The next day, Asta ran into Izuku on the way to Odd Jobs. "Morning!"

"Good morning, Asta," greeted Izuku. "Are you getting used to traveling by yourself around town?"

"Yeah," replied Asta. Since Asta had a decent sense of direction, he was getting used to the structure of the town. Izuku was dressed in the new clothes he got yesterday from the Vongola store. It suited him in Asta's opinion. The clothes also made Asta think that Izuku would fit right into the Clover Kingdom. "Did you think about your hobbies?"

"Ah-ha, um, so it turns out that it's not a long list," said Izuku, laughing lightly.

"Oh, same," said Asta. "Wonder how annoyed our Boss is gonna be today with us."

"I'm sure it'll work out," said Izuku, positively.

They reached the entrance of Odd Jobs and entered to find that Gintoki was actually awake and eating egg-on-rice for breakfast. He looked up from his food when Asta and Izuku entered the room. "Oh, it's you two. I'm not feeding you breakfast."

"I ate," said Asta. Acier and Nickole cooked very well. (Noelle and Mimosa did not inherit that trait from their mothers. Asta's poor stomach can attest to that fact).

"Same," said Izuku. "So, we did what you said."

Gintoki blinked a couple of times, as if he didn't remember. Asta wondered if this guy was actually okay. Asta knew that he wasn't the brightest person but he remembered important conversations with people. "Uh, Boss, the hobbies?"

"Oh, right," said Gintoki, nodding. "And?"

"Er, collecting hero merchandise and writing hero analysis," said Izuku.

"Farming and writing letters," said Asta. Asta, after all, grew up in Hage Village, which was a farming village. Due to his strength from his training, he always helped out around town. Father Orsi always told Asta as a young boy that being a tato farmer would be Asta's backup plan, despite Asta's dreams of becoming the Wizard King.

Asta liked writing the stories of his adventures in letters. Sister Lily had saved all the letters and gave them back to Asta when he became Wizard King. In turn, he gave them to Marx and the former Wizard King Julius. They turned it into a book about Asta's adventures to become the Wizard King called quite fittingly "Black Clover." Asta didn't mind as it'd inspire others to go for their dreams no matter what.

"Those…are pathetic lists," said Gintoki, sighing heavily. Before Asta or Izuku protested, he continued, "But I thought as much. Asta, go to the Son Farm. Izuku, go to the Kurosaki clinic." He handed them two slips of paper. "Good luck."

Asta stared at the paper. The paper was for an apprenticeship at the Son Farm on a more-permanent basis. He leaned over to see what was on Izuku's paper. "Teaching assistant, huh?"

Izuku glanced over at Asta's paper. "So, Mr. Gintoki, it seems that you had us figured out."

Gintoki smirked. "I've spent enough time at the bars with people from your world to hear about you two upstarts. Asta, you're better at more physical labor to get rid of your excess energy, as you have trained your body since a very young age. Izuku, you've got a big brain that only thought of being a hero, so it's time to use your smarts. Goku and Ichigo can help you more than doing odd jobs with me."

Asta said, grinning, "Oh, so you do care." It caused Izuku to snicker.

"Don't push it," said Gintoki, rolling his eyes. "Now, go on, get out, you brats. I need to catch up on my sleep."

Asta and Izuku both bowed and said, "Thank you very much." Gintoki waved them off. Asta and Izuku left the office just as quickly as they entered.

"This will probably be better, to get into a routine again," said Izuku, smiling. "Good luck, Asta!"

"You too, Izuku," said Asta. "Say hi to Miss Orihime and Mr. Ichigo for me!" Asta and Izuku shook hands and went off in separate directions. Asta gripped the paper as he jogged in the direction of the Son Farm.

Yesterday when Asta did some work at the Son Farm, Goku had been a nice, cheerful guy, even if the older man got distracted often. Asta had to reject offers for spars four times. Without his anti-magic swords, he just had his unusual strength, but Goku can fly and shoot beams out of his hands. Asta was not quite up for sparring with someone as strong as Goku.

The Son Farm was the only farm in sight of this town. According to what he heard, other parts of this afterlife world did have other farms. When Asta asked where they got the seeds for the crops, Goku had just said that it came on a ship at the small port.

"Good morning, Mr. Goku," said Asta, waving at the older man. Son Goku was youthful looking older man. Asta had been shocked to find out that he was in his fifties when Goku died. Goku had a distinct look that would let anyone notice him right away.

"Ah, Asta, how are ya," asked Goku, waving at him. He was holding a spade in one hand. "Gin told me that you were coming to be my apprentice starting today! Thanks for the help."

Asta reached Goku's side to see that he was planting something new today. "Thanks for having me. I'm still adjusting to not being the Wizard King with 101 responsibilities as soon as I wake up. I haven't had this much free time in years!"

"Tell me about it," said Goku, chuckling. "Being dead can be boring as heck. I should know, I've died a total of three times!"

Asta stared at him. "You're joking?" Did that mean he came back to life not just once, but twice? How did a guy like Goku have a final death anyway?

"Nope," said Goku. "Ah, right, I forgot not all the worlds have Dragon Balls. Oh well! Anyway, today I'm trying to get the potato plants out. Farming here is so much easier than on Mount Pao, let me tell ya!"

Asta narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you mean tatoes."

"Yeah, potatoes," said Goku, tilting his head in confusion. It was clear to Asta that Goku didn't know the proper name for tatoes. How sad. "You wanna get dressed in some work clothes and follow me as I make the spots for the plants?"

Twenty minutes later, Asta was carrying a crate of tato plants as he followed Goku up and down the row. It was good to give his muscles a proper workout. Asta wasn't sure how it worked now that he was dead, but it made him feel better. "Hey, Mr. Goku, what did you do in your world?"

"Oh, well, train and fight most of the time," said Goku, shrugging. "There were martial arts tournaments and then bad guys that threatened my planet often. It was pretty hectic."

"Bad guys just gotta ruin everything," said Asta.

"Yeah," said Goku.

"How did you get into farming then," asked Asta, curious.

Goku laughed. "Well, Chi-Chi yelled at me to make money and so I farmed radishes to sell. If I gave her the money, she'd be okay when I went off to train."

"Your wife," asked Asta. Asta himself had never gotten married. His childhood fantasy of marrying Sister had long since faded. He thought that if he stayed alive more that he'd probably would eventually get married, though he didn't know who. There were only two people that made his heart skip a beat, which he had no chance with either.

"Yeah! Chi-Chi was the best cook," said Goku, stomach rumbling. "She definitely is the best wife for having put up with me! Thank goodness, she's strong. I mean, I'm not very smart, I didn't go to school, and the only thing I was good at was fighting. Farming was just a way to provide for my family."

"I guess since you were married, you have kids?"

"Yep! Two boys, Gohan and Goten," said Goku. "I've got a granddaughter too! Man, let's take a break, I'm hungry."

"I can't believe that you're a Grandpa!"

"Yeah," said Goku. "But being a grandpa is the best. I got to spoil her so much! With Gohan and Goten, it was different."

"Do you miss them," asked Asta.

Goku took Asta into his farmhouse kitchen. "All the time. But Chi-Chi is in Good People Heaven. Pan, Gohan and Goten are still alive. I know Zeno, so he lets me visit Chi-Chi."

"Who's Zeno?"

"The Supreme Ruler of the Multiverse," said Goku, without any hint of sarcasm. "He's a weird guy though. It's best I don't give him any more ideas. Last time, he hosted the Tournament of Power, the multiverse was almost wiped out."

Asta stared at Goku. "You've lived a weirder life than me."

"AHaha, probably," said Goku, cheerfully. Goku made a lot of rice, so that's what they had for lunch (with sides of vegetables). "What about your family? I bet you're missing them."

Asta sadly smiled. So, over their rice and vegetable lunch, Asta told Goku about his family in Hage and his family with the Black Bulls. He wound up talking a lot about Yuno and Noelle.

"Having a good rival is great! Especially if you're friends with them," said Goku, approvingly. "Your friends sound like they're really strong."

"They are," said Asta, fondly.

After lunch, they went back to finish up the tato planting. It took the rest of the afternoon, but it was enjoyable work. Or rather, it was just something that kept Asta busy. As they ate some more rice with vegetables as a snack, Asta asked Goku, "Are you happy here, doing this?"

"Well, not really. There's no reason to get stronger anymore, so training's not as fun," said Goku. "The other two times I died, I got a choice where I got to go, but this time, I got shoved here and I just have to make the most of it. It's harder for a lot of other people. I've always taken life as it comes, so I think I can handle most any situation. Look on the bright side, Asta, you're not alone. And if the people in your world had to keep up with you, I'm sure they are more than capable of handling things."

Asta nodded, as Goku ruffled his head. "Thanks."

"Sure. Are you coming back tomorrow?"

"You bet! Teach me well, Mr. Goku!"

Notes:

Cameos:

Sakata Gintoki from Gintama

Son Goku from Dragonball Z/Kai/GT/Super

(If anyone cares)

So, a note on Goku, he was the very first shounen protagonist that I had been introduced to when I was a young girl, so he's got a special place in my heart as a character and a protagonist BUT he's hard to write. His stupidity had been highly exaggerated, especially in Super (which is fun, but it feels like someone is a Vegeta fanboy on the animation or writing staff). But canonically he knows how to farm (just because he's not book smart does not mean anything) and he does love his family and his wife-I'll die defending that hill. After all, DB franchise is a fighting series, not focused on slice-of-life stuff.

THANKS FOR READING!

let me know what you think