Work Text:
When Izuku first laid eyes on the ridiculously tall teenager Nana dragged into his office that one day, he wasn't impressed. At all. He thought Nana had finally gone off her rocker with all those maternal hormones running through her from her recent pregnancy. Taking in random street kids? It was idiotic and dangerous, especially if it got out that One for All was taking in homeless children. Too easy for spies and traitors to worm their way into her life. She had never been so careless, and he had half a mind to reprimand her.
But something was stopping him from demanding she ditch the kid. Maybe it had been that elated look in the blonde's eyes whenever Nana so much as looked his way, or how the thoughts Izuku could hear rattling around inside his head reminded him of a young Nana, all bright eyed and ambitious.
Either way, he let the boy stay for now. They could always use more hands around, especially with Nana's young son just learning to crawl and absolutely causing havoc for any thug assigned babysitter watch. Besides, he knew Nana would kill the kid if he caused trouble for them.
Izuku didn't expect Nana to start dragging the boy around with them wherever they went though, going so far as to bring him to her and Izuku's private meetings.
As Nana opens the door to his office, about to usher the kid inside, Izuku takes initiative and stops them.
"Nana, a word with you alone first?" The room is silent except for the sound of his pen, and he doesn't have to look up from where he's scribbling in a notebook to know that the cold and distant tone he took on has struck fear into the kid. As he walks out, Izuku can hear Nana whisper to him to sit outside and wait for her, and to not come in no matter what he hears. He has to suppress the urge to snort in amusement. It seems his tone scared more than just the kid.
At the click of the door shutting, he looks up from his notes towards Nana. She stands, straight-backed with her arms folded behind her, like a soldier waiting for commands, or a servant expecting punishment. It strikes a bittersweet cord in his chest, a reminder of her childhood training and all their years together, as well as a reminder that she may be his partner but they're still not equals, and no One for All has seen themselves as his equal since his baby brother passed on the quirk. A reminder that he's still at the head of this, in charge and control, and in turn alone on his metaphorical mountain.
"Relax Nana, I just want to talk." Letting the warmth seep back into his voice, he flashes her a gentle smile in an attempt to ease the tension between them. At her now less-stiff nod, he continues. "You intend to train that kid into a successor, don't you?"
She nods once more, meeting his eyes with that spark of defiance and courage that made him choose her as the next One for All in the first place. "Yes. I think he's a perfect candidate, given plenty of training of course." She doesn't wait for his response before plowing ahead. "He wants to change the world but doesn't know how to go about it. And he looks up to us both a lot. Y'know, he once told me that he didn't consider it before meeting me but now he sees how doing things our way can get so much more done than any hero ever could," she says fondly, grinning at the memory.
Now it clicks in Izuku's head. "You see him as a son don't you?"
"... Yes. Yes I suppose I do see the kid as my own. That's not a problem is it?" The look in her eyes says it doesn't matter if it is or not. "You always told me that the greatest allies are the ones you see as family. You're still big brother to me, and I want to be able to give all the care you've given to me to Toshinori."
Huffing out a soft laugh, Izuku can't help but shake his head in amusement. "Nana, that's not fair, playing the sibling card y'know? People call me evil and here you are using my weakness against me. Alright. I'll think about it." He holds up one hand, silencing her just as she's about to let out an excited squeal. "But this is not a yes to him being your successor. This is a yes to thinking about it, and letting you start his training. He is not to know how One for All is passed down, nor your intentions to train him into your successor. I want to see more of what he's made of before I decide."
She nods frantically, like a chicken bobbing its head, before flashing him a characteristically wide grin. "I won't let ya down Izu, don't worry bout it. And you'll see what I see in him soon, just know that!"
"Okay, okay, I get it. Just go out there and bring him back in before he has an aneurism, I can hear his panicked over thinking from here," Izuku laughs out, waving her off to go fetch the boy. She quickly follows his request, and the sour aura of anxiety permeating the hall outside dissipates.
One meeting later, full of discussing finances and then the boy's newly decided on training, Izuku is waving the excited pair out of his office with promises to join their training sessions sometime. Nana knows that Izuku will be watching every training session they have, but thankfully doesn't tell the kid then and there. Izuku wants to see him working naturally, without the pressure of All for One watching. It's the same as when Nana first was being trained by the previous One for All, before Izuku decided to make her the next successor.
Flopping back into his desk chair and tugging a hand through his knotted curls, he thinks over what he knows about this kid. Yagi Toshinori, prefering to be called Toshinori or Toshi rather than his surname. Quirkless. Impressive height and subtle quirk based inherited traits shown in his oddly glowing eyes. Homeless from childhood until taken in by Nana. Ambitious but without direction. No known family. It's not a bad start, but he doesn't know nearly enough about the teenager yet to say whether he would make a good successor.
He'll just have to keep a close eye on him.