The lift doors opened with a quiet Ping sound as the first floor had been reached.

Toshinori stepped out of the lift, grateful for the silence he was greeted with. The living room and the kitchen had been a noisy mess. People talking and shouting over each other, the sizzling coming from the various pans in which their dinner was prepared, and the noise coming from the TV adding to the mix.

As much as Toshinori loved the company of his students, he had needed a break from all the noise, seeing as that he had felt a headache starting to build after he had finished his work for the day.

Massaging his temples lightly, sighing in relief when the pain lessened, he rolled his shoulders to relax them as he made his way down the hallway. Just a quick break, perhaps even a nap before dinner would do him some good. He would feel refreshed after that for sure…

A faint noise alarmed him. Instantly, his senses went into overdrive, and his breathing became deeper, working against the adrenaline rushing through him. Old battle instincts that he couldn't quite get rid of.

The sound of a familiar mumble reached him next. Where the unknown sound had caused him to tense up instantly, the very familiar noise did the exact opposite. Toshinori relaxed, a smile making its way onto his face.

Right, Izuku had not been in the living room with his classmates. Todoroki had informed him that Izuku was upstairs, doing homework.

Turning, Toshinori aimed for the ajar door he had just passed. Shouldering it open while he knocked lightly against the door frame, he called out, "Izuku?"

Izuku was sitting on the ground in front of his bed, rubbing his chin while he mumbled darkly to himself. There were sheets of paper strewn out around him, each page filled with the neat yet always a bit hectic looking writing Toshinori recognized as Izuku's.

The boy's head snapped up at being called, green eyes steely and focused in alarm, before he caught sight of his mentor. Instantly Izuku relaxed, a smile spreading over his features. "Ah, Toshinori-san!"

Toshinori chuckled, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, no, you didn't! I was just too engrossed in my homework, I didn't hear you."

"What are you working on?" Without much thinking, Toshinori stepped into the room, moving closer to take a look at the notes strewn out everywhere.

Izuku scrambled to sit up properly, shifting around until he was sitting cross-legged and there was enough room for his teacher to sit down beside him. Tilting his papers so that his mentor could see the text, he explained, "We have to do a presentation in English tomorrow. Mic-sensei wants us to practice speaking in English, and he thinks that combining that with an interesting subject will help us stay motivated."

"Sounds like a good idea," Toshinori mused, gaze quickly skimming the neatly written notes.

Obviously, Izuku had settled for a presentation about the career of a few top heroes. (All Might had gotten the most space on the notes, while a certain flame-hero was missing entirely.)

Finishing the last paragraph, Toshinori complimented, "This is well written. I'm sure you will get a good grade for this."

To his surprise, Izuku didn't smile or blush at the comment. Instead, the boy grimaced slightly and shrugged while he stared down at his notes thoughtfully.

Sensing that something was off, Toshinori gently nudged his student with one shoulder. "You don't think so?"

"No… no, not really," Izuku shrugged yet again, a tad helplessly, a frown marring his features. "We get graded depending on how well we can speak the language. I can write well enough and can prepare my text beforehand, yes, but speaking is not really my forte. I always pronounce the words wrong."

"I see…," Toshinori rubbed his chin in thought. The sight of an unhappy Izuku always managed to give him a painful squeezing sensation in his chest.

Deciding that he couldn't have that, he racked his mind for something, anything to help his student somehow.

It took him a moment to come up with something, but when he finally did, he was so proud of his idea that he flashed his student an enthusiastic grin.

Izuku the shift in his expression easily enough, but couldn't make sense of it. Tilting his head, he lifted an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"You have quite the talent for memorizing and copying things, isn't that right, my boy?"

"U-Um," Izuku blinked, before he blushed easily enough, rubbing the back of his head in awkward embarrassment, "I wouldn't call it a talent, not at all…!"

"Nonsense!" Toshinori waved the rambled excuses off. "It's a talent, nothing else. One that can probably help you practice."

"Uh, how can memorizing help with pronunciation?"

"By memorizing the spoken words and their pronunciation," still grinning brightly at his own idea, Toshinori easily slipped into English, only slightly tinged with an American accent, "Just repeat after me."

There was a pause as Izuku processed that. Then, a beaming smile almost split the boy's features. "You would practice with me?!"

"Didn't I just say that?" Toshinori chuckled, reaching over to pluck the notes from Izuku's grip. They were handed over easily, and the retired hero quickly skimmed through the pages. "Where do you want to start?"

"Could… could we do the whole text from beginning to end?" Izuku fidgeted, clearly feeling uneasy about asking so much from his mentor. "Just so that I'm sure that I got everything right…"

"If we're going to do this, then we're going to do it right," Toshinori assured him, settling for the first pages of the notes. "Sentence for sentence."

(Rest be damned. He could take a nap after dinner. For now, he would help his student to the best of his abilities.)

Izuku beamed, eyes glittering in excitement at the challenge. "Yes!"

They made fast progress after that. Toshinori tried to pronounce each and every word loud and clear, making sure that Izuku could take notice of how he laid emphasis on some syllables more than on others. How to say certain letters right.

Izuku soaked it all up like a sponge. He hang onto every word his mentor said, analyzing the pronunciation and then repeating it. Most of the times, he got it right on the first or second try.

Toshinori watched and listened attentively as Izuku gave his best to repeat the sentences he told him. He noticed the way Izuku's forehead would wrinkle when he concentrated, how he bit his bottom lip slightly before starting to speak. The slight accent Izuku had picked up from him without noticing it. How the green eyes would light up in happiness when the boy got the sentence right and got an approving nod from his mentor.

It was so simple, nothing big, but the sight of his hard-working student sent a warm rush of something through Toshinori. It only got stronger when Izuku caught his gaze and grinned fleetingly before continuing the exercise.

The feeling intensified, bubbling upwards and expressing itself in a wide, fond smile on Toshinori's face.

Truly, this boy was a blessing.

Izuku impatiently shifting around made him aware that he had been too deep in thought. Coughing lightly to cover the pause, Toshinori forced himself to push those fond feelings aside and concentrate on his job again.

"That event is viewed as the start of his career", he read slowly, looking up to catch how Izuku would handle this.

Izuku repeated the words readily, faltering and frowning when he reached the end and stumbled over the last word.

"No problem," Toshinori soothed. "It's just a tiny mistake. Try again. Put more emphasis on the second half of the word instead of the first."

"Right," the wrinkles between Izuku's eyebrows smoothed and he smiled at Toshinori. "Thank you."

It was that last smile, full of warmth, gratefulness and something akin to adoration that proved as too much for the retired hero. The warm feeling, bright as the sun, that he always had when he thought of his student and only intensified when they spent time together, had already grown stronger and stronger during this study session. Now it overflowed, just like that, the feeling proving to be more than just mere fondness of a student.

Toshinori had to take a deep, shaky breathe to steady himself. It felt too much, too good, the feeling threatening to burst out and make itself known. He actually had to collect himself for a moment, not wanting to startle his student.

Holy shit, had he been dense about his own feelings.

It had taken the boy speaking in English – his native language – to made him realize it, the oh-so-familiar language the last push Toshinori had needed.

Izuku had long since ceased being just a student for him, had become something much closer to him. And he hadn't even recognized it.

What is Izuku to me? He asked himself silently.

The answer was more of a feeling, a sort of knowing more than a consciously formed decision.

Family.

The thought should probably have scared him. He didn't know what a typical family was like. The last time he had called someone his family had been with Nana. And Izuku had a family, unlike him. He had no right to just barge in and stake a claim on the boy through things like thinking of him as his boy.

And yet, it felt so easy, so right.

"Toshinori-san?"

Startling, the man blinked, perking up at the sound of his name. Oh. How long had he been staring into thin air?

Izuku looked at him, clearly worried. "You spaced out. Is everything alright?"

"What? Ah, yes, I'm fine," Toshinori croaked out, needing to clear his throat before he spoke further. "Let's see, the next sentence is..."

"We can stop if you don't feel well," Izuku immediately interrupted him, gaze searching his mentor's expression for any sign of discomfort.

"No! No, I'm alright," unable to contain it any longer, Toshinori smiled widely, happily. "Let's continue."

Izuku nodded hesitantly, quite obviously still distressed over the man's absentmindedness.

Toshinori concentrated on the notes again. Well, he tried to at least. The text blurred in front of his eyes, both his heart and his mind still in a disarray over his discovery.

Not that he was shocked by it or anything. He just didn't know how to express this new feeling. How could one express something so strong in mere words? Was that even possible?

But to express it he had. He couldn't just stay quiet.

The papers in his tight grip rustled, and it shook him out of his trance. Blinking, he came back to reality, realizing that he had left Izuku waiting. The boy was looking at him intently, waiting for the next sentence…

The next sentence.

A hesitant smile made its way onto Toshinori's face as he thought of something.

Clearing his throat, he started, "Repeat after me again, okay?"

"Yes!" Izuku shifted, leaning slightly forward in anticipation.

Anticipation was the right word for this. Or perhaps it was more like bordering on panic. Toshinori wet his lips, fingers trembling lightly. Should he really try it? Should he say it, or better keep silent? What reaction would he have to face?

Here goes nothing.

Deciding that this was a risk he would have to take, Toshinori slipped to English again, speaking loud and clear, although he wasn't reading Izuku's notes. He just tried to put his feelings into words with the first thing that seemed fitting. Words that came to him easily, as if he had always wanted to say them:

"We may not be related by blood, but you're like a son to me."

For a moment, nothing happened, and Izuku kept looking expectantly at him. Then the words and their meaning registered slowly.

And Toshinori watched with slight horror as Izuku's smile crumbled and fell, replaced by pure shock.

His heart stuttered in his chest, and the warm feeling threatened to vanish as Toshinori felt blood bubble up his throat.

Shit.

Had he done the wrong thing? Overstepped his boundaries? Perhaps Izuku did not see him as more than a teacher or a friend, and he had gone and pushed the boy too far...

"Ah... that was sneaky, Toshinori-san."

Toshinori's attention snapped back to his student. Izuku was staring at his own hands, folded tightly in his lap. The boy's shoulders were quivering slightly.

The sight almost broke Toshinori's heart. Instinctively, he reached out, but stopped himself again before he could touch Izuku. Didn't dare to push too much again.

"Too much?" The man inquired softly.

Izuku shook his head, but still didn't look up.

"Izuku, I'm sorry if that was... not what you wanted to hear..."

"Can... Can I have a moment?"

The quiet words threatened to crush Toshinori. Right. Only natural that the boy would like to be alone after a shock like this.

Nodding, silently cursing himself for his rash behavior, Toshinori made to stand up and leave the room in order to give Izuku some space. Perhaps they could talk later again, and he could apologize when the boy had calmed down a bit…

"Wait!"

Izuku's hand shot out, gripping his mentor's shirt tightly. The material groaned under the pull before Toshinori froze, not daring to move. He was somewhere between half-sitting and half-kneeling, not daring to move further.

"I didn't mean…!" Izuku hesitated, gulping audibly, before he tugged lightly at the shirt. He still wasn't meeting his mentor's gaze. "Please… don't go. I just… need a second."

"Sure," Toshinori managed, every fiber of his being screaming to reach out and comfort the boy somehow. Heck, Izuku was quivering there, because of something he had said.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Izuku cleared his throat, hesitating yet again, before he looked up.

A beaming smile split his features even though his eyes were brimming with unshed tears and he managed with only a slight accent, "You're like a father to me."

And Toshinori like he could breathe again, relief and something far stronger flooding him. He couldn't contain it, a wide, dopey smile spreading on his lips as he chuckled a bit wetly, reaching out, and searching for Izuku's hand.

The boy immediately met him halfway, their fingers interlinking. Both palms were sweaty out of nervousness, fingers trembling, but they both grinned widely at each other.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"And you call me sneaky, you cheeky boy."

"You started it, though."

"Ah, so this is my fault now?"

"Definitely."

"I see. Do I have to take responsibility for it?"

"Absolutely."

"What do I have to do to remedy myself?"

"Can… can I have a hug?"

Not answering verbally, Toshinori pulled carefully but insistently. Izuku moved instantly, rising up onto his knees and then basically jumping forward so that he landed straight in his mentor's arms, flinging both arms around him in a vice like grip.

Reciprocating the hug just as fiercely, Toshinori buried his face in the mop of green hair tickling his chin, trying and failing to hide his grin. Out of the corners of his eyes, he could still see Izuku grinning just as much, even though there were tears brimming in the green eyes.

"Cry-baby," he teased.

Izuku let out a chuckle, only tightening his grip slightly as if to say So what?

It was a peaceful and calm moment… until they were suddenly interrupted.

Both Izuku and Toshinori jolted in shock as the door was thrown open all of sudden, followed by a loud call.

"Deku, dinner is almost…! Ah."

Turning his head slightly without letting go, Toshinori blinked over his shoulder towards the door, feeling Izuku do much the same.

Uraraka stood in the doorway, head tilted in surprise, blinking rapidly. As she caught her teacher's gaze, obviously overcoming her surprise. "Ah, Sensei, good that you're here too! Dinner is almost ready, don't you two want to come down to eat?"

There was no obvious reaction to the fact that she had just walked in on them hugging. If anything, Uraraka seemed even more upbeat and a little bit giddy.

Izuku, on the other hand, let out a breathy, startled little noise and pressed his face against Toshinori's shoulder, trying to hide.

Toshinori smiled involuntarily. He wasn't faced by the interruption, since Uraraka had accepted their position so easily.

Gently nudging Izuku to signal him that it was alright (the boy huffed and buried even deeper in the embrace) Toshinori answered easily, "We will be there in a minute."

"Okay!" Basically skipping, Uraraka left the room again, humming to herself in the process.

Pausing for a beat and making sure that the girl's footsteps where further and further away, Toshinori chuckled softly. "You can come out now. She's gone."

Another huff, then a mumbled, "That's so embarrassing."

"You find it embarrassing to hug me?" the hero teased.

"No," Izuku mumbled, huffing and nudging back, trying to look appalled because of the teasing. (He didn't manage it very well.)

The chuckle turned into a soft laugh, and Toshinori rubbed the boy's back soothingly. "I don't think she minded seeing us like this."

"Nah," Izuku mumbled. "Uraraka-san and the others are always making fun of me for…"

The boy trailed off, mumbling and blushing some more.

"For?" Now, Toshinori's curiosity spiked. The others would never make fun of Izuku for real, just tease him lightly, but about what? "Come on, my boy, you know I'm a curious person."

Another mumble. Izuku's face plus his ears had turned a shade of red that reminded of a tomato. Then, the boy managed a hastily mumbled, "They always joke about you being my dad."

Not too long ago, the mere thought of something like that would have made Toshinori spit blood in embarrassment and shock. Now, though, he may have tasted a hint of copper at the back of his throat, but mostly, he was filled with utter contentment at the thought.

Izuku's dad. Izuku as his boy.

He liked the sound of that.

Izuku peeked up at him ever so slightly, carefully assessing how his mentor would react to the news. As he caught sight of a wide, beaming grin, the boy allowed himself a hopeful little smile, relaxing a great deal.

They stayed like this for a while longer, both enjoying the close proximity, the warmth granted by the other. Toshinori had started to hum to himself at some point without noticing, and Izuku happily snuggled into the embrace, all but soaking up the offered kindness.

Finally, though, Toshinori reluctantly stopped ruffling his student's hair and loosened his grip slightly. "We should go to get dinner."

"Mh-m," Izuku let go just as hesitantly, pulling back as if he had to force himself to do it.

Toshinori had to bite back a pained groan as he untangled his long legs and made to stand up. His joints ached from sitting on the ground for so long, and it was one of the times when he really felt old and tired.

Izuku didn't hesitate to steady the man by his elbow, making sure that Toshinori was standing upright and without problems before he let go.

Toshinori ruffled the boy's hair in thanks before he stretched, the groan now leaving him as his joints popped slightly. Huffing and rubbing his sore back, he turned towards the door. "Well, we should get going, before I get even older."

"Um… Toshinori?"

The man stopped mid-motion, instantly noticing the lack of the respectful suffix and feeling a new rush of warmth because of it.

"Yes, my boy?" He couldn't help but let some of that warmth slip into his voice. He was fairly sure that Izuku could hear it, too.

"I… I really meant what I said," Izuku had been stuttering at first, but as he ended the sentence, he held his head high and his eyes gleamed with earnest. "I really did."

Toshinori had to bite back a chuckle at the sight. Always so determined about everything, aren't you.

Oh, well. He wasn't one to talk, either.

"Me too, Izuku," Toshinori grinned down at his boy as he flung an arm around the thin shoulders, drawing Izuku to his side closely. "Me too."

All the determination and seriousness crumbled as Izuku laughed outright at that, the sound happy and ringing, and snaked one arm around his mentor's waist.

That way, they made to meet up with the rest of their blended family.