Learning to Trust

"A true Hero is not someone who thinks about doing what is right, but one that simply does what is right without thinking."

—Kevin Heath

Chapter 3

"Who's that new guy on campus?"

"What new guy?"

"Tall, older man. Like really tall. Super thin…"

"Oh! Yeah, I saw him. That guy looks like he could really use a trip to Recovery Girl."

"Do you think he's a new teacher? I heard Cyclone's retiring…"

"No way he's a teacher. They get the best of the best here. My dad would never have let me come if he thought they hired just anyone. I mean did you look at him? I'll bet a first year could take him down without even trying."

"Maybe he's going to teach in the General Studies Program."

"Even they get retired heroes for teachers. He's probably just some government guy checking up on the school's paperwork or something.

"Or maybe he actually is here to see Recovery Girl…"

THUMP.

Toshinori shut the window firmly, trying to unsuccessfully ignore the chatter of students right below his temporary office window. Honestly, he didn't much care that the kids weren't particularly impressed by a scrawny man in a suit. Hell, Toshi wasn't particularly impressed when he looked in the mirror, and he knew who he was and what he was capable of. What bothered him more was the fact that he was stirring up attention among the students while being largely ignored by the teachers, the exact opposite of what he had hoped for.

Two days on the UA campus and aside from amusing little conversations like this one and other student speculation that was downright hysterical at times to listen in on, he was largely ignored. On the plus side, it allowed him the chance to observe the school as he'd hoped. But on the flipside, he was also getting no interaction with the staff. Some-like Aizawa-actively seemed to be avoiding him. Others-like Ectoplasm and Thirteen, who had missed his underwhelming introductory meeting-just didn't seem particularly interested in the walking skeleton who was skulking about campus. Toshi snorted at that. He had his own concerns about a faculty that would ignore someone who looked like him wandering around a school. Sure, it was secure, but it seemed like one of the other teachers who had been absent from the meeting should have at least asked for some identification.

He walked back over to his cluttered desk, strewn with papers and throat lozenge wrappers. Sighing, he grabbed a garbage can and began scooping wrappers into it, more to avoid the paperwork than due to any real interest in cleaning.

His mind drifted back to the staff. I shouldn't judge them so harshly. They all know that if I made it onto campus, I'm authorized to be here. It's impossible to get past the UA Barrier otherwise. Every single one of them is probably monitoring me, and I'm sure by now even Ectoplasm and Thirteen have my name and reason for being here logged. It isn't like they're required to actually talk to me.

He sighed. Why did it feel like middle school all over again? Being that quirkless kid that everyone ignored because he didn't belong, and no one really wanted him there in the first place? Toshinori dropped into his chair and set the garbage can down.

And why do I care? Get a grip, Toshinori. Most of the heroes here are private individuals. You are generally a private individual… kind of. You're overtired and reading too much into this. It was all true, but it didn't help. In all honesty, Present Mic and Midnight-the two heroes he currently found himself most interested in avoiding for the time being-were the only ones who even acknowledged him on campus.

He glared down at the paperwork on the desk in front of him as though all of his problems were somehow the paperwork's fault. It was a mix of hero repeals for impromptu work he'd done in the area and some teacher handbook forms that Nezu had been smart enough to only give to Toshi in very small doses with no promises about when, and if, it ended.

A faint smile finally curled the old hero's lips. Clearly Nezu remembered his old student's penchant for avoiding paperwork the second it became too overwhelming.

True to form, he stood again and, firmly pushing in his chair, he turned his back on the papers. They could be done later. It wasn't exactly as though he'd definitively decided to teach anyway. Why fill out unnecessary paperwork if he changed his mind? And as for the hero forms… I wonder if Tsukauchi would notice if I slipped a few Musutafu forms in with the Minato pile I usually send him.

He glanced up at the clock on the wall. Nearly noon. Maybe I'll get some lunch. Try to corner one of the staff. I'm All Might… how am I not able to just walk up to another adult and introduce myself? This is ridiculous…

Grabbing his phone, keys, and pill case from the desk, he stuffed them into his pocket, and, throwing on his jacket, turned to walk out the door.

It was a fine spring day, bright and crisp with enough humidity to keep Toshi breathing mostly on his own, which was always a blessing. It was a bit cold, but it always was for him. As he was now, his body grew cold fairly easily. Even the light wind that everyone else seemed to be ignoring permeated his thin limbs and chilled him to the bone if he didn't wear a jacket. He smiled up at the sun. Summer was coming, soon, though… And the sun felt good.

He stopped to catch his breath as inconspicuously as he could on his way to the main building where Lunch Rush was located. Leaning casually against a large tree, he wheezed into a handkerchief and tried not to cough. Why had he decided to take the stairs when there was a perfectly good elevator?

To stay in shape, he answered himself, wryly. Toshinori snorted at that thought. Stupid.

"Hey! It's Yagi-san!" came a sudden shout from behind.

Toshinori jumped and did cough up some blood this time. Clutching his chest after his almost-heart attack, he quickly wiped his face clean and turned to see that blond second year again, cheerfully approaching with a friend. The young man-Mirio, Toshi reminded himself- waved as though they were best friends.

"You're still here!" the boy said in a cheery voice.

Toshi couldn't help but smile at his bright enthusiasm. "So I am," he replied, warmly. "Thank you again for your help the other day, young man. Thanks to you I didn't miss my meeting."

"No problem, sir." The boy grinned widely before turning to his companion, a small, silver-haired girl carrying what appeared to be a massive calculus textbook. "Fuyuko, this is the guy I was telling you about."

Fuyuko bowed politely, but her ice blue eyes clearly told Toshinori that she didn't understand why Mirio was making such a big deal out of him. Honestly, Toshi was right there with her. This energetic boy seemed to think that everything was worthy of all his most passionate positive attention. The boy was endearing, but reminded Toshinori a bit of an excitable puppy.

In fact, Toshi couldn't help but feel like this kid was some sort of physical embodiment of the image Toshi had fabricated as All Might. Toshi had created that persona to put people at ease as he saved them, but he couldn't imagine how exhausting it must be to actually be like that all the time…

Mirio was still chattering on about something to Fuyuko, but a high-pitched sound caught Toshinori's attention from behind, and he instinctively shifted his focus. It wasn't loud, but had a rapidly rising pitch, which meant it was approaching quickly. He turned slightly and caught a glint and blur of motion out of the corner of his eye.

"Yagi-san?"

Distantly Toshinori heard Mirio's voice, but he was no longer listening, old instincts driving his actions.

"Look out!" another voice called from behind, too late.

It didn't matter. Toshi had already spun toward the incoming object, simultaneously shoving Fuyuko out of the way into Mirio's arms. The girl yelped as she crashed into her friend and the object zipped near enough to her to clip her hair and leave a thin cut across her cheek.

"What the-"

"It's coming back!"

Sure enough, the item must have been programmed to zero in on a target and for some reason was zooming back toward them.

"Shit," Toshinori swore under his breath. It seemed to be targeting one of them. He needed to disable it somehow. Quickly.

Shield. Shield… He glanced around and spotted the thick calculus book, still clutched in the girl's tight grip. Already that flying thing-about the size of a football, but lined with blades or something sharp-had turned around and was zooming back toward its target.

Toshi tore the book out of the surprised girl's hand as he stepped in front of them defensively.

"Stay behind me!" he said with a practiced calm before swinging the book at the object and catching its blades. The force of the impact pushed Toshi back, but, just as it tore through the thick text, also slicing into Toshi's jacket and skin, he managed to twist the book and launch the support item into the tree beside them instead. It's blades dug deeply into the old trunk as tattered textbook fragments fluttered down around them before the sleek object sparked twice and was finally silenced.

The three stood in stunned silence for a moment. The entire episode had taken barely a minute.

Toshinori stepped toward the tree to study the object. It was a support item of some kind. "What the hell was that about?" he growled as he tried to unobtrusively tuck his wounded left arm close to his chest.

A young man came to a panting halt in front of the trio, hands on knees as he tried to catch his breath. "I'm so… sorry… Is everyone… all alright…?" the boy gasped. "The blades weren't supposed to…. Come out… Too dangerous…"

"You don't say," Toshi remarked dryly, his injured arm now carefully hidden under his sliced jacket. "We're fine. But be careful with that stuff. Especially if it has a homing device activated!"

"No one usually is around here, so I practice here some evenings. I programmed it to go for the tree. It shouldn't have activated now, though. Especially not the-"

"Mizutani Tetsuya!" a deep, familiar voice interrupted. Cementoss was lumbering toward the group. "You've been told not to test your support items in the main field. Someone could have been killed!"

"Ishiyama-sensei!" The boy bowed deeply. "I am so sorry. The blades weren't supposed to activate. I don't-"

"Quiet," Cementoss continued seriously. "If Yagi-san hadn't reacted so quickly, we would be rushing Fuyuko or Mirio to Recovery Girl right now. What were you thinking?"

"I'm so sorry…" he repeated helplessly.

Fuyuko seemed to have finally snapped out of her shock. "It's okay, Tetsu," she responded quietly, brushing a thin trail of blood from her cheek. "I'm fine thanks to…" She glanced up at her unexpected savior. "Thank you."

Toshinori just shrugged awkwardly, then grimaced as the motion pulled at his own injury. "It was nothing."

"Nothing?" Mirio cut in. "It was really impressive! You moved so fast. How did you even know it was coming? I mean it was behind you. There's no way you saw it. Tetsu hadn't even shouted yet, but you were already responding!"

Cementoss raised a large hand to quiet the excited boy. "Mirio, please take Fuyuko to Recovery Girl. She appears to only have some minor scratches, but I'd like to have her checked just in case. Then you can both go to lunch. Yagi-san and I will take care of the rest."

Mirio looked as though he wanted to say more, but he caught the expression in his teacher's dark eyes and grinned sheepishly. "Right. I should probably let you do what you need to do. Sorry, sir. I hope I see you again, Yagi-san. That really was great."

Cementoss sent him another serious look, and Mirio finally chose to contain his excitement, instead leading Fuyuko toward the hospital wing of the UA main building.

Fuyuko offered Toshi a small smile and quick wave before following him, both students chattering and shooting inquisitive glances at the trio behind them as soon as they were out of earshot.

Cementoss turned to the mortified support student standing silently in front of him, head hanging. "Tetsuya, I know you would never intentionally harm a classmate, but this time you almost did. This is why we have rules. You've been told before not to test your support items out here. I have to tell Power Loader about this."

The boy's head snapped up, his violet eyes wide. "Please don't, sir!" he pleaded desperately. "I'll be in so much trouble. I promise it won't happen again."

"You'd be in worse trouble if that device hadn't been deflected in time."

Tetsu had nothing to say in response to that.

"Go to lunch. I'll talk with Power Loader and Principal Nezu. Plan on missing my class to discuss this in the principal's office."

"Yes, sir." The boy trudged off.

Toshinori had remained silent during the entire exchange, silently clutching his injury under his jacket, not wanting to make things worse, but as soon as the boy was out of earshot, he quietly spoke. "Cementoss, no harm was done."

The concrete hero shook his head. "He won't be expelled, if you're worried about that. I know the boy didn't do this intentionally, but it was reckless, and that boy pushes limits. He doesn't understand that there are consequences to his actions. He's been warned about this before, Yagi-san. He needs something to motivate him to change or he will continue to do things to his own liking, and that's a dangerous game for a hero to play." His dark eyes flashed over to the frail man beside him. "And harm was done. That thing destroyed Fuyuko's book and slashed into you. I saw the blood. You need to see Recovery Girl, too."

"I'm fine," Toshinori protested, but at that moment, his body chose to betray him, and he coughed. He tried to wipe the blood from his mouth, but he wasn't quick enough.

"You aren't fine, Yagi-san. You're worse than I thought. I'll bring you to her office, myself."

Toshinori didn't bother arguing. He did need to get patched up. Sighing in resignation, he simply nodded, replying mildly, "Yes. You're right of course," before falling into step beside Cementoss.

So much for lunch…

They walked in awkward silence for a short while. The campus was mostly clear of students since most were either in class or eating lunch. Toshinori was just beginning to relax when Cementoss finally spoke again. "Yagi… Toshinori. Is that right?"

Toshi nodded. "Yeah."

"You're one of All Might's employees?"

Toshinori sent Cementoss an assessing look. There was something on the hero's mind. "I'm employed by Might Tower," Toshi replied slowly. "Yes."

"As an office employee. Pencil pusher, wasn't it?" This time there was no doubt in Toshinori's mind that Cementoss was questioning this story.

"Those were Aizawa's words, not mine." Toshinori replied patiently. "My official title is Might Productions' Secondary Clerical Office." At Cementoss's blank stare, he added with a small smile, "It's basically a fancy title for the guy who runs All Might's personal life and tries to help him keep his business and private lives separate."

Cementoss grunted at that. "That just sounds like a well-paid office employee with a fancy title."

Toshinori had to laugh at that. "I guess it is. Minus the paperwork, usually. I tend to pawn that off on others when I can. I'm more of a go-between, since people constantly want to talk to All Might, and frankly he can't be available as often as people seem to expect." He paused here, choosing his next words carefully. "Cementoss, to be fair, you should know one aspect of who I am… Anything you say to me about All Might, he's going to hear about. Pretend you're talking to him when you talk to me."

"Why?"

"Because you basically are. I'm his earpiece to the outside world when he can't make an appearance. That's one of the reasons I'm here. I'm trying to get paperwork started for him, of course, but I also am feeling out the situation-seeing if this is something that's even suited to him…" He shook his head and got back to the point. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. I don't want you to get comfortable speaking with me and say something you wouldn't want him to hear. I'm not here to spy for him. I'm just here to get some feedback, so just don't tell me anything you don't want him to know."

Cementoss's eyes narrowed slightly at that, and then he smiled a wide, friendly smile. "I don't have any problem with All Might, but I appreciate the warning. I like you, Yagi-san. You've got integrity. And, if I'm being honest now, you've got impressive skills. Are you sure you're not secretly a pro hero?"

Toshi tried to keep his expression neutral, but still he caught himself stammering, "I-Am I what…?"

"The way you responded to that runaway support item. Mirio was right. It was impressive. I saw it coming, but you responded before even I could. There was no way you had time to process the entire situation. The only way you could have moved as quickly as you did without a speed quirk was if you responded to the situation out of instinct rather than taking the time to think and process it. And that comes from practice in the field."

Toshinori chuckled. "Do I really look like a pro hero to you? I can barely take the stairs from the office I'm using without winding myself." He forced himself to look Cementoss straight in the eye. "I've worked with All Might for years. Watch him long enough and you start learning a few things."

"Not All Might's new sidekick, then? His new Nighteye?"

Toshinori paled a bit at his old friend's name, and couldn't even answer.

Thankfully the teacher didn't seem to notice, and his smile didn't fade. "All right. Keep your secrets, Yagi-san. I don't know what you actually do in his agency; maybe you are a middle man or maybe you're a private sidekick of All Might's. It doesn't matter. You used your skill, however you learned it, to help two of my students, and that's good enough for me."

They stopped in front of a large building and Cementoss opened the door for his new friend. "I need to get to my class now, Yagi-san. The nurse's office is right down this hall and up the stairs to the right. Let Recovery Girl know what happened, and she'll take care of you." He began to walk away and then paused and turned back to Toshinori.

"Yagi-san. Just a word of advice? No one hones reflexes like yours by watching pros. If that were the case, we would all be like All Might. We've all watched him often enough on television." Cementoss shook his head. "Unless you're going to try to tell me that All Might can transfer his quirk to other people when they spend time with him, you need a better story." He laughed at the ridiculousness of that statement. "Have a nice day, Yagi-san. If you need anything, let me know." He lifted his hand in a friendly goodbye before finally leaving for good.

Toshinori didn't trust himself to say anything in response, as he silently stepped into the building. My friend, you have no idea how close to the truth you are...

Author's Note: I want to give a thank you to lolo popoki for her awesome beta work! Thanks so much! Also, thanks to you for reading. I hope you are enjoying, and continue to enjoy, the story.

Sincerely,
Sirius