Once mother and I finished eating, and after she completed her detailed explanation of All Might's story, she began picking up the dishes and carrying them off to be cleaned later.
"Alright, now that you're all caught up, I have a small surprise for you," Mother said, quickly walking toward the bedroom.
She returned moments later holding a small T-shirt and hat with All Might's face plastered across them.
"Now I know you don't really care much for clothes… especially since you barely wear anything and usually stick to those old shorts, but I really want you to enjoy your very first time meeting a real hero," she said with a smile as she moved over and helped me put them on.
Thanks to my rather oddly shaped head, wearing normal clothes was always a bit difficult, though it wasn't much of a problem—at least at first. My body adjusted quickly to changes in the temperature, so after a while, I didn't really need clothes at all.
Once mother had placed the shirt on me and awkwardly set the cap on my head, she stepped back and gave me a quick look before adjusting the hat again.
After fixing it to her satisfaction, she grabbed one of the small mirrors in our home and held it up.
"Alright… so what do you think?" she asked.
Looking at my reflection, my first thought was that I looked absolutely ridiculous.
But when I glanced up and saw my mother watching me with excitement and joy, I couldn't bring myself to criticize the clothes.
"I love it," I told her.
Her face immediately lit up. She placed the mirror on the floor and pulled me into a quick hug.
"You're going to love him, son. Now why don't you wait outside while I change? Then we'll head straight into town," she said.
"Okay, mother," I replied, heading to the front of the house and sitting down on a nearby rock.
As I waited, I tried to think of something to do, but a sound coming from the forest caught my attention.
In my last life, hearing something like that at night would have made me run back inside and call for help immediately.
But now… oddly enough, I wasn't scared. If anything, I felt curious.
I stood up, slipped on my geta, and walked toward the sound. Pushing aside some brush, I spotted an albino snake.
Its red eyes watched me curiously as it slithered closer. I expected it to bite, but instead it continued forward, crawling up my leg and wrapping itself loosely around my neck.
It didn't try to constrict me. Instead, it simply settled in and slowly fell into a deep sleep, leaving me confused as to why I hadn't run away.
Maybe it was cold. My body regulated heat naturally, and even during winter I rarely felt chilled. My body temperature always stayed within a normal range.
By the time I walked back to the cottage, mother was already slipping on her geta. She wore a simple kimono, with a small flower adorning her hair.
As I approached, she looked up, ready to ask where I had been, but her eyes immediately locked onto the sleeping snake around my neck.
"Toji… why do you have a snake?" she asked with a small pout. "You know you shouldn't be keeping wild animals as pets."
"I didn't pick it up," I said honestly. "It just climbed onto my neck and fell asleep."
She studied my face carefully, searching for any sign of a lie. After a moment, she sighed and chose not to press the issue.
"Alright… but let me take a closer look first. I don't want it hurting you—or getting hurt itself," she said.
I gently tapped the snake, and with a small yawn, it woke up.
Mother's eyes widened with both shock and delight as she looked between the snake and me.
"Toji… do you know how lucky you are?" she asked.
"Uh… pretty lucky, I guess?" I said with a shrug.
She giggled softly and stepped closer, gently petting the snake on the head.
Sensing her calm nature, it relaxed completely and didn't resist.
"You see, Toji, white snakes are signs of great luck and are believed to be messengers. We rarely see them anymore, and the fact that one willingly climbed onto you makes this very special," she explained.
"This little one is said to be a messenger of Lord Ōmononushi."
"Who's Ōmononushi?" I asked, unfamiliar with the name.
"I'll explain when we get back home. For now, we have a festival to attend," she said with a gentle smile, taking my hand as we headed toward town.
The snake, still sleepy, coiled itself around my neck once more and drifted back to sleep.
---
By the time mother and I reached town, several guards greeted us and checked our identification before letting us through.
They really had a lot of guards for someone who was probably the strongest man in Japan.
Inside, the streets were packed with people. Stalls sold food, All Might merchandise filled the area, and several people even dressed up as All Might himself.
As we moved further down the road, a large stage came into view, and a crowd began gathering around it.
Just as we approached, the lights throughout the town suddenly shut off, plunging everything into darkness.
A moment of confusion rippled through the crowd—until the stage lights burst on, beams shooting straight into the sky.
Everyone, myself included, looked up to see a massive plane flying overhead. A loud, booming laugh echoed through the air, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
A figure stood at one of the plane's exits before leaping off.
They descended rapidly and slammed onto the stage with enough force to knock people onto their backs.
As the dust settled and everyone regained their footing, the figure laughed again.
"Hahaha! I am here!"