Chasing Someone Else's Dreams - MHA OC fic

The Man, The Myth, The Skeleton

You were going out today. No, not in the middle of the night again — this time you weren't even going with your friends from Yuuei. Toshinori had asked if you wanted to catch up; he hadn't seen you for a few weeks even before you transferred, and now it's been a month and a half. Well, that isn't entirely true. He's seen you around in school, but only briefly so far. He caught you in the corridor earlier today to meet after school.

[Flashback]

"Is it weird that I hang out with an old man?"
"N— hey!!"
"What?" You smirked.
"I'm not that old."
"How old are you then?" You asked, already knowing the answer.
"...34."
You laughed... a bit too hard. He rolled his eyes and scoffed jokingly. "Laugh a bit harder, Young Celestie."
"Sorry, but that's a bit of a stretch."
"Yet you're the one who 'hangs out' with me."
"I never said you weren't fun."
"...Thanks."

You smile to yourself as you open the gate to a park you'd sat in many a time, scanning all the benches until your eyes meet the familiar form of your favourite living skeleton. Not that he'd appreciate that nickname.
He's scattering breadcrumbs at his feet, wearing a white t-shirt far too large for him, and slumped forward slightly, thin elbows resting on bony knees.

He looks ill, and that worries you. Hero work is seemingly taking a toll on his body, and that's on top of his career-ending injury.

"Hey, All Might." You say gently as you sit beside him. He looks up at you, sits up straight and smiles, pulling you into a side hug.
"Young Celestie, I missed you!"
"We haven't had a lesson together yet, huh?"
"No, not yet — but later this week we will." He smiles again.
"I have a feeling it's not going to be particularly easy."
"Well, when you have a class like 1-A, it really can't be."

You nod, leaning away from the hug and watching the pigeons pecking around your feet.
"I still don't know about this, Toshi."
He nods, taking a breath and a moment to answer.
"I'll admit, I was surprised to hear that you'd finally agreed to joining. I take it you haven't changed your mind about the... other career...?"
"No. I'm still recording too. I've written, like, 4 other songs since I've joined Yuuei, too. Fully I mean."
"Seriously?! You've got to let me hear them!" He says, grinning. Even for an old man, sometimes he is adorably enthusiastic about supporting you.
"I... I'm not sure about them yet."
"Have you told any of your classmates?"
"No."
"Why not? You have real talent there, Young Celestie."

You pause. You've never really thought that highly of yourself, to be honest, but you've shared your music with a few of your Pro friends, and they all say the same things. 'You could make a career out of this.', 'This is the change to music that everyone's been waiting for.', 'You could do this professionally.'. You just wish you had the nerve to speak up to Shō or Aunty Nemuri about it, but you always push it down and make the other Heroes promise not to say anything.

"I'm not ready."
This is something personal to you. Something you use to express yourself, and to a much deeper level than anyone who doesn't really know you would be able to understand. There are messages in the sheet music. In every note, every chord, every riff, even every Tierce De Picardie.

"You know," He starts, "there are other Pros who have secondary jobs, too."
"What," You scoff, "like Hawks doing modelling?"
"Well... yeah."
"I'm not sure..." You say slowly, "I don't know if I'm cut out for that much publicity. If I even get big, that is."
"Ah, so you're taking after Aizawa already?" He grins.
"Huh. I guess so." You lean backwards on the bench, sighing.

There's silence for a moment.
"You could always wear a mask."
"Huh?"
"A mask. Or just don't show your face at all."
"That's... I like that, actually."
He smiles, obviously happy to have been able to help in some way. "So you'll consider releasing your music?"
"I'll consider it, yeah." You smile, turning to face him. "Thanks, Toshi."
"I'm glad I could help, Young Celestie."
"You know you can call me Xio, right, All Might?"
"Yes, yes, I'll try to."

More silence for a little as you smile at each other and scatter some more bread crumbs.
"I hear you're enjoying Yuuei?"
You glance at him.
"Yeah, I am! Everyone's so nice there, you know? And I get to see Aunty Nemuri more often, too. I mean, I see Shō more every day than I would have if I stayed home, and soon I'll be seeing you around more too." You turn to him to see he's already looking at you, with a soft kind of expression on his face. "...What?"
"Well, I'm glad that you're seeing more of your... older friends, yes, but I was talking more about your classmates. The ones your age."
Understanding washes over your expression.
"Oh, yeah, they're great! It's... it's surreal. Just like—"
"Just like those American series you like so much?" He says knowingly.
"Hey... how'd you know?"
"Kayama tells me these things." He smiles softly.
"Aunty Nemuri told you about that? I didn't know she talked about me."
"She's very fond of you."
"Well... I do live with her. Outside of term-time at least."

You two are honestly more like best friends than Aunt and niece. Yes, she is quite a bit older than you, but she acts your age; you gossip, giggle and shop like a couple of teenage girls — even if one of you is 30. You cook together and watch series together, you do almost everything together while you live with her, and now you could see her almost every day while you stay with Shō, too. If anything, you love her like a sister more so than an Aunt.

"I'm very glad you're making so many friends, Young... Xio."  He corrects himself. "However... I'm going to have to ask you to stop doing... something."
Your heart lurches.
Shit, does he know about you sneaking out?! Did he tell Shō?
"Young Midoriya has been panicked recently, and I'm quite sure I know who the culprit is." He tries not to smile, but from his tone you can tell he's amused.
Ah, that.

[Flashback]

You were trying your best not to giggle as you crouched outside Izuku's door, with a slip of paper. You'd been messing with him bit by bit every few days or so, and this, this was hilarious. Okay... well... it was mean, yeah, but you'd tell him eventually. Right?

The piece of paper had, in red pen, scrawled on it messily;

"I kno u hav 1  4 all"

You scrunched it up a bit — quietly — before straightening it out again and stuffing it under his door.

A couple days before, you had remarked nonchalantly
"You look like you eat hair.", before shrugging and waking away, leaving him in panicked silence, and trying your best not to snort.

Last week, during a round of truth or dare, you had asked him "Have you ever eaten hair?" when he chose "Truth", and when he said in a panicky tone "No?!" you had replied nonchalantly "Sounds like what someone who eats hair would say." before swiftly moving on. God, this was funny.

"I need you to tell him that you know about One-For-All, and that I told you about it." Toshi continues.
"But it's funny." You whine.
"Xiomara, you're scaring him. Please. He's already come to me in a panic twice."
"Alright, yeah, yeah, I will." You say, meaning "At some point." but not explicitly saying it.
"I mean tomorrow." He reads your mind. Or your expression.
"Damn."

...Fine.