Chapter 24: Successor? (I)

"Good morning sleepyhead." A female voice rang out. Shido felt his body shake a bit before he opened his eyes. In front of him was a girl with blueish, off-white hair and a small, brown horn poking out of the right side of her forehead.

"Morning Eri, what's up?" Shido rubbed his eyes and asked groggily.

"Don't you have work today?"

"Which work?" Shido asked back as he got up and went headed towards the toilet.

"Teaching."

"Oh, the entire class got expelled, remember?"

Eri thought for a while before remembering that Shido had told her this before. Blushing in embarrassment, she immediately changed the subject,"Then are you performing today?"

Shido noticed her embarrassment and her obvious change in topic, but didn't dwell on it. The last time he tried teasing her, it ended up badly with him sleeping on the couch. Yep he got kicked out of his own bed. Eri is a monster.

"Nope. Why don't we just hang out today? It's been a long time since we've last hung out with just the two of us. Plus, Uncle Toshinori would be away today, leaving us all alone."

Eri turned slightly red at the mention of being alone, but quickly got over it. "All right then! Let's go shopping at Shizuoka Prefecture."

Shido was surprised at her destination and asked,"Is there any particular reason for going there?"

"Nope! I just got the feeling something big would be happening at Shizuoka Prefecture later on." Eri spoke cheerfully as she quickly ate her breakfast, clearly excited for her 'date'.

"Alright then."

After a hearty breakfast, they took the train towards Shizuoka Prefecture. They could, of course, teleport directly there, but where's the fun in that? Plus, Eri would complain endlessly, so Shido didn't teleport often unless he's by himself.

On the train, they talked about various things, but it was mostly about heroes, clothes and food, just your everyday things. Eri is very energetic in front of Shido, and could talk on forever. On the way however, they saw All Might.

"Is that Uncle Toshinori? Why is he here?" Shido whispered to Eri. With his superior vision, he spotted Toshinori flying in the sky towards the top of a building. He also noted down that there was something, or someone hanging onto his leg.

"Yep. Why is there someone hanging behind him though?" She whispered back. They didn't want to attract attention by mentioning the name 'All Might', and he was currently flying? high up in the sky where no one would see him.

"Don't know. Is this the reason why you wanted to come here? Your instinct to know the future sure is scary~" Shido teased.

"Urusai! I don't know anything about it either. More importantly, do you want to follow him?"

"Nah~Just let him be, it isn't like anything could stump him anyway." Shido nonchalant said as he leaned back into his seat. "Plus, our date is more important." He said while looking at her seriously.

Seeing his 'serious' face, she couldn't help but blush slightly before shaking off the embarrassment. "Alright, stop teasing me already."

Seeing that she didn't have any other reaction, Shido sighed in disappointment. 'She used to turn red at every little tease, now she just shakes her head and doesn't do anything already. Sigh, she's growing up already.'

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"Wait! Um..."

"No!! I will not wait."

"Even without a quirk...can I still be a hero?! Can someone without a quirk...become a hero like you?"

"Quirks are..."

"Because I don't have a quirk, I...well, maybe that's not the only reason. But I've always been picked on...that's why...maybe that's why...I think saving people is just about the coolest thing someone can do!

The way you save people with that fearless smile! I want to be the strongest hero, just like you!"

All Might heard his words and thought for a while, before sighing.

"Sigh, look kid, a fearless smile?" All Might turned back to his normal appearance, and the green haired kid was shocked.

"WHAAAAT?! You became a normal muscle man! Is it your quirk? Does it allow you to transform? Or is it...." The green haired continued his mumbling without care.

"Woah woah, slow down kid, and no, it is no my quirk, well, you can say it was a side effect." All Might looked at him seriously and only continued when he saw the green haired kid fully paying attention to him,"You've seen the real me, kid. But don't write about it on the internet, okay? Five years ago, an enemy did this to me." All Might whipped out a photo that was hidden from who-knows-where, and it depicted the 'skinny' form of All Might, before he was healed by Shido.

"EEP!" The green haired boy screamed in shock seeing the man in the photo. His face was sunken in and he was as thin as a twig, but the most obvious trait was the huge scar present on the entire left side on his body, from the left shoulder all the way to the left of his waist.

"My respiratory system was nearly destroyed, and my stomach was removed. I was almost wasted away because of the after-effects of those surgeries. For a month, I could only do my hero work for about three hours a day."

"Five years ago...? Was that when you fought toxic chainsaw?" The green haired boy's entire body was trembling.

"Wow, you've truly done your homework. But that lowlife? He could never do this to me! That fight was never made public. That is, I asked that it not be made public, and for a good reason as well. The symbol of peace who saves people with a smile...must never be daunted by evil." All Might didn't have his usual smiling expression, but a very serious one as he said,"The reason I smile...is to stave off the overwhelming pressure and fear I feel. Yes, fear. Even me, the number one hero in Japan feels fear."

The green haired boy felt as if the world was crumbling down. 'The symbol of peace feels fear? I've always thought he could smile...smile because he was fearless. But...it turned out that...he smiled because...he needed to stave off the fear he feels..'

"A pro should always be ready to risk his life. Without power, can one become a hero? No, I should think not. In fact, if it weren't for him, I would probably be the man in the picture right now, maybe in an even worse state." All Might cruelly said. He knew that he should always encourage children, but he can't bring himself to risk their life for something they wouldn't be able to achieve. As much as he wanted to believe in them, reality had slapped him over and over again, proving him wrong again and again.

"Ah..." The green haired boy was still in shock, not knowing what to do now that his idol told him that he couldn't be a hero. 'What should I do now? Should I give up now?'

"If you desire to help people, becoming a police officer is always an option. Those villain custody officers are often mocked but..." All Might got up and started walking to the exit,"but that too is admirable work!"

Walking out, he didn't turn and face the green haired boy. "...It's not wrong to dream. However...you need to be realistic, kid."

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A/N: Phew...two chapters today, one tomorrow and we'll see how next week.

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