Papa picked Izuku up from school that day. He hadn't done that before.
The Road that Went Forever
is a Fan Fic based on My Hero Academia written by aconstantstateofbladerunner written for tunafishprincess. It's a two-parter that focuses on the Midoriya family and how they processed Izuku's diagnosis as Quirkless. It gets worse from then on.
The Road that Went Forever provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Hisashi turns into one after Izuku is revealed to be Quirkless. He stops being affectionate towards him, tells him to give up his hero interests, and even yells at him while nearly exposing his Fire Breathing Quirk.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Hisashi Midoriya gets this hard. He transforms from a caring father to an abusive, selfish man who can't stand to be around Izuku anymore and isn't above manipulating his own wife. Ironically enough, the author ponders how bad they can turn Hisashi without turning him into an actual villain.
- Affectionate Nickname: Izuku is called "Buddy" or "Bud" by his father.
- Best Friend: Inko considered Hisashi to be one of the few people she could truly count on.
- Bittersweet Ending: Inko is reunited with Izuku as he recovers in a hospital. But her husband is exposed as a monster leaving her to take care of Izuku on her own. And it'll be a solid 10 years before the Quirkless boy obtains a miracle that can change his life for the better.
- Breath Weapon: Hisashi has his fire-breathing Quirk and uses it throughout the story. Particularly against his family.
- Choke Holds: Inko uses her Telekinesis Quirk to strangle Hisashi with his tie during their confrontation in the hospital.
- Cliffhanger: The first chapter ends with Izuku running off a cliff and losing consciousness in the wilderness.
- Close-Knit Community: Nevarro is a Pro-Quirkless community that is quite secluded from other towns and has less than fifty citizens who are self-employed craftspeople.
- Crocodile Tears: Hisashi sheds these in front of Inko as a means of faking his support after Izuku is declared missing.
- Deadly Road Trip: The first chapter features Hisashi taking his son on a road trip to the countryside. But things get questionable due to Hisashi's dark colors being exposed along with Izuku having no idea where he's going. The final destination is revealed to be Nevarro, Izuku's new home where his "foster family" is waiting for him.
- Domestic Abuse: Hisashi is guilty of inflicting emotional abuse and gaslighting onto Inko. He even tries to intimidate her with his Fire Breathing Quirk.
- Dramatic Irony: The last line Inko tells her son is a promise that she'll never let anyone hurt him again. Assuming that this plays directly into the canon storyline, she may not be able to keep that promise.
- Fantastic Ableism: Quirkless discrimination is a big factor after Izuku's diagnosis. His teachers have started to exclude him from class activities, his classmates are all too eager to tease and bully him for their own amusement, and even their neighbors have begun to harass the Midoriya household too. And during Izuku's disappearance, Inko worries that he'll be forgotten as many crimes against Quirkless people are treated with less concern.
- Gaslighting: Hisashi has a habit of doing this to Inko so he can sway her and their arguments in his favor.
- Hope Spot: To Inko's delight, Hisashi finds a Pro-Quirkless community that they can visit on occasion to gain resources for helping their son. But to her dismay, her husband found the place with the intention of leaving Izuku there forever.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Hisashi is arrested for kidnapping Izuku and abandoning him at Nevarro.
- Mama Bear: Inko is protective of her son and is quick to call out her husband anytime his discipline or tough attitude goes out of line. But she really lets him have it when they reunite in the hospital with Inko openly accusing him of trying to abandon Izuku just because he's Quirkless. She even uses her Telekinesis Quirk to strangle him.
- Missing Child: The second chapter deals with Inko and the police trying to find Izuku after he was abandoned in Nevarro by his father.
- Once More, with Clarity: The second chapter retells certain arguments between Inko and Hisashi only with more clarity as they're displayed from Inko's perspective.
- Parental Abandonment: Hisashi tries to drop off Izuku at Nevarro, a small town community made entirely of Quirkless people. He isn't even bothered when Izuku turns out to be missing after the exchange goes bad.
- Replacement Goldfish: Inko doesn't seem fond of Hisashi's idea of having more kids as doing so would give Izuku the impression that they're trying to replace him.
- Spotting the Thread: Inko realizes that her husband played a part in Izuku's disappearance when a detective informs her that they found her boy's backpack and how Hisashi claims to have never seen the bag. She knows it's a lie because he personally bought the bag for her son.
- Switching P.O.V.: The first chapter is told from Izuku's perspective and then Inko takes over for the second chapter.
- That Man Is Dead: The ending has Inko accepting that the man she once loved and cherished no longer exists.
- You Monster!: Inko calls Hisashi a bastard at the climax of the story.
