Archive of Our Own

Between classes he stopped villain attacks, and during his lunch hour he graded homework, and while he waited in the doctor's office he researched cases of unusual occurrences, everything from crime to disappearances to quirk accidents, cross-referencing them with what he knew of All for One and his past associates, and during his physician-prescribed meditation and yoga he frequently paused to text Young Midoriya, who needed both guidance and reassurance. 

"When do you rest? Hell, when do you eat?" Tsukauchi asked.

Toshinori gestured vaguely to the chair that he was sitting in and then to the mixed berry smoothie he'd ordered. Condensation pooled around the base, leaving a ring on the table. 

"You're kidding me." Tsukauchi stared at him in disbelief. "You can't keep going on like this."

He took a sip of his smoothie. Liquid foods were easier on his nearly non-existent stomach. He shrugged and said nothing, because there was nothing to say to that. It was true. All Might's strength had been waning for a long time, and passing One for All to Young Midoriya had only accelerated it.

"You can't do it all, you know. Not by yourself."

Toshinori rubbed his eyes. There had been a time when he had been able to do it all. There had been a time when he was All Might more than he was Toshinori. After all these years, he knew All Might better. Trusted him more. When Toshinori looked at himself in the mirror he saw scaffolding. The rocky foundation on which a hero had been built. He looked as though a strong wind might knock him over. He felt bone-tired. "Atlas held up the entire world."

Tsukauchi made a noise of disbelief. "You're aware that was a punishment, right?"

Of course it was. To have that weight bearing down on you. To know that all it would take was one slip, one over-strained muscle, one wrong bend of the arms, one slip of the foot, and so many lives would shatter like glass. But Atlas had held it aloft, a shadow looming over him, and he had stood bowed but strong. Toshinori couldn't even keep the people of one country safe. He couldn't keep one boy safe—it seemed every time he saw Young Midoriya his protege was in a cast or being lectured by Aizawa or Tsukauchi for his reckless behavior during a villain attack. Of everything that Toshinori had seen, it was Young Midoriya's injuries that frightened him the most. Had Nana worried about him like he worried about his own student? Had she seen him with his eyes bright with admiration and worried that this was too much, too soon? For all his potential, for all his determination, for all strength in his body, his spirit, he was still just a child, and one part of Toshinori knew he would be a great hero one day, the greatest, and the other part loved him so much that he wanted to just—

Protect him.

All Might could. All Might was relentless, the unflappable, every-smiling symbol of peace. All Might was everyone's hero. 

Toshinori was no one's. 

"I'll do what I can," said Toshinori. "Until I can't anymore."

And then he took another sip of his smoothie.