Dad For One

Chapter 14 - Encounters

"Oh really? Is he in the hero course?" All Might asked.
"Yes actually! He's a first year, I'm really proud of him" Hisashi smiled, walking next to his nemesis. It's funny how they're chatting about his son, the current holder of All For One. Fate works in weird ways sometimes, doesn't it?
"Maybe I know him? I did teach the first year hero course a few classes at the beginning of the year!" All Might stated.

"Yes, he told me all about that!" Hisashi answered, remembering how upset his son had been when telling him what happened at school. It made his smile falter for just a moment. Time to swing this conversation around...
"Oh, I just realized I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Midoriya Hisashi, my son Izuku is in class 1-A"

All Might didn't respond for a hot few seconds, the two of them continuing their way in silence until the pro hero stopped and looked at him. Hm, took quite a while to process that information huh oldtimer? Hisashi gave him an innocent smile, tilting his head a bit. Oh how he enjoyed seeing this man struggle~

"Is something wrong, All Might?"

"Ah, no! Of course not! I remember your son very clearly! He is doing well in the sportsfestival too!" All Might stated, trying to play it off.
"Didn't he win all rounds so far?! I'm sure he'll be a great hero if he keeps this up!"
Oh really? That's not the impression he was giving Hisashi... All Might didn't like to admit it, but he was on edge.

He didn't realize this man was young Midoriya's father! Yet he could see the familiarity in his features now that he knew about it. The hero needed to be careful with what he said, trying not to sound too condescending. What if this man knew about his son's connection to All For One? What if he was also involved with the supervillain? He couldn't risk revealing his cards before knowing more about him. But before he could make up his mind, they arrived outside.

"Thank you so much for helping me, All Might!" Hisashi smiled, giving him a small bow.
"Please continue to take good care of my son and other heroes in training!"
With that Hisashi quickly allowed himself to get lost in the crowd that wandered around the little stands filled with food, searching for his wife and hoping to maybe still be able to catch up with his son.

...

The next round was set up as a tournament of smaller one on one battles. Kacchan was kinda pissed that it was set up so he would only be able to face Izuku if both of them reached the final.
"You better make it to the last fight, got it nerd?! I will be the one to crush you!"
"Same for you Kacchan! Let's both do our best" Izuku smiled. Katsuki huffed, stomping away to take a seat in their part of the stadium.

"You know, it keeps surprising me how you handle Bakugou..." Uraraka said.
"You're always so cheery and calm while he's yelling profanities and it just...works, somehow? If anyone else were to talk to him like that, they'd be killed on the spot!"
"I'm sure you're exaggerating" Izuku chuckled.

"Oh come on! Like you don't know you're basically Bakugou's only friend!" she pointed out. Izuku rolled his eyes at that, glancing up at the board. He was in the first fight... Up against someone from general studies, Shinsou Hitoshi. He didn't know him but he did know his face from the previous round.
"Hey, uh, Midoriya? Can I talk to you for a second before your fight?" Ojiro asked, taking Izuku a little by surprise.

"Oh, sure thing! What is it Ojiro?" the green head smiled.
"Let's talk in private, okay?" he sighed, leading them to the waiting room. There he explained what he thought Shinsou's quirk was and how it worked. Izuku already knew the big lines of it though, his own quirk picking up on the brainwashing aspect of Shinsou's quirk during the cavalry battle. But he didn't know it was activated by answering him...

Voice activated? Perhaps response activated? Apparently a form of impact snapped Ojiro out of it, so it wasn't obsolete... He needed to be careful nonetheless.
"Thanks for sharing this information with me Ojiro!" Izuku smiled, standing up.
"I promise I won't let you down, okay?"
"Yeah, defeat him for me, okay?" Ojiro smiled.

"You should get going though, your fight is about to start"
"Oh, you're right! Thanks again Ojiro!" Izuku exclaimed, running out the door while waving at his classmate. He arrived at the battlefield not much later, stepping up to the field, seeing Shinsou standing on the other side. Midnight announced the start of the fight, calling out their names and courses before lowering her hand, commencing the fight.

Izuku didn't use his telekinesis right away, wanting to see what Shinsou had planned for an opponent physically stronger than him.
"You're one of the lucky ones, you know? Being born with power... Being told you can become a hero" Shinsou started, glaring at the green head.
"Spoiled, never knowing the true struggles of this world... Have you ever stopped to think about those who aren't as lucky? Of course not... You're all the same, after all. Self-centered selfish brat!"

Izuku frowned. He was nowhere near a lucky person when it came to the society they lived in. Born quirkless, powerless... The quirk he had now was one he received from the most powerful villain to have ever lived. A quirk he had to train for his whole life just to obtain it. A quirk All Might, the number one hero, would kill him for... But at the same time he was blessed. Blessed by his father, being able to become a hero even though he was born quirkless. That didn't mean he hadn't seen the dark side of this hero infested world though...

Izuku had the feeling Shinsou's profile fitted the profile of the children and teens accepted into his home. Troubled souls, not finding their way in the world due to their home situation or that troublesome quirk. Hm, come to think of it, brainwashing is a quirk that could easily be used for bad intentions... That doesn't mean he's destined to become a villain though. Every quirk can be used to help and destroy, it just depends on how you use it.

"That's not true-" Izuku stated, taking a step towards the purple head, freezing up in an instant. Fuck! How could he forget about the reaction thing?! Ojiro even warned him beforehand! God, he must be screaming right now...
"Turn around and step out of bounds" Shinsou ordered. Izuku's body complied, turned around and started to walk towards the edge of the field.

Damnit! He needed to snap out of this! If he lost now, Kacchan would definitely kill him and all his friends and family would be disappointed... Well, his parents would never actually say that to his face but Izuku knew they'd feel that way. And not just due to his emotion quirk. Izuku mentally groaned, trying to figure out a way as his body was getting closer and closer to getting eliminated from the tournament.

"This isn't the time to panic and give up"

Izuku suddenly saw a shadow of his father in front of him, raising his hand.

"It's time to snap out of it, son"

The shadowy figure snapped their fingers and suddenly Izuku stood still. He was back in control! Shinsou's eyes widened as Izuku turned around, walking back up to him again.
"I'm not the spoiled brat you think I am" Izuku started, activating his telekinesis to make Shinsou float.
"I struggled and tried and trained to be the person I am today! And yes, I'm lucky! Luckily I had so many people helping and supporting me when things got hard! So... Just maybe... Allow me to help you too?"

Izuku gave him a small smile, tilting his head a little as Shinsou stared at him with mixed emotions. Fear to get eliminated, to get thrown out of bounds. Shock because nobody had ever been able to break his trance before. Confusion at his words...
"I'm sorry" Izuku smiled, pushing Shinsou out of bounds with a flick of the hand, his telekinesis dropping his opponent over the line.

"Midoriya is the winner!" Midnight announced as Izuku walked across the field, stretching out his hand to help Shinsou back up.
"I wanna help you, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you"
Shinsou took his hand, a little hesitant.

"But don't be sad about losing! You got really far for someone in general studies. You should be proud!" Izuku smiled, pointing out the booth his classmates were in, all cheering for Hitoshi. Surprise washed over the brainwasher, before a small chuckle escaped his mouth.
"Alright... But you better win this thing, you hear me?"

"I'll try my best!" Izuku smiled.