"It's time to wake up, ."
He had already been awake for an hour or so already, but for the sake of his act, Toshinori got up slowly, pulling his itchy blankets away from his thin frame. Despite his title, no one seemed to treat him any differently from the other patients, which wasn't exactly a bad thing, but he couldn't just say "I'm All Might" and return to the normal world. His former image did nothing for him here, so he played through the system instead.
Pulling on a dark green shirt and grey sweatpants, Toshinori walked out of his small bedroom and into the bathroom across the hall. The nurse who woke him up just minutes before followed him to the door but didn't go inside. They always stayed close, but he wasn't a dangerous patient. They didn't have to check on him to make sure he hadn't bashed his head against a sink. Or rather, someone else's.
Going about his business quickly and quietly, the thin man managed to brush his teeth, brush his hair, shave and even had enough time to indulge in a smaller urge. The voice in his head told him to check the stalls. There was someone inside the bathroom with him and if he didn't find them first, they would try to hurt him. The medication had kept the voices from becoming too powerful, but the few that he still had were frightening. So, Toshinori followed his instincts and checked every single stall twice before finally deciding to move on. He was the only one that woke up this late -a suggestion made from Naomasa, apparently.
Toshinori left the bathroom, the nurse following him back to the door of his bedroom, and put his toiletries away before finally letting out a breath. He was ready for another day. Perhaps, he could tell his therapist that he felt better today, that the voices were quiet and didn't bother him at all. No, that was suspicious. He had been on a good streak lately, which meant that it was about time he had a bad day. He would openly indulge once and tell his therapist. Then, they wouldn't know he was lying.
Taking his medication was always the hardest part of the morning. Not only did he have so many, just to keep him on two feet, but the pills they added for the voices made him paranoid. The voices weren't bad, so why did he have to silence them? They warned him when something bad was going to happen. They told him to check behind him, in case a nurse had a gun. They protected him, so why should he shut them up?
"Is that the shirt your detective friend gave you last week? It looks nice on you." The nurse spoke to him casually, having gotten comfortable around him. They thought he was responsible and a few were fans, although, they hid it well. This wasn't exactly a great place to meet your idol.
"It is. I never thought about wearing much green before. Red is by favorite color and yellow seemed to work well with my hair." A part of him missed that pinstriped suit that he used to wear. Whatever happened to it? Ah, yes. He left it at home, along with the rest of his clothes. The only ones he had at the hospital were those that were either given to him upon admission or the donated materials, like the shirt he was wearing now. It all had something to do about keeping the past behind him, but he rather liked the past.
"Are you ready to beat Takahashi at cards again? He's been talking big around the mall."
Toshinori chuckled, shaking his head softly. Takahashi was a strange fellow, that much was for certain. He wasn't always allowed out of his room, especially on his bad days, but he was the most competitive poker player the retired hero had ever met. In a way, the man reminded him of Endeavor, making some kind of one-sided rivalry. It was a nice distraction. "He shouldn't get his hopes up too high. I'm still on a three day streak so far."
The two of them turned the corner and walked into the mall, an area where other patients could socialize and play games together. On the other side, there were also therapists that could talk to you if you were struggling that day. Toshinori planned to bypass the latter option, giving him enough time to bug out and then speak to his personal therapist about the voices.
"Ah, Yagi!" Takahashi didn't wait for the man to even make it into the room before he started dealing the cards. "You'll regret the day you were born after this match." It sounded honestly ridiculous, but the serious tone Takahashi used said that he meant every word of it. Toshinori Chuckled softly and sat in the too small hair across from his opponent, picking up the stack of cards offered to him.
"I must warn you. I have no intention of loosing today. You might want to take back any bets you made before now." The betting was usually a bluff, but something about the man across from his screamed that he actually might've. At least it wouldn't be Toshinori who got in trouble for this. He knew the rules and never offered bets, despite how persuading someone might be. Toshinori was a good patient. The kind that would be leaving soon.
Takahashi deepened his glare before putting one blue chip down. "You talk big for someone who's about to loose!" With that, the man flipped over the first card. Six of spades. Not too bad.
Toshinori had never been one to trash talk, even in his hero years. It often backfired and if you acted too confident in what you were doing, then it would be difficult to talk someone down. As he looked at his various cards, Toshinori chewed at his lip, tapping the fingers in his free hand against the table. He was in line for a double, but he would need more than that to win this.
"I'm raising one hundred. You gonna call it, or are you a coward?" Takahashi glared at him in a way that meant he had something up his sleeve, but that didn't always mean his cards were good. On a few occasions, it was quite literal.
Looking at his chips, Toshinori shrugged and tossed a black one into the center. "I have plenty to spare, so why not risk at least one?" The way Takahashi glared left the older man satisfied. It was so easy to rile this man up.
Flipping another card showed a queen of diamonds. Another pair, but he still needed more. His cards didn't look like they were going to be getting a straight or even a three pair. Maybe, he could make Takahashi back down in this round before it even ended. That, or he could completely end the match by forcing him into another panic attack, but he had barely recovered from his last and the doctors would get upset. Not that they even knew Toshinori was the cause of it.
"I'm raising three hundred!" Takahashi shouted and slammed the two three chips onto the table, the others bouncing slightly. "Think you could match that, Hero Boy?!"
He was grabbing attention, but that wasn't something new. Takahashi tended to shout and the other patients knew this, but a few nurses stepped closer, just in case something happened. Playing his 'good boy' act, Toshinori's small smile fell as he reached out slightly. "Don't get too upset on the first round. You don't want to end the game before we can finish, do you?" It was something nurses often said to the man, trying to get him to calm down.
Takahashi huffed out and nodded slowly. He didn't take back his chips, but he did seem to calm down a bit. That was good at least. "Are you going to call them?"
Toshinori thought it over before deciding to throw in an extra ten. He had nothing to loose here.
The man across from him snorted and called it. "You're finally playing the game, huh? Took long enough."
"Was I not playing before? I thought there was more to poker than throwing in your best coins." He topped it off with a smug look that made Takahashi frown, but it was all in the competition. Unlike Endeavor, Takahashi tended to get most upset when Toshinori was calm and collected. He liked to be challenged and met with the same force he gave out, but Toshinori didn't give him that satisfaction. Playing with this man was really too much fun.
The game continued, each of them placing chips and flipping cards until the last came up. Toshinori had a two pair, not a good sign for him, but much to his surprise, Takahashi stood up abruptly and threw his chips across the room. He shouted all kinds of profanities as he also tossed the table and Toshinori took a step away, keeping a safe distance between them. Today didn't seem like a good day for Takahashi either. "You cheater! You knew I was close to a flush and changed the cards!"
A nurse can in and firmly told the man to stop shouting as a few others followed. Toshinori dropped his cards on the floor and walked to the far corner of the room, letting the staff do their job. It didn't take them long to take Takahashi out of the room and once he was gone, Toshinori returned to the table and began picking up chips and cards from off of the floor. The nurses always liked a patient that cleaned up messes, even if they weren't their own. This would get him a few good points.
"Thanks, Yagi. You didn't have to clean that up." A nurse smiled as they took the case of chips and the box of cards.
"Well, I was partially to blame for that outburst, so it's only fair that I clean it up." He rubbed a the back of his neck awkwardly.
"You know Takahashi. He's always itching for competition and I guess today just wasn't the best time for a game of poker. Don't blame yourself for it."
Toshinori smiled, bowing slightly to show his appreciation. "Thank you."
The nurse blushed softly and shrugged it off. "Oh, I'm just doing my job. No need for formalities." This was one of the All Might fans among the staff. They typically gave Toshinori some slack when he 'messed' up. They also tended to accept his help more than the other nurses. It was a thing about trust and Toshinori had spent the past six months trying to gain that. It was a tiring process, but now, it was all worth it.
The day continued on like it usually did. Playing games with other patients, eating meals, working out and then more medication, but he had gone through this long enough to hate it slightly less. Toshinori was a free bird and being confided so heavily left him feeling irritated, but he hid it well. Years of stupid interviews with narcissistic TV show hosts had prepared him well for this. He knew how to laugh despite how badly he wanted to just shove his fork into someone's eye socket.
"Yagi?" Taking a deep breath, Toshinori hung the barbells back onto the rack, a nurse locking them into place for safety, and walked toward the girl that had called his name. She was one of the hardest nurses to gain the trust of, especially with how many years she had been working in this place, but it didn't matter. He would be out of this place long before he had to worry about her prying eyes or suspicious looks. He could always target her once he got out. That would be satisfying.
"Yes, ?" He put his best smile on, albeit a tired one. She didn't buy it and just walked out of the room, signaling for him to follow. He did so silently, wondering what exactly was going on. He liked the change in route, but it left him on edge. His heart rose with the hopes that it was his release, but he knew better than that. The therapist still had things he wanted to speak about and work on. They were getting closer, but his goal still felt like it was miles away.
"You have a visitor today." She said it with the most bored tone Toshinori had ever heard, but he didn't focus on that as much.
"A visitor? Who is it?" He hadn't had someone to visit since Tsukauchi finished the case of Tartarus' break in, along with all of the dead bodies Toshinori left behind. He assumed Young Midoriya wasn't allowed to visit and neither Nezu nor Aizawa would likely want to. So who could it be? As they walked into the visitor's room, Toshinori looked at the small table and nearly had a heart attack right then and there.
"It's been a while, Toshinori."
Gran Torino sat, hunched, in one of the small chairs, his hold eyes trained on Toshinori's unmoving form. This was unexpected in every way. Out of everyone the retired hero knew, he never thought that his old mentor would come visit him, especially in a place like this. He hadn't even gotten a message from the old man before he arrived!
"What? You just gonna stand there?"
Somehow, the old man's gruff manners was relieving. He shouldn't have expected Gran Torino to treat him any different from usual, even if Toshinori now had a criminal record and several murders. Sitting down across from Gran Torino, the younger man decided to start first. "You never sent letters so I assumed you didn't want to see me. And isn't my location supposed to be secret?"
"Yeah, but I was one of the few who were allowed to know." Gran Torino sat back, his frown now aimed at a speck of dirt on the table between them. "I, ah, brought something." Reaching down to grab a shopping bag, the old man poured it's contents onto the table. Toshinori immediately identified a few of the books he had been reading and a box of taiyaki. "I figured you might want something from your old apartment."
Taking the taiyaki and throwing a few of them into the microwave in the corner of the room, Toshinori tapped his fingers against the counter absently. The voices started whispering again, telling him to run away from this conversation. Or better yet, use the butter knife in the drawer to stab the old man's neck, but he did neither. He had been training his tolerance for too long to give in now. he was so close.
"So..." Toshinori started, watching the fish pastries rotate in the little microwave. "Who all knows about my location."
"Not many. Nezu, me and Tsukauchi. Midoriya asked but I didn't give it to him. I don't want him seeing you like this."
Toshinori turned around and gave Gran Torino a long look. "Like what?" He was normal. At least as close to it as he could be. The voices weren't wrong. They weren't wrong!
Gran Torino stiffened slightly and turned away. "I didn't mean anything by it. He's just been scared of using his quirk without you to help him out. I almost thought of going to teach at UA myself, just to avoid killing my phone with all the calls he makes." It sounded less like complaining and more like...concern? Toshinori had to admit that he was worried for the boy as well. He never meant to leave like that. He should be teaching his successor how to use One For All. It's his job.
"I've been recovering." He lied. "I don't hear things as much and It's easy to ignore the ones that I do hear. It think it's the medication." As if to prove a point, the voices whispered to just reach out and slam the old man's head against the table. He was dangerous. He wanted to keep Toshinori in this place forever.
"I can see that. You're looking a lot more like...well, you. I don't know what happened before, but you just keep on this path."
Toshinori didn't respond to that, instead, pulling the pastries from the microwave and placed them on the table gently. Kill him. He deserved to die for putting Toshinori in this hospital. He was old and retired. No one would miss him. It would be so easily.
"You never liked taiyaki, did you?" Gran Torino asked as he grabbed a piece and bit into it slowly. At least he didn't have his ridiculous hero costume on anymore, but that button down was no better.
Toshinori shook his head silently. He hated taiyaki. Instead of dwelling on that, he changed the subject. "Why didn't you visit until now? It's been six months and no one sent even a letter." Even in his loneliest times in his life, he always had someone to depend on. In America, it had been Dave, who ended up being a wonderful sidekick and friend. Then, it was Sir Nighteye, who become just as close and helped him to become an even better Symbol of Peace. And after his injury, Tsukauchi was there for him, despite his busy schedule and stressful job. Aizawa was there for him as he slowly lost his past self, but in this mental hospital, he had no one. The staff weren't allowed to make friends with the patients, at least not too personally. The other patients were distant at best and only Takahashi ever wanted to confront him. So why did Gran Torino suddenly decide to visit him now?
"You're being released by the end of the week and I wanted to make sure that you were safe enough to go back out."
Toshinori sat up suddenly. This was news to him. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" He had already achieved his goal!
"I think your therapist was gonna say something? I'm not sure, but Tsukauchi and I will be back to drive you home. Or, to the house you were supposed to go to."
That made his heart sink slightly. "I'll still be isolating myself?" The voices said to end him here. It was his fault Toshinori couldn't go back into the world. It was his fault! But he resisted. It wasn't Gran Torino's fault. It was Nezu's and he could deal with the rodent eventually, but that was a task he would need to work on.
"Sadly, yes. You should've had to stay here longer and I doubt you'd like that. So, we rationed that if you stayed at home and didn't cause any trouble, then you could find an apartment in the city again. Oh, and as long as you take your medication, people will be able to visit you freely. If you want, that is. Midoriya will be happy to see you."
Toshinori smiled genuinely for the first time in a while. "I look forward to it." His home was in the middle of the woods, right? There were plenty of animals around there and...he knew how to bend rules. This wasn't confinement. This was freedom. "I'll wait for you on Sunday."
Author's Notes: This is the sequal to No Different From Before! I have done a bit of research about mental hospitals and I hope this is accurate. I'm super excited for this story, but it won't be my main focus just yet. Also! I'm really glad people were excited to see this. I never intended to do more for this but as more ideas came and more people begged, I did it.