07/09/2021

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You are the greatest and I apologise for not having done my reply duty, but I figured new chapter is greater than reply duty.

I will go back to twice weekly updates, when I have two things 1. a large enough stash of chapters and 2. finished writing the arc that I'm writing :D

The Emperor's Dragon
Fledgling 02

Izuku looked over at his dad. It was nice to see him out of the treatment room but he couldn't help the way his gaze went to the tubes that were still inserted into him. There was one going into his cheek, just under the scar tissue, and another two into his neck. Izuku really hoped they weren't going into his dad's blood vessels but he had a strange feeling that they were. It made him feel sick. A thick but flexible tube went straight into his trachea. There was the hiss of air all the time.

His dad smiled at him. Izuku resisted the urge to cry. "How was the last day of school, my Little Dragon?" he asked.

Izuku looked to the side. He didn't want to talk about it.

"Ah, she still hasn't come around," his father said.

That caused Izuku to stare at him with wide eyes. "How did you know?" He asked. He hadn't said anything.

"A father has his ways," All For One replied.

"But you always know!" Izuku objected.

"You told me, my Little Dragon, without saying a word."

The green haired boy frowned. "How did I tell you?"

"When you looked away," Hisashi explained. "Now come here, and let me see if I can guess your hair colour," he encouraged his son. He knew Izuku didn't like his current appearance, but for the moment, there was nothing he could do about it. The various tubes were necessary.

Izuku came closer, allowing All For One to rest his large hand on his son's head. It was a calming ritual for them both. He felt Izuku's curls, letting the individual strands of hair run through his finger tips. With his senses of sight and smell being destroyed, he had found his sense of touch was greatly amplified.

"Oh my," Hisashi murmured after a moment. "I do believe it is your natural colour."

"Yep!"

"That's good! You must never be afraid to be yourself," he told his son.

"I know Dad, you said that already."

"Did I?" Hisashi whispered. "How wise of me."

They sat for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company. For anyone looking at All For One, they would be amazed that he could be so calm and relaxed. They would be gobsmacked that he was with a child but beyond that they would be amazed that it seemed like he was doing nothing. The Emperor of the Underworld seldom did nothing.

"You have to be patient," All For One said eventually, keeping his voice soft so as not to disturb his son.

"Patient?" Izuku asked.

"With your friend, Ochaco," he explained. "She understands what you are saying and she sees the truth from the examples you give her. She sees your pain. But then when she's away from you, the facade comes back in and the world presents itself to her as the Heroes want you to believe it appears."

He felt Izuku frown. "What does facade mean?"

"It means mask," he replied. "Or a disguise. It means that the world appears as one thing, when it's really something else," Hisashi gave all the explanations. For all that his son was intelligent, he forgot that he didn't know everything he did. That was okay, it was his duty to teach his son.

Izuku nodded his understanding.

"It is a difficult thing, my Little Dragon, for someone to give up all that they have known and I cannot say if she will be able to."

"You mean she won't believe me?"

"Oh no, your friend believes you but against the weight of the world and her own desire not to be hurt, it may not be enough and you will drift apart."

"No! I want to be her friend," Izuku objected.

"Then, my Little Dragon, at some point you are going to have to decide if your difference of opinion on society is going to be enough to drive you apart. It doesn't have to be soon. It may not be for years, but eventually, if she does not come around, you will have to make that decision."

All For One could feel Izuku tremble under his hand but his son knew he spoke the truth. He knew better than to complain.

"You have time to wait," he reassured Izuku. His son wouldn't start working on his behalf for years yet. Unlike the heroes he didn't use children.

They lapsed into silence again. Even with his experience, All For One wasn't sure how things would work out with Ochaco. Every outcome would be a lesson for Izuku and in every outcome his son would know he was supported. He just had to wait.

-ted-

"Did you have a good party?" Kurogiri asked Izuku.

The boy smiled up at him. It was cheerful. "Yep!' came the very happy reply.

The warp gate privately thought that Izuku might be happier about visiting his dad now but he said nothing about that. "That is good."

"I'm sad that Himiko couldn't come though," the boy added.

"It is a long way from Niigata to here," the misty man pointed out reasonably.

"I know," Izuku agreed.

He had been hoping all his friends could come to his party but Himiko's parents had said no. They didn't want their daughter traveling so far. It was about 8 hours on a train and while Izuku, or rather his dad had assured them that Himiko would not actually travel on a train but would be travelling via Kurogiri's warp quirk, they still said no.

She'd complained via messages to him and they had spent some time on the phone earlier at the party so at least Hitoshi and Ochaco had gotten to speak to her.

It wasn't the same.

Now he was going to spend time with his father. He wasn't sure what they were going to do. They couldn't go out and look for villain fights, and with his dad focusing on recovery, Izuku didn't think he'd have been able to organise anything else. It didn't matter though. Just spending time with his dad was going to be enough.

But his dad had hinted that he had something good and Izuku went through the warp gate Kurogiri made without looking back.

He was a bit surprised when he came out into an office. His dad's office had been destroyed. This one was different though. It was smaller, more personal.

"My Little Dragon!" His dad greeted him, indicating that he should come close.

Izuku raced over and gave his dad a hug.

"Happy Birthday, Izuku," Hisashi said. "You're 10 now! Such a big boy!" He sensed Izuku grin at him and felt a stab of anger at All Might, which was quickly shoved aside. His son didn't deserve to feel his anger.

Izuku laughed. It was a nice sound.

"I've got an unusual present for you this year, my Little Dragon," All For One said. "Actually I've got two presents!"

Izuku knew better than to squeal but he could feel his son quiver in happiness.

"One present you are going to have to wait until next weekend," he told Izuku.

"Is it a quirk?"

Hisashi chuckled. "It is a quirk."

"What does it do?" Izuku immediately demanded.

"It's a secret! But you will be getting it off the current owner."

At that, Izuku blinked. All For One could tell in the way Izuku moved that he was confused. He sighed. "It's a little bit of a misnomer to call it a present," he said finally. "But you know I helped people with their quirks, my Little Dragon. I cannot really do that now. But you can, for me."

At that, Izuku gasped. It was a happy gasp though. All For One could imagine what it was about. While Izuku knew what society was like, he still thought it worthwhile to help people. Giran had finally found someone willing to sell their quirk and while the price was slightly higher than he wanted, it was for his son.

"So next week, you will help them in my place. That's why it's got to wait a week. I have to find out the details," he explained.

"You mean it?"

"I mean it," All For One confirmed. Izuku hugged him harder, activating the strength enhancement quirk he'd been given a little bit. It was a good thing he was robust.

"The second present is for now, but is a bit different."

"What is it?" Izuku asked.

He was still easily distracted.

At the question All For One sighed softly. "I know you don't want to replace me, Izuku."

"No!" His son almost growled, remembering their previous conversation.

"But I want you to be skilled in business, as I am," he continued, ignoring Izuku's distress. If his son listened, he would learn there was nothing to fear. "That way you can replace me as the manager of my businesses," he finished.

That seemed to get through to Izuku. He felt his son jerk as he said the last words. "Manager?" Izuku asked.

"I've been working, my Little Dragon, but I can't do as much as I used to," All For One explained gently. "As such, when you come of age, I want you to be able to step into some of my rolls. In that way, you will replace me and there's nothing bad about that."

"But I don't… I can't…"

"My Little Dragon, it won't be for years yet. I have appointed people to run the companies, until you can. They are doing that now, so I don't have to work as much. But I would like you to take over. In another ten years or so," he tacked on to the end.

He felt Izuku relax at that.

"For now though, I want to begin teaching you about those companies."

"How is that a birthday present?" Izuku asked, confused.

All For One laughed. "Because I'm going to give you two lots of Birthday money today. And we are going to invest one together, and the other you are going to invest by yourself. Then in five, seven and ten years time we are going to look at the two investments to see what has done best."

"Oh," Izuku said softly.

He knew about birthday money. Most of his friends wanted it for theirs. He never really needed it because he had everything he wanted and if he needed something, Kurogiri got it. So he hadn't really needed money that much. Plus, he had some for when he wanted to buy something, so it wasn't a big deal.

"I will teach you how to invest, so that you can do it for yourself," All For One continued. "And it doesn't matter what you invest in. You can invest it in research, a company or anything you want! While we will compare it's not a competition and I remember my first investments," he snorted. Some of them had been spectacularly bad. He hadn't known anything then but he'd learned, just as Izuku would learn.

"Were they bad?" Izuku asked, his amusement evident.

"I didn't have anyone teaching me," Hisashi told his son before he sighed. "They were very bad," he admitted.

Izuku laughed and All For One found that he didn't mind admitting to those past failures if this was his reward.

"Now, I'm going to give you two lots of ¥500,000 to invest," Hisashi said, ignoring the way Izuku's gasp, this time, was one of surprise. He supposed it was a fair bit of money for a ten year old, but he wanted Izuku to be able to make realistic investments and this was the minimum he could bring himself to trade with, even for teaching. "Do you want to get started?"

As expected that got Izuku back on track and his son nodded.

"All right, then this is how we begin."

-ted-

"Inko!"

The call caused her to jerk. She took a few panted breaths. "Meigo," Inko said the name of her colleague.

"Inko," the woman said more softly this time. "What's the matter? You've been staring at that page for the last ten minutes."

She took another breath. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Meigo reassured her. "But there's something wrong. You can tell us."

Inko nodded. She knew she could tell them. They understood. "It's Izuku's birthday today," she managed to get out before she choked.

Instantly, a look of understanding came to Meigo's features. Inko didn't see it because tears filled her eyes. Her other coworkers, Setsu and Ume also understood and Inko didn't hear when Ume got up and bustled off to the kitchen.

"He's been gone longer than I have had him and-" she couldn't complete the sentence.

Meigo embraced her. "It's okay to cry," she told Inko.

It happened to them all on occasion. Ume had cried on her wedding anniversary and Setsu on the anniversary of the day her brother had been declared legally dead.

Inko sniffed. "I just…" she gasped for air. "I just want him back."

Ume came back with tea. She put the hot cup in front of Inko. "Drink it."

She didn't take the cup, instead, Inko pulled a handkerchief from one of her pockets. The small pieces of fabric had become her constant companions over the years. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose before taking the tea.

It was bland stuff. Their work didn't provide anything robust but she needed the warm drink. She took a deep breath, feeling the liquid settle in her stomach.

"I just want him back," Inko repeated softly, without tears. "And I just can't believe that this helps," she added, gesturing towards the document she hadn't been reading.

"It helps," Setsu said immediately, not focusing on her loss.

"But we never-" Inko didn't complete the sentence. They never found anyone.

"Even if we don't find people," Ume said gently, "our findings close off avenues of investigation and that is valuable. I know it doesn't seem that way but for every avenue we close, it means that we are one closer to the truth. And that truth may not always be nice, but at least it gives closure."

Inko took another sip of tea before she nodded. She wanted Izuku back but if she couldn't have that, she at least wanted to know what had happened. Even if he was dead. Then at least the wound in her heart could…

It wouldn't heal but it wouldn't weep for the unknown. It would have closure.

That's really what she wanted, what she needed.

She nodded at the ladies surrounding her. "All right, then let's close off another couple of branches of investigation," Inko said, giving a wane smile.

The others smiled and nodded and didn't push for anything further.

They all had their own pain.

-ted-

¥500,000 is about $5000 USD in today's current exchange rate, which, for the amount of money AFO has to be pulling in from illegal activities can't be that much, but to a 10 year old is a huge amount of money.

Would anyone like to guess which investment does better? The one Izuku does by himself, or the one that AFO teaches his son with?

-ted-

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