Toshinori was not used to people treating him as though he was broken. In the past few decades, since his acquisition of One for All, he'd been seen as the opposite; bouncing back from every injury, every fall he'd come out stronger and more powerful than he had been before. But this… this he could not bounce back from.
The day he was discharged from the hospital was a new chapter in his books, one that he was loathe to admit he was having trouble with. Now when he was walking down the street people gave him a wide berth, on public transportation they gave up their seats for him, and after his coughing fits where blood seeped through his handkerchief they offered to call him an ambulance.
Now admittedly this sounds very nice for a person with a debilitating condition, but for the Number One Hero, who was still doing his duty in the few hours he could still use his quirk, it felt patronizing. He disliked being treated like glass, so delicately that one wrong move would shatter him beyond repair. The public, he couldn't do anything about, but his time with them was brief, only going out in his now true form when necessary. However, it was his friends, those few people whom he considered close, whose treatment of him caused him frustration and agitation.
All of these negative emotions built up inside of him, until he started avoiding almost everyone he known before the fight. This behaviour continued for years, cutting ties with those who he had been close to, including but not limited to his old sidekick Sir Nighteye, and his only remaining mentor Gran Torino.
This would have likely continued, and probably caused his untimely end, if he hadn't met his successor when he had. Toshinori pondered how that one crucial meeting, in which he had saved his protégé's life, had changed his entire world.
Before Izuku had burst into his life by clinging so tightly to his leg, Toshinori had been waiting patiently for it to end, helping out as many people as he could within his time limit, and even, a few who would except help from a grotesque skeleton, outside of it. He had known that not following the doctor's orders and not retiring wasn't good for his health, but at that point, he had been so tired. Having been the number one hero, the symbol of peace for so long, with no one being worthy of relieving his burden, he hadn't had the option to retire, to take a break because in those few months of surgeries Japan had already started crumbling without it's symbol of peace.
Toshinori watched from the couch as his students were running around, and playing with a joy that only comes with youth. He settled back against the couch, relaxing in a way he could only do on campus with other heroes nearby. He warmed his aching hands on the mug of tea gently cradled between them and just took in the moment.
He was glad Izuku had crashed into his orbit; the young man had effectively pulled him back into the land of the living with his exuberant energy and life purpose. Without Izuku, Toshinori feared he would not have survived the Kamino Ward incident, and certainly not thrown himself head first into learning all he could about teaching.
After he had used up the last embers of One for All, in the final battle against All for One, he had thrown himself into getting into shape, or as much of a shape as he could get. He had started following the doctor's suggestions and trying to make his body last long enough, just long enough, to see Izuku become the Number One hero, to keep his promise to the boy's mother and train Izuku to the best of his ability.
Yes, he thought, taking a careful sip of his tea, this was where he wanted to be.
beta'd by notawerewolf
I hope you enjoyed my 4th fic for BNHA