Siren Song (All Might x Reader)

Chapter 30: Sorahiko

When Toshinori entered the apartment after his patrol the last thing he was expecting was for you to be feverishly cooking Taiyaki while Gran Torino barked orders.
"You're cooking them too long! You're going to burn them!"
"I am not! If I don't cook them enough the filling won't stay in!"
The old man crossed his arms and glared at you before turning to Toshinori.
"You're here early. Are you slacking off on your patrols?"
"    No, I went on patrol early so that I could get off early." He defended himself against his teacher.
"Hmph. Well, don't think that just because we have the fight in less than a month that you can slack off!"
"Less than a month?" You gasped in realization. "How much time exactly?"
"It'll be three weeks this Friday." Gran Torino stated matter of factly.
Your head began to spin as you realized just how close your confrontation with All for One was. Your heartbeat began to quicken.
"Hey! Focus on your cooking! I see smoke!" The old man lectured you, waiting impatiently with a fork and knife in his hands.
He had snapped your attention back to the fish mold in your hands, reminding you that it was ready to be served. You opened the iron molds up and placed the first of many Taiyaki for Gran Torino on his plate. It looked perfect, a beautiful golden brown that reflected all of the details of the fish mold.
"Hmph. Could use more filling." Sorahiko complained as he bit into it.
You rolled your eyes at him as you refilled the mold.
"Do you want some, Toshi?"
"That's alright. I have some paperwork to catch up on tonight. If you'll excuse me, Gran Torino."
You could tell he had his hero persona voice on. Something was troubling him, obviously.
He still had yet to tell you about his relationship with All For One like you'd asked him to, but you weren't sure if he were psyching himself up for a talk that heavy or simply trying to avoid it all together.
You decided you'd investigate further later. For the time being, your impatient guest was waiting for his second Taiyaki.
By the time Gran Torino had gone home, you'd sent him with more than enough Taiyaki to last him into next week. It was grueling work, but seemed to please him.
If fish themed food was all it took to keep him content you weren't going to pass up that opportunity.
After thoroughly cleaning up all the batter from the kitchen you tiptoed down the hall to Toshinoris office, a plate of still-warm Taiyaki in your hands.
"Tosh? Do you have a minute?" You asked as you knocked on his office door and peeked in.
He was sitting in his hero suit, slumped over an empty desk. You could see his chin propped up on his hand, his eyes closed as a snore rumbled out of his mouth.   
He looked distressed in his sleep, almost as if he was having a nightmare. His smile was gone, brow unusually furrowed. With all the stress surrounding him, it seemed only natural that he would have bad dreams. You worried for him.
If you could have, you would've picked him up and carried him to his bedroom just like he had done for you many times. Unfortunately, a 550 pound man was out of your weight limit, so you opted to gently wake him up and guide him to his bedroom instead.
You set down the plate on his desk and gently threaded your fingers through his blonde hair. You gave his scalp a gentle scratch before kissing him on the cheek.
"Toshi.... Tosh, wake up. Let's get you to bed, alright?"
The contact seemed to have taken him by surprise and he jolted away from your hand, grabbing it in his own with a bruising grip. His breathing was heavy and his eyes were wide in surprise and something else.
Fear maybe?
No, it couldn't be. You'd never seen him afraid before. He didn't seem capable of fear. It was hard to believe that a nightmare and your touch could cause him fear.
Guilt consumed you.
"I'm sorry, Toshi. I didn't mean to startle you..." You apologized, unable to meet his gaze. He relaxed some when he saw it was you and loosened his grip.
"It's alright, darling." He brought your wrist to his mouth and he placed a gentle kiss to the place he had gripped you harshly. "I didn't mean to grab you. I was-"
He sighed deeply, unwilling to admit he'd had another nightmare, during a short nap no less.
"It's alright, Toshi. I understand." You consoled him. You leaned forward to press another kiss to his face. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He looked reluctant, but eventually nodded. He didn't want to tell you the horrifying dreams he'd been having, ones where he watched everyone he cared about die at the hands of his worst enemy, but he knew you had a right to know the truth about who this enemy was. He rolled back from his large office desk and patted his large lap. You eagerly sat down and rested your head against his pec. You could hear the loud and steady thump of his heart and each deep breath he took. It was still faster than normal, but with each passing second spent in your presence he relaxed more and more. 
"I used to be quirkless," he admitted much to your surprise. The silence that followed this admission was only broken up by the methodical ticking of the clock hanging on the wall. It chimed nine times to signal the hour and then left you in silence again
You were more confused at this admission than anything.
How could he be quirkless when you knew how much power he possessed now? You mulled it over in your head for a few moments, unable to think of an explanation or even find more eloquent words to ask him how it was possible that he had been quirkless.
"How?" You spoke plainly, leaning back enough to look at his face. His eyes were elsewhere, his head turned as he stared out the window and set his jaw. He looked older like this, much older. His guard was down and it was easy to see how the stress and worry had aged him beyond what was reasonable. He was no less handsome, but the fine lines and wrinkles held a certain weight to them that made him look so tired without his signature smile outshining them.
"When quirks first appeared in the world many, many years ago society practically went into a collapse. One individual, All for One, took advantage of this chaos and used his immensely powerful quirk to steal the quirk of others and rule Japan from the shadows. He amassed an enormous amount of power and killed those who opposed him or got in his way. He had a brother, believed to be quirkless, who stood against him, but couldn't do anything to stop him. All for One captured him and forced a quirk upon him that allowed him to stockpile quirks. What he didn't know was that this younger brother did have a quirk, the ability to transfer quirks to other people. These two quirks meshed together to create a quirk known as 'One for All."
"Are you the brother?" You blurted out with a gasp.
He chuckled half heartedly. "No, darling. I'm not that old. The brother wasn't strong enough to defeat All for One, so he passed his power onto someone else. That person cultivated it and passed it on and the cycle continued all the way down to me. I'm the eighth holder of One for All. My master passed it on to me and trained me before she passed. Then Gran Torino finished my training."
"Im so sorry..." You whispered, fingertips gently stroking the skin of his jaw. His tightened muscles didn't relax, but his face softened to the smallest degree.
He set his jaw and you saw his eyes glaze over as his mind wandered somewhere else, to an unspeakable battle. The color was drained from his face when he came to, and he swallowed thickly before continuing.
"I had to watch her die by his hand. Since then- I swore he wouldn't take anyone else from me. She was like my mother. She-" You could see the grimace on his face grow and tears begin to well in his eyes as he tried to continue. "I swore to destroy him. I took down all of his allies, I dedicated my life to limiting his power. It's all leading up to this fight, the one we've been training for."
He took a deep breath to calm himself before he finished his story.
"Some day, after we defeat All for One, it will be my job to find a successor. I will train them like my master did and then the torch will be passed. With All for One gone, this quirk can be used to help millions of people, just as i've used it."
"Toshi..." you thought for a second, trying to find the words needed to raise your concern without hurting him. "What happens if we don't defeat him? What if you can't pass the torch?"
"Then the legacy of One for All dies with me. I fail. All for One win-"
"We won't let that happen." You cut him off. "We can do this!"
A small smile turned up at the corners of his lips. "If you believe in me then I can do anything."
He craned his neck to kiss your forehead before he released the tension in his muscles. The chair groaned under his weight as he leaned back.
You didn't respond to him, instead wrapping your arms around his neck and hugging him tight. He'd been there to comfort you so many times before, now was your turn to return the favor.
"Everything is going to be okay, Toshi. I know it."
"It is, (y/n). It is." He didn't sound convinced as he patted your back, you could hear the tightness in his throat and feel the way his chest trembled as he tried to keep up appearances. You recognized the emotions he was feeling all too well, and it hurt seeing them in someone you cared about so much.
He was on the verge of breaking, on the verge of losing all composure as the weight of his horrible thoughts plagued his mind.
What if he lost you? What if he still wasn't strong enough? Even if he wasn't strong enough, would he be able to save you instead of being powerless like he was with his master?
The thoughts of her destroyed body and the gore that occurred immediately after All for Ones attack made him feel sick to his stomach. He'd only caught glimpses of the villains relentless assault on her as Gran Torino had stolen him away, but the carnage was enough to permanently scar his psyche.
"I- I'm not going to let anything happen to you, (y/n). I will give my life to make sure you survive this fight." His voice was garbled and almost unintelligible. You could feel his hands dig tightly into the material of your shirt almost as if he was holding on to it for dear life. His jaw tightened on itself like a vice.
"Toshi- what are you saying? We're strong enough to defeat him. You are strong enough to defeat him. We're going to be alright. You promised me a vacation afterwards, remember?" You tried to lighten the mood as you peered into his teary eyes.
He chuckled a little and wiped his eyes. A small smile was desperately trying to turn up the corner of his lips, but the frown wouldn't budge.
"I'm sorry, love. I don't mean to act like this. I look like a fool." He scoffed.
"No, Toshi. Don't say that. You have the weight of the world on your shoulders. If you need to let it out I'm here for you as long as you need. You've witnessed horrible things, isn't it exhausting carry that burden all alone? Let me help you."
The corner of his lip twitched again and you saw more tears well in his eyes.
"I'm here for you," you whispered to him again. He had adjusted himself so he was leaning forward to place his face in the crook of your neck. "Why don't we go to bed? Let me comfort you, Toshinori."
He stayed as still as a statue for a minute, before he whispered something in your ear so quiet and low you almost didn't hear it. It was an embarrassed request, one he wouldn't have had the courage to say under normal circumstances. He knew he couldn't face the night alone, but with you by his side perhaps his mind wouldn't torture him with memories he wished he could forget.
"Don't leave me alone tonight... please."
It was as soft as the breeze blowing through the white curtains draped across the window. You nodded and allowed him to pick you up and carry you through the halls of your shared home. His grip on you was tight as he cradled you to his chest, a deep set frown carved onto his face that broke your heart to see.
He was trying so hard to stay strong, but the vulnerability he felt when he was with you slowly cracked into the deepest parts of his core and exposed his fragile and hurting heart.
It was the heart of a man brave enough to carry the hopes and dreams of a country on his shoulders, a heart big enough and compassionate enough to sacrifice itself for the good of the people. It was a heart that had so much to offer and so much love to give, but was so afraid to give it.
It was also a heart that had experienced immeasurable heartbreak and loss. It was tattooed with the memories of lives he couldn't save, deaths he'd had to witness, even the loss of those closest to him. It was a heart afraid of ever opening again, for fear of being reminded of the pain that came with becoming close to others, to allow yourself to love. It was a heart that constantly worried it wasn't enough, that worried it wasn't strong enough to protect those I cared about.
It was a heart in desperate need of healing. It needed to receive comfort after providing it nonstop for years.
When Toshi crawled beneath the silk covers of his bed and pulled you tight to his chest he buried his face in your hair and began to openly weep. The dams had burst and now all of the weight he felt pinned to his chest flowed freely from his body.
Your heart twisted painfully at the sound and you reached your hands up to cup his cheeks and pull his head to your chest. You hugged him there for some time, petting his hair and allowing his tears to soak into your shirt. You quietly comforted him as he cried, doing your best but failing at preventing your own tears from spilling out.
Toshinori deserved so much more than this. He was so concerned with the state of the world he forgot to take care of himself. You wished there was more you could do to ease his burden.
When he finally did slow his breathing and gain a semblance of composure his voice was thick and raw as he whispered into your shirt.
"I won't lose you to him, (y/n). I won't."
"I'm not going anywhere Toshinori. We can defeat him. We will."
"We will..." he reiterated, letting out another deep sigh as you wiped the remainder of the tears from his eyes. His breathing began to slow as he listened to the steady beat of your heart and felt the subtle rise and fall of your chest.
You could see his eyes begin to drift shut as exhaustion washed over him. He clung to you tightly and you refused to let him go, petting his hair in long strokes as you began to do the only thing you thought might help: you sang a lullaby.
"You don't have to speak
Don't need to talk to me
Baby, I already know
The shadows in your head
They've got you down again
Got you feelin' low."
You heard his breath hitch again, another wave of tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. You help him tighter as you continued to sing, the ghostly lullaby bouncing around the walls of the room and leaving through the open window and out into the night sky.
"But it's time to rest, now
Let it all melt now
Wipe your tears
The sun's already set, now
Won't you go to sleep, now?
I'll see you in your dreams"
He wanted so desperately to sleep, he could feel the pull at his eyelids, but he was pitifully afraid and he hated himself for it. He wished he could reach into his own mind and rip out the part that made him afraid of his own dreams, but it was impossible. He felt like he would never find peace. Laying there with you was the only solace he'd receive.
'Cause I'm right here
Darlin', I'm right here
Close your pretty eyes, my butterfly
Baby, have no fear".
For a moment, it felt like your quirk had washed over him to lull  him into a deep sleep, but he knew it wasn't possible to do out of your water form. The hazy and sleepy feeling he felt while listening to your voice was simply the presence you had, comforting and kind. He felt the last of his worries slip from his mind as you sung your song. He felt peace for the first time in a while that night.
When he was finally asleep on your chest, you watched him as the milky light of the moon slipped through the cracks of the window. Your heart ached for him, and it was almost hard to breath with his heavy head on you, but you didn't move him.
"Just for tonight, Toshi..." you whispered so quietly that he didn't even stir. You stroked his hair and ghosted your lips across the top of his head."Let me save you ."

Sorry for the long update gap! There's a lot going on in the world right now and I found it really hard to write.
No matter what you're going through right now, I hope you're all taking care of yourselves.