The next few chapters are going to be cameo heavy from other series (majority WSJ manga, a few other manga I enjoy, and a couple of cartoons).
I'm not counting other BC or MHA characters as cameos.
Please enjoy
"I see a town entrance," said Asta, pointing excitedly. They had been traveling through the treetops for a few hours. Asta was happy to see that they were getting somewhere. After the startling realization that he was dead, Asta knew that he had to keep a positive face. Who knew what was going to happen?
"Great, let's go," said Izuku.
His cheerful companion certainly helped Asta remain positive. Asta was better when he had someone with him. He never wanted to be able to stew too long in the darker thoughts in his head. The traveling companions climbed down the trees so they didn't look like crazy people when they approached the town.
Asta spotted the young woman at the gate. The dark long-haired girl wearing a red-and-white robe set. Asta nodded and approached the woman. "Hi! I'm Asta. This is Izuku. We were wondering if we can get some help."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Sure. One question though. You two know what happened to you both right?"
"We're dead," said Asta, bluntly.
"Oh my God, don't say it like that, Asta," said Izuku, "but yes, we're dead."
The woman snorted. "Good. I'm Rei, also known as Sailor Mars. You'll get a rundown of everything at the Kurosaki clinic. It's straight down this road." She pointed to one of the three roads that branched off into different parts of the town. "Get checked out and you'll get the full story."
"Thanks so much for your help," said Izuku, giving Miss Rei a winning smile, yet she was duly unimpressed.
Asta grinned. "Come on, Izuku, let's check things out." Together, they headed down the road and after a few minutes, they spotted a clean and bright-looking clinic with the name "KUROSAKI" in bright red letters on the window. Izuku held open the door for Asta, so Asta went in first.
"Welcome! You must be new," said a cheerful voice.
Asta was hit with the sight of very beautiful woman with long orange hair, sitting at the desk, covered in papers and whatnot. "Hi! Miss Rei told us to come here."
"Of course, of course," said the woman. "Ichigo, dear! We've got two more!"
"Coming," called a male voice. A few moments later, a tall orange-haired man with a rather stern expression on his face came out of the backroom. Asta immediately liked the man. The older man gave off a calming aura. "Hi. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, this is my wife Orihime, and you are?"
"I'm Asta," he said, pointing at himself. "The Wizard King of Clover."
"Midoriya Izuku," said Izuku, "also known as the Hero Deku!"
"Ah, a wizard and a hero," said Ichigo, as if he knew who they were. "Well, come on with me. And we'll get everything sorted out." Asta and Izuku followed Ichigo and Orihime into the backroom. It was less a doctor's examining room and more like a professor's office, like at the old Clover University Asta visited previously. There was a couple of desks, clearly one belonging to Ichigo and the other Orihime. "Take a seat."
Ichigo sat in his chair, but Orihime remained standing. Asta and Izuku did what they told and sat in the chairs.
"I'm gonna check you both over for injuries," said Orihime. Her hairclip suddenly glowed and split into five fairies, similar to Yuno's Bell.
"Wow, that's so cool," said Asta, "are you magic too?"
Orihime brightened. "I wish! Oh it would be so cool to be a witch or a wizard!"
"Orihime, focus," said Ichigo, amused.
"Oh, right," said Orihime, laughing. "No, I'm not magic. These were born out of my close proximity to a certain guy. But that's a long story." Orihime's fairies covered both Izuku and Asta in some sort of glowing barrier and any exhaustion Asta felt from walking for hours was gone.
Izuku hummed. "So, it's not exactly healing, but like reversing time? Wow, that's really similar power to a girl I know! Amazing!"
"Wow, that's really is awesome," said Asta, stars in his eyes.
Orihime blushed but smiled. "You two are so sweet! Ichigo, aren't they sweet?"
"Extremely," said Ichigo, a bit deadpan, but he wasn't bothered by two strange men heaping praise on his wife.
The glow of the barrier faded and the fairies went back to form the hairclip. Asta stretched his arms. "Thank you!"
"Yes, thank you," said Izuku, politely. "But we were promised answers by Miss Rei?"
"That's your department, dear," said Orihime, cutely skipping out of the room, leaving the three men in the office.
Ichigo cleared his throat. "Yeah, so it's been established that you know you're dead."
"Got that," said Asta.
"Yeah, when we were in the woods," said Izuku, nodding.
"Right, so there's no turning back. This isn't a trick by an enemy. Or a spell or a quirk," said Ichigo, sternly. Ichigo stopped talking to let them process what he just told them, or so Asta would like to think.
Asta breathed out. He was afraid of that being the case. While it's nice to think that this was all a mistake, Asta knew it. He died and he wasn't going back home. Man, Yuno was gonna be so mad him. Asta looked over at Izuku, who seemed to be taking as badly as Asta.
"Where are we?"
"You want the easy answer or the complicated answer," retorted Ichigo.
"Easy first, then explain it in detail," requested Asta. He may not be the brightest person in the world, but if something was explained clearly to him then he would understand.
Ichigo looked at Izuku, who nodded in confirmation. Sighing, the older orange-haired man replied, "You're in the Heroes' Afterlife. That's the easy answer."
"Heroes' Afterlife," asked Izuku, making a face, not liking the answer.
Asta didn't know there was more than Heaven and Hell. He was, of course, raised in a Church orphanage. He knew there were other realms (like where the devils came from), but other afterlives? Asta didn't know that, so he needed more to go on and asked, "Okay, so what's the complicated answer?"
"In the multiverse as a whole," started Ichigo, "there are many worlds like the world of Quirks you came from, Izuku, or the world of mana you came from, Asta, and so on. However, each of the various worlds, there are a set number of "afterlives." There are the classics—Heaven and Hell. Heaven is for all the good people. Hell is for all the bad people. However, and this is where it gets complicated. There's a place called Purgatory for those who aren't bad but aren't good, but can get into Heaven, if in the next life, they be good."
"That makes sense," said Asta.
"There's also places called Soul Society, King Enma's Realm, the Grand Kai Plane and so forth—these are the backbones to the afterlife. The Soul Society trains Soul Reapers, collectors of souls. King Enma passes judgement on the souls. Grand Kai and the other Kais watch over the various worlds. There's also Gods and their worlds, but let's not go there," continued Ichigo, who clearly had to explain these hundreds of times. "And then, there's here. The Heroes' Afterlife. A world with no enemies, and filled with endless possibilities. This place was created to give the heroes of the various world a chance to do something other than beat bad guys, save the world and sacrifice for everyone else. So we're told. What happens when a hero dies is they get a brief judgement from Enma and if deemed heroic enough, you get dropped into the Reckoning Woods. Memories are fuzzy at first and then, you realize that you're dead. This town with no name is usually the first stop for everyone. There are other towns and places in this Afterlife, you can go too."
Asta kept quiet, because some thoughts were forming in his head.
Izuku exclaimed, "A retirement home for dead heroes?"
Nodding his head, Ichigo said, "Trust me. It's a lot to deal with it when you're basically put out to pasture."
"So, everyone here were heroes of their worlds," stated Asta, "meaning that you saved your world or beat the bad guys. That means Miss Rei and whomever else we meet here are just like us."
"Exactly," replied Ichigo. "You won't really need to train. You don't even need to eat, though you'll miss food sometimes, so there is food. It's quiet and peaceful."
"So, what? You just find other things to do," asked Izuku.
"Basically. Orihime is a healer, so if anyone has any phantom pains, she handles them. I provide schooling for heroes who died when they were under the age of 18 and give the introduction talk to newcomers," said Ichigo, shrugging. "I mean, it's mundane and boring, but everyone here is going through similar things. You meet a lot of interesting people here. Any more questions?"
"So, what was that light show earlier," asked Asta. It was how they found the town in the first place. He and Izuku could not have been delusional and imagined it.
"Oh, Goddamnit, Goku must be training again," said Ichigo, rolling his eyes. "You'll meet Goku sooner rather than later. A word to wise, don't fight him, even if you think can take him, you can't, by the way, but he'll never leave you alone, if he finds out you're strong, always asking for a spar."
"Good to know," said Izuku, eyes narrowed. "Now what?"
Asta nodded. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"Well, I'd start by going to the Uzumaki Ramen Stand," said Ichigo. "It's this town's most popular hang-out and I'm sure you'll love to meet Naruto. It's a couple of blocks west of the clinic."
"Well, that sounds like a start," said Asta. "Then, I guess I can figure out what I'm going to do in my "retirement.""
"I'll go with you," said Izuku, "even if we don't need food, some ramen sounds good."
"Enjoy. Say hi to Naruto and Hinata for me," said Ichigo, nodding.
"Thanks for your help," said Asta, getting out of the chair, shaking Ichigo's hand. Ichigo and Izuku shook hands, while Asta stretched a bit. "Come on, Izuku, let's head out."
Asta and Izuku headed out of the Kurosaki Clinic, after saying goodbye to Orihime too (and promising the sweet lady that they would come over to visit). As they headed west on the blocks, Asta observed the town, an eclectic architecture style, though in the grid system of town organization. There were a lot of shops—for anything you could think. It really did look like these people went back to hobbies that they did have time for when they were alive.
"I saw like seventeen bookstores," said Izuku, shaking his head.
"Yeah, between a tea shop, a coffee shop, a pastry shop and a witch shop," said Asta, nodding. "This is gonna be so weird. I don't know how to be anything than the Wizard King."
Izuku gave him a serious look, one that told Asta that Izuku understood. "All my life I wanted to be a hero, it's all I know."
Asta was silent, as they approached a small hole-in-the-wall ramen stand. The smell coming from the place was mouth-watering. They moved the curtains at the entrance and got stools. There was a raven-haired woman by the stove cutting up some vegetables and a blond-haired man who was chatting with the only other customer, raven-haired rough-looking guy.
"Ah, hiya, welcome. Your new faces," said the woman. "Did Ichigo send you over?"
"Yes," said Izuku, smiling. "I'm Izuku and this Asta. We kind of arrived at the same time."
"Welcome," said the blond-haired man. Once Asta got a good look at the man, he had three whisker-marks on both of his cheeks, making him look like a fox. "I'm Naruto, this is my lovely wife Hinata, and that hooligan is Yusuke."
"Hey now. I've haven't been a hooligan since my teen years," commented the other customer, laughing.
"Ignore them," said Hinata, smiling kindly. "What kind of ramen would you like?"
"Miso please," said Asta.
"Ah, chicken ramen please," said Asta. Yami had made ramen on the rare occasion he felt like outshining Jack at the Star Festivals.
"You bet, sweeties," said Hinata, turning back around and getting to their orders.
"Well, I'm out," said Yusuke. He grinned at Asta and Izuku. "If you guys need a place to stay while you figure your shit out, I run an inn just down the road! There's no money so it's free!" Yusuke ran out of the ramen stand, heading off.
"So, how did the conversation with Ichigo go," asked Naruto, smiling. "It's a lot to process."
"Well, I think," said Asta. "I just don't know what I'm doing to do know."
"Agreed," said Izuku. "I also want to know how he knew about quirks and magic."
"Oh, we get all kinds around here," said Naruto, laughing. "There's a lot of magic people kicking about, but fewer people with quirks."
"Order up," said Hinata, handing Asta a bowl and Izuku a bowl. "Enjoy! I'll make you some tea to wash it down."
"Hey-yo, Naruto, Hinata! A couple of miso ramen for us," called out a voice. It was a familiar voice to Asta, a voice he hadn't heard in years. The curtain moved and two more people entered the stand. "Asta? Is that you?"
"Licht! Lord Lumiére! You two are here," asked Asta, standing up and approaching the elf and the first Wizard King. He didn't think that he'd meet anyone he knew. He should have figured that they would be here!
"Asta, while I'm saddened to see that you've perished, I'm happy to see you here. We have to catch up. Let me know how my dear Secre is doing," said Lumiére Silvamillion Clover.
"And how are Patri, Raia, Fana and Vetto," asked Licht.
"Let the boy eat, you two," scolded Naruto. "Don't bombard him right away! Asta, sit and finish eating."
"Ah, forgive us," said Lumiére, "we haven't seen Asta in ages. We told you about him, Naruto! The young man with anti-magic!"
"Oh, that was some time ago, wasn't it," said Naruto. "You two showed up, oh, about 12 years ago, if I recall correctly."
"And who is this young man," asked Licht, as he and Lumiére sat down on the stools, referring to Izuku.
"That's Izuku, he's a hero! We met in the woods and came here together," said Asta.
"A Hero," questioned Lumiére and then he brightened even more than usual. "Oh, you must be Yagi's boy!"
"All Might's here," yelped Izuku, standing up. "Where?"
"Sit down and eat," said Naruto, firmly. "I'll send a message to old Yagi and have him come around. It looks like there's gonna be some reunions in order." Naruto stepped outside and came back a few minutes later. Asta must have looked confused. "Oh! Next door is a courier service."
"This is wild," said Asta, shaking his head. It was almost too much to handle. Poor Izuku almost looked ready to hunt down this All Might/Yagi guy down. Hinata served up more bowls of ramen, so everyone decided to eat, while Asta updated Lumiére and Licht on everything that happened since the battle again Zagred. It was nice to talk about home.
Once the ramen and tea was consumed, there was a bellowing voice, as a figure entered the crowded ramen stand. "I am here!"
"All Might!?"
Cameo appearances:
-Sailor Mars/Rei from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
-Inoue Orihime and Kurosaki Ichigo from Bleach
-Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata from Naruto
-Urameshi Yusuke from Yu Yu Hakusho