ALL MIGHT, LOATHE

"I hate you."

Hate, you used to say, is a very strong word and yet—All Might wonders how much you actually mean the strings of words you say. Because if there is anyone in the world who actually thinks and thinks and keep on thinking because this is the only thing you have left, All Might knows that it is you. (He also wonders when he started to refer to himself as All Might instead of Toshinori Yagi—shame bites his stomach from inside to out, he closes his eyes harshly to force the feeling of hatred of his weak alter-ego out of his system. He tries to forget that he is also Toshinori Yagi and tries to force himself to believe that he is only All Might, All Might, All Might, All Might and—he breathes and he fails. He utterly fails.) He thinks he also hates himself for bringing someone like you to say those words.

He does not know whether or not you mean it. (He knows you do. He knows you hate him with every fiber of your being and maybe—he does not need to believe that.) You cock your head to the side with an unusual grin. He thinks of how many years passed since the day you first smiled at him with the belief that he is a hero.

The corner of your lips twitch, as if smiling is as painful as seeing him stand before you in that disgusting piece of shit he calls his costume. "Hero?" You muse. "Are you a hero now, Toshinori?"

Toshinori—the way you say his name seems like the image of the sea spilling against the sand, tsunami coming any second now and All Might keeps on wondering if he truly does a hero. You tend to do this to him. You always do this to him. You strip him from what he (thinks) is. Toshinori Yagi does not exist. Only All Might walks down the path of greatness. Toshinori died—it has been a long time since he died so why can you not understand this?

I am All Might.

I am All Might.

I am All Might.

"Toshinori—"

I am All Might.

All Might.

All Might.

I

am

All

Might—

"So you're a hero now?"

Adrenalin courses through All Might, he throws a punch and then another and another and another one because he is All Might and he is a hero—Toshinori is dead. He has been dead for more years than he can count and he has been dead for quite a while now. Toshinori is weak and All Might is not. All Might is not Toshinori. But Toshinori will always be All Might—no, no, no, no! All Might is not Toshinori. Never will be. Because Toshinori is dead. He is dead and only All Might is—"You call yourself All Might now, Toshinori?" Yes! Yes! He is! He is All Might.

But your words never go away.

Your words never—

He knows you hate him. You hate him because All Might was supposed to be there when the buildings fell down the children who you call your children with those pale blue uniforms and chicken scratch. You hate him because he smiles at you with those dazzling moons and promises to be there to save the day. You hate him because you know how he knows how to help and—All Might hates you. He hates every fiber of your being. He hates you for representing everything he has done wrong.

He hates you because you survived the fall. He hates you because you know he is Toshinori Yagi and you know how utterly weak he is once you strip the only thing that makes him a hero. He hates you because you remind him so much of Toshinori Yagi and he just—

"You're so pathetic," you hiss at him, "you think ... you think just 'cause you're wearing that shit you get to be someone else? No matter what—no matter who kind of shit you wear, you're still Toshinori Yagi."

You're still that weak boy who snivelled at the sight of older boys who love diving their fists against empty stomach and you knew that so well, knew him so well, that he just hates you hates you hates hates you so much stop stop stop stop—

"[Name]," All Might drawls.

You lift your eyes to meet his grim face, blood trickling from the edges of your mouth.

"You're wrong."

And you know then and there.

"I am a hero."

There is no saving he who thinks of himself as a hero when all he is and will ever be is—

"I am All Might."

(The great All Might finally defeated one of the most infamous villains that has tormented our humble city for more than a decade! Only the hero stands before the rubbles of the battle; the All Might!)