probably was out of it that day so he hoped and prayed that his mom did not sign the consent forms.
“But it could be fun.”
Izuku let out a sigh and slumped in his chair. He was not winning this argument but he would be damned if he didn’t try.
“There's nothing in Kyoto except mountains and hills! How would that be any fun.”
“You won’t know until you try. Besides, middle school trips are always fun. Take pictures, make memories. You know,” she waved her hands in the air, “all that.”
“I don’t want to,” he pouted. He may be fourteen but he was not against using whatever means necessary to plead with his mom. Even if it included pouting.
“Is there any reason you don’t want to?” She said it with this faux calm and Izuku froze. He had been denying anything was wrong at school for months and they had back and forths where she tried to coax it out of him. He refused to be homeschooled, that’d just make it even worse.
“No. I’ll go.”
She sighed. “Fine with me. Just text me if anything happens. I’ll leave money on the table in the morning. Should be enough for souvenirs and anything else you impulse buy.”
“I am choosing not to comment on your shade.”
She snorted. “Sure Izuku.”
She went back to the kitchen and started on dinner. With nothing to do, he returned to his room to work on his hero journals. He saw part of a villain fight on the way to school and couldn’t note anything because he left them all at home fearing Bakugo might burn another one of them. His memory was near perfect thankfully so he remembered most of what he saw.
He took the journal off his bookshelf and began jotting down notes on Kamui Wood’s quirk. The villain was a gigantification type and it was interesting to see how he handled it or rather tried until Mt. Lady showed up. “He seemed to overexert himself by trying to capture him. Probably due to the sheer surface area of his body. He managed to use his wood as constructs offensively enough to wear him down and use Lacquered chain prison, but his wood was noticeably thinner so-”
His mumbling came to a halt when he heard something from the shelf fall. A glance revealed it was the blue book from the library the other day. He started to place it back on the shelf but he, oddly, placed it right on his desk and stared at it. He found himself opening it and expected to see a blank page like he did yesterday but instead was greeted with what looked vaguely like a poem.
Every home has a heart.
It is not always beating, but it is there. It holds tales.
Memories.
Filled with what has been and waiting to be filled with what has not. The expanse tells a story. Perhaps, not yet of death, but always of birth.
Always of its origins.
Where is the heart where you reside?
He could have sworn the poem (he wasn't really sure what to call it) wasn’t there yesterday. For the second time today, he felt like his brain was short-circuiting. He closed his eyes and breathed, and reread it.
It still didn’t make much sense.
“But this was completely blank yesterday….” He flipped through the pages over and over again, almost frantically. The rest of the pages remained suspiciously blank, so he wasn’t completely losing his mind, but it didn’t help that the first page was filled when it clearly wasn’t yesterday.
Literature wasn’t his strong suit and whatever he read was confusing. It seemed to have a meaning, maybe some sort of message? But he had no idea what it could mean and where he would even start with something as vague or literal as a heart. He researched the poem to see if he could find anything on it, but as far as he could tell no one had ever heard of the poem. He then tried to find out the symbolism of the “heart” they mentioned but turned up empty again.
He stared at it. Then stared some more before chucking it on his bed before his headache got any worse and went back to his journals. Looking at it wouldn’t do him any favors. “Probably doesn’t mean much anyway.” Some part of him denied that notion but he chalked it up to him being overly curious instead of logical at the best of times.
When he finished his analysis, he begrudgingly started to pack. He had nothing else to distract himself with and ignoring it would probably lead him to forget and he did not wanna show up to school without anything to wear. It was probably only a weekend so he packed a few spare outfits and a few games in case he got bored. He hoped no one would destroy them, but knowing his luck, they probably wouldn’t come back home with him. A soft knock interrupted his cynicism and he mumbled a soft ‘Come in’ before his mother peeked in to check his progress.
“Are you ready?”
“I think so. If I forget anything I can just buy it on the trip,” he sighed.
“We’re not rich, you know.”
“Dad sends us 10 million yen a month.”
His mom flushed red and sputtered. “We have to budget Izuku! And-and you can’t just spend all your money. You have to save it-”
He rolled his eyes at her rant and chuckled. “Whatever mom.”
“Why do you even work anymore?”
She shrugged and looked anywhere but him. “It gives me something to do. You’re not exactly small anymore.” She looked at him again. “Well you are small but-”
“Mom.”
“Fine. Just make sure to get some sleep.” She paused and looked hesitant. “Do you need anything to help you sleep?”
“No, I don’t think I’ll need it tonight. Thanks, mom.”
She nodded and walked over to him. She pecked him on the cheek before saying a soft ‘I love you,’ and leaving the room. Izuku, done packing, switched into his nightclothes and went to sleep.
“Izuku Midoriya?”
“Present!”
A few kids stared at him. He hurriedly popped in his earbuds to drown out the inevitable comments and insults that the other kids would say and tried not to look too pathetic. Some time passed as the teacher finished calling out roll, most of which he spent looking off in the distance. He cursed when he saw students rearranging themselves, not hearing whatever was said with his earbuds in. He took out his earbuds and whipped his head around, trying to make sense of what was happening before he felt a sharp poke in his side.
“Midoriya.”
He turned around to face whoever was calling his name. “Ah, Kimura. Mind telling me what’s going on?”
She smiled at him mischievously. Her blue eyes were glinting, barely hidden by her bangs, and her equally bright blue hair whipped around in the early morning wind. “You could just call me Tsukiko, you know. No need to be so formal, but to answer your questions we have a buddy system. And you’re,” she poked him again and let out another breathy laugh, “mine.”
“Could say the same to you. You still call me Midoriya.”
“Only because you won’t let me call you Izu.”
“You still could just use my first name.”
She clapped her hands together and smiled up at him again. “I’m an all-or-nothing girl, I’m afraid.”
They boarded the bus not long after that. They sat at the very back and didn’t talk much, but it wasn’t awkward. Izuku would say it was comfortable even.
He didn’t talk to Tsukiko much. She had a quirk, telekinesis like his mother, but it wasn’t very strong so everyone pretty much ignored her. They weren’t unkind but didn’t give her so much as a passing glance on a good day. He found a sort of kindred spirit in her after she nursed a few of his wounds after routine run-ins with Bakugo and his ‘crew’. She never stepped in to help, but he could never blame her for that. These kids were ruthless and he wouldn’t wish it on anyone else. At least she tried to help, he reasoned. It was better than nothing.
They talked here and there and ate lunch together sometimes. She was quiet and kind and often indulged in his rants about quirks and heroes. He was thankful for having one less person out to get him at this school and would even say she’s a friend or close to it at least. One of these days he’d have to ask her to hang out outside of school.
“Hey Izu. I’m gonna head to sleep. Wake me up when we’re there, yeah?”
He nodded and she pulled out a blanket and started to drift off. (And if she saw him drift off too, she didn’t mention it).
The first day wasn’t much. They arrived in the dead of night and headed to their hotel. They were paired up with someone of the same gender for the sake of rooming and thankfully Izuku got paired with one of the more relaxed members of his class. (He treated Izuku like he wasn’t there but hey it was better than being yelled at).
The next day they all woke up and traveled around exploring some of the monuments and sights. He made sure to bring his backpack full with his wallet and notebooks. He took to learning about the history with a sort of vigor that made the other kids look at him like he was crazy and call him a ‘nerd.’ He wrote notes on the history and all of the shrines they interacted with. Tsukiko teased him but it was friendly so he continued albeit a bit embarrassed.
Kyoto was the oldest city in Japan. The city was decorated in shrines and older architecture that signified its age but it was the graceful sort of old that was timeless. The shrines were mesmerizing, and the parks and gardens were beautiful. You could tell the city was loved.
“With Kyoto being one of the longest standing cities and biggest, it’s often referred to as the ‘Heart of Japan.’”
Izuku paused at his teacher’s words. He turned over the phrase ‘Heart of Japan’ in his head, wondering where he heard it before. It felt like it was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t quite place it.
“Hello? Izu, are you there?” Tsukiko waved a hand in his face and Izuku felt his cheeks run warm at the sudden attention.
“I-I’m fine Kimura. I mean Tsukiko.”
“It’s no problem. You zoned out a bit and looked like All Might when he doesn’t know how to answer an interview question.”
It was then that reality fell back into place for him. He noticed that most of the students were gone and only a few remained milling about in groups. He thanked the heavens Bakugo had decided to go somewhere else and he didn’t have to watch his back.
“Right. So what’s happening….”
“Oh my god you really get lost in those notebooks of yours don’t you.” Izuku knew she didn’t mean any harm but couldn’t help the flinch that came over him. “I didn’t mean to offend you! Sorry. I tend to run my mouth without thinking. Anyways, Teach wants us to go and explore on our own, but keep our buddies with us. I was asking if there’s anywhere you wanted to go?”
Izuku was unfamiliar with the city so he could only shrug at the question. Had he remembered the trip he probably would have looked up things to do, but the most he was able to do was google a few pictures so he knew what he was getting into.
“Lead the way.”
“Gladly.”
With that, they were off. She led them to a few more shrines. Izuku was enamored with how old yet elegant they looked. Tsukiko, on the other hand, mainly used them for photo-ops that Izuku was forced to be a photographer of.
“Oh my god, you suck at taking pictures.”
His face blushed violently at the insult. “It’s not like I’m a professional you know.”
She rolled her eyes and huffed. “Trust me. I can definitely tell,” she said. She swiped through a few more of the photos and inspected them like a detective.
“Okay so these pictures are a definite no, but let’s try a selfie!” She said it with sadistic glee and Izuku felt panicked because if she thought him taking photos were bad, then she would think him in them were terrible. He threw his hands up in refusal but he was practically dragged towards her.
“Oh my god. Did you just use your quirk on me?”
“Yeah, yeah whatever, but that’s not important right now. We’re taking a selfie, remember,” she declared, her face a mask of seriousness. “Now say cheese!”
And before he could even try to pose, the flash went off and he was positive he made some sort of weird face. His suspicions were confirmed when her laugh rang out above the voice of the other tourists.
“Oh my god you look terrible! You really never take pictures do you?”
He held his head in his face and sighed. “All my friends really do suck,” he said. His voice was slightly muffled by his hands and he didn’t expect her to hear, but the gasp she let out signaled she did.
“No, I didn’t mean-”
“Oh my god, you consider me a friend?” He swore her eyes had stars in them and the most he could do was let out a nervous squeak in response.
“Only if-if you want,” he stammered. He felt so warm he was sure smoke was coming out of his ears.
“Yes! I didn’t think it was mutual so I never said anything. We never hang out. I’ve had so many ideas-”
“Tsukiko,” he said calmly. She looked at him with wide eyes and he really thought he’d never be the one saying this. “Breathe.”
“Right,” she breathed out. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and showed him a website with different tourist spots. “So what should we do first?”
“How about we keep shopping before we have to go back?” he asked. She nodded and silently, they started their trek through the streets of Kyoto. “By the way do you really say ‘Oh my god’ that much?”
His response was in the form of a very skillful punch to his side.
Afterward, they visited all the local stores they could find. Their time was mostly spent weaving through sweets shops and tasting anything remotely edible. She practically salivated at anything sweet and he didn’t have the heart to say no, so most of his trip money was spent on the stuff. They also spent a great deal of time shopping for souvenirs and keepsakes. He ended up buying a Torii gate charm and was currently shopping for something for his mom. Tsukiko on the other hand….
“Isn’t this one so cute?” She dangled a small keychain with a white kitsune mask and (for the second time today) he swore he could see stars in her eyes.
“You’ve bought twelve souvenirs already not to mention all the sweets-”
“Don't be a worrywart. It’s just a little money.”
“You’ve spent twenty thousand yen.”
“Well I am rich,” she said. Her tone was filled with confidence and she acted like that answered everything. He let out an exasperated sigh and went back to his own shopping. They continued to browse all the charms and keychains the small store had (he stopped trying to keep her from spending obscene amounts of money).
They exited the store after he dragged her out before she could be haggled into buying anything else. It had gotten dark out before they knew it, the sky turning a familiar shade of bluish-black.
“So where to now?” she asked.
“I kind of want to visit one of the museums we passed a while back.”
“I want to go to the mochi shop they have.” She paused and looked deep in thought, her face of serious concentration. “We only have about an hour left so why don’t we meet back here in forty minutes? So we can head to the hotel together.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They departed with a wave and Izuku trusted his memory to trace the way back they came. He walked aimlessly for a while, stumbling in and out of shops before he realized that he was hopelessly lost. He tried looking for a map or some sort of sign to point him back in the right direction but only ended up wandering further to some deserted street he knew he definitely hadn’t seen before.
“This shit is so fucking annoying. Why the fuck did we come to some old ass city?”
The familiar crackle of explosions made Izuku freeze. That voice undoubtedly belonged to Bakugo’s. Frantic, he ducked behind the shadows of an unused building and hid, cursing his luck for what felt like the thousandth time this week.
“I could’ve been at home training or something. Why did I even come?”
He accented his sentence with a snarl and kicked at a pole that startled Izuku. He tripped and fell right into some boxes behind him, managing to knock something over in the process. He let out a silent ‘Fuck’ and hoped that Bakugo had decided to ignore it.
He did not.
“Who’s there?” he said. His tone had an edge to it that sent shivers up Izuku’s spine. He let out another round of tiny explosions and snarled, but did nothing else. Silence hung in the air and Izuku let out a sigh of relief. He lost him.
(So he thought)
Bakugo jumped out before him and he sneered. “I had a feeling it was you Deku. Always hiding like the weakling you are.”
Izuku, with his ounce of self-preservation, scrambled and booked it out of the alley. He had no idea where he was going but he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Bakugo's boredom.
“Hey! Get back here you little shit.”
Yeah. Definitely didn’t want to be on the other enrgo sent swift punches at them, aided by the use of his explosions, and rendered them useless just as fast.
“Quirk use is illegal you know!”
“Oh, and who's gonna tell? By the time I get my hands on you, your lips will be swollen shut you freak!’
The pure venom in his voice had Izuku panicking even more, so he pushed himself to go even faster to outrun him. He knew he managed to get a little further ahead when Bakugo cursed at him for ‘cheating.’ Adrenaline is one hell of a drug.
He exited another alley, not willing to try his luck again with the box maneuver, so he ran into one of the bigger local stores and hid behind one of the aisles and hoped
Bakugo wouldn’t be able to see him.
“Deku! I know you're fucking in here. Stop hiding from me.”
He poked his head out from behind the aisle and watched Bakugo survey the store and grumble out another string of curses. He slowly made his way through each aisle and was approaching Izuku quickly. He looked at the aisle he was on and saw gag gifts and cheap disguises. He threw them on in haste, a cowboy hat covering his green hair and a pair of shades and a fake mustache for dramatic effect.
He stood up and slowly made his way to the exit, not wanting to look too suspicious that Bakugo would catch on. He nearly made it to the finish line before the voice of the shopkeeper rang out.
“Sir you have to pay for that.”
Izuku held his hands up and started rambling about how he’d pay for it before he realized Bakugo might overhear. He glanced over at him and noticed Bakugo narrowing his eyes at him in anger, expression shifting to something slightly feral.
“Deku!”
Izuku threw off the disguise and bolted out. He let his legs take him anywhere and ran through streets and shops again without any regard for the destruction he left in his wake. He eventually slowed to a stop, his body finally catching up with him as his adrenaline rush faded. He was reduced to a panting mess and had to lean on a wall for support just to stand-up. When he didn’t hear the tell-tale sound of an explosion or Bakugo’s yelling, he managed to finally relax and took the chance to survey his surroundings.
He was at a shrine. It was huge and he found himself looking up at it to take all of it in. It was a beautiful blend of red and green and looked almost tiered. He ventured further in and found himself drawn to how beautiful everything was: the garden, plants, everything. He wandered about aimlessly before he stumbled upon a name-plate.
Kamigami-Jinja Shrine
One of the oldest shrines in Japan. Originally erected in XXX the shrine has stood for centuries as a sign of the craftsmanship and dedication of early citizens of Kyoto. It has often served as a symbol of the ‘heart’ not only of Kyoto but Japan as well’ The origin point of all shrines in Kyoto and a testament to the memories of Japan’s roots.
He finished reading the name-plate and the history of the place he stood in settled into him. He found himself under a familiar sense of deja vu at the words. He observed the name-plate again and analyzed it as a detective would.
“Heart…” he said faintly. It was then that he thought of that book. The one from yesterday that had that poem that stumped him. It was then that it clicked, the heart it mentioned and understanding washed over him like a wave. He wasn’t sure how he knew but it felt instinctive almost. Like something he had done before. He rushed to get the book out of his bag and it was then that he noticed a faint light illuminating the shrine.
He looked around to try and find the source of it until he realized it emanated from him. More specifically, something on him. He pulled his bag off his back and stared at it, partly in disbelief but also in wonder. He opened it slowly, a strange sense of foreboding overcoming him as he did so. It revealed the book he found at the library the other day. The plain blue book was turned gold and it was bathed in white light. It was almost like the sun, so bright it was dangerous but mesmerizing in the way you couldn’t help but look.
He pulled it out, shrugging off the yellow All-Might backpack, and held it. It was light, but felt heavy in the way secrets did. He found himself drugged by the anticipation of what could be causing it. He had no idea what could be inside it, or what could be the source of the strange light, but he felt himself opening the bag despite that. The questions and concerns over it drowned out by the force that guided his hand into his bag to grab the book that glowed.
He stared at it and his mind was flooded with those same questions. Why was the book glowing? What did the poem mean? Was it connected to the shrine, and if so, how?
He exhaled shakily and chucked a bit. He couldn’t help the breathless “Wow,” that escaped when he gazed upon it. His hand moved, autonomous from the rest of his body, and turned to the first page.
And in it, he found three words, black against the light that burned so brightly.
You’ve found it
And suddenly, the book transformed. Words swirled in his eyes like a kaleidoscope, dancing around in front of his irises like wayward stars. The pages flipped around, as if compelled by some wind it could only fill and behaved wildly. Anything he tried to make out disappeared into the book or flitted out of his sight before he could make sense of what it was. The light was no longer white but a rainbow, filled with a spectrum of colors that he shouldn’t be able to see. (And had he been able to see himself at that moment, he would have seen that same color, mirrored, in his own eyes)
The book flew into the air, escaping his grasp as if it had a will of its own and vibrated. Thrumming with energy and things he couldn’t understand. It grew brighter in the night light, it’s light rivaling that of the sun itself.
It was bright.
It was beautiful.
And then it was gone.