Toshinori knows that his successor has a brother, though it takes longer than he'd like to admit to notice a connection between the enthusiastic boy and the quiet, crimson-eyed teen he'd only absently taken note of after taking care of the sludge villain.
His successor is not quiet about his admiration of his brother - far from it, really. He tends to mention him in passing in most conversations, and even if he hadn't, his rambling about his training methods - the reason for his successor's already decent physical fitness level and mild proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, apparently - and general mentions of his fighting prowess would reveal that he holds his brother in high regard - maybe even on the same level that he admires heroes.
This, however, does not make it any less surprising when he sees another curly-haired boy enter one of the battle centers, only to slip into the crowd a moment later, leaving no indication that he'd even been there in the first place. If he hadn't been glancing at the screen the exact moment he had, Toshinori is sure he would've missed the boy altogether.
But he does see him, if only briefly, and when cross-checking with his prior memory of the boy, he can't help but take note of the extreme differences between the two.
For one, while Mikumo Midoriya's hair is as curly as his brother's, it's a dark enough green that it appears almost black when not directly exposed to light. His skin, too, is a shade paler than his brother's and lacks the freckles that litter the other boy's skin, though Toshinori supposes that can be attributed more to his lack of time spent outside compared to his successor. Similarly, his successor seems to believe that his brother's crimson eyes have something to do with his quirk, mentioning that he remembers them to be a different color when they were younger (which, of course, Toshinori didn't fact check, because that would be going several steps too far and it's really not all that important anyway).
More interesting than the physical differences, though, are the ways each boy carries themselves.
Izuku Midoriya has a nervous yet excited demeanor, and always appears to be bursting with energy. It's part of the reason Toshinori chose him in the first place; a good hero, in his opinion, is measured not by strength, but rather by whether or not they can act as a comfort to the people through the emotions and persona they display.
That isn't to say, of course, that heroes that are more battle-focused aren't good heroes; he knows plenty of heroes - plenty of top heroes, even - that do just fine without displaying their passion or a reassuring appearance for everyone to see. It's just that One for All happens to be a torch that should be passed down between heroes that can smile, that can face any odds, and that can act as a Symbol of Peace for the public, and Izuku Midoriya is already looking to be the perfect choice for that role, if he does say so himself.
(He does, admittedly, feel a little guilty for putting One for All's burden on such a young boy's shoulders, but with All for One out of the picture, everything should be, while not smooth sailing, rather tame compared to his own experience.)
He's getting off track, though.
While Izuku Midoriya will undoubtedly be heading down the path of a daylight hero, Mikumo Midoriya, even from his brief observation, already seems suited to take on the role of an underground one.
The thing is, he barely remembers the boy. It's not unreasonable for faces to blur together after a while considering how long he's been a hero, but the incident in which he met the Midoriyas had been more interesting than most.
Toshinori supposes he could blame his lack of memories of the boy on the fact that he hadn't made a huge impression like his successor did, but even when he does attempt to look back, he can barely even remember the boy being there at all.
So when he blends into the shadows of the other competitors and seems to disappear from Toshinori's vision, he's not all that surprised.
But there is something interesting about the way that he held himself, right before slipping into the crowd. The way he stood with his shoulders back and frame racked with no tension, so unlike his brother who's as nervous as can be.
(The way, right before Yamada calls for the examinees to begin, he feels as if he's being watched by something like a bird of prey, though will not realize by who until much later on.)
Admittedly, when the exam begins, Toshinori focuses most of his attention on whatever screen displays his successor in each moment. He tries, once or twice, to find the boy's brother, but never manages to spot him even once.
(It's eerie and oddly familiar, he thinks as he tries to ignore the unpleasant itch beneath his skin, though he's not quite sure why.)
He watches with a mixture of pride, guilt, and mild horror - the latter two because he entirely forgot to warn his successor about possible backlash, and because he's not too keen on finding out what Recovery Girl will have to say about that - as he watches his successor launch himself into the air with reckless abandon, cocking back his fist a moment later to take out the one pointer with a single blow.
Then he falls, and his nonexistent stomach drops.
Nezu had promised that the test would be safe. He'd promised that everything would be fine, so why the hell was he still falling?
Toshinori is about to say to hell with it and throw himself out of his chair when, much to his relief, the girl he'd saved - which sends another burst of pride rippling through his chest - manages to slow his fall. The method she uses is rather unorthodox and seems unpleasant for both parties, but after shaking off a sympathetic wince for them, all he can bring himself to feel is relief.
When Recovery Girl arrives just a few minutes later to heal the boy, he feels all of his previously-held tension leave his shoulders, and finds himself riding a high that nearly has him full-on grinning when they total up his successor's points. Impressively, he manages to land in sixth place, right above - who he's fairly certain is - Ingenium's little brother, despite the fact that he'd only managed to take down two robots before dealing with the one-pointer.
Toshinori is distracted enough that he barely even notices when they make it to another familiar name - Mikumo Midoriya, who's slotted in exactly twentieth place.
Right at the halfway mark of the cutoff, despite the fact that his successor had sworn up and down that his brother was proficient in just about every type of combat, and had the one of the best - if not the best - handles on his quirk he's ever seen, even when factoring in heroes.
At first, he thinks it might be a fluke, or that his successor was simply exaggerating. But it doesn't seem in character for it to be the latter, and there's really not much to back up the former guess.
He presses his lips into a slight frown, then glances around the room. None of the other teachers seem particularly bothered about it, up until he sees Nezu.
Nezu, who looks his way for an instant, gaze calculating and wearing a smile that's a little too wide for his tastes. His expression settles into something more neutral soon afterwards, but that interested glint never quite leaves his eyes.
Toshinori shudders, unsure of who, exactly, he should be feeling sorry for in this situation.
