A Day Out

"Daddy, am I sick?" Izuku asked, looking up at his father.

All For One looked down at his son as they strolled along the street. He liked to take Izuku out every now and then. It was good for the boy to see people rather than being cooped up with Kurogiri and Tomura all day, every day. Today they were in Toyama. It was a nice enough city. The streets, the one they were walking down anyway, was wide and the people went about their business with the normal complacency of sheep. It was much like any Japanese town. "What makes you ask?"

"Kurogiri took me to the Doctor today," Izuku replied in his most serious voice.

Hisashi shook his head, letting a soft smile grace his features. "You are not sick," he told his son.

"Then why did I go to the doctor?" It was perfect logic from a near five year old.

"It was just a check up," he explained. "Every now and then, you sometimes have to go to the Doctor just to make sure things are fine."

"Even if I'm not sick?"

"Even if you aren't sick," he confirmed.

They continued to stroll down the street as Izuku digested that. Or maybe he didn't. It was perhaps a bit much to expect him to fully understand but All For One knew the fact that he was calm, and wasn't panicking would go a long way to reassuring Izuku that everything was okay. "Even I go to the Doctor sometimes," he added further reassurance.

"You do?" Green eyes were wide.

"I do."

"Oh." That was very eloquent.

He steered them into the park surrounding Toyama Castle. It wasn't an impressive castle, like Himiji or Matsumoto but it spoke to heritage, and the park was quiet. "Were you afraid of the Doctor, Izuku?" Hisashi asked.

Izuku was looking around at the green. Living with Kurogiri and Tomura, he didn't get to see much green and Hisashi made a note that the next time he took Izuku out, he should take him to a playground. The park was nice, but it wasn't designed for children. He would make do.

His son looked back up at him as they walked along the pathway. "Of course not Daddy," he scoffed, in that way only a child could.

That was good. Kyudai would have to work with Izuku in future and fear was not something that was needed in that relationship.

"I went to him with Mummy," Izuku continued.

Inwardly, All For One hid a wince, already knowing what was going to come next. Once again, he reminded himself that weaning Izuku away from Inko would take time.

"Can I see Mummy again?" There was a wistful note in his question.

Hisashi steered them on to the grass, under some of the trees that were near the pond. He could still hear traffic from the street but the trees gave an illusion of privacy and his enhanced senses told him there was no one nearby. All For One knelt, placing his hands on Izuku's shoulders as he looked into his son's eyes. "I'm sorry Izuku, you can't see Mummy again." To anyone watching - not that they were - it would seem as if he was trying to explain something very difficult to his son.

And he was, but probably not what any watcher would think he was trying to explain.

"But why not?" There were tears forming in Izuku's eyes.

"Because Mummy couldn't support you," he replied. "Her sorrow would undermine your ability," Hisashi continued. The words might be a little difficult for Izuku to understand but he would know by the tone what he meant.

Izuku sniffed but wasn't yet crying. "But she didn't know," he said, his volume raising as if he was about to wail.

"Didn't know?"

"She didn't know I have a quirk," Izuku said as two tears leaked from his eyes and trailed down his face.

Inwardly, Hisashi growled. He had been hoping Izuku wouldn't make that connection. "It shouldn't have mattered," he said gently, showing no sign of his annoyance. Izuku hadn't mentioned anything about being a hero so perhaps he was getting through to the boy.

He could still have Inko suffer a tragic accident and reappear at the funeral as if he'd just taken Izuku for a boy's holiday. The case he knew Inko had started would evaporate on his say so and already crucial evidence had been discretely removed but that was… Call it mercy. Inko had done exactly what he'd required of her. She didn't deserve death. But he had killed for far less reason before, and he'd do it again. So it was always an option.

Izuku looked uncertain.

"Mummy's are meant to support their son's no matter what. That's why I had to take you away, because she wasn't going to support you," Hisash said. "She wasn't going to support you the way I will," he added.

Izuku sniffed again, more tears pouring from his eyes, but he wasn't making much noise. That was something at least.

"Infact, I will support you now," All For One said brightly, before leaning back from his son.

Green eyes looked at him in confusion and Hisashi smiled before he blew a puff of air. It was a puff of air laced with fire.

Izuku's eyes went wide. Hisash puffed again, this time letting the fire come out as a little stream. The fire danced in the air before winking out. "That's..." He didn't know what to say but All For One was thankful to see that Izuku's tears were already drying up.

"It's a quirk," Hisashi said. "It's called Fire Breath," he added. "Do you want it?"

He might as well have asked Izuku if he wanted to breathe. His son nodded emphatically, green curls bobbing with the movement. Inwardly All For One grasped the flickering red, yellow and orange spark that was Fire Breath and pulled it away from his core. Metaphorically he held it out for Izuku to take.

Izuku looked apprehensive for a moment. When his still unnamed quirk had first manifested, Hisashi had a long talk with him about the importance of not using it. Especially on him! Izuku never had, because Hisashi had made sure to use his serious voice and to back up the instruction with a touch of emotion. On that, Izuku wouldn't disobey him.

"You can take it," Hisashi encouraged Izuku. "It's okay to take a quirk from me when I tell you to," he added gravely. He knew that some schools of thought for parents were to set rules and never let a child violate them but he subscribed to the theory that Izuku was more than intelligent enough to know that rules could always change. And Izuku would come to learn that society's rules were things you observed only when convenient.

He felt Izuku's quirk brush against him as his son reached out. There was no physical movement but All For One felt his son's quirk wrap the spark that was Fire Breath carefully before it was pulled away. He made sure that he didn't instinctively attempt to grab it back and to Hisashi's quirk eyes, he could see the new spark take up residence within Izuku. It rested near the green glow that was his quirk.

"Why don't you use it?" Hisashi encouraged, gesturing towards the pond. Izuku had only ever taken Tomura's quirk before now and while he had used it, Tomura's quirk was very different to Fire Breath. All For One allowed him to use all quirks that came to him, even those like Fire Breath that technically required some physical mutation to use. After all, it would be no good to spew fire if you burned your mouth.

Izuku's All For One wasn't the same as his, and this was another important test.

"How?" His son asked.

Hisashi smiled. It was a fair question. Some quirks were harder to use than others. "Do you feel it?" He asked.

Izuku nodded, tears completely gone. He actually moved closer to the pond.

"Then take a deep breath and pull on the quirk as you breathe out," he instructed.

His son heaved a huge breath and then after a moment blew it out. There was no fire.

"Nearly!" Hisashi encouraged. "Pull a little more gently this time."

Again, Izuku heaved a breath and blew out. This time there was a flame accompanying it. A flame that quickly grew and then fell into the water with a hiss and sizzle. There was a small wisp of steam but nothing too worrying.

"You did it!" Hisashi cheered. When Izuku activated Fire Breath the quirk had flared to his senses, almost as if it too were on fire.

Izuku grinned at him. "I did it!" he exclaimed happily. A thread of fire accompanied the words. "Opps!" He giggled.

"I knew you could!" All For One said encouragingly. "Let go of the quirk and then try it again," he instructed, gesturing towards the pond again.

Izuku nodded, happy to be using a quirk.

Hisashi activated All For One and looked at his son. Fire Breath was still separate from Izuku's quirk, so that meant that it took more than one use for him to absorb a quirk. They already knew that from Tomura's quirk but confirmation was nice. The question remained though, how much use it would take for Izuku to absorb the quirk. And would it ever be fully absorbed? Doctor Garaki seemed to think it would but Hisashi wasn't sure.

Izuku blew out a more sustained breath this time and fire danced in the air like a rope before falling harmlessly into the pond. There was another hiss.

Belatedly Hisashi looked for Koi but if there were any of the fish in the water, they had swum away, probably scared by the fire. Wise fish.

Izuku laughed delightedly, more fire coming from his mouth.

"That's enough for now," Hisashi said. He didn't want Izuku to get over the newness of Fire Breath and go back to thinking about Inko. Hisashi knew his son, young as he was. So long as Izuku couldn't experiment, his mind would be consumed with thinking of experiments and that was far better than thinking of his mother. All For One ignored the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Kurogiri, telling him that giving Izuku a quirk was a distraction. It might be a distraction but he had a lot of quirks he could use for that purpose.

Izuku looked disappointed but to Hisashi's senses, he could tell that his son had released Fire Breath. The quirk returned to its inactive state but remained separate from Izuku's quirk.

"Oh that's so responsible!"

Hisashi jerked at the voice, spinning quickly as he rose to his feet. He almost instantly relaxed when he saw the speaker. The woman looked spooked but as he relaxed she calmed as well. "You startled me," All For One chuckled.

"I'm sorry for that," she replied. "It's just so nice to see a father teaching his son about his quirk," she added, gesturing towards Izuku. "Especially since you are being so responsible," she continued.

All For One kept his expression calm as he examined her. Female. Later middle aged. Plump, not fit, dressed in sensible flats, a straight skirt with a blouse and jacket. Probably a receptionist. She had short purple hair, streaked with some grey, that was half tied back, half down. She wasn't a threat. He spread his senses wider, and was relieved to feel that there was no one else near. He hadn't been that much focused on Izuku.

"It's just come in," Hisash told her, "and I thought here was the best place to practice on control," he added, gesturing to the pond.

"Oh my it is! And you are so thoughtful. Just the other week someone had an acid quirk and didn't control it. There are still divets in the concrete!" She gushed.

"We were just leaving," All For One said.

"Ah of course, I'm sorry to have disturbed you," she said, giving him a slight bow before walking off.

Hisashi watched her carefully.

"Daddy, who was that?" Izuku asked.

"I don't know," All For One replied, before bending down to pick up Izuku. "But we are not staying," he added. He strode away, going in the opposite direction of the woman. It might just be an innocent encounter and to his senses, she definitely had no presence but he hadn't gotten to where he was by being trusting.

Izuku clung to him, aware of the sudden tension and Hisashi pulled out his phone as he walked. He tapped the screen and held it to his ear. It was answered quickly. "Kurogiri," said the name, trusting that the urgency in his voice would be heard.

"Co-ordinates?" the warper asked immediately, not bothering with pleasantries.

All For One glanced around, before activating one of the almost useless quirks he'd taken many years ago. It was the ability to know exactly where he was at any time. On the surface it was useless, but for someone like him, with the resources and needs he had, it became useful. He never needed to worry about pre-arranging coordinates with Kurogiri.

Hisashi moved to one of the walls that surrounded the castle. It was dry stone and he grimaced. That wouldn't have any reinforcing he could use. Instead, he made his way through the gate towards the street. There was a tourist information centre to his left. It was built in front of the wall but there was enough space to walk behind it. It wasn't perfect but it would do. He rattled off the coordinates to Kurogiri before hanging up and just as he made it to the back of the building a familiar swirl of darkness appeared.

A moment later, there was no one standing there.

"Sensei?" Kurogiri asked as soon as he reformed.

"It's nothing," All For One said slowly, thinking about the woman's reaction and what he had seen. "It's nothing," he repeated.

He put Izuku down. His son had been silent since being scooped up.

"Daddy?" Izuku asked in a small voice.

"There's nothing to be worried about," Hisashi reassured him, making sure he was firm with the words as he smiled at Izuku. "Kurogiri is going to take you to get some ice-cream," he added, knowing that the warp gate would take that as an order.

The offer of ice-cream had the desired effect, and Hisashi watched as Izuku relaxed. He looked at the misty man expectantly and Hisashi hid a smirk at the small sigh Kurogiri gave before he held out his hand towards Izuku. He knew better than to complain.

Once they were gone, All For One moved to his desk and sat. Kurogiri had brought him back to his office. "It's nothing," he repeated to himself, running his mind over the woman's reaction before he nodded to himself.

It really was nothing. If it had been an ambush, the heroes would have sprung it and he'd have known about it beforehand. All Might wasn't even close to finding him! And other Heroes had a hard time believing he existed. Those who weren't on the payroll.

He took a deep breath. Now that he was calmer he could see he'd over reacted.

But at least he could use that to show Izuku how much he cared.

So that wasn't a total loss.

-ted-