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Hisashi didn't make mistakes. And, hypothetically, even if he did make 'mistakes' to call them as such was highly misleading. They were, as Hisashi was inclined to describe them, decisions made with extreme foresight.
"Hisashi."
So even if he didn't understand the benefits of said 'mistake' when he originally made it, he eventually would thus making it go from a mistake to a successful business move. As it had been from the beginning.
"Hisashi."
Therein, Shigaraki Hisashi didn't make mistakes at all. He just needed a little time to understand how incredibly smart he was at that moment to make a decision to impact his near future.
"Hisashi! Please," his adorable and weak younger brother pleaded, as he held Hisashi's current so-called mistake in his arms. "Who's baby is this?!"
"Mine of course," Hisashi exclaimed confidently, taking away the fragile and squirming baby from Yoichi. "You'd have to be a fool not to see the resemblance, why, he looks just like me."
That was true on all accounts. The baby was in fact his. The discovery of such child was made by one of the many pawns he had in all NICU in the Shizuoka prefecture as a result of recent studies theorizing that babies resulting from complicated or early births might be more prone to having Meta Abilities; Hisashi was willing to test if this were true or not. Regardless, a woman so insignificant that the brief fling that he had had with her was not of merit to remember had given birth to his child as confirmed by the blood work. The result was naturally his taking what belonged to him into his home.
And a quick check of his own was leading him to believe that the theory was not true in the slightest, as his baby lacked any Meta Ability.
On the matter of whether or not his darling baby looked like him, that was a matter of opinion- and Hisashi's opinion was that clearly, his baby looked like him. What little hair on his head would most certainly grow into a set of curls like Hisashi's own and he was confident that as his child grew in age he would develop a smattering of freckles similar to those that he had himself. The current coloring of his child was irrelevant, any intelligent person would know that a baby’s eye and hair color would change as they developed.
Any other person would point out that the child was still too young to determine any substantial characteristics from the get-go.
"Yours?" Yoichi seemed as though he were to faint which would be very inconvenient for Hisashi as he was cradling his all too tiny baby boy and he could not reasonably do that and catch his frail brother. "But- what about the mother? Where is she?"
The true answer would be dead in a ditch somewhere as disposed of by a minion he had granted a power not too long ago in exchange for removing... obstacles that stood in Hisashi's way. But that answer would not endear Yoichi- who already suspected that his growing business was not on the up and up as Hisashi proclaimed- to him.
Instead, he opted to extend the truth as far as it could possibly go.
"It was a sad affair, dear brother," Hisashi let his eyes water by drying them out. "There was no love between us and we parted ways, but somehow she found out about my Meta Ability just after she gave birth. She wanted to kill our child then and there, but thankfully I arrived in time to save his life."
"That's terrible," Yoichi teared up. "Your poor baby... did she even name him before throwing him away?"
If she even got the chance before his child was confiscated, Hisashi didn't know. Even if she did, Hisashi simply didn't care and would obviously choose a superior name to replace the old one.
"She did not," Hisashi shook his head, and then adjusted his hold on his baby. "She wanted nothing to do with my baby at all."
"What a horribly cruel woman," his brother got closer to Hisashi so that he could look at the tiny life he had a hand in making, swaddled in a baby blue blanket and resting now that he wasn't being held as though he were contagious by his uncle. "Have you come up with a name then?"
"Of course I have," he said, despite having not done so. In truth, his mind had still been stuck upon the fact that he had, without meaning to, created life. And trying to figure out exactly how this baby would benefit him since past-Hisashi had obviously known that impregnating that woman was something that future-Hisashi would need in his life. Obviously.
Yoichi looked at him and he stared back for approximately ten seconds before realizing he was waiting to hear his nephew’s name. The name that he still hadn't come up with.
Not wanting to look like a fool in front of his brother, he blurted out the first name that came to mind, "His name is Izuku."
And of course, even this was a moment of unknown genius as his baby, now named Izuku, looked up at his daddy knowing that his name had been spoken.
"Well, welcome to the world, Izuku," Yoichi leaned close to his nephew. With how long his younger brother's hair was, it created a drapery of hair that tickled the little baby's face, and his little nose scrunched up. Unexpectedly, Izuku opened his gummy little mouth and started to eat his uncle's hair.
Grabbing his hair back, Yoichi admonished him, "That's unsanitary, baby nephew."
But then his brother leaned away from Izuku and smiled down at the baby, and Hisashi looked down too. Izuku was spitting out bubbles from his mouth but glanced up at Hisashi anyways.
And smiled at him.
Ah, Hisashi thought as a puzzle piece instantly slipped into place in his mind and his heart did bewildering flips. Izuku himself is the benefit.
Shigaraki Izuku was a very giddy baby. He rarely cried and when he did all Hisashi had to do was pick him up and rock him in his arms and he would go back to smiling.
Just seeing his child was enough to give Hisashi the energy to destroy countless organizations, all so that he could race home in time to see Izuku wiggling in his cradle as Yoichi made faces at him.
And as much as he would like to find a Meta Ability to slow time down to a crawl, one such power did not exist- yet- and so he had to watch as his baby grew bigger and bigger each month. His chubbiness only increased his cuteness factor and Hisashi took what must come out around to thousands upon thousands of photos in the first six months.
When Izuku started the basics of crawling, rocking in place when set down on a blanket, Hisashi made sure that the luxurious apartment was baby-proofed and managed his affairs so that he could work from home. Under no circumstance was he to miss Izuku's first steps.
His underground empire stalled in place, unfortunately, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make for his son. Besides, it would be all the more worth it for when Izuku was older and was the darling Prince of Japan.
But that was the future, at the present Hisashi was watching carefully as Izuku crept towards his legs before latching onto his pants and rubbing his face into it as blabbed gibberish at his father.
"Oh really now," Hisashi pretended as though Izuku were detailing his reign over the worthless humans who walked amongst superior people like them. He reached down to pick up his son, who didn't stop making the cutest of sounds that Hisashi interpreted as him regaling about disposing of his enemies, "How strong you are!"
Walking into the den, Yoichi instantly latched onto Hisashi's side to get closer to his baby, "Oh, Izuku is such a chatterbox! I can't wait till he starts talking!"
"That won't be for a few months now," Hisashi deflected a hand away from his mouth as his child reached for him.
"I'm excited nonetheless," Yoichi's eyes gleamed as he cooed at Izuku. "You know, it's kind of surprising that his hair is so dark. I expected it to be white like ours."
It was true that Izuku's hair was looking as though it would be black. Hisashi had no problem with this, as it only stood to reason that his baby would be exceptional in every capacity- even if it meant standing out from the rest of his family.
"At least he has my eyes," Yoichi smiled mischievously. "For all we know he might actually be my kid, not yours since he looks more like me than you!"
Knocking his brother off the couch, Hisashi stood up with Izuku cradled to his chest, "Don't speak such nonsense. You'll dull Izuku with your idiocy."
"So mean," Yoichi pouted before perking up again. "It's almost time for him to have his bottle, can I feed him today?"
Hisashi was almost inclined to deny his brother this, after that comment about Izuku not being his son. But then, he remembered that he was currently wearing a very expensive suit, and gladly handed over Izuku to his brother, "Of course, be my guest."
And as Izuku spit up all over his younger brother's face, Hisashi could almost see it as his darling baby punishing his uncle for insinuating that he could be his daddy when he had a perfect one already.
Izuku's first steps were something that Hisashi would treasure forever. Quite literally. Just a week before he had acquired a Meta Ability that revolved around photographic memory and now he could pull up pictures and videos of his baby at any time.
Yoichi had been out of the house when the time finally came, so it had been a daddy and son moment.
"Come on, baby, you can do it," Hisashi held out his hands, ready to catch his darling son in case he fell. Izuku had pushed his chubby little arms against the floor to prop himself up, legs shaking but staying upright.
He took one step, then another, and another, until he was slowly toddling over to Hisashi. His feet stomped against the floor and Hisashi envisioned his son toppling over governments with how ferocious he was just by taking his very first steps.
When Izuku finally reached Hisashi, crashing into his father's chest as his legs gave up and got tired, he could hardly contain himself from peppering kisses into his son’s forehead. His son was already so much more talented than any other child, starting to walk much earlier than all of the parenting guides estimated.
Yoichi, of course, was heartbroken to know he missed something so monumental.
"I need to be here when he says his first words," Yoichi insisted after bemoaning Hisashi for not even videotaping the event. "You can't be trusted in documenting my cute little nephew anymore, I have to do it myself."
"It was very spurred of the moment, I didn't have time to grab my phone," Hisashi explained, mentally rewatching the moment over and over again with his stolen power.
As much as Hisashi would have liked for Izuku's first words to be 'dada' or even 'Yoichi' his first words were soiled by his younger brother’s influence, just as the imbecile probably intended.
Having spent too long building up his evil empire from home, Hisashi returned to networking and gaining loyal followers in person. He foolishly trusted Yoichi to take care of his son, and so long as the frail man didn't let Izuku get hurt or fall off a table, he had considered him a trusted babysitter.
How wrong he was to assume.
Coming home after a successful hunt for new powers, Yoichi bounded towards the door bouncing a laughing Izuku in his arms, as he exclaimed, "Hisashi! He said it- he said his first words!"
Hisashi dropped his briefcase to transfer Izuku out of his brother's arms and into his own. His excitement at hearing his incredibly bright son speak currently outweighed his disappointment that he wasn't there to hear it first.
But his excitement crashed into the floor when Izuku squealed, "Hewoe!"
For a minute he had hope that maybe, just maybe, his darling baby boy was trying to say 'hello' but given the mischievous smirk on his foolish little brother’s face, he knew it could only be that dreadful word 'hero.'
His disappointment must have shown on his because the smirk fell and Yoichi reached to take Izuku back, "Hisashi-"
"Heroes? Yoichi, what have you been telling him when I leave you alone," he moved away from the other's reaching hands. "Are you showing him your comics- he's too young to become as obsessed as you are."
"I'm not obsessed," Yoichi scowled and crossed his arms indignantly. "Besides, he loves them!"
"Loves them? Yoichi, please, he is an infant. He doesn't know what drivel and nonsense you're feeding him," Hisashi sulked into the apartment. "I don't want you filling his head with violence and powers and- all of that."
Yoichi followed after him, "What's the big deal? It's not like any of it is real-"
"Of course it is!" Hisashi whirled around, raising his voice. "Don't tell me you're as much blind as you are stupid. All of these Meta Abilities rising- do you really think heroes won't eventually be as real as fantastical abilities?"
Yoichi looked shocked, whether at his words or his tone of voice Hisashi didn't know.
His brother glanced down at the ground, swallowed before looking up and asking, "And would that be so bad?"
Hisashi ignored him and continued, "You took his first words away from me. Can you even understand how much of a betrayal this is?"
"But-"
"I'm not discussing this further with you," Hisashi bounced Izuku in his arms as his baby started to whimper and squirm. "You will only show my son age-appropriate material- ones personally vetted by me- or you won't be trusted around him alone at all."
He walked out of the room before Yoichi could formulate a response, knowing that he would ruminate on his set stipulations and cave in if he wanted to see his nephew.
Hisashi never made mistakes. But past-Hisashi should have known that this would signal the start of the divide between his brother and future him. The divide that would lead to his brother chasing his hero fantasies.
The divide that would take Izuku from him in the end.
Nobody ever told Hisashi that time would fly by the second he got a spawn of his own. It felt like only yesterday that he was holding Izuku in his arms for the first time ever, having removed that birth giver of his, and yet here his son was, an energetic three-year-old running around the apartment, smiling sunshine and rainbows at everyone who looked at him.
Izuku's dark black hair grew out into a full bush of curls, similar to Hisashi's own hair pattern, and just as he predicted a smattering of freckles developed on his cheeks, with four prominent ones creating diamonds under each eye- more proof in Hisashi's eyes that Izuku was a treasure made just for him. His eyes remained the same color green as Yoichi's, much to the younger brother’s delight.
Now that the boy could run and play, Hisashi spoiled him rotten, all thanks to the massive sum of money he generated from all his little side businesses. All from legitimate sources; investing in stocks, a little hedge fund here or there, bribing politicians and keeping them squashed under his thumb, all the little Meta users who declared fealty to him, becoming a lobbyist, that sort of thing.
Any toy Izuku wanted, he got. Train sets, mountains of blocks and plushies, all the Hisashi-approved-children books his bookworm little boy could want, all of it stayed in a room designated solely for play. Hisashi had long since moved the family to a large estate all to themselves, as nice as his apartment had been. Yoichi had been delighted to move and Izuku was too young to understand the difference between their new home and their old one.
Izuku adored his toys, of course as all children did, waking up both his father and uncle often in the early hours of the morning by his little footsteps thumping across the halls to reach his playroom soon followed by electronic noises from his toys. He had a little bed in the room, for when he had his daily nap, but Hisashi forbade him from sleeping there each night as he reasonably feared he would never see his son if so.
His most beloved toy, much to Hisashi's dismay, was a ratty stuffed rabbit that Yoichi had gotten him when he turned one. The beaten-down toy, lovingly named Hero-chan, went with Izuku everywhere. Perhaps Hisashi would be more tolerant of the toy if it wasn't named after Izuku's 'most favoritest thing in the world.'
Just as he called Yoichi years ago, his son was obsessed with heroes. Hisashi long suspected that Yoichi had continued to show his son his detestable comic books, as Izuku continued to gain a vernacular based around powered characters.
He would be worried about this and infuriated at Yoichi if his baby wasn't too far past the point of change. The best Hisashi could do was keep him away from all matters revolving around Meta Abilities, not even showing off his own collection of powers to become his son’s favorite person by default.
No. If he had any say, Izuku would only find out about powers when Hisashi had a firm grip over the entirety of Japan, ruling over it and able to take any power he pleased just so that he could build up his collection more and more. Finally satiating an itch that never left.
That was why Hisashi loved the estate so much- it kept his son far removed from any chaos caused by Meta users.
While he could keep his son removed from the politics of the outside world, he could hardly do the same with Yoichi.
His brother had distanced himself from him over the years, putting up a façade as though Hisashi couldn't tell that he was researching all of his less than legal business ventures. Following up on the news stories of people miraculously losing or gaining a Meta Ability, of politicians who made rapid and unpopular stances that would really only benefit one person- Hisashi- and even on the instigation of violence against those with powers.
He was a fool to do so, as his health only tanked as a result of it.
Yoichi had always been a sickly and frail child. The one thing their parents never managed to do was afford his medical care. So as soon as Hisashi could afford it himself, he hired a hitman to kill the both of them. The first business transaction he'd ever made.
Now, with the accumulation of stress, Yoichi was often left on bedrest, wheezing and trying to find the strength to get better for days at a time.
Izuku, being only three, didn't understand that his favorite play partner couldn't handle an energetic toddler on those days.
Hisashi arrived home after a successful day of blackmailing another insurance agency into denying Meta users coverage to find his son nowhere in his usual spots; he wasn't found in his bedroom nor his playroom surprisingly.
He didn't worry, as he knew that only a dead man walking would attempt to break into his property and steal what belongs to him so he went to his brother’s room to see if perhaps his son had snuck in to see his uncle.
And snuck in he had, but to Hisashi's horror his misguided baby was sitting on top of Yoichi's chest, cuddling Hero-chan and playing with a small toy car, babbling, "And then- and then- vroom! I can go- Uncle Ichi, I know how to go really, fast!"
Yoichi, the fool, was clearly struggling to breathe with the heavy toddler on him, but he continued to smile at his nephew and rasp, "Yeah? How fast?"
"Super fast! Like this-" Izuku flung the red toy car at the wall where it bounced off. "See? Did you see?"
"Wow," Yoichi coughed. "So... fast."
Hisashi stepped into the room, announcing himself by grabbing Izuku up and into his arms. Izuku squealed in delight, knowing that it was his precious daddy picking him up, and he started to talk a mile a minute in his ear about his adventures with his toys.
"Thank you," Yoichi's voice practically whistled as he gulped in the air. "He was suffocating me... only a little."
"He didn't mean to," Hisashi walked over to his brother's bedside to help him sit up.
"I know, I know," Yoichi waved him off. "I should've told him to sit by my side, but I can never tell him no."
"Daddy, let's play, let's play," Izuku chanted, lightly tugging on his tie, his little feet swinging from his perch on the crook of Hisashi's arms.
"Just a second, baby," he hushed, shifting his son’s weight a little. Then he turned to address his brother, "Have you eaten anything today? Don't answer, I can already tell you haven't. I'll make you something as soon as I settle him down."
Yoichi stared at him, a look that Hisashi had started to become familiar with, and considering that any spats that they had had previously never occurred within hearing range of Izuku he started to move out of the room.
"I know what you did," stopped him in his tracks.
"What?" Hisashi asked, playing innocent.
His brother struggled to reach his phone, but picked it up and turned it on, only to show Hisashi a headline that stated, 'Hundreds Dropped: Should Meta Users Even Qualify for Health Insurance?'
He didn't need to read it to know of what agency it was speaking of. This still wasn't the type of conversation to have in front of his impressionable child, so he said, "That's terrible. I'm glad that we aren't reliant on them."
Yoichi didn't say anything. He put his phone down and laid back against his pillows. Eyes toward the ceiling.
Izuku was starting to whine, not interested in adult conversations, so Hisashi continued on his way out.
The second time Yoichi spoke up, he didn't stop in his tracks, he simply walked out as he was told, "Someone will come along and stop you. You won't get away with this forever."
Ah, as expected of that simpering idiot. So delusional by a sense of morality that he couldn't see the bigger picture.
No matter, Hisashi had more than enough time to sway his brother away from his heroic ideals. And even if he couldn't there were always other ways to get Yoichi to submit.
Hisashi wanted to make him stronger anyhow so that he wouldn't have to see him wasting away his youth in a sickbed, a Meta Ability would help with that and make him loyal to his wiser and more knowledgeable older brother. And he never made mistakes.
The story of the two brothers remained the same, no matter how many attempts Hisashi made to turn his brother to his side.
Yoichi found out the entire truth of his building criminal empire, they fought, he forced a Meta Ability onto him to make him stronger, and locked him in a vault beneath the Shigaraki estate.
He didn't originally install the bank vault with the intention of holding his rebellious younger brother. Calling it a vault was less than generous, it was more a bunker to protect them in case Japan went wayward with all the attempts to cull all Meta users.
Now it served as a nice holding cell for Yoichi until the time came when he could see things from Hisashi's point of view.
Izuku, however, would often sit down in front of the large door and suck on his fingers with worry, tears brimming his wide eyes. Hisashi's son was sensitive and already held his heart on his sleeve. His dreams of ruling Japan with an iron fist with his son beside his side when Izuku was an infant were unlikely to happen and were more often replaced with visions of pampering his son and cultivating his personality towards that of a beloved royal to all his subjects.
"Why can't Uncle Ichi play with me anymore," he asked during dinner time.
"Your uncle has been very mean lately," Hisashi answered, cutting up Izuku's food into little pieces so that he wouldn't choke. "He's in time out."
"But- but- you're not supposed to have anyone in time out on my birthday," a couple of tears slipped down his baby's face, his little nose starting to redden and glisten with snot. Hisashi took a moment to wipe away the sadness from his cherubic face with a handkerchief. "And- and that was last week- and he's still in timeout!" he wailed.
"Mean uncles don't get to see their nephews for their birthday," he continued to wipe away his tears. "Come on, precious. You'll get cranky if you keep crying."
Izuku sniffled.
Hisashi caved in, without Izuku having to even beg for anything, telling him, "I'll let your uncle wish you a late happy birthday if you can finish your entire meal, how's that sound?"
A hiccup. "Really?"
"Really."
Izuku held out a plump pinky, "You have to swear, daddy."
"I swear," Hisashi locked his much bigger pinkie with his sons and shook it.
Motivated by getting a chance to see his uncle, Izuku's tears stopped and he ate everything on his plate, pacing himself after Hisashi reprimanded him for going too fast, but finished all the same. He then proceeded to rush his father to do the same.
Hisashi often visited his brother in the vault to gloat and taunt him, hoping to tear down his mental defenses until he gave in, so he saw no reason not to let Yoichi see Izuku for just a small moment. Perhaps seeing the reminder of his nephew that he had abandoned with so little thought would encourage him to think over his actions.
"My hero, please, we can't leave yet-"
"Like hell we're staying here, if we don't move now your crazy fucking brother will find and kill us."
"Please, just one minute- I only need one minute to sneak onto the upper level of the house! My baby nephew, I can't leave him with my brother."
"..."
"Please."
"How old?"
"Kenji-"
"He's only four. He's innocent, we need to save him."
"... fine. One minute and if you don't come back down with the kid then we're leaving without either of you."
"A minute is all I need. Thank you, my hero."
Hisashi stared at the destroyed vault door, seething with rage as a Meta Ability rose to his core and created smoke from his mouth.
Yoichi was... gone.
The estate was ransacked, and someone liberated his brother.
His house was destroyed, his brother was free, and Izuku was gone.
With a roar, flames rose out of his mouth and burned all of it down.
"Where is my son," Hisashi hissed, pressing his brother's face harder into the muddy ground. Yoichi's eyes were strained and reddened while his face was covered with a myriad of substances. Blood most noticeably.
"Far, far away from you," Yoichi managed to get out, struggling beneath his grasp.
"Is he with your little vigilante friend," Hisashi tightened his grip on his brother's head, as hair strands were ripped out.
It took Yoichi a fraction of a second to respond. That was all the confirmation he needed.
His brother realized this and bucked up to throw him off, scrambling in the mud to get away from him. But Hisashi noticed that the shove was noticeably weaker than it had been when they first started fighting. Weaker than the strength he gained from the Meta Ability he forced on him.
So weak was he that not even a power could fix his poor constitution.
"I'll track him down, and I'll rip his eyes from his skull," Hisashi stalked forward. "Then, I'll cut off his fingers, one by one. For daring to touch my son."
"You won't be leaving alive if I have anything to say about it," Yoichi boasted, looking disgusting and dirty but somehow still cleaner on his soul than his brother.
"We'll see about that."
It would take another holder before All for One realized his brother's power could be passed on. Even then, he refused to believe it until the fourth. How his brother managed to hide a Meta Ability from him he didn't know, but when he knew that a piece of his brother still existed after their fateful clash- where Hisashi made no mistakes in ending Yoichi's life- he hunted it down.
But the hunt began before the knowledge of One for All- and how petty of Yoichi to invert the name of Hisashi's own power for his own- to get back his son.
The vigilante whose name All for One refused to care about had hidden his precious child for over a year, running from safe house to safe house- him and his equally inferior partner.
But his luck ran out, and All for One caught up to him.
The man was nothing more than a worm, and his power was less than stellar- not even worth stripping away from him.
He had conviction however and put up one hell of a fight.
But his strength meant nothing against the might of a superior being like himself.
Unfortunately, his little partner got away. And if that one had Izuku squirreled away then All for One would just hunt him down too. It had been an entire year since he'd last seen Izuku. Enough was enough.
"Mitsu- ack," the vigilante gargled blood, turning his head weakly to the side to spit it out. "Mitsuaki wi-ill def-feat you."
He had no reason to care about the other Meta user, at least for the moment, so he focused on his prey in front of him.
Squatting down to make eye contact with the pest, he watched as the light slowly left his eyes, but before the man could pass he granted him one last chance to have it be a quick one instead of long and agonizing, "Tell me, hero. Where have you taken my son?"
The vigilante responded by lobbing a wad of bloody spit on his face.
He raised three fingers to his cheek to wipe it off in disgust.
"Wrong answer," he readied a power that would tear the man limb from limb and render him to mere atomic particles when a meek, "D-daddy?" froze him.
Standing up and turning away from the dying man, he was finally graced with the form of his lost child, the boy shivering and holding on desperately to the faded and discolored rabbit toy.
"Izuku," the vigilante behind him was all but forgotten as he rushed over to his baby.
Instead of rushing to his arms, delighted to see his father, as he would have done a year ago, his child stumbled back and away from him as he stuttered, "Why- why did you hurt Kenji-kun?"
"He doesn't matter. Why won't you come to hug me, baby? I've missed you so much."
"No, no," Izuku moaned in horror as he continued to back away. "That's not nice- you're not being nice."
"Izuku. It's time to come home," All for One followed and loomed over the boy.
"No! Home is with Uncle Ichi and- and Kenji-kun and Mitsuaki-kun, not- not a bad man like you," Izuku balled his fists and rubbed his eyes as he sobbed.
Izuku had never disobeyed him so directly. It almost made All for One wish that he had taken his time with the vigilante, stretched his death out of the course of a few weeks at the least. How did those three bastards poisoned his child's mind, turned him away from his father- and for what? To gallivant around as though they were heroes, risking their lives for people who would rather see Meta users dead?
Such behavior would not be tolerated any longer. "Izuku. I am going to count to three, and before I'm done you will come to me or I am going to make you behave."
A whimper.
"One."
Izuku sobbed and stumbled back against the wall of the safe house.
"Two."
He continued to shriek in terror at the progression of numbers.
"Three."
Izuku didn't come.
All for One took about one step, as that was all he needed to get close enough to grab Izuku's head firmly, his broken son staring up at him in terror between his broad fingers, as he hissed, "Behave."
"Izuku, precious, don't you want to play with the new toy I got you," Hisashi pushed the train car forward on the track. "See? Being away must have made you forget how to play. Just copy daddy."
His son didn't move from his place in his lap. Hisashi ignored this and continued to coo at him.
Izuku's behavior wasn't a mistake, it was a long-term investment. At the time, he had been horrified by his impulsivity to bestow a Meta Ability on his young child. Adults could hardly handle the strain of a power if they weren't born with one, and often a potential minion of his was rendered useless and lifeless by the stolen power.
His son had been no different.
At least, in the general sense. As a Shigaraki, his perfect boy was suited to handling more than one Meta Ability, if he were of an older age. And if the power had been anything else.
Behave was a power hated by its user, and had been gladly given up to Hisashi. It rendered the host completely at the mercy of those in authority, stuck having to listen to any and all orders with no autonomy; like a doll. Not very useful for someone attempting to rise to infamy in their community, but useful as a punishment for Hisashi to doll out.
It was meant to keep Izuku as well-mannered as he had been before those vigilantes and his foolish brother made him slum it out in the streets of Japan. To not disobey his father when he only wanted the best for him.
But the strain of the power, his young age, and the nature of the ability itself left him vegetative.
Hisashi was already in contact with a doctor who heavily experimented with Meta Abilities to see if they could reverse the effect of the power.
If he could steal it back he would have done so by now, but Izuku was oh so similar to his uncle. Once the ability was there, he couldn't take it back. Just the same as that pest running around with Yoichi's power. Allegedly.
Despite moving the train back and forth for him, Izuku's eyes stayed distant.
Hisashi sighed, carding a hand through his son's black curls.
A knock at the playroom's door had him pausing his movements, slipping out of the role of father into that of a crime lord.
"You may enter," All for One announced.
His newest close associate opened the door and bowed his head towards him.
"What is it," All for One adjusted his son so that he could be more comfortable on his lap. "Can't you see that I'm busy."
"My apologies, Master," Dr. Garaki said. "But I have concluded the research you asked of me."
Tilting his head away from the toy, he turned to look over his shoulder at the man, "And what have you found?"
"At this current time, it's impossible to reverse the effects of the Meta Ability on your son," the doctor informed him.
Silence. Deadly silence.
"It's in your best interest that you didn't state your uselessness so openly."
"Of course not, Master. That's why I said at this current time," Dr. Garaki didn't outwardly show any fear for his life. "The study of Meta Abilities is in its infant stages at the moment, but I have already started to see a trend, the differences between powers of older users and younger users."
All for One had long since turned back towards his precious son, as he asked, "And what differences may those be?"
"Power levels," the doctor said. "A Meta mother with a power to move magnets reproduced with a Meta man that could stick to walls. Their son can telekinetically pull objects towards his skin and make them stick."
All for One caught onto the man's theory, "So as the powers mix, more powerful ones will emerge. Building on previous generations the more Meta Abilities there are."
"And more keep popping up every day."
His broad hand lowered to his son’s chest, stigmata directly above where his little heart was beating. "Izuku will not live long enough to see that change."
"With my ability, Master-"
"No," All for One interrupted him. "I will not force another power onto Izuku. Not even a duplicate."
Garaki, ever proving that All for One never made mistakes, provided an alternative solution, "A young child came to the clinic today, able to keep organic objects in perfect stasis. His mother was desperate for the ability to... disappear."
Once more looking over his shoulder, All for One granted the man a vicious smile.
Hisashi still made sure to spoil Izuku rotten, this time doubling his efforts if Izuku so much as twitched in the same direction as something obtainable. There were no limits to what Hisashi would acquire for his treasure- for if Izuku was able to move, however minutely- then he deserved whatever it was that he wanted.
Toys, jewelry, real cars, quirks even- if Izuku's eyes fluttered over to it then Hisashi did everything he could to gift it to him.
Stasis had kept his baby eternally young, and the quirk nestled nicely amongst all the other ones in his collection. Truly, an investment worthwhile.
Hisashi often took Izuku out for walks in his stroller, all buckled up and safe while his daddy pushed him around, watching with careful eyes for anything that might make Izuku react.
Occasionally, those pesky One for All holders would show up and attempt to fight him and steal away his son. Those were the two purposes behind the generational quirk; defeat the First Users villainous brother and save the nephew.
Each one that attempted ended up dead. Especially that woman hero, Shimura. She had been particularly nasty, likely spurred on by her own maternal instincts. Ironic that she would give up her own child just to save his. Hisashi enjoyed killing her the most.
The Eighth was hunting him down, this he was aware of. So he made sure that when he and his baby were out in public no one would recognize him. Often that meant ducking into stores for a moment while a hero on patrol passed by.
It was on one such moment of dodging those overrated public defenders that he left the stroller unattended for a moment, still within view of his peripheral naturally. The shop was rather large and held a variety of toys, disgustingly most were hero-based. In over two hundred years, his son had not had a single thing hero based and it would remain that way until-
"Aren't you adorable," a woman cooed, appearing from the corner of his eye beside his stroller. "I saw you looking at this plushy, would you like this, sweetie?"
He stormed back towards the woman, ready to tell her to back off when he saw a tiny hand reach up and tug on the plush rabbit.
The woman, short and plain-looking with long green hair, smiled at Izuku and then glanced up when spotting him. Flustered she rose up and adjusted her cardigan, "Is he yours? I'm so sorry, I saw him looking at the toy and I just went and bought it for him- I should have asked first, please forgive me!"
"No need to apologize," and truly there wasn't. That was the most Izuku has moved in decades. He leaned over to peer down at his baby, locked up again, but this time with the rabbit pressed against his cheek underneath his crossed arms. He can understand why he had wanted it, the one Yoichi had given him was reduced to tatters many years ago. "Not even I can say no to him."
She relaxed, and brought a hand to her cheek, telling him sweetly, "I can see why, your son is so handsome! And so well behaved!"
"Thank you," Hisashi was pleased with her responses thus far, glad that she could recognize Izuku's superiority over all other children his age.
"He has such dark curls, does he take after his mother?" she asked, curiosity brimming in her eyes, but clearly testing to see if she was stepping over any boundaries.
"His mother?" Hisashi took a moment to think. Not about that egg-donor, he hardly cared about that woman. No, he thought long and hard about who was in front of him. Hisashi held absolutely no attraction to anyone in his entire time existing, and the same could be said for this woman in front of him. Rather, he thought about how Izuku had moved to accept the gift, how even now, his eyes were staring at her and not through her like he did everything else.
She had gotten Izuku to come to life again.
And he told the lie once before, now he only needed to inverse it, "I'm afraid she wanted nothing to do with either of us. My son, Izuku, has always had developmental issues but once she found out he was quirkless, she wanted to get rid of him. But I could never do that to my baby. It's been a year since she divorced me and gave up all rights to him."
He threw in a couple of fake tears and did his best to look devastated. Predictably, just as Yoichi had, the woman gasped in horror, and even her own eyes started to water in a way that reminded him of Izuku when he was younger.
"What a horrible thing to do," she wiped a stray tear away with the back of her hand. "I'm so sorry..."
"Shigaraki Hisashi," he introduced, bowing his head.
"Midoriya Inko," she returned the favor. Then she looked down at Izuku and gave him a kind smile, "And you must be Izuku-kun."
And then Izuku smiled.
And Inko became an investment.
He married her as soon as he could, not wanting to waste years and have her question how a quirkless child could never age. Marriage came with the benefit of a new name, a new house, and someone who could take care of Izuku while he hunted down All Might.
When he entered the cozy, if small, apartment, and heard childish giggling, and his wife's voice going, "Do you wanna go again?"
"A-again."
"Then up we go!"
He entered the den and saw Inko picking up Izuku and spinning in a circle, his son laughing happily away.
She noticed him watching his son with a fond smile, cheering, "Hisashi! Welcome home!"
Inko approached and he leaned down so that she could give him a kiss, but he only had eyes for his son, who had frozen again, but looking happier than he had in years, his new rabbit plush in the crook of his arms and life to his eyes that Hisashi had missed so much.
Just as he always knew, he never made mistakes. Past-Hisashi knew that Izuku would need a mother figure in his life, and forcing Behave onto his son led to the scene that future-Hisashi had witnessed, and all the other ones that had happen and would happen.
And as soon as he killed All Might and ended the chain of One for All forever, everything would be perfect. Just as he clearly foresaw.