Chapter Text
There's a cat that lives in Dagobah beach, they find out. The training sessions have been going on for a few weeks now and they've been hearing and seeing movement from the corner of their eyes for a few days and Izuku's taken to carrying a small packet of cat food and some treats with him everyday in the hopes of seeing it or figuring out where it stays, but he's had no luck so far.
As they're wrapping up for the night he hears a loud meow, hissing and the sound of metal falling. In a split second Izuku is running in the direction where the noise came from with All Might right on his trail and they find an upturned barrel that trapped a cat inside, from the desperate hissing and scratching they could hear. Izuku hurried to lift it up and soon saw the cat shooting up from the barrel and up to few cabinets and up a stove. It was far, was very small and it was dark already, but Izuku could see bright blue eyes staring right at him.
"Young Mido-" Izuku shushed him softly and stepped forward.
Slowly not to startle the cat, Izuku got the treats from his pocket and opened the packet while walking towards the cabinets. He tried offering them from his hand but the cat continued to stare at him. "C'mon buddy. It's food, can you smell it?" He went up a bit in the cabinet and tried offering closer to the cat, but it went up in a chair and was clearly weary of his presence. "It's for you, so I'm going to leave a bit here in the cabinet, love. You can come down later and tomorrow I'll bring more." Izuku didn't know why he was talking to the cat, maybe if it grew used to his voice it'd also become accostumed to his presence? Maybe it was like talking to a baby, they couldn't understand what he was saying but hopefully his tone was enough to calm it a bit.
Izuku left a couple of the treats at the top of the cabinet and went down the wobbly structure, feeling his mentor's skinny hands supporting him. He heard movement above him but made the effort not to look in case he scared it away, when he was finally on solid ground he found the cat eating the treats and hurrying back in the middle of the pile.
"Do you always carry cat treats with you?" Izuku looked up to see All Might observing him with a soft smile.
"Not really" he was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly "I just noticed the noise and thought there was a cat around here that might be hungry, so I got a portion size of cat food and some treats samples from the pet shop near the station a few days ago."
- - -
The way Midoriya approached the cat with soft words and a small smile reminded Toshinori of Shouta and the way he'd talk to small children and stray animals. Reminded him of Present Mic visiting hospitals and Azura visiting orphanages. Reminded him of a hero ready for comforting and cheering up someone vulnerable.
Every afternoon he spent training the boy Toshinori became more and more certain he was making the right choice. Midoriya Izuku was incredibly kind with one of the most selfless hearts he had ever seen and more drive than many pro heroes he'd met, that alone would already make him a great hero.
When he got One for All the boy would definitely be a force to be reckoned and hopefully that would help him inspire others to walk by his side on the path to a better, kinder future.
He could only hope the boy's parents or himself wouldn't oppose the idea after learning of the full history of the quirk.
"You, are amazing, my boy" He ruffled the teen's hair and looks at emerald eyes. Midoriya must see his honesty because he flushes slightly as they walk towards the stairs. Toshinori wanted to sneak a picture of the young teen so he could show Shouta how much the boy resembled a strawberry when he blushed.
"It's nothing, really" the kid gives him a sheepish smile waving one of his hands, and doesn't that speaks a lot about his sucessor's character.
- - -
The following day All Might brings a bright pink carrying cage along with a pink bowl, pink blanket and more packets of treats.
"Did you get all that for the stray?"
The hero shrugged "Not really. My husband and I foster cats so we have some extra supplies, we should try to get it in the cage so we can take it to the vet."
For a second Izuku's brain went into overdrive, then it all came to a stop. "You foster stray cats. You and your husband." He could hear the incredulity in his own voice and his mouth blurted the first thing that came to mind in an attempt to fix it "And why's everything pink?" Izuku almost felt proud at the nonchalant way he said that while managing to keep his fanboy inside.
All Might seemed to notice his slip up and painfully coughed in the handkerchief. "Uhh, yes. It's one of his favorite colors." He started rubbing the back of his neck "Listen Midoriya-kun, I know you probably know this and I already trusted you with the truth of my quirk, but I can't risk it with his safety. So I have to confirm that you understand this is not public information and it's a really sensitive subject, and that you have to keep it to yourself, okay?"
Izuku nodded sharply "I'd never break your trust like that All Might."
"I'm counting on it! So he said to put some treats in the cage to see if we can close while the stray's inside. My husband said that if it's been caught before it might be weary of cages so we'll have to see how that goes first." The pair started to walk towards the previous night's cabinet to prepare the trap.
"Hm, All Might?" Izuku hesitated "Does your husband have a name or alias we can use? I don't want to accidentally out you or anything..."
The hero was quiet for a moment "I think he'd prefer if you didn't know his name, young Midoriya. My husband's a very private man, even his friends only know my civilian form..." 'and they're heroes' he thought but said nothing "I suppose you can give him a nickname, how about that?" he said as he arranged the blanket inside the cage.
Izuku thought while opening the packet "Anything?"
The man laughed loudly "I'll hold the right to the final vetoing, but I don't think you'll choose anything I'd not approve, so take your time to decide Midoriya-kun" it still surprised Izuku the faith the #1 hero seemed to have in him, but every time he still felt warm inside to hear it. It makes Izuku very determined to prove it was not misplaced.
Izuku spent the entire training session thinking of the three things he knew of the man - he's married to All Might, he likes pink and he likes cats (the last was actually speculation about what All Might told him, but one that Izuku felt secure enough to add the list) - and how to make that into a nickname. When he finally told his pick to the man he gave the most genuine laugh the teen heard coming from the hero before announcing his husband would be completely flustered by the nickname and that it was perfect.