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He wasn’t sure when exactly, or how old exactly, he was when he began to realise he was afraid of the dark.
Maybe it was when he was a child, when he was cast aside by his family and left to the shadows of the outside world- creeping in on him like demons with long, lingering, fingers, clawing away at his sanity.
Maybe it was after his loosing fight with All for one, or what he considered his lost fight, when he’d lost most of his power and a lot of his digestive track. When the nightmares became unbearable, driving him to resist sleeping and eventually a diagnosis of insomnia into his late forties.
Or maybe it wasn’t that deep.
He was human after all, be it as unbelievable as it may be. Even if he was considered some kind of a God among men, a beacon of hope, a pillar of justice, a symbol of peace.
He was human.
And humans were afraid of things, sometimes without reason.
And it just so happened that the All Might, now known more commonly as Yagi, and to those lucky enough as Toshinori, was afraid of the dark.
It was one of his many secrets, though unlike those he kept dear for the sake and safety of others, this one was just far too embarrassing to let go- and god forbid the media ever finding out.
It was true he’d done nighttime shifts as a hero- of course he had, being in the industry for near on thirty years, he’d done just about every shift and hour that his body would allow him to-, but he’d found a lot of comfort in street lamps, like a thousand stars glaring into the open abyss, scaring away that in which All Might was afraid of most.
So when he retired, finally allowing himself the comforts of a real bed, with real fitting sheets and a duvet that reached past his toes. (all of which he considered unnecessary due to his lack of sleep as it was and the constant need to be working), came with it his very own street lamp.
Only not really.
This street lamp was barely the size of his palm, not that All Mights palm was any where near a normal comparison for objects given its broad structure; and gave off just enough of a dim light to cover the area in which he slept, and illuminate the rest enough to see.
It was a night light.
One that embarrassingly enough came in a box specifically labelled for toddlers up to three years old. One that he, at the ripe age of fifty, currently would keel over and die if anyone were to find out he had.
Only that’s exactly what happened.
The other UA teachers were people Yagi would say he held dearest, (along with young Midoriya, (of course), Tsykauchi, Dave, and little Eri).
But they were also the people he’d least want to find out about his irrational fear.
They had a tendency to tease eachother, or more specifically, Mic and Nemuri- the most troublesome out of the lot- had a tendency to tease others. Not that they did it out of spite, of course, but it was more due to their playful nature.
And then there was Aizawa. Always so blunt with things. A trait Yagi very much admired, he’d been pandered to for so long, and the breath of fresh air that Aizawa would often provide the ex hero could be incredibly refreshing.
Though it was very rare that they would try to take a jab at Yagi, as they still had a tremendous amount of respect for him.
And that’s exactly why they could never know.
In All Mights mind, he was about a stumble away from truly hitting rock bottom.
He’d lost his powers.
His mentor.
His purpose in life.
He didn’t want them also knowing he needed a night light to sleep, he wanted to keep what little respect he had barely managed to grasp onto. That, truly, would be rock bottom, loosing the small amount of dignity he still had. Them seeing how utterly weak he really was.
It was a bleak December when the teachers had uncovered one of his best kept secrets.
They’d come back to the UA dorms after a chilling night of partying, being out the cold winters bite with alcohol to keep them warm, when they’d realised a light soaking out beneath All Mights door, painfully visible in the pitch black hall.
They’d debated amongst eachother for a while, whisper-yelling to one another, sobered by the situation.
They each knew of Yagis conditions, of how serious his medical history was, and the possibility the man had collapsed in exhaustion- or in a bloody pool after a coughing fit- before turning out his lights and heading to bed to sleep as his insomnia medication should’ve provided, it would be imperative to check on him. And completely reasonable.
Aizawa had volunteered, being both the self proclaimed closest to the other hero- and the most sober amongst their peers- he’d been the one to fetch the spare key specifically to Yagis room to check on him.
The others now long in their beds, tucked in peacefully for what would be a painful hangover the following morning, Aizawa carefully creaked open Yagis dorm room door.
And inside laid a softly snoring sunflower, and beside him, just below his head board, an orange glowing night light.
Shoutas lips twitched and quirked their way up into an irrefutable smile. Though, it was far from being one of mockery- instead it was one of adoration.
The underground hero had always hated the persona and the message All Might stood for, that hero’s were above the average person, never hurt and certainly never afraid.
But with Toshi laid just before him, painfully that in which he’d hidden from the rest of the world, painfully human, and shielded by the light of the small, flowered shaped lamp, Shouta was reminded why he’d fallen for Yagi Toshinori, and not the symbol that was All Might.
Carefully, and with the most delicate of steps, Shouta crept forward to where the other slept.
And with the faintest of breaths, he leaned down, pressing a small and fleeting kiss to Toshis forehead, just as a small and comforting goodnight.
And just as quickly as he’d arrived, he’d soon left, leaving the orange glow of All Mights night light sound, and his door safely locked.
Because All Might deserved to be human.