Toshinori gave a heavy sigh as he climbed the last steps to his apartment. He had been running around the city all day doing hero work that ranged from stopping pick pocketers to helping cats out of trees. He was more than ready to take a long bath in his deflated form, eat a microwave dinner and pass out on the couch.
He had moved into the area not too long ago after training abroad in America. Toshinori noted that he still needed to find time to introduce himself to his neighbors. A good hero (even one who acted under a secret identity) must show hospitality and good manners when moving into a new community. It was only the right thing to do as the symbol of peace after all.
As he contemplated on the number of gifts he would need to purchase, he noticed a boy with black hair digging through a single strap backpack, probably trying to find a key to get into the apartment two doors down from where Toshinori lived. He noted that his black uniform belonged to someone who would be in middle school.
"Yeah, I'm doing fine. Stop worrying so much," the boy said with a huff as he finally pulled out a set of keys. Toshinori smiled at the little black cat keychain attached to the key set.
There was a pause when the door clicked open. The volume on the boy's phone must have been on the highest setting because Toshinori could hear almost every single word from where he was standing.
"We can probably meet up again soon. Spring break is in a few weeks," he mumbled. "My aunt said you could stay over this time."
There was another long pause. Toshinori saw a small smile on the boy's face as he scoffed.
"Yeah, I know. You mention high school every time we talk, Hizashi." The boy blinked as he turned his gaze to meet Toshinori's, his smile immediately fading.
"I'll talk to you later. I have to go," he muttered. After another grunt of confirmation, he pressed a button and flipped his phone shut. "Can I help you with something, sir?"
"Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt!" Toshinori flashed a smile, receiving nothing but silence and a deadpan look from the younger kid. "I moved in about a week ago and I haven't had the chance to introduce myself to anyone. My name is Yagi Toshinori. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Toshinori stuck out his hand, laughing brightly at the middle schooler. The boy's eyes shifted from his smile to his outstretched arm.
"Aizawa Shouta," he eventually muttered, raising an eyebrow at the extended hand in front of him.
After another pause, Toshinori laughed loudly and retracted his arm to sheepishly rub behind his head. "Aizawa-kun, it's very nice to meet you! Please give my regards to your parents!"
"Yeah, I'll do that," Aizawa sighed as he stepped into his apartment, closing the door behind him.
As far as first impressions went, Toshinori felt like that could have gone better.
Toshinori had a very friendly nature. It was his job as a hero to keep people safe as well as create a warm, welcoming environment for everyone. This included the grumpy little middle schooler who never said more than two sentences whenever Toshinori found an opportunity to talk to him.
Aside from his name, Toshinori started to learn small things about Aizawa after that encounter. He found out that his legal guardian was not a parent, but his aunt who seemed to have erratic work hours. Her job seemed to involve traveling. Toshinori also noticed that whenever he ran into Aizawa coming home, he would seem exhausted. The boy would be covered in sweat, his school uniform tossed over his shoulder as he rubbed his bloodshot eyes.
Whenever Toshinori asked if he was alright, Aizawa would mutter that he was fine and once again close his apartment door without any further exchange.
Sometimes during his early morning rounds, he would find Aizawa jogging around the block. Other times he would see him doing core exercises before the sun came up. Toshinori was curious as to why Aizawa had such a strict training regimen. Maybe he belonged to a very serious club at school. Or perhaps he was training to become a hero, a thought that made Toshinori's chest swell with pride.
Toshinori also noticed that Aizawa seemed to live off juice pouches and protein drinks. Every time he had caught the boy coming home with a grocery bag, Toshinori never saw a single vegetable or fruit among the juice boxes and occasional cat magazines. Worried that the young boy wasn't eating properly, Toshinori would sometimes bring over extra take-out or leftover dinner, leaving a note with it at the front of Aizawa's apartment door.
When Aizawa confronted him one day while he was leaving a bentou outside his door, Toshinori gave his signature All Might heroic laugh.
"You're working hard every day, Aizawa-kun! Forgive me if I'm wrong, but if you want to be a hero you have to make sure you eat well on top of all your training!"
"You don't have to do this," Aizawa sighed, eye twitching slightly from the bright pink furoshiki wrapped around the bentou box. "You have no reason to."
"As a good neighbor, it's my duty to watch out for the younger ones!" Toshinori said, placing a hand on Aizawa's shoulder. "And no one needs a reason to help someone. If someone needs help and it's within my power, I help them. It's as simple as that."
Aizawa raised an eyebrow and sighed again, but this time Toshinori felt like it held less weight than usual.
"You have quite the hero complex. It reminds me of my friend…" Aizawa muttered, trailing off as his gaze turned to the floor. "But thanks."
"You're welcome!" Toshinori beamed.
Aizawa studied Toshinori's bright smile and huffed in response. "Do you want to come in for a cup of tea? It's the least I can do with all this free food you've been giving me."
"I don't mean to impose!" Toshinori said, holding up his hands as he took a step back. But if he was being completely honest, he really was a little curious. The hero inside of him wanted to scope out Aizawa's apartment and make sure it was suitable for a teenager who spent a majority of his time living alone.
"It won't be for long," Aizawa said, pushing the door slightly more ajar with his shoulder. Once he saw Toshinori give a confirming smile, Aizawa nodded and made his way inside his house, gingerly holding onto the bentou box.
Toshinori noted that the apartment was very well-kept. This either meant Aizawa and his caretaker cleaned the house on a regular basis or that the premise was rarely touched. Toshinori figured it was the latter.
As he took a seat on a zabuton in the guest room, he noticed a few books piled together, all of which had something to do with hero training and fitness. Aizawa really was serious about becoming a hero, Toshinori thought. Examining the pile more closely, he couldn't hold back a chuckle from seeing a magazine that had a cat dressed in a tuxedo on the cover sticking out of the heap of hero books. Toshinori suddenly wondered if a cat was going to greet him in the apartment considering how fond Aizawa was of them.
"Did you have plans later tonight, Aizawa-kun?" Toshinori asked when the middle schooler reappeared carrying a tray with two steaming cups of tea.
"Nothing out of the usual," he vaguely replied, handing Toshinori a cup of green tea.
"So more hero training, I'm guessing," Toshinori stated, blowing lightly at the hot cup of tea he was currently nursing in his hands.
Aizawa replied with a shrug.
"What a wonderful goal! Your hard work is undoubtedly going to pay off!" Toshinori laughed, genuinely delighted that Aizawa really was aiming for hero work. It always made him happy to see the aspiring younger generation working hard to make it as pro heroes. "You know, I happen to work in the hero business myself! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help!"
Aizawa's head perked up at that statement, suddenly studying Toshinori a bit more closely. "What company do you belong to?"
"Ah, well… I help out at All Might's hero agency," Toshinori said carefully.
"All Might," Aizawa repeated, scoffing lightly. "You work for the symbol of peace. It suits you."
Toshinori wasn't sure if that was meant as a compliment or not so he timidly laughed in response.
"May I ask what your quirk is, Aizawa-kun?"
"Erasure. I can erase anyone's quirk when I look at them," Aizawa mumbled, taking a sip from his teacup.
"Oh! That's a very useful quirk. It definitely would be helpful to have your power in my line of hero work," Toshinori hummed, folding his arms as he imagined how much easier it would be to take down defenseless villains.
"But it's not enough to only have a useful quirk. You need to also make sure your body is suitable to face villains," Toshinori continued. "I would assume that's why you train so diligently, Aizawa-kun. But make sure you leave enough time for your body to rest. Over-working won't help you reach your goal."
Aizawa gave a small nod. Toshinori also wanted to mention eating a balanced diet, but he decided against it since he had already brought up the topic when he was caught delivering food at Aizawa's front door.
"But you must have some very strong motivation to stick to such a serious training schedule," Toshinori laughed, blinking as he saw Aizawa turn his gaze to the empty cup of tea he was holding.
"'Strong motivation' huh? I guess you could say that," Aizawa muttered. He began to collect the now empty cups back onto the tray.
As Aizawa stood up, Toshinori followed suit. After helping Aizawa wash and put away the cups, the two walked to the front door together.
"Aizawa-kun," Toshinori began as he stepped outside. "Why do you want to become a hero?"
Aizawa blinked at the sudden question. He hummed in response, picking at a small hole in his sleeve as he decided on his answer.
"For various reasons, I suppose," Aizawa sighed. "But mainly because I made a promise to a good friend."
Toshinori was taken aback by how Aizawa's hardened face suddenly softened, almost akin to a smile. He beamed in response, not needing to hear anything else from the aspiring young hero.
"Then I look forward to working with you in the future, Aizawa-kun! Thank you for your hospitality tonight!"
"Yeah," Aizawa mumbled, his usual tired expression returning, grimacing at the unusually heroic laugh directed at him. "I'll see you around."
A few weeks later, Toshinori found himself buying too many tomatoes, mushrooms and onions from a supermarket sale. He had been so excited to finally make it to a limited sale without a villain interfering with his shopping plans that he may have gotten enough to serve a family of five.
As he made his way back to his apartment, he figured he may as well share a batch of his vegetables with Aizawa. The middle schooler occasionally returned his bentou boxes filled with food he had prepared himself, claiming that he didn't want to be too indebted to his neighbor. Aizawa was a great cook much to Toshinori's surprise.
Walking up the last flight of stairs to his apartment, a flash of blond hair caught his eye. The boy who seemed no older than Aizawa had a large backpack laid haphazardly beside him. He bounced on his heels, tapping buttons on his flip phone meticulously. His tongue stuck out to the side of his mouth as he held the phone close to his yellow tinted sunglasses.
"Hello, can I help you, young man?" Toshinori asked, placing his many shopping bags in front of his apartment door as he dug into his pockets to find his house key.
The blond boy perked up from his phone. As he blinked his green eyes, he broke out into a tooth grinning smile.
"No, I'm doing okay!" he yelled out in English. "My train arrived earlier than expected so I'm just waiting for my friend."
"Oh, I see. Well, let me know if there's anything you need during your visit!" Toshinori gave a thumbs-up to the boy who returned it twice as enthusiastically.
"Hey, would you happen to be Yagi-san?! Shouta mentioned you before! He said you worked with the big shot hero All Might!"
Toshinori cringed at the sudden increase in volume.
"So you're friends with Aizawa-kun?" Toshinori chuckled, suddenly wondering if the term "big shot hero" were the exact words Aizawa had unknowingly used to describe him. Yet again he wasn't sure if that was intended to be a compliment.
"YEAH, BEST FRIENDS!" he beamed, hands on his hips in triumph. "I'm Yamada Hizashi, by the way!"
"You're just full of energy, aren't you, Yamada-kun?" Toshinori laughed, thoroughly amused at the energetic personality in front of him, a complete contrast to the quiet, grumpy Aizawa he was so use to seeing.
"Did Shouta tell you about how we're both going to become top heroes?!" Yamada exclaimed, excitedly bouncing on his heels once again. "We're both going to take the upcoming UA entrance exam in a few months so I was so excited to hear about how Shouta's neighbor worked for All Might's hero company! I mean, THE All Might! I keep bugging him to ask you to get an autograph for me, but he just won't do it! Something about imposing or maybe it was something about how there's no need for me to get one, but I'm sure it's just because he's too embarrassed to ask…"
Toshinori scratched his cheek in embarrassment. This kid seemed to have the ability to talk a mile a minute. He couldn't seem to find an opening to suggest that he could get him the autograph if he still wanted it.
When the stream of words suddenly came to a halt, Toshinori blinked at the abrupt silence. The blissful two seconds ended far too fast.
"SHOUTA!"
Toshinori once again cringed at the increased volume, wincing as Yamada dashed right passed him. Turning around, he found Yamada throwing himself at Aizawa, tumbling the two of them down onto the floor from the explosive hug.
"SHOUTA! SHOUTA!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm here," Aizawa grunted, gritting his teeth as Yamada continued his bone crushing hug. Toshinori didn't miss how Aizawa's cheeks turned slightly red as he awkwardly patted his friend's back, returning the hug in his own small way.
"Your voice sounds even deeper than it does on the phone! Have you gotten taller, too?!" Yamada exclaimed, holding his friend by the shoulders as he studied Aizawa. "Dude, you have to cut your hair! It's getting really long!"
"It's always this long," Aizawa muttered, prying Yamada's arms off of him, which only ended up having his friend encircling him into another hug.
"It's so good to see you again! I didn't even get to see you last summer because of our training boot camps!" Yamada's smile grew larger as he released Aizawa from his second hug. "You should check out how strong I've gotten! I bet I can finally beat you at those hero games we use to play as kids."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Aizawa replied, returning his friend's smile with a smirk of his own. "I kicked your ass pretty badly at those games. Maybe you've improved enough to hold your ground for five minutes now. It's a start, I suppose."
"Hey, I wasn't that bad!" Yamada shrieked.
"Yeah, you were worse."
"Sh-Shouta!" Yamada sputtered as his friend tried to muffle a laugh behind his hand.
"I hope you still don't trip over your own two feet," Shouta playfully sneered.
"Not as often," Yamada laughed softly, carefully pushing back Shouta's bangs far enough to peek at his forehead.
Feeling out of place, Toshinori coughed and quietly picked up his shopping bags to retreat into his apartment.
"Hey, I thought I told you to stop worrying. I'm doing alright," he heard Aizawa mumble.
As Toshinori closed his door, he was suddenly aware that he couldn't hear Yamada's response. He only noticed a small affectionate huff coming from the usually stoic middle schooler.
Two months after Yamada's visit, Toshinori ended up receiving a business call to tour rural parts of Japan as All Might to further boost public awareness. It was some sort of promotion his company had settled on, hoping to deter villains from their work. This trip would take at least a few months.
The day before he was set to leave, he received a rare visit from Aizawa. The young boy was carrying a comically large fruit basket in his arms, having to tilt his head to the side to see in front of him.
"I don't know if you remember, but when my friend was visiting, you got him an autograph from All Might. He wanted to return the favor so that's why I'm carrying this ridiculous gift basket," Aizawa sighed, handing the present to Toshinori who juggled with the large package.
"Th-thank you! This was very unexpected," Toshinori stammered. "Would you like to come in?"
Aizawa ran his hand through his bangs, shaking his head.
"No, you're probably doing some last-minute packing. I don't want to bother you," he muttered, taking a step back towards his own apartment.
He hesitated for a moment before turning around once again. Toshinori peered over the basket in his arms in curiosity.
There was a short pause before Aizawa broke the silence with another sigh.
"Thank you… for everything," Aizawa mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "I probably won't be around anymore when you get back so I just wanted to tell you now before I can't."
Toshinori hummed in response, smiling brightly at the rare gratitude.
"Good luck with your future hero work! I look forward to working with you, young man!" Toshinori laughed, once again giving Aizawa his heroic All Might laugh.
"Wouldn't that be interesting," Aizawa scoffed before withdrawing back into his apartment. The door closed with a light click.
Toshinori smiled. He couldn't wait to see what type of hero his young lethargic neighbor would become.