Work Text:
It’s rather ridiculous that his knees could ache so much while running on concrete even though he’d been training for so long. Running should be something of a second nature to him by now, but judging by the faint ache in his knees and ankles with every step he takes, it still isn’t something his body is used to. This is frustrating for a huge reason but, well, he doesn’t have time to think about that right now.
He’s late. He’s really late. He was supposed to meet his mentor for lunch twenty minutes ago and he had overslept.
But, Toshinori thinks to himself, Nana won’t be the one who’s upset. Gran Torino will be.
And, because Toshinori has a good helping of fear for the hero, even if he won't be at the lunch meeting, he runs just a little faster. His breath puffs around him in misshapen clouds as he runs, feet pounding into the concrete below. He’s almost there, he can see the restaurant up ahead, and he finds a breathless grin work its way onto his face.
Finally, finally, he gets to the door and skids to a stop, hair swooshing wildly as he stops. Then Toshinori grips the door handle and steps inside, calling a small greeting.
The restaurant is very small, one they would often frequent after a particularly tough training session or on their lunch breaks during patrol days. It’s family owned, and Toshinori knows the owner by name by now, and she’s always asking after Toshinori’s parents. She’s really nice and often will sneak him leftovers to his family.
As soon as he slips through the door, Nana waves to him from their usual table. Toshinori waves a little with a grin, and he hurries over to her, slipping into the seat across from her.
He immediately gets a companionable punch to the shoulder. Nana’s smile is as wide and brilliant as ever as she says, “Hey, kid! How’ve you been?”
“I’m good.” Toshinori’s grin widens further. “How are you?”
“Surviving.” Nana jokes, “Now, getting your usual?”
Toshinori looks over the menu for a moment and hums a little in thought. Then he sighs and mutters, “Yeah, I’m getting my usual.”
Nana snorts and says, “You look over the menu hopefully but always get the same thing.”
“I like it!” Toshinori protests.
Nana laughs. “Didn’t say it was a bad thing, Toshinori!”
Toshinori huffs, which only seems to make Nana laugh harder, snickering behind a hand at the look that must be on Toshinori’s face. He doesn’t doubt that he’s got some sort of weird, slightly guilty look on his face because Nana is still laughing at him, which only serves to make Toshinori huff and ignore her more.
“Ah, quit pouting, kid.” Nana sighs once she has finally stopped laughing, “Let’s order. Besides, I have a gift for you.”
“And I got you one too.” Toshinori finds himself smiling again.
The waiter comes and goes and, after about a moment or two, Toshinori has pulled his gift out of his bag. Unfortunately, it’s a little crinkled and crushed and now he feels bad because he really put effort into wrapping it nicely. But he holds it out to Nana all the same and her smile doesn't dim in the least, no matter how the corners of the box and wrapping are a little crushed. She looks it over for a moment, turning it over and over in her hands.
Then she looks up at him and raises an eyebrow, “Well now I’m excited.”
“You don’t have to like it.” Toshinori says hurriedly.
“I’m sure I’ll like it.” Nana gives him a smile before beginning to open the gift. She doesn’t tear the wrapping paper much, trying her best to make sure it comes off as undamaged as possible. And, once the gift is revealed, her eyes widen and her smile sparkled.
“It’s just some old merch.” Toshinori says, “I couldn’t think of anything else, but it’s the first thing I ever got of you. I’ve been a fan of yours for a while and-”
“It’s brilliant.” Nana’s eyes shine, “Toshinori, it’s wonderful.”
“You mean you’ve never seen it before?” Toshinori asks, eyes widening in astonishment. “How have you never seen it?”
“Well, it isn’t official.” Nana says, examining the figure in the box, “And, well, I was so busy that I couldn’t get to any stores before it was sold out.”
Toshinori watches her examine it for a long moment. Then he slowly says, “So you… don’t think it’s weird that I gave you merch of yourself?”
Nana barks a laugh and puts the box down on the table. “Toshinori, kid, listen. You’re brilliant, alright? But you really gotta be more confident in yourself.”
Toshinori fidgets. She’s said this before.
“But,” Nana continues, “I think it’s wonderful. It’s an exceptionally thoughtful gift.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Toshinori smiles.
Nana gives him a playful wink and reaches into her own bag, pulling out a wrapped gift box. She holds it out to him and says, “You’re gonna like this. You’ll probably cry.”
Great. Toshinori groans internally, That means she can make fun of me.
He slowly and oh so carefully unwraps the gift, doing his utmost to not tear the wrapping paper. He feels a little guilty when he accidentally puts a great big tear in the paper, right through the peak of the design on it, but Nana just urges him onward, excitement obvious in the way she’s gripping the edge of the table. Her eyes sparkle as she watches and, just for a moment, Toshinori wonders if she’s more excited than he is about this.
When he pulls out the box, Toshinori freezes solid.
“So?” Nana asks, smile bleeding into her voice, “What do you think?”
Hidden behind the wrapping paper is unofficial merch of a brand new hero, still in his high school days. It claims to be limited edition at the top, and Toshinori forgets to breathe when he reads the name.
‘FIRST EVER FIGURE OF THE BRAND NEW, ALL AMERICAN HERO: ALL MIGHT!’
Toshinori very nearly drops it.
Thankfully, he doesn’t, instead managing to put it on safely on the table. He stares at it, eyes bugging out and wide as dinner plates. He’s utterly and completely speechless, words dying in his throat. His brain has gone white, there’s nothing he can even process beyond the pure, unadulterated astonishment that’s slamming it’s way through his head. It almost hurts to think about, the fact that he’s an actual hero, barely a public figure, now.
“Toshinoriiii, come on.” Nana’s eyes are sparkling with excitement when he looks up at her. “Do you like it?”
“I’m-” Toshinori chokes and clears his throat. Then he presses his hands over his face and blurts, “I’m going to cry.”
This sends Nana into a near-hysteric bout of laughter as he scrubs at his eyes, hiccuping quietly, as he desperately fights the urge to burst into tears. It’s overwhelming, to think that his mentor whom he looks up to so very much bought merch of him, and-
Yeah, he’s definitely crying now.
And he cries into his hands, scrubbing away his tears with the heels of his hands, until their food arrives. The waiter looks concerned and asks what’s wrong, but Nana assures him that they’re happy tears. The waiter nods with a little smile and leaves again.
Finally, Toshinori gets ahold of himself and sniffs as he lowers his hands and looks up at Nana.
“Thank you.” His words are watery and wobbly and his voice is thick with emotion. “Thank you so much.”
Nana just gives him the most genuine, soft, nearly-parental smile every and says, “No, Toshinori. Thank you.”
Toshinori very nearly cries again.
But he has a bowl of the best katsudon in town in front of him, so he does his best to divert his attention to that.
My own merch… who would have guessed?
————————————
“All Might?”
Toshinori jolts awake and lifts his head where it had been buried in his arms on his desk. Izuku’s concerned face fills his vision and he rubs the sleep out of his eyes.
“Yes, my boy?” Toshinori’s voice is a little rough from sleep, “Is something wrong?”
“No, sir.” Izuku shakes his head, fidgeting with his backpack straps. “You just… looked sad, almost? In your sleep? Or it could just be how you look when you’re asleep and I could be assuming things, sorry, I shouldn’t be assuming, but you did look really sad there for a moment, sir. Sad and almost happy at the same time.” Izuku clamps his mouth shut mid-tangent.
Toshinori smiles and shakes his head. “No, young Midoriya, I’m alright. Just reliving a memory.”
“Oh.” Izuku blinks. Then he nods. “Right. Sorry for assuming, I shouldn’t have-”
“My boy, what did we say about apologizing?” Toshinori raises an eyebrow.
“Only do it when I need to.” Izuku says, “But I feel like I need to right now?”
“I see.” Toshinori hums, “Apologize if you feel you must, then.”
“Okay. Sorry.” Izuku nods a little.
“All is forgiven, my boy.” Toshinori assures him, standing up. “Now, shall we get to your training?”
“A-Actually, I had something I wanted to ask you something.” Izuku says hurriedly.
Toshinori blinks. “Oh? And what’s that?”
“Um… actually it can wait, nevermind.” Izuku smiles sheepishly. “Let’s get to training.”
It’s the dedication that Izuku possesses that Toshinori admires. He’d never once given up, never even come close, and Toshinori really respects that.
And, when he starts to get out of his seat, he remembers something.
“Oh, young Midoriya, I had something for you.” Toshinori says, opening his bag to rifle through it.
Izuku is perplexed, Toshinori can sense it wafting off of him, but he keeps searching through his bag for what he’s looking for it. He could have sworn it was in here, it was there this morning, but it’s almost beginning to look like-
“Ah, here it is.” Toshinori pulls out a small-ish wrapped box. He holds it out to Izuku and says, “Here. A late Christmas present for you.”
Izuku immediately begins to panic, flushing all the way to his ears. “You didn’t have to get me anything, I know I got you some of the baking my mom helped me with and I’m glad you liked it, but you really didn’t have to get me anything in return-”
“Young Midoriya, I appreciated the baking very much, but this is not an ‘in return’ gift.” Toshinori smiles, “Open it.”
Izuku takes the box nervously, eyeing it as if he’s almost afraid of it in an odd way. He doesn’t make any move to open it, instead turning it over and over and over.
Finally, Toshinori just says, “Open it, my boy.”
Izuku twitches and starts unwrapping it with trembling fingers.
And, when the gift is revealed, Izuku freezes solid. Toshinori can’t fight the smile that works it’s way onto his face. He watches as Izuku stares at the box, eyes as wide as dinner plates.
“You-”
“I saw it on my way here.” Toshinori explains. “Now, to training?”
“Um.” Izuku stutters, “Right. Yes. Sorry.”
“No worries.” Toshinori says, “Unofficial as it may be, merch is always exciting.”
Izuku nods, fighting back tears. Then the two of them head off to the training grounds.