"Mother?" Midoriya called out toward his mother's back, he was slightly surprised to see her in this corner of the castle as he was on his way to fetch the prince his lunch. The woman jumped slightly as she pulled a wooden door shut. Narrowing his eyes, his gaze flickered from his mother's back to the door then back to his mother again.
She had just walked out of All Might's room.
Rushing over to her, a grim look settled on Midoriya's features. "Is there something wrong with All Might?" He hastily whispered to his mother who shook her head.
"He's fine." She patted her hand against her son's arm, attempting to placate him. "Although he's getting weaker with each passing day. He's fine."
Midoriya frowned at her words, his eyes studying the new grey hairs that seemed to be cropping up on his mother's scalp to the appearance of wrinkles around the corners of her eyes. It felt like there was more his mother wasn't saying; her appearance in the hall that contained All Might's room was anomalous, she was a royal scholar, a position that he knew offered her some degree of closeness with their leader as she had to report directly to All Might and at times had to confirm with him depending upon the nature of her work. But her room was on the other side of the castle and he knew his mother wouldn't make the trip to All Might's room unless it was completely necessary.
"Are you sure, mother? If something is wrong with him, I can help."
Surprise widened his mother's eyes, as an appreciative grin stretched across her face. Patting his arm with a warming gesture, she nodded her head. "I know, you can. But for now, I have everything covered and you shouldn't worry yourself, instead focus on your current duties."
Midoriya nodded, despite the reassurance from his mother, he couldn't help but feel doubt settle into the empty space of his gut as he assured her that he would try to find some time in the evening to share a meal with her before running off to the kitchens and fetching the prince's dinner.
As he set down the tray on the prince's table, there was a soft knock on the door before Yaoyorozu poked her head inside the bedroom. "Midoriya, All Might wishes to speak with you in the gardens."
His brows lifted in surprise that Yaoyorozu came out of her way to inform him that All Might wished to speak with him in the gardens, he supposed it was the prince's way of telling him that he would have some degree of freedom, but not much. Nodding, Midoriya walked away from the table and out of the room, the female knight only walking a few feet behind him as they walked through long corridors and out into the open air to reach the castle gardens. Even at night, the flowers here glowed with an ethereal beauty so that they served as a source of light in the gardens that had been built in such a way that guests could easily traverse the grounds without the use of a lantern or their Quirks.
As Midoriya made his way into the gardens, he lightly brushed the tips of his fingers against one of the flowers. It was the national flower of Enten, a flower that was shaped like a splitting peach with bright reddish-orange petals and a bud that resembled molten lava. Tiny little parts of the bud would shed and float into the air, carried away by gusts of wind to find new ground on which to germinate.
As Midoriya examined the flower, a sharp laugh behind him caused he and Yaoyorozu to look in the direction of the sound. All Might, having changed out of his clothes for a simple bright yellow yukata, descended down the few steps into the gardens. His eyes flickering to Yaoyorozu.
Giving a simple nod of her head, she gestured for All Might and Midoriya to walk in front of her. They did, putting a good number of feet between them and her, All Might clucked his tongue against his teeth.
"Seems like we won't be able to talk freely." He grumbled underneath his breath, casting a wary look back at Yaoyorozu, despite the friendly smile plastered on his face.
Letting a smile tug at the corner of his lips due to the infectious, positive nature of the man next to him, Midoriya slightly shook his head. "No, it doesn't seem like we will and I doubt the prince would seeing as how he's had someone watching my every move since I've been here."
Humming at that, All Might stopped and laid a single hand on Midoriya's shoulder. The contact was warm, gentle and fatherly in nature. There was something soft and reassuring in All Might's eyes as he looked down at Midoriya.
"Besides all that. How have you been? How's the Crown Prince?"
Huffing, Midoriya rolled his eyes. "Well, I never thought anyone could be a huge insufferable ass until I met him."
He didn't bother glancing in the direction behind them where Yaoyorozu was currently hidden behind two large, neatly trimmed hedges. A chuckling, snort informed the both of them of the knight's position.
Patting Midoriya's shoulder reassuringly with a gentle, understanding smile, All Might gave him a bit of advice. "I'm sure the prince will warm up to you. You must simply give it some time. After all, his father and I were like the two of you when we were your age."
Mention of the king caused Midoriya's brows to furrow together as he glanced up at All Might. "That name you called the king earlier, Endeavor, why did you refer to him with it?"
Letting out a wistful sigh, All Might's grin seemed to grow bigger upon his face. "I sometimes tend to forget how truly young you are. It's a nickname he received when we were still in our boyhood, sometimes I would accompany my predecessor on important, diplomatic events and he his father. Endeavor had—" All Might trailed off, the corner of his mouth slightly wrinkling in concentration, "—a fiery personality; he was always keen on destroying any and every obstacle in his path. Even if it seemed insurmountable, so he gained the nickname Endeavor because of his will."
Burgeoning past All Might's lips, a sigh caressed the air. "Ah, youth," there was a sentimental light burning in his eyes; the memories of his own youth clearly dredging up a bout of nostalgia within him. "The two of us had a tremendous rivalry going when we were just boys, we even always got along together."
Chuckling nervously, Midoriya didn't have the heart to tell All Might that his relationship with the king—at least not on his end—seemed anything, but a friendly rivalry. That glare the king had given All Might this morning was the look of a man who would gladly relish in watching his rival fall before his feet and gladly drink in every drop as if sipping upon a fine, aged wine. Shuddering as the salient memory of his first appearance before the king came to the forefront of his mind, his stomach somersaulted inside of him as those ice colored eyes seemed to pin him down to the floor. A mere bug among a million.
His face must have paled at the memory as he was shaken out of his thoughts by All Might's light touch upon his shoulder. The usual coruscating smile upon All Might's face was a pale shadow of the usual gleam and cheerfulness that always surrounded him. In this moment, he looked less like a leader who could inspire the masses with a flash of pearly white teeth, but a parent showing concern over the drastic change of mood occurring within their child.
Swallowing Midoriya let his thoughts turn to the childhood torments and teasing that had haunted him throughout his boyhood. The taunts in the schoolroom of being without a father, the countless children at the end of the day who would be swept up into the arms of their father or greeted by both of their parents, while he was left underneath the shade of the building to wait for his mother or one of the elderly servants from his home to come and fetch him. A bastard child without a father? What a pity.
Emotions that had burrowed beneath his skin and festered for years gripped his heart, making it suddenly difficult to breathe. Feeling All Might's bright blue eyes flickering over the contours of his face, he felt the man's grip on his shoulder tighten, seemingly understanding that he was wrestling with a tsunami of emotions that crested, rising above his head before pulling him underneath its waves. There was something understanding behind All Might's eyes as the man's eyes flickered to the curve of the hedges where Yaoyorozu stood.
"Midoriya, my boy, come with me," All Might whispered softly, his grip on Midoriya's shoulder tightening as he silently steered the boy towards a fountain that had been placed between a set of thick hedges.
o-o-o-o-o
Sunlight filtered through evergreen leaves overhead, a kaleidoscope of light that fell upon a lush sea of green grass that had the same startling vividness as the leaves overhead. Thick oak trees that had been felled down flattened the lush grass; the abandoned building blocks of a castle that had been brought under the submission of an enemy. Large stumps had been left behind, a task that the lumberjacks would deal with on another day.
Pocketing the pouch of coins that he had pulled out in order to quietly pay the lumberjacks to abandon their work for the rest of the evening. All Might quietly stalked behind Midoriya, his footfalls silent as the grass that swayed against his bare ankles consumed the noise.
"What are we doing out here?" Midoriya's eyes took in the wide expanse of the forest just a few miles away from the castle. Near the edge of the forest, he could hear the horses All Might had asked him to purchase from a stable hand neighing as they chomped down on the lush grass, happy to take a short reprieve from their brisk journey.
The grin on All Might's face only seemed to grow bigger, just like it had back in the gardens when he had pushed apart the hedges near the fountain to reveal a secret path that lead from the castle to the outskirts of the city.
"Just a secret between you and me." He had quietly told Midoriya before steering him into the parting made by the two hedges, All Might following closely behind him until the hedges swallowed up All Might's large frame.
"Something to cheer you up!" All Might's boisterous personality more voluminous than the forest before them. "Strength training! His grin was blinding as he pointed to the fallen logs just a few feet away, a few of the logs had been split into quarters, but their impressive size still would need the strength of at least two men in order to haul them to a pile of logs that were just a few feet away.
"I told those workers that you'd be doing their job for them."
The blank look on Midoriya's face quickly had All Might holding up his hands as a sweat droplet careened down from his temple to his cheek. "Fear not, young Midoriya, you're going to use One for All to split the logs that already haven't been broken down and then use it to increase the natural strength in your arms and legs to carry the logs you've split and the already split ones over to the pile." Giving him a thumbs up, All Might's grin swayed Midoriya's apprehension a little. "Don't worry. Don't worry. You'll do fine."
Sighing, Midoriya rolled up the sleeves of his shirt that he wore underneath his vest as he closed his eyes, he let One for All slowly rise to the surface of his skin and breathed deeply.
o-o-o-o-o
Recovery Girl clucked her tongue as she closely examined the bruised and blackened form of Midoriya's arms.
All Might stood sheepishly beside Midoriya, a blush of embarrassment staining his cheeks as he kept his gaze pointed to the floor in order to not stare into the older woman's eyes.
"You. Young man," lifting her syringe shaped cane, Recovery Girl smacked Midoriya in the shin with it, earning her a wince of pain from the green haired-boy who looked just about ready to black out from the pain his nearly broken arms were giving him. Recovery Girl fixed All Might with a withering stare, her lips flattened out into a thin line. "I can't believe you, Toshinori. Not only do you make the poor boy like this, but you send him back to my office when he just nearly left. Not to mention I can see every muscle in your body trembling just to keep your form like that."
The blush on All Might's cheeks got deeper. Out in the woods, Midoriya had tapped a little too deeply into the well that was One for All; he still wasn't used to utilizing the Quirk at all, despite the stamina and strength training that All Might had put him through leading up to his departure, he had only had a little bit of time with the man to focus on the abilities of the Quirk after all. As a result, his arms had ended up like what he was forced to stare at.
Worry had scintillated into All Might's eyes at the appearance of Midoriya's arms and he had quickly tossed the boy onto his horse, rode back into the outskirts of the city, returned the horses and rushed back into the gardens from the secret passageway they had taken before. All Might had yelled for Yaoyorozu, the knight rushing around the corner from where she had been standing earlier. There had been a scowl on her face, no doubt she had been looking all over the gardens for the two of them; her scowl deepened once she saw Midoriya's arms, suspicion draped her face like a widow's veil.
When they had come to Recovery Girl's office, she had seemed to glow at All Might's appearance, a friendly and familiar look passing between them, but that quickly fell when she saw Midoriya's arms and ordered Yaoyorozu out. Midoriya had been surprised at the woman's sharp tongue as she lashed out at All Might as she examined his arms, gingerly taking them into her wrinkled hands and lightly pressing on the flesh as Midoriya let out hisses between clenched teeth.
Midoriya slightly turned his head as the door to Recovery Girl's office, swung open. The wood hitting the wall beside it with an audible smack, before Midoriya's mother rushed into the room. Worry caused her features to seem just a little older as her gaze settled upon his injuries, causing her skin to pale and a deep frown to tug at the corner of her lips. As she rushed over to him, she shared a knowing look with All Might as she quickly grabbed one of her son's arms, but let it drop limply to his sides as his pallor turned even lighter from the shock of pain.
"How did this happen? What were you doing? Did someone hurt you?" Her questions were like a volley of arrows that had been pointed at his direction, instead of them being loosed upon him one by one, she had simply loosed the entire quiver instead.
Shaking his head, Midoriya attempted to conciliate her fears and worry. "It's fine, Mom. I just ended up overexerting myself today and tripped down some stairs when I wasn't paying attention." There was doubt in her eyes as her gaze flickered down to Midoriya's arms again. "It's fine, Mom. I promise you, it's all fine. Recovery Girl's going to fix me in a second."
Reaching out, All Might placed his hand on Inko's shoulder, giving it a reassuring pat as he lifted his head to stare into her eyes. "Don't worry yourself sick, Inko. I'll look over Midoriya for you."
Midoriya frowned slightly as a passionate look seemed to pass between them—one that he had never noticed before—as All Might squeezed her shoulder lightly, before letting his hand slip from her shoulder. Something in Midoriya stirred with unease as All Might's touch just seemed to have lingered for a few moments too long than what was usually appropriate. He shook his head and chose to squash down the unease, simply chalking his emotions up to a tumultuous day.
Inko nodded her head and turned to part the locks of Midoriya's hair that hid his forehead before planting a gentle kiss upon the skin. She bade him to rest once Recovery Girl healed him, something he promised her he would do, before watching his mother leave the room.
His gaze flickered over to All Might, who stared at the door after his mother left. There was a peculiar emotion upon his face that Midoriya had never seen before; he no longer wore his iconic smile, but instead, there was a dour look on his face.
All Might seemed to notice that Midoriya was staring at him as he whipped his head around and slipped his smile right back on as if Midoriya had only pulled away the mask for a few seconds to catch a glimpse of the man beneath it. Reaching out, All Might patted Midoriya's shoulder reassuringly as he told him everything would be okay.
Swallowing the lump down in his throat, Midoriya wasn't certain if, after today, anything would be.
o-o-o-o-o
A/N: Sorry for the late update. A combination of jet lag, delayed flights, and being annoyed by a bunch of stuff that happened at multiple airports I forgot to upload the chapter at a reasonable time. After this update I think I will be uploading chapters as I finish writing them and my beta reader checks them, but that also means longer chapters to tide everyone over for quite some time, but will mean that my update schedule will change and I won't have a definite one like I've been doing.