This is not a story about how I died, nor is it a story about my life up until UA's entrance exam. The latter is not something I recall fondly, and there's not much worth talking about in the beginning that can't be spoon-fed over time. I never understood why other writers liked doing it, as they more often than not detract from the real meat of their works.
No. This is a story about my attempts to change the events of My Hero Academia, one of the most popular anime series before I kicked it, all for my benefit. In my case, the best place to start would have to be the day some friends of mine convinced me to send an envelope, addressed to All Might and his inner circle. Even if they didn't believe me, they reasoned, I could at least laugh at them and say, "I told you so".
Manga's words, not mine.
Honest!
"That's your brilliant idea?" I asked incredulously. "Leave it in my own mailbox, email someone to go get it, and just pretend I have no idea where this mysterious cache of information came from?"
Tooru placed her hands on her hips as she pouted, which was only obvious from the impressions on her top. "Hey, you're the one who wanted a way to both avoid suspicion and keep the envelope safe, right?"
"How is this going to help me avoid suspicion?!"
"Because they're not going to look at your mailbox until you ask them to! The inner circle won't catch you placing the package because you've already done it, and you can just claim someone else put it in your mailbox under your nose. For all they care, your house is just a random drop off point."
"But what about when I go to UA?"
"Pure coincidence." Tooru patted my shoulder. "Besides, they won't be looking for a kid. They'll be looking for an American tourist who could be anywhere in the world. That's who the writer is at heart, right?"
My mind flashed back to my initial ideas of using public areas, as well as the potential for cameras, hidden or otherwise. Then it moved onto the idea of using vacant houses, and the difficulties of surveillance and stealth in that type of situation. And finally, I remembered considering Manga's idea for electronic transfer, and my fears of how easily such files could be compromised.
"Are you sure this is the best idea?"
"I don't see you coming up with anything better."
Damn. Nothing good was coming up.
"No, no I don't." I caved. "But if this doesn't work, I blame you."
"Fine by me."
Ten minutes after plotting the delivery, I placed my notes, 75 double sided pages of typed words and scanned illustrations, into a fresh manilla envelope, taking care not to leave prints or fibers on them. After a final round of triple checking for cameras within the vicinity, I finally placed the envelope into my own mailbox.
With that done, we proceeded to the next phase of the delivery; notifying All Might. Well, not him directly, but his friend on the force, Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi.
"To Detective Tsukiachi," I said aloud as my fingers hit the keyboard. "I would like to start off regarding a scuffle your associate, Yagi Toshinori, was involved in five years ago-"
"Uh, Gen-chan?" I felt a hand tap me on the shoulder. "UA is two years away, it should say three years."
I lightly palmed my forehead. "Right, right. Thanks, Tooru." Turning my attention back to the screen, I resumed typing. "Three years ago. The person responsible, in addition to crippling Mister Yagi, was also guilty for the murder of his mentor, Shimura Nana. But after this incident was over, it was believed that the perpetrator had died.
"I regret to inform you that is not the case."
"But as much as I would like to share further details, I can't do it like this, not when they can easily be recorded by unwanted parties. If you or your associates are interested, come to the address listed below at 17:30 tomorrow. You'll find an envelope inside the associated mailbox."
I typed up a few more sentences, proofread it twice, and finally asked for Tooru's opinion on the message.
"I think this is good enough, Gen-chan," Tooru answered. "It's short, it proves your- what did Manga call it again?"
"Meta-knowledge?"
"Yeah, that!" Tooru's short sleeve waved rapidly."And the instructions are simple enough to follow. Send it."
"Yeah, yeah. Just let me ensure that it's all nice and untraceable, and… sent."
"Done."
I grimaced at the word, as once again, I hadn't been the one to say it.
Every week, Manga and I would sit ourselves under the backyard canopy and engage in a contest of speed drawing, with Tooru as the referee. Manga, more often than not, would beat me by three-quarters on average, but I was getting better. It was still kind of depressing to lose to him though, and this time was worse.
Because this time, the subject matter this time was one of my own creations; a Masked Rider like figure drawn from above, below, front, back, the left, and the right.
"I swear," I muttered as I looked at the drawings. "My Quirk is the one that relies specifically on drawing, and you still manage to outdo me."
"Thank ya, thank ya very much," Manga preened. Good to know Elvis's memes had survived to this era. "Maybe I'm just better at copying stuff than making it. I have yet to see something crazier than what you cook up."
"You know I just take bits and bobs from Yugioh, right? And Gundam, Arms, Evangelion-"
"Point still stands." Manga interrupted me. "What's the time right now?"
Tooru's phone floated off the desk before sparking to life. "Almost time for someone to come get the envelope." The phone went back on the table…
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!/Hagakure, what are you?!-"
Along with her shirt and bra. I get that neither me nor Manga could really see anything (unless she wanted to), but come on, man! Principles!
"Shh! You don't want whoever's coming to know they're watched, right?" A floating pair of shorts made its way over to the fence, where there was a clear view of the mailbox.
"No, but-"
"Hold that thought, someone's coming." Tooru's voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "It's a he, I think."
"You think?" Manga whispered back, a question mark forming on his bubble.
"He's a thin, sickly-looking skeleton, I doubt he's even human."
Thin, sickly-looking...oh, of course. Only he would be best qualified for something like this...
"Anything else you'd like to add, Tooru?"
"So you do recognize him. Well let's see, scraggly blond hair, with a suit several sizes too big. I'm guessing he's good?"
"Yeah, I'd say so. Let's let him leave with the envelope, it's in secure hands now."
Me, Manga, and a topless Tooru waited for All Might- no, Toshinori Yagi, to drive off with the envelope. Once I was sure he was gone, the first thing I did was shove Tooru's discarded shirt above the general area of her shorts. Tooru's reaction, oddly enough, was to give an audible smirk and bend down to pick up the bra I didn't dare think of touching. Finally, she spoke.
"It's all right, Gen-chan." she said with all the gentleness of a breeze, patting my cheek as she continued to speak. "You're a dirty old man at heart, and I've accepted that. So don't worry."
"Except I'm not!" I wailed, little wings flapping in indignance. Why, oh why, did I have to be friends with an invisible streaker?!
And as for Manga...
"And me?" he asked gingerly. The gentle breeze changed into a sharp gale.
"You, I'm dealing with later."
"Ehh?!"
"But for now, Gen-chan." And back to a gentle breeze. "Who exactly was that person?"
"Tooru, Manga," I rubbed my eyes. Guess I should've added a drawing when they made me spill the beans that day. "Do you remember when I talked about how All Might got crippled in what was supposed to be his final battle with All for One?"
"Yeah, but what does-" Manga's small question mark straightened into an exclamation point. "Wait, you don't mean that was-"
"Yes, yes that was. Tooru Hagakure," and I could see her stiffen up now that she was decent again, "That skinny blonde skeleton you just saw was All Might. That's what he's really like whenever he's not busy saving people."
"...That was All Might?!" Tooru and Manga shrieked in unison.
"Yeah." By the time my ears stopped ringing, both of my friends were still and silent. "Are you going to be okay, guys?"
"Yeah, yeah." Tooru parroted. "It's just never really sunk in until now, but," "All Might's not going to be a hero any longer, is he?"
"Well, hold on," Manga protested, as the number of sweat drops tripled rather than doubled on his bubble. "On a logical level, All Might's been the Symbol of Peace for so long, he'd have to retire at some point, but," He turned towards me. "Is everything you said really going to happen while we're still students?"
I nodded. "I'm sorry. Do, do you guys need a minute or-"
"Gen-chan, he was our hero." Tooru muttered. "He may not have been your hero, but he was our hero. Just-" She took a few short breaths to gather her thoughts, and was ready to resume talking-
"Takanashi. Here's what's going to happen."
-before Manga beat her to it.
"Tooru and I are going to take a day or two to cry over the impending retirement of the greatest hero this world has ever seen. After that's over, we are going to work on being strong. Stronger than our canon counterparts, strong enough to survive the oncoming crapstorm, heck, maybe even stronger than All Might, if we ever get there."
He jabbed a finger into my chest. "So you'd better have some good pointers ready for us by the time we get back, got it?"
"I understand." I patted the offending hand, to which Manga took as his cue to stand up and start packing his art tools and paper. All Tooru needed to do was put her phone back in her pocket, and both were headed to the door when I had one more thing to say.
"Tooru, Manga." I could see them turn back to me just before I bowed my head. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop any of this."
"Genji." I snapped my head back up to Manga. "It's alright. Just remember to focus on what's next instead of what's happened, okay?"
And with that, my friends left the house, gently closing the door behind them. Leaving just me, my drawings, and a slight pang of guilt over having broken their peace of mind. But surely, it was going to be worth it if it meant they'd grow stronger, right?
Right?