"Are you done playing Heroes and Villains, son?"

What once was a seemingly harmless question towards the end of playtime, now seemed like a call to give up.

"Come now, let's go home and have dinner."

Once a plea to go and rest, now a demand to give in.

Izuku isn't sure how he missed this, but maybe he already knew and just ignored it. In his defense, he hadn't heard the man's voice in such a long time, and the fear his mere presence instills was nothing like the loving father he remembered from his past.

He also isn't completely sure how they got to this point.

They had been ambushed.

He had left for their sake and yet, here were some of his friends, adamant that they needed to know what was going on with him. Apparently, the letters he left were not enough for them. He was trying to get them to leave, to stop following him. He even called in the pros he was with to come and deal with them while he continued his self-imposed mission.

That's when they found themselves surrounded. It just happened so quickly. They were ready to fight it out when that unfortunately familiar purple gate opened in front of Izuku.

He stepped back as he watched that imposing figure step through, the presence bringing images of death once more. But, once those had subsided, if he hadn't known that presence, he'd have thought this was-

"Uncle?"

Of course, Kacchan recognized the man too. Undeniably, the man's face, which now had been fully restored by some force, was his father's face. But why?

"Are you done playing Heroes and Villains, son?"

Ah. The voice was very much what he could remember from childhood, all those times playing in the park. Izuku did love to play Heroes and Villains, but now it's just a cruel declaration of the truth of things.

Maybe it was a trick, but it felt like the truth. Too many things just lined up. He stopped seeing anything of his father around the same time All Might got his injury. Quirkless as a fifth generation was almost unheard of. When his father would show him new little quirks to write about, and then tell him to keep it a secret…

Ok, maybe that last one was the giveaway, but in his defense, he was maybe four years old! He couldn't have known then his father was a supervillain, and it's not like he thought back on those times much now.

"Come now, let's go home and have dinner," the man reached a hand towards Izuku.

He wanted to tell the man that he'd never go home with him again, that he'd make sure he couldn't hurt anyone anymore. But-

"Deku-kun?"

Isn't this the kind of opportunity he was looking for anyway? A way to get closer to this person, and to save Shigaraki somehow? It's not quite what he had imagined originally, but the man came to him, and maybe he could swing it to save those with him.

"Why?"

Izuku's not completely sure why that's what he blurted out just then, but there were a lot of meanings behind it in the end.

Why had he come for him now? Why should he ever go with him? Why did this person think it was ok to disappear from his life in the first place? Why was he this villain?

"Wouldn't it be better to discuss this over some ice cream?"

And isn't that a weird thought. Getting ice cream with his father after so many years, who also happened to be the boogey man of the underworld.

"I need you to guarantee everyone's safety."

"Midoriya!"

"Of course, you're all that I want," the man smiled.

"I need to see it with my own eyes first."

And with the snap of his fingers, the villains around them disappeared. With that, Izuku took one last look at his friends and grinned.

"I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Don't you dare, Deku!"

"I'm done playing now, let's go get dinner," Izuku said, turning back to the man.

Before anyone could react, Izuku took All for One's hand, his father's hand, and disappeared into the purple gate.