章 3: Might Tower...?

Although my head was held upright with apparent normality and my arms were firmly around my "mother's" back, my dull eyes through a helmet visor betrayed my true feelings.

Apathy and discouragement dominated my mind.

What was the point of getting out of bed? What was the point of taking one step after another? After all, my father was no longer here to see me, and when he was, I failed to make him proud.

It was my first time out of the hospital, and yet even that failed to encourage me to stop sinking deeper into my misery.

Why try, right?

"Nate, did you see that hero flying around?"

Hero? What was this woman talking to me about?

"No..."

"Ah, you missed it!"

All I could see were the creepy cars in front of us, not really paying attention, just watching while I tortured myself in my own mind.

"We're home, my little one!"

Her voice brought me out of my reverie, and before I knew it, I was now standing in front of a flattened three-story building.

From my four-year-old perspective, the building appeared larger than it really was. However, even with my childish stature, it still seemed insignificant compared to the many places I had lived before.

"I'm going to put the motorcycle away, you can get your butt up first."

I blinked and preferred to ignore the bad language.

"Get up...get up where?"

Was this even a suitable place for people to live?

"And where else, dumb? Home."

With an upraised finger, he pointed to the last door on the left of the third floor. There was a short gap between each door.

"Since you were eating the hospital food shitty for a week, I bought your favorite ice cream flavor combination!"

My hairs stood on end.

You'd think a good-looking woman would be more demure with her speech, but she was doing just the opposite.

She seemed to do it on purpose to annoy me, but after living with that woman for a whole week, I understood that sometimes things are not what they seem.

"All right, I'll go upstairs..."

There was no convenient elevator, but simple stairs, although it certainly wouldn't make sense for there to be but....

"Why, God?"

Cautiously and tensely, I raised one of my hands and opened the navy blue door. What I saw, left me shuddering.

A tiny living room, without a harmonious order and with clothes lying here and there. The trash can was overflowing and voices were loudly reproduced.

The way someone lives usually reflects their values and upbringing, and this case was absolute chaos, no matter how you looked at it.

The quick image of the apartment I had been living in for the last year came into my head, this couldn't even be called a pigsty.

How could anyone be so careless?

I took a moment to walk slowly, avoiding the women's clothing strewn everywhere, and approached the television, which was on full blast.

Voices in Japanese flooded my ears and, the closer I got, Japanese words filled my sight.

Yes, somehow, I was in Japan.

As I listened to her speaking heated Japanese to the nurses, it hit me.

But even though the language was right, strangely, people didn't look the way they should.

He had traveled to Japan several times, so he knew what he was talking about.

It's so surreal... How could it not be just a dream?

I carefully examined the flat screen before me. On the sign, the words were jumbled together in a jumble unreadable to me, but the most striking thing was the figure that captured all the attention.

A huge, heroic-looking man stood out from the crowd, standing twice as tall as the others and holding a pair of scissors that matched his imposing stature.

Behind the people stood a tower the size of Trump Tower; a red ribbon stood out in front of the doors.

It was an inauguration.

A microphone was held out to him and he held it securely between his square fingers.

His voice resonated powerfully, complementing his imposing presence as he stared into the camera, as if his gaze was directed exclusively at me.

"...PLUS ULTRA!"

As he concluded his speech, those were the only words I managed to catch.

"Plus Ultra...?"

What did that mean?

Suddenly, just as he was about to reflect, the six-foot-plus man flexed his knees and jumped.

The cameras lost sight of him briefly, but as he ascended in incredible fashion, they managed to capture him again.

"What?!"

My eyes widened like saucers and he, with no apparent effort, landed gracefully on the roof of the tower.

"Oh, I completely forgot that All Might was inaugurating the Might Tower today."

"Ahh!"

I almost jumped like a cat when the blonde woman spoke out of nowhere. However, I pretended nothing had happened.

"All Might? Might Tower? What's that?"

She looked at me quizzically, as if the answer was more than obvious.

Was it my fault? Of course not, in fact, it was this strange world's fault for being so out of place.

My face remained unperturbed.

"Ha, are you trying to play a joke on me, you little bastard?"

Bastard... Was that any way to call a son? What a savagery, for God's sake!

Besides... that implied a whole bunch of other things!

"Gotcha, didn't I? Hahaha!"

That laugh...that laugh irritated me. I gritted my teeth.

"Alright, alright. I'll play along but don't get mad, okay?"

"All Might is the number one hero in all of Japan! A handsome, blond, beefy hunk who keeps the peace in this small but chaotic nation! He's a true hero!"

Hero? A true hero, you say?

Despite the nonsensical and delusional nature of her words, strangely, what she said didn't sound unreal to me.

First, my soul, in some way that escaped me, migrated into the body of an infant son of an American living in Japan.

Second, said child had a peculiar but genuine orange hair color.

Third, the people were completely different from those I had seen on my various trips to Japan. Slant eyes were in the minority and black hair as well. The only thing that remained was height; "my mother" was taller than most.

In short, the abnormal seemed to be the normal in this world.

"And the Might Tower, well..."

This time, she paused to think.

"Ah, yes, the Might Tower is All Might's personal office."

Wait, personal office?

That whole skyscraper just as an office for one person...? That was admirable. If this was just an office, surely he would own other properties as well. Very impressive.

That was what my father would have wanted for me, yes.