09/04/2024
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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 9 - Complications of the Quirk
While they were in different classes, Shouto had seen the look Momo gave him this morning. She knew he hadn't told anyone that his quirk was back and was disappointed, and so today, at homeroom, he'd asked Aizawa to wait after class.
The underground hero had given him a look that spoke volumes but had nodded. Now Shouto was disappointed in himself that he hadn't had the courage to just show his teacher this morning what had happened. Then things would be over with already.
The yellow caterpillar that was his homeroom teacher crawled into the room and Aizawa's face appeared at the opening of the sleeping bag. "What did you want, Todoroki?" he asked.
Shouto could hear a slight note of annoyance in his voice. He recognised the tone since his father used it often enough.
"I have something to tell you," Shouto said.
That seemed to gain Aizawa's interest. "You've made a decision about the special course?" the underground hero asked. All those who had their quirk taken - Bakugou, Kirishima, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, Iida and himself - had been given time to make a choice of if they remained in the Hero course, and try to become the first quirkless heroes, or if they would withdraw and go into General Studies, Support or Management. The Principal had made it clear he would make space in any of those courses for them.
Bakugou had announced he would continue in the hero course even before Nezu had finished explaining the options to them. The others had taken the time to think. Kirishima had decided to continue in heroics, though he admitted it would be far more difficult now. Iida stated that he had to maintain the family business, and so would continue in heroics. The three of them would participate in the special course Nezu had recently mentioned. Yaoyozoru had bowed to the pressure of her parents and accepted a place in the management course and Kaminari had decided to continue at UA but in General Studies. He was reliant on his quirk, and continuing as a hero, without it did not seem to be right for him.
Shouto was continuing in Heroics. He had no choice in the matter. While initially Endeavor had been angry, he had eventually dismissed the loss of his quirk as temporary. Izuku Midoriya would be captured, and forced to give it back and that would be that. It was sometimes interesting how like his father Bakugou was since that was his determination of the situation as well.
"Not, exactly Sir," Shouto replied before he shook his head. There was no easy way to say it, so instead he raised both hands and let a tongue of fire dance on his palm, while he formed a block of ice on his other.
It was fair to say that Aizawa had been expecting something far more mundane from the request by the way his eyes shot open. He scrambled to his feet as Shouto let his quirk fade.
For a few moments Aizawa just stared at him and then he sighed heavily. "Come with me," he ordered in a tone that brooked no disobedience. It was kind of impressive how quickly his homeroom teacher squirmed out of his sleeping bag and stalked out of the classroom.
Shouto followed compliantly. Now that he'd shown his homeroom teacher he had no choice but to go through with telling others. Aizawa didn't lead them to the Teacher's Lounge, instead he took them a level higher.
He'd never been in this area. It looked like a corporate setting but then Shouto realised it was probably where Nezu had his office. Having the Teacher's Lounge on the lower level meant that students had to go through there first so wouldn't come up here.
Aizawa led them to a door that didn't seem different from any other. He tapped on the door and then went straight in. Shouto followed and it was only once he entered the room that Shouto realised it had to be the Principal's office.
There was a coffee table and a couch at the entrance but behind that was a desk. Nezu was almost lost in the chair that was behind it. The window was behind him. Shouto noticed that one wall was covered in bookshelves, and the other was cupboards. He wondered briefly what was in them but recognised that thought was his mind trying to delay.
"Shouta!" Nezu greeted his teacher. "What brings you here?"
Shouto wasn't deceived. Somehow Nezu already knew why Aizawa had brought him here. Thankfully Aizawa didn't appear to want to play that game. "Principal," he greeted the rat with a formal nod.
Nezu seemed to take the hint and his eyes shifted to Shouto. It was a bit disconcerting being the object of his attention. "How did this happen?" he asked.
Shouto didn't shiver but it was a close thing. "He gave it back," he said unnecessarily.
"Why?"
"Someone paid him."
Nezu didn't look convinced. It didn't matter that he was not human, his expression was perfectly clear. "The Yaoyozoru's were offering quite a considerable sum for the return of Momo's quirk and they did not hear from Izuku Midoriya," Nezu said sceptically.
Shouto nodded. "They didn't pay cash."
At that, he heard Aizawa's exhale. "Start at the beginning," his homeroom teacher instructed.
"Yes," Nezu said before reaching out to touch something on his desk. "I believe Toshinori should hear this," he added.
From the corner of his eye, Shouto saw Aizawa nod even though it appeared slightly reluctant.
"Get some chairs," Nezu instructed and as Shouto watched as his homeroom teacher went to one of the cupboards and pulled out three chairs from storage. He set them in front of Nezu's desk and then settled himself into one. Shouto gingerly took another but just as he settled there was a knock on Nezu's door and All Might entered.
"Ah, Toshinori, thank you for coming so quickly."
Shouto was ashamed to admit it took him a moment to realise that Toshinori had to be All Might's civilian name. He'd never thought about it.
"It's about-" the Number One hero grimaced and looked curiously at Shouto.
"Start at the beginning, Todoroki," Nezu instructed, much the same as Aizawa had.
He nodded. "About a week after Izuku took our quirks, I got a message," Shouto started. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
"It said, if I wanted my quirk back, I should message that number."
He paused slightly, waiting to see if there were any questions. "Go on, Todoroki," All Might instructed.
"I thought it was scam but I messaged back anyway," he admitted, though it was obviously something they could have figured out. He opened the networks available and tapped to join the one that said Principal's office before he went the messages and flicked them on to the Principal's network. The Principal tapped something on his desk and Shouto saw his eyes flicker them but Nezu remained silent.
"They said they could make a deal with Dragon," Shouto continued.
"Dragon?" All Might asked. If Shouto didn't know better, he'd have said that the Number One hero didn't know who that was.
"I know that Izuku Midoriya is Dragon," he said softly.
"How did you find out?"
"I don't think that's the issue here," Aizawa interrupted before he could give any further explanation.
"Was the reference to Dragon how you knew the message might be real?" All Might altered his question.
Shouto nodded. "That's why I continued to message the person. I asked what the deal would cost me, and I expected to hear a response that said money, or information. Instead they told me I could determine the cost, after my quirk was returned."
"That's not a usual tactic of scammers," All Might noted.
"No, Sir," Shouto agreed. "They said they'd already convinced Dragon to give my quirk back, I just had to meet them," he continued.
"And you did?" All Might prompted.
"I did," Shouto said. "I didn't think it was real. I thought that they were just leading me on and that there was no way they'd meet me. That's why I didn't tell anyone about it."
"Who came to the meeting, Shouto?" Aizawa asked. There was no accusation in his tone, which was almost worse.
"There were two of them," he relayed. "Izuku was there, and someone else. I don't know who. He had his hood up. Izuku said he was there to confirm that he could give back quirks but I think he was one of the villains who's been attacking us."
All Might nodded and seemed to reach some internal conclusion. "How did he give back your quirk?" he asked.
Shouto frowned. What type of question was that? "What do you mean?" He asked, desperately hoping that he wouldn't have to admit that he'd asked for half his quirk back. The villain had been right about that. He only had one quirk and… Yeah, he'd been stupid.
"How did Izuku give back your quirk? Exactly?" All Might asked again.
"He took my hand and it was back," Shouto said. It had been a bit of an odd sensation feeling his quirk come back to him.
"So he had to touch you?"
Oh, now he understood. "Yes. It was the same as what happened when he took it, he had to touch me. The skin," Shouto clarified.
He got the impression that All Might wanted to say something then but was silent.
"Did you learn anything else, Todoroki?" Nezu asked.
He nodded. "I asked what the price was to get a quirk back."
That interested his teachers. It would no doubt interest the Yaoyorozu's as well, if Momo hadn't already told them. "Loyalty," Shouto told them. "He said it was loyalty," he elaborated.
All Might looked stricken. He was already pale and he shivered at the information.
"Anything else?" Nezu asked.
"There's one quirk he won't give back. I don't know who's," Shouto told him. "And, for at least one of the quirks, he will want something more than loyalty, though I don't know what."
The Principal nodded. "It sounds like you had a fruitful discussion," he noted. "Though, Todoroki, while I understand believing the message was a scam, I do not understand why you did not inform anyone as soon as you realised it was real."
It wasn't a question.
Shouto looked down. He'd asked himself the same question and the answers he came up with weren't satisfactory. "At first I was in shock. I didn't believe it would happen, and by the time I came out of that-" He shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "I didn't know how. It seemed so unfair that I got my quirk back while the others-" He couldn't bring himself to say it.
Because he was looking intently at his hands, Shouto missed the way Nezu looked at him before the Principal glanced at the others.
"We will have to verify this, but for now, please return home," Nezu instructed.
Shouto nodded and rose. He couldn't think of anything to say so he let himself out of the office. Once in the corridor he shivered. The motion had nothing to do with his cold side. The Principal hadn't said he'd done anything wrong but- Shouto couldn't help but wonder.
What would have happened if he'd just said no?
-ted-
Silence reigned in Nezu's office for several moments after the door had closed. The office was sound proofed, and Aizawa knew that Nezu personally swept it for bugs every few days, regardless of if he'd had anyone external to UA there or not.
"How do you want me to punish him?" Aizawa asked into the silence.
"Oh, we'll get to that," Nezu said. "That was interesting," he murmured.
"Interesting?" Aizawa replied testily. Shouto had deliberately held back information. There really was only one appropriate punishment and while he would be happy to expel Todoroki, he knew the message that would send to the world.
"Very interesting. The return of Shouto's quirk confirms that it is possible, and his observations suggest several scenarios."
"He's following in his father's footsteps," All Might said sadly.
"What do you mean?" Aizawa demanded sharply.
"All For One has long used the promise of quirks to gain loyalty. Izuku is just-" the Number One Hero shook his head. "He should realise that loyalty based on blackmail is not true loyalty."
"Yet apparently someone has decided to be loyal to him, in exchange for the return of Todoroki's quirk," Nezu said, sounding quite excited. "That tells us about the situation he's in," the Principal continued.
Aizawa sighed heavily. "What is it?" he asked. This was going to be a long night, he could feel it and he didn't want to deal with the mind games.
"He needs support," All Might murmured.
"Exactly," Nezu approved. "If he's having to buy support, then Tomura is probably in charge, and Izuku could be trying to break away, or create a faction within Tomura Shigaraki's group."
"That doesn't immediately help us," Toshinori noted, though Aizawa saw he was nodding.
"And I don't wish to rely on factional infighting," Nezu said.
Aizawa huffed. "But we should watch for it and encourage it," he observed. It was heroics 101. Divide and conquer. Especially when dealing with larger villain groups. There was always a weak point which could be exploited if you looked hard enough. The trick was finding it.
"There is a possibility that he gave Shouto's quirk back, just to create chaos," All Might suggested.
"Why Shouto's quirk?" Aizawa asked though he saw the expression on All Might's face and knew the Number One Hero was thinking of something else. From the faintly pleased look gracing the rat's features the Principal had already worked out what Yagi was thinking about.
"One of Tomura's villains has an interest in Shouto," All Might mused. "In his debrief, he reported that he was separated from Bakugou, at least for some time, and one of the villains spoke to him to get him to join. Though-" the Number One Hero frowned. "That doesn't make sense. If the villain has a particular hatred for Endeavor, why give back Shouto's quirk?"
Aizawa thought back to Shouto's debrief. The details All Might mentioned were correct. Todoroki had said that the villain named Dabi had a particular hatred for Endeavor.
"What is Dabi's quirk?" Nezu asked softly.
Aizawa hated that tone from the Principal. It said he had all the answers and they were just fumbling around behind him.
"Something to do with blue fire," he recalled from the training camp.
Nezu nodded. "While I don't want to make superficial associations based on similarity of quirks, given that villain's reported actions, there does appear to be some link to Endeavor, and to Todoroki."
"That doesn't explain why he'd organise to have Shouto's quirk given back," Aizawa objected, though he caught the implication that there was a good chance the unknown person with Izuku was Dabi. Of all the villains from that night, he was the one they knew the least about.
"To discredit Endeavor," All Might said softly, as if he was working it out. "We can have Todoroki questioned to ensure everything he's told us is the truth, and I already know it is, but the public won't necessarily believe it. Some will see Shouto as a traitor, and by extension they will wonder if Endeavor has-" he paused. "Connections," the Number One Hero finished.
"Which is what makes this so interesting!" Nezu practically cheered. "There's all of that, and what this might mean to the villains," he reminded them.
Aizawa stared at the rat. "While this is interesting Principal, it contributes to our larger issues," he observed.
Nezu at least had the grace to look slightly chagrined at that. "We will have to punish Todoroki of course," he said. "But not too much. We cannot further weaken public opinion in UA and Heroes in general," he said.
They were silent for a few moments, considering the problem. "We can't punish him for going to that meeting without telling anyone," All Might murmured. "Todoroki was right in that it looked like a scam," he noted.
"But we can punish him for not telling someone immediately after he got his quirk back," Aizawa said. "I doubt we would have caught Izuku but-" He didn't need to finish. They were now going to be looking bad for not knowing one of their students had another interaction with Izuku and for Todoroki putting himself in the situation where he could potentially be kidnapped again.
"True," Nezu said as he tapped one paw on his desk. "He will be held back from the Provisional License Exam and removed from work studies," he decided.
"That's all?" Aizawa was incredulous.
Nezu fixed one black eye on him. "While Todoroki is not the most social of our students, I believe the other students will informally punish him and if we enact further punishments then we risk upsetting the balance," he said.
He didn't want to admit it but Aizawa realised the Principal was correct. He sighed. "We will also need a plan to handle the media once this gets out, and someone to talk to the Yaoyozoru's," he laid out the other problems.
"We will," Nezu agreed and it appeared his excitement at the news had faded.
"We could announce the plan at the same time," Toshinori suggested. "It would help counter any negative publicity."
"It's not ready," Nezu objected.
The Number One Hero shook his head. "It doesn't need to be. Just the concept will be enough, and if we don't do it, then the Commission will," he added. He didn't need to say and they'd get the good will generated from the announcement.
It took Nezu a moment to realise the implications. "It will have to be worded carefully."
All Might nodded.
"Very well," the Principal agreed. "I'll write something tonight and-" He didn't finish.
"We will see what happens," Aizawa noted for them all.
"We will."
-ted-
I'm getting all the introductory stuff out of the way before our little Dragon meets with the Yakuza, because that is going to be a doozy.
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! Not just about MHA.
-ted-
Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!
