Before you continue, I'd like to thank my new followers: BlackDQHero, Dreemurr009, Red-Wing2018, Ridward441, ZephyrStrike, blueanchor92, pjmpa, and .1.
Just a notice to everyone, this is probably the last week I'll be putting up two chapters. From now on, it'll be one on Sunday or Monday, whichever's more convenient for me. Also, I'm putting up chapters on my tumblr, under "#allmom au", under my same username, cwrook, in case that's more convenient for anyone. Enjoy!
4. Advice and Honesty
"Yo, All Might!" Toshinori jumped as Present Mic caught his attention.
"Sorry," he said, stifling a well-timed yawn, "I haven't been sleeping well."
"Understandable," Midnight said, stifling one herself, "no one's slept soundly since Kamino Ward. But we're reviewing new security measures for the school, so we need to pay attention, as we'll be passing updated security cards on to our students, and will need to explain how they work."
Toshinori nodded. Truthfully, lack of sleep was only part of the equation. As the meeting ended and he packed up to leave, he contemplated the fact that he was thinking about Young Midoriya's mother far more than his responsibilities entailed.
She and Young Midoriya were charming in many of the same ways, but after four meetings with her, Toshinori found himself anticipating them not as duties to fulfill, nor as a way to help his pupil, but more and more because he enjoyed Mrs. Midoriya's company. Once the worst of her nerves were gone, she proved to be clever, funny, and charismatic in a gentle, self-deprecating way.
As he walked to the terminal Toshinori thought that while he had a number of close friends, who knew more of him than the skeletal body he'd kept in the closet, his feelings toward them were different than the warmth in his hands and chest just now.
"I didn't know you took this train." Toshinori looked over at Present Mic, who was standing beside him. A number of curious, admiring looks were aimed their way. He hardly remembered getting on the train.
"I'm on my way to a meeting with a student's parents," Toshinori said quietly.
"Ah." Present Mic shifted his weight as the train lurched forward.
"Question." Toshinori kept his voice low.
"Yes?" Mic leaned closer.
"How does one romance a beautiful woman?"
Mic almost fell over. "Wha?"
"You're a well-respected, charismatic hero," Toshinori said. "I thought you would be good to ask."
"I'm flattered, All Might," Mic said, bringing his voice back down, "but haven't you—you know…"
"Not since my previous injury," Toshinori said. Mic nodded at the sense in that. "And those were… different."
"The Symbol of Peace making love, not war? The scandal," Mic said.
"I'm as human as the next man," Toshinori said, "and things were always discreet. Now, advice?"
"I'm kinda surprised you haven't noticed, but also not really," Mic said; he was half-laughing.
"Noticed..?"
"Me," Mic said it very slowly, "And Shouta."
"Oh." The light snapped on. "Oh!"
"He's a lucky man, right?"
Toshinori laughed. "Of course. I'm happy for both of you."
"Shh!" Mic held up a finger. "Let's keep our private lives private." He looked at the rest of the passengers. "You never know who's a reporter and who isn't."
Toshinori nodded. "So I guess I'm on my own, then."
Mic shrugged. "Maybe just talk to her about it. If the interest's mutual, you can find out together if it's more than superficial." He gave Toshinori a smile that wasn't condescending. "Never know if you don't ask."
Toshinori nodded. "Thanks, Mic."
"Any time." He looked at his phone. "Shouta's gonna love this."
"But—!"
"Private life," Mic said. "Shouta won't tell anyone, he hates the media, remember? Besides, he's a sucker for a cheesy romance."
Toshinori's eyebrows flicked up. "Never struck me as the type."
"He's an onion," Mic said with a shrug. "I had to peel back one layer at a time to get to the sweet man underneath. Don't tell him I told you any of this."
Toshinori laughed again. "Don't tell him about my private life."
"Blackmail?" Mic smiled and held up a fist. Toshinori bumped it. "There's hope for you."
(later that evening)
"I swear Nattoko sits by my door just so you can pet her," Inko said as she let him in.
"I always thought I was a dog person," Toshinori said. He gave her a second look. "You let your hair down."
"I did." Inko ran a self-conscious hand through it. "What do you think?"
"I—I think it looks lovely both ways!" Colour started creeping into his face. "Should we—I mean you—supper?"
Am I making All Might nervous?Inko stifled a giggle. "Actually," she said, "I was hoping you could eat with me." She held up a hand to stifle his protests. "When you said you lost your stomach in that fight six years ago, I wondered if perhaps a proper meal was the reason you wouldn't eat dinner. So," she showed him to a plainly yet neatly set table with two soup bowls and a pot, "I wondered if some beef broth would be better. If you can't, I can always make soup for tomorrow's lunch."
Toshinori ran a hand through his own hair. "Thank you." He smiled. "I'd be delighted to join you."
Toshinori's eyes lit up when he tasted it, and he dwelled on each spoonful, savoury and hot. "I have been served many fine meals over the years, by many incredible chefs," he said shortly after starting in, "But there is something in this they've never equaled."
"Thank you," Inko said, sipping her own. "I try to put my heart into what I do, and it can make up for what I lack in technique and ingredients." Toshinori hesitated, then seemed to think better of something. "What?"
"There an English saying: 'The secret ingredient is love'. I think it means much the same thing." Toshinori put one hand in his lap, while taking another spoonful of soup with the other. Was… was his hand shaking?
"Are you alright?"
He started when she spoke. "Yes," he said without hesitation. "I am very alright." He looked down, then back up. "I told Young Midoriya about our meetings over lunch today."
"Oh?" Inko leaned back. "I didn't know it was a secret."
Toshinori shrugged. "It just didn't come up. Besides, he is fifteen, and my student; I don't have to tell him everything. And your concerns are very reasonable… considering his choice of career."
Inko felt her eyes get a bit watery.
"I'm sorry!" Toshinori said, rising from his seat.
"No," Inko said, dabbing at her eyes. "It's just… U.A. felt more closed before, almost like it was hiding something, and I wasn't getting told everything I should have. And with his injuries and these incidents…"
A large, clammy hand enveloped hers. "Mrs. Midoriya—"
"Inko."
"Pardon?"
She sniffed. "You can call me Inko, if you like."
A tremulous smile spread across Toshinori's face. "Inko, when your son and I first met, I told him he shouldn't be a hero."
"Wh… what?" This was news.
"He asked me if a Quirkless kid could be a hero, and I told him if he was determined to help people, he should be a police officer, a much safer profession. But in the incident with the sludge villain and Young Bakugou, he rushed in without hesitating." Toshinori smiled. "If he hadn't acted, Young Bakugou might no longer be with us." Toshinori closed his eyes. "In the ten months between that incident and the U.A. entrance exam, I gave him every chance to abandon his dream, and gave him a workout many grown men would balk at. I drilled into him all the dangers a hero must face. He's kept going through all that. I don't think anything could turn him away from this, Inko. So, knowing I can't stop him, I am going to guide him with everything I have, and protect him like my own son."
Inko took a moment before she spoke. "He had days last year when he'd wake up so stiff he could hardly move. And he started exercising. And he gave me that menu. That was you?"
Toshinori nodded. "If his dream to be a hero had been weak, he would've given in and pursued something else. But he didn't, and now he's gaining control of his power."
"He still injured himself on the camping trip."
Toshinori nodded again. "The students were ordered to flee and only use their Quirks defensively, but he went to find the small cousin of the hero Mandalay and bring him to safety, but a powerful villain found them. That villains could find the camp at all was our fault. We are taking responsibility for that and learning from our mistakes. Even so, Young Midoriya was up against an opponent who could've held his own against even me. If he hadn't used power strong enough to damage himself like that…" He looked at her face. "Sorry."
"No," Inko said. "You're being honest with me. That's what you're supposed to be." She felt a tear squeeze from the corner of her eye. "Thank you." She sniffed again, and uproariously blew her nose.
They discussed smaller things long after supper was finished. It grew dark, and as Toshinori was getting ready to leave and Inko was showing him to the door, He turned to face her. He took a deep breath.
"Toshinori?" She steeled herself for his answer.
He started. "Yes?"
Before her anxiety took over completely, she spoke. "Would you like to have dinner at a restaurant sometime?"
There was a moment of perfect silence. Even the noise of the neighbourhood outside was absent. Inko found she couldn't breathe.
Toshinori took a step forward and, with a tentativeness she wouldn't have thought All Might capable of, took her hand.
"Yes." He squeezed it, and, too soon, let go.
Inko was so surprised she didn't even open or close the door for him. She didn't remember she could move until incoherent sounds of his jubilation came from outside. Then one of her neighbours shouted to keep it down, Toshinori apologized, and his celebrations quieted and faded away.
That was when Inko started to move. She cried and laughed and danced long after he'd left.
