Work Text:
1.
“No thanks.”
Toshinori’s hands lower the meticulously wrapped gift to his side. His wide grin cracks a little. Sweat beads at his forehead as he struggles for words after the sudden blunt rejection.
“I was hoping we could get closer as we could be collea-“
“I don’t think that would be necessary," Aizawa interjects.
Toshinori shuffles as Aizawa’s walks around him, his cool eyes raking Toshinori. He nervously swallows as he envisions working with the underground hero who does not seem to particularly like him. The staffroom descends into a dull silence as the other teachers pretend they aren’t eavesdropping.
Toshinori pushes his own feelings away and let’s All Might handle the situation.
“No worries!” He laughs raucously, calling after Aizawa’s back.
He fools no one, especially not himself. Although, Toshinori doesn’t like to back down from a challenge.
2.
Toshinori hovers around A-1 during their quirk evaluation (he tells himself it’s to watch over Midoriya), and his gaze wanders over to Aizawa.
The man is a strict teacher, having expelled an entire class for not living up to his expectations. Toshinori vehemently disagrees with this, believing that all students deserve a chance to shine and chances to fix their mistakes.
“It was a logical ruse!” Aizawa grins widely, causing his students to flinch in confusion. It was unlike Aizawa to go back on such a promise to expel an entire class, Toshinori can only Aizawa has seen untapped potential within his students, just as he saw in Midoriya.
Aizawa eyes drift to stare at Toshinori. The two lock eyes. Toshinori feels his muscles clench up and refuse to move as sweat beads on his forehead. Aizawa raises an eyebrow without breaking eye contact. The older hero jumps back behind the wall he is peering around. He straightens his tie and fails to nonchalantly walks off, a red bloom refusing to leave his cheeks.
Toshinori concludes that they aren’t so different after all.
3.
“Clean-up on aisle four. Clean-up on aisle four.”
Toshinori glances between the chicken and beef instant curry packets. He is unsure of which to buy, it’s been a while since he has craved curry. He settles for both, dropping the packets into his shopping basket. He makes his way to the cashier before halting in his long stride. He hovers between aisles and opts to slide behind one, peering around the corner.
“Aizawa Shouta,” he says to himself breathlessly. It’s the first time he has seen the younger hero outside of a school setting. It’s no surprise to see the man wearing civilian clothes incredibly similar to his hero clothes. He is clad in an ensemble of black; loose black pants and shirt, topped off with black shoes. Toshinori swallows his surprise as he watches Aizawa peruse the section of cat food. He had never imagined Aizawa having a life seperate from hero work, although now that he thinks about it, of course, Aizawa would own a cat. He needed a low-maintenance pet that he could occasionally dote upon. Aizawa twitches and turns to face where Toshinori stands. Toshinori abruptly turns and strides off, pretending to be interested in detergent. He feels his body heat up like a child whose hand was caught in the cookie jar. It’s too much for him to perceive his colleague outside a work setting.
Toshinori shakes his head and pretends he never saw Aizawa.
4.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It’s all his fault. It’s all his fault. Toshinori berates himself for being unable to change his ways from Pro Hero to teacher. Toshinori’s heart hammers in his chest as he jumps through the city as All Might. He has to reach USJ to save the students and Eraserhead. He tries not to think about the worst.
He roars as bursts through the door. Smoke and debris clutter around him as he sees Aizawa’s prone body lying in a pool of blood and his own vision blurs red. An agonising whimper leaves his body as his chest tightens. He pushes the tinges of guilt away from him, to be dealt with later.
“All Might!” The children yell, their spirits renewed as they see the number one hero, mouths curving into smiles.
Right now, he must embrace All Might and do what he does best.
Save the day.
5.
Toshinori concentrates on his breathing. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.
He glances down at his hands. In his left, he clutches a bouquet of flowers, their stems slowly being crushed by his large hand. In his right, he delicately holds the tail-end of a grey cat plushie. He breathes in and musters the courage to enter the hospital room. He is resolute as he charges forward, angling his hip to push the handle down. He stumbles in and gasps.
The sun glances around Aizawa, his eyes gently shut as the bandages covering his body rise and fall with his every breath.
Toshinori sits in a chair, his own body aching as he watches the machines beep and declare Aizawa still alive.
“I’m sorry for not being there earlier,” he apologies to Aizawa’s sleeping face. Toshinori can’t help but stare at the scar below Aizawa’s eye. Toshinori feels the guilt naw at him as he realises Aizawa’s quirk has been affected due to him. He is the reason Aizawa lies on a hospital bed clad in bandages, unable to freely move.
Aizawa opens one eye and squints at Toshinori. He violently sneezes, causing Toshinori to leap from his chair, ready to call for a doctor.
Aizawa blinks, his eyes red and his nose running as he struggles to speak.
“I’m allergic to pollen,” he says, mucus beginning to form. He wheezes and sniffles.
Toshinori groans in embarrassment and stumbles backwards to the door. He suddenly remembers Mic telling him not to bring flowers. Toshinori cannot look at Aizawa’s face so he turns to leave.
“Please accept my apology,” he says as he closes the door behind him.
“Leave the cat,” Aizawa croaks after Toshinori; his voice muffled by the bandages.
He doesn’t hear.
Toshinori walks down the hallway and dumps the flowers in a bin. He leans against the wall and pushes a hand to his forehead. He rests there, reflecting on how stupid he was and is, before leaving the plushie on top of the bin.
He shoves his hands in his pockets and leaves.
+1
Toshinori wanders the school corridors, hoping to conveniently bump into the man he has been trying to befriend. He spies Aizawa leaving the staffroom and speeds up to catch him before he leaves the school.
Toshinori grabs Aizawa by his foreman, pulling him to a halt. The younger man stares at him, a confusion growing in his eyes.
“Let go of me,” Aizawa says slowly.
“What am I doing wrong?” Toshinori blurts out.
“You didn’t leave the cat,” Aizawa replies.
Toshinori stares at him, confused as he racks his brains for what Aizawa could be talking about.
“Oh! I’ll buy you another one if you want,” Toshinori replies.
Aizawa nods half-heartedly and turns to leave.
“Wait, I understand that you don’t like me and want nothing-”
“I don’t care about getting to know All Might, I want to get to know you. Yagi-san,” Aizawa blearily interjects.
Bright scarlet blossoms across Toshinori’s face as he squeaks out a reply.
“Call me Toshinori.”