Daddy Issues

"Come eat with us, son!" Hisashi laughed. "Don't be shy!"

Izuku wanted to scowl at him and tell him to get out of their house, but his mom was watching and she looked so happy that Hisashi was finally home, so Izuku settled for a strained smile. He sat down so he was facing Hisashi, who had taken the place at the head of the table like he actually deserved to sit there. Hisashi smiled at him as Inko finished putting food on the table and sat down.

"You've grown up so much, son." Hisashi grinned at him widely. Izuku glared at him as Inko looked down to serve the food. Did he think Izuku was stupid enough to not see through his loving father act, esspecially since he waltzed back into their life right as Dragon is pushing to get something from Mastermind? Did his father think he was an idiot?

Apparently he did because he was smiling sweetly at Inko like he didn't have a care in the world and Inko was eating it up. Izuku wanted to scream at her not to trust him, that the only reason he was even still sending money was because if he didn't, the government might look into him and discover he was a villain, but then he'd have to explain exactly how he knew that and just because he knew a confrontation was coming with his father, didn't mean he wanted it to happen in front of his mom.

"Thanks for the food." Izuku muttered, then took a big bite so he wouldn't have to talk to the asshole sitting across from him. He was having enough of a hard time sitting in brooding silence, he wasn't sure his civility would last if he were forced to talk.

"So Hisashi." Inko said. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming to visit? I didn't even know you were in town?"

Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Hisashi gave a booming laugh, "I just wanted to surprise my wife and son, what's the harm in that? I've missed you two so much, I just couldn't get away from work, you know how fast-paced things are in America. I don't know how long I'll be back in Japan, it depends on how well things go with a business associate I have here, but I'll be pushing to stay as long as possible."

Izuku huffed quietly. Business associate , yeah right. Hisashi would stay around for as long as Izuku did what he wanted, playing the part of a loving father when really he was anything but. Hopefully Inko wouldn't be too sad when he inevitably disappeared again, but she'd survived over ten years without him, she didn't need him to be happy.

"Oh that's wonderful honey!" Inko gushed. "I hope you get to stay, it would be wonderful to have you around and you could get to know Izuku. I know you two are going to get along just great."

Hisashi laughed again, "Yeah, I sure hope so. Just looking at him now, I'm sure he takes after his father. Except the hair, of course, he got your beautiful hair, Inko."

Inko blushed as Hisashi smiled at her, "Oh, stop it, Hisashi. You can't just start laying on the compliments out of nowhere!"

"But you're just as beautiful as the day I married you. Why shouldn't a loving husband compliment his gorgeous wife?"

Inko giggled and Izuku finished his food, "Mom, I'll be in my room if you need me."

Inko frowned, "But Izuku, don't you want to spend more time with your dad? He doesn't get time in Japan very often, so we need to take advantage of it."

Hisashi put his arm around her, "I agree. Maybe we could go to the park like we used to, huh son? I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Izuku raised an eyebrow at him skeptically, "All three of us?"

Hisashi sputtered for a moment before smiling, "Well, I was thinking it'd be just the two of us, son. Have some father/son bonding time!"

"That's a wonderful idea, Hisashi." Inko clapped her hands together. "I'll pack you a few snacks for later and you two can head out, ok?"

Izuku frowned, but nodded as his mom bustled to pack a basket for them, "I just need to grab something from my room real quick, alright? I'll be back by the time we're ready to leave."

Inko nodded and Izuku went to his room and closed the door, feeling Hisashi's eyes on him the whole time. He knelt beside his bed and pulled a steel box from underneath it, entering the passcode to open it. He kept most of his knives at his base, but he was grateful he'd decided to keep a few here for emergencies, locked away where his mom wouldn't find them. He took off his shirt so he could attach the holsters underneath, then switched to a black long-sleeved shirt so he could have more knives accessible around his hands. He took a moment to make sure he could grab all the knives. Arms, check, waist, check, ankles, check. He smiled and went back out into the living room, where Hisashi was waiting for him by the door.

"Ready son?"

Izuku nodded, putting on his shoes and walking out the door, "So what park did you have in mind?"

"Oh, there's a really pretty one by the river I think you'll really like." Hisashi said. "It's kinda out of the way, but it's gorgeous, trust me."

Izuku had no plans to trust Hisashi on anything, anytime soon. He was pretty sure he knew what park Hisashi was talking about. It was isolated and basically under an overpass of a busy freeway, so it couldn't be seen or even heard by people passing by. Izuku had heard stories of gunshots going off that no one had called in simply because they thought it was someone blowing a tire instead. Overall, it was the perfect place for back alley deals, but parents and kids avoided it like the plague, so there was no doubt in Izuku's mind on how things would go once they got there.

The train ride was awkward. Hisashi tried several times to ask him about various hobbies he had, but Izuku just gave one word answers until he finally stopped trying. After that Hizashi tried telling him stories he probably thought were funny, but that were really prejudiced, racist, or some other kind of messed up. Seriously, the man was such a narcissist that he didn't even realize what an asshole he was.

They got off the train and Hizashi led the way to the park Izuku had been thinking of. Izuku rolled his eyes when he saw it was busier than he'd ever seen it, but with adults, not a kid in sight. There were men pretending to talk to each other by the playground, and a few who were supposedly busy looking out over the water, but of course, no matter what they were doing, they all glanced up when Hisashi and Izuku entered and then pretended they hadn't. How did the Dragon's Horde even become so successful when their plans were this transparent?

Hisashi led him over to a picnic table and they sat down, "Now Izuku, I know that this may come as a shock to you, but we're really not so different, you and I."

Izuku raised one eyebrow and gestured for him to continue. The sooner they got this over with, the sooner he could go home.

Hisashi smiled, "Well son, unlike your mother, I know what you've been up to." He paused for dramatic effect. "I know you're Mastermind."

Izuku clapped his hands slowly, "Congratulations, Dragon, but I knew that from the moment you decided to walk in the door this morning. The question now is what are you going to do about it?"

Hisashi spluttered for a moment, "You knew who I was and you still refused to work with me?"

Izuku rolled his eyes, "I refused to work with you because I knew who you were. What? Did you think I was just going to roll over and work with you, just because you happened to knock up my mom one time?"

Hisashi's face twisted in rage, "I am your father , Izuku. I am the one who gave you life. You wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for me, so maybe, for once in your life, you should try showing a little respect. It is your duty as a son to obey me!"

"My duty?" Izuku laughed. "I don't have a duty to anyone except for me. That's why I'm a villain, because it offers me the freedom to do what I want, when I want, just because I can. No one is going to tell Mastermind he can't do something just because he's quirkless, like people have been doing my whole life. But I guess you didn't even think about why I became Mastermind, did you? You just thought I was one more thing you could exploit."

"What?" Hisashi stood. "I love you, you owe me!"

Izuku glared up at him, "I don't owe you shit."

Hisashi's scowl deepened, "I didn't want to have to do this, son, but you've forced my hand. If you insist on continuing this childish tantrum, I will have no choice but to punish your mother for your insolence."

Izuku scoffed, "And you pretend you love her." He shook his head. "Do you know who the last guy that threatened Mom was, Hisashi?"

Hisashi rolled his eyes, "Whoever he was, he was weak, but I assure you, I am different."

Izuku chuckled humorlessly, "I don't think weak was a word most people usually associated with Overhaul."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some of his father's men shifting uncomfortably, probably remembering that not only had Overhaul been destroyed, but his entire gang had been killed. Hisashi, however, just shook his head, "Overhaul was a child, barely in charge of a struggling yakuza because the old leader died."

Izuku sighed, "Yes, and All Might was the symbol of peace for decades. Are you saying he was weak too?"

Hisashi's face hardened, "You will work with me, son, or you will regret it."

Izuku shrugged and stood, "I think you'll be the one with regrets. I'm not the helpless little quirkless kid you abandoned anymore, Hisashi. I have the reputation I do because I've earned it."

Hisashi sighed heavily, "Oh well, son, I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but I suppose I should tell you we're not alone here. Dragon's Horde, be careful to just rough him up a little, we don't want him dead. Yet."

Izuku flipped the table up to shield himself from the quirked attacks that were thrown at him and got out two of his knives as he waited for the close range combaters to approach. Hisashi had brought along a dozen men in total, most of which were heavy hitters, but they also weren't the smartest, since intelligent criminals didn't follow idiots like Hisashi.

A man with a snake quirk ran up and tried to bite him, but Izuku simply dodged his fangs and slit his throat. The next two men who tried to attack him met a similar fate just as quickly. Izuku smiled as Hisashi's men looked at each other hesitantly, clearly realizing they had underestimated him. Three of the men still standing looked at their dead friends, gulped, then turned and ran away.

"Come back here cowards!" Hisashi yelled. "You'll regret this!"

"I really don't think you'll be alive long enough to follow through on that threat, Hisashi." Izuku laughed. "And I also think you just lost your three smartest men."

Hisashi growled and signaled the rest of his men forward, but Izuku was already running towards them, knives at the ready. One of the men managed to knock him off his feet with a rope quirk, but Izuku simply waited until he was dragged closer to the man before slicing through the rope holding his ankle and killing the man now that he was in range. He threw one of his knives into another's throat, replacing it with one of the other knives hidden beneath his clothes.

Hisashi watched as Izuku slaughtered his men with disdain, "Weak, all of you! He's a child! How is he giving you this much trouble?"

Izuku simply killed another lackey who'd made the mistake of getting too close. Another had followed the lead of the three that had run away earlier, clearly deciding he wasn't getting out of this alive if he kept attacking. Izuku stared down his last two opponents and grinned as they screamed and rushed him at once. He ducked between them and sent one of them sprawling with a well aimed kick, using him to knock the other down, then killed them both before they could get up.

Hisashi frowned as he looked at his dead men, then sighed, "I suppose if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

He took a deep breath and Izuku ducked behind a tree as the scalding flames left his mouth. Hisashi took another deep breath, but Izuku threw one of his knives so it lodged right underneath his vocal chords. Hisashi tried to exhale, but half the flames came spilling out around the knife, burning the unprotected skin at his neck. Hisashi pulled the knife out in frustration and threw it to the ground, but that only made him bleed faster.

He tried to take another breath to fuel his quirk, but he got a lungful of blood instead. Izuku smiled as he walked up to his father, who tried to grab at him, but Izuku simply cut the man's hands so that he couldn't, then cut the tendons behind his knees so he couldn't kick either before knocking him to the ground.

Hisashi coughed as he turned to stare up at Izuku with burning hatred. Izuku rolled his eyes, "I told you, Hisashi, I will never work with you."

He left his father bleeding out as he gathered his knives and went to the river to wash the blood off his skin and hair. The black shirt he was wearing hid the stains well, but Izuku grimaced when he saw the red patches spreading across his jeans. He couldn't go home like that!

He sighed and grabbed some of the mud from the riverbank, spreading it into the fabric of his jeans and putting some into his hair too, just to be thorough. When he was sure the mud had covered all the blood, he stood and went to leave, but a weak movement caught his eyes. He frowned when he saw Hisashi weakly struggling. Izuku had thrown his knife to compromise his airway and he must have missed the major veins and arteries in Hisashi's neck, since it was taking him so long to die. Or maybe he was just stubborn. Either way, Izuku knelt beside him and looked into his eyes for a long moment before taking out one of his knives and slicing through Hisashi's jugular vein. It would still take him a minute or two to completely bleed out, but there was no way he'd still be alive by the time someone else visited the park. Izuku kicked his father one last time, reveling in the way he tried to gasp but couldn't, before walking away from the bloodbath with a smile.

He got a few weird looks on the train as the other commuters crinkled their noses with disgust at the mud on his pants, but he didn't pay them any mind. The sun was just starting to set by the time he walked in the front door. Izuku took his shoes off, careful not to spread more mud in the entry than he had to and looked at his pants. What little blood he could see had dried brown during his commute, so Mom wouldn't notice it even if she happened to get too close. From the kitchen, he could smell his mom cooking dinner for three.

"Izuku, Hisashi? Are you home?" Inko walked into the entryway and gasped. "Izuku? What happened to you?"

Izuku smiled, "I just tripped and fell in some mud at the park, Mom. It's no big deal, but I'd like to shower before dinner, if that's alright?"

Mom nodded and sighed in relief, "Yes, that's fine. I'm so glad you're alright Izuku." She looked around and frowned. "Where's your father?"

Izuku schooled his expression and shrugged, "He ran into some old friends at the park and I got bored, so I just came home. I don't know how long he'll be."

Inko nodded, "Ok, I'm glad he was able to talk to his friends, maybe they'll be able to convince him to stay in Japan a little longer. You go shower, sweetie, dinner will be ready in an hour. You can just leave your clothes and I'll wash them tomorrow."

Izuku smiled, "Don't worry Mom, I'll take care of it . You just focus on dinner."

"You're so sweet, Izuku!" Inko smiled. "I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful son."