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"Papa! Papa! I got something to show you!"
Hisashi looked down at his son with a fondness no henchman of his would ever expect to see on his face. And honestly, he never would've either.
He never planned to have a family. Running a criminal empire was hard work and it took a lot of time. There was just no place in his schedule or life to fit in a partner, let alone a child. Families required time, love, care, and would just be something else for his enemies to exploit.
He decided when he was 26 years old that he'd never have a family.
But all of that was thrown out the window when he saw her .
Inko Midoriya, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, which was saying something since he had seen generations and generations of beautiful women. She was like an old oil painting, every perfectly painted feature coming together to make a masterpiece. She had the face of a goddess, the body of a model, the voice of an angel.
He nearly fell to his knees when she smiled. It was kind, bright, and made him feel things he thought he left behind in highschool.
He knew right then that she was the one. The woman he would marry and finally settle down with after over two centuries of loneliness.
He pulled out a flower from god knows where, handed it to her and practically begged her to go on a date with him (something Inko still teases him about to this day). She had hesitated but agreed in the end. He brought her to his favorite place, a local cat cafe, run by a few of his associates, and promptly embarrassed himself by tripping over air and landing face first into a (luckily empty) trash can. How charming.
He stumbled over an apology as he pulled him out of the can, begging for another chance. Just before he started offering bribes or threatening to kill her whole family, laughter filled the room. He looked up and realized it was coming from her. She was laughing at him, and he didn't feel the urge to send one of his henchmen after her or toss her body into a lake. He felt… happy. For the first time since his brother's death, he felt happy .
Even as her laughs died down, he still felt that way. She apologized for laughing, but he honestly didn't even mind. For the first time in a long, long , time, Hisashi Shigaraki felt joy. Pure, unadulterated joy.
They continued their date, sipping on sugary drinks and petting cats as they stared lovingly into each other's eyes. Their spark grew into a roaring fire that showed no signs of dying. Then, after two years of dating, Inko proposed. Hisashi did not squeal like a preteen girl when she put the ring on him. Never. Nope. Not him. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar and will lose all cuddle privileges. (Looking at you, Inko >:( )
They got married a year later, Hisashi deciding to take her last name for safety reasons. He didn't need his enemies going after her because of the last name. It was a small ceremony, only attended by her family and a few of her close friends since his family was all dead and his 'friends' were not the type of people you want at your wedding. Unless you wanted everyone there to die because SOMEONE (COUGH Hidoi Hito COUGH) brought a bomb to the party and decided to throw it in the bonfire. It was safe to say, neither he nor Inko wanted that, so none of them were invited.
The wedding didn't have super fancy food or an orchestra with over a hundred musicians or bombs or even an ice sculpture of the pre-quirk icon SpongeBob (though he tried very hard to convince her to let him have that last one), but it was still perfect. The wedding could've been in a dumpster for all he cared. As long as he was marrying Inko, he was happy.
He bought a small apartment in Musutafu for them to live in. It was in a good enough area that he didn't have to worry about Inko getting attacked when she went outside, but out of the way enough that it wasn't crawling with heroes. It was perfect. Just the two of them.
… And then it became three.
"Papa?" The small voice pulled Hisashi out of his thoughts. Big, green eyes stared up at him in concern, "Are you okay, Papa? You were looking at me funny,"
Hisashi lifted his son onto his lap, "Yes, I'm okay, Zu. I was just thinking,"
"What were you thinking 'bout, Papa?"
"Nothing important, my son," He said with a small smile, "Now what was it that you wanted to show me?"
The boy's eyes lit up, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" Izuku pulled a notebook out of nowhere and started flipping through it.
Hm, maybe he has a creation quirk of some sort…
Hisashi shook away that thought. His son was quirkless, the Doctor had said so. He didn't mind. He sort of expected it. He was a first generation quirk user and as lovely as Inko was, her quirk wasn't very strong.
Even if he had gotten a quirk, it wouldn't have been extremely strong like creation.
That didn't matter right now anyway. It wasn't the time to think about quirks, he needed to pay attention to his beautiful, wonderful son.
Izuku finally found the page he was looking for and turned it to his father, "Look, Papa!"
Hisashi's blood ran cold. It was a crudely drawn crayon picture, but even with the scribbles and inhumanly large smile, he could tell exactly who that was.
"W-who uh… who's that, son?" Hisashi asked, trying to keep the shaking out of his voice.
"It's Uncle Yoichi!" The five year old beamed, unaware of his father's horror, "I asked him if I could draw him and he said yes so I did it! Do you like it?"
Hisashi gave his son a weak smile, "Yes! Of course! But I'm curious, where exactly is your uh… Uncle?"
Izuku giggled, "Behind you, silly! He's waving now! Don't you see?" Hisashi did not see. He did however feel an icy cold hand touch his shoulder though. Lovely. His ghostly brother came to visit. Better get the fine china out.
He smacked at the air behind him, hoping that if his brother could touch him as a ghost then he could smack him, "Ahaha uh no, Izuku, I don't. Have you seen any… other people lately? Ones who look a little…different?"
The boy cocked his head to the side, green curls bouncing adorably, "Hmm, I don't know…" His eyes lit up, "Oh! Yeah! I met one other one!"
"Where'd you meet them? What did they look like? Did they give you a name?" Hisashi knew he was asking a lot of questions, but could you blame him? His son was seeing and talking to ghosts! It was a perfectly normal thing for him to be concerned and ask questions.
"It was in the park. She was pretty tall with black hair and a really pretty smile and she was super nice to me! She said her name was," Izuku paused for a moment, his baby face scrunched in focus, "Ms Shimura! Nana Shimura!"
And with that exclamation all the blood drained from his face.
Shimura. Seventh. His son was not only hanging out with his dead brother, but also the seventh One For All user. A woman he had killed .
He looked down at the drawing of his brother and realized something. If Izuku could see the ghost of his brother and the ghost of Seventh, then chances are he could see the rest of the One For All ghosts if he came across them. He could see the ghosts of all of his victims.
What if they revealed his career to Izuku? What if they told him everything he had done? His life, his future, his family, all of that would be taken away from him.
No. He couldn't let that happen. He had to stop it before it got to that point.
He placed his hand on Izuku's head, trying to ignore the voice screaming at him for breaking the promise he made to himself when Izuku was born not to steal his quirk. This was important though. Everything was on the line. He could replace it with a better one later, one that wouldn't lead to his son discovering everything before he was ready.
He reached for the quirk and-
Found nothing.
There was nothing to grab. No buzz of power. No anything. There was no quirk. He had no quirk. The ghosts were just an ability, not a quirk.
"Papa? Why are you touching my head?"
Hisashi looked down, forcing a smile onto his face despite his internal melt down, "No reason, son. You look tired. Why don't you go get ready for your nap?"
Izuku crossed his little arms, "But I'm not tired, Pap-" A giant yawn interrupted him.
Hisashi laughed slightly, "Sure you're not. Just go get your bed ready. I'll make you a little snack before I go,"
Izuku looked at him in confusion, "Go? Go where?"
"To work. I have to be there in an hour, so you better move quick!"
The boy's eyes went wide and he raced away, "I'll be super fast, Papa! Fast like Ingenium!"
Hisashi wandered into the kitchen, grabbing an apple and mindlessly cutting it, numb to everything around him.
This was it. He had everything he had ever wanted, and now it was all being taken away from him. Maybe this was karma for all the terrible things he did. All the people he hurt. All the families he tore apart. Now he had to suffer the same things.
He glanced towards Izuku's room, the ghost of a smile appearing as he saw the boy running around with his blanket as a cape. He definitely wouldn't be out for a little while.
Hisashi pulled out his burner phone, typing in a number he knew by heart.
Ring
Ring
Ring
" Yes? " The Doctor's gravelly voice crackled over the phone's crappy speaker.
"Hello, Doctor,"
Hisashi could feel the man's smile forming over the phone, " Ah, it's been so long, Sir. "
"I saw you yesterday," He deadpanned.
" Twenty four hours is a long time when you're as old as I," Hisashi rolled his eyes, " Now as much as I love to hear your voice, Sir, I'd like to know what's so important that it couldn't wait until you got here. You're aware these phones aren't completely secure, yes?"
"I'm aware, Doctor, yes. This has nothing to do with any of our more secretive plans though,"
" Ah," Hisashi could hear him rolling across the lab in his spinny chair, " What exactly is the issue then, Sir?"
Hisashi glanced back towards his son's room again. He was still fighting with his sheets. He had a little while longer.
"It's Izuku,"
" Your son? Has there been an accident? I can have a Nomu-fication tank ready in the hour if needed,"
"No, no, he's alive. It's just…"
Hisashi heard a crash and the cackling of a deranged child on the other line, "I don't mean to be rude, Sir, but can you hurry up? Young Tomera brought some severed arms to life and they're now running all around the lab. I kind of need two hands to catch them,"
"Right, I'm sorry. He has this… ability to see ghosts. It's not a quirk, so I can't steal it. I'm worried-"
" That it'll lead to your identity of All For One being revealed to the wife and child?" The Doctor finished, " It is likely, yes. "
"What do you think I should do, Doctor?"
The other line was silent.
"Doctor-"
" You have to leave them ,"
Hisashi's hand slipped. He yelled as the knife sunk into his skin. Dozens of healing quirks activated and began working to heal the cut. A small drop of blood escaped from his injured finger.
" Are you okay, Sir?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Just slipped up a little," He sucked the blood off his finger, "You really think I should leave?"
" You said it yourself, Sir . Your son's ability cannot be removed. Your dead enemies can easily communicate with him and probably already have. Your identity is at risk. It's better to leave now before your villainous activities are revealed and heroes get involved."
Giggles erupted from the other room,"But-"
" Your son loves heroes, yes?"
"Yes,"
" Well do you want his dreams to be shattered because he was caught with the leader of the Underground?"
"No but-"
" Do you want him to his whole life rotting in Tartarus because his evil parentage was discovered?"
"Of course not-"
" Do you want him to come home one day and look at you with a look of pure truth because he found out everything you have done?"
"N-no-"
" Do you-"
"STOP!" Hisashi put his head in his hands, "I know. I know . I get it Doctor. I'll leave them. I will,"
" It's for your own good, Sir. Having a normal family as a villain was never going to work out, no matter how you spun it. Tell the missus you're going on a business trip,"
"Yes, Doctor," Hisashi's voice shook, "Can… can I still video call with them when I'm gone?"
" I wouldn't recommend it, but do as you like. It'll make you seem more like you're on a business trip. It's not like you'll lose your face or something," If Hisashi wasn't so upset, he'd probably laugh at that. Lose his face? How ridiculous is that? "I'll get someone to make a pair of secure laptops for you both,"
"Thank you Doctor. And thanks for your… help,"
"I'm just doing my job, Sir . I'll see you in an hour . Goodbye,"
"Goodbye," Hisashi ended the call and stared at a walk beside him. On it was a framed picture from their family camping trip. He had Inko at his side and Izuku on his hip. All three of them had matching smiles on their faces. They were so happy. So happy.
"Papa?" Hisashi glanced down at Izuku. Now when did he get there?
"Yeah, Zu?"
"Why are you crying, Papa?"
"Huh? I'm not-" He turned towards their stainless steel fridge, "Oh. I guess I am,"
"Why's Papa so sad? I don't like Papa to be sad," Izuku's little eyes began to fill with tears as well. Hisashi scooped him off the ground before he could flood the kitchen again.
"Hey, don't cry! Papa's alright! I'm not sad,"
"Then why are you crying?"
Hisashi held up his finger. It was mostly healed thanks to his quirks, but the cut was still visible, "I cut my finger while cutting up some apple slices. I'm crying because it hurts,"
Izuku grabbed his finger and began to study it, "Papa got a booboo?"
Hisashi nodded, "Yes, Papa got a booboo,"
"I know how to make it all better, Papa! Put me down please?"
Hisashi set him down, "There you go, buddy,"
Izuku raced down the hallway, into the bathroom and then back out with a small box in his hands.
"Gimme your finger, Papa!"
Hisashi kneeled down on the ground and held out his finger. His son pulled a bandaid out of the box, carefully opened it up, grabbed his finger and carefully placed it on the cut, making sure not to let the sticky sides touch each other.
Once it was perfectly wrapped, he pressed a quick kiss to it and backed away, a huge smile on his face, "There we go! All better!"
Hisashi swallowed the lump in his throat, "All better. Thank you, son,"
"You're welcome, Papa! Now," Izuku yawned even bigger than before, "I think I'm ready for my nap now!"
"You don't wanna eat any apples?"
He pursed his lips, "Hm, I'll have a couple I guess," He reached up onto the counter, grabbed a slice and began to munch on it, "Can I go to bed now?"
Hisashi laughed, "If that's what you want then sure,"
Izuku beamed, "Yay! I get to sleep with my super duper awesome All Might blanky!"
Hisashi smiled and followed Izuku as he ran off to his room.
The boy jumped into his bed, scrambling under the covers with a huge smile. Hisashi pulled the All Might blanket up over his arms and planted a kiss on his head.
"Sleep well, Zu. Your mother is in the other room if you need her. She has an alarm set for three-thirty. You can wake her up if she's still asleep by four, but try to leave her alone until then. She's very tired,"
Izuku gave him a sleepy smile, "Okay, Papa. Love you. I'll see you later,"
Hisashi walked over to the light switch and turned it off. He reached for the door knob, hesitating for a moment.
"I'll see you...again, son," He whispered as he shut the door, "I promise,"
He turned towards the air where his brother's ghost had been before, "You'll take care of them, right? Keep him safe?" He shivered as a wave of cold air passed through him, "I'll take that as a yes,"
He went back into the kitchen where the apple slices still sat untouched. He grabbed one, ate it, and then grabbed a bag to put the rest in.
Hisashi looked back at the photo on the wall and sighed.
"It's for their own good," He mumbled under his breath as he carefully lifted the frame off its hook, "One day they'll understand that,"
He brushed his finger over Inko's smiling face, "One day,"