A/N: Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I have been adjusting my outline and concept for this story so I can make it a little longer, but I also have to think harder about my scene ideas and the conflicts I have to work with. I know exactly how it's going to end, but I want to take my time getting there so you guys can have a little more Toshinko fluff to read in the meantime ^^
As Izuku worked under All Might's watchful eye, today was different. Today, his mom was standing on the sidelines, levitating a distant soda can towards her hands.
"Izuku, you're doing great. Concentrate on keeping your core muscles tight. Don't slack off. Inko, that's perfect. See if you can do it again from a greater distance. We want to figure out your exact limit and work towards going beyond it." All Might was standing on a pile of junk, able to see both of them from his vantage point. He was focusing on helping both of them now. Izuku was glad that his mom was feeling more confident about her quirk now. But would All Might be too distracted to focus on helping him as much as he used to, now?
Izuku shook his head. It didn't matter, as long as he kept putting in his all. If he didn't work as hard as he possibly could on his own merits, he would never be able to call himself a hero. He would never be able to defeat Kacchan.
Last night, he told his mom and All Might that he dropped the medicine into the sewer on accident, so he needed to take a nasty swim to retrieve it. He got a slap on the wrist from mom for his carelessness, but he figured she was too tired to make a big deal about it. All Might told him it really wasn't worth the trouble in the end, because he could just get his prescription refilled easily the next day. It only succeeded in making Izuku feel very stupid about the whole ordeal. On top of it all, he didn't tell them about Kacchan, or the rat. And they didn't ask. Admitting it to them simply damaged his pride too much. He wanted to be a good hero so desperately, but in the end, it was Kacchan who ensured he was able to go home with All Might's medicine.
I'll just have to work harder. I can't let myself get distracted.
But as time passed, he found himself distracted.
His attention trailed to the shoreline where his mom and All Might were now standing. The hero had his hands on her shoulders. Then, he was demonstrating a stance. She was imitating him, extending her reach, gesturing to a distant soda can that All Might had placed about ten paces away. She was straining, trying to make it float towards her.
Izuku put down the stack of tires he was carrying to watch them. He watched his mom struggle through her telekinesis, All Might coaching her, refusing to nudge the soda can closer, forcing her to work hard to draw it towards herself. She was sweating, strained, but she looked determined to succeed, to prove that she could do it.
It was the first time he'd ever seen a look like that on his mom's face.
She looks like me.
The next day, while Izuku was tugging on his shoes to prepare for his next workout, Inko tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up at her, squinting with confusion. She looked embarrassed about something. Shy.
"Izu, do you have a moment?"
He blinked at her. "What's wrong?"
"I… have a… strange request." She tugged at the collar of her shirt, swallowing, clearing her throat "I, uh. Do you think you could find some way to get Toshinori's… clothing size?"
He tilted his head a little. "His clothing size?"
"His measurements, yes. I noticed he doesn't fit in anything he wears. So I wanted to make him some new shirts. He's just so tall, but also so thin, so it must be hard for him to find something from a store that fits right. S-so I was wanting to make some, tailor made..."
Izuku knew his mom liked sewing as a hobby, but she hadn't been doing it lately. It was nice of her to think of doing something for All Might like that, and Izuku tried not to read too much into it. He told himself a few days ago that he shouldn't be getting all excited about the idea of his mom and All Might together, when he wasn't even sure that was happening in the first place. But he did find it odd that she was asking him about this. "Why don't you ask him, yourself?"
She looked flustered. "B-because it's. It's just a little embarrassing, is all. For me to ask."
"Well it's weird if I ask him, too! He's going to wonder why and I don't know what I'd tell him."
"I never said you had to ask." She withdrew a measuring tape from her back pocket. "If you can… find some way to measure him when he's not looking?"
Izuku couldn't help but to laugh at the absurdity of the request, it had come completely out of left field. "M-mom! How am I supposed to do that!? He's always looking! How can I run up to him and wrap him up in measuring tape?"
"I don't know! Maybe if you catch him taking a nap, or something!"
"He doesn't take naps while he trains me! The only time I ever saw him nodding off was when he was super sick, it was that day I had to walk him home."
Inko shoved the rolled-up measuring tape into his hands. "L-look, I don't… I don't really care how you get it, just, if you can get it without him knowing, great. If you have to ask him, that's fine too. I'm just... too embarrassed to do it myself."
Izuku inspected the measuring tape and sighed through closed lips. He wasn't entirely sure how he was going to go about this, and he thought things would have been a lot easier if she just asked him herself. Why was she jumping through all these hoops?
Was it because she had a crush on him?
It really does make sense, he thought as he headed outside, jogging on his way to the beach. She invited him over, watched a late night movie with him, is starting to use her quirk because of him, and now she's asking me to measure him.
Izuku's heart was starting to flutter again at the thought of his mom and All Might together. Despite his best efforts to maintain a cold neutrality towards the situation, he was starting to get his hopes up again.
What if Mom really, really loves All Might? Will she tell him? What will he say?
The idea that All Might could turn her down struck him next. As he reached the edge of the curb which led down to the beachfront, Izuku wrestled with a new worry: even if his mom loved All Might, surely she wouldn't be the first person to feel that way about him. Izuku had seen All Might swarmed by fans before, kissed by random people in the adoring masses. He never asked for it, and he always brushed it off with a cheerful smile and sent people on their ways with an autograph. Surely at least one person in his life confessed feelings to him and begged him to marry them.
So why wasn't All Might married already? He didn't have a ring on his finger, he never once mentioned any romantic connections with anyone, and he didn't seem interested in pursuing such things.
Then again, Izuku didn't know him well. His personal life was a mystery to most people. All the public saw when they looked at All Might was an undefeatable hero. The Symbol of Peace and Pillar of Justice. That was all he wanted them to see. No one knew he was actually a sick, frail man who lived alone in an unkempt apartment.
Maybe there's a chance that he wouldn't turn down my mom, Izuku thought as he headed down to the sandy beach, starting for a new pile of trash that he had yet to clear away. But I don't have time to worry about that right now. I need to think of some way I can catch All Might off guard and take his measurements. Izuku knew it would be far easier if he just walked up and asked nicely. But Izuku wasn't one to turn down a challenge, especially when it seemed so difficult to accomplish.
All Might was waiting for him near the ocean's edge, giving him a grin and a thumbs up. "You're late, Young Midoriya," he announced. "And where's your mother?"
"Oh, she can't come today," Izuku said. "What should I start on first?"
While All Might gave him his exercise instructions, he couldn't help but to keep distractedly watching him. All Might's attention rarely drifted from coaching him. Izuku ground his teeth as he hauled off an old spring mattress to a burn pile.
I could get a sleeping pill, drug a soda, and give it to him! No, no, that's a terrible idea. It could make him sick or something. Maybe I could… break into his apartment at night once he's asleep! But… he might not be asleep when I try to do that… and isn't that a little creepy? Come on, Izuku, think. You've got to come up with something!
As he returned to the shoreline, preparing to take his next load of cargo, he heard a buzzing sound.
All Might's hand dipped into his back pocket, retrieving his red cell phone. He checked the caller ID. "Sorry, Izuku, I have to take this." He turned, his back facing Izuku, and lifted the phone to his ear. He was speaking quietly, his voice hard to hear over the rush of the waves. All Might seemed completely distracted, focused on whatever conversation he was having.
Izuku felt a rush of excitement. Now's my chance!
His hand dipped into his pocket, retrieving the measuring tape. Carefully, he crept up behind All Might, his footsteps barely making a sound in the sand. Sneaking up behind him like this, Izuku could now hear what he was talking about.
"Sounds like a small-time thug to me. What's special about this one?"
He was talking about some kind of villain to someone, but Izuku could barely focus while he was trying so hard to stay in All Might's blind spot. Any time he started to turn, Izuku quickly adjusted so he could stay right behind him. He's gonna see me. Oh man, this is stupid. He's gonna think I'm spying on his phone conversation, he thought as he unravelled the measuring tape and stretched it out, trying to get a good measurement of All Might's waist.
"He was the one who started the fire?! Are you sure?!" All Might sounded pretty upset over the phone. But Izuku couldn't get distracted. He had to memorize the number. He didn't bring anything to mark on the measuring tape with. He repeated the numbers over and over in his head as he prepared for the much more difficult part: measuring his shoulders. He had to reach his arms up, All Might was so tall.
"Hold on, sorry, Tsukauchi. I need to call you back."
All Might slipped his phone in his pocket and whirled around. Izuku didn't have any time to get out of the way. He was standing there on his tip-toes with a stretched-out measuring tape held between his hands. Izuku stared up at All Might's face. He looked visibly upset. Angry. Izuku had never seen that look on his face before, at least not directed at him.
"What are you doing?" All Might sounded stern, like he was trying to hold back frustration and failing.
Izuku lowered his arms, sheepish. He felt like he was about to be scolded. "I- I wasn't spying- I was…"
"How much of that did you hear?"
"N-nothing! I just- something about a fire. That's all!"
All Might drew in a deep, slow breath through his nose, pinching at his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. He was trying to calm himself down. For a few moments, all Izuku heard was the crash of the waves on the shore.
"Alright. So what's the measuring tape for?"
"Um… um… well… you see…" Izuku began, then sighed heavily. He had been caught, there was no way he could get out of this one. "Mom wanted to know your measurements."
The tired frustration on All Might's face eased somewhat. "What for?"
"She wanted to make you new clothes but she said she was too embarrassed to ask you, so she wanted me to do it."
All Might's shoulders sagged. He huffed a single-syllable chuckle through closed lips, then coughed into a fist. "Young Midoriya," he began, shaking his head. "You could have just asked me that, instead of sneaking up behind me while I was having an important phone call."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Just… don't do that again. Please." He reached down to ruffle Izuku's hair. "As for your mother. Well. If she wants to do that for me, I can't stop her. I'll write down my measurements for you to take home later. But you know why I have to wear clothes like this." He tugged at his oversized shirt. "If I have to become All Might unexpectedly… well… I don't fancy the idea of jumping around town butt-naked." He coughed again into his fist and added under his breath, "but I'm sure some of my fans might."
Izuku couldn't help but to splutter and laugh at the mental image. In one fell swoop, All Might had diffuse the tension of the situation, and seemed to have forgiven him just as quickly. "Well… mom seems to really want to do this for you," Izuku said. "Do you think you could… just. Wear it whenever she's going to be around?"
All Might scratched the back of his neck. "Well… I suppose I could, if I had enough forewarning when I need to become All Might."
Izuku watched his mentor for a moment, finding the man difficult to read. His responses to the idea of his mom making him new clothes were utilitarian at best- he couldn't read any emotional undertones in it. Did All Might like the idea of it? Or was he uncomfortable? As Izuku wrestled with his worries, he watched All Might taking his phone back out of his pocket.
There's really only one way to find out.
"Hey, uh… All Might? What… what do you think of my mom?"
All Might's thumb was hovering over the screen. He blinked, looking over at Izuku. "Pardon?"
"What do you think of Mom?" Izuku repeated, this time, with intent.
All Might's face went a shade redder. "I- I, ah. Sorry, Izuku. I have to call my friend back. It's important." He pressed some numbers on the screen and lifted his phone to his ear. "You're slacking off a bit- I want to see our burn pile full of flammables by 3:00."
He turned, his back facing Izuku, shooing him away. Izuku slumped, dragging his feet as he walked away, but not without giving All Might a crooked stare over his shoulder.
That evening, Izuku returned home with All Might's measurements. They were hastily scrawled on a receipt, the only thing he had available to write on at the time. While his mom was making dinner, Izuku placed the receipt on the table.
"He wrote it all down for you," Izuku explained. "I… tried to get it without him knowing but… he caught me. Sorry."
"That's okay." Inko said quickly from her spot near the stove while she boiled rice. "I was thinking about it today and… I realized I asked too much of you with this. I was feeling kind of pathetic."
"D-don't be," Izuku said quickly. "It was kind of fun, sneaking up on him and everything."
"Was he mad at you?"
"No, he wasn't." Well, that was only half true. He was a little bit mad, but that was because he thought he was spying on his phone conversation. Izuku seated himself at the table, drumming his fingers. What was that conversation about, anyway? Clearly it was important, otherwise All Might wouldn't have been trying to keep it from him. What did it have to do with a fire?
Maybe… he was referring to the fire that he helped with a few days ago. The one where he saved all those people from. Could he have a lead on what caused the fire? Was it a villain?
Izuku's mind was spinning, his fingers drumming on the table. The day after he saved people from the fire, I noticed he was acting a little strange. There's something bothering him about it. And he clearly doesn't have the time or energy to worry about what my mom is thinking or feeling right now.
They had dinner quietly. Inko didn't invite All Might, so he didn't show up. Izuku wondered if he would have anyway, even if he was invited. As Izuku washed and put away the dishes, Inko took the receipt of All Might's measurements and headed into a back room, where Izuku knew her sewing supplies were.
As he went into his room to study, he heard the sewing machine running well into the night.
