"I! Am! Here!"
The moment I heard that voice, I ran.
To the entrance on the blackboard side, which would probably open.
"Arriving normal—"
Slam.
The instant it opened, I shut it.
And then I smoothly locked it with the key I'd pocketed.
What remained was silence.
I turned to everyone and delivered one answer.
"Today's Foundational Hero Studies is self-study!"
"No! We're having class normally!"
He came in normally through the back door.
Tch.
"Why did you suddenly close it, Midoriya?! Sensei was shocked! More shocked than ever in my life! My heart's pounding!"
"You should've just died like that."
"Don't say such ominous things! This old man can't handle it!"
While talking with All Might, Kacchan glared at me with an intense expression. I thought he was angry at me, but somehow it feels like he's looking at All Might.
Then I suddenly remembered that Kacchan was a fan of this All Might guy. Ah, I see.
"All-san, All-san."
"Midoriya, I'm All Might though."
"Give me your autograph."
"What?!"
All Might is incredibly surprised.
Way more than before. What's wrong?
"Huh? An autograph? Mine? Really? On a loan contract?"
"No, just regular paper is fine. A notebook would be wasteful, so please use the back of this expired point card. There's no loan contract."
"If there was a loan contract, you'd make me sign that... But couldn't you have found better paper? I don't mean fancy paper, but still. But anyway, what brought this on so suddenly? You wanting an autograph."
The slightly embarrassed muscle man was gross, so I took two steps back. Then the muscle man made a face like an abandoned puppy, so when I took one more step back, he looked like he was about to cry and said "Okay, that's enough," so I let him off the hook.
"Um, actually, you see that kid over there looking this way?"
"Ah... wait, isn't that the kid from the sludge incident?"
"That kid is a huge fan of yours, muscle man, but his personality is like that so he can't honestly ask for an autograph. So, you know, with that intense face."
"No, I think that's for a different reason..."
The muscle man said that while looking at Kacchan's face. Come on, there's no other reason. Gasp, could it be the homo suspicions reignited?! He's jealous because I'm talking friendly with his beloved muscle man, and the flames of jealousy are burning?!
Kyaa, the forbidden garden is opening!
Should I, as his childhood friend, lend a hand here?! (Pretty serious)
"...Should I include a name too?"
"Please address it to 'Kacchan.' Write 'To Bakugo Kacchan' and add 'I love you' while you're at it."
"That's an unusual name. And you should say the 'I love you' part yourself. That's absolutely a word I shouldn't convey."
"Hahaha, I can't say things I don't mean."
"Bakugo..."
Now that I think about it, Bakugo Kacchan really is an unusual name. ...Oh wait, it was Katsuki. I forgot the kanji though.
"Ahem. I got a bit distracted, but it's time for Foundational Hero Studies! This subject involves various training to build the foundation of a hero! It'll be tough!"
Everyone's paying attention to All-san flexing and shouting at the front of the classroom. Even Kacchan, who's been poked in the back by me repeatedly, is ignoring me for now.
Let's see how long he can keep ignoring me.
"Without further ado, today is this! Battle training!"
"Battle..."
"Training...!"
While everyone was surprised, I didn't let up.
Gradually, Kacchan's neck was about to turn toward me.
This is really funny. I might be seeing someone genuinely conflicted for the first time.
"And along with that... here!"
The classroom wall started moving.
It seems to be a built-in storage box with something inside. Like a trick house.
This building would be the best for hide-and-seek.
Also, Kacchan's really holding out.
"Made according to the 'Quirk Registration' and 'Requests' you sent before enrollment... your costumes!"
"""Ohhh!"""
"Whoa?!"
Louder than the boys' heated cheers, Kacchan's shout echoed through the classroom. In that instant, Kacchan drew more attention than All Might. Excellent star quality. As expected of a future superhero.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Huh? What do you mean, nothing?"
"You did something to my ear just now!"
"I didn't, I didn't. I just went puff."
"That's what I'm talking about, damn it! And it wasn't just that, was it?!"
"The licking thing?"
"What else would I mean, you damn slut?!"
"Who's a damn slut?! I'm a virgin, I'm telling you!"
"—Hm, what's wrong, Sero? Why are you bent over like that?"
"Well, you see, the seat on the left is insane. I'm glad I got into this school, Kirishima."
"...What did you see?"
"Alright, let's settle down, you two! When this old man gets angry, he really gets angry!"
◇◇◇
After waiting at Ground Beta for a while, students who had changed began appearing here and there.
Seeing these chicks still being worn by their clothes, I remembered my old self. Those youthful days when I was recognized by my master and started running down the hero's path.
"I've gotten old too. To think I'd feel this nostalgic."
Those were good times.
No obligations, nothing. I just had to keep running, wishing for peace. I had nothing to carry. Because I didn't have the strength to carry anything.
But now it's different.
I received power from my master and built with that power.
The stone wall of peace I've built up is already affecting the world.
I became the Symbol of Peace I desired.
I can never lose, can't even run away.
My defeat now equals the defeat of justice itself.
While feeling crushed by the pressure, I've still desperately kept running. Carrying heavy burdens, dragging my injured body, shaving away my life...
But that's reaching its limit now.
Since that sludge incident, the duration of my Muscle Form has decreased even more. If I continue hero activities like this, that time will decrease further. Eventually, I won't even be able to transform.
So before that happens, I must find a successor.
A successor who can become the new Symbol of Peace.
If possible, I don't want to burden them with it.
The Symbol of Peace is far too heavy a burden for one person's shoulders.
But even so, I cannot let the Symbol of Peace disappear.
Because this world still needs the Symbol of Peace.
"She's the only one, I believe..."
What Aizawa said made me realize how narrow my vision had become. She certainly never wished for it. And yet I laid out the rails for her to become the second me.
The more I think about how selfish that was, the more I hate myself.
But at that moment, when she jumped out to save Bakugo, in that instant, I was certain.
She was the successor I'd been seeking.
She fears it more than anyone.
This world where Quirks exist.
This era where heroes are necessary.
But even so, she ran.
Not because she had a convenient Quirk. Not because she wanted praise from others. There was no reward to be gained.
She ran simply because she wanted to save him, suffering right before her eyes.
She crushed the fear she held, swung her trembling limbs. She made herself smile to inspire courage, cracked jokes to reassure the boy.
One hero said she was fooling around, but that's nonsense. A middle school girl, still a child with youthfulness remaining, couldn't possibly stand up to a full-grown adult, a criminal no less, as a joke.
Only I know—no, perhaps he who was beside her noticed too.
Who was most terrified of the villain at that scene.
"—But she's late."
While thinking and waiting for everyone to arrive, one person hasn't appeared at all.
Who else could it be but Midoriya?
"Um, Uraraka."
"Y-yes!"
I called out to her since she'd been talking with Midoriya—maybe she knows something.
"What happened to Midoriya?"
"Oh, um, Souko's changing now! There seems to have been some mix-up, and she complained 'This isn't street fashion' and tried to leave, but we all convinced her, and she's working hard to change now!"
"She tried to leave... But street fashion? How is that appropriate for a hero?"
Midoriya made her request like she was ordering casual clothes.
Good grief, what a problem.
Then I heard footsteps approaching Ground Beta. From the heaviness of the footsteps, I think it's Midoriya.
I turned toward the sound, and there was indeed Midoriya's figure.
But I felt as if my heart had been seized.
Not because she was attractive.
Not because my eyes were drawn to the outfit's eccentricity.
Because it was—
"...Master!"
—Because there was Midoriya wearing a hero suit very similar to my master Shimura Nana's.
Though slightly different, from a distance it looked exactly like my master's figure.
The image of my master flashing through my mind overlapped unnervingly with Midoriya.
"Oh, by the way, sensei."
At Uraraka's voice, I regained my senses and somehow managed to respond.
Then Uraraka handed me a card.
"Souko asked me to hold onto this earlier. Apparently it was in the box with the suit, separate from the instruction manual?"
"A message card?"
Only one sentence was written on the card.
"All for one."
"—!"
Goosebumps covered my entire body.
The worst scenario flashed through my mind.
Thoughts of "why" raced through me, and my eyes immediately went to Midoriya's suit.
"Class is temporarily suspended! Everyone except Midoriya, stand by where you are!"
The students' shoulders jumped at my sudden loud voice.
Complaints wouldn't be strange, but sensing something in my attitude, they seemed to keep quiet.
I scooped up Midoriya in both arms and immediately ran toward the school building.
In my arms, Midoriya was making a fuss saying things like "molester" and "pervert," but that's not important right now.
If it's a gift from him, anything could be rigged inside.
"Why, why is he appearing now—!"
The one I defeated—no, the one I killed.
The calamity with a connection to One For All.
The enemy who killed my master.
The worst villain of the superhuman era.
The name All For One.