Chapter Text
He remembered the utter feeling of joy and peacefulness he felt when holding his son for the first time. Izuku wasn’t his first child , but he was the only one Hisashi truly wanted to have, the first one he is proud to call his .
The others were simply means to an end, pesky tools that complicated things in the long run.
But Izuku?
Perfect down to the last detail. His little freckles, his button nose, his lovely curls… The familiar shade of his green eyes even managed to bring Hisashi to tears. From his very first breath, the second he blessed the world with his existence, Hisashi felt whole again. Only his little brother managed to make him feel like that like he had a meaning; a purpose.
I finally have a family again.
✕✕✕
The next few years were Paradise.
Have a home to return to, a wife that loves him and a son who idolizes him and follows Hisashi everywhere. Like an adorable little duckling.
He found it hard to lie to them. Inko brought the best out of him, and Izuku seemed like a younger version of him if the world had been kinder. It was easy to tell his wife the truth: about Yoichi, about his death.
They mourn him together and Inko even suggests having a butsudan in their home, so they could honour his brother's memory.
It’s perfect.
Until that day.
He receives the phone call during work, just while the Doctor explains his new Nomu. He picks up of course, because there is only one person who knows that number.
“Inko?”
She sniffs and that’s enough for the man to worry. His wife may be a sentimental woman, but she is not weak – if she calls him during his work hours, she is in tears which means something happens.
“Hisashi… It’s Izuku. He is quirkless. And that doctor was so insensitive!”
That’s not surprising. He told Garaki to misdiagnose his son; never mind the fact that Izuku did have a quirk. It’s latent right now, just underneath the surface – it's so bright and strong that sometimes he wishes to take it for himself, to stop his precious little boy from risking his life on foolish games. One key detail is that their quirks are different; which in turn only complicates things even more.
Both as a man of business and as a family man, Hisashi hates the unpredictable.
However.
“What do you mean by ‘insensitive’?”
「 I wonder how a crazy scientist passing for a child’s doctor can be insensitive.」
Shut. It.
「 Make. Me. 混世魔王 (1)」
He hates the fact of how he knows what those words mean. But fortunately, having lived with her inside his head for nearly 96 years does wonders for his patience and his ability for multitasking.
Inko tells him what happened. His doctor needs to remember his place.
“Sweetheart, I’m coming right away.”
He doesn’t even turn off the phone and just uses one of his quirks on the man, one of his favourites for torturing traitors and heroes for information.
“ How dare you.”
The old man is choking, but when did Hisashi let minor details like that stop him?
「 You are older than him, you stupid shit.」
“My son, my darling boy is crying since he and his mother got home. He is in shock because you are incapable to do anything right. Do you have any idea of what you’ve done? Do you?”
“M-master…”
He intensifies the percentage of his quirk on the man, leaving him screaming and foaming on the floor. Part of him wants to kill him, to set his precious Nomus at him just like Artemis had punished Actaeon. But unlike Actaeon, the doctor is practical. And he has far more critical things to do.
「 Agamemnon suits you better.」
✕✕✕
Just like he is expecting, his boy is crying alone in his room. According to Inko, he has been hiding in there watching that dreadful video of his nemesis on repeat since they came back from the doctor’s office. Quite frankly, it seemed like a very unhealthy coping mechanism, almost like a constant reminder of what his son could never achieve. Hisashi turns on the light, catching Izuku by surprise. The man kneels, opens his arms, and his lovely Ducky runs into his hug; still crying for his comfort.
They move to the bed, where the hugging session continues. It is a little strange for him because this isn’t his forte: he comes in with the money, and Inko does the emotional, touchy stuff. He loves coming home, and not having to deal with problems is part of the reason.
But Izuku needs him right now. And surely, it can’t be that hard, can it?
「 HAH!」
“Daddy… Daddy, can you help me write a letter to All Might?”
All for One feels a vein throbbing. Deep breaths, deep breaths.
“Why?”
“I-I need to ask him if I still can be a hero. If--! If he thinks I can then maybe…!”
He hugs his little boy harder, ignoring the nagging feeling in his chest. Why would Izuku ever require some stranger's validation and approval instead of his father's? He knows that the Eighth One for All Holder is extremely popular with children, but there are certain limits.
「Jealous, are we?」
“And if he says no?”
Izuku’s body freezes and stops to think.
“H-he wouldn’t Papa…!”
“He could or he could not. Who can know? Besides, the man is the Number One hero, he’ll be busy. Likelier than not, he doesn’t even look at all his fan mail.”
“B-but! But nana always said-”
That puzzles him. His mother-in-law is very neutral on the whole heroism thing she trusts the Police force far more than Pro heroes. To hear that the Midoriya matriarch is feeding Izuku Hero propaganda it’s unlike her indeed.
“What does your grandmother have to do with any of this?”
Izuku bites his lips and avoids looking in Hisashi’s direction. Does the man have ulterior motives? 「 Is the Pope catholic?」. He wants Inko and Izuku by his side – truly by his side, with Izuku as his heir and Inko as his Queen. He is going as far as trying to replicate all of his longevity quirks for them and even made an entire bunker underneath the ground, far more sophisticated than the bank vault he kept his brother. And that can’t happen if his son is risking his life playing Hero vs Villains.
He cleans his son’s tears.
“Izuku. I know you admire All Might, but at the end of the day, he is merely a stranger that doesn’t know you. Why would he ever bother to look past labels? Past your lack of a quirk?”
His son cries harder and tells him that he is just being cruel.
“All I ever do is for you and your mother, and I just want the best for the both of you.”
「 Only at your terms. Aren’t you nice?」
Stop. I’ve had a terrible day so far, and I don’t need your whining -
「 Oh. That wasn’t whining. THIS IS .」
She starts shouting in German. Why. Why does she know German?! Whoever thought her that, sincerely, damn you to Hell.
“I just want to help people…”
“There are other ways to do that Ducky. You are so smart baby… You can become anything else -”.
“NO!”
His son pushes. Him. Away. From inside his mind, he can feel the glee coming from Her.
(‘Get away from me Hisashi!!’)
“I don’t want to be anything else! I want to be a hero!”
「 Look at him, keeping up with the family legacy.」
No. No, no, no, NO. That's not my legacy!
「 Wasn’t talking about you .」
“Please Papa, that’s all I ever wanted! Please, can you help me?”
He holds his son like he will vanish in thin air – because the last time he remotely let go of his family… Yoichi slipped out of his control and died because of it. Because he meddles with Heroes and Vigilantes.
「 Is that what we are calling fratricide now?」
“Papa?”
He blinks. Ah, yes. Izuku is still waiting for an answer, isn’t he?
“It’s dangerous Izuku. You can get hurt.”
Just like his foolish little brother got hurt. That dreadful, resentful insolent child inside his mind forces Hisashi to remember an image, a memory. That memory: the bloody and broken body, white hair clinging to his face while Yoichi was choking and coughing blood. Tears were streaming down his face but despised all the orders for him to be quiet, his younger brother kept talking, begging Hisashi to leave them alone; to let his family alone.
And since when those imposters could ever replace me? Who were they to ever do that?
And… And…!
(…And let me die already.)
Stop that. Who do you think you are, to use my memories against me?
「 You do you think you are, talking about my family like that? 」
“But Papa…”
“ No . ”
「 Yes. 」
I said no!
“But…!”
He looked away for a second and Yoichi left . In the dangerous and violent streets, the same place where his dear son wants to throw himself? No. Not on his life.
「 Right. Because this is about you.」
“Both I and Mama worry about you Izuku. Do you want to make us worry that much?”
His son shrinks into himself, the words hurting him, just like Hisashi knew they would.
「 Father of the Year . 」
I am doing this to protect him.
「 Keep telling yourself that.」
“… No Papa. But what if I get stronger?”
This is getting far too repetitive for his liking. Truly, how many times does Hisashi need to say the same thing for Izuku to understand?
“It won’t matter.”
“But…”
“There will always be someone stronger. It is not a matter of training. It’s a fact.”
Stop. Give up. Stop, stop. STOP.
Izuku whiter away, sobbing yet again, still trying to get away from his hug 「 chokehold, more like 」, but manages to slip away before bolting out of his room and running calling for his mother.
「 Well, that was a disaster.」
✕✕✕
His son avoids him the next day, no matter how hard Hisashi tries to talk or make amends with him, despite being in the right. He even went as far as… Ugh, buying Hero Merch, but it was to no avail. Nothing, zero. Izuku isn’t even looking at him, and Inko is the middleman between them and took her time to talk with him.
And then there was the matter of his wife. Well.
“It’s my fault, Hisashi, it’s all my fault! If only I had a better quirk maybe…”
“Darling, we can't control such things.”
「 Liar liar, pants on fire.」
“He keeps asking me…”
“I know. It's harsh, but it is true.”
Inko stays silent.
“… It doesn't have to be.”
What.
「 YES! 」
“Inko!”
“There are other ways! He can be a support hero, can he? He is so smart. And all his notebooks…”
“What Hero agency would choose a quirkless boy over anyone else?!”
“HISASHI! He has the right heart! I would rather him not become one, but I prefer seeing my son happy than…!”
“Than alive ? Because believing and waiting are two very different things. This society allows the Hero industry to groom children into young soldiers and send them to die on the battlefield without a worry in the world because if one of them dies it doesn’t matter because ten others will replace it. It breeds and feeds on violence and I refuse to let our son be a victim!”
I refuse! I already lost someone to Heroes before. No, not Izuku too.
“ The system is rotten and broken, young heroes die from inexperience or because they are forced to take more than they can handle.”
He ignores that irritating voice in the back of his mind saying how that is his fault, how he contributed to that – how he made sure it was that way. How many deals he made and how much blood was spilt over the decades.
“But…”
“No. You are thinking of our son's happiness as any good mother would. Of course, you are. But I am thinking of his safety. Our safety. Or do you want to bury Izuku before he turns 20? Because that is what happens to children who follow silly and foolish dreams like that.”
He is trembling with fury. It is all too much – the work, his enemies, All Might breathing down his neck! He doesn’t even notice the horror on his wife’s face.
“Hisashi…”
“Do you want that? Do you want to hold Izuku’s cold corpse, his blood staining your clothes? To feel helpless, angry, and afraid? And for what? For the name of some idea?!”
「 Better to live for an idea than a lie. 」
Shut! Up!
Fire breath is leaking out of control, the burning sensation hurting his skin, his throat. He is bleeding again, from the inside, like he always does when using the power in question. The memory of Saito’s face when he blamed Hisashi for Yoichi’s death, the ferocity of the man when he shot at him so many times…
(Do you have any idea how afraid he was of you?!)
“Please Hisashi stop .”
“I won’t allow it Inko. I won’t…!”
SLAP.
There is howling inside his mind as if she just had witnessed greatness and tasted victory. But Inko has tears in her eyes, her hand is trembling.
“It… It has been an intense day for everyone. So, I’m going to make some tea, and then we can go to sleep.”
“Inko…”
“ Alone. ”
She leaves him alone, but Hisashi can hear her crying, and that dreadful laughter.
✕✕✕
The next few weeks are sour, bitter. And worse? One of Nomu's factories has been destroyed by that blonde buffoon. Which meant he now personally fixed other people's mess;
Good. He needs to let out some steam anyway.
The only downside? He needs to go directly to the source of such problems and leave his family alone in such dire times. So, he prepares the terrain.
By installing hidden cameras in every inch of his house, along with wiretapping their phones. His subordinates are tasked with interacting with his family and reporting anything amiss. It is surprisingly easy to infiltrate Izuku’s school and put his spies there, as well as the places Inko went.
He also gives the very explicit order accommodating their every wish. No amount of money was too much. If Inko woke up one day and decide to move to another house, they needed to make it happen. If Izuku wants more money, for whatever reason, it would be there.
All of that is easy. But the hard part? It was finding a decent quirk-suppressing drug for Izuku – he went as far as reach for his international contacts, but in the end, it was worth it. All his lackeys needed to do is apply the drug twice a year.
Was the substance illegal in Japan? Yes.
Were there possible sequels like constant migraines, fainting, or heart problems? Yes.
But it was for their safety, so Izuku didn’t suddenly develop a quirk after all his efforts of convincing everyone that he couldn't have one, to begin with.
He didn’t even need to come up with a lie – he was needed somewhere else and would only be gone for a few weeks, and would call every day.
All he needs to do is kill the Number One Hero. Not only remove an obstacle but hey. Maybe they will produce some new Merchandise for a dead Hero.
How hard can it be?