Akane

Heavy silence pressed down like a blanket around the house, as it did when Mom was home. She'd been in a foul mood today and it didn't take a genius to figure out why.

It was Father's Day.

She was always unpleasant around this time of year, but today was definitely a new record for how bad she could get.

My cheek stung with the reminder and I rubbed it with a grimace.

Cooking was going to be challenging with the stove almost being taller than me, but I'd have to make it work.

Burning the food wasn't acceptable, as she showed me earlier.

Shaking off the sting, I focused on my homework. Most of it was easy, but I just couldn't quite get this problem.

"Akane!"

Izumi's call nearly sent me out of my skin and I spun, looking out the window to see her waving from the street, a newspaper clenched in her fist.

I swear, she had a sense for when I was stuck on a problem.

Glancing over my shoulder at Mom's bedroom door, I waved sharply to get her to stop shouting. The last thing I needed was another lesson today.

Thankfully Izumi stopped, her feet carrying her to my window as she hastily shoved the paper into my hands.

"I know who your father is!"

I froze, the words not penetrating like they should. I had to have heard her wrong. We'd been trying to figure out that mystery since we met and so far, there'd been no clues.

Until now.

Nerves soured my stomach and my heart dropped into a free fall as I slowly looked at the newspaper she'd thrust into my hands.

I skimmed the heading, drinking in every bit of the article before finally landing on him.

Even without the fact we shared a quirk, the genetics were obvious. I looked nothing like Mom, with her light brown hair and sharp cold eyes.

No, I was a carbon copy of my father and I slowly took him in. Long scraggly dark hair hung past his shoulders and his eyes…

They were cold in a different way than Mom's. Hers reminded me of ice, sharp and dangerous if not handled with care. His were different. Still cold, or maybe distant would be a better word, but they lacked the hard edge of cruelty I'd grown accustomed to.

That, or I was projecting what I hoped to see. Given how many times I'd dreamed of my father magically finding me and getting me out of this hell, it wasn't a stretch.

Swallowing around the hard knot in my throat, I nodded. "Yeah that…definitely looks right."

What else was I supposed to say? Anyone with eyes could tell we were related.

Everything felt disconnected, as if I were floating above the ground and nothing was there to anchor me.

Until the familiar voice cut through the air and the room's temperature dropped several degrees.

"What is that?"

My heart hit the floor and shattered. Spinning to face Mom, the news article still clamped in my fist, I fought for words that just wouldn't come.

Hellfire blazed in her eyes, a promise of pain if I'd ever seen one, and she snatched the article with a sneer.

"I believe we discussed the rules around your…father. Did we not?"

She spat the word 'father' as if it were poison in her mouth and I nodded, waving for Izumi to run behind my back.

God, please don't let her see what came next.

"Yes, but-."

Her slap cut me off and pain burned over my already sensitive cheek.

"Yes, ma'am. And no butts. The rules are crystal clear and I won't have you ignoring them." She looked over my shoulder to where I assumed Izumi still stood and smiled.

"Thank you for coming over, but it's time you head home. I have some things to discuss with Akane."

Izumi must have hesitated because Mom's smile turned sharp. "Go, girl."

I waved more urgently and sighed in relief when footsteps walked away not a minute later.

That relief didn't last long.

Mom towered over me, the smile I'd come to associate with a beating stretching her lips.

"Now then, you've gone and ignored one of my rules. You know what that means."

Her eyes glowed, the sign of her quirk activating, and I flinched back on instinct.

Pain manipulation was something straight out of a horror film and, unfortunately for me, Mom didn't hesitate to use it.

Pain ripped through me in my next heartbeat and my quirk rose, itching to cancel hers out, to stop the pain.

Only experience and the knowledge of what would follow if I did kept me from doing just that.

Physical or mental torture, it'd be one or the other, and I had to choose.

Unfairness welled and I bit back the urge to scream from it all. What did I ever do to earn this?! I'd been a decent human being so far!

She smirked, triumph all but oozing off her in waves. "You've decided then?"

As if she needed to ask. The mental pain was bad, but other than the nasty headache it left behind, it was over quickly.

The physical punishment lingered longer and had worse consequences…

Grinding my teeth through the anger, I nodded and straightened my spine. When I didn't activate my quirk in self defense, she flicked her wrist and sent hers out again, this time with double the force.

"Good girl, now then. Let's get your punishment started."

I braced, knowing the next few hours were going to be hell on Earth.

Briefly, my focus shifted to the news article and the man I finally had a face for.

Would things be different if he'd stayed after Mom's pregnancy? It didn't do any good to imagine things that would never happen, but if nothing else, it would be a nice distraction over the next few hours…

Sorry about that guys, I've had nothing but trouble with posting to Fanfiction. I'm also posting this on my Patre0n's free tier, if you'd prefer that one. It has a few chapters in advance as well for my beta readers to look through.