21/02/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 49 - Aftermath II

Izuku sat at his desk feeling sick. Every time he closed his eyes he saw his dad. He was lying under All Might and the hero was… He couldn't exactly call it posing, given his emaciated form but he was definitely celebrating.

He'd spend the night just looking at the image and trying to get someone to contact him. At about 4am, he'd fallen asleep, only to wake up a half hour later. By then he knew he wasn't going to get in touch with Tomura or anyone. At least not yet, so he'd stopped trying to call. He also realised that if Tomura hadn't answered, then it was likely his phone had been captured and wondered if he should get rid of his phone but… while he could write down the numbers he'd need, he hoped they would contact him. Surely that wasn't too much to ask?

He didn't know and in the pre-dawn light, he'd just stared at the image of All Might and his dad. Then when it was time to go to school, he'd picked himself up, washed his face and had gone to school. He didn't know what else to do. He knew he wanted to kill All Might, and he'd give Tomura whatever help he needed but that required them to talk. And he wanted to know what happened to his dad. They hadn't reported on that.

And… he just didn't know what to do, so he went to school. If anything, information from UA would be accurate though… If they had dad, then… would they be looking for him or would the focus be on Tomura? How had they found Dad? He wanted to know but Izuku also knew that the answers would take time to come. And he'd promised to speak to Hitoshi today but he honestly didn't know what he'd tell his friend. What could he say?

Sure his dad had shown the world that All Might was weakened but… He didn't care about that. His dad had been injured… he had no idea if he was still alive. No one thought to report on that. And… he didn't know what to do.

He'd gotten to his home room first and had slumped in his desk, with his head on his arms. In addition to feeling sick and lost, he was getting a headache. He probably needed to drink something but he couldn't be bothered moving.

"Mitei!"

Izuku lifted his head. "Zellia," he greeted her before dropping his head again.

"You look terrible," she said and Izuku heard her coming over. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

He shook his head, not looking up.

"Has it got to do with last night?"

This time he nodded.

"I know it was bad," Zellia told him, "but at least All Might won," she added.

That made him feel sicker and while Izuku wanted to lash out at her, he knew that it would do nothing. "How could they…" he sniffed. "How could they show that?" Izuku demanded.

"Show what?"

He wanted to ask how people could think All Might was a hero when he used such violence but he already knew the answer would be that his dad was a villain and deserved that. Or if not that, then his dad was a villain and should have surrendered. The answer would always put the blame on his dad.

"Everything," Izuku mumbled.

"Mitei," Zellia scolded. Her tone told him that she thought he was being silly and that he should already know the answers. He did, kind of, but he didn't agree with them. They were wrong. It couldn't all be his Dad's fault.

"No," he said, still resting his head on his arms. "How could they show-"

"Ah, you are both early," his question was interrupted by the arrival of Ms Kanri.

"Yes Ma'am," Zellia answered while Izuku remained silent.

"Mr Chui, are you okay?" their Homeroom teacher asked.

"No," he answered truthfully.

He heard Ms Kanri sigh and for once it didn't seem as if she was annoyed at him. "I understand, Mr Chui, that it must have been quite confronting to see All Might like that," his teacher said. "But against a villain like that, he had to use all his energy. There will be a press conference today or tomorrow to explain," she added.

On his desk, Izuku felt his hand clench into a fist when she spoke about the so called villain. He forced himself to nod. But the press conference would be interesting. No doubt they were using the time now to come up with some story. "What will happen to-" he couldn't call his dad a villain. He had in his mind. He knew the world called his dad a villain but he couldn't say it aloud, not now.

"To?" Ms Kanri prompted.

"To the man All Might fought," Izuku got out.

"Ah, he's been taken to Tartarus," she told him.

Since his head was already down, he couldn't slump further in relief when he heard that. Sure, Dad was now in prison but they didn't take the dead to Tartarus. He actually sighed in relief.

"Mr Chui," Ms Kanri said pointedly. "I realise it may be triggering for you to have seen such destruction, but last night's battle shows all the more why heroes are needed. Villains like that are thankfully rare but they are very dangerous." Ms Kanri sighed. "I'm sure you saw another person with All Might," she said finally.

From the corner of his eye Izuku saw Zellia nod.

"His hero name was Gran Torino. He was a former teacher at UA and All Might's mentor." She sighed again. "They found what was left of his body this morning."

Izuku knew what he was meant to feel here. He was meant to be horrified and Tomura would want him to feel at least somewhat vindicated but all he felt was indifferent.

"All Might took out the leader, but his subordinates are dangerous," Ms Kanri continued.

At that, Izuku almost laughed. Tomura wasn't a subordinate though… to the outside world it probably looked like that. Instead, he managed to nod. "It was just… seeing that fight… it had to be-" he didn't finish. It had to be similar to the fight his purported father was in. The fact was it had to be similar to the fight in Tsu that his dad had been in.

Ms Kanri and Zellia both nodded and thankfully neither offered any empty platitude. "Will you be okay today, Mr Chui?" their homeroom teacher asked.

Izuku sat up slightly and nodded. He'd be okay but… He really had to work out what he wanted to do. And… he had to get in contact with Tomura or someone…. Because he needed information.

And he had to talk to Hitoshi and maybe Ochaco and Mei, even though he had no idea what he'd say. Izuku sighed and put his head back down as Zellia patted his shoulder before going to her desk as another from their class came in. He could tell though… it was going to be a long day.

-ted-

Mirai was sitting quietly in the secure meeting room of the Hero Public Safety Commission. The room was windowless, and sound proofed to ensure it was secure. Even the electronics in it were hardened but right at the moment, he didn't care about that. He was more focused on his emotion because he was feeling a mixed bundle of emotion but it was all shot through with shock.

His vision had changed.

His vision had changed. And that's all he could focus on. He'd seen it change already. He already knew the green dragon was not going to be present but it had changed again.

The battle Toshinori had with All For One was not the one he'd seen. Last night, he'd been sick when he realised that, because he knew if it wasn't as he'd seen it, then there was the possibility that Yagi would lose but… He hadn't.

And now, All For One was going through processing at Tartarus and they were about to meet with the Commission and UA to work out what should be done next.

He'd gotten here early because he needed to think. All For One was effectively contained but his sons were not and they had to come up with some way of dealing with that… and to find the youngest. They could not afford to let him fester in silence.

The door to the conference room opened, breaking his thought and Mirai felt his heart soar when he saw it was All Might. He was alive. Tired, but alive. And that was one of the best things Nighteye had ever seen.

He was wearing that ugly yellow suit that was at least ten sizes too large for him but at least everyone now knew why Toshinori Yagi's fashion sense was so bad. That thought was slightly hysterical but any mirth died when Mirai saw Yagi's face.

"Did you know?" he hissed after looking around the room to ensure they were alone.

Mirai cocked his head slightly. "Know what?" he asked softly. He knew a lot of things but he had no idea what All Might was asking about.

His friend gasped and then swallowed. "Gran-" he managed to get the name out before Mirai could see that his throat closed with emotion.

Ah… That was it. Had he seen Gran Torino's death?

Mirai took a deep breath. "My vision wasn't like that," he said.

"What?" Toshinori demanded, though Mirai could tell he knew how much of a revelation his statement was.

Nighteye locked his eyes with his friends. "This was the fight where you died," he told him.

At that, All Might gasped slightly and then deliberately walked away from the door to take a seat at the table. He might have been in his civilian form but he still radiated the gravitas of All Might. "This is the battle where you saw me die?" he asked for confirmation.

Mirai nodded. The fact that his vision had changed was obvious in the living, breathing Toshinori Yagi sitting at the conference table with him.

"Did you see Gran in that vision?"

"Yes," Mirai admitted, holding up one hand. "But he was blasted away, not pushed through the warp gate," he explained. He saw Yagi's hands form fists. Even thin, they were still large.

"I died in that original vision, and so did All For One?" It was a statement but his tone made it a question.

Mirai saw his original vision again, with All Might dying on the teeth of the Dragon. He knew he had to answer this question carefully or- Well, Yagi would not take it well. "Maybe," he gave the answer, making sure he didn't sound uncertain. "In that vision, you die before I could confirm if All For One is gone," he explained.

His friend closed his eyes and looked to be in pain but he nodded, accepting the words. "This was different then?"

Nighteye nodded, once again almost not believing that it was.

"You always told me you could not change your visions," All Might pointed out.

At that, Mirai swallowed hard. He looked to the table. "I don't believe I can," he said. He had thought about this since last night. He hadn't had the chance to think about it in depth but he'd come up with a working theory.

"Then?" Yagi prompted.

"I don't think I can change my visions," Mirai repeated, which was kind of odd given the proof that his vision had changed. "But I think others can," he concluded. That was the only thing that made sense. His actions didn't have any impact on the battle but something had changed.

Actually- Mirai gasped. The timing had changed. Or maybe it hadn't. With his vision, he didn't know how long it had been between Toshinori bowing and this fight but… wait. All For One's son had been in a Middle School Gakuran, with the marks of senior year, so that event at least had to be in the past. Izuku would be in High School now, so… Maybe nothing had changed.

"What is it?" Yagi asked.

He shook his head before he looked up and allowed himself to smile weakly. "I think it has changed," he announced. "I didn't know about Gran," Mirai emphasized, "but there was another event which didn't happen, so-" he didn't elaborate further.

All Might nodded before he frowned. "Another event?"

Oh… shit. He had never told his friend about that vision. "Just something right at the beginning changed," he explained. It was kind of the truth and Yagi knew he didn't tell people everything about his visions.

The Number One Hero nodded and Mirai knew he was thinking about his friend. Gran was more than a friend. He was… Yagi wouldn't admit it but Gran had been like a father to him and it would hurt to have lost him. Nighteye knew that. He knew how he'd be hurting if Toshinori was gone now.

"I'm sorry about Gran," he said gently, bowing his head slightly.

All Might sighed heavily. "So long as we stopped All For One, he'd be content," he said finally. "And he wouldn't have gone down easily," he added.

He would have said more but the door opened again, to reveal Principal Nezu. The rat was quickly followed by Commissioner Sozo. The man barely waited for the door to close, ensuring that the room was secure before he began.

"What the hell is this?" he almost yelled.

Yagi cocked his head slightly. "Is what?" He asked mildly.

Mirai noted that Nezu was silent and wondered what the Principal knew. Probably everything, he concluded. Even if he hadn't been told, the anthropomorphic rat was intelligent enough to have worked it out from a few clues. Nighteye was more inclined to believe that Toshinori had told him at least some of the truth.

"This!" Sozo growled, gesturing towards Yagi.

All Might gave the Commissioner a look. "This is the depowered form of my quirk," he told the man.

Mirai watched as the Commissioner suppressed a shudder. Sozo took a deep breath. It was obvious he was annoyed, scared and worried and he was taking it out on them but he needed to get over that. They couldn't afford to have the decisions they made today made in fear.

The Commissioner clenched his fists. "Why did you show it to the world?" he forced the question out, actually managing to sound somewhat reasonable.

At that, Yagi gave him a nod, acknowledging the question as one that did need to be answered. A lot of people wanted answers today and the Commission was just the first of many. "The man I fought is named All For One," he said. "He is not a villain you can hold back on," he added the explanation as if it should be enough.

It should be but Mirai already knew it wasn't going to be.

"So you're telling me you were so exhausted fighting him that you couldn't hold your form for another few minutes?" the Commissioner asked waspishly.

"Yes," Yagi answered simply and then sat looking at the Commissioner.

Mirai could almost feel Sozo's frustration. Every time he thought his friend was bad at politics he was reminded that Toshinori was the Number One Hero and could play the game. He just chose not to.

"Perhaps you could elaborate?" Nezu prompted before Sozo exploded.

Yagi gave the Principal a nod. That was interesting, Mirai mused as he wondered exactly how much Nezu had worked out and how much he'd been told.

"All For One is-" All Might paused and shook his head. "Evil is the most appropriate word, but seems inadequate," he said before spearing the Commissioner with a look. "The last time I fought him was in Tsu, and you know how that turned out. We were not expecting him last night," he pointed out. "And you've seen what that has cost."

At that, Sozo actually looked a bit pale. No doubt he had already seen the preliminary list of the dead, missing and injured. He'd probably already been informed of the estimated cost of repairs. And the Commissioner would be aware that All For One's minions had gotten away.

Nezu saw the reaction as well and rapped one paw on the table, bringing attention to him. "We have seen the cost," he said, reinforcing All Might's statement. "Now we have to decide what to do," the rat added.

Mirai nodded.

That was the real question.

-ted-

I did think about Nomu Gran Torino but right at the moment Tomura's not in the best frame of mind or the best physical location (you don't keep a corpse with you unless you have the facility to deal with it), so it was just kill the annoyance and dump the body.

And Izuku definitely isn't in the right frame of mind... Poor Izuku... Poor anyone who really gets in his way.

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!

-ted-

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