Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Toshinori's Choice

Chapter one: First time's over, second chance's starting

The villains had won.

Looking back on everything, Toshinori Yagi, otherwise known as All Might, the former Symbol of Peace and the number one ranked hero in Japan until he had to retire, had come to a grim, heartbreaking realization; it was all his fault. Although Toshinori was still an overall good person, there could never be any denying of that, he came to realize that he was less than good to one specific person, a specific person who needed him more than anyone else. And what exactly did Toshinori do to said person when he had entered his life? Push him to the side and, at best, only ever briefly acknowledge that he was even there, and even then only when really pushed.

And as a result of Toshinori marginalizing that one person when he needed him the most, Japan had fallen to the army of villains led by Dabi.

Japan's government? Made to yield to Dabi's word. The Japanese Imperial family? They were able to flee the country to a nation allied with Japan (the United States, if Toshinori remembered correctly), but only because Dabi and the other villains actually forgot that Japan even had an Imperial family (kind of hard to remember it if your country has royals when all of a sudden you get superpowers). The HPSC? Every single last member was killed by the villains in Dabi's inner circle in a macabre version of the gladiator games from ancient Rome; Lady Nagant, who Dabi had liberated from Tartarus during his rise, claimed the most HPSC heads supposedly.

And it wasn't just Japan that had fallen to Dabi's rising regime; other nations around the world began getting taken over from within by agents working for Dabi as he was the successor to the late All For One, who Toshinori had personally not only vanquished during the Battle of Kamino Ward, but made ABSOLUTE CERTAIN would stay dead this time. It was estimated that at the current rate of things, the entire world will be Dabi's footrest by this time in six months; the world will fall to villainy and, as all persons in Japan who could put up a real fight are dead, and all effective means of curbing Dabi's efforts no longer exist, Dabi's rule over the world could last ages.

Toshinori, as he was riding in a car being driven by Naomasa through the woods to a hidden resistance base that was being set up, realized that a few good bits of all of the efforts that led to Dabi's success were because of him, the person that Toshinori had let down. Granted, not all of those efforts were done by him, and for that the former Symbol of Peace felt just a little bit better. But even so, he did do a good few certain things, and those certain things had not only helped things along for Dabi, but some of them even set in stone the course that things as a whole ended up taking. Many argued that Dabi claiming the world was due in large part thanks to him.

The one person who needed Toshinori more than anyone else, but Toshinori like most everyone else essentially ignored him.

"The main roads were damaged when Usagi went on a rampage after Endeavor died because he was poisoned," Naomasa said as he and Toshinori drove on the bumpy road through the woods, "She screamed how Endeavor had 'escaped justice' and what not. Dabi also wasn't happy to hear that Endeavor died because someone had spiked his morning coffee with poison over at the Endeavor Agency after Endeavor was officially declared as Japan's number one hero."

"Yes," Toshinori replied as he gave a single nod, "I remember the actions of Usagi, one of Dabi's two elite bodyguards." Toshinori could never forget Usagi, also known by the alias of 'The Rabbit-Earred Giantess'. An experiment of the late All For One's, Usagi is a villainess who had multiple quirks. The heroes were able to confirm that Usagi had a total of eight quirks, but they were only able to learn of and confirm four of them and even then that was due to how they were visually identifiable; Fourth Kind's Quad Arms, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu's Steel, a variant of Gigantification, and most obviously Mirko's Rabbit.

Were it not for that miracle child Eri, those who had their quirks taken by All For One to be given to Usagi would have been left permanently quirkless. Eri, that blessed child, had a quirk among quirks that allowed her to 'rewind' living beings to a prior state of existence. She simply rewound the many (many) persons whose quirks were taken for the prepping of the bodyguards for Dabi to the states of being they were respectively in before their quirks were taken, and as such they had all gotten their quirks back, allowing them to get back in on fighting the good fight against the threat that Dabi and his every-growing forces were posing.

That did, however, not change the fact that there was a four-armed, one-thousand five-hundred and forty-six centimeter tall, steel-skinned giant with long rabbit ears and a rabbit tail (proportionately sized to be a good fit) going about wrecking everything Dabi pointed at and sicced her on. Many a hero had fallen in battle to Usagi The Rabbit-Earred Giantess, who rampaged as if she were a young child throwing the temper tantrum to end all temper tantrums. It was soon considered to be a sign that one held great prestige if they encountered Usagi in battle and lived to tell of it, even though seeking Usagi out to challenge was considered a fool's errand.

It was considered a fool's errand to engage Usagi in battle; engaging Dabi's other elite bodyguard, on the other hand, in battle was considered suicide.

That said, Toshinori reflected grimly on the fact that his chosen successor had committed suicide when he and a bunch of hero students attacked Dabi's elite bodyguards when Dabi and his forces attacked the Provisional Licence Exams. The first such exams that Toshinori's successor tried his hand at in a bid to earn his Provisional Hero Licence, and he was killed because Dabi's other elite bodyguard swiped at him and a few other exam takers during the attack's initial strike. Toshinori's successor didn't even make a valiant stand, or have an awesome solo moment, he was nothing more than one of the countless, no name persons slain in battle by Dabi's forces.

Toshinori's successor in wielding One For All, the power passed down to him from his mentor Nana Shimura. A boy who pushed Toshinori's ability to be a teacher and mentor to their absolute limits, who had great promise and a lot of drive to become a great hero. That boy was great, and with the power of One For All, he would have been even greater. But now, having been slain during his first go at the Provisional Licence Exams, not only was Toshinori's successor to the power of One For All dead, but that most great and heroic of powers was lost too, further helping to seal Japan's fate to be ruled indefinitely by Dabi and his own unique brand of villainy.

The former Symbol of Peace grieved for the loss of One For All, as the world needed it were it to have ever stood a chance at stopping Dabi and his villainous brood from their dreams of conquering the world. But more important than the power that Toshinori received then passed on many years later, was the person that Toshinori had chosen to be his successor, the boy who died and thus took One For All with him to the void. Toshinori grieved for his successor, he felt tears run down the sides of his thin face as he remembered the now dead boy who he had chosen to succeed him in wielding the mighty power that was the quirk One For All.

Toshinori was grieving for the loss of his successor, Katsuki Bakugo.

It was as the man once known as All Might shed a tear for the memory of Bakugo that Naomasa had to swerve to avoid something, crashing into a tree as a result. Both men in the car survived, but they may not stay that way for long as they were both yanked out of the car by villains, dragged a few feet away to a more spacious area, and then thrown to the ground. "To think that the pro hero that was once revered so by the late great Stain the Hero Killer had fallen so low," said Spinner, looking down at Toshinori with contempt, "What would Stain have said if he were to know that All Might was just as much of a hypocrite as the fame-hungry pretenders?"

Toshinori, along with Naomasa, were able to pick themselves up, but they were on their hands and knees looking up at the team that Spinner, the lizardman villain who was known as Dabi's right hand man, had led. It was a selection of some of the finest that Dabi's inner circle had to offer; Spinner himself of course, but Toga was there as well. There was also Rappa, Lady Nagant who had her rifle arm pointed right at Naomasa's head, Mustard who had his revolver pointed at Toshinori's own head, Magne who chuckled as Toshinori and Naomasa struggled, Gentle Criminal who stood nearby with his sidekick La Brava, Skeptic who was filing what was going on, and...

...Toshinori couldn't believe it; he was there. He was looking down at the former Symbol of Peace and the Good Detective with an unamused look on his face that held a good many emotions. Bitterness, contempt, disappointment, hate... regret, resignation, sadness, heartbreak. Toshinori was able to see all of those and more in his eyes, the eyes of the one person who needed him more than anyone else, who Toshinori had without even thinking about it marginalized, tossed to the side like society as well as most all who lived in it had done. Toshinori was in shock to see that he was here, the one who betrayed society because society, and Toshinori, betrayed him.

Toshinori looked up into the face of his step-son, Izuku Midoriya.

The former Symbol of Peace remembered Izuku, the boy who came along with things after Toshinori married Inko Midoriya, whose first husband had been killed in an accident while working overseas. Toshinori remembered that Izuku was a smart and kind boy, one whose face always held hints of hope for the future, that he would be able to overcome everything and achieve his long held cherished goal of becoming a pro hero, a dream that no-one had ever supported Izuku in trying to achieve, not even Inko herself. Not even Toshinori himself, although now he's wishing he would have done so.

Because the step-son that he looked up at was totally unlike the Izuku that Toshinori was familiar with; a look of cold, cruel indifference, sneering down at Toshinori with utter contempt. Izuku's wild green hair was shaved off along the sides, leaving only a sinister Mohawk. Izuku had pierced ears, wore a sleeveless flask jacket that was zipped up but it showed off Izuku's well-toned arms, construction worker pants held up with a belt, and well made, durable looking red shoes that seemed more like it was part of an armor set than shoes worn as casual wear. Toshinori supposed that some things about Izuku (his liking to wear red shoes) would never change.

Izuku grabbed the hilt of a hunting knife and pulled it from the sheave on his belt, held it in a reverse grip. "...Well, well, well," Izuku said as he looked down at the thin and now paling face of his step-father, "If it isn't daddy dearest." Although Izuku's voice still sounded the same, it lacked the kind, loving warmth it once held. Toshinori's step-son now sounded as cold, cruel, and indifferent as he looked. Izuku crouched down into a squatting position, held his hunting knife out against Toshinori's throat as he looked him right in the eye. "...Ain't this quite the family reunion, would you say?"

"Izuku, listen to me," Toshinori began, his tone clearly indicating panic, "I am so sorry abo-"

"-About what, exactly?" Izuku cut him off, "About how you pushed me off to the side like everyone else did? About how you didn't believe in me when I said that I had wanted to become a pro hero? How you straight up told me that I couldn't become a pro hero because I didn't have a quirk, even though you had been famous for how you had always said that anyone can be a hero? About how you didn't even try to support me, or try to help me, or even bother with acknowledging that I was even there unless mom reminded you that when you married her that you also became a step-dad?"

"Young man, please listen to us," Naomasa said, "I'm sure that we can work something out to-"

Naomasa was cut off when Izuku poked him in the left cheek with his hunting knife, not enough to pierce into the mouth but still enough to draw blood. Izuku then brought the bloody knife tip to his lips, licked the blood off, and all of a sudden Naomasa fell forward unable to move. "...Yeah," Izuku said, "The man who actually had bothered to be a father figure to me was able to recover Stain's quirk from his corpse and bestow it upon me." Toshinori had long since been familiar with the fact that Izuku was given the Hero Killer's Bloodcurdle quirk by All For One, and it sickened him to know his greatest nemesis had corrupted his step-son.

...No, it wasn't All For One who corrupted Izuku, at least not All For One alone.

Turning to look at his step-dad, Izuku said, "You know, dad, you could have done something similar with me. You had a quirk that you could have passed on, and you could have chosen to pass it onto me, do something of a family legacy thing. I mean, if training was an issue then you could have trained me, had me work out for a bit, before I was ready to carry on the legacy you yourself carried for ages. I mean, just look at me. I had trained myself, worked out like crazy, and now I have a build like that of the late Hero Killer, the man whose quirk I have rather than that of my father. Because WHO exactly did daddy dearest pick over me?"

Izuku stabbed his hunting knife into the ground in front of him. "You picked Bakugo," Izuku said, his brows furrowed, "You had picked Katsuki 'Kacchan' Fucking Bakugo over me. You picked my childhood bully over me, your own step-son. You had picked a delinquent thug who put his victims down, wrecked the personal property of his victims, called virtually EVERYONE by some form of demeaning nickname, had a short temper with an even shorter fuse, and had even suicide baited one of his victims over me, Bakugo's victim that he liked to bully the most, the one he had done the aforementioned suicide baiting to." Izuku yanked his knife out of the ground.

"You... knew... everything... that Bakugo had done," Izuku snarled, "And yet you still chose him to be your successor. What, did you seriously think that a horribly bully with a shit personality would make for a great pro hero? Given that it worked for Endeavor, I can't say that I blame you for thinking that! Or am I wrong? Is there some other valid reason you chose my bully over me?"

"I... I thought that I could have worked out his rough patches," Toshinori said, "I thought that I could shape his personality up properly and set him on the right path to becoming a pro hero. I mean, he had a strong and powerful quirk-"

"So that's it," Izuku interrupted, "You chose Bakugo, my bully who tormented me for years over how I was quirkless, over me because you essentially agreed with him! You thought that I was worthless because I didn't have a quirk! I wasn't the son that you had wanted, just the one that you were stuck with because I had come with the woman that you had married!"

"Izuku, please!" Toshinori said, "I am so sorry about what all I had done! I-"

"No! You aren't sorry about how you had treated me!" Izuku interrupted, more emotion showing in his expression, "If you were sorry about how you had treated me, then you wouldn't have treated me the way that you had after you became my step-dad! You aren't sorry about how you had treated me, you're only sorry about what all consequences had sprung up as a result of the way you had shafted me basically all of my life after you had married mom!" Izuku twirled his hunting knife around until he held it in a normal grip.

The scorned step-son pulled his knife back, held it up so that he could swing it forward in a stabbing motion aimed right at his step-dad's throat. "You know, it's actually rather funny, dad," Izuku said, "I had been given a quirk and did some training, and as a result I became one of Japan's greatest villains." Toshinori felt as if his heart had been stabbed by Izuku's knife when the former Symbol of Peace heard him say that he (Izuku) was a villain. "That being said," Izuku continued, "Isn't it possible I, under different circumstances, could have been given the same but become a pro hero instead?"

Toshinori was thinking that Izuku was right, that he could have indeed become a pro hero. And it wasn't guilt over how his treatment of Izuku made the green-haired boy turn out making him think that; Toshinori had learned of what all Izuku had done, ever since he made his debut as a (quirkless at the time) villain at the USJ attack, and giving it a bit of thought, came to the realization that Izuku really could have become a pro hero, could have gone down the righteous path that he originally wanted to go down in the first place. He was resourceful, he had the drive, he developed and cultivated skills. Izuku could have indeed become a great pro hero.

If Toshinori hadn't been a shitty step-dad, that is.

Izuku pulled his knife back just a bit more, but before he could swing it forward to take his step-dad's throat, some shouts from off to the side made everyone turn to look and see it as a group of pro heroes came rushing in; there was at least enough to grant relief to Toshinori and Naomasa to escape. Izuku and the other villains were forced to react to this suddenly arriving threat, and there were enough heroes to let just one of them, Mr. Brave, slip in and get to Toshinori and Naomasa. "Can you get up, All Might?" Mr. Brave asked.

Toshinori tried standing up, but he felt a sharp pain in his left knee. "Ah!" Toshinori cried out in pain, "My left knee! I... I don't think I can get away on my own!"

"Brave, just take Toshinori and go!" Naomasa yelled from where he laid paralyzed on the ground, "I'm paralyzed and can't move at all, and there's one hero to each villain over there! If a villain breaks through, you'll be forced to fight! If you run now, you can save Toshinori! Just go!"

As much as Mr. Brave didn't want to, he knew that Naomasa had a point. At least All Might can be saved from the wrath of this strike team from Dabi's villainous brood. After saying a quick apology to the still paralyzed Naomasa, Mr. Brave proceeded to help Toshinori get away. Given that the villains at that location were all occupied and couldn't stop Mr. Brave, both he and Toshinori were able to get away. As Mr. Brave carried Toshinori on his back, jumping around and rushing through in a way to throw any pursuers off his trail, Toshinori felt that it should have been he himself who was left behind and not Naomasa.

Japan had fallen to the villains, and it was all Toshinori's fault.

It was halfway between sunset and nighttime when Mr. Brave and Toshinori made their way into a safe house. There, a pair of civilian women, one being a very tall fox lady with teal green fur, laid Toshinori on a bed and tended to his bum knee. It was just after the injury was set and Toshinori was given some painkillers that Mr. Brave came into the room where Toshinori was being treated. "How did the rest of your team fare against Izuku and his fellows?" Toshinori asked, dreading bad news, "Did you get any word as to how they're doing?"

Mr. Brave, a resigned look on his face, let out a likewise sigh. "I did just get word how the rest of my team fared. All of them were killed by the villains we encountered back there, and Detective Naomasa had also been slain. All of the villains are alive and relatively unharmed."

"But you're alive, All Might," the fox woman said, "You can help rally resistance efforts to fight back against the rising threat of Dabi's crew!"

Scoffing bitterly, the other civilian woman, who had long light brown hair in a bobcut style, sneered, "Japan is doomed. Dabi in no way can be stopped. His personal inner circle is composed of many of the top villains in Japan, including Dabi himself. He has an army of well over one-hundred thousand villains ready to march to war. Dabi also has his Rabbit-Earred Giantess and his other monster! I mean, you saw what happened when Dabi and his villains attacked the Provisional Licence Exams! The only comfort I take in my daughter Ochaco being slain in the USJ attack is the fact that she wasn't subjected to the attack on the Provisional Licence Exams!"

Toshinori winced his eyes shut, more out of guilt and shame than pain (although there was still pain), when the woman went on about her slain daughter. Barely one week after Bakugo had started his first year at UA, he and his classmates, UA's Class 1-A under Shouta Aizawa aka Eraserhead, went to the USJ facility on a field trip slash training exercise. Instead, they and Thirteen encountered utter hell when a hand-covered villain leading seventy-five to eighty villains warped into the USJ thanks to that mist villain Kurogiri. Among the hand-villain's forces were Izuku and a monster called Nomu made specifically to kill All Might.

During the ensuing fight, Bakugo's classmate Iida was able to escape, find Toshinori who at the time still had some power left after bestowing One For All upon Bakugo, and send him straight to the USJ. Iida came back later with many other UA teachers, and the day was ultimately saved; the hand covered villain was actually killed by Snipe who scored a lucky head-shot, and only Kurogiri and Izuku were able to escape. The Nomu didn't even so much as twitch which made capturing it loads easier than what would have been otherwise, and the fodder force villains were all apprehended.

Sadly, even though the villain leader was dead and his forces save for Izuku and Kurogiri were captured, it wasn't a perfect win for the heroes. Both Eraserhead and Thirteen were killed in the villains' attack on the USJ, and ten of the twenty students in Class 1-A were also slain in that nightmarish attack. The Ochaco girl was one of the students who sadly lost their lives when the villains attacked; Toshinori took comfort in the fact that Izuku was confirmed to not have killed any of the students, kids who were in the same age group as him. Izuku DID, however, kill both Eraserhead and Thirteen.

And the loss of half of Class 1-A's students was just the tip of the iceberg, the horrific accident that got the ball rolling. By the time Bakugo was taking his first go at the provisional licence exams, he was the only student in UA's Class 1-A who was still alive, and that luck ended when he was utterly gutted by an indifferent swipe from Dabi's other elite bodyguard. So many lives, young, innocent, and hopeful for the future. Lost to the void due to the cruel evil of the brand of villainy peddled by Dabi and his villainous brood.

Having been ushered along there because of how Toshinori was more than just a terrible teacher, he was a horrible father.

Toshinori wished that he could have taken everything back, that he could have done for Izuku what the boy needed as he grew up. Toshinori wished that he had been a good father to Izuku. And it's wasn't guilt over what happened making him wish that; the former Symbol of Peace truly realized that he had fucked up, and felt even worse because it took everything that had happened to make him realize that. Maybe if he had bothered to be there for Izuku, to help him out when the boy needed it, hell even being a supportive friend to guide him along, then maybe Izuku wouldn't have turned out the way he did.

Toshinori let out a troubled, resigned sigh, knowing that it was too late now. He had failed Izuku, and as a result he had failed Japan. Within short order, the world itself will be Dabi's personal stomping grounds, and Izuku will be a trusted Officer helping to manage things in Dabi's Regime. Toshinori was starting to think that all he could do now was yield to Izuku, and allow his step-son to rip his throat out with that hunting knife of his. However, just as Toshinori was beginning to give up on hoping that there would be any fixing what all had gone to hell, two more persons walked into the room.

The first was a mid-fifties man who was still in good physical shape but looked like a grizzled war veteran, and the other a kind looking, petite young teen girl. "Well, it's official," the man said, "The world's gone to hell."

"As far as I was aware," Ochaco's mom said in a bitter tone, "The world went to hell the day my husband and I lost our daughter."

"There's not going to be any saving the world," the young teen girl said in a resigned tone as she gently shook her head. Looking at the others in the room, the teen girl said, "...Or rather, there's not going to be any saving this timeline."

Toshinori piqued up in interest at that. "...No saving this timeline?"

Gesturing to herself, the teen girl said, "I... I have a quirk that allows me to send a person's present conscious to their self in the past, with all memories of what all they've experienced. Your present self here will wake up as yourself at a past moment of your choosing, remembering everything from before you wake up in the past. I admittedly had used my quirk on myself many times in order to essentially cheat in school by remembering what I got wrong and redoing things. But that's not the main issue that we're talking about here."

Gesturing to Toshinori, the girl said, "I can send your present self back to wake up as yourself in the past, remembering everything you've learned and experienced here. All Might, you can wake up in the past, back when you were still in your prime and at peek power, and with the memories of this timeline you'll be taking back with you, you can stop the rise of Dabi's Regime."

The former Symbol of Peace couldn't believe it; he could prevent the events that happened here from occurring. All he had to do was let the young teen girl work her quirk on him, and he'll wake up in the past, with all memories of this timeline. He could prevent villainy from winning, he could prevent the rise of Dabi's authority, he could actually save Japan, he could prevent the deaths of Naomasa and Eraserhead and Thirteen and Bakugo and all of Bakugo's classmates that he had in Class 1-A and everyone else who had died in this accursed timeline.

...He could also get what he was wanting the most right now; a second chance when it came to Izuku. He could actually be there for his step-son, he could be involved in Izuku's life. He could prevent cases of bullying, he could give Izuku the support the boy desperately needed, he could even train Izuku to be strong and be ready to take One For All from him, setting up things as a sort of family legacy type deal. But most importantly of all, Toshinori had realized that he could be for Izuku what the boy needed the most growing up.

A father and a friend.

Toshinori looked to the teen girl, a serious look on his face. "...You said that you can send my present self's conscious to wake up as myself at a past point of my choosing, right? Can you send me back to wake up as myself when me and my wife are getting back from our honeymoon shortly after we got married?"

The man with the young teen girl looked mildly surprised. "You wanna go that far back? Isn't that a bit much?"

"I will be needing the extra time, just to be safe," Toshinori explained.

The man shrugged and accepted Toshinori's response, and then gestured for the young teen girl to work her magic. She went up to where Toshinori laid in bed, placed her hands on either side of his head. Her hands glowed with energy, and all of a sudden Toshinori felt himself being pushed slash thrown back with an utterly mighty force, a force he doubt that even he in his absolute prime could replicate with a punch. But he had his destination clearly pictured in his mind, the plane ride he and Inko took to get back from their honeymoon.

Going that far back would give Toshinori as much time as possible to do what he felt was necessary to ensure that Japan didn't fall to villainy; him being a good father to his step-son.

END, CHAPTER ONE

Author's notes;

This is the start of a BNHA story idea I've been toying around with for a while, where things go to hell in a hand basket because Toshinori had messed up, but he gets a 'Days of future past' type deal that gives him a chance to set right what once went wrong. With advance knowledge from the future, Toshinori will know what to do to keep Dabi and his villainous brood from rising to power. This story will be taking elements from other BNHA stories I've done, expanding on a few things, and adding one or two new elements into the twist.

The main new twist? Here, Toshinori is Izuku's dad, albeit a step-dad. Toshinori in the timeline he's coming from had been indifferent about Izuku, and that led to Izuku going villain and essentially bringing Japan to Dabi on a silver platter. But in the timeline where Toshinori gets a second chance, he's going to work his hardest to avoid giving his step-son the cold shoulder; he's going to be a good father, be a prime example of a good dad from 'Dad Might' stories. Expect to see some warm fuzzies from a man who gets a second chance.

But whether or not Toshinori being a good dad to Izuku will be enough on its own to prevent the bad future from happening all over again is something that has yet to be determined. We'll see how things go as this story continues, assuming there's enough interest in it to keep it going.