Over all of Toshinori's years with Gran Torino, he'd never feared the man until Nana died. That's when the line between abuse and training started to blur.
"I let you under my roof and you don't even follow my rules? You're as useless as they come." Gran Torino huffed out angrily. Toshinori had just barely gotten everything from Dad's house to Gran Torino's small apartment. At the time, it had seemed like a good idea, but he was starting to regret it.
"Sorry, Torino-sensei. I was just tired." Toshinori stood up sluggishly, trying to ignore the ache in his chest. Everything hurt without Nana around.
"Yeah? well, 'sorry' doesn't buy Taiyaki."
Toshinori ducked his head as he walked out of his small bedroom and into the living room. "Should I use my money to buy some or…" He really didn't want to get in trouble for asking a 'stupid' question, but he only had so much money. He was lucky his job was paying him at all.
"What do I look like? Use your own. That's what you have a job for, isn't it? Now get out." The jet hero flopped onto the couch and scrolled through the channels on the tv. Toshinori had never known how lazy Gran Torino was before moving in with the man. He questioned how Nana ever put up with him.
Toshinori left the apartment without another word. If he took longer to get the Taiyaki, then they might skip training today, but that also brought up the risk of getting in trouble again. There was no real safe option so Toshinori decided to do his chore quickly. There was no way Gran Torino was going to skip their training. He hadn't skipped a single day for five years so why would he now?
He got the biggest box of Taiyaki he could find and decided it was better to get more now to avoid this situation again. He would get paid in a week or two, so this should be enough until then, right? Yeah. Toshinori grabbed it and made his way back to the front. His steps were still slow and heavy, just like the beat of his heart. Did he still have one in there? He wasn't sure. It felt too empty.
On his walk back, Toshinori felt his eyes begin to ache. He wiped them away stubbornly and went back to the task at hand. He didn't have time to cry. It wouldn't change the fact that he'd had to sever his friendship of two years. It didn't bring Nana back, so why bother.
Toshinori walked faster and faster as the tears began to spill stubbornly. By the time he was at the apartment again, his line of vision was blurry and his legs could barely hold him. Leaning against the front door, Toshinori dropped the stupid taiyaki and grabbed at his chest. It hurt so bad. The emptiness felt like a black hole, pulling at his ribs and lungs until he suffocated. His bangs wiggled with each sob and breathing became difficult, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
It was his fault, wasn't it? If Nana had One For All, then she wouldn't have died. She would've been strong enough to kill that villain. She wouldn't have wasted her time and effort on him. Another sob racked through his body. He didn't blame Gran Torino for hating him. He hated himself too. For killing Nana and being a useless successor on top of it all.
"I'm sorry." He whispered to himself.
The front door swung open and Toshinori fell backwards. He stared at Gran Torino's frowning face in shock. A yellow boot connected with his ribs and he gasped, curling onto his side. The spot was still sore from their training that morning.
"Look at you! You can't even get groceries without balling your eyes out! Get up, or I'll beat you until you can't!"
Toshinori felt the boot hit him again before he could get onto his feet. His legs were still weak, but he pressed forward, shame and embarrassment keeping him upright. " 'm sorry, Sensei."
"Just shut up and get in the kitchen. I'm not going to starve because you can't do anything right." The bag of Taiyaki hit Toshinori in the back.
…
Most of Gran Torino's reactions were the same over Toshinori's last year at UA. At home, all he ever talked about was how useless Toshinori was. It was always "shut up and do as you're told" or "can't you do anything right?". At school, the treatment was similar, but less direct. "Yagi, pay attention." "Yagi, read the next three paragraphs aloud." "Yagi, do your work."
Out of everything Gran Torino did, Toshinori hated the way they trained the most. The man didn't hold back and never gave him an opening to attack. Ever. Most days, Gran Torino would hit him from all directions while Toshinori tried to defend himself and hold back from shouting in pain and frustration. Sometimes, he had Gran Torino's boot prints bruised onto his back.
When those bruises started to appear on his face and arms as well, Hanten helped him to Recovery Girl's office.
"You poor boy. Look at you. I should have a word with Sora about going too hard…" She muttered to herself as she gave him kisses all along his arms and back. Toshinori stared at his hands through the entire treatment, feeling his energy slowly drain.
"Why'd you get sent to the nurse?" Gran Torino's angry voice echoed through the nearly empty infirmary and Toshinori couldn't help but flinch.
"It's just a few bruises. No broken limbs this time." Recovery Girl responded easily. It wasn't Toshinori's first time here by far. He had a tendency to break gear and buildings during training, which usually ended up with either him or someone else in the nurse's office.
Toshinori wished that Gran Tornio would leave, to just give him a break, but he didn't. When his treatment was done, he was told to rest it out until his stamina returned. As he pretended to sleep, the two adults began to talk in hushed voices.
"He's still too focused on Nana." Gran Torino spoke her name carefully. "I'm worried that he won't recover like this."
"You told him about that, didn't you?" Recovery Girl asked.
"Of course I did. The idiot would blow through all his money if I hadn't. I put his rent into the savings for it."
Toshinori remembered that day. He'd tried to ask for help, to handle Nana's absence, but he was shoved to the side. Instead of talking about Nana, they talked about saving money for the trip. He remembered crying that night, not only for Nana, but because Gran Torino so obviously hated him.
"You make him pay rent? That seems like too much pressure to put on a 17 year-old boy, if you ask me." Recovery Girl huffed, tossing her dark brown hair over her shoulder. She looked about the same age as Gran Torino.
The hero scuffed. "No one in America's gonna care if he lost his master. They'll charge him for rent no matter how much he cries, so I might as well get him used to it now. It'll help him in the long run."
Recovery Girl didn't respond to him. Another injured student stopped their conversation short and Gran Torino finally left. Toshinori slept until the school day ended, which was roughly six or so hours. As he left the infirmary, he gave Recovery Girl a strained smile. He walked home slowly.
Toshinori remembered one particular training session. It was nearly a full month after Nana's death and both of them were upset, but for different reasons. He wasn't quite sure why Gran Torino was so upset -he suspected it was because Toshinori kept messing up his posture- but it lead to a brutal round of combat. The session started out as most did, where Gran Torino bounced all along the walls and Toshinori had to hope for an opening or he'd end up in Recovery Girl's office the next day, again.
A particularly hard kick to his back sent him onto his knees, coughing roughly against the pain. He felt a spike of copper on his throbbing tongue.
"You're dead!" Gran Torino shouted, signalling that any villain would've killed him by that point.
Another blow landed on his stomach, sending everything he'd eaten before on the floor.
"Dead again."
Gran Torino landed next to him on the roof but didn't stop his attacks. He kicked Toshinori in the stomach again, sending him onto his side.
"Dead!"
"S-stop!" Toshinori pleaded, holding his stomach. Gran Torino didn't listen, sending the tip of his shoe into Toshinori's rib. "Ple-please!" He tried again. Another blow to his side. Breathing became more and more difficult with each hit, making the copper taste flow out from his mouth and onto the floor as well.
"Dead!"
The realization that Toshinori couldn't fight back sent a wave of panic through him. He hurt too much to move, let alone defend himself. He wanted it to stop, the pain becoming too much to handle. He let out a shout of pain after every kick.
Gran Torino knelt on the floor next to him, grabbing him by the head and pressing it onto the floor. "Nana wasted your power on you!" His skull left like it would snap. "Look at you, cowering on the floor! You're useless!"
Toshinori released a pained whine, coughing blood onto the floor. His vision began to fade but it hurt too much to rest. He tried to beg for mercy, but nothing came up.
All at once, the pressure on his head released and his ears rang. He shouted as pain shot through his back and ribs. The pain increased as two arms circled around him and moved him. He couldn't see where, but he wished it would stop. His lungs froze and he couldn't breathe. He gasped and coughed, trying to suck air back in.
His back hit something soft and he arched away in front it, which made everything else flair. He was stuck in a constant state of pain. Those arms retracted from him and checked over his mouth and ribs.
"I'm sorry." A gruff voice blew hot air onto his face as a wet cloth wiped at his mouth. "shh...You're bleeding everywhere." It whispered.
Footsteps trailed out of the room and returned again, the sounds of beeping joining it. There was a pause, then the voice spoke again. "Chiyo, are you available? It's Toshi. He started coughing up blood and doesn't seem to be very conscious. Come as soon as you can. I was just-"
The voice lulled Toshinori to sleep, though it didn't sooth the pain. He didn't remember dreaming.
…
In America, Gran Torino called all of three times and that was only to make sure Toshinori had gotten to California safely and registered for school. A week after school started and he had gotten a dorm room at the university, the calls stopped coming. Toshinori didn't dare call the hero back, no matter how scared or lonely he was. He was a legal adult now. He couldn't run back to Sensei whenever he wanted.
He took four classes the first trimester of school in America. One was for Hero training, two were for the core classes -like Algebra and American History- and the very last was an English class for foreign students. He had learned the bare minimum at UA, but he'd learned early on that it wouldn't be enough. He needed to know not only how to order food and cultural etiquette, but slang as well. There had been too many times where a fellow student tried to befriend him, only to realize that his English was horrible and the opportunity was severed.
That's where David Shields came into the picture.
Author's Notes: I can't imagine All Might being so incredibly scared of Gran Torino unless something serious happened in the past. He's seen insane things and nearly died to the hands of All For One but he shakes at the thought of sending Izuku to Gran Toirno's place.