Siren Song (All Might x Reader)

Chapter 8: Family

By the second day of your training, the task of making your body stronger seemed insurmountable. That morning you woke up with muscles stiff and sore. No amount of soaking in the tub seemed to help, regardless of how much better the water had made you feel previously. Your training had to continue, nonetheless, and you hoped that your muscles would at least become numb before the pain became excruciating.

Toshinori was patient with you, allowing you the time you needed between reps, watching without comment as you closed your eyes and grit your teeth with each movement. The running was easiest, squats still the worst. You tried your best to push through all of it quickly, knowing he had to patrol in a few hours. He probably didn't want to spend the entirety of his free time watching you struggle.

"Take your time, don't hurt yourself. You're almost done" He encouraged as you pulled through your last five curls. When you had finally finished, you plopped the weight onto the ground throwing yourself back on the bench and groaning.

"I'm going to diiiiiiiie!"

"Does that mean I get to see what was in that bag if you die?" You heard Toshi chuckle.

"No it's still a secret, even after I'm dead. Cremate me with my bag and spread my ashes in Disneyland."

"Why Disneyland? Is it that much fun?"

"I dunno. Never been. I heard that a lot of people do it. They have to have special people vacuum it up."

"Interesting. Have you ever wanted to go?"

"Yeah, my mom used to say she'd take me when I graduated but...." You tensed up suddenly, wanting to avoid this topic.

"Maybe that's something we'll have to do together," He patted your arm reassuringly, sensing your discomfort. The mood shifted suddenly as you sat back up. Toshi looked at you with uncomfortable eyes. "You know we can contact her whenever you want... If you ever feel up to it... and your friend..."

"Okay..." You cut him off curtly, looking towards the floor and rubbing your arm anxiously. That was not something you wanted to talk about at all. "Are we done for now? I stink."

"Yeah, we're done for now..." He sighed, knowing he'd overstepped, "When I get back from my patrols we'll work on combat." You were walking away from him and straight towards the elevator, an uncomfortable feeling clenching at your heart. You needed to get out of there and back to the safety of your room.

"Got it! Be safe!" You closed the elevator door, not meeting his eyes as he watched you leave.

Once you were in your room, you threw yourself down on the bed without even thinking about how sweaty you were. You buried your face in the pillow, groaning loudly. Your mother and friend had been something you'd pushed from your mind for the past few years. Being faced with it now brought back an assortment of unpleasant emotions and a whole lot of inner conflict.

On one hand, you missed your mom more than words could describe, on the other hand you had no idea how she'd react to seeing you alive. Would she hate you, despise you, still be disgusted? Or would she accept you, tell you she missed you? The thought of her outright rejecting you was almost too much for you to bear. You couldn't take that risk. After all this time, she'd probably already have accepted your disappearance, there was no need to turn her life upside down again. You held the same fears in regards to your friend, Brienne. She had more reason to hate you than anybody.

You laid there for half an hour, pushing all of those unpleasant feelings back into the corner of your brain. There was no reason to worry about your friend and mother now, they could wait. Right now you needed to focus on getting stronger.