All Might x Reader | Forbidden Attachment

Shoulder Devil

Your heart dropped. Choking back tears seemed nearly impossible. But your read on him couldn't have been innaccurate...could it? Of course it was too good to be true. Nejire's harsh critiques from the night before weighed heavily in your mind. He's a teacher, heck, he's a HERO. There was no way he'd feel any type of attraction to you, a UA student just desperate to receive any type of validation for your efforts in the business course.

"Oh. Uh-I-I'm sorry All Might sensei," you stuttered, immediately reverting to the professionalism he urged you before not to use. All Might never took his eyes off you, although his playful demeanor diminished almost instantaneously.

"Please," All Might pleaded. "I asked you to just call me All Might here." The stern look on his face didn't match his calm and collected tone. He paused before placing his hand over yours on the couch. His massive palm covering not only the back of your hand but your fingers and wrist too. His rough digits spilling over the edge of your hand to rest on the soft fabric seat. You awed at the sheer size of it. You'd held his hand just the day prior but never really gauged how large it really was.

"It's just--I'm a teacher, your mentor, and I only want the best learning experience for you. I humbly apologize if I made it seem like anything more than that," he said softly. "I spend an exorbitant amount of time wow-ing the media and I often forget that the same type of choice attitude could be misinterpreted by a teenage mind."

His words burned. You were too young in his eyes. With less than a month away from turning 18 you expected him to think of you an equal adult or at least someone who had a good head on their shoulders for their age. It should have hurt more but you could feel everything he was feeling. He gave you an opportunity to use your quirk. You weren't sure if he did it on purpose or if he was trying to lessen the blow of such harsh rejection but he kept your hand entrapped under his the entire time he spoke. 

His words hung pointlessly in the air. Each word's severity lessened by his silent words. The feelings you were experiencing through his touch spoke volumes louder than those leaving his perfect, chiseled lips.

He's hurt.

Flustered.

You knew he didn't want to tell you these things aloud. Beneath it all, his affection for you even louder than the rest, suppressed by confusion. It couldn't be easy for him. The age gap. The professional gap. You couldn't imagine it would be easy for him to even admit it to himself, let alone you.

Two options were presented via angel and devil perched atop your shoulders. You could side with the angel and do the right thing by putting this situation to rest and forgetting it ever happened. It would be as easy as believing his words, stop pushing the boundaries, and leaving All Might as nothing more than your mentor. The other option, pushing your luck with the devil, was way more attractive. As much as siding with the angel would be the more intelligent route, ultimately there was no turning back now.

"What's my quirk?" you queried, suddenly locking eyes with All Might again. You were downright awful at reading physical queues. You preferred to let your quirk do the work for you but it wasn't enough to read All Might anymore.

He looked taken aback. "I--I told y--you I wasn't s--sure," he remarked. All Might scratched his head. He looked confused but your quirk read him as panicked. Apparently not showing emotion is another one of his skills. He continued to keep his hand planted atop yours. There was no way he didn't know your quirk at this point.

"Guess."

All Might sighed. "Are you hungry? My treat." He pulled his hand away and jumped to his feet. "Plus--something, something--normal people stuff?"

"Uh, sure," you replied standing up as well. He wasn't getting away this easily. "But you're avoiding my question."

"Italian?" He asked. Apparently it was a rhetorical question as he was already dialing a local restaurant. Why doesn't he want to talk about your quirk? Does he just not want you to have solid evidence he likes you? It doesn't matter really but you would prefer to have some mutual understanding of your relationship, whether it be platonic or not. His willingness to let you use your quirk is confusing for someone who claims they don't know what it is.

"Hello ma'am. Yes could I please make a reservation for 7pm tonight?" All Might spoke softly to the person on the other end of the line. "...All booked?...Do you have any other open times? It's for a hero meeting....All Might...Yes, THE All Might...Just two, my coworker and I....yes, a private booth preferred...thank you." Click.

Apparently heroes also get special treatment. It made sense, they're basically celebrities.

All Might stuffed the phone back in his pocket. "Well it looks like I'll have to change again, want to take a picture of me real quick before I do? For the campaign?"

You nodded and pulled up your cell phone camera app. They didn't give you a camera so this was your best bet for capturing All Might. "On the count of 3 say cheese," you insisted while pointing the phone in his direction. 

All Might was already expertly posed leaning against the armchair on the other side of the coffee table. He was just smiling for the photo but it felt like he was burning a hole in your forehead though the lens. His piercing blue eyes and dimples from his infectious smile made you melt. Just his gaze alone made your heart skip a beat. You were falling head over heels for this man in just a few short days and every second longer you spent with him made you grateful you chose the devil.

You counted down from three and said "cheese" as you snapped a photo of the most stunning subject to exist. The preview disappeared just as you looked back down at your screen. What was that? You fumbled to open up the photo viewing app on your phone. He winked? Not at the camera either. He was looking at you. He was WINKING at you.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short! The next part is a lot longer and juicier so I needed to have a weird break somewhere that made sense with the flow of the story. Your comments are much appreciated and make me excited to post more! <3