Do You Want To Be A Hero? (15) | The Most Important Question

"It's because you want to be a hero yourself, isn't it?" The No. 1 Hero deduced the green-haired young man's worry.

Izuku ever-so-slightly flinched at All Might's insight... and it served to further conflict his already confused mind.

He hesitated to answer the frail hero's probing question as it lingered in his mind. His brow furrowed as he searched for an answer within himself... but all he found was more uncertainty.

"I don't know either, to be honest..." he replied, his voice tinged with quiet frustration.

The more Izuku thought about it, the more lost he felt.

All Might looked at him thoughtfully, realizing just how conflicted this young man truly was.

He had seen countless aspiring heroes, driven by ambition and dreams, but this... this was different. Izuku was searching for something deeper, something that went beyond just the desire to be a hero.

"Young man..."

All Might took a step closer to Izuku... and put his arm on the shoulder of the deeply conflicted young man, breaking him out of his deep reverie as Izuku looked toward the fierce eyes of the No. 1 Hero.

"Do you want to be a hero?"

The words left All Might's mouth... and seemed to resonate with Izuku as his eyes grew wide with shock. Hearing this question coming from the hero he had once idolized so much...

Izuku was left speechless as he stared into the hero's eyes, searching for an answer to the veteran hero's deep question.

BOOM!

Unfortunately, their moment was interrupted by loud booming sound!

Both All Might and Izuku looked toward the source of the explosion, outside the rooftop area and far in the distance, and saw heavy smoke coming from one of the districts of Musutafu City...!

"A villain attack...!" All Might quickly deduced as the cause of these dreadful explosion and heavy smoke.

As he did so, he also subconsciously checked on the sludge-villain that he had apprehended and captured inside the bottle of carbonated drink on his cargo pants...

"...!"

...and he finally realized that the bottle containing the sludge villain was gone...!

BOOM! BOOM!

More booming sounds came from the source of the smoke, and both he and Izuku could even see the huge, fiery explosions!

"Young man!" The hero looked back toward Izuku, who also appeared concerned about the explosion happening in the distance. "I'm sorry, but I have to go and find out what's happening. Stay safe."

Izuku looked back toward All Might and nodded in response. Seeing his understanding, All Might showed a smile of appreciation toward him.

The frail hero then quickly ran toward the exit of the rooftop area, leaving the young man alone...

Izuku stared at the left-open door that All Might had gone through... and then promptly followed after it, leaving the rooftop area...

And seemingly following after the hero's departure to see the cause of this explosion...

Izuku... had a gut feeling that it might be related to 'that.'

< | X | >

All Might sprinted as fast as he could with his shriveled, frail body. Every step took a toll on him, and it pained him deeply to realize that even running like a normal person now felt like an enormous burden. He cursed this cruel reality that had been inflicted upon his body...

But he couldn't give up now... especially NOT after he had delivered his speech on heroism to that green-haired young man.

He needed to make sure he could still lend a helping hand... even if his body was at its limit—!

"All Might!"

A voice suddenly called out his hero's name from behind, and he flinched at the shock of hearing it. His greatest fear was that someone would recognize this frail, barely-alive husk of a man as the so-called mighty hero.

All Might didn't stop running... but he tried to see who had just called his hero's name—!

"Young man?!" he uttered in shock upon seeing the person who not only called out his identity but was also running and following him from behind...!

It was the green-haired young man!

"What are you doing?!" All Might inquired, his voice strained by the exertion of running but still holding a stern tone. "It is dangerous where I'm going! Do not follow me!"

The hero's warning, however, did not deter the young man. In fact, it seemed to fuel him even further.

"I'm sorry, sir, but..." Izuku replied with a serious expression, trailing off at the end, "... there's something I need to see there."

While still running alongside the frail hero, the young man's expression had changed. His previous conflicted look was gone... now replaced with one filled with conviction.

"..."

Hearing the young man's conviction made the frail hero pause in silence, seemingly lost in thought over his words.

All Might turned his head forward and continued running... but he couldn't help grumbling in annoyance. He didn't want the young man to be hurt by whatever was causing these explosions... yet for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to force him away.

"Agh... Fine!" the hero finally relented, though his tone still held some frustration. "But you better keep yourself safe, young man!"

"Yes, sir!"

With that, both the frail, shriveled hero and the green-haired young man pressed onward toward the part of Musutafu City where thick smoke was rising...!

BOOM! BOOM!

After running for what felt like a solid five minutes... they finally arrived at the location where not just the heavy smoke, but also the sounds of explosions, were emanating from...!

Across the wide road, the Musutafu Local Shopping District... was in ruins.