It took ten three-hour long after-dinner conversations for Asta to get to the point of his story where he became the Wizard King. Izuku had been enraptured by Asta's tale of magic, demons, elves and how Asta overcame a lot to prove everyone wrong. The fact that Asta not once, not twice, but three times almost lost use of his arms, but persevered through was stunning. Who knew that he and Asta would have so much in common?

"My work as the Wizard King was pretty boring in comparison to my journey to that point. I spent a lot of time arguing in the Magic Parliament and doing paperwork to do the proper changes necessary for the Magic Knights. Since I saved the Kingdom so many times, I made friends with the younger nobles and royals, so when they took over for their parents, we changed a lot of things. When the Crown Prince took over for King Augustus, it was a day that had most crying tears of happiness. Things got so much easier after that," finished Asta, grinning. And from what Asta said about the King when he was a Magic, Izuku knew that it had been the best choice for the Clover Kingdom.

"It's still so amazing," said Izuku, sighing. "If I knew someone like you as a kid, I would've been way braver."

"Well, we would've been friends, just like we are now," said Asta. He was so certain and it made Izuku happy to have met him, even if they were dead.

"I'm glad it all worked out," said Izuku. "Guess Yuno had to be content with the Captain of the Golden Dawn spot."

"And the Captain of the Royal Knights and my main advisor," said Asta, rolling his eyes at the thought of his best friend/rival. "I'm sure he's the Wizard King now that I'm gone. He's suffering under mounds of paperwork, I hope."

Izuku laughed lightly. Asta hadn't told him the story about the day he died and Izuku didn't blame him, even if Izuku wanted to know. "So, I guess it's my turn?"

"Yep, yep! I can't wait to hear how you became a hero," said Asta.

His positivity was infectious, and Izuku said, "Alright, we'll start my story tonight, but it's a long one too."

"I'm all ears. I'll make you some roasted tatoes tomorrow," said Asta.

"Sounds good," said Izuku. Asta had taken his time at the Son Farm seriously and began cooking the food harvested. And Izuku ate almost everything, so he was a good test taster. Clearing his throat, Izuku began his story. "All men are not created equal. This was the reality I learned about society at the young age of four. And that was my first and last setback."

Asta gave him a look because he knew exactly what Izuku was saying.

Izuku sighed, and continued, "It all began in China, Qingqing City. There was news that a baby that gave off light was born. Ever since then, superpowers were discovered in various places, and time passed without the cause being identified. Before we knew it, the supernatural became normal, and dreams became reality. The world has become a superhuman society, and about 80% of the world's population now has some kind of special trait. In this world swirling with chaos, the profession that everyone once dreamed about and admired came into the limelight. It was the age of heroes."

"And that's what you wanted to be since forever, huh?"

Flushing, Izuku glared at Asta to let him continue the story, "Along with the superpowers came an explosive increase in crime. As the country was stuck in the slow progress in drastic law reforms, courageous people started performing heroic acts from out of comic books. Guarding against superpowers and defending against evil. Heroes were soon accepted by the public, and it was established as an official position. Based on their performance, they are paid by the government and gain renown among the masses. And the greatest of these heroes was All Might."

"Haha, I shoulda figured you'd get to why you are Yagi's number one fan," said Asta, teasing but not mean.

Izuku laughed. "Well, yeah."

"Okay, okay, continue. So All Might was THE hero," said Asta, prompting Izuku for more.

"When I was four, I discovered that I had an extra toe joint which meant I was Quirkless in a superpowered society, but that didn't make me want to be a hero any less," said Izuku. He smiled fondly, memories of his life flashing in his head as he spoke. "But I thought there was nothing I could do about not having a quirk. In hindsight, I should've trained my body like you, but everyone constantly telling me that I should give up really did something to me. If someone had believed in me before I met All Might, I might've been ready sooner."

Asta ruffled Izuku's hair. "Can't do nothing to change it now."

"Yeah…"

It took six days of their after-dinner conversations for Izuku to finish his story, right up until the day before he died. And they both knew they were avoiding the day. Revisiting the day you died wasn't something someone wanted to do. Even Naruto, Ichigo, Yusuke, Goku and anyone whose story Izuku heard had gotten that faraway look in their eyes when it came to their deaths.

That day/evening, they were sitting on the benches eating a bento box that Asta made. Asta had taken to cooking lessons from Miss Makoto and Miss Hinata at the small community center that he and Izuku had recently discovered. Izuku was glad to see that other than the basic classes, like math, science, writing and reading comprehension, there was so massive creativity in this town. Izuku had taken to a book club himself.

"I think we should tell each other about the day we died," said Asta. "I wasn't gonna but I want to now."

"It would be fair, since we already traded so much of our stories," said Izuku, even if he kept one or two moments between him and Kacchan and him and Ochako out of the overall story. "And it'd be lethargic to get out. So that someone knows."

"I'll go first."

Notes:

Next month, the two chapters will cover how Asta and Izuku both died!