Toshinori knew he was in love. He knew it in the ways his non existence stomach turned whenever the man looked at him. He knew it in the way his cheeks would flush when asked simple questions, like: "Do you want some tea?" or "Are you done with your grading yet?"

Yes, Toshinori knew he was in love with Aizawa Shouta, but he had no idea what to do about it. He'd never really fallen this hard for anyone before. Sure, in his past years, he'd felt the familiar -yet dreaded- fuzzy feelings for a few people, but it'd never been this...unsettling. He couldn't go a full day without thinking of the man. He wouldn't eat -when he actually did eat- without being reminded that Aizawa may have skipped breakfast, again. He could even sleep without thinking of what it would look like to have the man beside him, his dark hair splayed across Toshinori's light green pillow.

In all reality, there was no reason for Toshinori to not ask the man out, at least to confess his feelings and get over them as quickly as possible. It would be an easy thing and knowing Aizawa, he wouldn't treat Toshinori any differently because of it. They'd continue to be coworker-ish friends until something changes -like Toshinori's inevitable death.

The only thing standing in his way was the slightly shorter blonde standing in front of him with a ring on his finger.

"Oh yeah, we've been married for about five or so years. I think our anniversary is coming up soon." Present Mic gave him a wide smile, green eyes peeking at him from over the rim of his orange tinted sunglasses.

Toshinori didn't need a stomach to feel it drop. How had he been so blind, so stupid, to forget something this important. He'd looked at Aizawa's hands before, but what underground hero would put a ring on their finger? Obviously, Aizawa was the kind of person who wore it on a chain.

"So, what was your question again? When is Shouta available?" Present Mic continued, tapping at his chin in thought. The reminder that Toshinori had actually asked something

made him panic.

"Ah, forget my silly questions. It doesn't seem to matter so much anymore. I apologize for wasting your precious time." Toshinori gave his best smile and tried to slip away from the other blond's attention, but he was ruthless.

"Oh, no! I love talking to you All Might! I was just going to say, I think Shouta has some time off on Thursday. Why do you want to know?"

Toshinori felt like he'd been caught in a mouse trap. There was no way he'd admit to liking this man's husband. He had enough common sense to know how rude that would be, especially when he was trying to build a better work relationship with the blonde. "Well, I just have some extra grading to do and I thought it'd be nice to have some company." That sounded too obvious, didn't it? He needed to change tactics. "But it doesn't really matter! I'm a full-time teacher now and I should learn to do my own grading, right? I'm sorry to bother you, again." He tried to walk away a second time.

"Hey, no way! I totally have some grading I have to do as well! What if you, me and Shouta all did it together? How about that? That'd be fun, right?"

Toshinori prayed to be swallowed up by the floor below him. Or to just drop dead. That would be good too. "Um, I'm not sure if-"

"You never go drinking with us, so we could hang out this way! You'd get to avoid Aizawa's flirty drunk antics this way! And trust me, it's bad! One time, he tried to ask me out and got all pissy when I said I was already married!" The laugh Present Mic gives sounds a bit too loud to be natural, but considering his quirk, it made sense.

"Well...I'm just not sure if Aizawa would want to do grading with us-me." He corrected quickly. "I mean, he should be spending time alone with his wonderful husband, right? I wouldn't want to come between a perfectly good night for you."

"Don't sweat it, All Might! I can ask him for you." With a sharp wink, Present Mic was gone, leaving Toshinori alone in the teacher's lounge.

He wanted to curl up and die. It was bad enough that he'd missed the probably very obvious clues that the two were married. It was even worse that he felt a bit irritated. Why hadn't anyone told him? Surely, with how close the other teachers seem to be to each other, someone would've mentioned the two being married before now. It'd been nearly a year since he started teaching here and not a single word had been said.

Perhaps he was just a fool for falling in love in the first place. He knew it was a bad idea from the start. There was no way that Aizawa would've liked him in return, and if -by some miracle- he had, they wouldn't have much time together anyway. Who would try for someone that was so obviously dying?

With a new determination to get over this ridiculous crush, Toshinori gathered up his folders and left to start his class. Maybe he'd be able to focus better, knowing that the person he'd admired was obviously out of his league.

…

Classes were frustrating, but that was to be expected when you were as bad a teacher as Toshinori. The students were often confused and by the middle of the class, they had more questions than answers. He had known that this was a more difficult concept to understand; the importance of naming your ultimate moves. He hadn't expected to teach it so poorly, though.

With a long sigh, Toshinori sat down in his small rolling chair and waited for the dreaded computer to boot up. It wasn't until he had already logged in and began typing that he noticed another teacher staring at him.

Looking over, Toshinori saw Midnight's eyes burning holes in his head. He gave her a soft smile, but she didn't return it. He could feel himself sweat under the stress of her gaze before turning away. What had he done to annoy her? Was she even annoyed? He wasn't sure because this sort of thing had never happened before. She was generally a calm and patient person, especially with him.

"So, you heard that Hizashi and Shouta are married, huh?" She started casually, stretching back in her chair. Her voice was too sweet to be genuine. He had definitely done something wrong.

"Ah, yes. Present Mic had told me about it this morning." He tapped his fingers against his desk. Was she upset that he'd not found out on his own? Was she disappointed in his lack of intelligence?

"Hm...and he still invited you to grade with them?" Now, she turned toward him. Her expression was calm, but on her, it felt like a death glare.

"Y-yes? I was going to back out but Present Mic insisted, so I guess-"

"Oh. Well, why didn't you just say so?" She laughed, spinning a few times in her chair, legs obviously on display. "You're a real dork sometimes, All Might. You're lucky I don't prefer older men. I would've eaten you up by now."

Swallowing thickly, Toshinori gave her another forced smile and turned back to his computer. He'd heard about her preferences before -too many times to be comfortable- but it still made him uncomfortable. He had also, somehow, avoided her wrath. He could count that as a win.

A few minutes of silence passed between them before Midnight continued. "At first, I thought you had some kind of crush on Shouta, but now I'm not so worried."

Toshinori physically jolted. Of course she knew. Not only because women seemed to be knowledgeable when it came to romance, but she was also one of the most romantically experienced people he'd ever met. Then again, he usually prefered to keep less romantic company -Dave, Naomasa and Nighteye were all good examples of bad flirting and disinterest in romantic things. "Ah, I see. Well, you may lay your worries to rest. I don't plan on doing anything romantic with anyone."

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, All Might. Just like they say, there's plenty of fish in the sea." She gave him an almost sad smile.

He returned it and turned away once again. "But no one chooses the dying fish." He muttered to himself. It was almost laughable, thinking that he would have a chance with anyone. Was it insulting to assume Aizawa could've accepted his feelings? "Well, thank you for your time, Midnight. I appreciate your efforts." He gave her a small bow before ducking out of the computer lab.

…

Toshinori managed to go through most of the day without seeing Aizawa. He'd specifically changed his route through the halls to do so, but it didn't matter. As long as he managed to avoid the root of his affection for long enough, then he would be okay, right? No. No, that was being selfish. Aizawa deserved better than that. The man hadn't done anything wrong by getting married. It was Toshinori's fault for liking him in the first place.

"Why did you invite Hizashi to do grading with us?"

The gruff voice startled Toshinori, making him physically jump and let out a shout. Turning toward the voice, he tensed. Aizawa was staring up at him from inside his capture weapon. It was wrapped neatly around his shoulders. Toshinori wondered if it was soft, like a scarf or more firm from the metal it was made from.

"Ah! Aiz-Eraserhead!" Was it rude to fall away from the real name basis they'd had in the past? "I didn't see you there. What exactly are you doing around here?" He wanted to slap himself for asking such a stupid question.

Aizawa gave him a hard look before sighing out. "Why did you invite Hizashi to do grading with us?"

Toshinori had to think about that for a while longer than he'd liked. "Oh, ah...I didn't." He decided that the truth was best when it came to this man. "I was asking him about grading and he insisted I do my grading with you two."

Aizawa gave out a long sigh and looked down. Did having to look up hurt his neck? He'd heard that from both Dave and Naomasa. Though, they made it out as a joke. "I didn't want to use up the spare time I had on Thursday." He mutters, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Ah! Well, I can always do it another time- or even alone! It'd probably be best if I did anyway. I should learn to be independent as a teacher, especially if I'm supposed to teach my students to do the same." He gave a painfully forced smile and nearly placed a hand on the shorter hero's shoulder, but stopped himself. That was breaking an unspoken rule, wasn't it? He was sure it was.

"Fine. I'll just have to keep Hizashi from breaking down my door." He muttered and started to walk away, but Toshinori selfishly didn't want this interaction to end, as bad as it was. He just wanted to talk to him a little longer.

"Ah, don't you two live together?" He asked, stupidly. Of course-

"No." Aizawa said it as if it were observed to even think such a thing. "We used to, back in the day, but he's too loud to keep around all the time. Besides, he hates the way I do laundry, so we decided to keep to ourselves."

They did? Well, that made sense. They were very different people and had different needs. Sometimes, living together could be troublesome -not that he knew anything about living with another person. Now it made sense why he'd never seen Hizashi's belongings when he'd visited Aizawa's small apartment. "Ah, I see. Well, I'm glad you figured something out that...works." This felt wrong, to talk about someone else's marriage like this. "Have a good day, Eraserhead! I'll see you tomorrow for the, ah, joined exercise!" He gave a wide wave before heading in the opposite direction on where his dorm room was.

…

Shouta wasn't sure what happened, but he knew that it was somehow Hizashi's fault. Just today, Yagi began acting differently around him. He'd called him by his hero name, despite the fact that they'd been calling each other by their real names for nearly two months now. He had also seen the man pointedly avoid him all day. Usually, they saw each other about three times while passing in the halls -not that Shouta counted- and today, he saw the man only once and it was after school.

When Shouta made his way into the teacher's lounge, he could hear Hizashi and Nemuri talking in not-so-quiet whispers.

"Did you tell him off?" Hizashi asked, a hand over his mouth,

"No. He's clearly not interested anymore, if only by politeness." Nemuri responded, painting a new coat over her nails. She was going for red today. Shout pitied whatever man was going to get it tonight.

Ignoring them, Shouta sat down with his newly finished tests, ready to get at least a few of them done before he had to drag himself home. He didn't have time right now to get upset with Hizashi, as much as it pained him to watch Yagi so obviously avoid him. He would just have to shove his aching -annoying- heart out of the way. His students always came first, even before personal matters.

"I feel bad though. The poor man doesn't deserve something like this, but it's for the best." Nemurni sighed, blowing on her nails and leaning against Hizashi's shoulder.

"I feel ya. All Might's a great guy, inside and outside the field, but he was getting in too far over his head. I mean, we've known…" There was a shuffle of clothing before he continued. "For so long and he's still a pain in the as-"

Shouta gave both of them a hard look. "You two really don't know how to shut up. Why are you talking about me?" He wasn't liking what little he got from their conversation. What had they done to Yagi?

"Ah! Shouta! There's no reason to be eavesdropping on a private conversation!" Hizashi huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Nemuri seemed to consider something. "Wouldn't it just be easier to tell him, though? I mean, he'll find out eventually. You can't just tell All Might someone's married without him saying something big. Especially if our...suspicions are correct." she gave an all too obvious look at Shouta and he'd had enough.

Standing up from his spot on his desk, he took heavy steps toward the terrible two. " What did you do?" He growled. He hated giving them a reaction, but they crossed a line when they started playing jokes on Yagi. The man was too nice to ask them to stop or too oblivious to get it was a joke.

"We didn't really do anything." Hizashi lied.

"Tell me or I'll break your speaker." Shouta threatened. Hizashi knew he'd do it.

With a high squeal and frantic waving of hands, the answers came out. "We noticed him looking at you a lot so I pretended like we were married!"

Shouta couldn't move for a full minute. Yagi had been looking at him? He hadn't even noticed. But that didn't usually mean anything. Someone could look at someone else and it didn't have to be romantic or anything. But usually Nemuri's a good judge of these kinds of things. If she was involved then plainly Yagi must…

He couldn't stop himself from asking why. Why would Yagi like him? He wore old, baggy clothes and never shaved. His hair was almost always a mess and he probably smelled horrible. He was almost surprised his class didn't say anything about it, thought that was likely from fear and respect. How could Yagi, his exact opposite, like him?

"I think you broke him." Nemuri whispered. "I don't think I've ever seen him pause this long. Well, maybe when we told him Ruffles died." She whispered.

"Dude, I'm sorry." Hizashi tried to apologize before the storm hit. "I just thought that it wasn't good for either of you. I mean, he seems like the kind of person that needs romantic confirmation and you're...not."

Shouta then realized exactly what had happened. Yagi liked him -somehow- and these two idiots told him that he was taken. Unavailable and already in love with someone else. With a newly found hatred, Shouta let his quirk activate. "You stupid piece of sh-"

"Just think about it, though! Isn't it better like this? I mean, he seemed kinda alright when I talked to him, so it should be good, right?" Hizashi was making his way to the exit, his voice staying at a human level only because of Shouta's quirk.

"Did he leave? Is he in the dorms?" Shouta turned to Nemuri, who unhelpfully shrugged. With another growl, he rushed out of the teacher's lounge, letting Hizashi run down the hall like he'd seen a spider, and marched to the teacher's dorm building. He just hoped Yagi would understand.

…

Toshinori's mind was filled with pictures. Pictures of Aizawa being around Present Mic. Pictures of the two of them happily eating over dinner, maybe having dessert afterward. He saw pictures of them holding hands while watching a movie. He saw them taking long walks through the park, talking about anything and everything. He saw them kiss under their favorite free. He watched as Mic got on one knee -or maybe it was Aizawa- and then they'd embrace after, agreeing to spend the rest of their wonderful lives together.

He saw them the day they got married, Aizawa in a white tux and Mic sporting a slightly more blinged up one. They would dance and shove cake in each other's faces. He saw pictures of them dancing, the love in their eyes so apparent.

These pictures used to be of Toshinori, but it was obvious to him now, that this wasn't his place. He was never meant to have pictures like these become reality. He used to lay in bed, kept up by the wonderful fantasies of a life he could have with Aizawa, a married man. It felt villainous now, to have dreamt of someone else's man.

The new pictures kept him up as well, but it no longer filled him with a bubbly, giggly feeling. He could no longer sigh to himself, smitten with someone and a life that may possibly come true. Now, he was filled with dread. How had he missed this? How had he been so selfishly blind to a life both of them had and specifically without him?

Slowly, Toshinori turned over in his small bed, his feet curled up close to his chest. He should've known better than to dream of something so beautiful in the first place. Hadn't Nana taught him better? Hadn't he learned that nothing good could come his way.

That's not true, a soft voice whispered in the back of his mind. What about your successor? What about that wonderful boy that makes you feel so proud? What about the hero he'll be, even if you don't live to see it? Shouldn't it be enough to live like this?

Of course it wasn't, because Toshinori was so painfully selfish. He couldn't have settled for the joy he found in teaching Izuku to fight, to control the power he'd passed on. He couldn't just be happy, because all he ever did was take.

A loud knock on the door jolted Toshinorii up, but his aching head told him to ignore it. He wasn't in the mood to smile for anyone and pretend he was fine. He'd done that all day and now, he just wanted to sleep. He really was selfish, pushing someone else away simply because he was tired.

"I'm coming." He hollered, hoping whoever was outside could hear it. He slowly got up, wobbled toward the door and took a stabilizing breath before opening it.

Aizawa's rough, handsome and terribly shocked face came into view and Toshinori wanted to curl up and die. Could he not get a small break? "Ah, Eraserhead. What brings you to my door so late at night?" He hadn't checked the time but he hoped it was late.

"You like me."

With those three words, Toshinori felt like he'd been caught cheating. Was Aizawa here to yell at him? Reprimand him for even thinking he had a chance? He imagined Aizawa, angry and hateful, yelling at him for being so stupid, just to make it hurt a little less.

"Yes." he answered truthfully. If he lied, Aizawa would only hate him more.

They stood there, starring. The tension made Toshinori wish that he would just snap already and leave. He jumped when Aizawa actually did. "Why didn't you tell me?! It would've saved me a lot of time with this stupid crush! Now I'm standing in front of you like an idiot!"

Toshinori couldn't quite register it. "I don't understand-"

"I like you too, okay! Like...love!" Aizawa growled, frustrated. "Look, I don't know why Hizashi and Nemuri decided to pretend like I was already married, but it's not true. I'm single and…" He groaned, obviously not about to say what he wants.

"But...you…" Toshinori looked anywhere but the man in front of him. It was a lie? How?

Aizawa stepped forward, taking Toshinori's hand in his. "Hizashi lied, alright? I don't have a ring and I'm not married."

Toshinori's hand felt like electricity where it touched Aizawa's. This was too intimate, his mind said. He was too close and he didn't deserve whatever this wonderful, beautiful man was here for. He shouldn't- "I love you." He whispered.

Aizawa's angry expression turned into shock. His eyes were so wide it made him look young. Too quickly, the man looked away and Toshinori was seconds from apologizing, for forcing himself onto the younger hero, when he answered back. "I do too. For you, I mean. I can't say it but...I do."

Now, Toshinori could see the light blush on the black haired man's face. It was cute and made The older man's heart sang. After it ached and broke, it felt like heaven. He let himself smile, genuinely. He never wanted this feeling to stop, so he acted impulsively and picked the man up. After a soft yelp, Aizawa was in his arms, pressed against his chest, legs wrapped around his waist. It was far too intimate to be appropriate, but Toshinori was willing to risk it.

"May I kiss you?" He asked. He wanted to, badly, but he'd wait for consent.

"Yes." Aizawa resped, already threading his fingers through the older man's blonde hair.

The moment he said the confirming word, their lips met, moving against each other softly. It was tender, refreshening and new. Toshinori kissed him again and again and again until he could no longer breathe and even that barely stopped him.

"Remind me to kill Hizashi, alright?" Aizawa whispered, touching their heads together.

Toshinori let out a soft chuckle. "I'll be sure to. Now, let's get ourselves out of the hall. I don't want gossip to spread too quickly." He looked down the hall both ways to check for other teachers. They were fine so far.

"With Nemuri around, there's no hope." Aizawa chuckled, before pushing the door wider, motioning for Toshinori to carry him in. It reminded him of a cat, so demanding but he didn't mind. He would carry Aizawa anywhere.

Author's Notes: I've really been trying to practice with ship writing and I think I've kinda got it.