14/03/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 55 - The Straw

Because he'd gone to bed early last night, Izuku woke up early and he realised he'd been going about everything all wrong. He'd fallen asleep thinking about the text message on his phone and if he should answer it. It was from an unknown number but looked to come from Tomura.

He didn't have to risk it though. The Doctor hadn't been captured, or rather if he had, then the authorities had kept that very, very quiet, so Izuku was more of the belief that the Doctor had gotten away. And even if he hadn't, the Doctor was a Doctor and he could pretend to be a patient when he contacted the Doctor. He was 16, that was still two years below adulthood, in the eyes of the law. Japan had lowered that age from 20 to 18 just before quirks had come into existence and had kept it at that all this time. Some people had argued it should be returned, or lowered but 18 was the age most countries had.

While that didn't mean much, it would mean so long as he wasn't using a quirk, and therefore subject to hero laws, he would be fine. Before he even got up he picked up his phone and texted the Doctor. He knew better than to wait for a reply. Doctor Garaki would either be working or asleep, and either way he wouldn't be necessarily near his phone. If he'd been working non-stop since the fight then he might have crashed into sleep.

This was one of the times where he had to be patient. As he was getting breakfast, and preparing his lunch for the day, Izuku thought about the story he should tell his classmates about… he needed some way of referring to that event.

'The Fight' didn't really appeal even if he knew that was what most of the world would probably come to call it. If he used that then… he really didn't want to use a term that would always be his dad lost 'The Fight'. Maybe it should be something like 'AMiaB'. Except… he couldn't exactly tell anyone else what that meant. All Might is a Bastard wasn't something people would appreciate. And then if he was pushed he'd have to say where the term originated and… Yeah, that couldn't be a public name.

CTSD, Consequences of Tomura's Stupid Decision just made him see red and… Most of the terms he wanted to use, he couldn't use in public. Izuku sighed. He was distracting himself. He'd just have to go with 'The Fight' and remind himself that it was only one round. He'd make sure his Dad won the next round, even if he had to fight himself.

So what would he tell his classmates? Something simple. Actually why was he thinking about this? He'd tell them he had a long talk with his mum and dad and felt a lot better this morning. End of story. He hadn't done that of course, but he wished he could have. It was better to leave it at that simple explanation.

And he didn't owe them an explanation anyway.

He shook his head and packed up his lunch before he looked over at the time. It was still early. Though… there was probably some homework he could do and Mei would be at school and he hadn't really had time for a good chat with her. If he was staying in school, for the moment, then it was best to get back to normal.

-ted-

Setsuna had just gotten into position when Mitei left his apartment block. The Principal hadn't told her his exact apartment, just the block and for her first mission, she figured she'd start early. She didn't think she'd be just in time.

How early did Management students start?

She shook her head. It didn't matter. She just had to keep track of him. She'd been aware of Mitei Chui since he competed in the Sport's Festival. After the Sport's Festival their entire class was aware of him! Aizawa had told them point blank that in his eyes, the Management Student had defeated most of them.

That had hurt. She'd made it through to the Cavalry Battle but… She shook her head. It had hurt her, but it had downright terrified some of the others in the class. It should have. They were- They meant well but they just seemed so unfocused. Except, when it counted, they did. It was a bit surprising but she liked her class.

As she walked, she examined Mitei Chui. He seemed kind of familiar except she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She'd never known anyone with fire blue hair before and certainly no one with his- Wait, what was his quirk? Setsuna frowned. Aizawa hadn't mentioned it and… she thought about the Sport's Festival. He was strong, and athletic but… she couldn't recall seeing anything that was definitively quirk like. As she'd discovered, back in Elementary when she was about 8 years old, strong and athletic could be natural traits. And they were things anyone could work on but a lot of people didn't. She'd actually discovered that…

She didn't want to think about that, but her mentor had made her learn it when she was eleven. She'd thought she was pretty fit. She had been pretty fit then but he'd organised a tournament. Being beaten by other eleven year olds, boys and girls, had been somewhat humbling, especially when it was very clear that they weren't using their quirks. It had given her a new respect for what people could achieve. And then there had been the fire…

Setsuna shook her head. She really didn't like remembering that. The smoke, the heat and the smell… it was really the smell that she remembered the most and it was one of the worst things. It had sickened her and made her even more dedicated to being a hero.

She checked on Mitei again. He was still heading to school. She'd broken off one eye and was trailing about three blocks back. It was probably too far but it meant she wasn't immediately obvious. Aizawa had… well, his classes were different from 1B's and he focused on practical skills. Situational awareness was one of the things he was hammering into them… along with everything else. Her mentor had taught her about it, obviously but never as intensively as Aizawa. As a management student, Mitei would have a different awareness. She could probably be closer but didn't want to give away the game.

Mitei stopped walking and looked down at his phone. With only one eye, floating way above him, she had no chance of seeing what was on the screen but she could see the way he cocked his head and frowned. Then Mitei typed something and began hurrying. Thankfully, whatever message he had gotten didn't seem to have prevented him from going towards UA. He picked up the pace and looked down at his phone often. It wasn't until he was actually walking along the fence line that he stopped. That was okay. She could work with that. Mitei appeared angry now.

His expression only softened when a crying girl approached him. Setsuna belatedly recognised her as Uraraka from Class 1B. Mitei comforted her and then they began walking away from UA! Darn it. She was meant to go to class. Aizawa had told her that the teachers would watch Mitei once he got onto UA grounds but…

She sighed. It would be remiss of her not to follow now. Jiro had told her what had happened at the mall. So had Shiozaki so she owed it to them to find out what was going on with Mitei. It might all be a coincident… With Aizawa asking her to watch him, she didn't think so. She'd just have to explain to their homeroom teacher what had happened if she didn't get in on time. After all, he'd instructed her to watch him.

Plus Ultra.

-ted-

When Ochaco came up to him crying, the red he'd seen when he saw her message returned. Izuku knew that everything he'd thought about last night was swiftly going out the door. He gave her a hug, ignoring the feeling that someone was watching him, before he said anything. He didn't need to say anything. The content of her text was seared into his brain.

"What happened?" he whispered at her as he squeezed, careful not to be too strong. He wanted to comfort her, not squash.

"I was expelled!" Ochaco cried but she didn't yell.

"Why?" he asked from between clenched teeth as she pulled back from him.

"Because of you!" she hissed but it was more doubtful rather than spiteful.

"What?" he seethed. Nothing he'd done could have gotten her expelled. He looked around and spotted a cafe since the street was not the place to discuss this. "Come with me," Izuku instructed, taking Ochaco's hand and leading her towards the shop. It had a few chairs but they were empty this early and the store was mostly doing passing trade. It would be okay to talk there, so long as they were quiet.

He led her inside. Their uniform got a look over but it was more curiosity rather than judgement. As Izuku settled Ochaco in one corner, near the heater, he held up his arm and called, "Two teas please!" As he did so, he noted the feeling of being watched had disappeared. Interesting. He'd been practising situational awareness since he was six, so he knew what that meant. Someone had been watching him, not just his uniform. He thought, because he'd been early that people might be looking at that but with the feeling disappearing, when he went inside, it meant that someone had been specifically watching him.

At the nod from the server Izuku sat down and just looked at his friend. He didn't say anything as the server gave out another few coffees and then brought over a tea pot and two cups. He poured Ochaco a cup, pushing it towards her before he poured one for himself.

"What happened?" he asked softly. Even if someone was watching him, Ochaco was more important.

Ochaco sniffed and then swallowed. She reached out for her tea and took a sip. "Vlad King asked me to come in early today," she whispered, almost trembling.

He saw how that would work immediately. If they missed expelling Ochaco last night then doing it so early could mean they'd get her offsite before the other students came in, thus reducing any scene she might make. "And?" Izuku prompted when it became obvious she wasn't going to continue.

"Principal Nezu was there, and Aizawa and… they expelled me," she broke down crying again.

"Why? You haven't done anything that would-" He didn't finish the statement. He didn't want to say the word.

She gasped as if he had said it. "They said if I was in trouble with villains, I should have told them, that I should have sold out the villains."

Izuku blinked at that. "But-" He knew she didn't have any links to villains. "Which villains do they think you are linked to?" he asked but really knew there could only be one lot.

"The one's who attacked the USJ and the camp," she confirmed his suspicions.

"But you don't!" He objected. She had no tie to Tomura. He'd know if she did.

Ochaco looked up at him and seemed to be gathering herself. She reached down and with a firm gesture, she put something on the table. When Ochaco drew her hand back Izuku recognised it as the scale he'd give her. He frowned at it, wondering how it would somehow have them believing she had a link to Tomura. He'd never given Tomura one of them!

"I don't get it," Izuku told her.

Ochaco took a deep breath. "They said these were the sign of a dangerous villain. They'd been found at other sites, and the fact that I had one, and that-" she sniffed, and then continued. "They said at the camp one of the villains recognised me, which is why-" she didn't finish.

Oh shit. Izuku realised. The Principal and the teachers weren't wrong but… at the same time, they were so wrong. Over time his dad had asked him for several scales. He must have left them at a number of sites and… That's what Himiko had meant when she told him she'd been a good girl. He'd even told Himiko it was Ochaco.

"They're idiots," the words tumbled from his mouth before he had thought it through.

His exclamation surprised Ochaco. She cocked her head slightly. "You're not a villain," he told her. "If these are the sign of a dangerous villain, they should have asked you about how you got it, how you know them and then tried to figure out if you could help them bring that villain down," he explained.

"Are they the sign of a dangerous villain?" she asked and Izuku was a little surprised she managed to keep her eyes on him.

"I gave it to you," he reminded her.

"Izuku," Ochaco growled.

He remembered then that she'd asked him if it was his dad fighting All Might. He'd managed to avoid the question.

Izuku sighed and looked down at his tea. The colour was good and it tasted fine but suddenly he didn't want it.

"Little Dragon-" Ochaco said softly, reaching out but she didn't quite touch his hand.

"That was Dad," he answered the question she'd asked him that night.

She jerked at the admission but didn't run. Izuku was oddly pleased at that but he also knew his friend wasn't stupid. He could tell she was thinking. "Why?" Ochaco whispered, after looking around.

He shook his head. "I don't know," Izuku said honestly. He kind of knew but not for sure. "I gave him some of them and-" Again, Izuku shook his head. "This is why they're idiots. You are not a villain," he repeated.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Even though he didn't really want the tea, surreptitiously, Izuku heated his and took a sip.

"What am I going to do?" Ochaco breathed the question.

There was a catch in her voice that tugged at Izuku's heart. This wasn't her fault. This wasn't anything she'd done. It wasn't anything he'd done either. Or his dad! This was the hero's fault! They were expelling Ochaco because of some supposed connection that she didn't even know about. He'd known heroics was going to hurt her but he didn't think it would be like this.

"Did they expel anyone else?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

Izuku could tell she was a bit disappointed that he wasn't focusing on her but he was. "You were expelled for a supposed connection," he explained. "What about the students who went to be vigilantes?" he asked.

Ochaco shook her head. "They didn't say," she admitted.

Suddenly he knew what was going to happen and it made him even angrier. "They aren't going to," he said with surety.

"But, Kaminari attacked!" Ochaco objected. She'd made it very clear that the entire plan had rested on them not attacking, and it had! If they attacked they broke the law!

"They're gonna expand your supposed connection," he told her. "You are going to be the scapegoat," he added.

At that, Ochaco closed her eyes and tears ran down her cheeks. "Aizawa said I should have told the teachers about the rescue but I wasn't the only one who knew!" she said with an odd hiccup.

That sounded like a hero. "I know," Izuku agreed. "So why did they pick you, and only you?" he asked. "Because of a trinket I gave you," he answered his question before Ochaco could answer. "Because it's the easy answer. Because they can tell the public they've done something and the sheeple'll believe it." Izuku sighed.

"Are they going to make me a villain?" Ochaco picked up on where he was heading.

Izuku looked up at the ceiling. It wasn't very interesting. There was a fan for summer but beyond that it was just a boring ceiling. "UA won't say that," he told her.

"But others will," Ochaco said, sniffing and reaching up to wipe her eyes. Except as soon as she dried them, more tears formed.

"No, they won't," he promised her.

That dried her tears. Ochaco looked up at him. She knew what he had said there, by what he hadn't said. "Let me help," she said.

Izuku shook his head. Yeah the plans he'd made last night were really gone but… He almost smiled. He'd made the decision his dad wanted him to. "If you help me, you really would be a villain and-"

He could see the way Ochaco was biting the inside of her lip but she didn't object to his statement. "If you are going to do that, you have to be sure. It's not something to do because you are angry and hurting."

"It's not something you should do in that state either, Little Dragon," she retorted.

Izuku nodded. "I'm going to do it anyway," he told her. "I've been thinking about this and…"

Ochaco sighed heavily but conceded his point. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you earlier, Little Dragon," she said.

"About?"

"You told me that heroes don't care for people, that they just care about maintaining the status quo," she said. "I know that now."

"I'm sorry," Izuku told her. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way but for now, you go home. You hold your head high and you say nothing."

"And you?"

Izuku reached out and pushed the scale Ochaco had put on the table back towards her. "The heroes think that is the sign of a villain. It's not. You know it's not. I know it's not. It's a sign of my friendship, and so you keep that," he said. "Because you are my friend and I want the world to know that," he added.

Ochaco smiled at that. "And what will you do?" she asked.

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table as he linked his fingers together. "UA is eager to brush this entire incident under the carpet, including the transgressions of their students but if they aren't going to be consistent with their punishments… well, I'm not that restrained," he said.

She nodded. "I still want to help," Ochaco said.

Izuku shook his head. "Go home, and think about it. Really think about it," he told her. "If you still want to help then, call me," he advised. "But just you being you will help," he assured her. He liked Ochaco, he really did. She was his oldest friend and she was strong and resourceful but… he didn't want to say she was soft, because she wasn't but there was… there was something about her that told him she wouldn't be a good villain. She'd want to be but Ochaco cared too deeply. She was…

She would have been a magnificent hero and UA had just thrown that away. He wouldn't be able to get her back into UA but… he sure as hell could make sure they knew their hypocrisy.

He'd show the world the hypocrisy of heroes.

One way, or another.

-ted-

I have a head canon that when Izuku knew Setsuna, back in Elementary school she was an arrogant bitch. Later on, she encounters reality which forces her to realise that the kid she knew, whose quirk was fire proofing, wasn't that bad. Fire Proofing was the quirk Izuku said he had at the time. So this Setsuna, the one who went to UA, is a bit more humble than her child self. Of course, too late for Izuku but at least she's being a better person.

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-

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