A/N: This is a rather short chapter, sorry about that.

Also, whoa, I'm really sorry I missed a day of uploading! I didn't even realize (since the date updated was wonky).

After a long, awful night of tossing and turning, Izuku trudged into the kitchen the next morning looking for the coffee pot.

Hisashi was already sitting at the table with a plate of food and a mug of coffee. He paid him no mind as he went for the pot, pouring himself a cup.

Hisashi's cough made him stiffen. "Izuku, son, listen. About yesterday…"

"Don't." His voice, though small, was firm. "Please, just… don't."

"Son…"

"Don't call me 'son'." He turned around just enough to fix him with a hard stare. "You aren't my father. I'm not your son."

"About yesterday-"

"I don't want to hear a single thing you have to say," he interrupted with a shaky sigh before he turned back to his mug of coffee.

Silence pervaded the space between them, a space that was only growing larger by the moment as Izuku grabbed the cream and sugar to stir in to his cup.

Finally, once his coffee was sweetened to his liking, he paused and spoke up. "He was right."

"Pardon?" Hisashi inquired.

"Yoichi was right, y'know." He stared at his All Might mug. "Ten years really gives you perspective."

As he lifted the mug from the counter to take a sip, he let out a tiny breath. "You aren't my father. You never were, and you never will be. No matter what you or Mom say."

Before he could sense Hisashi open his mouth, he lifted a finger. Setting the mug back down, he squared his shoulders and lifted his head. "All Might is more of a father to me than you'll ever be."

That was apparently the correct thing to say to get under the man's skin, because though he couldn't see anything, he could practically feel the man tighten his grip on his fork.

"While I should hate you, if I'm honest, I really don't," he confessed. "I don't love you, I don't hate you. I don't feel anything for you. In fact, if you disappeared tomorrow… though I would give chase, just because of who you represent, I wouldn't do it because you helped give me life. Honestly, my life - my mom's, All Might's, even Shigaraki's - our lives would have been so much better had you never resurfaced in my life claiming to be my dad."

"Shigaraki hates me. I know he does. You know he does. Mom knows he does. And… that's fine. Really, it's fine. I wouldn't expect him to suddenly turn around and like me just because of you. But he's been so angry, so so angry, much angrier than he ever was when we faced off before." His lip trembled. "I don't want him to feel like this. I don't want him to be like this because of me. I don't hate Shigaraki either - I know there's good in him, deep down inside. I want to bring that goodness out. I want to help him."

He took a deep breath in, then exhaled it deeply. It rippled along the surface of the liquid in his mug, and the reflection wavered within.

"But because of you, I don't think I'll ever be able to save him."

Beat.

"Son," Hisashi tried again, his voice soft. "Turn around and look me in the eye."

There was a long moment of silence.

The teenager's shoulders clenched and fell.

"I can't," Izuku whispered, clenching his eyes shut as tears dribbled down his cheeks. "Not after everything that you've done. He told me every last detail."

Hisashi's face fell into deep concern. If Yoichi had told him everything, then that also encompassed everything after One For All was born. That meant…

"I can never feel safe with my mother so close to villains. I can't feel safe myself being so close to villains. Even if you agreed to let All Might live… I can't bring myself to trust this uneasy peace." His breath shook as he continued with a trembling, mirthless laugh, "I used to wish that he was my father… because watching him save civilians on TV made me admire everything that made him who he was. I used to think to myself, if he was my secret father, then maybe I wouldn't feel so lonely. Maybe I wouldn't feel so empty inside, because I would have the knowledge that my dad was out there, making people smile."

Finally, as he lifted the mug and turned, his eye caught his father's for the quickest of moments before he uttered, "Even now I still wish it were true. Because anyone would be a better father than you would ever try to be."

Without another word, he left the kitchen, his trudging footsteps following his slumped figure as he headed for the stairs.

He didn't look back once, even as a single tear made itself known, stubbornly trickling down All For One's cheek.