28/09/2021

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The Emperor's Dragon
Fledgling 06

Izuku ate his lunch at his desk. He was alone today and while he knew it was only going to be for one day, he missed his friends. Ochaco had something on for her family. She'd been apologetic but not clear and Hitoshi had a summer sniffle and was tucked up in bed at home.

It was only for a day, so he told himself he shouldn't be lonely. He could handle one day.

Surreptitiously he pulled out his phone. Even though he was ten, they were still not allowed to use them at school. Even so, he could see that Kawaguchi was playing a game on hers. He tapped into messages and went to Himiko's chat.

Why was the red blood cell banned from church? He sent the question to her.

He hoped she had her phone. Niigata Elementary had a slightly different policy. Students were allowed to use their phones in the breaks but Himiko didn't always have hers with her.

He watched the chat for a few moments, waiting for a reply. They'd worked out a system with jokes. You didn't deliver the punch line until the other person had replied.

Izuku sighed, taking another bite from his bento. It appeared today was one of those days Himiko didn't have her phone. He sighed and slipped his phone back into his bag.

He ate the last few pickles left in his bento and put the lid back on as well. Izuku was tying the furoshiki back when he heard a couple of the other students get up from their lunch. He thought nothing of it until someone blocked the light.

They didn't move. "The sympathiser is all alone today."

Izuku recognised the voice. Gatarui. He looked up at the spider quirked boy with a sense of dread and resignation. He knew how these encounters went. He'd experienced that in Niigata and Saitama. He wasn't interested in having it happen again. "May I help you, Kumou?" he asked politely.

That seemed to surprise them for a moment, Gatarui's face clouded, though it was difficult to see with his mutation. Then the spider quirked boy slammed his hands on Izuku's desk. The grey haired (today's colour) boy noted absently that Kumou's mutation had extended to his hands. They were a dark colour, almost as if chitin was forming on them. Izuku was sure they hadn't been like that a few years back.

"Don't act so high and mighty," Gatarui demanded.

"I'm not, Kumou," Izuku objected.

"You are," Arata spat. The other boy was standing to the side of Gatarui.

He knew how this was going to play out. "I'm sitting eating lunch," Izuku commented, tucking his covered bento box back under his desk. It was best to get it away before they decided to steal or break it.

"Sitting, thinking of new ways to sympathise!" Gatarui growled.

If Ochaco or Hitoshi was here, Izuku knew the other two boys wouldn't be here. They must have been waiting for an opportunity. Had they confronted Ochaco last year, when he wasn't here?

"Yeah, but he's weak, just like his little friend," Arata told Gatarui.

That answered Izuku's question. What had Ochaco gone through? "What do you want?" he asked, holding back a snarl.

"Oh, the sympathiser has some spirit!" Gatarui laughed. "And I bet you want to prove something, so come on. You and me, after school."

"What?" Izuku didn't get it.

"Fight me," the spider quirked boy said. "After school today. Unless you're so powerless all you do is whine?" Gatarui laughed.

"Yeah, like Uraraka!" Arata chuckled.

For a moment, Izuku saw red. "Fine," he snarled.

"Four o'clock," Gatarui snapped. "Be there."

He walked away. Arata paused for a moment, giving him a superior look before the other boy followed.

"That was stupid."

Izuku didn't recognise who spoke. He looked up to see Betsu Dokyusei looking at him. "What do you mean?" he asked when the two boys were out of the classroom.

Betsu snorted at him, as if wondering why he was asking. "Gatarui has been itching for a fight with you since last year."

"Why?" That didn't make sense. Why would Gatarui want to fight him?

"You're not serious?" Betsu gasped.

Izuku nodded. The question was serious. He really didn't know.

"Oh man," she huffed and said something more under her breath that Izuku didn't catch. "You might have noticed that Gatarui is bigger than you?"

"Yes," Izuku agreed. Kumou, even at ten, had a large build. His shoulders were wide, and his body was solid.

"You might further have noticed that Kumou, despite being a 6th year, is bigger than most of the 7th years," Betsu continued. "Since Ijimi left, he's been picking fights with everyone."

Izuku blinked at that. He hadn't noticed it.

"You're the best in our year level at sports, both speed and strength. He doesn't like that."

Izuku groaned. He got it now. Gatarui was another Setsuna.

"Especially since he's been training in karate since he was five," Betsu finished.

"What?" That could be a problem.

"Oh don't worry, he hasn't taken it seriously," she retorted, waving one hand dismissively. "He knows a couple of moves and thinks he's Jackie Chan."

"Who's that?"

"Look him up later," Betsu grumbled, annoyed that her joke had fallen flat. It wasn't funny when you had to explain.

Izuku groaned again, and put his arms on his desk as he slumped over. "Thank you," he said to Betsu though the words were sort of muffled.

He didn't see the way she grinned at him. "I'm kind of looking forward to it," she told him.

Probably everyone who had noticed was looking forward to it, Izuku realised. He huffed to himself. He could not show up. He hadn't really made the challenge but, he knew if he did that then Kumou would think he'd won. And then he'd be insufferable.

He had to show up but he didn't have to fight.

No. That wouldn't work either. Gatarui would beat him up anyway. Which meant he had to go and fight. He could use his quirks. That would be easy but… Inwardly Izuku grumbled. If he used any quirk other than Fire Breath, that would cause attention, which would then be written up officially, which would then bring the Heroes. He couldn't do that. Or at least, he couldn't use anything other than Fire Breath and against someone who knew how to fight…

Darn it! He knew how to punch! Kurogiri had taught him that but the misty man hadn't taught him how to do anything more. Though, Izuku supposed he could dodge well. Training with Tomura ensured that. If Gatarui hadn't taken his own training seriously it might be enough.

Wait… He had Regeneration. That was passive.

Izuku felt his stomach sink. He actually felt sick. How was he going to hide that? He was going to have to dodge, alot. And if he took a hit, it couldn't be one that cut. He could pretend to get bruises. They didn't form immediately.

He hoped.

Izuku trembled slightly. He was going to ask Kurogiri to teach him to fight. Then in the future he wouldn't have to deal with this problem.

-ted-

Despite what Betsu had said, Izuku was rather thankful there were only a few spectators. He silently gave thanks to after school activities and everything else that meant people couldn't be here. He briefly wondered where the teachers were but he knew they would only get involved if they were going to be impacted.

Gararui was here, as was Arata. There was a small group of other students around them. Betsu was off to the side, and Izuku thought she was standing with Saicho Gasei but he wasn't sure. It didn't matter.

It was still sunny and Izuku looked up at the blue sky briefly. He enjoyed the light and the energy it gave him. Solar Force was nice. It took the edge of a long day at school. At least until the sun went down.

"All right," Izuku said. "Let's get this over with."

"Hah!" Gatarui snorted. "You act like you're going to win," the other boy growled.

"We'll see," Izuku shrugged, downplaying the situation. He knew enough to know that if he believed he was going to lose he would. He wasn't going to lose.

The spider quirked boy shook his head. "Oh, you're gonna be in so much pain."

"Over what?" Izuku asked, giving him a look that clearly said he really didn't think much of Kumou's intelligence. He probably shouldn't be provoking him but he wanted everyone to know whose stupidity this was.

"Don't try to talk your way out of this, sympathiser!" He growled. "Let's do it."

Izuku sighed visibly and then rolled to the side as Gatarui threw a punch that even without any training, he saw from a mile off. He had the good sense to step back before the other boy swung back round so that when Kumou lashed out, Izuku was out of the way.

Gatarui spun to confront him. He clicked his mandibles and charged again. Izuku dodged to the side, but at the last second, Kumou's hand shot out, and he clipped Izuku in the chest.

"Oof!" he gasped.

"Hah!" the other boy laughed.

It stung for a moment but Izuku felt regeneration take care of the bruise. He was thankful that Solar Force replenished his energy though as he remembered how tiring regeneration could be. Probably not on that little hit but if something more happened. But if that's what Gatarui wanted, then Izuku would play. He brought up his fists. Even without his strength quirk he knew he wasn't too weak. The difference between them came from their builds.

Gatarui was solidly built. Izuku was comparatively slender and light. If he was going to inherit his Dad's build, he had a lot of growing to do.

"Hahaha!" Kumou laughed. "You're actually going to try to fight?" He asked as he fell into a fighting stance.

Izuku didn't recognise it but figured it was from his Karate training. He waited. He really wished he knew what to do now but Izuku knew if he threw a punch then he'd be open to retaliation. His best chance was to wait for Kumou to present him with something and hope he was fast enough to react.

Mentally, Izuku was making a list of quirks which would help him. Speed was high on the list. If he just wanted to take damage then regeneration was enough but, that wasn't a good idea.

Kumou jabbed but Izuku could see that it would be short. "You've actually got to reach me, you know," he taunted.

That led to a follow up kick. Izuku saw it coming but didn't know how to block it. He moved his hands, trying to catch the blow and he somewhat succeeded but was pushed back and unbalanced. The time gave Gatarui the opportunity to lower his leg and jab at him. Izuku tried to dodge but he just pushed himself even more off balance and he felt himself fall.

Instinctively he tucked up and then rolled. He remembered well enough that he couldn't let Kumou kick him when he was down. That's how his rib got broken. Thankfully the larger boy didn't seem to want to do that and Izuku sprung up, and just managed to dodge a follow up kick.

He took a deep breath and thought about his options. One, he could let Kumou beat him up. It would hurt, but he'd heal. Except that would mean that Gatarui thought he was better than him. It wouldn't really mean it but the other boy obviously equated physical prowess to worth. No, he wasn't going to accept that. Two, he could run away. He didn't have a speed quirk but he was pretty sure that he was faster than Gatarui. The chitin that was his head had to be heavy and Izuku wasn't sure if he could breathe with the same efficiency. No, that wasn't an option. It would almost be worse than letting himself get beaten up. So three… he could fight, and let regeneration heal the damage.

Inwardly Izuku nodded to himself. Unless he stood up to Kumou, and actually showed the other boy that he wasn't going to be pushed around, then this would happen again, or there'd be that stupid superiority. For a moment, he let himself contemplate option four. He could take Kumou's quirk. He wasn't sure what would happen if he took a mutation type quirk but… No. That wasn't an option. He couldn't. He could but there were people watching. They'd know and that would go on record and … No he wasn't going to do anything to endanger his dad!

Right, option three it was. Izuku braced himself and waited for Kumou to swing at him. He didn't have to wait long. Apparently Gatarui was annoyed that he hadn't stayed down. The punch impacted on his ribs as Izuku didn't try to defend. Instead he threw his own punch back. He hit chitin and felt his knuckles sting. He knew what it felt like to hit the punching bags, but this felt different. The sting was quickly gone, as was the pain from his ribs. He swung again because Kumou hadn't drawn back.

Gatarui gasped as Izuku's punch hit him a second time. He leapt back, and Izuku cocked his head, as if inviting another round.

Izuku was very tempted to say he could do this all day, which was actually true, so long as there was sunlight. He could go on, but he knew that wouldn't help.

"Run!" Kumou growled at him, trying to make him seem weak.

Izuku remained silent, holding his stance. The other boy yelled and charged forward again. This time, Izuku threw his punch first. He hit Kumou on the chin and winced as his knuckles impacted on one of Gatarui's mandibles. The other boy flailed at him and Izuku's head was rocked back as he was hit.

He took a few steps backwards and huffed audibly.

"I'm not going to run, Gatarui. I'm not going to give up. And we can continue hitting each other but I won't be changing to what you expect, and you won't be changing to what I expect," Izuku said, checking his hand to see if he'd cut it. He didn't think he had, because while regeneration was fast, it wasn't that fast.

"I don't want you to change. You act all high and mighty! You think you're better than us!"

"So what?" Izuku frowned. "You just want to beat me up?"

The spider quirked boy screamed and charged forward rather than answering. It was pathetically easy to sidestep him and stick out one leg to trip him. He actually sprawled in the dirt for a little.

"I'm out of here," Izuku said and turned away.

There was a notable silence from the spectators and even Arata said nothing as Izuku walked away. Thankfully no one followed.

When Izuku was out of sight he sighed heavily. Gatarui would want a rematch. He could avoid it for a while but not forever. And if he had to fight Kumou again then he needed some way to cover up the fact that he had regeneration. He had to learn to fight.

Who could teach him?

Now that he thought about it, Kurogiri was already teaching him how to use his quirks and he'd never seen the misty man fight. Which really only left Gigantomachia. Izuku had never seen the giant fight but he knew he had to be able to. Izuku nodded to himself. He'd ask tonight.

He had a feeling he'd need the knowledge sooner rather than later.

-ted-

These are 10 year olds fighting. While Gatarui might have had some training, as Betsu said, he didn't take it seriously and Izuku isn't going to use his quirk(s) if he can avoid it. The teachers would notice multiple quirks and while that may take a while to get back to the heroes (paperwork always takes a while to go through a system), he won't risk his dad. So not a huge battle filled with kicks and punches and lots of quirk power, just a bit of a school barney. Nothing serious.

-ted-

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