Quirkless

Chapter 67 - The Final Battle

Izuku coughed harshly as his back hit the concrete wall, the windows of the building shattering around him by the sheer force of the impact. A lot of buildings had been destroyed already, making it comparable to the way too familiar fight at Kamino. A place where All Might met his end as a hero... Izuku wouldn't let his father do the same to him. No way. Not here, not at ground beta.

Maybe he subconsciously guided All For One here... To a place where Izuku had conquered his fears before. A place where he fought great foes and won. Something symbolic, something that represented overcoming adversity. Izuku groaned as he crawled back up, glaring at the man in front of him. Green lightning fired back up, black whips emerging from his hands. He'd been pushing his limits for a while now but he didn't care. Not as long as he can defeat All For One.

"We don't have to do this, son" Hisashi sighed as he walked up to Izuku.
"I don't want to hurt you"
Well too bad, because Izuku did want to hurt him! He screamed as he charged at him again, making All For One sigh. He blocked the attack and counter-attacked, but Izuku was able to dodge and went in for the hit. A solid kick to his abdomen, making Hisashi wheeze.

He wasn't wearing his life support and the fight was draining him, so it really wasn't all that surprising his body began to give in. If only that Eri girl had been able to heal him then none of this would've happened! He forcefully grabbed Izuku's leg and smacked him to the ground.

"Why can't things just work out for once huh?! I have everything! Power! Influence! Money! And yet-!" he yelled, kicking Izuku so the boy tumbled over, facing him.
"Why does my family hate me so much?! Why can they never be supportive?! Why do they always refuse to join my cause?!"
Hisashi felt annoyed and angry and lonely. He felt so incredibly lonely that it frustrated him.

"First my brother... Who was born with such a pathetic fragile body he refused to get fixed even though I could get him all the power he ever wanted! But no! He was as stubborn as he was weak!" Hisashi continued, taking a shaky breath.
"And after that I thought, you know what? I don't need family! Who needs family when you can conquer the world, right?"
Izuku let out a weak cough, trying to get back up only for Hisashi to put his foot down on his chest, keeping him in place.

"Then I met your mother... And I thought maybe I had another chance. Maybe someone could love and support me after all? And then you were born and I was ecstatic! Finally I had another blood relative, someone who was connected to me! I thought I could have it all! But fate just likes to play with me, doesn't it..? In the end, you turned out more like my little brother... I'm sure he would've liked you"

"H-he does" Izuki choked out, wriggling under All For One's weight, trying and failing to push the foot off of him as he powered up One For All within him.
"What did you just say?" Hisashi blinked, not sure whether he heard that right.
"I-I saw him... Talked to him" Izuku got out.
"He's alive within me, within One For All"

Hisashi's breath hitched, tears welling up in his eyes. His brother's spirit lives on in his son... He's still here, in a way. Knowing that made him emotional for some reason. He thought he was over his brother's death and betrayal by now but guess he was wrong. Some things are just rooted deeper than others... Izuku could see the tears in his father's eyes at those words, thinking that if he doubled down on this he might be able to escape, to take advantage of the first weakness this man had shown him.

"He loves you, even though he disagrees with you" Izuku breathed, ignoring the small pieces of rubble he heard tumbling down as he continued.
"He just... He just wanted to help you, like you wanted to help him"
Hisashi simply stared at him, his fists clenched. He looked so vulnerable like this... So human. Nobody would ever suspect he was All For One if you showed them this face. Nobody would ever think this man could take on All Might and make him struggle.