Chapter 18: Thoughts

"Oh, you're finally back, dinner had already arrived. What took you so long?" Toshinori asked the moment he heard the door open. He turned around, only to see that the boy who had healed him yesterday had brought another person home. "Um...who is that?"

He only wanted to ask a question, but the girl immediately hid behind Shido, looking at him with fear evident in her eyes. Shido noticed that, and immediately reassured her. "Don't worry, this ugly looking guy is the number 1 hero of Japan, the symbol of peace, All Might! He won't hurt you."

The 'ugly looking guy' felt a stab through his heart, and was left at the corner to reflect upon his life.

"Really? He looks very scary though, and looks as if a vampire had sucked all his blood, leaving him to rot somewhere." Eri doubted his words. Not that she didn't believe him, but the contrast between the appearance of All Might and the person in front of her is too big. One had a muscular figure and huge stature with a bright smile, while another one had a gloomy look with sunken cheeks, his body was thin and was only slightly taller than her.

"Ahem...I am truly All Might, but due to an incident, I was left very injured." Toshinori then went on to explain his whole life story, from his childhood all the way to today when Shido healed him. He also told them about his quirk as well since it was originally part of Shido's condition for healing him. And to prove his identity to Eri, he also transformed in front of her.

After hearing the life story of Toshinori, Eri became impressed and touched at his bravery of risking his life to stop a villain. When she was experimented on, she had heard a lot about All Might, and his stories and tales of his saves and fights were deeply ingrained into her, and her hope was for him to save her from the hell she was in. Unfortunately, All Might never came, and she gradually lost hope, until she met Shido.

This was her first time meeting with All Might, and similar to Shido, she had learnt not to trust people easily. Shido knew about that, and didn't force her to fully trust Toshinori since he himself also didn't fully trust him as well. Trust comes with time, and so he would let time tell.

But for now, "Alright! That's enough of life stories. Let's eat first, the food is getting cold." Shido said. Yoshinon agreed as well and started eating his apples. Eri didn't have any proper food for a few years now, and she was starving, so she quickly gorged herself as well.

Meanwhile, Toshinori was sighing internally. 'More kids to take care off, since when did I become a child supervisor?'

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After a quick and huge dinner, Eri and Shido went to bed since they were tired from all the activities just now, especially Eri who had endured years of pain and torment.

Shido showed Eri her own room before leaving for his own bedroom. However, he realised that Eri was following him.

"Yes?" He asked her when he saw her not go to her own room, and followed him instead.

"Can...can I sleep with you? I'm...I'm scared..." Eri requested, her voice getting softer as she spoke.

Shido heard her request, and just petted her head. "Alright, let's go then." Human's emotions and feelings were complex things, they could not be fully understood even if one used their entire life to study it. Sure, they could predict other's emotions and feelings, but understand how it works? No one could. Even a very intelligent creature like Nezu with an intelligence enhancing quirk wouldn't say that they understand how emotions work. Shido could see the insecurity present in her entire behaviour, from her constant trembling, her watery eyes, to the questions she asked. Despite not being a master at emotions, he could still identify something as simple as this.

Eri needed reassurance. She was afraid that Shido would leave her like her mother did, but she did not have much hope despite her own question. However, the reply that came was contrary to what she originally thought.

'He trusts me...'

Why would Shido let someone he had just met a mere few hours ago to sleep with him? Shido himself didn't know, and so didn't Eri. But neither cared...maybe they had something in common? Maybe they felt some sort of connection to one another? All that mattered was that doing the action allowed them to feel right in their hearts, and so they would go along with it.

"Un!" Eri hurriedly replied, and followed Shido into his room. The moment they laid down on the bed and closed their eyes, they drifted off to dreamland. Unknowingly, both had instinctively moved closer to each other on the bed, seeking out the warmth they wanted.

Meanwhile, Yoshinon had already fallen asleep on Shido's shoulder, snuggling deeper into his neck for the same warmth.

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Toshinori, who saw what was happening upstairs, smiled at himself. He had observed both children during dinner, and has formed a basic conclusion on both of them, three of them if you included Yoshinon.

Eri was a shy and quiet girl in front of strangers, but lively in front of familiar people, evident from the fact that she chatted with Shido quite a bit while leaving Toshinori to be eating dinner alone. She was also sharp-tongued and witty, yet innocent from the way her eyes sparkled when she saw the widespread availability of food available. He still didn't know what her quirk was, but since Shido had brought her in, he could at least try to trust her a bit more.

Shido was playful and cheerful, and would often joke around. He has high charisma, much like him as he often attracted people to him naturally. He was also powerful, Toshinori did not know what his exact quirk was, but the fact that he could manipulate time already made him one of the most dangerous people in Japan, and possibly the world. He shows the minimum amount of respect he should give to others, but does not give extra.

Yoshinon was similar to Shido, playful and naughty, though he was also sarcastic and sharp-tongued. He did not know what Yoshinon was exactly, but he assumed he was a manifestation of Shido's quirk.

All three were mere children, yet they were dangerous and powerful. 'Sigh, this matter is getting out of hand...there are way too many abnormalities here, I don't even know where Shido appeared from...' He sighed as he walked towards his own bedroom. As he passed Shido's room, he noticed the two children, along with the puppet, were hugging each other, with small smiles present on their faces.

At the very least, he knew that Shido meant no harm to him, at least for now since he could very easily kill him if he was as powerful as he claimed to be. On the other hand, he also observed that the girl Shido brought home, Eri had a painful past. He could see it in her eyes, no matter how much she tried to hide it. Being the number one hero not only requires power, and despite his goofy and smiling appearance he puts up everyday, he was also considered to be intelligent, even if it wasn't on Nezu's level.

"I should start searching for a successor. I can't risk anything anymore, especially knowing that enemies at All for One's level could be out there." Toshinori muttered to himself as he made himself comfortable in his bed. He was currently in his 'skinny' form, over the course of two months, he realised that the energy he needed everyday was drastically reduced in his 'skinny' form, causing him to prefer it in his spare time. Of course, when hero duties came, 'mighty' form would always appear. He would never stop his heroic duty, even if he wasn't cured.

"I need to make an identity for the three of them tomorrow.." He decided to visit a certain mouse to have a discussion with him before falling asleep.

'Wait, is he even a mouse?'

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A/N: Just to be clear, the mc is NOT Shido reincarnation. They have same name, but they are different people. There is a reason for everything, his appearance, his personality, his abilities, his origins and they will slowly be revealed over time.

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https://www.patr eon.com/spirits_everywhere