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Heart beating painfully in his scarred chest, Toshinori didn't slow his pace til he reached the hospital. An inside source had tipped him off that one Izuku Midoriya had been checked in. Unfortunately his source hadn't been able to tell him anything apart from Izuku collapsed. Strain from the morning had already put him past his limit. He couldn't use One For All to speed up his trip. It also meant he wouldn't be able to just play the hero and get answers easily.
Inside, he had to go to the nurse's station and try to maintain calm as he said, “I'm looking for my boy, Midoriya. Izuku Midoriya.”
It hadn't crossed his mind his at all how badly misinterpreted his words could be. Nor had he thought that only writing Toshinori on the sign in sheet might continue to leave open room for that error. The nurse took the sheet and filled out a guest sticker for him. The name listed him as Midoriya Toshinori.
The very first urge he had was to correct the woman, but he stamped down on it hard. Izuku had only recently been admitted to the hospital and more importantly was a minor. It was all too likely that the only people who were being admitted to see him were his direct family. He peeled the sticker off its sheet and slapped it onto his coat without a second thought. Room number and directions given to him, he went off in search of his destination quickly as he could.
Nearly home free, the door he was after opened to reveal a stern looking nurse. Her face said that she wouldn't tolerate any non sense and likely wouldn't be charmed by him if needed. The first few words that left her mouth halted as she caught sight of his sticker. As expected, she'd been in the midst of telling him that only family was allowed. She stepped aside and opened the door for him.
She announced to the room as a whole, “Mr. Midoriya is here.”
Surprise from the announcement seemed to be the only thing that kept Izuku from shouting out his customary 'All Might'. If the boy was well enough to sit up in bed and look at him with such wide eyes, he wasn't anywhere near as bad off as originally feared. Relief flooded him as he let out a sigh of relief.
The doctor that had been standing beside the bed moved over to him and asked, “Mr. Midoriya? Are you Izuku's father?”
Izuku went red in the face and began to sputter, but stopped at the hand that Toshinori held up. It was best to stop him, before he said something that was bound to get him in trouble. As it stood there was no sight of Izuku's mother anywhere in sight. The last thing he wanted was to leave the boy all alone.
With the brightest voice he could muster, he said, “Newly so. We're still adjusting to the new changes.”
The flush on Izuku brightened from pink to red. Pillow grabbed from behind him, the boy shoved his face into it. Mumbling came from behind it. The doctor ignored the boy and moved right into explaining things on the situation. Dehydration and exhaustion. Too much studying for the coming finals. It wasn't the most uncommon thing for teenagers to over extend themselves in such a way, but he knew that Recovery Girl would be there chastising him for letting the boy push himself that hard in another of his attempts to please him. He pushed it from his mind for the moment and listened to the doctor properly. They had Izuku on an IV and wanted to keep him over night for observation. He nodded in all the right places and followed along before he was finally rewarded by the room being cleared of hospital staff.
Still flustered behind the pillow, Toshinori's first attempt was to give the boy a bit of time to get over it on his own. He removed his coat and draped it over one of the empty chairs. The second chair he moved closer to the bed before he dropped himself into it. Silence filled the room. The mumbles had stopped, but Izuku wasn't giving any signs of coming out of his hiding.
If it was too much for him, then ignoring the topic might be for the best. For his next attempt, he opted to try normal coversation.
“Where is your mother?” Toshinori asked.
“Shouldn't my f-father know,” Izuku shot back and immediately seemed to regret it as he burrowed his face harder into the pillow.
The words and actions amused him, but he wasn't going to get anywhere with that pillow still in the way. If ignoring the topic would only have Izuku bringing it up, then going the opposite direction would work. Enough embarrassment should have him coming out on his own even if it was only to rail at him.
“Please give father some slack. It's been a rough morning and I was worried about my boy,” Toshinori teased.
The inhuman noise Izuku made was muffled in part by the pillow. From where he sat, the bright red tips of Izuku's ears could be seen. The rate at which the boy was going though spelled bad things. The flux of emotions put him on the line ready to activate One For All right there. The pillow was going to end up a victim and Izuku was bound to hurt himself in the process. Not what he expected and not good at all.
Toshinori stood up and reached for the pillow. He hadn't honestly expected to free it so easily, but it was tugged free without real fight. Izuku's bright red face looked at him in full for a moment. Too embarrassed to maintain eye contact, Izuku pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them careful to block himself off as best as he could.
A deep sigh left him as he dropped into the chair with the pillow still in hands. At the rate they were going, he wasn't going to get anywhere. If there was one thing he'd learned from his time as a new teacher, it was that children were difficult. Rewarding in many ways, but often a lot more work than he expected. The time specifically that he spent with Izuku had shown him how lacking his skills were. By no means was he ready to surrender though. Least of all when it came to Izuku who always went so far above and beyond all of his expectations and seemed to worm his way deeper into his heart.
Concern however had him questioning if staying was the right thing. Izuku was dehydrated and exhausted. The last thing the boy needed was a lot of added strain, which seemed to be about the only thing that had been happening since the moment he walked into the room. For the sake of not aggravating Izuku's health, leaving might be the best course of action. If he was going to leave though, he didn't want Izuku to misunderstand. Failed communication surrounded the boy enough, he wasn't going to let Izuku get the wrong idea about things.
“Would you prefer I hadn't come?” Toshinori asked.
His words had an immediate reaction as Izuku unfolded himself and insisted, “That's not it! I'm glad you came!”
Eyes finally meeting again, Toshinori made it clear, “They wouldn't have let me come in here any other way.”
Gaze dropped to the bed, frown forming, Izuku said, “I should have guessed it was something like that.”
Extreme as always. Far too quickly the boy had gone from embarrassed to radiating disappointment. Once more, Toshinori felt like he was far out of his depth. The situation wasn't like anything he had faced before and he didn't understand the shifting mood of teenagers. One moment Izuku hadn't wanted to come out the next he was dejected. The only thing Toshinori had enough understanding was knowing if he outright asked, he wouldn't get a proper answer at all, might even be out right lied to. Izuku would certainly insist he was fine and give a forced smile.
Again, Recovery Girl filled his mind with her badgering that he was putting too much pressure on the boy. It was leading to terrible strain. Part of the rift came from the gap that he stood on the sideline as an idol to the boy. As long as he appeared as an idol, they'd keep up that barrier. There would be no way Izuku would open up to him honestly. If he continued to be someone Izuku couldn't even speak to, it would be bad.
Toshinori stood up again and fluffed the pillow before he tucked it behind the boy and said, “I'll take whatever title I have to use in order to be close. Hero. Teacher. Father. What matters is the one you choose to give me.”
The flush returned and with it a hopeful expression. It was obvious he was anxious and still uncertain, but that was something that could be worked with. Hand ruffling the boy's hair, he assured him he meant what he said. It seemed to calm the visible unasked question. The bright and somewhat shy expression was a reward. It was one he was growing better accustomed to and hoped to learn better how to help the boy maintain.
He dropped back into his seat feeling relieved as he asked once more, “Where is your mother?”
Izuku grinned and rubbed a hand over the back of his head unconsciously as he answered, “She was called out of town. She'll be back this evening.”
'Evening' was still a good ways off. As much as Izuku needed to rest, Toshinori couldn't help feeling the moment he left the kid on his own, the boy would start studying again. Given the family restriction, no one else would be able to come watch over the kid.
“Would you like me to stay for a while?” Toshinori asked.
“Is that okay?” Izuku asked, an edge of hopefulness in his voice.
“It'll be fine,” He assured.
Since classes had started, much of the time they spent together involved a room full of people. With everything going on, they had been too busy to meet up for extra training. They had tea and lunch only a few times, but it had always been a good bonding chance. He hoped that their time together there might be a good chance as well.
It proved to be exactly as he had hoped as the hours rolled past. After a bit of questions and prying, he finally got Izuku to open up and start really talking. Toshinori had to be a bit firm with him when he found out how much extra training the boy was doing on his own. Little wonder he'd collapsed with it on top of everything else. He offered up a small lecture that actually had Izuku giving him a small warm smile the entire time. It wasn't the response he expected, but one he'd gladly take, especially since it came with the promise from Izuku to lighten his training.
Their topics had shifted around with ease til it eventually led to an inevitable landmine. Toshinori had purposefully stepped on it and gone prying. All of Izuku's stories had been lacking in something that Toshinori had thought would come up more. He'd heard only one thing about it, but there was nothing else. Eventually, he'd moved to several topics that likely should have brought it up and when none of that did, he'd gone fully out and just asked. He'd guessed from the start that the topic might be bad, but he wanted to know to what extent. The rigid way Izuku turned, the down cast dark gaze, and the withdrawn body language said it might be worse than anything Toshinori had been prepared for.
He was ready to apologize when Izuku answered, “I don't know.”
Not particular to nitpicking, he found himself unable to help himself. The answer was almost as vague as his question. There was too much left far too open with it. There should have at least been some other way to put things. It made him unable to stop himself from prodding.
“What exactly about it don't you know?” Toshinori asked, hoping his voice didn't sound intrusive.
Izuku looked up at him and admitted, “About everything. My mom only told me his quirk. She doesn't talk about him at all. I have no memory. There are no pictures. I look like my mom, so it's not like I even look in the mirror and wonder if I look like him. I just don't know anything about my father. Is he alive? Does he even know I exist? Where is he or maybe his grave? What would he have said or even thought about the quirkless me? I just don't know.”
There was no doubt in Toshinori's mind. It was time for a hug. The boy obviously needed one. Surprised as Izuku was, he was quick to reciprocate. The comfort offered being soaked up gratefully.
He didn't let go as he said, “Any father should be proud to have a son like you.”
The words were too much for Izuku. The tearful face wasn't anything new. At the very least, Toshinori felt like he was confident enough to comfort the boy adequately. There was an ocean of patience he had for the boy, especially about such tender topics. Besides that, he'd been the one to push the conversation, the least he could do was offer him a proper shoulder to cry on.
Once the tears were done, so was Izuku. Exhaustion had finally caught up to him. The boy had cried himself to sleep. Frustrated as Toshinori was that it was how their visit would end, it was probably for the best. The hour had grown late.
Gently, he lifted Izuku off of him and laid him back in the bed properly. One after the next, he tucked the blankets around the boy. He needed to go, but he found himself adjusting the pillows and then straightening the blankets again. If he kept picking at things, he was going to wake Izuku up. If he lingered, he was bound to run into Izuku's mother. He had to go, but his feet were rooted as he watched the boy sleep.
He told himself it was just the hospital. Whenever Izuku went to Recovery Girl, there was a clear problem that was treated and handled clearly before the boy was clear to go. Izuku was exhausted and in need of care. As a natural hero, it was only to be expected that he wanted to give it to him. As a mentor, he was opposed to leaving a minor alone. There was dozens of easy excuses. He needed all of them to put his coat on. He needed a steady mantra of them to actually leave the room and make it out of the hospital.
Despite how much he strained his ears, there were no cries for help, no attacking villain, and no scoundrels that needed All Might along his trip home. The distraction would've been highly welcome. Instead he got to go back to his far too quiet home. The quiet was loud, but his thoughts were louder. One in particular kept running through his head. He wondered if Izuku's mother was with him yet and if he'd been woken for dinner. It made him aware he hadn't eaten anything either.
Food was a nice distraction. He made up something easy and did his best to ignore his coat that he'd dropped over the table. Despite his best efforts to ignore the coat and eat his food, his gaze kept traveling to it. Not the coat exactly, but the guest sticker that was still on it. Food eaten and cleaned up, he decided he couldn't put it off any longer and went after his jacket.
He hung the coat up and pulled the sticker off in one easy motion. All he had to do was throw it away. His steps didn't seem to be in sync with his knowledge of what he needed to do. Instead of towards the trash he found himself heading towards supplies. One handed, he found a note card that he stuck the sticker onto.
Gaze glued to the sticker, he found himself with yet another sigh. He was far too young to be so sentimental over such silly things. As an adult, he couldn't blame it on the foolishness of youth either. Something like that should have gone right in the trash without so much as even a second thought. It was ridiculous. He wondered if it would actually fit in his wallet.
With a bit of trimming, it fit perfectly tucked away. If only he could say the same for all his growing feelings that came with it.