1 An Otaku's Plight

Supposedly, it's been 10 years now. Ah, today is my birthday... in this world, that is. Well, not this body's date of birth, but more like the anniversary of my arrival to this world.

Oh! Don't get me wrong! I love it here, really!

My previous life was boring, you see. I was what you may call a neet, hikikomori, or an otaku.

I didn't really have much attachment to life, though, when I really did die from suffocation, I regretted... not finishing the anime I was obsessing about at that time.

So, when I woke up, I suddenly became a 4 year old child again... though it was in the BNHA universe.

It really was strange how all that happened... If a god somehow took pity and sympathized with this lowly otaku, I would like to express my thanks for three seconds... before serving them tea and initiating a long chat about life.

Do they not know how life works? The dead should remain dead. What's gone should not go back unless there is really a need to. And I am not needed in this universe anyways. I would be glad if the god just sent me a finished copy of the anime in the afterlife. A real life experience is a bit pushing it.

Being an otaku means enjoying the 2-D world as it is! Making it 3-D causes it to lose its charm!

Sigh... Gods should be a little more responsible...

This is why there are so many trashy isekai manga made yearly.

Ah! I went off track!

As I was saying, today, I was heading to school as usual, when I came across a huge crowd surrounding what seems to be a gigantic shark person.

It was today!

Wow! I did not realize that I really would personally be part of the beginning of the plot!

Ah... It's really great.

Oh hey! Isn't that Kamui Woods?!

I hurriedly took out my phone to take a picture in order to commemorate this moment but, just as I was about to snap the perfect picture, the guy behind me shoved my elbow, knocking my hand onto the backpack of the boy in front of me and making me drop my phone.

"Huh?"

The person in front was apparently startled out of his senseless mumbling and turned to look at what knocked onto him and managed to step on my phone in the process.

Crack. Crunch.

The frustrating sound grated at my ears even over the noisy crowd. I didn't even have to look to know that it was already unsalvageable.

Ah, there goes this month's 23rd phone.

Upon looking down, the boy's face paled immediately and he started to panic. "Ah! Ah! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I'll pay you! Oh god, I'm sorry."

Hmm..? This voice... Messy green hair...

I inadvertently looked down. Mm... Those red rubber shoes... There's no mistake.

This should be the protagonist of this universe, Midoriya Izuku.

With that noted, I looked at the boy who was panicking to death and gave him a careless smile. "Oh that thing? It's fine." I dug through my pocket and took out another phone. "See? I have another one. No need to bother about it."

For some reason Midoriya-kun froze when I looked at him. Why was that? Did I say something wrong?

Oh! Right! I had tied my hair up as soon as I got out of the house! Totally forgot about it!

Most of the time, I kept my hair long to cover my eyes since it scared children. I tried wearing glasses or contact lenses but they were too inconvenient for me so they were opted out.

Ah, hopefully I didn't scare him too much...

"Wow! Your eyes look really cool!"

"...Huh?"

As I looked at Midoriya-kun's sparkling eyes, I knew he wasn't lying.

He... really thinks it looks cool?

"Really?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes! It's like the opposite of normal eyes! It should look creepy but, I don't know why, it kind of looks cool on you!" Midoriya-kun began to list out many points on why it looked cool though he talked too much for me to catch all of them but, just being complimented like this by the protagonist already made me happy enough to die.

Ah! But I had to finish watching this anime till the end! This time for sure!

"What's supposed to be white is black and what's supposed to have color is white! Anyways, it's really cool!" He chattered on.

"I see... Thank you." For once, I felt happy that I had these strange eyes. Ever since I transmigrated here, I've always had these eyes. I don't know if it was because I was once dead and came back from the afterlife but, in the whole family, only I had them.

From childhood till now in this universe, I have always been excluded by people, be it children or adults.

"Don't play with that guy, my mom said people like him will become villains!"

"Ah, don't look at me, it feels creepy!"

"Hey, your eyes are so scary, and your skin is so pale. Your hair is even whiter than my grandad's. You're like a dead person. A corpse!"

Although I had an adult's soul so I was fine with such teasing, it still felt frustrating to be despised even by children. It didn't help when I was given my quirk. In fact, it made it worse.

It was sad that I would still be excluded when strange appearances were already the norm.

So, hearing a compliment from the person I was admiring wholeheartedly really made me happy and relieved.

Yes, there will always be this kind of person amongst the masses.

Ah... He's really an angel.

"Ah! A rookie resolved it all with a kick?! I didn't manage to see it! Why?!!"

Upon hearing Midoriya-kun's tragic wails, I realized that the mess had somehow been resolved while the two of us were chatting.

Damn. I forgot to take a photo.

"Right, so she's called Mt. Lady. Quirk should be gigantification... Age, I can search for that later..."

And he has gone to Deku world again...

Although I feel helpless about this, he is Deku after all, plus, it's one of his adorable points.

So, while he was busy writing on his notebook, I took the chance to snap a picture of the three heroes posing for the cameras in front of the captured villain.

"Oh, right! I forgot! I'm Midoriya Izuku. I'm studying at the school nearby." Midoriya-kun suddenly looked up from his notebook, momentarily surprising me.

"...Yamori Kaito." Somehow, saying my name felt strange to me. It's been a while since I introduced myself to other people since they normally avoid me or call me 'Corpse' or 'Devil'.

"Ah, so it's Yamori-kun, right?" Midoriya-kun smiled brilliantly. At that moment, seeing that smile, I vaguely felt that I could die for this person.

"Yes." I nodded, smiling back at him. "Um, do you want to exchange mail addresses?"

"Huh, really?" Midoriya-kun had a look of disbelief in his face but his hand was already fumbling around for his phone.

Ah, please stay like this forever, Midoriya-kun.

Being lost in thoughts, I carelessly forgot that I was still carrying a bag and accidentally dropped it, scattering some papers on the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't as crowded as before or else they would've been trampled in a second.

"Ah! Your bag!" Seeing the scattered papers, Midoriya-kun hurriedly stooped down and helped me pick up the papers as I tried to gather the other stuff.

Hah~ He is really such an angel.

"Hmm? Ah!" Upon hearing Midoriya-kun suddenly exclaim, I looked up, only to find him staring at my application form.

"Yamori-kun! You're applying for U.A. as well?!" He shouted in an exaggerated manner, causing many people to give as strange glances.

"Oh, yes, I suppose so." Of course, being an otaku, I need to get first class seats to watch the show!

"Then... Do you mind... telling me about your quirk? Oh, age, height, weight, birth date, blood type... um... I promise I'm not a creepy pervert or anything. I'm just-"

"Going to U.A. as well so you're researching about other possible contenders?" Seeing Midoriya-kun's panicky expression as he tried to explain himself, I felt helpless so I decided to just help him out a little.

"Ah, yes! That!" His face immediately brightened up. What a simple person.

"I don't really mind. My quirk is called Puppetry." I introduced as strings which gleamed with a sharp, metallic sheen slithered out like snakes from my wrists before floating around as if to defy gravity. "I can control these strings to do stuff for me; trap people, immobilize them, tie them up, then have these strings dig under their skin and control their bodies. Like puppetry."

I explained slowly to him so he could write it down as I spoke. Just that, since he was looking down, I didn't manage to see his face which suddenly went pale.

"Currently, I am 14 years of age. Last time we measured in P.E., my height was 172 cm, weight was ... around 50 kg..? I can't remember. But my birth date is the 3rd of February and my blood type is AB." I said as he listed down as much as he could, his pen scribbling at the speed of light. "Anything else?"

"Oh um... That should be all for now. I can make my observations at a later time." Midoriya-kun glanced around awkwardly upon seeing that most of the people had already dispersed. Apparently, we had been dawdling about for quite a while already.

"Ah, I see. Then, shall we meet at a later date instead?" I suggested. "Let's both do our best in the exam."

"Yes! Of course!" He replied immediately, his eyes glowing with determination.

And so, after exchanging mail addresses, we parted ways in great terms.

Ah, I'm so happy I took detours for two months straight. This moment was really worth it.

Secretly, my fingers tenderly caressed the slightly crumpled edge of the application form in satisfaction.

He really is an angel.

"Ah! I'm late!" Somehow, from the distance, I could still hear Midoriya-kun's scream.