A/N: ...is in the eye of the beholder ;)

Inko bit her lip, nervously, finally pushing aside the pale curtain around the bed. The familiar skeletal figure looked at her once before his pale blue eyes filled with some unspeakable embarrassment and dropped to his lap.

She'd resolved not to push the issue. As much as it felt like lying, she knew the man had had his reasons. She couldn't fault him for them, as much as it felt like a halfway betrayal.

Inko cleared her throat, determined to act as if nothing had changed, as if that terrible battle at Kamino Ward with All Might had never happened, as if Toshinori Yagi wasn't All Might, "Chiyo said you needed help changing those. She said your... scar...? Was, er, bothering you, so I brought an ice pack too."

He turned away, still not making eye contact with her, "I don't need anything... I'm fine. Truly."

Inko's brow furrowed as she watched him lean further back into the hospital bed, "No, you're not. It's foolish for you to say that... All Might."

He swallowed, throat bobbing, "I'm not... I'm not All Might anymore." He seemed desperate to convey that, "I'm not the invincible hero anymore, capable of defending the weak and upholding the law." He gestured widely, more despair in his false cheer than she had ever heard, "That's up to someone else now." He looked down seeing that she wasn't following his train of thought, "This is it." He gestured helplessly at himself.

"I- I don't understand."

All Might sighed, fiddling with his fingers, "And I'm sorry. For- for not telling you. I- I was going too..."

She frowned at him, "All I know is that I need to change your bandages."

He shrunk back from her touch and she couldn't help but feel hurt, "Please, just let Recovery Girl do it." He looked ashamed to be making such a fuss, "I- I don't want you to see what I've become."

She sat down on the edge of the bed, "I've already forgiven you."

He looked up, astonished, "What?"

Inko smiled, "I've already forgiven you."

He turned pink and self-consciously looked away.

Inko put her hands on her hips, "...You think I care that you no longer have that muscle form? Is that what this is about? Vanity?"

If anything he looked even more guilty, "Its just... When I was him I was so much better-"

"Toshinori Yagi. All Might." She held up a hand at his protest, "All Might, and don't you even try to deny it. I don't care that you're no longer some muscle bound god with a smile that rivals the sun." She gestured at him, feeling some sort of angry love take hold of her and push aside her fright at being so forward (to the world's number one hero no less!), "You look like a living desiccated skeleton." He swallowed, thin fingers digging into the sheets. She took ahold of his hand, "And that's the man I fell in love with... Even now, you're somehow still as strong and magnificent as you were when you first stood tall."

He gaped, "What?"

Inko chucked him under the chin, "You heard me. You think the people look at that muscled invincible form and see All Might, the symbol of peace, the unshakable pillar. I can tell you that they did... But not just in that form anymore. All Might is still a thing of hope, an idea that lives on... in you. Maybe you think that now the world knows the true face of their best hero, that they'll gasp in horror and back away from an ugly broken man."

He was hooked on her every word as she leaned closer, "But I don't see any ugliness, All Might. In fact, the only one who sees anything awful here is you. What I see is a man who gave himself up for everyone, who worked himself to the bone in an effort to make the world a better place. In fact, I see a man with a smile a thousand times brighter than that of any hero. You've broken and bled to protect us, to protect my son, to protect me. If you think that your outward appearance can make me recoil in any way, you're mistaken Toshinori Yagi."

He blushed looking at his long knobby hands, wrapped with numerous bandages, curled in his lap.

Inko straightened, "Now. Will you let me take a look at the scar Chiyo mentioned was bothering you, you silly man?"

He seemed hesitant still, but nodded, "How could I bear to deny you now?"

She snorted and peeled away at the wrapping. It fell away, strip by strip until she stopped in horror. Inko let out a small whispered, "Oh."

Toshinori squirmed, "I... I know. It's awful. It looks worse than it is." She knew that was a lie. She'd seen him curled around his side in the bed many times, sheets twisted around him as he did all he could truly do at the moment- endure.

Inko looked up, "No one will ever truly know how much you've done for us, will they?"

All Might seemed surprised, "What?"

Inko brushed a hand across his sallow ribs, jutting out like rocks in a desert. He flinched backwards not used to the soft touch. His side was punched inward, as if a clumsy toddler had mistaken his side for molding clay to play with. It was too unnatural, and he was quite obviously missing vital organs. His chest was far too narrow for two lungs, she remembered him mentioning something about that, about his respiratory system. She thought of the blood he coughed up at alarmingly frequent intervals and swallowed. His misshapen hips poked out again, one particularly long crooked, scar trailing down to the hem of his pants. The scar around his chest blossomed like a red angry flower, white trails of raised tissue spreading up to his collarbone. He'd said he was missing his stomach, and probably several other important organs as well. She could see methodical surgical incisions along his ribs, where they'd probably been replaced with metal.

Her fingers lightly trailed along the edges mapping out years of pain and sacrifice. She could see other scars littering his body from other fights as well. The angry red knot in his side was just a fraction of the wreckage, the most notable of the damage hidden within him.

She looked up to see him watching her curiously, an almost morbid fascination in her reaction.

Inko brushed his soft blonde hair away from his face, those intense cornflower blue eyes piercing her in place, waiting, fearing her reaction. Her hands trailed down to rest on his hollow cheek, she could feel his pulse beat rapidly against her fingers, she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks... but she wasn't sure. She remembered Izuku and how he always put his best foot forward (just like his hero- just like All Might- just like Toshinori) and how he took chances- how he didn't give in.

So Inko, watching her son take chances and do new things, watching this sweet man with sunflower hair look fearfully up at her, laying himself bare before her, leaned forward and, shuddering, pressed her lips hesitantly against his.

Her eyes fluttered closed, his mouth moving miraculously in response. Warmth spread through her like a thousand tiny burning prickles, a voice shrieking in her head (finally, finally, finally!), but coherence left her as he leaned earnestly upwards, his scarred hands folding over her own. His lips were surprisingly soft, and he smelled of cedar and spice and something deliciously undefinable.

After a moment Inko drew back, cheeks charmingly pink, face hot, a heated pull in the pit of her stomach. Toshinori, just as flushed, watched her as if she was the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen.

Inko sighed with a soft smile, leaning in close to press her forehead against his, so full of love that she could feel her heart swell, "You silly, silly man... You're beautiful."