Learning to Trust


"Respect yourself and others will respect you."
Confucius


Chapter 17: Respect

Toshinori sat in the teacher's lounge, jotting notes down. His goal had been to work on the case until lunch, eat, and then touch base with some of the staff before visiting Recovery Girl for his checkup, and finally-if he happened to still have time- work on Nezu's paperwork. He'd skip talking to Aizawa for now. It would wind up just becoming a discussion of the Trigger drug use in Naruhata, anyway. And that would require him to push off his UA responsibilities. And as tempting as it was to continue avoiding Nezu's files and forms, it wasn't the responsible thing to do. Toshi was trying to force himself to better balance his school and work, because Midnight was right. If, by some slim chance he did wind up taking this job, he had to put time and energy into the students, not only his agency. He'd need to start backing off work a bit. Of course, that was only if he even took this position… But if he did, he should be able to trust the employees of his own agency to do the legwork for cases like this, right?

Toshi sighed deeply.

Probably?

The trouble was that he honestly wasn't sure. He'd have trusted his original staff with his life if necessary. One thing Toshinori had always prided himself in was the community of people he'd gathered, and the mutual respect they'd had. Everyone had cared for and helped everyone else. It wasn't something seen in every agency, but All Might had firmly believed that part of being a hero was helping everyone around him, and that included other heroes and workers who helped keep the agency running.

But that staff had changed over the years—especially during his many surgeries, long recovery, and multiple relapses that had required All Might to start taking "vacations" or work away from Minato. Due to the secrecy his injury required, no one on the staff had even known he'd been hurt. It hadn't been until later that he'd realized how it must have seemed to them that All Might had simply stopped caring. And by the time he'd returned, finally able to put up enough of a front to hide his injuries while remaining in the public eye, many staff members had retired or left. Sir Nighteye had stayed on long enough to keep Might Tower running in All Might's absence, but while he'd been a good judge of character himself, he'd been laying the foundation for his own agency at the same time, and honestly his focus hadn't been any better than Toshinori's at that point.

He left the day I came back. No note. Nothing. He didn't even say goodbye...

Toshinori took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose, forcing old emotions back. I'm tired. I need to stop focusing on things like this when I know my mind can't handle it…

But his mind kept drifting back to the primary problem… could he trust his current staff? Most of the staff was new now, hired by others that Toshinori also hadn't chosen himself. Because All Might's fading time was already limited, and he frankly didn't have the time anymore to spend with the staff in any form other than the laughable secretary, Yagi-san. And, even though he had given himself the same security clearance and prominence as Nighteye'd had, it was obvious that wasn't enough…

Do I have a right to question their loyalty, really? All Might's presence in the agency has been sporadic at best. And they're probably taking bets on how long Yagi will last before he dies on the job. He huffed an irritated sigh, sitting up straight and focusing with renewed vigor on the paperwork before him. It doesn't matter. I'll figure it out. I can call Tsukauchi when I need help, though I do need to tone that down, too. And All Might is needed for the actual hero work. I don't have enough strength to stay in that form just to bond with employees. I wish I did, but I just can't handle it. Not anymore. He looked down at the long, thin hands and bony wrists peeking out from the sleeves of his oversized dress shirt. And who is going to take me seriously like this? Trying to manage Might Tower as Yagi-san would be a joke…

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. No. It would be better to just keep things going as they were. He'd leave the day-to-day activities to the staff. He would continue to take all aspects of the cases himself. He had to. He'd figure something out if he decided to come to UA, but until then, this time could be a chance to learn to balance his hero work with schoolwork.

How hard could it really be?

The lounge door swung open just then with such force that it slammed into the doorstop on the wall and caused Toshinori to jump, knocking his papers off of the coffee table, and scaring the crap out of him. He began coughing hard, clutching his chest. What the hell?

He shot an annoyed glare in the direction of the door where Present Mic had entered, whistling calmly as though he hadn't nearly committed involuntary manslaughter by almost giving Toshinori a heart attack. It took Yamada a moment to realize that he wasn't alone in the room.

The motion of Toshinori picking up papers from the floor caught his attention and he turned to scrutinize the frail scarecrow of a man over his shades. "Yagi, my man! How are you?" he asked brightly, turning to join Toshinori. He approached the table and bent to help pick up the papers. "What happened?"

Toshinori just raised an eyebrow at him and jerked a thumb back at the lounge door, a small smile playing at his lips, annoyed though he was. Somehow he couldn't really stay irritated with the man. "Your energetic entrance took me by surprise, that's all," he grumbled, goodnaturedly.

"Sorry about that." The voice hero grinned at him. "My class got out early today, so I didn't really expect anyone else to be chilling in here."

The blond just sighed and smiled faintly. "Don't worry about it," he replied quietly. "I'm fine." He ignored the way Yamada's smile faded at those words. "So...how was English class?"

Yamada perked back up, still holding his collected pile of papers as he threw himself into a nearby armchair. "Terrible," he chuckled. "We were going over idiomatic expressions today. Spent half an hour trying to explain that there isn't actually a cat in a bag." He facepalmed goodnaturedly. "It isn't like we don't use idioms in Japan. I never understand why they can't understand these things, but, like, no group ever gets it." He grinned, a somewhat mischievous expression lighting on his face. "You know what I could really use?"

"Hmmm?" Toshi responded, only half listening as he began organizing his own pile of papers and held his hand out for those Yamada was holding.

Yamada handed them over, and bent to pick up a couple pens and a yellow legal pad near his feet. "I could use some backup. How about you and me team up and teach these kids some English?" He leapt to his feet in his enthusiasm, fist pumping with the legal pad. "It would be rad! I'm sure my little listeners would love to hear someone talk to them who actually lived in America."

Toshinori just stared blankly at him for a moment before responding mildly, "I'm sorry. I don't think that's a good idea." He chuckled at the idea of it, picturing All Might standing in front of the kids for the first time trying to explain the phrase spilling the beans. "I don't want anyone to know that All Might is anywhere near this campus until I decide if I'm even going to teach here."

Yamada just stared in puzzlement at Toshi. "Who said anything about All Might? I'm just asking you to come like this and chat with them for awhile, ya dig? They'd love it!"

Toshinori laughed warmly at the younger man's misguided enthusiasm. "Not a chance."

"Why not?"

At the suddenly serious tone of Yamada's voice, Toshi suddenly looked up. "What?"

"Why won't you talk with them? It'll give you a chance to practice teaching and see if you like it. You said you weren't sure about taking the job. Well this is the best way to see if you like teaching kids. And think how much experience they could get just talking with someone who's fluent in American English. We do Brit style in my class, and they can't quite wrap their brains around the fact that American English is as different as it is."

Toshinori smiled faintly, grateful for Mic's surprisingly unabashed acceptance of him as he was. But for some reason it seemed that Yamada had blinded himself to the obvious. Gently he replied, "The kids aren't going to want to listen to some washed up old man who looks like he's on death's door, and that's what they're going to see if I come in like this."

Yamada sighed in frustration and, after glancing at the door to make sure no one was coming in, hissed, "All Might… dude, are you serious? They're kids, not idiots. Sure they aren't going to know what to make of you at first. But most first years can't recognize any real hero without flashy costumes and catch phrases. It takes them time to learn what makes an actual hero. I mean, even with me, they always start off the year thinking I'm a joke unless they happen to be fans of my radio show. They learn quick, though. I guarantee if you march in there and just be yourself, they'll take to you before the first class is over." He quirked a crooked smile. "And they'll see the hero instead of the body within a week. Kids see truth better than anyone."

Toshi just snorted at the ridiculousness of that.

"Yagi, my man, you're the most charismatic hero in existence. And that's you, not the show you put on. The kids'll respect you. Trust me."

"I'll think about it," Toshi finally replied, more to shut Yamada up than anything. The man was kind, and Toshi truly appreciated his interest, but sometimes Yamada couldn't seem to figure out when to shut up.

"That's all I'm asking." Yamada winked and glanced down at the notepad he was still holding. Lists of numbers, locations, ages, names…. Toshinori had been trying to reorganize the data in any way he could to find a pattern that made some sort of sense to him. "So… what's all this? Nezu have you taking some kinda mental challenge test or something? 'Cause I wouldn't put it past him…" He plopped back down in the chair behind him.

Toshi laughed at that, reaching his lanky arm out to grab at the notepad. "Here, I'll take that." He placed the pad on top of his reorganized notes. "It's a case I'm working on. My agency's been tracking a villain for awhile now. Well, a few agencies were, but the others lost interest a couple months ago. Felt they were putting too many resources into a case with too few clues. Decided to leave it to the police force. Recommended I do the same." Toshinori shrugged noncommittally, but his expression clearly showed his displeasure at that turn of events. "This villain seems to be getting stronger though, so I wasn't comfortable just leaving it to the police. I know it's their job and they're more than capable, but I'm worried that they aren't equipped to deal with a villain like this, and I don't want to see them getting hurt because no agency could be bothered to spend a little time on this." He smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, it's right up my alley, since I can't spend as much time actively fighting as I used to. At least trying to work out this guy's game plan is something useful I can do in my downtime."

Yamada snickered at that. "You do realize that this kind of project doesn't count as downtime, right? Like, that's still work."

"I know. I just... like feeling like I'm helping someone," he replied mildly, a worn tiredness in his shadowed eyes. "It keeps me from feeling completely useless." He fidgeted with one of his long bangs, thoughtfully. Before Yamada could reply to that, Toshi continued, "Anyway, it seemed like a good idea to bring this case here with me. I had the information transferred to Nezu's office. This particular villain is into mind games. He's been using cyphers and codes since the beginning to tease the police force. We haven't worked out who he or even for sure where he's from, so it's been difficult to predict his moves. Usually no one has figured out his games until after the move is made and the clue becomes obvious." He skimmed the numbers on the page. "I've left most of those codes to the police, and now Nezu. Honestly, that stuff isn't my strong point. But the more I look at this." He motioned emphatically to the paper. "The more it feels like there's something else going on that we're all missing." He sighed. "We don't even know for sure who this guy is. He's been kidnapping people, but we don't know why. He's able to shift form and temporarily take the quirk of someone he's touched with his hands, and we've never caught him in his own form, so we don't know what he really looks like. We don't know where he's from, but it's likely Nabu City, since the disappearances started there. If we could predict where he's going or what he wants, it would help. It seems like he's moving in a pattern, but then when I throw it on a map, it just looks like a mess.

Yamada leaned over to look at the notes scrawled on the paper. "Looks like you've got a little of everything on here." He studied the lists before asking, "What about the quirks?"

Toshi blinked up at him. "What?"

"You said he's stealing the form and quirks of people, right? It seems like he'd be stealing the quirks from the victims. I mean, if he's already kidnapped them, they're easy targets, right?"

"Not stealing them," Toshinori replied a bit too forcefully, trying to ignore Tsuakuchi's words… "You of all people know exactly what it could have been…" He took a breath. "He's borrowing them. He can't keep them. He generally can't even use more than one quirk at a time."

"Generally?"

Toshi winced, tugging at his bangs again. "He seems to be… adapting somehow. He used multiple quirks in his last attack."

"And I take it that's new." Yamada tapped at the paper. "Still, you don't have any quirks written down. Do you know any of them? Is he using the quirks of the people he's taking or not? Because if I had a guess, I'd say he's taking people who have quirks he likes and borrowing them when he needs them. I mean, that would be a way to reuse quirks that suit his needs. And if he's been dropping clues—"

"—then it's all probably been planned out. Which means he may have already pre-chosen his victims. He's basically setting up cards until he's ready to play his hand." Toshinori's blue eyes widened. Of course. I'm an idiot.

"Exactly. I'd find out what the quirks are of his victims and see if he's used any yet." Yamada shrugged. "If nothing else, it could give you a heads up of what attacks he might use against you later."

Toshinori nodded, a small smile spreading on his face. "That's a really good idea. Thank you, Yamada-san."

"Yamada. Or Hizashi. You don't need to be formal with me. Really."

Toshinori didn't answer, already grabbing his cell phone and texting Tsukauchi. Call when you have a minute. No emergency. Just some quirk questions.

And now it was a matter of waiting.


Yamada was patient for about five minutes, which was honestly pretty long for him. He spent most of the time fiddling with his phone and trying not to stare at All Might who was patiently flipping through some files as though he really were just some office worker. His brow furrowed a bit at that in concern. Here was one of his biggest childhood heroes sitting next to him in the flesh. And the guy was still clearly incredible. Yamada had forced Cementoss to give him a full play-by-play of what went down with that support item incident, and it was obvious that even injured, All Might's skill was unmatched. Most important to Yamada, though, was the fact that All Might was everything that as a kid he'd hoped he'd be: brave, intelligent, caring, and surprisingly down-to-earth. This was what heroes were supposed to be. What they all aspired to… well, the good ones, at least.

But for some reason he seemed to be giving up on himself. As though somehow he honestly believed that without muscles and flashy powers, he was less of a hero… less of a person. This coming from the man who truly seemed to believe that everyone mattered. Everyone but you, huh? It didn't make any sense to Yamada. And he didn't like it. Statistically, the odds of a hero surviving a villain attack went down dramatically the less supported and capable they felt.

He deleted a few old emails absently. But what do you do when the person who should feel the most supported and capable apparently doesn't? A small smirk twitched his lips. You help him, of course. He shut his phone off and shoved it into his pocket.

"So, I know you texted someone. Do you have access to that quirk information? Is that what we're waiting for?" Yamada asked, breaking the silence. He kicked his feet up onto the table, and put his hands behind his head.

All Might shook his head, glancing up. "Not sure. I texted my police contact, but I have to wait for him to get back to me."

Yamada nodded thoughtfully, leaning his head back to rest on the top of the chair and staring at the ceiling. "You know, I could see if my agency can look into it, too." He closed his eyes as if he were resting, though his fingers were tapping the rough upholstery of the chair to help burn off his nervous energy. "I mean, if it would help."

All Might shifted at that, and Yamada thought he was about to respond, but suddenly he instead began coughing that harsh ragged cough of his that made Yamada internally flinch. Finally the coughing subsided enough for him to reply. "I may have some data on the quirks at my agency, too," he mused. "That wasn't really a part of the case I'd been very focused on, so I'd have to check. But the Minato police are generally good about sending all reports to me if I'm taking any part in an active case."

Yamada cracked one eye open to see All Might tucking a handkerchief into his pocket as he opened his contacts and began scrolling. The younger man couldn't fully hide a grin at that. You really have to look up your own agency's phone number? He chuckled a little. But to be fair, how often did All Might actually call Might Tower? He couldn't be expected to remember everything.

He jabbed the dial button and sat back in the chair, waiting to be patched through. After a minute or so of silence and a couple of extensions tapped into the phone, All Might was finally patched through. He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly, and shifted his deep voice into a falsely cheerful "phone voice" that felt somewhat out-of-place with such a serious looking man, he finally spoke. "Hello. This is Yagi Toshinori from the Secondary Clerical Office. I need some information on—"

He coughed awkwardly as someone obviously cut him off. "No. I didn't turn it in." He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and dropped his face into his hand. "No… because I'm not going to the potluck. I won't even be in town for that, and I never once actually gone to one…" Another pause. "Yes, I'm sorry. You're right. I know. I'll take care of it." He managed an exasperated smile. "And thank you. You're right. I probably do need to get out more. I'll consider it. But please, right now I just need you to connect me to Kaneko-san to look up some information for a case. Please… Thank you." His voice was growing a touch exasperated, but honestly, given the clear fact that the person he was talking to didn't seem to even be really listening to him, Yamada was pretty impressed with his composure. He knew for a fact that if he were on the phone, he'd be yelling by now. In fact, he was tempted to take the phone out of All Might's hand and yell into it on his behalf, just to get things moving. He wasn't sure if that was being supportive, though, or just obnoxious, so he resumed tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair.

After another long silence, All Might began speaking again. "Hello, Kaneko-San. Yes, I'm well. Thank you. And you? Good, good. This is Yagi Toshinori from the Second Clerical Office. I need some information on the Shifter case. Just need to know if the Minato Police Force has forwarded any information about the quirks of the victims." His brow furrowed. "Yes. Of course I'm calling on behalf of All Might. He's the one requesting the information… I have clearance." He pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering, "Yes. Fine. Of course. Hold on a moment, please."

He jabbed his finger into the mute button and sent a tired look at Yamada. "Would you mind doing me a favor, Yamada-san?"

"Just Yamada's fine. And anything to get you off the phone with whoever that is that's being difficult."

All Might managed a small smile at that. "I just need you to keep watch on the door. Don't let anyone come in."

Yamada nodded at that and sprang to his feet, cracking the door open and peeking down the hall. He slipped out the door and glanced back in time to hear All Might sigh, "This is going to be exhausting," and see the frail man shift into the impressive hero he'd always been. Yamada froze. It was one thing to know that's what happened, but it was another thing entirely to actually see Yagi's skeletal form shift into the powerful build of the Number One Hero. Yamada shook his head coming to his senses, and shut the door most of the way closed behind him. Open just enough to be able to tell when the man was done. Yamada noticed that it was a short conversation now that All Might sounded like himself on the phone. No more arguing now, I see… He couldn't help but feel annoyance at the lack of respect they seemed to show Yagi.

Another minute and he could hear the conversation winding up. The hall was still miraculously empty, so Yamada slid back in the room just in time to hear All Might comment in a firm, authoritative voice that he seemed to lose when his form shifted, "And for the record, Yagi-san has permission to make these requests. Do you understand? Good. Have a nice day, Kaneko-san." He hung up and almost immediately steam began lifting from his body in alarming amounts. Before Yamada could even respond, All Might had shifted back to his frailer form and had dropped into his chair, clearly exhausted. He looked up at Yamada, smiling a bit as he made eye contact. "There isn't much, but I should be receiving the encrypted files soon. Thank you for the idea, Yamada-san."

"Like I said, man… you can call me Yamada. Or Hizashi." He studied the man in concern. "You okay, man?"

All Might nodded tiredly. "I'm fine. I just haven't fully recovered from the pneumonia. Really shouldn't be transforming yet, according to Recovery Girl." He shrugged at that. "What're you going to do, though?"

Yamada scowled. "Don't transform. By the sounds of it, Yagi has clearance. You shouldn't have had to risk your health because of that jerk's lack of respect. Why do you let people walk all over you when you aren't powered up?"

"They don't realize I'm their boss. I'm just some coworker as far as they're concerned."

"How stupid is your staff to not actually know who you are? I watched you for like a couple days and figured it out, dude. They see you constantly." He shook his head in disgust. "And why should that even matter? Come on! You deserve respect anyway just because you're a person, even if they don't know who you really are."

All Might shook his head. "To be fair, most of them are new. I lost a lot of my staff when," he motioned vaguely to himself, "this happened. They don't know me as well as you think. You can't judge them for something they can't even control."

Yamada raised an eyebrow at that. "But they can judge you for something that's clearly out of your control? You're being a hypocrite, my man."

All Might smiled faintly. "You're right, of course. But it isn't really worth the time to change things. I rarely work closely with anyone in Might Tower these days, and I won't be working with them in any kind of a close capacity for much longer anyway." He leaned forward, resting a large hand on Yamada's shoulder. "But I thank you for the concern… and for being my lookout." He glanced at the clock. "I'd better get something to eat. I'll let you know if I wind up needing your agency's help. Thank you, Yamada." With that he stood and, gathering his papers, left Yamada alone in the lounge.

Yamada sat there a bit, staring out the window in deep thought, and ignoring teachers as they finally started trickling into the lounge. There's nothing wrong with your real form, All Might. But if you don't even respect yourself like this, I don't know how you expect anyone else to… A small smile finally played on his lips. Guess I've got my work cut out for me.


Author's Note: Thanks so much for lolo popoki for her excellent beta work (both in helping me fix the terrible problems this chapter had, and helping me smooth out and work in the scenes I was struggling with. I appreciate it!

Second, thank you to Haptronym for the absolutely gorgeous fanart! You can find the art here (based on a scene in Chapter 5 with Recovery Girl): post/657382555355627520/sequence-from-learning-to-trust-by-siriusfan13

The art is amazing and gorgeous and I'm blown away by the talent (and generousity). Thank you thank you thank you!

And of course, thanks to all you readers who've read and commented. I plan on getting caught up on my comments as soon as possible. Sorry for falling so far behind!

Finally, a few fic recs for the road!

1) "You May Not Rest, There Are Monsters Nearby" by Haptronym is a great story set during the emergence of Danger Sense. Another fun perk with this one... if you recall my reference in Chapter 10 to All Might breaking a building in his time at UA, Haptronym references some details of this incident within her own story:D works/32055997

2) "Retrospect" by Anonymous_Nerb is another one-shot. This one directly goes with "Learning to Trust" and the OC, Tetsu, taking place during the Kamino Ward fight. Tetsu has a sudden realization and reacts! Really well written. Check it out! Link: works/32555470

3) "Recovery" by aurorazure. This is a multi-chapter AU where Izuku is kidnapped before the entrance exams to UA. It's really well-written and I love the author's characterizations. Also, the story was gone for awhile and has been recently reposted, so I'm extra excited about it! Link: /works/32796538/chapters/81375796

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Sirius:)