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“When I was younger”
Izuku looks back to a simpler time, a time where you’d ponder what you’d do in the future because it's something all little kids do at some point.
“My daddy told me I would never, never amount to nothing special, He'd come at me from every angle”
He remembers the day he found out that he was Qurikless and how his mom cried and told him that she’s sorry that she was so, so, sorry. How his dad hit him for the first time, said that he’d never amount to anything special. He thinks of how his dad called him a disgrace, and said that he shouldn’t be alive.
“He'd say, "You're the last thing I wanted, the last thing I need. How am I gonna answer when my friends tell me, My son was kissing boys in the street?”
Izuku remembers when he was 10 and met Kaminari, how, just before they turned 11, Kami asked him out on a date. When he was 12, how they kissed for the first time. When he was 13 and being pulled away from Denki by one of his dad’s work friends who dragged him home, threw him on the floor at his fathers feet and gave him another reason to hate Izuku. He remembers his father, No… Hazshi, yelling at him, how his mother took most of his beating that day and how it took weeks for her to heal completely. How Hazshi said something bad would happen if he caught the two together when they were kissing because he didn’t quite believe his friend.
And, oh, how it got worse, so much worse.
“ My son was kissing boys in the street" ”
He thinks about when Izuku was giving Denki a goodbye kiss after school like he usually did only to freeze when he saw the man he was forced to call father, remembering far too late that his mom was sick that day so Hazshi had to pick him up today to keep up the act of a happy family.
He didn’t return to school for the rest of middle school. And with no way to contact him, Denki was left to wonder what happened to his boyfriend of 3 years.
“He'd try to change me”
He remembers the Camp he was sent to at 15 just before he was sent to UA for high school. He remembers just how happy he was to find out that UA had put in dorms that year.
“Say I'm embarrassing my country”
Izuku thinks of the USJ and how he was separated from the rest of his classmates and yelled at by Hazshi who was also All For One apparently, though thankfully he kept his villain life separate from his civilian counterpart.
“How could I do this to my family?”
He remembers the time he formally introduced Denki as his partner, how his mom was overjoyed that he finally told her even if she had known for a while, and how Hazshi just walked away.
“Do I wanna grow up being lonely?”
His father asked him this when he turned 16 expecting Izuku to cry and say that's not what he wanted and ask for his help to fix it, but that was not what happened. He was met with a cold stare from the 16-year-old who replied by saying "Father, that has not happened and it never will. I love Denki and he loves me."
“He'd say, "We have worked for our money, We've put you in school. Do you think this is cool? My son, stop kissing boys in the street, My son, stop kissing boys in the street"
Izuku remembered when he graduated and got his hero license, waiting for Denkiwho was last to get his diploma and license, met him in the middle between the sets and stage, and kissed him passionately as they formally came out to the (lovingly dubbed by Aizawa-sensei) Problem Class A.
"Now that I'm older, My daddy's heart's a little warmer, But he still won't hug me like my brother, And he still won't kiss me like my mother"
He thinks back to the graduation party his mom held for him and his close friends and their families, his younger brother came running at him and hugged his legs so tightly, and his mom prepared his face with kisses, and his father gave him a pat on the back.
"He'd say, "You're a part of this family, I made you myself, But the way that you act isn't good for your health, My son, stop kissing boys in the street, My son, stop kissing boys in the street"
Izuku remembers his 18th birthday when he moved out when his father hugged him for the first time in years but was still not completely accepting of him.
"My daddy's dying, But he's finally realized I'm not lying"
When Izuku was 20, he remembers getting word from his mom that his dad was dying. When he got to the hospital room he was in, his dad apologized while hugging him tightly, finally realizing the mistakes he had made, how horrible they were, and how he can never change that but how he can make the rest of the time he has being better than he was.
"We sit in silence, but we're smiling, Because for once, we are not fighting"
He thinks of when his dad apologized to everyone, his mom, his brother, and him for not being the husband that they wanted or the father that they needed, and how it was the first time in years that they didn’t start a fight over nothing and just sat there enjoying each other's company.
"He'd say, "There was no way of knowing 'cause all I was taught is Men only love women, but now I'm not sure, My son, keep kissing boys in the street"
He thinks of the first time he brought Denki to see his dad, as Denks wanted to be traditional and ask for his dads blessing to marry Izuku, and how everyone was so happy and excited because his dad said they had his blessing.
"My son, keep kissing boys in the street, And when I'm gone, keep kissing boys in the street"
Izuku looks back one the day he got married to Denki and became Kaminari Izuku, and how his dad was so excited to walk Izuku down the aisle before he died.
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Izuku remembers everything his life had to offer a loving husband and beautiful kids as he laid there with his husband beside him and took his final breath hoping that his daughters, son, and husband would forgive him for leaving so soon.