NOTE:
THREE YEAR TIME SKIP IN THE AFTERLIFE
Time is funny there

Today was one of those days that Asta felt like he was running for days. Sleeping was part of his afterlife routine even if he didn't need it, but when he woke up, he was hit with the strong longing of his family. He had shoved some food in his mouth on his way to the Son Farm. And if Goku noticed Asta's strange mood, he didn't say anything as the two worked the fields. Between the two of them, they always got the work done quickly.

Asta still declined Goku's requests for a spar. He had seen the other man use his Instant Transmission and his Ki senses to track down some of the troublesome children and teens down. Asta had also seen the Ki blasts that Goku used to cook big slabs of meat. Asta didn't know if he could die again, but he didn't want to find out.

"So, are ya havin' an off day," asked Goku, as the two sat down to eat lunch—Goku with much more food than Asta.

"I guess," said Asta, eating his rice, while his heart did that lurching thing when something reminded him of someone in his family. The way Goku ate reminded him so much of Charmy. Charmy would have gotten along well with the food-loving, kind-hearted Saiyan warrior.

The key to the afterlife was a routine. Everyone here had been considered "heroes," often never having time to rest. Asta made sure to sleep 8 hours, ate three meals a day (he ate breakfast alone, he ate lunch with Goku, and he ate dinner with Izuku), and he made sure to take random classes to learn new skills or brush up on old ones. Asta made it his mission to get to know everyone. And even though he didn't need to, Asta still trained.

No Anti-Magic Devil, no grimoire, and no Anti-Magic Swords weren't a problem since his magic had been never giving up and his body was his weapon.

Asta knew every single person in this afterlife trained, some more subtly than others.

"Asta," said Goku, thoughtfully. "I think you're bored."

"I'm not. I'm keeping busy," said Asta, protesting.

Goku gave him what he heard that Naruto and Ichigo called "the Dad look." Granted, he was certain that Naruto and Ichigo also have that look sometimes. Asta never had the pleasure of being a dad, so he assumed that it was some dad power you got when you became a dad. "Keeping busy doesn't mean that you're not bored. Why do you think I visit Grand Kai's planet or get to visit Chi-Chi? Changes things up a bit."

Asta made a face.

"And I suspect that your old teacher winding up here didn't help. Since you got news from home," said Goku.

Asta sighed. Asta's sword teacher Fanzell Kruger just arrived in town several weeks ago and Asta had learned about the updates on everyone. Yuno became the Wizard King after him with Mimosa taking over the Golden Dawn as Captain. And Noelle got married. It made sense as it had been apparently three years since Asta died. Time was different here and granted, Fanzell didn't know much details, just rumors he heard on his travels. Asta didn't want to bug too much since Fanzell was highly depressed. The man missed Dominante, Mariella, Fana and Mars (they had become one big family).

"Does it ever get easier," Asta asked.

"No," said Goku, truthfully. "You're not tied to one spot, Asta. This afterlife is a lot bigger than you think it is."

What Goku said had Asta thinking. Asta had always enjoyed traveling. He was mulling it over when he met up with Izuku outside the Uzumaki Ramen Stand. Something on his face must have shown because Izuku immediately asked what was wrong.

"Nothing much, just thinking,'" said Asta.

Izuku smiled encouragingly. "Well, I'm all ears when you wanna talk."

"So, how's your friend Shinsou," asked Asta, changing the subject. He and Izuku's quick friendship upon their friendly first meeting developed into a true companionship. There were times that Asta wished that he had Izuku with him on his adventures back in the Clover Kingdom.

"He's not handling things well," said Izuku, sighing. Fanzell wasn't the only new person. Izuku's friend Shinsou Hitoshi arrived two days ago. "He's still locked in the room at the clinic, thinking that this is a quirk gone wrong." Asta knew that Izuku had been at his friend's side, trying to help. It was hard on Izuku just as much as Shinsou. "But he ate something since Miss Orihime looked like she was gonna cry."

Asta half-smiled. "He'll come around, Izuku."

"I know. He's strong," said Izuku, believing wholeheartedly in his friend. And that was one of the many reasons why Asta liked Izuku.

"Hey, boys, are you gonna sit and eat or stand and chat all night," asked Naruto, grinning at them from behind the counter. Miss Hinata was already making bowls for them.

Asta and Izuku took their seats. Odd Jobs Gintoki was there for once, eating in public. He was also drinking again. He was sitting next to Ace, a pirate, who was fast asleep in the middle of eating his seventh bowl of ramen.

"If it isn't my upstart juniors," said Gintoki, in a teasing greeting. Half the things that came out of Gin's mouth, Asta didn't understand and he knew that no one really got what Gin said. But Asta knew that Gin liked them in his own weird way. Gin smacked Ace upside the head. "Oi, Ace, you're gonna drown in the ramen broth again! Idiot pirate!"

Ace woke up and half-heartedly tried to jab his chopstick in Gin's eye. "So loud." Ace was super cool. He had neat tattoos and a ton of stories about his time as a pirate and about his beloved little brother Luffy, who Ace had died protecting. Everyone knew the story. Ace wasn't shy about it. Ace finally noticed Asta and Izuku. "Hey, guys."

Asta was in cooking classes with Ace and Izuku tutored Ace with reading and writing. Asta grinned and said, "Gintoki is right, Ace. Don't drown in your food."

Ace made a face. "Uhhh, I won't."

"At least there's a line of people ready and willing to give you CPR," said Naruto, laughing. Gin burst out laughing obnoxiously, while Ace's face became red and sputtered denials.

Izuku smiled, giggling.

Asta grinned. Like he once told Yuno, since they were orphans, friends were family. While he missed his living family, he had a new one with a lot of strange but good people.

While he ate dinner, Asta knew that he had something difficult to decide. Asta felt someone watching him and looked to find that Izuku was staring at him with a blank expression on his face. The arguing between Gin and Ace with a meditating Naruto became background noise when Asta met Izuku's green eyes. They had different shades of green for their eye colors. Izuku's were like the forest, while Asta knew his was more teal.

"You ok," asked Izuku, softly.

"Yeah, I will be."