Notes: Hi! I want to start by apologizing for the late chapter 3 To make up for it, here is a longer 3rd chapter, and the 4th one is coming along shortly as well ;)
Thank you for all your support, it means a lot!
Take care, drink lots of water, and stay safe!
"So, why are we all gathered here Aizawa?" President Mic asks, picking dirt out of his speakers. He had tripped in front of some third year students this morning. Embarrassing himself and giving them a good laugh.
"I'll tell you once we're all here," Aizawa says coolly. Folding his hands across his chest and sitting back in his seat.
"Who're we waiting for, anyway?" Ectoplasm asks, looking around.
"All Might." Cementoss replies, looking up from the papers he was grading.
They were all gathered in the teachers' lounge. Eraserhead had given them a call and most of the staff had agreed to be there within 30 minutes.
"Should we really be bothering him?" Hawks questions Aizawa. "I mean… he's retired now, right? Shouldn't we leave him out of any and all violent business?" Hawks was here as well, he had been coming to the school premises to check up on Shoto Todoroki since Endeavor's fight and his curious nature led him to pester Aizawa until he let him in on whatever he was discussing with the other teachers.
"I guess you're right," Eraserhead sighs, "but I'm not quite sure what we've got on our hands. Every bit of advice would be helpful, and…." He pauses for a moment, lost in thought.
Yagi Toshinori had lived and proved himself over and over again, and as sad as it was to let him go as a hero, they had to eventually move on and accept his circumstances.
"I would never ask him to fight with us… I am just so used to consulting all of you before making decisions that concern all of us that it felt important somehow for him to be here… but I would never ask him to risk his life ever again." Aizawa finishes and stops, his face reflecting his emotions and thoughts, which said that he'd spoken way more than he'd ever like to.
There's silence for a couple more minutes. All the adults seemingly lost in thought. Each thinking about how their lives were changing. And whether this change was for the best or worst.
"Give him a call, why don't you?" Cementoss suggests, looking at Aizawa. "Knowing him, he's probably gone back to sleep…"
"That's actually not a bad idea," Eraserhead says, picking up his phone, and dialling All Might's number.
"Hello?" A woman's voice echoes through the phone, making Aizawa scrunch his eyebrows in plain confusion.
"Hello?" The voice prompts again at the lack of response from Aizawa's end.
"Who is this?" Aizawa asks coldly and the woman gasps.
"Hey, you called this phone!" The voice replies indignantly.
"This is not your phone." Aizawa says coldly again and the woman shrieks and giggles on the other end, annoying him further.
"Where is All Might?" He asks this time and only manages to hear some more muffled giggles through his phone. His question draws the attention of the other pros to the conversation, as well.
"You will tell me where Yagi Toshinori is right now, and what you have done with him because I swear-" He stops, hearing some more of the woman's giggles from the other end, followed by a deeper, manlier sounding chuckle.
"What's going on!?" Midnight's the first to ask, concerned. Aizawa looks up to see that everyone's looking at him, wearing matching worried looks on their faces.
"A woman answered the phone," Aizawa mutters, "she's infuriating!"
"And where's All Might?" It's Hawks' turn to ask.
Aizawa replies in an irritated voice, "She won't fucking say!"
"Put the phone on speaker." Vlad King suggests and Aizawa complies, placing his phone on the table and turning on the speaker mode.
They hear shrieking, which stops momentarily when the woman says, "Stop! Someone's on the phone for you!" then resumes again, making everyone's eyebrows shoot up to their hairlines.
"All Might, where are you!?" Eraserhead snaps making everything on the other line go silent.
Some shuffling is heard before the woman says, "He's here," into the phone then a quieter, "Talk now," is heard before All Might finally answers.
"Hey!" He says cheerfully, pissing Eraserhead off.
"Where are you?" He snaps, "You were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago, what the hell, Toshinori?"
"I fell asleep…" All MIght replies, slightly embarrassed.
"Asleep!?" Aizawa says incredulously while the other teachers start muttering amongst themselves.
"Didn't sound like sleep to me." Hawks says and shrugs while All Might chuckles in embarrassment.
"Whatever," Eraserhead snaps, " your shenanigans are none of my business… Get here as soon as you can." He finishes and picks up his phone to hang up.
"All MIght's getting laid," Midnight says, earning stares from the other heroes and a glare from Aizawa.
"Sure," All Might says in reply to Aizawa, some shuffling is heard and then All Might is heard saying, "Jade… stop…" in a low voice, earning a scoff from Aizawa.
"Jade, huh?" President Mic says in a conspiratorial tone and the others start discussing who this person might be that is taking up Toshinori's time.
"I didn't think All Might was the kind of guy to be romantically interested in a woman," Vlad King says and some hums of agreement are heard.
"Me neither…" Mic says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his fingers behind his head.
Suddenly the door to the lounge opens and principal Nezu walks in.
"Good morning, Sir!" Midnight says cheerfully and the others join in after, greeting their principal.
"Good morning lady, and gentlemen," He replies in a cheerful tone and walks over to the fridge, which is located a few feet away from the table. "Why are all of you gathered here, so early in the morning, and what am I hearing about All Might and a woman?"
"How much did you hear?" Eraserhead questions and Nezu chuckles.
"Honestly, not a whole lot… Is All Might interested in a woman?" He questions and Eraserhead sighs.
"That's what it sounded like," Vlad King says in a bored tone. "I have no reason to see why he shouldn't be… He's retired now and I think it would be good for him to have a… hobby." He finishes and shrugs.
"I think it's a good thing," Cementoss comments and Snipe hums in agreement.
"He deserves a break." He comments and Principal Nezu chuckles.
"That he does," He agrees and mutters to himself, "I am curious now… Who might this special lady be?"
"Me too," Midnight says, picking up her tea which had been forgotten over the past few minutes and delicately sipping on it. "He'd better give us all the details when he's back."
"He called her "Jade"," Hawks says, drawing everyone's attention to himself after not having spoken for a while.
"What are you doing here?" Nezu questions and Hawks chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his head with his hand.
"Well… Mr. Aizawa was gathering all the teachers for a meeting and my curiosity got the best of me… so I'm here."
"I see…" Nezu says before turning to Aizawa, "And what is this meeting for Mr. Aizawa?"
Before Eraserhead can respond, there is another sound from his phone.
"You should get out of bed now… King… I'll see you when you get back." The woman's voice is heard and Aizawa groans.
"I forgot to hang up," he mutters and just as he's reaching for the end button, a hand snatches the phone out of his hand.
"What are you doing!?" Aizawa snaps, glaring at Mic.
"Hey, don't hang up! I want to hear the rest of the conversation!" Mic says cheerfully, turning the volume up on Aizawa's phone and placing it on the table.
"That's-" Aizawa starts but is cut off by Midnight.
"Actually," She chuckles, "me too…"
"You're all insufferable," Eraserhead says in a grumpy tone, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Does that mean you'll be here when I return? And please call me "King" again." All Might asks in a soft and teasing voice making Midnight "aww" at his sweet nature and Aizawa gag at the nickname.
"I had no idea he could be this adorable." She says, almost impressed at his behavior.
"I think it's because Toshinori has never given any indication that he was interested in having a relationship," Nezu says thoughtfully and everyone hums in agreement.
"He has always been busy… let him have this." Hawks says, then adds in an incredulous tone, "And "King"? Really?"
"That's weird even for him," Vlad Kind mutters and Principal Nezu laughs.
"Are you all waiting for him?" He questions and Aizawa sighs.
"Yeah… He was supposed to be here like, half an hour ago,"
"I see," Principal Nezu says, pouring himself a glass of Mango juice from the fridge and turning around to look at the heroes.
"So," he starts, "are you going to tell me what this meeting is about? Are your students giving you a hard time?" He asks with a soft laugh and looks at the teachers expectantly.
"No, it's not that…" Eraserhead says and stops, not wanting to get into the details before Toshinori joins them. He didn't want to have to explain the story over and over again.
"We don't know what we're here for either." Mic adds, still examining his speakers, as they were still covered in mud and dirt. "He wants everyone to be here before he begins."
"I see," Nezu says again looking at Aizawa now, "And may I ask why I wasn't invited to this conference?"
Eraserhead shrugs and replies "I didn't want to bother you… I don't know what we're dealing with here and I didn't want to trouble you with the issue unless it was something important and really concerned you."
"That's thoughtful of you Mr. Aizawa," Nezu says softly and adds, "I appreciate that but you can always share your problems with me, I like it when either one of you feels comfortable enough to trust me with your issues."
"Thank you, I'll remember that." Aizawa responds, bowing his head slightly.
Nezu chuckles softly and mutters, "Always so formal…" and takes a sip of his drink.
The room falls back into silence, which only lasts for a few minutes before quick footsteps are heard from the outside, drawing everyone's attention.
There is a muffled sound of something crashing on the floor, followed by a "Damn it…" bringing some of the teachers to their feet.
"Should we-" Mic starts before the door opens, revealing All Might this time.
His hair is all over the place, and his clothes look as if they'd been worn in a hurry. He's slightly panting from the hurry to have gotten to the school as soon as he could.
"About time," Aizawa mutters and motions All Might over to join them.
"Are you okay?" Cementoss asks, "we heard a crash."
"I just toppled over that vase by the door to the entrance of the wing," All Might replies in embarrassment and heads over towards the empty chair beside Eraserhead.
"That's just great…" Principal Nezu sighs, finishing his juice and placing the empty glass into the sink by the counter. The teacher's lounge was well equipped with everything someone might need: a fridge, a microwave, a blender, a small induction stove, and counter and a sink, so that the teachers could help themselves with anything they wanted.
He moves to leave and Aizawa notices, causing him to ask, "You're leaving? I thought you might want to stay…"
"No that's alright Mr. Aizawa," Nezu replies, he looks over his shoulder and adds in a cheeky voice, "I'm sure you'll let me know if you need me, right?" He says and Aizawa nods.
"Of course," Eraserhead says firmly, and adds, " but I want you to stay… You could really help us," in a soft voice.
Principal Nezu is surprised at his behavior but decides not to show it. "Alright then." He says with a smile and takes a seat beside Snipe.
Everyone turns their attention to All Might now.
"So, where were you?" Midnight asks, as if she didn't have a clue about what he'd been doing before his arrival.
"Well-" he starts but is cut off by Mic who apparently cannot be discreet.
"Who's Jade?" He asks and Eraserhead sighs.
"Unnecessary…" He mutters but looks towards All Might questioningly, "This is a waste of time but I must admit I'm curious too."
"Hah! See!" Mic says excitedly and looks at All Might intently, "So?"
"Well…" He starts and looks across everyone at the table, they're all waiting for his response.
"It's kind of personal," He replies and Midnight slumps in her seat.
"Oh, come on… You can't expect us to not be curious, right?" She says. "I mean it is kind of huge."
Mic nods, "Yeah, I've known you for years now Toshinori and you've never given me any indication of liking, or even dating any woman."
"Well…" All Might stalls and Hawks sighs.
"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, All Might… We'll understand." He says and Midnight makes a noncommittal sound, earning a glare from Aizawa. Hawks turns towards her at the sound and emphasizes, "We'll all understand, won't we?" He says and she groans.
"Yeah…" She mutters and everyone says "Yes," in agreement.
All Might lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and decides to share a few details with them.
"Jade and I have been seeing each other for a while now… I don't think any of you guys know her, she's not a member of staff here, nor is she a hero… Also, her name is actually not Jade." He says and decides to leave it at that.
But, of course, all of them have a lot of things they want to ask.
"But isn't that what you called her!?" Midnight asks, almost jumping out of her seat in excitement.
"Well...:" He stalls, thinking of the right way to answer this question when it suddenly occurs to him. "How do you know about that anyway?"
"That's not relevant." Vlad King interjects, taking joy in All Might's embarrassment.
"So?" Snipe prompts and All Might exhales.
"She has green eyes…" He says abashedly which leads to a few of them letting out soft chuckles, and Midnight almost cooing in adoration. "Can we please move on now?" He pleads then but they are not ready to let go of the topic just yet.
The questions come flooding in.
"What's she like?"
"Exactly how long have you been going out for?"
"Are you thinking about marriage?"
"She calls you King, doesn't she?"
The last one comes from Mic, which makes everyone pause and stare at him.
"What!?" He exclaims defensively, "I want to know!"
"I think that's enough." Aizawa says firmly and puts the suitcase he retrieved from Izuku on the table.
"But…" MIdnight pouts and gives him her best puppy dog eyes which he determinedly ignores.
"That doesn't work on me, Midnight," he says coolly and unlocks the suitcase.
"Are you going to tell us what we're here for now?" Ectoplasm questions, leaning forward in his chair and Aizawa nods, opening the suitcase.