26/10/2021

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The Emperor's Dragon
Fledgling 14

With so many heroes present, the clean up was going quickly. Endeavor and a few of the more combat oriented Heroes had left. That was actually for the best. If the media got wind of so many gathered, out of their normal areas, at a collapsed building in Tsu, Mie, there would be questions that no amount of spin would be able to cover.

All Might being here could be portrayed as an uplifting story. That he'd been here on a tip, holiday, or just wanting to show his presence again. People didn't question their good fortune in having the Number One Hero in the country at the site of their disaster. And Toshinori knew this which was why he was standing out of the way of the workers but still conspicuous. He was occasionally helping out, shifting some of the larger pieces of debris to allow them to dig faster.

Heroes with scanning abilities had declared that there were some survivors but they'd also been clear that most had died.

He was directing as much as he could the investigation into what had happened. It was pretty obvious. Somehow All For One had known they were coming and had taken steps to cover up his presence. But the question remained how he knew. They weren't sure about that. And, he was sure there would be evidence in the building about his life. Mirai was eager to reach that level. He wanted to know if they could determine how injured All For One was.

Some would say, given the destruction that he had to have healed but Sir Nighteye knew better. All For One had many servants. It was possible one of them had done this in an effort to hide their master. They didn't know yet and he didn't want to draw conclusions.

However, he was worried about one thing.

Before they began wholesale excavation he had managed to get a sweep over the rubble performed by forensics. It had happened while the scanners were going over the site so it hadn't cost any time. One of the forensics team had found something. A small green scale on a string.

It was exactly like the one that had been found at the other site. Iridescent, brilliant green that seemed to shine. He knew what it meant. There was a message there, but Sir Nighteye wasn't sure what the message was. Not exactly. To understand that, he had to know if it came from All For One, or from one of his servants.

And to know that, he was going to have to ask Toshinori.

That was a conversation which wasn't going to go well.

He knew it.

He'd already felt the Number One Hero's ire at him with the information that All For One was still alive. But what exactly was he meant to tell Toshinori? The man you've been hunting for years, the man who killed your mentor, the man whose brain matter they scraped from under your nails, the man who ripped out your lung, stomach and intestines is still alive? He could have told Yagi that and then watched himself drive himself into death, even earlier than what he'd seen in his vision.

He wasn't doing that.

No, instead some stupid broker had done it for him and the Commissioner was simply shrugging his shoulders and dismissing the entire matter. That would cost the Commissioner, but not yet. They had to get through today.

He turned away, putting the evidence bag in his pocket.

It was best to get this over with.

-ted-

"My Little Dragon," All For One greeted his son when Kurogiri delivered him.

Izuku rushed over to him, and immediately sat beside him. Hisashi reached out to stroke his son's hair. The gesture was comforting to them both, though he felt his son shifting his hair colour. He decided not to comment on it.

They sat together for a few moments. All For One enjoyed feeling the unique quirk and presence that was his son. He rather thought his quirk liked feeling Izuku as well. "Did Kurogiri clear your phone?" he asked eventually.

He felt Izuku nod. "I lost some contacts," he said sadly.

"Oh, who did you lose?"

He felt Izuku swallow, as if he was trying not to cry. "Himiko," he said.

It took Hisashi a moment to recall who Himiko was, and then he remembered that his son had made friends with the girl in Niigata. "Are you still in contact with her?" He was surprised.

Izuku nodded. "But now I can't find her contact details! And Himiko doesn't do LifeBook," he complained.

He stroked Izuku's hair rather than saying something as he thought. He had no idea Izuku was still in contact with Himiko. Who else could he be in contact with? Could Juhin have tracked them via Izuku? No, that was meant to be impossible. Izuku had a Dark phone. It should have been secure.

"Do you keep in touch with others?"

Izuku could tell the question was odd. "Only Himiko," he said, shaking his head. "No one from Saitama," he told his dad, "'cos Hitoshi moved here!"

All For One patted his son's head to let him know he'd heard. He was going to have to ask Juhin a question or two while she was still capable of answering them.

"Can I send Hitoshi and Ochaco a message?" Izuku asked.

That was going to be a problem.

"Not yet," All For One said sadly. He trusted that Kurogiri would have turned off several features on his son's phone. He also trusted that Izuku was smart enough to know how to circumvent that. He didn't wish to confiscate his son's phone. At least not yet. Dark phones weren't exactly rare but there were only a few reasons, and none legitimate for Izuku to have one. It did mean though that Kurogiri could turn off its reception, while still keeping it on the networks and for the moment, that was best. "We have to be sure that the Heroes aren't looking any more, and do you remember what happened after my fight with All Might?"

"You were hurt?" Izuku asked.

"I was, but I meant something about you," Hisashi said softly, trying to ease Izuku into the knowledge. "You found it out when I spoke to the Police Captain," he offered a hint.

He felt Izuku tremble, and deliberately stroked his hand through Izuku's curls in what comfort he could offer. "They were looking for me," Izuku whispered.

"They were. There was a Detective looking for you. That's why you can't contact your friends, my Little Dragon. I don't believe they would tell anyone where you were," All For One was quick to reassure his son. "But I do believe that the Police would take the information from them."

"What do you mean?"

"Your phone is special, my Little Dragon. It is designed to be untraceable, but your friend's phones aren't. The Police could track you through them."

"They wouldn't let them!"

"I don't believe Ochaco or Hitoshi would betray you," All For One said. He knew Hitoshi wouldn't. "But I don't think they'd know how to stop their phones being tracked. It wouldn't be their fault."

That calmed Izuku. He was loyal to his friends but he was more loyal to him. That was an acceptable state of affairs for a ten year old. "That's why Kurogiri had to clear your phone and why you can't message Ochaco or Hitoshi yet. I'll let you know when you can.

"My Little Dragon, in this case the heroes didn't find us by phone and I don't know if they are looking for you but it is best to be sure."

"How did they find us?" Izuku asked. His voice was small and Hisashi was reminded that for all his seeming maturity, his son was still only 10. Almost 11 but still very young.

"Someone betrayed me," he said.

"Like that Minister?" Izuku asked.

"Similar," All For One agreed with his son. "The Minister has not told anyone I am alive. This individual told the heroes exactly where to find us." And said individual was paying the price for that.

"Will you punish them?"

There were so many ways he wanted to answer that question. "They will be reminded that it is not in their interest to go against my desires," he replied.

That seemed to settle Izuku. He felt his son lean into him and was pleased. Minutes passed but All For One couldn't bring himself to break the silence. It was Izuku who spoke. "Daddy, why did you fight All Might?"

"What do you mean, My Little Dragon?" All For One asked.

"When he came, couldn't you have run? Why did you fight him?"

It was a question he had been expecting for a while but it was a question that was not so easily answered. He probably could have gotten away if he desired but he hadn't. He'd been sure he could win. How did he explain that to Izuku?

He decided to tell him about All Might in much the same way as he'd told Tomura.

"Do you know what All Might's quirk is?" He asked Izuku.

"No, no one does. He doesn't answer the question when asked," Izuku told him immediately.

"I know what it's called," Hisashi said.

"You do?" Izuku's shock was obvious.

All For One stroked his son's curls a few times before he answered. "I do. I gave it to him, after all."

He felt Izuku's jerk of surprise.

"Not directly, my Little Dragon but I created that quirk. Many years ago, I lived with my brother," he began explaining. He could tell Izuku was listening from the way he sat. "Then only twenty percent of the population had quirks!" That might be stretching the truth a little but it would aid Izuku in understanding the situation.

"Those who didn't have quirks, didn't like those with quirks and fights broke out. My brother was weak and sickly. I wanted to protect him but because I had a quirk, I had to fight, just to keep myself safe. But I wanted to help him. I loved him. Your uncle would have loved you too."

"So what happened?" Izuku asked softly.

"Eventually, in an effort to help my brother get stronger, I gave him a quirk. Just a simple one. A little one. It was a stockpiling quirk. It was meant to help but it didn't. He turned against me, Izuku. And unknown to us all, my brother actually had a quirk."

Izuku said nothing. All For One wasn't sure what his son could say so let them sit in silence for a few moments before he continued. "My brother's quirk allowed him to pass on his quirk, and he did. But with it he passed on the stockpiling quirk and the two of them merged together to become a new quirk named One For All."

"So that's All Might's quirk?" Izuku put the pieces together quickly.

"It is, my Little Dragon. All Might is the eighth holder of the quirk, and it has gotten very strong over the years. I have tried to get it back several times," he said, "but it has always slipped through my fingers.

"I didn't want to fight All Might, my Little Dragon, I just want his quirk back. It's the last thing in this world that was my brothers, and I want it back."

Izuku nodded at that. "Couldn't you take it?"

"I would love to do that, my Little Dragon, but even though I touched All Might in the battle, his quirk is not one I can take. My Brother's quirk can only be willingly passed on. It cannot be forcibly taken. And All Might will not give it to me."

"Maybe I can take it?" Izuku offered.

"Maybe you can, my Little Dragon," Hisashi agreed. He wasn't hopeful but he would allow Izuku to try. If it worked then that would be an unexpectedly pleasant outcome. Though… He couldn't take Izuku's quirk, but had Izuku inherited more from his brother than just that? Could he give his quirk away? That was a thought for another day.

"So you see, it is difficult for me to fight All Might, because I do not want to kill him." That decision was under review. He would like to get back his brother's quirk but… if worse came to worse then All Might would die with it.

"But-" Izuku didn't complete the sentence.

"My Little Dragon?" All For One prompted.

"Tomura wants to kill All Might," his son pointed out. "He doesn't want to get the quirk back."

Oh, there was a subtle jab there, that Tomura would never see the importance of quirks, the way they did. Hisashi knew his son wasn't even aware he'd made the jab but he could see it. It was amusing.

"Between you and me, My Little Dragon, I don't think Tomura can do it. Not without a lot of help," he added. He intended to provide some help but just not quite enough. At least, it wouldn't be enough until he decided what he wanted to do.

It had been more than a year since he had been injured but he had yet to make a decision on All Might. There were times when he wanted the man broken and bleeding before him, his brother's quirk be darned! But there were times when he just couldn't do that.

He had wondered if he could somehow get Izuku to be All Might's successor but he was equally sure that not even that buffoon would be that idealistic. The Number One Hero would find Izuku's identity and then no doubt dump him back on his mother, into obscurity, all the while thinking he'd done the best he could.

Izuku giggled at his announcement. It wasn't relieved, just amused and wasn't that interesting? He didn't think that his son was far enough along to be able to speak about death without feeling regret, or that something was wrong.

"What can One For All do?" Izuku asked before All For One could think further on his son's potential.

"That is an interesting question. I have only ever seen All Might use the strength aspect of it, but previous users had their own quirks which they used with it."

"What were they?" Izuku was definitely eager to learn.

"I think I'll save those details for another day," he told his son.

"But I wanna know!" Izuku complained.

"And I will tell you, my Little Dragon, but don't you have to go practice with Gigantomachia?"

For a moment he thought Izuku might object but then he felt his son leap up. He couldn't see the excited smile but he could feel it. "Even now?" Izuku asked.

All For One wondered for a second what his son meant, but then realised Izuku was referring to their relocation. "Especially now," he confirmed.

Tomura and Izuku had been shifted to Yokohama. He was still in Tsu, tying up loose ends. Their schedule was interrupted, especially with Izuku not going to school. He wanted to establish some sense of normality as quickly as possible. "Go and practice," he added, holding out a quirk.

Izuku took it. He remembered Gigantomachia's terms and while he didn't actually take a quirk from the huge man, he did mime it at the beginning of each of their practice sessions. If he was to have a quirk for that practice session, he got it off him beforehand. Izuku didn't ask what the quirk did. That was part of his training. He had to figure it out for himself.

Today's quirk was both useful and useless, depending on how one used it. It was a very minor sensor quirk that would allow Izuku to feel when there were people within 20 meters of him. It would then allow him to determine if they were hostile. For Izuku, he wasn't sure how useful it would be, because his son had explained he could feel quirks away from him. With his Little Dragon's abilities to pull quirks from a distance, that made sense. It was another use for his quirk but this one offered a little more information, and could sense other animals, and quirkless people.

In one to one training, it was not that useful but a real world fight, it was.

But All For One knew there were better sensor quirks available now. He'd had this one for near eighty years and he intended to keep it but he wasn't averse to upgrades.

"Go on," All For One said once Izuku had the quirk.

He felt his son's smile. "Love you, Dad!" Izuku said before he rushed out towards the training room. Gigantomachia was no doubt waiting.

All For One sat for a few moments more, making sure his son was gone.

It appeared he had a few more questions for Juhin. She'd been reluctant to answer him earlier, but he was sure she'd have changed her mind by now.

He just had to ask.

-ted-

Izuku's lessons in history, AFO style, begin. I am sure AFO will tell his son the truth. I am equally sure that the holders of OFA have a different truth... But history is written by the winners so who is to say who is right and who is wrong?

And as a fringe benefit, Izuku realises that maybe his core beliefs will be different from Tomura's. Also blame Juhin for the loss of Himiko! I know Izuku will!

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

-ted-

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