Disclaimer: Of course I don't own My Hero Academia, its characters, or the franchise.
Story: Izuku's neighbor doesn't age. But he's always there for Izuku, and cheers him up when he needs it. Too bad he wasn't who he seemed.
Set as a slight AU to canon.
Spoilers: Most definitely for all seasons.
Warnings: Age disparity
Pairings: Izuku/All For One

Cake and Smiles

Izuku is four when the apartment across from his is moved into by a man with no hair, an excess of scars on th top of his head, and a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes that aren't actually there. They meet on the stairwell and Izuku gives him the biggest smile he can.

"Hello!"

The man smiles slightly and ruffles his hair, but just passes him by to enter his apartment. Izuku goes into his and greets his mom.

"I'm back, Mom. Did you know we have a new neighbor?"

He doesn't know who he is, but he seems nice enough. Izuku wants to ask if he had a Quirk or what was it —would he answer, would he get annoyed, would he —

"Izuku, remember to be polite!"

"Yes, Mom!"

Izuku would just have to find time to talk to him.

It's a week later and Izuku's cheeks hurt. They hurt so bad, but Izuku can't stop smiling. He knows if he did, then he'd cry and fall apart and his mom doesn't need that. She is already feeling bad and he has to cheer her up. Even if he is still crying, he can at least keep smiling for her.

On the stairway, he and his mother stand at the top, quiet and sniffling together. He hears a noise and he looks up to see the man from before. He knows he is crying like a baby, but he still gives him a wide smile.

"Hello."

It isn't as loud as his first greeting, but it's okay. So Izuku grabs his softly crying mom's hand and leads her to their apartment. The two of them can cry better in there.

That's why, as his favorite All Might video plays in the background, he is surprised to hear the doorbell. Gently letting his mother onto the floor while getting off of the chair, Izuku hesitantly heads to the door and unlocks it. His new neighbor stands there, holding a decorative cake box.

"Hello," he finally says back and his voice is warm and deep and makes Izuku feel safe. "You looked sad, so I thought I'd bring over some cake to cheer you up."

Izuku bursts into tears. "I don't have a Quirk!"

His neighbor may be a stranger, but he doesn't know Izuku and he just wants to cry and not smile any more. So if he is pushed into the apartment and finds himself sitting at the table with a slice of cake in front of him and across his neighbor, Izuku is just four and didn't care anymore.

"Being Quirkless is fine," he tells him gently. "You shouldn't be upset." And Izuku can feel himself sort of preen and almost forgets the doctor said he doesn't have a Quirk. "Once upon a time, my brother didn't have a Quirk. But I loved him all the same."

Izuku wishes someone would love Quirkless him like that.

When Inko wakes, she sees her boy talking animatedly to this stranger, who sits and listens to him patiently, with a strange smile on his face. Inko wants to cry again, because her boy doesn't look so devastated any more.

He tells Izuku his name is Hisato. His Quirk lets him live for a long time.

"You can call me Hisato, Izuku-kun. It means 'a long-lived person' or 'one with a long life'. If fits, hm?"

"Eh? But how old are you, Hisato-san?"

"Over 200 years old~"

"What? No way!"

He lives alone in his apartment, but he doesn't seem lonely. Izuku does know he's a bit frail and sometimes, when Izuku comes to visit him, he has a respirator and a bunch of tubes attached to him. Hisato even has a really scary mask that he sometimes uses, that helps him when he's up and about for a long while.

But what is really important is that Hisato would always be there whenever Izuku felt bad, and have some cake ready to cheer him up.

"Smile, Izuku-kun. I really like your smiles. It was the first thing I noticed about you."

Izuku is eleven when he realizes —no, accepts —that Kacchan is no longer his friend (or had ever really been).

His arm hurts and is even a little bloody, but he hides it from his mom when he comes home from school. He hates upsetting and worrying her, so this was the kind of thing he could cover up. Instead, he goes to the apartment across from him and knocks. And when the door opens to reveal Hisasto, Izuku just smiles sheepishly, even with tiny tears in his eyes.

"Hisato-san, can you help with my arm?"

Hisato's missing eyes still seem to bore into him, but he takes Izuku into his apartment and feeds him cake from a new bakery, fixes his arm, and smiles slightly at him while waiting for a smile back.

Izuku smiles brightly and forgets about Kacchan, burns and broken arms.

When Izuku is fourteen, he desperately wants to graduate and become a Hero.

But he's just a Quirkless nobody.

"Who cares if you're Quirkless? And you're not a nobody."

When he meets All Might and is told that he can be a Hero, he's excited and tells Hisato of the day's events. He doesn't imagine the frown or the furrow in between Hisato's sightless eyes, but he doesn't ask. Instead, he remembers Kacchan's words from earlier and finds himself blurting things out.

Hisato's hand is heavy on Izuku's head and it almost feels like penance.

"If you ever jump or do something so reckless, I won't ever forgive you."

Izuku's eyes are wide and Hisato's face forbidding, but it's gone quickly and Hisato smiles widely, moving to present a lemon cream cake.

"Izuku, call me Junichiro from now on."

He doesn't learn until later that it means "He Who Takes" and even later how fitting that is.

After going to U.A. for a while and dealing with so many insane events, Izuku doesn't have a chance to really keep in touch with Junichiro (It feels strange to change from Hisato to Junichiro, and he didn't ask why but figures it has something to do with living for so long and becoming bored with things.) He misses him, but so much has been happening.

It's in Kamino Ward where they reunite.

When the blast happens, Izuku is disoriented. The killer intent shoves him down, but he's capable enough to turn and see the cause of the blast. He almost wishes he'd passed out. He almost does because why is Junichiro here?

Izuku almost can't recognize him because this man is powerful and terrifying. He doesn't resemble Hisa —Junichiro, the man who cheered him up with cake of all the different sizes and flavors. This is..this is…

Izuku is fifteen when he realizes the man he's in love with is a villain.

In the aftermath, Izuku doesn't know what he's feeling. His heart is heavy with emotion, both for All Might, his beloved mentor, and All For One, the villain who he's secretly loved for years. All Might comforts him on the beach and they renew their bond and will continue on together —but his mind is filled with All For One.

All For One who wasn't All For One…but was Hisato and then Junichiro to him. He doesn't understand why he was blessed and cursed with this man.

The emotions won't stop putting him in a crazy whirl and only gets worse when Detective Naomasa shows up to the dorms with a stoic face and a box of Black Forest cake. Dread grips his gut and he stares blankly at the box and then the detective.

"He asked that I get this cake and deliver it to you."

Naomasa rummages in his coat pocket and retrieves a camera.

"He also asked me to ask you if he could see you smile one last time. Since he's not allowed any visitors…" He shook the camera.

Izuku swallows and tries not to cry. He fails. So instead, he accepts the cake from Naomasa and smiles brightly through his tears. It's just one last smile and cake to go after all.

The card on the box reads Hideyoshi and Izuku wonders if it's just yet another of his names in his long-lived life, like Izuku is just another person to pass time on.

"He was specific in what cake and where I would get it from," Naomasa says quietly, taking the cake, cutting it up, and offering company all at once. "He's pretty meticulous when it came to you."

Izuku unwillingly ponders that before glancing at the camera in the detective's hand. Izuku almost bites it back, but… "Can we take another picture?"

This time, Izuku is holding out a plate of the cake like he was offering it, and smiles brightly just like how Hideyoshi liked.

His heart still hurts, but he always does his best when smiling.

Started 8/23/18 – Completed 8/24/18

A/n: Hm, a bit short, but I like how this came out. Hope you guys did too!