Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I love you", All for One whispered into her ear, arms wrapping around her waist, face buried into the crook of her neck.

Inko shivered in his grasp, feeling tears fall down her face, "If you love me, then why did you do this?" she sobbed, voice raw with cries.

Inko was strewn across the stump that was once the great willow Tree, passed down from her mother to her. She was supposed to keep the tree safe; she was supposed to never let any harm come to the heart of the forest, but it was gone, she watched her lover chop it down with his axe.

"Because I wanted you to be with me" Hisashi replied lovingly pulling away Inko as she desperately tried to hold on to the stump, "Now we can be together forever, you'll never want for anything my love" he cooed picking her up bridal style.

"You've killed me!" Inko shrieked, struggling in his grip. "You killed the tree, I will follow afterwards, we can never be together!" she sobbed loudly while the empty feeling grew in her chest like a twisted vine.

Hisashi had the gull to laugh, "My dear I would never kill you" he admitted, holding a branch of her tree in one hand well effortlessly holding her in another. "As long as I have a piece of your magic that can remain, you will always be alive"

Inko's breath clenched as she stared in horror at the branch that glowed soft emerald green; the realisation set in as he kissed her forehead.

"Inko, your mine, and I'll never let you go" he promised, moving out of the clearing where the desolate remains of the willow tree slowly wither away behind them.

Toshinori hadn’t cried this much since Nana died.

Gran hadn’t said a word, flying away from the sight of the decimated willow tree that once was the heart of the forest, reduced to nothing but sticks.

Whoever had attacked this tree did so with passion.

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry Inko” He whispered over and over again, he had one job, to protect Inko, and he had failed.

She was gone, there was no way she could have survived this, she died cold, injured and alone at that hunter’s mercy. It had to have been the hunter who did this, no other person could have had the motive and knowledge to destroy something so vital to the forest.

Toshinori breathed in her lingering scent, remembering her smile as she sand, and the way the sun glittered on her green hair as she danced. Toshinori started singing her song, it was off key and was interrupted by rough sobs, but he sang anyway.

Until the newest ring of the tree stump began to glow.

Toshinori quickly pushed off the stump just into to watch the stump surface crack and snap before a sapling pushed its way out of the wood. Rising up, twisting around in a mock dance as the fragile branches formed into a cradle, fresh willow leaves covering up something inside.

Toshinori watch in astonishment as the new tree finished it dance, the bright glow dimming down until it was a faint twinkle.

And then a baby’s cry was heard.

Toshinori slowly made his way over to the cradle, carefully brushing aside the willow branches to see watery round green eye staring up at him.

Inko’s eyes.

“oh” was all he said as the realisation set in, he had no idea Inko had…

The baby stopped crying at the sight of the other forest sprite, not quite smiling but not crying anymore. Slowly Toshinori reached out his finger, gasping slightly when the baby reached up, his little hand could barely fit around Toshinori finger.

Izuku, the forest whispered, in a mimic of Inko’s voice.

“Hello Izuku” Toshinori greeted with a watery smile, gently shaking the little boy’s hand.

Izuku giggled back.

Eight years later.

Izuku trailed down the dimly lit halls of the palace, feeling lost in the ornate corridors. Every now and again, a human would walk past, sometimes they would carry items, but most of the time, they were empty-handed. Izuku would have to quickly duck behind the large furniture, as to not be spotted. 

Toshinori warned him what would happen if he was found by humans; they would destroy his tree, just like they had done to his mother. After that, they would take him somewhere far away to be their slave. Izuku suppressed a shiver as he held his tree staff closer to his chest; as soon as he finds answers, he would leave. 

Izuku was half human, Toshinori had told him that it wouldn’t have mattered in the long run, when he comes of age he will shed his humanity and become a guardian spirit of the willow tree, just like his mother before him. But what Toshi failed to notice or acknowledge, was that Izuku wanted to live as a human being, or at the very least learn how they work. It wasn’t going to be for forever, just for a little while, which was why he was in this amazing castle anyway.

Problem was he might have bitten of more then he could chew because now every guard was trying to look for the intruder that had entered the castle without permission. AKA Izuku.

Izuku peaked around a corner, checking for any humans before he made his way down the hall. This hallway looked different from the others; there was only one bi-fold door at the very end that was ornately decorated. Izuku slowly walked up to the door laying a hand on the wooden surface; as pretty as it was, it was a dead end. So, he turned around, attempting to go down another hall. 

But heavy footsteps echoed down the other hall, much more disturbing than a mere servant; it sounded like iron armour clacking down the corridors. 

'That must be a guard, I gotta hide,' Izuku fretted, looking around frantically for furniture to hide behind. But the hallway lacked any large vase or unnecessary couches, but it did have that large door at the end. 

Without a second thought, Izuku spun around, giving the large door a hearty tug. His heart thumped in his chest as the footsteps got closer as he struggled with all his might to open the door. 

Soon the door slowly creaked open enough for Izuku to squeeze through, careful not to get his staff stuck. Once through, he hurriedly closed the door behind him, only allowing himself to relax when he heard the door click shut. Breathing heavily, he listened to what the guards were doing on the other side of the door, but he couldn't even hear the footstep anymore. 

Izuku slowly backed away from the door, looking around the room for the first time. It was large, with a stately king-size bed in the middle with expensive black, white, and red silk sheets, pillows and drapes neatly made. The furniture looked elegant, hand-made to perfection, clearly having taken many hours to complete.

The room had four other doors attached, leading to another area with several columns holding a dome roof that hung a crystal chandler. The walls were lined with a white pearl pattern, a candlelit on every second space giving the room an ethereal look in the dark.

Izuku felt out of place in the elegant room, with his simple clothes and humble appearance. He held his wooden staff with an iron grip, little feet careful not to make too much sound as he explored the room. 

"Wow," he couldn't help but gasp, looking around the room with wide eyes. "I wonder who sleep in here?" he muttered to himself, slowly walking around. 

Until he stopped. His breath catches in his throat; as he spotted a large portrait of a face; he knew all too well but had never seen. 

A face many in the forest though had died eight years ago, there, painted in incredible detail, was Inko Midoriya, the former willow spirit and Izuku mother.

She was as beautiful as Izuku remembered; half of her green hair styled in an elegant updo, with the rest falling around her shoulders like willow branches. She was wearing a red and black floor-length dress, modest but clearly was made for her frame. White gold jewel hugging her neck and shoulders like a chain, well similar colour embroidered pattern lined the flowy skirt. 

Resting on her head was a black spiked crown, making it look like there was a halo around her. 

She looked like a queen, but she also looked sad.

She was barely smiling, holding a young boy who had to be around Izuku's age. He wasn't smiling at all, also wearing red and black formal attire and a small black crown resting on top of grey-blue hair. behind both of them was a man, a back crown resting stark against his white hair; he was tall, almost as tall as Toshinori, he had one hand on the boy's shoulder and the other around his mother waist, holding them both close. He was wearing a black expensive militaristic uniform, a dark cape resting on his shoulders; out of the three, he was smiling the widest. 

It was the hunter, Izuku had seen him in his memories as well, most of them where sweet, except for the last one, the one where he had supposedly killed his mother. This man didn’t look like a hunter though, he looked like a king, but Izuku knew him by another name, unfortunately.

The title would have sent a shiver down Izuku's spine if he wasn't so caught up with looking at his missing mother, he only had the memory of her given to him by the rings of the willow tree. Sometimes when he dreamed he could feel her holding him in her arms, her soft voice following him into consciousness.

But this was the closest he had ever seen her in person before.

But this was only a painting, and Izuku strength was fading. He needed to get back to the forest, he had been away to long. But the fact that she was there, that she had been painted long after she should have perished meant the maybe, just maybe, she was still alive.

In the moment, Izuku had already made up his mind, he would go back to the forest, tell Toshinori and Gran and come back to the castle to get his mother back, and reunite her with the forest.

"I will come back and free you Mother, I promise.” Izuku whispered.

Without thinking, he reached a small hand up to gently graze the picture frame. He couldn't reach up to the painted face, but he could brush the bottom of the skirt; for a moment, he pictured that he was the young boy she was holding so close. 

That moment shattered when Izuku heard a deep hum from behind him; he quickly turned around, feeling his heart drop when he saw a large man looking down at him.

White hair, red eyes, the same man that held his mother in the painting, the same man

"Did you say, Mother?" The man asked as his face split open into a wide smile, this time it did send a shiver down the young spirits spine.

His father had caught him.

Chapter Text

All for One smiled at him, it was calm and a little sad. It was the type of smile a parent gave to a child, oblivious to the dangerous of the world. Where they love their child’s innocents; but loathed the day when they found out the truth. The rain pelted around his silhouette, making a halo. Standing on top of a pile of scraps his coat blowing gracefully in the ragging winds, he looked almost divine, a god among men.

“He’s a monster’

only to to some

Izuku stared up at him, his eyes felt heavy, and he was positive he had broken a rib. The mud and blood clung to him like a parasite, sucking away his warmth, as the hands of the replicant holding him to his knees continued to dig into his fracted shoulder. The rain had drenched his hair, blocking most of his vision, a rattling cough erupted from deep in his chest, blood splattering on the ground in front of him.

“Oh you, poor, little child” He consoled mockingly, his dress shoes clacking down the steps as he descended down from the scrap pile, unbothered by mud and gunk. “How lonely you must have been” All for One lamented, as he neared Izuku level. “Struggling to breath, in the flood of blood and filth, of those beneath us!” he exclaimed with a hiss, stopping just in front of the boy.

“What?” Izuku chocked out, his voice hoarse from exhaustion, his mouth was dry and tasted like ash.

‘why did I come here? What was I thinking?’

I wanted answers 

All for One squatted down in front of him, his blood-stained hand reach forward to Izuku face. Izuku pulled back, but the replicant guard hand took a fist full of his hair, stopping his movement, and gripping the green hair in a painful grid lock.

All for One hand gentle reached up and caressed Izuku cheek, smearing the blood of his fellow fallen Bladerunner on to his face, mixing it in with the dirt and sweat. Izuku tried to squirm away, but the grip was just too strong, holding him in place as All for One thumb brushed away some of the mud under Izuku’s eyes.

“There is such emotion in your eye… I almost though that you where human when I first saw you” All for One remarked, dragging Izuku face closer. “Almost” he added softly, artificial fingers methodically moving around Izuku face, as if to memorise every small detail of his features.

“I. am. human” Izuku gritted back feeling, some blood pool in his mouth, that trickled down his chin and splattered on the muddy floor beneath them.

The Man just hummed; their faces so close that their nose brushed together. “Then tell me Izuku, why does your left eye never show your emptions” All for One purred, his sad smile stretching into a wicked grin.

“My right one does, my left has a defect, nothing more” Izuku shot back, because if he were a replicant, he would know…. He’s only ever failed the test with his left eye, never his right.

‘I’ve only failed on purpose.’

 A failure is still a failure.

His left has always had a defect, an inability to show what he’s feeling, a problem with the way the muscles contracts. But that defect has gotten him so far, it’s given him trust by the replicants, it’s given him access to places no human has ever gone.

Izuku can see the confusion, the misunderstanding it could create. But he’s human, he always been human, he hates and loves and cries and smiles. How can that not make him human; how can he not be his mother son…..

‘Mum gave birth to me, I know she did’

who’s your father Izuku?

“I’m human, replicants can’t be born” he heaves out before spitting on All for One face, “did you forget that?”

All for One doesn’t even flinch, casually wiping away the bloodied saliva trickling down his nose, almost robotically. “Is that the only thing that separates us?” he replied fingers smearing the spit on his suit jacket. “What a refreshing change of views, then I suppose you really are human after all” All for One cracked a smile lifting Izuku up by the chin.

“Wh…what.” Izuku sputtered out heart thumping in his chest, confused by All for One sudden agreement.

A pause “If giving life is what makes us human, then I have become human, thus you are human”. The blood was pounding in his ears, over lapping with the sound of shorter and shorter breathing. “Your existence alone has given me a soul, how wonderful” All for One voice was mellow, almost sweet.

Izuku skin prickled under All for Ones hands, his head felt light, the edges of this vision were smudged with black.

“What do you mean?”

It stopped raining; it should still be raining.

“…What do you think I mean, Izuku?”

Something wrong with my body.

“What are you?”

I’m human.

“I’m your father”.

Right?

Izuku felt his breath against his lungs, and the tears running down his cheeks, he could feel them. But at the same time, he couldn’t, he couldn’t feel anything. The ground was gone, his heart was numb, everything felt fake, manufactured.

“Am I….?” Izuku slurred out, vision fading fast, he wasn’t sure if he finished his question.

All for One slightly exhaled in amusement, “time to go to sleep” he stated hand reaching forward.

Then everything switched off.

It was always dark outside, the noise never stopped, the lights never turned off but at some point the city became… unsafe, feral. That’s when you knew night had fallen.

It was in that time of uncertainty and fear when Izuku woke up. Well, at least he thought he woke up it was hard to tell if he had or if he had simply gained consciousness. Much like asking does a computer wake up or just turn on, is there ever a state of grogginess for a computer, that blissful moment of being awake yet unaware of the world.

Izuku didn’t have that moment. He woke up knowing everything that had just transpired before he had lost consciousness, and he knew that he was at the mercy of All for One. The place he had woken up was different though, it was sleek and clean, filled with minimal yet high quality furniture. The bed he laid in was soft, but not soft enough to sink into, just to cradle his body, it was the right temperature as well.

Izuku scramble off it quickly, legs buckling as he slipped on the bed sheet, sending him tumbling to the black marble floor. His body felt strangely light as he rose, the white clothes were loose on his frame, stark against the black floor.

Izuku fingers brushed over the bandage on his collarbone, his injuries had been bad, he should have felt some kind of pain, but instead all he felt was unnatural numbness, and not the type that comes out of medication. Izuku looked at the back of the room, a wall to wall mirror stretched out, displaying him in his post dishevelled state. The first observation was someone had tried to bring a comb to his hair, the curls had been brushed out and trimmed, the second was at some point in his sleep he had been bathed, changed and patched up, the trickle of embarrassment dripped down his spine at the cold violation he had been put through. 

Izuku breathed, in and out; feeling the cool air circle around his lungs before hot air brushed past his lips. 

Breathing made him feel human….

The room was large, but mainly empty, the perfect bed sat dead in the middle; the centre piece of the room. Off to the side sat a pair of chairs and a table, sitting close to the left wall, the silver chairs pressed far to close to the wall, leaving Izuku with a sense of wrong.

On the right side there was a clock casually reminding Izuku time was of the essence and Izuku had wasted enough of it. The boy wobbled over to the front wall where the door blended almost seamlessly into the white walls, the control panel glowed, tauntingly. He tried several combinations.

ERROR

ERROR

ERROR

Over and over, Izuku tried every single time the red flashed and the harsh sound barked against the sterile room. It made his teeth clench in frustration, as sweat ruined the cleanse of his skin.

Just before Izuku tried his ninth try, the control panel flashed green. Giving Izuku a second a euphoria well the door opened to reveal All for One casually standing on the other side.

“Not even five minutes awake and you’re ready to leave, are children always this impatient?” All for one asked genuinely, pushing Izuku away from the opening like some replicated animal that wasn’t obeying orders.

The door casually slipped back into place leaving Izuku trapped alone with an immortal machine. “You have to forgive my curiosity, replicants are never children, we come into the world with everything already set up for us. Our definition for existing is as clear as our model, so the very fact that you are a child who has no model or pretext for existing is… fascinating”

The silence that followed that statement was deafening.

“What am I?” Izuku asked after the silence, All for One tilted his head with a raised brow. “How can something like this even be possible”  he asked mostly himself.

There was no denying the truth when it had been building up for such a long time, but he could look for answers. 

“Well that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it Izuku” All for one chuckled. “I’m sure scholars will be writing about the possibilities of your sole existence for decades” he hummed wistfully, strolling over to the silver chairs that sat of the left side of the room.

With a flick of his hand the wall faded away to reveal a window that took up the entire wall. The city stretched over the horizon, the glitter of lights mimicking stars long lost to the thick fog.

“But scholars can argue all they want, what you believe your existence means holds far more weight then any empty book” All for one added scathingly, sitting down on one of the silver chairs. The replicant casually gestured to the other chair, a curious twinkle in his manufactured eyes.

Izuku stared at All for One ruefully, not moving despite the open invitation, “I thought I knew what I was, but know I’m not so sure” Izuku answer truthfully, looking past the man to the metal jungle in the distance. “My whole life I thought of others, their own needs and desires; Kacchan and his goals, mum and her struggles, my need felt secondary to them” Izuku paused, licking dry lips. 

“Do you think that if you focused on yourself more you would have figured out about your heritage sooner?” All for one asked, the sound of a glass bottle popping open and the brown contents being poured out into a clear glass.

Izuku blinked lethargically, “does it matter in the end, I have found out now, would finding out earlier have even mattered if the result would have been the same in the end?” He asked carefully coming closer to the silver chair, both cold and inviting.

“Like tears in the rain” All for One answered cryptically, lips being pulled around the rim of the glass as the brown liquid disappeared down his throat, the sound of pleasure drumming off him sounding so human.

“I’m more curious on how this could have even been possible, replicants can’t be born, but I exist” Izuku paused as he finally took the his seat in the silver chair over looking the city, a silent surrender. “You said my existence alone makes you human, but can I even be considered a human anymore? Am I even my mother son, or just a clone of you?” he bit out, his fingers nails pricking he skin on his hands.

All for One placed the glass down with the grating clink of glass on metal, “you’re more then a clone” the oldest replicant in history stated like it was undisputed fact. “You are a new being entirely, and that makes you all the more exciting, a child conceived of two worlds, creating something never before seen”, he serenade happily.

“And how on earth did these two worlds collide?” Izuku almost snapped, fed up with half truths, what ifs and maybes.

Tonight he would get his answers.

All for One softly smiled down at the boy as the city behind then buckled under the weight of it own torment. “Well” he spoke with a wistful chuckle, “it begins like every story, a man wanted something bigger then himself” he began, the tale he had told a thousand times.

But this time, for better or for worse, the story now had a different ending.

Chapter Text

Red eyes. White hair. No freckles. It felt wrong, so very wrong.

Izuku brushed the hair out of his eyes gazing at his reflection made his heart sink, it felt like he was staring at a stranger, but he supposed that was the point.

Large hands gently placed themselves onto his shoulders given the familiarity of that particular gesture Izuku didn't flinch, not even a shiver. Red eyes lazily looked away from the stranger that resided in the mirror to a much more familiar face, who smiled. 

"Amazing what a change of colour can do,"  All for one remarked, while his hands give Izuku's shoulders a comforting squeeze. "I know this must seem strange, but don't worry, it's not forever, give it a year people will move on, and I can change it back then." It was meant to sound reassuring, that things will eventually go back to normal. But Izuku knew better to think his life was going to go back to normal.

His eyes scanned All for One's reflection, and back to his own, he did this several times. Before coming to the realisation that he looked like the man, he suppressed a heavy sigh, he was going to miss his green eyes and hair. The same green that his mum had… Izuku pushed down the ache in his chest at the image of his mum smiling.

“I look like you” Izuku hissed as All for One played with his hair, Izuku wasn’t quite ready to shrug the guy off, just like the man he was also pretty touched starved. The months all alone on the streets had left him unprepared for the sheer craving any touch inflicted, even from a person Izuku rather be fifty feet away from him.

“I know, my face is less recognisable then yours at the moment, so this is much easier to do if I was going to pass you off as my son” All for One casually stated, playing with the length of Izuku hair and seeing if it could be shorter.

Izuku open his mouth slightly, unsure “aren’t I already your son?” The words felt foreign in his mouth, everything else the man did felt so familiar, but that felt wrong.

All for One hummed slightly, “this is easier” he responded, not quite answering, but Izuku could see the way the older villains eyes flickered to the side, as he curled around a piece of Izuku hair.

‘Things were easier when we didn’t know we were related’ Izuku mentally mused, finally having enough of All For One touch.

"Are you done?" Izuku shrugged off the man's hands, he knew that this was necessary after the stunt he pulled with Mr Yagi and Kacchan. But he didn't require All for one's help to do something that could very easily be replicated with hair dye, makeup and contacts. All for one didn't see it that way but instead ushered him into the bathroom. Using a quirk to change his hair, eyes and skin with the reasoning that this was faster, cleaner and longer lasting than his method.

"I was going to cut your hair, but I think it looks fine as it is," All for one hummed running a hand through his own white hair. "So I suppose your free!" All for one exclaimed giving Izuku hair a quick ruffle before exiting the bathroom, just to annoy the child, Izuku gave one glance back at the stranger in the mirror before following.

“Do you think it’s wise to your quirks right now? The damage to your quirk factor was pretty severe” Izuku asked with no pity, watching as All For One flexed his hands at the door frame of the bathroom.

He gave Izuku a painful smile, “better then nothing” the man replied back with a bite, Izuku chose to ignore the insult. Opting to stalk over the the luggage and check if his note books were still there.

The apartment they were temporally living in was small and bare, all the clothes and belongings had been packed into two small suitcases. Izuku was 85% sure was only for actually getting to their next location before eventually getting discarded when things get stable.

"We'll be leaving in a couple of hours, so I think it will be wise to get some rest" All for one casually explained with his back facing Izuku.

"Where are we going?" Izuku asked for the twentieth time, All for one looked over his shoulder at Izuku before signing.

"You'll find out soon, Izuku" All for one dismissed with a wave of his hand. Izuku pushed down the urge to peg the nearest hard object at the man's head, honestly, was it so hard to say the name of the city?

"Why wait, what are you hiding?" Izuku probed, in a blink of an eye All for one was in front of him, a hint of annoyance in his features, All for one was hiding something, and Izuku wasn't really sure why? Why was their next location so secretive?

All for one looked at him for the longest time with cold eyes, but Izuku knew better. He knew better than to be intimidated because at the end of the day they need each other. All for one was at a fraction of his original power, and a simple C-lister could knock him down with a well timed punched. Izuku had been the run after his side business turned into main business before getting captured, he expected prison, he hadn’t expected the lab.

The lab was a little place where people with interesting powers or genetics were sent; where they would be put through increasingly horrific experiments to test their abilities and limits. Anyone between little four year old with freaky quirks to old titans like All for One were on the chopping block, the only difference was with the experimenting. Izuku had been the only quirkless person there, but for some reason his genetic make up had put him on the list. Probably his biological relationship with All For One, looking back, it had been on his file after all. But while Izuku had thankfully only spent a few months in that horror show, All for One had spent the last fourteen years in that place, subjected to anything and everything. 

Such things left scars unfortunately, one being, permanent damage to his quirk factor.

All for One rolled his neck, the crack made Izuku squirm. “Patient Izuku, as your elder I’ll be responsible for your safety, you don’t need to worry about anything at the moment” The villain deflected again.

‘As your elder, not as your father’ Izuku thought, it made sense All For One hadn’t been very happy to learn that Izuku was his child. After almost a decade and a half of no control over anything, to learn he had a unplanned child before his imprisonment was the cherry on top of the disaster cake. 

None the less, All For One was still open to the idea, as long it was done his way. 

Izuku scowled, “no, you don’t get to just shuffle me into silence like the lab-“

“I’m nothing like that place!” The demon king snarled, towering over the boy. Izuku took a step back hand reaching to the knife on his waist, All for One sighed, back off. “I’m keeping you safe, you’ll understand more when you get there” he added more controlled voice, turning away from Izuku and slumping down into the one chair provided “get some sleep”.

All for One tone left no room for arguing as he turned of the floor lamp, leaving the room semi dark. “Fine, I’m getting some sleep then…you should as well” Izuku replied, wearily edging around All For One to his supplied bed, he pealed the cover off and half crawled under it. 

All for One watched the boy carefully as Izuku stiffly settle down, a minute past and All For One didn’t move. ‘I can’t do this’ Izuku scowled.

“All For One” Izuku asked sitting up, The villain blinked at him, focusing on the boy instead of blindly staring at him. “I want you to know, that if you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy” Izuku stated with his most serious tone, “and I don’t think either of us need that at the moment”.

Silence stressed between them for a few seconds.

“Pffft” All for one wheezed, face cracking into a wide smile as he struggled to control his laugh. 

“Hey, i’m serious!” Izuku barked as All for One shoulder shook in amusement.

“Sorry my boy, but I can’t take you seriously with your baby face” All for one slapped the arm chair, “you don’t have the face of a villain, yet” he added getting off the chair and happily striding over to the bed.

All For One casually pushed Izuku down to the bed and pulled the covers up to the boy’s chin, tucking in the edges around the boy. “I’m not your enemy Izuku, I’m just not quite sure what our next step is going to be, the worlds changed a lot” he sat on the side of the bed, much like how Izuku mum did when he was little.

“I can help, really I just need you to trust me more” Izuku replied, staring up at the man as a car outside illuminated his face briefly, it looked tired.

All for One reached forward and bushed some of Izuku hair away, “it complicated Izuku, but I need you to trust me, I promise you I’m not taking you anywhere bad, just…” all for One paused, “I’m going to see if a person I’ve known for a long time is still alive, if he is then things will get a lot easier” All for One hinted, leaning back on his hands.

“And if he isn’t?”

All for One huffed, “then we have quite a journey ahead of us, but I don’t want to get your hopes up”

Izuku felt his eye drooping, “ok, but if your lying I won’t hesitate to ditch you, father or not”. He warned, the knife heavy under the blanket.

All for one didn’t answer at first, but he smiled briefly “spoken like a true villain” he huffed out amusingly.

Izuku didn’t answer, opting to roll over and close his eyes as All for One moved away to the desk again. 

An hour later Izuku felt something heavy close around him, he squinted in the dark room, seeing All for One silhouette shuffling Izuku into a bear hug, before falling asleep almost immediately.

Izuku opted to ignore the action, as he had also had trouble falling asleep on his own.

Izuku stared up at an old building in the middle of nowhere, it was old, the design dating back to pre-quirk era. However it had had several renovations over the century, as the building had been cared for, was still standing and in over all one piece.

After travelling all day on various modes of transport, from plane, trains, and finally hitch hiking. With a short walk up the hill they had ended up in the middle of nowhere with a lone house that All for One had happily explained that it was his old childhood home. 

‘I should have ditched this man’ Izuku thought holding the suitcase in one hand.

“Hopefully the codes are the same, it’s been a long time” All for One stated walking to the door, glancing at Izuku bewildered reaction at bring him to a little house in the middle of nowhere. “It’s more impressive inside, promise” he added, typing in the code.

A sound of success echoed around as the door clicked open, “God I hope he’s still here” All for One muttered, turning around, “Come on Izuku we don’t have all day” he ushered.

Izuku didn’t say anything but hiked up the suitcase and follow All for One inside. True to the man word the inside was much nicer, it wasn’t even covered in dust or anything, it look increasingly homey.

The only thing out of place was an metal elevator shoved into a wall, “this place goes down almost five floor” All for One explained, placing the bag down in the hallway, looking around. “When all else failed this was the place we kept falling back on” he added more wistfully.

“We?” Izuku asked.

Just then the elevator binged and casually opened, only for a man to shoot out of elevator before it opened completely. Long white hair fell over a familiar face, the man in simple clothes skidding to a stop in front of the duo, panting like he had just ran a marathon. 

Izuku eyes widened “Uncle Yoichi!?” 

All for One’s eyes widened, “What did you say!?” 

Yoichi widened at the both of them “You’re both alive!?” 

The room fell into silence, as the three looked between each other with bewilderment. 

“Tea, anyone?” They all said at once.