Chapter Text
After Shimura Nana’s death, Kotaro was allowed to go to the funeral by the foster home in charge of looking after him for the moment.
He had no idea why his mother abandoned him in the first place. She went off and did hero work no matter what he said to her to try and make his mother stay with him.
And now she died because she was a hero that chose strangers over her own son.
So there he was in a thrifted black jacket for a closed casket funeral of a hero that no one really knew. He watched as an older man and a younger man walked close to the casket with tears in their eyes.
But Kotaro continued to stare out of the corner of their eyes at them since they never really got close to the casket like he was.
The two men continued to act weird throughout the whole procession which made him start to act suspicious of the two men.
How did they know his mother? Were they the reason why she left him behind? Why did she die?
Who are they?!
It wasn’t until his mother’s casket was lowered into the ground that the two men approached him.
“To hell with it, Toshinori. I knew her for too long,”
“But she said not to get involved. We have to respect that.”
“Not until I talk to the damn kid. He deserves some kind of explanation.”
He had enough, sharply turning to the only other guests standing there. Both of them dressed in black, “Who the hell are you?”
“Hello, young Shimura,” The older man cleared his throat. “I am an old friend of your mother, Gran Torino is my hero name. And this is Toshinori Yagi, he was your mother’s student.”
“Why should I care?” Kotaro backed away from them, not allowing the heat in his eyes to form into tears in front of these strangers. “Did she die because of you both?”
“No, never!” Toshinori gestures wildly with his hands.
“We would never do that to her. We were the one supporting her in her final battle against the biggest villain that has wreaked havoc for many years,” Gran Torino explained. “Your mother is the reason why he can no longer hurt anyone. And she will be forever remembered as the one who saved all of Japan.”
“So?” Kotaro argued, gesturing back at the fresh soil in the grass. “She’s dead.”
“She fought against him because she was trying to protect all of us, especially you,” the older hero continued. “The villain was going to come after her family. So she went up against him to protect you from ever ending up in his hands.”
The words shocked Kotaro to the core. Is that why she died? Is that why she abandoned him to some sort of orphanage with tears in her eyes? Was it all because of him? Kotaro’s voice shook as he spoke up, “She died because of me?”
“No,” Toshinori tried to comfort the young child. “It is not your fault that she is gone. If anything, we should have done more to help.”
“Now, she wouldn’t want any of us to blame ourselves. Young Shimura, she did not want us to reach out to protect you further from the great evil. But she has finally brought him down,” Gran Torino answered. He crouched down to be eye level with Shimura. “So I wanted to explain to you the truth of what happened instead of leaving you in the dark. You deserved to know the truth.”
Kotaro’s eyes betrayed him by letting salty tears leak from the inner corners, alarming the two men in front of him. Slowly, Gran Torino opened his arms and approached the child, not touching him like he was waiting for permission.
Kotaro ran forward to hide his crying face in the yellow cape of the hero. “I m-miss her.”
“I do too,” Gran Torino admitted, hugging the child close to him as he cried his eyes out. The blonde student kneeled down to pat the child’s back as he continued to be consoled by the older hero.
“...I’ve never seen such a soft side to you, Gran Torino.”
“Just for that, Toshinori, I’m going harder with you in the next training session.”
“Wha-what?! Wait. I’m sorry. I'll take it back.”
*
Kotaro never really expected to find himself being raised by a hero again. But Gran Torino went out of his way to foster him.
When he asked why the older hero did it, Gran Torino said, “She would have wanted you to live a happy life. And I will do my best to provide that for you.”
So Kotaro continued to grow under the careful watch of Gran Torino. The hero did try his best. Although he had to question why the hero was so obsessed with Taikyaki.
And surprisingly, Toshinori, his mother’s student, went out of his way to become a foster family member to him. He was trying hard to become an older brother figure to him. He would visit every week he could with bandages on his arms and face from some altercation with a toy in his hand and stories to tell.
And when Toshinori had left, he asked Gran Torino why he kept visiting. The hero sighed before replying, “That kid has no one. Nana was like a mother figure he never really had. So when she died, he took it hard since she was the only one to support him.”
So when the hero student came again, Kotaro made sure to actually listen well to the boring stories of school that the older blonde would tell to him.
...
And that’s how Kotaro spent his life.
Instead of being forgotten in a foster home, he had a destined home with a hero and a hero student.
And then that hero student became a popular hero named All Might.
And then he found love in a woman in his early university days.
And somehow, he became a successful worker that allowed him to buy a new home to raise a family in. A house that wasn’t too far away from his caretaker.
And that’s how Shimura Kotaro remained a hero’s son while becoming a loving husband and a caring father.