After accepting the President's friendship, the newly made friends interacted with each other in talks about various topics, some of them being
'Why do most of the Villains stay Villains even after serving their punishment?'
'Why are the Pro-Heroes not required to renew their licenses just like Driving Licenses?'
And etcetera.
While they were talking, the Helicopter arrived above the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Sounds of Cheering and Shouting reverberated the whole Arena. It was so loud that it reached the Helicopter at a fair altitude above the ground.
"VALDIS!!"
"VALDIS!!"
Shido looked outside the Helicopter, and he saw a massive crowd in the Sports Arena, cheering for the President, Waving Placards with Valdis' name on it.
Shido then turned to President Valdis, "It seems you are very popular..."
"Well... I didn't get the most electoral votes just for show. I got a landslide 320 Electoral Votes which means I am popular!" Valdis laughingly replied.
Even if they just became friends, Valdis acted as if he had known Shido for years, treating him like a good friend. Shido felt a bit awkward as the guy in front of him is the President of the United States, and now he has become his friend.
'I think I should take some pictures with him. The kids will be ecstatic to see that their father is so popular, so then in the future, they won't call me lame and compare me to other kids' parents. Every action needs to be planned from here. If the kids enter their rebellious phase in their teens, and if I have a bad/'uncool' image in their eyes, it will be there forever. They need to see that their father is the coolest dad out there who befriended the President in one meeting. Might as well buy those #1 Dad cup and T-shirts while I am here.' Shido thought about his plans and actions as a father.
"Is there a problem? You want something?" Valdis asked when he saw Shido not responding to him.
"A-ah... Nothing, Nothing..." Shido quickly denied Valdis' concern.
"Really Nothing?"
"Well... There is something... Can I take a picture with you?" Shido finally submitted that there was something that he wanted. And it was a picture with the President.
"No Problem," Valdis answered candidly. A picture was not that big of a problem for him. The President stood from his seat and sat next to Shido. Shido then was about to take out his camera, but the Secret Service Agent stopped him,
"Wait... You cannot take out your phone now." The Secret Service agent told him.
"Why?"
"Because you are under my Quirk's effect. You are currently paralyzed, and it would take about 5 minutes... after that, you are free to move," The Agent explained.
But to everyone's surprise, Shido took his camera out of the Inventory and opened it. The Agents, and the President, were surprised by the feat shown by Shido.
This Agent was explicitly sent to the Helicopter for this reason only that he could use his Quirk to paralyze the Vigilante and prevent him from doing anything, and he did what he was told to. He used his Quirk since the beginning and thought that the Vigilante was unable to move. That's why they were pretty lax but it turned out that the Vigilante was never paralyzed in the first place.
"H-How are you unaffected?" The Agent asked. He initially stumbled on his words as he was too stupefied to look at what was happening. The Vigilante actually came out of his Quirk's effect like it was nothing.
"I don't know... I just... moved," Shido acted ignorantly and gave a pretty dumb answer. The real reason why he is not affected by the Quirk is that his body quickly adapts to the Physical Debuff he is in, For example, if he is paralyzed then he would be paralyzed for a minute or two, then he would return to normal as his body has adapted to that state.
Even if he became friends with the President, he doesn't want to divulge his secrets out. So, instead of speaking the truth, he acted dumb.
"Put that aside for now... Take the picture quickly, the Helicopter is about to land," Valdis quickly changed the topic and urged Shido to continue.
"Yeah..." He then quickly gave the camera to the still shocked Agent. President Valdis smiled and made a V-sign and his other hand around Shido's shoulder. Shido also made the V-sign and placed his hand around Valdis' back. As they posed, the Agent took the photo and gave the camera back to Shido.
Shortly after that, the Helicopter landed at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
One of the Agents quickly jumped off the Helicopter and waited for the President to come out while the other stayed with him, constantly looking at Shido.
President Valdis was also about to leave his seat beside Shido, but before doing so, he took out his phone and wrote something. He slightly nudged Shido and lightly tilted the phone screen towards him. Shido - who was a bit confused - read what was written on the screen.
※ Try to maintain your distance from Star and Stripes and make sure she doesn't touch you. ※
After that, the President stood up from his seat and hopped off the Helicopter without further explaining. He acted like nothing happened and had the usual smile on his face.
Shido - who was the only one left inside the Helicopter - was confused by what the President meant and the reason behind it. But he took the advice given by his new friend. He also then hopped off the Helicopter and followed the President. He made sure that there is a bit of distance between him and the President.
As the President walked forward, People started adding to his small caravan. Initially, it was only the President and the Secret Service Agents but then it increased to 6 people in the span of a few brief moments. Some High Positions from the Military were also present and they saluted to the President. The President saluted them back.
While this all was happening, Shido on the other hand was following the President's caravan from a distance. Some people did notice his presence but said nothing as they thought he was some hero responsible for President's security and if he wasn't, then the Secret Service Agents already would have done something about him.
And this way, Shido was ignored by all the people present there. He didn't take any offense in it, as these people were sitting at the top of the power pyramid of the United States, it was something to be expected.
While he was casually walking, he noticed that the President's small caravan of influential people stopped in front of a tall woman with a very distinct hairstyle. She had eight distinct tufts backward. Her blonde hair and those tufts made a picture of a man come to Shido's mind.
'All Might.'
The woman looked like the female version of All Might just with more tufts and more 'American' costume. The Costume the woman was wearing, was a high-collared skin-tight bodysuit with shoulder pads, boots, and gauntlets. Fitting to her home country and hero name, the upper torso was decorated in stripes, and her gauntlets and collar are studded with metal stars. Completing the outfit was a long, striped cape that resembles the U.S. flag.
"Cathleen Bate Reporting. Welcome, Mr. President. I am stationed here as the in-charge of your security," The Woman saluted the President and revealed the reason for her presence.
"Thank you, Ms. Star and Stripes, I am thankful that you took time out of your busy schedule as the No.1 Hero of US, and decided to take this job. I already am feeling secure just by your presence," President Valdis saluted back and expressed his gratitude to Star and Stripes.
"You can call me Ms. Bate if you want Mr. President. We are colleagues in building this country's great future. That much formality is not needed."
Valdis smiled and nodded. To respond to this, she smiled back but then she noticed someone. Someone who is not supposed to be here.
A man wearing a black full-body combat suit and a weird helmet, with katanas strapped to his back. She knew every face who is supposed to be here and this man is nowhere on the list of faces she remembers. That means this person is suspicious. She moved towards the man in her target and broke through the caravan/crowd surrounding the President.
"Hey! You! Who are you?!" She shouted at Shido while making her way towards him.
When Shido saw the woman coming towards him, he tensed up and got ready. The President said to maintain distance from this woman and make sure she doesn't touch him. At first, he was also oblivious to why the President would tell him something like that but after seeing her, he knows why. It took some time but he remembers about this woman.
Star and Stripes, No.1 Hero in the US and the Strongest Woman in the world as it was claimed by All for One. Her Quirk, New Order allowed her to set a rule onto her surroundings, allowing her to manipulate and bestow new properties onto herself and the world around her.
In order to activate her Quirk, she had to first make physical contact with the target and speak its name, then explain the rule she wished to impose. She could only impose two rules at any given time.
'Cathleen Bate, Her Quirk is Broken. If she sets the rule that my heart will stop if I moved, then I am done for. The only thing I can do now is to avoid her as much as possible or maintain my distance. Why the fuck did I even come to this rally again?' Shido cursed at himself and stood at his position.
"I am an invited guest, Ms. Bate," He replied candidly and didn't make himself sound suspicious at all.
"It's Star and Stripes for you, Rookie! I don't remember you being invited here and you still haven't told me who you are!" Her demeanor was uptight and it resembled a lot like a General from the Military.
"I am--" Shido was about to tell her the same answer again but someone interjected between the two.
"He is invited by me, Ms. Bate. He has the approval of the Secret Service," Valdis came to Shido's defense and told Cathleen about the reason for his presence. She looked at Shido for a moment and then turned to Valdis, "If he is invited by you and the Secret Service has approved of his presence near you, then I won't complain."
She turned back to Shido, "And I hope you won't be doing anything to increase our already hectic workload."
"Yeah... Sure Ms. General," Shido made a lousy salute and left off behind the President.
His last remark made her eyebrow raise up. She touched the earpiece she was wearing.
"Find every detail about this man and I need it to be reported to me in 5 minutes. Is it Understood?!"
:: On it Ma'am:: The other side replied.
'I just hope this rally goes without much trouble.' She thought and went to double-check the security measures.
______________________
[Backstage]
"So Mr. Night Slash. You can sit here and watch everything. After this, we will be going for lunch at the Century Plaza Hotel," Valdis told Shido once again of their plans.
"I get the plans and all... but isn't it too close to the stage. Shouldn't I be with the other guys who are responsible for the security?" Shido asked Valdis as he was a bit confused. Where he was told to sit was actually just behind the curtains and Valdis will be making the speech just ahead of the curtains. There were some people there with him. There were some technicians working on the sound system and some security personnel.
"You don't have to worry about that. Just trust me... I always think about the goodwill of my friends and you are the only friend that I have had after a very long period of time. So Don't worry, I won't do you any harm..." Saying this, Valdis walked out of backstage and walked towards the podium.
He was welcomed with a huge roar of applause and cheers. As he took his position on the podium, the cheers went wilder, and the sound of applause started resembling the sound of thunderstorms.
While all this was happening, Shido - who has nothing to do with this - took out his camera and exported the picture of him and the President into his phone. After doing that, he sent the picture to someone...
___________________
[Todoroki Abode, Musutafu, Japan || Time - 01:00 AM]
Fuyumi was sleeping with two little girls sleeping on either of her sides. One was Himiko who was full-blown sleeping ON Fuyumi. Her hands spread across Fuyumi's stomach like she was trying to hug a big tree. Meanwhile, Fuyumi's left hand was around Eri and she was within Fuyumi's embrace. Even if Eri was sufficiently covered by the quilt, she nudged herself more into her embrace as to get more of that motherly warmth.
Earlier, she had put boundaries around her which prevented Fuyumi from getting close to her and she always called her 'Fuyumi Nee-chan,' but just right after Himiko's entry into the family, Eri accepted the quest to gain more love and attention from Fuyumi and Shido, she started calling her 'Mama.'
Calling Fuyumi 'Mama' was initially something she had to consciously and was a bit uncomfortable doing that but slowly and gradually she became used to it and soon after that, the boundaries that she had raised up for Fuyumi broke down to crumbles.
While the mother and daughters were sleeping peacefully, Fuyumi's phone lit up and the sound of an incoming notification rang. Fuyumi's eyes shot open when she heard the notification ring. She was not asleep in the first place and was waiting for a message or a call from Shido. She was just giving Eri and Himiko company in sleeping.
She knew both the girls needed their father to put them to sleep and since he is not here, Fuyumi took up his place and acted as the body pillow for her daughters.
She slowly moved her hand and picked up her phone. She opened the lock through the fingerprint then she opened the messaging app's pattern lock which was a bit complicated to remember.
She then saw the notification was about the message that Shido sent him.
'Finally!'
She happily opened Shido's conversation tab and saw that he has sent a picture. She opened the picture and it shocked Fuyumi. In the picture, Shido and the President of the United States were making V-signs and had their hands across each other's shoulders.
'What is he doing with the President? Is it yesterday's picture when he met the President to tell about Genesis? And why did the President agree to take a picture like this?' She then shook her head and was about to call him. But she had to first get out of the entrapments of two formidable opponents.
You are reading story MHA: ‘Serene’ Life in Another World. at novel35.com
The 'Bear Hug' Himiko and the 'Nestling' Eri.
The fight for her freedom was not so easy as she needs to get out of their grasps and not disturb their sleep as well.
She thought for a while and then acted on the plan she decided upon. Fuyumi slowly removed her arm which was around Eri. This made Eri find her source of warmth so started twisting and turning in her sleep. While this was happening, She slowly picked up Himiko and then placed her near Eri.
Himiko - who lost something to hug - found something for replacement. Meanwhile, Eri's hands which were in search of warmth found something. She then nestled close to the source.
Like this, Himiko slept while bear-hugging Eri, and Eri nestled in her embrace, and with this Fuyumi found her freedom and the sisters slept off while hugging each other. She quickly jolted out of the bed and went to the living room.
After reaching the living room, she was about to call Shido but then she remembered something.
'Need to update the database first or I will forget about it later...' She thought and chose the 'Move to' option on the picture then opened the Photos app on her phone.
But instead of opening up instantaneously, a Numpad appeared. She quickly clicked some numbers then a pattern lock appeared, she drew a strange pattern but different from earlier, and then the fingerprint lock appeared. She opened that as well.
After opening 3 different locks, the app finally opened. There were several folders, 'Work,' 'Family,' 'Casual,' etc. She opened the 'Casual' folder. Inside it was pictures of some random pictures of Shoto, Natuso, and some family pictures. and a folder named 'Photos.' She opened the 'Photos' folder. Inside the 'Photos' folder was a massive number of folders named on the alphabet. From 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' to 'Z'.
She opened the folder 'L'. Inside folder 'L,' then came the similar sight of numerous folders ranging from 'A' to 'Z', she opened the folder 'O'. Met with the same the numerous Alpabhet folders. Next Folder, 'V'. Inside it was the same Alphabet Folder Jungle. She then chose folder 'E,' and finally, something other than the Alphabet folder showed up.
Inside it were folders but they were not named after Alphabets but instead, the folders were,
'Happy Shido,' 'Working Shido,' 'Shido from Close,' 'Shido from Far,' 'Sleeping Shido,' 'Bathing Shido,' 'Shido with Eri and Himiko,' 'Shido with Me,' 'Shido while Changing Clothes,' etc.
She opened the 'Happy Shido' folder and pasted the picture recently sent by Shido. After pasting the new picture to her 'Personal Database,' She started opening other folders and looked at the pictures with an expression on her face describing she was feeling nostalgic.
By looking over the sheer amount of folders and the pictures inside them, it seems Shido unknowingly became a model for his only cameraman and fan, Fuyumi.
The Oldest Folder was 'Shido from Far.' In the folder, there was a huge load of pictures of Shido. She opened a picture of a thin young man with olive-brown hair carrying grocery bags. His facial features resembled Shido but his physical stature didn't.
'The First Picture that I took since I started following him. Ah~ Those times....' She thought with a smile and a huge blush on her face.
The picture was dated 2 years back and it seems Fuyumi's career as a Yandere didn't start just after receiving Super Soldier Serum and the Secret System and it seems there is more to it in her past.
Putting that aside, Fuyumi called Shido. She waited for a few rings and then the call got connected.
"...Hello"
:: ...Hello::
"I missed you..." Fuyumi said lovingly, as her emotions were high for him after looking at Shido's pictures.
:: ...I Missed you too::
"So... you called for?" Fuyumi asked playfully.
:: Just to Talk...Can't I even call my girlfriend now?:: Shido was in the same playfulness as Fuyumi.
"Don't lie... We've been dating for almost a year now and I know you very well. If you wanted to 'Just talk' you always initiate the conversation through texts, then after you get tired of texting, you call me... So what is it?" Fuyumi again asked with her playful tone.
:: Well I did have something to tell you but I did intend to talk to you first but it seems you want to directly go down the business. *Huh* Fine by me... I guess. So-- ::
"Don't act so heartbroken, Mr. Kanzaki. I know your games pretty well. I may have been caught off-guard this morning but I am not going to fall for that again..." She smiled and started walking inside the living room.
:: Hoh~ Quite Vigilant of you, Ms. Todoroki--::
"Stop..." She stopped Shido from saying any further.
:: What happened?::
"Call me what you called me that night... The night before you saved Eri."
:: Hai Hai... Mrs. Kanzaki. Is it okay now?:: Shido fulfilled Fuyumi's request.
"Yeah, and remember you will only call me that whenever we are alone. Is it Understood?" She took the serious mode to make her demands clear but her demand felt like a kid demanding something, which made Shido laugh.
:: Hahaha... Yes, Mrs. Kanzaki. Is there anything more that you would like me to do for you?::
"...Can you come back as soon as possible?" She asked. A hint of sadness was clear in her voice and it was quickly perceived by Shido.
:: Don't worry, I will... Is there anything that you want to say to me? Because I feel like you have to say something but are not telling me for some reason?::
"I-It's nothing... Just some things from work... Yeah... Nothing more." She
:: Do you know the fact that you are a terrible liar, Fuyumi? You took a week-long leave from your job. How come you are stressed about some job-related thing? Now tell me, what is it? Maybe it's something that we can solve by talking to each other::
"I-I am not c-comfortable talking about it right now..."
:: Okay... I will not push any further to speak but remember that whenever you want to talk, I am here. Just call me and we can talk about it, okay?::
"Hmmm..."
:: Okay then, now that the talk has ended, I will come to the part that I wanted to tell you about. Open the TV, and switch to any American News Channel::
"Why though?"
:: Just do it. There is something that I can tell you only when you will open the channel::
Fuyumi did as Shido instructed her to do. She opened the TV and switched to an American News Channel. On the screen, President Valdis could be seen addressing the massive crowd that has come to see and listen to him.
|| As a country, we have seen tremendous growth during the period when quirks were non-existent and everyone was the same. People worked hard in harmony and improved our infrastructure to the point where we became the so-called First World Country that supported Industries and Capitalism.
After getting that tag of Developed or First World Country, The Nation's focus shifted from Infrastructure Development to Human Resource Development. At that time, people were discriminated against for racial and gender differences. To change that, a majority of the citizens came forward. They held feelings of sympathy and empathy in their heart, towards these oppressed minorities. They came forward, tried to help through NGOs, through various programs. But it didn't help much.
Then they went to the government. Only elected those representatives who held the same views as them to help these oppressed minorities. There were some improvements and it seemed like there will be a change. It would take some time but the change will come. There was hope...
But that hope turned into a reality when the Quirks came into existence. The Discrimination faced by the oppressed disappeared like it never existed but then again, whenever someone wins, the reward is paid by the loser. It turned out that now there is a common enemy and the earlier Oppressed and the Oppressors joined hands to crucify this new enemy. And the enemy was none other than the people with Quirks.
They were called monsters, Aliens, enemies to Mankind, etc, etc. Then the People with Quirks became a majority and then the Quirkless and Mutants became the oppressed class. You see, there is a cycle of oppression, One class that is Oppressed today may become the Oppressor in the future. This is not good. This is not good for us as a society, and as a country.
The US has always been the beacon of justice and hope and I want America to lead the world by example. I want to break this cycle of Oppressed and Oppressor and I want your help in initiating this process. Government with Public Participation can do wonders and I don't think I need to give examples for that. ||
"Yeah, He is giving a speech..."
:: So here is the crazy part. Did you see the picture with President that I sent you a while ago?::
"Yes..."
:: What happened today is that he wanted me to accompany him. Then he started asking some random questions and then he started complimenting me about how genuine I am and yada yada... but then something unexpected happened... He said he wanted to be friends with me!::
"What? Really?"
:: ...Yeah. At first, I also didn't believe but then he pushed further why he wants that... So I accepted it. So~ How's it? You are proud now that I am friends with the President of the United States? And do you know, I am standing behind the blue curtain just behind the President. We are going for lunch after this. ::
"I mean, I am happy for you, Shido but... but don't you think there is something else going on? I mean, I am having a very bad feeling about this. Shido, are you really sure?"
:: ...I don't think President Valdis is up to something. He seems like a humble man to me::
While they were conversing with each other, President's speech continued further.
|| We can start doing this only by breaking stereotypes spread throughout our society. We need to prove that some people accept these things as facts that are wrong. We have to prove that they were WRONG.
Can mutants not be good receptionists or retail service workers? Become one and show them that they were...|| He pointed his hand towards the crowd.
"WRONG!!" The crowd shouted in unison.
||Mutants are aliens? Be more of a human than them by contributing to society and helping others and show them that they were...||
"WRONG!!"
|| Quirkless people are useless? Get skilled and become a better version of yourself and show them that they were...||
"WRONG!!"
|| Quirkless cannot be heroes? Be a Hero and show them that they were... || He again pointed his hand towards the crowd to shout "WRONG," but nobody did. Everyone was silent.
|| Oh Boy, It seems that you guys also bought into that stereotype. It seems I would have to start the initiative of breaking these stereotypes. I will be leading by example and break this stereotype. So... To do this, I would like to introduce someone. I've recently met him and our ideas are a bit clashing, but talking to him gives me pleasure. I cannot entirely agree with him, but disagreeing respectfully does not make me feel tired when it is with him. And I actually like it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am filled with immense joy to do this and introduce the world to my very dear friend. Put a round of applause for my FRIEND. AND.
WORLD'S. VERY. FIRST. QUIRKLESS HERO, NIGHT SLASH!! ||
The blue curtains behind the President opened up, revealing a man wearing a full-body black combat suit and a hard helmet on his head. Katanas strapped to his back, talking to the phone.
"WOOOAAHHHHH!!!!" The crowd cheered his arrival.
Fuyumi - who was on the other side of the world watching this - had her eyes wide as saucers. She only received silence from the other side of the phone, but then she heard a slight murmur,
:: Fuck...::