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Two weeks into living alone for the first time, the front door to Izuku’s new apartment starts to squeak with an ungodly wail that Izuku cannot stand. He knows there’s a solution, there has to be one for something so simple yet so obnoxious. But he doesn’t know what that solution is.
There are many ways he could go about finding the answer, but before he can think about them, he’s dialing the phone. The first person he calls — the first person he thinks to call — is All Might.
All Might chuckles as Izuku gives him a demonstration of the squeaking over the phone.
“Did you call me just to share how annoying that is?” he teases.
“No, I’m calling because I don’t know what to do about it! Could you help me?” There’s a slight pause as Izuku hears some typing on the other end.
“Sure, kiddo, I’ll be over in half an hour.” Izuku yelps, flailing his free hand in front of him to try to reject All Might’s offer, even though the man can’t currently see him.
“You don’t have to do that, All Might! I was wondering if you could tell me what to do is all!”
“Nonsense, young Izuku, it’s no problem at all. And what did I tell you about calling me All Might?” Izuku frowns.
“That I could call you Toshinori now?” All Might chuckles.
“And I’d prefer that you did. I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay, thanks… um… Toshinori.”
As promised, the man arrives in half an hour with a can in hand. Izuku means to welcome him with a smile, but as the door opens, he grimaces at the squeak instead, a grimace that All Might matches.
“That’s even worse in person,” he says, turning to examine the hinges. He’s holding some sort of spray can that Izuku doesn’t recognize. Pointing at each of the hinges, All Might sprays the hinges with the can’s contents. His height makes it easy for him to reach each one, and within seconds, the squeaking has disappeared when he tests the door again.
“How did you do that? That was so simple!” Izuku says with both awe and frustration. All Might hands him the can.
“It just needed a little grease,” he says with a smile as Izuku takes the can from his hands. “Consider this a housewarming gift.” Izuku snorts at the idea, biting his tongue before he can thank All Might yet again for buying him pretty much all the furniture currently in his new apartment.
“Thanks,” Izuku says for the can and nothing else, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, a habit he doesn’t realize he has picked up from All Might. “Would you like to stay for tea?” Izuku adds. All Might smiles.
“I’d love to, young Izuku.”
A few weeks later, Izuku finds himself calling All Might again.
“The bathroom sink is clogged, and this drain cleaner is not doing anything!”
Again, despite Izuku’s protests, All Might comes right over.
This problem is a bit messier and more complicated, but All Might manages to solve it in under a half an hour. He and Izuku release the drain stopper, pull it out, and then snake a wire down into the drain until unspeakable gunk comes out in clumps. All Might pulls it out as Izuku throws it away. Each do their best not to gag during the process.
“Thanks, All Might,” Izuku says as they each wash their hands in the freshly unclogged sink. “You didn’t need to come over.”
“It’s no problem, young Izuku,” All Might says, drying his hands and nudging Izuku’s side. “And you just called me All Might again.”
“Oh… Right, sorry.” All Might simply chuckles, bringing a hand to Izuku’s curls in that comforting gesture he loves. “Do you want to stay for dinner?” Izuku asks without thinking. “I don’t have any groceries at the moment, but we could order something.”
“I’d love to, young Izuku.”
This turns into a routine. Any time there’s a problem at Izuku’s apartment, he calls All Might without thinking. And every time he does, All Might is there within the hour. Izuku has amassed a collection of household tools at this point — wrenches and screwdrivers and cleaners and nails and many other things, only some of which Izuku has any idea what to do with. He’s even got multiples of some now since All Might never seems to remember what he already brought.
But he always comes. Every time Izuku calls in need of help, All Might is there, ready with the answers.
Perhaps that’s why Izuku’s taken so off guard with how All Might handles the latest problem. One of Izuku’s windows shattered when some kids threw a ball through it. After Izuku cleaned up the mess, he called All Might simply to help him board it up until it can be replaced. But when All Might arrives, he has other plans.
“We can take the window out and put in a new one ourselves,” he says as he examines the window.
“But… why?” Izuku doesn’t miss the slight clench in All Might’s jaw at that question.
“Because… Because I can do this, young Izuku.” All Might doesn’t explain any further, so Izuku simply nods in agreement.
With that, All Might puts on some work gloves he brought with him and makes sure none of the glass still in the frame is loose. Then, he grips the top of the frame on the outside with his large hands and yanks up in an attempt to pull it loose. When it doesn’t work, he tries it again. When it doesn’t work a second time, he curses and clenches his hands at his side in thought.
“Are you okay?”
“Just fine, my boy.” All Might stares at the frame with a frown. “Would you mind getting me a bottle of water?”
Izuku’s eyebrows lift slightly at that. All Might never voluntarily asks for water, but Izuku, of course, obliges. He goes to the kitchen and grabs one out of the fridge. He decides to also grab the toolbox, too, in case All Might needs it. It takes him a while to pull it out of the closet as it’s now buried in an assortment of other tools and knick-knacks from past projects, but Izuku eventually manages.
It’s when he comes back that he’s shocked with what he finds.
All Might is sitting on the couch, away from the window, with the gloves beside him. He’s hunched over his phone as he holds it in one hand to watch something, and his other hand holds his head. Izuku has seen All Might puzzled or confused over things many times at this point, but it’s not that which startles him.
All Might is crying.
“All Might! Are you okay? Did something happen?”
Izuku drops the toolbox and the water bottle on the ground and rushes to All Might’s side. All Might turns his head away as he wipes his cheek with his hand, failing to hide his tears from Izuku despite his efforts.
“I’m fine, my boy,” he croaks, clearly not fine. “I needed to check something is all. Now where are those gloves?” he asks, trying too hard to add levity to his voice. Izuku stops him by grabbing his hand before he can pick up the gloves, which causes All Might to stare at Izuku. Izuku sits on the couch beside him.
“What’s wrong, All Might?”
All Might’s face falls, another tear falling with it. He curses again, wiping it again with his free hand, and turning away from Izuku.
“I… don’t think I can do this one after all,” he says quietly enough that Izuku needs to lean closer to hear it.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… I don’t know how to fix this, young Izuku.”
“That’s okay,” Izuku says, not understanding why this is upsetting the man so much. “I told you I just wanted help boarding it up. We don’t need to replace the whole window. You don’t have to know how to do everything.” All Might lets out a wet chuckle as he leans back against the couch, squeezing Izuku’s hand.
“My boy, I didn’t know how to do anything before you moved into this apartment.”
“What?”
All Might turns to Izuku now. His eyes are still a bit wet, but he’s giving him that warm, soft smile that Izuku knows is just for him.
“The first time you called me about the door, I was in the faculty office. I had to ask the other teachers what to do about that damn squeak. And then with the drain, I looked it up before I came over. Every single thing you’ve needed help with, I either asked someone else or looked it up myself. I had never unclogged a drain or patched up a leak or replaced a filter in my life before. I never had to. By the time I lived by myself, I was never home, and even when I was, I just hired someone to take care of things for me. And anytime I helped someone as All Might, it was always a rush job just to keep things from falling apart.”
Izuku frowns as he bites his lip. “But… Why do it for me then?” Izuku knows, but he can’t stop himself from asking anyway. All Might’s smile wobbles as he brings his free hand to Izuku’s cheek, no longer hiding his tears.
“Because you asked me to, young Izuku. I wanted to be able to help you. And I wanted to spend time with you.”
Izuku’s crying now, too, at how much the man before him loves him and how ridiculous he can be when trying to show that love. All Might lets out a huff as Izuku goes in for a hug. He feels All Might’s arms readily wrap around him, a hand in his hair, wiping away the stray tear that still falls. Izuku’s own tears continue, but neither of them say anything about it.
“We don’t have to fix my apartment to spend time together,” Izuku says. “You don’t have to do anything for me at all. I like spending time with you because I enjoy your company, not because of what you do for me.” Izuku pulls back and smiles at the man before him. “Okay, Toshinori?”
Toshinori lets out another wet huff, only this one is accompanied by a wide smile. He brings his hand to Izuku’s cheek once more, wiping away another one of Izuku’s tears with his thumb before bringing his hand back to wipe away one more of his own.
“Thank you, young Izuku.”
And so, they board up the window and make a phone call to a handyman who will replace it in the morning. Then, they sit down to eat takeout for dinner and have some tea. After the dishes are clean, Toshinori goes to reach for his shoes and say goodbye when Izuku stops him.
“Do you want to stay a bit longer?” he asks, hoping he’ll say yes. “We can watch a movie or something. I have some of your favorites.”
Toshinori stares for a moment, then sets his shoes back down and places a hand on Izuku’s shoulder.
“I’d love to, young Izuku.”