Golden Years

Chapter Two – Welcome Home

Aizawa was quickly beginning to regret his promise to Midoriya as he pressed his foot further into the gas pedal, hoping to be finished with this impromptu road trip sooner rather than later. They had been on the road for two hours already and his GPS was still telling him that they had another twenty minutes to go. Who knew that Toshinori lived so far from the school?

"You don't have to do this, I told you I could get home by myself."

Aizawa snorted, "Right, like all those reporters at the front gate were going to let you go anywhere."

"I suppose you are right." Toshinori adjusted the vent in front of him so that it was blowing hot air directly onto his face, "After all they have not gotten a chance to speak to me since the incident."

The rest of the drive was painfully quiet save for the soft playing of the radio between them. It was far too long in Aizawa's opinion before they came to a stop in front of the building where Toshinori lived.

Aizawa peered out the window at the run down structure. Surely he had entered the address wrong. Several windows were shattered and duct tape – actual duct tape – was being used to hold together everything from stairs to the stone foundation.

"You live here?"

Rather than answering, Toshinori climbed out of the car. "Thank you for driving me." Aizawa caught his sleeve before he could shut the door.

"Do you need something Aizawa? I'm afraid the day has left me tired."

"I believe it is considered polite to invite your co-worker for a drink after he has done you a favor."

The smallest smile turned up Toshinori's thin lips, "Would you like to come up for a drink, my friend?"

Aizawa nodded and shut off the car before following Toshinori into the decrepit building.

It was even worse up close. Each and every floorboard creaked and the elevator was broken meaning that they had to walk up three flights of stairs to reach Toshinori's apartment. He had to stop and rest several times on the way up.

Eventually they reached a door which bore the name Yagi. Toshinori unlocked the door and Aizawa shuffled in behind him.

Whatever Aizawa was expecting to find in the number one hero's apartment it was definitely not the bare room that he walked into. There wasn't even so much as a sofa, not a single picture on the walls and the entire place was covered in and alarmingly bright pink wallpaper that was peeling off the walls in several places.

"You live here?"

"You already asked me that." Toshinori shed his suit jacket and outer coat and hung them on a peg by the door. "Come on, drinks are in the kitchen."

Aizawa followed his co-worker to the kitchen, careful to not step on any of the cockroaches that scuttled across the floor. He made a disgusted face as one crawled over the toe of his shoe.

The kitchen had the most furnishings out of all the rooms in Toshinori's apartment with a full sized American style refrigerator, an oven and a well-used blender atop the counter.

Aizawa stood awkwardly in the doorway as Toshinori rustled through the fridge a moment before retrieving two iced coffees in glass bottles for the two of them. Before the door shut Aizawa caught a glimpse of an empty fridge.

"Where's all your food at?" he was starting to understand the students' concerns. If this was the state of Toshinori's life from before the complete loss of his quirk how much worse would it get during his retirement?

Toshinori looked to Aizawa, "Why? Are you hungry?"

"No."

"Oh, well I don't really eat much considering," Toshinori gestured to his wound, "and whole food doesn't necessarily agree with me anyway."

He opened the freezer to reveal stacks of frozen cheeseburgers.

Aizawa looked between the freezer and the blender and then to Toshinori.

"That is disgusting."

He popped the top on his drink and took a sip.

"Why are you here, Aizawa? You don't often show this much interest in other people."

Aizawa simply ignored him and shivered slightly as he looked around for a thermostat, "Why is it so cold in here?"

For a moment Toshinori looked a bit ashamed as he took a sip of his coffee. "This building doesn't have heat, I usually just leave the oven open for a while when it gets too cold for me."

Aizawa's eyes widened as his grip tightened around the glass in his hand. This man was the number one hero for decades. Surely he had millions of dollars in the bank so how could it be that he was living in such desperate conditions? He wondered if Midoriya had seen his mentor's living situation. He decided that he never wanted the boy to.

Toshinori turned the dial on the stove top and opened the oven door slightly, "You might want to stand near it if you are cold."

"Hell no," Aizawa set his drink down on the counter a little more forceful than was necessary and took Toshinori by the wrist. He dragged the gaunt man into the other room where he grabbed Toshinori's winter coat from the hook and shoved it into his arms.

"Get your things together," he snarled, "you're coming with me."

Toshinori looked down at his co-worker with a puzzled expression, "But we just got here."

"Look at this place." Aizawa glared at the room as though it had done something wrong, "you'll freeze to death before morning if you stay here. So get your things while I warm up the car. We are going to my place."

Toshinori looked like he might argue but Aizawa was already out the door.

Aizawa frowned at the steering wheel as he waited for Toshinori to exit the building. It was not hard to see why the students were so concerned with All Might's wellbeing. Aizawa looked up as the former hero came down the stairs in his coat which hung nearly to his feet. He would have to find Toshinori some clothes that fit him properly.

"Is that all you have?"

There was a single pillowcase in Toshinori's arms as he took his seat. Aizawa could see the largest item in the case was his old beat up blender.

"I never really was interested in buying many things."

"I see."

The ride to Aizawa's home was tense but he wasn't quite sure whether or not he was the only one who felt that way. Toshinori had spent the entire ride staring out the window so Aizawa could not see his face.

"Wow, this place is rather nice." Toshinori gazed at the building in which Aizawa lived with awe.

"If I can afford it so can you idiot." Aizawa mumbled as he cut the engine.

"Did you says something?"

Aizawa climbed out of the car and pulled his scarf closer around his face.

"I said hurry up, it's cold out here." He noticed as Toshinori got out of the car that he could not stand up straight. Perhaps the cold was exacerbating his wound.

As soon as his companion had retrieved all his belongings from the car Aizawa led him to one of the many working elevators in the building. The lift made short work of delivering them to the fourth floor.

"Make yourself at home." Aizawa kicked off his shoes and gestured for Toshinori to enter. It was a single large room with a kitchen off to one side and a small closet-like bathroom just off the entrance. The apartment was decorated sparsely with dark colors, a small television mounted on the wall and a king sized bed shoved into the far corner.

Aizawa snatched Toshinori's pillowcase from him and pulled out the blender before tossing the rest onto the bed.

"What are you doing?"

Aizawa squatted down to see into his miniature refrigerator for some fruit and milk. "You need to eat something other than," he wrinkled his nose in disgust as he sniffed the inside of the blender and made a note to run it under the sink, "blended junk food."

He plugged in the blender and dumped all of his ingredients in the top, "I'm making you a smoothie."

Toshinori placed one large hand on Aizawa's shoulder and turned him to face the former hero. "I mean what are you doing, Aizawa? Bringing me here, making me food," Toshinori's eyes crackled that same bright blue flame that told Aizawa that All Might the hero was by no means gone, he just looked a little different. "I do not take kindly to pity, my friend."

Aizawa simply snorted and batted Toshinori's hand away, "Who said anything about that?" he asked.

"I can see it you know, you aren't the only one who looks at me like I'm fragile now." Toshinori frowned down at Aizawa who pretended to calmly set the blender to the proper consistency. "I don't need any help just because I'm retired now, not from you or anyone else. I am fine on my own, I am still All Might." The last few words came out as a booming growl that reverberated off the close walls of Aizawa's apartment.

Aizawa's jaw clenched for a moment before he regained a composed expression.

"Of course you're fine. You live in an apartment with no heat that is falling apart and covered in insects. You can't even stand straight on your own, but I'm sure you're right. You're fine on your own."

Aizawa turned with a scowl on his face and leaned in close to Toshinori's face. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"I don't care if you do or not!" Toshinori shouted, "My condition is none of your business!"

"You absolute child." Aizawa sneered, "Your wellbeing is not just your business anymore. What would the students think if you were suddenly found frozen to death or starved to dust? What would Midoriya think if his mentor just dropped off the face of the earth over his stupid ego and some avoidable circumstances?!" he grabbed the front of Toshinori's shirt and pulled him down to Aizawa's level, "You say that you are still All Might? Then you have to understand that All Might belongs to the world, not to you and not to anyone else! That is what you signed up for when you became a hero!"

Aizawa grit his teeth and thought of something Midoriya might say, "It's our turn to take care of you!"

Toshinori's brow furrowed and his wiry muscles rippled under his skin. For a moment Aizawa thought that he was about to be face to face with All Might.

Rather than being smacked down by the number one hero Aizawa watched as Toshinori's face turned from red to green to ghostly white before he quickly removed himself from Aizawa's grip and ran to the bathroom to spew blood and bile into the toilet. Aizawa rushed after him and placed a hand gently on his back so as to not startle him before tying all of his wild hair back out of his face and sat down with his back against the sink until Toshinori's white knuckle grip on the toilet seat loosened and he spit the last of the vomit from his mouth. Aizawa vaguely wondered if it could be called throwing up if Toshinori no longer had a stomach.

As soon as Toshinori flushed the toilet and leaned back with his head against the wall to catch his breath Aizawa stood and exited the room, he returned with a small glass of salt water. Toshinori eyed it suspiciously when Aizawa handed it to him.

"It will calm your st –" he paused and gestured to his own stomach, "only a little bit at a time got it?"

Toshinori took one small sip and immediately spit it out.

"Drink it." Aizawa ordered, "All of it."

Toshinori wrinkled his nose in distaste but did as he was told. He set the glass down on the tile after he was done.

"So," Aizawa watched as Toshinori gripped his side once again, "How long has this been going on?"

Toshinori coughed shallowly before answering, "Every time I've tried to become All Might since…"

So suddenly? Aizawa scrutinized the thin man in front of him. Toshinori had been like that for a very long time but since his release from the hospital he had been far paler. Whatever muscle mass he had managed to maintain over the years in his true form was nearly gone. Toshinori Yagi was deteriorating at an alarming rate. Did Midoriya know about this? Did Toshinori himself even realize it?

Aizawa sighed through his nose and pushed himself to his feet before offering a hand to Toshinori.

"I heard you like movies."

Toshinori took his hand with a half-smile. He wobbled a bit on his feet but managed to use the wall for balance, "I do, thank you my friend."

Thank you for reading! See you next time!