Authors Note: So this was requested of me by a frequent reader and it brewed in my brain into this. So here we are. I own nothing.

What Could Have Been

A smile crossed his face as his daughter bounced up to him from where she'd been chatting with her mother. Forest green hair curled around her small form already so long, she hated getting her hair cut. Bright green eyes sparkled at him as she grabbed hold of his pant leg.

"Papa! I know what I want to be when I grow up!" He smiled wider scooping her up into his arms.

"Oh? You're only three little Izu, don't grow up so fast on me. Your Papa can't handle his baby girl growing up so fast." Izumi giggled as he lightly tickled her, stepping over to Inko and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"No, but I already know what I want to be!" He held up a finger to her lips, she pouted but obeyed.

"Let me guess. You want to be a nurse like your mother?" Izumi shook her head looking excited at the prospect of a guessing game.

"Nope!" She bounced a little in his arms, he suppressed a laugh.

"Hmmm." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Then you must want to be in business like your papa!" She shook her head again bouncing some more.

"No! I wanna be a hero!" His twitch went blessedly unnoticed by the other two. Izumi was too busy expounding on how she was going to be a hero just like All Might, how she would be the best hero there had ever been and keep everyone safe. His smile didn't waver as he turned checking the clock on the stove.

"Well it looks like this little hero is up past her bedtime." Izumi pouted and began to protest but he cut her off. "I know Mama let you stay up so you could see me come home. But even heroes need rest." Inko nodded backing him up and reaching out to take her from him. He shook his head. "I've got her for tonight Inko. After all you said Mitsuki invited you out right?" Inko nodded and kissed their daughter on the cheek then kissed him and headed out. He turned back to Izumi and set about getting her ready for bed.

He stood in the doorway of the dark room. Now that he was sure his daughter was asleep he frowned. A hero, she couldn't have wanted to be literally anything else could she? He cursed All Might under his breath careful not to be to loud and wake his child. First Nana, now her successor. Would the world never stop, never give up this ideal of a hero. This worship of their symbol of peace. But he could speak none of this around Inko or Izumi. Inko didn't know after all. Who he really was, what he really did when he left them, they could never know, he wouldn't allow it. He clenched and unclenched his fist.

But to let her chase her dream, to let his little Izu become a hero. He couldn't allow that either. It would put her in too much danger, from him and others like him. Others who saw what this society was, rotten to the core. But he couldn't stand in her way. There was another way though.

Soft as a shadow he slipped all the way into his daughter's room. She was fast asleep. He knew from experience that no force in the world could wake her now. She had always been a heavy sleeper, something he now thanked his lucky stars for. He knelt down next to her bed and gently placed his hand on her face. He could feel her quirk, a tiny spark, not quite ready to reach for the light of day just yet. It would have been impressive. It was a mix of their quirks, his and Inko's. But not the one he'd claimed to have, the one he had according to the rest of the world as Hizashi Midoriya. If he allowed it to flourish his little Izu would be able to pull other peoples powers into her as her mother pulled small objects to herself. She wouldn't be able to keep them long term but she would be able to use the quirk of anyone near her. If he allowed it she would grow immensely powerful.

With a gentle motion he felt her quirk sever from her and join with his, but something wasn't right. He'd never taken the quirk of someone so young before, a quirk that hadn't even manifested yet. It seemed to twist between them for an instant before it vanished from existence entirely. A light snuffed out before it could ever shine. He closed his eyes for a moment then Izumi groaned and squirmed. Her face was warm and she was starting to sweat. Her normally bright green eyes were glassy as they opened.

"Papa, I don't feel so good." He hushed her and began to care for her. Her fever from the after effects of him destroying her unmanifested quirk lasted three days. He wasn't sure if he would have given the quirk back if he could, or if he should just give her one of his other innumerable quirks, something small and harmless, something that couldn't be used to become a hero like the rest of them. But he didn't really have one of those and after those three stressful days her fever broke and she was back to herself, bouncing around and smiling, the happiest of children. She was completely unaware of the future he had snatched from her. But there were other things to think about now. All Might was becoming more and more popular, was being given more and more leeway to roam the city as a hero stopping anyone he deemed was doing wrong.

He could not allow Inko or Izumi to be found. He would not see the looks on their faces if they were to ever find out who he truly was. He would not see the world turn on them because of him. So one day before Izumi's fourth birthday he approached his wife.

"I've been offered a very lucrative position working abroad."

He looked back at the apartment building one last time from the shadows of a nearby alley. He would never be back here. Not until he could kill the symbol of peace.

"Master?" The voice came from a bit deeper in the shadows. Yellow eyes stared at him, unreadable without a discernable pupil or iris.

"I'll be just another minute Kirogiri." All for One frowned back at the building where his wife and daughter were still sound asleep. He would fix this rotten world for them. He turned back to Kirogiri who bowed slightly. "How is Tomura progressing?"

"He's doing well sir." All for One nodded stepping into the shadows with his underling. Even Kirogiri, as useful as he was knew nothing of the little family All for One had hidden away under a different name. It was something he would never share with anyone, he would not risk them.