Chapter Four:

"Sweet seasons, we need to run." Yoichi had turned as pale as his now-white hair. "I'll pack a bag with essentials. We can send movers back for the rest."

"Returning would be risky." The pallor of Kaiji's face made his scar stand out. "Maybe we should burn the house down."

"Wait!" Izuku waved his hands. "There's no need for arson. All for One has no idea where we are."

Skeptical green and red eyes turned on him. "That's what All for One wants you to think." Yoichi's wings trembled.

Sanzou placed a hand on Yoichi's shoulder. "Let Izuku speak first. A few minutes shouldn't make a difference. We're in the human realm. All for One can't come after us easily here."

"Right." Yoichi wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Right. He wouldn't come here, in a place full of cold iron. Not without a plan to take me and drag me back…" He shook even harder, so fast his wings beat against the sofa. His partners put their arms around him.

Seeing his father's clear terror made Izuku feel lower than a redcap. "I'm really sorry. I messed up. All for One knows that I'm living with you, but I swear I didn't give away anything about our location."

Izuku poured out his story quickly but thoroughly. When he reached the conversation with All for One, he tried to give the exact wording as closely as he could remember, aware it might be important. Then he lowered his head and waited for judgment.

Yoichi elbowed Kaiji, then Sanzou. "See! I told you both that it would be dangerous to let him get old enough to realize we weren't being honest with him. He met All for One while running around looking for answers we could have given him."

Hanging his head, Kaiji said sheepishly, "You were right, and I'm sorry."

Because they weren't properly angry with him, Izuku felt even more guilty. He deserved more parental wrath. Yes, they'd been wrong to keep secrets. But Izuku had known he was making a mistake and done it anyway. He could have been out of the fae realm without All for One noticing him if he hadn't stopped for a souvenir.

"At least it doesn't sound like All for One got any important information. I'm sorry as well," Sanzou said, meeting Izuku's eyes. "You should have come to us for answers first instead of carelessly letting so many people know, but I realize it's partly our fault that you didn't trust us."

"No, I trust you, dads!" Izuku insisted. "I just lost my temper. And I wanted to see the fae realm very badly." And he'd wanted to impress a cute boy, but he'd rather tie weights to his wings than admit that to his parents. "I screwed up. Am I in trouble?" He looked up from under his eyelashes.

Sanzou said, "In this case, I think the consequences of your own actions will be punishment enough." He glanced at the other two, who both nodded.

Izuku's stomach sank. "What does that mean?"

"You'll have to withdraw from your new school," Sanzou said. "All for One saw you together with Shouto Todoroki. Given his many spies, it would be too easy for him to figure out where the Todoroki boy goes to school."

Izuku winced. This was a true blow. He'd been so excited about going to school with Shouto. His new school had been an upgrade from Aldera in every regard. But his dad was right—this was the consequences of his own actions. He'd exposed too many clues about his location to All for One. "I understand."

"It might be a good idea to homeschool you for a while," Yoichi mused. "My brother has connections in the human realm. They'll be looking for a boy with butterfly wings. Besides, if I teach you at home then I can help you train your magic and answer your questions about the fae realm. Hmm." He looked at his partners. "Do you think we need to move?"

"The house should be safe," Sanzou said. He turned to Izuku. "Fortunately, your new school isn't located even remotely close to our home. If anything, maybe the school will be a red herring for All for One to chase after."

Izuku knew his dad was trying to make him feel better, and didn't think he deserved it. His ears drooped and his wings wrapped around himself.

Yoichi said, "I don't see any reason you couldn't stay in contact with the Todoroki boy. You can still be friends outside of school."

"Really?" Izuku's wings perked up.

"Sure, just don't tell him where we live for now," Kaiji said. "It sounds like he's been a good friend to you, but you just met him. It's too soon to trust him. All for One has a gift for getting his fishhooks into people."

That was sensible. Izuku nodded. "Should we meet in public places?"

"That would be best for now," Sanzou said. "Unlike fae, yuki-onna don't universally honor guest rights. It would be too easy for All for One to lay a trap at the Todoroki residence. But he'd be unlikely to attack you in an area full of humans and cold iron."

"I'll make a charm for you to wear just in case, to alert us if you're in danger," Yoichi said. He wagged his finger. "That's the second consequence to your actions. You'll need to wear an alarm charm at all times, and keep your phone's location turned on, and text us every hour."

Izuku nodded. All of that made sense with a maniacal fae monarch chasing after him (and his poppa too.) More and more, Izuku regretted revealing himself to All for One. He was happy with his current family. All for One had just created Izuku as a tool, could someone like that even be called a father? What right did he have to disrupt Izuku's peaceful life? Under different circumstances, Izuku could have found room in his heart for another parent. But he would not forgive someone who had hurt his poppa by committing the unforgivable sin of enslaving him with his true name.

Izuku frowned as a horrible suspicion occurred to him. "Did All for One wake up because of me?"

"No, why would you think that?" Yoichi asked. "He slept for over a decade after you were born, then woke up a few years before you visited the fae realm."

Izuku fiddled with his hands. "Because that's why he made me."

Sanzou said, "We think that All for One made you in attempt to create another him. Clearly that failed. You had no connection to his revival. Probably All for One clawed his way out of the seal on his own. He's powerful enough to do that, unfortunately. It's lucky that All for One decided to see you as a family member not a failed tool, since he said he wouldn't harm you."

"It's not lucky at all." Yoichi wrapped both his arms and his wings around himself. "It would be better if he didn't care about Izuku and left him alone. When it comes to family, he's completely obsessed."

Hesitantly, Izuku said, "All for One promised not to harm me physically or emotionally, based on a reasonable person's definition of harm. That's pretty good. He also vowed to never kill me."

Yoichi laughed in a hoarse, twisted way. "Big brother made me wish I was dead, by the end. Your phrasing was as clever as I taught you, but remember—a mad fae's word cannot be trusted, because he believes his delusions to be true. All for One's definition of reasonable is warped and twisted. My brother locked me up, prevented me from speaking, treated me like a pet or a living doll—" Yoichi spat out the last word. His shoulders heaved. The dragon and tiger tattoos, bristled, snarling. Even the Cheshire cat bared fangs, nearly leaping off his skin. "Yet if you asked my brother, he would be able to tell you that he never harmed me."

Kaiji brushed Yoichi's hair, and Sanzou whispered something soothing in his ear. His wings stopped beating quite as hard against the cushion, though they still trembled. "If only I'd never let him find you," Yoichi muttered in a broken way. "I've failed you."

"No, I'm the one who screwed up." Izuku knelt down and took his poppa's hand. "I'll take your words to heart. I'll be careful, I promise. I'll stay on-guard. I won't believe All for One's lies."

"Good," Yoichi whispered, squeezing his son's hand.

Sanzou said, "As your last consequence, you won't be able to visit the fae realm for the foreseeable future. Before you came home, we'd discussed taking you to visit the winter court. The Winter King All Might is like a son to Nana, and we could have gotten an invitation for you and Yoichi. As for me and Kaiji…"

Kaiji said, "King All Might doesn't have a problem with us, except maybe annoyance that he got forced into becoming monarch after I killed the last one. But it would start a riot if I went near winter. Eh, not as if I want to go back there. Too many bad memories."

Sanzou said, "We could have allowed you to visit the fae marketplace as well, if you took precautions to disguise your magic and wore gloves. But now it's too dangerous. As you've seen, All for One has spies everywhere."

Izuku had expected a third consequence, as they usually came in threes. This was also his fault, but it still stung. It would have been amazing to see the winter court. He hung his head. "I understand." A small sigh escaped his lips.

"Awwww!" Yoichi hugged Izuku. "Maybe we can persuade King All Might to visit us instead. Do you think there's a chance if I use the puppy eyes on Nana?"

"We might get on his schedule sometime next year," Sanzou said dryly.

"Or maybe the kid could visit the yuki-onna mountains instead, and meet his new friend's family," Kaiji said. "Trust me, they're way cooler than the winter court. There's just as much snow, but fewer snooty bastards. The fae courts are blah blah rules and endless intrigue. Yokai know how to throw a proper party!"

Yoichi said, "Maybe we could still take you to a fae court, later after the search becomes less intense." He muttered to himself, "What ingredients do I need for a proper disguise potion?"

Even though Izuku was being punished, his parents were already trying to think up ways around the consequences he'd earned. They spoiled him, and he knew it. He felt a warm feeling under his chest. This was his family. Nothing he'd learned today or in the future could ever change that.

A light breeze blew across the public park, rattling the swing set and rustling the leaves of a massive oak tree. Izuku crouched down in front of two squirrels, holding up a photo of Touya Todoroki on his phone. "If you find him, there will be a rich reward. I'll feed you all winter."

The squirrels chattered at him.

Izuku sighed. "I know it would be easier with his scent, but I don't have any of his old belongings. Please at least keep an eye out. You can have these berries. They're grown from a fae garden." He spread out the raspberries and strawberries he'd taken from home.

The squirrels gathered up their treasures, then scampered off.

Shouto said, "You're very kind to help me out like this." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I haven't had any luck looking on my own, even though All for One said Touya would come to me. I hope nothing happened to my big brother." On the weekend, Shouto wore casual clothing: jeans and a blue-and-white striped turtleneck.

"There's no debt between us. This is too easy a task. Animals will work for a bit of food." Izuku stood up, dusting off his tan pants. Today, he'd picked out a light green shirt with a dark-green collared T-shirt on top. Aunt Nana had once told him that the outfit made the green in his eyes pop. It was normal to want to look nice when meeting a friend, or so he told himself. Putting two fingers in his mouth, Izuku whistled birdsong.

A cardinal fluttered down. What a disappointment—cardinals were some of the stupidest birds. If only Izuku could lure over a crow, he'd reunite Touya with his family before the day ended. Nevertheless, Izuku started his spiel again. Holding up the picture, he said, "Hello! I'm looking for the person in this picture, but older. He would be an adult man by now."

The cardinal chirped.

Izuku sighed. "I know the photo shows a child. This picture was taken a decade ago. We're looking for this person, but he'll appear older. Do you understand?"

The bird cocked its head sideways with a long, drawn-out tweet.

Izuku's eye twitched. "Yes, the boy in the picture is a nestling! We just established that. Imagine you're looking for this face, but on someone bigger and taller." He listened to more tweeting. "Of course two-leggers grow taller when we get older, did you think we'd shrink? Oh, never mind. Just keep an eye out for a human with red hair and blue eyes, using a fire ability." He offered some seeds to the cardinal, even though he had scant expectations.

From the playground, a few children cast Izuku curious looks, but no one seemed bothered. Earlier a little girl had come over asking if she could pet a squirrel but he'd had to tell her no, they wouldn't appreciate that. Quirks had been such a wonderful boon to non-humans. No one thought twice about seeing magic, as long as Izuku didn't have the misfortune to run into one of those unpleasant people who threw a tantrum about any quirk use in public places.

Leaning over to Shouto, Izuku whispered, "I don't think we'll have much luck with the cardinal, I'll count myself lucky if the bird even remembers this conversation tomorrow."

"It was worth a try," Shouto said philosophically.

Izuku said, "I've talked to every interested animal in this park. We can hit up a few other places." He gently shooed three butterflies off his hair. Butterflies and bees tended to be drawn to him—Yoichi said they longed for his inherent magic even though they could not taste it.

"First, want to grab a drink and a snack?" Shouto gestured at the Starbucks across the street. "It's my treat, I want to repay you for all your help. No debt, of course."

Izuku smiled. "You're learning to talk like a fae. That would be nice." His throat felt a little parched after producing so many animal sounds.

They sat down at a small outdoor table. No one was near enough to listen in, but Izuku wasn't too worried about talking in public anyway. If an ordinary person overheard them discussing fae matters, they would just think two kids were talking about a video game or TV show.

While eating his cookie, Izuku gave Shouto a brief version of his parents' story, stripped of personal details. He wasn't allowed over at the Todoroki mansion any longer, and rather than hiding it, he figured it would better to be honest about why he had to take precautions. Shouto already knew about him being All for One's son.

"I promise I won't tell anyone," Shouto said. "I wish I was a fae, so I could bind myself with a promise." He rubbed his forehead. "I wish I hadn't taken you to the fae realm."

So did Izuku, but he blamed himself. "It was a great trip while it lasted."

"You shouldn't tell just anyone what you told me," Shouto said. "A lot of fae would treat you differently if they knew you as the Iron Maelstrom's son. He nearly wiped out the entire winter royal bloodline. His revolt killed two percent of the fae population."

Stiffening defensively, Izuku said, "They shouldn't have been kidnapping people to keep as slaves, then."

"Oh, I agree." Shouto shrugged. "I'm not a fae. The yokai were quite pleased over the slave revolt, for many reasons. For one thing, the fae slipping in power let yokai groups rise to dominance. For another, we yokai were scared that the fae were dealing so carelessly with humans that they'd blow all of our secrecy wide-open. In the modern era, a lot of yokai live among human society and had ethical objections to enslaving them. Even the yokai who don't get along with most humans hate the changeling thefts. The fae sometimes steal our kids, too."

"Huh?" Izuku's drink nearly went down the wrong way. He took a moment to swallow carefully, then asked, "Wouldn't that be too obvious?"

"We certainly do notice, so the fae try it less often. But it happens." Shouto fiddled with his half-empty cup. "One of the most recent famous cases happened to the Shimura family of tengu. Nana Shimura angered the former Winter Queen somehow. I think she sheltered some runaway human slaves. The Winter Queen had a baby with a slave that she had no interest in keeping, since he was half-human. So she swapped him with Nana's baby. That kid later became the current King All Might, so he got the last laugh."

This explained how Nana knew the Winter King All Might. Izuku asked, "The tengu didn't notice?"

"Not right away," Shouto said. "The Winter Queen used magic to suppress the All Might's power, and Nana's son Kotaro was half-human. At first no one noticed that her baby appeared just like an ordinary human. Later Nana figured it out and stormed winter to get her biological son back. It could have been a happy ending, but Kotaro demanded that she cut all ties with All Might. Nana wouldn't cast out the son she'd raised, so he rejected her and moved to the human world. He refused to let her see her grandkids. The Winter Queen thought the whole affair was a hilarious prank, but the tengu were very angry and cut off all diplomatic ties."

"Oh, poor Aunt Nana." Izuku shuddered. Nana had never talked about this in front of him. Maybe it was a sore spot for her? Izuku wondered if Kotaro had tried to get fae powers for his son Tenko because he had confusion over his own identity after being raised in the fae realm.

Sipping an iced latte, Shouto said, "Relations between tengu and fae have been restored since All Might became the Winter King. The joke is on the Winter Queen: your father killed off her and her favored children until only the changeling remained to be crowned. That's just one incident in the long history of fae and yokai power struggles."

Izuku said, "I didn't realize contemporary fae-yokai relations were so complicated. I should have, though." His parents had given him history lessons about the conflict in the past. But Izuku had been raised in a peaceful era where all magical creatures were bound by the same rules involving secrecy toward humans and no open warfare with each other. His parents had many friends from different species. He'd just sort of assumed the enmity was all in the past, which in retrospect seemed naïve.

Shouto nodded. "Some yokai don't even accept fae as being Japanese. Which is silly, in my opinion. The first fae crossed the ocean hundreds of years ago, way before we made contact with humans from the West. But magical creatures can live thousands of years, and hold long grudges. Some yokai are still bitter about the Yayoi people supplanting the indigenous Jōmon humans in a thousand BCE! The fae courts dominating over the yokai in Japan feels recent to our elders. The oldest yuki-onna back home still refer to fae as 'those damn foreign invaders.' They lionized your human father as a hero for knocking down the fae and leapt in the protect him from fae retribution without even being asked. Several different elders unsuccessfully tried to turn your father into a yokai. And, uh, they didn't ask for permission first. But it's a compliment for yokai."

Izuku blinked. This explained an old memory from his childhood. He had a very hazy recollection of Kaiji hiding in the attic while Sanzou chased a giant two-tailed cat around the house while waving a frying pan. Yoichi had been banging on the attic door trying to convince Kaiji it would be lovely to turn into a cat.

Izuku asked, "I wanted to visit the yuki-onna mountain…will my fae heritage be a problem?"

"No, no, that's just old people being old. You'd be welcome." Shouto waved his hand. "I'm sure my friends would be cool with you, too. Young fae these days don't believe in enslaving humans—it's the modern era and everyone loves visiting the human realm and buying their cool electronic goods. And everyone's got a new respect for human bullets, thanks to your father. A lot of people these days would say 'his cause was just but he went too far,' though no one has a good explanation for how the slaves would have been able to free themselves non-violently."

"Typical," Izuku sighed.

"Some people would tell you that Spring would have negotiated with the other courts to stop slavery, but that's nonsense. Spring tried for centuries without getting anywhere. Speaking of which, the Spring Court was very smug about the revolt, since it let them rise to power over the other three."

"That's interesting to know." Izuku swallowed the last sip of his drink. "I don't think I'll be allowed anywhere near the fae marketplace any time soon, though. My parents are convinced All for One would find a way around the marketplace rules and kidnap me."

"If anyone could, then it would be All for One. His silver tongue is legendary," Shouto said. "Maybe he'll be too busy to come after you. He's locked in a heated power struggle with Winter and Spring. Autumn has never really been a contender for dominance, but they're also the territory no one wants to invade because of their berserkers. Legend says the Catastrophe Queen Miruko even survived after going into berserk state. She lost an arm and a leg, though."

Izuku was more than willing to change the subject away from All for One, letting Shouto give him some court gossip about Miruko being pressured to abdicate the throne after her injuries and her explosive response.

"I'd be happy to buy you anything you want at the marketplace, since you can't visit," Shouto said. "You're helping me out a lot, after all."

"Much appreciated. I really like my new fan."

Shouto's eyes went down to Izuku's shirt, where he wore the transformed fan as a pin. "Oh, you're wearing it today."

"It matches my shirt," Izuku said as if he hadn't done that on-purpose. Sweeping up his trash, he asked, "Shall we move onto the next location? I thought I'd try talking to some ducks at the lake."

"Sounds like a good plan." Shouto stood up. "I wish I could tell you more to help you find my brother, but I don't remember much. My dad used to want us kids to be heroes, but Touya had some problems with his powers because of his half-yokai body. There was an accident. We thought Touya body had burned to ashes. It affected Dad so badly that Mom talked him into quitting his job and moving to the mountains. The yuki-onna possess magic to help us kids stabilize our bodies."

"You're not in danger, are you?" Izuku asked.

"No, I'm the luckiest kid. My powers perfectly balance. My other brother has no powers. My older sister has ice powers but a body sensitive to cold. Fortunately, she's able to use fae charms to prevent herself from freezing over." Shouto sighed. "If relations had been better with the fae when my big brother was young, maybe he could have used charms to…" He shook his head. "I just want to find Touya and make sure he's all right. And I want to know what happened in the fire I can't remember."

Izuku touched Shouto's arm. "Ducks are smarter than cardinals. I'm sure they'll help us."

"Thanks." Shouto covered his mouth. "Oops! Sorry!"

Izuku laughed. "I release you from the accidental debt."

"I've gotta get better at that," Shouto said as they left the Starbucks together. "Imagine if I accidentally thanked All for One."

"I doubt that situation will ever come up." Izuku chuckled. "He didn't seem like the type for random acts of kindness."

"Should we call a cab to the lake?" Shouto asked.

"I can fly you, if you'd like."

"Flying?" Shouto's eyes lit up. "Yes, please."

Izuku knelt down to let Shouto climb on his back.

At Izuku's speed, the three kilometers to the lake went by in five minutes. They landed on the grass, next to a wooden gazebo. Chestnut trees ran along the dark, murky water. Ducks and a couple geese clustered around the sandy bank. There were two vending machines with pellets of duck food inside. A sign instructed the visitors to only feed the ducks their designated food, for their health.

Turning to Shouto, Izuku asked, "Do you have any coins? I only have my credit card on me."

"I think so." Shouto fished around in his pocket and came up with coins to feed into the vending machine.

The ducks jumped to alertness at the sound of the vending machine and waddled over, clearly unafraid.

Izuku held up his phone. "I'm looking for—" He stopped because the ducks only had eyes for Shouto holding the pellets. "I think we'll have to feed them first before they'll listen to us."

Shouto tossed out a handful of pellets, and the ducks fell on them. He smiled. "This is kinda fun. Look at them go. Hey!" Shouto frowned as a large goose pushed away several ducks to hog the food. He quickly tossed more pellets off to the side so the ducks could scramble over and get some.

"Looks like you're having fun." A man stood with his hands in the pockets of his overcoat, which was far too heavy for the sunny day. He looked (and smelled) like he'd dressed himself from the dumpster behind a Hot Topic. Black hair had been styled in a questionably spiky manner. He had bright blue eyes and multiple piercings. There were scars and stiches all over his face, to the point where he barely seemed held together. It made Izuku want to ask if he was okay. Except what if he had a zombie quirk? That would be super-rude.

"Yes, this is surprisingly fun," Shouto said earnestly. "Would you like to feed the ducks too? I used up all my pellets, but I have another coin."

Izuku wondered if he should tell Shouto not to talk to the weird stranger. This guy had bad vibes. A strange, mean half-smirk quirked up the corners of the man's lips.

"I believe we have more important matters to discuss than ducks…little brother." The man waved his hand over his head, and his hair color shifted to white. The color bleached out of his clothing. Blue sparks of fire danced down his arms, singing his already-ripped sleeves.

"Touya!" Shouto gasped. "I'm so glad…that you're alive…I really thought you'd died back then…" Tears fell down his cheeks.

Izuku felt a bit confused about why the hair color change had revealed anything. Didn't Touya have red hair? But presumably Shouto knew his own brother. The quirk was a more telling sign.

"I go by Dabi, these days." Dabi shrugged. "A little bird told me that you were looking for me, baby brother."

"Oh, so the animals found you." Shouto nodded.

Izuku said, "Cardinals are smarter than I realized. I didn't give that bird enough credit. I'll have to come up with a generous reward of seeds."

Dabi looked disconcerted. "Huh? No, it's just a saying. I was told by A—A—oh, never mind." He accidentally stepped on the food pellets. A hungry goose hissed at his ankle. Dabi hopped away, his heel landing in bird poop. "Aw, man, I just got these boots!" He wiped his shoe off on the grass. "Can we go somewhere to talk that's less full of birds?"

Shouto wiped his wet face, then smiled. "Of course! We have a lot to talk about."

The three of them went to the gazebo. Immediately, Shouto threw his arms around Dabi. "What happened to you, big brother? How did you survive the fire?"

Dabi patted Shouto's back. "You, see, little brother, I didn't."

Shouto gazed up, wide-eyed with confusion. "You…didn't what?"

The charm in Izuku's pocket glowed, signifying danger. He screamed, "Shouto, get away from him!" At the same time, Izuku summoned up vines bursting through the floorboards to try and drag the brothers apart.

Dabi burned away the vines and ignited the gazebo. Izuku's plants shielded him and pushed him away from the blast. Ducks squawked and fled.

Dabi stood amongst the wreckage of the gazebo, Shouto pinned under his boot on the ground. Raising his arms high, Dabi cried, "No living man stands before you now! Touya Todoroki died, and Dabi rose from the ashes!"

Izuku had a feeling that Dabi wasn't just being melodramatic. As Dabi spread his arms wide and spun in a strange dance, his skin seemed to wither and his body became slightly transparent. His coat frosted over, glowing with ice crystals. Certain types of fae were undead, like Dullahan and banshees, but Izuku had never heard of an undead nature spirit before. However, he had no time for scientific speculation.

Shouto twisted under Dabi's boot, his brow furrowed in concentration, but neither fire nor ice came from his hands. Dabi laughed. "It's futile, little brother! King All for One gave me a charm to suppress your power—at least long enough to finish this."

The situation had gone from bad to worse. His parents would be coming, if he could hold Dabi off long enough. Izuku bit his lip and concentrated. Water rose up from the lake in a flood, dousing Dabi and the burning gazebo. The algae attacked Dabi, wrapping around his body like chains.

His wings humming, Izuku flew forward and grabbed Shouto, throwing him away from Dabi. As soon as the contact broke, frost and fire appeared on Shouto's skin.

The lake water struck Izuku, sucking him in with a rushing sound. The charm at his waist had turned blindingly bright. He batted his wings but could not break free from the force drawing him in. Water made his wings heavy. The swirling light and roaring sound prevented him from seeing or hearing.

The lake had turned into a portal. Desperately, Izuku grew a massive oak tree straight up from the ground. The tree exploded with a shower of leaves and twigs, bisecting the sky and the water. Reaching out, Izuku nearly touched the trunk. Then the swirling portal dragged him in.

Izuku landed on his hands and knees on a polished wooden floor. He coughed and sputtered, a bit of water having gone down the wrong way. The water in his eyes made his vision blurry. But he faintly made out the red hem of All for One's kimono.

Leaning down, All for One petted Izuku's curls. The fae king crooned, "You never reached out to me. Here I thought we'd been getting along so well."

Izuku snarled, "You stole my poppa's voice!" He knew he couldn't win, but he wanted to get just one blow in. Drawing back his fist, he punched.

All for One caught his fist. A hazy reddish mist rose off the fae king, smelling like too-strong flowers. The scent overwhelmed Izuku and cast a haze over his mind. As he toppled forward, All for One picked him up.

One last time, Izuku tried to shove the fae king away, then he dropped under.

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: First Date

Izuku: I'm free this weekend, want to go looking for your missing brother?

Shouto: Hmm, that's an unusual date idea but I'm going to assume cultural differences. It must be a fae thing. I've heard All for One makes everyone who want to court him go on a quest to find his missing brother.

#

Omake: Alternate Ending

Dabi: You stupid goose, get away from me. (Kicks the goose. The goose attacks. Scene of horrific violence ensues.)

Shouto: Oh, no! Big brother died again!

#

Omake: The Real Issue Here

Izuku: You're a monster!

All for One: Because I kidnapped you?

Izuku: Because you sent Dabi to kidnap me! I can't believe I got caught by Dabi. Freaking Dabi! I'm so humiliated. At least being captured by Tomura would have let me retain my dignity.

Author's Note: For today's Dad for One week prompt, Dabi got the "But no living man am I!" quote. Heh, I keep letting great All for One lines go to other characters. I even let Dabi have a magical girl transformation sequence.

Today, Possiblycringe (tumblr) / BucketOfMud (Ao3) / Popsicles (discord) drew Dabi's dance and it's glorious! Both Dabi and All for One have such evil smirks. Delete the spaces to get the link with a bonus sketch:
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Discord link for same picture at:
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I almost feel sorry for Kotaro because he had a very hard life after his abduction. Then when he returned home, he had to watch Nana and All Might act close when his mother felt like a stranger to him. But Nana wanted to grow closer to Kotaro, he just kept pushing her away. He saw her motherly love as a zero-sum competition. All Might wanted to become brothers but Kotaro shot that idea down fast. They both tried to be sensitive toward him but Nana would never stop loving All Might like a son and Kotaro wouldn't accept anything less. When Hana was born, Kotaro let Nana see her for the first year, just long enough to get attached and give Nana hope they could reconcile. Then Kotaro told Nana that she would never see her granddaughter again unless she cut All Might out of her life. It was calculated and breathtakingly cruel. All Might even offered to stop talking to Nana or pretend to stop. But Nana refused. She had a feeling Kotaro would continue to use his children to control her if she let him. She decided it would be less painful for her grandchildren if they never knew her as opposed to her dropping in and out of their lives while they got used as pawns in a malicious game. Also, she never could have rejected her adopted son even as a ruse. Her husband died a long time ago, so she was All Might's only family. She knew how much it hurt him even to offer. Not unlike canon, Kotaro's pettiness and inability to forgive ripped his family apart.

Some extra world-building:

-The fae immigrated over from Europe, led by younger royalty hoping to establish their own courts. As shapeshifters, they took on a Japanese appearance after living in Japan. The fae and yokai fought a bloody war when they first arrived, followed by a prolonged cold war. Although the fae dominated until recently, they were never able to conquer the yokai.

-Before the fae invaded, the yokai had a lot of internal conflict, but they largely united against the intruders. If they'd united faster, then they could have driven out the fae before they had time to establish their realm.

-On the surface it seems like older yokai are more hostile to humans than younger ones, but actually the older yokai sided with the indigenous people of Japan in past conflicts. The yokai used to be worshipped as deities by the first people. Some elder yokai are transformed humans from those groups. They resent the current Japanese for slaughtering or forcefully assimilating their people. The older yokai are very protective of the remaining indigenous Ainu and Okinawans. They "prank" anyone who threatens their own. Some indigenous groups believed to be extinct have surviving pockets living amongst the yokai.

-Yokai-human relations improved after the fae crossed the ocean, because some of the yokai took the attitude that no one messed with the Japanese people except them.

-Traditionally, fae have viewed themselves as superior to humans (as a general rule, this does not apply to all individuals). But yokai lost a war against humans and do not underestimate them. Also, yokai are far more intertwined with humanity: there are humans living in the yokai realm, intermarriage is more common, and certain types of yokai used to be human. Yokai are more loyal to their own tribe (including human members) than other yokai. They don't think of themselves as the same species as different varieties of yokai. Whereas even fae from different courts share the same culture and will unite against outsiders like humans or yokai. This mentality is a fae strength but also a weakness. The fae courts rose to power in Japan because of their unity but lost much of their dominance later because they failed to make allies and did not keep up with modern technology. The old-fashioned and rigid power structures have led to wild fae and younger fae immigrating to other realms. Meanwhile yokai have done a better job integrating themselves into positions of power in the human realm.

-Yokai do not have a single culture. Kitsunes and tanuki lie like they breathe (and drive fae crazy) whereas nature spirits like Shouto tend to be blunt-spoken. Tengu and Ame-onna think that kidnapping equals adoption (fae would agree) but others have more human-adjacent ethics and still others think humans are only good for eating.

-Modern Yokai have sometimes adopted fae into their tribes. So what if they fought a war with the fae? They fought more than one war with humans. Yokai have fought even more wars with each other. Some groups of yokai are more isolated, but others actively court fae immigrants. Kaiji got pursued so strongly partly because the various yokai tribes believed if they could adopt him, they could snag two powerful fae royalty as well. Then Izuku came along, and that was a THREE for one deal. Izuku doesn't need to worry about being welcome on the yuki-onna mountain. The yuki-onna will be calculating how many years to wait before it would be acceptable to propose an arranged marriage.