29/03/2025
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The Emperor's Dragon
Chapter 105 - Breakfast Meeting
After Twice went back to bed, Kurogiri appeared. He gave Izuku a once over before he nodded. "You'll do," he said and opened a warp gate.
"I'll do?" Izuku asked. Kurogiri had never said anything like that before.
"You are dressed appropriately," the warp gate told him. "Though, grab your jacket."
Izuku looked down at his clothes. He had a plain black t-shirt on, with black pants and a pair of shoes. While he usually wouldn't wear shoes in doors, given that he lived above a bar, which was a public space, it just made sense to wear them. Izuku hadn't even thought about it when he got up this morning.
His jacket was on a peg near the back door. Izuku grabbed it and put it on. He supposed adding the jacket made him look a little more formal. "Where am I going?" he asked as he approached Kurogiri.
"To breakfast," the misty man replied.
That kind of made sense. Dad had last night to catch up with Kurogiri and Gigantomachia. Izuku had wanted to see him, but he'd quickly realised he was better spending the time with the others. They needed him then, to reassure them that now that his dad was free, he wasn't going to abandon them. No one would have said it exactly like that. It was more subtle, but the thought would have been there.
When Izuku emerged from the warp gate he looked around. He was standing in an alleyway but could see a busy street at the end of it. Kurogiri formed behind him. "There is a cafe named Koukyu around the corner. It's in the Notlih hotel. Sensei will meet you there."
Izuku gave Kurogiri a look. The Notlih hotel was one of those establishments that if you looked at them wrong, they'd throw you out. You had to be worth your weight in gold to even get in the front door. It was not the type of place he'd been to. Kurogiri made a shooing motion before disappearing.
That left Izuku in the alleyway. He sighed. If dad said to meet him there, then dad would be there. Carefully, Izuku picked his way out of the alleyway. He was now aware of how fragrant it was and… he really didn't need to get any of that on him. Thankfully, Caeli Imperium, and the platforms he could make with it ensured he remained clean, but it was kind of amusing to know that such an upper-class facility was surrounded by an alley that illustrated the lower end of society.
Once out of the alley he shifted his jacket slightly and made sure he was somewhat presentable before he made his way to Notlih. It was very easy to find the hotel, and once in the front door - his attire earning him a bit of a look from the doorwoman who apparently decided he passed muster - there were some helpful signs that directed him to Koukyu. Then he had a new issue. What name would dad have used for the booking?
It wouldn't be Hisashi Riji. He'd gotten rid of that name… Ah, wait, his registered name was Fukahi Desuwa. There was an immaculately groomed staff member at the entrance. Izuku felt the man look him over, weighing up every piece of his clothing and calculating the worth. It was a bit disconcerting but also refreshing. Here, money bought you respect. Fame probably also helped. Not your quirk. Just good old-fashioned money.
It still wasn't right, but they at least didn't pretend they took into account anything else. "Young sir?" the man asked coldly. His tone made it clear that if he didn't like Izuku's answer then he'd find himself on the street post haste.
Izuku gave him a smile. "I believe there is a booking for Fukahi Desuwa?" he said confidently.
"Ah, yes. right this way, young sir," the man said, suddenly sounding a whole lot warmer. The man opened the red velvet divider and ushered Izuku into Koukyu. It was then Izuku realised that something was wrong.
The place was quiet. Way too quiet but that was quickly explained.
Koukyu was empty. 100%, absolutely empty. The tables were set with each setting placed precisely. The chairs were the perfect distance from the tables and there were fresh cut flowers at various intervals and the entire cafe was empty.
Izuku decided not to question it, but he was on alert. Carefully he looked around with Night Vision and Cat's Eye but there were no hidden heat signatures. There was an area behind a wall that was warmer which Izuku presumed was the kitchen and there was a single, but very faint heat signature behind another wall the staff member was leading him towards.
It was a private dining room. A quick sweep with Dragon's Hoard told him there were actually two people in that room and he knew both of them well.
When the man knocked and opened the door, Izuku gave him a gracious nod as he stepped into the room. The door was closed quietly behind him and Izuku gave his dad and Gigantomachia a grin.
His dad got up and reached out, taking his face. Izuku felt his thumbs rub over his cheek bones.
"What?" he asked.
"I missed seeing your freckles," his father replied, rubbing his thumbs again over his skin before releasing him. Izuku reached out to give his dad another hug.
He'd hugged him at Tartarus, but this was different. This was far more relaxed and Izuku let himself just enjoy the moment. His dad didn't seem to mind.
Eventually, Izuku had to pull back and dad indicated he should take a seat. The room was larger than he thought but seemed small with Gigantomachia's bulk crammed into it. Even so, Izuku could tell it was luxuriously appointed. The table was polished wood and there were two matching chairs. There was a silver tea set on the table with two cups. One was steaming.
His dad took that seat and Izuku took the other. He realised there was a second door to the room and liked the set up. Once you were in the room, no one had to come through the common door to serve you. And he was pretty sure that the hotel, and the cafe could arrange for you to come and go through the internal door if you wanted absolute privacy.
"I wanted to start taking you to places like this but-" his dad sighed expansively. Izuku recognised the act. His father meant his words, but he was being overly expressive.
"It's a bit ostentatious," Izuku pointed out. Even if, for some reason, the heroes found them right now, Izuku was confident of their ability to deal with it, but it would just be a meaningless fight.
His dad gave him a grin. "It is a test," he said.
From the tone Izuku knew he was now meant to tell his father what the test was about. He felt a moment of annoyance at that, but then realised his dad was probably wondering how to deal with him, just as much as he was wondering the same. Especially now that he'd made a choice. Just because he'd chosen to turn to what the world called villainy, didn't mean he would agree with everything his father did, and vice versa. And Izuku realised, he probably had limits his dad had crossed years, if not decades back. They both had to deal with the new reality.
"It's a test to determine how much they value your patronage," Izuku said, helping himself to tea.
His father nodded and as he took a sip, gestured for Izuku to continue.
For an instant Izuku wondered what else there was but then he realised he'd already, vaguely touched on the rest. "And if it's noticed, how well they explain things will tell you if they resent this or not."
His father grinned. "Exactly. You have grown a lot," he observed.
Izuku didn't know how to reply to that. He nodded.
"Were you angry?"
"About?"
"When you worked out what I do," his father's gold eyes were watching him intently, though he appeared calm. "I know you determined it before Kamino," he added.
Izuku thought about it for a moment. "Was I angry about the gentle narratives of my youth?" he rephrased the question.
"If you want to put it that way," his father allowed.
"Not really," he said, looking down at his tea. It was a beautiful amber but perfectly clear. He could see the bottom of the cup. "You could have made sure I saw everything the way you did but if you went that way then, it probably would have been easy for the heroes to convince me of their truth."
His father looked intrigued. "Because your experience would have been shallow?"
"Exactly," Izuku agreed. "This way, I got to see the truth. I got to see the way they acted, the way they say one thing, but mean another. The way that the system is reinforced and that if you don't comply, or even if you do, then it will discard you if that's the most expedient."
"I am both pleased and saddened to hear you say that. You've grown up so much."
"It hasn't been that long!" Izuku objected.
His father laughed. It hadn't been that long, but a lot had happened. His expression sobered. "I always meant to be there once you made a decision."
Izuku looked down at his hands. Obviously, his father hadn't been, couldn't be there and… "If you were, things would have been different," he said. It was a stupid statement. Maybe dad would have made it easier but… "And I think there were things I had to learn alone," he said slowly as he thought.
Silence permeated the little room for a few minutes before his father nodded. "Tell me everything," he instructed.
Izuku frowned. Surely Kurogiri would have told him everything last night.
"Kurogiri did tell me much," his father chuckled, almost reading his mind. Izuku knew that wasn't possible but sometimes… His dad was very good at reading him. "But he is not you. I want to hear it from you."
That made sense but Izuku wasn't sure what to start with. So much had gone wrong… and sure, in the end his dad was free and was healed but… Izuku could see exactly where he might have failed.
"I mucked up so much," he started.
His father sighed. "You refer to Tomura?" he asked.
"I know he was meant to be your body," Izuku said, and was surprised when his father laughed.
"I don't think I need him for that, anymore."
He gave a small smile. That was true. "But you must have had an original plan," Izuku objected. "One that now can't be enacted."
"You do know that Tomura Shigaraki was not his real name?" his father asked.
"Sort of," Izuku said. "I remember you asking if I minded not having the name Shigaraki," he mused. "And… heh, I just assumed that Tomura was his name and never thought about his surname."
"His true name was Tenko Shimura," his father told him.
"Which means nothing to me," Izuku replied.
"It makes more sense when you know that Nana Shimura was the previous holder of One For All."
"Tomura was her son?" Izuku asked. He wasn't sure what he felt about that. Obviously, his father felt strongly about it but he didn't know if he'd have gone after the child. But… maybe this was an example of a line his father had already crossed.
"Grandson," his dad corrected. "His family life was not happy. His father resented his mother and took it out on his family… and when Tenko's quirk came in-" Izuku watched his father shrug. "-It was messy."
"Messy?"
"He killed his family."
"Oh."
"As you can imagine, after that, he was shunned."
"Wouldn't All Might have taken him in?" Izuku asked. "It was an accident after all." There were always horror stories of kids who killed when their quirk came in. It was just one of the facts of life now.
At his question, his father chuckled. "Nana was a professional hero. She put her son up for adoption, to make sure he was safe from me. I only took Tomura in after watching him for 3 days where he was left on the street, and no one took him in."
Izuku stared at his father. "I thought you were dispensing with the gentler narrative."
At that, his father laughed. "I did not put him on the street," he reinforced. "But I did ensure no one took him in."
"You must have had a reason for that," Izuku pointed out, thankful that his father hadn't attempted to hide the truth.
"At first, I didn't really have a plan beyond the opportunity to hurt an enemy. Just knowing that I had Tenko would hurt All Might," his father explained. "The plan was always subject to change," he said, sitting back. "You know I initially thought that Tomura could be used to highlight the inefficiencies of the hero system while you and I capitalised on them."
"And then he didn't survive the revolution."
"A martyr… but things changed when I was injured. It took a little while to plan to use Tomura's body but, you have rendered it unnecessary."
"Only after I kill him," Izuku objected.
His father waved one hand to dismiss that. "Izuku. My dragon, I learned a long time not to worry about what might have beens. I deal with what is. And I am healed, out of Tartarus and Tomura is dead. I think I can adapt any plan around those facts."
When his father put it like that…
Izuku nodded.
"So, tell me what happened. I want to know everything," his father repeated his request.
"Okay," Izuku agreed. "UA was interesting, but they really have fixed views," he described the school.
"What do you mean?" his father asked. He was genuinely interested.
Izuku recalled the incident. "We were taught that most agencies have a manager. They weren't terribly impressed when I compared that manager to a pre-quirk sports manager. The sports manager managed athletes and the better they were, the more they got paid, and so did the manager. It's the same with heroes."
His father gave him a look and then burst out laughing. It was an amused laugh. "Oh, my Dragon! I would have given a great deal to see your teacher at that time."
"It's true though."
"Oh, yes, it is. I never thought of them like that, but I like it. Though-"
"I didn't realise it then," Izuku continued. He thought he knew what his father was going to say, "but looking back, it's obvious how close minded they were."
"Indeed."
"Things were okay. But it was so hard watching you at Kamino."
"I had too, my Dragon. You know why I had too," his father told him sombrely.
"I know," Izuku told his dad. "Tomura had All For One. But I warned Tomura that if he ever put you in danger, if he ever hurt you, I'd kill him."
That seemed to surprise his father. "You did?"
"Several times," Izuku said forcefully. He held up one hand, knowing that his father would be worried that had been the trigger for his decision. "It wasn't that which made up my mind. After your fight… No one blamed All Might for anything. It was all your fault but… UA needed a scapegoat."
"Oh," his father breathed the word, already anticipating the outcome.
"They expelled Ochaco. Officially because she knew about the student's rescue attempt and didn't tell anyone but… unofficially because Himiko didn't hurt her at that camp."
"Himiko didn't?"
"Because Ochaco has one of my scales, and Himiko saw it."
"Himiko is a very good friend."
"She is," Izuku agreed, already sensing that his father was probing for additional information. "Why didn't you send me to ask for her quirk?" he asked.
"It was a test for Tomura," his father told him much the same reason as Kurogiri had. "To see how well he could convince, what should have been a relatively soft target, to agree with him. And at no point did I ever order him not to mention you," his dad said. "Mentioning you was a perfectly valid tactic for getting Himiko to agree."
"Except she thought Tomura was a creepy old man," Izuku chuckled. He could laugh about it now.
"Apparently. Though, my Dragon, you do realise, if UA had been half as smart as they believe they are, then they could have very easily used you to get to me, or some other outcome."
Izuku thought about that for a moment and the method became obvious. "If they didn't expel Ochaco they could have used her to observe me or something."
"Yes. By then they had to know that the villain behind the scales wasn't me, but they didn't… Oh, I'm sure some of them wanted to. Nezu is somewhat intelligent. For a rat."
He chuckled at that. "So, politics got involved?"
His father nodded.
"Well, they expelled her, and I was already angry. As you can imagine, this didn't help."
"No."
"I know I was being emotional," Izuku told his father. He was aware he had to be more reasonable. He couldn't let his emotions blind him the way they had in the past. "I was just so angry."
"And when you are angry, you lash out."
How did his father know that?
"I never gave you much to be angry about, my Dragon, but I do know that," his father laughed.
Izuku nodded. "I would have been angry if they expelled Ochaco along with everyone else who knew about the rescue mission. But that would have been equal punishment, especially if they'd punished the rescue team. But they didn't. They just punished Ochaco for something she didn't even know about."
"Do you blame Himiko?"
The question was interesting and for a moment Izuku was confused as to why his father was asking. Then he realised it was actually logical. In some ways, he could have blamed Himiko because she didn't hurt Och- Wait, that made no sense. "Of course not," Izuku shook his head. "She recognised my scale and acted exactly the way I'd have wanted her to. Obviously, someone saw that but… The people to blame here are the heroes who acted so irrationally and illogically."
"Very good!" His father praised. "You shouldn't blame your people when they behave the way you want them to, even if there are unintended consequences."
"Of course not! But I can blame the morons who cause the unintended consequences," Izuku retorted.
It was slightly odd, talking to his father like this. He couldn't remember his dad being so open before. There'd always been a kind of guarded distance between them that Izuku recognised only now that it was gone. He wondered what the change was and then realised it was simple.
He'd made his choice.
He'd decided that his dad was right. Maybe not about everything but about enough. And now that his father knew that he would back him, that he would stand beside him, he was about to openly share his plans. He was able to discuss things that others wouldn't understand.
His father was treating him as an adult now. One who'd made choices and plans and was willing to live by the consequences of his actions.
It made Izuku feel… There was a certain sadness, at leaving the safety of childhood behind, of knowing that if he made a mistake, his father would be there to correct it. But there was a deeper sense of satisfaction in knowing that his father no longer viewed him as a child. That his father would listen to his suggestions and consider them and that his father would offer him his own suggestions and guidance, knowing that he could work them into his plan.
It was an odd feeling.
He liked it.
-ted-
Time for a long father and son talk. Next chapter is AFO's view on the discussion. I think the important thing out of this is Izuku knowing his dad has crossed way more lines than him and they will have to work out how to negotiate that in future. For AFO though, the discovery that his son just doesn't make the same people mistakes as he did is an interesting realisation.
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-
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