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 two: Dad Might for the win
Toshinori Yagi woke with a sudden start in his seat on the plane that he was flying in. Looking around, Toshinori soon spotted Inko Midoriya asleep in the seat next to him. Inko, his beloved wife, who he had managed to win over and marry, was as beautiful as the day Toshinori first met her. He felt that Inko being right there next to him was a dream come true. He gently brushed the back of his hand down the side of the sleeping Inko's face, feeling her warmth for the first time in ages. Already the man with a second chance felt his heart filling up.
Toshinori remembered what happened in the alternate timeline he woke up from; there, Inko died when the shock of Izuku's villain debut was too much for her to bear. Inko had also gotten a tad plump by that time, but Toshinori figured that had nothing to do with Inko's death in the timeline he had woken up from. Here, Inko was still in her slender shape, the shape of a woman who didn't fret over the cruel fate that had been dealt to her and, more importantly, her son Izuku, who wasn't able to get far in life because society valued quirks way too much.
But not in this timeline. Toshinori silently vowed to himself that he was going to do what all he could for his step-son. A process that he was intending to begin the moment that he and Inko go to pick Izuku up from the Bakugos; he remembered that Inko had left Izuku to be watched by her friend Mitsuki and Mitsuki's husband Masaru while Inko and Toshinori were on their honeymoon. Toshinori also remembered that he had been polite but indifferent when Izuku was picked up. Although he still intended to be polite, Toshinori was going to be more attentive to Izuku's needs.
The first step in being a good step-dad.
"Izuku, sweetie!" Inko said as she and Toshinori saw Izuku run out to greet them after they came to the Bakugo residence to pick him up. Toshinori watched it as the four-year-old Izuku cried out excitedly to see his mom again. A far cry from the cold, cruel, indifferent fifteen to sixteen year old Izuku in the alternate timeline was, and Toshinori was determined to not let Izuku here turn out like that. After Izuku broke away from hugging Inko, Toshinori knelt down to be as level as possible with the boy he wanted a second chance to be a good father to.
"Umm, I, umm..." Toshinori said, "...Don't suppose I could get a hug from you too, my boy?" Toshinori was unsure how to handle things here, he never had much experience in being a parent.
Lucky for him, little Izuku here, unlike his cold and cruel self in the alternate timeline, was all too happy to oblige his step-dad. "You're silly," Izuku said, "You don't have to be nervous if you want to give me a hug! All you have to do is ask, dad!"
"Yeah, Inko's new man," Mitsuki said, an amused smirk on her face, "When you and Inko tied the knot, you got more than just the best woman around as a wife. You also scored a step-son who's as sweet and polite as can be! A far cry from my own brat Katsuki, that's for sure."
"Oh, that reminds me," Inko said, "How did Izuku and Katsuki get along with each other while Toshinori and I were on our honeymoon?"
"Oh, Katsuki roughhoused with Izuku a bit is all," Masaru said, looking mildly unsure of things, "Nothing to-"
"-He roughhoused with Izuku?" Toshinori said, standing up from where he was kneeling. Looking to the Bakugos, Toshinori said, "Roughhouse with him how, exactly?"
...
When Mitsuki all too gladly explained to Toshinori and Inko how rough Katsuki had been with Izuku exactly, Inko was shocked to hear that Katsuki essentially was bullying Izuku the whole time. Toshinori, meanwhile, was also shocked but he also exuded pure unamusement, a scowling look on his face as he folded his arms over his chest. Toshinori remembered that Katsuki still had potential in the alternate timeline, but he was still rough around the edges. Toshinori was never able to fully smooth out Katsuki's rough edges, or at least smooth them out to an acceptable level, back in the alternate timeline.
But here, when Katsuki was still very young? He would be far easier to work with, to smooth out and mold into a respectable young man. Or at the very least smooth out his rough edges enough to make him more acceptable. And the first step to smoothing out Katsuki's rough edges was to take a VERY firm stance against the way Katsuki had treated Izuku as they grew up; Toshinori had other plans to do away with as much of the bullying Izuku had faced as possible, but Katsuki, who was arguably the source of all of the bullying that Izuku had grown up facing in the alternate timeline, was priority number one.
Although Katsuki while young would be far easier to work with, that didn't mean that Toshinori was planning to be lenient. "Although it isn't by blood," Toshinori began as he spoke to Masaru and Mitsuki, "I am Izuku's father. That being said, I won't tolerate any sort of mistreatment dealt to my boy."
"I have to agree," Inko said, "I actually thought it was simply childish horseplaying between Izuku and Katsuki, but now that I know that Katsuki has straight up been picking on Izuku, I... I'm not sure what to say."
Toshinori looked to where Katsuki himself sat on the sofa between his parents. "...Young man," Toshinori began, "I'm not sure if your parents told you this yet, but I actually work as a secretary over at Might Tower. My boss is All Might, who is working with several other heroes to push a zero-tolerance policy regarding bullying behavious like what you had shown towards Izuku. You said that you wanna be a pro hero, but with how you've treated someone else, I'm not too certain that a future as a pro hero will be a good fit for you."
"What are you talking about, mister?" young Katsuki said, "Of course I'm a great fit to be a pro hero!"
Giving Katsuki a firm look, Toshinori said, "Then prove it." Looking to the Bakugo parents, Toshinori said, "I actually do tell the truth. My boss is helping out with plans to combat bullying in Japanese schools, so you can expect to hear stuff related to that coming from the school Izuku and Katsuki go to in the coming days."
Both Masaru and Mitsuki bowed their heads respectfully to Toshinori. "Thank you for letting us know," Mitsuki said, "And you do have a point. My brat here needs some serious adjustment to his attitude."
"If what I fear is true," Toshinori said, "Then your son isn't the only one." The two families discussed a few more points and, after Katsuki was forced to apologize to Izuku for being mean to him, the Midoriya-Yagi family took off.
...
"Do you think I went out of line, dear?" Toshinori asked Inko as they made their way back home, "I mean, I think that I may have been a bit too strong back there. But when I heard talk suggesting that Izuku might have been bullied, I... I-"
"Toshi, it's alright," Inko said in a reassuring tone, "I understand full well you only meant well. And it really is great to see you take such an immediate, invested role in being a father figure to Izuku. I mean, after my first husband died in that accident overseas while he was working, I was worried that Izuku may lake guidance that only a good male role model could provide. It's part of why I let him follow All Might so closely, Izuku wants to be and to do good like All Might."
Toshinori nodded once in understanding; he remembered from the alternate timeline that Izuku was a big All Might fan, although that dropped when Izuku learned that All Might was his step-dad who essentially shafted him. But here, Toshinori who once again knew the familiar warmth of One For All within him intended to be not just a dad who his step-son would be proud of, but also a pro hero worthy of said step-son's admiration. One could make the argument that a child's mom and dad are the first heroes that they ever become familiar with.
The (once again) Symbol of Peace wasn't just a terrible father to Izuku, he was the hero who let him down. Well, that was going to be totally different here.
The campaign to combat bullying and discrimination in Japanese school was soon launched by the hero agency Might Tower. A selection of other notable pro heroes had offered to lend aid to All Might, agreeing with him that doing away with bullying was a very good idea, with one pro hero even citing how a number of villains had ended up becoming villains in the first place due to excessive bullying that they endured while they were in school. The efforts, to Toshinori's amazement as well as a little bit of pride, ended up paying off in spades.
Toshinori didn't just focus on the one school that Izuku and Katsuki went to, he had the effort work on ALL schools in Japan. A number of pro heroes even did undercover work in some schools, and more than once, to Toshinori's shocked concern, was evidence uncovered showing that school staffs knew about bullying but let it go on without interference; a few teachers and one principal were even found to be encouraging cases of bullying when the victim of the bullying was quirkless. This caused the Japanese government to have to step in and help out with the investigation.
Roughly a month after the 'All Might's zero-tolerance against bullying' campaign was started up, Japan's national rate of bullying cases in schools had dropped by a rather staggering ninety-one point six percent. The Symbol of Peace hadn't dealt with a problem Japan had been facing to such an effective degree since he had single-handedly drove Japan's national rate of villainous cases down into the single digits. There was a complete overhaul of the education system in Japan, and many families of bullied students were really enjoying the show.
Toshinori, even though he truly wanted it for Izuku's sake, didn't think bullying would be eliminated all that much, even WITH the name of All Might leading the crusade. But he was glad to see it that his fears were proven wrong. Now Izuku had very little (if any) reason left to fear bullying and discrimination at school. But doing away with the bullying was only part one of Toshinori's plan to ensure Izuku grew up to be the goodly person Toshinori has every reason to believe Izuku can be. Part two of the 'raise Izuku right' plan involved teaching him right from wrong.
Not all that difficult for Toshinori, as Izuku naturally had a desire to be good and do the right thing; the boy WAS inspired by Toshinori's other self, after all. But just as Izuku had to know right from wrong, so did Toshinori himself. In the alternate timeline he remembered, Toshinori had doomed Japan because, when he got right down to it, he didn't know right from wrong when it came to being a parent to Izuku. But now, with the second chance he got, Toshinori knew how to avoid the mistakes he had made in a timeline he wants to prevent.
...
Izuku was sitting at a computer desk, looking at a video of All Might performing a heroic feat. Izuku was tearing up, having been told that, due to his quirklessness, he couldn't become a pro hero. As Inko hugged him gently while crying with him, Toshinori walked over to his wife and step-son. He felt a sting to his heart that Izuku was so wrecked by his quirklessness, even more so because he wanted to be a pro hero like All Might, he wanted to be a pro hero BECAUSE of All Might. Toshinori had, in the alternate timeline, let down both his step-son and a dedicated fan.
...Well no, that's not going to happen here.
After he got Inko to back off, Toshinori knelt down in front of Izuku, placed a hand on his young step-son's shoulders. "...Izuku, my boy," Toshinori began, "Being a pro hero can be very dangerous, even for those with the strongest, most powerful quirks, such as my boss All Might. You, due to not having a quirk, are at a rather steep disadvantage. That being said." Standing up, Toshinori looked down at where Izuku sat and said, "Are you absolutely, without a doubt certain that you still want to be a pro hero when you grow up?"
"Y-Yes," Izuku replied in a heartbeat through his crying, "I want to b-be a hero more than a-a-anything. A-All Might is a hero to me, so I-I-I wanna do for others what he's d-done for m-me."
Toshinori, although a bit sad to see his step-son so upset, gave a warm and gentle smile. "I think that my boss would love hearing it that you wanna pay it forward. Very well." Clapping his hands together, Toshinori began, "First thing we do is look into helping you get in shape. Pro heroes have to be strong, and you my boy are admittedly something of a beanpole."
"Toshi, you wanna start Izuku on an exercise regimen?" Inko questioned.
"Well it would have the benefit of making sure Izuku stays healthy," Toshinori replied, "Don't worry, I know a few people at work who know their stuff, they can help me set up a plan for Izuku." It was true; in addition to the usual pro hero agency stuff, Might Tower had a state of the art fitness facility, with a staff of people who know how to set up and run fitness plans for peoples of all shapes, sizes, ages, quirks, and genders. Setting up a plan to help a four year old beanpole of a boy get and keep in peek physical condition should be a snap.
And it'd also would help lead into another plan that Toshinori had.
A few months after he and Inko got back from their honeymoon, Toshinori was out with Izuku on a rare day off, on a pleasantly chill day in early to mid October. Izuku's fitness plan was going well, and Toshinori not wanting to take any risks allowed the people running things to do their job without him butting in. Toshinori feared that he might mess up if he pokes his nose into business he knows practically nothing about, like trying to have Izuku work with weights that were way too great for any child to work with, barring very rare cases where the child has a super strength quirk.
Izuku being quirkless meant that Toshinori let the fitness people at Might Tower's fitness facility handle all the work. Toshinori trusted them, everyone at Might Tower shared All Might views, and Toshinori was All Might. He even trusted what the fitness people said about allowing Izuku days off from working out; hence why Toshinori took Izuku to a local park. When he asked Inko on places he could take Izuku to, Toshinori got the idea to take his step-son to the local park to play there, while the man himself sat on a nearby bench and kept a vigilant eye on things.
As such, the Symbol of Peace saw it when Izuku got to playing with a girl his age, a girl that struck Toshinori as familiar with her brown hair in a bobcut. When a woman with long brownish hair in a bobcut came up to see the girl and Izuku, Toshinori realized who the young girl was; Ochaco Uraraka, one of the Class 1-A students who was killed in the alternate timeline's USJ attack. The woman was Uraraka's mom, who had been there to treat Toshinori when he was brought to the safe house. From what Toshinori was seeing, Izuku and Uraraka were getting along great, and Uraraka's mom was happy to see her daughter making a friend.
Getting up, Toshinori walked over to the scene. "I hope my son here is being courteous, ma'am," Toshinori said as he greeted Uraraka's mom.
"Oh, so you're the father of this Izuku boy," Uraraka's mom replied in a happy, pleasant tone, "Yes, he's nothing but good. You must be very proud of your son."
Nodding once in the affirmative, Toshinori said, "Oh, there's no doubting that I'm proud of Izuku. Although technically he's my step-son, I had just married his mom a few months ago. And I often find myself worried that I may not be doing enough to make Izuku proud of me."
"But you're my dad," Izuku said as he looked up at Toshinori, "And you're super nice to me, you help me out a lot. Why wouldn't I be proud of you? Oh, dad!" Looking up at Toshinori, Izuku asked, "Are there any snacks left in the bag mom handed to you? I wanna give one to the nice girl here." Izuku then gestured to Uraraka who stood next to him.
"I have no problem with you sharing snacks with other kids, my boy," Toshinori replied, "Although I think it's best if we first clear it with her mother. We wouldn't wanna overstep any boundaries here."
"Oh, I don't mind at all, sir," Uraraka's mom replied, "In fact, that snack will be the first thing my daughter was able to eat today."
That last bit got some alarm out of Toshinori. "The first thing she would be able to eat today?" Uraraka's mom, with a somewhat guilty look on her face, nodded in the affirmative before she proceeded to explain the whole situation; as Toshinori ended up learning, the Uraraka family had a construction company that wasn't doing so hot because they had trouble keeping up with other companies of their kind that spammed people with quirks that helped speed up the process of building. The company that the Uraraka couple had, Uraraka Construction, also had quirked workers but their quirks weren't entirely suited to the job.
As such, they relied purely on construction skill. As pure skill takes more time, people in need of a construction company's services tended to favor companies with workers who could just essentially quirk the job done. As a result, the Uraraka couple had trouble affording things for themselves; this included providing all that they wanted to provide for their daughter. Toshinori did recall, in the alternate timeline, that Uraraka was arguably the poorest student at UA when she went there, and was hands down the poorest student in Class 1-A under Eraserhead.
...Maybe Toshinori could change that here.
...
At Toshinori's request, Uraraka's mom showed him to the construction company that she and her husband ran. This trip happened on a day that Izuku and Uraraka were at their respective schools (they didn't go to the same school), so it was just Toshinori on his own. And although he was acting with wanting to better the lives of the Uraraka family, Toshinori was technically doing business here that All Might, his other self, was going to be a part of. As such, Toshinori walked into Uraraka Construction, under the pretense of scouting things out for his boss.
Pro heroism was not just dangerous, it could also be destructive as heroes got into some rather big fights with villains. Those fight can lead to the wrecking of buildings. Thus construction companies come into play; they fix up (and often clean up) the results of big fights between pro heroes and the villains they fight. Some construction companies even are sponsored by pro heroes, which makes them more appealing that other construction companies that aren't so lucky. The last that Toshinori checked, Endeavor is the pro hero with the most construction companies under his seal of approval.
Toshinori got a tour of the company, even got to go out to a site where Uraraka Construction was doing one of its (very rare) jobs. Toshinori knew enough about the construction company business (he sort of HAD to know as they clean up and fix the messes his bigger fights leave behind) that, even with a casual glance, he was able to tell that Uraraka Construction was actually one of the highest quality construction companies in the field; the quality of their work was truly top notch. And yet due to a lack of workers with quirks that can speed up the process, they had very few clients.
Although he had never given his own seal of approval to a construction company (unlike Endeavor who had done so many (many) times), Toshinori was figuring that giving Uraraka Construction the All Might seal of approval will help them attract at least enough business so that the Urarakas could provide a sufficient amount for their daughter Ochaco. As such, Toshinori talked it over with Mr. and Mrs. Uraraka, said that he'll put a word in with All Might about doing a commercial with them to help them attract more clients to their struggling business.
The Urarakas, proving to be good people, were besides themselves with gratitude, thankful that someone as great as a trusted secretary of All Might's would go so far for them. Little did the Urarakas know, however, that they actually got the Symbol of Peace himself. After a few days, a commercial for Uraraka Construction was made, with All Might starring in it and giving it his seal of approval and a thumbs up, before it aired on Japanese television. Toshinori hoped that, if anything, the effort will give the Urarakas enough business to earn a sufficient amount to properly care for little Ochaco.
...
About one day after the All Might commercial for Uraraka Construction aired, Toshinori had learned that he had severely underestimated his popularity.
Uraraka Construction was utterly flooded with clients wanting to hire them for work; it got to the point where Mr. and Mrs. Uraraka had to hire on more people to help get through the jobs. Luckily for Mr. Uraraka, he was part of a union that helped working class guys get work. The leader of the union, a man named Raihan, took charge in sending out men from the union to the various job sites. Since all of the jobs were for Uraraka Construction, the once struggling company ended up taking a drastic skyrocketing yeet to the top of the field.
And the financially struggling status the Uraraka family had? Gone now. Utterly done away with. Thanks to All Might, the Urarakas went from financially struggling to making bank. Little Ochaco didn't know what all was going on, all that she was aware of was that she could now eat as much as she wanted. And the Urarakas did not let things go to their head. They remembered where they came from, knew that there were others still in the kind of trouble they once were in. As such, once they started living on easy street, their first thought was paying it forward.
They did various charity work, made donations to various causes. Little Ochaco even came up with the idea of her parents helping to put food on the tables of the less fortunate; they themselves had once been the less fortunate and often had trouble getting sufficient food on the table. Ochaco didn't like it at all when she wasn't able to get enough to eat, and it made her not want the same to be forced onto anyone else. So the Urarakas also did charity work to help feed those struggling to eat, which even saw Mrs. Uraraka and Ochaco volunteer at a soup kitchen.
The men from Mr. Uraraka's union approved of what their fellow and his family were doing now that they had cash to burn, and Raihan in particular approved of the fact that the Urarakas did not forget where they came from. Toshinori, who saw that the Urarakas were paying it forward, were still the noble and humble people they were before surpassing the likes of the Iidas and the Todorokis in terms of financial strength, gave an approving smile. Izuku also was happy to see that people who had been helped by All Might were now helping others.
All Might's heroism was inspiring others to step up.
Years had passed since Toshinori woke up in the past of the current timeline since he was sent back from the alternate timeline, and already the Symbol of Peace had seen some changes. Although he was now focusing on Izuku, he saw a lot of progress in his step-son; Izuku now had a rather strong build for a now ten-year-old, and although Izuku had, to Toshinori's memory, always been a smart kid, the tutoring Toshinori was able to afford helped to shore up any poor spots Izuku might of had in the field of academics. Smart AND strong; Izuku already was shaping up to be a fine pro hero.
But Toshinori learned that, regardless of timeline, some things DON'T change. Case in point, he still had his climatic first fight with All For One, and it went exactly the same as it did in the alternate timeline. This meant that the Symbol of Peace figured that All For One will resurface one day, and he and his nemesis will have a second climatic fight during the events of the Battle of Kamino Ward. Toshinori also suffered his crippling injury that will limit his ability to do hero work, which will necessitate him having to pass the power of One For All down to a successor sometime in the future in this timeline.
...Only in THIS timeline, Toshinori had a different, closer, person in mind to be his successor.
Toshinori also had the falling out with Sir Midnight, but that could be addressed later. For now, Toshinori in his base form was relaxing at home after getting home from the hospital. As expected, Inko and Izuku were both worried for and fretting over him. As far as they were aware, the man of the house was hurt in a villain attack along with a few other civilians working jobs at Might Tower, and they would have been hurt worse were it not for their boss All Might saving the day but supposedly taking a wicked blow for the mighty efforts he had given to save the good people who worked under him.
Seeing Izuku was crying over him, Toshinori, with a sympathetic smile, gestured for his step-son to come over. He placed his hand on Izuku's head, gently ruffled his messy mop of green hair. "Don't worry, Izuku," Toshinori said, once again feeling the pain he had felt in the alternate timeline, "Your favorite hero is going to be fi-"
"I know All Might is going to be fine," Izuku interupted, "I mean, he's All Might, the best and strongest hero ever. But he's not who I'm worried about." Looking right at Toshinori, Izuku went on, "It's you that I'm more worried about, dad! You could have gotten hurt even more badly than you were! I was afraid that you were going to die! I already lost one dad, I don't wanna lose another!"
Toshinori was oddly touched by the concern Izuku was showing him here; Izuku cared more about Toshinori than Toshinori's other self. Izuku was becoming more and more of a far cry from the version of himself from the alternate timeline. Izuku here was a sweet, kindly boy to whom Toshinori meant the world. He had become a boy who any father ought to be proud of to have as a son. That said, Toshinori felt a sting in his heart when he remembered that, even with all of the efforts he had given to stamp out bullying and discrimination, there were still traces of it out there.
But the Symbol of Peace, once again on an all too familiar timer, was still going to make sure that Izuku, his boy, was not going to have to deal with that messy business as he grew up. Sitting himself up along the side of the bed despite Inko's protests, Toshinori looked Izuku right in the eye. "...Izuku," Toshinori said, "I'm alive because of how hard All Might had fought to save me. He didn't want the families of those working for him to suffer losses, like how he didn't want you or your mom to lose me. That's part of why he's such a good boss to those working under him."
Izuku sniffled a little bit. "Do... do you think All Might would appreciate it if I made him a get well soon card that's also a thank you card because he saved you?"
Toshinori laughed as much as his injured state would allow. A sincere, amused, good natured laugh. "My boy, I am certain that it'd be the best thing All Might could get right now as he himself is also recovering," Toshinori said, "If you make it, I'll bring it to him when I next see him." Although Izuku was still crying, he smiled now, happy that his step-dad and his favorite pro hero were going to be fine. Granted, Izuku at this point wasn't aware that his step-dad and favorite pro hero were the same man, but that could be a can of worms that could be opened later.
For now, Toshinori had to focus on doing as much as he could in the years he's got left until he has to pass One For All down to a successor. And this time around, the (still) Symbol of Peace was going to make sure he chose right.
...
Years passed yet again, and now things were getting close to the Sludge Villain incident. Toshinori remembered it in the alternate timeline, the point where he made the choice that had ended up leading to Japan's fall to the villainous hordes of Dabi. But that was the alternate timeline; here, in the current timeline, Toshinori intended to make sure that he made the right choice. By this point, Izuku was in junior high, and doing quite well in academics from what Toshinori got on the matter; a testament to the work of the tutors Toshinori had hired.
But Izuku was also going well in athletics, a testament to the training and exercise regimen Toshinori had Izuku on since he was four. Toshinori thought of this as he chased the Sludge Villain along the familiar path, knowing full well where it was going to eventually lead. He came out from a manhole, saw the Sludge Villain attacking Izuku under an overpass. In his buff form as All Might, Toshinori quickly defeated the Sludge Villain and saved Izuku, who passed out just as he saw that he had been rescued just now by his favorite pro hero.
Who he was soon going to discover had been his step-dad all along.
END, CHAPTER TWO
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Toshinori wake up in the past, with all of his memories of the bad future still in tact. With that knowledge, Toshinori goes about making moves and taking measures to prevent the bad future from occurring a second time. The first step, and something Toshinori wanted to do if he ever got a second chance to do so, is being a good father to Izuku. He took several measures to stamp out as much of the bullying Izuku had faced as possible, he also started him on a training regimen with the excuse it'd help him keep healthy, and he just plain was a good man that any son would want to have for a father. Toshinori also was able to help Uraraka's family, and that will be important later.
Anyway, the next chapter will cover Izuku (in this timeline) learning that his step-dad Toshinolri is All Might, and all the stuff following from that. That's gonna be fun.