All Might knew that being a parent meant dealing with trouble. Especially when raising a boy.
At least, that was what every single parenting book, television drama, and random online article kept telling him.
But honestly? He had always believed Akira would be different.
Akira was quiet, polite, calm, mature beyond his years, and rarely caused problems. Compared to the chaotic images of children screaming, breaking things, and causing disasters that Toshinori had imagined in his head, Akira felt almost too easy to raise.
Which was why Toshinori Yagi was currently experiencing complete confusion while jumping across rooftops in his hero form.
His phone has buzzed inside his pocket. He had quickly checked the message while restraining a villain. And the moment he read it, He had been dumbfounded.
Apparently, Akira had knocked another student unconscious on his very first day of school.
All Might's first thought had been:
'What!?'
Then came immediate panic.
'Why would he fight someone!?'
'Did somebody bully him?'
'Was it a misunderstanding?'
'Did someone attack Izumi?'
'Was there some weird school drama!?'
For one horrifying second, Toshinori's brain even drifted toward the exaggerated romance and school conflict dramas he had secretly watched for parenting research.
Then he violently shook his head. 'No! Stop it! He's a child, not a teenager from a K-drama!'
Still, concern remained. Akira wasn't aggressive by nature. If he had actually hit someone unconscious…Then something serious must have happened.
All Might immediately changed directions mid-jump and rushed toward Musutafu Elementary School.
A few minutes later, Toshinori landed inside a nearby alleyway before quickly changing out of his hero costume into casual clothes and deflating into his skinny form.
As he hurried toward the school building, he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
'I wonder what happened…'
Time Skip
Toshinori sat quietly inside the principal's office in his skinny form. Beside him sat a green-haired woman he had met earlier that morning when dropping Akira off at school.
Inko Midoriya.
Meanwhile, seated to his left was a blonde-haired woman with red eyes. She looked strangely familiar.
Then Toshinori realized why. She looked almost exactly like the explosive blonde boy Akira had punched during the school tour yesterday. Said boy was currently sitting on a sofa nearby.
Katsuki Bakugo glared furiously at Akira. And Akira glared right back without fear. Meanwhile, Izumi Midoriya quietly hid behind Akira slightly while nervously watching the two boys.
The principal coughed awkwardly into his hand to regain everyone's attention.
"As you all know," he began carefully, "an incident occurred during recess today."
He then explained everything that had happened. How Bakugo had approached Akira and Izumi alongside four other boys. How the situation escalated into bullying.
And how Akira had ultimately used his quirk to knock Bakugo unconscious while terrifying the other children into fleeing.
The blonde woman immediately smacked Bakugo upside the head. "Say sorry!" she barked.
Bakugo instantly exploded. "I'M NOT APOLOGIZING TO SHITTY DEKU AND LAVA FUCK!"
SMACK.
"WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!" Bakugo clutched his head angrily. "WHY ARE YOU HITTING ME!?"
"BECAUSE YOU DESERVE IT!"
"OLD HAG!"
"YOU LITTLE—"
The mother-son duo immediately began arguing loudly and dramatically.
Toshinori watched them silently. Then he thought, 'Yeah… they definitely don't need a DNA test.'
Meanwhile, Inko gently patted Izumi's head worriedly. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" she asked softly.
Izumi nodded quickly. "Aki-kun protected me."
Akira, who had quietly moved to stand beside Toshinori during the conversation, immediately coughed into his fist awkwardly after hearing the nickname. A faint hint of embarrassment appeared on his face.
Toshinori almost laughed. Instead, he simply patted Akira's head gently and whispered quietly enough for only him to hear.
"You did the right thing."
Akira looked slightly surprised for a second. Then his expression softened faintly.
Time Skip
Toshinori watched the Bakugo mother-son duo leave the school building while still loudly arguing with each other.
"You embarrassed me!"
"YOU HIT ME IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!"
"You deserved it!"
"OLD HAG!"
Toshinori sweatdropped slightly. Then he turned towards Akira. Nearby, Izumi waved goodbye energetically while holding Inko's hand.
Akira waved back quietly. Once the Midoriyas disappeared into the distance, Toshinori began walking home alongside Akira while holding his hand.
After a few moments, Toshinori suddenly remembered something.
"What happened to that lava ball you made earlier?" he asked curiously.
Akira silently raised his other hand. Wrapped around his thumb was a small ring made entirely of glowing magma.
Toshinori blinked as Akira spoke calmly. "I didn't know where to throw it away," he explained. "So I shaped it into a ring and kept maintaining control over it."
He looked at the ring thoughtfully. "It actually helped train my shape manipulation with the Eruption quirk."
Toshinori stared at the miniature lava ring in mild amazement. Then he nodded proudly.
"Good thinking," he said. "Just throw it away safely in the training room once we get back to Might Tower."
Akira nodded, then, after a moment of silence, He suddenly spoke again.
"Can I give Izumi a quirk?"
Toshinori nearly tripped while walking.
"What?"
Akira continued calmly. "I used my quirk on Izumi earlier while patting her head."
Toshinori immediately became serious as Akira explained further.
"My quirk lets me give quirks to other people," he said. "But every human body has a storage limit for how many quirks it can handle."
He paused briefly before trying to explain it in a simpler way.
"It's like computer storage," Akira said. "Quirks are files. Humans have limited storage space."
"If the storage limit is exceeded… the body could collapse, explode, or the brain might stop functioning entirely."
Toshinori's eyes widened. That explanation…Actually made horrifying sense.
'So that's another reason All For One never mass-produced armies of multi-quirk followers…' Aside from his greed for collecting quirks himself…Most humans probably couldn't survive multiple quirks in the first place.
Akira continued speaking. "But Izumi is different."
Toshinori looked at him carefully. "She's quirkless," Akira explained. "Which means her body has enormous unused storage capacity."
"She could safely handle all six quirks I currently possess and still have enough room for four more."
Toshinori stopped walking entirely. "What!?"
Akira nodded. "She can safely handle around ten quirks in total." Toshinori stared at him in shock.
Meanwhile, Akira looked at him earnestly. "So I want to give her one quirk," he said quietly. "Then she can finally become a hero like she wants. Maybe some more quirks in the future if i can get any suitable for her."
"And maybe…" Akira continued softly, "people will stop bullying her."
Toshinori looked down silently. Then he thought about Izumi.
Her timidness. Her constant nervousness. The way she lit up whenever heroes were mentioned. And the genuine concern she had shown even for the boy bullying her.
She really did have the heart of a hero. Toshinori sighed deeply, then finally nodded. "Fine," he said. "I'll help look for a suitable quirk for Izumi."
Akira's eyes widened slightly. Then—For the first in his life—He smiled brightly.
"You're the best, dad!"
Toshinori froze as his words. Akira had called him dad.
Not All Might.
Not Mister Yagi.
Dad.
Akira tilted his head in confusion after noticing Toshinori wasn't moving anymore. "Why are you just standing there, dad?"
Toshinori quickly shook his head. A huge smile spread across his face while tears gathered slightly at the corners of his eyes.
"It's nothing," he said softly. "I was just thinking about getting ice cream."
Akira's eyes sparkled instantly. "Yes! I want chocolate flavor!"
He grabbed Toshinori's hand enthusiastically and began dragging him toward a nearby convenience store.
Toshinori happily let himself be dragged along.
'I'm a dad!'