The final battle with Kira to say the least, was something the least. It was a horrible thing and no one got away unscathed. Izuku just got a scar on his shoulder from the attack, while Toshinori got the worst of it. It had been hard for him to keep his lung clear as he spent most of the journey home coughing up blood in order to clear his lung.
It had worn down on everyone to say the least. Not to mention, the story about why 'Zuko' looked so much like Inko and of course why he had Toshinori's birthmark. Inko of course, had spent most of the time explaining to Hizashi and Shouta about everything that had happened. They were shocked to say the least.
Yet, Toshinori had to be treated right away when they had arrived back to the castle. He had lost a lot of blood, and Inko couldn't help but be worried about Toshinori. Thinking that he wasn't going to make it. She had stayed by his bedside while they started to treat him. Honestly, he still preferred to have Inko by his side during the procedure and she wasn't going to lie, she wanted to be there for him.
Holding onto his hand as she snuggled against his side trying to make sure that he knew that she was there. The young woman let out a soft sigh as she felt herself feel a little more comfortable with Toshinori at her side. He was a strong man, she knew that he would make it through this without any problem.
Which, was true, and for that she was thankful. Toshinori had managed to pull through but he would have a terrible scar on his side for the rest of his life. Yet, the scar itself, it reminded Inko of a sunflower, which suited him perfectly. Yet, the procedure itself had taken its toll on the king. He could still breathe fine on his own for the most part, but because he was no missing a lung due to the damage that Kira had caused, along with his coughing until they could get him help had ripped his lung beyond repair.
So, it would take his body some time to recover and adjust to only having one lung.
Letting out a soft sigh, Inko looked up at Toshinori's sleeping face and gave him a soft smile. He had been asleep since they started the surgery. They believed that it was best that the sleep quirk that had been used on him was best. He could heal better if he was asleep. Reaching up, the young woman gently traced her fingers along his cheek as she still felt the warmth of his skin.
He was still here, and he would always be there for her… right?
Closing her eyes, the young woman nuzzled a little more against Toshinori, just wanting to feel comfort and to give comfort in return.
It got to the point that even Usagi walked into the bedroom, having missed the two of them. Then of course, Tenko walked into the room wanting to be with Inko and Toshinori. He was scared when Inko had been kidnapped, and of course seeing Toshinori in such a state had only scared him all the more. Though, Inko had to tell him to be careful of Toshinori's side as the man was still recovering, he just wasn't going to wake up for a bit and anything that stimulated his mind may wake the poor man up.
"Inko?" came Tenko's small voice, causing her to look over at the little boy as he snuggled up against Toshinori's other side, being careful of his side. "Will Toshinori be okay?" asked the small boy.
"He'll be okay sweetie. Toshinori's a tough man, he was trained to endure pain remember?" Inko gave him a small smile, though knew that the man was still human after all. Even when he had gone out of his way to assure Tenko that he was okay, it had taken everything he had just to get out of bed.
"You sure?" he asked with that little voice of his. Seeming scared of what would happen should Toshinori die. Inko knew that he would be okay, after all Izuku was still here. He wasn't fading so there was a good chance that the man was going to make it through this.
Though Inko couldn't tell Tenko that, as he was a small boy and may not really understand that the masked guard had been from the future. Reaching over, she ran her fingers through Tenko's light blue hair as she gave him a small smile. "Everything will be okay Tenko, I'm sure of it. Toshinori won't leave us, he loves the both of us I know that for sure."
"He does?"
"Yes, in fact, he and I are going to get married and… I'm thinking that you could be our son if you want to be." Inko said with a soft smile on her face. Tenko just blinked his big eyes at her as tears seemed to go down her face. Inko knew that, Izuku had said that he became their son but still, it was best to still allow the flow of time to take its proper course.
"You want me?" Tenko said with a sniffle.
"Of course, you're a sweet boy. Toshinori and I already love you like our own." Inko said with a soft smile on her face.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Tenko smiled a little as he yawned and snuggled a little more against Toshinori. Inko couldn't help but smile at the scene, it was rather adorable, though she just hoped that Toshinori didn't mind that she had already gone on ahead and adopted Tenko. The only thing though that she was really concerned about was Toshinori's health in the long run.
They had said that Toshinori would live a long life, even without his lung but he still had a long road ahead of him until he recovered. Though she just hoped that he wouldn't end up leaving Izuku like he had before Izuku came back to stop it. Hm, to ensure that this timeline stays, she'll have to make sure that it keeps going… ugh, time travel was weird.
Yawning softly, the young woman drifted off to sleep.
Toshinori groaned a little as he opened his eyes. Everything hurt, his vision still blurry from sleep, mixed in with the pain. But, at the same time he felt rather warm and… content? Yeah, that sounded about right.
Looking over to his side, he couldn't help but smile as he saw Inko snuggled up against him. Sound asleep as well at that. She had a few dry tears on her cheeks, making him wonder how long she had cried herself to sleep. There was no way that she could have cried so much but, then again it was Inko. She would cry over anything, but it made him love her more for it. She worried over everyone and anyone really.
Turning his gaze, he saw that Tenko was there as well. The little boy must have been worried, he had been scared when Inko was gone. Frowning a little, he grunted as he lifted his hand and ran his fingers through the boy's hair. It seemed that the little boy had wanted to stay with the blonde king and Inko, most likely feeling comfort from the contact. He couldn't help but feel a little concerned over this boy.
Even though, Tenko wasn't his son he knew that the boy was rather important to himself and Inko. They hadn't known the boy for very long but Toshinori had already grown to love the boy as a son.
Sighing softly, he ruffled Tenko's hair a bit before turning his gaze back to Inko and gave her a soft smile. 'Had she stayed with me the whole time?' Toshinori thought to himself, not really sure if the woman had stayed with him just because it was something that he had requested. If he was honest, he had been scared of his injuries taking its toll on his body and killed him. Even though he was in pain, it was a sign that he was alive.
Closing his eyes, he leaned his head against Inko's as she had her head resting against his shoulder. How was it that he had someone as special as Inko in his life? Someone that was so full of life and love for him, among other people.
Feeling her hand move from the side of his blanket covered ribs until she wrapped her arm around his chest, causing him to shudder a little. The blanket didn't completely cover him, most likely from Tenko pulling at some of the blankets to keep himself warm during the cold night. Looking down at her, he couldn't help but sigh softly in content.
Even though her hand rested on his chest, and that it wasn't moving he could still feel the slight tingling from her touch. He knew that he would die if she moved around in her sleep. Nuzzling the top of her head, Toshinori couldn't help but wonder what it was that Inko was dreaming about. Most likely about their future no doubt. Though, he also knew that he would have to thank Izuku later, the boy had done a great job protecting Inko and himself, though this was assuming that the boy was still even here in the first place.
For all he knew, he could have gone home by now.
Shaking his head, Toshinori had a feeling that Izuku was still in the castle. After all, if he was anything like either himself or Inko, the boy wouldn't leave without a proper goodbye.
Looking down at his side, he saw that he had a rather large bandage around his torso, must have been when he was stabbed. He couldn't remember what they had done to him but he wondered why he felt rather content even while he looked at it. When before, he was rather terrified about the idea of getting surgery in the first place.
Though he knew that it was the only way to save his life, but… he still would prefer if Inko was there with him. Just to make him feel a little more comfortable.
His life was going to change, that was for sure. One thing that he knew was that his title would have to change. The Emotionless King, was no more. He wasn't going to hide his emotions anymore, he had the power to protect is family, his loved ones and friends. Nothing would change that, and when the time came where he would have to pass on his own quirk then so be it. He would never allow himself to hide his emotions but knew that it would take some time to adjust showing his emotions again but the end result would be worth it now wouldn't it?
Closing his eyes, the young man took a deep breath only for his breath to hitch. Eyes snapped open as he felt a strange alien sensation filling his lungs. But it didn't stop there, he felt it flowing up into his throat.
Without a second thought, Toshinori shot up and hacked into his hands painfully. Tears appeared at the edge of his eyes as he couched and felt something warm and sticky staining his hands. His shoulders trembled from the force of his coughing fit, he couldn't help but wonder if there was something else wrong with him.
"Toshi?" came Inko's voice, he knew that he must have woken her up with his coughing fit. What was going on? "Oh god Toshi!" Inko said, causing him to open his eyes as he turned his blue gaze onto her and saw that she had rushed off and grabbed a towel that was in a basin of water. "Are you-no of course you're not okay! You're coughing up blood!"
His eyes widened at that, causing him to pull his hands away from his mouth as he stared at the sight with wide eyes. How was this possible? Did they not fix his damaged lung? Was there something else wrong with him that they hadn't been able to fix right away. There had to be something more, and only Inko could tell him what was going on.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask more question, he felt his lungs hitch once again as he started to cough loudly into his hands, it was just as painful as last time.
"Toshinori?" came Tenko's worried voice.
"Tenko sweetie, go to your room okay? I'll tend to Toshinori for now."
Opening his blue eyes once again, Toshinori saw the worried eyes of Tenko. He saw that the boy was concerned for the blonde but he also knew that he had to do something to assure the boy. How though, he wasn't sure. If he was really coughing blood, then seeing a bloodied smile wasn't going to help anything, in fact it would only make it worse.
"I'll… be fine my boy." Toshinori managed to wheeze out.
Tenko frowned a little before nodding his head. "Go and see Izuku, check up on him. I bet he'd like that." Toshinori added, hoping that Tenko would like it as well, as a means to feel safe. Plus, Izuku was the only one that Tenko had felt comfortable with for the moment.
"Okay…" He whispered softly before crawling out of bed and left.
Tightly shutting his eyes, Toshinori felt another coughing fit hitting him hard. God, why wasn't this stopping? Shuddering a bit from pain, Toshinori blinked through the tears of pain as he looked up and saw Inko holding out a damp towel for him. Removing one of his bloodied hands, he accepted the towel and went to speak until Inko shook her head. She already knew that he would want some kind of explanation from this.
"They managed to do the procedure on you to save you." Inko began, causing Toshinori to blink at her as he wiped at his hands first. Trying to wipe at the blood that stained his hands.
He knew that there had to be something bad coming up. If they had managed to save his life, but he knew that there had to be some kind of draw back. Blinking his blue eyes, Toshinori couldn't help but gaze up at her, as if telling her to continue. "They couldn't save your lung though, because of the coughing and rough breathing your lung was torn too much to be saved." Inko explained as she let out a soft sigh.
Okay, so that explained the hitching breaths but not the blood.
"There was also more damage, so there will be times where your blood will fill your remaining lung and you'll need to um…"
Oh, so when that happens, his body decides to clear it out by coughing. Such as if there is too much mucus of flam within the lungs while sick the human body would cough it out in order to clear it. Once he was done cleaning his hands, he reached up and started to wipe the blood from his lips as he gazed at Inko, seeing as she looked a little uncomfortable. Maybe eve scared. He couldn't blame her for that, she had been through such an ordeal.
"Inko…"
"I was scared." Inko whispered, her body shook.
Toshinori frowned a little, giving her a soft look before he reached out toward her. Inko blinked as she stared at the man, when he wiggled his fingers. Inko just stared at him before sliding her hand into his before Toshinori pulled her to his side and held onto his future bride. "Inko, I'm sorry for scaring you like that."
"You were dead!" Inko sobbed out.
Toshinori frowned a little before he held her close to his side and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, I never wanted to scare you like that. To be honest, for a moment myself I thought that was I too was dead. I was in nothing but darkness until your voice brought me back."
"And you said that you had to play dead right?"
"Yes, after that, I tried to fight to stay awake. When she was about to attack you, I had to act then and there." He let out a soft sigh as he nuzzled against Inko's head with his cheek. Gazing at her with a deep sadness. "I will not lie, for years I had wanted revenge to kill the shadow that took my family, but… during that fight. I was more concerned about you."
Inko looked up at Toshinori with a frown on her face. "At the time, the only thing that came to me was to protect you. To save you, and everyone else. I didn't think of revenge in the last moment, I knew that if I did, I would never forgive myself."
Inko sniffled a little as she held onto Toshinori. His body shuddered from the contact. God, he'd have to control himself from all of this touching. He knew that this was going to be rather hard for him but he just hoped that he could control himself around her. Tightly shutting his eyes, Toshinori felt more blood coming up his throat. Quickly pulling himself away from her, Toshinori held the cloth to his face as he coughed, it wasn't as painful this time around and for that he was thankful.
"Toshi?"
"I'm fine."
"Okay."
Shuddering, Toshinori looked over at Inko and gave her a weak smile. "So, I'm missing one lung now eh?" He tried to make it sound funny, though failed at doing so. Inko held onto him, he shuddered from a mixture of pleasure and pain from Inko's hand graving his injury. "Careful." He whispered softly.
"It's my fault that you lost it."
"Inko."
"No! You almost died because of me! The kingdom almost lost their king! Izuku was almost never born to have stopped anything that was happening! We almost lost our future together!" Inko all but shouted at the blonde, her own pain and suffering coming to the surface. Burying her face against his chest as she cried out all of the pain that was flowing through her heart to her very soul.
Toshinori just wrapped his arms around her before kissing her forehead. Inko looked up at him, her tears still rolling down her cheeks. He couldn't help but feel his heart clench at the sight, but he knew that he had to say this. "Inko, losing a lung is one thing that I can afford to lose." He whispered softly, leaning closer to the green haired woman as he let out a soft sigh. "But, to lose you is something that I could never allow myself to lose." He kissed her tears away before placing his forehead against hers. "I can handle losing my kingdom, I can handle losing what fortune that I have in my name but what I can't lose, is you, the boys or my friends. All of you mean the world to me and I would gladly throw my life away or put it on the line just to keep you all safe."
Inko sniffled as she cried out more. He knew that those were things that she didn't want to hear, but at the same time she needed to hear them. It was out of his desire to keep her safe that made him want to say such things to her. He knew that it was going to be a long road to recover from such a fight, but the only thing that mattered to him was that they were all safe and sound. "Inko, I love you… and I will never, ever leave you so long as I have strength in my body. You are my heart, my whole world and without you I am nothing but a shell of a man who once knew what true love was."
The young woman couldn't help but gaze at Toshinori as more tears rolled down her face. "I never want to lose that feeling Inko, as long as you are alive, I'll always know what it is. To love, to have true love and to have it in return. Nothing will change that, but think of it as this." Toshinori whispered as he gazed lovingly into her eyes. "We can live our lives together, we can be happy together to raise our boys, to get married and have Izuku like it is meant to be and be happy forever."
Inko just looked up at Toshinori as she whispered "I love you Toshinori, I want to keep you happy and safe."
"You do, by being your usual fun loving self my dear." Toshinori whispered as he kissed her. He knew that their lives were going to be a struggle, but he knew that this was the only way that they could live their lives. He would make sure that no matter what, he would do whatever he could to keep his family safe. No matter if it be their bodies or their hearts, he would keep them safe.
