Change My Mind
Summary: It had been two years since Toshinori Yagi had last seen Shouta Aizawa. After a failed marriage that ended in divorce, Toshinori and Shouta must now both face their pasts as they become coworkers at U.A. High School when All Might becomes a teacher at the same school Aizawa teaches at. Erasermight.
Author's Note: Hey everyone and welcome to Change My Mind! I hope you enjoy this! This originally started from a Secret Marriage one shot concept that just changed partially way through and now here we are! I hope you enjoy! On with the fic!
Pairings: Toshinori Yagi/Shouta Aizawa, Katsuki Bakugou/Shouto Todoroki, Izuku Midoriya/Hitoshi Shinsou, Hizashi Yamada/Nemuri Kayama, Touya Todoroki/Hawks, plus some more pairings later.
Warnings: Canon Divergence, Break Up/Divorce, Getting Back Together, Canon Violence, Canon Compliant (To an extent)
Chapter One: When Two Hearts Break
Chapter Summary: Seven years ago, Toshinori Yagi and Shouta Aizawa got married. After five years of marriage, Shouta decides to file for divorce. Two years later, Toshinori accepts a job to work for U.A.
Pro heroes were a set of people that held onto many secrets. It could be their true identities. Their families. There were a number of different things that a hero would decide to hide. Especially loved ones. Especially if a hero was higher on the Hero Billboard Chart. Those secrets that someone held onto it could end up being used against them later by villains.
All Might had learned that from his Master. Nana had given up her child because of it. Though, in her case, it was because of All for One. All Might always knew that he would fall into the same thing that she had if it came down to it.
Sure enough, he did.
It wasn't like he was looking for it completely, but he had met an underground hero. Eraserhead. From that moment on, he knew he was lost.
Shouta Aizawa was absolutely everything that he could ever wish for. He was very minimalistic. He didn't care about appearances. He was sure there was a part of the Erasure Hero that judged All Might, but not Toshinori Yagi. At times, it was hard to tell.
A part of him was extremely happy that he was able to change his appearance. Go between the form of Toshinori Yagi and his hero persona All Might. When he met Aizawa, he wasn't completely forthcoming about who he was. Staying within his smaller form for most of their relationship. Toshinori knew that if he ever wanted to take this relationship further, he had to tell the younger hero the truth.
And he did.
The answer he got back surprised him, "That doesn't surprise me. You two are one in the same."
Toshinori proposed that night.
A year later, they got married with very few witnesses.
Somehow over the next four years, they made it work. All Might doing his work and Aizawa eventually taking a position at U.A. High School as a Homeroom teacher two years into their marriage. Though, his application had been submitted by Nemuri Kayama, another pro hero that was Aizawa's friend under the alias Midnight. It was around the same time that All Might had his encounter with All for One, gaining the wound that obliterated his stomach and internal organs.
He had never seen so much fear within Aizawa's eyes before.
They had always managed to keep their relationship hidden. Using the form of Toshinori if they were ever out in public. Never being seen together as Eraserhead and All Might or Shouta Aizawa and All Might. Just Shouta and Toshinori. It was just the way he liked it.
Still, he had to push himself.
He had to continue being the Symbol of Peace.
Aizawa tried to talk him into going easier. Being careful with the remaining time that he had with his All Might form. All Might wouldn't relent. This is all Toshinori ever wanted. He couldn't just stop when he had so much to still do. He couldn't let go. Shouta tried to reason with him. Tried to tell him to at least cut back his time a bit to let his body heal. He wouldn't rest until he brought down All for One. As long as that man was out there, many people were still at risk.
It would lead to fights, and it eventually led to their separation.
After countless arguments over what All Might should do about his hero career, Shouta handed him divorce papers a year later. While Aizawa's signature was on them, Toshinori barely had it in him to scribble his signature across them. He had sat there, just looking at his husband. There was so much he wanted to say.
He didn't want to lose Aizawa.
Shouta was one of the many good things in his life. The one thing that he had outside of just being All Might. One of the few people who saw him as just Toshinori Yagi and not All Might. He adored being the Symbol of Peace. Being a bringer of justice. Having his very presence deterring villains from their heinous acts.
He didn't want to lose him.
But because he was All Might, he did.
Shouta wouldn't even look at him, instead, staring down at the papers. He relented. This is what Aizawa wanted. They would never come to an agreement on this. They never would be able too. They lived two completely different lives, and somehow had always been able to coinhabit together. Like they slotted together like puzzle pieces.
There were so many secrets that he couldn't tell Shouta about. Even if he wanted to. He was already putting him in enough danger just by being married to him. If he found out about One for All, he would end up a target for All for One. If he was found out to be married to him, he would be a target. There were so many reasons. So many different things.
It's why he decided to do it.
Why he decided to sign.
In the end, this meant that he would be protecting the person he loved the most.
He wouldn't give up on Shouta, but he could at least do this for him.
They never should have done this in the first place, but it was for the first time in his life that he got to do something selfish.
He had to let Shouta go.
That was the selfless thing to do.
With his signature on the papers, he handed them back over to Shouta. As he did so, he could feel his heart shattering. Shouta still refused to look at him. A cloak of black hair shielding Aizawa's face from him. He knew everything about this man. Shouta had been so honest with him. Showing him every part of him. Yet, Toshinori couldn't do the same for him.
It was better to just let him go.
As Shouta stood up from the table, he had stopped just short of heading for the door, "Take care of yourself, Toshinori."
That was the last thing that Shouta said to him.
Two years later, his time as a hero was rapidly declining and Toshinori went in search of a successor. It felt almost bittersweet that there was one place that he could think of to find one. U.A. High School. His alma mater. It had been Nezu's idea. Another person – technically mammal – who knew about One for All. Knew of what he was going through. He had decided, he would take the job offer to help train the new heroes to be. Giving him a reason to be out of the spotlight and rest more. Be able to search for a successor to inherit his power.
He knew that he would have to interact with Shouta at some point. He was still teaching there as far as he knew. When he had brought it up to Nezu, the mammal didn't say much about it. Just saying that it wouldn't interfere with either of their jobs. He hadn't seen Shouta since that day. Since the day their lives as a couple dissipated. Shouta hadn't even seen this smaller, frail looking form. He looked damn near close to a walking skeleton now. He almost didn't want to allow Shouta to see him like this. This wasn't the Toshinori Yagi that Shouta had known. It would just prove that Shouta had been right. Toshinori didn't regret his decision. He wouldn't for a minute. He had continued to save people and make the world a safer place.
Yet, there felt like some meddling on Nezu's part.
Boy, Toshinori should have known.
Though, it was before he ever actually started teaching at U.A. that he had found his successor. A young boy named Izuku Midoriya. A young boy that showed more bravery than any of the pro heroes who had been on the scene that day. A boy that All Might had crushed his entire world. A boy that had moved without even thinking to save a friend.
A boy who would inherit the power that was One for All.
He had reignited the boy's dream with, "Young man, you too can become a hero."
From that day on, it started the ten-month training period of molding Midoriya's body into the proper vessel for One for All. He had told Nezu and was granted the time away and would be present at the Entrance Exams.
That would be the day that he saw Shouta again for the first time, and he wasn't sure if he was ready for it.
X
When Shouta had married Toshinori, it felt like it had all been a dream. He was young when they got married. He had only been twenty-three years old and everything about it had felt right. Toshinori had been everything that he had ever dreamed of. It made him so happy. Toshinori made him happy.
Sure, he wasn't surprised to learn that Toshinori Yagi was All Might. Not when Toshinori introduced himself as All Might's secretary. He was an underground hero. He knew how to get information. He knew that it wasn't the case. Toshinori and All Might were too much alike. He was just glad that Toshinori told him the truth.
Secrets weren't uncommon among heroes. Technically, they weren't even frowned upon. Hero names and code names were meant for that very reason. To protect the identity of the hero. To protect their families. This was a hell of a secret, and he was okay with that. All Might was the most popular hero in the world. His influence going more than just Japan. He was the Number One hero in their home country.
He was a man of many secrets himself, but with Toshinori he had been an open book.
As their marriage progressed, he had started noticing it more. Toshinori wasn't being transparent with him. Not giving him the same benefit that Shouta had been giving to him. After Toshinori was attacked by a villain. Severely injured at that. He could feel their breaking point hitting. He didn't even know the villain's name. No one would tell him. It was just another secret and lie after another. He couldn't handle it anymore. He knew there must have been a reason that Toshinori wasn't telling him, but he already had his doubts.
Toshinori knew everything about him.
Toshinori was doing one of the exact things that he feared following the near-death experience. He had tried to stick it out, hoping that Toshinori would see what he was doing to himself.
In the end, he knew he would never be able to sway him.
He couldn't bear to watch it.
Despite the fact he was still in love with him, he couldn't stay by his side if he wasn't going to listen to reason. Toshinori wouldn't listen to anyone from what he could tell. Toshinori was pulling away from him. Pushing him away. Keeping even more secrets than before. Not coming home for weeks at a time. It was three years of constant worry and heart break.
There was only so much he could take before he finally broke.
In the end, he did the one thing that he could think of.
After five years of marriage, he presented Toshinori with divorce papers.
He broke his own heart making the decision. Shattered completely by seeing the heartbroken look on Toshinori's face. It was what he had to do. It was the only rational thing he could do.
That had been the last time he had seen Toshinori in person. He had seen him in the news as All Might, and he was still doing incredibly well for himself. He would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he had been watching for any news about him. Hoping that he would never hear that Toshinori pushed himself just a bit too far and lost his life.
Shouta didn't know if he could live with himself.
Two years later, he had been pulled into Nezu's office. Receiving news that he never thought he would hear. All Might was going to be a teacher at U.A. starting at the beginning of the school year. He didn't hear the rest of the conversation as the ringing started in his ears. He barely remembered getting home.
He knew that his face must have given him away as Hizashi had noticed almost immediately. Questioning him about it as soon as he walked into the room. Not even a second had passed and Shouta felt the tears come to his eyes.
He couldn't do this.
But he had too.
He didn't have any right to be breaking down like this. He had been the one who had given Toshinori the divorce papers. He had been the one who had given up. He couldn't sit back and watch what was happening. He just couldn't. Not after seeing what happened to Shirakumo. He couldn't see Toshinori do it too.
Nezu had told him that they would be having a staff meeting about important information that they would need to know, but that All Might would not physically be present until the Entrance Exams. Shouta did not want to see him.
X
Toshinori was pacing. The nervous and anxiety sparking through him. He pulled his suit against him a bit more, trying not to wear a hole in the ground. There was so much going on for this day. Midoriya was going in for his Entrance Exam, having blown Toshinori's expectations completely out of the water. Having taken a piece of his DNA to receive One for All from him. Now, he was on his time limit officially. A day would come, and One for All would completely leave him, and his career as All Might would come to an end.
Then there was the even bigger elephant in the room.
He would come face to face with Shouta for the first time in two years.
What was he supposed to say or do?
They could be amicable about it.
At least, he hoped so.
His heart was pounding against his chest as he walked through the halls of U.A. It had been so long since he had been here last. He wondered what Shouta's life was like now. If he had someone new in his life? How he was fairing after the divorce. Shouta wanted absolutely nothing from him. Just his signature on a piece of paper, making their split official.
Shouta had always lingered in his mind. Even after all this time.
It made him wonder. Though, he couldn't question it.
He wouldn't put Shouta through that again. He had to let Shouta go completely. Even if he didn't want too. He had felt so foolish when him and Shouta first started dating. He knew what happened with his Master and her family. The thought had crossed his mind to never do that to himself, but he had just wanted to be selfish. Just one time. Shouta understood the life of a hero. What came with it. He wasn't scared of what the future could hold.
He didn't know what he was more nervous about.
Midoriya or Shouta.
Hell, he was nervous about both. He would cross the bridge when he came up to it. For now, he supposed he would let Toshinori take a head dive first into it. All Might was pure confidence. Toshinori, not so much.
"Alright, let's go, All Might!" Nezu announced.
It was now or never.
It was time to face both his past and future.