#jay kidman

『I read that article with Asch’s interview in it, and he said there’s nothing he’s afraid of, not now and not ever….』

『I thought maybe like I am now, I won’t be able to become a hero… I just wanted to ask you about it, Papa』

Jay: How should I put this… There’s so much I want to say…

I think I’ve told you this before, but you know that Papa has things he’s afraid of too, right?

Benji: 『You mean puppies? I know that, but… But you’re a superhero, Papa, so you don’t count…』

Jay: Wh-what does that mean…?

Well okay. The heart of the matter is: even if you’re afraid of something, you can still become a hero

Benji: 『Really!?』

Jay: I won’t say anything about Asch, to preserve his dignity…

But everyone’s got things they’re afraid of or struggle with. Heroes are no exception

I think heroes like Asch who can say they don’t are rare. You really don’t need to worry

Benji: 『...Okay. Asch is a special, super strong hero, isn’t he』

『I wish I could be like that, but… Just as long as it doesn’t mean I can’t be a hero, that’s okay』

Jay: Exactly. You have absolutely nothing to worry about

And besides, you’re still only 10 years old. By the time you become a hero, maybe you’ll be able to overcome that fear?

You have plenty of time. There’s no need to push yourself, just look at the long term and work hard to overcome it, and you’ll be fine

Benji: 『Okay, you’re right…. Alright! I’m going to try my best!』

Jay: That’s my boy, Benji. Papa will keep supporting you, too ♪

*****

[Lounge]

Jay: He seemed so serious, I was wondering what kind of worries he was going to confide to me…

For an adult, that might seem like a trifling matter, but it really can feel like a huge problem that can sway the course of your whole life

Fufu, I guess even I had a period like that. It’s all a part of growing up… ♪

???: Then, I’ll open mine first

Jay: Oup, is someone else here? ——

Will: 『Are you a little more settled in as a rookie yet? I hope you’ve absorbed lots of good things from Brad-san and Oscar-san』

『And, it would be kind of nice if there weren’t quite so many things you struggle with…』

Faith: Aha, that sure sounds like you. The perfect model for what to write

Ren: ….Jay?

Jay: Ah…. Whoops, sorry. I happened to overhear you and got curious…

Will: I’m sorry too. You were on a call, right? Did we interrupt you?

Jay: No no, I’d already hung up. More importantly… Is this perhaps a meetup of Group B from the Rookie’s Camp?

Will: Yes, exactly! During the camp, we wrote letters to ourselves one year in the future, and they’ve just been delivered

Faith: Perfect timing. Could you tell Billy that the spirit of cooperation is important too?

Ren: If we were allowed to abstain, I wouldn’t be here either

Jay: Ahaha…. He absolutely refused to let me or Gray see it either

Faith: Well, that’s fine though, isn’t it? He’s probably going to try to dig into what we wrote later, but I’m definitely not going to tell him

Will: Now now…

Faith: Anyway, getting back on track… Have you managed to overcome the things you struggled with?

Will: I-I’m not so sure… I do remember feeling down about a lot back then, though

Ren: Doesn’t that mean you’ve overcome it, then? Or at least that you’ve stopped worrying about it?

Will: Do you think so? Maybe that means that I’ve grown?

Jay: Hm, this is rather enlightening. It looks like you really don’t have anything to worry about, Benji

Faith: So, who’s going next?

Ren: I’ll go. I didn’t write anything worth dragging this out over anyway

『Don’t forget your goal』 …. That’s all

Faith: The number of characters may not be significant, but the contents sure are

Will: Well, it’s not hard to imagine Ren writing something like that back then…

Ren: I wonder what I would write now

Faith & Will: ……

Ren: …..It’s your turn next

Faith: Yeah yeah… 『To myself, one year from now』

『What kind of hero are you becoming? Have you found your answer yet?』

『Whether you have or not, don’t forget to have some fun. If you become too serious, you’ll turn into a whole different person』

Aha, that’s good. Made me remember something important

Will: It’s true, I haven’t really seen you fooling around and going out much lately?

Ren: …Have you found the answer you were looking for?

Faith: Who knows? This meeting isn’t the place to answer that ♪ 

Jay: Everyone’s really grown…

Faith: What, Jay? You look kind of… overcome

Jay: How could I not be? Letters written one year ago, opened one year later…

The contents go without saying, but seeing everyone coming together and opening them so calmly together really makes my heart swell

Faith: Aha. Then, why don’t you try writing one too?

Jay: Th-that’s not really what I meant, but…

Jay: …No, wait just a second?

*****

[Cafe]

Benji: A letter to my future self?

Jay: Exactly. A letter writing out your current feelings, addressed to the you of the future who may have become a hero

It’ll be fun to imagine who you might become while you’re writing it, and I think it’d be good to write something that’ll encourage you some day when you open it 

Benji: Really…. I wonder if I won’t be afraid of heights anymore by the time I become a hero?

Jay: Right right, that’s exactly the kind of thing to picture while you’re writing to your future self

Benji: Got it, then I’ll write 『You definitely overcame it, right』! And I’ll work hard to make sure it comes true by the time I read the letter ♪

Jay: Oo, now that’s the spirit. I think that’s a great idea

Alright, Papa will take this chance to write to future Benji too

Benji: Huh? No way, Papa has to write to future Papa

Jay: Eh…

Benji: What do you want to be like by the time I become a hero, Papa? Do you think we’ll get to fight together?

Jay: I-I really don’t know about that?

But… Right. What will I be like when you become a hero? It might be fun to sit down and think about that

Alright, Papa will write to his future self too～!

Benji: Yayyy, let’s write together～ ♪

Jay: Yeah…. ♪ (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)

*****