Chapter 141: Carpet
Once night had descended upon the island, like everyone else Aiden had headed up to his room for some private time. While he got along with the people in his class, it'd be a lie to say that he didn't find them exhausting. This was especially true for Momo and Mina, for some reason the two of them seemed to be very passive aggressive towards the other and Aiden was stuck in the middle listening to it.
*Sigh*
'Why can't girls just say what they're thinking instead of beating around the bushes?'
While he was thinking to himself, he accidentally overheard the conversation between Bakugo and Deku who were outside.
"Did you already master One for All?"
'Are they seriously talking about such a sensitive subject out in the open?'
Recalling how he found out about All Might's secret in the first place, Aiden really couldn't understand how more people in their class hadn't overheard them yet. It baffled him even more that Jiro (earphone girl) was still oblivious to all of this despite the two of them not concealing their voices.
Hearing Bakugo mention One for All, a flash of panic appeared on Deku's face as he quickly looked around before putting his finger to his lips and shushing him.
"We can't talk about that here!"
"Humph! I'm tired of waiting for you to master that power, what percentage are you at anyway?"
"I um, I'm at 20%."
"20%? Is this a joke to you! Hurry up and master that power so that you can fight me!"
"Kaachan..."
*Clenches fists*
"Only by beating you can I prove that I can become the number one hero!"
'They're still going on about that?'
Seeing the fire burning within Bakugo's eyes, Deku nodded.
"Yeah, I'll master this power and make it mine *looks into his eyes* then I'll become the best hero."
'Wow, this childhood obsession is starting to get out of hand.'
Things got even more awkward after that as both boys stared into the others eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time.
'There's something seriously wrong with these two. One believes in his own hype to much and the other one is so privileged that he doesn't even understand that he's not worthy of what he has.'
Thinking about Mirio and his hero aura, Aiden couldn't help but wonder what life would be like if he had inherited One for All instead of Deku.
'What an interesting development that would have been.'
Pulled out of his thoughts by a young sounding familiar voice, Aiden used his Astral vision and saw and additional figure enter the courtyard.
'Katsuma?'
"V-Villains!!"
---
Long story short, Katsuma told Deku and Bakugo that he had seen a villain on the island, and instead of informing the others like responsible heroes, the two grabbed Katsuma and took off in the direction that the supposed villain was in.
Knowing the type of person Mahoro was, it wasn't hard for Aiden to figure out that she had put her younger brother up to this.
Just to make sure that nothing went wrong, Aiden took to the air and followed the trio from a distance.
*BOOM!!*
*BOOM!!*
*BOOM!!*
"Why are you coming with me Deku!!"
Grabbing Katsuma with one arm and propelling himself forward with the other, Bakugo ranted at Deku who was following after him from behind.
"If its true that a villain has appeared then you'll need backup."
"Backup! I'm more than enough!!"
'Do these two ever stop arguing?'
*BOOM!!*
Releasing another powerful explosion, Bakugo propelled himself high into the air.
"Waaahhh!!" Katsuma screamed.
"Shut up brat! Now tell me where you saw that villain."
"O-Over there!" He pointed to a ruin in the distance while holding onto Bakugo for dear life.
In the distance was a separate looking small island connected to the main one by a small bridge. On the small island was castle ruins and vegetation.
'A villain huh?'
Using his astral vision to look for any life signs, a small purple silhouette that was clearly Mahoro hiding appeared in his eyes.
"Over there!" Katsuma yelled as the trio landed in front of a giant looking mantis with a pink mane.
Looking at the monster with his astral vision, no life signs could be seen leading Aiden to believe that he was either hallucinating or that the mantis was an illusion created by Mahoro's quirk.
'An illusion quirk eh?'
"Stay here!" Bakugo yelled before launching himself at the giant mantis and yelling out his special move.
"STUN GRENADE!!" Holding his palms slightly apart from each other, he created a sphere of light that transformed into a large scale flash in an attempt to blind the illusion.
'Blinding the opponent then striking when they're helpless, not bad... If this was an actual opponent and not an illusion, this would be a devastating combo.'
Unaffected by Bakugo's stun gun, the mantis attacked once Bakugo had landed.
"KAACHAN!!" Deku screamed finally catching up.
Lowering his head, Bakugo let the attack hit him, but not to Aiden's surprise, the attack passed right through him.
"What?" Not understanding what was going on, Deku made a dumbfounded expression.
Walking out from the illusion, Bakugo punched the ground and released an explosion that sent the surrounding rubble and the hiding Mahoro into the air.
"Ahhhhh!!"
Vanishing into thin air, the mantis disappeared from sight as Mahoro screams filled the air.
*Sigh*
Swooping down from the sky, Aiden caught the small girl in his arms and landed in front of the others.
"Aiden!!" Katusma yelled when he saw him.
"Aiden?" Looking up at Aiden who had Mahoro in his arms, Bakugo couldn't help but scowl.
"What are you doing here!" He aggressively asked.
Taking a moment to look at him, Aiden decided not to answer and placed Mahoro down by her brother.
"Don't ignore me fuck face!!"
Tuning Bakugo out, Aiden looked at the two siblings.
"I thought I told you two not to do this?"
Seeing that Aiden was still ignoring him, Bakugo raged. But since he couldn't attack him, he had to settle for throwing out insults.
While Aiden was busy dealing with the kids, Deku went over to the enraged Bakugo.
"How did you know it was an illusion?"
"Huh? It had no shadow idiot!"
'Shadow?'
Overhearing the conversation, Aiden had to praise Bakugo for being more perceptive than he was. Since he had astral vision, things like shadows no longer mattered to him.
Listening to the kids's explanation, Aiden was starting to grow annoyed with Mahoro dragging her brother into her pranks.
So after a stern talking to where he mentioned what their parents would think if they found out they were doing this, he offered to take them home while Deku kept an enraged Bakugo from trying to hit him.
Creating a carpet made from astral energy, Aiden put the siblings on it and the three of them took to the sky.
"We're flying!!"
"We're so high up!!"
After watching a movie with Eri where a guy with a magic lamp used a flying carpet to get around, Aiden thought that the kids would enjoy the same treatment. And seeing the smiles on their faces, Aiden knew he had made the right choice.
"Hey Mahoro." He called. "Why do you dislike heroes so much?"
Hearing the question, the smile on Mahoro's face melted away.
"Its not that I don't like them... Its just that being a hero is dangerous." Whispering the last part in a quiet voice, Mahoro glanced at her brother who was still marveling at the fact that he was on a flying carpet.
Seeing that look, Aiden couldn't help but ask. "Does he want to become a hero?"
"..." Instead of answering, Mahoro looked down.
Smiling at her, Aiden placed his hand on her head and gave her a similar head-pat to the ones he gave Eri.
While it felt nice, Mahoro looked up at him with confusion.
"Aiden?"
"Don't worry about it to much." He smiled. "Heroes aren't that amazing, in fact, the best people I've ever met weren't heroes."
"Really?"
*Flashback to parents and DarkStar*
"Yeah, but they were incredible people."
Sitting in silence for a while, the two of them soaked up the sight of the star filled sky.
Growing accustomed to the flying carpet, Katsuma eventually came over and sat down on Aiden's left side.
"Why are you so nice to us?" Mahoro suddenly asked.
"Hmm?"
"That other guy with explosions looked really angry when he found out that we were tricking him, but you didn't shout at us even though we tricked you twice."
"... A long time ago someone gave me some advice, he said that if I looked for the light I'd find it. But if I searched for darkness, that's all I'd ever see."
"What does that mean?"
"I chose to see the good in you and not the bad."
"The person who told you that sounds weird."
*Flashback to the old man.*
"Yeah." Aiden smiled. "He was."
"Hey Aiden, did you always want to be a hero?" Katsuma asked.
"A hero?" Taking a minute to think about it, Aiden finally answered. "When I was younger I wanted to be a construction worker."
"Really?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
"Why? With your quirk I thought you'd always wanted to be a hero." Mahoro said.
"My father was a construction worker... I wanted to follow in his footsteps."
"Why didn't you?"
"...Sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to."
"Do you regret it?"
"Regret?"
*Flashback to Kouta, Eri, Yoshida Saki etc.*
"No." He shook his head. "If I became a construction worker I wouldn't have been able to help as many people as I have."
"What about your dad? What does he think about you becoming a hero?"
"...I'd like to think he's proud of me." Aiden smiled sadly.
"Oh." Seeing the sad smile on his face, Mahoro was reminded of her father's smile whenever they brought up their mother.
Itching closer to him, she leaned her head down on his arm.
"Mahoro?"
Confused by his sister's actions, Katsuma didn't know why but he copied her and leaned on Aiden's other arm.
"Katsuma?"
Keeping quiet, the two of them enjoyed the rest of the ride home.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Arada
Arada This chapter really enforces just how good of a dad Aiden could be.
We also learn a bit about his dreams and past life before all this crazy shit happened to him.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone