Chapter 10: Unexpected Confirmation
Inko watched as the students piled out of the school gates. It was Katsuki's first day of school and Mitsuki had asked her to pick him up. She knew what her friend was doing. Mitsuki was trying to help her get back to normal. Since never mentioning Izuku hadn't worked, Mitsuki had decided that having Inko help take care of Katsuki might do the trick.
It tore into Inko's heart but she couldn't deny that there was a part of her which enjoyed this. It hurt so much to see what Izuku should be experiencing. What he was experiencing, because Inko refused to believe he was dead.
Hisashi had taken him and despite all the rumours of human experimentation on quirkless people, Inko knew they were simply horror stories. They were made up to scare children. Besides, Hisashi loved Izuku.
It didn't make knowing that he'd taken her son any less hurtful but it was some small comfort.
Her eyes were dry as she spotted Katsuki. She had cried so much over the last few months and she just couldn't cry any more. He was carrying a small yellow backpack and Inko thought it was one from the All Might range. Izuku loved All Might and Katsuki shared that fandom. It was something they'd bonded over.
"Aunty Inko!" He called as he came over.
Inko forced herself to smile at him. He looked so cheerful. "How was your day, Katsuki?"
He gave her a look as if he couldn't believe she was asking. Inko knew what Mitsuki would be saying to it but she waited for him to reply. "It was fine."
"Was everyone nice?" she pressed.
"There're a bunch of extras," he proclaimed.
Inko blinked. She didn't know where he got that opinion. "Did you make any friends?" She asked as they walked down the road, heading back towards his house.
Again, Katsuki gave her a disbelieving look. "They're all extras!" he declared again.
Inko said nothing. She hoped Katsuki would make some friends and while it pained her to know that her friend's son was so difficult, it was nothing against the pain she felt. Izuku should have been coming out of that gate. He should have been skipping beside Katsuki, chattering excitedly about his day. She was sure that somewhere, out there, he had to be doing that but she wouldn't see it.
Inko walked Katsuki home but the entire way, her heart bled for her boy, who wasn't there.
-ted-
"Izuku, how was your first day of school?" Hisashi asked.
He was somewhat surprised when Izuku didn't immediately gush at him.
"Did something go wrong?"
"No, everything was fine. It was okay."
All For One was surprised. Izuku was lying to him. That had never happened before. "Izuku?" He said his son's name, putting as much support into the single word as he could.
"Some of the kids weren't very nice," Izuku finally admitted.
For a moment, Hisashi saw red, then he calmed down. Izuku was five. His definition of not very nice was not the same as Izuku's. "What happened?" He asked.
"What's a sympathiser?" Izuku countered.
Hisashi blinked. "A sympathiser? Did someone call you that? What were you sympathising with?"
"I just asked a few questions about quirkless people," his son revealed.
"What did you ask?"
"Doctor Garaki says that twenty percent of the population is quirkless. Therefore, there should be a quirkless person in my class and there isn't. I wanted to know why."
"What did they tell you?"
"They said there was a special class for the quirkless kids," Izuku told him.
All For One was surprised. And if he was honest with himself, and he had learned long ago that you could lie to others but there was no purpose in lying to yourself, he could see the irony. There were calls when he was young to separate the quirked from the normals, now everything appeared to have come full circle.
But he liked to think he had grown in the last two centuries. Segregation was not useful, and if Doctor Garaki was to be believed, it was actually dangerous and could be contributing to the extinction of the human species.
That was a problem for another day.
"Did that disturb you?" He asked.
Izuku looked uncomfortable so All For One took that as a yes. "You can still be their friends," he told his son.
"Then the other kids won't like me!" Izuku immediately said.
That set alarm bells off in Hisashi's head and he looked sharply at his son. Was one cheek slightly more red than the other? He couldn't tell in this light.
"And they said they didn't want help."
Ah, Hisashi understood more now. "Izuku," he said sadly.
That got his son's attention. Green eyes fixed on him. "People are cruel, Izuku. Everything you see happening now is repeated in adults." He held up one hand, sensing that Izuku wanted to object. "There is kindness," All For One explained. "There are those you can trust, and those you can love, but for every kindness, there is cruelty."
Izuku looked up at him with watery green eyes and Hisashi moved, scooping up his son and holding him tight. "There are those you can trust Izuku. Family is one you can trust. Family will not betray you." It was dangerous saying that. Izuku would remember Inko and perhaps wonder why he wasn't meant to trust her. He remembered his brother and automatically suppressed the stab of pain. His son would not betray him. Izuku cried against his chest, while Hisashi stroked his back.
Eventually his son pulled back, sniffing. "I don't know what to do," Izuku said.
Hisashi took a deep breath. While Izuku was only five, and he knew that in the large scheme of things, whatever Izuku did was not that important, but to Izuku, it was vitally important. "You must do what you think is best," he told his son. "But, you must also respect another's choice," he added. He always respected others choices, even when they made a choice against him. Then he made sure they regretted that choice, but he did respect it. "And surely you made at least one friend?" He asked.
That did the trick. Izuku smiled. "I made a friend," he confirmed. "Her name is Ochaco," he added.
"Tell me all about her," he instructed as he committed the name to memory and would find out more about this girl. If she was not appropriate, then, well, he was working on removing Izuku's attachment to Inko, one girl child would hardly be a problem.
"She's got brown eyes and light brown hair," Izuku began with a physical description.
Hisashi nodded and let Izuku continue as he thought about other things, specifically the segregation of the quirkless children. There would not be enough of them to create a full class of one year level, so there would be composite classes. But beyond that, Garaki sometimes needed a quirkless person for his experiments and they were so hard to find. If this school was segregating them, then while this was an Elementary School, he'd have to find out if there was an associated Junior High School that continued the practice. That would give the Doctor someone who was 14, which was old enough. He'd have a word with the school about that, and their anti-bullying policies while he was at it. He was sure they'd understand.
Izuku's discovery might distress him but it could prove to be useful. You really did find opportunities in the most unusual places.
His son looked up at him and Hisashi nodded. It seemed to be the most appropriate response because Izuku gave him a blindingly bright smile and for the moment, all was well with the world.
-ted-
"Kurogiri, what is this?" Izuku asked, holding up a small electronic device. He'd found the device on the table when he'd come into the back room to do his homework. He thought he'd seen it before, but it had been firmly in Tomura's gloved hands. And Tomura only wore the gloves now when he wanted to protect things.
The bartender had come into the back room for something. He glanced over. "I believe that is a Tinnendo Stitchmate, XL Lite," he said.
"Did Tomura leave it here by accident?"
"I am uncertain."
"Could you ask him please?" Izuku carefully put the device down. If Tomura had accidentally left it back here, then he wouldn't want Izuku touching it.
Kurogiri nodded and then returned to the front bar.
A few moments later Izuku looked up again as Tomura walked in.
"I haven't touched it," he said.
"Why not?" the older boy asked.
Izuku blinked. Was that a serious question? He hadn't touched it because it was Tomura's! "It's yours," he said.
Tomura sat on the other side of the table. Izuku just watched as he settled. Tomura had a hand on each arm and two on his neck. There was also one on the back of his head but he didn't have one covering his face. "I left it here for you," he said, lifting one hand to scratch at his neck.
The green haired boy just watched. Izuku was confused. Tomura had never let him play anything before. What had changed? "Why?" Inwardly Izuku winced. He hadn't meant to sound that accusative.
The other boy glared. Yep, he'd heard the tone. "If you want to be a hero, then you might as well learn the difference between a NPC and a proper hero," he spat. He stood and made to leave. "This is what I get for trying to be n-"
"Tomura," Izuku called before the other boy left. "Thank you," he added, when the older boy paused at the door.
The grey haired boy said nothing but he didn't resume his muttering as he went back into the bar.
Izuku looked over at the Stitchmate and smiled. He knew his dad wanted him to get along with Tomura. Maybe they could.
-ted-
The leaves were turning on the trees and the school had placed tarpaulins under them, much like they did in the spring. Izuku came out of the school building and looked around.
"Over here!"
He heard Ochaco call and he grinned at her when he saw that she had claimed a place for lunch. There were two others sitting with her. Izuku recognised Kazue and Minato. They were both in the other first year class and while they were good friends, he felt closer to Ochaco. He hurried over and sat down, unpacking the bento Kurogiri always packed him.
"You're so lucky, Izuku!" Minato said.
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.
"Your mum makes your lunch every day," the other boy explained.
Izuku shook his head. "Kurogiri makes my lunch," he said.
"Who's Kurogiri?" Kazue asked.
"He works for my dad," Izuku shrugged. He'd never really thought about it. Kurogiri made his lunch and made sure he got to school but he did that because Dad told him to.
"Is he your nannie?"
"He's a barman."
"Izuku, do you not live with your parents?" Ochaco asked. He could tell she was struggling to work out his living arrangements.
For a moment Izuku was confused by the question but then he realised they've never really discussed living arrangements. "I live with my dad," he explained. Kurogiri's bar was on the ground floor and Izuku had a room upstairs, which was down the corridor from his dad's room. He knew his Dad's office was in the building above.
"Where's your mother?" The question came from Minato.
"We don't live with her."
"Oh, kind of like my cousin," Kazue chirped. "Her parents are divorced, but she lives with her mother," she explained.
"Something like that," Izuku agreed. He didn't want to talk about Mummy.
Ochaco gave him an odd look. "So you live with your dad, but Kurogiri makes your lunch?"
"He's better at it," he told them with a grin. His dad could cook because occasionally he made breakfast, but Kurogiri was much better at it. Dad preferred to go to restaurants.
"Izuku, did your dad leave your mum because of Kurogiri?" Minato asked.
The green haired boy frowned. "What do you mean?" He asked.
The others looked at him.
"It's okay if you have two dads," Ochaco said.
Izuku shook his head emphatically. "No. Kurogiri isn't my dad," he objected. "He's not even Tomura's dad, even though he takes care of him."
That earned him another look.
"Who's Tomura?"
He thought about that. Izuku knew that Tomura wasn't related to his dad or to Kurogiri but he was someone that his dad took care of as well. Except, it was mostly Kurogiri who took care of Tomura, and while Kurogiri took care of him as well, Dad made sure that he saw Izuku almost every day. He didn't see Tomura that much. "Tomura is …" Izuku wasn't sure how to finish that.
"His son?"
"No," he knew that for certain.
"A relative?" Ochaco suggested.
"No, I don't think so."
"Has Kurogiri adopted Tomura?"
"Maybe," Izuku replied. He didn't know. He could feel tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He just didn't know.
"It's okay!" Ochaco interrupted before Minato could ask another question. "It's okay, Izuku." She said soothingly, reaching out to pat his shoulder.
"Yeah! It's okay Izuku," Kazue confirmed. "It doesn't matter if your dad is living with another man."
"He's not!" Izuku objected.
"It doesn't matter if your mum isn't around," Minato said quickly as he finally realised they were trying to comfort him.
"Yeah, it happens!" Kazue said. "At day-care, Hinata didn't live with her mum."
"Why not?" Izuku asked.
"Because she hurt her," Kazue whispered.
Izuku wanted to say that his mum hadn't hurt him but daddy said that she would. He swallowed hard and he felt a weight he hadn't even been aware of lifting. It happened to others. Daddy had been protecting him when they left. He felt better for knowing that for sure. It wasn't that he hadn't believed Daddy, but there had always been a tiny bit of doubt. If it happened to others then maybe it wasn't alone. Tears fell from his eyes.
"Izuku! There's no need to cry," Ochaco said urgently. She was used to him crying but Izuku could tell she was confused.
"I'm happy," he said. "I'm happy!" But he didn't want to explain why.
She chuckled, accepting his assertion. "You are such a cry baby," she said fondly.
"But his quirk makes him like a dragon," Minato countered.
"So he's a baby dragon!" Kazue said.
"A little dragon," Ochaco grinned. "So, Little Dragon, stop crying," she told Izuku.
He looked up at her, tears drying.
She laughed at his expression. "Yeah, I'm going to call you that from now," Ochaco announced.
"Why?" Izuku asked.
"Because it suits you! You are a little dragon and it's your name from now."
"So Kurogiri works for your dad?" Minato interrupted dragging the conversation back to something Izuku had just mentioned.
"Yep."
"What does your dad do?"
At that, Izuku frowned. He wasn't entirely sure, he knew his dad worked in an office, but he didn't know exactly what he did. "He's an office worker," he explained.
"My parents run a construction company," Ochaco said.
"My dad's a salaryman," Kazue said.
"And my mum's a lawyer," Minato said.
All four of them nodded, and lunch went on with Izuku smiling and laughing with his friends as they ate and the leaves fell around them.
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Jade_Tatsu_1688
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