Third person pov

Yep. It's too late for All Might now. He's gone. Taken, if you so prefer. He will never return and he's perfectly fine with that, to be quite frank with anyone who may or may not have an issue with it. He is satisfied and proud of his new position.

Izuku still isn't entirely out of his shell, but the part of him that is just so happens to be extraordinary. Now, Toshinori never imagined himself as a father. It simply wasn't in the cards for someone like him. 

He knew he was taking a risk taking this kid in the way he had. He still probably shouldn't have, to be honest, but when has that ever stopped him? His nemesis is dead and there's was simply no possible way he was leaving Izuku at that orphanage after what he did for him. Thus, he now has a child and they are probably the best one in the whole entire world. Naturally. Obviously. Clearly. 

Izuku still isn't over the pain of his quirk's drawback, but he hides it well and still wont talk about it. He'd woken up from a nap earlier screaming and sweating absolute buckets, but Toshinori was armed and ready this time around. Single parenting articles were plentiful. His research was fruitful and he was vaulting over the couch and scooping him up into his arms before the kid could get a single word out. 

It had been a very long time since he'd had to study for much of anything, but now he's cramming and he isn't about to stop. He's full steam ahead, ready to call Dave and ask for tips if the need arises. He's pulling out all the stops. He even called Izuku's school and told them very firmly he would not be coming in. They had seemed a little weirded out by his tone but had accepted. No matter.

Izuku is smart. He's funny, and bright, and has a million interests packed in that little brain of his. He's very into politics, oddly enough. He's... a little strange, but he's so absolutely adorable and earnest that Toshinori really doesn't care. He's caring and hungry for knowledge. They get along like a house on fire. Toshinori can't get enough of it. 

"Quirk inequality in the workforce is worse now than ever." Izuku stabbed his fork into the scrambled eggs All Might had made. The man could proudly say they were only slightly overcooked. Izuku shoved some in his mouth, waving his fork around to accentuate his point. "The tides have changed! Strong quirks and mutation ones used to be heavily frowned upon, b-but now the opposite is true! Having too weak of a quirk can be the difference between a plentiful career and homelessness. It's insane how quickly people turn on one another!"

"I suppose the coin has flipped, hasn't it?" Toshinori hummed thoughtfully, drumming his fingers on the table as he considered the boy's words. An article he had read said to encourage creative thinking. This seemed creative enough, right? "Do you think there's anything that can be done?" 

Izuku got an odd look on his face, leaning forward slightly. Toshinori immediately leaned forward too. They shared a look.

"...I mean..." Izuku's voice came out small. He glanced to the side as though expecting someone else to be there listening. "Some peaceful rioting and a few strikes never hurt anyone. Awareness is really what's needed." 

Toshinori swallowed a laugh at the look on his face. He cleared his throat. "Publicity is important." He agreed. 

"Accountability too." Izuku said, shoving more eggs in his mouth. "There are some people in places of power who abuse their quirks and don't get in trouble for it." 

All Might blinked at him curiously. That was an interesting point to bring up. These types of things weren't something he paid a ton of attention to, honestly, but he was beginning to see that changing in the near future. Izuku seemed very impassioned by what the world lacked! Toshinori could hardly keep up. A little pathetic when you considered Izuku's age, but that was alright. Toshinori had always been a little more brawns than brain anyway.

"In places of power... can you give an example?" Toshinori asked. Izuku looked both smug and determined. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

He got an example. He got several, several examples, actually. Needless to say, All Might was going to be looking a little more into the testimonies of those involved in Endeavor's villain take downs. Because there appeared to be a disconnect there in which innocent people were, you know, getting burned alive. Which he couldn't say he was a massive fan of. It was both shocking and yet not at the same time. This was a future-him problem for right now. He had bigger things to concern himself with.

"And then you fold this part." Toshinori instructed. Izuku squinted and nodded, cheeks puffing out in his concentration. The pro hero had his phone out, was snapping a picture, and then stuffing the device back in his pocket all before the freckled boy could look up again. Izuku remained none the wiser. Toshinori could see his future scrapbook growing thicker by the minute.

"Are you sure this is the right way to do it?" Izuku looked very suspicious. Toshinori didn't blame him.

"No." Toshinori hadn't made an origami hamburger since his time in America. "But we're about to find out.

Izuku seemed relatively fine with that. And if they ended up having to struggle for two hours to find the same Youtube tutorial All Might had used all those years ago, well, neither of them were going to say a word of it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't think we got the recipe right." Izuku admitted, staring at the flaming muffin pan still trapped inside the oven. Toshinori slouched next to him, looking gloomy. Izuku held his hand to try and make him feel better. 

"I think you're onto something." Toshinori agreed with a sigh. He glanced down at the boy, wishing he could take a photo. He was holding his hand! "Do you want donuts?" 

"Th-There's a really good place by that one mall with the broken dome on top." Izuku offered hesitantly. Toshinori didn't need to hear much else. He was putting on his disguise-- aka the shirt with his own face on it-- and heading for the door before the kid could get another word in. Izuku pulled the pin on the fire extinguisher and took care of their little problem himself before racing after him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I never knew online shopping was so fun." All Might admitted. He'd never had a reason to buy much of anything online, but now he had Izuku and the boy was pretty pushy about Toshinori spending no money on him whatsoever. Even if he'd only been here a few days. This meant Toshinori had to shop from the comfort of his own home using his phone since Izuku would dig his heels in if he tried to bring him anywhere. 

The weekend was flying by yet somehow going extremely slow at the same time. The longer it lasted, the better. All Might was shamefully enjoying his vacation. It was a lot better when you didn't have to spend it alone.

"Y-You don't need to buy me anything else." Izuku insisted. Toshinori added a pair of matching All Might shirts to his cart, one in his size and one in Izuku's. The boy groaned. "Stop." 

"We need more disguises!" All Might insisted, scandalized as Izuku went for the phone. Anything to stop him from getting more money spent on him. He had plenty of stuff! Toshinori didn't see the reasoning. If they wanted to go out and not get caught, they had to wear matching outfits. Simple as that.

"Look around!" Izuku insisted, feeling bolder. Testing the waters with Toshinori had proven that the man put up with most anything and didn't get annoyed with his antics. He actually seemed excited when Izuku responded in kind to his enthusiasm. It was relieving and exhilarating. Izuku felt like he could really be himself. And snatch his phone without getting chucked through a wall and put in time out. "We're surrounded by shirts with your face on them!" 

"But look." Toshinori held the phone out of reach, angling it towards him so he could see. Izuku made a noise in the back of his throat. "It says: You can be the All to my Might! I don't have one of those!" 

Izuku was sure of it now. Toshinori-- All Might-- really was just a giant nerd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Izuku couldn't recall a time he'd felt so warm. Toshinori-san had gone above and beyond to make sure he felt welcomed and knew he wasn't a burden, and Izuku could feel parts of himself he'd locked away starting to wake up again and crawl out into the light. The pro hero made it clear he was going to take care of him and make sure he had everything he needed. 

He was actually interested in Izuku and wanted to spend time with him. It was such a mind boggling concept that Izuku could hardly wrap his head around it. He couldn't believe it. His one and only friend in the whole wide world was... All Might. Who'd adopted him.

His favorite hero had adopted him. Willingly! With mild coercion from a healing quirk, but he didn't seem to regret it from what Izuku could tell. Izuku sure didn't. He felt a little bad he was detracting from the man's heroing, but he promised he'd get back on schedule tomorrow when Izuku returned to school. 

He said he'd only been able to hold his hero form for a few hours before meeting him, and that Izuku had given him back the ability to work full days and save more people than before. It gave Izuku a little bit of peace of mind. He allowed himself to enjoy the weekend a little greedily.

"My boy, you must try it." Toshinori insisted. Izuku eyed him skeptically. He'd tried more American foods over the past few days than he had in his entire life, but he wasn't complaining. Toshinori was so happy to have his stomach back that he kept going out to get food for them. Izuku wasn't about to try and stop him.

"It looks nasty." He admitted rather bluntly. Toshinori looked genuinely offended.

"How open-minded of you." The man said with sarcasm, but it wasn't the harsh kind. Izuku risked a glare back and felt giddy when the man didn't look upset, but only amused instead. "Come on. Just put the french fry in the milkshake, Young Izuku." 

"What if I don't?" Izuku checked. The man gave him a solemn look. 

"Then I have failed." He sighed, looking sad. Izuku rolled his eyes and dipped the fry in the milkshake. He tried not to openly laugh at the way the pro hero turned away and subtly fist pumped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Going back to school was a little nerve wracking. All Might landed in an alley across the street, hat covering his hair and blaring All Might hoodie on the throw off the crowd. Izuku knew the man had his hero costume on under it and would be leaping back to the apartment to take it off as soon as Izuku was in the building. Knowing All Might was about to go out and do real life hero work made him want to jump from foot to foot in his excitement. He couldn't wait to ask all about it! The last few days had felt like a dream. A dream he didn't want to wake up from.

"Do you have everything?" Toshinori stressed, hands flitting around Izuku as he crouched down to his height to better inspect him. He was more nervous than Izuku was, blue eyes scanning over the boy endlessly as though expecting to find an injury or something of that sort. His mouth pulled into an uncharacteristic frown. "Do you have your homework? Pencils? A sharpener?" 

"I use mechanical pencils." Izuku noted offhandedly, tugging on his backpack straps with a bit of anxiety.

"I don't know what those are." Toshinori groaned like he was burdened. Izuku gazed at him in disbelief. All Might wasn't that old, right? "Just be careful. And call me if you need anything." 

Izuku didn't have a phone to call him on but there was no way he was going to say that. Instead he gave a hesitant smile and a firm nod. The man deflated slightly, tension dropping. He gathered Izuku up in a hug. 

The freckled boy was quick to reciprocate. He'd been hesitant to chase any affection given to him by his new guardian, but All Might was all too willing to give it and Izuku was too weak to refuse. He squeezed as tightly as he could, hoping it would let Toshinori-san know that he was going to be just fine. Plus Ultra, and all that! He wasn't the one rushing out to fight villains. 

Toshinori inspected him two more times before Izuku was forced to scurry off to avoid being late, waving over his shoulder as he went. Toshinori waved back, feeling a little teary-eyed as he watched the boy go. He fanned his face like a teenage girl trying to dry her makeup. His face which looked almost entirely different than what it had been before. 

Lack of his injury had lifted some of the shadows brought on by stress and strain, making him look younger than before. He wondered how the media was going to react. He wondered if Nighteye would notice him pushing past his usual limit, or if Gran Torino would call. For as long as Izuku was at school, he was going to be doing hero work. The thought was invigorating, even if he was worried about Izuku going off to school.

Izuku kept his head low as he rushed into class. No one seemed to notice him as he went, uncaring that he was gone. Izuku tried to make himself as small as possible. It was a bold contrast to how he'd been before, he knew. He felt pathetic for it, but his quirk was something he had to hide at all costs, just like his mom had said. He doesn't know what will happen if the wrong people find out. He doesn't think he wants to know, even if he feels safer knowing All Might is in his corner.

He thinks about what Toshinori-san must be doing. He can practically see the man now, flying through the sky, free of his injury and any pain. Bouncing from villain to villain and saving people without having to second guess himself or his abilities. It makes pride well in Izuku's chest. It's the one thing he can claim for himself, he thinks. He did that. Though Izuku's side still aches with phantom pains and his nights are restless, it's worth it. He'll get over it, he's sure. Toshinori-san's grin is worth more than. 

"Izuku Yagi." His teacher's voice calling role draws him from his daze. The woman looks only mildly surprised, eyes flitting up to him. She gives a small smile. It's rare to see it directed at him, but he takes it nonetheless. Something in his chest swells happily. "Congratulations on the adoption."

Izuku's smile doesn't leave all day. Even when Kacchan tells him he's useless and that he's surprised anyone would want him, and that they're sure to get rid of him soon. And when he rushes across the street after school to that same alley to find Toshinori-san waiting to scoop him up in strong arms and ask him giddily about his day, he decides that any grief school brings him is nothing compared to the contentment he's found.