Chapter Text
-Chapter 1-
The light was blinding, the rays casted a shadow on her face, highlighting the beauty within her eyes, and just like that, a star was born. Life is an experience of news and olds, beauty and ugliness, but most importantly, life is the experience of relationships and what can stem from them.
A mother and father shows the experience of love and true compassion in one example, or it can show the evil that each person can hold and how they take their life goals and force it on their offspring. A mother can instill harshness on their son and treat them as if they needed to be a perfect king, or she can convey a sense of passion and gentleness, making her son a romantic, turning the worst situation into a lesson that one can grow from. Fathers can be present and give a kid the resources that they need to blossom into something beautiful, or they can leave and never witness the greatness that could be. In any situation, whether perfect or horrible, present or gone, the little one has a choice to make. Do they follow the path made or pave themselves a new one?
The moon and stars shimmered in the night, but even they couldn't compare to the bright lights that shone in the sky. Beams of different color lights flashed, and music could be heard from miles away, with the faint sounds of cheering always following behind. Throughout the night, the music and laughter grew louder and louder; it's what to expect from the greatest musician’s concert. Sweat glistened on his eyebrow, his eyes blinded, yet he continued singing without a fault in his step. That's how it went for the full 3 and a half hours; each song that he held deep to his heart that conveyed every emotional moment he's ever experienced, he belated at the top of his lungs. He let every raw emotion drive the melody of his songs, and as the night ended, a stream of tears fell from his eyes and landed on the stage where he first met her. Where he first had his big show, and as it comes, full circle, where the end of his journey meets.
By now the crowd was gone, cleaners had entered the building, and his managers had bickered him off the stage. Yet he couldn't leave, not when he could see her in the VIP section, her hair flowing in the wind, her skin, which held so much color at one point, now faded and ghostly white. He could almost hear her whisper the faint notes of the melody he once loved but now grows to hate. He reaches out with a shaking hand, but his once clear vision vanishes, and just like that, the image of her is gone, and instead in front of his view is his daughter, who looks scarily the same as her mother. News articles used to publish rumors of how they cloned the kid from her mother so the new generation could experience the wonderful music she once made, but they were nothing more than rumors. Nowadays all the news articles ever talk about is him and his retirement; occasionally there is the mention of the passing, but those are quickly criticized and taken down like it never existed in the first place. Her death was taboo, something no one dares to talk about, and when the death report came out, everyone just accepted that her death was one of natural causes, no matter how hard the world took it.
“..ad”
“...Dad”
His daughter stood in front of him; every thought faded from his mind, and now the only one lasting was to think how wonderful his daughter looked in the stage light. Her eyes twinkled like the stars, one she was destined to be.
"Sorry, my love, I was just basking in the...”
His sentence faded away before he could finish. Was this really the end? Could he just end his career here? Was it really his time to put the pencil down?
“You saw her..right?”
“Yeah”
That was all that needed to be said between the two. Although not much said, they knew that they just needed some time to bask in the fluorescent lights. The door may have closed for one of them, but the door was just now cracking open for the other, and with the help of those around her, they all knew she was going to make it. She was going to be bigger than anyone expected of her.
But for now, that was the last time All Might performed on a stage.
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Days flew by, lyrics were written down but would never be sung. They were destined to collect dust in the box they sat in, days turned to weeks and instead of song lyrics the words changed to lecture plans. Drafts upon drafts of what he may say to the new generation appeared. Yet none seemed to satisfy. Music Theory? No, too intense for the first day. Song composition? Mmm too broad. Creative writing? Too academic for his liking.
“What song should I go with for the entrance exam dad?”
Ah! That was it! He should have them perform their exam songs in front of class so that he can get a grasp and see what each person could improve on, plus it would bring the class together as a family, as singing allows people to express emotions they may not be able to convey otherwise!
“Dad!”
“Huh? Oh, sorry sweetie…maybe the one you wrote about your mom, it would be nice to finally hear it.”
“No”
“Oh. Maybe the one about that boy ”
“Very specific, dad”
“I'm sorry honey, but you really don't have to worry. You're a recommended student, you're only doing the exam so the proctors know which class to put you in so you can get the help you need to improve.“
“And that's exactly why I need this song to be perfect, the less help I need the faster I can start getting signed”
“I could always just have David sign you or even Nigheye if you really wanted”
“You already got me into UA, having you do anymore would paint me as a brat who got her career handed to her”
She was stressed. More than stressed, overworked, anxiety driven, all of the above. Days were spent at the beach, not relaxing or tanning like most others were, she was sitting pulling hair out of her head trying to figure out how to make her soft country lyrics into an upbeat pop song. Nights were spent hunched over her desk making new beats and trying to find lyrics that fit, yet the melody was off, the drums were too hard and overpowered her voice, her voice strained from belting. Everyone knew she could sing a simple country song. She’s sung with her dad on stage, she's posted stupid Metube videos of her original songs and covers of her dads, but the most criticized thing that David, her dads producer and manager, told her that she needed to improve on if she wanted to make it big was to get into pop, like her mom did. Sometimes she cursed her mom, of course she had to be a big time pop princess yet couldn't pass a single gene of pop music to her daughter. If she wanted to live up to the family name she needed to do this. She needs to crush the exam and show the world that she can do different types of genres, she is not a one trick pony, she is the next best. She needs to prove it to the world, to her dad, to her mom, to herself, but most importantly…to him .
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The exam was a month away and the most important announcement was just released, what the exam was going to be. Every year the test was a bit different, one year it was to perform your best cover of a song in front of a panel of judges. Another year it was you making lyrics to an already made beat or vice versa. This year it was a bit different.
“Since this year we have an influx of students who have grown up with some type of music or artist within their family, the test is gonna be harder than previous years. You are tasked with composing your own original song from scratch for the test. You can prepare in any way you need to but you have to make the song from scratch when you enter the building. So jolt down some lyrics and memorize them, learn instruments as fast as you can, and get ready to learn how to record and produce your own song, cause you have to do it all by yourself for your test. You'll have one hour to get it done but expect to take the test for at least 2 and a half hours as we have a surprise challenge for you all, that will be explained when you get here! Good luck contestants!”
She was ready! She's done this her entire life, and she was already working on a new song so it was perfect! She knew she could sing, she knew how to play a variety of instruments, and David taught her very briefly how to produce music, enough at least that this won't be too hard for her! The surprise on the other hand made her worry a bit but nothing could stop her from feeling elated! That was until she got home from school where she saw Izuku Midoriya sitting on her couch and her dad frantically explaining how to play a guitar to him.
“Midoriya? Dad?”
“Sweetie! You remember Midoriya don't ya? Well his mom asked me to help him get prepared for the UA exam!”
“You still talk to his mom…?”
“Well, it was only recently that she reached out”
By this time Midoriya was more than embarrassed. He knew that his mom was out of line for reaching out to All Might for him. Especially after he knew Y/n probably didn't wanna see him. It's been a while since they talked and although they left off on being close friends, he was still probably associated with him in her mind, and Izuku didn't want to bring back bad memories for her, she was still one of his best friends and he would never wanna hurt her. Not like how he did.
“You can calm down, both of you” she stated calmly and almost laughing “I'm not upset or anything, I was just surprised to see Midoriya here, it's been awhile since I've even talked to him”
A sigh of relief came over the room
“But why is he here?”
“Oh! With me retiring and the UA exams coming up, I thought I could help young Midoriya train and give him a few pointers with it. He has a lot of talent and he fits in with my style, so who better to help than me!”
She honestly didn't know how to feel. In no way was she upset with Midoriya for being here or even training with her dad, but there was a sinking feeling in her stomach. For the past couple weeks, months even she's been asking her dad to help her. To teach her, train her, but thinking about it, her dad has been through a lot. After her mom, after him retiring, him starting a new job, he's been through it all. She doesn't blame him but it still hurts,but it's fine!
“That's really nice of you dad, always looking out for others like always! Well if you need any other help Mido just let me know! Ima start dinner so feel free to stick around!”
She walks to the kitchen grabbing her laptop and headphones from the dining room table on the way over.
“She's the same as I remember” Midoriya says with a smile
She's so nice and so caring, maybe coming over really was the right idea. It's been so long since he’s seen her. Her eyes and how they sparkled no matter the conversation, her beautiful smile, and god her voice, its sweet like honey and smooth like silk, it's been too long. He missed her, really missed her. She should have never transferred out of Aldera, well it's actually good she went to Nabu, its ranked better than Aldera by a long shot but she should have switched for that reason, not because of him . He still doesn't understand what happened, they were perfect, and for him to just throw it away like that doesnt make sense. He's not-
“Shes upset”
“Huh?” Izuku breaks out of his inner monologue
“She's not happy that you're here I think. She was being dismissive, it's how she acted after the news of her mom.”
Toshinori knew his daughter, maybe less than a normal dad should, but he was still able to pick up when she wasn't ok. After her heartbreak, and her mom, he's learned her signs for when she's not well. He might not be the best dad and maybe he wasn't present in her life when she was younger, but he promised after his wife left them, he was gonna change.
“She’ll be okay, she's probably just not use to seeing you again, nothing to really worry about young Midorya”
“Are you sure? I don't wanna overbear her..”
“She's already started dinner for us. You leaving now would seem rude. Just come join us and relax!”
“If you say so..”
The night was filled with awkward silence but when the silence was dispersed it was filled with laughter and storytelling. As the night progressed everyone loosened up and genuine happiness filled the house for the first time in months. The stress of being the best dad or daughter, being the best teacher or song writer, or there being one less person in the house just disappeared for the night. Music filled the hallways whether it was perfectly sung notes or the sound of Midoriya plucking the wrong string. laughter was sure to follow, and that night the moon and stars shined extra bright on the three of them.
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