The Hero and the Damsel

His Worries

            I was rather surprised by Toshinori's reaction. Not so much the dread portion of it, but the elation that was displayed in the beginning. Toshinori was a man who displayed his feelings in unique ways, but to get to the deeper feelings inside him, one just had to look into his eyes. Those wonderous, sparking gems told all his inner feelings and deepest emotions. Emotions he hid while he was masquerading as All Might. Yes, even when he wasn't a hero, he was rather enigmatic, but he still never outright acted upon the emotions hidden underneath. But this...this was different. I couldn't tell which was the real emotion and which was the display...if the terror or the joy were displays at all.

Toshinori's expression of fear truly caught me off-guard. Not as much as the smiling happiness before though, considering I was expecting him to be somewhat upset. No...I didn't figure that he would go from being a jubilant, bumbling dork with a grin plastered to his face to...to terror. Why though?

I was about to ask, until he abruptly stood from the chair next to my hospital bed and started pacing the room with bounding steps. I worried the people beneath my room could hear him and probably were worrying something was happening. I ignored that thought though, returning to watching my boyfriend go back and forth, continuously running his hands through those golden locks to the point that his perfectly styled hair faltered and his bangs began to fall in front of his face. Every so often I caught bits and pieces of him muttering, but it was never anything coherent.

"Toshinori...I...We...W-We don't have to keep them if it is going to bother you...this much." I lifted my right arm gingerly, gesturing it out towards him in an attempt to stop his pacing and draw his attention to the behavior he was displaying.

He did stop, but he just stared at me. No words...just...watched. Those glorious blues practically bore holes into me. For once I felt small and weak under his gaze, but it didn't last long. After a moment or two, he shook his head and went back over to me, taking my left hand delicately, gently into his own hand. He was being careful not to aggravate my bullet wound.

As he did this, Toshinori continued to watch me, a gentle expression starting to melt the previous dread and fear that drove him to pace the room not a moment ago. However, it was still there and I could still catch glimpses of that mortification behind the calming and gentile smile he was putting forth. Here was the showmanship I was waiting for, now to hear him say okay. "Ayano, Sweetheart...I...I-I" Here it comes, just say it so we both can pretend this never happened. "I want...t-t-to keep t-them."

Wait...did he just...what? I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was sitting here preparing myself for the agreement, and he says to...I focused my gaze on Toshinori, properly focusing my eyes to figure out whether he was being honest with me or not. "You...Did you just say you wanted to keep them?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the dustings of a blush forming on his pallor skinned cheeks. He was such a timid man underneath the costume. No one would ever know that All Might was actually a weenie when he wasn't saving everyone. It was almost laughable to think in this situation he was being so vulnerable, and no one but me could see it, see him. The stuttering soon began after as he replied with embarrassment lacing itself in his speech. "W-W-Well...y-y-yes...I-I never t-thought I-I would be...b-be a f-f-father...b-but I-I...I-I should own up to this...i-it is my f-fault after all...a-a-and...I-I'm i-in l-l-l-love with...y-y-you."

He looked so flustered. Toshinori truly was a timid man, through and through. Seeing him like this was precious; I wanted the moment to last, but something still didn't sit right with me. With a bit of adjustment, compensating for my injured leg and arm, I bore my gaze into him. I wanted answers. Was he lying to me right now? Was he telling me the truth? Those two emotions...there had to be a reason for both of them, and I needed to know the reason. "If you want to keep them, then why do you look so petrified about this?"