Dad For One

Episode 9 - Gran Torino Arrives

Gran Torino was more than a little irritated All Might had dragged him out here. Sure, he was glad that the kid was ok, but it didn't seem necessary to come and see him the moment he'd woken up. Midoriya probably had enough going on in all seriousness.

Perhaps it was just that he'd been a bit grouchy ever since the war between heroes and villains. Not being able to walk long distances by himself was not exactly fun.

He'd received a little debrief from All Might. So the boy looked a little strange? He was just kidnapped, of course, he's gonna look a little strange. Although Dr. Garaki was infamous for experimenting on things so perhaps there was something more than just 'looking a little strange'.

"Strange how?" he asked All Might as they walked through the hospital corridors.

All Might hesitated. Not a good sign.

"I suppose it would be better to tell you now than to have you see first, " All Might said.

It must be serious then. Gran Torino frowned slightly.

"Dr. Garaki's done something to Midoriya. His hair is white. His eyes are red. It's honestly frightening how much he looks like-" All Might was interrupted by Gran Torino who was slightly impatient and wanted the sentence finished.

"Tomura Shigaraki? I'm not sure what you expect if they have similar characteristics now," Gran Torino told him.

All Might tried to say something else but they had arrived at the door to Midoriya's room.

"Stop, at least let me keep a shred of my dignity," he said, getting out of the wheelchair and sliding the door open.

Gran Torino looked into the room and froze when he spotted somebody sitting on the bed.

Midoriya was facing away from the door and was chatting to a doctor, who was bending down, taking off the IV. He heard the door open and turned to look at them. It was like time slowed and for a moment, Gran Torino was almost certain AFO was sitting there. But the moment passed and Midoriya saw Gran Torino and smiled the same usual smile that lit up the room.

The doctor stood up and smiled, before leaving the room.

All Might sensed Gran Torino's uneasiness, and Midoriya could read it on his face and look worried, so All Might offered Midoriya a weak smile of his own.

"Hi! It's nice to see you," Midoriya stated.

Gran Torino felt uneasy but tried to reply as steadily as he could, "Hey kid, how are you doing after everything?"

Midoriya had been asked this question several times. Of course, it was just people being friendly and caring about him and he appreciated it. But he didn't want to keep giving the same response.

"Better than I was, thanks," he offered.

Before Gran Torino could say anything else, Eri rushed into the room and over to Midoriya. Aizawa appeared behind All Might.

"When she heard you were awake, she wanted to come and see you as soon as possible," he told them.

Midoriya crouched down as he often did with Eri, and smiled at her and she smiled back. Her smile made Midoriya want to cry every time.

"Hi, Eri! Thanks for coming to see me."

"Deku! I'm glad you're ok. I was really worried when people said you'd gone missing but everyone said you'd be ok and I knew that you would be because you can do lots. And then you were found but I wasn't supposed to come and see you because you were sleeping. But now you're not sleeping so I came to see you."

As per usual, she was a little ball of energy. It was always nice to see and it made Midoriya smile.

Aizawa went into the room.

"Can we speak outside?" All Might asked Gran Torino.

Gran Torino nodded and they left Midoriya and Eri, who were now sitting on the bed and chatting.