Daisuke Nakanishi had been a bully during high school, and he was unusual among bullies in that he would admit it. The Nakanishi family was full of small-time crooks. His parents had outright encouraged him to steal from other students. Their protection from consequences had emboldened him until he'd landed in juvie. After that, he'd learned a lesson about subtlety. During his imprisonment, he'd been the model teenager, always eager to suck up to the adults. As a result, they'd believed him when he'd blamed his crimes on other teens. Daisuke had a minor quirk that allowed him to tell if someone else believed his lies or not. It was very useful in crafting his lies and adjusting to his audience. The juvenile detention center had even elevated him to an assistant teacher. With letters of recommendation praising his gift for working with troubled teenagers, he'd become a teacher at Aldera Middle School.
As it turned out, being a bully could be a useful skill in an unethical teacher's arsenal. Every year, Daisuke identified the weakest student in his class to torment. Having a scapegoat allowed him to win the popular kids' approval and made the others too scared to defy him. This year, Izuku Midoriya had been an easy pick. The kid was quirkless. He was shy, prone to mumbling, and had no friends. Really, he'd have been bullied either way. Daisuke just made certain it was worse. Every single class had at least one jab at Izuku's flaws. He'd devoted entire lectures to the uselessness of quirkless people. These days, Daisuke only had to raise an eyebrow at Izuku, and the whole class started laughing.
Unfortunately, this had led to a parent-teacher conference with an angry Inko Midoriya. But Daisuke remained unphased. It wasn't the first time a parent had come to the defense of one of his targets. He knew the principal of Aldera Middle School would back him up and vehemently refuse to see any bullying.
Her knuckles turning white around her purse, Inko growled, "I saw a copy of your last lecture slides. I've never seen such a pack of lies about quirkless people being physically frailer—"
Daisuke interrupted, "It's just science. Deku needs to face the facts about his stupid hero dream."
"Deku?" Inko's eyes narrowed.
Daisuke shrugged. "It's a friendly nickname." He could already tell she wouldn't believe him even before his quirk activated, but he didn't care. She was powerless here. And he reveled in it.
"That name doesn't sound friendly." Inko's cheeks turned even redder. "Where did you get your so-called facts about quirkless people, from the MLA?"
Actually, yes, Daisuke had downloaded his slides from their website. The accurate jab hurt his pride. He rolled his eyes. "Look, lady, maybe you should look inward for the source of Deku's problems. He lacks a father figure. No wonder he grew up to be a wimp. Does your husband even exist or did you make up a story about him working in America to cover up that you fucked the whole neighborhood?"
Inko sprang to her feet so fast her chair tipped over. Her face crimson, she growled, "I see it's no use talking to you. I'll take this up with the principal." She stormed out of the room.
Daisuke wondered if he'd gone a tad too far. Nah, he could always deny what he'd said. His boss hated both children and their parents. It would be easy enough to flatter his way out of trouble.
Just in case, Daisuke decided to compile a file about Izuku's problems making friends in class and send it to the email on file for Hisashi Midoriya. He made sure to adopt the tone of a concerned and caring teacher. That way, when Inko tried to claim he'd said that Hisashi didn't exist, she'd look like a fool. Daisuke considered himself an expert in making other people look like liars.
The next day, Izuku showed up at school pale and shaking even more than usual. He stared at his desk and did not respond to even Daisuke's most savage insults.
The other children, scenting blood in the water like sharks, surrounded Izuku. He didn't even react when someone snatched his cherished notebook. To Daisuke's surprise, Katsuki Bakugo of all people stomped over and chased off the other kids. In a gruff way, Katsuki growled, "Fuck off, his mom's in the hospital. Just lay off it today. Maybe all of you can go do something useful like dunk your heads in a bucket of ice-cold water."
This meant Daisuke didn't need to worry about Inko coming back to bother him again. He smiled at his good luck.
That evening, as Daisuke headed home, he found his car covered in scratches and graffiti with rude words. His blood pressure immediately shot through the roof. His beloved car! The beautiful red Ferrari that he'd taken out a loan in someone else's name to pay for! He knew who hated him the most and had been pressed too far today. A sneaky little brat who didn't know who he'd messed with.
Daisuke stormed straight to the principal and demanded punishment for Izuku Midoriya. When called to the principal's office, Izuku cried so hard he could barely stammer out a denial. Then he mumbled something about Kacchan.
Katsuki Bakugo arrived a few minutes later to say, "It couldn't have been Deku. He's staying at my place, so my mom made me walk home with him. I was with him from the moment class ended."
Daisuke's heart sank. This was bad. Katsuki was the golden boy of Aldera, the only person the principal listened to more than the teachers.
Katsuki concluded, "Anyway, do you even think the nerd knows half those bad words?"
This was such a convincing argument that even Daisuke started to wonder if it could have been someone else. He had a lot of enemies. Stupid, stammering Deku wasn't smart enough to pull this stunt off.
The next day, Daisuke took the bus to school and was in a bad mood about it. He'd already decided to give his class a special lesson on the hero business, specifically how no one without a quirk had ever become a hero or ever would.
Normally these lectures made Izuku angry or upset. If he didn't snap back with statistics, he would at least flinch. But this time Izuku only stared out the window. It was no fun when Daisuke's prey didn't react.
Daisuke got more and more annoyed until he walked over and slammed his hand on Izuku's desk. "Midoriya, am I boring you? With such a short attention span, I can't understand how you would believe you're ever getting into a prestigious school like U.A."
The class tittered. Izuku only said flatly, "I'm not planning to go to U.A. I don't believe in heroes any longer." He glared at Daisuke's hand.
As Izuku stared, something strange happened. Daisuke felt a sudden lancing pain through his palm. When he raised his hand, it was blistering with burns. Howling, he ran out of the classroom.
Marching around and waving his bandaged hand, Daisuke growled, "That quirkless freak did something to me!"
Seated behind his desk, the principal frowned. "How could he have caused your burn? The entire class saw that he never touched you. He's quirkless."
"Maybe he's faking it."
"Why would anyone fake not having a quirk?"
That was a very good question. Daisuke paused. "Or he's a late bloomer. Can't we have him tested?"
"Not without his permission."
"Then I'll suspend him if he doesn't agree! We have to investigate. Imagine the potential scandal if we failed to notice a child with a strong quirk. Let's make sure."
The warm buzz in Daisuke's head from his quirk told him this appeal to self-interest had finally convinced the principal. Daisuke had his own scheme. If it turned out Izuku had hidden a quirk, then he could be charged with a crime for evading the quirk registry.
In fact, Izuku easily agreed to visit another doctor. The diagnosis was the same: quirkless from birth, indisputable due to his toe joint. Izuku billed the school for the tests. The principal was not happy at all.
Daisuke received a late night phone call from his cousin Yoshimune. Odd, because usually his family only called if they wanted to borrow money. Yoshimune cut straight to the chase: "Did you piss off anyone powerful? Because someone is looking into your background."
"Someone?" Daisuke's hand tightened on the phone. "Who?"
"Someone big," Yoshimune said mysteriously. "The guy on the phone was scary. His name was Hi-something. Hisashi? Anyway, since you're my favorite cousin, I raised the bribe to a million yen before I spilled all the details about your criminal record."
Swearing, Daisuke hung up the phone.
He logged into his bank accounts, planning to cover his tracks concerning the money he'd embezzled from Aldera and bullied out of teenagers. But his bank was completely empty. Someone had hacked him.
Daisuke burst into the principal's office. "Hisashi Midoriya is some kind of criminal, and he's out to get me!"
"Who?" the principal asked. His brow wrinkled. "Is this about the quirkless kid again?"
"His father is on a vendetta against me. Stole all my money. I knew that kid had criminal roots, I mean, he's quirkless so he can't come from a good family." Daisuke was leaning into the principal's prejudices. He activated his quirk, trying to tell if it had worked.
Leaning back in his chair, the principal sighed. "Do you have any evidence this time?"
"I asked around all my relatives, and they'd heard of a big-name villain who's used the name Hisashi…among other aliases."
The principal just stared. Daisuke realized this sounded a lot less convincing if you didn't know he came from a family of villainous minions. Not that he could admit that part. The vibes in Daisuke's head were ice-cold. This meant the principal didn't believe him at all, and wasn't even open to being convinced. "Fine, I'll go to the police."
But Daisuke didn't have any interest in involving the police in his business. Too much of his money had been acquired through illicit means. Instead, he'd handle this how his family usually handed problems.
Daisuke broke into the Midoriya residence armed with a crowbar. According to school records, Izuku had stopped staying with the Bakugos because his father had returned home. Daisuke was going to beat up Hisashi Midoriya, beat up the quirkless brat too for fun, steal everything in this house, then flee Japan. It wouldn't be the first time a member of his family had pulled such a stunt. They all had passports under fake names prepared.
Since Daisuke knew that Hisashi Midoriya was secretly a very dangerous villain, he planned a surprise attack. From the moment he stepped into the bedroom, a strange chill ran down his spine. An aura of fear and terror made his hands shake. But like everyone in his family, Daisuke ignored all premonitions of common sense.
Snarling, Daisuke threw the crowbar with his good hand.
It struck the man sleeping on the bed. He did not even make a sound, but blood flowed from his head. Daisuke pumped a fist in the air. "I knew I was right to ignore that weird feeling! Vengeance is mine! Just wait until I brag to my entire family about how I took down a major villain. First, I need to find that brat—"
Electricity struck Daisuke from behind, and he fell over unconscious.
When Daisuke awoke, he'd been handcuffed to a radiator. Izuku Midoriya stood over him holding a taser. "Don't try anything, the police are on the way." For once, Izuku sounded cold and confident instead of mumbly. "I even had to call an ambulance for my father, since you were too inept to kill him. Fortunately he didn't seem likely to survive."
Daisuke blinked, trying to figure out the meaning of the strange words. "You…you set me up!" He thrashed against his bonds. "To kill your own father? But why?"
"That sperm donor is no father of mine." Izuku's eyes burned. "He abandoned us after I was diagnosed as quirkless. We were happy with him off in America. Then you sent him an email revealing that I'd been bullied, and Sashi's enormous ego couldn't handle having an inferior son, so he came back and pushed my mom down the stairs." Dark hatred filled Izuku's tone. Hatred for his father, and hatred for Daisuke. "My sperm donor was no criminal mastermind. I only had to drop a few hints to your idiot cousin, though, and you ate it right up. I knew you'd want to believe that your enemy had been someone grand and powerful. Not a mere quirkless kid."
"Then you planned this all," Daisuke said slowly. "With the powerful quirk you've been hiding!"
Izuku laughed harshly. "It's all about quirks for you. I never needed a quirk to get revenge. I destroyed your car. Kacchan lied as my alibi because his mom told him to walk me home from school and he didn't do it, but he didn't want to get in trouble. He didn't think I'd done it either—he always underestimates me. It was easy for me to heat up my desk in advance before you touched it. I knew how you'd menace me. You're absurdly predictable. An online friend T helped me hack your bank account in exchange for a favor. I'll be putting the money to good use getting my revenge on the rest of Aldera. Thanks for being so gullible. Because of you, I could punish my father without ever dirtying my own hands. I'm just the tragic victim attacked by a horrible criminal."
Daisuke swore and yanked harder on the cuffs. "You'll never get away with this, you stupid Deku—"
"Aren't you wondering why I'm telling you this?" Izuku asked sweetly.
Daisuke froze. "Why are you telling me this?" He had a sudden horrible feeling that the evil brat might be about to murder him. It happened that way in movies.
"Because no one will ever believe you. Not after you've been wrong so many times. Not when I have records of your past misdeeds. And I understand quirk urges. For you, with your ability to tell if someone else buys your lies, never being believed will drive you mad. It's the worst thing I could do to you. Besides the part where you're going to jail for murder." Izuku's smile widened. "Go ahead. Tell everyone that silly, s-stuttering Deku is a villain. See what happens."
Sirens approached the house.
As soon as the police arrived, Izuku collapsed into an impressive puddle of tears. A policewoman wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and comforted him. Upstairs, the paramedics frantically tried to resurrect Hisashi Midoriya.
Daisuke fought as the police dragged him away. "You don't understand! That kid is an evil mastermind! If you let him go, he'll one day become a threat to all of Japan."
But their expressions and his quirk remained ice-cold with disbelief.
Author's Note: To trick my readers, I left it ambiguous if this fic was Dad for One, but it is not. Hisashi Midoriya is just a jerk who mistreated his wife. But hey, at this rate All for One will be eager to adopt such a promising young villain. Especially since someone with a name starting with T helped Izuku out with the hacking.
Thank you to Gentrychild for helping me come up with a fast prompt.
I wrote this for B_O_M_B and stop_hunting_me's BNHA fanfiction event challenging authors to write stories with variants on the title "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I couldn't resist doing multiple fics off this fascinating theme. Let's see how many different ways I can write this fable in a week.