All Might's POV
We have been a wreck ever since the boys' mission went bad. The fact that Katsuki was unconscious for so long and that he and Hitoshi had to go through surgery throughout the whole ordeal only made things worse. Hitoshi will eventually be able to see through his eye again, thankfully, and the fact that their first mission taking an intern went so badly and they still managed to prevent anything from happening to Kaminari was a big deal. Most heroes wouldn't have been able to do what they did, that's for sure. Kaminari's parents have been calling continuously and it wasn't until they found out that he was with the sons of All Might that they finally stopped calling.
Seriously, why is my name that big of a deal? I would understand if I was there personally but that isn't the case, they are just relieved to hear my name at all.
To make things worse Inko has been in much more pain during this pregnancy than with Aiko but she insisted that Izuku was far worse. She is doing everything she can to remain calm, Aiko and Yuki keeping her distracted has helped the most though. The fact that neither of us could go to Rome nearly destroyed the school, if it wasn't for Izuku calling us in tears, I'm sure Inko wouldn't have been able to hold back. Nezu still freezes up whenever he sees her now.
I wonder if he regrets hiring her? Serves the pretentious bastard right for hounding her for so long. Wait, no. I need to calm down, after all Nezu isn't all bad. I'm sure this will make him think twice about trying to use the kids to manipulate us in the future though. Even he has to value his own life, at least while Inko is pregnant and hormonal.
According to Izuku, the Lady in the Green Hood saved their lives by sending them to Rome. When we asked how he started crying, saying that he couldn't tell us. It took an hour for us to calm him down, after all we are well aware of the types of conditions she sets for her quirk. I can't help wondering if he was sent back in time or if her quirk was making deals in general but obviously I'm not asking any time soon.
What if that tips Izuku off and breaks the deal? It's far too dangerous!
I walked into class feeling haggard. Now that Katsuki was awake things were much easier but at the same time harder. It feels like a mountain of stress fell off my shoulders but now it's taking everything I have to keep my eyes open. Far too many sleepless nights.
Class went much like it did most days without the boys. Far too quietly. I miss my boys so much.
"Bro, when are they coming back?" I overheard Kirishima talking to his friends, Sero and Ashido. He looks pretty depressed but no one has told the class about what happened on the mission. What if the news was leaked and it put the boys in even more danger? No, for now they will just have to wait.
"Ah, I see. attention everyone," I raised my voice and everyone went silent quickly. "I didn't realize how worried you were for your classmates. They have already gone on another mission in a different country. There wasn't much choice or time so they went directly from Rome to Turkey. Of course that means that my boys took Young Kaminari with them. They should be back sometime this weekend so long as nothing else comes up." I smiled brightly at them and I heard several of my students breathe out a sigh of relief, most visibly relaxing. After all, it was clearly announced before their first internships that accidents happen and in the world of pro heroes people could actually die.
"All Might Sensei, kero?" I looked up to see Asui raising her hand shyly but I nodded for her to continue. "Why have you been looking like a zombie the last couple months then? Kero."
I froze for a moment, a moment that everyone noticed before I forced a smile. "My boys were hurt during the mission. Young Kaminari was fine and still is but there were questions on how long it would take for them to be better," I fudged my answer. I didn't lie, not really. I just didn't tell them everything and the fact that Katsuki and Hitoshi are still hurt can wait until after they return. "I will feel much better when they are home, after all they are only 16 still." I laughed and everyone lightened up, seeming to understand what I meant by that.
Right, my boys are only 16 and one almost became permanently blind and another doesn't even know if he'll be able to use his arm ever again. They are half way across the world and I can't even go to them because of Inko and the baby. Inko has been in so much pain this time, I don't know how it was with Izuku but I can't help panicking now.
Class went on but the fact that Aizawa was watching me so closely with narrowed eyes didn't escape me. Once the day was over I returned to my office, not bothering to close the door knowing that I would have a visitor soon enough. Who it would be I'm not a hundred percent sure of but I'll see soon enough.
"All Might?" I called out for Aizawa to come in, that was far faster than I thought it would be. I barely laid down on the couch when I heard him. I sat up and he saw me getting up when he entered before coming to sit in front of me.
"Spill," he glared and I sighed. Nezu had been keeping the mission and its status a secret from him this whole time but I'm too worn out to do any of that.
"Hitoshi almost lost one of his eyes and Katsuki had his arm either cut or torn off. No one has really been able to tell me which way it was and there is a possibility that they don't really know themselves if it was quirk related. Izuku… I don't know. He sounds off and I know how worried he must be over his brother and husband but something still feels off," I rubbed at my eyes trying to release some of the pressure from the headache I've had all day. "Inko and I can't go to them and suddenly Izuku accepted a mission in Turkey without telling anyone beforehand and Hitoshi told me that Deku hasn't spoken a word since Katsuki woke up from his coma last week."
Yep, nothing like laying my soul bare while I'm in an extremely fragile state to let me know exactly how messed up I am at the moment. Yet, somehow the fact that Aizawa is the one sitting across from me, listening, helps.
"Kaminari?" I swear he stopped breathing.
"Perfectly healthy. Hitoshi had pushed him out of the way, that's how he hurt his eye," I answered and saw him take a deep breath. It's one thing for fully licensed heroes to get hurt. After all they are fully aware of the risks before they accept the mission but heroes in training were another matter entirely. After all, they were still learning. The fact that they were all the same age is pointless if we are attacked by the media and public for endangering students.
"What happened?" He demanded but I just got up and walked to the coffee pot and told him everything that was in the report I received as well as what the boys told me. I feel so hollow and broken. How am I supposed to respond to all of this? Is there a healthy way to digest all of this?
"What can I even do?" I mumbled out loud, my voice caught me off guard but I just let out a sigh. What CAN I really do? After all I'm stuck here, not able to help in any significant way and my wife is barely preventing herself from exploding as it is. I really don't know how the school is still standing at the moment, I still hurt from trying to hold her together and her quirk was going crazy.
I handed Aizawa a cup of black coffee before putting my own down on the coffee table. I didn't even taste it, I usually don't. The smell alone was helping to relax me, which is the only reason I make it at all when it's just me. I know it's strange after all I don't usually drink coffee at all but the smell is both invigorating and calming. I usually make it just so my office can be filled with the sharp scent of morning all day long. Something about the creamy black fluid just seemed to clear my soul and my mind of so many stresses and as a result I have gotten into the habit of taking the untouched coffee to class and giving it to Aizawa before taking the students to the gym. A fact that Yamada had become very aware of.
Just last week he cornered me and so quiet that I did a double take, he asked me what I was doing with his husband. When he found out that I don't like the taste of coffee but love the smell of it and simply made the coffee to help myself relax he stared at me for a long time.
"Seriously?" He looked at me dumbfounded.
"Yep, the scented waxes and candles just aren't the same," I groaned.
I watched him slap himself in the face, confusing me quite a bit until he looked at me and asked, "So you're not bi?"
"Uh, no. I am straight," I lifted an eyebrow at him confused. He dragged me to the teacher's lounge and directly to Midnight who was in the middle of talking to Lunch Rush. Turns out Midnight had told him that I was bi and flirting with his husband, a fact that Aizawa had walked in on at the moment and spit his coffee in shock. It took a while for me to calm down the man and explain that no. I was not in the least bit interested.
I stared at the mug with the swirling creamy mocha clouds in it. I had made it the way that Izuku likes to drink it; sweet with plenty of creamer and a dash of cinnamon.
"I miss my boys. Hell, I even made the coffee the way that Izuku loves it. My eyes flashed to the mug I gave Aizawa; I had added honey and just a pinch of nutmeg to it, black, the way that Hitoshi liked it. Aizawa saw me eyeing his mug and asked why so I told him.
"Does Bakugo drink coffee too?" He smirked a little at the thought but I shook my head no.
"No, it would negatively affect his health and his quirk isn't suited for the short rush of caffeine. A little bit of caffeine is fine like in cocoa or even an occasional soda but coffee is a no. Energy drinks are an even bigger no, I can't help laughing when he calls them poison but to him I guess they kind of are," the memory was sweet and cute. When Katsuki was four, just a little bit after Hitoshi came to our family he started lecturing me on taking better care of myself and how. Even with his memories of being in his twenties the fact he stumbled over the words with his four year old mouth was so freaking cute I could have died.
"But the boy loves spicy cocoa. He likes regular cocoa too but something about spicy cocoa has both Izuku and Katsuki racing for the mix. I have to special order it from Brazil in large amounts because if we ever run out the world will probably end," I chuckled while fingering the handle of the coffee mug in front of me.
"How bad is it? You said that Yagi would need a few months to heal but you didn't say how long for Bakugo," he asked slowly, as if afraid of the answer.
"They don't know. They don't know if he'll ever be able to use his arm again. Forget it being his dominant arm, they don't even know if he'll be able to move it enough to put on a shirt let alone write or anything else for that matter," I dropped my head in my hands again.
"My boys are hurt and I can't even go to help them. What kind of father am I?" Oh, I am crying? When did that start? I mean I understand why I'm crying. I just didn't realize that it was coming. Have Inko's hormones been affecting me? Is that even a thing?
I heard Aizawa let out a long sigh and when I looked up I saw him sitting back, relaxing. "A very good one, if I do say so myself. I have been teaching for a while now and I have met some real pieces of work for parents but you are nowhere near like them. You try, you protect them and most of all you care for them."
"I…" What do I even say to that? What can I say? My tears just flowed more freely and when I felt a hand on my shoulder I looked up to see Yamada standing there holding a box of tissues from my desk.
"The door was open," he shrugged towards the door and I just nodded before taking the tissues. I ended up spending another hour with the two men and for the first time in this life. I just let myself break down. I think I probably startled Yamada. After all, I had been talking openly with his husband for a while now but I don't think he ever really realized just how much he had come to mean to me as a friend. A true, trusted friend.
"And now I see where Midoriya gets the waterworks from," he tried to tease and Aizawa snorted while taking a drink of his coffee making a mess.
"You didn't tell him?" I blinked at the man across from me and Aizawa was still choking when he answered about it being classified, I laughed. Like there was a single secret between my wife and I whether it was related to work or not. I turned back to the confused man next to me, "Izuku is my step son." I took a minute before deciding to just tell him everything. "Hitoshi is my adopted son and Katsuki, as I'm sure you're already aware, is my son-in-law. Aiko is my daughter by blood as well as the baby that Inko is carrying now." I smiled at the thought, the baby. I won't lie, Aiko really made me want to pull my hair out at times but Izuku and Hitoshi were always so calm and collected, even as children. It was hard to look at Katsuki as the child he was sometimes but he as a person is complicated in general. But what about the baby? We still don't know if we are having a boy or a girl much to Aiko's ire, choosing to wait until they make their way into this world. We have a world of surprises waiting for us and I thought I was okay with that.
Am I okay if disabling my sons is just one of many outcomes that could happen?
I don't think so but what can I do about it?
Nothing. Nothing at all and it hurts so damn much that I want to take my family and run away from the world altogether but that isn't an option. At least not a good one.