The day before the raid, all the Hunters who participated in the raid including the Korean Hunters began to gather on Nabu island.

With the help of Hero and the police, the locals have been evacuated to the main island, although there are still some residents who refuse and choose to stay.

Izuku, who arrived a day before, saw the locals evacuated to the ship. He could see their sad expressions as they had to leave their homes.

When he looked around, he saw two children staring at the sea hand in hand. One girl and one boy, the girl was older than the boy. He noticed that they had similarities in their faces, so much so that he assumed they were siblings.

They looked like they were waiting for someone, and Izuku took the initiative to approach them. He deliberately made the sound of his footsteps heard so as not to startle the children.

The children saw Izuku's approach and then turned to look at him. Izuku immediately smiled when their eyes met. He bent over to match the level of their eyes.

"Hi, what are you guys doing here? "

Receiving Izuku's greeting, the girl seemed wary of strangers while the boy was shyer and hid behind the girl's back.

" Ah! I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Izuku, what's yours? "

The girl still seemed to be a bit wary, but she then replied.

" Shimano Mahoro, this is my brother, Shimano Katsuma "

" Mahoro-Chan and Katsuma-Kun right? Why are you here? Where are your parents? "

" We are waiting for him " (Mahoro)

" So where is he? "

" He said there are still things left in the house, he said wait here " (Katsuma)

" Is that so, then can I accompany you until your father arrives? "

Although they were silent, they did not refuse. Katsuma also seemed to be curious about him. Izuku smiled as he sat next to them.

Mahoro looked at him with continuous eyes, she saw him as a strange boy who suddenly approached them. Katsuma also did the same, but he mustered up his courage and tried to talk to Izuku.

" um... "

Izuku looked at Katsuma who was now standing beside his sister, he then noticed the badge attached to his bag strap.

" oh!, that badge, it's Ninja hero, Edgeshot isn't it? "

Katsuma's face brightened as Izuku talked about this. He nodded his head with a smile.

" Katsuma-Kun, do you like heroes? "

" Eh, that's... "

Katsuma seemed hesitant to answer, he glanced at his sister a few times while hesitantly moving his finger. Seeing this, Mahoro stepped forward and replaced her brother to answer.

" Katsuma does admire heroes and dreams of becoming a hero one day, even though the quirk doesn't match. But I'm still against it, it's dangerous "

"Sister, that..."

There was a concern as Mahoro said that, she seemed very fond of her brother. Izuku smiled again when he saw the interaction between the siblings.

" Your sister is right Katsuma-Kun, being a hero is dangerous, but there is nothing wrong with helping people in need. By the way, why do you want to be a hero? "

" Um, that... it's because I want to be a powerful hero who can defeat evil villains "

" Is that so, it's an amazing dream, but please remember not to worry about your family, after all, they are your precious people to you, aren't they? "

Katsuma nodded in agreement, his eyes shining brighter than before. Seeing this reminded Izuku of his former self from watching videos of the heroes while admiring their actions.

Despite his former self, Izuku is now more than capable of doing these things. The recollection of him sitting for hours in front of a computer screen with sparkling eyes embarrassed him.

' for some reason remembering it embarrassed me myself '

Izuku hurriedly erased the thought and then patted Katsuma's head while giving him a warm smile.

" Then what about you? do you want to be a hero too " (Mahoro)

" Eh, me?... Well, I- "

" Izuku... "

Before Izuku could speak, someone called his name. Hearing the voice calling him, Izuku and the children turned to the source of the sound.

They could see a tall man with orange hair walking towards them.

" Sugimoto-San? what's wrong?"

" What are you doing here "

" just accompany these children until their parents come back "

" Really? "

Sugimoto stared at the children next to Izuku, they looked wary of him just as they had with Izuku before.

Mahoro looked at Sugimoto and then tilted her head, she felt that she had seen his face somewhere.

" I think I've seen uncle's face somewhere. "

" Uncle?! I'm not that old though " (Katsuma)

Izuku once again smiled when he saw the two, and then patted the heads of the two of them.

" This uncle is the famous S-rank hunter Sugimoto Ryuji " (Izuku)

" Ah! Now that I remember, I've seen it on TV before, uncle must be the one who defeated the monsters on TV, right?" (Mahoro)

Katsuma's eyes lit up at Sugimoto when he heard what his older sister had said. He seemed to be imagining an incredible stunt where a hero beat monsters with his swords.

Receiving the admiring gazes of the two made Sugimoto's face troubled, while Izuku just smiled looking at them from the side. Sugimoto then glared at Izuku for putting him in this situation.

Just as Katsuma admired Sugimoto, a thought flashed through his head. He then looked at Izuku who was standing next to him. Izuku looked back at Katsuma.

" What's Katsuma-Kun? "

" Then, Is big brother also a Hunter? "

" Well, about that... "

Mahoro also looked at him with curious eyes, it seemed that she was also curious.

" you can say that "

" Really?!"

Both of them looked surprised, especially Sugimoto also put his words in.

" That's right, he's also one of the stronger "

" wow... "

The children's eyes lit up, even more, when they looked at Izuku. It was Izuku who now looked troubled, while Sugimoto just laughed at him.

" Mahoro, Katsuma "

That's when they heard the sound of calling the children's names. Izuku and Sugimoto saw where the sound came from. A middle-aged man with the same hair color as the children walked towards them carrying a bag.

"" Dad... ""

Katsuma and Mahoro then ran to their father as soon as they saw him and hugged them both. He then saw Izuku and Sugimoto who were with their children.

" You guys are... "

" Hello sir, you must be these children's father, it's nice to meet you, I'm Sugimoto Ryuji, and this is Izuku "

Izuku bowed slightly as Sugimoto introduced him to the children's father.

" Yes, it's nice to meet you, you must have accompanied my children as long as I'm gone, thank you, and I'm sorry if my kids troubled you "

"Not at all, instead we enjoy talking with them" (Izuku)

" Thank God, I'm afraid my children will cause trouble for both of you "

" they are good and obedient children " (Sugimoto)

" Glad to hear that, then please excuse us first, come on Mahoro, Katsuma said goodbye to them "

"" Goodbye uncle, big brother ""

" goodbye" (Sugimoto)

Izuku and Sugimoto watched them as they left. From afar, they could see that the families were having fun while talking between them. It seems that Katsuma told her father about Izuku and Sugimoto when he saw his father's reaction to his story.

" What a good family, it must be hard to raise two children alone " (Izuku)

" What do you mean? " (Sugimoto)

" I didn't see their mother "

" she might just work in a distant place "

" Surely there is that possibility, but he won't look so tired, and I don't believe he is the type to be abandoned "

" as expected of you "

" It's just my guess, I can still be wrong "

" Sure, let's go back, it's almost time to gather "

"Sure "

The two then returned to where all the other Hunters had gathered. As they got there, Izuku and Sugimoto separated and gathered with their respective groups.

Because not all Hunters have arrived yet, each team leader instructed their team members to patrol around the gate area. Most of them are near the small island where the gate is located and the rest are around the coastline near the island.

For some reason, Izuku was assigned near the gate with Japanese S-rank Hunter Goto Ryuji. Izuku was a little confused at first, judging from the balance of the team, Izuku's team was unbalanced. Putting two powerhouses on the same team is very rare except under special circumstances.

Izuku somehow felt that there was something behind his placement with Goto. For now, he just decided to keep quiet and see how things would develop.

After the briefing was over, each team set off to the designated place, as did Izuku and Goto.

There was no conversation as they patrolled around the dungeon, they just focused on their job of keeping an eye on the surrounding area. After confirming that there was nothing out of the ordinary, Goto started talking to Izuku.

" You must be wondering why you are paired with me "

Izuku was quite surprised when he heard Goto's sudden question. He didn't expect Goto to ask him directly.

Izuku was a little confused as to what to say, but then he answered right away since he was also curious.

" That, sir, yes... "

" I've heard of your ability is amazing, and I have read your raid report. I have to admit that you are good. "

" Thank you for the compliment sir "

" I'll get straight to the point, I want to recruit you into my guild, I'll even give you the vice guild master position if you're willing of course "

Izuku was even more confused by the direction of their conversation. that came out of nowhere. This is the first time Izuku has received a hiring offer. Plus this was the first time he heard of the guild.

" Pardon me, sir, guild? vice guild master?"

" Of course, you don't know "

Goto then explains his plan to form a guild, that was basically like the Hero agency. The guild will only be affiliated with the bureau and will move separately. All dungeon materials such as magic stones and monster corpses will be sold by the guild in the workshop and the profits from the sale will go to the guild's treasury.

Izuku who heard his plan thought that this plan was not bad. At a time of the rising popularity of gates and dungeons, some investors began to invest their money to research mana stones and monster bodies.

There are currently several technologies that utilize mana stones from dungeons, although they have not yet been officially marketed.

Izuku was silent for a moment pondering Goto's offer. There is nothing wrong with joining the guild he is going to create, it will benefit him. He can monopolize the dungeon experience for himself without having to share it with others.

But still, Izuku felt that something was going on behind all this. He can't just take it for granted regardless of the benefits he gets.

" Sir, I'm afraid I need time to think about it "

" It can't help then, take your time and call me if you agree, I hope you will give me an answer after this attack is over "

" Thank you, sir "

After finishing his patrol, Izuku took a walk by himself to calm his mind. It was already night when Izuku finished his patrol. Although in the end he was left in the middle of the task and had to complete the patrol all by himself since Goto still had some work to do.

Izuku took a deep breath as he continued walking and came to a cliff near the beach. He looked at the dark sea scene ahead. He was lost in thought until he heard someone calling him.

" Izuku? what are you doing here? "

Izuku then turned to see who was calling him.

" Todoroki-san? Well, just... looking for a place to clear my mind. What about you? "

" same "

Todoroki walked towards Izuku and then stood next to him, looking at the same scene as him. Izuku noticed Todoroki's expression looking worried about something.

" Are you nervous about the raid? "

" somewhat "

They fell silent again, although this often happened when they spoke, it still felt awkward. For some reason, Izuku remembered his conversation with Fuyumi a few days ago.

The burden that he kept in his heart suddenly appeared when he saw Todoroki, he tried to ask about this matter.

" Hei, Todoroki-San- "

" What? "

Izuku immediately covered his mouth, remembering the promise they had made. He also remembered the day he accidentally met his father which make his heart cold just thinking about it.

Although he was trying to help his friend, he still had problems with his own family. He felt bitter just thinking about it.

"No, nothing, nothing at all "

Todoroki could feel the strange change in the atmosphere in Izuku's answer and tried to trace his expression. Although his expression was flat, a cold atmosphere surrounded him. Knowing how his best friend was, Todoroki decided to keep quiet and not talk about it further.

" Is that so... "

They continued the night without further conversation, even after they parted ways. Keeping their complicated thoughts to themselves.

.