Chapter Text
The instinctive thought that springs into Gran Torino’s mind when he first meets Sir Nighteye is: how is this kid for real?
In hindsight it was a pretty stupid and pretty naive thing to think. Just because at 26 the young man looks like he is just out of a late adolescence growth-sprout, all awkward limbs and pointy elbows, it does not mean that he cannot be a good hero. Indeed, it takes Gran Torino five minutes to notice that the kid is a long, long way from a fumbling idiot or an excited fanboy tripping over his own feet. Sir is smart, his intel is on point and he can and will wipe the floor with anyone who dares doubt him or All Might.
Even if, in the end, it turns out that his initial assessment about him not being an excited fanboy is completely incorrect, Gran Torino is quite pleased to find that that does not stop Nighteye from outright telling All Might when he is messing something up.
(Yeah, no. You can cry and roll on the floor all you want. I am not forging your signature because you have the attention span of a goldfish and you couldn’t be asked with the paperwork. Just sit down and do it... Boss, do you want me to see that you won’t have dinner until you have finished them?)
Gran Torino laughs and leaves them at it.
Yeah, the kid is good for Toshinori.
He approves.
_____
(1) In pain
When he reaches the hospital the situation is much worse than what Toshinori had told him. The villain attack has caused over a hundred injured and the A&E looks like a crazed beehive. All Might, still in costume, is thankfully easy to spot even among the chaos. Gran Torino dodges a stretcher and ducks out of the way of the paramedics to make his way to the corner where Toshinori is.
If he was wondering just why his student was (a): not participating in the rescue efforts and (b): basically hiding behind a pillar, he soon finds his answers when he catches a glimpse of Nighteye. The kid’s skin is gray. There is no polite way to say it. One of his arms hangs limp at his side, dripping blood on the floor and the way he leans his back against the wall betrays his pain. Sorahiko grimaces but still...they are both alive, which is one hell of a weight off his chest.
Something feels off though.
Even at this distance he can see that All Might is fidgeting, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. His eyes keeps darting between Nighteye’s pale face and the window where they can see the flames rising from the attacked building.
Ah, that’s how it is then.
Gran Torino sighs. After just a few short months, their relationship is still fresh - maybe too fresh for such a night. Something like this was bound to happen sooner rather than later so it’s good that it’s happening now, when it will not hurt too much if things go south.
Power imbalance is one of the biggest reasons hero couples break up.
Because one can do more than the other.
Because the weaker one can be used as a target.
Because one will leave the other behind to do his duty.
Sorahiko has seen it a thousand times.
He has seen it firsthand with Nana.
_____
Nighteye is focused on the datapad on his lap, using his uninjured hand to scroll through whatever he is reading. He looks up when All Might finally pays attention to something else and spots Gran Torino, joining in in greeting him. He looks like he could sleep for a week. Gran Torino waves at them both, shutting up whatever string of garbled words Toshinori was going to spew. “How bad is it? Anyone claimed the bombing yet?”
To Gran Torino’s surprise is Nighteye that answers him, giving him a quick rundown of the intel in his usual way: in one go and with energy (or whatever energy he has left). Gran Torino listens, running everything through his mind and he is almost too busy taking in the information to catch the shift.
“Gran Torino, please tell him that he needs to go in through the windows.”
Gran Torino blinks.
Uh. What?
But Nighteye is not paying attention to him anymore, having turned back to Toshinori. “You can’t go around kicking the doors in if we still have missing people.”
All Might nods, shifting from foot to foot. “How many people?”
“Which floor is the safest?” - Gran Torino interjects because it wouldn’t do to get carried away now. Nighteye just takes a breath and pulls up the blueprints of the building.
It takes him a few minutes, yet by the time he is done with where Gran Torino should concentrate his efforts, Toshinori is still there, still fidgeting.
Nighteye finally seems to notice. His face softens and he casts a furtive glance around to make sure nobody is paying attention then reaches up to press their foreheads together. “I am a hero too. Just go .”
Gran Torino watches Toshinori shudder and smile, a small, grateful smile, before running off to continue help with the rescue without waiting for Gran Torino. Sir’s yellow eyes follow him until he disappears through the doors. When he turns around to face him again, Gran Torino can see the worry and the way he is struggling not to show his pain but there is no bitterness, no wishful thinking for Toshinori to stay and hold his hand. It does not seem like he made a sacrifice by letting All Might go help.
It’s enough to make Gran Torino backtrack in an instant.
This goes beyond the necessities of hero-ing.
Sir Nighteye understands.
_____
It takes Gran Torino an hour to close all the doors and isolate the north wing. He is faster than both smoke and fire but only if they aren’t already there . Nighteye has had to guide him through five differents detours because parts of the building were too unsafe or completely unreachable. Gran Torino is starting to cough now, feeling the effect of the smoke, but if he is bad, Nighteye is worse. His voice is rough and keeps breaking and the way he wheezes sometimes covers his words.
“Time to call it a day.” - Sorahiko decides. There is nothing else they can do right now. He only gets some kind of choked grunt as an answer. Great.
Back at the hospital, Sir hasn’t moved from his corner, pad still in hand and arm still bleeding. He looks about ready to pass out. Damn these kids.
“When I said “call it a day,” I meant go see a doctor, not fall asleep on the floor.”
Nighteye blinks, yellow eyes struggling to focus and then, of course, he opens his mouth to protest .
Gran Torino just grabs the pad out of his hands and barks at him to go get his injuries sorted. That finally jolts him into action - Gran Torino thinks mostly out of surprise to hear that tone directed at him when it’s usually reserved for Toshinori. The doctors jump at the chance to get their hands on him because apparently he has stage three smoke intoxication from helping with the rescue efforts early on and has refused treatment. Gran Torino smacks him on the head with the pad. Hard.
Turns out he ripped a tendon in his left wrist and broke two fingers. Gran Torino sits by as the doctors cut his forearm open, pull the tendon forward again and stitch everything back up. Without anaesthesia because if the muscles relax it could compromise the wrist’s mobility long term. It hurts. Nighteye’s knuckles are white where he is gripping the bed, fingers digging into the stuffing.
When the doctors have to re-open the last few stitches because the position of the broken fingers had messed up the tendon, Nighteye cannot hold it in anymore. He sobs once, then grits his teeth and shuts his mouth. The tears though, those cannot be stopped by will alone. Gran Torino watches them spill over at the corner of his eyes, roll down his cheeks and into his ears. Sorahiko pretends he doesn’t see.
When he offers the kid a cup of coffee half an hour later, Sir’s eyes are still wet.
“Inheriting the flair for crocodile tears?” - Gran Tornio asks him. It’s a weak joke and bad humor but the kid can’t hope for too much. It’s 5 in the morning after all.
Nighteye smiles over his coffee. “Please don’t tell Toshinori”
_____
Turns out Gran Torino shouldn’t have worried about Nighteye’s end of the power imbalance after all. In the end it’s Toshinori that makes everything fall apart. Of course it’s Toshinori - stubborn, reckless, selfless fool that he is.
The days following his battle with All For One have been an emotional roller coaster for all of them but this ? This is bad.
By now, Gran Torino has known Nighteye for long enough that he can see the moment the fight just leaves the younger man. He doesn’t crumble further, doesn’t shout anymore, doesn’t even snap back to his usual, rigid composure.
He just turns around and does exactly what he said he would: he walks away.
Gran Torino lets him go in silence. It’s not his place to butt in.
Yet, as he watches Toshinori grit his teeth and purposefully go on to ignore the very existence of the man he loves, he admits that (if asked) he would tell his student he is making a mistake. A huge one.
Leave it up to Toshinori to do an extremely selfish thing for an extremely selfless reason.
It does not particularly matter from his perspective. He is still going to stay by Toshinori’s side, of course. All Might wouldn’t be the symbol he is if he didn’t put the world first, if he wasn’t willing to set himself on fire to keep everybody else warm.
And Nighteye - Enishi - knows it too. He understands it.
He will never blame Toshinori for being himself, for trying anyway, for not caring about death. But Nighteye is still Nighteye: he will tell All Might if he is messing up.
He has Gran Torino’s respect for not standing there to have his heart further trampled upon.