Siren Song (All Might x Reader)

Chapter 36: The Gala

"Do you want to go to Lenny's?" Saffron had called you obscenely early the morning of the Gala after texting you a dozen times that she had something important to ask you.
"What?" You rubbed the sleep from your eyes. "Why are you up this early? I thought it was an emergency."
"I wanna know if you wanna go to Lennys! It's a breakfast emergency."
"Does this count as breakfast? It's 4 am."
"Well, it'll be your first meal of the day so... Yes, it's breakfast."
"Can't we wait until later? Like, 9? 10?"
"Akemi is about to get off work and said this is the only time he's available today."
"Oh, gotcha..." You sighed and contemplated getting up, "Why are we going out to breakfast with Akemi?"
"I invited everyone. Nighteye, Gran Torino, Camilla, Tosh. Everyone's gonna meet there at 4:30."
"What's the special occasion?"
"Well..." Her usually bubbly and sure voice hesitated on the phone. "I just... figured we should have a last hang out before... you know...".
Oh. Right.
The battle with All for One was less than 24 hours away.
Saffron continued when you didn't respond. "Not that I think this will be the last time we'll see each other, it's just... Things will be different then. You'll be free to go back to your normal life without the training and everything. I won't see you as much. And if you move back with your mom and Brienne then..."
"I get what you're saying, Saff. I'll be there."
You could hear her sniffle over the phone. "Sorry, I didn't mean to guilt you I just-"
"No! No tears. It's going to be okay. You'll still see me all the time. I'm not going back to hiding in some cave once this is all over. We'll still have movie nights and all sorts of stuff. It's not the end."
"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get all sappy on you. I'm fine now."
"Good. Lennys is a classy establishment. They won't take kindly to you sobbing and causing a scene."

"Oh yeah, super classy." she snickered. "I promise not to cry if you promise to be there at 4:30."

"I promise."

"Good, see you then!"

Half an hour later, you were trudging down the damp sidewalk in the direction of Lennys.
The city was just barely beginning to wake up, with some people strolling home from the bars while others were making a long commute to work. The sky was still dark, the air damp and dewey. A cold breeze shifted through the streets as you pulled your hoodie tighter around you.
The walk was short, but felt like miles upon miles as you tried to wrestle with your own thoughts. The next twenty four hours were going to be the most important of your life. The city, possibly even the world, depended on Toshinori and you. Doubt tried to weasel its way into your brain, but you did your best to distract yourself.
You could do this.
Everyone had confidence in you. You'd been training yourself to exhaustion for this. You were prepared.
You had to believe that things would go well, because if you didn't believe in yourself then the fight would be over before it even began.
You shook your head in an attempt to clear it as you walked up to Lennys. It looked practically empty inside, save for a few late night stragglers and the staff inside.
The air conditioning blasted you as you pulled the glass doors open.

"You're late!" Saffron accused you from across the room before the waitress could greet you.
Your group was seated in the back of the dining room, far away from the windows. They all seemed in different stages of alertness. Camilla looked as if she were still asleep, and Sir Nighteye looked as tired as you felt (though he concealed it well). Gran Torino, Toshi, and Saffron looked chipper, as if it wasn't a crime to be up this early, while Akemi looked tipsy. You smiled at them and were greeted with mostly yawns in response.
"Glad you finally showed up!" Saffron tossed you the menu. The plastic cover was sticky with syrup as you turned it over to look at each side. Your stomach didn't really feel like it could handle any food since you weren't used to being up so early, but you settled on something anyways.
"Sorry, traffic this early in the morning is terrible." You sighed sarcastically as you tossed the sticky menu back to her.
"Really?"
"No, Saff. No one is awake at this godforsaken time."
"I mean, I was."Akemi chuckled as he sipped his orange juice.
"You don't count, you work late."
"Nah, tonight I was just partying." He snickered again.
"What? You told me you were working!" Saffron huffed.
"Just partying."
"I guess that explains why you're up so late. What about you, Nighteye? How did Saffron convince you to come?"
"She had told me that we needed to meet and discuss some last minute details about the gala. She assured me it would be in private, however..." His eyes scanned the nearly empty restaurant as he frowned.
"I was promised breakfast." Gran Torino huffed as he stirred another sugar packet into his coffee.
"And I was just wrapping up my patrols." Toshi smiled. "I'm sorry she woke you up so early, (Y/N). Saffron had promised me you were already awake."
"Not quite. I guess I'm glad we're all here, though. We haven't gotten to just hang out in a while."
"Exactly!" Saffron agreed. "And since you're all high profile heroes it seemed only appropriate that we do this before anyone was awake. That's the only reason I called this early."
"She's lying," Camilla yawned. "She's been up for hours fretting and decided she just couldn't wait any longer."
"You hush!" Saffron gave her a harsh pinch to the arm.
"Hey! No need to fight. It's fine. We're all here now, we're gonna eat some greasy food and coffee to wake us up, and then it'll all be fine." You smiled.
And you did.
Your group ordered and ate and stayed in the restaurant well past a polite time. Though no one else seemed to need the large table you were sitting at, the tired waitress seemed ready for you to leave as an hour quickly passed by and then another. Once the early risers started to trickle into the restaurant you got the feeling you would have to leave sooner than later, but you really couldn't stand to go when you were having such a good time.
"Wait, so All Might dumped the entire truck of canned fish onto the highway?" Akemi chuckled at Nighteyes story.
"Accidentally!" Toshinori protested. "And I caught the villain and prevented much worse damage to the roads!"
"Did you at least stay to help clean up?" Camilla asked.
"He did. He smelled like canned tuna for weeks." Gran Torino groaned.
"Will you ever let me live this down?" Toshi sighed.
"Only once you do something more worthy of a funny story." Sir smirked.
Toshi ran his hand over his face and sighed in exasperation, though you could see a playful smile turn up his lips.
"It's alright, Tosh. I'm sure we'll find something new to tease you about some day."
"If you think that's embarrassing, maybe I should tell them about the first fitting we ever did with Chiara." Saffron snickered.
"Please don't," Toshinori groaned and buried his face in his hands.
"It was the first time we'd done a fitting together, since he'd just recently hired me. So I got him in with Chiara because I wanted to impress him, as if he knew who she was anyways." She snickered. "So I get him there and he's trying on the suit, pins and everything, and he asks her how sturdy it is."
"Okay, we can stop the story now." He groaned again.
"No, no. This is a good one. So, she asks him what he means and he goes 'Will it be appropriate if a fighting situation arises? It feels pretty stiff'. And this big oaf stands up and does a big squat in his suit! Completely splits the pants in half and shows off his stars and stripes undies! You should've seen the look on Chiara's face. If she could have, I think she would've strangled him."
"I'd never worn a dress suit before! I just assumed that if it was made for a hero then it would be able to hold up to hero activities!" Toshi defended himself.
"She had her assistant call me before his next fitting so she could remind me that he wasn't allowed to do any exercise in the suit. You're lucky she ever let us come back!"
"Well, I'm glad you didn't do that at our fitting." You teased him with a pinch to his arm.
"Should I tell them about the time your pen exploded all over a fan at your book signing?" He teased Saffron.
"No, no. I think we've heard more than enough stories for-"
"Excuse me," The waitress interrupted with an impatient tap to the bill that had been sitting on the table forgotten for the last hour. "Our rush is about to come in and some people are waiting for this table. I'm sorry, but my manager has asked me to have you leave."
Silence fell over the table. You looked at your own hands, not wanting to leave. Camilla and Akemi were the first to stand up, unaware of what leaving meant.
"Of course. We're sorry for overstaying our welcome." Toshinori frowned.
"Oh, it's alright!" The waitress seemed flustered to talk to All Might. "My manager just told me to and I don't want to get in trouble. I'm just doing my job."
"Of course you are. We'll be out of your hair in just a minute. Cam, will you and Akemi go get the car? I'll pay the bill and then I need to talk shop just for a second." Saffron gave her girlfriend a serious look.
" 'Course. We'll pull around out front and wait for you. Take your time." She emphasized, squeezing her hand.
You swallowed as Saffron pulled out her credit card and handed the waitress the bill.
"We'll just be another few minutes. Promise." She insisted to her.
"Alright," She nodded and took the check away.
"Do they know?" Nighteye glared at Saffron.
"Of course not. Camilla just knows I'm upset about something. I swore to take this to my grave, remember?"
You cringed at her poor choice of wording, at the reminder of what lay ahead of you. Your lip wobbled and you could see your sadness reflected in Saffron's face.
Toshi rubbed a reassuring hand on your arm. "Let's lighten up, okay? Don't let this get together end on a sour note. Have more faith in yourself, have more faith in all of us. This isn't goodbye"
"We can't fail." Nighteye confirmed with a nod of his head. Even he looked more somber and serious than usual.
"We've trained as hard as we could. There is nothing more we can do. We'll use the skills we've practiced, rely on (Y/N)'s quirk, and then Toshinoris strength. We will do what we must." Gran Torino confirmed.
"It's all going to be okay." Your encouraging words fell flat.
"It has to be okay." Saffron barely held in her tears. "I know it will be. You think I'd waste so much time on a client with a short term contract? You're stuck with me forever, got it?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way." You blubbered. Saffron leapt up from the table and scooped you into a bone crushing hug.
"Enough with the dramatics, Saffron. We should all be going." Gran Torino growled, but the softies face was red with emotion.
"Leave me be, you cranky old crab." She snapped at him but pulled him into your tight hug regardless. To your surprise, he didn't resist.
"I think it's time for me to be going." Nighteye tried to slip past her, but was unsuccessful. Saffrons grabbed him with a steel grip. Reluctantly, and with a dramatic eye roll, Nighteye loosely hugged the group back.
"I don't want to be left out!" Toshi complained and joined the hug. His wide arms easily stretched around our group, where he gave us all his own breath stealing hug.
"Alright! Alright! You're going to break my bones and cause a scene! Let me go!" The old man complained.
"Sorry, sorry." Saffron finally released you all. She dabbed at her eyes. "I think I need a bit more sleep. I'm too emotional. Let's get going before I start wailing."
And so your group split for what seemed like the last time. Nighteye and Gran Torino left to visit the All Mights Agency. Saffron, Akemi, and Camilla left to go to their own homes, while you and Toshi walked back to the apartment on your own.
The morning sun was bright in the sky at this point and people crowded the streets on their way to their jobs. A few people looked at you and your boyfriend in awe, but most kept their heads down in favor of shuffling to their jobs.
You clutched Toshinori's hand tightly as you kept your eyes directed at the ground. It took everything you had to keep your eyes dry.
"Are you alright?" Toshi asked quietly with a squeeze to your hand.
"As alright as I can be," You whispered.
"It's going to be okay, (Y/N). I promise you. I will not let anything happen to you."
"Can you even promise that, Toshi?" You sniffed. You looked up into his eyes, truly looked for the first time that day, and you didn't like the confliction you found there.
"Let's go upstairs." He squeezed your hand again as a promise to resume this conversation in private.
You nodded and swallowed. The emotions you were so carefully trying to hold back began to seep through the cracks and tears pooled at your lash line.
You didn't protest as he scooped you up, nor did you squeal or jerk in fear as he leapt onto the balcony a dozen stories above you.
He set you down gently on the tile near the pool, slick with the condensation of the morning dew.