Author's Note: This fic takes place before Kamino. Izuku has never even heard of a villain named All for One. And All Might thinks that All for One is dead. Credit goes to Emeria for this prompt. I won't say which one, because spoilers.

Shortly after Toshinori Yagi started teaching at U.A., in the wake of a disastrous first training exercise, he decided to meet the parents of all his students. In order to improve himself, he'd been reading about teaching online, and it seemed like the proper thing to do. It also might help him get to the bottom of some of the complicated history between young Midoriya and young Bakugo.

While at the beach for another training session, All Might broached the topic. Izuku said, "My mom would be delighted to have a parent-teacher conference. I've told her a lot about you, and she's excited to meet you." He lifted a broken television over his shoulder and casually tossed it on top of the trash pile. He'd gotten very skilled at that. "My father is harder to get ahold of. He's working abroad in America. Even phone calls can be difficult to arrange because of the time difference—and because he's a workaholic. I'm not sure how cooperative my father would be about rearranging his schedule. He wasn't happy about me becoming a hero, you see. Oh! But my dad is coming home for a vacation in two days, if that's not too soon."

"I'll hold your conference first to accommodate your father," Toshinori said. He could understand a father having doubts about his son working in such a dangerous field as heroism. Hopefully if Toshinori could speak to Mr. Midoriya in-person, then he could persuade the man to support his son's dream. Toshinori was good at persuading people, though he doubted it was personal charisma so much as the halo of fame.

Izuku chuckled. "Dad won't be able to fake an important work meeting when he's at home on vacation."

"Does your father regularly fake appointments to get out of things he doesn't want to do?" Toshinori asked in a light, jesting tone.

"Oh, yeah. Dad can be a horrible liar." Izuku paused to mop sweat off his brow, then lifted up a filthy refrigerator missing the front door. "He's proud of it, too. Calls himself the King of Liars, as if that's an honor."

A faint chill of unease ran through Toshinori, making the hot beach sun briefly fade and leaving him cold all over. All for One had referred to himself as the King of Liars, one of his many brags. But All for One was dead. If he hadn't been safely gone, Toshinori never would have passed on his quirk to a young, naïve boy. It was nothing more than a coincidence. To reassure himself of the coincidental nature, Toshinori asked, "What is your father like?"

While clearing trash at a rapid rate, Izuku said, "My dad's a huge comic book nerd. You should see his library! He has dozens of bank vaults full of comics—not just the rare ones, he keeps them all in there. He's paranoid about the safety of his treasures."

Since Toshinori couldn't see a villain like All for One as a nerd, he felt a flicker of relief. He was quick to jump on any evidence to remove the distasteful association from his mind. "Villains don't like bank vaults, they break into them," he said with an entirely unwarranted confidence, as if he'd gotten this fact from a scientific journal instead of his own imagination.

"Hmm?" Izuku glanced over his shoulder.

Toshinori hastily corrected, "I said: what comics does your father like?"

Izuku said, "My dad loves old-fashioned comic books from the dawn of the age quirks. He's also a big fan of old movies, like the original Star Wars trilogy. His favorite character is Darth Vader. I would have thought he'd like the Emperor, the mastermind, but Dad always said Emperor Palpatine had no dress style and lacked family values."

Oh, no. All for One's villain costume had resembled Darth Vader. Toshinori's denial reasserted itself with full force to block out this connection. "Ha-ha, I guess your father must be the quiet nerdy type."

Turned away, Izuku didn't see the look on his teacher's face. "Quiet? My dad? No way. Dad can monologue like he doesn't even need oxygen. Nerdy I'll give you, but not the shy type. Dad has very strong opinions about fictional media, and he's not afraid to share them with the world. Just become some internet stranger had a bad take on a movie, he once threatened to replace every single DVD in the man's house with copies of the Star Wars Holiday Special."

All for One literally hadn't needed to pause to breathe during his speeches, he had a quirk for that. Also, All for One had once broken into a random civilian's home and replaced all his movies with a 1978 Star Wars Special for reasons Toshinori had never understood until now. Still didn't understand. Because the theory he refused to acknowledge simply wasn't possible.

Izuku knelt down to clear Styrofoam peanuts off the ground. "Before you meet my dad, I have to warn you, he's an antifan."

"Oh, no," Toshinori muttered, because he'd been hoping for evidence against, not in favor of, the thought he still refused to think. Against his will, his eyes compared young Midoriya's face to All for One. Those freckles…so similar…

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, I apologize in advance if he's at all rude to you. Mom says he's just jealous of sharing my attention because he always has to be number one. My dad is charming as hell, but he can verbally eviscerate people if he wants."

Toshinori twitched. This all sounded very familiar—no, it couldn't be. He was making something out of nothing. The world was full of egotistical people. How could he turn such small coincidences into a conspiracy theory? He must not have gotten enough sleep last night while reading teacher training manuals. Wait! U.A. had files on the relatives of all students, and Hisashi Midoriya was registered as having a Fire Breath quirk. Therefore he could not possibly be any person with a different quirk. (Toshinori studiously refused to acknowledge that someone with multiple quirks could register whatever one they'd like.) Determined to lay this insanity to rest, Toshinori asked, "Isn't your father's quirk fire breath?"

Wiping off dirt on his pants, Izuku turned around. "Oh, that's what Dad officially registered. He's afraid of the HPSC—a bit of a conspiracy theorist about it, honestly. He didn't want anyone to know he has the ability to give and take quirks."

Toshinori's entire world became hazy.

Oblivious, Izuku continued, "I can understand Dad's concerns. He got targeted by quirk traffickers when he was a child because of his ability. I know I can trust you, though. Please don't tell anyone else. It's a neat ability, right?"

"Gah," Toshinori said.

Izuku said, "Dad promised to give me any quirk I wanted when I turned eighteen—apparently new quirks can have negative effects on children's bodies. Back when I was only two years old, I told him that I wanted All Might's quirk—your quirk. Dad always used to say he was working on getting that for me. It was a running joke in our family. Anyway, you should have seen the look on his face when I told him that I'd gotten your quirk after all! Dad didn't seem happy, but I think he was just jealous he didn't get to give me a quirk."

"Gaaaaaaah…" Slowly, Toshinori's brain retook control of his tongue. His wall of denial had crumbled under the onslaught, leaving him cold with fear. Yet he had one last test before he accepted this bitter pill. "Young Midoriya, could I see a picture of your father?"

"Sure." Izuku pulled out his phone from his pocket and scrolled to select a photo.

The family picture had Inko Midoriya, a younger Izuku, and the presumed father of the family. Hisashi Midoriya was even shorter than his wife, with a round face and heavy glasses. He had the same freckles as his son, but also persistent acne. His eyes were green and his hair was a dark brown, nearly black. He looked scrawny next to his wife, as if she could easily bench press him. His cheeks gave him a hamster look, but in a charming sense. Most people would call the man in the picture good-looking, but in a cute rather than handsome way. Honestly, Hisashi had a strong resemblance to his son.

Toshinori exhaled with such great relief that the force blew the fridge off the trash pile. This man looked nothing like the Person Who Would Not Be Named Even In Toshinori's Own Head. Of course two people could have the same quirk. The forces of denial and optimism instantly reasserted themselves, smoothing away any remaining doubts. "Your father looks like a very kind man. I'm sure we'll get along wonderfully."

"He'll get along with you or else," Izuku said. Toshinori refused to acknowledge who that tone of voice reminded him of. Probably Nana. Nana had also had a very firm angry tone.

In the void, Yoichi said, "Hey, cool, I'm an uncle."

"I knew it," Second hissed, holding out his hand. Third slapped down a hundred yen.

The vestiges wandered over from their thrones to peer into the real world. The portal was located in the middle, between the thrones. Banjo said, "Congratulations, Yoichi. Why are you two betting with imaginary money? We can create anything in the void but there's nowhere to spend it." Banjo's face paled as realization dawned. "WAIT All for One has a child?" A murmur went up among the vestiges.

"Our new successor is All for One's child?" Hikage gasped.

Nana laughed. "None of you have been paying enough attention. Ninth's father has the same quirk, but he's a completely different person. Just look at his picture." She made the hovering image zoom in on Izuku's photograph.

"Oh, that wimpy nerd isn't All for One." Banjo nodded.

En asked, "Do you think he might be a distant cousin of yours, First?"

Yoichi shook his head. "Nope, that's my brother."

There was a moment when all the vestiges digested this. Hikage hid behind his throne. Second and Third went to face the wall.

With a slight edge to her voice, Nana said, "Very funny, but that man is way too short to be All for One."

Yoichi snorted. "My brother uses a quirk to enhance his height. It was one of the very first quirks he actively sought out, the vain bastard."

This sounded a little too plausible to the vestiges, who muttered among themselves. Banjo protested, "But that guy looks like a nerd I used to give a hard time in high school!" His face paled. "What if I caused All for One's start of darkness?"

"Not unless you're a time-traveler," Yoichi said dryly. "No one bullied my brother even before his powers came in. He retaliated too harshly. I know he doesn't look like a villain. Big brother knew it, too. He found quirks to make himself look like the Demon King from our favorite comic books. What a chuunibyou, am I right? By the time he was in his late teens, he'd found a quirk to change his hair and eye color to white and red. You get three guesses what was the demon king's hair and eye color and the first two don't count…"

En said, "I refuse to believe All for One is even shorter than me," but he sounded doubtful and uncertain.

Yoichi chuckled. "Big brother is salty about being shorter than me! That was basically his villain origin story. The day I grew a millimeter taller, he started stealing quirks and plotting world domination. I'm pretty sure he locked me up in the vault to try and halt my growth spurt with poor nutrition and lack of sunlight."

The others gaped. Yoichi spoke so casually, it was hard to tell if he was joking. He continued, "In big brother's opinion, a villain must be tall and handsome and muscular. His muscles are the result of another ability that he keeps constantly active. He uses a low level shapeshifting ability to keep off the acne because no expensive skin creams would ever entirely remove it. But he must grow tired of using his powers all the time, so I guess he removes them and shows his real body at home. Or it could be to keep his civilian identity looking different. But I would bet it's because he gets tired. Big brother used to try to keep up the illusion 24/7 even around me but I could tell and always pointed it out when his hair tips darkened and his acne returned."

"You're All for One's start of darkness," Banjo muttered. The rest of the vestiges were in a stunned state.

Eventually, Nana said, "But surely All for One would have returned to his real form out of exhaustion when he fought with Eighth."

Yoichi laughed long and hard. "Come on, you know my brother! He'd rather die than admit that he's shorter than All Might. Besides, he knew that he could use the same minor shapeshifting power to reconstruct his face after their fight if he lost. Listen, my brother is very extreme about hiding his real face. He looked me up in the vault for the first time because I was running around showing his old school yearbook pictures to his colleagues."

There was a moment of silence as everyone digested this reveal. Banjo broke the silence saying: "I can't believe I got beaten by a nerd."

Then the void erupted into pandemonium.

All Might had carefully prepared for his very first parent-teacher conference. On the one hand, he knew young Midoriya would be forgiving of any mistakes, but on the other hand, he felt even more pressure to get everything perfect for his successor's parents. He'd dressed in a yellow pinstripe suit. Under his desk, he had two hundred pages of notes for every possible contingency.

Inko Midoriya knocked on his office door precisely on time. She wore a dark green dress, with a purse over her shoulder. Holding out her hand, she said, "Thank you for meeting with me."

"The pleasure is mine." Toshinori shook. "Your son is a wonderful student."

Inko looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Hisashi, you can't put this off forever."

Hisashi Midoriya slouched down the hallway, wearing a silk suit with the top unbuttoned. His sagging shoulders made him look even shorter, and he already barely came up to All Might's belt. Though it was hard to make out his eyes under his heavy glasses, he was clearly avoiding eye contact.

Inko sighed and whispered, "Don't mind him. He's never been enthusiastic about heroes, and I think he's jealous of Izuku having another father figure in his life."

Toshinori immediately felt flattered at being referred to as a father figure and determined to make Hisashi Midoriya like him. It wouldn't be the first time he'd charmed a hostile witness or a shit-stirring reporter. Elegantly, he bent at the knees to offer his hand.

Scowling, Hisashi ignored the gesture. As he stepped into the office, he almost seemed to grow an inch taller. Or was it just Toshinori's imagination?

Lowering his hand, Toshinori sat down behind his desk. "Can I offer you any refreshments? I have water, juice, and green tea." He gestured at his mini-fridge. "I also have a coffee maker."

"Tea would be lovely," Inko said. Hisashi did not speak. She nudged her husband. "Hisashi likes sweet drinks. Do you have grape juice?"

That was so cute, Toshinori couldn't help smiling. "Of course."

Hisashi's cheeks reddened. He snapped, "I'm not thirsty. Besides, I wouldn't trust a hero not to feed me expired juice, like how you feed the public tired old lies."

Something about the brusque manner and insults reminded Toshinori of someone…but it slipped away from him because Hisashi was just too small and cute. Normally the unwarranted rudeness would have been angering. But coming from Hisashi, it was just like watching a little mouse squeaking. Toshinori couldn't even stop smiling.

"Dear, knock it off," Inko hissed, elbowing his husband. "You promised our son that you would behave."

Hisashi rolled his eyes and sat up straighter. So much straighter that he seemed to grow another inch. His eyes flashed red behind his glasses. The air grew heavier around him.

Clearing his throat, Toshinori tried to set aside his strange feelings. "Young Midoriya is a gifted student and a fast learner. He—"

"When are you getting to the part where my son keeps breaking his bones under your poor tutelage?" Hisashi growled.

Inko massaged her forehead. "Hisashi…"

"No, it's quite all right. That's a valid concern to raise." Toshinori tried to look calm and reassuring. "If anything, concern about your son speaks well of you."

Hisashi glared. "I bet you wouldn't be so patronizing if I wasn't short!" He punctuated his words by growing an inch taller.

Although Toshinori had prepared for every single eventuality, he had no scenario for a parent who kept growing taller. He did his best not to think about it. "Mr. Midoriya, I apologize for giving you the wrong impression. I promise that I'm taking your concerns very seriously."

"How would you like it if I showed you up and gave Izuku a durability quirk?" Hisashi kept growing. "I bet then you'd be furious! You'd call him a villain for having more than one ability!"

"That would be wonderful," Toshinori said. "Do you have one? If young Midoriya is willing, then you should give it to him at once."

Hisashi looked so surprised he stopped getting taller. "No, but I'm looking for one. They're not easy to find with an oppressive government controlling quirk use."

Toshinori said, "Maybe I could use my contacts to help you find an elderly person struggling to use their quirk and interested in selling it."

A sputtering sound emerged from Hisashi's throat. His eyes glowed red and his arms thickened.

Inko pushed down on her husband's shoulder. "Stop that." Addressing Toshinori, she said, "He's using his quirks to increase his height. He mainly uses the ability for his Demon King costume on Halloween, but sometimes he gets taller when he's in a mood."

Toshinori had liked Inko Midoriya from the moment he'd met her, but now he felt an entirely unreasonable and uncharacteristic annoyance at her for ruining his denial that Hisashi's appearance had been changing. If he acknowledged the height change then it might lead to other suspicions he did not want to think about. There was a strangeness in the air, an energy he knew from…somewhere.

Aizawa poked his head through the door. "Hey, the coffee machine in the break room is broken. Can I borrow yours?" He stiffened upon seeing Hisashi, his eyes flashing red and his hair rising. Immediately, Hisashi shrank back down and his eyes became green again. Aizawa blinked. "Oh, sorry, I felt a quirk and reacted by reflex."

Toshinori leapt up and tried to hug Aizawa, who ducked. "Thank you! You can have my coffee machine forever." He placed it in his coworker's arms. "Just stand there and keep using your Erasure. I can live with this version of him as Midoriya's father."

Behind him, Hisashi stuttered incoherently. He was so angry he was shaking, and it was quite adorable.

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: In the Past

Teenage Hisashi: (Looking at himself in the mirror) The dimples have got to go. I need a quirk to make the dimples go away right now.

Mom: Your dimples look cute, sweetie.

Hisashi: That's the whole problem! Villains are not supposed to be cute! I'm going to add your unsupportiveness to my villain origin story.

#

Omake: The Vestiges Watching the Conference from the Void

Banjo: Huh, Eighth's power of denial is something else.

Nana: Why didn't you tell us before what your brother actually looks like?

Yoichi: It never really came up. Second and Third know, I've shown them all the embarrassing pictures. Do you want to see my brother's silliest childhood pictures?

Nana: Oh, yes please! I'll finally have something to say back next time he taunts me in the Void.

#

Omake: Divergences

Regular Dad for One: I'm upset that my son inherited One for All because now I'm destined to fight another family member.

This All for One: I'm upset that my son inherited One for All because I was going to steal that and give it to him. Stupid All Might, robbing a child of his birthday present by refusing to die.

#

Omake: He Ran Into the Star Wars Holiday Special Ten Times

Toshinori: What movie take was so bad as to drive All for One to such an extreme and petty revenge?

Hisashi: Disney recently released their 5000th Star Wars movie in a pathetic attempt to milk the pitiful abused franchise of every last cent, and some asshole had the nerve to give it a positive review and say he hoped there would be a sequel. Actually he said he wanted at least FIVE sequels and numerous spin-offs.

Yoichi: (Singing to the tune of Cell Block Tango) He had it coming!

#

Omake: How We Narrowly Avoided a Bad End

Hisashi: Screw it, I refuse to let All Might see me when I'm shorter than him. I'm going to show up in my villain form, and if we have a massive battle with extensive causalities among the students, that's a price I'm willing to pay.

Izuku: …Dad, why are you going to my parent-teacher conference wearing your Halloween costume? Mom, please talk some sense into Dad.

Inko: Dear, you're not wearing your Halloween costume to U.A. I'll help you pick out a suit.

Hisashi: This is a villain costume, not a demon king costume.

Inko: I don't care, I'm not leaving the house with you while you're wearing that.

#

Omake: Busted

Hisashi: I should have been consulted before my son got a quirk.

Inko: You go weeks without answering calls, dear. You forfeiting the right to be involved in Izuku's life decisions because of your unavailability.

Hisashi: It's not easy when my time zone in America is eleven hours ahead of Japan.

Toshinori: Behind.

Hisashi: Excuse me?

Toshinori: America is in an earlier time zone than Japan. The exact difference might vary depending on where you are, but the U.S. is in a western time zone. It will always be earlier in the day in the United States compared to Japan. I know because I regularly communicate with David Shield.

Hisashi: …

Inko: Dear, we've been arranging phone calls with you for years under the assumption that you were in a later time zone. Have you been lying to us?

Hisashi: …

Inko: Where exactly have you been if you weren't in America?

Hisashi: …

Inko: Excuse me, I need a moment alone with my husband.