Work Text:
“Melissa wants to be my successor,” David looks back at Toshinori with a fond smile, ”And that Midoriya wants to be your successor too, right?”
Looking up at the next holder of [One for All], he sees the light within him, the strength to be the next symbol. Better than what the symbol of All Might had meant.
And next to him was Young Melissa, smiling brightly as the new day was born, waving back down at the older generation with small tears in the corner of her eyes.
They had both been through so much on this day, but had shown strength in their cooperation, their teamwork and chemistry.
The future was looking bright with the two of them together, guiding a better path for all.
Toshinori sighs to himself as he flips the browning beef patty over on the grill below him, the glowing coals hissing at the flakes of grease that drooped from the juicy meat.
It had been a few days since the I-Expo incident that required his students to intervene to save everyone there. A good chunk of the 1-A class from UA had been present for the Expo, only to be caught up in the attack.
They had stood strong in the face of everything, fighting their way to the top of the tower to reset the security and save All Might’s oldest friend from the clutches of the villains.
Looking up from his work, Toshinori puts on his usual All Might smile, buffed up in his heroic form as he chaperones the hero class, wanting to give back to the students that had to come save him.
Mentally, he thanked the island’s security for being top notch, despite the little hiccups at the start of their stay. It meant that he could use his heroic form to be around the students rather than needing to fight the criminals in the streets here.
Not needing to put in much effort to maintain the form, Toshinori could at least remain as the idolizing figure for the young students during their vacation. It was the least he could do.
“Who wants some burgers!” Toshinori booms to the young heroes-in-training, causing the crowd to rush over to the grill to grab their share of the food.
“Thanks All Might!”
“So tasty~”
“Burgers from All Might? So manly!”
Toshinori lets out a small chuckle as all of the students grabbed their share of the food, gorging down on the classic American meal. All of them except for two.
Looking past the little patio that they had rented out near one of the island’s beaches, Toshinori spots his sonsuccessor chatting happily with his adoptive niece Melissa, seemingly oblivious to everything else around them.
Normally, Toshinori would’ve thought that the sight of All Might wearing an All Mighttm branded apron calling out to everyone would have instantly caught Young Izuku’s attention.
But instead, he smiled happily with the blonde next to him, laughing at some small joke between the two of them as Young Melissa gestured wildly about something unknown to the hero.
It was a strange feeling for Toshinori, watching the two of them together.
They represented the next generation within their world, All Might’s successor as the hero and David’s successor as the support engineer.
In his life, Toshinori had never really had too many connections with others, after seeing what had happened to his late Master and her own family.
Gran had been an inherited relation as the holder of [One for All], just as Young Izuku was aware due to the repeated kicks to the face that they had experienced. Toshinori shivers in fear at the elderly hero’s wrath.
Nighteye had been a professional connection, based on his old sidekick’s obsession with the hero, an obsession that Young Izuku had almost managed to surpass through some miracle.
Detective Naomasa was a new friendship, one born out of the secret identity that formed out of his weakened state. But one that he treasured, nevertheless.
However, David had always been the standout connection within his life, being his friend when he came to America and becoming his first sidekick. Even when his friend retired to being an engineer behind the scenes, they continued to talk, to be friends when Toshinori needed them.
Then, there was a miracle. His friend having a daughter to call his own. And how kind he was to let Toshinori meet her too, to allow him to be involved in the little girl’s life.
And as time went on, All Might found himself seeing Young Melissa as family, one of the few that he could have.
But not having these friends, this family, was not something that Toshinori wanted for his sonsuccessor. He needed to do better for Young Izuku, let him be happier and live a better life than what Toshinori had forced himself into.
Sure, Young Izuku had formed many friendships within his time at UA, but those were through the greenette’s own efforts, nothing by the part of Toshinori.
But then he had managed to overhear something from the students in the aftermath of the I-Expo incident. Young Uraraka mentioned that Young Melissa and Young Izuku had been together before the event, just the two of them!
Now that, that was something that Toshinori could help out with. And thus, the plan was born!
It had been a thought in the back of his mind, being able to see his adoptive niece and his sonsuccessor managing to be more than just friends. It was enough of a relief for Toshinori to know that they were friends.
He just wanted Young Izuku to be happy in his future, that’s all! It’s more than what he deserved after everything he had been through.
He definitely didn’t want to have his sonsucessor be a closer part of what he called his family, no way!
But alas, Toshinori had more lungs than dates that he had been on in his life, so he was essentially useless in that department.
For a few short seconds, he had even considered telling David and Young Melissa about the truth behind [One for All]. It would let Izuku talk freely with another person his age about his struggles being quirkless and would definitely be something that the two young students could bond over.
But he quickly dismissed it. That needed to be something for Young Izuku to share now, [One for All] was the greenette’s quirk after all. It was a step that he would need to take down the line, out of Toshinori’s hands.
At first, Toshinori had attempted to put stage three of the plan into action by sending the two together on a date that they didn’t know of, going back to the support exhibit that Young Uraraka had found them at before.
Naturally, he blended into the background, watching the two talking happily with that funny notebook that Young Izuku always had with him. The two looked absolutely adorable together if Toshinori had anything to say about it.
But it just didn’t seem right, it didn’t manage to help put the two together in the right kind of light.
And it made him slightly desperate, especially since there were only a few days left until everyone need to head back to Japan.
Sighing again, Toshinori returns his gaze to the nearly empty grill. At least he could see about one more attempt before needing to pull out the big guns.
“Is something wrong All Might?” Young Ashido asks as she walks up to him, raising a curious eyebrow.
“No! Nothing Young Ashido! I assure you I am fine!” Toshinori tries his best to put the student at ease.
A few quiet seconds pass as the pink-skinned student studies him intensely, All Might beginning to sweat under her gaze.
“Are you sure it has nothing to do with Melissa and Midori? You’ve been watching them for a while now.”
“I assure you I am alright; they haven’t grabbed any food yet! That’s all!”
“Really? After you were spying on them on their not-a-date yesterday?”
All Might sputters for a second, covering his mouth as a few specks of blood cough out at his surprise.
“I-I was just looking after their safety with the attack from our arrival!” Toshinori deflects before stopping himself, ”Wait, why were you there?”
“Oh, I think they look cute together! I’m guessing that that was your plan as well? I can get it with Midori being there and all,” Young Ashido smiles at him casually, a mischievous glint in her dark eyes.
“Of course not! I value all of my students equally, Young Ashido!” Toshinori argues back, sounding exactly like a parent with a clear favorite.
“All Might, everybody knows that you and Midori are close. Melissa calls you Uncle Might. Midori is one game of catch away from calling you Dad. There’s only one real conclusion here.”
“Alright, I admit I had some interest between the two of them,” He relents finally, much to the pinkette’s glee.
“Great! No need to worry then, I’ve got it from here,” Young Ashido sends a wink in Toshinori’s direction before skipping away.
“Wait! Young Ashido! There’s… no… need…” All Might reaches a hand out to stop his student, just out of his mighty range as she approaches the green and blonde pair.
There wasn’t anything he could do now, but maybe Young Ashido has some better ideas than he does.
He could only put his faith into his student for now. And hope that the plan would work itself out in the end.
==========
Izuku had no idea how he ended up in his current situation.
Nervously, he swallows his breath as he looks to his side, spotting Melissa walking with him happily, chatting about a recent assignment she had at I-Academy.
She was wearing a beautiful teal sundress with her hair up in a bun with a red ribbon, the same red as his iconic shoes. That combined with a pair of sunglasses and a set of strap-on sandals made Melissa into a very convincing summer magazine model.
Meanwhile, All Might had given him a nice button up for the day, telling him something about looking nice while out with others.
He could barely look in her direction before bursting into an enormous blush. It was too much for him!
And during all of this, they walked up to I-Island’s lone amusement park, with two tickets stuffed into his back pocket.
It all started when he had been talking with Melissa down by the beach during a barbeque that All Might had organized for them. The two of them had been exchanging ideas for how Melissa could improve on the Full Gauntlet design that she had given him for when he was back at UA.
It had been peaceful, until Ashido had dragged Izuku away, pushing the tickets into his hand, telling him to have a fun time before she shoved him straight into Melissa’s (admittedly large) bosom.
Of course, he apologized profusely for his inappropriateness, his mother raised him right after all. But when Melissa had brushed it off, she spotted the tickets and asked if he wanted to go with her there.
And with the inability to refuse, he found walking up to the ticket counter, holding out the forced gift out for the worker, Melissa happily smiling next to him.
“So Deku-kun, any ideas for what you’d want to do?” Melissa turns to him, causing him to flinch slightly.
“N-Nothing really, I’ve never been to many parks in my life,” Izuku says while rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “I’ll leave it up to you to show me around then!”
“Sure! I’ve got just the thing to start us off with,” Melissa grins, grabbing Izuku’s hand before he can do anything, “My favorite ride is just over here!”
Izuku’s blush deepened, he was holding a cute girl’s hand! He just hoped that his own hand wasn’t too sweaty or anything.
And reaching the ride in question, Izuku is slightly surprised to see what looked like a series of teacups spread out across the ride. The line itself wasn’t too long either, filled mainly with smaller children and their parents.
“My mom used to always take me to this ride first,” Melissa comments with a longing tone in her voice, “It became a tradition for us whenever we would come here.”
“Well, I’m glad to continue it with you,” Izuku smiles back at her.
The ride itself was pretty fun, getting to spin themselves as fast as they could on the teacup while the ride ran on. To Izuku’s surprise, Melissa was very much into attempting to break the machine, urging Izuku with laughter to help her spin them to new heights.
If it weren’t for his experiences of being under Uraraka’s quirk, he wasn’t sure if he would’ve been able to survive that ride with all of Melissa’s enthusiasm.
And after that, Melissa dragged him from ride to ride, smiling and laughing as they got on each of them. The tickets they had were apparently the kind that let them have priority access to rides, meaning they could go through each of them in a breeze.
There was even an All Might themed ride!
Once Izuku had spotted that, he took the initiative for once, rushing as fast as they could to get onto the ride. It was a very fast paced ride, but Melissa still very much enjoyed it, throwing her hands in the air as they went around the loop-de-loop.
And once they were off the ride, Izuku had thought that he had seen a pair of yellow bangs following him around afterwards, a weird buzz in his mind warning him about its presence.
But it was probably just some merch that someone had bought from the ride. Izuku would know, he bought several himself!
They grabbed a quick snack once it had passed lunchtime, a crepe filled with different fruit jams and powdered sugar. Melissa had gotten a chocolate themed one, the two of them trying a piece of the others.
A dollop of whipped cream from Melissa’s crepe had ended up on the tip of his nose, Melissa dabbing it away with her finger before she licked it away.
Izuku didn’t know how he managed to recover from that interaction.
A few more rides had passed, checking off each one they had been on until they got down to the last few, ones that Izuku had purposely avoided from the start. But after some friendly teasing from Melissa to stoke his competitive side, Izuku found himself sitting in the Tunnel of Love.
With Melissa leaning up against his side in the heart-shaped boat, floating down the lazy river underneath the dim cozy lights.
Izuku was pretty sure that he didn’t breathe once they had boarded the ride, not trusting any part of him to not mess up whatever was going on.
“Izuku,” Melissa breathes out from next to him, Izuku’s blush rising at the use of his name.
“Y-Yes Melissa-san?”
“Everything is going to be alright, right?”
Izuku turns to look at her, the blonde looking down at their seat with a gloomy expression, clutching onto his shirt as if it was a lifeline.
He couldn’t say anything though. He could tell that there was more that she needed to say, to let out her emotions while they were alone on this ride.
”With the attack and everything that happened with Papa, I’m not too sure what I’m going to do now. I was so, so scared during the attack. I didn’t know what to do!” Melissa cries out, shuddering as she holds back the tears.
Seeing her in this vulnerable state, his heroic instincts kicked in, giving him the confidence to smile at her and tell her the words she needed to hear.
“It’s okay to feel scared. You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t,” Izuku gingerly wraps his arm around her back, rubbing circles into it, “You were a true hero that day, it’s because of you that everyone is safe now. All Might, your father and me. We all have you to thank for it.”
Melissa lets out a few more quiet sobs before she quiets down, wiping her cheeks as she sits up from her spot on Izuku’s shoulder.
“Thank you Izuku, I think I feel a lot better about it now,” the blonde says with a soft sigh as she cleans herself up.
“Any time, Melissa-san.”
“Drop the honorific Izuku, I think we’re past that point by now,” Melissa smiles at him, causing his cheeks to flush once more.
“O-Okay… M-Melissa,” Izuku gives her a wobbly smile back as they reach the end of their ride, a warm feeling growing inside of him.
They exit the ride holding hands, much to Izuku’s surprise. Normally, he would’ve retracted it as if it was made of hot iron, but it felt right to him this time. And he wanted it to last longer.
And somewhere in the background, Izuku hears a high pitch squeal. But after looking around in the crowd to see who needed help, he couldn’t find anyone, shrugging as the pair headed off towards the last of their rides.
After finishing the last of their checklist, the sun finally begins to set, a transition of golden orange and warm reds painting the sun beyond the island’s walls. And luckily for them, the two of them had managed to snag a spot on the Ferris wheel to end their day.
“It’s a little cliché you know,” Melissa chuckles from her seat across from him, staring off across the glistening ocean in the far distance.
“What is?”
“Being on a Ferris wheel at sunset at the top of the ride. It’s like something out of a movie,” Melissa comments with a quiet chuckle.
“O-Oh, is that a problem?” Izuku asks worriedly.
“No, not really. This actually works out in my favor.”
Melissa diverts her attention from the beautiful view, turning to face the greenette across from her, a kind smile rising on her face.
“I wanted to thank you for everything Izuku. Since you’ve been here, I felt like my work has finally accomplished something. All of those trophies didn’t really mean anything to me until you showed up. You showed me what my work could actually do to help people, help save the day like how my father’s work helped All Might all of those years ago.”
“Of course Melissa! Your gear was amazing! There was so much that it was able todoIcantbelievehowwellitworkeditmanagedtocontainsomuchpowerofmyquirkwithoutmeneedingtohurtmyselfbecauseyouaresuchawonderfulengineerandIcouldnt…”
“You’re going a bit too quick there Izuku,” Melissa giggles, prompting Izuku to blush as he catches himself, “I hope this means that you’ll want me as your support engineer then?”
“Yes! It’d be amazing to have someone as great as you working on my gear! We’d be like All Might and David Shield!” Izuku beams at her, ecstatic about how well her gear worked.
“I guess it would look like that,” Melissa grins slightly before turning to a more genuine smile, “But beyond that, you looked past my quirklessness as well. You never showed any pity to me which is more than what most people do.”
“Why wouldn’t I?! You’re such an amazing person Melissa! You really showed that quirklessness doesn’t mean worthless!” Izuku gushes, causing Melissa to be the one to turn red this time.
“I-I appreciate that Izuku,” Melissa says before taking a deep breath, looking at Izuku as she leans forward, “And I wanted to thank you for this date. I had a wonderful time today.”
“Date!! What do you-” Izuku looks at her shocked, before he feels a soft sensation on his cheek.
Melissa pulls back from his seat, her lips leaving Izuku’s freckled cheek as she looks at him with a fond smile.
Izuku sits there frozen, unable to react to the situation. Reaching up one of his shaky hands, he feels where the warm flesh had touched his face, feeling a slight stickiness as his fingers press on the spot.
Melissa had kissed him! On the cheek!
He wasn’t sure what exactly happened after that, but time passed by with a blur, Izuku eventually found himself standing outside of the park underneath one of the street’s lamps to offer him its light against the darkness of the night.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been standing there as he blinks himself out of his trance, feeling a rough strip of paper in one of his hands.
Cautiously, he looks down at said message, folding the thin piece open to reveal a hastily written message inside.
‘I hope we can do something like this again. Keep in touch with me once you’re gone~ Melissa xxx’
And underneath her name as a series of digits, her phone number as Izuku stares down at the paper blankly, unable to process the emotions in his head.
The paper in his fingers felt like precious gold in his hands, carefully folding it up and placing it into his pocket. Subconsciously, he begins his trek back towards his hotel room when a stray thought races through his head.
How was he going to face All Might now?!
==========
Toshinori sat happily outside of the amusement park that Young Ashido had sent his targets to. He had been watching them throughout the day, spying on them in his Small Might form to the best of his abilities.
And to say that he was pleased with this outcome would be an understatement!
Last he had seen them, they had been holding hands! Which to his knowledge was at stage six of the plan!
But now he was waiting outside, wanting to catch the pair as they exited, or at least see their progress at the end of their totally-a-date.
However, to his surprise, the blonde-haired Melissa comes running out of the entrance gate to the park, worrying All Might as his sonsuccessor was nowhere to be seen.
Did they screw it up somehow and send them back to stage one?! That would be a drastic problem for him as he stands to receive his honorary niece.
“Ah Young Melissa! How was your evening?” All Might says with a bright smile on his face, hoping to appear innocent to everything.
“Not now Uncle Might!” Young Melissa quickly brushes him off, running past him and back towards her dorm, a clear red blush on her face as she attempts to hide herself.
Toshinori grins to himself, it appeared that their day together had been a complete success more than anything else!
But he knew better than to attempt to approach a teenage girl after a date, so he let her go, shrinking back down into his Small Might form to wait for Young Izuku to arrive.
And after a few more moments, the greenette appeared, looking completely bluescreened like the time that he had first seen All Might.
Toshinori watches on as his student fiddles with something in his hand before robotically walking towards where they shared their hotel room, not even realizing that Toshinori had been sitting nearby.
“Young Izuku!” Toshinori decides to greet his sonsuccessor, jogging over as he waves a bony hand.
“Ah!!! A-All M-Might!!” Young Izuku jumps in his spot, looking frantically at the blond.
“Woah there, no need to freak out!” Toshinori chuckles as the greenette goes to calm down his breath, “Is something wrong, my boy?”
“O-Oh…” Young Izuku’s thoughts seem to trail off for a second, the boy blushing afterwards as he rapidly waves his hands in the air, “I-It’s nothing! I swear!”
“Are you sure?” Toshinori says with a knowing grin, “You know you can talk to me about anything that may be worrying you.”
“W-Well I think I went on a date with Melissa…” Izuku trails off, seemingly contemplating his situation before his eyes go wide, looking up at All Might with terror, “I-I s-swear i-it wasn’t anything!”
“It’s alright my boy,” Toshinori smiles at his sonsuccessor, rubbing his hand through the verdant curls, “I’m glad that the two of you got along so well.”
Izuku lets out a very audible sigh as Toshinori eventually retracts his hand, the greenette now appearing to be pondering something in his head, biting his lip as he thinks.
“I-Is there any problems with dating as a hero then? You never did in your career,” Izuku asks with a hint of hope in his voice.
“I dedicated myself to the fight against All for One completely. That is the reason why I didn’t date anyone in my career Young Izuku,” All Might explains as they begin to walk back to their hotel room.
“Oh…”
“But I intend to finish the fight without you needing to be involved. Take this lesson and learn from my mistakes: live a little and enjoy yourself. You’re only in high school once after all.”
“Thank you All Might!” Izuku beams at his hero, causing the blond to feel pride and admiration swelling inside, “And I’d like it if you took your own lesson as well. You deserve it with everything you’ve done for all of us.”
“We’ll see…” Toshinori says as they settle into a mellow silence, only their footsteps echoing out within the night.
It appeared that Young Izuku had finally calmed down after being encountered by Toshinori, which meant he had a prime opportunity to check in on the progress of his plan.
“So, what did you think about Young Melissa, my boy?” Toshinori raises a curious eyebrow at the greenette, whose expression seems to brighten at her mention.
“She was so nice during our date and she is a really inspiringpersontolooktowardsaboutherquirklessnesswhichformewassomethingthatwasamazingtoseenoteventosayabouthowprettyshelooksandhowwellsheholdsherselfand…”
Toshinori smiles to himself as his son talks about Young Melissa with adoration in his words. It was fulfilling for him to see that, to see that the two young people in his life to be happy together.
Stage eight of the plan had been reached this day, with Izuku clearly admitting to being on a date with Young Melissa. Next up would be a non-lip kiss and then from there, the sky was the limit!
Toshinori really needed to give Young Ashido something for her successful plan, maybe extra credit on a heroic exercise could do.
But then that raises the question, who does he give the Talk to?
He had known Young Melissa for longer, but she’s considered an honorary niece to him rather than a close relative, which Young Izuku fills as the closest thing he has to a son.
They were tough questions but at least he knows that he can move onto the next section of his plan, bringing out the big guns in a few months time as they fester their connection over their long distance.
Then when the need to see each other in person arises again, that’s when he’ll bring Melissa to UA for their support department! UA has a good support course, right?
At least Toshinori knew that it would be a good surprise for Young Izuku, with Melissa being fully on board with keeping her arrival quiet.
And in the future when he gets an invitation to a Mr and Mrs Midoriya wedding, he’ll know with glee that he did his part in the process.