Hey everyone! I wanted to try a new idea, so let me know if you all want more. I will still try to update my other fic whenever I get motivation (same for this fic). This will probably be crack treated seriously? I don't know yet. Enjoy!
Izuku Midoriya knew something was strange about his father. It was one of the unchanging facts of his life. He was quirkless, the sky was blue, and something was wrong with his father. It got harder to ignore in recent years.
Despite popular belief, Izuku wasn't stupid. It didn't matter that he was quirkless, no matter how much Kacchan and his extras tried to teach him. Everyone except his family believed this. Well, mainly his mom. His dad isn't usually around to tell the boy this (Red Flag #1). Instead, he spends most of the year in America: to run his quirk analysis company, but he won't talk about it (Red Flag #2).
For a long time, he could excuse this red flag. His father had been teaching the broccoli boy how to analyze pro heroes for as long as he could remember. Izuku wrote down different heroes' strengths, weaknesses, and additional questions in seven notebooks. When he wrote his first one in crayon, his father also suggested listing ways to defeat the heroes (Red Flag #3). He didn't even filter out the more gruesome ways no five-year-old should know (Red Flag #4).
Many of these warnings have piled up over the years, but Izuku ignored them. It wouldn't be worth ruining one of the few good relationships he has left with anyone. Being quirkless sucked, but he could always depend on both of his parents. Until last year, his dad stopped calling every week and canceled his yearly visit to Japan due to "company issues." Izuku found his mom stress-baking more often and looking at job applications. That had been the final straw for the boy. No one stresses out the wonderful woman who raised him, not even the man who semi-raised him.
So, Izuku started writing down all the suspicious things he noticed about the man in a separate notebook titled Investigative Notebook #1. He wanted to title it Evidence Against Dad, but his mom sometimes cleans his room. The last thing he wanted to do was explain what he was writing in that notebook. Due to the bullying ramping up at school, he didn't have much time to look for evidence to add.
He usually got distracted by hero debuts and fights on weekends, but it's been a year since his dad stopped calling and visiting. Even worse, he didn't send any payments this month. Izuku needed to get to the bottom of this fast because there was no way his father was getting away with this. Not after hearing all the stories of divorced husbands refusing to pay child support. He didn't want his parents to get a divorce either, but that was more of a secondary goal. His mother was still looking for a job, and the two Midoriyas needed that money to survive.
Most of all, Izuku wanted to know that his dad was okay. What if there he got into an accident? Or if villains in America kidnapped him? There would be no way of knowing because he won't call! With new determination, the 10-year-old began his plan. This plan involved him asking his mom a seemingly random question.
"Hey, mom?" Izuku asked as he burst into the room. Okay, maybe he was too energetic this early on a Saturday. It sure startled a frazzled Inko Midoriya. Several papers lay across the couch with big red lettering and signatures. A cracked phone sat on the ground that looked worse than the scratched computer next to it. Inko herself had dark eyebags under her eyes.
"Izuku! I didn't expect to see you up this early," she admitted.
"Mom, are you okay?" Izuku worriedly asked. She looked even worse than yesterday, and that was the day the monthly payment didn't come.
"Don't worry about it," Inko deflected as she pulled a cup of coffee toward herself, "I'm going to be taking night classes to get the proper qualifications to become a nurse."
Izuku was about to congratulate his mother, but he realized why she had to. Instead, he settled for just nodding. He was on a mission.
"Do you know dad's company's name?" he requested. His mom frowned as she tried to come up with an answer. To be safe, Izuku added, "It's for a school project!"
"Hmmm...if I remember correctly, it's called Allstate Formative Onerous Analysis Agency, AFOAA for short," she recounted, "Your father picked such a strange name..."
"Thanks, mom!" Izuku gave her a quick hug and grabbed the banged-up computer. He quickly made his way back to his bedroom. The name of Hisashi's company goes right in the evidence notebook as another red flag. It felt too long to be an actual name.
As the boy booted up the computer, he knew this was a huge first step. Maybe there would be an article about the company? Or like a company website? Any sign of his dad would be great.
He typed in the long business name into the search bar.
And
Found
NOTHING!
Izuku knew it! This 'Allstate Formative Onerous Analysis Agency' doesn't exist! So many questions swirled through the kid's mind. How did his dad make money? Why did he lie? Is his name even Hisashi Midoriya? What even happened!? What is he hiding?
The ten-year-old grounded himself before focusing again. Once Izuku figured out his father's secret, all the other questions would answer themselves.
What would All Might do?
He mentally went through every interview the hero did. There was enough that All Might could make an entire book of his quotes.
"Anyone can be a hero!"
"The essence of being a hero is meddling where you are not supposed to!"
"Being a hero is more than fame and money; it's about helping people in need!"
"Sharing is caring!"
Wait, that last one was from All Might's Mighty Adventures. If Izuku remembered correctly, it got banned from TV after a detective episode showed too much blood. He giggled at the memory of his mom covering his eyes as an animated, accurate crime scene played on the TV. Now that he thinks about it: All Might said something else.
"Think outside the box! The solution to any problem could be in plain sight!"
That's it! There could be a clue in the name of the business. The boy traced the fake establishment title in his notebook several times, hoping it would just come to him.
Allstate Formative Onerous Analysis Agency
It was just such a random name! Was there some secret code encrypted into it? Izuku muttered "plain sight" to himself as he glared into the paper. This mantra somehow helped his mind finally see the clue.
Allstate
Formative
Onerous
You see, Izuku liked to go on quirk analysis forums online. His dad was usually not there to talk quirk with him, so he turned to the internet. There were many interesting discussions, like how first-generation quirk users didn't have their bodies adapt to their quirks or theories about different pro heroes' quirks.
While on there, he heard an urban legend about a man who could steal quirks, All for One. If Izuku interrupted the clue correctly, this would get way more complicated.