Part 6: Christmas Morning

All Might found himself lifted out of the snow and back onto his own two feet. It was a bit of a harsher pull than Endeavor likely intended but that was likewise likely because All Might was so much lighter than he'd been expecting. He made a face similar to what he had in Kamino Ward. He did not like seeing him this small and skinny.

"Th-...Thanks." All Might shivered, feeling the snow that had accumulated on him sliding off his back and out of his hair.

"Stand still. I'll warm you up." Endeavor said simply. The flames that blazed along his costume's surface and that made up his mask burned fiercely, not making it obvious how well controlled they actually were. It was like All Might was standing next to a campfire. Warm, and he definitely shouldn't get too much closer, but from even this small distance he wasn't in much danger of even being singed. There was a circle slowly forming around them from melting snow and yet Endeavor's boots weren't leaving even a mark on the dead grass.

"Didn't know you cared." All Might said with a dry joke, rubbing his hands to get the feeling back in his fingers before coughing into them.

Endeavor's eyes narrowed into a small glare. "Society's morale is already struggling. Finding the former #1 hero lying dead in the snow on Christmas morning certainly wouldn't help. ...Quite frankly I thought you were a dog at first when I was flying over until I saw your jacket."

"I'm certainly feeling like one."

It was difficult to tell if Endeavor was bothered by All Might not rising to his bait or if he was bothered by him being self-deprecating about it. Either way he didn't comment on it.

"So, you going to answer my question?" Endeavor stated, arms crossed. "What are you doing out here so late?"

"I was..." All Might started to say. He looked over his surroundings. The snow wasn't falling as hard now so he was able to piece together where in the city he was. He had travelled quite the way from UA's campus.

On the ground...maybe there was a small chance they had been covered up, but...no. Endeavor's flames were giving off enough light. The only marks in the snow here were from All Might's fall down the hill and the only footprints were at the top.

"I was just...on my way home and took a tumble. That's all. I'll be fine."

Endeavor stared at him quietly for a moment. There was something he was piecing together in his head, though he didn't voice it. Whether he believed All Might's story or not...

"...You had overwhelming strength before. Makes sense you'd underestimate the importance of finesse." He said, looking away, not pressing the subject.

"Funny, you sound like...never mind." All Might started but the words faded away. He wouldn't know who she is. Not that he really needed to either, did he? Everything she sacrificed and the world she'd done it for didn't even know her name. "Anyway, I'm surprised to see you out here too." He quickly changed the subject.

"Nezu put in a request." Endeavor explained. "Not to my agency specifically. He was worried about the League of Villains or anyone else hoping to make a name for themselves trying to pull something on Christmas so he reached out for any heroes willing to keep an eye on things so his staff could have a break. I volunteered."

"You didn't have any plans of your own over the holiday?"

"We haven't celebrated Christmas in my house in years."

"...Yeah. Yeah, I supposed you wouldn't have." All Might said, rubbing the back of his head as he too looked away.

There was a tense silence between the two of them for the longest minute. They both knew exactly what the unspoken topic was that he had just carelessly tripped over and naturally neither wanted to address it directly.

"What could I even say?" All Might thought to himself.

The two of them had never exactly been close. There were long stretches where they'd gone years without even being in the same city, let alone saying anything to each other. Still, he never could have imagined that all this time that Endeavor was capable of...that. That the man he knew, however impersonally, was inflicting such cruelty upon his own family.

In fact, were it not for what he'd managed to piece together over this past year in his interactions with him, Midoriya, and young Todoroki, he likely still wouldn't. It was the culture they lived in. This stuff wasn't talked about openly and even the so-called protection he'd provided to this country hadn't changed that. The Todoroki family had been left to work it out amongst themselves all on their own.

All that pain. All that suffering, and he had been completely ignorant. Again.

He remembered the way Shigaraki's manically wide eyes stared at him, burning with such hatred. If it hadn't been for Midoriya, would he have one day seen young Todoroki staring at him with those same eyes, cursing All Might for his false promises of saving him?

Even before he had lost his powers Midoriya had already started carrying on where he'd failed...

"So, I uh... I heard you'll be taking on work study students. That's certainly new for you, isn't it?"

"Like you were any more welcoming?" Endeavor retorted pointedly with a glare.

"...Point taken." All Might conceded on that. It'd taken forever before he'd even taken on a single sidekick. Every time UA or Shiketsu or any of the other hero academies approached him with the idea of taking on a work study student he had always declined.

Endeavor was quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. "It wasn't my idea, anyway. Shoto actually brought it up with me, unprompted even, saying that he'd be willing to do a work study with my agency but only if I also took on two of his fellow students with him."

"A bit unusual for the student to be setting the terms..." All Might commented to himself but held back from saying aloud.

"...Izuku Midoriya." Endeavor immediately got All Might's attention by speaking that name. "I take it he's the one you heard about it from."

All Might nodded, not really seeing any point in hiding it.

Endeavor gave a low grumble. "I'll train him because I have to but my main interest is in training Shoto. You don't need to worry about me stealing your student from you, or whatever your relationship with that boy is. Frankly I half-suspect he's your illegitimate child or something."

All Might's spine stiffened up at that offhanded accusation. "H-hold on, Endeavor! You've got the wrong idea-!"

"I genuinely do not care one way or another." Endeavor brushed him off bluntly, eyes closed. "...Maybe at one point I would have, but now..."

"At one point?" All Might snapped out of his panic, unable to help but catch that part.

Endeavor went quiet again, his thoughts his own, or at least All Might was not the person he'd ever voice them to.

For whatever reason, in that moment All Might couldn't help but focus on Endeavor's scar; the one that, just by happenstance, was on the side of his face that was facing him. It reminded him of, of all things, his Bronze Age costume.

What he had told Midoriya about its colors... The modernization reason hadn't technically been a lie...but it wasn't the full truth either.

The material David Shield made his costumes out of was very sturdy and resistant to wear and tear, even the amount All Might's strength in his prime would have been putting it through. But by the same coin that meant it'd take time to repair if it ever was damaged...and after that fateful battle with All For One, it most certainly was.

David had sent him the Bronze Age suit to wear in the meantime. The choice of colors werefor stealth, in a way. Just not to hide him. Rather...to hide what was wrong with him.

Until he'd figured out how to live with his injuries, until he'd learned how to pace out the uses of his powers, his wounds kept reopening at random. More than once he'd almost coughed up blood while in public. Red and black weren't the colors he'd have preferred...but they made the stains a lot less obvious.

He had hid his injured state from the world for so long. Even now the most notable scar he'd obtained from that battle was one he could continue to hide under a shirt. He had always believed that nobody could know about it. In many ways he still did. He remembered the shaken look on Midoriya's face the first time he found out. The immediate cracks that had formed in that boy's feelings of safety in the world.

Endeavor...he had been thrust into the #1 spot to fill the void he had left. The scar he had, not only was it one he couldn't hide, it was one the whole world saw him obtain. They witnessed first-hand that the top hero was mortal. That he could be hurt. That he could bleed. That the possibility of his death was...well...possible.

And yet...

"...I should get back on my patrol." Endeavor turned to leave and began walking away. He wasn't needed here any longer.

"I know it probably never felt like it..."

All Might spoke suddenly, causing Endeavor to halt in his tracks. In confusion, he turned his head to look back.

"...I know it probably never felt like it...but I did see you as you climbed through the ranks." All Might cleared his throat and continued. He didn't really have a plan for what he was saying. He wasn't that kind of guy. He just...started talking. Letting what needed to be said be said. "Back then, during the raid on the League of Villains' hideout, when those Nomu monsters suddenly appeared, I had no idea how many there were or how strong. For all I knew each was made to be just like the one I had fought at the USJ. Had it been anyone else there, anyone else in the top ten or even every other hero in Japan, I don't know if I could have brought myself to leave. It was only because it was you," He stared strongly at Endeavor. "That I felt reassured enough to pursue young Bakugo."

There was something he had never told anyone. Not Gran Torino, Nezu, Recovery Girl, young Midoriya. Not even Nighteye when he was insisting that he find a replacement for himself and retire.

But for a short time...as he saw that burning flame climbing up the mountain towards him, all by his own strength and effort alone...Endeavor was someone he had seriously considered giving One For All to. Of asking to carry on in his place.

There were a few reasons why he ultimately didn't do it, with one of the biggest being, ironically, that Endeavor had children. What right did he have to place the burdens he should be carrying on someone who might never see his family again if he accepted?

...Not that it stopped him with young Midoriya, he supposed.

"Regardless of your reasons, regardless of whatever past exists between us, I do appreciate you taking on those three. They're all brilliant in their own ways and have the true hearts of a hero. They'll be better than both of us, and I think you'll be able to guide them to that point in a way I've failed to. ...So... Thank you."

For the longest moment, neither spoke another word. Within this little bubble of the world, the only sounds to be heard were the small and infrequent hiss of evaporating snowflakes as they fluttered too close to Endeavor's flames.

"Saying you felt safe in letting me handle your scraps isn't exactly the peptalk you think it is." Endeavor was finally the one to break the silence and he did so quite bluntly.

"I just meant-"

"I know what you meant." He cut him off, still looking away with his back turned to him. Despite the harshness of his tone his words weren't angry or even annoyed. This was just...who he was. He'd be the first to admit he wasn't a friendly guy.

Endeavor stared down at his open hand. "My son made it clear to me years ago that he would refuse any path I set for him. Until recently, he would rather fail, disgrace himself publicly, perhaps even die, than use any tool in his arsenal that reminded him of me. He had every reason to hate the world of heroes. I...gave him every reason to hate it ...And yet he still wanted to become one. Because he and my wife had watched you on television."

His fingers curl inward to form his hand into a fist but they did not do so tightly. It was like he was holding something only he could see. Something small and fragile right there in his palm that he didn't want to break.

"You. Someone he'd never even met until this past year. Someone who he saw turn frail before his very eyes, whose backside I've never seen look more pitiful than in that very moment. You managed to light a fire within him that was brighter than every reason I gave him to hate our world. Even at your weakest, you never stopped being the hero worth chasing after."

All Might's mind...Endeavor's words caused it to flash back to that moment.

"STAND UP AND SHOW THEM WHY YOU'RE BETTER!" Endeavor bellowed at him from across the battlefield, refusing to accept this pathetic sight before his eyes.

Stand up.

His legs still hurt from running like the madman he was earlier. The strength they once had to leap tall buildings in a single bound was long gone. And...it was like that back then in that moment too, wasn't it? Right after that punch, he had every reason to just lie down and die. No one could have blamed him.

And yet, he had kept standing. Why was that?

Endeavor turned to look at All Might. "I don't care what you have to do." He pointed his finger at him. "If you have to crawl your way out of bed every day. If you have to slap yourself across the face to remind you you're still alive. If there's more in this world left that you can still do that'll help my boy, then you do it. And the same goes for that boy of yours. Shoto considers him a friend, even if I don't know why. The stronger his allies, the stronger he'll be. If you really believe that they'll become better heroes than us, then you make that happen. I'm the #1 hero now, so you shouldn't have anything distracting you." He lowered his arm. "Now it's your turn to chase after my backside. If I could do it for decades, what the hell is your excuse?"

Those eyes...

He hadn't known the kind of man Endeavor was before. Not really. Looking back, with the benefit of hindsight, it seemed so obvious now. The sheer hatred and bitterness that he had stared at him with. It was all too easy to believe that the person behind those had caused such pain to those close to him.

But these eyes looking at him now...they weren't the same as those from back then.

There was a clarity now. Even more than there had been when they'd spoken at the remedial class. These were eyes that recognized what they couldn't before. They were eyes capable of regret...and yet filled with a resolve to face them.

All Might's hand curled into a fist, though like Endeavor's had been it wasn't out of anger.

He remembered the touch of knuckles against his own. Young Midoriya standing before him, determination pushing past the tears trying to force their way out.

He hadn't forgotten the promise he'd made to him...but perhaps he sometimes had to remind himself that boy had made one of his own to him. To be there by his side and fight fate. Without even realizing it, Midoriya had made the same vow to All Might that he had made to All For One and Shigaraki. That the future that's been foreseen will not come to pass.

For that boy's sake...wasn't that more than enough for him to keep going?

Endeavor turned away again, arms crossed, having said all he needed to. Like he had made clear to the whole world when he was finally formally ranked as #1, he wasn't much for words.

This was a man so different from him. They had lived such different lives. He had done so much worse than All Might could even think about without feeling sick at the idea of his own hands inflicting such suffering. But what they had in common was that they couldn't change the past. They couldn't undo their regrets. All they had was the present.

They kept standing because that was something they still could. If nothing else, they could still try.

And if it wasn't too late for him...then maybe...

All Might walked forward, standing beside Endeavor as they both looked out towards the distance. The sun wouldn't rise for many more hours. But...it was after midnight, wasn't it?

"Do you really believe old men like us can change our ways? That we can make things better than we have been?" All Might asked, neither of them looking to the other.

"...I have to." Was the only answer Endeavor could give.

It was Christmas Day. The first Christmas either had spent in the company of another person in a long time.

And perhaps...not the last time they would either. There was a chance at least, if nothing else.

"Come on. I'll escort you back to UA." Endeavor finally made the firm offer as he started walking, meaning All Might couldn't actually refuse it. "I'm sure you must have something where you live to warm you up."

"Ahh yeah. A hot chocolate sounds really nice right now actually." All Might sighed agreeably as he walked beside him.

"You're a grown man. At least make yourself a coffee."

"You can't put little marshmallows in coffee."

"How the hell are you so popular?!"

"-and so Scrooge got to work right away. The first child he saw passing by his window, he told him to go down to the butcher and order the biggest goose they had in his name, to be sent straight to Bob Cratchit's house. And then he...he... Eri?"

Mirio paused his story, finally taking notice of the little girl's closed eyes and light breathing that was just on the verge of becoming a full snore.

"She fell asleep about halfway through the Ghost of Christmas Present." He turned his head to Aizawa's voice.

"Whoa! Caterpillar man!" Mirio couldn't help but remark as he had to look down, Aizawa laid out along the floor completely encased in his big yellow sleeping bag.

Aizawa sat up and started unzipping from the inside. "Don't worry, I was still listening. Just didn't have any reason why I had to be standing during." He said in his usual tired tone as he stood up from his fluffy casing.

Mirio followed his lead, getting up carefully as he could from the bed as to not accidentally wake Eri. "I'm surprised you let me keep going." He remarked, somehow able to keep his cheerful tone going even when speaking in a quieter voice.

"I doubted I'd be able to get you to stop if I tried." Aizawa said simply as he adjusted the covers on Eri's bed to help tuck her in more. "Besides, it was a good opportunity for me to hear if there was anything in your story that'd be too much for Eri and thus we'd need to adjust it for next year if she wants you to tell it again."

"...Huh. You know, you're quite the optimist, aren't ya, Mr. Aizawa?" Mirio said, prompting a raised eyebrow from the older man. "You're talking about Eri still being with us by next Christmas, like it's the most natural thing in the world. I like it. I hope she is too."

Aizawa didn't say anything in response, at least not right away. His shuffling feet simply led the way out of the room, having Mirio exit first before him so that he could turn off the lights. "There's a chance anyway. She'll still have her share of difficulties ahead either way."

"Oh, I know. But it's like why people like A Christmas Carol, isn't it? Scrooge went through a lifetime of difficulties and bitterness that made him into what he was but when given one more chance he made things better for himself and everyone around him. It's the most optimistic ghost story ever told! It's why I always try to read or watch a version of it every year. Though this is the first time I got to tell it to someone! Ha ha ha!" He laughed, though still quietly, rubbing the back of his head.

"...Probably about time for you to head on home." Aizawa said simply, not having any thoughts to air aloud and add on.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I promised Nejire that Takami and I would go caroling with her in the morning after breakfast, so she'll probably need my help prying him out of the corner of his room when that time comes."

It didn't take him long to get ready. He had only brought his jacket and boots with him. And within minutes he was all dressed up and heading out into the snow.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Aizawa! And be sure to wish Eri one for me too, alright?"

"Merry Christmas." Aizawa waved...or more like gestured with a lazy hold up of his hand...him off, agreeing to do so but not having much need to spell it out.

He watched him head off from between the binds on his windows, in the direction of the dorms. He wondered for a moment how many of his students were still up? None of the robots had come knocking on his door to tattle, so hopefully that meant Midoriya wasn't still out training.

Hm...at the party...Ashido and Kaminari had talked about having a Christmas movie marathon with anyone who'd join them. There was probably going to be at least one A Christmas Carol mixed in there somewhere.

The version Shirakumo had made him and Yamada watch...had that been the one with the puppets? That'd probably be the one they'd choose too, if he had to guess.

Aizawa walked past Eri's room once more, checking in just to make sure that she was still sleeping soundly, which thankfully she was. Her first Christmas ever, or at least the first Christmas she could remember. He supposed they hadn't done a half-bad job.

But...it wouldn't just be today. There'd be tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and so on. That was the main point of the story, after all, and if Eri had still been awake he would have let Mirio finish so that she could hear it.

You don't just keep the Christmas spirit in your heart on Christmas, same as why the pros and even his students don't just have one random day of the year where they act like heroes. The lesson Scrooge learned was one he carried with him every day for the rest of his life.

Aizawa's eyes flickered to a light he noticed moving outside Eri's window. He entered and approached the blinds, taking a look out of curiosity.

He saw Endeavor and All Might walking past, chatting about something that he couldn't make out. Quite the unexpected sight, but everything seemed to be fine, so he left it be.

Looking back down at Eri, Aizawa allowed temptation to overtake his hand and he patted her gently atop her head, causing her sleeping form to nuzzle into it in instinctual response.

...It was Christmas. He supposed he could treat himself to putting off the rest of his work until tomorrow and heading to bed as well.

He glanced over at his sleeping bag, which was still in the room.

"...Yeah, why not?" He said to no one in particular. He'd come up with a rational explanation in the morning. For now, sleep. And thus did he climb back into his bag.

If Eri were to wake up at any point in the night, and she would have were it not for the day's excitement taking the energy out of her, she'd have seen Aizawa on the other end of her room, asleep on the floor but there regardless, and would have drifted back off herself with that reassurance.

Mirio had been right about the story being optimistic. It was hard for anyone to change and not everyone could do it. Most men like Scrooge would never even make the attempt, even after a night like he had. And the first attempts he made were difficult, at least in comparison to how he had lived before.

And yet, the more he did it, the more he held Christmas in his heart, on the day and throughout the year, the easier he found it to do.

Author's notes: I loved the idea of including Endeavor as a representation of Christmas morning because if there's any character in MHA who represents that maybe even a bad person with a lifetime of regrets and poor choices can still change his ways for the better, it's him. There aren't really any characters in MHA that I dislike but All Might and Endeavor are easily my favorites in the series.