Life Is Complicated

"Where have you been?"

Izuku felt his heart drop at those words. He averted his gaze, unable to look his mother in the eyes as he spoke. "I was out with a friend." He didn't see as his mother looked at him with a suspicious glare, but he could guess what her expression looked like.

"Izuku, you better not have gotten into any trouble again." Her tone was harsh, and her accusatory connotation somehow made Izuku feel small and helpless at her hands.

"I didn't get into any fights." His head was low and his voice was soft, he felt like the entire world was coming down on him for something he didn't do.

"You better not have, and I've told you before, but that quirk of yours is off limits. I need you to take that to heart, if you used your quirk on some other kid and ruined their life. I don't think I or your father would ever hear the end of it from the other parents." She pointed a finger at him to accentuate her point. "You must never use your quirk on another person, you understand?"

He felt his teeth grating against each other at that, a feeling of anger simmering within his heart. "Yes ma'am."

"Good." She responded with a resolute tone.

As he walked past her he couldn't stop himself from muttering a hint as to how he really felt. "It's not like you remind me every time I stay out for more than half an hour."

"What was that?" She turned on her heel, her voice returning to a harsh and condescending tone. "Excuse me? Do you have any idea what kind of trouble it could cause? Do you think I'm reminding you because I want to? I'm reminding you because if you used your quirk on another kid for something stupid or petty like revenge, you would probably end up in prison! Do you want that!? Do you want to end up in jail!? Cause that's what'll happen if you use that cursed quirk of yours!" As she concluded her shouting, a single tear could be seen running down her cheek.

Izuku looked at her wide-eyed. He wasn't expecting his mom to get that heated, though he also didn't expect her to actually hear him. Regardless, he felt a need to speak up for once to make it clear how he felt. He leveled a small glare at her, his voice still low, but his tone was anything but soft. "I understand. It's hard not to understand with you constantly throwing this 'curse' in my face. Which by the way, thanks for bestowing it upon me it's been really nice not having any friends. It's been really nice having everyone call me a villain for something I can't control. It's been really nice to go to school and have everyone judge me and attack me, then coming home for you to judge me and attack me, over and over and over again."

He let out a deep breath before finishing his thought. "I understand completely. Because you have made it perfectly clear what will happen to me if I use my quirk. I know better than to use it for something stupid like petty revenge. I get all of it, so why don't you just stop breathing down my neck and leave me alone." As he begins walking away he turns and levels another small glare at her, not even reacting to her abundant tears as they flowed from her eyes. "And don't even think about coming to my room to 'warn' me some more. I'm sick of you doing that kind of thing."

He proceeded down the hall and slammed the door behind him as he entered his room. He leaned against his door, slowly sliding down until he sat against it. He grabbed his shirt by his heart as he listened to it beating faster and faster. He felt his breath getting heavier and heavier. He felt his mind go numb as it spun round and round thinking about what just happened. He couldn't help but stare up at the ceiling in disbelief at how he just talked back to his mother.

He didn't know exactly why he said all those things, and to his mother of all people. In the end, all he managed to do was create more tension between them. He felt awful, a gaping hole consuming his stomach. He sat there for ages, not knowing how to process all the thoughts and emotions running rampant through his head.

He couldn't help but wander to himself, when the last time he had a genuine conversation with his parents. As he thought about it, he remembered it was right after Inami died. They talked about how much it hurt, and how she would always be alive in their memories. Izuku remembered how most of the conversation made him feel... anger.

Why did Inami have to die? Why was she pushed so far? Why did she deserve to die instead of the pieces of trash that kept pushing her? Why did she deserve to die instead of him? He was the one who was cursed. But no matter how much the gears turned in his head, they never clicked, he could never find an answer. Perhaps he felt angry because he was never satisfied by the answers they tried to comfort him with. And as time went on, they drifted further and further apart.

.

He saw the world go black in front of him. He felt as if he was swimming, but there was no resistance like when he was in water, nor did he feel like he couldn't breath. He looked around, all directions were an endless void. He found himself swimming in a straight line, it didn't matter what particular direction he chose. So long as he kept moving, something would happen, something always happened.

As he swam, he noticed the black void change, pink and blue neon lines flickered into view before swirling and mixing until all he saw was a white so bright he couldn't stop his eyes from shutting. As his eyes settled and accustomed themselves, he opened them and saw a stone staircase lined with pillars of fire on either side, alternating between pink and blue.

He looked around only to find that going down the stairs would lead him back to the endless void. He started up the stairs, noticing the increase in heat the longer he walked. As he approached the top of the stairs he couldn't help but notice the all the pillars ended at the same height, leveling off at a seemingly invisible ceiling. As he came over the last couple steps, he saw an endless sea of naked bodies strung up in chains varying in age from babies to children all the way to wrinkly old people. But all the bodies had one thing in common, they were asleep... no asleep wasn't the right word, they were inactive, lifeless.

As he turned his attention away from the bodies he noticed a path straight out from the staircase lead to a throne made of skulls. He felt a chill run up his spine, at first he felt confident this was another fever dream, but now... he didn't know what to think. He noticed that there was a person sitting on the throne, it was a naked man with short and fluffy pink hair, his eyes glowed a bright turquoise blue, a blue that matched his hair. He had horns too, but his were creamy with a blue tint. Everything about him seemed to resemble him, just with his colors mirroring his own. Even the skin had a blue tint instead of pink, and his lips were a deep lapis.

As he approached him he saw that a little to his side was a naked body in chains. But this one had a familiar head of short green hair. He quickened his pace, his heart beating with an intensity that made him unsure it wouldn't jump out. He found himself calling out to the body. "Inami!" But his excitement was met with horror as he saw her. She was covered in scars and burns, her eyes dripping tears of blood, her pupils dilated. She looked as if all life had been sucked from her veins.

He yelped in surprise and jumped back as her head turned up at him with a smooth motion, not changing in expression. He then heard a soft, almost maniacal chuckle come from the man on the throne.

He turned to the man, only to see... himself, but it was like looking at a mirror image of himself. As he approached the throne he noticed the... 'mirror' had a somber stillness in his eyes. He could hear muttering coming from his mirror, a voice of anger and determination coming from him(?) it(?)

The mirror stated with a hush. "I'll kill them all. I won't let a single one escape. They all deserve to die. They're all worthless trash who robbed me of the only one in this world who held me dear." Izuku noticed as the mirror's eyes slowly moved to look at him. The way his eyes moved with such a slow and smooth motion sent a disturbing chill running across his skin.

"I... I'm not like that." Izuku said, but his voice trembled with hesitation. He felt his hands shiver with unease.

"You don't need to hold back. We both know I'm right, the only thing holding us back is those stupid parents of ours. With a power like ours, it'll be easy. We'll kill them, we'll hurt them so bad, we'll use them as an example so nobody ever hurts us again."

It was petrifying to hear those words come from his own voice. He didn't know what to do, what to say. His whole body shook with fear, but he couldn't move an inch. With each word he heard, with each word he processed, he felt sicker and sicker to his stomach. But he understood where it all came from, and to a certain extent, he agreed. But that was the scariest part.

It scared him so much he couldn't help but scream at his mirror. "Shut up, SHut up, SHUt up, SHUT up, SHUT Up, SHUT UP!!!!!" His legs buckled and he dropped to his knees, holding his hands over his ears as he stared at the ground, tears blurring his vision as he cried. His voice nearly gave out as he wheezed out his words. "I'm not like that. I won't be like that. I'm not a killer. I'm not a bad guy. I don't wanna be. I can't be. I can't."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun. Don't you wanna see the look on Bakugo's face when you take everything away from him? Don't you wanna see him cry when you take away all his hopes and dreams? To hear him whimper as he begs you not to? Only to then break every bone in his body? That sounds like a lot of fun to me. So what do ya say? Let's raze some hell, partner."

He didn't look up, he couldn't look up. He was afraid that the moment he did, he would give in, not to the ideals that his mirror embodied, but to his fear of the mirror. The mirror was him, and he was the mirror, but for some reason he felt terrified. He felt helpless, he felt like he would lose.

Everything went quiet, he wiped the tears from his eyes, blinking a few times to clear the blur from them. Below him, the ground itself seemed to turn into a mirror. He saw his reflection, it looked like him as normal, blue hair, pink eyes, the works. He felt himself sigh in relief as he brought his hand up to feel his heart beat as he tried to calm down.

He found himself staring at the reflection, taking in the details of his own face, trying to forget about the 'mirror'. And as he was looking at his reflection, cracks began to form in the floor, starting at the top of his head, cracking diagonally across his face. Half showed him and the other showed his 'mirror'. The gaping hole in his heart returned like a raging wind.

"You can't run away. I am you. I am what you should have been. I am what you could become. Just let me in, let me take over and I'll get revenge for Inami. I'll show them what it means to end up on a 'villains' bad side." He showed a putrid, disgusting smile. A smile filled with hatred and a creepy desire for blood.

Izuku couldn't stop himself from shedding tears once again. He felt he couldn't fight himself. This was part of him. Who he is. A disgusting, hateful, bloodthirsty psychopath, with a vile desire for revenge. That was part of him. A part of him he didn't realize was there. But... he didn't want it to be there.

"Hehehe. No matter how much you try to deny it. In the end, you'll come around, we've always been destined for greatness. You and I could rule the world together. You and I could take everything, we could hold it all in the palm of our hand as everyone gets on their knees and grovels at our feet. You'll see, once you get a taste of what you can do. Once you get a taste of what it's like, to steal everything from someone, you'll understand that you were made for it."

Everything went black again. Surrounded by a void, drowning with his own thoughts, he whimpered and cried. His unspoken call for help going unanswered.

He didn't want to agree with any of it.

He didn't want to prove them all right.

He didn't want to become a villain.

.

Midoriya Inko was in shock. Her son had never talked back to her before, ignored her sure, but he never fought her on anything. She didn't know whether to feel proud that her son finally stood up for himself, or distraught that he felt that way about her. She couldn't stop the endless tears as they flowed down her cheeks, her eyes now red. Her breath was heavy and ragged, as she felt herself on the cusp of hyperventilating.

She heard a click as the front door unlocked and opened revealing a tall lanky man with short and fluffy jet black hair. He had eyes of bright green, several shades lighter than Inko's, he had freckles covering his cheeks and skin that seemed almost unhealthily pale. He was so thin that he seemed like he would keel over if you blew on him. His eyes seemed to have little to no expression, eye bags so dark you'd think he never slept before.

"Hisashi? What are you doing home so early?" She shot him a worried and questioning look.

"Our building burned down. Apparently some idiot new hire was trying to show off with his fancy cig lighter. So I'll be working from home until they can get a new building for us." His voice was flat and empty as if all life had been drained from him.

"Oh, okay... Uhm, could you help me with Izuku? I was talking to him earlier and he got mad at me and... and I don't know what to do anymore." Her voice cracked as she fell to the floor weeping. "I do my best, I try to push him in the right direction, but every time I talk to him he seems to get further away."

Hisashi looked at his wife on the floor crying, a gaping hole in his heart. He set his briefcase down and walked over to her, kneeling down and placing his hand on her back, rubbing it in circles trying to comfort her. "Okay, okay. Tell me what happened."

She sniveled and whimpered as she tried to calm herself down enough to speak. "He uhm... He came home late and I went to ask him what happened." She felt herself choke on her words as the tears continued pouring from her eyes. "He said he was out with a friend. I asked if he got into any fights. I just wanted to make sure he was okay and that he wasn't putting himself in any danger. Then he got mad at me and stormed off to his room. I..." She buried her face in her hands as she whaled and weeded. "I don't know what to do!"

Hisashi knew there was more to it, whether Inko realized it or not. He also let it sink in that if things were going to get better between all of them, he needed to get over himself, he needed to set aside all of his feelings and take a step back. The problem was, how could he? How could he just set aside all of his guilt, all of his frustrations, all of his pain? He felt a gaping hole of mixed emotions bore itself into his stomach as flashes of the four of them eating dinner together as a family popped into his head. He remembered how things used to be, and how desperately he wished to return to that. He once again found himself wondering, which conversation was it? Which conversation was it that he messed up? Or was it simply that he ignored her one too many times?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, he didn't need to be inside his own head right now. He turned his attention back to his wife, kneeling down next to her, and bringing her into a soft hug. He held her close, continuing to rub circles on her back. He kept his composure, but truth be told. He had no idea what to do about Izuku. But... he had to do something.

"Hey." He placed a hand on her cheek and pulled her face up so she was looking at him. "Deep breath in." She took a deep breath. "Deep breath out." She slowly let it out. "Deep breath in." She slowly breathed in. "Deep breath out." She let it out. He watched her slowly repeat the action several times before looking back up at him. "Better?"

She gave a small, nervous nod as she continued calming herself down."Good. Why don't you go sit down on the couch. And I'll go talk to Izuku?" His voice was quiet and soft, but also firm and confident. She gave another small nod as she got up. As she began walking towards the couch, she turned to Hisashi and opened her mouth for a second to speak before turning back and walking away.

Hisashi let out a sigh as he watched her walk away, he returned to the task at hand, talking to his son. As he walked down the hall and towards Izuku's room, he found himself stuck in his thoughts, he wasn't sure what to say, he didn't even know exactly what happened to exacerbate the tensions in the house. How was he supposed to alleviate the tensions? But as he approached Izuku's door, as his hand wrapped around the handle... he drew a blank.

What am I supposed to say? How should I talk to him? What tone should I use?

How long has it been since I talked with him?

How do I make sure he doesn't hate me? How do I know he doesn't already hate me?

Hisashi found his mind spiraling into a series of questions. Questions which he had no answer for. He felt himself breathing heavy with unease. He didn't know what to think, how to feel, no matter how much he struggled, how much he wracked his brain he couldn't find the answers he was desperately searching for.

As he continued his downward spiral of thought, he heard a thud coming from the other side of the door. He took a second to register what he heard before he began banging on the door in a panicked fit of worry. "Izuku!? Izuku are you okay!?" No answer. Hisashi didn't waste any time opening the door. As he entered the room he began looking around until he felt himself almost trip over something. As he looked down he saw his son writhing with displeasure. He was sweating bullets and panting like a dog.

Hisashi felt himself freeze at the sight for a second, he was cut off from his stupor as he heard Izuku's pained grunts. He quickly moved to pick him up and moved him to his bed. He laid him down and gently pulled the covers over him. He placed the back of his hand against Izuku's forehead to check his temperature. Izuku's temperature felt normal but he was still sweating and breathing heavily, Hisashi could only sit and watch as Izuku's body tensed up and jerked around, he could only sit and watch as Izuku's tears flowed down his face.

.

Izuku woke up in a cold sweat, his vision blurry from tears, his headache with a pulsing pain, his body shivered from his toes all the way up his spine to his head. He heard his door open, his eyes forced shut as the light suddenly came on. He took a second to wipe his eyes and let them adjust. He looked down to see that he had been moved to his bed. He felt uncomfortable in his skin, he felt nothing but a vile disgust for himself.

He heard footsteps on his hardwood floor as they approached him. He looked over to see his father as he took the seat from Izuku's desk and sat down. He looked on at Izuku with concerned eyes. "You passed out, how are you feeling?"

Izuku jerked his head away, not wanting to look his father in the eyes, not wanting to show even a semblance of weakness to him. "Why do you care?"

Izuku didn't see it, but his father flinched at that, a pang of guilt flooding his stomach. "I... why wouldn't I care?" His voice was soft and somber, it ached with a dejected pain.

Izuku didn't turn, he ignored the tone his father used, he couldn't see it as any more than another act. He was silent for a moment as he thought about what his best course of action was. He didn't like talking with either of his parents, but he didn't want to make them angry and get kicked out either. The best course of action he thought. Was to guilt trip his parents into leaving him alone.

"Why would you care? You never did before. Isn't that why you work so late? Isn't that why mom works so late?" He turned and leveled a glare at his father. "All you two do is make my life miserable. Just leave me alone already." He turned back away. "I just want my peace and quiet." He began shivering in a fit of nervousness as he talked back to his father, his body tensing up as his mind went on edge.

His father let out a small sigh as the two sat in silence. Hisashi was unsure of how to approach this, clearly Inko hadn't been telling him everything, and the conflict between them ran deeper for their son than either of them likely realized. A hole began to well up inside of Hisashi as he began to realize just how much his absence has affected everything. He wondered if he could've prevented all of this conflict... if he hadn't buried himself in his work.

He looked on at his son, unsure of how to proceed. He had always been bad at talking to children, but it seemed that talking to your own children was even harder. He couldn't help but want the best for his son, he couldn't leave his son to wallow in his suffering. But he didn't know exactly what to say or do about it. It was clear to him that this wasn't just a tantrum, Izuku was never the type to throw a tantrum to begin with, but then... How far deep did his feelings go exactly?

Hisashi took a deep breath. "Izuku, I know... it may seem like I don't care. I know I haven't been around much ever since your sister died. But I do care. I do care about you. I care about you so much that I've dedicated my life to trying to make the world a better place for you. But that's no excuse for my neglect of you, or your mother. And I'm sorry for that. You're probably too young to understand exactly where I'm coming from, but someday you will. At least, I hope you will."

Hisashi watched as Izuku's shivering stopped, his body slowly relaxing a little. He seemed to be leading the conversation in the right direction at least. "Izuku, I'm sorry that I haven't been around for you. Would you... would you be alright talking with me face to face?" Hisashi felt a bit nervous talking to his son, he wanted to do his best as a father, but he was afraid of messing up, saying the wrong thing and making things worse was the last thing any of them needed.

Izuku was hesitant, he couldn't help but think back to a time before Inami's departure, a time when the four of them would go out and watch a movie, a time when they would sit around the table, him and Inami excitedly talking about their favorite games, his parent sitting there laughing and smiling as the two role played their favorite characters.

He missed those days. He found himself glancing towards his father, but as he saw his face, he jerked his head back.

Hisashi felt a bit disheartened that his son wouldn't even look at him, but what was he supposed to say? He couldn't go back and change anything. Would he go back to change anything? He'd made so much progress in his career, he'd made so much progress towards making Japan a better place for his son. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he could go back. So many changes he could make flooded his head, he felt himself cycling through could haves, would haves, and should haves.

He noticed Izuku got a bit tenser at the awkward silence. He shook his head, ridding himself of the distracting thoughts. "Ok. You don't have to face me." He stated slowly with a soft comforting voice. "Let's take things slow. How about you tell me what happened between you and Mom? Tell me your side. I promise I won't get mad, I won't yell at you or accuse you of anything. Just... tell me what's going on?"

Izuku turned to his father, a pained but soft smile appeared on his face. He looked back away for a second before turning on his bed to sit criss crossed towards his father. "I... I want things to go back... to how they were before. I want to be able to have dinner and crack jokes and laugh with you again, I want to be a normal family again." He found himself slightly averting his gaze. "I... I don't like that you're gone all the time. I don't like that Mom is always working. It... makes me feel like you don't care."

Hisashi stayed quiet, listening carefully to his son's words, already thinking about what he needed to do as the father to fix the situation, and what he needed to do to prevent it from happening again. "I... I'm sorry, I was being selfish. When I started working all the time." Izuku was a smart kid, he may not understand now, but he certainly will some day. "When your sister died, I felt a little lost. I didn't know how to deal with it-"

"But you're dad. You know everything." Izuku looked on at his father with a nervous curiosity.

Hisashi gave off a small chuckle before bringing his hand up and ruffleing Izuku's hair. "I know a lot of things, but not everything..." He sat there in a small silence, before he let go and moved his hand to Izuku's shoulder. "The responsibility of a father, of a parent is... difficult... and it's not something anyone or anything can prepare you for, people can give you all the advice in the world but... that doesn't mean that all of it will work."

Izuku looked on at his father with a questioning gaze, silently waiting for him to continue. Hisashi felt himself at a small loss for words, but thinking about everything that was happening. He knew he needed to play a bigger role in his son's life, he needed to become the role model he never had, and he needed to stop avoiding his problems, at the very least for his son's sake.

Hisashi was brought out of his thoughts by a question he wasn't expecting... and one he certainly wasn't prepared to answer. "Dad, do you think I'll become a dad someday?" Hisashi found himself freezing at that, he stared at his son's face, his mouth slightly agape, it was a question, he had no intentions of answering.

Hisashi found himself once again ruffling his son's hair, partially to hide his inability to find his courage to answer the question. "I think that's a question for when you're a bit older." He let out a small sigh as he looked on at his son, his eyes a little dim from a tragic understanding of the harsh reality his son will inevitably face.

Izuku noticed the look in his fathers eye, it was both confusing, and disheartening for his question to go unanswered. But he understood that his question would likely be answered at some point, so he let it go.

Hisashi shook his head to clear his thoughts, he felt it prudent to return the conversation to the topic at hand. He took his hand from Izuku's head and found himself rubbing his hands lightly together to coax himself into talking. "Uh... going back to earlier. I didn't know how to deal with your sister's death. I... I ran away, and I shouldn't have, I ran away from my responsibilities as your father, and I ran away from my responsibilities as a husband." He gave Izuku a small smile, but it was one filled with regret.

"I know... I know it may be hard for you to understand, you're still young, but the important thing is. I'm done running. You're my son, and I'm here to talk anytime you need me. And I promise, no matter what happens, I will always be on your side. Even if the whole world becomes your enemy, I will always be on your side." His smile widened a bit, and it felt much more genuine. Hisashi steeled his resolve, no matter what happened, he would always be there for his son.

Izuku felt his heart warm up from his fathers words, it was incredibly refreshing to hear that someone would be by him no matter what, even if he only half believed those words. But he still felt a bit less... alone, so he felt grateful. He gave a small nod in response to his fathers words.

"Now then, would you mind telling me what happened earlier today? What got you so upset?" Hisashi was a little unsure of whether it was a good idea to press Izuku, but if he wanted to get things back on track, he needed to know what was going on.

Izuku felt himself hesitate a bit, uncertainty lingering in his mind. But as he looked up at his father, he saw a genuine concern that he had grown to find unusual. A concern that left a certain feeling of nostalgia(?) or is it something else? Regardless, he somehow felt a desire to trust him, and he decided to give in to that desire, at least for now.

"Mom and I..." He found himself looking at his dad, gauging his reaction. He wanted to believe him, but he couldn't help but be skeptical. "We got into a fight, kind of. She was going on about how I shouldn't get into any fights or use my quirk... She always does that. I got mad, and I talked back to her. I'm sorry."

"She always tells you not to fight?" He asked with a slight edge in his voice.

Izuku felt his heart rate pick up a bit, worried he'd said something to upset his father. "No no... well... anytime I stay out for too long. But I didn't get into any fights I swear." He averted his gaze, his eyes shutting themselves on instinct. He felt a hand softly grab him by the shoulder.

"Izuku, I'm not mad at you. On the contrary, I'm upset with your mother."

Izuku looked up at his father to see that soft look of concern in his eyes again. "You're mad at mom?"

Hisashi gave a small nod before raising his other hand and holding Izuku by both shoulders. "Listen to me, Izuku..." He gave a soft sigh. "How do I explain this... Life is... complicated. There isn't a single person in this world that is entirely good, or entirely bad. Nothing is black or white, everything is gray. You are a wonderful boy, with a good heart, but you are also very capable of bad things..."

Izuku froze slightly at that, unsure of how to process his father telling him he could do bad things. But the smile on his fathers face somehow told him everything would be fine.

Hisashi's voice grew a bit softer and quieter, a reassuring connotation to it. "You are capable of bad things, just like anyone else. But you are also capable of good things, just as much as anyone else." He lifted one of his hands to his son's cheek. "Nothing is ever just good, or just bad. And sometimes you have to do bad things to bad people to protect those closest to you. Which makes it a good thing for those people."

Izuku squinted his eyes slightly at his fathers riddle-esk way of explaining his point. "I don't get it."

"What I mean is, if you feel like fighting is the correct answer, whatever your reason may be. Then fight them, and I'll be right behind you to deal with the consequences." Hisashi got up and did a little shadow boxing to emphasize his point.

"I can fight them? But sis never fought anyone." Izuku gave his father a curious look.

"We... your mother and I always taught your sister that fighting was wrong. Your sister had a frail body. Kinda like your old man here, so we thought it would be best if she just didn't get into any fights, we thought it was the best way to keep her safe. But it all... it didn't work out that way. And your mother likely doesn't want you getting into fights for the same reason. But you're strong."

Hisashi turned to his son with a warm smile that somehow showered Izuku with confidence. "I can tell just by looking at you, you're strong, so I don't think you need to take that path. But in the end it's your decision, and whatever decision you make, whatever path you take, I'll support you. If you don't want to fight, you don't have to."

Izuku looked down in thought for a moment, unsure of how exactly he should come to a decision like that, but regardless of what he decides, there was still a question lingering in his mind. He looked up at his father, a look in his eye that sent a chill running through Hisashi's spine. "What about Assimilation?"

Hisashi felt himself freeze slightly at that, it wasn't a question he saw coming, but he understood the ramifications of his answer would be severe regardless of what he said. He felt himself gulp a little, a drop of sweat running down from his forehead. He steeled his resolve, determined to support his son as best he could, but he wasn't about to let his son turn the entire world against him either.

He walked up to his son, putting a firm hand on his shoulder, his voice was stern, but still quiet. "Izuku, your quirk is... special. I know that life has been hard because of it, but you need to understand that your quirk will have permanent consequences for anyone you use it on. I'm not saying that makes any of those other kids' actions right, but Assimilation is a very dangerous, and very powerful quirk."

Izuku found himself looking off to the side, a defected look plain to see on his face. Hisashi grabbed him by the face and brought his eyes back to him. "Izuku, I'm not saying you can't use it, I'm saying you need to wait." There was a slight pause as Hisashi fumbled with the words in his head. "Do you know what you want to do when you grow up?"

Izuku shook his head, he hadn't even really thought about it.

Hisashi's voice grew soft again. He knew his son had to choose his own path in life, and he wanted to make sure he had the opportunity to do so. "Izuku... Let's say you decide to use your quirk. Who would you use it on?"

Izuku took a moment to himself before coming up with an answer. "Bakugo."

"Okay…" He paused for a second,unsure of how exactly he should go about this situation. He felt his hand clam up a little as his mind spun in circles. Regardless of his answer, he needed to know why Izuku would want to use it in the first place.

"Okay, you want to use it on Bakugo? Do you have a reason?" Hisashi leveled a stern gaze at him.

Izuku felt a bit small at that, he began squirming uncomfortably under his fathers eye. "I… I just want him to leave me alone."

Hisashi felt a rather large weight lift itself off his shoulders at that. A wave of relief washed over him. And now, the really hard part. Hisashi found himself looking at the ceiling for a moment. He wanted his son to understand what his quirk was capable of, but he didn't think it was a good idea to outright reject the idea of using it either.

He found himself letting out a small sigh. Above all, he needed to make sure his son didn't get into any trouble for no good reason. Izuku is smart but he still doesn't always think about the potential consequences. Hisashi looked back at his son, he saw as Izuku's back straightened up instinctively. His eyes wide open with a nervous sweat dripping down his forehead.

As much as it pained him. As much as he felt his heart contort at the mere thought of denying his son. Hisashi needed to be direct with his thoughts, even if he hurt Izuku in the process.

"Okay. Let's say you do steal his quirk. Now you're a wanted criminal. You'll live your life on the run. You won't be able to pursue a future for yourself. You really will become a villain. It'd be different if you were a hero, you could take quirks from actual villains, make sure they can't use their powers to hurt anyone ever again. But Bakugo isn't considered a villain in the eyes of the public is he?"

Izuku shook his head. Hisashi felt a little relieved that his son was intelligent enough to understand the concept of public opinion.

"So, if I use it on a villain it's ok?" Izuku looked on at his father with a small glint in his eye.

Hisashi felt his heart warm slightly at the sight, he couldn't remember the last time his son looked even remotely happy, but he still had to ask. "Do you want to? Do you want to use your quirk on villains? You'd have to become a hero, and that's a lot of responsibility."

Izuku looked off to the side at that. "I... don't know... I don't wanna become a hero, that's what Bakugo wants."

Hisashi almost gave a small chuckle at the childish reasoning, but he managed to stop himself. "Well, do you think Bakugo would make a good hero?"

Izuku shook his head wildly. Hisashi couldn't help but smile at his son, he felt his heart warm up at the sight of Izuku expressing himself again, even if it was minimal. "Then, do you think Bakugo is a good representation of what a hero is?"

Izuku looked on in thought for a second, but truth be told he didn't know. He looked up at his father curiously. "A hero is someone who helps and saves people simply because they want to. Of course most people think of it as an occupation these days. And others just see it as a way to get attention. And others just see it as a way to get attention. I want you to start thinking about what you want to do. And why you want to do it. I'll support you regardless of what it is, as long as you're doing it for the right reasons."

As Hisashi gave him a warm smile, Izuku felt his heart warm up a bit, somehow his mind eased itself into a more relaxed state than he'd felt in ages.

"All right. I think I've given you enough to think about, why don't you get some rest. I'm still a little worried about how you're feeling so I want you to check in with me in an hour or so, okay?"

Izuku gave a small nod. Hisashi raised his hand and ruffled his son's hair one last time before getting up and leaving. As he closed the door, he paused and gave his son one last smile and waited for a moment. Izuku couldn't help but give a small smile in return as he watched his father leave.

.

Hisashi felt a wave of relief rushing through his anxious heart as he leaned against Izuku's door. His mind spinning in circles as he processed everything that happened. As he sorted through all the information, he came to a realization that made his nerves flare up again. He still needed to talk to Inko about everything.

He felt himself tense up slightly at the thought. But it was a conversation that needed to happen. After a moment of thinking to himself about how exactly to go about talking about everything, Hisashi steeled his resolve. He made his way down the hallway to find Inko still sitting on the couch, though it seemed she had gone to grab a blanket.

He walked up and sat next to her, he found himself letting out a long sigh as he sank into the couch.

"How'd it go?" Inko's voice was small and soft, but it carried a heavy pain with it. Hisashi felt a hole in his chest hearing her.

He found himself staring at the ceiling for a moment. "Where do I even start?" He gives a small chuckle, trying to break out of his own anxiety fueled stupor.

"Is he mad at me?" Hisashi didn't have to look at her to know what face she was making when she said that.

He sat in silence for a moment, wrestling with his own emotions, but he knew if this family was going to move forward, he needed to be the one to start it. He needed to be upfront about everything. Hisashi took in a deep breath, and slowly let it out, he reaffirmed everything in his head, and turned to face his wife.

"He's not, but I am." Hisashi leveled a harsh, almost aggressive gaze at her. He saw as confusion spread across her face. "I get that you want him to be safe, but he's a strong kid, and telling him to just not fight anyone is asking for him to continue getting bullied."

Inko went wide-eyed as his words registered in her head, her face felt hot as anger pulsed through her. "So you want him to just fight everyone who throws an insult at him? Do you want him to end up getting so mad he uses his quirk and ends up going to jail, and then we never see him again? Do you want him picking a fight with the wrong crowd and ending up a prisoner to some gang of thugs? Or… something like that, whatever, he doesn't need to be getting into any fights. And that's final."

Hisashi stared at Inko while she ranted. He was expecting her to push back, but he wasn't prepared for such an emotional response.

As she continued, he wondered if most of this was because she was afraid to lose him the way she lost Inami. It dawned on him. How truly selfish he was to place all of the responsibility of taking care of Izuku on her. And how truly selfish it was, to bury himself in his work to grieve, because he was never the only one who lost someone precious to them.

As her rant ended, he returned his thoughts to the conversation at hand. "I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think that just sitting there and taking whatever punishment they give is a good answer, that's exactly what happened to Inami and I'm not keen on…" He found himself averting his gaze midway through his speech. "I don't want to lose another child because I made the same mistakes twice as a parent."

Inko looked on at his expression, pain and regret clear as crystal in his face. She couldn't help but cry a little at the sight, and at the reminder of what they'd lost. She found herself moving over and giving him a hug, burying her face in the crook of his neck, her tears falling onto his skin.

Hisashi couldn't stop himself from wrapping her up in his arms, and as much as it hurt, he knew they couldn't leave this conversation for another time. Somehow, he knew if they tried, he'd go right back to avoiding it, right back to his cowardly old ways.

After a few minutes of warm embrace, Inko managed to calm herself down, and Hisashi managed to reaffirm his resolve. Hisashi found his wife sitting on his lap, looking at him with a curious, if reserved gaze. He couldn't lie and say that having her on his lap wasn't stirring him up a bit, he hoped they'd be in good enough spirits to handle it tonight, but now wasn't a good time.

He shook his head a little to rid himself of his admittedly pleasant thoughts. "I understand you don't want to see him hurt, I don't either. But he's not… well he is a kid but he's not… you get what I'm saying. He's getting older, and I don't want him to end up running away from all his problems." That he didn't want his son to end up like himself went unsaid.

"I… agree. But I don't… I don't like it. I don't want him to get hurt." She found herself averting her eyes slightly. "I…"

He placed his hand gently on her cheek and brought her eyes back to his. "I get it, but we can't coddle him forever, and he's a smart kid. He's managed to stay out of any real trouble so far, and even if he does get into anything real, will it change the fact that he's our son? He could be the apostle of a demon lord, hell he could be the demon lord himself and I'd still support him with everything I have. The best thing we can do is push him on the right path, but whatever he decides, I plan on being there for him."

Inko found Hisashi's words to be incredibly reassuring, though she didn't like the idea of her son being associated with demons. She couldn't help but lean into his hand in appreciation. She felt overjoyed that he still cared about Izuku, and clearly still cared about her. But she still didn't know how she felt about Izuku getting into fights.

Hisashi could tell she was still on the fence, and as much as he wished he could avoid this topic, it was too important to ignore. "Listen, I know things have been hard, but Izuku needs to find some form of direction in his life. Otherwise he's just going to keep… living in the past, in his sister's shadow."

Hisashi felt himself hesitate for a moment, he wasn't entirely confident this was going to go over well with Inko, but he couldn't avoid this. "He asked me about Assimilation."

Inko's eyes went wide again, worry plain to see in them. As she opened her mouth to speak, Hisashi quickly interrupted her to get his point across. "He had a glint in his eye. I told him it would probably be okay if he used it on villains. And he had a glint in his eye."

Inko's eyes softened, if only slightly, she closed her mouth, allowing Hisashi to continue.

"We started talking a bit about why he wanted to use it, when it would be okay to use, and I started trying to push him towards being a hero. I know it's a dangerous profession but… Izuku's a strong kid, you know that. And if he ever does decide he wants to use his quirk, I want to push him to use it for good. And if he decides he doesn't want to become a hero that's fine, I'll support him regardless."

Inko looked on slightly in thought, she knew full well how strong that boy was, she had watched him grow up since she gave birth to him after all. As she thought about it, it made sense, Izuku's life was his own, and she couldn't tell him how to live it, all she could do was help guide him. She looked back at Hisashi. If," we push him towards becoming a hero. We can't push him too hard, and if he mentions something else, we jump on that and try to get him to do that instead. Agreed?"

Hisashi gave her a surprised look, he wasn't expecting things to go quite that smoothly, although he didn't agree with part of it. "We can't push him to do something just at the mention of it, we'd just end up confusing him, plus he might mention it offhandedly, or to find out how we really feel, he's smart enough to do something like that."

He gave a small smile to her as he continued. "I get that you want to keep him safe, I do. But I also don't want to accidentally turn him against us. You know?"

Inko turned up again in thought, she couldn't argue with the point. He looked back at Hisashi with a deadpan. She noticed a small glint in his eye as she did and found herself relenting, though she wasn't about to let things go without at least getting a little jab in.

"Okay we'll do things your way, but if things go poorly I want a divorce." She teased with a grin on her face.

"Woah woah woah, you're my accomplice in all this. If it doesn't work out I'm gonna need my getaway driver." He gave back a sly grin as she let out a small chuckle.

It didn't take long before they came together in a warm embrace. Their lips gently pressed together, they found themselves chuckling and lightly moaning into each other's mouths as they pressed themselves into one another, enjoying the feeling of touch they'd starved themselves of for so long.

Inko felt as his hands began gently fondling her breasts, she felt a bit giddy as his tongue began wrestling with hers. His hard member rubbing warmly against her thigh as his hands slid down to the hem of her shirt. He began lifting it up and off of her.

"Mom, Dad what are you doing?" Izuku walked into the room, a confused look on his face as he watched his father freeze, his mother's shirt halfway off, her belly and the edge of her bra exposed with her face covered.

Hisashi looked over. His son had his head tilted slightly to the side in what would be the cutest expression possible, if it weren't for the situation he and Inko were currently in. He quickly brought Inko's shirt back down, his hard on completely gone and his embarrassment completely up. His face felt hot and he was sure his cheeks were completely red.

His brain completely froze as he thought of an answer to his son's question, he ended up just blurting out the only sentence that could save him from an actual answer. "I'LL TELL YOU WHEN YOU'RE OLDER." He heard Inko chuckling with her hand over her mouth right by him.

"Oh… okay." Izuku sounded a bit disappointed at that. "Uhm… how old do I have to be?" He asked with an innocently curious twinkle in his eye.

Hisashi noticed Inko nearly burst into tears laughing right next to him. "I don't know why don't you ask your mother?" He saw as she shot him an embarrassed look, her face covered in red.

"Mom?" She turned to Izuku. "I… uhhh…" She began waving her hands wildly in the air. "I don't know honey, maybe a few years?" She gave a nervous chuckle.

"I need to be older but you don't know how much older? You two are weird."