I already posted this on ao3 yesterday, so I figured I'd go ahead and post it here.
Today has been a good day.
The thought crossed his mind as he and Inko leisurely walked down the street. When he woke up that morning he expected yet another terrible day.
It was a pleasant surprise when Inko invited him to go with her. He had been in desperate need of a distraction from the accumulating stress, so he was quite happy to take the offer. There were no regrets about his choice either; Inko had clearly needed a day to relax as well. So they spent much of the day shopping, enjoying snacks from a few food carts, and just talking about random topics. Toshinori wasn't sure when the last time he had felt as great as he did then was, but it made him all the more glad.
"Thank you for coming with me today, Toshi. I really appreciate it."
He grinned widely at her. "I am always happy to join you."
"Still, thank you. I was worried about asking you because I wasn't sure you were feeling well enough."
"Ah," he mumbled. That was understandable. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I suppose that has been a bit of a problem lately. Still, I have had very little trouble today."
That made her nod. "Good. You deserve to have a good day."
"You think so?"
"Why wouldn't I? After everything you've done and are doing, you've more than earned the right to enjoy yourself."
A lopsided smile replaced his earlier grin. Both her and Izuku were two of the greatest people to enter his life. Really, how had he been so blessed to find such a wonderful friend and a great pupil? They were always more than willing to help him. At that point it was as if they were his family.
If only, he thought wistfully. How could he ask for more when they already gave him so much?
"Oh, there's the café I was telling you about," Inko said.
He looked away from her, although reluctant, to see what she was pointing at. Across the street sat a hero themed café with a noticeably long line. Plastered on one of the windows of the shop was the face of his former hero persona. At the sight of it he froze, feeling exposed and self-conscious about his gangly appearance. His feeble attempt at appearing unfazed failed as his shoulders drooped. It was him fiddling with the buttons of his shirt that caught Inko's attention. The guilt on her face made his chest tighten.
"Oh, Toshi, I am so sorry. I should've…"
"No, no! It's quite alright," he said, holding up his hands. "How about we go ahead and give it a try?"
She gave him the look—the one where she could tell he was pretending for her sake. That only made him feel worse; he knew she hated when he did that. It always caused her to feel bad. "Are you sure?"
"Of course!" With the widest grin he could muster on his face, he gave her a thumbs-up. "A nice cup of coffee is sure to lift my spirits."
"I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable."
"It's fine. I promise."
She gave in with a sigh. "Okay, but if at any point you feel like leaving, please tell me."
"I will."
In hindsight, he should have known something would go wrong.
They were halfway across the road when there was the sound of screeching tires and a shout of "Watch out!"
Time slowed.
The only thought he had was Inko, and so he shoved her as hard as he dared, causing her to stumble out of the way.
He turned, one hand outstretched towards the careening car.
A group of voices blended together with cries of "All Might" and one lone "Toshinori"—
And he was sprawled out on the ground.
He stared blankly at the sky, not sure of what exactly happened. At least ten different faces hovered above him. He vaguely saw their mouths moving but heard nothing of what they said through the ringing in his ears. Closing his eyes, he moved his hand to the ground to push himself up. The moment his muscles tensed to do so, however, his chest erupted in blinding pain. Both hands flew up to his mouth to stop the blood that would inevitably spew out. Because he was still laying on his back, most of the blood refused to come out. Instead he choked. Panic shot through him at the feeling of the blood stuck inside his throat, causing him to claw at his neck.
His hearing chose then to start returning. Somebody yelled out instructions. The faces gathered around him moved away. Hands slipped under his back to gently but swiftly roll him on to his side. One of the hands patted his back hard enough to dislodge the blood. He coughed and gagged, watery eyes staring at the blood splattered on the ground. When the attack finally calmed down, he tried to breathe in.
An entire group of people had just watched him hack up blood.
He felt pathetic.
Hearing still coming in and out, he only heard bits of the conversation as he found himself pulled up. The ache in his chest and left side forced him to bite down on his bottom lip. The person behind him rubbed his back. He had neither the energy nor the will to tell them to stop. Held out in front of him was a handkerchief which he accepted. Quickly he wiped the blood from his face.
Delicate hands cupped his face. He raised his head. Right in front of him was Inko, tears streaming down her cheeks as she rubbed his cheek with her thumb.
"—hear me?" her concerned voice whispered. "Are you okay? Please say something."
He tried. What came out was a single syllable and a shaky breath.
A water bottle appeared in his lap. Nodding, he grabbed it, but his shaky hands made it difficult for him to open it. Inko took it and opened it for him.
Pathetic.
He took a long drink from it. Cool water soothed the burning pain in his throat. Inko breathed out, wiping at the tears on her face. Guilt gnawed at him.
"Are you okay, All Might?"
Though unintentional, he grimaced at the name. "Yes," he rasped. "Thank you. I apologize for worrying you all."
"Dude, you almost got hit by a car. You don't have to be sorry," someone else said.
Although true, it did little to comfort him. He paused. "Almost?"
"You don't remember?"
He shook his head and looked at the car.
There were three distinct dents on the car's hood, all of them the shape of hands. Two of them were a pair. The third was a large solitary one that was deeper than the other two.
A blond man standing behind Inko nodded. "You went all buff just before the car reached you. Lasted for about two or three seconds, maybe a little longer." The man put one hand in front of him and then slapped his other palm against it. "Your hand smacked into the car just as Aya—" he pointed to the woman sitting behind Toshinori "—put her hands out to stop it. Which somehow worked. You just kinda...deflated and collapsed afterwards."
No wonder he had a coughing fit. "Ah. That explains things."
"Okay, but what was that?" another man asked, staring down at the blood. "I mean...holy shit, there was so much coming out…"
Toshinori subconsciously pressed his hand against his left side.
Seeing his discomfort, Inko said, "It's a very personal issue for him. I hope you can understand."
"Oh. Sorry."
An irritated voice made him look towards the car. A young man barely out of his teens stood there, flinching at the woman yelling at him. Unable to watch any longer, Toshinori attempted to stand. He hadn't even gotten to his knees when his head began to swim. Grabbing him by the armpits, Aya slowly pulled him up to his feet along with her. To keep from making a sound he bit his tongue just hard enough for him to feel. He took a step and swayed. Aya caught him by grabbing his elbow. When he pointed to the young man, Aya nodded in understanding. Inko followed the two with one hand on Toshinori's back.
"Excuse me," he said to the woman. "May I?"
The woman, though wary, stepped away.
Toshinori turned to the young man to speak.
"I-I am so sorry. I don't...I don't know what happened. The brakes just—they just went out all of a sudden and I couldn't control it and—and then the two of you were—you were right there. I tried—I really did! But I—"
With a reassuring smile, Toshinori placed a hand on the man's right shoulder.
"It's alright. I understand," he said with a warm tone.
That attempt at solace made the man sob. "I—I almost—I can't believe I—You could've—"
"It's alright," Toshinori repeated, wrapping his arms around the crying man. "What happened wasn't your fault."
After a few minutes, the man pulled away and rubbed furiously at his eyes while sniffling. "I-I'm sorry. That was embarrassing."
"No need to apologize. Do you feel better?" He got a nod in response. "Glad to hear."
A tickle in his throat made him stifle a cough with his hand. He gingerly rubbed his chest. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Inko staring at him. His forced smile only made her frown.
"No offense, All Might, but..." Aya paused. "Shouldn't you go to the hospital?"
"There isn't much they can do. I just need some rest."
"Well, if you need a ride, I can help."
Toshinori considered the offer, but when he prepared to answer, Inko asked, "If you would, could you take us to my apartment?"
"Inko…"
"Just for a little while," she said with a small smile.
"I… Okay."
Aya turned away to hide her amused expression. "I'd be happy to. My car is just over there."
She headed for a red four door car parked further down the road. Toshinori watched as the blond man dragged the driver of the dented car over to the sidewalk. Everyone that had previously been standing in the street were on the sidewalk as well, discussing the situation among themselves. Once the two men joined them, they turned to the driver to talk. He stopped walking and faced them. One person took notice and got the attention of the rest of them. He tried his best to bow despite the twinge of pain it caused.
"I would like to apologize once again for causing you all to worry."
A chorus of positive responses followed, some raising their hands and others giving him a thumbs-up. Satisfied, he began to follow Aya and Inko.
"Feel better soon, All Might!"
In spite of himself, he raised a single fist.
~ 0 ~
"Need anything else? I can help you up the stairs if you need."
"Ah… No, I should be able to make it up just fine." His side protested with a sharp ache. "Thank you for the offer."
"Least I can do for you," Aya said. "You two take it easy. Especially you, All Might."
Inko waved to the woman while saying, "Have a nice day."
When the car was far off, Inko turned to Toshinori and placed a hand on his arm. It wasn't as easy to climb the stairs as he had hoped it would be, and he was grateful that Inko was at his side by the time they reached her apartment door. He waited patiently for her to unlock the door, twiddling his thumbs. Once it was open she gently ushered him inside. No complaints came from him; he was too tired to fight against her being motherly.
He all but collapsed on to the couch. A long sigh escaped from between his lips.
"Tea?"
"That would be nice," he muttered.
"Do you need a pain reliever?"
"Ice pack."
She nodded and headed into the kitchen. Left alone with his thoughts, Toshinori stared at the ceiling and tried to will away the pain. Naturally it didn't work. He ran both hands down his face. In the few seconds his vision was obscured, he felt an ice pack drop on to his lap. With a mumbled thanks he grabbed it and pressed it against his side. The initial chill made his side twitch, but the relief that followed as it cooled down his inflamed scar relaxed him. Keeping his eyes closed, he listened to Inko as she moved around the kitchen.
The entire incident was his fault. If he hadn't hesitated, they wouldn't have been in the way of that car. He wouldn't have had to shove Inko out of the way.
No one would have seen him coughing up blood.
He stirred at the sound of cups being placed on the table. Opening his eyes, he watched Inko carefully take a seat beside him.
"How does it feel?" she asked.
"Better." Lips pressed together, he slowly pushed himself forward. Inko grabbed his cup before he could and handed it to him. "Thank you."
Warmth soothed his sore throat as he drank. The lingering taste of copper faded. Thirsty as he was, he downed the tea faster than intended and placed the empty cup on the table. Inko was still drinking hers.
"Do you want to talk?"
He blinked and looked at her.
"I can tell that something is on your mind," Inko said as she set down her cup. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I…" He rubbed his chin. Why was he not surprised that she noticed? "I'm not taking retirement well."
"I wouldn't expect you to."
"It's just… I should be used to it by now. Yet when I see that face, all I can think of is the man I used to be. Strong. Reliable. A light shining in the face of darkness. I could protect people." Bitterness wormed its way into his voice. "But I can't anymore. I'm too weak. Now I'm the one being protected. And I… I hate it. I hate that people who looked up to me now see me as weak. Even my own students feel the need to protect me."
He kept his eyes downcast even as Inko placed her hand on his.
"You have done so much for the world. You've bled and suffered for the benefit of others. Countless lives have been saved because of you." She pulled his hand away from his face to hold it. "I understand why you feel this way, but you are still helping. By teaching the next generation of heroes you're making sure that the world will have more people to rely on. You know that, don't you?"
"I do, but…"
"Change is never easy. Even now I'm still uncertain about Izuku. But I've seen how much progress he's made and how happy he is. Though it's hard, I know he made the right choice." When he raised his head, she looked into his eyes. "Look at me comparing heroism to motherhood."
A smile tugged at his lips. "Being a mother is being a hero in its own right."
She laughed. "Oh, Toshi."
With a gentle tug she pulled him closer, positioning him so that his head was on her shoulder. When he tried to pull away, she wrapped both arms around him. He gave in, reluctant as he was, because it just felt so nice to be held by her.
"Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it."
"I—" He cut himself off, closing his eyes tightly as he took in a deep breath. His voice was barely above a whisper. "Thank you."