Hitoshi couldn't help the way his hand shook as he stood outside the Foundational Hero Studies classroom. Taking a deep breath he knocked.
The door was opened a few seconds later, a smile coming to All Might's face as he noticed who it was.
"Oh, Master Shinsou."
'HELLO ALL MIGHT'
"Are you okay?"
'TALK WE?'
The pro nodded.
"Of course, let's go into the counselling room and have some tea."
Hitoshi offered a smile.
'OKAY'
Sat on one of the couches opposite sensei he cradled the tea in his hands, the warmth comforting as his anxiety grew.
"So, what's on your mind?"
All Might offered a reassuring smile encouraging him to continue.
'SIR'
He nodded.
'RAID'
"All completely normal considering."
Hitoshi hesitated with the last signs, unsure of whether to actually go ahead and admit it. He felt his breath shake but he pushed through regardless.
'BULLY'
The word made the pro's eyes widen a little as he scooted forward to sit closer to the edge of the couch.
"Okay, so why don't we go through those one by one, does that sound okay?"
He nodded.
"Well we talked a lot about Sir. Nighteye at the funeral but at a guess is it more about nightmares?"
Hitoshi felt embarrassed to sign a 'YES' back in reply.
All Might shook his head.
"There is nothing to feel ashamed about, considering everything that happened during that raid it's incredibly normal to be experiencing nightmares from it; I doubt you are alone either."
He fiddled with his fingers before forcing them to sign.
'MORE TOO'
Hitoshi was finding it increasingly more difficult to find the breaths he needed even thinking about what he needed to bring up.
"Master Shinsou…"
All Might stood up from the couch and instead came to kneel in front of where he was sat before offering a soft smile.
"You're okay; please don't force yourself through anything you don't feel up to sharing. Let's just take a nice deep breath."
He followed the instruction, his lip wobbling before he bit down on it.
'SAY NEED'
The pro nodded.
"Okay then let's take it nice and slow, I'm in absolutely no rush, we can talk for as long as you need."
'FACILITY TAKAHASHI'
"I've seen his name on a police report filed after the USJ, he was the League's doctor right?"
He nodded before a sob broke from his throat.
All Might's hand came to rest on his shoulder as he offered it a squeeze.
'TOUCH' It was hard to make his shaking hands move the specific ways he needed them to to form the signs. 'TAKASHI TOUCH' He motioned to himself. 'ME'
He could only credit the pro hero for the fact that his expression barely changed as it remained as calm as it had been before the admission, the grip on his shoulder only becoming stronger keeping him grounded.
'FORCE'
"Is that forced as in he forced you or forced as in he forced himself on you."
He signed for 'TWO' relating to the second option.
"Okay."
'KISS. TOUCH'
Hitoshi's whole body shivered as he suddenly found himself unable to not feel Takahashi's hands all over him, it was impossible to hold back the whimper which escaped as he became ever closer to hyperventilating in fear.
He just wanted it to stop.
"Hitoshi…"
He became aware of All Might's soft voice calling him back from the depths of his own head, his expression that of concern but most importantly, belief.
All Might believed him.
The pro looked to the hand he had on his shoulder and moved it.
Hitoshi quickly shook his head.
'OKAY YOU' He signed. 'FEEL BETTER'
All Might offered a soft smile before grabbing a notebook and pen from the coffee table and turning round once again, placing his hand back as he did so.
Hitoshi found himself leaning in closer to the touch.
"You are aware that due to my duty of care I am legally required to make a report on what we have talked about today?"
'YES'
"Okay." The pro began to quickly scrawl down notes on the notepad. "Are you still attending your therapy appointments?"
He nodded.
"That's good; do you find that it's helping?"
'APPOINTMENT NOT IN WHILE BUT YES'
"When's your next one?"
'WEEK NEXT'
"And are you aware that with you being under eighteen I will have to inform Shouta and Hizashi about this too?"
'OKAY'
"I might actually ask them if they could try and possibly get you another therapy session this week because they'll be able to help you more than I can."
'HELP YOU'
All Might smiled.
"I'm no therapist though."
'SAFE FEEL'
"On that note I must say that I am incredibly proud of you for having the courage to come seek me out and open up about this, you should be proud of yourself too because this is no small feat what we're talking about here."
'TOLD KACCHAN'
"That's really good Hitoshi, I'm glad that you feel like you can talk about all this, it means that we can all work together to help you through it."
The pro finished making his notes.
"Is that everything you wish to say on this?"
He nodded.
"Okay. You mentioned a bully, has someone been targeting you at school?"
Hitoshi mimed 'kind of' with his hand.
"A group?"
'SCHOOL'
"Ahh."
'NOT ALL BUT LOT'
"Okay, well that is definitely something I can help with. What exactly have these bullies been doing or saying?"
'USJ'
"It's been going on since then, huh?" All Might sighed. "You should have told us."
There was no bite or anger in his tone, it was clear to Hitoshi that the pro meant it when he spoke about wanting to help him out.
'TRAITOR HATE' He then motioned to himself. 'HATE ME'
"That isn't really any of their business and the fact that they feel as if they can police something which doesn't concern them is definitely something we will work to stop."
Hitoshi exhaled.
'RAID KNOW'
All Might shook his head clearly annoyed.
"Those damn news channels never fail to stick their noses in where it doesn't belong and cause trouble. I swear the number of times they've complicated cases for me over the years is quite frankly ridiculous."
'PHOTO'
The pro's eyes widened a little in realisation of what he was referring to before a sigh followed.
"I owe you an apology about that and I should have offered it back in the hospital."
Hitoshi quickly shook his head.
'FAULT NOT' He motioned to All Might. 'FAULT NOT YOU'
"I understand why that photo might bring back memories you'd rather forget but I'm sure one day you'll be able to look back on it and recognise your own bravery and achievements that night. The credit was not solely mine in taking down All for One, you played just as much of a part in that mission's success."
He scoffed.
'SURE'
"I'm serious. I had nothing left in me, or at least I thought I hadn't, but then you were there and you believed in me. You made me find that last flame inside me and with it I brought down All for One, you were truly an inspiration, I will certainly never forget your actions."
Despite having heard similar words from the number one back at the hospital, hearing them with a clear head after a substantial period of time had passed since the events of Kamino Ward, he truly found himself believing them as a smile came to his face.
'MEAN REALLY?'
All Might smiled.
"Of course I do, Master Shinsou. You saved both our lives, the lives of everyone affected by the attack, and by All for One being locked away you've made the whole country a little safer too. So whatever these stupid kids are saying, forget it, they don't know what they're talking about. You're already a provisional hero but I have no doubt you're going to rank high once you graduate because you along with your cousins and your classmates have already achieved incredible things even in just your first year at UA."
He placed the notepad down on the table.
"They will be still be talked to though because there is no excuse for behaviour like that. We will sort it out don't you worry, Hitoshi."
'THANK YOU'
"It's no problem. Now, I am going to go and have a chat with Shouta and Hizashi, I would like you to stay here and drink some more tea. Should I fetch Young Bakugou?"
As much as he wanted to say no, not wanting to pull him in over something so stupid, he couldn't help but nod.
"Okay."
All Might offered a soft smile before giving him a pat on the cheek.
"Keep smiling, I'll be back soon."
The second he saw Toshinori enter the staff room he knew the day still had more to throw at them.
Hitoshi had become closer and closer with the pro hero over the past few weeks and so he was almost sure of the number one's reason for coming to find them.
"Maybe I speak with you both in private?"
Shouta turned to him expression concerned, he couldn't see for himself how pale Toshinori looked and maybe it was for the best.
Hizashi felt as if he could throw up at any minute even due to what they'd discovered already and now he was sure it was only going to get worse.
Reading the notes the number one had made already had him clamping a hand over his mouth but hearing him describe what Hitoshi had told him aloud to his husband caused a sob to crack from his throat as he shook his head.
Shouta had sat silent and allowed Toshinori to finish completely taking in every detail of the League member's actions towards their son.
"Shou?..." He spoke up softly.
His husband seemed to be coping well with the news before his breathing rose and a growl burst from him, harsh and pained and raw.
"Dead, I want them all dead, I don't care about my fucking hero license or the police or the commission I just want to get my hands on those fuckers and strangle them!" His tone was low at first before it grew in anger until he was almost screaming the last part.
Shouta scrubbed a hand through his hair as he clearly tried to find control and calm down. It seemed to work as a few seconds later he shook his head and buried it in his hands.
"Fuck…" He muttered under his breath. "How long has he been holding onto all this crap by himself? Ohhh Hitoshi…"
Toshinori spoke up.
"But he's opened up now and that's what matters here, regardless of everything mentioned the only thing that matters is Hitoshi and he really needs his Dad's right now."
Hizashi bit his lip as he tried to hold onto his composure.
"Where is he now?"
"Bakugou is with him."
"Because he already knew." Shouta added.
"Yes."
"Just like he also knew about the bullying along with Izuku."
"Hitoshi trusts those two boys something fierce; it's a true testament to your family that he already feels like that in the time he has been with you."
Shouta smiled.
"I couldn't be prouder of them, especially after hearing just how much they've been there for Hitoshi through all of this; even if he hasn't been talking to us it's at least nice to know that he has had someone to talk to through all this."
There was a knock at the door before Mirio peered his head around.
"Oh, sorry, Midnight-sensei mentioned you were in here, I can leave if I'm intruding."
"Is it about Hitoshi?" Shouta asked.
"Uh yeah…"
"So we can add you to the list of people we need to thank for looking out for him." Hizashi smiled.
"He seemed really down earlier so I talked to him." The Big Three member looked to All Might. "He's upset about Sir."
"Did he mention anything else?"
Mirio rubbed the back of his neck. "Just that some of the kids here are picking on him, I suggested he talk to you two about it but he didn't seem so sure."
Toshinori offered a smile too.
"Now I can't go into any details but I think Hitoshi would be fine with you knowing that he did come and speak to me about some things that have been affecting him."
Mirio's face lit up.
"That's great, good for him! I'm so proud of the little guy."
"Thanks for being there when he was upset Mirio, we really appreciate it." Shouta nodded sincerely.
"You don't need to thank me for that, he's my friend, I want to look out for the kid." Mirio looked at his watch. "Anyway, I need to go but I'm really glad he's opened up, if you need anything then let me know."
"We will, thanks again Mirio." Hizashi added before the Big Three member closed the door behind him.
Shouta smiled.
"Apparently Hitoshi just has that effect on people."
"He's an amazing kid." Toshinori spoke up. "You should be real proud of him."
"We are." They spoke in unison.
The number one hero gathered up the notes he'd made and tidied them together.
"I will report to Nezu about this, the two of you need to be with your son, leave the rest to me."
"Thanks, Toshinori we really appreciate it."
He shook his head.
"No no, please there's no need, I care for Hitoshi too, he deserves to have this all sorted. I was quite taken aback that he came to me to talk but I also can't help but feel honoured that he chose me at the same time."
Hizashi smiled.
"Hitoshi looks up to you and the funeral already proved that he feels safe with you, you've built that trust between the two of you."
Shouta got up from the couch and held out his hand to his colleague.
"Still though, thank you."
Toshinori nodded with a smile, taking the hand and shaking it.
They headed for the door.
"Look after him, okay?"
Shouta paused and turned back to him.
"With everything we have."
Author's Note: This was a pretty heavy chapter but an incredibly important one too. I really wanted to emphasise the relationship that has developed between Hitoshi and All Might and how Toshi feels so safe with the number one. He's truly intertwined in that support system now and this chapter really shows just how far the two of them have come since everything that happened during and after the final exam. These two truly care about each other and fuck they've been through a lot together too. Toshinori is one of my favourite characters to write because every scene he's with Toshi it's always so sweet to see him treat toshi like his own son (in the same way he does Izuku, and in a way Kacchan too).
