Face Me Like An Idiot

36

Toshinori made a mistake. It was stupid of him to ask a child to finish what he had started - well, technically, he didn't start the whole nemesis thing with All For One. But his point still stood! Requesting a hit was unlike him, especially if the assassin he was making a deal with was a high schooler. Gosh, he really messed up this time, hadn't he? Toshinori speculated that if Nana was still alive, she would be shaking her head in disappointment at him.

Toshinori held onto Midoriya's hand as the boy slept peacefully. He had been comatose for over twenty-four hours, now. The doctors said that he would wake up within three days, but it still left him uneasy. What if Midoriya never woke up? What would Toshinori do then? For all he knew, the possibilities were endless when Midoriya was in this vulnerable state. That was one of the reasons he refused to leave the boy's side, even when Aizawa kept insisting. He needed to hold a conference, soon. Or the public would be left without answers - and as much as Toshinori dreaded to tell the truth, he knew that he would have to someday. Which was why he already had a script written and lying on his desk at home.

"Come on, Yagi. You haven't even watered your plants today; Yamada had to do that for you, and you know how much he screams at them." Aizawa sighed exasperatedly - Toshinori felt sorry for always making his co-workers do his duties, at times like these.

"...Fine," Toshinori finally gave in, sighing defeatedly. He spared one last glance at Midoriya's unconscious body, before getting up from his seat. He groaned, stretching his back. "Wow, I shouldn't have sat down for so long."

"You think?" Someone retorted sarcastically.

Both Toshinori and Aizawa were startled, badly. They whirled around, finding Midoriya fully awake and sitting up on his bed - for some reason, he was also sipping from a small teacup. It looked like it came straight out from Nezu's closet. Where did he get that? He stared at the two pro heroes with a bored gaze.

"Why are you sipping tea...?" Aizawa finally asked, after a few missed beats.

"Oh," Midoriya laughed lightly, bringing his cup to the side of the hospital bed and tilting it sideways. Instead of an expected beige or brown liquid spewing out, a rich velvet spilt onto the marvel flooring of the hospital room. The heroes backed away on instinct as it splashed and painted the tiled floor a dark red colour. "This isn't tea."

Aizawa sniffed the air and immediately groaned, slapping his forehead. In an agitated tone, he said: "It's red wine."

"Midoriya... drinks?" Toshinori muttered in disbelief. Sure, the boy was a certified villain - in fact, he killed someone in front of a live audience a few hours before this conversation - but the news still confounded Toshinori.

"Why am I not surprised?" Aizawa deadpanned, staring at Midoriya with the most regretful pair of eyes that Toshinori had ever seen on him. Midoriya shrugged in response, but the look on the boy's face told Toshinori that he knew the answer to Aizawa's question. How?

"It's actually a good time to wake up, Midoriya," Aizawa stated, his earlier tone of annoyance leaving as spoke professionally. Toshinori clenched his fists; he knew what his co-worker was going to mention, and couldn't help but dread Midoriya's reaction. Midoriya raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes, beckoning for Aizawa to continue. "It was supposed to be about All Might's retirement, but due to the public's demands, you are to participate in a press conference held this evening."

Unexpectedly, Midoriya's expression remained neutral. However, his eyes held so many mixed emotions that even someone with a Mathematics degree would startle.

"Huh?" Midoriya tilted his head to the side, staring at his homeroom teacher with those wide, round eyes of his. "Bu-but..." His stutter took Toshinori aback. Midoriya had always been so confident - hearing him fumble was so unfamiliar. It somewhat relieved him, because this proved that Midoriya was just a child, after all.