"... I'm sorry," Uraraka said with empty eyes.
"W-Why?" Deku asked, hand gripping his chest tightly. His eyes were unable to bear the sight in front of him.
In front of him, Uraraka had her back turned to him, giving him a breathtaking view of her figure wearing nothing but a pair of black high-cut bikinis.
She turned to him, looking down at him, and repeated her words, "I'm sorry, Midoriya," before she entered a room by opening the door in front of her.
Deku's knees trembled, then folded as he helplessly looked at the dorm room she entered. His eyes clung to the nameplate on it, the nameplate that read, "Arata Imai."
__________
Approximately sixteen years ago:
"Huh…?" A tall, slender boy looked around, unable to process his situation.
Just a moment ago, he died from the rabies he had contracted from a stray dog a few months ago. And, now he was walking—no, floating—in what could only be described as the centre of a nebula.
Despite the visually overwhelming experience, he also felt a certain sense of calm and serenity coursing through his body, which only confused him further.
Thankfully, a voice came to rescue him from his mind.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He heard a masculine, deep timbre voice.
The boy quickly turned backwards, only to see a massive, rugged and muscular-looking man with a gentle expression standing just behind him, staring at where the boy was previously looking.
"Are you an angel?" The boy asked in confusion, wondering if this was what the afterlife looked like.
"Not Quite."
"Then maybe you're a god? The god? Or The Devil?" The boy tried again.
"I am way above those two."
The kid stayed silent before shrugging his shoulders, "I am all out of guesses."
The man chuckled. He raised his hands and waved at the nebula that surrounded them, "I am an Omniversal Peacekeeper."
The kid tilted his head, "Excuse me?"
The Peacekeeper said, "We are basically the police, the technicians, and the mechanics of the omniverse—where all multiverses exist. Collectively, we keep the balance between multiverses and the beyond."
"So, you're basically a god."
The peacekeeper rolled his eyes, "That's an understatement, if not an insult, but, yes. I am a god."
He pointed at the boy, his expression serious, "And, you, young lad, are given the unique opportunity to become a peacekeeper like me."
"Wait, really?!" The boy exclaimed in excitement.
"Yes." The peacekeeper followed up with, "…and, no."
The boy creased his brows. "What do you mean yes and no?"
The peacekeeper explained with a weak smile, "Yes, as in, you do have the potential that sets you apart from the rest of the people on your Earth. No, as in you're actually a very special exception when it comes to recruiting peacekeepers."
The peacekeeper didn't need to be honest here, but he still chose to.
"Why am I an exception?" He asked.
"Under normal circumstances, regular humans aren't recruited into our ranks." The Peacekeeper said with a grim tone. "But, right now, the internal situation in our organisation is… strenuous. It is anything but normal. In other words, this is an unofficial recruitment concerning an uncontaminated race."
The man dropped a hand on the kid's shoulders, his eyes reflecting the urgency in his tone. "There is a traitor in our midst. He is secretly causing unimaginable scales of chaos and carnage around the omniverse."
The peacekeeper looked down with an expression filled with regret, "Unfortunately, no existing Peacekeeper can be trusted to root out the problem without arousing suspicion."
He stared deep into the boy's eyes, "That's where you come in."
The boy frowned, "You want me to fight a god?"
"Ideally, even defeat him. But if you can't do that, even investigating and getting information about him would be enough." The peacekeeper explained.
"What if I refuse?" The boy didn't want to take on such a heavy responsibility.
The peacekeeper looked at the boy with a hint of sadness, "If you refuse, then I will simply return you to your afterlife procedure, but I want you to know, the fate of the omniverse rests on your shoulders. Do you really have it in you to walk away from it?"
"Hey, that's not fair! Y-you're pressuring me to make a decision!" The boy yelled, but the man didn't say anything. "B-But, why me?" .
The boy always thought there was nothing special about him. He believed he was the very embodiment of mediocrity, if not less than that.
"You see, boy, there are many layers to that question. One such layer is that the traitor knows of our ways, our strengths, and our weaknesses. We need someone from outside our ranks, the likes of which nobody has seen before—someone with fresh eyes and untapped potential, and not a conceivable way to be predicted by the enemy."
"Another one is," The peacekeeper smiled and gently bumped his fist on the boy's chest, "You have a good heart, the kind of heart we need, even if you don't realise it yet."
All his life, he had gone with the flow; he had done whatever others had told him to do, yet there had been nobody, not even his parents, who had ever seriously trusted him with anything. Then the boy stared at this giant, who was putting his faith in him; he felt something churning in him.
And, this guy is trusting the fate of the omniverse on me. He thought, his knuckles tightening in resolution.
"…What do I have to do?" He asked.
"That's the spirit!" The peacekeeper chuckled before getting back to the topic. "First, you will need to get your seed."
"Seed?"
"Your superpower." The peacekeeper explained, "Seeds are exactly what they sound like—seeds of power, absolute power."
The peacekeeper extended his hand, and a rainbow-coloured marble appeared above it, gently hovering. "This is one of the best seeds we have."
The Peacekeeper explained, "To assimilate a seed within someone, they must have some compatibility. Without it, it's impossible to assimilate any seed with a host. The reason no human is ever selected to become an Omniversal Peacekeeper is precisely that they don't have a shred of compatibility within them—if used on them, the resistance caused by the assimilation will kill them."
The Peacekeeper then gently pushed the hovering marble towards him, but contrary to his words, the seed effortlessly entered the boy's chest without even a hint of resistance.
"However, there is one exception to this rule—The highest grade seeds. These seeds don't require compatibility; they can create their own perfect connection with any host."
As the seed fused with the boy, he didn't feel any pain, any unpleasant sensation at all. It almost felt good because of the sudden surge of energy that began to flow through him.
"What you just assimilated with is called the Seed of Equality." The Peacekeeper said while pointing at the boy's chest, which was now emitting a red glow—a glow that was slowly spreading across the entirety of his body.
As the boy stared at his changing body, he heard the Peacemaker's voice, "The seed of equality had two functions: absorb, and convert. The Absorption lets you absorb absolutely anything, and the Conversion lets you convert whatever you absorb into a unique energy exclusive to yourself, which you can use to do anything."
Then the Peacekeeper let out a proud, almost smug laugh, "and trust me, boy, when I say anything, I mean absolutely anything."
"So, you mean I can create a universe if I want?" The boy asked, very sceptically.
"As long as you have absorbed enough power to create it, you can even create a multiverse." The peacekeeper smiled. "Furthermore, I will also equip you with the greatest aid in the Omniverse."
"Whoa, really!!" The boy exclaimed.
Usually, he would be too embarrassed to express himself like this, but he was basically alone here, and that helped a lot with his confidence.
The peacekeeper's lips curved up at his enthusiasm, but soon he composed himself and spoke in a grim voice, "I am glad, you're happy, but focus."
"R-Right!" The boy subconsciously straightened his posture. He let out a nervous laugh, "So, what do I have to do?"
"Now that you are properly equipped to deal with the threats that will come your way, let me explain your mission."
The Peacekeeper then looked to his side. When the boy followed his sight, he saw the scenery of a universe forming ahead of him.
"Tell me, boy, have you heard of My Hero Academia?" The peacekeeper asked, already knowing the answer.
"Don't tell me–!?"
"They are all real. Every, single, one of them."
The boy's jaw dropped. After sucking in a deep breath, he asked, "I have to go there?"
The Peacekeeper nodded, "This world will be slightly different from the one you have seen or read. It's a parallel world. Here, Japan isn't the centre of the world's attention, but only in overall national strength; other than that, everything you know is relevant."
The Peacekeeper added with suppressed anger, "On top of that, the traitor is trying to do something there. Although we're not sure what exactly."
"Are you sure about that?" The boy raised an eyebrow, "If the traitor is really a god like you, then why is he doing something on such a small scale? I mean, just a world? I would assume he does universal stuff like it's nothing."
"That's what we thought too, until we got this lead." The peacekeeper let out a deep breath, "This is how he evades our detection—by targeting things that are too small to keep watch on all the time."
"So, I have to fight a god there, huh?" The boy muttered, preparing himself.
"It's possible, but very unlikely to happen." The peacekeeper elaborated, "It's more likely that he has people planted there who work for him."
"Right, is there a way for me to find them?" The boy asked.
"There is, but you won't be able to use it." The Peacekeeper shook his head, "You've not been properly trained to use… anything really.
Noticing the boy's troubled expression, the Peacekeeper quickly followed up, "Do not worry, however. The aid will be there to assist you."
Then he made a difficult face, "Although there is no easy way to find them, boy. The original world, that is, the story told by the people of your home planet, is the real one."
He continued, "You must cross-reference any variations you see there with that narrative, and try to investigate the root cause of those variations—you're bound to find something that way. This way, you will also be able to train your powers."
"That could take years…" The boy mumbled.
"Yes, but don't worry about it. Time moves differently everywhere. You will have plenty there." The Peacekeeper gave him a look of understanding, "but even then, it would be challenging. So, make an organisation that could assist you in your problems."
"Right!" The boy said.
The Peacekeeper nodded, "I want to give you birthright advantages, but I can't. We don't know his detection methods, so we must act as stealthily as possible. I can't even give you a decent birthplace there; for this reason, I deeply apologise for that."
"It's fine…" The boy said quietly, but with a lingering resolution beneath his breath.
"Right, then are you ready to depart, boy—no, brother-in-arms?"
The boy gasped, "Right now?!"
The peacekeeper stayed quiet, letting the silence relay the truth. The boy looked at the peacekeeper for a bit before nodding with a serious expression, "Let's do this."
The Peacekeeper smiled, "Your power will aid you. But remember, that is just the tool, not the solution, the solution is you, and only you. You are chosen for a reason."
He gently extended his hand for a handshake with the boy, "The next time you open your eyes, you will be there."
The peacekeeper smiled gently, "Remember, the fate of the omniverse relies on you, so don't make any mistakes, but if you do, learn from them and move on, don't let it hold you back."
Then the boy heard one final whisper, "Don't be in such a hurry that you end up underprepared when the moment matters the most, but don't take so much time that you arrive late at the moment it matters the most. Do things at your pace—don't relax too much, but don't stiffen up either. Now then, farewell, brethren…"