04/12/2021

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The Emperor's Dragon
Fledgling 25

"Can you hold my bag?" Izuku asked Ochaco, holding out his book bag.

She took it but gave him a look with worried eyes.

"I'll be fine," Izuku reassured her.

"You're sure?" Hitoshi asked. "He's been practicing since your last fight," the purple-haired boy reminded him. Again.

Izuku gave him a small smile. "So have I," he said. It was maybe a bit cocky, but he had been practicing since their last fight. "And it's better to get this over with," he added.

At that, Ochaco nodded, though it was apparent she didn't like that thought.

Gatarui waited a whole week into the start of Middle School before the spider-quirked boy had strolled up to them and issued his challenge. He had, of course, intimated that Izuku's disappearance was because he was scared.

Izuku had agreed it was because he was scared, adding that he was scared his dad would die after a relapse. The slap down hadn't gone unnoticed by the others. Gatarui had then issued his challenge. Izuku had sighed and agreed but said it had to be quick.

He honestly wondered why the teen was doing this. It wasn't even the first month of school, and he would give them a reputation. But if he did this right, then he wouldn't have trouble with Gatarui for a long time.

"You know, it's odd to see him without Arata," Izuku commented.

Ochaco snorted. Arata Ogawa had gone to a different Middle School. Gatarui Kumou had managed to find another follower. Minato Amano. His old friend had officially moved into the former category. Izuku thought it hurt more for Ochaco to see him since she had been friends with him long after he transferred schools.

"Anyway, I'm on a time limit, so we'd better get going," Izuku said. After school, he had some time to make his way to the office for Kurogiri to pick him up, but he knew he couldn't be too late.

Today, Izuku's hair was a brilliant red, to go with his green eyes. He couldn't change his eye colour as much at school since people knew what his eye colour had been. He could claim he was using contacts, but dying his hair was a more acceptable excuse. He turned to Gatarui.

The spider-quirked teen was flexing his muscles. He'd taken off his outer gakuran. Izuku wondered how he grew with all that chitin, but that wasn't a question he'd get to ask today. Probably never, though there were others with similar quirks he could ask that question of. He'd seen some of them when Giran brought them in for practice. Except he wasn't allowed to talk to those guys. One day he'd find someone.

He took a huge breath as he walked forward. "Let's get this over with," Izuku invited Gatarui. He could take Gatarui's quirk, and that would end the fight. It's what Gigantomachia would expect him to do, but Izuku had a feeling if he did that they'd both get into trouble. Knocking someone out was going to attract too much attention.

Plus… Izuku wanted to find out if his training was bearing fruit. He'd never beaten Gigantomachia, but he was getting better. He wanted to see what that would mean against someone his age, with… well, Gatarui was built more heavily than him but was a featherweight compared to Gigantomachia.

"Yeah, I'm gonna pound that arrogance right out of you," the spider-quirked boy said as he fell into a fighting stance.

Izuku didn't do that. Gigantomachia's training was more rough and ready. The huge man taught him a style of fighting that focused on winning. Gigantomachia reminded him that the victors wrote history, though, in society, it was Heroes. It told Izuku that if he wanted the truth to be out there, he had to win.

Gatarui snorted at his stance. Izuku just cocked his head, giving the other boy a soft smile. He'd try fighting without a quirk first, but if he needed to, then he could probably use Caeli Imperium stealthily. It was one of the ones he liked to use against Gigantomachia. However, just for some protection, Izuku let scales from under his uniform. Gatarui would not be as strong as Gigantomachia, but he also would not have the giant man's control, and while Regeneration would heal him, it was better to be safe. The other boy took a step forward and swung his right hand. It was so slow!

He watched the punch come towards him and stepped aside. The spider-quirked boy pulled his fist back and growled. Izuku continued to stand and then watched as Gatarui shifted again to throw another punch.

They were so obvious! Was this what Gigantomachia meant when he said not to telegraph his moves? It did make dodging easy. He would have to work on that for himself. This time though, Izuku didn't just avoid the other boy's punch; he threw his own. He aimed for Gatarui's solar plexus, and while the impact was solid, he forgot to account for the chitin.

Izuku dodged back as the other boy swung around. His green eyes narrowed slightly. His punch hadn't hurt Gatarui the way it would him, but it wasn't something the spider-quirked boy could ignore. He tilted his head, dodging out of the way of another punch. How much of Gatarui's body was covered in chitin?

And how was he going to get Gatarui to agree he'd won without knocking him out or seriously injuring him?

Maybe he should have thought about this a bit more.

No, this was the only way to get peace from the bully. He understood that.

As Gatarui watched him, Izuku decided to make a move. He moved forward and then dropped, sweeping his leg out. As expected, the spider-quirked boy jumped back. Izuku followed, throwing two punches. He aimed lower, trying to hit Gatarui's lower abdomen. Only one connected but Izuku mentally grinned. The chitin was softer there, or not there. His opponent wasn't completely covered.

Izuku leapt back as Gatarui threw a punch downwards. That was interesting. It would have been better to kick at him. Was there a reason Gatarui couldn't kick him?

"Well, you've been practicing," Izuku murmured, just loud enough for Kumou to hear him.

"More than someone who's been running," Gatarui replied.

Izuku would have laughed at that, except the spider-quirked boy had charged towards him. This time, he was quicker, and Izuku felt Gatarui's fist impact on his side, just under his ribs. He felt several scales break. He knew they broke against Gigantomachia, but if they broke against Gatarui, then they were far weaker than he thought. The ability to project one had uses, but they would have to be stronger if they were a protective layer for him. Another hit reminded Izuku that he had to pay attention here.

Ochaco cried out, and Izuku pulled back. "I'm okay," he told her, and he took a deep breath. Regeneration was already taking care of his damage, but he really couldn't be hit again much. If he did, people might notice he wasn't injured.

To defeat Gatarui so that the other boy admitted defeat, Izuku realised he would have to trip and hold him, or… maybe cracking his chitin would convince Gatarui that he wasn't worth provoking. But that might also get him in trouble. He'd try a hold first.

Or a throw, Izuku realised, when Gatarui threw another punch he saw coming from a mile away. He moved without thinking, grabbing Kumou's arm and twisting slightly to leverage the giant boy. It wasn't the world's most incredible throw. Although Gatarui had put his full force behind the blow, he was still too weak to be considered strong, so it was more of a flop than a flip.

It still put Kumou unexpectedly on his side at Izuku's feet. At this point, Gigantomachia would tell Izuku to kick or stomp. If he applied just the correct pressure to the side of Kumou's knee cap, the boy would be disabled. Even with the chitin, if he stomped on Gatarui's chest, he was pretty sure he could break some ribs, even without using his strength quirk. The huge man did not believe in letting his opponents recover.

Izuku knew he couldn't do that now. Instead, he stepped back as the boy scrambled to his feet. It was hard to read Kumou's expression. The chitin did not help, but Izuku thought he was surprised. He knew the spectators were. Hitoshi had gotten off a 'wow,' but almost everyone else looked stunned. Ochaco still looked worried.

The throw enraged Gatarui. While Izuku couldn't read his expression, he could read the anger and the other boy rushed at him. This time, the punch was even more telegraphed, and with the extra speed Kumou had, the throw was far more spectacular. Kumou went down properly onto his back.

Izuku didn't back off this time. Instead, he planted one sneakered foot directly onto Kumou's chest and pressed down slightly. It wasn't enough to break chitin or crack a rib, but it was enough to let the spider-quirked boy know that he wasn't getting up. Gatarui gripped his leg and tried to push him off. Izuku increased the downward pressure slightly and raised one eyebrow as he looked at Kumou.

"Yield," he instructed.

That resulted in Kumou trying to push him off even more.

Izuku sighed. "I'm stronger than I look," he commented. Even without a strength quirk, Gigantomachia had made sure he kept working on unenhanced physical strength.

Gatarui tried again, to the same effect, which is to say, nothing.

"Yield," Izuku commanded this time.

Kumou's eyes were angry. All eight of them. They were compound eyes, and while Gatarui couldn't move them the way Izuku could move his, he could still see the hatred in Gatarui's expression. There was no answer coming from Kumou, so Izuku pressed down harder. That brought a creak of chitin. Everyone heard, and there were gasps from the spectators.

"Yield," Izuku commanded for a second time. He was more forceful now.

"Or what?" Kumou spat, trying to salvage something.

"Broken bones are annoying to recover from, especially the ribs. How long does chitin take to recover?" Izuku asked with a smile.

The other boy snarled at him, which was rather impressive given the way his mouth was arranged. Izuku put a tiny bit more strength into his leg. If he put much more in, he was sure he would crack something in Gatarui.

"I yield," the spider-quirked boy said softly.

"Good," Izuku said, stepping back. He offered Gatarui his hand. The boy had no chance to win, but he didn't know that, and Izuku was thankful for the opportunity to confirm that he had improved. Gigantomachia's lessons were good.

Kumou didn't take it. Instead, he rolled over and got up. "Tch," he half spat but knew better than to be any more aggressive than that.

"I have to go," Izuku said, looking at the time, "but I want to thank you. I now get what my teacher means when he says I'm telegraphing my moves. I'm going to have to work on that," he said.

Unbeknownst to Izuku, Gatarui's teacher had been berating him on that exact issue as well and whatever slight feeling of battle comradery the quirked spider boy had been feeling evaporated in that instant. Gatarui turned, snarling again, but Izuku had already turned away, heading back to Ochaco and Hitoshi.

"You really have been practicing!" Hitoshi observed.

Izuku grinned. "Yep."

Ochaco gave him back his bag and then looked around as if noting who was present. It was evident that the group should have attracted the teacher attention. They weren't that long past the final bell. "Are you sure it's going to be okay?" she asked nervously.

"Yes," Izuku said. "He won't bother us for a while," he added.

"No," Ochaco shook her head. "I mean from teachers."

"Ah," Izuku nodded. The last year had… well, he'd realised that official authority wasn't worth that much. There were always exceptions. It happened in school and it happened in business. It happened at the quirk use days prefectures organised. He had discussed it with his dad. Although no one was meant to use their quirk without a license, and usually a hero license at that, it was human nature to want to use every part of themselves. And so people did use their quirks a lot anyway. Those who had minor quirks used them in their homes, where they wouldn't get caught. Those with flashier, more prominent quirks went to the quirk use days. Or they just went to an empty park and practiced. So long as no one got hurt and no property was damaged, people tended to look the other way, especially if there was no hero present. And the younger you were, the easier it was to laugh off the quirk usage. "No one got hurt, so it will be fine," he said.

"How do you know?" Ochaco pressed.

"No one got hurt," Izuku repeated. If he'd hurt Gatarui, then he was sure the teachers would have stepped in. He was sure they had noticed the gathering. But since he hadn't hurt Kumou, even though he'd thrown the other boy twice, they wouldn't do anything. Though he knew his dad would say they'd placed bets and were now exchanging the winnings. "Really, Ochaco, that's all that matters."

She gave him an odd look. It said without words that she trusted him, but she didn't like it. She'd given him looks like that about the information he'd provided her about heroes. Izuku smiled. "I promise it will be fine," he reassured her.

"Okay, Little Dragon," she said finally.

"I didn't want to do this, but I don't want him bothering us every second day," Izuku explained.

"Yeah, he's not going to do that," Hitoshi laughed. "Anyway, aren't you going to be late?" he asked, changing the subject.

That caused Izuku to pull out his phone and look at the time. He blanched. "Yes!" he gave the one-word answer. He thought he be quicker than this!

Ochaco and Hitoshi laughed, and any tension dissipated. Today, they both pulled out their pendants and held them up. Izuku pulled out his, and the three of them touched them to each other.

And then Izuku was off. He was running late, but as he ran out of the school gates and towards the commercial area where the office was, he smiled.

He owed Gigantomachia a hug. He thought the large man would appreciate that, and it was the least he could do for his teacher.

-ted-

Hugs are legal tender, right? Especially when they are from Izuku? If they aren't, then that will be a new rule instigated as soon as AFO comes to power. However, the receiving range may be comically small. After all, for Izuku to be cleared to provide someone with a hug, they have to live up to AFO's standards. Could be hard.

And yes, the fight we all knew was going to happen. Poor Gatarui. As a spider mutation he does have some advantages but... he just can't compete with Izuku's advantages and because he doesn't even know what they are, he gets frustrated, which is completely understandable but doesn't change the outcome of the fight.

My discord is on this code: ZX2R5h2cEm FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out.

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!