Chapter Text
FROM:
[email protected]
TO:
[email protected]
SUBJECT:
Time Off
Akamatsu-san,
All Might has informed me he will not be in the office or on call today, and he does not wish to be contacted unless absolutely necessary. Under the circumstances, he has also given me the day off rather suddenly. As I do not take days off unless he does, I would like to take full advantage of the break and hope you do not mind acting as his secretary for the day despite the short notice.
He has asked that all calls be taken down as messages unless they are sincere emergencies only he is capable of handling. In that event, you may direct any calls to my number at your discretion. However, I do not expect any serious calls - he has no major meetings or anything that would conflict with his sudden desire to take a day off. You’re welcome to look through my office if you need anything - you know the pin.
Sincerely,
Yagi Toshinori [Secretary to All Might, Might Tower]
FROM:
[email protected]
TO:
[email protected]
SUBJECT:
RE: Time off
Yagi-san,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Don’t worry about the short notice - we all know how All Might can be with regards to notice for these sorts of things. I genuinely have no idea how you keep up with him and his schedule - he somehow found the best secretary in Japan when he hired you, it seems like. Everyone in the office wonders just how you manage to do it.
That said, I’m more than happy to take over your duties for the day. I’ll be sure to let you and All Might both have your peace, you’ve more than earned it. Rest up and look after yourselves. If you need anything on your end, please let me know.
Regards,
Akamatsu Hideki [Head of PR, Might Tower]
When Izuku woke up that morning, he had expected to go through his normal morning routine: get up, clean himself up, change, and go out to do his morning training.
It was Sunday, so he had no school. As far as he knew, he could relax and take it easy outside of training. After the abysmal day he had yesterday, he just wanted a peaceful day with All Might so he could get his mind off of everything he’d been thinking about for the last month or so. So, with that in mind, he’d gotten out of bed and begun his morning routine, unaware of the message waiting for him on his phone.
But once he’d gotten ready completely and went to grab his things, he finally checked his messages. There was that text from All Might still waiting for him, and he was reminded that he had seen a notification before he fell asleep last night, he’d just been so tired he let it go until morning.
Tomorrow, let’s meet somewhere other than Dagobah, the text read. Izuku read the next sentence and his heart leapt into his throat. I’d like to talk to you about something important.
Had he done something wrong? What did All Might want to talk about so suddenly? Was it about the burn from the other day? Was he disappointed, just like Izuku was afraid of? A million thoughts rushed into his head all at once, almost all of them negative, but he tried to reassure himself it was just something normal. It was probably just an update to the training plan, or a talk about the quirk he was supposed to receive, or something else so benign that he’d laugh at himself for being worried about it later.
But the more he thought, the more his thoughts spiraled, and the less that ‘something benign’ seemed likely. He knew, deep in his heart, that he needed to be prepared for whatever was about to happen. He would have to face the music and keep going, whatever that looked like. No matter what it was All Might was about to tell him, he’d accept it without faltering.
Unbeaten by the rain, his favorite poem read. Unbeaten by the wind. Bested by neither snow nor summer heat.
Unbeaten. Makezu.
He would have to remain unbeaten in a way that mattered. He would hold his chin high and prepare himself for the worst possible outcome. So he finished gathering his things, and sent a message back to All Might, as neutral as he could be. He didn’t want to make things worse.
Midoriya
[6:51am] [read]
How about the park we trained at the other day?
The response from All Might was swift - faster than Izuku had been expecting. Was he waiting on his phone for him to reply…? That certainly didn’t bode well.
Yagi [6:52am]
That is fine with me. Have you eaten breakfast yet?
Izuku paused, his heartbeat slowed down. All Might was asking him about breakfast?
Midoriya
[6:53am] [read]
No, not yet. I always eat after training.
Yagi [6:54am]
Then I’ll bring something for us to eat. No training today. Let’s meet at the entrance to the park in an hour.
Izuku paced around his house like crazy until he had to leave, wondering just what All Might could want to talk about, especially now that training had been completely canceled. The question about breakfast had caught him off guard, but All Might was still texting a lot more seriously than he usually did. It still felt a little too ominous for his liking, but it was at least a little less dire than before. Maybe it was just a warning? Maybe All Might was going to tell him to shape up or he’d reconsider things? He could handle that. He could do better, he would be better, if it meant All Might wouldn’t be mad…
He was about ready to start gnawing on his fingernails nervously by the time he got to the park entrance, seeing All Might already waiting there with a bag in hand. He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept very well. Izuku felt a fresh wave of anxiety wash over him… what was going on?
“Ah, um, g-good morning, Yagi-san,” Izuku said, his voice sounding weaker than he meant it to. “What did you want to-”
Before he could say anything else, he was cut off by All Might enveloping him in a warm hug. Izuku was suddenly overwhelmed with a different emotion - relief. All of his anxiety felt like it was washing away with the warmth of his mentor’s hug. If All Might was mad at him, there was no way he’d hug him like this; there was no way that the hug would feel so safe and welcoming. Everything will be alright, the hug said.
Izuku couldn’t help but tear up as he hugged back. All of his worries had been unfounded. Things would be okay. It was something else; he was overreacting for nothing.
“Come on,” All Might managed to get out, though it sounded somewhat difficult. He gestured to the park. “Let’s find a spot to sit and talk. I have a lot to tell you about.”
The two of them went and found a quiet, secluded part of the park, where All Might laid a blanket out on the grass and brought out a smaller, plastic bag from the inside of his larger tote bag. It was a convenience store bag, inside which Izuku could see some small breakfast items - rice balls, egg sandwiches, and warmed-up miso soup. All basic but filling things, and Izuku could see that All Might had even remembered which flavors he mentioned liking. It was a nice gesture, one that made Izuku’s eyes water all over again.
All Might laid out each of the items with care, gesturing for Izuku to take whatever he liked. “We’ll talk after we eat,” All Might said, taking some for himself. “Nutrition is important, after all.”
“Can you stay long enough to do all of this before work?” Izuku asked, trying to make some kind of conversation that wasn’t overly serious, at least for now. Usually, in the mornings, All Might had to get to work pretty quickly. He’d been told about the man’s effective ‘double life’ pretending to be his own secretary to cover for the other hours he couldn’t do hero work. His mentor could usually only stay for an entire morning training session one or two days out of the week.
“Don’t worry, I have the day off,” All Might reassured him effortlessly. “Call it a health day. Now, eat up, before everything gets cold.”
Izuku just nodded. The two of them ate quietly, looking out at the park and the scant few people out this early in the morning. It was peaceful, and not too hot since the sun had barely risen in the sky. Despite the reassurance from the hug earlier, All Might still looked a little troubled and very tired. Izuku wondered if there was something else wrong. If wasn’t about Izuku’s training, then what? Had he had a bad day at work yesterday? Had a villain given him trouble? Was his injury flaring up?
Izuku couldn’t help his racing thoughts, even as he continued to eat.
Once they’d finished their food, Izuku helped clean up the trash and gathered it into the plastic convenience store bag to throw away later. When breakfast was cleaned up, Izuku hugged his knees to his chest and looked over to his mentor. “So… what did you want to talk about, All Might?”
“Have you heard of something called the Hero Pen Pal program?” All Might asked. Izuku’s eyebrows rose with surprise, then furrowed with concern.
“Um… yes. What about it…?” Izuku trailed off, his anxiety returning. Why was All Might asking about that of all things? Yaku-san didn’t report him for oversharing or something, did he? Had word of his emails gotten back to his mentor somehow? Was he in trouble after all? Was-
“It’s alright, my boy, relax,” All Might said, holding up his hands placatingly. It was like his mentor read his mind… or maybe he was just easy to read. His mom told him once that he was pretty expressive… “Did you apply to be a part of this program?”
Oh. All Might was just asking him about the program in general. Had something happened to it, then? “Yes, I did. I, um, I got accepted, too. Why?”
All Might’s expression turned slightly defeated, like he was afraid that might be the case. But… what reason would All Might have to be upset that he was in it? The Hero Pen Pal program was amazing! At least, he thought it was. Maybe things were going wrong for others, but Izuku had been so relieved to talk to somebody completely anonymously, free of expectations. He wasn’t Izuku, or Deku, or anything other than Makezu, a stranger online who happened to be talking to a hero.
“I see… I thought that might be the case. I confess I’m not entirely sure how to go about saying this, so I’ll be frank. I’m also a part of the program.” All Might paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, and Izuku’s stomach twisted into knots. He was a part of the program, too? Somebody out there was talking to All Might? Was it a rejection after all…? Was it going to be something like ‘Sorry, you’re a great kid, but this person I talked to seems like a better candidate’… Was that it?
“The thing is, my boy, through some stroke of cosmic coincidence, I believe you and I got put together in that program.”
All the color drained from Izuku’s face in an instant. Of all the things he expected to hear, it wasn’t…
Though it looked like it physically pained him to press the matter any further, All Might continued on. “I started to put two and two together in the last few conversations I’ve had, so I felt like I was obligated to tell you and clear things up. I have to ask, you understand. Are you ‘Makezu’? The one who I’ve been speaking to?”
Everything he said over the last month… none of it was secret after all.
All of his fears, all of the things he was terrified to tell All Might for fear of disappointment and rejection, had been delivered right to him. Izuku felt like he couldn’t breathe. This was, quite possibly, the worst outcome of this conversation, and it wasn’t even one he could’ve imagined happening. Of all the possible heroes in the country, he never expected his own mentor to be the person he got paired up with for the pen pal program. He’d been telling All Might everything. His troubles in training, his troubles in school, all of it.
He felt like this wasn’t real, like it was some kind of sick joke the universe was playing at his expense. Of all the possible things to happen to him, of all the things All Might could’ve called him here to talk about…!
“My boy?” All Might murmured, gentle. “I know this must be awkward for you, but please don’t be afraid. I just want to confirm things before I go talking about private matters, in case I’m wrong.”
Izuku, knees still to his chest, wrapped his arms around the tops and dropped his head onto them. He felt like he was going to cry. Like he couldn’t breathe. Like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. Like he wished he could go back in time and tell himself not to sign up for that program, no matter how cool it seemed at the time. He couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid as to think anything could ever go right for him… it never did. He should’ve known better than to let his guard down.
But… he knew he had to face the music. He’d thought as much to himself before he even came here.
“I… I’m Makezu,” Izuku choked out, sniffling a little as he did so. His eyes stung as he tried to hold back tears. His time off from his cruel reality had come to an end. It was a fool’s errand to hope for anything more than what he always got. “I guess that… means you’re… Yaku-san…?”
Though he didn’t see it, All Might nodded with tired resignation. And then, something that got his attention: All Might hugged him again. It caught Izuku completely off guard, and he froze like a deer in headlights. He didn’t reciprocate the hug, almost afraid for what it might mean.
He hadn’t expected… after everything All Might must’ve read in those emails, he would still…
“Yes. That’s me, my boy. I’m Yaku-san. And I… I’m so sorry I didn’t notice your troubles sooner, and I am so sorry if I ever made you feel like you weren’t doing good enough. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you could disappoint me. Because if there’s one thing I know for certain, my boy, it’s that you could never disappoint me, no matter how hard you tried. You are such a strong-willed, heroic young man, and one I’m honored to mentor, even if I’m not doing a very good job at it.”
Izuku’s eyes widened, and slowly, his head raised. Then, his expression twisted up like some gnarled root, one that had grown and stemmed from a deep, dark place in his heart. He was stricken as he tried to hold back his emotions. All Might thought… he could never disappoint him…? But that wasn’t… he wasn’t angry? He wasn’t ashamed? Even after everything he’d confessed to as ‘Makezu’?
“B-But I-”
“I don’t want to hear a single word to the contrary, young man,” All Might scolded him, though gently. He looked dead serious about this - far more than Izuku had seen him thus far. “You are my student, and, I hope, my successor. I would never throw that away - I would never throw you away. There is nobody else I want to follow in my footsteps, nobody else I want to train. You are the one and only successor I will ever have, and I decided that the day we met. Nothing you’ve done or said has ever swayed me from that decision.”
Izuku’s heart felt like it might seize up in his chest. Or explode. Or both. His held-back tears began to overflow, though this time, they were tinged with something like the beginning buds of hope. All Might was saying…
“Even after what I said…?” Izuku trailed off pitifully.
All Might hugged him tighter. “Yes. No matter what. And if my suspicions are right, and you are being hurt at school, then I want to help. Please, my boy, I am asking you to let me help. I could never think any less of you for something like that. I meant what I said - any teacher who would be disappointed in their student over something like that is not fit to be a teacher. Neither are those ‘teachers’ you described in your emails.”
“But I can’t even stop my classmates…” Izuku wiped at his eyes, his tears returning full-force now. Those tiny buds of hope began to grow like an ivy, wrapping around that gnarled root in his chest and turning it into something beautiful, even as his instincts made all of his fears and worries spill from his mouth. Did All Might… really mean it? “I couldn’t even stop them from destroying the notebook we made together…! It was ruined, a-and all I could do was sit there, and I couldn’t even yell at them…! I lock up every time they come near me… I thought you would… be ashamed to have a successor like that…”
“Never,” All Might said, a gentle hand on his head. He let go of the hug to reach into his bag to grab something from it, and he pulled out a notebook similar to the ones they’d made together. It was a different style, but it was clearly done up in the same way. “And if your notebook got destroyed, then I suppose it’s a good thing I got you a new one, hm? I meant it to be a gift, not a replacement, but I suppose life works out in mysterious ways.”
Izuku took the offered notebook, trying not to get his tears on it as he held it in his trembling hands. All Might had gotten him a gift? Just because?
“Let me show you something else, my boy,” All Might said, turning back to his bag. This time, he pulled out a small, worn-down book. It looked old but well cared for, clearly a loved item of some kind. Izuku watched, still wiping at his eyes, as All Might opened it.
When he turned to the first page, it was revealed that this was a photo album. There were pictures of a younger All Might there, ranging through all kinds of ages. The first page held a photo of him as a toddler, being held up by a tired but happy woman who was his spitting image. His mother, maybe? The two of them looked happy together, although despite their smiles, Izuku could tell that the two of them had been crying in the photo. Underneath the photo was unfamiliar feminine handwriting - it read ‘Toshinori - Age 4 - No quirk, but he’s still so strong!’
“That was me when I was four,” he chuckled fondly, a warmth in his eyes that Izuku had only seen once or twice. “Like you… I was diagnosed quirkless.”
Izuku’s eyes went impossibly wide. All Might used to be… quirkless? Like him? Logically, Izuku knew that All Might was given One for All, but the thought of All Might being quirkless before he got it hadn’t even registered as a possibility. Honestly, he didn’t know what he thought All Might’s original quirk might’ve been, but not having one at all wasn’t even a thought.
All Might’s fond expression fell and he looked closer to genuinely ashamed as he continued. “The day we met, you asked me whether you could be a hero without a quirk, and I told you no. I won’t make excuses or sit here trying to justify it - what I said was plainly wrong. I sincerely, wholly regret what I said that day. I’ve tried to apologize before, but I don’t think you believed me. I’m hoping you do now.”
Izuku sucked in a breath. All Might was right - he hadn’t quite believed the man when he tried to apologize before. It felt more like he was saying sorry for being so abrasive and not so much for what exactly he said. But this… with this new context, and the sincerity in his voice…
“So let me reiterate, my boy,” All Might set aside the photo album for a moment to bow, fully, in front of Izuku. “I am sorry. I hope that one day, you might forgive me for what I said so callously.”
“A-All Might!” Izuku exclaimed, startled out of crying by the sight of the number one hero bowing to him like this. He’d forgiven the man in his head already, really, even if the apology had been hard to accept at first. Every day, All Might proved to him that he wasn’t the same person he was on that roof. He was nothing like the mental image Izuku always had of him, either, but somehow he preferred it this way. Izuku wouldn’t change the All Might he knew now for anything in the world. “It’s… it’s okay. I forgive you… I forgave you a long time ago. But were you really quirkless…?”
“Yes, I was,” the man nodded as he sat back up. He picked up the album and placed it back in his lap. “It got me teased a little in school to be one of the few quirkless kids in my class, but it wasn’t so strange then. Now… I can imagine it’s caused you some grief, if the day we met was any indication. I can only assume how people look at the quirkless has gotten worse over the years. And even if it’s not the case, whatever reason your classmates have for harassing you like they do is wrong. Look at this.”
All Might flipped through the photo album some more, skipping over a few ages until he stopped on photos of his junior high school years, judging by the uniform the younger All Might wore. The photo in the center of the page was done up differently - it had less decorations and borders around it, more spartan in that it was just a photo taped onto a page. Underneath it, there was more masculine handwriting instead of the feminine one from before - it read ‘Junior High School Graduation.’
This photo showed All Might with a different woman - this woman had black hair done up in a style like Izuku’s mother wore, and a proud smirk on her face as she had an arm wrapped around the young All Might. When Izuku studied All Might in the photo, several things stood out. He had a wrinkled graduation certificate in one hand, his uniform was scuffed, and he sported a pretty fresh black eye. Even so, he was grinning brighter than even his All Might smile. It was inherently different - it was a proud smile, one that said he was happy and relieved. The way the woman in the photo was looking at him, it seemed she was proud too.
“That was my own master - she passed down One for All to me just before I went to high school as well,” All Might said, sounding even more fond than before. “She was like a mother to me, especially after my own passed away. But that’s not why I’m showing you this - see the black eye I had in this picture?”
Izuku nodded slowly. It was pretty obvious.
“Well, I got that black eye getting in a fight with my classmate,” All Might explained. He sounded a tinge exasperated, but also proud, clearly thinking back on the memory. “His name was Kurata. Before graduation, he’d spent the last three years picking on me. Just like you, I found it impossible to stand up for myself. But once I met my master, she encouraged me to try. We ended up fighting right after the graduation ceremony, and my certificate got wrinkled, but she’d never been so proud of me. It was the first time I ever managed to stand up against him, because before that point, I’d always been too scared.”
Izuku listened with rapt attention to the story. All Might… the All Might… had been bullied? Izuku’s brain almost couldn’t compute that. But if he’d truly been quirkless, then… Izuku supposed he must’ve been. Even if it was a little different to how things were now, there were surely people willing to look down on those without quirks even when All Might was his age.
But even more impossible, at least to Izuku, was…
“You were scared?” Izuku asked, his voice almost a whisper. Like he was saying something taboo, forbidden. All Might? Afraid? Another impossibility.
All Might nodded seriously. “Yes. Terrified, as a matter of fact. My first year in junior high, he tripped me and I broke my arm. He just stood over me and laughed like he wasn’t afraid to do it again. Ever since then, I was scared of him. And even then, by my second year, I met my master just like you did - I had run into a villain fight to try and resolve it, only for her to show up and resolve it instead. I used to think to myself - what was wrong with me? How could I run into a villain fight without a care in the world but not even tell my own bully to back off? It made no sense at the time, and for years after, it still didn’t.”
“That’s-” Izuku hid his face, though this time it was to try and prevent a fresh wave of tears. Never in his life did he imagine All Might would’ve been in the same position as him at his age. “That’s exactly how I feel right now… Did you ever figure out why you were so scared?”
“Ah. As a matter of fact, I did,” All Might smiled wryly, no mirth in it whatsoever. “It was because I had spent years putting myself beneath others. I won’t get into the reasons I had for it, but I did. It wasn’t until my master made me feel like I was strong, that I was worthy, that I realized I hadn’t been able to stand up because I didn’t see myself as worth saving. And if you feel even slightly like I did during those days, my boy, then I feel as though I have failed you, because you deserve the world. And if it were in my power to give it to you, then I would.”
Izuku couldn’t help it. He broke down sobbing in full, because the second the words left his mentor’s mouth, Izuku knew he was right. As much as he kept pushing forward, as much as he wanted to remain undefeated, it was hard not to feel like you were worthless when the only person who ever said otherwise was your own mother. Before All Might, the moment he left the house, there was nobody on his side.
He’d been alone until the day he met All Might. And in the end, that was what he told Yaku-san - or rather, All Might. He was afraid of being alone again. Because if he was alone… then who was going to help him?
He could save all the people he wanted, but when it came down to it, who would save him?
“Y-Yagi-san…!” Izuku was enveloped in a swift hug again, and he held on like All Might would disappear if he let go. Like the man was his sole lifeline, the one thing keeping him tethered.
“Please, my boy,” All Might’s voice came out in a strained, hoarse sort of tone, “let me help you. Even though I’ve only been your mentor for six months, I’ve come to care about you so much. If it’s not too presumptuous of me to say… You’re like a son to me. I never got to start a family because of my career, but training you these past six months… I imagine having one would be something like this.”
Izuku’s sobs only grew, and he could barely get out words through the mess he’d become. “Y-Yagi-san, you… you…! I-I f… feel the same…!”
All Might saw him as a son. Izuku had no words to describe the new feeling taking root in his chest, but if he were to try his best, he might say it felt a little bit like… home. Right here, hugging All Might, even when he was crying his eyes out, Izuku just felt like he was home. And All Might, though Izuku didn’t know it, was thinking the exact same thing. Izuku was his boy, even if it wasn’t by blood.
The two sat like that for a good, long while. And when Izuku’s emotional sobs had petered out into small sniffles, and he had cleaned up his face and calmed enough to talk properly, he knew what he had to say. All Might was waiting on an answer, and he had to give him one.
“Yagi-san… I’m so tired,” Izuku admitted softly. And yet, despite the tone he took, this felt like the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life. “And I… I want your help. Please.”
All Might grasped his hand as if to drive home what he was going to say. “Then you’ll have my help,” he assured, sounding so certain it was as if he’d make everything better simply by willing it to be so. “I won’t betray the trust you’ve put in me, my boy. But to do that… I need you to tell me what’s been going on.”
For once, Izuku truly believed that things were going to get better, and he was going to be strong enough to see it through. All he had to do was talk.