Chapter 2

Chapter 2

This is a wonderful and strange another world, full of heroes.

Unlike the limited number of PSI holders in HL, over 80% of people in this world have a superpower called a "Quirk."

So, to deal with crimes committed using Quirks, a popular new job—"Hero"—sprang up, letting people legally use their Quirks to fight crime and save others.

Unlike the traditional image of heroes, as a profession, the definition of a hero in modern society has been greatly broadened, leading to a rapid saturation of the number of "heroes." People see heroes in action almost every day somewhere.

"Hmm... what a strange place," Kirisame muttered, walking down the street sucking on a lollipop from a convenience store. "They even have rules for using abilities... If HL were this peaceful, KK and the others wouldn't have to work overtime every day."

The little girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with a line of English scrawled hastily in dark green ink.

It was an address—likely her ticket to survival in this world.

Though it doesn't sound very cool, before she turned five, Kirisame basically lived day to day, never knowing if she'd eat again. She stumbled and crawled just to survive.

After the Great Collapse, New York was rebuilt into a weird city where the other world meets the real world—Hellsalem's Lot. It was a thoroughly unreasonable place, where races with diverse abilities and values maintained a dangerous balance on the same land. Life could be snuffed out for any absurd reason, holding less significance than a sandwich in the eyes of strangers.

A man-eating clam in the restaurant's soup of the day biting off your head, being crushed into a meat patty by something falling from the sky, getting mugged by a three-meter-tall, six-armed alien... Taking the subway meant you'd check the survival rate first.

For example, once, when Kirisame was starving and tried to rummage through a trash can, someone beat her to it. That trash can turned out to be a creature similar to a pitcher plant. The person's hand barely went in before they were flipped upside down and swallowed whole, the digestive process beginning.

She was scared but somehow didn't want to leave. She hung around for a week. No one came looking for him, and nothing was different. That person just vanished without a trace, as if the sounds he made and the blood he shed meant nothing.

She forgot about it later.

And such things happened every day, at every hour, in every corner of the city.

...Even something like staying home playing games and getting your head blown off by a safe flying through the window, only to find inside the president's talking magical head—that wasn't worth writing in a diary.

However, after being taken in by Klaus, the boss of the secret society Libra, Kirisame's food problems were taken care of. Though Mr. Zapp, who was tasked with looking after her, was never reliable for a second, she never went hungry despite facing various life-threatening dangers every day (scratch that). On holidays, she could even mooch meals off Mr. Steven. Grandpa Butler slipped her snacks now and then. Every day Kirisame lived was incredibly happy before Leo showed up.

Of course, after Leo came, it was just "happiness" and "more happiness." Because of his naturally gentle and kind nature, the boy basically gave in to all the little girl's requests—he'd give her anything she asked for, even the moon.

—So why am I even going to school...?

Although the boss had thoughtfully arranged a temporary guardian and a place for her to live, Kirisame, inexplicably kicked out by the organization to "further her education," was still confused and pretty annoyed.

The little girl's sense of direction went haywire the moment she got off the subway. After passing a very familiar-looking alley for the third time, Kirisame realized she might be lost.

"Ugh... There are way too many of these giant All Might posters. This is the third time I've seen one in just a little while..." The girl stood on tiptoe to look at the giant poster plastered on the wall. A man with a physique rivaling the boss's and a very distinctive rabbit-ear hairstyle smiled brilliantly. But to Kirisame at that moment, his "laughing confidently while giving a thumbs-up" pose looked super sarcastic:

"Or have I already passed by here three times..."

She smacked her forehead in frustration.

"Oh, young lady— pfft, cough, cough, you lost?" All Might struggled to suppress his urge to cough up blood as he spoke.

After fighting for a long time while badly injured and hitting his transformation limit, the simple act of sneaking into an empty alley when no one was looking had already worn him out. When he saw someone approaching, he was startled, afraid that his blood-soaked appearance would scare her. But it turned out the girl didn't seem to notice him at all, just staring at his poster on the wall for a while.

[I thought she might be a huge fan, but it turns out she's just lost...]

The number one hero felt a little weird.

Of course, Kirisame had seen him. This man had appeared when she first entered the alley. He was thin and shriveled like half a dead tree branch, collapsed against the wall and covered in blood. Judging from how he coughed up blood with every word, it was likely his own blood, possibly with various other injuries.

To be honest, meeting a scene like this in a peaceful place would be pretty terrifying, but in HL, things like this happened almost daily. In every ten alleys, you'd find eleven people barely alive, and the last one would be a high-risk species. Since this man didn't seem to be asking for help or intending to attack, Kirisame, going by the rule of "the less trouble, the better," didn't go near him.

Until the guy called out to her.

Kirisame finally turned her gaze to him. Though too weak to stand and leaning against the wall, the man maintained a slightly tense posture. His striking golden hair stood upright, and his sunken eyes held a bright, piercing blue that seemed to burn.

—Although he looked like he was about to die, he felt like someone really strong.

"Yes, do you know how to get here?" Kirisame approached and showed All Might the note.

"Ah-pfft— Oh, from here, go right, then straight ahead, then left, cough, and you'll see a sign on the main road." All Might struggled to lift a finger and point in a direction.

[By the way, this girl is way too calm...]

Kirisame repeated the route in her mind, bowed slightly to thank the kind man, then turned and left the alley.

Until she walked away, the dying man didn't say another word, not even to ask for an ambulance.

But for some reason, Kirisame suddenly remembered something she had seen a while ago when she secretly followed Leo once. That young man, for some reason, stubbornly refused to use his "God's Eye" and was cornered by a few thugs in an alley and beaten. Although Kirisame later quietly avenged him, the image of that boy curled up on the ground clutching himself had lingered in her mind.

It looked a lot like that man's current state.

The little girl sighed and turned back.

All Might thought he might die right there. Blood loss-induced blurred consciousness tormented him; his whole body was cold, with excruciating pain inside, unable to move even a finger.

Luckily, the girl had left earlier. If she had been scared and brought someone, things would have become more troublesome...

...Huh? She's back!

Damn! His body could no longer move, and All Might's heart sank.

Kirisame carefully approached him, crouched down, and roughly checked his condition.

"Hmm... This is pretty serious. I definitely can't heal it on my own."

The girl's black hair fell beside his face. All Might opened his mouth to say something.

"Let's see if I can at least get you moving again."

Her right hand, hanging at her side, made a grasping motion as if reaching into an invisible dimensional pocket. The next moment, she actually pulled out a sword from thin air.

The short sword Yagen Toushirou, enhanced by its master's power, shimmered faintly, giving the blade a slightly unreal appearance.

Then black flames rose from the girl's right hand holding the sword. The short sword seemed to catch fire, flames spreading from the hilt to the tip, engulfing the entire blade in black fire.

Holding the sword with one hand, Kirisame pressed down on the man with her left. As All Might's eyes widened, she stabbed him straight down.

A sharp pain coursed through All Might's body. He struggled in vain, thinking, "This is it for me." His consciousness gradually sank into darkness, and the last thing that lingered in his mind was the black fire mark suddenly appearing in Kirisame's golden right eye.

Two circles connected, with intricate black curves spinning and swirling inside—that was the crest of the short sword Yagen Toushirou.

!!! I'm still alive—

Waking from the daze, All Might jumped up, about to transform.

Wait, jump?!

The alley was empty. The man was surprised to find that he could move again. He quickly checked himself—the hidden injuries were still there, but the fresh wounds had completely healed, and even his fatigue had largely dissipated.

[Was it that lost girl from before...]

This incident wasn't that big or small; in theory, nothing was strange about having a Quirk in this world, but the girl's behavior was too peculiar. All Might still couldn't determine what her motives were or what she had done to him, so he could only silently note this and make plans later.

—That's what he thought.

Until he saw the little girl wandering around and turning back in again.

[...Uh, you again?]

They stared at each other, and the girl covered her face in resignation.

"Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Kirisame paused for a moment, then decided to salvage the situation, flashing a ridiculously innocent, sweet smile at the golden-haired man in front of her.

[Even if you pretend nothing happened, you can't cover up the fact that you're lost again, girl!!]

[You really did leave!!]

[Why did I think a kid who can't even find her way out of a straight alley with two turns might be an enemy agent...]

All Might was screaming inside, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Mm... mm, was that your Quirk back there? Thank you so much, girl. Sorry for the trouble!" He had intended to make up an excuse for what just happened, but the other party showed no intention of asking. The shrunk hero finally decided to play along and brush it off.

[...Not even worried if I might have altered your body?]

Passing out in HL was risky; you could never know how many weird spells could get planted inside you while you were unconscious.

This really is a completely different place now, the girl sighed inwardly, truly feeling for the first time that she was in a different world.

"It's no big deal. Thanks for showing me the way." Kirisame avoided the topic of "Quirk" and turned to leave. "Then, maybe we'll meet again if fate allows."

All Might watched helplessly as she turned back in the direction she had come from.

He didn't know what to say, and was even a little amused.

Letting out a sigh, the golden-haired man stepped forward and grabbed the kid.

"I'll take you there, as thanks for saving me."

Meanwhile, in an abandoned honmaru in another timeline, everyone was gathered for dinner.

As soon as Yagen Toushirou picked up his miso soup, he sensed something familiar was off. Looking down, he saw that his sword—the tanto—was gone from his waist. A nearby sword noticed his movement and looked over worriedly:

"Lady is using your sword? Did she get hurt?"

"Yeah." Yagen nodded, putting the soup bowl back on the table. "I'll go see."

As soon as he said that, the short sword boy's form flickered like a TV with bad reception, then vanished from the table.

The swords watched where he had disappeared, full of worry.

No one heard the quiet grumble of the red-eyed katana boy.

"What's the point of just going to look? Over there he doesn't even have a body—completely useless for helping her..."

Kashū Kiyomitsu lowered his head, his hands clenched tight.