Chapter Text
“I really don’t think we need to have this conversation right now!” Midoriya Izuku called out, his red face only making his freckles stand out more as he attempted to cover himself with his arms, “There could be a much better use of your time! Like lesson planning! Or training! Or literally anything other than this!” He gave up in hiding from view and instead lasered his focus on a crack in the school’s tile. Wow, what an interesting crack, what ever could have caused such a deformation in the ground everyone walked on. How could a school with such high a reputation as UA allow for the continued destruction of perfectly good tile at a time such as this. If only--
WHAM
A broad hand found its way sharply against the boy’s back, stopping his mumbling and forcing him to make eye contact with All Might, only to immediately return his gaze to the floor.
“Honestly,” Midoriya began, “you don’t need to do this.” His shoulders raised and he started fumbling with his hands. “We’ve never made a big deal out of this before, right? Who cares if I don’t have a dad? I barely even remember him- “ his face soured, but miraculously, he did not start crying. “He left for America as soon as I was born. Stopped sending checks when we found out I was- “ he stopped again, this time with tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. Kacchan is just frustrated and knows about the whole ‘dad situation’. Not that there is a dad situation. I am totally okay with my lack of dad. I have the best mom in the world, and I’m not afraid to shout that to the roof tops. But I’m perfectly fine and I stopped letting Kacchan’s words get to me a long time ago. This isn’t the first- “
“ Young Midoriya,” All Might interrupted, “I don’t care how used to young Bakugo’s behavior you are, such insinuations against yourself and your family would be hurtful towards anyone.” He paused, moving to kneel so that he could make eye contact with Midoriya before continuing. “It’s okay to be upset.” His hands, so much larger and riddled with callouses and scars from hero work, rose from the boy’s shoulders to cradle his kid’s crying face. “You’re allowed to be in pain about this, okay? It’s one thing to smile to keep the fear at bay. It’s another to ensure that everyone around you is filled with hope and feels safe. But it’s another thing entirely to bottle your pain and your sadness behind one. It’s not healthy, and you shouldn’t tell yourself that you have to be okay to make someone else happy. Not about this.”
The tears that had been steadily falling down the kid’s freckled face increased in speed as his pained smile became more and more broken, shifting into a grimace which reflect how deep Bakugo’s words had cut- striking wounds that had been left to fester rather than heal. He knew that this shouldn’t have hurt anymore. He should be over this by now, right? He had faced Stain the hero killer, yet that scar had healed over. This was an old pain, one that flared every time Kacchan had called him useless. One that flared each time he had to admit that he was quirkless. One that flared every time he heard his mother cry herself to sleep, the other side of her bed cold and abandoned. The same, ringing feeling that haunted him every time he looked in the mirror- hating that he couldn’t even find his father’s face in his own. That he was so separated from someone who was supposed to love him unconditionally that he couldn’t even remember what his faced looked like. What his voice sounded like. What a father should be.
With that final line of thought, his mask cracked. He launched himself forward, arms wrapping around All Might’s skeletal form as a rambling of, “I’m sorry,” and “It’s my fault and I’m so sorry,” left his mouth, sounding more ragged with each plea for forgiveness. The taller man could feel the shakiness of the body in his arms, trembling as he sobbed louder than he did before, voice petering out into a pathetic whine. Only when Midoriya leaned his weight completely against his body, feeling spent from the overwhelming wave of emotion, did All Might go to pick him up and hold him gently. Hiding the kid’s face in his shoulder, he started pacing through the teacher work room, waiting for when Aizawa would come in and inform him of what should take place next. The homeroom had fallen into chaos after Bakugo’s yells and explosions, and Yagi knew that the erasing hero would be focused on managing his own volatile herd of cats, but his help would be necessary in deciding what to do next. The fact that neither man had noticed Midoriya’s own aversion to mentioning his father, nor Bakugo’s harmful words on the matter until he had begun airing dirty laundry for the entire class, left much to be desired. However, Aizawa trusted him to handle an emotionally compromised child, and Aizawa never let anyone else touch his kids if he could help it, so All Might felt an obligation towards keeping the boy from bottling his pain. Although, he thought to himself, that might not be the only reason.
Yagi walked back and forth in front of the door way, rubbing one hand gently against Midoriya’s back before shifting his weight on the opposite hip, readying to speak again. His volume low and soothing, he began--“I might not know your father, but I do know that he is missing out on one of the kindest and most generous souls this world has to offer.” His eye brows drew together, and the anger that had been bubbling beneath the surface found its way into his voice, “And, this might be in poor taste of me to say, but if he hasn’t realized that yet, then he does not deserve to call someone like you his son.”
With that, both parties fell silent, and the only sound that was heard in the teacher’s lounge was sniffling and Yagi’s consistent gait. They held each other, both wanting to express some thought to the other, but neither willing to give up the comfort they found in that silence. The comfort that was lost to the three succinct raps to the workroom door.