~O~

"If you keep going like this, you'll die an unspeakably gruesome death!"

At that moment, for some reason, Toshinori could hear Mirai's words ringing in his head. Again and again, on a constant loop. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him. Hearing those words in his head - sometimes a few twisted versions thrown in by his treacherous mind, that was more or less how he spent the five years after his first fight with All For One. Toshinori didn't understand why, when his mind was always plagued by the thoughts of his doom, when he awaited his end, when he accepted the fact that he was to go, death never came to him.

It never did.

Mirai's foresight once stretched far too much into the future couldn't pinpoint the exact time of the events he saw. The same was the phenomenon for Toshinori's impending death. He didn't truly know when he would die. The gap between his prediction wasn't exactly too great. But all the time Toshinori had spent in those words' shadows, he had been prepared. He had been prepared for the worst. He was ready to embrace his fate every time he charged into battle, every time he was attacked by a villain because maybe this was it, maybe this is the one, the villain who ends me.

Toshinori was always prepared for his fate.

Even when he passed One For All - the undying torch, the unparalleled legacy of it to Izuku, he had no problem with meeting his doom. He trained Izuku, as hard as he could, as much as wouldn't burden him too much. He trained the boy so he could fill in his shoes when he was gone. So, he could carry the torch and be a symbol. Guide society and protect the people. Izuku had all the qualities to do so and most importantly, he wanted to do it. That was all Toshinori could ever ask for. He would die happily because this quirkless middle schooler would be there for when he's gone.

It didn't come.

Toshinori did not die in any villain attack.

He remembered feeling frustrated at one point too. Why wouldn't it come? Why wouldn't he die? Why couldn't any villain kill him? Come on, how much longer do you want an old man to wait?

It could've been at the USJ very easily. The Nomu could have taken him out. But it didn't because Toshinori himself didn't let it. For if he was to die then and there, who would've protected his precious students? His injured colleagues? His successor? Toshinori might have been waiting for death for the past six years now but he didn't have it in him to just leave them in the claws of these villains. He just couldn't. Not when he told his successor to go back with his friends, to not worry about Toshinori, to not interfere.

And funny, despite not wanting to die at that moment he got so, so close to dying. If it wasn't for Izuku to jump in at the last second and distract the villains - even if it was for a moment, it saved Toshinori. Izuku saved him when didn't want to die. Izuku was there when Toshinori wasn't ready. And because the boy jumped in to save his life, to snatch him back from the arms of death, Toshinori realized that he cannot die. Because a weak boy who couldn't control his power without breaking himself fearlessly risked his own life to save Toshinori. Izuku lived thankfully for the backup that arrived soon after but he got hurt. The boy got injured protecting his idol. The least Toshinori could do was not die on him.

So instead, he trained him more. Watched him grow, making sure he had his head in the right place and wasn't constantly doubting himself. What Toshinori hated the most was how he was never there to protect this child whenever he was in danger. The Stain incident and the attack on the training camp happened before Toshinori retired, before he lost his quirk. Meaning he could have protected Izuku. He could've saved him too. He could've been there for him too. Toshinori never got to save Izuku but Izuku saved him more times than he could count.

Fate hated him.

Toshinori always waited for his end but he never even got close to it unless he wished otherwise.

It had become a stupid constant in his life - things absolutely not going how he wished them to be. It had always happened. He remembered a thirteen year old quirkless blond boy wanting to have a peaceful day at school after a long sleepless night only for it to climb up to the top ten of his worst days. He remembered finally opening up more to Nana only for her end to come in the next few weeks. He remembered fighting against All For One with his true form revealed to the world, ready to die then and there but it never came. He didn't die. He lived. And it took him months - quite a few months to realize how lucky he was that he survived that. Because what followed was a distressing period for not only the entirety of Japan's hero society but also his students, his successor - god, can you even imagine the stress that would've left the boy in if Toshinori actually died then?

At first, he really didn't want to think about how hurt Izuku would've been but then his sleepless nights and his treacherous mind kept bringing forth everything that could've befallen his boy. He had been there, he knew how it felt - to lose your mentor, your parental figure (He wasn't so sure about Izuku but he damn well knew Nana was his mother, blood related or not) at such a young age. He didn't want to leave the boy in that disarray of emotions. Not knowing where to go, with no one to guide and no one to talk to about the burden that was suddenly dropped onto young shoulders. The nightmares, the grief, the dread and wordless tears... Toshinori didn't want that for the emerald eyed boy.

A few months down the line, Mirai died during Izuku's work study program. He didn't know the details of the event then but he was filled in later by official documents by Tsukauchi and some of Izuku's nightmares that chipped at him little by little afterwards. But Mirai told him that Izuku twisted fate, he told him that something that everyone had believed in from the very start can be twisted and turned into your own favor. That, yes it was possible to change the future and Toshinori didn't necessarily have to die anytime soon by the hands of a villain. All because of one stubborn child he chose as his successor.

Toshinori smiled at the thought.

Of course, Izuku was the one to make the impossible possible.

So, he decided to live. To live and watch his boy grow. To guide him to the best of his ability, to make sure he wasn't repeating his mistakes, to make sure Izuku wasn't alone. One For All; it's a scary path to walk when you're alone...

Toshinori walked beside Izuku. Wherever he went, whatever he did - he didn't let the green head feel alone in the game even if all he had to offer was comforting words and advice that fell silent on the reckless boy's ears. But he didn't complain, didn't reprimand. He just walked beside him and tried to live for him.

Maybe that was what brought them here.

Maybe that was why Mirai's words echoed in his mind again.

Maybe that was why his fate finally decided to draw the line.

In the unforgiving heat of mid July, in the midst of the remains of what used to be a forest was the battlefield where the final act of One For All and All For One was about to reach its end. The kicked up dust already made it harder to see, the craters in the soil made sure Toshinori couldn't walk easily and the fight going on in front of his eyes was about to give him a heart attack any moment. Izuku - young, bright, determined, smart, the ninth holder, his successor, his boy standing against the devil himself; All For One.

Toshinori wasn't supposed to be there, that much was obvious. None of the heroes they were working with wanted the retired blonde to be anywhere near too much danger for his own safety and upon Izuku's request. But they were hiding in a safehouse that used to stand on the destroyed ground once, planning for their next move against the villain. Turned out the said villain was done being patient with them and decided to attack right away. Tomura was there too and a bunch of other Pro Heroes, but Toshinori didn't know where they were right now or what they were doing because Izuku - oh god, Izuku looked so tired, so broken, so small against All For One but still so determined and strong and absolutely livid.

There was a moment when Toshinori - and pretty much everyone else watching the scene as well - didn't know whether to be scared of All For One or Izuku.

Toshinori knew his boy was strong. He had watched him grow but he had also watched the light in his bright emerald eyes slowly dim out. Izuku was undoubtedly strong but everyone person had a breaking point and there was something telling him in that moment when All For One started to degrade Izuku's predecessors that the breaking point was really being tested but Izuku wasn't really having it anymore and he shut the villain up with a plethora of ranged attacks before he could even say his brother's name. Toshinori might've smiled inwardly a bit in pride but before he could even consider that as an option a distant cry of, "All Might, move!!" broke him out of his stupor and he realized that Tomura was now near and actively coming towards him.

Toshinori complied. Despite the many minor injuries littering over his body, he moved as fast as he could to get out of the way.

He didn't really know what happened next but he knew that his fate changed.

To die gruesomely by the hands of a villain was his fate, right? That didn't happen. So, it must've changed. He must've succeeded in twisting his fate.

There was a quick gush of wind, something dangerously fast went by him. At least that was what Toshinori thought. The glint of pure concern that suddenly shone in Izuku's eyes under all that rage gave it away that whatever that thing was didn't yet ignore Toshinori's presence and simply went on to greater targets. On instinct, Toshinori moved to his left in an attempt to escape whatever danger loomed over him and to nor distract Izuku any further. On instinct, Izuku let out a strong attack to the left where Tomura stood ready to attack Toshinori - sending a Fa Jin concentrated punch in a straight line while using Black Whip to entrap his opponent from all sides in a spherical manner.

With nothing but sheer dumb luck, Tomura evaded the attack but Toshinori got caught in it.

The next few moments went by fast, very fast. So fast Toshinori didn't even realize what happened. But the moment All For One's booming laugh sounded in his ears that blocked out every other sound, Toshinori knew whatever happened wasn't exactly a good thing. Not a good thing at all actually. He didn't know anyone who liked the things All For One liked and he seemed to be liking this a lot. When he opened his eyes again which were previously forced to close by the dust kicking up, time seemed to stop.

Electric blue met emerald green.

Then it clicked.

Oh...

Izuku... Izuku was...

He was aiming for Tomura.

Toshinori got in his way by accident.

Oh no...

The concentrated punch of nothing but pure energy hit the retired blonde right in his torso - not any specific point on his torso but his entire torso, which automatically included his left side. Toshinori didn't feel the pain or that was what he would like to say to Izuku once (if) he survived this but the moment the attack made contact with his body he could feel an angry burn gently tickle his skin underneath his shirt before a blaring pain overtook his senses and swallowed him whole in the next second. The pain grew so much in just a second but Toshinori felt it gradually enclose him in its harsh embrace. Time stopped and all noises turned to static. Everything and everyone was left forgotten in the background as if they were just erased from Toshinori's world.

The burn he felt all over him was working as a cruelly cold factor on his injury. So cold, so utterly horrendously cold it was so much worse than what the other parts of his body were experiencing. Pain, pain, pain, pain. Bile mixed with blood rose up at the back of his throat but time didn't yet allow him to spit it out. Instead, the intensity of pain increased around his chest and whatever organs were left inside of him felt as if they were going to burst violently under the pressure. Pressure of what? He didn't know. He didn't want to know, he didn't care enough because once the second was over and the burn all over him had evolved into a cold itch akin to what tortured his left side. Once the second was over there was no pain left to feel. The feeling of pain injected into him was squeezed out of his body as soon as it entered, all the while he watched Izuku's eyes.

All the while Izuku watched him.

The boy's eyes never left Toshinori's

After a harsh intake of breath, Toshinori coughed and blood practically sprayed out of his mouth. His lungs felt as if they caved in, he couldn't breathe without choking on his own blood and his legs gave out beneath him. Black Whip that was once set out to ensure the capture of Tomura after the hit now gently cradled Toshinori's destroyed body with tender and slower whips as compared to all the thick eldritch tendrils spreading out wildly to ward off anyone who dared to move even an inch closer to Izuku's mentor.

And Izuku... Izuku didn't make a sound.

His face that was previously the picture of Hell's most unforgiving fires was now reduced to what could only be an expression of a lost child. But that only stayed for a second, another eternity long second that was already engraved in Toshinori's mind. The look in those emerald eyes, the absolute look of a frightened child - the crying child hiding in the very core of the boy rose to the surface for just one second and oh...oh, Izuku wasn't angry, he was never angry. He was just a scared child.

How long had it taken to actually word it mentally? How long did it take for the realization to come to the surface? For all Toshinori knew, he had been hearing muffled sobs somewhere in his own heart. Now he realized it was just Izuku crying for help. One For All was a miracle of a quirk.

But the curtains were closed again and the scared child was left to keen and wail alone in the pits of Izuku's heart as the boy gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes before raising up his fully charged left hand and swinging it towards the villains, sending every single one flying back to clear the perimeter before he could reach his mentor. And no one interfered when he did. Not the heroes, because they knew. Not the villains, because they were forcibly thrown back. Not Tomura, because he had no control. Not All For One, because this was just what he wanted. Can you imagine? The state of Izuku's mind after he realizes his predecessor died in front of his eyes all because he made a mistake? When Izuku breaks and shatters and all All For One would've done for it would be just attacking out of nowhere. To think the boy would be the cause of his own downfall... What a wonderful comedy that would be.

Izuku, however, didn't shatter, didn't break. Not just yet. With firm control he closed the gap Black Whip produced between him and Toshinori gently. The green haired boy bit his inner cheek once the retired blonde was in his arms, Black Whip still holding him in a protective yet gentle grasp.

Toshinori didn't struggle for breath much, mostly because there were more important things to tend to for him than that. He opened his eyes and met those emerald orbs once more up close and then something in his core shattered. Izuku's eyes were devoid of... They were devoid of everything. There was no emotion behind, not even the tiny light he found this morning when Toshinori made him Katsudon for breakfast, devoid of even tears his eyes were dying. Izuku's eyes were dying as if something in there was on its deathbed with Toshinori.

- The crying child.

No, no, no, no, no! Toshinori couldn't die. He must not die. Not here. Not in Izuku's arms. Not when his boy had so much on his shoulders. Not for the young child hiding deep in that core of his. He knew, he knew. Toshinori knew that the child had been pushed down and hidden for so long. He knew the child - crying, sobbing, wailing for help - was hanging on by a thread so thin it would break if even moved a little. He couldn't cut that weak thread. Knowing Izuku as he did, if he died the child wouldn't be able to take it. The child had already suffered so much, so much more than he ever had and... Oh god, he couldn't die on him. He didn't want to take away the child. He didn't want any of this. He didn't want to die without seeing the revived light in those emerald eyes.

A shaky blood covered bony hand reached out to caress a freckled cheek followed by a very weak, "M-My boy..."

Izuku's world collapsed.

Black Whip stilled around them, no longer raging to protect but now it loomed with an aura defeated by sorrow. All breath got knocked out of his young chest as blood began to burn at the back of his throat. However, the heat left his hands and they trembled as if they were the leaves on a windy evening. His lamentful face quietly begged for this to be just another nightmare. He opened his mouth to say something, moved his right hand to take action but froze the moment his mentor's thumb gently rubbed under his eye. Izuku's eyebrows twitched, his blank expression almost contorted into a painful grimace but he bit his lip and forced himself to stop... He couldn't.

"I-" Toshinori coughed, chest rattling and even more blood spraying out of his mouth. His hand instinctively flew to grasp his left side and oh, there was so much blood. Izuku had never seen so much blood from just one person. There was so much- Izuku quickly gasped in a breath, just by seeing his mentor he felt as if he was the one dying. He snaked his right hand from underneath Toshinori and pulled the man closer, using his left to rest it on his mentor's to apply pressure to the grim wound.

"A-All Might, stay still- Hang on, I'm-I'm...-" The lump in Izuku's throat grew and he couldn't bring out his words.

Toshinori, keeping his hand on his boy's freckled cheek, shushed him, "I-It's al-alright... I-It's oka-ay, my boy... Everything i-is g-" he coughed blood again. It was everywhere, smeared across his face and specks of the red vital liquid landing on Izuku as well. Toshinori wiped the red off Izuku's face with his thumb whilst gasping for air. The green haired boy quickly latched onto his mentor's hand that caressed his face and yelled, "Don't speak! Don't speak!" Toshinori could see his lip wobble and tears threatening to spill and - oh how long it had been since Izuku last cried? It feels so unreal to see the signs of those telltale tears again. It seemed so unbelievable sometimes that this was the kid who he teased for being a crybaby... And it was those tears that told Toshinori that this wasn't the brave and determined hero who set out to defeat All For One but this was the scared little child.

The child was crying.

Curse the world, Toshinori didn't have enough strength left in his body to protect this scared child. He couldn't ward off his fears, couldn't scoop him up in his arms and take him somewhere safe. He couldn't do shit. He couldn't even not die on Izuku.

So, instead he settled for catching those tears when they fell and wiping them off his boy's face. Instead, he caressed Izuku's face with his large bony hand and rubbed his thumb under his eye to calm him. Instead, he muttered soothing words to his boy with the best of his strength until he was left wheezing for air. Instead, he just told Izuku how proud of him he was and how much he had grown and how none of this was his fault. How could it be his fault? He was just trying to protect Toshinori but the blonde was stupid enough mess that up. It was Toshinori's fault that he wanted to live even when he knew fate hated his guts.

And when Toshinori tried to take in a little more oxygen to say everything he wanted to say to his boy, he realized that he couldn't live. Not any more, not any longer. This was it. His final moments and in the arms of his boy.

"I-Izuku... My boy, look at me," he coughed once more but this time it seemed that he was running out of blood too. The boy complied and his tear filled eyes met Toshinori's blue ones, "Izuku... promise me, you won't blame yourself for this. You won't, al-alright? I-I don't want you to... I don't want you to- I... I-I'm sorry... I'm so-o sorry, my boy. I tried - I tried to stay, I tried to but-"

"I know, I know..." Izuku added quietly, holding onto him tighter as if that would stop death from taking him away.

Another tear trickled down Izuku's face and Toshinori immediately wiped it off with his thumb... And then the hand slowly lost all its power and eventually rested numbly in Izuku's scarred one. Toshinori's chest wasn't moving either.

...

Time seemed to be frozen.

But then Izuku gently laid down Toshinori on the ground, closing his eyes. The green haired boy didn't even twitch when Hawks came closer, most likely to inspect the body. Izuku stayed there, sitting on the ground with his face hanging low, his bangs covering his eyes as Hawks checked Toshinori's pulse. Why? What was the purpose? It was already clear what happened. Izuku could no longer feel the light flicker of One For All that resided in his mentor's core. Toshinori was dead.

All For One clapped.

Izuku turned around with a gaze so fierce it could cut straight through metal.

That was the last time All For One clapped.

~O~

When Toshinori opened his eyes again, he was present in a never ending void of darkness. One For All's vestiges; he deducted.

So he was dead. He did die.

But Mirai was wrong.

He might've died a painful death but he did not die by the hands of any villain.

Of course, that was not exactly how he wanted to twist his fate but alas...

'With our bare hands when we try to twist fate, the human in us surely makes a mistake in the path... For not all of us can have what we wish for.' Those words held no true meaning. Or maybe they did, ge didn't know. They were just empty reassurances anyway. To whom? He didn't truly know...

He stood there, absorbing the silence for a while before he was pulled out of his solitude by a voice. A quiet, muffled, young voice. Toshinori turned around and walked towards the source of it. Determined to find what it was that was sobbing within the cores of One For All.

There he was, the small and crying child - Izuku. With big emerald eyes puffy and red from crying and crying for so long, he barely even reached Toshinori's knees.

The blonde stopped at sight. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what this meant. But when the no-more-than-four-years-old Izuku saw him and raised his small plump baby hands towards him as if asking to be held, asking to no longer be alone, Toshinori didn't waste a second. He immediately ran up to him and embraced him, shielding him in his arms protectively. The child clutched onto Toshinori as well, not wanting to let go anytime soon. Nuzzling his head in the crook of the man's neck, Izuku began to cry once more. This time, knowing he wasn't alone and he didn't need to hide. That there was someone there for him to always soothe him when he let the tears fall.

Toshinori was more than content to rub his back and whisper soothing words to the crying child.

He really hoped his reassurances reached his Izuku too this time.

~O~

A very late happy birthday to the sunflower dad I just killed. Let's hope I didn't jinx us.