dumbshow | the critically acclaimed open post

[Okay, don't read him like that, like apparently everyone else has by now— He flinches, but he's just too tired to start protesting and insisting it's about everyone.]

Midoriya is... a student, like the rest. [Well, maybe a little insisting.] They've been targeted more than any other class at UA.

Yes. But they did it first and foremost to get at you.

[And then to try and convert one of the students. For what reason, Aizawa still has no idea, but that's neither here nor there. The focus was always All Might-- and All Might's focus has always been on Midoriya.]

You think they're going to try to kill Midoriya. Yes or no?

[His first instinct, as it always has been when it comes to the business of his quirk, is to lie. He's done it enough times, so what's one more?

But, he reasons with himself, he can't do this on his own anymore. It's a humbling thought— and Aizawa is the only one who sat at his bedside all night long.

He sighs.]

Yes. [.....oh, right,] Well, can you keep another secret for me?

[Replacing the old secret about this worn out body, now that it's not a secret anymore.]

[He actually stops to think about it for a few seconds. He certainly can casually, he knows that for a fact. But under duress . . . he nods slowly.]

Yes.

[He can't deny he's curious. But nor will he pressure All Might into blurting out more than he wants to.]

[And now, to recite his life story. No, no, keep it simple. He finishes off his cup of water first, turning it in his hand while he thinks. Hmm.]

Midoriya's quirk... is mine. I passed it on to him, the same way it was passed on to me. One for All is a quirk that moves from one holder to another, accumulating power as it travels... I was the eighth. What was left of it after I gave it to Midoriya is gone now.

[And here he is, even worse off than he was before he inherited the quirk in the first place—]

You can probably guess that All for One is involved. Originally, it came from a quirk that he created. So he knew about my predecessors, and about me, and now he knows about Midoriya.

[. . . ah.

That's all he can really think for a long half minute. Ah, and it fits, of course it does, but still Aizawa has to think about it, process it and understand it and reexamine all the little mysteries that have piled up over the past year or so.

A quirk that can be passed from user to user, accumulating power . . . god, no wonder All Might has been so strong all these years. No wonder no one stood a chance against him; he had the power of seven superheroes in addition to his own strength. What petty criminal could hope to stand a chance?

No wonder, too, he's so invested in Midoriya over the others. His favoritism is getting to be a bit of a problem, honestly, but at least now it has a logical beginning.]

He can't control it because it's too powerful. Because it's so much power for a child to handle . . . that's why he keeps breaking things. That's why he has no idea how to begin to control it.

[Or, well. Had no idea. He's grown enormously the past few months, going from clumsy and inept to gaining a masterful sense of control. He still has a long way to go, but he's a far cry from the boy who broke all his limbs in a mere training exercise.]

Why him?

[Oh, good, Aizawa can piece together the rest on his own. All Might nods, an odd expression on his face; he's still terrified, that much hasn't changed, but he's thinking the same thing about Midoriya's progress. The boy isn't ready, not at all— but his faith in him hasn't shaken since the beginning.]

Ah— well, that's a little embarrassing... [Truly it was not his finest hour, the day he and Midoriya met.] He outshone me as a hero, despite not having a quirk of his own to speak of.

[It becomes less and less surprising that Midoriya's recklessness is chronic, now. Oops!!]

He wanted to be a hero, without a quirk... I remember what that's like.

You were quirkless?

[A stupid question, he chides himself after a moment, but it's just so bizarre to think of. All Might-- but no, he wasn't All Might then, was he? He was just . . . a person. A boy, or perhaps a man, quirkless and ordinary, and yet for whatever reason, his predecessor had seen something worthwhile there.]

Haha, that's right.

[At least this ridiculous question makes him smile a little, instead of just looking dismal like he has been since he woke up. Of course that would be the thing that surprises people the most; even passing on a quirk doesn't seem so strange for someone like All Might as being totally quirkless. He gets it, he does.]

My predecessor thought I was a little nuts, to tell you the truth...

[Ah, but that's a sappy story for another time. He shrugs.]

Well, now you know more about me than most of the world!

[That's very true. It's a little stunning to realize, frankly, and more than his exhausted brain can really process. It's just another thing to add on the pile: the kidnapping, All for One, the rescue, All Might's fight, and now this. He'll need weeks to process it.

Better to just focus on the here and now. That's about all he's capable of doing.]

I don't know your name.

Oh! [Well, shit, that's—true? That's true and until today it was necessary, but now...?

He almost waves it off, dismisses it with a laugh at changes the subject. But Aizawa will figure out his name sooner or later- dozens of people he worked alongside at his own agency won't be able to keep their mouths shut, and he can't blame them- and suddenly he wants Aizawa, at least, to hear it from him rather than someone else.

He'll think about that later.]

Yagi. Toshinori Yagi.

Yagi, then.

[Toshinori, but that feels like an intimacy he isn't allowed just yet. It's strange, thinking that name and applying it to the man before him. He'd only just gotten used to All Might being small and skeletal instead of the enormity that he used to be; to have a new name is . . .

Well.

Perhaps it's helpful.

Because All Might was the superhero, really. All Might was the one who strode around with a grin and a wink, constantly posing for pictures and signing autographs, such a steady and ongoing presence that it seemed impossible that he'd ever not be there. God knows Aizawa had grown up with him as a constant-- god, he'd had a damned t-shirt of the man when he was fourteen, after his mother had tried to encourage his interest in becoming a hero in the only way she knew how.

(It was black. A pretty comfortable sleep shirt, actually. but that's neither here nor there).

All Might was the hero that Aizawa had despised at the beginning of the year. Loud and boisterous, useless and irritating. He'd respected All Might, but he'd never once willingly spent an extra minute with him.

But Toshinori Yagi . . . that's the man that Aizawa had bothered to stick around the hospital for. Quieter, wryer, a better sense of humor and an inclination to see things on the positive . . . he likes that man. He's intrigued by that man, clever and experienced as he is.]

. . . I like it. It's a good name.

[Oh, and it's something else, hearing his name in someone else's voice. Gran Torino and Tsukauchi have for years been the only people to know both of him, as it were; everyone else has been passing familiar with one or the other, All Might or Mr. Yagi, and that's...

Well, it's the way he's lived for a long time, but that doesn't stop a warmth spreading through his chest when Aizawa says his name— and that he likes it, which is an interesting touch. He doesn't think he can tell the world to address him as Yagi from now on, not yet, he isn't prepared for that - so when Aizawa says his name, it's something different.

And oh, he realizes quite late, Aizawa doesn't actually dislike him, does he? That shouldn't surprise him, and yet for a powerful few seconds, it certainly does.]

Hahaha! [He isn't sheepish, this is an injury face. Don't speak.] Don't look so surprised that I have a name at all!

[How does one take a compliment when not in front of a camera...?!]

I've known you by your superhero name my entire life. Don't look so surprised it's taking me a minute.

[Teasing Part II: The Attempt At Friendship. Hopefully this one goes over better than the last. He pushes a hand through his hair on automatic, realizes it's still slicked back, and wrinkles his nose in distaste.]

Is that a secret too?

[Now that they are super close intimate buddies (sort of), it does! All Might even laughs, and it's wheezy, but he can't help that at the moment.]

No, not anymore... I wanted to tell you before someone else did.

[As proof of his friendship, of course. That's what this is, too, for sure, and not off topic at all:] You look nice.

I look professional.

[Which isn't a disagreement, just a semi-petulant objection. And, well, it's not as if All Might doesn't know what he looks like on a normal day, so there's really no harm in yanking at his too-tight collar and unbuttoning his sleeves so he can push them up his forearms.

He hates being overdressed.]

But at least the press can't attack UA for staff looking unprofessional.

[He knows what Aizawa looks like when he's, frankly, kind of frumpy and in a sleeping bag most of the time— very different from nice hair and forearms and a couple buttons coming loose. This modified look isn't as professional... but he still looks nice.

All Might, who looks like shit but at least for very good reason, just watches him tug at his shirt for a moment. Ah--]

No, that's the least of our concerns.

[And look at this tired man...] You can get coffee if you need to. I won't run off!

[His eyes lift up, and he looks almost amused.]

Do you want to be left alone?

[Stop reading him when he's trying to be nice.]

I— You've been here all night and you look exhausted, that's all. I don't mind your company.

[This is him flirting! Deal with it!]

Then I'll stay.

[He leans back in his seat (which is, admittedly, very uncomfortable, but such is life).]

I discovered a long time ago coffee makes me sick. It's not worth a burst of energy that doesn't last all day. I'll find some time to sleep later.

[Maybe in the hospital, maybe at home. Maybe on the street! who can say with this boy.]

[Flirting sure has changed since the last time he had time to do much of it... youths today...]

Oh! If you're sure!

[He'll... just sit here, then. Aizawa can doze off if he needs to, All Might will just, ah- watch.]

Sorry, I don't usually have someone in here with me.

It's . . . easier, when there's someone else around.

[He sounds as though that's a recently discovered bit of wisdom he's passing on.]

If only so you don't get caught up in your own thoughts. And I think . . . you might be inclined to that, if you weren't distracted.

Haha, am I that obvious?

[He looks down at his arm cast, not really looking at it; it's true that he'd slip easily into despair if he were left alone, so of course he doesn't begrudge Aizawa the effort to help him! But it's awkward, especially with his hero reputation hanging over him like this.

Aizawa probably doesn't have any interest in his brand, so at least he can skip talking about that. He's already distracted by arms...]

Thank you, again. It's going to take some getting used to, but I... I'll be alright.

You will.

[A confirmation, as he glances up. He'd intended to meet his gaze, but Yagi's eyes seem focused elsewhere.

Hm.]

. . . I also wanted to apologize.

[Oh-- that first confirmation gets him to sort of twitch, without looking up, but he heard it. That's something.]

Apologize? What for?

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