Chapter 3: The Big Reveal.
Toshinori and Izuku finish training for the day at 5 o'clock. They walk up to where you're sitting and you slide off of the old washer. You stretch and adjust the left side of your black trench coat. "Ready to go, gentlemen?" You ask while picking up the green gift sack containing Izuku's present.
"Yep!" Izuku replies happily, then he sees the gift bag. "What's in the bag, aunt (Y/N)?"
You wink at him, "Just a little gift for you."
Izuku's face lights up, "Really? What is it? Did you bring it all the way from America? Is it an All Might figurine? It didn't cost you too much did it?" Izuku rapidly fires off questions to you causing you to laugh loudly.
"Calm down, Izuku-kun. You can see what it is when we get to the teahouse. Yes, I did bring it from America. And it didn't cost me anything. It was a special gift, but I have no interest in things like this, so I thought that you might like it." You turn to look at Toshinori, "So, Toshinori, do you know a teahouse where the tea is decent and we can have a little privacy?" You ask the much taller man.
Toshinori thinks for a minute before answering, "Yeah, but it's a bit of a walk." He rubs the back of his head
"That's okay with me. Are you up for some more exercise, Izuku-kun?" He eagerly nods his head. "Then lead the way, Toshinori!"
The three of you walk away from the beach and deeper into the heart of Musutafu. You walk side by side on the sidewalk, you on Izuku's right and Toshinori is on his left. While you're walking Izuku asks you questions about your life in America, most of which revolve around your hero work. Toshinori also asks you a few questions, but for the most part he just listens. You also ask Toshinori a few questions. Most of the questions he answers, like how tall he is; 7 foot 3; and what it's like working with All Might. But if the question is too personal he dodges answering it, like how he knows All Might.
The three of you reach a crosswalk and Izuku pushes the button. As you are all waiting for the 'Don't Walk' light to change to 'Walk', a woman and her two children, a little girl and a little boy, both look to be around 4 years old, walk up beside you. The little girl is crying her eyes out while her mother is trying to calm her. You look down at the little girl, "Hey, kid." You say and the little girl looks up at you. Once you know that you've got her attention, you start to make funny faces; sticking out your tongue and rolling your eyes, puffing out your cheeks and crossing your eyes, etcetera. The little boy begins laughing and, slowly, the girl's sobbing stops and she begins laughing instead. The mother bows low to you with grateful smile. "Thank you so much."
You return the woman's bow, "It was no problem, ma'am."
The light changes and the three of you decide to let the mother and her children walk ahead of you. Izuku is grinning from ear to ear and Toshinori is looking at you in admiration with his own smile. Despite his unhealthy appearance, Toshinori's smile is a beautiful sight to behold. "Aunt (Y/N)?" Izuku speaks your name as you all reach the other side of the street.
"Yes, Izuku-kun?"
Izuku seems to become a little nervous and a blush of embarrassment appears on his cheeks. "I was just wondering...Y...you are s...so good with kids...Why don't you have any of your own?" Immediately, Izuku's posture straightens and he starts to repeatedly bow while saying, "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked such a personal question in public! I was just curious and...and...I'm sorry!"
You chuckle at your nephew's behavior, "It's okay, Izuku-kun. The reason I don't have any children of my own is simple really. I was a hero. I was always too busy to settle down and start a family." You fail to notice that Izuku is no longer walking by your side. "Then there was the fear of villains finding out about them and that's never a pleasant thought. Don't get me wrong I had a couple of boyfriends over the years...Which reminds me...a little word of advice, Izuku...when they say that opposites attract, try to remember that its not always a good thing. My last relationship was a complete disaster. Don't know why...we were great friends, but then we tried to be more and BOOM! Disaster."
You finally look to your left and notice that Izuku and Toshinori are not there. You turn around and see Izuku about 20 feet away just standing there. Toshinori is by his side asking him what's wrong. "Aunt (Y/N)...You used past tense. You said, 'I was a hero'."
Your smile fades away and you sigh. "That's right, Izuku. I'm retired now." You grip the left sleeve of your coat and what remains of your arm.
Toshinori looks at you with a sad yet knowing look. Like he knows exactly how you feel and just what you're going through. Izuku's eyes are tearing up, "Why? Why did you retire?"
"I didn't have a choice, Izuku."
"You're one of the greatest heroes of all time! How can you retire when people need you?!" Izuku shouts in disbelief.
You turn your head away and grip your stub tighter. Toshinori is carefully watching you and decides to step in. He places a hand on Izuku's shoulder, "Young Midoriya, the only reason why a hero is forced into retirement is if they have sustained a serious injury. Now I suggest we continue this at the teahouse where we'll have a bit more privacy."
Izuku's expression changes to shock and then to one of understanding. "Oh, I see..." He walks towards you, "Are you okay, Aunt (Y/N)? I'm so sorry for my outburst."
You look at your nephew and smile, "Don't worry about it, Izuku-kun. Shall we continue to the teahouse, gentlemen?"
The three of you start to walk again only this time Izuku is on your left and Toshinori is on your right. As Izuku is muttering to himself about what could have happened to you to force you into retiring as a hero, you turn to Toshinori and say, "Thank you for that, Toshinori. To be honest with you, I...I'm still struggling with the fact that I had to retire."
Toshinori rubs the back of his head and a light blush appears on his face. "It was nothing...Don't mention it." He falls silent for a moment, debating with himself rather or not to say what he really wants to say to you. He makes up his mind and clears his throat before saying, "I...I know how hard it is dealing with a life changing injury."
You watch Toshinori closely, observing how he seems to be dreading the questions that you're bound to ask him after his statement. Truthfully, you are curious about it, but decide not to ask him anything about it. Hopefully, when the two of you get to know each other better, Toshinori will open up to you about his own injury. So instead of asking any of the questions that's going through your head, you just give him a large open mouth smile. "It's hard to imagine that anyone would ever want to hurt you, handsome." Your hand brushes against his and sparks shoot throughout your body again.
Toshinori blinks in surprise before blood spurts from his mouth. "Oh my gosh! All...uh...are you all right?" Izuku asks rushing over to Toshinori.
Toshinori wipes his mouth with a tissue, his face is completely red. "H... handsome...? M...me?"
"Of course."
You hear Izuku whisper to Toshinori, "Sorry, I should have warned you that my aunt is a big flirt."
"I can still hear you," you say with an irritated look. "And I'm not that big of a flirt." Izuku just gives you a look that says you're not fooling anyone. You sigh and hang your head, "Okay, so I'm a bit of a flirt." You look back up and over at Toshinori, "But I never say anything that I don't mean. You are a handsome man, Toshinori Yagi." The blonde man once again coughs up blood and you all come to a stop outside of an elegant looking teahouse. "Is this the teahouse you were thinking of, Toshinori?"
He wipes his mouth and nods, "Yes, this is it."
You walk up to the door and, after you put down Izuku's gift, you hold the door open for Izuku and Toshinori. Toshinori tries to take the door from you and hold it open for you instead. "Ladies first."
"Nope. Gentlemen, first. I insist." Izuku watches in amusement from inside the teahouse as you and Toshinori have a sort of politeness standoff; the both of you insisting that the other one goes inside first. Finally, you say, "How about this? You can hold the door open when we leave. Deal?"
He chuckles, "Deal. But I get to carry this inside," he says, grabbing the gift sack's handles.
You laugh, "You're a tough negotiator, Yagi-san. Now, after you." You say while bowing slightly.
"Thank you," Toshinori politely bows back to you before entering the teahouse. You follow him inside and he leads you and Izuku to a table in the back.
Toshinori places Izuku's gift down on the table then sits down on one side of the table. Izuku sits down across from Toshinori leaving you to sit on Izuku's right. Before sitting down you decide to take off your coat. As soon as the coat is off you hear a small, "Eep!" from Izuku. You look over at your nephew and see the look of shock on his face. His shock is understandable; the last time he saw you, you had two arms and now everything below the middle of your left bicep is gone. The left sleeve of your white button up blouse is rolled up and pinned closed just below where your arm ends. "Aunt (Y/N)...what...what happened?" Izuku asks with tears in his eyes.
You glance over at Toshinori afraid to see a look of pity on his face, but to your relief there is only one of empathy. You sit down and as you're about to start explaining how you lost your arm when a 19 year old waitress walks up to the table. "Hello. My name is Sakura and I'll be your waitress today." She hands out menus to the three of you, her eyes looking anywhere but at you and Toshinori. "Do you need a couple of minutes to look at the menu or are you ready to order?"
You ask, "Do you have any matcha tea?"
"Yes, ma'am."
You smile at her, "I'll have a cup of that please."
"I'll like a cup of sencha please," Toshinori tells the waitress.
"I think I'll also have a cup of sencha please," Izuku replies.
The waitress takes the menus back then leaves. "Now where was I? Oh, yeah. About ten months ago, I lost my arm while saving a young boy's life from a shapeshifter villain. The villain had just robbed a bank and was quickly confronted by a hero just making her debut. The villain transformed into a dragon then grabbed a 7 year old boy to use as a hostage. They, because we still don't know the true gender of the villain, then threatened to eat the boy if the hero didn't back off. Naturally, she did, but the villain still raised the boy to their mouth intent on eating him anyway. That's when I arrived. I managed to free the boy at the last second, but I was unable to use my quirk in time to save my arm and the villain ended up eating it." Suddenly, Izuku interrupts you by asking questions a mile a minute about your quirk. "Whoa, hold your horses, I'll tell you about my quirk in a minute. Let me finish my story." Izuku blushes and apologies. "Anyway, after that the AHA, that's the America Hero Association, decided it was time for me to retire. Well, actually, they wanted me to wear a prosthetic and do public appearances like at ribbon cutting ceremonies and kids' birthday parties, but I refused."
The waitress returns with your drinks then leaves after making sure that the three of you don't need anything else. "Why would they make you retire though? You can still do hero work right?"
You sigh, "Yes, I can, but only after 6 months of training how to fight with just one arm. The brutal truth is, Izuku, that civilians don't like to think of heroes as being mortal. They like to think of heroes as being these untouchable, near god-like beings and not as vulnerable as they are themselves. That's why the AHA decided to sweep me under the rug... because I am now the very remainder that heroes are capable of being seriously wounded."
Izuku is staring at his cup of tea now and a slightly uncomfortable silence falls over the three of you. Finally, Toshinori breaks the silence by asking, "So what are you planning to do now that you're retired (Y/N)?"
You grin, "I'm going to be a teacher. UA offered me the position of Hero Behavior teacher and I accepted."
Izuku's eyes widen, "But that means..." A huge grin appears on his face, "that you're moving back to Japan!" Izuku shouts in excitement.
"Dahahaha! That's right, Izuku-kun. I'll be staying with you and your mom until I find an apartment of my own." You and Toshinori laugh at how excited Izuku is.
