Chapter Text
Aizawa wondered how his life got to this point in time. It was mid morning and he was finally pulling himself together and getting out of bed. The black suit and tie hung on the door of his closet. It was nicely pressed and wrapped in plastic to keep it clean. The hero huffed as he dragged himself from the tempting warmth into the bathroom. With a flick of his wrist, he turned the shower on, the cold water stinging before it transitioned into a soothing burn. Methodically he lathered his hair and scrubbed himself down, taking his time to delay the moment where he knew he would need to wear that damn suit. He trimmed the scruff of a beard into a more presentable appearance and slicked his hair back, finally taking a look at himself in the slightly fogged mirror. The man that stared back at him did not reflect the hurricane of emotions that lay right beneath the surface. He could do it. The task was simple, all he had to do was stand there and pretend his heart was not breaking.
The dark haired man left the bathroom, the cooler dry air of the bedroom hitting his face. The orange cream coloured cat, Custard, chirped from the centre of the bed, keeping it warm for her master. The temptation to just crawl back into the bed hit Aizawa once again. It would be much simpler to keep her company than properly deal with the heartbreak. He padded over to the bed and gave Custard a kiss. At least he had her, and she loved him regardless of how much of a disaster he was.
“I wish I could stay in bed with you all day… But you know I can’t.” He murmured, scratching the back of her head.
She stared back up at him with wide blue eyes and yawned. With one last kiss, Aizawa went to unwrap the suit, mindful of the orange and cream fur floating around him. Moments later and he returned from the bathroom fully dressed, a far cry from the normal clothing the exhausted hero wore. The black suit wrapped snuggly around the thick muscles Aizawa had built up over his hero career. The tie felt more akin to a tightening noose as he made his way out of the apartment. The closer he got to the wedding reception the more Aizawa felt his stomach twisting into knots. He had to be there though, after all, it was not everyday the Number One hero asks a person to be his best man for his wedding. Although, it was not everyday that someone else was also hopelessly in love with one of the grooms. Surprisingly, Aizawa was at the reception early. He looked at his watch and found he had an hour before the grooms and the photographer were timed to arrive. It gave him an hour to reflect upon how he got to this point in time.
All Might had created a storm when he debuted. No villain was safe, but the underbelly of society still crawled with individuals with grey or black morals. The spotlight that had completely engulfed the Professional Heroes barely found a way to trickle down to the depths that lay underneath society. Underground heroes fought to be heard as they witnessed a new drug enter the market. It was originally nicknamed “Euphory”. The twisted concoction created a state of euphoria, and had a numbing property, but it also poisoned the mind and body. The major side effect almost all users reported was an uncontrollable rage earning it the title of “Euphury”. Regardless of the name, it was a cheap and easy fix. Police went on the radio and television trying to warn citizens of the effect, but never managed to fully capture the public’s long-term interest.
Eventually, criminals found a better use for the drug than just peddling it to some poor addict. It was a brilliant way to create berserkers to distract heroes and police. Vagrants were often targeted to become unwilling users of the drug. They were not important; the world already treated them as expendable. The public continued to ignore what was happening, until one user had a quirk that required All Might to come and subdue him. The media was in turmoil, trying to catch up on the information that the underground heroes and police department knew. Eraserhead was one of the few skilled in subduing people who have used Euphury since their quirks could be erased even during that volatile state. His agency decided to have him work with All Might to ensure that the Number One Hero would know what they were dealing with and be able to use his public sway to force people to listen to what the police and the underground heroes were saying.
Aizawa wanted nothing to do with the buff monstrosity. Everything about the blonde hero seemed artificial at best and a bold face lie at worst. The man probably did not even care that so many people were suffering because of how effective the drug had become to prevent the heroes and police from targeting the root of the problem. What he wanted did not matter; he believed meeting with the moron would help educate the public. It would be worth the headache he already felt creeping up on him. A small part of him wanted all of his beliefs about All Might to be correct. He wanted to see the man was nothing but a shallow individual who became a hero not because he cared, but because he desired the adoration that came with being a Pro Hero. After all, All Might had never done anything for the underground community up until this point.
All of those bitter misconceptions were shattered as All Might began to prove he was much more than what he let on. He quickly understood and recognized the difficulties that arose when individuals were dealing with Euphury. The blonde was making a real and noticeable effort to increase awareness. He even created a fund that would investigate the drug to see if a counter could be created and administered before the user got out of hand. Everything he did showed how much he cared about creating a better world. The man never belittled Eraserhead or the type of work that the stealth hero had to be involved in. The fucker even admitted that there were challenges with how the current heroics system was set up and that no one man should be what the world relies upon for maintain stability.
Much to Aizawa’s disbelief, the two had managed to become friends. Mandatory meetings became something to look forward to attending. Work did not feel as suffocating as some of their plans began to bear the fruit of their labors. The programs were working! Euphury’s symptoms became easy for any hero or police to identify. The All Might funded research had actually produced a compound that looked promising to diminish the effects the drug had on a person. They no longer had to meet on a weekly basis, but they continued the tradition they developed over the last year and a half. Those dates became a chance to trade stories over a drink or two. As they continued to get to know each other, outside of the professional realm, and they grew closer together. The two came up with potential ways to ensure that the underground heroes were getting their dues, discussed the pros and cons of a society depending on heroes to fix the malicious nature man had the ability to possess. Other days they would discuss something as simple as what Aizawa’s cat was doing or the Number One Hero recounting encounters with Endeavor. All Might, Toshinori, had proved to be something else. The blonde turned out to be someone that Aizawa could easily fall in love with, but in the end he noticed that fire when it was too late. One evening they were cooing over a few videos Aizawa had of Custard trying to fit into a vase. The dark eyes drifted over to stare at the smile on the blonde’s face, and somewhere in the depths of his mind he thought it would be nice to kiss him. Unfortunately he never acted on that impulse.
The battle between All Might and All for One was a disaster, but the world believed they could rest easy. But All Might was nowhere to be found after the encounter. Hero patrols increased exponentially to fill in the vacuum that his absence created. Aizawa was working day and night, barely getting time for to go visit Toshinori or to care for himself. When they finally seemed to have time to see each other, Aizawa can barely remember what they discussed other than the warm feeling that filled his chest, being reminded that his best friend was still alive. Somehow a year slipped by without either noticing. One warm summer evening, the pair was getting their weekly drinks again. Toshinori had a cute flush on his face and it was not because of the alcohol. He was muttering something too quickly for Aizawa to understand, so he asked him to repeat it.
“I’m getting married to Naomasa… Uh, detective Tsukauchi! I…I really would love it if you could be my best man…” Toshinori stammered, worrying the fabric of his sleeve.
Aizawa’s eyes opened and he stared at the blonde. He should answer, the words caught in his throat. Toshinori’s smile faltered, worried that his best friend would deny him this request. Luckily the dark haired man stiffly nodded his head, not trusting his voice. The blonde took the lack of verbal response was due to shock at the news rather than a desire to not participate in his wedding. He hugged the shorter man closely murmuring “thank you” over and over again. It was the one time All Might decided to act selfishly. The doctors told him that his life expectancy was greatly reduced due to his stomach and lung missing and his continued insistence to remain an active hero. The doctors said he had few more years at most. Aizawa mechanically patted the taller hero’s back, trying to comfort him and identify why his heart had felt like it had been pierced.
After that, Aizawa went home and talked to Custard about the unpleasant feeling in his chest. The orange cream cat merped at him and looked at him as though she thought he was an idiot. When he finally pieced together what it meant, he could certainly agree with her that he was an idiot. He thought to the moment he had an impulse to kiss Toshinori and regret gnawed his stomach. During the few months that lead up to the wedding, he wondered what would have changed if he had confessed earlier and on some dark days he would wonder what would happen if he had confessed now or if someone called the wedding off. In those moments he felt ashamed that he would even think of depriving Toshinori happiness with the man he clearly loved. Aizawa would do anything to keep Toshinori from finding out his feelings. The last thing he could ever do would be to make him feel guilty over something so out of either of their control. He could easily bite his tongue to listen to Toshinori happily babble about cakes and flowers and colours.
Instead of reflecting on the course of events and how he got here, Eraserhead had fallen asleep. The sleep was peaceful. It was warm and managed to find a way to gently sooth his aching heart. He was desperately clinging to that dream, that feeling of relief, that was slipping through his fingers as the waking world caused the dream fade into darkness as he woke up.
“-kun…. Shouta-kun… Hey Shouta-kun…”
Toshinori’s voice roused the sleeping man. A warm hand was pressed on his shoulder. The erasure hero opened his eyes, blinking away the remnants of sleep. His heart stopped. Peering down at him, in a fitted cream suit with lavender highlights was the man who held his heart. Aizawa’s eyes widened, he desperately wished it was a dream, but Detective Tsukauchi came over and held Toshinori’s hand. The impact of reality jump-started his heart. The throbbing pain he had managed to ease in his sleep returned with vengeance. It was not his dream; it was not his wedding.
“Let him rest, we are only taking a few photos before the ceremony starts.”
“O-oh we are?! I completely forgot.”
“It’s okay, but we should really do it before all the guests arrive.”
Aizawa listened as the couple murmured quietly to each other.
“Sorry for waking you Shouta-kun! Go back to sleep we’ll wake you right before the reception!” Toshinori said cheerily.
Aizawa blinked, nodding but not really hearing what his best friend was telling him. The couple smiled at him before turning towards where the photographer stood. They had wanted to capture these moments, and stealth hero could understand that feeling. As much as he wanted to go back to sleep, he could not. Instead he just stood back and watched the couple take a few photos for their album. He briefly wondered what their marriage would have looked like until that cruel voice in the back of his mind reminded him; he was only here to be the Number One Hero’s best man, not to fantasize.