Author's Note: And the theme of today's fic is…the cycle of abuse! It feels a bit strange writing Inko as All for One's daughter after writing her as his wife so many times, but to be 100% clear, this fic is Grandfather for One. All for One is Inko's father. Hisashi is just some deadbeat dude.

Inko's birthday isn't until July and I didn't want to wait that long, so consider this a very early present. I've also placed this in my Dad for One series because it fits the overall theme of vaulting Izuku. I decided Grandfather for One was close enough. Thank you to Jinxbymidnight for this prompt that inspired me to write a gift for Inko out of season.

Everything made Inko anxious.

Leaving her house made her anxious. There were so many people, bright lights, and noises, unlike the quiet vault where she'd grown up. Talking to people made her anxious. She either talked too loud and too fast, or became too quiet. She never knew what to say. Grocery shopping made her anxious. She always seemed to be blocking other people or taking too long in line. Was she supposed to chat with the cashier or would that be a further delay to annoy everyone behind her? Meals made her anxious because so many foods had bad chemicals, she couldn't keep track of all of them, and she kept hearing stories on the news about people dying of food poisoning.

Her son Izuku was the light of her life. But he made her the most anxious of all.

From the moment Izuku had been diagnosed as quirkless, Inko had known it was her fault. Her father was from the dawn of the age of quirks. Statistically, she was far more likely than the average person to have a quirkless son.

Even though he didn't know about All for One, her husband had also blamed Inko. He'd abandoned his wife and son and permanently moved to America. Deep down, Inko knew her husband had never been a good man. He'd paid the minimum amount of attention to his son and belittled her constantly. But he'd been the only man she could get. Now she was all alone.

With her husband gone, Inko poured out all her love into Izuku. She had plenty of money. (She'd stolen it from her father before she…left home.) She'd cooked the most nutritious meals and purchased the most expensive hero merchandise. Sometimes she regretted fueling his hobby, because his dream to become a hero made her very, very anxious. It simply wasn't possible. The risk that her father would notice his grandson if he went into the business was too high. Furthermore, her mother had died in the same deadly profession. Inko had grown up only knowing her mother, Nana Shimura, through her smiling pictures. She'd perish of grief if she ever lost her son the same way. Since a young age, a deep fear of heroism had been instilled in her by her father.

Inko comforted herself with the knowledge that no hero school would even let Izuku take their entrance exam. After she'd apologized to Izuku for being unable to support his dream, he'd cried but seemed to understand. Izuku was her sole reason for living. She couldn't bear for him to ever be in danger.

Since his diagnosis, Inko noticed her son had stopped inviting friends over. She had a vague notion that she ought to network with the other parents in the area to arrange more playdates, but it was too scary. Once she'd stared at her phone for an entire hour, unable to bring herself to call anyone. She really hated phone calls.

The first time little Izuku came home with burns, Inko cried until she flooded her house. Then she went to the Bakugo residence to complain. But as soon as Mitsuki opened the door, Inko's words died in her throat. Mitsuki was on Inko's list of top five scary people. And that list included the greatest villain in the world!

Izuku never complained about the bullying. It was difficult to tell if he was stoic or anxious like her. Inko wished she'd been able to teach her son to stand up for himself, but she couldn't show him a skill that she lacked.

Clearly the bullying was intensifying over time. Izuku kept coming home with his notebooks destroyed and his clothes dirty. Inko had tried going to his elementary school, then later his middle school, to complain. But the teachers and principals talked words around her, always leading to her apologizing instead. They made Izuku out to be the troublesome child. Inko knew that wasn't true, but she couldn't argue with anyone who raised their voices. Fights reminded her too much of her father and made her anxious. (A little voice in the back of Inko's head whispered that this would never happen if All for One was around. He would not have stood for anyone to harm his grandchild. But she reminded herself of all the many reasons she'd left.)

Gradually Inko and Izuku settled into an equilibrium. He didn't tell her what happened to him at school, and she didn't ask. At home, they both pretended everything was fine and they were happy.

Her son was protecting her from his own bullying. Even though she should be the one protecting him. She was a failure as a parent. Alas, her self-hatred only paralyzed her more and made it harder to act.

More and more, Inko sank into a deeper funk. She stopped leaving the house. Even groceries could be ordered online. She still cleaned—cleaning was a compulsion for her, until her nails broke and bled. She cooked. Once she'd belonged to a book club, but traveling there was too scary, she'd read too many stories about train crashes. Even reading books to the end was difficult for her these days. She had trouble getting through the scary bits, and she couldn't read for long before she started to get nervous she might have left the stove on. Mostly she sat in front of her computer and endlessly read news stories about horrible crimes and global tragedies. They made her feel awful, but she couldn't stop. Although she purchased cameras for outside her house and alarm systems, she never felt safe. (None of it would do the slightest good if her father came for them. And what about his enemies, who might kill her and Izuku slowly?) Inko had trouble falling asleep without sleeping pills. And she kept upping the dosage.

Maybe she should see a doctor. But doctors made her anxious. Her father's doctor had terrified her as a child.

At the end of middle school, Izuku was nearly killed by a Sludge Villain on live television. Inko fainted. When he returned home, she held him and sobbed. No amount of pills would let her sleep at night from that point onward. Her stomach hurt too much. Instead she just cleaned until she collapsed from exhaustion. She tried not to let her son see the extent of her condition. She didn't want to worry him. (She didn't want to be even more of a useless parent.)

Afterward, Izuku started staying out late after school. When he came back, he looked happier. Maybe he'd finally made a friend? But Inko's imagination, nearly stretched to the breaking point, conjured up all kinds of horrible scenarios. Perhaps a scammer was preying on her baby. Or worse, a child molester! A million times, she tried to ask him where he went, but the words choked her. She could not bring herself to break the silence between them about the world outside their home. If she overturned that rock, they might end up talking about too many topics she feared to articulate.

When Izuku presented Inko with a meal plan, his eyes hopeful, she felt relieved. Oh, Izuku was just chasing after his silly hero dream again. He must be out late training. No hero school would accept a quirkless boy. Izuku would fail, and he'd be sad, but then he'd inevitably return home to her. It seemed like the path of least resistance to prepare the meals he wanted and wait.

Izuku returned home from the U.A. entrance exam with a broken arm. Inko cried even harder than she usually did every single day. She'd failed to protect her baby. She never should have let him take that horrible exam. At least it was all over now. Judging from the sad look in his eyes, Izuku had failed. Privately, Inko was relieved. Now life could return to normal. They had so much money, Izuku didn't need to get a job. He didn't really need to go to high school, unless he wanted to, of course. He was welcome to stay at home with her. She'd picked up a homeschooling book and even finished it for once. She started sleeping better at night.

Until Izuku ran down the stairs screaming, "I was accepted into U.A.!"

Inko dropped the dish she'd been washing, barely catching it before it broke. Drying off her hands, she turned around. "That's impossible." Her words came out harsher than she'd intended.

"Because I'm quirkless?" Izuku swallowed, an old pain and resentment lurking behind his eyes. He shook his head. "It's okay, Mom. I have a quirk now. It…uh…developed late."

Her son had always been a poor liar. He sweated and couldn't meet her eyes when he lied. Inko grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Where did you meet All for One? Tell me, now!"

"Mom, please, you're hurting me." Izuku pulled away. "I don't know anything about All for One. Did you mean One for All? How did you know about that?"

"How did you know?" Inko demanded. Mother and son stared at each other. It took a few moments for Inko's frazzled brain to put the clues together. "Oh my god, you met All Might. He must have passed on his quirk to you."

Izuku's face completely gave him away. "Mom, how did you know? Did you look through my phone?"

"You have to give it back!" Inko grabbed Izuku's shoulders again, shaking harder. Her fingers dug in. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "That quirk is a curse. It killed your great-uncle and your grandmother. Give it back! Get rid of it! All for One will find us!"

Izuku was accustomed to handling his mother's moods. As usual, he guided her to an armchair in the living room and helped her sit down. "Mom, it's okay. Who is All for One? If you explain, then I'm sure All Might will help us." He handed her a tissue. Then he held out his arms for a hug.

This time, Inko pushed his arms away. His eyes widened in surprise as she ran for the stairs. "We're leaving, now. Pack a suitcase."

Izuku ran after her. "Mom, please, you're not making any sense. Where would we go?"

"Out of the country," she said wildly. "Anywhere except Japan. We're not safe here."

"Clearly you know something that I don't, but I think you're overreacting." Izuku's tone held a forced calm. For the first time, Inko found it patronizing, how he sought to manage her—even as she realized she'd created this dynamic. He held up his hands as if soothing a wild animal. "Talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about. We're leaving." Inko ran into Izuku's room and started taking his clothing off the shelf, preparing to pack. He chased after her and stuck up a hand to stop her.

Izuku's mouth set mulishly. "I just got accepted into U.A., my dream school. All Might himself wants to train me. I'm not running away if you won't even explain what is wrong."

"I'm your mother. This is an order!" Inko screamed.

Izuku sat down on his desk chair and crossed his arms. "Let's talk." Despite his conciliatory tone, his face was stubborn. Clearly he did not plan to go anywhere.

For the first time, Inko realized she couldn't force her son to leave. Yes, from a legal perspective, she had the right to move him to a new home. But if he just sat down and wouldn't go, then she wouldn't be strong enough to carry him off. Worse, U.A. and All Might could offer him an alternate place to stay. It wasn't safe for him to leave her house with all its security. They didn't have time for a protracted battle. All for One might come any minute now. The lord of the underworld had connections everywhere, even U.A. What if he already knew? She'd never considered that Izuku might act like this. He'd always been such an obedient child. All Might had stolen her son. Now Izuku listened to a different adult, instead.

There was no option except the truth. Even though she'd swallowed down these words so long, they felt like glass stuck in her throat. Taking deep breaths, Inko said, "My father…he's a very dangerous villain."

Izuku said, "I'm sorry, Mom."

She didn't understand his response. He gazed at her as if he thought this explained a lot. She continued, "If he finds out that you're trying to become a hero, then he won't be happy. You can't, Izuku. It's not safe for either of us."

Frowning, Izuku focused on the wrong point. "You mean you never thought I could become a hero? But you helped me train for the entrance exam!"

"Well, I never thought you'd pass!" she screamed, her nerves stretched until the truth exploded out.

They stared at each other, mutually horrified. Inko swallowed. "I-I didn't mean to say that."

"Of course you didn't," Izuku said, conciliatory. But his betrayal played out on his face. "I-I've got a quirk now. It will be different. You don't have to worry so much about me."

He sounded like he was begging. He thinks I'm a burden, Inko thought, the familiar cold hard knot of anxiety settling in her stomach. "You don't understand." She had to explain herself. As rapidly as she could, Inko poured out the story of All for One and the legacy of One for All. Before she got to the part about her mother and her own birth, she paused for a breath.

Izuku said, "Then an infamous and dangerous villain is out there, and All Might thinks he's dead? We have to warn him." Izuku reached for his phone.

"No!" Inko screamed, summoning the phone from his hands to her own using her quirk. "Weren't you listening? We're related to the villain!"

"All Might would never blame us. You haven't met him, Mom. He's great. Even more heroic in-person."

Inko edged toward the door, clutching her son's phone. "No, no, no. We can't tell anyone. We have to appear normal."

"You're not feeling well. Why don't you sit down and I'll make you some tea? Then we'll talk about what to do next."

He wasn't listening to her. She wouldn't be able to stop him from calling All Might. She could see it in his eyes. He'd always idolized his favorite hero. He did not understand what the HPSC did to the relatives of villains.

Inko couldn't stop her son from telling. Couldn't stop him from becoming a hero. Couldn't stop him from leaving her.

In a sudden impulse, Inko slammed the door to her son's bedroom shut and locked him inside. She'd installed locks on the outside of all the doors during one of her anxious moods. Back then, she hadn't admitted to herself why.

A rattling came as Izuku tried the doorknob. Inko backed away, heart racing.

Izuku called, "Mom, please let me out. You're not well." He pounded on the door.

Inko ran downstairs, threw herself on the sofa, and wept. What had she done? Izuku would never forgive her. He'd never trust her again. He'd leave her. As soon as she unlocked the door, he'd be out of the house. He'd run off to All Might and replace her as a parent.

Unless she never opened the door.

But that wouldn't work. It seemed like Izuku still had limited control over One for All, but eventually he'd figure out how to bust the door down even if he hurt himself again. It was different from the days when no one cared about either of them. All Might had taken an interest in Izuku. The number one hero would come looking if his pupil never showed up at school. Inko could not stand up against such physical and legal might.

Someone else could, though. There was one person who could make sure that All Might never went near her son again.

Back when Inko had been a child, her father always used to tell her that he wouldn't be angry at her as long as she told him the truth. If she admitted her wrongdoings, then he went easy on the punishments. He'd spoiled and indulged her. Once upon a time, she'd been able to get just about anything from her father by telling him that she loved him.

Slowly, as if in a trance, Inko reached for the landline phone on the end table. She dialed a familiar number by heart. Then she stopped just before hitting send.

Was she truly about to do this? She'd spent her whole life running from the villain. How could she let him get his claws on her son?

But if Inko didn't, then she'd lose Izuku, one way or another. He'd hate her for locking him up and not believing in his dreams. He'd already gotten tired of her anxiety and crying. And what if Izuku became a hero? The career was too dangerous. Inko's own mother, Nana Shimura, had given up her family in the name of heroism, then died. Her father had told her the story many times as a cautionary tale.

Inko had tried so hard to convince her son to pick another career. But he just wouldn't listen to reason. She was desperate. How long before instead of a broken arm, he came home with a broken neck? Instead of the calls to the hospital, would she be visiting his grave?

Inko couldn't allow that. Even if Izuku hated her, she would rather keep him alive (and at her side) than dead chasing a worthless delusion.

Her father would be over the moon with happiness to be involved in his grandson's life. In retrospect, he hadn't been as bad as she'd thought when she'd run away. She'd been safe with him. The outside world had turned out just as bad as he'd said. Heroes were a poison, stealing her son from her.

Slowly, Inko made her call. She listened to the ringing. She spoke into the phone: "Dad? I'm sorry for everything. I need your help."

Inko Shimura had grown up in a big, empty mansion full of bank vaults in the basement. She'd never known a mother, but pictures of Nana and her Uncle Yoichi had filled every room in the house. According to her father, her mother had died tragically trying to save other people from an explosion, with Inko still inside her belly. Only her father's quirks had allowed him to remove the premature baby and keep her alive.

All for One had mourned Nana deeply. He spoke of her often, in a tone of possessiveness, angry at the world for her death and at her for leaving him. Sometimes All for One told his daughter about Nana's kindness, courage, and beauty. Other times, he cursed her for not valuing her family enough. (Well, mostly just him, he didn't seem to care about her son by her first husband.) Once when drunk, All for One had admitted to seducing Nana in an attempt to obtain One for All from the DNA transfer. But he'd fallen in love with her. She'd fled from him after learning his true identity.

Nana's body floated in a tube in the basement, alongside Yoichi. Inko visited them sometimes. Her father was constantly researching ways to bring them back to life. Inko pressed her hand to the glass and wished they would wake up, so she would have someone else to talk to. She was all alone in the mansion. Silent Nomu did the cooking and cleaning. Only her father ever visited, and she was not allowed to leave.

As a little girl, Inko tried to sneak out of the house. She'd only been curious what lay outside the mansion's stone wall. The Nomu had caught her before she set foot outside. Her father locked her up in a pitch-black bank vault for a week. There, she developed a life-long fear of the dark. Although instead of become claustrophobic, instead she'd gone the other direction and developed agoraphobia.

All for One had been a decent father to a small child—except for the isolation and bank vaults, a very large caveat. He'd doted on her with praise and presents, expecting to receive unconditional love in return. But as she'd aged, she'd started to disappoint him. All for One expected any child of his and his beloved Nana to be a genius. Since he only let her watch pre-recorded classes online, and the Nomu did a poor job holding her to a schedule, she quickly fell behind in school. A lot of her lessons were basically just anti-hero propaganda anyway. He'd broken a table in his fury after seeing how she performed poorly on standardized tests. As she'd grown older, he'd started making jabs about her jumpiness and how much time she spent online. Her tears only seemed to irritate him more. He also expected his child not to be a coward.

Inko wanted to scream at her father that he was the one who had made her like this. He'd destroyed her nerves with years of jabs. He'd left her far behind socially and education-wise by isolating her. He'd raised her to be dependent on him in every way, then had the nerve to get upset that she didn't stand on her own two feet when he didn't feel like comforting her.

If her father had continued to adore her, then perhaps Inko never would have summoned the courage to leave. After all, she had free food and infinite entertainment under his roof. But she had a deep craving to be loved, and he'd stopped providing as much as she needed. By the time she reached eighteen, he visited much less frequently under the excuses that his work had gotten busier since All Might's return to Japan and she didn't need him as much as an adult. Inko feared he'd gotten tired of her. That was what the nasty voices in her head said.

She failed to escape two more times and got locked in the vault longer each time. Her father's cruelty only spurred on her desire to leave. The third time, she'd taken an entire year and a half to prepare. She'd stolen her father's passwords, carefully spying over his shoulder. Using his contacts, she'd prepared a false identity for herself and transferred an enormous amount of money to a hidden bank account. In secret, she'd honed her quirk until she could rip out a Nomu's exposed brain. Then she'd called down a hero strike on her location and fled during the chaos.

For the first time in her entire life, Inko had been free. It was so scary, she didn't leave her new apartment for an entire month. Only her desire for love got her out of the house. She wanted a dramatic romance like from her books. But talking to people scared her. And her neediness turned others off. The first boyfriend she ever had scammed her out a good amount of her money, then ran off. She didn't even dare call the police for fear her father would notice her.

Inko's desperation seemed to attract all the wrong men. She went through a boyfriend who'd cheated on her and one who'd hit her—only once, before he discovered her quirk worked on his balls. Finally she landed on Hisashi Midoriya, who was…okay. He always told her exactly what he didn't like about her, but at least that meant he was too honest to cheat on her, right? His tongue wasn't nearly as harsh as her father's. Even so, she probably wouldn't have stuck with him if she hadn't gotten accidentally pregnant.

Inko was extremely excited for her baby. She'd give him a proper upbringing, not like her demented childhood. She would love her baby and be loved in return. She planned to give her child everything, to never act disappointed, to never use a bank vault, to be a much better parent than her father. Hisashi (Sashi for short) was less thrilled about the baby, but he very much liked how she paid their rent and all their expenses, so he married her. Finally, she'd successfully formed a normal family.

In the brief moment before Inko called All for One, she wondered where she'd gone wrong. Why had she been such a bad wife that she couldn't keep around even a mooch like her ex? How could her son want to leave her too? Why had everything spiraled out of control so quickly that she'd somehow ended up imprisoning her own son? When had she turned into her father? Did she really want to invite All for One back into her life again?

But as soon as All for One answered the phone, he'd acted kind and soothing. He hadn't been angry as she'd feared. He'd instructed her on what to do. It had been easy to fall into obeying his orders, just like she had when she'd been a little girl. Her father knew best.

Izuku lay inside a baby's crib, but one with expanded size for an older boy. In his sleep, he'd cuddled with a giant white tiger plushie. Inko stuck a hand through the bars and ruffled her son's hair. He'd been screaming and banging on the vault door for hours before All for One finally drugged him. He looked much more peaceful now. Before, his tears had broken her heart. It made her feel even worse when he tried to hide his tears and then speak reasonably to her. He seemed to think she'd been brainwashed by her father. It would have been even harder if he'd gotten angry at her, so she felt shamefully relieved.

According to All for One, he'd created superior brainwashing techniques over the years, so Izuku would not need to stay in the vault too long. Inko had been very glad to hear it. This place gave her the shivers, even after so many years, though she tried not to show it.

All for One stepped into the vault. He smiled in approval to see Izuku sleeping peacefull. He stooped over to kiss his grandson's forehead. Then he kissed Inko on the cheek. "You've done well, my dear."

Inko flushed and twiddled her thumbs, warmed by the praise. It had been a long time since her father had looked at her as if she was his sole pride and joy. (If he'd always looked at her like that, she would have never left.) He'd been showering her with compliments since her return, and each one made her feel special. Each one made her crave more. "Thank you, Dad," she murmured, lowering her eyes. As long as she kept her father happy, he'd keep loving her and providing for her. He'd keep her son safe. (And she wouldn't end up in the vault herself.)

"I should have known you'd finally understand me after becoming a parent yourself," All for One said. "It seems we have more in common than I realized."

Inko nodded. "I only wish I'd come home sooner." She finally felt like she'd cracked the code to obtaining her father's approval. And All for One was a great grandparent—he adored Izuku no matter how many times he got bitten and despite all the stubborn refusals to give up One for All.

All for One rested a hand on her shoulder, drawing her into an embrace as they looked down on the sleeping boy. "There's a Rewind quirk I've been planning to acquire for a while. I think it might help Izuku adjust to his new environment if he became younger. Besides, I feel sad to have missed out on most of his childhood. What do you think?"

Inko beamed at being consulted. "I think it's a lovely idea." She missed the days when Izuku had been a baby. Everything had been easier back then. There had been none of that nasty hero society corruption in his head. Besides, what could be better than a child who never grew up?

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: History Repeats

Inko: Sure, being locked in a vault gave me horrible anxiety, and I had to figure out that small objects included blood vessels and people's skin before I could escape, but I got over it. Father and I laughed together after I saw reason. What was good enough for me is good enough for my son.

Izuku: Mom, this is literally the cycle of abuse. Please consider therapy as an alternative to kidnapping your own child.

Inko: My father was great except for the part where he locked me up in a bank vault.

Izuku: This drink tastes great except for the wad of chewed-up gum floating inside. Do you see what that sounds like?

Inko: Dad praises me now that I do what he wants.

Izuku: He's figured out how to manipulate you. He's playing us against each other.

Inko: How lovely, I wonder if he'll teach me how to manipulate my own child.

Izuku: This is hopeless. Someone call All Might.

#

Omake: One Possibility

All for One: I've been watching my daughter for years, waiting for her to come to her senses. I monitored her through the family pediatrician.

Inko: And you picked Garaki of all people? He was very bad at it!

#

Omake: The Mark of Evil

All for One: My daughter didn't take after me much.

Inko: I have trouble finishing books because I'm too anxious.

All for One: Except in the most important ways.

#

Omake: Even Worse Than the Vaulting

Second: You're not going to dote on your niece this time?

Yoichi: Nope.

Second: You've excused even some pretty evil kids in this series in the past.

Yoichi: Yes, but I draw the line at a relative who doesn't finish Captain Hero.

Second: That's your line?!

#

Omake: Hisashi's Fate

Inko: I haven't heard from my husband since he moved to America. He's abandoned us. However, I don't believe in divorce.

All for One: That's not the only reason you haven't heard from him. I don't believe in divorce either—I believe in collecting life insurance policies.

Author's Note: Thanks to thatwandercat for brainstorming ideas and Inko's line in the first omake. I feel guilty about making Inko into such a terrible mother…but writing yandere parents is too much fun!