Chapter Text
Battle Scars and Broken Hearts
Chapter 1 – A Simple Trip
Izuku sat quietly on the couch, waiting anxiously for the arrival of his mentor. Ever since his brief stint with Gran Torino, All Might had been training him harder, pushing him to his absolute limits; without destroying his body, of course. This newly tailored regime was designed to increase his mobility, as well as focus and strategic decision-making, rather than having him trying to scrape through using brute strength alone. That approach clearly wasn’t working; Izuku had broken more bones than he could count.
With his newfound ability to have One For All flowing consistently throughout his body, rather than just a single limb, Midoriya had become faster and far more agile in the heat of battle. This opened up a wide spectrum of opportunities for All Might’s young successor, and his mentor was determined to train him to properly wield this awesome power that he had been blessed with. Now that Gran Torino had paved the way for him to teach the kid properly, helping him to awaken to this new quirk’s full potential, All Might decided that now would be the perfect time to show the boy what a truly powerful opponent looked like. Mentoring and instructing from the side lines was no longer an option. If the kid was going to succeed in becoming the world’s next #1 hero, then he needed to engage and develop his abilities in actual combat training.
Hence why Izuku was literally sitting on the edge of his seat, nervously wringing his hands to the ticking of his mother’s clock…
For the first time ever, All Might was taking him away for an entire training weekend. He promised to face off against Midoriya one-on-one in an epic fight, where his mentor would hold nothing back. Although a part of the teen knew that All Might would never cause him serious physical harm, the way his teacher had pledged to ‘pound him into the ground’, all the while wearing that determined and confident, almost evil smile, had Izuku quaking in his little red shoes. Maybe his personal hero really would give him a taste of his basically unrivalled power…
A sudden banging at the door startled Izuku out of his thoughts. His mother raced from the kitchen frantically with a freshly made bento, offering it to him in an instant with her pudgy, outstretched hands. “Honey, he’s here!” Inko had hollered excitedly as she plodded over towards him, taking on the appearance of a fangirling teenager about to meet their all-time favourite idol.
With a small ‘thanks’ her adorable son accepted the offering and shouldered his worn yellow backpack, reaching to open the door. She really needed to buy him a new one, she realised belatedly…
The next instant the entrance to their humble little apartment was flung open, revealing the buff and charming hero in all his glory. “I am here!!” he boomed unnecessarily, though with a slightly hushed voice as to not draw too much attention to himself with all the nosy neighbours. Inko had burst into a fit of sweet giggles, whilst simultaneously blushing beet red and trying to hide her embarrassment behind her chubby, wrinkling hands.
She pulled Izuku into a tight and loving embrace before he crossed the threshold from the safety of home into the daunting outside world, planting a small kiss on his smooth temple. The teen blushed slightly, but honestly didn’t seem all that bothered by his mother’s public display of affection, much to the surprise of his hero. He could only begin to imagine how young Bakugou would have reacted had their places been switched. “Promise me you’ll be careful Izuku,” she pleaded as they made to leave.
Her son flashed her a confident smile, promising, “I will mum. Try not to worry too much, okay?” Because he knew full well that she definitely, 100%, without a doubt, would. “Love you.”
All Might grinned to himself, holding back the huge ‘awww’ that very nearly slipped out at the sweet and innocent declaration.
“I love you too sweetheart. See you on Sunday…I’ll have katsudon on the table for you the minute you get home,” she promised.
Izuku kissed her goodbye, before following his teacher around the block, to the secluded carpark where he had parked his twisted hunk of metal that could barely be called a car. As soon as they were away from prying eyes, All Might reverted back to his normal, gaunt looking self, a mere shadow of the being he was only moments before. While Izuku loved All Might with all his heart, he secretly loved this side of the man more. This was All Might too, but it was also Toshinori. This was a side that few got to see, the real All Might, that had fears and problems and a regular job, just like everybody else. But more than that, he was his mentor. This man had chosen Izuku, of all people, to succeed him. They shared a bond now that went beyond words.
He sent Izuku a sheepish grin as he wiped away the trickle of blood that spurted from the side of his mouth. “Sorry, my boy, I reached my limit today earlier than expected.” He stretched his aching muscles with a frustrated sigh. “Man, it’s getting hard to retain that form,” he added as an afterthought, not exactly intending for Izuku to hear.
“You really should be more careful, All Might!” Izuku stuttered in worry, waving his hands frantically in a pointless attempt to get him to see reason. “You should have texted or called me, and I would’ve met you round here.” He searched determinedly to find something persuasive to say. “You know I don’t mind seeing you like this, right? You’re still ‘All Might’, my hero, no matter what.”
Toshinori chuckled affectionately, ruffling the boy’s hair. “How many times do I have to tell you; it’s not me you should be worrying about.” He poked Midoriya gently in the chest. “I appreciate your concern, my boy, but I’m old enough and ugly enough to look after myself.”
“You’re not old!” Izuku shouted, feeling scandalized.
Toshinori barked out a laugh so loud that another spurt of blood followed. Once he recovered, he turned back to the boy. “Are we going to stand round here talking all night, or shall we get going?”
That kicked Izuku into gear; “Right, we should probably go now.” He climbed into the passenger seat and stowed his backpack down between his legs, buckling his seatbelt. He sat there for a moment in silence, staring straight ahead, before turning a look of utter confusion towards his mentor, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, car still unmoving. “Uh… Where are we going?”
All Might chuckled quietly to himself again at young Midoriya’s reaction. He had been wondering how long it was going to take for him to finally ask. “We are…” he indicated vaguely in the direction of a small mountain on the outskirts of Musutafu, looming menacingly over the city in the fading light. “Going right up there…camping!” He beamed excitedly at the boy.
“Camping?!” Izuku echoed, suddenly feeling unprepared. “B-but All Might, I don’t have a tent, or a swag, equipment… I’ve never even been camping before!”
A calm hand was held up to cease his rambling. All Might frowned briefly at that last statement, but didn’t say anything. “Fear not, my boy, for I have everything that we need…plus plenty of camping experience for the both of us.” Izuku closed his eyes and sighed in relief, Toshinori smiling fondly.
He turned the key in the ignition and the engine spluttered to life with a loud clunk and a groaning rumble. ‘Woah,’ the teen thought to himself, ‘the car sounds just as sick as he looks.’ He didn’t dare voice that observation out loud, however. He received enough scolding as is for worrying and trying to ‘mother’ his mentor. He snorted amusedly at the thought.
“What’s so funny?” Toshinori asked curiously, taking his beady blue eyes off the road momentarily to glance at his successor.
He was caught. “Nothing,” he said quickly, before promptly changing the subject. “How much longer until we get there?” The majority of the car ride up until this point had been spent in a companionable silence, both One For All users too caught up in their own thoughts to hold a meaningful conversation.
All Might hummed, calculating. “Around, say, another 10 mins or so?” He estimated, not entirely sure. Traffic was flowing smoothly, so his guess would be more accurate than not. “But it will probably take as long as 45 minutes until we reach the campsite.”
Izuku nodded thoughtfully in understanding. It’s not like they were going to be camping at the foot of the mountain. That thought led to what the training would entail, and how he could use the mountainous and rocky terrain to his advantage in a fight, and where would be the most advantageous position, and how he could use the trees as both cover and offensively to attack swiftly from the shadows… An all-out internal brainstorming took place, spiralling out of control, and before he realised it, words were spilling out of his mouth at an incredible pace, a never-ending string of verbal diarrhoea that Izuku didn’t even realise was happening. It was his mentor that finally put a stop to it.
“Woah, kid, that’s a lot of thinking you’re doing there.” Midoriya blushed furiously at All Might’s interjection as the old rust bucket finally came to a stop.
“Sorry All Might,” he quickly apologised, “got carried away.”
“Don’t worry about it, young Midoriya,” he soothed. “Come on, let’s get moving.”
Izuku jumped out of the car, racing to the boot so he could assist with carrying the majority of the camping equipment that was no doubt stashed away in there. “Right!” But, much to the green-haired boy’s surprise, all that laid there was All Might’s tattered, old grey backpack.
“Where is everything?” He looked to the man for an answer as he slung the backpack over his frail shoulders.
“It’s already up there, my boy, for I am always prepared.”
Izuku panicked. “Wait, it’s up there? All of it? But, but…what if someone’s taken it; it’s just sitting there.”
“That’s entirely possible, but very unlikely.” He winked conspiratorially at his student, but didn’t elaborate. “Follow me,” he instructed, moving towards the dirt and gravel path that snaked up the face of the daunting mound of earth that stood proudly before them. “Stick close to me; we won’t be on the path for very long, and it’s already getting dark.” The sound of loose rocks coming from behind had him turning in a millisecond, revealing the image of Izuku flailing wildly like a giant fish, desperately trying to remain upright. He sighed in exasperation. “…and try to be careful.”
All Might navigated from the front with what Izuku could only describe as a practised ease. They’d veered left at a tree marked with a jagged looking star and continued diagonally up the slope. It wasn’t as steep as he would have imagined, but with the loose footing underneath it was a difficult trek, Izuku occasionally reaching for stray tree branches in an attempt to keep himself from taking a giant tumble. It was quite a cold night too, so he was looking forward to the warmth of the flickering flames of a campfire.
He looked up to see All Might stopped up ahead, hunched over and panting, using the thick trunk of a tree to support his weight. “All Might?” Izuku called worriedly as he did his best to sprint up to where his mentor stood. He looked more worn out than usual, and Midoriya could see the thin lines of pain that the man had been unable to mask. He hastily removed his backpack and unzipped it, fishing for a bottle of water. “Here.”
Toshinori gratefully accepted the offering, gulping three great mouthfuls down before passing it back. “Thank you, young Midoriya. It’s…been a while…” He scrunched his face up in disgust as his eye line descended down the length of his lanky frame. “My body can’t keep up anymore. It’s basically useless like this.”
All Might looked weary; Izuku, concerned.
“Let me carry this,” Izuku commanded, reaching for the other’s backpack. Before All Might could tell him that that was unnecessary, Midoriya cut him off. “Please…”
After a moment’s hesitation, Toshinori reluctantly handed the object in question over, sighing in defeat. Izuku reached out triumphantly, but nearly dropped it the second it landed in his hand. It was ridiculously heavy.
“What-what have you got in here?” His reaction wasn’t so much because of the fact that it was too heavy, but rather that he hadn’t been expecting it. In all honestly, after he recovered from the shock, it was fine; his body was strong. Yes, he slightly overplayed his reaction, but if appearing weaker than he was made Toshinori feel better about his own flaws, then that was fine too…
“Clothes, books, essays to mark…” He began to list off as he was recovering from his bout of exhaustion. Thought he didn’t like to appear weak in front of Izuku, or anyone, for that matter, he was secretly pleased with his successor’s unbelievable willingness to help. He cared far too much about his withering old hero, so much so that Toshinori couldn’t comprehend why. He was a good boy with a heart made of gold …plus, it made him feel less useless, knowing that it wasn’t just him that was collapsing under the weight of the bag.
“Come on,” He instructed, perking back up and patting the boy’s shoulder in thanks. “Let’s keep at it. The darker it gets, the harder it will be to navigate, and my body has just about hit it’s limit today.” Izuku felt bad for All Might, but wisely kept his mouth shut.
The rest of the way they trekked side-by-side, mainly due to the fact that Toshinori’s old wound was aching thanks to the chilly night air. Izuku, however, looked to be in fine form. Other than a few wrong footings he had managed to hold his pace, sweating profusely and breathing heavy, but by no means completely exhausted. He was silent and focused, and Toshinori was proud of the boy’s determination. As they neared their destination the ground became rockier and increasingly uneven, and All Might raised a hand to slow their approach, indicating that Midoriya should once again fall in line behind him. It wasn’t exactly necessary, but…
“Finally! Where the hell have you been, Toshinori? I’ve been waiting for hours.”