The next day...
Toshinori was at home, quickly eating breakfast under the gentle gaze of his mother, a tall woman with blonde hair and gray eyes, contrasting with her son's intense blue.
Her name was Toshie yagi.....
"Slow my heart, you're going to choke!" laughed Toshie with a warm smile.
"Sorry mom, but I'm late!" cried Toshinori as he stood up and adjusted his school uniform.
Toshie laughed before tenderly kissing her son on the forehead.
"Have a good day darling" she said as he nodded with a bright smile, putting on his shoes and leaving the house at a run.
"Have a good day mom, I love you very much," cried the blond man with blue eyes, waving at her.
Toshinori's mother smiled softly as she saw her son leave....
Then she began to cough....
A dry and painful cough....
She looked at the palm of her hand with a sad smile, tears in her eyes before turning her head to a frame where there was a picture of her and her son...
He must have been five years old and she read him the adventures of superheroes for children....
She squeezed her blood-stained hand...
"Toshi... I'm sorry"
....
"Todoroki is amazing, he got a perfect grade in math and chemistry again!" cried one of the students with a blissful smile and hearts around her.
"It's true! Todoroki has also had super strong grades in sports, he has everything to be number 1!"
"I'd like to invite him to the XFC!"
"Me too!"
The two young girls laughed, complimented this Todoroki with admiration under the gaze of toshinori who walked behind them.
"I'd like to know this Todoroki... He must be great," thought the young blond with a small smile.
"Yet, he's just an arrogant boy with a number 1 complex and a contempt for others..." said a young girl with white hair as she passed in front of them.
"What are you talking about, Rei?" asked one of the girls with a cold smile.
The white-haired girl, called Rei Himura, did not answer and continued to walk away.
"Tch... Just because the todoroki and himura family are friends, she thinks she's insulting the school star like that, behind her back?" says one of them disdainfully.
"What a cold pimp..." sneered the other in a contemptuous tone.
They scoffed as they continued on their way while Toshinori stood there thoughtfully.
"You're daydreaming Yagi, hurry up" said one of the girls, rolling her eyes while the other had his arms crossed.
"Yes! Sorry..." he said with a sheepish smile as he scratched his head.
........
Toshinori was on his way home after another day of exhausting classes.
"Mrs. Nekozaki is exaggerating, giving us half a dozen exercises for the weekend is torture..."
"The worst thing is that she added three more to me because I was sleeping... That's not cool!" he cried with comical tears.
He then noticed the same salaryman as yesterday in front of the ATM. He played with dexterity with a coin before inserting it into the machine.
Toshinori watched him for a few minutes before approaching him.
"Good evening sir" he says shyly.
The man looked at him with a serene smile, his can in his hand.
"Hey Toshinori, how are you?" he asked gently.
"How do you know my name?" the boy asked, frowning.
"Well, you introduced yourself to the lady yesterday and I heard," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Ah... That's true," he said with a nervous smile.
A silence settled between the two, only disturbed by the sound of the wind on the nearby trees.
"I have this strange feeling when I see it, but... It is not unpleasant. It disturbs me a lot..." Toshinori thought without taking his eyes off the man.
X held his gaze with a small smile.
"I think I'm going to have a can of orange juice" Toshinori finally said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
X readjusted his glasses with a warm smile.
"Sure, take what you want," he said, throwing a coin to Toshinori.
A few minutes later.....
"And so, that's what I want... Being a symbol that protects everyone, my smile will be a refuge for all people who are suffering. A hero who brings peace to this fractured world," Toshinori explained as he finished his can of orange juice.
"And yet, you're quirkless..." X said calmly.
There was no judgment in his voice, just
deep admiration... Sincere respect.
Toshinori felt it and smiled, a bright smile...
"Maybe, but my ideal is intact... I am fragile, I have no power and yet I want to save people, protect them with a smile," he says with a benevolent smile.
X watched him for a few minutes without saying anything, assimilating his words and above all he felt like he had togame yagi next to him, which compressed his heart with a mixture of sorrow, tenderness and nostalgia.
"you are already a great hero in the toshinori heart, even without Quirk, you surpass many heroes I know..." X said, clutching his can slightly.
"You are exaggerating sir..." Toshinori said, his face flushed, surprised by the sincere tone of the black-haired salaryman.
X stood up and arranged his tie before lovingly ruffling toshinori's blonde hair.
"Above all, don't give up on your ideal okay? I'm sure you'll be that symbol you dream of becoming...," he said, handing his a coin with an X engraved on it.
"It's a small gift, keep it preciously, I don't give it to just anyone" he says with a serene smile.
He then left, leaving toshinori staring at the coin with amazed eyes.
"Sir!" he cried, standing up abruptly, gasping for breath.
His eyes widened when he saw in front of him, a white-haired man with a sleek white and red suit and an X on his collar.
He had already seen the image of this man in photos and posters... Buildings were named after him and the whole world considered him a legend...
But never... Toshinori never thought he'd meet him in real life...
"X..... It's really you," he said in wonder, clutching the coin with all his might.
X smiled at him and snapped his fingers and for a few seconds reality distorted into a black and white animation before returning to normal, but X was no longer there....
Toshinori looked at the place where the number 0 on the leaderboard had been a few seconds ago before looking at his coin in his palm and clutching it.
"My boy, are you daydreaming?! It's getting late, this street isn't safe at this time!" cried an authoritative voice above him.
Toshinori raised his head and came across a muscular man, with white hair and dressed in a white and yellow hero costume. He seemed to be holding himself in the air with jets of air on his feet.
"What are you waiting for?!"The man growled.
"Yes! Sorry!" cried toshinori, bowing before walking away.
"The kids..." growled the man, crossing his arms.
"Gran Torino? What's going on?" asked a beautiful woman with black hair and a mole on her cheek. She wore a black suit that molded a trained and beautiful body and a long white cape.
"Nothing Shimura, just a little one who was daydreaming instead of going home" the man grumbled as he watched Toshinori help a woman with a lot of packages cross the road.
The one who called herself Shimura looked at the young man with a sweet smile.
The boy smiled at the lady and Shimura admired this sunny smile, filled with an aura that she could not describe.
"Are you daydreaming too, Nana?!" the man cried angrily, pulling on her cheek.
Nana Shimura burst out laughing as she flew away with Gran Torino grunting behind her.
She took one last look at toshinori and then smiled again.
"What an interesting boy, I won't forget his face anytime soon" she thought to herself.
..........
"Mom! You won't believe what I'm going to tell you! It's absolutely crazy! Toshinori exclaimed, throwing his backpack over the chair.
"Mom?" called Toshinori as he looked for her in the house, worry eating away at him right away.
"Mom?"
"Maybe she's going shopping?" he thinks to himself to play down.
The silence was unbearable... It was 7:00 p.m. and his mother still hadn't come home...
He decided to go and get her when the phone rang throughout the house....
Toshinori has never been so scared in his life... What for?
"Hello?" he said in a trembling voice, the receiver in his ear.
"Mr. Yagi... Want to go to the hospital please? It's for your mother..."
Toshinori dropped the phone receiver....
His eyes widened in horror and he rushed to the door of the house.
"No! I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Mom!!" he cried, sobbing.
To be continued....