|[12th June - Afternoon]|

"強い"

Meaning 'strong', 'powerful', 'mighty'... everything Izuku had hoped for in a daughter.

He reminisces once more on the day of her birth, how she looks like in her first dress, how she calls up to him from when she was only tall enough to reach his knees.

Now here he is, watching from the distance in the comfort of his car, staring at his hazy mirrored figure of his own time-stricken face, sewn into a middle aged look not quite his own 30 years ago.

The fading expression on the window emphasizes the flaws of a grown man; the more he tries to look away from the wrinkles that form on the corner of his eyes and the hollow cheeks that begin to sink into the innards of his mouth, the more he empathizes the inability he has to move backwards in time where he was more youthful and exuberant.

Sometimes he wishes that he can be more appealing to his daughter. Girls these days liked to show off how handsome their dad is, Izuku had read.

His heart clenches tightly, a looming anxiety fills his head. He grips the steering wheel in strength, unable to let go of his sudden fearful shaking.

What if she doesn't like him just because of his age?

Izuku shakes his head, believing that such lies should not be allowed to be able to manipulate him.

However, it does troubles him when he remembers the constant aches and back pains that continues to strike him with his guard down to this day. He is getting old, there is not a doubt about it.

He wonders if he can carry her on his shoulders again. He sighs knowing that he probably can't because of reasons he cannot alter yet is foreseeable still.

His daughter is no longer a child.

She doesn't want shoulder rides anymore, she doesn't want trips to the ice cream shop anymore, he doesn't need to check on her in the toilet every now and then, and he knows there will be a day where she will be completely independent, not needing him in her life anymore.

The school where she studies, it isn't U.A., but it's just as good. It was her choice to go there. Honestly, Izuku felt a little bit betrayed. But he didn't wanted her to know that he distrusted her opinion.

From the car he can see it standing just as tall as U.A., and twice as large. She had told him about the beta testing grounds, the swimming pool, and the track fields fit into one school, perhaps that is why it looks so big.

This is his first time taking her home from school, after all. He had promised her months before and hoped to surprise her once she got out of school.

Nervously he sits in his car, tapping his steering wheel with his fingers, wiping the sweat on his neck despite the air conditioning system on half power.

The digital clock on his watch waits for the moment where the doors of her high school opens for all of its students to go home. But what should he say when that happens?

Finally, it is 15:30.

He checks his rear view mirror, and little by little the students are fumbling out of the buildings and down towards the stairs leading to the streets below where Izuku had parked.

The students, all wearing similar polished black uniforms and brick red skirts and pants completed with matching hats, begin to scatter off into different paths.

He waits and waits and waits until he finally notices a familiar chestnut brown in amidst the crowds. He tries to get a clearer view, waiting for the crowd of children to scatter and eventually thins down until he can spot his own daughter's long awaited face. Then he sees it, the girl that is the spitting image of his late wife.

Tsuyoi Midoriya, the mightiest child he knows, her gleaming smile in the distance echoes inside his mind.

She always has her mother's bobcut hair, mixed with the unruly tips like her father. Her chestnut hair is certainly darker, but it is Uravity's trademark color nonetheless. The pink of her letterman jacket reminds Izuku of his wife's old hero costume, it really fits Tsuyoi well, the color does. Her friends are quite taller than her, yet she looks rather prominent, like the youth version of Izuku in a way. When she smiles once more, laughing heartily at whatever contextless humor in which Izuku hears, he can't help but to be blown away.

With a deep breath he calms himself down, waiting for his daughter to walk towards the train station only for him to surprise her in her tracks. But how will he do it?

He decides to wait a little longer, still noticing Tsuyoi chattering ever so busily with her friends. He spots several other girls like her, some taller and some shorter, some have some sort of body mutation due to their Quirks and some, like Tsuyoi, looks completely normal. It's good for her to have friends, and it's better to see that she is currently parting ways with them. Izuku turns on his gas, his heart hammering impatiently against his rib cage.

Then he feels his whole body freezes, watching a scene unfolds before him.

Is his daughter... talking to a boy?!

He is her age too, nonetheless! Izuku wants to shriek in panic and joy, the picture of his own mother glimpsing through his head as he imagines himself freaking out on where he idly sits.

Is he her boyfriend? How long have they been going out? Have they kissed each other yet? Have they even hugged?! Does he know that Tsuyoi is the 10th holder of One-For-All?! What if... she accidentally passes her DNA?! WHAT IF HE'S THE ONE WHO ACCIDENTALLY PASSES HIS DNA?!

A million fearful thoughts flood his mind, unable to make him think straight. Once more he hastily tries to regain his composure when he realizes that Tsuyoi is no longer talking to said boy. The two part ways like she did with the others.

Izuku waits for his moment, just as Tsuyoi walks away from her school on the pedestrian path on the side of the road.

Then, he lowers down his window. He raises a hand and is immediately noticed.

"Y-yo!" He says nervously, wishing for death.

Tsuyoi's eyes widens in response, surprised by her father's sudden appearance. She seems to be at a loss for words, and when she decides that she has no apparent reason to ignore him, she approaches the parked Honda Fit on the other end of the street.

She embarrassingly smiles at her father, before she hastily enters the backseat.

Izuku still is unable to make a conversation starter. He can't find the right topic to say right off the bat, also wondering whether or not Tsuyoi had a good day at school today. He ultimately decides to drive off of his parking space, zooming away from the school which ends up shrinking in the rear view mirror.

"S-sorry for not telling you anything," Izuku nervously says to her, looking at the figure of the girl from the rear view mirror, "Y-you did say that you w-wanted to have me drive you home someday. I-I thought it would be n-nice to do it once in a while, you know?"

"It's fine, Dad," Tsuyoi reassures him, scratching her arm in apparent discomfort, "I just thought that... you had work today..."

"Oh! Well, I asked for an early leave today," Izuku explains to her, "Tomorrow is Saturday, after all."

"Yeah," Tsuyoi says monotone voice, looking out of the window with a distanced look on her eyes. She seems somewhat troubled, and such things made Izuku's mind gets flooded with nervous thoughts.

He bit his lips, furrowing his eyebrows in a 'do-or-die' manner.

"So how was school today?" He asks her, feeling his self confidence built up.

Tsuyoi seems to be shifting in her seat, "It was alright."

"Did you... do well studying?" He asks again.

She merely shrugs in response, "I guess..."

"H-hey," Izuku suddenly starts, gulping as his body tenses for he finally is going to ask her a rather intimate question, "who was that b-boy you meet earlier?"

"He's just a friend, Dad!" Her answer comes as quick as it is surprising, "And his name is Hikaru..."

"I see," Just friends she says, but Izuku somehow still has a part in him that wants to double-check, "I-I think it's good that you have m-many friends!"

He begins to ramble on into things he suddenly reminisces over from the past, and Tsuyoi seems to be less than interested to hear along. She keeps a straight face, waiting for his father to stop muttering over the things that runs through his head like a jet train on full speed.

"Y-you see, Dad always had a hard time fitting in with people back when I was your age. I guess they p-picked on me because I was weak and small. I-it really took a toll on me, you know? Haha! A-and I only started I opened up to your mother back when we met in U.A.—"

Fuck! His mouth accidentally slips!

With a horror-stricken face he quickly glances at his daughter through the mirror, then he catches the slight look of mild annoyance in her face. He immediately looks away from her gaze, wishing to himself that he can stop feeling like he is forced to commit seppukku.

Two words. All he has to do is just not say those two words.

"S-sorry..." He quickly apologizes.

Tsuyoi has nothing else to add, she merely hums to him in return. The emotions etch on her face is currently unable to be decrypted. The atmosphere briskly weights a thousand pounds, out of the two Izuku can obviously feel it.

The ride back home is full of silence.

|[12th June - Late Night]|

The Midoriya household has just finished their dinner.

Izuku waits for the evening news to stop airing, his eyes are still affixed to the rocketing prices of rice. Tsuyoi is already upstairs on the second floor bathroom cleaning herself up and brushing her teeth before sleeping.

When he finally turns off the television, he goes back to the kitchen to clean the dishes. He tries to remember back to the piles and piles work he still has. But he knows he couldn't actually expect himself to do computer work in one night.

That is the flaw of his current job as a worker in the Information and Communication Technology Department. But he should expect as much. After all, the actually field of work actually shortens for I.T.

He didn't believe himself at first to have finally land himself in a steady job which pays him regularly with him actually finding no complaints right after his retirement as a hero. People back then believes that a hero, once they're retired, can live a long leisurely life after being paid dearly by the government. That is wrong. Heroes who decides to retire early is only then to be burdened by the choice of finding work in two weeks or else they are homeless.

Izuku hates computer work, but it's the closest field he can get without embarrassing himself in front of others. The last time he tried being a waiter ends badly for him. (He doesn't know why, but he feels like he wants to give the people who thought he would look good in a suit vest and bow tie a second thought.)

But alas, if it isn't for the goal he has planned on years before, he wouldn't be as enthusiastic to work as today.

He stops scrubbing the plate in response to the footsteps he hears from the second floor. It appears Tsuyoi isn't well asleep as he expects her to be, knowing that how late at night it is. And considering that tomorrow is a Saturday, it is puzzling for her to be awake if it isn't for the reason of homework.

Izuku places the wet plates aside, drying his hands on the towel hanging by the sink next to him. He then decides to check up on her in worry. The living room is already quiet as he turns off the lights one by one, readying to come upstairs.

He then finds himself staring at the door of his daughter's room, freezing at the sudden wariness in his mind. But he is rather worried sick, and nothing will stop him.

As he gathers all his courage, he pushes the door in, "T-Tsu-Chan? May I come in?"

He is suddenly greeted by the darkness of her room, and only one light seems to be lighting it from the inside which is the desk lamp that he placed for her along with the DIY desk that he builds himself years before.

And Tsuyoi can be seen sitting on her mesh chair, leaning back with an apparent dismay splattered across her face. She doesn't even acknowledge the presence of her own father.

"W-what's wrong?" Izuku tries asking her.

"Nothing, Dad," She sighs, rolling away from his vision before giving him a view of the back of her head as she goes back to her desk.

Izuku takes a step closer, looking at the sight of the little girl in a messy state. What is so important on her desk that she has to work so hard on?

It surprises him that on his desk only sits a simple Hero Studies book he remembers buying her for independent learning at home. She is also apparently making notes on her notebook, writing down bits of the book nonchalantly.

Before he can question her why she intends to go on such lengths, he then unknowingly lay his eyes onto a sheet of papers sitting right beside her.

They are her test results, from the mid semester's mock exams that her school holds every semester. He doesn't need to see all of the results from the stack that sits idly under her arm, just from the top paper he can guess that she didn't do well on Heroics as the score starts on the number 3.

Izuku's mouth forms into an 'o'.

"You could've just asked me for help, Tsu-chan," Izuku remarks, "You know I'll be more than happy to help you with anything you have trouble with."

"Ugh, but I can't ask you for help, Dad!" Tsuyoi suddenly snaps at him. The 10th user of One-For-All rubs the bridge of her nose in stress, until her voice slides down into nothing more than a low exhausted plead, "You wouldn't understand..."

Izuku blinks.

Then he furrows his brows.

"Come on, you can tell me what's wrong," Izuku tells her sternly, sitting down on the edge of her flower pattern bed.

Tsuyoi is silent at first, she then swivels around to face him in the pregnant pause that compels the two to face each other, "It's just that... you and mom are both from U.A., and just because I didn't get in, I feel like it you're just belittling me by trying to help me..."

Izuku nods understandingly in response, "Your mother and I both love you for who you are, Tsuyoi, you know that, right?"

"I do," She sighs back in defeat, "But... I want to become just like you two, who got into U.A., and graduated out of it together. I wanted to become just as much as a hero as you were, Dad. But... now that I have failed to pass the Entrance Exam, even though I am entrusted with One-For-All, I feel like I can't be that anymore. Everyone at Shiketsu is aiming to become a hero, but I know I need to do twice even four times as hard to be able to catch up to you when you were young."

"You being in Shiketsu is the least I care about," Izuku reveals, "As long as you're aiming for that dream, I don't care which school you go to. You're our daughter, and that's enough to convince us that you can be even better than us."

Tsuyoi hangs her head in shame, "I'm sorry I didn't get accepted into U.A..."

Izuku merely smiles at her, "That's okay, sweetheart. I know you're going to be a great hero someday no matter which school you go to."

He stands up, then he takes two long steps towards her, before bending down to her level to embrace her figure in a tight hug. Tsuyoi unknowingly hugs back, unable to comprehend the atomic comfort that she feels between her father's arms.

"I hope tomorrow you're ready," He says to her, "because I'm taking you to your favorite katsudon place for lunch!"

"Y-you don't have to do that, Dad!" Tsuyoi nervously tells him, feeling a bit overwhelmed by his sudden generosity.

"No, it's alright, I see you've been having trouble aiming to become more than I have been," Izuku says, "But your grandmother knows just the thing to keep me energized! I'll take you to eat katsudon tomorrow as a reward for all your hard work and hope for the best in your studies!"

Tsuyoi glances down in embarrassment, her cheeks reddening in the process, "T-thanks, Dad."

He chuckles to himself in happiness, knowing that his words can finally get to her. He has not lose his touch as a father, and he knows Ochako will never scold him for taking their daughter for a trip such as this.

Finally, he bids his daughter goodnight, before closing the door behind him as he walks out of the room.

He smiles to himself, staring at the wall before him.

"I did it, Ochako," He thinks to himself, "I hope your can see what our daughter has become..."

Night falls fast on the Midoriya household. The occupants are fast asleep.

|[13th June - Noon]|

"Lighten up, Dad. We aren't even official yet," Tsuyoi's giggles echoes from the passenger seat.

Izuku still looks tense, knowing that he had been listening to a Tsuyoi ramble on about a boy named Hikaru for about two minutes now. Now Izuku is sure that this is his daughter without a hint of doubt.

"B-but what if he's not... you know... the one?" Izuku questions fearfully, "What would you then?"

Tsuyoi merely laughs in response, "Seriously, Dad? He's just a genuinely good guy! There's nothing going on between us. Even if there was, it would be a great boost for the both of us, no?"

"R-really?" Izuku raises his eyebrow suspiciously, "Why?"

"Because both you and Mom were hero couples! And everyone know that," She brags, raising her chin in apparent gratification.

As he parks their car on the only available space in the parking lot, Izuku makes a face full of bafflement at his own daughter, "You shouldn't really think of your parents that way..."

"But you two were the most well known power couple in history!" Tsuyoi shrieks at him in sudden glee, "Don't you think I can do the same?!"

"That's not the point," Izuku corrects her, turning off the car engine in the process, "The reason your mom and I had to team up was because of you."

Tsuyoi can see the apparent troubled look on his face and reminds herself not to talk about his old life as a superhero. She knows very well why he doesn't like to talk about his old career, mainly because everyone knows what had happened to him years before.

The sudden guilt that overwhelms Tsuyoi disappears when Izuku calls her out of the car. The both of them continue onto the mall side by side.

Reminiscing back, how long had it been since Izuku talks about Ochako Uraraka?

Said late wife has been gone for more years than Tsuyoi can remember, she couldn't even bring herself to find it in her memories to see what her mother had even looked like in the flesh. She has seen the photos on the magazines, she has watched all the news program starring Uravity in the middle of her field work, but none of them seems close enough for Tsuyoi to find real.

Izuku himself knows he can't bring himself to talk about her in front of their own daughter, not when she is too young to know what had happened. But alas, he guesses that she already knows. It has been covered on the news and other media, after all.

Maybe he can bring himself to finally talk about his wife once more as he realizes how Tsuyoi needs it more at her current age than ever.

"Y-you see, Tsu-chan," Izuku starts, "I have nothing against you having a boyfriend—"

"Dad!"

"Hear me out!" He quickly backtracks, "I'm not against you having a boyfriend... but you shouldn't believe that that was the reasons both your mother and I became heroes."

They both walk pass the bustling crowds, towards the giant water fountain that stands the highest than anything else in the lobby.

"You're a great judge of person all by yourself, Tsuyoi, and you'll do great with others," He tells her again, "However it shouldn't limit of what you can do. Your mother and I... yes we were hero duos, but we did that because we know that it can become our strength, not our weakness. Imagine what would happen if a villain—"

He stops, a dark thought enters his mind, making his body freeze in response. Tsuyoi can see the rather terrified expression etched across his face.

"... Please don't let others become your weakness, that is what I wish," Izuku tells her in a hushed voice, "Let them be your guide and your strength. Don't let it pull you down like what happened to me after your m-mother died..."

"Dad..." Tsuyoi manages to mutter out, nodding curtly, "I... promise I wouldn't let it bring me down. I want to be just as good as you two were."

Then, she smiles. An act capable of melting the sun and Izuku's heart. It is official; she is his wife's daughter.

"Honey," He says with a lopsided smile, "I'm retired now, it's your responsibility to become better than us."

They continue on their way towards their original destination. Both father and daughter can feel the unnatural silence between the two of them, something as close as an Eldritch Horror has completely stir the atmosphere quite heavily.

The elephant in the mall is none other than the mysterious past of one Izuku Midoriya, even Tsuyoi herself can feel the rather darkened aura oozing from him.

But Tsuyoi would be lying if she doesn't say that she feels at ease.

Izuku also feels the same, knowing how well his own daughter would be when she knows that's both her parents were heroes.

In the past, he fears that he might needed to talk to her about her choices in life. He is completely aware of the fact that One-For-All needed to be passed down onto someone, who else can it be other than his own daughter?

Sometimes he wishes that he didn't need to force his daughter to this life, had he chosen a different path. Something he knows that wouldn't be too much of a burden to such young child.

But the irony in which he reminds himself of the day he first saw Ochako, it makes him wonder if he really wants a better life.

The two of them, both Ochako and Tsuyoi, have the same joyful smile that keeps reminding him of that day.

That day in which he had finally became a hero.

This is the smile he has to protect, now.

For her and every person she will save in the future.

"Oh dear me," Izuku suddenly gasps out under his breath as he taps lightly at both his back pockets.

Tsuyoi notices his distress and asks, "What's wrong, Dad?"

"I-I forgot my wallet in the car!" Izuku admits with a rather pained smile.

His daughter merely stares at him in disbelief before shaking her head with a sigh, "Fine, I'll go get it."

"No!" Izuku unknowingly blurts out, "I'll g-go."

"If you say so, Dad," Tsuyoi smiles in an contradictory way, as she feels rather exasperated by her father's antics.

But Izuku on the other hand has his stomach constricted by the sudden sheer stress. He uses this chance to excuse himself out of the mall.

Once he's out of the sight of his daughter, and closer towards his car, he can finally feel his heart eases.

In a daze, he reaches for his car keys. The doors unlock with a loud beep.

He shouldn't be panicking.

This is his first outing with Tsuyoi after a long time, after all.

So why... is he looking at her like she is Ochako?

He shakes his head, finally spotting the leather wallet sitting in the holder by door.

Everything is fine.

Everything is fine.

Everything is—

BOOM!

"HUH?!"

He bolts out of the car, feeling his old heart had almost jump out of his chest. With a shaking grip on the door of his car, he looks back, towards the smoke that rises from the mall.

The middle aged man panics on where he stands, unable to move his muscles in a daze of confusion and horror.

But when a thought of Tsuyoi crosses his mind, he quickly dashes into the midst of the panicking crowd.

The mall is burning, Izuku screams inside his head. Something must have happened inside. Villain attack? He wishes it isn't.

Midway through the destination, he crashes onto the flood of civilians. Everyone else still seems to be in a panicked state, he finds himself unable to move forward from the unbreakable human wall.

There are screams everywhere, but none of them close to what he can hear as a noticeable villain.

His blood pumping into his veins, forcing himself through the crowds like a rock splitting water. His vision is blurred with colors fading and appearing all at once, but he still needs to force himself forward.

He curses himself under his breath, wishing that he could've just stayed by his daughter's side like he had promised.

Finally, just as he arrives at the front stairs, he spots her.

"Tsuyoi!" He shouts at the top of his lungs, trying to catch her attention.

The girl seems frozen, not moving an inch of her muscles. Izuku manages to close their distances, and when he catches a glimpse of her look, he is suddenly reminded of the familiar look he had once knew.

Without thinking, he grabs her shoulder and pulls her back, "We need to get out of here!"

There are still more and more people rushing out of the building like a stampede through the plains. He sees no stopping to this whole commotion. He can't spot any signs of a villain, but what he can do is get his daughter to safety.

"Tsuyoi!" He shouts again, tightening the grip on her shoulder, "Tsuyoi listen to me! We need to get out of here before—"

"There's still people..."

"... W-what?"

She turns at him and gives him a dignified look, "I'm going to save the civilians! You go an get the rest far from the mall where they wouldn't be harmed!"

Her body glows an unnatural shade of crimson, like lightning bolts flashing off of her skin. The moment he watches as she starts to give off the sudden powerful aura, brimming with unstoppable determination, he realizes the look she has while staring at him.

"Are you crazy?!" He shouts back, fearing for the worst of outcomes, "We don't even know what's going on here! We'll let the Pro Heroes handle these kind of stuff—"

"We can't!" Tsuyoi tugs under his grip, trying to flee into the smoke ridden lobby, "There won't be much time! Please, Dad!"

Much to his horror, she successfully breaks out of his grasp, leaving him speechless as he watches her begin running into danger. But just as she is close to disappearing, up the front stairs towards the grim unknown, he manages to throw one last grab at her wrist.

"Tsuyoi, don't do this!" He pleads to her, unable to think.

She returns him a tear stricken look, her whole body brimming with Full Cowl, "HOW CAN I BE LIKE YOU IF I CAN'T EVEN SAVE THOSE IN NEED?!"

And just like that, she activates All-For-One. Her body is now completely filled with power spilling from every inch of her person, just waiting to blow her up like a glass cannon.

Izuku still cannot chase her, not in her current state. The girl disappears just as quick as lightning.

Her father wastes not even a second to chase her, praying to whatever god is listening to get her back from the danger she is about to face.

It occurs to him how very familiar this moment is.

It reminds him of that certain dastardly day.

Not her, too... Izuku closes his eyes and hopes.

And just before he knows it, a sudden explosion pushes him back. The shockwave that fires the glass panels from every inch of the building strikes at his skin.

The moment he lands at the concrete floor, he had already bled.

The shattered glass claws at the innards of his skin, the stinging pain of his headache amalgamates with the intense ringing in his ears, he can still feel the heat of the explosions sizzling at his face. He can't move, not in his paralyzed state, both in fear and in pain.

But he manages to look up, into the fire that burns as the red abyss spreads in the building before him.

His lips tremble. He wants to shriek, in terror.

But only one sound manages to come out of his bleeding mouth:

"Tsuyoi?"

|[A/N]|

Damn I need to ease back on my ideas.

Here's a little something after watching The Foreigner starring Jackie Chan.

Thanks for reading, leave a review and follow if you liked the story. Please keep me updated on whether or not I should continue this.