Chapter Text
He wasn’t expecting this, and if anything, that was an understatement. His head was screaming at him to just get rid of the child, destroy it like he destroyed everything else in his life, he should have, he was screaming at himself to do so but- That was the thing, wasn’t it? This was his child and some sort of messed up paternal instincts was also screaming at him to protect it, to protect him.
The child didn’t look like him or his enemy, light green hair with only specks of white dotted in there, he looked helpless but All For One knew he was far from it. He could feel his own quirk from the child mixed with that of All Might, if All For One raised him then he’d be a terrifying force of evil, if he didn’t his quirk could be used to create a force stronger than he could have even imagined. Yet somehow, he couldn’t feel the want or drive to do that, somehow, he would rather protect this child and be a father. It was difficult to say the least, on one hand he knew what he could do, what he should do, but he didn’t want to, he wanted to be a father.
There was a point once upon a time when he had loved, there wasn’t much and that was swallowed up by anger quicker than he could even really remember but he had wanted a father, he had wanted someone to care. Quirks were new back then and him having the ability to stockpile them helped his reputation among the populace but in his own home it was different. His brother was weak, but their father always favored him, always gave him the benefit of the doubt, always saw him as perfect and their other son a monster. They wanted a monster and so a monster he became. He didn’t regret it, he still hated the world that once looked up to him but being here, seeing his child, he could only feel the want, the need to be better. He wouldn’t be his father, if he was going to destroy the world, he was going to do it to help Izuku live in a better one.
Another problem, the one that really made him hesitant to do anything was the fact the child wasn’t just his own. The green hair didn’t come from either of them, rather the mash up of genes that related to this whole mess. It was the result of a new quirk he had gotten, one that allowed him to make clones with just a bit of DNA. Unfortunately, what he didn’t know was the fact that it worked with any DNA he was touching, including his own. So, thanks to a papercut, a hair he stole from All Might and a random hair he got on the street, this child was for lack of a better word, his and All Might’s hate child.
He would just raise this child on his own but living with a monster in hiding while he plotted to kill your other father wouldn’t exactly lead to the best of childhoods. He wanted to raise his child, but he couldn’t do it alone, not when he had been looking at another child to raise, not when this was complicated. He humored the idea of just making All Might pay child support but knew that wasn’t going to be helpful even if it had a chance of working, even if he wouldn’t either get laughed away or just stared at like he was crazy. His other idea was also crazy but at least that had some way of working and actually being useful if it did.
He had to call All Might, he didn’t want to call him, he wanted nothing to do with him and knew the man felt the exact same way if not more so, but he really had to call him. He knew his number, he knew everything about that man but that didn’t mean All For One, the most terrifying man in existence wasn’t terrified himself. He was planning for so long now how to take him down, but he wasn’t ready, he didn’t have the quirks, or the info needed to take him down, he didn’t have anything. Well, he didn’t until he made a mess of genes that resulted in a child that was one part All Might and another part himself. It was complicated and he didn’t need complicated, he needed something guaranteed to work but he didn’t have that, and he couldn’t because now he couldn’t kill All Might, now he needed his son to have two fathers and a home that wasn’t an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere.
So, he had a phone, he had a phone and he needed to call the one man who hated his guts more than anything, no big deal right? He could do this, he was All For One and a single phone call should not have been enough to scare him, it wouldn’t be, he could do this, he could talk to All Might.
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Toshinori was having a bad day, it should be expected right? Not every day as a hero was going to be great but he just had to keep his head up and smile for the masses. He was the symbol of peace and no matter what his day was like, he had to inspire peace among the masses. It wasn’t the worst day he’s had either, even if he was tired, he’s lost people before, and he saved all of the people he could. Yet he couldn’t save everyone, there were days where no matter how hard he pushed, no matter how far he strived he lost people and that was what made a bad day, when he could see himself in the mirror and see a symbol of peace yes, but also a human. He didn’t feel bad for himself, he didn’t have time for that, but he did work himself to be faster, be stronger because he needed to save everyone and one day, he needed to defeat All For One.
He got home to a simple apartment, he could afford more but he didn’t like wide open spaces, this was enough for one, anything else would be too empty. There was a time he humored finding someone, times when he eyed Naomasa and thought what could have happened if they were more than friends, what could have happened if he really allowed Marai close, what could have happened if he found a wife to comfort him. There were times that loneliness creeped up on him and got to his head. It was hard, hard when he knew it was safer to push everyone away but knowing it was hard not having a support system. So many people told him a hero was not an island but how could he be the symbol of peace if he had to rely on someone else. He was All Might, he didn’t need someone else, he could put another person at risk, not when he had any other choice. He had an apartment, an apartment fit for one that looked over the city and showed him why he was doing this, who he was protecting. His life, his future, his everything was dedicated to saving people and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He stared at the window as his thoughts ran, before he heard his ringtone go off, a recording of him saying “I am calling!” that he couldn’t bear to change. He hoped it wasn’t another villain attack, he had wanted to get started on dinner, but he could always grab some takeout. He didn’t want to deal with the publicity but sometimes it was the only real option if he didn’t want to wait till midnight for dinner or he was too tired. He was still tired, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.
When he picked up the phone he expected the police, maybe Naomasa or even Marai if he wanted to go out for dinner, honestly, he would have expected anything, just not this. “All Might I have a problem.” He recognized the voice, it haunted his dreams and even then it sometimes haunted his memories. Nana lying there, dead and gone, a man with white hair taunting him because he was too slow. He knew that voice, he dreaded it with every fiber of his being, but the words didn’t line up. Why was All For One calling him? Why was he seeming to ask for help? It could have been a quirk, it could have been a trap but right now he was to stunned to even think about that.
“What?” He asked, a bit hysterically. He didn’t know what to do or what to think, all thoughts wiped out except for the question of why All For One was calling him.
“I had a quirk malfunction and now long story short I’m holding our son.” There was worry threaded into his voice and any other time Toshinori would be quick to blow it off, quick to assume it was manipulation, but this entire situation was so ridiculous and maybe it was because of that but he sounded genuine. It couldn’t be though, could it? Yes, a quirk like that could theoretically exist but All For One had so much control of things, how could this have happened? And why was he calling him?
“Well why are you calling me then? I’d be happy to take the boy, but I don’t see why you would care enough.” It didn’t make sense, none of this made any sense and it just sounded like a trap but if there was a child involved with this, he couldn’t just leave then with All For One. Even if the boy somehow ended up being a genetic mix of the both of them that didn’t make him less of a child.
“He’s my son, I want to take care of him and I’d get if you don’t believe he’s yours but I’d be willing to do a genetic test if that’s what you need, I’m not giving him up but I acknowledge I can’t raise him alone, the boy needs two fathers All Might, so in order to raise him I will put up a truce until he’s grown up, then we can go back to all the fighting.” Toshinori would have not believed him, he should have not believed him but there was genuineness, and he didn’t know what to say to that. On one hand he hated All For One, he needed to fight him, that was his duty, on the other hand he was right, no matter how much anger he had he couldn’t kill a child’s father, if All For One was genuine then he needed to put himself aside and take care of this kid, then he could rage against the man and force him to back down. He just had to raise a kid first, it was fine.
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It was not fine. Raising a child was not easy, he shouldn’t have expected it to be easy, but he had never worked with children before, he was a hero, not a babysitter! What’s worse is that since Izuku was a special case he had both the quirks of his fathers and the quirk of the third party giving him his green hair. He could float objects to him, and while that was fine for the first few months, once he could crawl, he was escaping his crib left and right. When it was wooden, he broke the wood, when it was metal, he got out the top, when they covered the top, he just pushed that off. It was a never ending battle and they were losing. Plus, you could never keep things away from him, there’s a saying about stealing things from a baby but Izuku was the one stealing things, candy, household appliances, quirks.
There were many times All For One had to hurriedly give quirks back so they wouldn’t be found out, he could see it was exhausting and while he had no pity for the man he understood. Izuku was exhausting and there wasn’t much they could do about it. A baby couldn’t get a good control of a quirk they had so the only thing they could do was minimize the damage. They could do it, but it was exhausting.
That paired with the fact that sleep was a thing of the past and they were grumpier than ever. Izuku cried as much as any baby but coupled with his quirks his tantrums could be outright dangerous. They switched turns on who would take care of Izuku, mostly so they didn’t kill each other, but arguments sprung up anyways. Toshinori couldn’t admit he wasn’t fond of the child, but his sleep schedule was worse than it had ever been. He hadn’t seen his friends and he couldn’t see his friends because he was sleeping with his enemy. In the same house, and room because there wasn’t much space. It wasn’t great but at least they didn’t share a bed.
That was the other thing, his apartment fit him but with an archenemy and a baby it was pretty cramped. It was like being trapped in a broom closet with the person you hated the most, it sucked. They were like a married couple holding off the divorce for the sake of the kids, though at least they held off on the fighting. They hated each other but Izuku was their kid and even if they did hate each other neither of them were willing to let down their kid. So even if he wanted to complain a lot of the time he would manage, hopefully get a bigger place to stay.
He woke up to Izuku crying again and sighed as he got out of bed, it was his turn and while he could argue he knew it wouldn’t get anywhere. He woke himself up and made his way to the room, picking up Izuku and rocking him to sleep, looking to see what was wrong. After a while it seemed that Izuku just needed to be rocked back to sleep and once he fell under Toshinori got a good look at him. One would think the kid had no resemblance to him, but it was there, bits and pieces he saw from the kid he used to be. He still had anger, grief put on him that he could not forget but Izuku brought some of that peace back. Izuku seemed to get a lot from the mother they didn’t know, his green hair, those freckles but there was enough to show him this was his son but also the son of All For One.
He wondered how Izuku would be when he grew up, if he would take after one of them or choose his own path. He didn’t want his son to go the same way of All For One, but he didn’t think he wanted him to be like him either. There was a lot he could think about, a lot of things that could bring back long forgotten regrets, but he knew one thing, he loved his son, more than anything he loved his son, and he would do anything to protect him. He wondered if these were the same emotions All For One was going through,
“He’s going to be a good kid.” It took all of Toshinori’s hero training not to jump when All For One snuck up on him. He had hero training though and he only gave a glare back before letting out a small sigh. There were many times when he thought All For One must be able to read his mind, it was possible, but he doubted the man would ever tell him. Still, he didn’t know why he said that.
“Didn’t think you would be one to want that, or are we talking about your definition?” There was some bite in his voice but not the same amount there would be before all of this. There wouldn’t be, not in front of Izuku.
“No, I’m just stating a fact, he’s your son.” He said, though there was a quality in his voice, something hesitant, something Toshinori had never heard from him before. “He’ll be a good kid, strong too but I don’t think he’ll follow after me.” He seemed sad but not about that, it seemed to come from something else, something Toshinori didn’t know and could only really guess at. He didn’t expect this of him, didn’t think something like that could be there but then again if you told him All For One would have a son he cared about, he probably would have laughed and had you arrested, now he didn’t know.
“He’s your son too.” He tested, mostly to see what would happen if he did.
“I know.”