Izuku hated that his friends served All Might coffee. He knew it was a power-play, he'd told them his mentor couldn't drink coffee anymore, but Akira had taken his mother's old coffee maker and whipped up a fresh pot for everyone, ready to go when All Might finally came by. Everyone had a coffee, even Ryuji, just so that they could pretend that it wasn't a power-play, that they had no idea Yagi-san couldn't drink coffee, they were so sorry.
Izuku frowned, sipping from his cup. Even though Izuku was mad at him, Akira still knew how to make magic with coffee beans.
All Might looked tiny sitting on his family's overstuffed arm chair. The rest of his friends were scattered around his apartment: Akira and Makoto on either side of him on the couch like disapproving parents, Mona on the coffee table, Ann and Yusuke at the counter, and Ryuji on the floor. The Midoriya apartment had never felt so crowded and stifling before.
Akira had organized this confrontation. After Izuku refused to give him All Might's first name (not that it would have mattered, it's definitely a fake name), Akira had pushed for their meeting to be moved to Izuku's apartment. If Izuku had known Akira only wanted to move it so he could be petty, Izuku wouldn't have allowed it.
"So, Yagi-san." Izuku shivered at the cold tone in Akira's voice. "We're very concerned about Izuku. You know how this looks, right…?"
"How this looks?"
Makoto picked up where Akira left off, her arms crossed tight across her chest. "You're a grown man hanging around a middle school boy several hours a day in a location far from the public eye. Tell us, if you were a stranger to this situation, what would you think?"
"I would never!"
"What were we supposed to think?" Ann asked. "Izuku acts like your very existence is some big secret and avoids talking about you."
Ryuji piped in. "Dude, we're from Shujin academy. You've seen it on the news, right? About that bastard, Kamoshida? We just want to make sure the same thing isn't happening here."
All Might coughed, droplets of blood splattering his handkerchief. "That… sounds bad, I'll admit it. But I have no such intentions for Young Midoriya! I care about him and want him to become a hero."
"So, you think he can?" Akira asked.
"Of course I do!"
"Then what's with his unbalanced training schedule?" Makoto asked. "The community service is valuable, I won't deny that, but there so much more to being a hero than raw strength. There's fighting, stealth, quirks, communication, stamina… why are you specializing so much?"
"And then there are the health concerns," Akira added. "I've had a doctor look over your training regimen and diet plan. The amount of muscle he would gain by the end of it would hurt him and stunt his growth. Izuku hasn't even hit puberty yet!"
Izuku looked away. He wasn't sure what to tell his friends about All Might's quirk. He wanted to tell them—they trusted him with such a big secret, and he wanted to give them the same trust—but it was All Might's secret first and foremost. There was no way that All Might would be willing to tell such a large group of teenagers his secret.
"While it might not look like much, that plan was created by All Might himself," All Might said. "I'm his secretary, and All Might is very interested in Young Midoriya's progress."
"And what's All Might's secretary doing training our friend?" Makoto asked, eyes narrow. "Not that he doesn't deserve All Might's attention. But it is pretty suspicious."
"All Might has entrusted Young Midoriya's hero training to me—"
"But that doesn't explain why either one of you are so interested in the first place," she countered.
"Guys, come on," Izuku tried to protest. "I trust All Might. A-And Yagi-sensei. Can't you trust my judgement?"
"No." The resounding denial from every member of the Phantom Thieves shocked him.
Ann continued. "We trust you, Zuzu." Zuzu? "But you've got to admit, you can be a little… obsessed with All Might."
Mona hopped up into his lap. "We're saying that if All Might started committing crimes, we think you'd commit the most crimes, just to get his attention."
"Mona!"
"He has a point."
"The… cat has a point?"
Izuku looked between his mentor, who was looking contemplative, and his friends, who were all in agreement. They weren't wrong to be concerned. He'd done some… questionable things in the past to obtain All Might merchandise. He feared the day he'd meet Sir Nighteye because of what he's done. But the situation wasn't as malicious as they thought.
"He's not going to confess anything if we keep pushing him," Yusuke said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting began. "You all remember how I was in the beginning, correct? If Yagi-san is abusing him, he won't say anything until he's ready. If there is no abuse, then you're only upsetting him for no reason."
Akira and Makoto looked away. Ann bit her lip, and Ryuji looked down at his hands, ashamed. Izuku sighed. "Guys. I appreciate how much you care, but nothing bad's going on. I want to tell you everything, but… it's not my secret to tell."
"It will be, though."
Izuku blinked, and stared at All Might. "What?"
"I will be your secret. Soon, too." All Might smiled at them. "Your friends… truly care about you, Young Midoriya. Even after discovering I was connected to All Might, they were still willing to press the truth to try to protect you. You're going to need friends like that once you become a hero.
"So, if you feel comfortable telling them… you can."
…
..
.
Nedzu muted the conversation, choosing to look away from the interrogation between Eraserhead and Midoriya to instead stare down All Might. "Toshinori."
The hero began to sweat in his chair.
"Is there a group of villains out there that not only know about your wound, but also the truth of One for All?"
Toshinori sweated even harder.