Plans for the Future, and How to Repay a Debt of Gratitude

In a deathly pale private hospital room filled with the smell of disinfectant, Uraraka Shige sat alone on a bed covered in pristine white bedding.

Both his parents had gone to work, and his sister still had school, so he sat alone on the hospital bed, staring into space.

His mother had originally planned to stay with him, taking turns with his father, but he had refused again and again. In the end, they had no choice but to go to their respective jobs, worried about him.

Though their family construction company didn't have much business to begin with, and there wasn't much work to be done...

Still, he was a selfish guy, and had been since his previous life. Even though he understood that, he had insisted on sending his parents off to work so he could have enough time alone to calm down and think things through by himself.

"All Might..."

Uraraka Shige leaned back against the pillow propped up behind him. Remembering his father's earlier explanation, he sighed inwardly, his feelings complicated.

To be honest, his feelings about All Might were rather strange. When he had seen the man in the anime adaptation in his earliest life, All Might's true appearance had given him a real shock.

All Might, the symbol of justice and the number one "hero"-the All Might whose punch generated enough wind pressure to blast a huge hole in the clouds!

Yet Toshinori Yagi, his true self, was so scrawny, and he coughed up blood from time to time. He looked so frail that a gust of wind could blow him over...

Although it was quickly explained that All Might's scrawny appearance was mainly an aftereffect of the severe injuries he had sustained in his battle with "All For One," there was no denying that it had greatly colored his image of All Might. He had thought All Might was just like those people found everywhere who insisted on toughing everything out, enduring needless suffering to save face.

It wasn't until he had been born into this world himself and first heard about the number one "hero," All Might, amid looks of longing, admiration, worship, and fear from others that he felt his own thinking had been wrong. He also felt that he understood a little of the weight a "hero" who stood as a role model and symbol of justice had to bear, and the hardship and effort involved in having no choice but to force himself to keep going because of his identity...

But one thing was undeniable. His arrival in this world, the outstanding "Quirk" he had gained, and even his birth into the family of a character from the original story had all given him the wrong impression, creating an illusion he should never have had-

I'm actually the protagonist!

Yes, that was what he had thought, what he had believed.

So when he encountered a disaster that might have been caused by a "villain," his first thought was to go watch from nearby. He was confident that, as the "protagonist," he couldn't possibly be injured or killed at the place where the first "villain" appeared.

It was because he held on to that foolish belief that even when the "villain," who had blended into the crowd and used his "Quirk" to disguise himself as someone there to treat the victims, took him hostage and used his "Quirk" to destroy his left arm, he had remained a detached, superior observer. As a result, when his arm really was severed, he couldn't accept what had happened and fainted.

That inexplicable pride and confidence were just like those of someone close to the "protagonist" in the original story...

"Kacchan..."

Uraraka Shige gave a couple of bitter laughs. He had figured it out—or at least, he thought he had... It was true that he possessed an outstanding "Quirk," but what was truly outstanding about it was its potential, something he had yet to tap into. Before he had taken it upon himself to get caught up in this incident, he had lacked the calm and humility needed to properly draw out the tremendous potential of his outstanding "Quirk."

Moreover, during this incident, he had been saved by All Might, the man he had always viewed with prejudice. All Might might not care about one little brat who had brought trouble upon himself among the many people he had saved, but that didn't mean Uraraka Shige would forget the debt. After all, selfish though he was, he had been a citizen of China in his previous life, so he naturally knew gratitude and repaid kindness.

Even so, what could he possibly do to help the number one "hero," All Might, who should still be in his prime?

"Sigh..."

At that thought, Uraraka Shige sighed again.

I don't have any chance to help All Might or repay him for saving me this time... Huh!?

Uraraka Shige suddenly remembered something that had never been described precisely in the original story. He only knew that it had happened roughly five years before the main story began: the incident in which All Might had been gravely injured and even had to have his entire stomach and half his respiratory organs removed...

"The battle with 'All For One'... five years before the main story... which means..."

All Might's battle with "All For One" hadn't happened yet. He still had a chance to repay the debt!

Uraraka Shige suddenly felt excited, but a moment later, that feeling gave way to heaviness and gloom.

Could I...

"Really do it?"

After all, it was a battle in which even All Might in his prime had been gravely injured. Uraraka Shige might be seriously injured or even killed just by the aftermath of the clash, wouldn't he?

After all, he had now confirmed that he probably really was someone without a "protagonist halo." He might not even be a protagonist at all...

But no matter how he thought about it, wasn't this the only way? To repay the debt of having his life saved... wasn't stopping All Might from being gravely injured the only way?!

Five years before the main story began... Izuku Midoriya should have been graduating from middle school then, before he was admitted to U.A. High School, so he would have been fifteen or sixteen... And he was the same age as his sister, Ochaco Uraraka, who should have been the same age as Izuku Midoriya...

"About... three years?"

Uraraka Shige's expression grew serious and grave, and an air of readiness for battle emerged from his small body.

Within those three years, he had to grow strong enough to help All Might win that battle against "All For One," and he also had to find the place where they would fight before the battle began!

"Then I'll give it a try..."

So what if he wasn't the protagonist?

"I'm fired up now!"

His left arm had been severed once, and even after it was reattached, he still had trouble exerting force with it, and it hurt from time to time. But no matter what, at least at this moment...

"I'm serious!"