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Izuku reached deep inside himself. He’d learnt months ago that through their connection to One For All, he could feel for All Might’s location. Track his golden spark to wherever the man was.
Where is he? Izuku whispered into the void of the quirk. Where’s my Eighth?
Our Eighth? One For All echoed back.
…Yes. Our Eighth, Izuku corrected himself.
(He pushed down the howling cyclone inside of him that screamed, no! MY Eighth! MINE.)
He reached further, until his consciousness brushed against All Might’s vestige, unique among the others for his wispy, non-solid form and his brightness. All the vestiges had a colour associated with them, but All Might was the brightest of them all. His vestige shone a beautiful gold, vivid and blinding like the sun.
Izuku thought it suited him. It was well-deserved for All Might to outshine others.
He grasped onto All Might’s vestige, concentrating on that spark until he felt a tug in his chest, and he turned his feet in the direction it was coming from. He walked through the school, following that pull. He liked to imagine it as a thread between them; a thread of fate connecting them deeper than blood ever could. A thread no one could break. A thread that proved he and All Might belonged to each other.
Izuku followed his internal tracker on All Might’s location until he saw the man himself, his heart warming at the sight of messy, yellow-blond hair.
“All Might!” he called cheerfully.
Toshinori, his heart crooned. Dad.
All Might turned at the sound of his voice, blinking in surprise. “Ah, Midoriya, my boy,” he greeted. “Can I help you with something?”
“I was just looking for you,” Izuku said. “You weren’t in any of your usual places.”
It was true. They were currently in a hallway off the main cafeteria, where a few vending machines were. All Might wasn’t normally around this area, especially not after school hours.
All Might chuckled. “Apologies if I made your search difficult. I was just grabbing a drink.” He reached down into the slot of the vending machine he stood in front of, pulling out a can.
Izuku eyed it with a frown, stepping forward and plucking it from All Might’s hands as he inspected it. Once he confirmed his suspicions of it being a coffee drink, he looked up at his mentor with a disapproving stare.
“You know you aren’t supposed to consume so much caffeine,” he reminded All Might.
All Might looked sheepish, but waved him off. “Of course. But I know my limits, my boy. I’ve only had—”
“Two coffees today already,” Izuku finished for him.
All Might blinked, hands pausing where he’d been reaching to grab his drink back. “How did—? Are you… keeping track or something?”
“It was a guess,” Izuku quickly lied. “I just know your habits really well.”
All Might clearly bought it, as he chortled. “Of course you do. Silly fanboy,” he said affectionately.
Inwardly, Izuku heaved a sigh of relief. He did keep track of All Might’s coffee consumption—among other things—and he wouldn’t keep it a secret forever. He just didn’t think the man was ready for Izuku to break that to him yet. Izuku needed to ease him into it first.
“Anyway, what were you looking for me for?” All Might asked. As he spoke, his phone let out a soft ding.
Izuku pointed. “That.” He swung his backpack off and dug into his bag, discreetly trying to slip the coffee drink in and hoping All Might would forget about it. He really shouldn’t be drinking anymore coffee today. Instead, Izuku pulled out a wrapped food container and held it out to All Might. “It’s time for you to eat.”
He’d noticed a while ago that All Might’s phone pinged loudly multiple times a day. When he’d asked about it, All Might had explained to him that he had different alarms on his phone to remind him when to eat and when to take certain medications.
However, Izuku had also noticed that All Might often silenced those reminders and did nothing about them. And that wouldn’t do. So Izuku had eventually started jotting down what time he heard an alarm on All Might’s phone and which kind. He had then programmed those times into own phone to give himself (silent, of course) notifications.
That way when one of them came up, he knew to ask All Might if he’d eaten or taken his medications, and pester the man to do so if he hadn’t—and it turned out he had to pester the man a lot. So much so that Izuku had begun to take it upon himself to pack food for All Might so that he had no excuse not to eat.
If All Might refused to take care of himself, then Izuku would just have to do it for him.
Plus, it hadn’t been that hard to look up dietary requirements for total gastrectomy patients. He knew that without a stomach, All Might’s nutritional needs would be a bit different, and he’d spent an entire night researching dietary plans. He’d compiled various foods and meals All Might would be able to digest easily, and had created a chart for what All Might should eat and at which times.
Was it overkill? Maybe, but Izuku thought it was necessary overkill. He’d been a bit miffed to find out in his research that All Might was supposed to be eating small meals anywhere from six to eight times a day, because All Might very much wasn’t doing that. So if Izuku had created an entire schedule of his own for All Might’s meals and medications? It was well justified. And certainly not that big of a deal.
After all, All Might had once made a very detailed schedule for Izuku to follow during those ten months of training to receive One For All. This wasn’t that much different from that. All Might just wasn’t aware this schedule existed, and that just meant it was solely on Izuku to make sure they kept on track with it.
Which was what he was trying to do now as he insistently pushed the packaged meal into All Might’s hands.
All Might still tried to refuse. “Ah, thank you, my boy, but I’m not hungry.”
“You never feel hungry,” Izuku pointed out, “because you don’t have a stomach. But it’s time for you to eat.”
All Might shuffled in place awkwardly, clearly knowing Izuku was right but still trying to get out of it. “You… are correct, and I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I promise I will eat later. I just have some grading to catch up on in my office and would like to get that drink back and get started on it.”
No way Izuku was giving him the coffee back. He’d had enough caffeine already, and besides that he wasn’t supposed to drink liquid with meals as it could move the food into his small intestine too quickly, causing dumping syndrome. It was time to force All Might’s hand.
Izuku widened his eyes and let his shoulders slump. “But I… I made this for you… I was really hoping you’d like it…” he mumbled, staring at the food as if sad.
From under his lashes, he watched All Might crumple almost immediately.
“Ah! I’m sure I will!” All Might rushed to reassure him, hands waving. “I did not mean to upset you. Clearly you put a lot of effort into making this, and it would be amiss of me to let your hard work go to waste. I apologize if I came across as rejecting your kindness.”
Izuku smiled brightly as he handed the food over, wanting to make sure All Might knew he wasn’t upset. He didn’t want his mentor feeling anxious about possibly having made Izuku sad. He only ever wanted All Might to be happy.
“It’s okay!” he said cheerfully. “Please enjoy it!”
“Thank you, my boy.” All Might ruffled his hair, and Izuku preened.
He followed after his mentor as he headed down the hallway.
All Might glanced back at him in confusion. “Is there something else you needed? I really do have grading to catch up on.”
“Oh! Um…” Izuku put on a bashful expression, poking his fingers together to express shyness. “I was just… hoping I could hang out in your office with you? I-I won’t bother you, of course! I just thought maybe I could do some homework while you do your grading?”
Truthfully, he just wanted to make sure All Might really did eat the food. The man had a horrible track record.
“Surely you’d rather spend your time with your friends than an old man like me?” All Might said quizzically.
Izuku felt a rush of indignation. “You’re not old, All Might! And I enjoy spending time with you! You’re like—” a father to me, he swallowed back from blurting out. It was too soon. He didn’t want to scare All Might away. He quickly fished for something else to say. “My favourite teacher!” he finished with.
All Might’s free hand drifted up to tug on one of his bangs in a way Izuku had learned meant he was embarrassed. But All Might’s features had also softened, a small, pleased smile on his face.
“Well, how could I say no to such enthusiasm?” he chuckled.
Izuku perked up at the permission, speeding up to walking alongside his idol.
Izuku eyed the way All Might tossed his pen on the table and slumped down the couch a bit, resting his head back on the top of the couch with a sigh. When he tiredly reached up to rub at his temples, eyes closing, Izuku stood and quietly made his way over behind the couch. He looked down at his idol, wondering if his compulsive idea was a good one. But seeing the tension and exhaustion in All Might’s face hardened his resolve, and Izuku reached out.
All Might visibly startled at the sudden feeling of Izuku’s hands on his face, eyes flying open in shock as Izuku began to massage his cheeks and jaw.
“Young Midoriya! What—?”
“Sorry for startling you,” Izuku said, gently digging his fingers into the masseter muscle. “You just looked tense. I thought maybe a massage would help. You spend all your time in your hero form smiling, after all. No way your cheeks don’t get sore from it.”
Izuku’s certainly did. He was great at imitating All Might’s signature expression, but holding it for a long time made his face hurt after a while. He didn’t know how his mentor kept it up all the time, but All Might had always been exceptional.
All Might sputtered beneath him, clearly taken aback. “I, uh, I appreciate the thought, my boy, truly. But this is perhaps a bit inappropriate for student and teacher boundaries, yes?”
Izuku wilted but didn’t stop his administrations. For all of All Might’s words, he had yet to actually pull away from Izuku. “But we aren’t just student and teacher, are we?” he pointed out, feeling a bit hurt that All Might tried to write them off like that. “You said yourself that we’re connected by something much deeper than even blood.”
“Well, I-I… Yes, I did,” All Might admitted.
Izuku put a hurt, sad face on, making sure to pout his lower lip just slightly as he looked down at All Might. “…Was it not true?” he asked quietly.
He knew it was true—All Might had said it with such conviction at the time—but he wanted to hear it again. He wanted to hear it from All Might’s mouth because he didn’t appreciate the way All Might had just tried to push him away. Izuku had been rejected by a father once before; he was not going to allow it to happen again. Not with this one.
Predictably, All Might flailed in alarm at Izuku’s upset expression, quick to reassure him.
(He is such a good dad, something deep inside of Izuku crooned with satisfaction.)
“Of course it’s true, my boy!” All Might said. “I just… try to avoid showing favouritism at school. I don’t want any of your classmates to get jealous.”
Izuku hid a smirk, transforming it into a happy smile instead. All Might wasn’t very good at hiding his favouritism of Izuku. Everybody knew that. But it was sweet that he really did try. All Might was such a good person, always thinking about others. His genuine kindness and care was what made him the best hero.
Beyond favouritism though, Izuku was aware of the real reason All Might was hesitant about this. He knew that being too close on school grounds, without people knowing of their true relationship, could paint All Might in a suspicious light. It would be considered strange for an unrelated teacher and student to be as casual and affectionate as this. That’s why Izuku was careful of how he acted when others were around. He would never forgive himself if he accidentally tarnished All Might’s reputation.
Though, the idea that someone would suspect All Might—All Might—of such a disgusting thing made Izuku’s blood boil. If someone ever tried to accuse All Might of inappropriate relations with a student, Izuku would be furious. Not only for the fact that someone would dare think a perfect person like All Might would do such a thing, but also for the fact that they would dare misconstrue the pure, beautiful bond he and All Might had for something debased in nature.
All Might was his father—even if the man himself didn’t quite know it yet.
“Well.” Izuku beamed brightly. “You don’t have to worry about favouritism right now. It’s just us here.”
They were in one of the small meeting rooms they often met in for lunch or when they needed to talk about One For All. No one ever bothered them here, and Izuku wasn’t even sure anyone other than Kacchan knew they met in this room. And Kacchan was with his other friends today, so Izuku knew they wouldn’t be disturbed.
“It’s okay to drop the formal school boundaries when we’re in private, right? We can just be us,” Izuku pressed.
“We are still in the school, though,” All Might pointed out.
Izuku admired how dedicated All Might was to his work. But he knew his hero wanted to drop the formality too—he still hadn’t moved away from Izuku. His protests were out of duty, not heart, as his head was still in Izuku’s hands, tilting into the massage like he craved the contact.
“Yeah, but we’re in private right now too.” Izuku moved his fingers up, massaging the tension out of All Might’s temples and enjoying the way All Might’s eyes fluttered shut. It made him so happy to be able to care for his hero. All Might gave the world so much, and Izuku wanted to give him the world in return.
“That is true,” All Might muttered. He blinked his eyes open again. “I should really finish these papers before lunch is over, though.”
“You’re supposed to be on break. It’s lunch break, not lunch-keep-working.”
“I’m still behind on some of my work, though. I need to use whatever spare time I have to catch up.”
Izuku tutted disapprovingly. “If you don’t take any breaks you’ll wear yourself down. Then how much will you accomplish if you have no energy?”
All Might chuckled, his eyes fond. “Ah, you’re right as always, my boy. But I dare say you need to take your own advice there sometimes too.”
“Maybe. But I’m not nearly as bad as you are, D—Toshi.”
All Might’s brows flew up. “Toshi?”
Izuku felt his face flush slightly. He’d almost slipped up there. He didn’t want to come on to All Might too strongly and scare him away. He knew All Might cared for him, but he wanted to cultivate that bond to make sure All Might accepted him as a son.
“You said I could call you by your name in private, remember?” he said.
“I do, I’m just surprised. You’ve never called me by that nickname before.”
Izuku put his pout back on. “Do you not like it?”
“It’s fine.” All Might reached up and ruffled Izuku’s hair, Izuku preening happily under the affection. “Just don’t go slipping up and calling me that in front of others.”
“I wouldn’t!” Izuku said adamantly. “I’ll be careful. You’ll still be All Might-sensei during class hours.”
Toshinori smiled at him, then tilted his head to glance at the clock on the wall. “Class hours are soon, though. And you haven’t even finished your lunch, my boy.” He pulled away from Izuku’s hands, sitting up properly and gesturing to the opposite couch. “Sit and eat. No need to waste all your time fretting over an old man.”
Izuku complied, settling back down across from Toshinori and picking up his lunch. Inwardly, he was gleeful at the permission to call his hero by a nickname. It wasn’t the name he wanted to call All Might by, but it was a step forward.
But still, he protested, “You’re not that old, and it’s not a waste to ‘fret’ over you. That’s what”—family does—“a hero does. You’re special to me as both All Might and Toshinori. I’ll always care about you.”
Izuku fidgeted under his mentor’s shocked stare. But he wouldn’t give up. He’d already started talking and he wasn’t about to stop now until he’d said everything on his mind. He’d noticed a slump in Toshinori’s demeanour since his official retirement from heroism, and Izuku couldn’t stand to see his idol sad. Toshinori should never be sad. He should be happy. He should be adored.
And Izuku was going to make sure of it.
“And so,” he continued speaking, despite being flustered, “that was just why I wanted to say all that. I want you to know that you’re worth more than what you think you are. That we all care for you, and not just All Might. That not being able to do active heroism anymore doesn’t mean you’re suddenly worthless to everyone. You are All Might, but you’re also more than All Might, and you’re still here.”
Toshinori was still gaping at him, though the longer Izuku rambled on for, the more he noticed Toshinori beginning to sport an equally flustered look.
Izuku took a deep breath to overcome his own embarrassment, looked Toshinori dead in the eyes, and said, “You’re so valuable.”
Toshinori, his cheeks dusted a light red, tried to laugh it off awkwardly. “Yeah, I know. My net worth is crazy, haha…”
Izuku knew exactly how much All Might’s net worth was. He also knew Toshinori was being purposefully obtuse.
“I wasn’t talking money-wise and you know it,” he said stubbornly. “Don’t make jokes to try and fend off what I’m saying because you don’t believe you’re worthy of hearing it despite it being the truth.”
Toshinori looked startled at Izuku’s boldness, eyes sliding away as he grimaced. “Don’t… say such things?”
“I will say them if they have to be said,” Izuku insisted. “You clearly struggle with your own self-worth, and I won’t let the retirement of All Might mean the death of Toshinori. You are worth more than just what you can do for others.”
Toshinori’s awkward fluster had turned into flat-out discomfort. It was obvious he didn’t like hearing what Izuku was saying. His posture changed to something defensive.
Izuku wouldn't allow that to stop him.
“You told me… You told me you smile to hide the fear inside. But I don’t want you to feel like you always have to do that. You’ve done that for so long; given hope and strength to so many. You don’t have to fake it for me.” Izuku looked up at Toshinori. “You don’t need to always smile around me. I want to see your honest face.”
And he was getting that face. Toshinori was outright scowling at him now. It hurt Izuku to see, but he wasn’t overly surprised. Toshinori tended to get aggressive and upset when his personal vulnerabilities were exposed. He tried to push people away when they cared too much about him, like he simply couldn’t accept being cared for. It was why he’d spent so long alone, why he’d rejected those who tried to help him.
But Toshinori needed help, and Izuku wasn’t going to let him say no. Not this time.