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Izuku will learn, later, that Toshinori had been expecting this. He'd gotten warnings from once-friends and forever allies, that this would be his end, and he ignored them in favor of protecting the masses.
That doesn't matter right now.
It doesn't matter, because Izuku is running into the ruins of Kamino Ward. Toshinori is slumped on shattered asphalt. His breath pattern is off, more labored than his already strained normal, and Izuku knows straight away that this is bad. If it wasn't, Toshinori would already be standing.
Izuku can hear yelling, both the roar of bystanders celebrating and the confusion of his peers, as he sprints off towards the battleground.
Toshinori is on the ground. Izuku will not leave him to die alone.
"Toshinori," Izuku whispers as he drops in front of his mentor. His pants tear at the knees, but Izuku doesn't feel the sting of splitting skin.
"Careful, my boy," Toshinori breathes, voice weaker than Izuku's ever heard it. Now that he's close, Izuku can see that beneath the gore, Toshinori's face is pale and bloodless, his lips blueing quickly. It's not a question of will Toshinori die, but of which will take him first: the blood loss or the oxygen deprivation.
"Come on," Izuku says. "Let's get you out of here."
"My boy ," Toshinori says.
"Shhh," Izuku says, his voice breaking. "Come on, I'm gonna help you up."
"Sit."
Izuku doesn't want to. He wants to take Toshinori somewhere where a healer can fix him so they can go home and Toshinori can be fine. Toshinori will be fine.
Izuku looks at his teacher, his father in all but name, and realizes that this is it. He shifts on the unstable ground until he's tucked himself into Toshinori's side. The people watch but keep their distance and Izuku is eternally grateful.
Toshinori hums, leaning against Izuku's shoulder. His neck bows with the weight of his skull and his breathing is getting worse, a feat Izuku didn't know was possible. Izuku wraps his arm around him, feeling something sticky and wet that makes him feel ill.
Toshinori cups Izuku's head as carefully as he can manage, pressing a kiss to his successor's crown.
"Kacchan's okay." Izuku says because Toshinori has to know. "Kirishima had him, they're both okay. All of the students got out okay."
"Good," Toshinori says, "'m glad Young Bakugou is good. 'zuku?"
"Yes?"
"Love you."
"I love you too," Izuku rasps. "I love you so much , Toshinori."
Against his side, Toshinori stills.
Izuku takes a shuddering breath. All he can inhale is iron. All he can exhale is grief.
-
Izuku meets All Might when he's nine years old.
It is because of a villain, as many things are in their day and age. Izuku spits up slime that smells of sewage and asks a god a question.
The answer is less than satisfactory.
Izuku is many things. He is brave and bold and smart and kind. His quirklessness is of little consequence when weighed against these strengths.
The same villain that attacked him attacks his friend. Little Quirkless Izuku does not hesitate where full-grown heroes pause. All Might intercedes. Soon after, he apologizes.
The Mighty Mentorship Program starts soon after Izuku meets All Might for the first time. All Might remembers his name and offers Izuku a spot.
The goal of Mighty Mentorship is to match up children who experience quirk discrimination with adults who have survived it. A girl with a blood-consumption-dependent transformation quirk meets with an up-and-coming hero with a blood control quirk. A boy with a corvid mutation is paired with a young woman with a jackal quirk. They meet weekly, with two Monday afternoons reserved for academics and two for social activities with other kids in the program.
Izuku is the only quirkless child in Mighty Mentorship. This is not surprising, as Izuku has never met another quirkless person. Or, he hadn't, until he met Mr. Yagi.
Mr. Yagi is All Might's personal secretary. He's very tall, with sunshine yellow hair and a wide smile. He'd been injured in a villain attack recently, so he's skinny and a little sick, but he's kind.
("I got hurt," Mr. Yagi explained the first day they met. "That scared All Might, so he told you something untrue to try and protect you. It wasn't right. He's already told you he's sorry, but I'm going to tell you again. You, Young Midoriya, can be a hero."
"Like All Might?" Izuku asked. He was hurt, when All Might told him he couldn't be a hero, but he apologized. That's more than anyone had ever offered Izuku before, so he forgave his hero easily.
Mr. Yagi smiled his wide grin and leaned down to whisper behind his hand like he was telling Izuku an important secret.
"I think that you can be even better than All Might.")
Izuku doesn't know many people other than his mother who are kind.
Mr. Yagi is very smart. It shouldn't be so important, that Mr. Yagi is smart, but somehow it's everything to Izuku.
He was diagnosed quirkless almost five years ago, just before his fifth birthday. From that moment, he was Dumb Deku. Every good mark he's gotten on a test has been from cheating, or so his classmates say. They insist that he's never going to be anything because he's nothing. They promise Izuku is stupid to think otherwise.
Mr. Yagi isn't dumb or stupid.
On homework day, Mr. Yagi writes all of All Might's reports. He works from brief notes he'd taken with cramped handwriting on yellow legal pads about all of the fights All Might has had over the last two weeks. The information is so truncated that there's no way that he should have enough about the encounters to fill out the reports, but Mr. Yagi does it easily. He fills pages and pages with urban damage information and threat levels and so many other things. He makes notes about potential countermoves, should anyone other than All Might encounter the assailant he's writing about, and recommendations to mitigate natural disasters that All Might has done rescue work for.
Izuku sits beside him, working on his analysis notebooks. Mr. Yagi prompts Izuku with interesting questions that make his analysis stronger, and recommends that he make little drawings to supplement the written content.
Mr. Yagi told Izuku that most of the other mentor pairs work on homework during advising time, but Izuku is always caught up on his homework, so as long as he's interested they can keep working on analysis and paperwork.
Izuku doesn't have friends. He used to be able to count on Kacchan sometimes, but he was very mad having been saved by a quirkless Deku. Izuku has plenty of time to do his math homework, and he's never needed help with it either way. His biggest problem is that he's lonely. It's really nice, to have someone other than his mom to talk to.
-
Izuku sits in the ruins and sobs. He holds Toshinori's body carefully in his arms like a fine porcelain doll, precious and priceless. His cries break the bubble that has surrounded the ruin, but Izuku holds a hand up when paramedics try to take All Might away for heroic measures.
"He didn't want it," Izuku tries to explain through the tears. "Please don't do that to him."
Izuku had been fourteen when Toshinori asked him if he knew what a Do Not Resuscitate order was. He'd already been brought back like that a dozen times over, a hazard of the job, but his lungs were so damaged and his ribcage weak from irregular nutrition. He didn't want that again.
The medics are clearly not comfortable with that, but Izuku is the one who clearly knew All Might, the one with blood painted across his brow like a blessing. That, combined with the sparks of acid green energy flying off Izuku's skin, keep them back.
Gran Torino is the first who dares get within ten feet of them.
He's old enough to have been Toshinori's teacher and Nana's dear friend. He guided Seven, then Eight, and now Nine. In this moment, he looks ancient. Watching Izuku hold Toshinori's body, the grief that he stacked on his shoulders suddenly multiplied.
"Kid," Gran says gruffly. "Come on. The ground's unstable here. Toshi wouldn't want you to get hurt."
(Nana was still standing when Sorahiko tore Toshinori from her.
They weren't touching and though Toshinori fought him the whole way Sorahiko did not have to pry them apart. They'd never found Nana's body, and Sorahiko had been terrified she'd be turned into a Nomu.
This is worse.
He doesn't know how he's going to get Midoriya up off the ground. He doesn't know how he's going to get him to let go. These young men (and Toshinori was young, in Sorahiko's eyes), shared pieces of their souls with each other. For all that he loved Nana, all that he loved Toshinori, Sorahiko knows that this is something different.)
"Kid," Gran says again, more firmly. "If you don't get up, someone is going to move you."
"I can't leave him." Izuku breathes. "Don't make me. Please don't make me."
Gran puts a hand on Izuku's head. His hands are smaller than Toshinori's but thicker, and heavier. Gran is not a physically affectionate person by nature, but he does his best. This is him doing his best.
"I'm not asking you to," Gran says, his voice the softest Izuku has ever heard it. "I'll get someone to carry him."
"No," Izuku says, voice shaking. "No, I have him."
"Kid, you just got out of the hospital."
" Please."
Gran Torino looks around the ruin, at the crushed buildings and sparking powerlines, and decides that getting Izuku out of the space is more important than him wrenching his arm.
"Up then," Gran says.
Toshinori is significantly taller than Izuku, but he arranges his teacher so carefully in his arms that no part of him touches the ground. When Izuku stands, he sways, but Torino kicks off the ground with a burst of air to keep him from stumbling.
"I don't know where we're going," Izuku says.
"Triage." Gran says, "I'll take you, come on."
Izuku is a heroics student. All he's ever wanted was to be a hero, and as a U.A. first year he learns a lot of things other students his age don't. Their rescue textbook has already gone over the basics of what to expect in mass-casualty events, and Izuku filled in many of the gaps when he found the information interesting. After all, All Might's debut was a rescue. It's important. Izuku thought he understood what it would be like.
He was wrong.
There are not enough people here for the number of wounded. Izuku is given a green flag denoting minor injuries, but he sits amongst the black, holding Toshinori's hand, for fifteen minutes before he pulls himself up off the ground.
If Toshinori were able, he would be helping people right now.
Toshinori chose Izuku to be his successor. He saw something heroic in a quirkless boy who threw a backpack at a villain thrice his size with no plan. Izuku has first aid certifications and despite the crushing feeling in his chest, his body is in fair working order. Toshinori can't help, so Izuku will.
He squeezes Toshinori's hand tightly. After a breath, Izuku lets him go.
The paramedics are probably not supposed to let him take things, but they gesture in the direction of gauze and antiseptic anyways. The medics are busy with critical cases, so he goes to the people tagged with yellow fliers. Injured, but not actively dying. In pain and in need of help that he can give.
Izuku's smile is a pitiful thing, but by god, he tries.
"Hi. I'm Izuku, a heroics student from U.A. High School. You can call me Deku if you want. Can I help you clean and bandage that?"
"You're going to be okay."
"Everything is alright."
"I'm Deku. Can you tell me your name? What hurts?"
"You're really safe, I'm sure."
"This is going to sting. You can hold onto my shoulder if you want, as tight as you need."
"No, I don't know what time it is, I'm sorry. Maybe check with your neighbors and see if someone has a phone?"
"I'm going to wrap this, okay? You'll feel better with compression."
Somehow, it makes things easier. The click of chlorhexidine in his fist and the feeling of warm skin against his fingertips. Butterfly bandages and pressure and mindless mumbling about everything and nothing, his voice hoarse but even. Tears streaming down his cheeks that he can ignore now that he has a distraction. Izuku introduces himself as Deku until everyone in this station knows who he is, greeting him with a quiet Hero Deku. It's a title he can't claim, yet they seem to believe he's earned it.
It's a patch pressed up against Izuku's heart that will soon fail, but it's better than nothing.
"Young man," A woman old enough to be Izuku's grandmother says, catching his sleeve with his fingertips. "A moment of your time?"
"Yes ma'am," Izuku says, kneeling down in front of her. Her face is full of gravel, bloody and broken, but her eyes are kind. "Can I help you wash that out?"
"If you'd like," She says. "But I'd rather you sit for just a moment, sweetheart."
"I'm fine, ma'am, but thank you for the offer."
"Honey," She says softly. "You're crying."
"I can't stop," Izuku says. He's always cried a lot, always felt so deeply. He can't cut off the flood. At least Izuku is practiced in the process of breathing around tears and keeping himself functional. "I'm sorry, I know it's annoying."
"You're not bothering anyone, honey." She promises. "I'm just worried about you. It's been a long night. I'm Hana, by the way."
Hana has a hand on Izuku's wrist, and while Izuku is more than strong enough to break her grip, he stills. She is steady while Izuku trembles.
"I'll take a minute before we handle that road rash." He says, settling down into a cross-legged position. "One minute."
-
Izuku doesn't know when Mom and Mr. Yagi become friends. He just knows that all of a sudden, six months into Mighty Mentorship, they start having supper with Mr. Yagi at least once a week.
Izuku thinks it's a good thing. His mom has people she talks to at the law firm where she works, but they don't ever meet up for social visits.
(It's his fault because he's quirkless and they don't want to see him. They don't like his mom anymore because she's a reminder that some people don't have quirks, and that scares them. Mom says that she would and will choose him every time but Izuku feels so bad. He feels so bad because his mom is such a good, kind person and he's ruined everything with an extra toe-joint and a baseline human body.)
("It is not your fault," Inko corrected firmly, the one time she heard Izuku say it out loud. "It is never your fault, how other people treat you for your quirklessness, sweet boy. Never ever.")
Mr. Yagi may fumble his words on occasion, but he's nothing but kind to Izuku and his mother. When they first started having dinners together, they met at restaurants after Mighty Mentorship. After a few meals, Inko offered their apartment. It's not like diners are fancy per se, but eating takeout at home is more relaxed.
Mr. Yagi and Izuku talk about heroes and the new video game Izuku has been playing and soccer, which Izuku has become obsessed with now that he has people to play with at Mighty Mentorship.
Inko and Mr. Yagi are both terrible gossips who buy trashy magazines to make fun of them. They take turns reading aloud and discussing the content like they're in a prestigious book club instead of eating takeout on a couch older than Izuku. More seriously, they're both paralegals, with Mr. Yagi working directly for All Might and Inko working for a criminal advocacy firm. When they talk about work it's like listening to a language Izuku doesn't quite know but can recognize a couple of words from. As hungry as Izuku is for knowledge, it's boring.
Izuku never thought anything about Mr. Yagi's work would be boring, but when he's talking about statistical research Izuku goes right to sleep. At least Mom is having fun.
The three of them have similar tastes in television, documentaries mostly, but not always about heroes. Food and innovation and nature and so many other things that they'll probably never need to know about but are fun. Sometimes they watch movies, which means Inko and Izuku quickly learn that Mr. Yagi is a baby whenever it comes to anything scary. Inko gently teases him at the same moment Izuku vows to protect him from the monsters, as any true hero would.
Izuku doesn't think he would have noticed if the only time he spent with Mr. Yagi was at Mighty Mentorship, but Mr. Yagi has a habit of disappearing. It's usually only for ten or twenty minutes at a time, but where that was explainable by an urgent phone call during work hours, it is less so over dinner.
"Mom?" Izuku calls. "Where did Mr. Yagi go?"
Izuku was only in his room for five minutes, switching into his pajamas. They're his current favorites, an old All Might tee shirt that's almost too small and wearing around the edges because of how frequently Izuku wears it, and a new pair of Wash sweatpants with rainbow bubble patterns. They do not match. Izuku does not care.
"He said he had to take a phone call," Inko says, pouring hot water into three mugs. "Blueberry tea or chamomile, baby?"
"Blueberry please," Izuku says, "It's late though. You don't have to take phone calls this late and you do the same kinds of things as Mr. Yagi."
"He works for All Might," Inko says, "That means that sometimes, he has to do things at odd times. When you're a pro hero, do you think that you'll do everything during work hours?"
"Well no," Izuku says, "But I'll be the hero and heroes have to go where ever they're needed, whenever they're needed. Mr. Yagi can do paperwork things in the morning. It's not like he's All Might ."
Izuku freezes.
Wait a minute.
Izuku has never seen Mr. Yagi and All Might in the same room. He knows that Mr. Yagi writes all of All Might reports and handles all of his scheduling. The scheduling is not abnormal, but Izuku knows that most pro heroes have to do at least some of their reports, Mr. Yagi said so himself.
Mr. Yagi has lots of phone calls at odd times, and when he comes back from them he always looks a little sweaty, with the occasional scrape on his hands or face.
All the other kids in Mighty Mentorship signed up for the program, their applications carefully filed through to see where the most good could be done. Not only was Izuku scouted, Izuku is the only student who was invited back for a second year of Mighty Mentorship.
Izuku, who All Might said couldn't be a hero. Izuku, who All Might apologized to and instead promised that Izuku would be a fine hero. Izuku, who Mr. Yagi thinks will be a great hero, one even better than All Might.
"Can I use your phone?" Izuku asks. "I want to check the news."
Inko slides her phone across the counter for Izuku, who unlocks it quickly and pulls up the Hero Watch app. All Might is in Osaka, responding to Fat Gum's request for aid. The live stream shows things turning out favorably, with All Might and Fat Gum clamping quirk-nullifying cuffs around the wrists of a rather-nasty group of villains who have stolen no less than fifteen cars in the last three weeks, according to the headline. All Might bounces away and Izuku hands the phone back to his mother.
Osaka is not close to Shizuoka, but All Might is very fast. It's very possible that All Might could have zipped over there and be on his way back. Two minutes of travel time, maybe?
"Thank you," Izuku says, handing Inko back the phone. "I'm gonna go wait for Mr. Yagi in the living room. Do you want me to take his cup?"
"Careful," Inko warns as she hands Izuku both mugs. "I'm going to pack my lunch for tomorrow, okay? I'll come in for the movie after."
Izuku walks slowly to the living room and sets both mugs on the table. Then, he faces the door and waits. A minute passes, then two, and Mr. Yagi opens the door.
He has a bruise blooming on his face where Izuku saw All Might get hit on Hero Watch, a bruise that wasn't there fifteen minutes ago.
"How was Osaka, All Might?" Izuku asks.
"Fine!" Mr. Yagi says. Despite his appearance, just as he's always been, his voice is a little louder, more boisterous. "Young Toyomitsu nearly had it--"
Mr. Yagi stops. Looks down at himself, then over to Izuku, and then back at himself. He is undoubtedly Mr. Yagi, with his too-big suit and his floppy bangs, but he's also more.
Izuku grins like the cat who caught the canary and Mr. Yagi sighs heavily. He does not attempt to dissuade Izuku of his identity, likely because he knows Izuku is relentless in his pursuit of knowledge. He's given an inch, which means Izuku will take a mile.
"Mom?" Izuku calls, his head tilted in the direction of the kitchen. "Is it lying if it's for national security purposes?"
-
They don't reduce the security around the area until first light, but even as people start to make their way home Izuku is not left alone. Everyone in the yellow zone has been bandaged for more than an hour, and the medics gently refused Izuku's aid in higher-stakes situations. He lays curled up on his side, knees tucked close to his chest. He's so tired he doesn't feel real but can't sleep.
Hana pets Izuku's hair and Maru, the businessman with the sprained ankle, has his Watchdog quirk guard Toshinori's body. This watch was the condition required to keep Izuku with them instead of returning to his teacher's side. Hana and Maru whisper to each other above Izuku, but he's having trouble focusing on it. Everything feels far away.
Nobody comes looking for Izuku until morning. It's light enough that Izuku think's he should be on his way to school, but he smashed his phone getting Kacchan to safety, and doesn't care enough to try and have someone else sus it out.
"Izuku Midoriya! I'm looking for U.A. student Izuku Midoriya! Has anyone seen him?"
"We have him!" Maru calls, waving an arm. "He's here!"
"Can you sit up, baby?" Hana asks. "It looks like one of your teachers is here."
Izuku sits up, Hana's hand on his back steadying him. She rubs small circles on his back, and her hands are warm. He feels a little more grounded.
"Hey, kitten."
"Tiger?" Izuku asks.
"That's me," Tiger says, voice gentle as he kneels in front of Izuku. "Your homeroom teacher's been raising hell trying to find you. All your little friends made it back to safety, but they said you got separated."
"All Might needed me," Izuku says.
Maybe that's not true. All Might didn't need help or company from a sixteen-year-old boy, but Toshinori did. Toshinori, who was Izuku's family second only to his mother. Toshinori, who because everyone else was too stunned to rush into the ruin, was going to die alone.
Izuku won't apologize.
"He did," Tiger says. "It's time to go back to U.A. now, okay kitten? Eraserhead will be there."
"I can't leave," Izuku says, breath coming in ragged at the thought of leaving this awful place. "I can't. Toshinori --"
"Shhh," Tiger soothes. "Gran Torino said to tell you he'll watch over All Might. They're sending in relief rescue heroes, he and I are part of the first group being replaced. Gran Torino will keep him safe, right? You trust him."
"I do but--"
"Your friends are scared," Tiger says. "They thought something happened to you. Todoroki and Uraraka have tried to break out of lockdown three times already. They're going to get hurt in all of this if we can't convince them to stay at U.A. I need you to come keep them safe."
"This is Heights Alliance," Tiger says, ushering Izuku through the door. "It's a dorm system Nedzu has had build teams working on, in preparation for optional boarding for your class starting next term. The building is unfurnished, but it's complete and safe, so it's where 1-A is sheltering."
"And my mom is here?" Izuku asks. He's unsteady on his feet, but Tiger won't let him fall.
"I don't know. I know Nedzu left her a voicemail for sure, but I haven't heard anything since," Tiger says. "We'll check with Eraserhead in a minute. Can you get your shoes off on your own?"
Instead of answering, Izuku toes his sneakers off. They're blood splattered and muddy, almost black instead of their true candy-apple red. He sets them outside instead of leaving them in the genkan. There's no saving them.
"Deku?"
Izuku turns. The kitchen and lounge are occupied.
Heroes surround the kitchen island. They're all in at least parts of their costumes, Aizawa-Sensei with his capture weapon looped around his neck over his press conference suit and Snipe-Sensei with a holster strapped over his pajama pants. Midnight and Present Mic are in almost their whole uniforms, missing only a few support items between the two of them, though Midnight's heels have been tossed to the side of the room. Principal Nedzu sits cross-legged on the counter, a laptop in front of him.
There's a pile of pillows and blankets in what Izuku assumes is the living room. His class is hidden inside the pile, not a single person missing. They gather in clusters. Kirishima, Mina, Kaiminari, and Sero are all touching Kacchan, hands on his arm, wrapped around his ankle, or gripping his tee shirt. Yaomomo and Jiro lay close to each other, Kaminari's legs tossed over theirs to comfort each other with the contact. Aoyama, Sato, and Tokoyami sit together, as do Hagakure, Shoji and Ojiro. Iida and Tsu set steadying hands on Todoroki and Uraraka as they scramble to their feet.
"Hi."
Uraraka and Todoroki rush him, and despite himself, Izuku flinches back. Tiger steadies him, keeping Izuku from falling on his ass. They freeze a foot away from him, their hands hovering but not touching.
"You're covered in blood," Uraraka says, voice low and concerned. "I'll get a towel, hold on--"
Izuku panics, something fragile and irrational in his chest shattering at the idea of removing Toshinori's blood from his skin.
(It's Toshinori's, and Izuku is suddenly terrified of losing anything else of his. It doesn't matter that it's gross and dirty and that it needs to come off, because it's Toshinori's. Izuku is going to clean his skin and this last trace of Toshinori will go down the drain and a piece of Izuku will go with it. He can't, he can't. )
Izuku's on the ground, and he doesn't know if it's because he fell or because he was placed there. He's sobbing, his whole body shaking, and he's lost. Izuku doesn't know where he's or what's going on, just that he's drowning and dying and so, so alone. God, what is he going to do now that he's alone? He can't handle this burden, can't carry it on his own, Toshinori needs to come back and help him because Izuku isn't ready. He can't go it alone, he can't.
Izuku doesn't know much of anything for a while, lost underneath the waves. Then his hand is cold and hot in succession, a firm bum-bum, bum-bum pulsing steadily beneath his fingers.
"Good," Todoroki says, a little stilted but so careful, so kind. "You're not alone, Midoriya. We're right here. You're not alone."
-
"I heard you're moving."
It's Thursday, not Monday, but Izuku is at Might Tower anyways. Inko was selected for an important conference in Europe and Toshinori (Mr. Yagi has started insisting Izuku and Inko call him Toshi or Toshinori because his friends call him by name) was the best fit for Izuku to stay with while she was away. It's the first of four nights Izuku will be staying with Toshinori, and he's very excited if a little nervous. It's been him and his mom forever, and even though they're both fine Izuku's a little anxious.
Izuku does homework on Tuesdays, so he's slogging through biology homework. He is really, really tired of introductory genetics. Izuku's classmates never forget that he's quirkless, but they ignore it less amidst talks of mutations and birth defects. The next time Izuku finishes a sheet, he'll be allowed to look at some of Toshinori's finished paperwork. The merchandise approval process is so much more fascinating than peas.
"A company bought the building from the people who've owned it forever, and they decided to change some rules," Izuku says. It took them a long time to find this apartment, because most other apartments charged them a premium for Izuku's presence, citing a quirk insurance requirement. Izuku knows that quirk insurance is real, but he's pretty sure it's designed for passive-destructive quirks that cause corrosion and similar damage, not quirkless twelve-year-olds. With this new ownership, they'll have to pay twice as much and this unit just isn't worth it. "It sucks."
"It does," Toshinori agrees. "Did Inko tell you where you're going to be moving to?"
"Mom said that she found someplace nice, but we didn't have a whole lot of time to talk about it before she left for work this morning. She thinks I'll like it! Which is good, because we'll have to move pretty quickly once she's back in town."
"That's true," Toshinori says, "I've seen your new place."
"Oh," Izuku says, closing his notebook to watch Toshinori. It's silly, but Izuku's a little hurt that his mom brought Toshinori instead of him, even though he knows she went on tours over her lunch break instead of after school. "Is it nice?"
"I think so," Toshinori says. "The bedrooms are large, so you'll have room to grow your merch collection a bit if you want. The floors are heated and even though there's no roof access like at your old place, there's a balcony you'll be able to go out on whenever you want. There's a washer and dryer in the unit too, so you don't have to trek to the laundromat on wash day."
"I hate the laundromat."
"I'd heard that before," Toshinori laughs.
"It's already great then," Izuku says, marking off another homework question. "This page is done. You can check my answers if you want."
"I trust you," Toshinori says, voice warm. "I set aside the action figure approval form for you to look at on your break, here."
Toshinori's condo has a guard at the front who knows him by name and an elevator that takes them to the 30th floor. Izuku has his duffle bag on one arm and a bag of takeout in the other, while Toshinori carries his briefcase and Izuku's backpack.
"Careful for Soar," Toshinori warns as he opens the door. "She's a little tricky."
"Who's Soar?"
The lock clicks and the door opens. Standing waiting for Toshinori is a cat, with tuffets of messy black fur and a red collar.
" Oh, " Izuku says, stepping quickly into the apartment and dropping his duffle bag on the ground. "Hi, kitty."
"You can pick her up," Toshinori says. "She likes to be held like a baby."
Soar is a big cat, but she snuggles up so politely in Izuku's arms that it's no trouble to hold her.
"Toshinori," Izuku says, "I am going to steal your cat."
"Getting into U.A. with a criminal record is difficult, my Prince of Nonsense," Toshinori laughs.
"I'd go to Shiketsu for her," Izuku swears. Soar leans her face against his and Izuku melts into a million pieces.
"We'll just have to share her, I suppose," Toshinori says. He takes Izuku's duffle bag and adds it to the pile of bags on his shoulder. "Come with me."
The guest room Toshinori leads Izuku to is kind of like a dream. There are little pieces of All Might merch in here, framed comics and prototype collectibles never released, even though Izuku knows that Toshinori finds merch with his face on it at least a little embarrassing. The bed is big, with a dark blue bedspread and yellow throw pillows shaped like stars. The desk has a fresh Campos notebook on it, with the type of mechanical pencils that Izuku prefers sitting next to it.
"Think it'll do?" Toshinori asks.
Izuku gives him a hug so fierce, it nearly knocks Toshinori off his feet.
On the third day, Izuku realizes that some things from his apartment have made their way here. They're boxes, more specifically the boxes that he and his mom have been packing up to prepare for their move. It's fancy dishes that Inko wrapped in newspaper in a box marked KITCHEN and a clear tote of keepsakes from Izuku's first few years of life. In the closet of the guest room are the clothes that Inko bought too big on sale and kept for Izuku to grow into. Some of her soaps are in the bathroom too.
"Toshinori?" Izuku asks. "I have a weird question."
"I hope to have an answer," Toshinori says. He's making breakfast while Izuku sits at the island, a notebook in his hand and Hero Watch on quietly in the background.
"Are you dating my mom?"
Toshinori coughs hard into his elbow, lips smearing red as he wipes his mouth on his sleeve. "Try that one again, my boy."
"Are you and Mom dating?" Izuku asks. "Because Mom has never gone on dates but as far as I'm aware dating is just hanging out with people you love, and you and Mom do that all the time, with and without me. Some of our stuff is here, which could just be because we're moving out of the apartment, but it's also not things that couldn't be moved when we go to the new place. The room I'm staying in feels like my room, with All Might merch even though it makes you feel silly and notebooks and a soccer ball under the bed. There are balconies and heated floors and I haven't seen the washing machine but I heard it when you brought laundry out to fold last night after the movie and those are all things that you talked about for the new place. So it looks like we're moving in here! Which is awesome, because you're here and I just met Soar a couple of days ago but I love her so it's going to be great. But people with kids like Mom don't usually get roommates unless they're dating. It's okay if you and Mom are dating! I'm a little hurt that you didn't think you could tell me but I'm not mad because you make Mom smile and you bought her the flowers she likes for her birthday but won't buy for herself or let me buy for her because she thinks it's silly and I--"
"My boy," Toshinori interrupts. "You are correct in your deduction that you and Inko are moving in here, but we aren't dating."
"But we're moving in?"
"They're not mutually exclusive, my boy. Your mother and I are very good friends, and we do love each other, just not romantically."
"What if you decide you do want to date someone?" Izuku asks. "I want you to be happy."
"Oh Izuku," Toshinori says, "I'm so happy with you and your mother. I was lonely for a very long time and now I'm not because I know the two of you. I don't need or want anything else."
-
Todoroki and Uraraka stay in the bathroom while Izuku showers like they're terrified he'll disappear if they leave him alone. Uraraka stays on the other side of the room, facing the door, while Todoroki helps Izuku clean his hair. He's careful but methodical, making sure that Izuku is clean without tugging on his raw skin. He'd shared with Izuku before that his older sister washed his hair regularly when he was small and too scared to bring soap beyond the fuzzy vision of his left eye. Izuku wonders if Fuyumi was this careful with Todoroki too.
"Rinse," Todoroki says, taking a step back. "Uraraka, a towel please?"
A towel hits the wall beside them with a soft thunk , and Todoroki turns off the tap. He hands Izuku the towel and makes sure that Izuku is covered up before opening the shower curtain. He's absolutely soaked, the boxers he didn't remove sticking to his skin, but he doesn't complain. A second thunking sound follows as Uraraka throws Todoroki a towel too.
The time it takes him to get dressed passes in the blink of an eye. One moment he's standing with the towel clutched around himself, the next he's in a pair of pajama pants borrowed from Todoroki that's a little too big, a shirt from Uraraka that's a little too small, and a sweater Toshinori left in his office that someone grabbed for him from the main campus. Toshinori bought it big enough to wear as All Might even though he never did, and it hangs heavy on Izuku's shoulders. It smells like his soap and even as Izuku's heart aches, he feels a little bit safer.
"Did you mean it?" Izuku asks. "When you said I wasn't alone?"
"Always," Todoroki says.
"We'd never leave you," Uraraka promises.
"What if it's dangerous?" Izuku asks. "What if you'd be better off without me?"
"You can't get rid of me," Todoroki says. "I must admit I've never broken my own bones to prove my loyalty to a friend, but after watching you I'm sure that I can figure it out."
“We’d never be better off without you, Deku," Uraraka agrees. "We need you.”
Heights Alliance is a dormitory, which means there is no conference room. While transporting to U.A.'s main campus isn't necessarily dangerous, it doesn't feel like a smart move either. There are too many people to gather in one of the student dorms and the kitchen is open to the living area, making it insecure.
Because of this, Izuku's first meeting as presumptive Symbol of Peace is in a laundry room.
"We're not going to all fit in the chairs," Izuku says. "Uraraka, Todoroki, come up on the washers with me?"
Todoroki and Uraraka hop up onto the washing machines alongside Izuku, their backs pressed up against the wall. Their arms wrap around Izuku's back, Todoroki going high while Uraraka goes low. Kacchan, who looks both irritated by Izuku's demand that he be here and resignedly relieved that Izuku is okay, leans against the wall beside the washers and the driers, within arms reach but not touching his classmates.
(If Deku needs it, Katsuki will be there. They're not close, not anymore, but they were inseparable once upon a time. Despite his best efforts, Katsuki still holds some measure of affection for Deku deep in his heart.)
"How many people are going to be here?" Todoroki asks.
"Why did you make me get out of bed?" Kacchan growls, bags under his eyes heavy and dark.
"Why are we gathering?" Uraraka adds. "I mean, are we even supposed to be here? I know the teachers said that there was going to be a meeting but I don't know if it's a good idea for us to be here. We don't even have our provisional licenses yet. We're just kids. I think we'll be kicked out."
"We won't be," Izuku says. "This is my meeting."
It's strange, having one of these meetings without Toshinori. The few times it had been more than the two of them talking about overthrowing All for One, it had been them with Nedzu or them with Tsukauchi. They never tried to have this conversation en mass.
People arrive quickly and quietly, all coming within a few minutes of each other.
Recovery Girl and Nedzu come together. Recovery Girl gives Izuku an unnecessary examination to confirm that he is in passable health, but listens when Izuku refuses the use of her quirk for his bumps and bruises. He didn't sleep, and this conversation will require as much attention and care as he can manage.
Tsukauchi comes soon after, bringing a troubled-looking Aizawa-Sensei with him. Aizawa seems to have found the rest of his uniform, which is good. Izuku doesn't think there'll be any more fighting tonight, but it's still good to be prepared.
"Why are my students at a security briefing?" Aizawa asks. "You shouldn't be here."
Uraraka moves to stand, but Izuku sets a hand on her thigh, keeping her in place.
"If Izuku says they stay, they stay," Tsukauchi says. "Trust me, Eraser."
Before Izuku can add anything in agreement, the last pair of heroes comes through the door.
Izuku doesn't think that Sir Nighteye would have ever liked him, but the look that he gives Izuku is scathing. Izuku is not when he wanted for Toshinori's successor and Nighteye won't be quiet about it.
(He presented an alternative last year after Izuku had already had One for All for a month. Nighteye had been displeased, that he hadn't been consulted in something so monumental.)
Gran Torino stomps on Sir's foot and hits him with a glare so severe it seems to physically hurt.
"Do not look at the boy like that, Mirai." Gran scolds. "Especially not today."
Sir Nighteye does not apologize, but he averts his eyes, and that's enough for now.
"Close the door if you would, Gran Torino," Nedzu requests, "Lock it too while you're at it."
Gran locks the door and leans against it. The room is quiet as the heroes gathered wait for somebody to start the meeting. With a heavy heart, Izuku realizes that this is his job now.
"Has anyone heard from Mom?" He asks. "I tried calling with Kacchan's phone a bit ago and she didn't answer."
"Not as of yet," Tsukauchi says. "I didn't feel comfortable sending anyone else to your apartment, and I've been occupied. I'll go check myself after this meeting. You can make a list of clothes you want too, I'll bring them back. It might be best for you to shelter in place here until we have a better understanding of the situation."
"The boy should go to America," Nighteye says, like Izuku isn't even there.
"The boy is one of my students, Nighteye," Aizawa says. "Why would we send Midoriya away when U.A. is perfectly equipt to teach him here? He'll be a target after his proximity to All Might, yes, but that can be smoothed over.
"It can't. The boy is a target. If we're going to do anything, our first move has to be to get him out of the country."
"I'm more concerned with the fact that he doesn't have a license," Gran Torino says. "We'll need him in the fight against All for One and even a provisional won't cut it."
"Do you really want to hand the boy over to the commission?" Nighteye demands, louder and louder. "You want to distort All Might's legacy by giving his successor to the government?"
"That's not what I said and you know that, Sir."
"If America was right for All Might, it must be right for the boy."
" The boy ," Izuku interupts. "Is right here."
Nighteye opens his mouth and closes it, staring at the wall like he's trying to avoid saying something nasty. Conversely, Aizawa stares at Izuku with an intensity that is making his companions uncomfortable by proximity alone. They are both blessedly silent.
Gran Torino just looks tired. Izuku is also so, so tired.
"I'm not going to America," Izuku says firmly. "All for One is stronger than he was when Toshinori was my age and he knows who I am. He'd just follow me. It's better to stay here."
"Midoriya," Aizawa says sharply. "What is going on?"
"Are we missing anyone?" Izuku asks. "I don't want to go over this again."
"Four is already too many," Nighteye mutters. Gran stomps on his foot again.
"I believe this is it, for now." Nedzu says. "Would you like to explain it Midoriya, or would you like one of us to cover it?"
Izuku does not want to explain it. He wants someone else to catch the masses up, Gran who has known about this war for longer than Toshinori was even alive, or Nedzu, who advised All Might regarding this struggle for almost forty years. Most of all, he wants Toshinori to explain it all, to take this weight and hold it for Izuku until he's older and wiser and the type of hero worthy of the legacy of their quirk.
Izuku does not want to explain, but he will because it is his responsibility.
"I think it would be best to start with a tale of two brothers," Izuku says. "Let me tell you about All for One and One for All."