Looks like the new chapter was just the fix as I managed to get a much better response this time around. I am back with a more familiar chapter, but one that does have some serious tweaks for those who pay attention to the smaller details.
Depending on the responses and because I do want to get things moving. I may or may not speed up the uploading process a bit. But I will wait until we get to a certain chapter. (I'm not to reveal which, but it is within the first arc.) Of whether or not I proceed with that idea.
Review Responses
AdrianVnz (1): While it is sad that so many fics have been discountined. I like to believe that their that their legacy continues in the fics that in the stories that inspired them. Personally, I stopped reading Viridiscent due to a few particular sub-plots that I felt really hurt the story in the long run. But that's just my opinion, but I still respect the story for giving some ideas to run with.
AdrianVnz (2): Theorizing is just that theorizing, even if you possibly say actual spoilers. I will never confirm or deny them. (Unless you're way way off.) But it's always fun to see if any of you come close to what I have lined up in the review sections and even see some of my reviewers occasionally collaborate. (Mind you, I remember some your previous comments. You did catch on to somethings that no one up to this point had noticed.) I freely welcome open discussion in the review sections. (It's fun and exciting to see who gets close, who get details mixed up and who is falling for my tricks.)
Knight of Wings (1): To this day, Chapter 1 is likely my favorite chapter in the whole story. It was the first real chapter I have ever written. And while the finer details have been reworked multiple times. It's fundermentals haven't changed. Maybe, it's because it is so simple that is basically perfect, it's just a meeting between two innocent kids. One that will change the world, but no one knows this yet. Because at the moment, they're just kids.
I remember that, I wanted to tell a different story from canon, while still using canon as the foundation. But I also know that I am not here to tell the same story while following the same story beats. That doesn't work, not in theme, not in narrative...not even in plot. That's what really means an AU an AU, at least for me. Ochako being the deuteragonist instead of Katsuki was the first thing I needed to do to establish how I was going to accomplish this task.
Knight of Wings (2): I knew this chapter in particular was going to catch the eyes of returning readers. Especially those like you who have read the prequel chapters. Unfortunately, I can confirm that there will be no flashback to Daigo. (He is...one my ace in the hole characters in the present day story. Introducing him even in a flashback is dangerous.) But we will get to see modern Daigo soon...in a different story.
That covers the responses for the time being.
I do have more to say, that will be covered in the commentary section. So for as I always say, please enjoy the chapter.
My Hero Academia Untold: The Knights of Fafnir
Saga I: Dusk
Arc I: Origins
Chapter III: Halcyon Days
"Remember to turn: Sadness into Joy. Hard times into good times. Struggles into accomplishments. Obstacles into opportunity."
― Hopal Green
"Oh, that is wonderful to hear, Urashima!" Inko said to the phone balanced on the nook of her neck as she checked her emails. "Yes, I'm happy to hear that the first of your initial prototypes has gone well! It seems like the resources you got at your new job were just what you needed."
Inko continued to click away on her computer.
"I know we miss you here, too, but your work could change the world—provided that your theories are correct. No! No, we were more than happy to provide you with the extra funds! After all, you basically did the same for us during your time here. You know Hisashi was more than happy to help you with it."
As she listened to her former employee and long-time friend, Inko received an email confirming the shipment arrival for one of their pet projects. She smiled, knowing that Hisashi had been looking forward to this news.
"I see," Inko answered on the phone; "hey, Urashima? I'm sorry, but I have to go. Yes, it was great speaking with you again. Please update us when you can. Right. Yes...you have a great day, too."
Inko sighed with relief as she hung up the phone.
"Oh, that was a good report. I'll have one of the girls write that up from the notes Urashima left us. I can't wait to see the end result," Inko said to herself as she began drawing up a few quick notes in her daily planner. She was about to ring up the gym phone to let Hisashi know about the delivery when a familiar sound was heard.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!
"Oh, dear..." Inko said to herself, hearing those familiar footsteps.
A moment later, a giant man with the appearance of a killer whale wearing a white business suit stood at the doorway of her office and slowly leaned into her office space. He stood still briefly as his red eyes scanned the office like those of a gecko searching for prey before looking straight ahead and finally bowing at Inko.
"Hello, Midoriya," Gang Orca said gently as he raised his head.
"Hello, Sakamata," Inko replied with a nervous laugh. "How are you?"
"Your husband, where is he right now?" The whaleman asked again, just as gently, but the mischief in his voice was unmistakable.
"Ummm…Hisashi should be on the fifth-floor gym training with the boys."
The giant whale man hummed in response, a shadow of a grin forming, and he bowed again to Inko.
"Oh, good. Now we can begin round ninety-seven without delay," Gang Orca answered with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Instantly, Inko could feel the sweat on her brow collect. The infamous rivalry between Gang Orca and Draco Knight has been legendary since their days at the UA Hero Course, especially among those in the same year group at UA growing up.
"Would you like something to drink, Sakamata?" Inko asked sweetly, hoping to delay the whaleman from causing any trouble.
"No, thank you, Midoriya. Now, if you would please excuse me, I have business to attend to with your husband."
The man politely declined with another bow before turning around and suddenly began sprinting out the door.
"I'M COMING TO GET YOU DRAGON SHIT!"
Inko sighed as she grabbed her phone and began dialing.
"Well, I better start with the repairman first."
"And STRIKE!" Hisashi barked out suddenly, getting into a guarding position as his two young protegees charged at him again with renewed vigor.
His son attempted to flank his left with his Quirk to give him a power boost. While his second apprentice and son's best friend, Katsuki Bakugou, or "Boom Boy," attacked the opposite side. Hisashi felt cheeky and charged forward, leaning slightly from the right side of their pincer move. The man grinned at the sight of the boys getting better every day. They had already been at this for a couple of hours. Yet, this was quite a big step in how they coordinated and worked together.
It was a close call, as Hisashi managed to counter, grab his son's clawed fist, and narrowly dodge Katsuki's blast. However, he didn't expect Izuku's sudden ingenuity. In a matter of seconds, Izuku managed to turn back to normal, only to transform back into his armored form to produce a flash of light strong enough to surprise Hisashi for just a moment. Upon seeing his master let go of his best friend, Katsuki used the opening to double back, using one explosion to propel himself with one hand and the other to blast his master away, engulfing his mentor in a cloud of black, pungent smoke.
"And pause!" Hisashi called out from the dissipating smoke of the blast to the two boys who were panting heavily. A mild, sweet scent wafted through the air, a minor side effect of Katsuki's Quirk inherited from his mother. Hisashi maintained a stoic face despite the pain he was actually in. It had been a good strike, as Katsuki had managed to hit one of Hisashi's old scars that were hidden under his shirt, causing more pain than usual.
"Okay, that was excellent, boys!" Hisashi finally said, giving them a light clap of applause. "You pulled that last combo move effectively!"
The two boys grinned before giving each other a high five.
"Alright, hit the showers!" Hisashi declared as his nose wrinkled at the smell of the room. "We're done for today."
"Aw, come on, Uncle! We can go another round!" Katsuki boasted despite being breathless, while Izuku seemed more willing to listen.
"We did a lot today, Kacchan!"
"And we can still keep going!" Katsuki clicked his tongue impatiently.
Seeing this and knowing the explosive boy's nature by now, Hisashi had another plan to get Katsuki to cooperate.
"I think Ryūkyū should be back from her patrol in the next ten minutes or so…" Hisashi noted with his hand under his chin, almost as an afterthought. "I know she isn't very fond of sweaty or smelly people, especially with that nose of hers."
"Izuku! Let's go!" Katsuki suddenly snapped once he heard what his master had said, turning on his heel and grabbing his friend by the arm to head toward the agency's male locker rooms.
Hisashi chuckled. The blond boy was young, but it wasn't hard to see that he had quickly developed a crush on his Lead Sidekick and cousin, Ryūko Tatsuma, better known as the Dragoon Hero: Ryūkyū.
'Who knew bringing Katsuki would only make Izuku's training that much better?' Hisashi thought as he gently patted the rattled burn scars that marked much of his lower torso.
He remembered how hesitant he was at accepting the bomber as an apprentice a year ago. Despite some initial growing pains, Katsuki had actually proven not only dedicated to training but had also exceeded most of Hisashi's expectations. The Dragon Hero would be the first to admit that he had been wrong about the boy and was happy to have brought him along. It turns out that Katsuki just needed a helping hand to nip that arrogant streak in the bud.
While far from perfect, he would give the explosive lad credit where credit was due, as he knew people didn't change overnight. But he could see that the boy was trying, which is all he could really ask for. Plus, it made Izuku take his training more seriously now that he had competition. With today's sparring session showing their results, Hisashi couldn't be prouder of his apprentices.
He was about to leave the gym when one of the mounted phones rang on the gym wall. It was most likely an internal call from someone else in the agency; Hisashi walked up and answered, hoping it wouldn't be an emergency call.
"Hisashi here."
"Ah, honey! Are you all done with training?" Inko's calm, homely voice made Hisashi relax.
"Yeah. I was just about to hit the showers to freshen up a bit," Hisashi laughed. "But the boys went ahead of me."
"Oh, good. I do have an update! The new project arrived ahead of schedule, and the package is in my office. And I know how much you personally wanted to give Izuku and Katsuki their gifts."
Hisashi grew excited; the project for his fan club was finally ready to be unveiled!
"So they're here?!" Hisashi said with a wide grin, struggling to keep himself from nerding out.
"All twenty-one, custom-made just like you wanted."
"I'll be down as soon as I'm finished showering!" Hisashi exclaimed as he hung up the phone.
"Oh wait, honey! Sakama –" her voice was cut off as he replaced the phone on the wall.
"Oh... Oh crap..." Hisashi said to himself, feeling a bit guilty for hanging up on his wife so abruptly before she could finish, thinking the call was already finished, but then shrugged it off. "Ah well, couldn't have been anything important."
'Oh well, I guess karma will get Hisashi for that,' Inko thought with a tiny giggle. She knew that their guest was on his way to Hisashi's location. She was about to start setting up the package that arrived when her phone suddenly began to ring again.
"Inko here," She answered, noting that the incoming call was from the reception office.
"Ah, boss! Umm...the Chief of Police is here."
Inko's face scrunched to figure out why the Chief would be there. Until she quickly remembered some paperwork that Hisashi needed to finish.
"Which Chief?" Inko asked with a flinch, hoping it wasn't who she thought it was.
"Chief Doumeki, ma'am."
"Oh...Oh no, that could get awkward," Inko said nervously. "Please let the Chief know that we will be there as soon as possible. Please provide the Chief with all of the hospitality you can muster."
"Aye, aye, boss."
Inko got up and hung up the phone just as Ryūko entered her office, returning from her patrol.
"Ah, man, that was a good walk! Hey Inko, I saw we finally got the stuff for the boys..." The young woman paused when she saw the look on Inko's face. "Oh, what's wrong...Did someone die?"
"Ryūko, could you please go get Hisashi? I would ring him up again, but Sakamata is here, and they've likely already started fighting."
"Ooohhh, what round is this now?" Ryūko asked with a smirk growing on her face as she leaned against the door frame. "Ninety-Six?"
"Ninety-seven," Inko corrected her cousin-in-law automatically. "Please be quick about it, Ryūko. If you don't mind?"
"I don't know; you know how those two can get once they start fighting," Ryūko answered with a grin.
"Chief Doumeki is here..."Inko responded flatly with a stare. "We can give the boys their gifts when we're done."
"Oh!" Ryūko's eyes widened as her smile instantly disappeared, and she started gunning it to the gym. "I'M ON IT!"
Inko let out a long sigh, hoping this meeting with the Chief would be a quick visit to ensure Hisashi would remain in a good mood.
Hisashi walked down the hall with the biggest grin on his face, naïve to the looming threat that awaited him until he heard that familiar, unmistakable sound of footsteps.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!
Those very familiar footsteps.
Hisashi's smile faded, creating an expression of dread, annoyance, and even some amusement.
"Sakamata..." The man said to himself as he heard that familiar roar that had been cut off at the beginning.
"-SEIIIIII!" A giant man in a white suit resembling a killer whale appeared at the corner of the hall; upon seeing Hisashi, the whale man suddenly charged at him.
"AH FU—FIND ME IN THE ALPS!" Hisashi shrieked before turning around and running back to the gym. Gang Orca versus Draco Knight: Round ninety-seven was now about to begin. Hisashi, who was still tired from training, knew that his long-time rival would have the edge. He barely reached the center of his gym before turning around and getting clotheslined by the whale-man.
Ryūko was making her way to the gym as quickly as possible. She knew that an easy way to ruin Hisashi's day was by mentioning Chief Kai Doumeki ever since the mysterious incident six years ago. The relationship between the once good friends had soured. No one knew what had happened that night, not even Inko. All they knew was that the mission went wrong, and Hisashi ended up in a hospital for nearly two months. After that, the two men seldom spoke to each other, and the times they did were often only for professional purposes.
Ryūko was almost at the gym when she could hear Hisashi and Gang Orca's fight from down the hall.
"YOU'VE GOTTEN WEAK!"
"BITE ME, BLOWHOLE!"
CRASH!
"HAHAHA!"
"YOU ARE SO GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, DAMN IT!"
As she slowed down, she spotted her two favorite boys, whose attention was also focused on the ruckus down the hall.
"Izu, Kacchan!" Ryūko smiled sweetly at her second cousin and his friend. Both boys turned to look at her. Izuku had a bright smile on his face. Katsuki, however, immediately faced away from the Dragoon hero with a dash of red growing on his face.
"Everything okay?" Ryūko asked before suddenly hearing something else breaking.
"Is Dad going to be okay?" Izuku asked nervously.
While Katsuki chose to remain silent, hoping not to avoid stuttering in front of his crush.
"Oh yeah, he's just sparring with his old friend!"
"YOU SON OF BITCH!"
"DO YOU KISS YOUR MOTHER WITH THAT MOUTH?"
Ryūko laughed nervously. "A very old friend."
"GODDAMN IT! YOU OVERGROWN WATER MANPANDA!"
"BRING IT LIZARD BOY!"
CRASH!
SNAP!
"Say Izu!" Ryūko put her hands on the boys' shoulders, gently guiding them away from the property damage. "Why don't you and Kacchan head down to the breakroom?"
"Are you sure?" Izuku asked with a worried expression.
"Of course!" Ryūko chirped, ignoring the two pros' roars, swears, and fighting. "As a matter of fact. Your folks have a surprise for both of you! We just have to take care of a few things first, okay?"
Both boys seemed to hesitate but eventually listened to the Dragoon Hero and headed down to Inko's office on the second floor.
"Phew…" Ryūko breathed out as the boys turned around the corner and disappeared. With that, she stood straight up and headed towards the gym again. She arrived just in time to see Hisashi perform a German suplex on the whale-man.
"AND THE NAME IS MIDORIYA!"
SLAM!
The loud slap of Gang Orca's back against the gym mat rang out. The whaleman groaned in defeat, Hisashi quickly getting up to his feet, arms raised in victory, while his face was left swelling and bruised.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Round ninety-seven is mine! That makes it fifty-two to forty-five now, ya fuckin' prick!" Hisashi laughed out to his defeated foe, only to add salt to the wounds further upon seeing the damage done. "And you're still paying for the damages!"
"Ahem!" Ryūko cleared her throat to get her cousin's attention.
"Oh!" Hisashi hopped to the side, startled. After a moment, he simply stood there nervously upon seeing that his cousin was eyeing him in frustration. "Ryūko, you're back from patrol! Oh good! We can get started wit –"
"I'm sorry, Hisashi," Ryūko interrupted with a raised hand, "but there is something more important that's come up."
"What do you mean?" Hisashi frowned, not liking the sound in his younger cousin's voice.
Ryūko bit her lip. "Chief Doumeki is here for that report that was due two days ago."
The mood in the room changed almost instantly. Hisashi's face went from nervous to almost stone-cold, covered in what could only be described as a mask of shame. Only the groans and breathing of the unconscious Gang Orca filled the silence of the deafened room.
"How long has he been waiting?" Hisashi asked, finally breaking the heavy silence in a flat tone.
"I'm not sure, but it couldn't be longer than ten minutes."
"Shit..." Hisashi muttered quietly before looking at Ryūko right in the eyes, "I'm going to head straight down to see him. Call Inko and tell her to have Kenichi's report on hand on the first floor. I'll grab it and deliver it personally."
Hisashi rarely yelled out of anger toward anyone other than a villain or a sparring partner. However, just because he didn't yell out his orders, it didn't mean that the firm voice he used now left room for argument.
A fact Ryūko knew all too well.
"I'll get started right now," the young woman answered with a nod and walked toward the gym's phone.
Hisashi sighed one last time before grabbing a spare towel from a side rack and starting to walk toward the door in dread. His legs felt like lead as he dragged himself down the hall with an equally heavy heart full of guilt.
"I still need to apologize to him," Hisashi said to himself, feeling a new sting from the scars and memories he would rather leave behind.
The TV continued with the regular afternoon news as Izuku and Katsuki were now the relatively spacious break of The Drake's Den agency. Enjoying a helping of the free food and drinks that Hisashi and Inko regularly provided for their staff. Izuku was busy reviewing the latest entry in his Quirk journal. While Katsuki was on his phone, thinking of the best way to prank his friend again.
Now, Katsuki loved to prank Izuku every chance he could, ever since he discovered he could trigger his friend's Quirk by scaring him, creating a hilarious moment every time. Today's Katsuki plan involved using the perfect jump scare video, and now he just needed to trick Izuku into somehow watching it.
"Hey, Kacchan?" He heard Izuku say.
"Yeah?"
"What do you think the surprise is?"
"I dunno, but I hope it's cool."
Izuku hummed before turning his attention toward the TV. The screen displayed a recent news update about some elections in the National Diet. Izuku wished he could change the channel to something else but didn't want to be discourteous to some of his father's sidekicks, who seemed to be watching with some interest.
"Reports the of recent gains of the Neocon movement..."
Katsuki, however, wasn't watching the report. Instead, he focused on pranking his friend, and unlike his friend, he was more than willing to use the TV to his advantage. The boy quickly synced his phone to the TV, having done it weeks earlier to watch a movie on the big screen while streaming from his phone. Now, it would serve him again...
"The committee is proposing to introduce possible restrictions to..."
'Just a bit more...' Katsuki thought as he pulled up the video on his phone. Now, he just needed to wait for Izuku to be distracted and strike.
"However, with the lack of votes in the Lower House of The Diet, the committee..."
Katsuki was about to tap his friend on the shoulder with a wicked grin plastered on his face when Hisashi, Inko, and Ryūko entered the break room. Hisashi headed straight toward the refrigerator to grab a drink, his face still hardened from the quick meeting with the Chief. While Inko walked over and addressed the two boys.
"I'm sorry for the wait, boys," Inko said apologetically. "We had to take care of something quick."
'I'll say...' Ryūko grimaced to herself.
Hisashi finished his drink in silence. The meeting wasn't horrible, but his shame prevented him from apologizing to him once again. The fact that the man kept a straight face during the ordeal was just mind-numbing. Hisashi almost wished that the man would yell and scream at him if only to break through the ice of the past.
Katsuki was unable to read the mood of the room. He took the opening to make the switch, now that Izuku was distracted by his family. Queuing the video to the TV and saw the report suddenly cut off, with a blank black screen replacing the picture.
"It is unlikely that the movement will gain any more traction unless –"
The sudden cut of the news broadcast, replaced with a dark screen, made everyone turn to the television.
"Oh, did the signal cut off?" Inko asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It could've just fried itself; that's the old TV from when we changed buildings," Ryūko suggested with a shrug.
Hisashi agreed with his cousin – fearing that maybe the TV had finally broken after all this time and had gone to check it out. At that moment, Katsuki realized that his prank could backfire horribly and moved quickly to undo the video sync. Unfortunately for him, his phone began to lag, and once he saw Hisashi was close to the TV to inspect it, it was too late. The TV screen suddenly displayed a zombie-looking figure producing a high-pitched scream that startled everyone in the mess hall, including a couple of Hisashi's sidekicks who were still in the room to jump.
CRASH!
Hisashi, out of sheer instinct, immediately punched the TV screen straight on with his Quirk activated, and the bottle of water he had in his other hand was swiftly crushed. Hisashi simply stood there, shocked, his eyes wide open and scaled-up spikes ripping up his clothes. No one dared to move a muscle, as they couldn't read Hisashi's mood at the moment. Despite not getting his intended target, Katsuki couldn't help but break the silence by laughing out loud, despite trying desperately and failing to suppress it. Slowly but surely, Katsuki's laughter proved infectious to the point that everyone, even Hisashi, couldn't help but join along.
At last, it was Hisashi himself who broke the ice.
"Well, that was unexpected, but I did teach the boys to strike when their opponent was off their guard!" Hisashi said, wiping a tear from his eye moments later.
"Are you feeling better now, honey?" Inko whispered in her husband's ear.
"Yeah..." Hisashi answered while briefly closing his eyes and breathing a sigh of relief. "I guess I just needed a good shock to the system, ya know?"
While the husband and wife quietly spoke about their next course of action, both for the surprise and to replace the newly broken TV, Ryūko took the chance to pounce and hug both boys.
"Good work, guys. You were a big help out here."
Izuku was confused but returned the hug, while Katsuki broke into a nervous, red-faced mess.
"But I didn't do anything, though, Kyū!" Izuku chirped with a smile. "I think it was just Kacchan trying to scare me again."
"Well then, good job, Kacchan!" Ryūko said before kissing Katsuki on the cheek, which only made him grow into a deeper shade of red.
"Ryūko! Stop that! You're torturing the poor boy!" Hisashi suddenly called out with another hardy laugh after seeing his apprentice's face.
Ryūko complied while sticking her tongue out at her boss.
"So, are we going to finally give the boys their surprise?"
Hisashi and Inko both looked at each other and nodded.
"Right, let's go to my office," said Inko, motioning everyone to follow her. "Everything should be set."
Izuku and Katsuki got up and started whispering about their surprise. When they arrived, the two boys saw a small stack of several wooden boxes in various sizes. Hisashi had the two boys stand in the middle of the office while Inko sat by her desk and Ryūko stood by the entrance, leaning against the doorway with her phone out.
"Okay, sorry it took a while, lads! But after everything, we are finally here!" Hisashi said in a light tone while motioning to Inko to get started.
"Boys, Hisashi and I had wanted to do something special for his fan club. And after several meetings, a few phone calls, and a few redesigns, we came up with these!" Inko said while she pulled out two boxes: the biggest among the stacks. Upon opening their boxes, their contents were revealed to be an order of knighthood. (*1)
Izuku's was a large, elegantly designed metal badge of Draco Knight's emblem: a sword with a dragon wing cross-guard pressed against the shape of a heater-shape shield. It was gold with silver-black accents and a matching sash and cape in the same color scheme as the emblem. Katsuki's badge was similar to Izuku's, except slightly less decorative, but carried all of the other features.
But unlike Izuku's, behind Katsuki's badge was a beautifully carved Number One.
"What do you think?" Hisashi excitedly waited in anticipation.
"What is it?" Izuku asked with a confused look, making Ryūko burst out with laughter.
"It's a medal, right?" Katsuki answered, though still a bit unsure.
Hisashi sighed while being forced to endure his cousin's laughter.
"Well, Katsuki is partly right," Hisashi said, kneeling down to the boys' level. When someone is knighted, they are inducted into a Knightly Order. Depending on the specific order, knights could gain ranks among their fellow sworn brothers. Each rank came with different badges of office.
"From the basic ribbon bar medals to the grand crosses," Hisashi tapped the large badges in each boy's hands; "you two have now."
Inko got up with some large pictures on hand. The boys could see the photos had people modeling with some of the prototype versions of the medals.
"We plan to host a contest for the Draco Knight fan club, and the top nineteen receive a box with their prize, which varies on their ranking in the contest," Inko explained further. "But these are going directly to you, and they're both one-of-a-kinds. Izuku's has no number, but you, Katsuki, get to be ranked first with the Grand Cross."
Katsuki grinned widely at his medal. While he admitted to being a bigger All Might fan, he was still a fan of his master, who went out of his way to personally train him. As expected, his son was his biggest fan, so Katsuki accepted this without issue.
"Why doesn't mine have a number?" Izuku sadly asked, his eyes downcast.
Hisashi smiled and patted his son on his head.
"Because yours, Izuku, is reserved for the Grandmaster: Leader of the Order. And maybe once you become a Pro-Hero and maybe even take over The Drake's Den, you can host your own contest and name the next new set of Knights of the Order."
Inko smiled but couldn't help but roll her eyes just a bit.
'He's such a nerd!' She screamed in her head before giving her husband a loving gaze. 'But he's my nerd.'
"Oh!" Ryūko exclaimed as she readied her phone's camera mode. "Izu and Kacchan, why don't you try them on?!"
"N-no!" Katsuki felt himself blush red again."It's cool like it is!"
"Aww... And here I thought it would look dashing on you~!"
"Damnit..." Katsuki growled out lightly, easily swayed by her request.
Hisashi was starting to lose it, surrendering to the laughter that spread into the room. As the boys began removing the gear from the boxes to try on, his thoughts turned to his biggest regret of that day: that he had still failed to apologize to his former friend. Today, he vowed to himself and proved that he would redouble his efforts to prove that he was sincere enough to make up with his friend and fix their relationship.
But it would all be for naught, as the following year would prove.
Author's Commentary
(*1) Orders of knighthood: For readers not familiar with orders of knighthood. These tend to be physical awards for individuals that have been knighted. Anyone from the commonwealth; or several countries in Europe that still features a monarchy may be more familiar with these kinds of institutions.
(However, a monarchy is not required for these awards to be issued.)
Examples included, but are not limited to.
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (United Kingdom)
The Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (Luxembourg and The Netherlands)
The Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
Almost every Knightly Order: features multiple ranks or grades. Each Rank that grades higher has a more ornate award.
Most orders range between three to five "Ranks."
However, there are plenty of exceptions.
0. Grandmaster (Often the head of state, such as a President of the Country; or someone within a Royal family. The President of France is the Grandmaster for the Legion of Honor is a common example.)
I. Grand Cross
II. Grand Officer
III. Commander (also known as Knight's Commander.)
IV. Knight Officer
V. Knight Member
However, even other awards unrelated to Knighthoods can feature this style of awards.
Examples here include the following.
The French National Order of the Legion of Honor. (With Five grades.)
The US Presidential Medal of Freedom. (With Two grades.)
And a rather unique US Military award inspired on the French Legion of Honor.
The Legion of Merit with four grades. (However, the latter three grades are exclusively reserved for foreign/non-US service members.)
This chapter was interesting for me as this was not a chapter found in the first version, but in the second version instead. Of course, while having some new/ or just some reworked details. It largely remained unchanged. I wanted to spend more time with Hisashi being a father and Pro-Hero. This was the aim of this chapter, so show a slice of the domestic life for a busy Pro-Hero. Training his son and an promising Apprentice, dealing with paperwork and other issues. I've always been a sucker for stories that tell the lives between the exciting bits.
To see the humanity of these larger than life people.
The next chapter is...a familiar chapter.
Chapter IV: Deceptions in the Shadows, returns with new details on Monday, April 1 2024. Along with the debut of the brand new prologue for Hisashi's prequel story, My Hero Academia Untold: The Black Dragon Knights will premier shortly afterward.)
I recommend reading the next chapter first, before reading the opening prequel chapter.
That covers everything for now, I'll see ya'll next time!
With love,
ZXEmeperor
PS: I had originally planned to write all of the notes in the style of a Helldiver's Democracy Officer, but found it would likely become a very dated reference in the future. Plus it was proving to be a pain in the ass. That being said, I am playing Helldivers 2 with my friends, but I also play in public games. So if you are playing Helldivers 2, we might even play together one day!