Shido raised his head and looked at the mirror in front of him. Water dripped off his face indicating he just washed his face. Shido touched his face while looking at his own image in the mirror. His fingers ran through his face and then he touched his hair which turned black from olive-brown after Valdis passed half of [Law of Chaos] to him.
He was observing the changes he has gone through in these three days. While observing his face, his irises suddenly started to shine reddish-orange. The temperature around his eyes started to increase and it seemed like a beam would be released from his eyes.
Shido closed his eyes and opened them again and the glow faded off.
He then turned sideways and saw a metal hanger hooked on a wall. Shido stretched his hands with his palm open. He slowly started closing his grip as if he was grabbing air but this trivial action had a strange result. The metal hanger which was hooked on the wall flew straight into the grip of Shido.
Shido slowly observed the metal hanger for a brief moment and then he re-hooked the hanger back on the wall by using the same power that he used to attract the hanger towards him.
Actually, he used [Law of Electromagnetism] to perform the feat that he just did. Valdis gave him the [Law of Electromagnetism] after Shido defeated him.
'When I was fighting Valdis, I knew my fight would create unwanted heat for Night Slash. So when I saw the nuclear missile falling down, I saw it as a chance for me to kill a part of me... a chance to kill Night Slash,' Shido contemplated.
'But what have I become?' Shido asked himself.
With Laws of [Matter], [Time], [Electromagnetism], and [Chaos] under his control, Even Shido was confused about himself and what he has become now.
'I chose my family over my heroic ambitions by killing Night Slash for the world but with all these powers I am carrying... Will the other law holders that Valdis mentioned, chase me for possessing more than 2 Laws? Was the death of Night Slash enough to make them stop in their tracks?'
~...There's Chaos in you...~
While Shido was thinking about the possibilities, he heard a small whisper. Shido quickly looked sideways and found no one around him.
~...All of your problems will be gone...~
Shido turned around and saw someone's shadow near the door. His eyes started to glow in a reddish-orange hue. He then started slowly walking towards the bathroom's exit.
~...If you just embrace the Chaos...~
The intensity of the glow in Shido's eyes was increasing with each step toward the door.
"...Papa"
As he was about to release the high-temperature laser beams from his eyes, Eri came from behind the door. The sudden appearance of Eri made Shido quickly close his eyes and blink a few times to stop the beam.
Shido crouched down and put his hand on Eri, "Need Something?"
To which Eri shook her head to deny.
"Can't sleep?" Shido asked and Eri nodded.
"Yosh!" Shido picked up Eri in his arms and then walked towards the window to look outside. It was very early in the morning and even the sun was not arise yet.
Seeing the peaceful streets, Shido jumped out of the window with Eri. Before they could fall, Shido used his Thermokinesis to fly up in the sky.
While he was flying up, Eri was looking at everything below their feet with a slightly open mouth.
Shido then noticed a tall building some distance away, so he slowly flew to the roof of that building and landed. After landing, he sat on the edge of the roof with his legs hanging in the air and Eri sitting on his lap.
"You had your afternoon nap yesterday, right?" Shido asked to which Eri nodded.
Seeing Eri only reply in gestures confused Shido a bit.
"Eri... What is it? Is something in your mind?"
"Papa... What do you want me to be?" Eri asked Shido in a small voice with her head looking down.
"Why would you ask that?"
"You are a winner, Papa... You always win. Even strong villains like Genesis couldn't defeat you. And I am a loser... I always lose. I don't know if I can become what you want me to be."
"Why are you stressing yourself about all of this? And to whom did you lose?" Shido asked worriedly.
"That dumbo..."
"Who?" Shido asked but Eri took some time before replying.
You are reading story MHA: ‘Serene’ Life in Another World. at novel35.com
"...Himiko..."
When he heard Himiko's name, a small chuckle escaped Shido's mouth.
"You lost to Himiko?" Shido asked.
"Yeah... many times," Eri said with her head still down.
"In what game did you lose to her?" Shido asked with a smile on his face. He thought Eri was just sad for a few defeats in a board game or something but when Eri started telling him about how she has been trying to prove she is better than Himiko to gain his and Fuyumi's affection, the smile on his face faded.
The situation was much more than some losses in a trivial game.
'I should've asked Eri when I introduced Himiko into the family but because of me being in rush to go to America, I neglected what she felt about Himiko and just imposed my decision onto her. I also could've assured her that Fuyumi and I won't neglect her after Himiko's entry but I also didn't do that...'
"You know Eri... You don't have to compete for our affection. You have mine and Fuyumi's undying affection with you. You don't have to worry about us neglecting you... You know why?" Shido raised his finger to the sky.
"A year ago, I was sitting in my room and the sky back then was similar to what we are sitting under now... I was aimless at that time. Had no friends, Had no one to call family. Alone. What I had were these powers but I had no purpose for using them. But then I decided to have a purpose for my life. Find a few people I could trust... to whom I could show my vulnerabilities to... to whom I could call family. And then-"
"-You saved me," Eri interjected.
"Yes. And since it was I who decided to save you and make you my daughter, then it is my responsibility to treat you as one too... And don't think I am doing all this because I am bound by my words. In truth, I also wanted you to be my daughter."
"B-But... I am not---"
"I know, not good as others... who cares? Imperfect as we are, we have accepted each other as a family despite the obvious flaws in us, didn't we? Fuyumi, you, me... We all did. Then don't disrupt that fact. Himiko has her flaws, and you are only looking into them... Look into her merits as well, try to embrace her as she is.
Like you, Himiko has suffered her fair share of the cruelty of this world. She needs support and she sees you as one... she thinks her elder sister is there for her whenever she is in a pinch. But what would happen to her if she finds out that her elder sister doesn't even like her presence," Shido said slowly.
Eri had her head looking down but the sound of slow sobbing could be heard.
"Look Eri, I am not scolding you but telling you that I want you at least see her in a different light... see her as a family member," said Shido.
"Umm..." Eri only hummed.
"And about your question on what I want you to be... Be whatever you want Eri, I will support you nevertheless."
"What if I wanted to become a villain?" asked Eri.
"You won't..." said Shido.
"How are so sure about that?"
"...Because I believe in you and know that you won't do such a thing," said Shido.
But as he said that, the image that he saw during his fight with Valdis came to his mind. It happened when the [Law of Time] rushed to his head. He saw various fragments of scenarios and one of them was an old him killing a grown-up Eri with his own hands.
Shido shook his head to push those images away from his mind. He then put his hand on Eri's head.
"But remember Eri... One day the world will ask who you are, and if you do not know, the world will tell you who you are. Be whatever you want to become but don't become something that others want you to be. That is something I had to learn the hard way in these three days fighting Valdis," said Shido.
"Hmm..."
"Okay then... Since we had a serious conversation. So it's time to have some fun. Do you want to go somewhere fun?" Shido asked Eri but Eri gave him a confused look.
"Where?"
» » [Mission Available]
Mission: Snail Trail
« « [Accept/Decline] » »
"A whole new world..."
Shido pressed on [Accept] and then a bright light covered Eri and Shido. When the light faded, the two were nowhere to be seen.