Zoran Dawn-Eclipse: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

I have so many stories to edit. One story is ending soon, so I'd like to start posting a new one.

1. Zombie apocalypse au with Luffy, Ace and Law being the ones behind it (not a secret lol)

2. Baby Luffy who turned into a vampire, Katakuri is his adoptive dad and takes good care of him. Fluffy story.

3. Ace develops some sort of unknown disease that causes his life to spiral into deep depression and having most people abandon him for it. Basically all angst/hurt/comfort.

4. Demon slayer au where Ace dies and is transported to DS world.

5. Luffy son of Katakuri in big mom pirates. Eventual Zolu and Luffy turning into a vampire. You can imagine how the BM pirates react to that.

6. Jujutsu Kaisen au with young Luffy having a power to get rid of curses/demons. Fluffy and mc is Luffy and our lovely Gojo Satoru.

7. Bleach au with Ace and Ichigo as mcs. Another story where Ace comes from Marineford into another world.

Please vote, I'm drowning in which one to post!

"Whoa. So injuries make him age backwards?" Izuku asked in shock while they were playing a board game. Ace nodded. "How horrible!"

Ace nodded again. "Once he gets control of it and all, he would be practically invincible. He just has to be very careful about injuries so nothing bad happens again. I didn't really think too much before, about how there can be super big problems with quirks! You could be lucky, what if you got a horrible one!"

Izuku moved his piece and took the next card. "Well… I would have liked to be given a chance. Mom or dad's quirks would have been cool each. Breathing fire would have been helpful, but dangerous. But what if it was uncontrollable and hurt someone? It seems complicated, having a quirk." Ace agreed. "I wonder what your parents were like." Ace wasn't sensitive to the fact that he had been an orphan and was adopted. He didn't know or remember his parents, so it wasn't a sore subject, and hadn't been for a long time.

"Dunno. The dragon stuff isn't hereditary, so they could have had weird quirks, too," Ace replied. Izuku nodded. Inko was listening from the kitchen happily. Ace ended up winning the game. "So, what does everyone think at school? Should I even ask?"

The other boy frowned, and said nobody was actually talking about it. Of course they didn't care. Well, it honestly didn't matter to him what they thought of it. He wasn't returning and would never see all of them again. Hopefully. "How… how is Kacchan?"

"He hasn't blown anything up. He's still hostile and all, but he isn't hurting anybody."

"Wow! No way!" Ace laughed, and agreed that it was surprising. And pleasing, Ace didn't need to hear explosions going off all the time from somewhere. It wouldn't damage his ears at a distance, but they'd still be loud and annoying in any close vicinity on campus.

Ace sighed. "I wish you could come, too."

"If I had a quirk, I wouldn't want to go there because it would mean I'd have problems, right?" Izuku reasoned. It was a good point, and Ace nodded. He missed them, but he was doing something on his own for once. Not as a set, with him and his brother. He didn't hate being with him where they went, but it was something for only him this time, and it felt almost empowering.

The Saturday and Sunday were spent like any other. Like Ace hadn't been absent all week. So it felt weird for Ace to have his clothes all washed and in his backpack on Monday morning. He almost forgot about it, but when he remembered, he wasn't upset, he was excited. Especially for Friday, seeing Rayleigh again. Even if it was embarrassing talking about feelings, it should help him!

He'd never been so excited for school since his first day of kindergarten, when everything went steadily downhill from then.

-x-

Ace was on the verge of crying all day, eye rimmed red and watery. Everyone in class noticed it, but were nice enough not to point out that Ace was clearly about to cry when writing on the whiteboard. He just wanted to go to his room and try and sleep it off. It was only the third week of school, so he didn't want to cry in front of everyone.

But laying in bed, taking motrin, nothing helped. His back hurt badly. Assuming it was something to do with his dragon side, since it could be bad if it wasn't. But he didn't want others to know just how much his own abilities affected him. Sure, many had it bad, but Ace didn't want them to know that he was affected, too!

It was at dinner time that he finally steeled himself enough to go to the infirmary. He put a hood on to hide his eyes, which just looked weirder, since it wasn't cold inside at all and there was no reason to hide his head. Plus, the horns never actually looked fine with a hood. He still wore a baseball cap, but even that didn't hide everything.

He slid open the door, glad everyone was eating and not seeing him. He walked inside slowly, and peeked around the corner. "Excuse me?" he asked quietly.

"Yes?" a woman with long blond hair and a stern face asked. Not the face of a nurse or someone to help him, but she was wearing the outfit and was the only one there at the moment. He assumed the others were out for dinner since there was nobody else in the infirmary. "What's wrong?"

"Um, my back really hurts," the nine year old said timidly.

"Your back hurts?" Ace nodded. "Take your shirt off, I'll check it out," she commanded. Ace took off the hoodie and then his shirt. He sat on the hospital bed and lowered his head, shrugging his shoulders a bit. The nameless nurse made a "hmm" sound. Ace clenched his fists, worried something was wrong with him. Really worried something would drag him down when he was so happy. What if he had some sort of chronic injury that would impede his daily life for the rest of his life?!

"It looks like your wings are starting to take shape. You're a dragon brat, right? You'd get your wings eventually," she said, and put his shirt back on. Ace asked why it hurt, and how long it was going to hurt. "Well, on average, it takes about seven years for wings to grow in." Ace's jaw dropped. He had to wait seven years to fly?! That sucked. "Sadly, it is very painful. After all, new bones are forming and the skin is needing to stretch to accommodate the growth beneath it."

Ace was horrified. "It'll hurt like this the whole time?" he asked.

"There are certain operations that can dull the pain since it will be chronic for a couple years. But it'll be uncomfortable most of the time. Medication and exercise will help your body get used to the new weight as well. Wings are heavy," she explained. She didn't sound very compassionate, which kind of annoyed Ace.

He asked if it would get worse. "Probably. You're a feathered dragon. You know thick, new feathers hurt, right? You'll have thick and strong feathers growing out of the wings."

The boy bit his lip. "It'll only get worse?" The nurse affirmed this. She told him she was going to recommend he see a specialist to deal with chronic pain. "Is it like a disability?"

"In a way. You may end up needing assisted care once the wings are heavier, but you should be able to walk just fine right now." Ace took the slip of paper recommending a full examination at a doctors, and a note to his teacher. He walked out with both, looking like someone had just died. He didn't eat dinner, and went to his room and got on the phone.

He didn't ask to talk to Inko, but Izuku. "Ace?"

"...Hey," Ace sighed. His brother sounded worried already, and asked what happened. "My wings are coming in."

"That's great! You can fly soon!" Izuku said brightly. Ace wished he was right. But he wasn't. Ace explained everything he'd been told. His wings wouldn't just form all at once like magic. They'd grow in slowly, pulling on the skin from the inside. Pushing against it, forcing it to stretch to accommodate the wings. "I'm really sorry, Ace."

He didn't really know how to respond, he was sorry too. Sighing, he looked out the window. Flying better be worth a shit ton of pain or Ace would be livid.

-x-

Ace was not okay with letting the chronic pain debilitate him. Why the hell would he waste 7 years of his childhood, not doing fun things that he'd miss out on and regret not taking part in? He wasn't going to do that, even if everything hurt all the time. Well, not everything, but his back. He was a kid, but he didn't think of himself as weak minded or weak willed.

So he was doing PE with his class, playing softball. It was only Sabo and Marco who knew about Ace's doctor's appointment. He wanted someone here to know. Shanks knew, but he told Ace he wasn't going to give him special treatment. Well, Ace knew he said it like that because he didn't want Shanks to give him pity. Pity sucked.

So he stood at the plate, hemet on and a metal baseball bat in his hand. Moving his arms back to get into stance, he gasped as quietly as he could when the movement rubbed the wrong way. He grit his teeth, but when the ball came, he punted it as best as he could and then ran. He probably looked completely out of shape, panting so hard it might be considered hyperventilating.

He made it to third base, and when Bakugo was next and managed to not use his quirk when he scored a home run, Ace trotted lightly to the last plate. He was happy his part was done, and glared at the ground. Marco touched his thigh and gave him a smile. He knew not to touch Ace's back anymore, as he used to pat on it hard.

Ace gave him a strained smile. Bakugo stormed over, seeming to always walk angrily, too, and looked at Ace with narrowed eyes. "You sick or some shit?" he asked.

"No," Ace replied easily. He was just sore and achy. Like somehow his back exercised way too much, as it was the only part of him that was hurting. Bakugo clearly didn't believe him, but went to his spot on the bench. PE didn't last too long, at the end of the day, so Ace was happy to go to his room and try to nap.

He had to lay on his stomach, which he hadn't usually done, but too much pressure on the area was uncomfortable. He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, falling asleep. He would continue life like he wouldn't be in pain a lot. Seven years. Not too long in the grand scheme of things. Only two years less than double his current age.

-x-

"I don't see any upside about it anymore," Ace said at the Friday meeting with Rayleigh. The man gave him a sympathetic smile, though he didn't look surprised one bit about it. After all, he went through this, too.

He said, "I understand how you feel, both emotionally and physically. Here, come with me. I want to show you something." Ace stood up, wondering what it was, and the two went to the roof, where students weren't even allowed. He didn't know what they were doing until Rayleigh sprouted his wings painlessly and effortlessly. "Climb onto my back," he said. Ace's eyes widened, but he didn't hesitate.

He held on to Rayleigh's back tightly, limbs wrapped around his torso. The man jumped over the side of the roof, but didn't fall, he flew off. Ace had his eyes shut tightly before he forced them to open and watch this experience. They were blown wide, and he couldn't help but be scared if he fell, even if he knew logically that Rayleigh would never let him splatter on the ground from so high up.

They flew over the city scape, and Ace was amazed. It was so cool! Though he'd rather have some goggles or sunglasses to block the wind from making his eyes so dry. But he couldn't close them, wanting to take in everything and not miss a single thing. Everyone looked so small. And while they were flying, three dragons actually came near them, and flew alongside the two.

Ace's mouth was open in shock, the corners of his lips tugged upwards slightly. The dragon was so close that he could touch it if he reached. He did, and it didn't react. When Rayleigh eventually turned back around to head towards the school, the dragons departed just as suddenly as they had come.

He flew with dragons! Well, he wasn't the one doing the flying, but a passenger. When they landed back on the roof, Ace fell to his knees, his legs like jelly. "Pretty cool, huh?" the man asked, his hair somehow not messed up at all. Ace stood up, legs no longer shaking, and nodded. "Do you think you can bear the pain to be able to do that the rest of your life?"

"It doesn't matter, I wasn't going to let it ruin my childhood in the first place. But now I have something to really look forward to!" he exclaimed happily. Rayleigh grinned at him, and said he was mature to think that way. The nine year old smiled and nodded at the compliment. While his back would hurt for a long time, he would get over it and then he could fly. He had to wait until he was sixteen or so.

Well, nothing he could do to change it other than do his best to dull the pain. He knew his mom would pay any price to any treatment to help him out with this. He just hoped his family wouldn't be overcome with anxiety over him and how he felt. So, he'd do his best to not show it when he was around them. Making them worry was not something he wanted to do again.

-x-

"Ace, how are you, how's your back?" Inko asked almost the moment Ace was buckled into the car. He held in a sigh, and said it ached, but it wasn't horrible. More like a pressure and stinging feeling. He was taking pain medication with dinner every night, and Marco was nice enough to rub the numbing cream onto the skin where it hurt after classes. He was a very good and understanding friend. Sabo was, too.

He didn't tell his mom about him ending up crying in class during reading a book, taking turns with the paragraphs. But everyone in there was understanding. It was a very healthy environment for him mentally while he dealt with the new problem. He was thankful for them all. Bakugo hadn't given him a single dirty look, or one of "pity" or mocking.

"Good. I'm glad it's not hurting too much. One a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt?"

Six.

"Two," Ace lied easily. She smiled in relief of this, and they headed home. Izuku was sleeping on the couch, apparently not having a restful sleep the night before. He sat on the couch next to him, and looked sad. Izuku wished he had a quirk, but Ace almost felt jealous. Seeing the hundreds of kids at his new school, it showed how debilitating a quirk could end up being. If Izuku had ended up with an awful quirk… Well, it was better not risking such a thing. Though he'd never say that or his brother might have his feelings hurt, Ace knowing how much he hated being quirkless.

When he woke up, Ace was on the computer, browsing the internet for back braces. He came over, and asked what he was doing. "I'm thinking my posture will suffer and make my back worse. So a back brace might help me," Ace explained.

"It's sad you have to act like an adult already," the green haired boy said sadly. Ace replied that he didn't really have a choice now. He turned the desk chair around, and made sure Inko was in her room.

"I… I will lie about my pain to mom. I don't want her worrying about me when there's no point. It's been at a six or seven for a few days, but I will tell her it's at a two. Promise not to say anything?" Ace asked, needing to be honest with one of his family members. Just these two and a single grandparent and uncle. He had never even met his adopted dad before.

Izuku wore a look of pity and sadness. "I won't tell her," he vowed. "But why are you telling me, when you don't want me to worry?" he asked. Ace looked at his feet, and said he felt kind of lonely about it. He wasn't at home for the majority of the week, and wanted someone at home to know the truth. After all, his class all knew he was in pain when he was crying in class, silent or otherwise.

His brother had a small smile, and thanked Ace for trusting him and telling him the truth. "Yup! You're my brother, but still my best friend." The other smiled more widely and nodded.

"How's school for you?" Ace asked, changing the subject. He bookmarked the brace that had the best reviews. It wasn't really a brace, but a posture corrector that had the straps in places where the pressure shouldn't hurt too bad. They went to Izuku's room and Ace sat at his desk chair, chest against the back of it with it turned around. His brother shrugged noncommittally. Ace frowned at the response, feeling worried himself. "Izuku, how is school?" he repeated.

The boy slumped, but answered. "Not very good. Tsu and Tenya are there, but I think both of them are moving on from me. Maybe I'm just being insecure or something… but it feels like they're drifting away. I don't know if they notice it. Maybe I'm clingy, since I don't have many friends and can't make them easily. I'm scared of being all alone," he confessed quietly. Sounding embarrassed and ashamed. Ace understood how he felt. With his brother and friends in different classes, Ace was completely alone and friendless. So many bullies.

But he felt bad because he wasn't there after school to help him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not there for you at home-"

"I don't want you here if it's better there. You went through so much bullying, maybe it's just my turn now. If you still went with me to school, I think people wouldn't be understanding about your back problem. They'd be mean and hit it, or make fun of you for it. So I'm happy you're not there anymore."

Ace knew that was true. His bullies would have endlessly been cruel to him physically, too. "People suck a lot sometimes." Izuku nodded sagely in agreement.

-x-

Ace was in a terrible mood, for seemingly no reason. Spring break had passed, and Ace got to spend all of it with his family and friends, introducing Marco and Sabo to Izuku. They didn't go inside, because Inko was worried Sabo would accidentally catch something on fire, even if he had his extinguisher with him. So they had had a barbeque outside on the patio. It was fun!

So why, the Monday of next week, was he cranky and irritable? Everyone noticed it, too. Giving impatient looks, being annoyed. It just wasn't him. Right before class ended, Ace had raised his hand, and apologized to the entire class for being a jerk all day. They were generally surprised that he was angry and cranky for no real reason and was unable to control it. But at least they knew it wasn't intentional for some reason. He hadn't meant to be rude because he didn't know why he was.

He was assuming what it was the next day, when it clicked. He had hoped it wouldn't happen to him. But he was unsurprised, even if he was heavily disappointed. He went to Newgate's office, trying to not look cranky, and asked if he could talk to Rayleigh as soon as possible. The man asked no questions and gave Ace the phone to call him.

He didn't answer until a while into the dialing, and asked who it was. "It's Ace. I have a problem." It didn't take long for him to get there, flying easily and all. They went into the meeting room, with Ace's problem visible the whole time. The man didn't seem annoyed to be called on a Monday when he only came on Fridays for Ace.

"Your dragon attitude has manifested, huh?" Rayleigh said, though not in a sad voice.

"What's it look like? Sorry… It's almost like a reflex reaction! I hate it!" Ace said angrily. Rayleigh took no offense. He honestly said that it would get worse during puberty. "So… I'll be a jackass that whole time? That's so stupid and unfair."

"It is. But like the wing problem, it won't last forever."

"Yeah, just long enough for me to make zero friends and probably a lot of enemies," Ace said grumpily. Rayleigh just nodded, not going to sugarcoat it. "Can, like, medication fix it?" The answer was no. Ace had to deal with it, but was possibly able to control it with a lot of determination. "Were you like this?"

"Yeah. But I was homeschooled, so I was only an asshole to my family. The best thing you can do is openly tell people why you may act that way. It might be annoying for them anyways, but they'll know you don't genuinely wish to be a mean person. I'm sure they'd all understand, too. Dragons are pretty prideful most of the time. It only makes sense that you would have that issue as well."

Ace wished he wasn't what he was. It just caused more problems than it was worth. But, besides the wing issue, he'd known that it was highly possible he'd become this. Testy, impatient and rude. Ace was frustrated, but not surprised. Maybe not prepared, either. But at least he made friends here before the dragon attitude reared its ugly head. "Is there anything for me to look forward to soon in the future? Not seven years from now?" Ace asked, sounding more desperate than angry. Rayleigh sat down and crossed his legs, looking happy. Was he going to say something good? Ace hoped so.

"Do you know what the easiest dragon ability is to master? An impractical one depending on your age and size, but it's surprising." Ace didn't know. "You'll be able to shift soon."

"Shift?"

"Into your dragon form. Of course you're still young, so you'll be weak and unable to fly even in that form. Once it begins, it should come more naturally than anything else, even more than your intelligence in most things." Ace's eyes were wide. He got to turn into a dragon? And how was that the easiest?! That seemed like it'd be the most difficult.

Ace asked, "How will I know when I can?"

"For me, I grew a tail, which was uncomfortable, and then the next day I shifted completely. You won't be big enough to damage anything, being so young and small. You'll have to be careful about where you use it or mothering dragons will try and baby you." Ace was baffled. Why? So he asked. "You'll look like a baby with no parent. Wouldn't most mothers worry over an abandoned baby, even if it wasn't their own?"

That was true. It would be interesting to meet a dragon like that. As long as she didn't get angry that Ace was part human and not a full dragon. So, he left the impromptu meeting, feeling both more upset but also relieved.

The next day, before class started, but everyone was seated, Ace made another announcement. "I will probably be rude and snappy from now on. I'll do my best to not be, but it's a dragon thing. So, I'm sorry if I am rude or hurt anyone's feelings. I don't mean to or mean any of it." He bowed, and thanked them ahead of time.

It was the right thing to do, since Ace was irritable about most everything in class that day. People read too slowly, they kept raising their hands and getting it wrong while Ace knew the answers correctly, someone accidentally kicked his foot when walking past. Nobody looked at him in anger or irritation with his attitude and "tch"s throughout the school day. He did hear students in the hall expressing pity for Ace's situation. Rude. Well, it was true, but it didn't mean he liked others saying it.

"You should just learn how to not be on fire by now," Ace said dismissively at dinner before he winced at his own words, and was ashamed of it.

"It's okay, I'm not mad. Even if you did mean it, it's the truth," Sabo said lightly. "But it is getting less hot. I'd be happy if it was harmless, even if it was still here, at least visibly. Could be similar to Endeavor, how his costume is always on fire and all. But I don't want to be a hero, so it doesn't matter that much if it looks like him or not. I just want to be safe," he explained. Ace still felt bad for saying what he said.

He hadn't called his family yet to warn them of his new attitude. Inside, he felt the same for the most part. Just on the surface, there was a bubbly substance that flared when he wasn't paying close attention to his words and thoughts. God, he hoped he wasn't rude to them, too. Izuku needed Ace to talk with him, still be his best friend. It wouldn't do to be rude and short with him, too.

"Do you want to be a hero, Marco?" Sabo asked, twirling the spaghetti in his fork before taking a bite.

"Nah. No way. I'd probably get a lot of injuries doing that and turn into a kid before. Though I guess my lifespan would be longer, hah! I'm not selfless enough to go out and save strangers like that," he explained. "What about you, Ace?"

He shook his head. "It's not like I could be one, go to a hero school. I'll be in pain all the time with my back for the next seven years, and then there's the factor that I'm a jerk now. That's not even including being not fully human, which most people dislike. My brother really wants to be a hero, and go to a hero school, but sadly he can't do that. He's quirkless.

"Though… coming here changed my opinion on his quirklessness. What if he got a quirk that ended up making him have to go here? What if it was terrible or useless? Maybe being quirkless could have saved him from a bad situation. He can be a police officer, maybe," Ace explained. Marco commented he'd never known a quirkless person before Izuku. "We're both the minority, which was what made us friends in the first place."

After they were done eating, Ace took a shower and then to his room, where Marco met him to put the pain cream on his back like the great friend he was. After that, Ace stared at the phone on the wall. Sighing deeply, he took the phone and dialed the home phone. Izuku answered it, and sounded worried. Great, they were always worried now. He hated worrying them.

"Ace? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just wanted to say hi," Ace replied.

"Liar," his brother accused.

"Okay, fine. I called cause there's something else that came up."

"Oh no, what now?" Ace's eye twitched in irritation, but he did his best to not snap. He didn't want to be mean to his brother, who was already someone with low self esteem, like Ace. So Ace explained about his newfound bad attitude. But Izuku sounded relieved that it wasn't something to cause him more pain.

Ace could see what he meant, but having him become even more unlikable was worse than some extra pain. He wanted to be able to make more friends, despite his species, but even if he was normal, having a shitty attitude was not good or useful in life. He was physically and behaviorally set back now.

Well… all he could do was what he could do. He could try and control what he said before he said it. He could notice when he was glaring, any negative expression, tone of voice, anything he could stop before saying it. His class knew, and seemed relatively unbothered, so that was a relief. But he did worry about people outside of a school where all had some sort of issue.

But he shouldn't think about a bad future. Soon he could shift! So he told Izuku that good news, changing the tone of the conversation instantly. The green haired boy laughed at the fact that Ace could be confused with abandoned baby dragons. The other snorted, agreeing that it was funny, as long as it didn't happen to him.

"Well, I should go to bed now. The pain medicine is already making me tired. Good night," Ace said.

"Night, ace. I'll tell mom tomorrow if you want." Ace thanked him, not wanting to hear Inko's worried and scared voice again, scared she'll think he was too much work for what it was worth. Deep down he worried over that. They always knew he'd be a handful - a possibly expensive handful - but it didn't change the fact that it was putting a strain on them emotionally, and financially with the pain medication that was not covered on insurance.

He hoped it would level out for a bit while he got used to his current problems. Shifting forms could wait for him. He was fine with that. Too much at once just wasn't desired. He didn't need even more feathers showing up when they wouldt help him in any way. Slightly itchy but never bad enough to scratch.

Well, whatever. This was how it was. He went to bed, laying on his stomach like usual, the quiet, artificial sound of rain playing by his head.