Chapter Text
"I AM HERE! I AM HERE! I AM—" The loud All Might toy held by a toddler in the waiting room was promptly switched off. The kid pouted as her mother shoved the toy in her purse.
"No more All Might right now."
If only she knew…
Toshinori Yagi sat across from them, staring at a text from Young Midoriya saying that he couldn't make it to his third training session with All Might. Something about his mom taking him somewhere.
Kid's got more of a life than me. All I do is work and come home and desperately try to sleep. Good for him…
"Yagi?" His head snapped up to see the lady from the front desk calling to him. She had been working there for a while and he got the feeling that she pitied him in some way. He stood up and returned her tight smile as he made his way to his therapist's office. When he opened the door, his nose was hit with the smell of lavender.
"Mr. Yagi! I'm so glad you could make it early this time!" Dr. Tsubasa spun quickly in his chair, almost blowing out his candle with the breeze. "You said lavender tea helps you calm down, so I thought some aromatherapy would help get you in a good headspace."
"I appreciate that, Doc." Trying not to laugh at the doctor's eccentric methods, Toshinori sat down in the cushiony seat left open for him. It felt good to sink into the chair, his muscles relaxing as he leaned back. He let himself breathe in the herbal scent around him, and relaxed with each breath like he was tasked to at the start of each session. When he was ready, he looked up at the doctor.
"Attaboy! That was quicker than usual. Should I pat myself on the back or did you come here more relaxed for once?"
Toshinori chuckled. "The credit is all yours, I'm afraid."
Dr. Tsubasa wrote something down on his clipboard for a moment before responding. "Well, doesn't hurt to hope, does it? Now then…" He locked eyes with Toshinori, his eyes serious. "Did you do your homework? Have you found out why you get so sad at home using the tools I gave you?"
He nodded. "I did."
"And?"
"And… I think I'm lonely." Toshinori looked down at his fidgeting hands as his cheeks flushed. He knew it'd be embarrassing to admit it, but he didn't expect to sound so juvenile.
"I see…" The doctor wrote a little more, his long and bushy mustache twitching as he mouthed his writings to himself. "Have you tried making new friends? Maybe even dating?"
He frantically shook his head. "No, I haven't. My job doesn't really allow much time for that. I mostly just wish my home didn't feel so empty all the time, is all."
"Hmm… Your lack of friends surely doesn't help you, but…" The doctor tapped his pencil against his chin for a few seconds. "Have you thought about getting a roommate?"
Toshinori stopped fidgeting as he thought about it. Obviously he couldn't get a roommate at Might Tower, but if he could move closeby in Tokyo, he could get one and not feel so shitty at home…
"That wouldn't be a bad idea, actually. I think I'll try that." He saw Dr. Tsubasa practically light up, and he smiled back at the man.
"Great! That'll be your task for this week! Now, how has work at Might Tower been?"
Later that day, All Might dropped in from his roof, steam shooting from his body as he deflated into his smaller form. The scar on his side throbbed and itched something fierce, but he knew better than to mess with it. Instead he focused on stumbling to the couch, just barely making it there before his knees gave out.
He groaned weakly as just about half his joints popped upon throwing himself down. He snorted at himself.
I sound like such an old man, crackling and moaning all over the place.
Not bothering to take off his sagging hero suit, he looked around for anything to occupy himself with within reach. His TV remote was too far. His laptop sat right next to him.
Aren't there websites for finding roommates? That's a thing, right?
Having no tech savvy youths to consult, he turned on his laptop and just typed "how to find a roommate" into his search bar. The first result was an ad for roommatefinder.com.
"It says sponsored… must be good then." Toshinori clicked the link and began looking through the listings that popped up for Tokyo.
There were… a LOT of young people wanting fellow students as their roommates. It was kind of embarrassing to him as he realized he was probably the oldest person on this website.
"'Looking for a young single girl'… creepy. 'Looking for a roommate that can babysit'… definitely not…" He was about to give up when a listing caught his eye. It was from only 12 hours ago.
"'Karas: Looking for a 30+ roommate who is quiet, cleans up after themselves, and minds their damn business.'"
Well, I fit the bill… and this guy is probably at least 30, given the age requirement…
So he wrote up a quick message, or at least as quick as possible without seeming informal, and stood to finally get out of his sweat-filled clothes. By the time he got down to just underwear, he noticed his screen changed. He got a response!
KARAS: Wanna meet up tomorrow at noon to discuss details? I know a coffee place that's not too busy then.
Wow… I'm really doing this. And quicker than I thought.
YAGI: Sure! Just send the location and I will meet you there!
He went to his closet and searched for any combination of clothes that could keep him from looking like he was on Death's door. His palms sweated at the thought of this stranger being scared off by how creepy he looked. He spent the rest of the afternoon nitpicking over tomorrow's outfit and hoping that this wasn't a mistake.