"You're alive? And you're dating All Might?!"
Brienne's eyes were wild as she surveyed the scene, dropping the grocery bags she held onto the floor with a loud crash. Her head whipped from you, to All Might, to Saffron, to your mom, and then back to you.
"Bri- I-" You started, unsure of how to deal with this. You hadn't expected her to be here, nor to have such a loud reaction to you.
Her expression was unreadable, a mixture of confused, angry, accusatory, and hurt. She straightened up her stance and brushed her hair behind her shoulders, unintentionally exposing the light crescent moon scar on her neck.
Your stomach sank.
"Take a deep breath, Bri." Your mother stood up to calm her down, "If you sit down (Y/N) can explain everything."
"What is there to explain?" Her tan face scrunched up as tears stung her eyes. "She abandoned us for years!"
"I didn't want to!" You defended yourself, standing up to take a place next to your mother. Saffron and Toshinori stayed awkwardly planted on the couch. "Just- after what I did I knew you wouldn't want to see me anymore."
"Wouldn't want to see you anymore? Are you crazy? We spent so much time looking for you! We were worried sick! I thought you were dead! I mourned you!" Brienne spat, tears streaming down her face to match your own .
"I'm sorry! I can't say any more than that! I missed you guys so much but- I didn't want to hurt you any more than I already did!"
"I don't care that you bit me! I didn't care about any of that! I was worried that my best friend- my sister was missing!" She screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at you.
"And I ruined your chances at being a hero! I couldn't ever face you after that! I didn't mean to but- but I still ruined your dreams!" You sobbed, gripping your arms and hugging yourself.
"Ruined my- what are you talking about?" She looked at you confused for a moment. "I didn't want to be a hero if I couldn't be a hero with you, dumbass!"
"Wha- but your quirk. You can't be a hero without a quirk!"
"What do you mean 'my quirk'?" She looked more and more flabbergasted by the second, confusion replacing the pain and anger.
"I- I stole your quirk!" You gestured at her, pointing to the scar on her neck.
"Wha-? No you didn't! Yeah, it was gone for like a year but when it came back it was like it had never left!" She explained.
Your face blanched.
Your stomach sank.
You felt Toshinori and Saffrons eyes on you all at once.
You thought you were gonna puke.
"No... No no no no no..." You mumbled, taking a step back to clutch your head.
You needed to get out of there, away from their prying eyes. You needed air. You needed to breathe. You couldn't breathe.
"(Y/N) I-" Brienne began, reaching out to you.
You turned away, rushing for the front door. You burst outside and closed it behind you, collapsing onto the steps.
You sat on the concrete stairs, trying your best to breathe. To think. You buried your face in your hands and groaned.
You sat out there for a while, trying to wrap your head around the news that no, your quirk didn't completely steal peoples quirks and no, it wouldn't be any help against All for One.
All of those people at the prison with quirks you'd drained, the money and time spent on you because of what they thought your quirk could do. All of it. A waste.
Your tears dried eventually and the sadness and panic ebbed, replaced by a deep and inescapable self loathing.
"Why can't anything ever work out?" You whispered to yourself, not hearing the door open and close behind you, or the footsteps that approached you. You leaned your head against the railing of the stairs, sighing and closing your eyes.
You were only broken from your trance when the figure sat beside you, forcing a Capris Sun into your hands. You opened your eyes to look at it, and then looked at Brienne as she peeled the straw off of hers.
"You used to love these nasty things. You'd drink like four a day." Brienne murmured, aggressively stabbing the straw into hers. " You'd leave the reinflated pouches everywhere in our room and it drove me nuts. Remember the time you drank two whole boxes in one day and got sick? I always thought they were so nasty... but after you left for some reason I couldn't stop drinking them."
You couldn't help the small smile that turned at the corners of your lips, your worries momentarily forgotten in the comforting presence of your friend. "They aren't nasty, you just don't have refined taste like I do."
She laughed heartily and took a loud slurp of her drink. "I guess I must've gotten more refined with age, cuz they aren't as nasty as I used to think they were. A lot of things have changed with age..."
You nodded somberly. The two of you sat, the silence only broken up by the occasional slurp of a capris sun.
"I really didn't mean to hurt you, Bri... Or run away... I just thought- after what I did I thought maybe it would be better if you never saw me again, that you thought I was dead. I didn't want to have to face the mess I made. I guess it was pretty cowardly."
"Yeah- it really was. But now you're here, you're alive and well, and that's all I care about." She sighed, bumping your shoulder with her own. "What have you been doing now, anyways?"
"Well... Up until a month or so ago I was just living in the ocean. Then All Might contacted me and I started working at his agency. It's a temporary thing, but-"
"When did you start dating him?" She butted in, a bright smile on her face.
"How did you know we are dating?" You asked, rolling your eyes as a bright blush broke out onto your cheeks.
"It's totally in the body language. I could tell as soon as I walked in. He looks at you so intensely. He must be crazy in love." She gushed.
"He does not. We've only been together for a few days!" You argue, punching her arm to get her to stop teasing you.
"What?? Only a few days? I could swear you two were engaged already or something." She pinched your side mischievously. "Do you guys live near each other? Do you have an apartment? Where are you living, anyways?"
"Uh- we actually... live together..." You mumbled.
"WHAT?? OH MY GOD GET! IT! GIRL!" She screamed, slapping your arm. "HOW BIG IS HE? WAIT! I WANNA GUESS? EIGHT INCHES? TEN?"
"BRI! SHUT UP! HE'LL HEAR YOU!! We haven't even done anything yet!!!" You tried in vain to cover her loud mouth, but she used her quirk to ghost right through your fingers.
"Nah! You're totally getting dicked down good! Is that why you look so good after living in the ocean forever? Is his dick giving you life?"
"Can you stoooop?" You groaned, flopping back on the porch. "I only look good because Saffron made me look good."
Brienne quickly followed suit, chuckling all the while. "Sorry, sorry. I was getting carried away. I just missed you."
She turned and smiled at you. You returned the smile with a genuine one of your own.
It was like you were transported back in time, to the summer months you spent together in your mom's apartment, trying to cool off as best you could on the porch. Talk of boys, talk of the latest gossip and what you'd missed, talk of the latest celebrity drama all flooded back to you as if you'd never spent a day apart. Things fell into place easier than they'd fallen out of place and in that moment, with the afternoon rays beaming down on you and your best friend it seemed like everything in the world was right again. You felt the weight of guilt you'd been carrying around for years slump off as Brienne overloaded you with love and forgiveness.
In only a few hours, you felt like your life was entirely whole again.
You reentered the house with Brienne some time later, much to the relief of the three occupants inside. Your mother was busy serving a lunch consisting of sandwiches and chips, but everyone stopped and smiled as they saw you enter. Toshi looked comical sitting in the tiny kitchen chair of your mother's dining room eating a sandwich much smaller than the ones he usually ate at home. You could see the relief on his face as you walked in the door, but you felt no such relief when you saw him. You knew there was still much to be discussed, and that the implications of Brienne's quirk coming back had not only thrown a wrench in your plans, but had pretty much completely destroyed them.
As you joined him at the dining room table, while Brienne and your mother went back to the kitchen to grab more food, you opened your mouth to speak a few quick words of apology to him, but he stopped you.
"We can talk about it later. Enjoy your time with your family. I'll think of a new plan, don't worry." He smiled at you, a smile you knew all too well. It was the one he'd always plastered on his face when he was feeling stressed or afraid, and rather than calm you it just made you feel worse. He saw the wrinkle in your brow as you frowned and reached for your hand, giving it a gentle squeeze that finally let you relax your shoulders.
"Alright, I can't wait any longer," Brienne said as she sat down across from you and shoved a plate of sandwiches and your favorite chips in front of you. "How did you two get together? How did you meet? Did he sweep you off your feet and save you from a villain? Was it love at first sight?"
You rolled your eyes and blushed in embarrassment, but Toshi took it all in stride.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enamored with her when I first saw her. Though she was a little bit... dirtier than she is now." He laughed his hearty, genuine laugh.
"Dirty?! What kinda dirty? You weren't a stripper, were you, (Y/N)? I knew we said we'd be strippers if the whole hero thing didn't work out but I wasn't serious!" Brienne gasped. Saffron chortled loudly as she shoved a handful of chips into her mouth.
"No! Don't phrase it like that, Toshi!" You buried your face in your hands and groaned.
He laughed again and bumped his shoulder against yours. "She was living in the ocean at the time. I offered her a job to work with me and the rest was history."
"Okay, that's great and all, but I want all the juicy details. When did you confess?"
"Bri, stop! He doesn't have to tell you that!" You swatted her with your hands.
"Hold on, (Y/N). If I'm gonna write your love story one day I need all the details!" Saffron butted in.
"Oh!" Your mother suddenly realized, "You're Saffron that writes all those self-help books, aren't you?"
Saffron grinned brightly, "That's me!"
Your mother instantly lit up, "I love your books! I've bought every single one of them!"
Saffron and your mother were instantly drawn into a different conversation, but Bri was still looking at you intently.
"Well?" She raised her eyebrows at you, obviously not letting it go.
Toshi enjoyed the deep blush present on your face and decided to indulge her, if only to get you more flustered. "I took her out to dinner. We had a private area to ourselves. The band was playing, we danced, and the rest is history. Well, two days worth of history."
He looked down to you in your blushing and embarrassed state and smiled before wrapping his arm around you and pulling you close to him. "I would've confessed the night she saved my life had it not been for the drugs, and the date with Akemi she went on."
"You went on a date with another guy when you were living with this gorgeous hunk of man?!" Brienne looked appalled, which caused both you and Toshi to laugh together.
You eventually gave her the heavily edited version of what your life together was like, even going so far as to mention the prison and everything that'd happened there. You shared pictures with each other, caught up with what Brienne was doing with her life, and listened as she told you about all the things you'd missed while she was gone.
She was working for the publications that decided hero rankings, and was well versed in all of the heroes, old or up and coming. She was even one of the scouts that went to UA during the sports festival in search of talent.
"Anyone look promising this year?" Toshinori asked.
"It's too soon to tell. There are a few I'd keep my eyes out for, but it's the middle schoolers I'd keep an eye on. Some of them have amazing quirks. I can't wait to see what they do with them. Why, are you thinking about scouting some fresh meat, All Might?"
He laughed, "No, I just like to see what fresh talent we have getting ready to enter the hero world."
You weren't quite sure what it was, but something in his face and tone led you to believe that wasn't entirely true. You decided to press him about it further, later.
Eventually the early afternoon dissolved into dinner time, and dinner dissolved into evening, and soon you were all on the couch watching one of your mom's favorite movies with all of your friends surrounding you. It reminded you of your days in highschool, sitting on the couch, filling yourselves with pizza, while you watched whatever movie your mom wanted or played platformer games well past midnight.
Even though everything seemed perfect in the moment, you couldn't help the nagging feeling in your head that reminded you about the conversation you needed to have with Toshinori, the one where you discussed what would happen now that your quirk wasn't all you'd thought it was.
"You need to relax," Toshi whispered into your ear, his break across your neck causing a shiver down your spine. The arm he'd had around you the entire movie pulled you closer, and though you tried to relax your mind just wouldn't allow you that luxury.
"I can't," You whispered back to him.
"Why not?" He asked, his hand rubbing up and down your arm, causing more goosebumps to form in his wake.
"I've totally fucked up the mission," You whispered hoarsely, grateful that nobody else in the room seemed to notice what was going on. Your mother was already asleep, her mouth hanging open as she leaned against Brienne's shoulder. Saffron and Brienne were totally disregarding the movie in favor of becoming fast friends as they whispered and giggled to each other while showing each other memes on their phones.
"You didn't fuck anything up, (Y/N). We can figure out an alternative solution and plan, your quirk still drains quirks completely, even if it's just temporary. That's still useful."
"But- but what will Gran Torino and Nighteye think? They already know I'm useless. This will just prove them right."
"Don't talk about yourself that way," He responded sternly, "It's partially our fault for not doing any follow ups with the people who's quirks you have drained throughout the years. It was an oversight on our part. You can still be a vital part of this mission, unless you've decided you don't want to. I understand if you'd rather back out and stay here."
Toshi held his breath, waiting to hear what your decision would be. He knew the temptation of staying with your real family would be too much to pass up, he just hoped that he could soften the blow on himself if he was surrounded by people. He was better at keeping himself together when people were around. He was used to keeping up his All Might facade in crowds of people who all expected it. If you were having this conversation alone he might not have been able to keep himself composed. Something about you always made him let his guard down, made him feel vulnerable and open.
"Of course I still want to help with the mission," You explained, "I promised I'd do it and you've already put so much work into me. If there's even a small thing I can do I want to do it."
He was pleased by your answer, and felt the grip his anxiety had on his heart loosen just the slightest, but you still hadn't answered all his questions. "I'm glad to hear that. We can arrange for your stuff to be brought here, if you'd like. We could find ways to train you and then pick you up before the mission."
His breath stopped as he waited for your answer, and your heart sank.
Was he trying to get rid of you? That's something someone would only say if they were trying to get rid of you.
He could feel you begin to tremble in his arms, could see the look on your face as your heart felt like breaking.
He cursed himself for phrasing it so dumbly, as if he was the one who wanted to push you out of his home, when really he wanted nothing more than for you to stay.
He was on his feet not a moment later, leading you outside for fresh air before the tears could start.
"What's wrong?" He asked, looking at your quivering lip once you were alone in your mother's backyard.
"D-do you want me to stay here?" You asked him.
"No! Of course not! I love that you live with me. I just thought you wouldn't want to leave once you got here."
"Of course I don't wanna leave, Tosh. But my home right now is with you. I wanna stay with you because I l-" You stopped yourself short, another wild blush blooming in your cheeks.
"You what?" He grinned, his smug smile reaching from corner to corner of his face.
"I like you, you jerk," You playfully punched his shoulder, a small smile cracking on your face.
"You like me? That makes me happy to hear, because I like you too," He cooed playfully, pulling you close to plant a kiss on your lips. "And I'm glad you want to stay with me. You're welcome as long as you want, but if you want to come back and visit or stay here all you need to do is ask."
"Thanks, Tosh." You leaned up on the tip of your toes to give him another kiss, which devolved into another and another, until his hands were buried in your hair and he let out a satisfied hum.
"Can you guys stop making out for like two seconds? I have to ask you something," Brienne butted in as she opened the door.
You sighed and pulled away from him just enough to glare at your friend for ruining the moment. "What?"
"Are you staying the night here or in your hotel?" Bri asked, "Saff says she wants to stay here but go get her stuff. Tomorrow she said we can all check out the hot spring at the hotel."
You looked to Toshi, who shrugged.
"Yeah, I'll stay here too." You answered happily. "Toshi and I can go pick everything up and be back here in like twenty minutes."
"Alright, but no quickies in the hotel room, you animals!" She snorted before closing the door to the house.
"Jesus, Brienne." You muttered to yourself.
"She's certainly something," Toshi laughed.
"I think she must've gotten more annoying with age," You grumbled and rolled your eyes. The two of you began your walk down the street and towards the hotel, enjoying the quiet night alone. The moon shined high in the sky, and the warm air of the summer night was refreshing.
"I think she's fun." He mused.
"Really?"
"I can see a lot of you in her," He smiled, "Though you are much less perverse. Maybe we've finally found someone who's a match for Saffron."
"Oh my god," You groaned, "I can barely handle all the suggestive comments from Saffron. I don't know how I'd handle two people doing it all the time."
"You'll survive," He smirked, pulling your hand into his as you walked down the empty street.
"I guess I'll have to." You grinned at him. "And- Thank you, Toshi. For bringing me here, and encouraging me. If I'd have tried to do this on my own I'd have chickened out."
"You're braver than you give yourself credit for, (Y/N). That's why I have so much faith in you and your quirk. Even if it wasn't what we originally anticipated, it can still help us."
You tried not to let anxiety grip your mind again and ruin the tender moment you were having with him. "If you say so. I'll do whatever I have to."
He gave your hand a squeeze. "And you'll be amazing doing it."
You smiled and let the peaceful silence of the night resume, but something was still bugging you, a conversation you'd had in passing with Nighteye not two days ago.
"H-hey, Toshi?" You turned to him once you were in the safety of your hotel room.
"Yes?"
"What's your real history with All for One?"