This story was super fun to write! Everyone who reads my stories regularly knows I loved writing stories with dragons. I would warn for light spoilers for the manga. (for season five) we already know Hawks is under cover, and we already knew Shigaraki got some power up and will be a big fight. But both of those facts are warped severely so I wouldn't say they were spoilers. But if you want to avoid the risk of one, maybe wait to read this. Though with MHA coming out in seasons, that may be awhile. :(
There is a lot of fluff and drama and angst. The vast majority of this story is original content. There are two boyxboy relationships in this, but they come later. So, some fluffy romance but nothing very heavy. Story gets very dark at some points. Some graphic minor character death, literal brain death, literal brain damage. Just heavy topics. Enjoy~
"You're wrong," Ace said to his friend at daycare. He was toying with his feathers on his arms, facing the wall so he didn't need to look at all the mean kids. They were so mean to him, just like they were to his friend. Both outcasts for very, very different reasons. He fiddled with the feathers, something he did when he was upset; either sad or angry. He could hear everyone's whispers, and it made him angry.
Izuku slumped at hearing his friend say his behavior was wrong, even if he was pretty used to Ace's tough love approach, when he meant well, but it didn't come out very nice all the time. Most times he was nice, but sometimes he wasn't. "You shouldn't let them tease you. You should show them you don't care about their mean words. Then you won't be so upset anymore."
"I know…" the green haired boy said, pulling his knees up. Ace slumped, and apologized for being mean. "It's okay. You're not mean even when you sound it." Ace smiled and nodded. Ace took a deep breath and stood up. They should play outside. It was recess time, and Ace didn't want to be inside anymore, because it was easier to make out sounds indoors, and he didn't want to hear those mean sounds.
Ace suggested that they go outside. Izuku nodded, and picked up his stuffed bear backpack. He always wore it, even when nothing was inside. They were his favorite animal. Ace's favorites were, unsurprisingly, stuffed dragons. He felt that they were a reflection of him, something normal.
The two went outside and got a ball to play catch with on the grass while the other four and five year olds played on the jungle gym. The quirkless boy and half-dragon played catch with the rubber ball before one of the bullies came over and snatched it when Izuku didn't catch it and it rolled away.
"Give it back," Ace said angrily, upset that their game was interrupted.
"Freaks shouldn't touch public things. It's bad enough you already tough everything inside," the blonde boy sneered at Ace. Bellamy was cruel to Ace like Bakugo was cruel to Izuku. But Ace didn't take the teasing sitting down. It did hurt his feelings inside, and sometimes he wanted to cry, but he'd never show that weakness.
Ace picked up a rock and threw it at Bellamy's crotch, making him double over. Ace snatched the ball away, with Izuku biting his nails about Ace getting in trouble for being physical again. But Bellamy was embarrassed about getting hit, and wouldn't make a big deal out of it so he wasn't teased too.
"Go away," Ace said, making a condescending "shoo" movement with his hand. Bellamy scowled at him furiously, and stomped away. Ace smiled, glad to have him go away humiliated. Izuku said he shouldn't do that. "He was a bully first. I just made him upset, too," Ace replied.
Izuku still didn't approve. He was a pacifist, but he was also four years old. He let Bakugo be mean to him, and when Ace wasn't there to back him up, well, he wished that his friend would stand up for himself. But Bakugo was violent and unafraid to use his quirk to hurt others casually. The quirkless boy was afraid of him, which Ace knew was justified. He just wished the boy would stand up for himself more.
Of course Ace was technically quirkless, too. But his story was a lot more complicated than simply not having a quirk. They all went back inside for the end of the day while waiting for parents to come get them. They were all picked up by their moms or dads or older siblings. Ace sat on the carpet, fiddling with his arm feathers again. He wasn't facing the door. He didn't like seeing families. That all those kids had family.
Ace walked home, despite his age and appearance. He didn't have people that cared about him. Izuku came up behind him, and tapped his shoulder. "Do you want my mommy to drive you home? So you don't have to walk home?" he offered, an understanding look on his face. Ace looked down, but then stood up and nodded.
Getting his things out of his assigned cubby, he put his dinosaur backpack on, and took his friend's hand while they waited at the door for Inko to come. Ace didn't see her much, because it made him sad, but she was always nice to him. Treated him normally, and wasn't scared of him and expected the worst.
When she came in the small car, Izuku asked her if she would drive Ace home. They knew that he was an orphan and lived at an orphanage. She agreed, and luckily has a spare car seat in the trunk. Izuku was an only child, no siblings and no father. A small family of just him and his mom, who loved him very much. Ace was clipped in, and smiled lightly when Inko patted his head. She was really nice.
"Um, home is the other way," Ace said when Inko drove in the opposite direction of his orphanage. It wasn't a bad place to live, it wasn't run down in any way, but he wished there weren't so many bitter kids. Many of their family or parents had died, and left them upset and prickly. Ace was, too, but for other reasons. More obvious ones.
Inko looked in the rearview mirror and said, "I thought we could go get some ice cream." Izuku and Ace grinned and cheered about getting ice cream. They went to a drive through one so they didn't need to get out of the car. Ace got strawberry flavored and his friend got vanilla. They were in paper bowls so they didn't make a mess with cones. Ace secretly wanted a cone, but didn't want to be a bad boy, ungrateful.
"Yum!" Ace said, his friend nodding in agreement.
"So, Ace, how are you liking daycare?"
"I don't like it." She seemed surprised. "There are mean people there. They make fun of Izuku and me and it makes me upset," he explained further, the ice cream on his nose without him realizing. Inko was sad at the admission, and frowned sympathetically. She had to know Izuku was teased too. "I know why they make fun of me, but it's not nice for Izuku because he's more normal."
Inko said, in a slightly stern voice, "You are normal, too, Ace. Just a more rare normal." She stopped the car when a wingless dragon crossed the street with two babies. It wasn't big, maybe the size of a pony. Then they continued on to Ace's home. Ace didn't argue with her, wanting her words to be true, but feeling they really weren't.
When they got there, Izuku hugged Ace goodbye. "See you tomorrow!" he said when Inko walked him to the front door. They knocked, and Makino opened it, letting Ace in. She thanked Inko for driving him, though she seemed a bit worried about having not been told beforehand. They exchanged numbers in case this happened again, so Makino knew where Ace was.
He waved goodbye to his friend and his mom as they drove away. He went up to his room to put his backpack on his bunk and then went to the bathroom. He stood in front of the door that had the full length mirror attached to the back, and looked at himself. Frowning the whole time. He felt very different and wrong to other people.
Ace had dragon blood in him, and wasn't enough human to be fully accepted by them. He was sort of in the middle, where not many people were stuck. He had feathers on his body and a tail. He usually kept his tail curled around his thigh under his shorts so nobody saw it. Brown eyes, only with slitted pupils, and stubby horns poking through his hair.
He couldn't turn full form yet, and hadn't practiced because he didn't want to. He didn't want to be even more unnatural, and knew that the wings would still be too small to attempt flight. He looked at his fingers, which had natural long fingernails that he sanded down to not get in the way. Maybe he could be passed off as a quirk. But so far, nobody had assumed that. They all knew what he was. It made him sad.
Sighing, he walked out, and bumped into Dellinger, a mean boy who was always teasing Ace, not sharing with him. He was three years older than Ace, and always tried to provoke him to force him to leave out of the safety of the others. The younger boy had not taken the bait yet. He wouldn't get kicked out, he vowed that. Because where would he go? Who would take him?
He moved past him. "Looks like you have a friend. Soon he'll figure out you're no good to be around," Dellinger mocked.
"I'm cooler than your stupid quirk where all it is is a dorsal fin," Ace said cooly. He made direct eye contact with the boy, giving an unimpressed expression. "You won't go anywhere in life." He walked away from the fuming Dellinger, who didn't hurt him. But Ace felt his words were good and smart! He wouldn't let anyone walk all over him.
-x-
"See, he is a freak," Bellamy laughed with Ace chewing on a bone. It was a dog bone because he needed to. His teeth were hurting and he needed to teeth to keep them from being in pain. The bone tasted like meat, so it wasn't that bad. But he was embarrassed about it, even if he had to do it. It wasn't normal, people chewing on dog bones.
Izuku was angry for once at the bully. "You don't make fun of him," he said firmly. Standing up for Ace seemed easier for him than standing up for himself. "It's not his fault he has to do that!" he continued with a heated voice and balled fists. Ace was glad he was standing up for him like that; he didn't think Ace was creepy or weird, too.
Bakugo looked irate with Izuku being strong, even for someone else. "Like you could protect him, hah! You're weak, Deku!" Bakugo mocked.
"And you're immature," Ace said, sticking up for his friend like he had done for him. "And insecure."
"What?! How am I insecure?!" Bakugo asked, angry with the insinuation. Ace told him that bullying others and acting all strong and cool just showed he was mentally weak. He was actually using a line from his at-home bully. Ace had been told that before, and thought it fit for this situation. "I'm not insecure," the blond growled.
Ace "humphed". He didn't think Bakugo was insecure, he just wanted to upset him. If anything, Bakugo was too confident! Walking all over everyone because he thought he was the best, and he surrounded himself with people who thought he was strong and cool, even though his quirk could possibly kill people if he wasn't careful, which he never was.
Ace continued to chew on the dogbone that fought the pain and discomfort of his canine teeth and the two behind them were growing longer. It was embarrassing, really. It was, because dog bones are for dogs, not people. Nobody else would do this, he was sure. He and his friend walked to the corner to play with the toy cars, both of them a bit subdued and quiet.
Izuku then asked him a surprising question. "How are you at home? That mean boy, is he still there?" Ace nodded, and pulled the bone out of his mouth to talk. He explained about Dellinger making fun of him mercilessly after Makino brought him the dogbone to teeth on. He mocked him, laughed at him, made him feel wrong and weird. "That's mean. Can't Makino-san get mad at him?" Ace shrugged. There wasn't much she could do, to be honest. And Ace didn't want anyone to know about this problem, and act like he couldn't deal with it himself, even if he cried in the closet about it.
He put the dog bone back in his mouth and chewed on it more, relieving the pressure of his teeth in his gums. It really was uncomfortable, and he didn't like that it would last over a month at least.
When daycare was over Ace was sad, because parents were looking at him like he was wrong, too. Even though all dragon children had to go through this. It was just something that happened. Babies teethed, it was just that Ace had to teeth a second time in his life. The last time, luckily!
When Inko came to get her son, Ace had the bone behind his back, really embarrassed about it. When Inko offered to take them both to the movies, Ace was hesitant. "It's a movie about heroes and dragons working together," she added. Ace and Izuku gasped, and both immediately agreed, hurrying to the car.
She helped clip both of them in. "Ace-kun, you can teeth just fine around me. I won't judge." Ace smiled and thanked her, chewing on the bone again. She was so nice! Izuku giggled, happy his mom was so kind to his closest friend. Makino was really nice, too, but she was always swamped with all the kids when Dadan wasn't around, which was often lately since she had to go to court for jury duty, whatever that was.
They got to the movies, and got popcorn and some candy that they snuck in inside Inko's purse. Ace giggled at it while Izuku thought it was wrong to do that. But it was cheaper to buy candy at the Dollar Store than at the theaters. They sat in the middle row in front of the bar so they could see and not be stuck behind the tall seats.
The dog bone was in Ace's jacket pocket. He and Izuku were whispering about what heroes they thought would be in it. "All Might has to be," the green haired boy said in a strong voice, like there was no other option. Ace also assumed that the movie would star him, even though it was animated. After all, dragons didn't exactly usually consent to being filmed and playing a character. They minded their own business from humans the majority of the time.
The two boys were enraptured with the film, Izuku more excited about All Might's character while Ace liked the dragons more, even if it was unrealistic that they'd be friends with the pro-hero. But it was so cool! Ace did wish there was a half-dragon character, but they were underrepresented because, over all, they were very rare and not personally liked by the public.
The popcorn was finished by the end of the hour long animated movie, and both boys were stuffed from both that and their candy. They were also sleepy, and when they got out, after using the bathroom, they fell asleep in the car, snoozing quietly, limp in the car seats. Ace was woken up when they got to the house.
"Thank you! I had so much fun," Ace said brightly at the door. Inko smiled and said he was very welcome. He hurried inside, in a great mood the rest of the day, even being teased and stared at with the dog bone. He took it to his room mostly and watched cartoons on the tablet.
-x-
"Ah!" Ace cried when Bakugo made an explosion right next to him, making Ace's eardrum blow even though the ear plugs. He started screaming and crying at the pain, sitting on the floor and wailing. Izuku ran over, as did the nice lady, Olivia-san. She fretted over him, asking what was wrong. Bakugo slunk away, looking worried he'd get in trouble.
"M-my ear hu-hurts!" he cried, rubbing his eyes. His hearing had become very sensitive, the hyper senses starting to form. He had ear plugs in, but the explosion was loud and right next to him. He took the ear plug out, and everyone around was scared when blood seeped out. Olivia was nice and kept quiet.
Ace then threw up all over the floor from the world spinning rapidly around him. Olivia got on the phone and called an ambulance. He was so embarrassed about throwing up, but his ear was hurting really bad! He hated it, and hated Bakugo so much! Ace was furious with him while he cried at the pain.
Izuku tried to help by putting his hands over Ace's ears to try and dull sounds. It still hurt, even if nobody was being very loud. When the ambulance came, Izuku was crying with worry while Ace was ushered inside and onto the bed in the middle of the vehicle. He had muffs on his ears, and the siren was not on and those inside were quiet.
When he got to the emergency room, it was mostly quiet, which was a relief. A doctor saw him quickly, and gave him a once over, looking troubled, before he left and someone else came instead. Ace cried at that, humiliated. He wanted to go home, now. A nice woman came in, though. She had long blonde hair, and started to check him up and treat his ruptured eardrum.
Makino came in, hurrying there, and held Ace's hand, taking the pills and directions on how to treat it. Ace had stopped sobbing by then, and was just sitting in silence, tears pouring down his cheeks with no sound. When it was all checked out, to heal in a few weeks, Makino walked with Ace outside.
Ace was hyper aware of the whispers and looks he was given by others around him. Even little kids looked wary, looking away quickly. He felt… kind of empty. So overwhelmingly sad that he didn't really feel anything too strong. The car was a van to fit eight people, though he was the only one inside.
He sat in the second row car seat, playing with his feathers, looking out the left window. It was raining outside, and he didn't have a jacket. It wasn't supposed to rain that day, but it was, now. "What caused it, sweetie?" Makino called them all "sweeties". It didn't feel nice anymore. Ace honestly said Bakugo had done it, clearly on purpose. "I will be calling the daycare, then," she said, sounding really angry.
Ace didn't care.
When they got home, Ace went straight to his room while everyone knew to be quiet until Ace got used to the super sense. He went straight to bed, under the covers completely, and wondered why he was treated the way he was. It just wasn't fair. He hated it, it wasn't fair! Why did he need to suffer like this? It wasn't his fault, so nobody should look down on him for it.
Ever since he started teething, things had gotten so much worse. Before, it was just his appearance, but now it was more his behavior. He felt alone, truly. Alone and unwanted, undervalued. There wasn't really a point to his existence, it seemed. Besides having a friend and being there for him.
But Ace had no wish to return to the daycare where kids were mean to him on purpose, and some not on purpose, but it still hurt. It still hurt that they whispered, or the girls would wipe down toys after he touched them, like he was some sort of disease. He laid in bed all day until dinner, which he went downstairs to, sitting at the long table, eating silently.
His poor ear ached, but it wasn't overwhelming anymore. He didn't deserve that at all! Bakugo purposely hurt him in that way! He made him have to go to the hospital! After dinner, he took his medicine, and went outside to the big backyard and into the large treehouse. He watched the sunset with eyebrows drawn inwards and up, wondering if things would only get worse for him.
-x-
Ace didn't return to the daycare. When they didn't kick Bakugo out for what he'd done, Ace was no longer at that daycare, only that meant that Izuku couldn't be with him. He felt like he'd abandoned his friend. He didn't want to go back, but he didn't want to be separated from his best friend, who called him the night before to ask if he was okay.
He wasn't. He felt broken and unwanted, but he'd mumbled that he was fine. His ear would take a few weeks to heal, but it wasn't painful anymore. He just had to be careful about other sounds. Everyone was quiet at home, though.
He was staying at the house with the babies while the others were at school. He'd been the only one there in his age group, so everyone else was at school. Ace didn't look forward to going to school at all. So he was stuck at home and left to his own devices. He mostly stayed in the treehouse with some coloring books. Of course because he was so young, he didn't notice that the treehouse was barely off the ground.
But it still felt like his space at the moment. There was nobody to play with here while everyone was at school, with their own friends. It wasn't fair. And he wished Izuku had more friends at the daycare to stand up for him. Coloring in some princess coloring books, he didn't notice something was in the rafters of the tree house until it fell on his head. "Oof! Hey!" he shouted at what had hurt him until he saw it was a spotted egg. A big one, and it was heavy, too! He picked it up, looking at it closely. He heard a "glug glug" sound from it.
What had an egg this big? Must be a huge bird! Ace held the egg and climbed off the treehouse with one hand, dropping down and not hurting because of just how low it was. He went to the shed and got out the sacks that held potatoes when they gardened as a whole "family project". He put the egg inside, and bustled into the house to gather blankets to keep the egg warm.
He didn't tell Makino about it, and hid it in the shed when everyone came home. He'd watch over it, now that he wasn't going to daycare while healing. He checked on the egg often before he went to sleep, only to wake late in the night/early morning to the sounds of a huge thud. He got up quietly to not wake the others in the room, and saw a big thing was in the backyard! A dragon!
Ace was impulsive and ran down the stairs and out the back door. He stood on the porch, looking at the dragon that was rummaging through the tree, breaking the tree house, before Ace called at it to stop. "The baby is in there! Don't hurt the treehouse!" he shouted angrily. The dragon was scaly, not feathery like Ace. He pointed to the shed, and the dragon stuck it's head inside, pulling out the potato sack with the egg in it.
The beautiful creature looked at him in an almost judgemental way, making the half-dragon bristle. Dragons hated him, too, then! But then it bowed its head to him, lifting its scaly hand and rubbing Ace's head roughly. It put the egg in a pouch in its stomach, and flew away, the wind from the beating wings making his hair and feathers blow all over the place. Over all, it had been a surprisingly quiet interaction.
Ace was shocked, and walked inside on legs made of jelly. He went to bed with wide eyes, and couldn't sleep at all. It was so amazing, and the dragon had been nice to him, too. He couldn't wait to call Izuku and tell him all about it.