"Isn't it tough," some often asked, "to raise your son alone?" Of course it was! Parenting was hard, especially with a teenager whose dreams were dashed at a young age, regardless of if your partner worked close to home or not.

Hisashi did his best to check in with them often at the start. Izuku was only a child then and had only just learned that he was in the unfortunate twenty percent. Despite the situation, Hisashi was forced to go far from home.

"It'll be fine. Quirkless or not, he's bright and dreams big. No matter what he grows up to do, he'll be the world's greatest!" The curly haired, freckled man had proudly declared when Inko voiced her worries one night after Izuku had gone to bed. "He's our son, after all. He's bound to be amazing!"

But things weren't so simple. While having a quirk had its drawbacks, like learning to control it and figuring out the best way to use it in day to day life without inconveniencing others, being quirkless was its own special sort of nightmare in this superhuman world.

At four, his dream was shattered. His best friend began to look down on him and their relationship began to fall apart. Though Inko and Mitsuki got along well, their sons didn't despite Izuku's obvious admiration of Katsuki. But being the sweet boy he was, Izuku didn't want his mother to know how bad it hurt or that Katsuki had taken to calling him a name that meant "useless."

Inko didn't realize until he was in his last year of middle school that it was far worse than a mean nickname; there were days he came home and went to bed without eating, days he dragged his feet going to school, and days where he looked like he might cry at any minute no matter how hard he tried to fight it. Though she originally credited the first two to normal teenage behavior, the last always worried her. Still, Izuku said nothing when she asked.

It was only when she witnessed how a quirkless man was being treated by his co-workers at a grocery store that she realised just how much pain Izuku must be in. Though he was pushed around, called worthless, nobody did anything about it. It was then she understood something even she'd unconsciously turned a blind eye to all this time: the quirkless were treated as lesser people simply because they didn't have any special powers.

They were always told they couldn't do anything right because they were quirkless...even when they were doing the best they could to keep up with people with powerful quirks.

She was heartbroken and worried for her sweet, big hearted son. He was the type who rushed at a villan without a second thought because someone was suffering; he didn't deserve to be treated like this! Nobody did! When Izuku came up with a diet and exercise plan and started staying out every day until late, she worries if his sudden desire to change was influenced by such discrimination.

She worried, and she worried...but Hisashi had stopped picking up the phone years ago. It's the time difference, she always told herself. He's busy at work too! But those were nothing more than excuses, she knew. Hisashi had left them years ago and only ever left messages and sent money of obligation. Even if she missed him, her high school sweetheart and husband of many years, he didn't feel the same.

So why was he here now?

"Inko...I understand if you don't trust me. It's been years after all. I'm not expecting you to take me back or even invite me in, but I...I just want to talk." Maybe it was because she was lonely and worried, maybe it was because she was still weak to his green eyes and freckled face, or maybe it was because, despite it all, she still loved him, but she agreed to get coffee with him that afternoon.

"It's not that I didn't want to call! No, that's not completely true..." Hisashi looked like he might break down any minute. "I was too scared to call." He took a deep breath and told her the whole story.

"I was working at that medical support company. You know it was my dream to work with heroes, even if it was when they were struggling, and I was so proud of it. I wanted to show Izuku that with hard work, a dream could come true no matter how hard it was...Maybe I'd get to introduce him to a ton of cool heroes once I could send enough money for you two to visit or even move there! And the first few years were great! We were a perfect team...or so I thought...

"Turns out, the guys I thought I knew were selling equipment on the black market. The equipment I made to help people was going in the hands of villans...I reported it immediately and lost my job. Police offers later said I did a hero's work by doing it..." He sighed and stirred his coffee. "But I felt like I failed you guys. Failed Izuku most of all. I was under suspicion by the police for a long time, and I didn't want to worry you. When the company came crashing down, they kept it as quiet as they could...but a lot of companies wouldn't take me on their team because of them."

Inko listened, studying his face for any sign of deceit. But she knew him well enough to know this was the truth. Hisashi could never life well, never keep secrets.

"It took a year or two before I was able to go back in that field and I had to start from the beginning again. Izuku would've been ten or eleven by then...I worked there for a while, but I ended up quitting because I couldn't take how my boss treated people who were quirkless. There were a lot of quirkless employees who quit because of him. I wouldn't say I regretted it but I felt like I failed you guys again. I've been working a ton of minimum wage jobs for a while to keep up this ridiculous act like everything's okay..." His voice started to break slightly and Inko resisted the urge to reach out and reassure him that it was alright. She was barely holding tears back herself!

"I knew it was a stupid thing to to be scared of; I knew you and Izuku would understand and that you wouldn't hate me for it. But I was scared anyway...and calling just got harder and harder." The waitress quickly set their cakes on the table and left, trying to give them some space.

"Then I saw Izuku on the screen. UA! Izuku is at UA! Our Izuku! Our sweet crybaby grew up to become a great hero in training! He was chasing his dreams no matter what anyone said was impossible for him. So I...I bought a plane ticket to the nearest airport. Remembered that I was terrified of flying about halfway there." He chuckled. "But imagine it! Our Izuku as a hero! All Might better watch his number one spot!"

And there he was, the Hisashi she knew. He'd been a proud father even before their son was born. "He's going to be a great hero." She agreed.

"Of course he will!" He grinned in that blindingly bright way that she always loved. "He's our son!"

He came home for dinner that night. Izuku was home late, having done some extra training at school so Hisashi jumping at every sound, thinking that their son was home already. "What if he doesn't remember me?! What if he hates me?!" He asked his wife over and over despite her gentle reassurances that everything would be fine.

"I'm home!" Izuku announced before heading to his room to change. He didn't seem to notice the extra pair of shoes. He didn't even notice his father's nervous chattering. "Ah, welcome home, Dad!" He said almost as an after thought, Inko having already left a message in his voicemail about his father coming home.

"H—Hey, Izuku...I'm...I'm sorry..." Hisashi quickly apologized, crying a crazy amount. Turns out he got that from both parents...

People often asked Izuku if it was hard having just a mom. He always said no; his mom wasn't just a mom, she was the world's best in his opinion. And he had a dad too, a proud and goofy dad.

Hisashi told him the whole story too, leaving out the parts with quirkless discrimination, hoping his son hadn't endured that sort of hardship due to stupid prejudices. "I saw you fighting for your dream and I...I decided to come back, ask you both for your forgiveness. I had a dream too. Not the support company, really, but to be a dad you were proud of. Sorry I failed you on that, but I don't plan to give up."

His mom didn't immediately take his dad back and things were a bit awkward for a while but the family was back together and things would work out somehow.

Izuku smiled when he saw them both asleep on the couch, their coffee gone cold and the show they were watching together long over. Switching off the TV, he tiptoed over to the couch and put a blanket over the sleeping pair. "Welcome home, Dad." He whispered.