In which Mei tries to get Toshi to open up a little bit more, but he's stubborn.

Set between the sports festival and internships. (I included a little excerpt from "This Time" to help make a bit more sense of the timing. This was originally part of the story that got cut out of chapter 16 in editing due to flow, but I had it saved still so figured why not post it on its own?)

"Today after class, All Might told me that there was a hero that had put in an offer for me to intern with him," Midoriya told me, and his expression looked both confused and thoughtful.

"That's great!" I told him, and he nodded.

"Yeah, it is, but... I don't know, All Might seemed like he was pretty freaked out. He said something about this guy thinking he wasn't training me right I guess? Apparently he's All Might's old teacher, and he knows about our quirk. Plus he was friends with the person who had One for All before All Might." Midoriya fiddled with his hands in front of him, every emotion clear on his face, and man were there plenty of them flashing across his features: excitement, nervousness, uncertainty, admiration, confusion.

Yagi's old teacher, huh? He'd never mentioned him to me, but that was no surprise there. It was strange that Midoriya seemed to think he was worried about it though, and it made me wonder about the relationship between Yagi and his mentor - the guy was probably some kind of badass if he trained the number one hero. But the real question was, why was Midoriya telling me about this? "So what's the problem then?" I asked kindly.

The green-haired teen shrugged. "Well at first, I thought it was really cool, but now I'm kind of nervous - if All Might's afraid of this guy then I really have no clue what to expect. What if I don't live up to his expectations or what if I can't do what he asks of me? I'm still not in control of my quirk and I've got so far to go. And if he trained All Might, then there's no way I can live up to that," he said dejectedly.

"You're thinking about it too hard," I said, nudging him with my shoulder and he looked up at me. "I don't know when exactly you got your quirk from All Might, but it was recent, right? Probably right before school started if I had to guess," I said, kicking my feet out from where I sat. "Anyway, no one is perfect right away. It takes time, and anyone who's been a teacher before - even if they did teach the number one hero - will know that. Don't stress yourself out on it." The kid was nodding, taking in my words, and I offered him a comforting smile. "Plus, you can always ask All Might about it, right?" I asked, and Midoriya's eyes went wide.

"Um, I don't know. I don't want to sound ungrateful or like I don't trust his judgment! I used to get in so much trouble before school started if I didn't follow his training plan," he said with a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Plus, I don't want to intrude and ask questions he wouldn't like."

I snorted in amusement at the familiarity. "I guess I understand that. All Might is a very private person, and I know he doesn't always like questions, but you're his successor. I think you've got a right to know some of these things."

"That doesn't mean he'll tell me," he said quietly.

At that I sighed, because he wasn't wrong. "Look, Midoriya, really none of this is my business, and I just happened to find out about One for All by accident. If it makes you feel any better, he doesn't tell me anything either - I literally have stumbled my way into his life purely by coincidence."

"B-but aren't you...?" he trailed off, leaving the question unspoken, but not unknown and I grimaced. I knew it was coming eventually.

"No. No, we're not," I said, not looking at him now. "Despite how it looked last night, I assure you, we're just friends." I tried my best to keep any sadness out of my voice, but I wasn't sure if I succeeded.

"Oh, okay," he said awkwardly, and I half wondered if he didn't believe me.

"Midoriya, just don't worry about your internship, okay?" I said, trying to pull the conversation back around. "It will all be fine, I'm sure, and it's a great opportunity for you to learn from someone new. He's obviously a good mentor, and if All Might didn't trust you with him, he wouldn't allow it, I promise you that. You'll do great, kid."

The boy smiled, mood already turned around. "Thanks, Hara. It's nice to be able to talk about all this with someone - it gets hard keeping so many secrets sometimes."

When Yagi came home later that night, I was seated at the kitchen island with my laptop and my internship list, googling each agency and weighing out every pro and con.

"Well you're really thinking this out, huh?" Yagi said, peering over my shoulder.

"Mhm," I answered distractedly, tapping the end of my pen against the edge of the page. "If I didn't have to do the internship at all I wouldn't, but since I can't avoid it, I might as well find an agency that will benefit me as much as possible, right?"

"Makes sense to me," he said with a shrug, turning away, and I was surprised by how noncommittal the response was. Usually he was all about pushing others to strive for more. I watched him with narrowed eyes as he moved about the kitchen preparing a cup of tea, and tried to decide if the slight chill I felt was really there or not. It might be because of last night, but I also couldn't help but notice how tired he looked, and his hands looked like he'd been in a fight with a brick wall (which was honestly possible, considering who he was). He'd seemed fine before going to bed, but I'd been the one to put distance between us. This unspoken tension was my fault.

That being said, I still felt my gut twist uncomfortably as I thought about what I was going to do about tonight. I still wasn't sure if I was ready to start sharing his bed again, but at the same time I hadn't realized just how much I would miss his warmth in the morning when I'd stayed away last night. My brain and heart warred with what to do, but I knew deep down that if I went to his room again now, I might do something stupid. My self consciousness screamed the loudest in my thoughts, and I was resigned to the thought that my reservations were for the best - I couldn't afford any distractions right now... no matter how badly I wanted the opposite.

"I'm surprised you're not taking Midoriya on at your agency," I said conversationally, wondering if he would bring up the hero the kid had told me about earlier.

Yagi coughed. "Well, technically speaking the teachers aren't supposed to take on any of the students, but if he hadn't gotten any offers I would have tried to pull some strings."

"Ah, yes he did mention he got an offer after all," I said vaguely. "Good for him."

The hero cast me a sharp glance, shadowed eyes narrowed. "He told you, didn't he?"

"Told me what?" I asked all wide eyed and innocent. The blonde didn't buy it.

He sighed and turned back to the kettle. "I'm glad he has someone to talk to. He's had to take on a lot in a short time and so few people know - I remember how hard it is to do that on your own."

"But he's got you," I reminded him.

Yagi still had his back to me. "He still thinks far too highly of me - it keeps him from really talking to me like he would a friend," he said, and I noticed the tension in his shoulders.

"You could always try opening up to him a little more too, you know," I suggested, staring at the wall. "I think he's so busy being your fan he forgets you're human too."

"Exactly. He's my fan... I don't want him to think lesser of me," he admitted quietly, and his despondency squeezed at my heart.

Oh, Toshinori, I thought sadly. I stood up and walked around the counter to where he still stood facing away from me. Well aware I was once again pushing on intimate boundaries that I shouldn't be, I hugged him from behind, resting my forehead against his back. He tensed for only a moment before I felt his muscles relax slowly, and his hand rested over where I had mine clasped around his front. "Do you really think people would think less of you just because they get to know you better?" I asked softly. "Because it's not true. You're a great man, Yagi. You have the entire world's admiration, but your worth is not in what everyone thinks of you. Your past and your physical limitations don't make you weak. You're still the strongest person I know, and I don't mean because of your quirk - you could be quirkless again and I'd still think that.

"And I know Midoriya would feel the same, but you've got to talk to him. It's none of my business how you train him, nor is it my place to make suggestions, but I really do think you need to be more open with the kid," I told him.

The number one hero cleared his throat, and when he spoke his voice was low and raw sounding. "He is just a kid though," he said. "Is it really so bad for me to want to protect him from the worst for as long as I can?"

"Yes."

Yagi tensed again, and he turned to face me then as I let my arms drop from around his middle. "What?" he asked, eyes wide and lips set in a tight line.

"Yagi, you already know as well as I do his childhood is over - look how much he's matured even just since the start of term. Keeping secrets will only breed resentment later on. You... you haven't even told him about All for One yet, have you?" I asked hesitantly, and I knew I had pushed too far when he scowled.

"I think I can decide for myself what's important for him to know and when," he said tersely.

I struggled to push down the frustration I felt, trying to keep in mind how hard this probably was for him. "Of course," I replied shortly. I turned away, before I spoke my mind and dug my hole even deeper than I probably already had. You have no right. Remember that, I told myself angrily. Why did I always do this? Stick my nose where it didn't belong?

The guest bedroom door slammed behind me, and I flipped down on the bed, feeling the familiar burn in my throat as I tried to hold back tears.

Not your place. Not your place, I chanted, but that didn't make Yagi's anger hurt less.

A few minutes later there was a quiet knock at the door. "Miss Hara, may I come in?" Yagi asked from the other side, voice uncertain.

I sat up quickly, whipping away the tears I hadn't given permission to fall, yet had appeared anyway. "Uh, y-yeah. It's fine," I called out to him.

The thin blonde man who caused so many emotions pressed the door open, and peeked into the room. When his gaze fell on me, his shoulders slumped, and I knew I hadn't done a good enough job at hiding the fact I'd been crying. He sighed and came in, stopping hesitantly before where I sat, then gingerly sitting next to me on the bed. The hero wasn't looking at me, but rather intently staring at the floorboards when he spoke. "I lost my temper there. The other night I asked for you to help me open up more, and then when you tried I snapped at you. You seem to be getting the worst of me lately, and I'm ashamed of that. Forgive me."

I shook my head, a half smile playing at the corner of my lips. "If this is the worst of you, then you really are worth all the hype, Boy Scout. I feel positively degenerate in comparison."

He snorted and the corner of his lip turned up a smidge as well. "Now that's a bit of an exaggeration," he said, before leaning back on his hands and looking at me finally. "What you said in there, the same is true for you."

"What?" I asked, raising a brow in confusion.

"Your past doesn't make you any lesser. You're a good person, Hara - better than you give yourself credit for, I think," he said, blue eyes intent.

The lump in my throat was back, and I swallowed it down as I tore my gaze away from his. "I'm trying to be. I- I haven't always been."

"You sure?" he asked nonchalantly. "Because from what you've told me, you never wanted to be a part of the dark."

"But I still was. The things I've done... I don't deserve to be where I am now," I said so quiet, I was sure if he'd heard me until he laid a calloused hand over mine.

"The fact you feel that way is a testament to why you do."

He was too kind, really, and as I looked at his hand holding mine, despite his words I was even more sure I didn't deserve where I was now - I didn't deserve him. This perfectly flawed man with his hope and charisma and integrity was far too good to be mixed up with scum like me. I pulled my hand away and bit my lip.

"Regardless, the past is in the past; all I can do now is focus on the future. Speaking of, mind taking a look at my offers for me? I'd like your opinion," I asked, changing the subject. I knew Yagi wouldn't be even the slightest bit fooled, but he humored me anyway.

"Yeah, sure, let's take a look."

A/N:

Personal life update from the author - I'm having a baby! Me and the hubby are expecting our first born late this year or early next, so while I already warned there would be no regular updates with these shorts, you can for sure expect a hiatus after little girl gets here.

Wish us luck!