Time in a Tree (All Might x Reader)

Ameliorate

--hey y'all. i really can't thank you guys enough for all the love and reads and support y'all have given me. i never thought this would be received so well and i'm so excited to keep writing for you. i've got a special that i'm working on at the moment. i had one written already and realized i couldn't post it without posting something mildly related first. i wanna be stephen king so bad lmao. i hope you like both of them, i'll get them to y'all as soon as i can. again, thank you so so so so so much. and! welcome to all my new readers, i love y'all just as much! 💖💖💖--

🎤 Hey guys.... it's been rough on us all. I'm keeping the doors closed for a few more days. You'll still be paid...i just think now's the time to reflect and appreciate the time we have with the ones we hold dear. I'll keep you updated.

🧊 Sounds good.

🍊 Thank you...

♉ Just let us know, man. I'm here if any of you wanna talk.

You read over the late night group chat as it continued without your input. Knees pulled into your chest as you lied on the couch, nestled into its cushions. You would've liked to say something, but the words couldn't put themselves together.

Tap tap tap.

Your attention shot to the door of the room, your head popping up just enough from the arm of the couch to see your visitor. "Hey." You said barely audible. "How are you feeling?" Yagi asked, stepping inside. "I'm okay." You nodded lightly and pushed yourself up, watching as he took a seat not too far from you. "Do you want to talk about-"

"Not really..." You didn't mean to cut him off. "I'm okay. I'm just..." your eyes wandered. "I'm trying to come back into me."

"That you is gone, isn't she?" Yagi started. "After something like this...trauma. No one's ever truly gone back to being their old self. Maybe close, never the same person though."

What he said, to you, held to be true for most. "I think I will." You sighed, eyes trailing to him. You found yourself with your arms wrapped around your knees, not quite pulled all the way into you. There was just something comforting about remaining closed off in that tiny bit. "I've seen some pretty terrible shit, Toshi." You frowned. "It hurts for a while...things like this, and then it goes numb."

"Numb?" He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. "Not numb...'it' doesn't linger as long as expected...'this'..." you motioned around your heart. "This combination of heaviness and emptiness."

"Do..." He sat forward. "Do you mind my asking what happened?"

"I don't mind." You shook your head. "I don't...but I'm not ready to share that with you, if you can understand that."

"I won't push it...what else is on your mind?" You chuckled. "Ya got a pen and paper?"

"That much, hm?"

"...Yeah." You felt his hand press against your forehead. "It finally dropped earlier."

"That's a relief." He pulled away, sitting back in a reliving huff. "Mm." You pursed your lips, attention turning to the floor. "What do you want to do?" Yagi pulled back. "What do you mean?" You breathed out.

"Do you want to stay or go home?" That....that wasn't a question you were expecting that evening. You knew the conversation would happen, but dammit not so soon. "You know I want to stay here, Yoshi. I love Japan..."

"Stay here until you're ready to move out then?" Not the reply you were expecting either, but what were you really expecting the dialog to be? "...I" You caught yourself for a moment. Fuck it. "The way you said that...You're asking but it doesn't sound like I have much of a choice."

"Oh? Do you have another place in mind?" He rested his head in his hand, his form now smugly reclined against the opposite arm of the chair. "Wooow." You rolled your eyes. "And what if I said I wanted to go home, Yoshi?"

"Stay here until you're ready to leave." He shrugged, you puffed. "Guess I walked right into that one, yeah?"

"You did." Yagi nodded. Your eyes narrowed just a bit, taking a glance over him. "Why are you still in your work clothes?" You asked. "I wasn't sure if you'd eaten...I wanted to at least make sure of that before getting ready for bed."

"I have not eaten, my good sir." You confessed. "What are you hungry for?"

You shrugged hard. "I'm not sure." That was a lie, you had a list in mind, and Han's soup dumplings were at the top. "Bullshit." Yagi chuckled. Damn, he caught me. "You've hardly eaten anything the past week."

"Well that's because somebody keeps forcing protein shakes and water on me."

"Because somebody won't eat." He retorted. "There's got to be something you're craving..." You bit your lip, rolling over everything you knew was available at the late hour, it was going on 11 pm already. Maybe there... "One thing comes to mind, but-"

"Let's go." Might pushed up and stood. "What? No, it's like two hours away and-" Your brows furrowed, with a flick of his wrist he checked the time for himself. "That's not too bad."