Chapter Text
Visiting All for One isn't exactly Toshinori's idea of a fun afternoon.
Probably not anyone's idea of a fun afternoon, aside from maybe some of his lackeys, but even then he doubts that "fun" is really what the League is after (except maybe that high-schooler with the rather... hemophilic disposition), and even their brand of villainy pales in comparison to whom they chose to rally behind. There's a sense of cruelty that drips from the man like an oil spill, cloying and heavy and poisoning anything it touches.
Even here, locked behind double-layered protective glass and bound by enough restraints for it to be considered a human rights violation if he were literally anyone else, Toshinori can't suppress the sickness rolling in the gut he doesn't have ( because of him) at the sight of him.
So, it's not really a surprise that by the end of it, he's feeling like hot shit.
This is probably the last time he'll ever put on the uniform (Silver Age, and at first he's not entirely sure why that's the one he picks-- he has replacements for the modern one, so it's not like it matters that it was shredded in that last fight-- but then he promptly remembers that the end of that particular era was immediately before the fight which cost him everything, and his own subconscious choice makes a lot more sense), so he just barely manages to ignore how much it doesn't fit.
Tsukauchi doesn't say anything as he gets in the car, just gives him a slightly sympathetic look, and they drive in relative silence until there's a cheerful beeping from his phone. He thought he'd left it on silent, but--
Oh, no, he did. He also, however, turned on that little "override" setting for a select number of people that sends notifications regardless, and it's no surprise that Izuku is one of them.
Immediately, any lingering discomfort from that gruesome soiree vanishes in the wake of sheer, unstoppable pride. Provisional Hero License, huh? Hell of a step. (He did it, he passed, because he was a good kid and a good hero and that's Toshinori's kid right there, look at him!!) He says it's thanks to Toshinori, and as much as Toshinori is certain there's a lot more people involved, he doesn't have the heart to argue.
It's an awkward license photo. Not the worst he's ever seen, but it's an impressively startled "deer in headlights" look. Even for how skittish of a successor he has.
He shows the photo to Tsukauchi immediately. Tsukauchi bursts out laughing at his elation.
"Hard to tell who's more excited," his friend jests, and he'd probably lean over to bump his elbow against Toshinori's if he wasn't behind the wheel of a car, "you or the kid."
Toshinori laughs. (It's a relief, after Tartarus, to be able to do so without hesitation. There's something about All for One's presence that can make a person feel like they'll never truly experience joy again, but once he's left behind, the feeling doesn't linger.)
"It's a close one," he agrees. He deliberates over how to respond for a good five minutes, every possible combination of well done and I'm proud of you and you've come so far reading as inadequate. Maybe it's just his age, but he's never felt like he's able to convey his feelings well enough over text messages. In the end he doesn't reply, just makes a note to seek the kid out later and congratulate him in person.
Tsukauchi drops him off, begrudgingly lets him know they'll keep him updated on the Shigaraki thing, and sends his congratulations to Midoriya along with Toshinori as he heads to get changed.
It's later than he wants it to be when he finally makes his way over to the dorms, just in time to see--
?!
Izuku, shooting out the door like a bullet, and the cracks in the pavement he makes when he leaps. One for All leaves a trail of flickering sparks behind him. Toshinori raises a hand to block the glare from the street lamps, taking note of the direction Izuku's disappeared in before he turns back to the entryway. He doubts that little escape went unnoticed, so if he's still retained any of his good judgment after his retirement...
...The door slams open again about ten seconds later. Aizawa is somehow even less put together than his usual haphazard fare. His hair's up, but he's also wearing loose pajamas and it looks like he hasn't shaved in a month as opposed to his usual week of stubble growth. His capture weapon is draped loosely over him, making him look less like a Pro Hero and more like the unfortunate victim of a toilet paper based prank.
"I'm going to kill them," is his opening line, and that's not very heroic either.
Toshinori opens his mouth to protest, then pauses. "Them?"
"Midoriya was the second one to leave," Aizawa grumbles. "Tokoyami wandered out maybe ten minutes earlier. He was just a lot less noticeable about it."
Izuku running after-- Tokoyami?
Oh. Oh, dear.
"Wait," Toshinori says, hurriedly, because if he doesn't interrupt now then Aizawa will get tired of him moseying around the issue and decide to act with incomplete information, "I think I know what's going on. Please, let me handle them. I'll bring them back as soon as possible."
The look Aizawa that shoots him is bordering on murderous, and it sends a shiver up his spine.
(He momentarily remembers that he faced down All for One earlier and didn't even flinch. Somehow, this is still worse. Maybe because he cares about Aizawa's opinion..?)
"You have thirty minutes," Aizawa says, which is a lot more generous than Toshinori was expecting. He fishes around in his pocket for his phone, and when he turns it around to show the screen, it's open to a timer. He presses the little green button to make it start counting down. Toshinori immediately turns on his heel and hurries in the direction Izuku disappeared in.
Aizawa didn't actually tell him what would happen if they aren't back by the time those thirty minutes are up, but he's not going to waste time figuring it out.
It takes him a while to find signs of where they might've gone, and when he finally does, his heart sinks. For more than one reason. (He wasn't there, he only heard about it secondhand, but he knows what happened at the training camp.) Pulling his own phone out of his pocket, he taps through to his text conversation with Aizawa, and sends; They're at Ground Omega. This might take more than thirty minutes.
Toshinori can almost hear the defeated groan Aizawa no doubt makes once the message goes through, and he glances at his phone a few more times as he crosses the field that leads up to the fenced-in training grounds. He isn't exactly prepped for a jaunt through the woods, but his students take priority over keeping grass stains off his pants.
Just get them home, Aizawa finally responds, which kicks Toshinori's heartbeat into high gear. He was expecting an amendment of an hour, or something along those lines.
No doubt Aizawa has connected the same dots he has as to why Tokoyami would come here of all places.
In the middle of the night. Intending to be alone.
(And why Izuku would follow.)
He hears them before he sees them, distant talking in three different voices which confuses him for all of a few seconds until he remembers exactly who he's dealing with. He slows as he gets close enough to make out the harsh words being exchanged, and pauses before crossing the foliage he's certain will bring him to the clearing where his students have sequestered themselves. (Part of the reason he's so sure is because he can see the telltale signs of someone having been here, fresh tracks, but also because the closer he gets the more noticeable that low buzz under his skin becomes. It's weaker now than it's ever been, and he's pretty sure the day will eventually come when he can't feel it at all, but for now, it plays at the edge of his senses. Guides him like a beacon in his successor's general direction.)
He's pretty sure there was a fight at some point, based on the disturbed dirt and shredded plantlife he can see, but he can't be... entirely sure. He might've known if he'd gotten here sooner-- but he can't move that fast, anymore, and between Tokoyami's head-start and Izuku taking pointers from Gran Torino and young Bakugou on how to cross long distances at high speeds, they've got a generous lead.
So he can only wonder: was Izuku fighting Tokoyami? Or was Tokoyami fighting himself?
He hazards a glance around the tree he's still concealed behind.
If they were fighting, they'd long since stopped. Mostly because the option has been entirely removed by virtue of Izuku placing himself at Tokoyami's back, wrapped bodily around his classmate with One for All ablaze. It casts them in harsh shadows, leaves the whole clearing lit by an otherworldly green glow. This close, it sets Toshinori's hair on end, and he wonders how the two of them can stand it.
Then he sees the way the flickers of discharged power from Izuku seem to only whisper at the fringes of Tokoyami's feathers. The way they never quite make contact, curling and writhing but not hurting, never hurting.
A protective wall, a barrier of power, keeping the two of them safe.
(Does he know he's even doing it? Or is he really clueless towards the baffling level of control he's managed to achieve over One for All? The way it bends to his whims in a way it never did for Toshinori?)
(He sees the irony, praising Izuku's control over his Quirk, considering how notorious he is for lacking it. But Toshinori means it in a way that goes far beyond the kid's ability to not hurt himself when activating it. It's so much more than strength stockpiling, the way Izuku uses it. The way it responds to him.)
Tokoyami has his beak tucked into the crook of Izuku's braced elbow, his hands curled tightly around the arms keeping him pinned. After a few seconds, Toshinori can actually spot Dark Shadow, small and meek and wrapped around Tokoyami's wrist several times like an odd bracelet.
A little closer, and he can just barely catch what they're saying under the buzz of feedback from being so near to an active One for All in his ears. (It's so loud. How can they hear themselves think?)
"...That we got away," comes at the tail end of whatever Izuku was saying. "I couldn't have done it by myself."
"But if I hadn't been so foolish as to get caught--" Tokoyami chokes.
"Then I would've just run in after whichever one of our classmates did," Izuku interrupts him. He has his face shoved up against the spot between Tokoyami's shoulder blades. "You know me, you know how reckless I am. I always want to protect everyone all the time. I can't help it. You know what it's like, wanting people to be safe so badly that you can't think about anything else."
Tokoyami shudders, curling up a bit tighter. His grip on Izuku's arm loosens, and Dark Shadow takes the opportunity to bump its face into his palm.
"I do," he says, very quietly. "I--"
He cuts himself off with a broken noise, turning his head and squashing his face into Midoriya's sleeve.
Toshinori picks that moment to stop hiding in the dark like a creep, stepping out slowly enough to avoid startling either of the kids. (He only kind of succeeds, because they're still in the woods in the middle of the night, and he's still tall and gaunt and strange.)
Three sets of eyes snap to face him, but it feels like half a dozen more, and his breath stalls with the sudden pressure bearing down on him. Immediately (because retirement dulled his strength, not his instincts, nor his reaction time), he freezes. Worse than any media swarm, he is at the focus of something powerful . Passively, Toshinori raises his hands. He is not a threat. He is here to help. (They know him. All of them.)
Then the feeling is gone, as quickly as it appeared, and Izuku looks significantly less alarmed. (In fact, his expression settles into one of sheer relief.) Tokoyami is still on edge, and Dark Shadow can't seem to agree with either of them.
"Hi," Izuku says, quietly, giving him a wan smile. "Are we in trouble?"
"I think you're going to be regardless, but how much trouble sort of depends on how the rest of this goes." With a sigh, Toshinori drops his hands and crouches down, leveling a look at the two that he tries to keep as neutral as possible. "You want to tell me what the story is, here?"
Izuku glances at Tokoyami. Pointedly, Tokoyami refuses to meet his eyes. Where it's still curled up in his hand, Dark Shadow peers at Toshinori over one finger.
"Fumi was scaring me," it hisses, "he was yelling at me," and Tokoyami clenches his hand into a fist. The Quirk yelps, dissipating into nothingness before it gets squished.
"I'm fine," the kid bites out. "I was handling it."
Izuku counters; "No you weren't--"
"Yes, I was! I mean-- I was-- I was figuring out how!" Tokoyami lifts his hands to fold them over his lowered head. Over his shoulder, Dark Shadow manifests again, fidgeting with its claws and shooting nervous looks between him and Izuku. "I need to figure out how. I cannot afford to lose control again. Not ever."
Toshinori's legs are starting to ache. He sits down in the dirt with a low huff, resting his elbows on his knees.
"I'm guessing this is about Kamino," he says, not really a question. "And the training camp, before that."
Clearly ashamed, Tokoyami digs his hands into his feathers.
"It's my fault we were captured," he mumbles. "Had I not lost control and needed subduing, we would have been better prepared for the ensuing ambush. I would have noticed-- Dark Shadow would have noticed we were being stalked. But I couldn't keep it in line, and I hurt people--"
"Shouji is fine," Izuku stresses. "It was one of his duplicates, you know that--"
"And what if next time it isn't?!" Tokoyami lurches, like he's going to try and flee, and Izuku just clings to him tighter. Dark Shadow wraps itself around Izuku's bicep to keep them tethered. "What if next time, I hurt someone permanently? What if I-- I--" He keens. "What if I kill them? What if? I can't-- I can't risk that."
"Hey," Toshinori interrupts, voice gentle, "what happened at the camp is not your fault. Any part of it."
"You weren't there, you don't know--"
"Maybe not, but I've seen more than my fair share of villain attacks, and one thing is always true: it is not the fault of the people they hurt. No matter what possible justification the villains might have, the burden of blame is on them for choosing violence and cruelty." There's a flinch. "...What did they say to you, after you were taken?"
He doesn't respond, and Toshinori looks to Izuku. Instead of filling in the blanks, though, Izuku just shakes his head.
"He wouldn't tell me either," Izuku sighs. At the curious look it earns him, he picks up on the unspoken inquiry about why he doesn't know, if he was there, and he winces as he glances away. "I was, um, unconscious, for a lot of it."
Toshinori bristles.
Then he takes a deep breath, forces himself to calm down. They'll be able to deal with that previously-undisclosed detail later.
"Young Tokoyami," he says, instead, "you've been through something terrible. It's no surprise that you're still feeling the after effects. You should talk to someone about all this. It doesn't have to be me, or Aizawa, or even a member of U.A. staff-- if you'd prefer, I'd be happy to set you up with a referral to some resources that the Pros use. The longer you keep all this bottled up, though, the harder it's going to be to deal with it."
He hopes Izuku is listening, too. This is important for anyone to hear.
"We want to see you thrive," Toshinori continues, voice soft. "The first step of that is being honest about what's bothering you."
Tokoyami wavers visibly, looking like he's struggling to keep himself from talking. Izuku gives him an encouraging squeeze, and Dark Shadow mutters something that sounds suspiciously like a petulant "you tell him, or I will."
Defeated, he wilts.
"...They believed I would make a better villain than a hero," is what he finally says, dull and accepting. "They said that my penchant for unbridled destruction and blind rampages were perfect for their needs. That I would be an invaluable asset. They could-- they could simply turn off the lights and watch me go. " Tokoyami lowers his hands, and leaves them hovering somewhere around his chest. They're shaking. (Izuku reaches up to clasp them between his own.) "I-- I did not argue. I should have argued. But I-- Is this not what I ask for? When I gaze into the void, do I not welcome it staring back? I invite the darkness, I revel in it, is that not precisely what the villains desire?"
Izuku protests with some very indignant noises, but Toshinori speaks first. "Did you know one of my first costumes was black?"
Tokoyami blinks at him. His comment seems out-of-nowhere enough to have caught the kid unawares. Good. (That means it's working. He knows spiraling thoughts when he sees them, and there's no getting through those unless you can conjure an interruption.)
His successor is brilliant, so he takes the bait. "That was, um, Bronze Age, right?" Of course he remembers. Fanboy. "Didn't it have red accents?"
"Yep. I kept that one for, oh, a good few years. A lot longer than some people were expecting." Mirai never complained, of course, but he also sent odd looks in Toshinori's direction enough that he actually noticed them, in the short time when that Age and their cooperation overlapped. Every time he sent a minor request to Dave, he'd get a response with the proposed changes, and it was always accompanied by a; are you sure you don't want me to update the color scheme? "I was told I'd make a pretty good villain, looking like that."
"Wh--??" The look that earns him is incredulous. Tokoyami's head lists to the side. (...Like a bird.) "They had the gall to say that to All Might?"
"You see how ridiculous they are?" He reaches out, slowly, and when Tokoyami doesn't pull away, he sets his hand on the kid's head. "Villains like to talk. Especially when they know they're outmatched. They always hope they can use words to break you down enough that their fists will start having an impact."
As a good indication that his words are actually making a difference, Dark Shadow relaxes its hold on Izuku and returns to its place within Tokoyami. Apparently trusting that its departure means Tokoyami has calmed down enough that he's about to immediately bolt, Izuku lets his grip relax. He still keeps One for All active, and now that he's not holding onto anything, Toshinori can see the way his power output kicks up to brighten their surroundings just a little further.
The buzzing is gone, he notices idly.
"Darkness is a tool," he continues. "Like any other, it isn't good or bad, it just is. What matters is how you use it. Villains take advantage of it to get away with things they shouldn't. Heroes can make use of it to avoid any more violence than is necessary. Or to stay hidden and gather information so they can make a better plan, or to catch their opponents off guard, or to even the playing field." He pulls his hand away. Tokoyami twitches like he wants to follow, but doesn't move, so Toshinori doesn't react. "You have the unique advantage of drawing power from the dark in a way most people don't. While I'm sure the villains would like to think this makes you a good candidate for their ranks-- because anyone would be lucky to have you at their side-- all it means is that you're the best equipped out of all of us to face them on the turf they think is theirs. If they think the darkness is a safe haven for evil, you get to teach them how wrong they are."
At least his ability to come up with impassioned speeches on the fly wasn't reliant on One for All. It's been a hot minute since he's needed to make use of it, he was almost afraid he'd gotten rusty.
"You, young Tokoyami, will be able to hit them where it hurts. They think the dark gives them a leg up. You are perfectly primed to kick it out from under them." He reaches forward and pokes Tokoyami's chest. When he retracts his fingertip, Dark Shadow pokes its face out, looking at him with wide, glowing eyes. "The power you have is yours , no one else's, and only you get to decide what you do with it." (He's borrowing the reminder, thanks Izuku, though the context is a little different.) "Since you're here, I can only assume you've decided to become a Hero. Your reasons are your own, so I won't ask why-- but you made that choice. No matter how hard they try, the Villains will never be able to take that away from you."
Toshinori grins, wide and sunny, more genuine than any of All Might's smiles ever were.
Tokoyami squints at him. Inexplicably, he mutters; "That brightness... Perhaps Todoroki was correct..."
Even more inexplicably, Izuku goes bright red, makes a flustered noise, and hides his face against Tokoyami's back again, protesting with a; "Not you too!"
Which... Maybe Toshinori is out of touch, but he's more than a little baffled by that bizarre exchange. For a second he thinks maybe the reference to "his power" brought Tokoyami's mind back to the Sports Festival, to the fight between Izuku and young Todoroki which he admittedly took a little inspiration from, but the comment doesn't really make sense if that's the case.
Toshinori decides he's probably better just letting it go. If it's important, Izuku will tell him later.
(...Maybe. He is awfully red, and sometimes it is actually easier to get Izuku to talk about genuine problems he's having than something that's embarrassing. In that way, he is very much like many of the other teenagers Toshinori has met.)
The kids don't linger on it, though. Instead Tokoyami takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, and opens them again to meet Toshinori's. He attempts a bow-- and even if the effect is somewhat lost by the fact that they're sitting in the dirt and Izuku is still wrapped around his back like a koala, his gratitude is still obvious.
"I... appreciate your kind words. Truly. They mean a great deal to me. I will do all that I can to take them to heart." He sits up, visibly more sheepish. "And I will... take your advice to heart, too. Being... open and honest is not exactly something I am well-versed in," he says the words like he doesn't do so very often, "but I recognize the necessity of doing so when it is my well-being on the line. And I am sincerely sorry for the trouble I've caused you. Both of you."
He glances over his shoulder. Quieter, a little less formal, he says; "...Thanks for coming to get me."
Izuku just smiles, and it's a lot like Toshinori's, bright and wide and infinitely reassuring. "Of course! We're friends, I'm always happy to help."
Tokoyami's shoulders hunch, and his eyes go narrow again. "Blinding," he says, low under his breath. "This darkness cannot help but concede in the face of such luminous intensity... Todoroki was definitely right."
Immediately, Izuku's smile drops in favor of him going bright red and pulling his hands back so he can hide his face behind them. He loses focus on One for All, and it flickers out into nothingness. (For a moment Toshinori is briefly worried, because they are out in the middle of the woods at night and one good conversation does not a metric ton of trauma resolve. Then he sees Tokoyami tense and relax in the span of about a second, and he's not sure what he was even concerned about.)
With a huff of laughter and a slight smirk, Tokoyami takes the opportunity to pull away, getting to his feet and turning to offer Izuku a hand. Izuku takes it, though he's still muttering indecipherably.
Leaving his friend to his shame, Tokoyami turns back to face Toshinori. He looks... awkward, is probably the best word to use. His beak opens and closes several times, like he wants to say something but can't quite find the words. One arm lifts to wrap around himself. (He doesn't seem to notice he's doing it.)
Ah. Now this is a look he knows quite well.
"Young Tokoyami," Toshinori says, softly, "may I have a hug, please?"
Tokoyami blinks, visibly startled.
"I was more than a little worried, when Aizawa told me you ran out here alone in the middle of the night." If it's not broken, don't fix it, right? He isn't totally sure he needs to use this tactic with Tokoyami the way he does with Izuku, but they are quite similar in a few very key ways, so it can't hurt. Even if Tokoyami probably sees right through it-- the point isn't to actually trick the kids, just to give them an excuse when they have a hard time justifying it for themselves. "It would make me feel a great deal better to know you're--"
He's promptly cut off by Tokoyami darting forward and throwing his arms around Toshinori's midsection. A second later, Dark Shadow appears to wind several loops around the both of them, settling with its head on Tokoyami's shoulder.
"Thank you," Toshinori says, quietly, and lifts his arms to return the gesture. Tokoyami freezes for a split second (and he makes a note to ask Aizawa what the kid's home environment looked like, back when he visited to ask about the dorms, just in case), then relaxes into it. When Toshinori moves one hand to rest it against the back of his head, fingers nestled in the kid's feathers, he inhales sharply and squeezes tighter. (Toshinori's side twinges, and he ignores it.)
(It's an odd reaction, until he pauses to think for more than a few seconds, and then it isn't. Understanding slots into place. He scraps his plans to pester Aizawa and starts thinking up new ones about seeing if the school has specific programs in place to help support kids with mutation Quirks instead.)
Standing a few feet away, Izuku has gotten over his strange bout of embarrassment, and is instead grinning at the two of them. When he notices Toshinori looking at him, his smile widens.
Like me, Izuku mouths, pointing at himself, the mall.
Whoops. Looks like his little strategy is revealed. Hopefully that doesn't mean it'll stop working on the kid in the future, he was kind of banking on it going forward. He has a feeling there's bound to be a lot more times when Toshinori'll need to convince him to ask for help. (If the rest of this year has been any indication, a lot more times.)
Eventually the twinge in Toshinori's side gets a little too strong to ignore, and given Tokoyami's whole breakdown had been about accidentally hurting people, he pats the kid's back. Taking it as the tap-out that it is, Tokoyami withdraws Dark Shadow and steps back. (The Quirk itself darts forward to hug Toshinori around the shoulders for about two seconds, and there's a hissing whisper that undeniably says "thank you for taking care of him," then it ducks back inside its host.)
Izuku steps into the vacated space for a hug of his own, arm raised over Toshinori's shoulder to avoid pressing on his side (he noticed, of course he noticed, his boy is so attentive so caring). It's clear he's a little shaken, though doing a pretty good job hiding it from his classmate, and once they get a moment to themselves Toshinori will ask him about what exactly Tokoyami was doing out here when he arrived.
"Sorry we were the reason you had to retire sooner than you planned," Izuku murmurs in his ear, barely audible even with his face right next to it.
"My boy," Toshinori chastises gently, "you know better than anyone that it's not your fault in the slightest."
He definitely disagrees, but they can't argue about it here, so the issue gets shelved for later. (And Toshinori has no misconceptions about whether it's going to come off the shelf. It will. Izuku's doubtful to let that one go.)
After a couple more seconds, Toshinori forces himself to let go with the knowledge that Izuku isn't going anywhere and he can just get more hugs later.
"About time we got a move-on," Toshinori says, setting a hand on both kids' shoulders and urging them along. It's a long walk back, and that took a while. "I told Aizawa I'd get you two back as soon as possible, and this was... probably not that."
Izuku blanches, like he'd totally forgotten they were technically breaking the rules by being out this late. Tokoyami tilts his head back and closes his eyes, muttering; "Nevermind, I am going to let darkness consume me. Farewell, friends."
"I'll try to convince him to lay off." He doesn't add but that might not do much, though he has a feeling the kids pick up on that unspoken (and unfortunate) truth. "You may be able to get a little more leniency out of him, if you're willing to tell the truth about what you were doing out here and why you left in the first place. He's very open to emotional honesty." They still look nervous, so Toshinori sighs and continues; "Now, I didn't technically see you two fighting, so as far as I'm aware nothing happened, and if you can agree on an... alternative truth, let's say, I'm not going to contradict you. But you had better not contradict each other. I won't be able to help you if you trip up."
Maybe encouraging a couple of teenagers to lie to their homeroom teacher isn't the best thing for him to do, as a teacher himself, but sue him, he likes these kids. He doesn't want to see them get in trouble for some very understandable emotions running high. Neither of them are visibly messed up, aside from some dirt on their clothes and Izuku's scuffed knees (which can probably be excused with a jaunt through the forest and the latter's hasty pursuit), so it's not like it's obvious one way or another.
"We weren't fighting," Izuku says, immediately, and it's dull enough that Toshinori can't actually tell if he's lying. "Tokoyami was arguing with Dark Shadow, and I intervened."
By the way Tokoyami cringes, he's pretty sure it was a little more dramatic than just arguing (and based on what the Quirk itself had said, that "Fumi" was scaring it), but the best lies are based in truth, and that does sound pretty plausible considering the circumstances. "Yes, Midoriya used an amount of physical force to restrain me, but... It was for my own good, and he did no damage whatsoever. To me or himself."
"I've gotten better!"
"The past is not so easily erased," Tokoyami says, menacingly. It might be a little too dour in any other situation, but Toshinori knows the kid well enough to know he's just like that, and it's confirmed by the way Izuku responds with a drawn out "uuuuuugh."
The gates of the training ground come into view. Toshinori keeps a hand on each kid, and they haven't complained, so he figures they probably don't mind. A sedate walk later and the dorms come into view.
Toshinori glances between them. "You ready?"
"No," Tokoyami says, honestly, and keeps walking anyway.
"As we'll ever be," Izuku sighs, and marches on like he's approaching his own execution.
They should be worried, but Toshinori has a feeling Aizawa will understand. Beneath all that bluster is a man who cares more than anything about those in his charge.
(One day, Toshinori will get him to admit he cares about the people he works with, too.)
(But, uh, that work in progress is gonna stay in progress for a little while longer. For now, he joins the kids in their solemn approach to a very ticked Eraserhead looming menacingly on the dorm's front stoop. How the man makes pajamas and stubble look like a threat, he'll never understand.)
(Still, Toshinori ends up being right. Once explanations are all said and done, Aizawa
does
go easy on them.)