Manual's title as the normal hero was an inside joke with himself. He'd deliberately given himself a helmet like a Mudkip Pokémon and bright boots so no one ever looked at his face. No villains dangerous enough to have connections to his father even bothered with him. He attracted no sponsors. His hero name was unrememberable, and to prove it he kept having to re-introduce himself at the police station every time he brought in a criminal. Those occasions were rare, because Manual patrolled in a boring, safe area. His father had pulled strings to arrange it. For years, he'd sweated every time he pulled out his fake ID giving his name as Masaki Mizushima, even though he knew All for One had falsified his documents perfectly using a quirk. But the police barely glanced at his license.
His real name was Masaki Yoichi Shigaraki. Middle names were not common in Japan, but his mother had been from Europe. The middle name had been a compromise because his father had wanted to name him after his dead uncle, but his mother wasn't fond of the name or the tradition of naming children after relatives. His father usually called him Yoichi anyway. For this and many other broken promises, their marriage had ended after Masaki graduated high school. His mother had wisely returned to her home country Otheon after the divorce. Masaki called and visited regularly.
In contrast to his normal image, Masaki lived in a mansion. His father insisted they live under the same roof, and Masaki knew the limits of how far he could press dear old dad if he didn't want to dwell in a bank vault instead. At least no one ever looked close enough at his license to pay much attention to the address.
After another ordinary day on patrol, Masaki returned home. Brushing off his feet on the doormat, Masaki called, "I'm home."
From the kitchen, All for One replied, "Just in time, dinner is ready."
Masaki had no idea why his father insisted on pretending to cook when he actually had Kurogiri deliver food hot and fresh from restaurants around the world. But Masaki had learned the path of least resistance was to let his father keep his minor lies. He'd pretended not to notice the restaurant logos on numerous plates over the years.
All for One carried out a dish of Sheppard's pie. "How was your day, son?"
Masaki had trained his father out of calling him Yoichi through years of refusing to respond to the name. However, All for One still stubbornly would not call him Masaki. It was always "son" or "my little water spout" when in a soppy mood. Masaki accepted the truce, as he always had to compromise with his dad.
Sitting down at the table, Masaki tucked a napkin in front of his shirt. "The pie smells delicious. It was another ordinary day, Dad."
"You haven't been invited to any hero team-ups?" All for One served both of them with a wide spoon. "I heard there's a major battle against organized crime in progress in Shanghai."
Masaki chuckled. "Dad, I'm not nearly famous enough for foreign heroes to know me."
"True." All for One sighed. "Did any students accept your internship offer?"
"Not this year. I guess they all went with more prestigious heroes." Masaki had been very careful to only extend offers to students with weak quirks, so his dad wouldn't steal them.
All for One said, "Son, I'm afraid you haven't been able to gather any useful information for me, even though it's been years. If you want to quit your hero job, you can."
"I'll keep trying," Masaki said calmly. Internally, his pulse raced. "Besides, I don't think I'd be much good as a villain either."
"That's true." All for One reached across the table and patted his son's hand. "It's better that you stay in a safe position, my little water spout. Your lack of success just goes to show Shigarakis aren't meant to be heroes." He laughed boisterously. Masaki pretended to chuckle along.
In middle school, Masaki had made the mistake of telling his father that he was interested in being a hero. He hadn't even been fully committed to the path. It had been an impulse, after the other kids at school told him that he couldn't possibly become a hero because he was quirkless. Masaki had wanted to prove them wrong, and to become a symbol for other quirkless people. Also, he hadn't known his father was a villain. All for One had flipped out.
One bank vault and several shocking family revelations later, Masaki had only been set free because he'd sworn up and down that he actually meant he wanted to spy on behalf of his father. All for One had given Masaki a water quirk (defeating the entire purpose of why he'd wanted to become a hero) and ordered him to attend a prestigious hero school.
Masaki refused to become a spy or to hurt anyone. He knew enough about the HPSC to realize they would not help him. They'd jail him just for being All for One's son, minor or not. So he played dumb. He pretended to be unable to master his very powerful water quirk with any efficiency. Though he'd long ago figured out how to control people by manipulating their blood, his father would never know unless he needed to run for his freedom someday. He'd deliberately failed every hero school exam until he reached the lower tier. It had worked because All for One was always eager to believe everyone except himself to be an idiot.
As long as Masaki stayed away from the upper rankings of heroes, he couldn't give his father any useful information. As long as he seemed pliant and inept, he wasn't worth vaulting. There had been a brief threat to his low ranking six years ago, when he'd helped Ingenium save a building full of school children from a fire. But Masaki had solved that problem by not logging the case and letting Ingenium take full credit. Although All for One had been unhappy with his son's lack of usefulness at first, at this point he seemed to have settled on a sense of smugness that his family really was as helpless and useless at heroism as he'd always believed.
The two of them dug into their dinner. It was delicious, the crust perfectly brown. All for One only used the best chefs for his fake home cooking, just like how he only stole the best quirks.
Masaki said, "Tell me about your day, Dad. I'm sure it was far more interesting than mine."
After so many times repeating the same request, a tendril of sarcasm slipped into Masaki's voice. Naturally, All for One didn't notice. He immediately launched into a story about his ongoing power struggle with the yakuza. A smuggled shipment of weapons and Trigger would be arriving by boat tomorrow, a tool to turn the tide. By dessert, All for One had switched to giving Masaki a list of the heroes whose quirks he planned to steal.
As All for One cleared away the dishes, he said, "The heroes have gotten more cautious lately. They're wearing gloves at handshake events. I suspect All Might tipped them off. Ragdoll left town exactly when I planned to steal her power. It must be the blond buffoon's fault."
Masaki grunted neutrally. "Dad, I'm going to train my quirk in the basement."
"Do your best, son. Don't be discouraged, you're still better than your uncle ever was at using his stolen power. I can always give you another quirk if you decide this one isn't compatible with you." All for One ruffled his son's hair. "I need to answer some work emails. Let's play Monopoly in two hours?"
"Sounds great." Masaki headed downstairs to the basement. The training room was soundproof due to the thick walls. He locked the door, then placed a chair under the handle as a backup. Pulling out his second, secret phone, he dialed Tensei Iida.
"It's great to hear your voice," Tensei chirped. "How's my favorite hero doing?"
Masaki smiled in spite of himself, then said, "Let me tell you everything while I still remember it." As quickly as possible, he poured out everything he knew about the power struggle between All for One and the yakuza, the future location of the illegal shipment, and the names of the heroes who All for One would target next.
From the other end of the phone, he heard typing as Tensei took notes. Masaki never wrote down a single word, that would be too dangerous. After he finished, Tensei whistled. "Quite a haul today. You did good. Because of you, we'll be able to protect a lot of people."
Masaki said, "My father always monologues over the dinner table. I may have more for you later this evening. We're playing Monopoly, and I plan to throw the game. Victory puts my father in a gloating mood."
Six years ago, after Masaki had given Ingenium full credit for their joint rescue mission, the hero had been unwilling to accept it. He'd followed Masaki around for weeks, trying to persuade him to join team-ups and offering to hook him up with sponsors. Masaki had finally cracked and told Tensei the truth. To this day, he did not know why he'd taken such a big risk. But Tensei had been so kind, Masaki had instinctively been certain the Engine Hero would never use his family background against him.
Not only had Tensei been understanding, he'd also offered Masaki a chance to use his father's monologuing habit for good. Tensei had taken all the information Masaki could give him and shared it with the right people, classifying Masaki as a secret informant. Despite heavy pressure from the HPSC, Tensei had never given up his source. He hadn't even told his own family.
Masaki knew he could trust Tensei. And he knew that his information would be used well and wisely. He'd been able to thwart countless of All for One's worst schemes over the years. Even if no one else would ever know it, Masaki knew he'd been a true hero.
Cheerfully, Tensei asked, "If your father knew you're a double agent, do you think he'd be furious or proud?"
"Definitely furious." Masaki shuddered and clutched his phone tighter. "Don't even joke about that. I'd go straight into the vault. My dad takes pride in my accomplishments as if they were his own, but he also prefers me weak and helpless. The latter is a stronger urge than the former, I fear."
"Then he knows nothing about you," Tensei said firmly. "You're one of the strongest people I know. You've got a quiet strength, like a river. When you want something, nothing can move you, even if you have to erode an entire cliff in your way."
Masaki's ears pinked. "My quirk's more like a stream."
"I've seen what you can do when you try. Don't sell yourself short." In a more hesitant voice, Tensei asked, "Did you see my text asking you to the Kabuki theatre on Friday? Maybe I should have asked you in-person. But. Uh. I was nervous. And. Um. If you're not interested, we can still be friends. I won't bring it up again, and I won't make it weird."
Masaki had seen the text. And he'd put off replying deliberately. He'd noticed Tensei flirting with him more and more over time, but had convinced himself he'd imagined it. Ingenium was a top hero. Masaki was just normal, nothing special about him except the villain father who was definitely not in the plus column. However, the invitation had clearly been for a date. Denial was no longer possible.
Masaki knew he couldn't go, but he wanted to go. That was the whole problem. Since Tensei had always shot straight with him, Masaki decided to be honest in return. "I'm flattered. I like you a lot. But I've decided to never date. My dad, he gets weird about relatives dating. He murdered my uncle's boyfriend, to put that into perspective. It would be especially bad because you're a hero."
"All for One wouldn't have to find out," Tensei coaxed. "You deserve a life. You deserve happiness. Even if it's not me, you shouldn't have to be celibate forever."
"I shouldn't, but I don't want to put anyone in danger because of me."
In a quiet but firm voice, Tensei said, "I know the risks. You've warned me. And I want you anyway. You're worth it."
Even if Tensei said that, Masaki could never consider danger to someone he loved to be worth it. His throat felt dry. He opened his mouth, about to refuse and close that door forever.
Tensei added, "Besides, if your dad ever finds out about me, then he'll kill me for corrupting you into heroism and thwarting dozens of his plans together with you. How much more dead can he possibly want me?"
That…was an extremely good point. Masaki swallowed down his previous words. There were still many reasons why this was a bad idea. But he found that he badly wanted to have just this one thing for himself. So much of his life had been dedicated to thwarting his father or keeping his father under control. It had shaped his entire identity. Couldn't he just this once pick what made him happy?
Before his nerve could fail him, Masaki blurted out, "I'd love to go out with you on Friday."
On the other end of the phone, Tensei whooped and cheered.
OMAKE TIME!
Omake: The Origin of the Normal Hero
All for One: If my son is going to be a hero, then clearly your name must be Captain Hero.
Masaki: Dad, no. I'll be a laughingstock. The show is a superhero parody that you and Uncle Yoichi took way too seriously.
All for One: Here me out, a hero named "Demon King" would be edgy.
Masaki: I'm gonna pick the first word when I open up the dictionary.
#
Omake: Their First Meeting
Masaki: I'm normal.
Tensei: I thought you were extraordinary from the moment I laid eyes on you.
Masaki: Crap! He's uncovered my villainous father.
Tensei: No, I was just hitting on you. That was a pickup line. What's this about your father?
#
Omake: From the Void
All for One: I might not be getting any useful information out of my son, but at least he proved our family is bad at heroism. Suck it, Yoichi! I was right and you were wrong!
Masaki: Whatever you want to believe, Dad.
Yoichi: Grrrr. This is…fine. I know I should be happy that my cute nephew is doing such a great job thwarting big brother. But I can't help feeling a little bitter at how he's doing a better job at it than me and he did it by joining All for One. This just feels so wrong. Oh, well. If my nephew is happy and out of the vault, that's what matters the most. Let's focus on Masaki's love life instead—I ship him so hard with Tensei.
Author's Note: Pocketramblr, this one is for you. Thank you for giving me so many great ideas to torment Manual with.
FYI, I have a couple collabs not on my profile. I'm writing another Christmas Movie crossover with Gfan97 this year, which is on my Ao3 profile or their fanfiction dot net profile.
Title: Home (Almost) Alone
Summary: A young Izuku is staying at Mei's house and helping with her lab experiments when Dabi and Tomura break in to steal her equipment. They must team up on Christmas Eve to defeat the robbers and save Mei's babies. Mei learns the meaning of friendship while Dabi and Tomura learn the meaning of hate.
On Archive of Our Own, where I'm Katydid, I'm continuing my Space AU with Zyla Sweetbean:
Title: How to Survive Your First Day at Alien School Fandoms:
Summary: Rumor has it that Yuuei has admitted its very first human student. Class 1-A tries to figure out who is the Death Worlder. It can't be the boy with green fur on his head, he's too nice.