ⁱˡᵒᵐⁱˡᵒ

ˢᵒ ʷʰᵉʳᵉ ᵈⁱᵈ ʸᵒᵘ ᵍᵒ

A/N: I AM SORRY THAT I AM LATE! Here's 5k to make up for it.✨

Toshinori knows better than to drown his miseries in alcohol. He'd told himself that he wouldn't; that it would just be one little beer upon coming home but here he is---three days later---sprawled out in his lawn chair on the back deck with his fifth beer of the evening. It's definitely overkill, he thinks. He and Nighteye hadn't exactly been friends; they bumped heads with each other on a near daily basis since they'd brought the odd, quirky little man into the office that day all those years ago. No, not friends. But Nighteye was a good man---a man who held fast to his convictions and always did what he thought was the right thing. He stuck too close to the rules; wasn't willing to break protocol even if it meant saving lives and that's where he and Toshinori clashed but Nighteye was a damn good detective. 

He didn't deserve to die. 

And even though Toshinori knows that he, himself, had nothing to do with why Nighteye had gone to Tenko Shimura's home on the day that he was killed...somehow...it all feels like it was his own fault. 

He hears the back door open and close but doesn't grace his guest with a greeting. Inko had already given up on trying to console him for the day, having retreated to their bedroom in hopes that he would at least come to bed tonight. There's only one of two people that could be, and one of them doesn't know how to unlock the back door. 

Izuku takes a seat in the chair next to him. He doesn't say anything, simply just stares out into the yard under the orange and purple hues of the sky as the sun sets. It would be something beautiful if Toshinori could pull himself out of his own head. 

"...I know I've had too much." He slurs slightly. Izuku hums his acknowledgement. "That's good---to be self-aware when you're not sober. But I didn't come out here to lecture you." He points. Toshinori grunts a non-committal response, head bobbing in a bit of a nod. He's grateful. 

"...how's Katsuki?" 

"He's alright. Mom and I took him to the library yesterday and it's his new favorite thing." Izuku says with a fond smile. Toshinori can't help but find it a little contagious; imagining Katsuki's cute little awe-stricken face as he pulls Izuku around by the arm so that he can get the books on the high shelf. He wishes he would have come out of his funk enough to have accompanied them. He hated that he missed it; that first experience for Katsuki. 

"His favorite, hm? More than chocolate cookies and hugs?" 

"His third favorite thing."

He and Izuku share a laugh together. 

"I introduced him to Fumikage. You remember him, right?" 

Toshinori hums. He's rather hard to forget. "Your rather...eccentric beta  friend who works there at the library, right?" He recalls and Izuku giggles. "He's goth, dad. You can say goth; you don't have to avoid it like it's some sort of slur." 

"Well it feels like name-calling!" 

"I promise you, he prefers to be called goth more than he likes to be called eccentric." 

"Fine, fine. How'd they do? They hit it off pretty well?"

"Why is that even a question? You should know by now that Katsuki's got a little spell on him. As soon as people meet him, they fall right in love." It's true, so far, but that could just as quickly become a double edged sword if they're not careful. All the same, Toshinori is glad that Katsuki isn't having a difficult time making friends like he thought that he would. Making mutual friends with a few of Izuku's was a good start. Toshinori has known most of them since Izuku was in junior high school. Good, compassionate kids with big hearts. They'd take good care of Katsuki.