2

Summary:

Hisashi has a talk with his father, while Izuku has a play date with his best friend.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Hisashi quietly closed Izuku's door behind him and walked slowly down the hallway to the kitchen, where Inko was beginning to prepare lunch. Seeing him enter, she put the food aside and went to greet him. Her smile quickly fell as she saw the worried look on her husband's face.

"What's wrong? Did Izuku hurt himself?" She was a natural worrier.

"No, nothing like that. Our boy did great, in fact." A small smile broke through his worry as he recalled the event. He pulled out a stool and sat down at the counter. "I was so proud of him, you would have been too. I'm sure once he wakes up, he'll want to show you."

"Then what has you so worried?" She sat down next to him at the kitchen counter.

"His scales, Inko. They weren't bronze. They weren't gold or silver or anything metallic." He looked up at her with a strained expression. "They were green. Chromatic."

Inko didn't fully understand everything related to the dragon quirk, but she knew that Hisashi had told her that chromatic dragons were bad news. "I've never heard of a green dragon in your family. What should we do?"

"I don't know." Hisashi leaned back in his chair. "Izuku is a good boy, we know that. He's kind and caring and the most precious thing in our lives." He looked like he was arguing in his head. "I need to go talk to dad."

Inko put a hand on his shoulder. "Do what you need to do. I'll start making lunch." She smiled softly.

Hisashi smiled back wearily, before standing up, giving her a kiss on the forehead and leaving as quickly as he came. He walked out of the kitchen and downstairs, into the basement, towards to the large metal vault door in the wall. After he entered a code, a fingerprint scan, a retinal scan and a blood sample, the vault hissed open.

He slowly walked to the back of the vault, past display cases full of gems, ancient coins and priceless artifacts. Well, not that priceless. Hisashi had bought them, after all. Behind a further vault door, opened by him charging the lock with a small puff of his lightning breath, sat an ornate shrine, honoring and remembering his ancestors. He walked into the sub-vault and knelt in front of the shrine. There were statues and other tokens of respect, but one in particular was the subject of his visit. Sitting in a place of honor was an intricate and exquisite statue of a bronze dragon. It stood about six inches tall and could have been mistaken for Hisashi if the markings weren't slightly different. The base of the statue read 'Gaku Midoriya'.

"Hey, dad." Hisashi said somberly to the statue of the Bronze Dragon Hero, Thunderwing. His father had died, no, had been killed , years ago, before he had met Inko. He'd died a hero, protecting a small country village from Terrorflame. His sacrifice had allowed the villagers to escape from the red dragon, and the town still honored his father on the anniversary of the attack.

He remembered the heartbreak he'd felt that day. Hisashi had been back home, celebrating his brother Hatsuo's graduation from UA. His father got a call that Terrorflame had been spotted in the countryside nearby. Gaku was the only hero in the area capable of handling a threat like the red dragon. His father simply told his family that there was an emergency and left without saying goodbye. He was a severe man; he cared, but was never much one for sentimentality. Hasashi didn't think his brother ever forgave him for never coming back.

They hadn't heard from their father for a couple hours, but the news was reporting that Terrorflame had been turned back. They both flew off towards the village and found it a smoldering wreck. Hisashi checked to make sure that there were no victims still in danger, while Hatsuo had made a beeline straight for the ravaged battlefield that used to be the rice paddies in front of the village.

Minutes later, Hisashi had found Hatsuo crying next to the lifeless body of their father. Hisashi had learned basic forensics and crime scene procedure, but never thought that he would have to use them like this. It appeared that he had lived for a while after the battle ended. Judging from the marks in the ground and the pooled blood, his father had dragged himself along the ground and propped himself up, leaning on a rock. He'd bled out there, but not before pulling out a picture of his family, which was clutched in his cold hand, covered in burns and blood...and the wetness of tears.

Hisashi had visited the town again, a few months before Izuku was born; he wanted to make peace with what had happened before his son came into the world. The people there still honored his father, and they were more than kind to him. They had even erected a small statue in his honor. Once they found out who he was, they threw him a spontaneous feast. He talked and laughed with the people, forgetting his sorrow thanks to their generosity. Getting to know the people who would not be alive if not for his father had helped him gain closure.

Hatsuo, however, was never the same after that day. It was only a few days after the funeral when he left to take a sidekick offer on the other side of Japan. He had mostly disconnected from Hisashi, they only spoke once or twice a year. Hisashi had tried many a time to reach out and connect more with his brother, but he was always rebuffed. Excuses of work and obligations always kept him at an arm's length. Hisashi knew how Inko felt when he gave her excuses about why he couldn't come home more.

"Dad, I'm worried about what you told me all those years ago. I'm worried about what it means for my son."

Hisashi thought back to a summer day twenty years ago, not too different than the current day, when he was 11 years old. His father had been sitting next to Hisashi, the two of them resting after a training session on the beach near their home. Thunderwing was never as well known as Stormclaw was, but he was still a great hero, and Hisashi's idol.

"I always thought that Izuku would follow in my footsteps, and I could follow in yours. I would teach him as you taught me. I know he idolizes me like I idolized you, but he isn't like me. He isn't like you."

"Hisashi," his father had said to him, seriousness in his tone. "I'm going to be going on a mission tomorrow. It's dangerous, but nobody is better equipped to handle it than me." The boy looked up at his father. "I'll be going after one of my cousins. She's embraced her destiny and started using our family's quirk for villainy."

"Her destiny?" Hisashi asked quietly.

"She's named herself Fulgurite. She was 'gifted' with the full manifestation of the dragon quirk, in her case, as a blue dragon. She wields lightning, same as us."

"What makes a blue dragon different than us?" Hisashi thought that only bronze dragons could breathe lightning.

"Blue dragons are chromatic." Hisashi didn't know what that word meant. Seeing his confusion, Gaku explained. "There are ten types of dragons we have seen since the family quirk manifested with my grandfather. My father identified and separated them into two categories: chromatic and metallic. You and I manifested the dragon quirk as metallic dragons. Amongst the metallic subtypes we have seen, there is brass, bronze, copper, gold and silver. The chromatic subtype manifests as black, blue, green, red and white. In simpler terms, we are named for metals, them for colors. At first it might seem arbitrary, but there is a very good reason for it."

Hisashi didn't dare to interrupt his father when he was talking. "Every type of dragon type is different, of course, but my father saw the primary difference between metallics and chromatics. During his lifetime, his theory was just that: a theory. But in my life, in my time being a hero... I've confirmed it. Metallic dragons are naturally disposed towards what society considers justice and goodness. Chromatic dragons are evil. Their quirks twist their minds and emotions, taking them down a dark path. Some resist their destiny, but it's inevitable. All chromatic dragons are villains in the making. Remember that, Hisashi."

"I know what you said, and I will never forget how you died, father." Hisashi's shoulders dropped. "But I cannot believe that it's my son's destiny to be a villain." He placed his forehead on the ground, prostrating himself before his father's statue, small tears falling from his eyes. "I've come here to ask for your forgiveness."

"I am going to teach my son. He will be a great hero and defy the destiny you placed on his shoulders. I swear this."

About 45 minutes later, Inko heard the vault door closing downstairs, signaling that her husband had finished his talk with his father. She kept preparing the katsudon, a special surprise for Izuku when he woke up, to celebrate his success. Hisashi came back into the kitchen and slumped down in the same chair as earlier. He still looked stressed, but there was no longer an air of defeat about him.

"Feeling better?" Inko asked gently.

"I am. I've decided that nothing will prevent Izuku from becoming a hero, especially not me." Hisashi had the same determined look on his face that Izuku often did. "I will train our son and continue teaching him how to be a good person and a great hero."

Inko chuckled slightly. "You must have had a good talk. It's been years since I've seen you fired up like this."

"It's been a… stressful day." He chuckled a bit too. "And it's barely even noon. What I'm most worried about now is how the others might react. Especially Hatsuo."

"He's barely spoken to you in years. If he wants to sever all ties with you because of Izuku, then I say let him go." Inko said sternly. "Our son is more important than that and deserves to have people around him who will support him."

"He's not your brother, Inko." Hisashi said, a little incensed. "Saori and I are determined to patch our relationship with him. We can't give up; it would disgrace our father."

"You're right. Sorry, dear." Inko quickly apologized.

"No, no, it's fine. I understand. I agree with you; Izuku is our top priority." Hisashi assured his wife. "We should discuss how we want to move forward."

"Izuku will find out soon enough that he's chromatic. We can't exactly hide it from him." Inko stepped through the door as it closed behind her. "He might not understand what it means; there haven't been any high-profile green dragons in your family, at least as far as I know. We should encourage him to talk to us about it, to ask us questions."

"Agreed." Hisashi was too focused to even appreciate the heavenly smell coming from Inko's cooking. "There haven't been any green dragons around recently that I know of, which is ironic, considering our name." He let out a single, airy laugh. "It's important to keep him socialized. You've been doing a wonderful job organizing those play dates, although with him entering preschool, there won't be as much time for that."

"Oh!" Inko just remembered. "Speaking of play dates, Katsuki is coming over at 1."

Hisashi smiled and hummed in approval, absentmindedly staring at a spot on the counter as he kept thinking. A silence hung over the kitchen for a minute or two, but he could feel a tension in the air that was growing steadily. The source became clear as his wife broke the silence.

"If we want to raise him as best we can, his father needs to be home more often." Inko said, a degree of bitterness in her voice as she continued to prepare lunch, not looking up. "He needs you to train his quirk and to be a positive role model in his life. You're his father and his favorite hero."

His shoulders slumped a bit. "I… you're right. Especially now. I've considered moving my agency here so many times since Izuku was born, but I never made the leap. I'll start the paperwork as soon as possible."

She looked up stunned, and briefly entertained the possibility that she was dreaming. "After all these years?"

"Yes." He sounded regretful. "I should have moved the agency when Izuku was born, but I felt too useful where I am now. I'm out of excuses, and my son needs me more than ever. I'll have less work, but we have enough in reserve that I could retire tomorrow and we would be comfortable for several lifetimes."

"Oh, Hisashi, that's great news!" The shorter woman ran around the counter and quickly threw her arms around his waist. "Izuku will be so happy." She gave him a great squeeze before letting go and ran back to the food she was preparing. "Lunch is almost ready. You should go wake him up."

Hisashi peeked into his son's room and saw the boy stirring slightly. He pushed the door open and walked over to the bed. He got down on one knee and rubbed his son's mop of messy hair. Slowly, Izuku's eyes opened a tiny amount. He took a deep breath and stretched his arms and legs out. "Mmm…." He said sleepily. "Katsudon…"

"That's right, your mom made you your favorite meal to celebrate your first transformation." Hisashi said softly, coaxing the boy out of his sleep. "Don't you want to show her?"

Izuku's eyes snapped open immediately. He threw his covers off and jumped out of bed. He ran out of his room and down the hallway, yelling "Mom! Mom!", leaving his chuckling father in his dust.

Hisashi made his way back to the kitchen as Izuku was telling his mother all about their time on the beach. He was talking so fast that he was worried his son was going to pass out from a lack of oxygen. He managed to get him to take a breath by interrupting him. "Aren't you gonna show your mom what you learned today?"

"I was getting to that, dad!" Izuku huffed. "You have to set up a story to make it good! You can't just skip straight to the end!"

Both of his parents laughed out loud. "I apologize, storyteller," Hisashi said through his big grin. "Don't let me stop you, then."

"And then when we got back to land, I asked dad to teach me how to make a claw! He told me to reach inside and grab the weird feeling in me and pull it out, so I tried but it was really hard, but then I got it!" Inko was half-worried her son was going to actually start bouncing off the walls. "Only a little bit at first, but then dad told me to try it again! It was easier that time, and I made my hand into a claw!" Izuku raised his hand up.

"Like this!" His hand grew a patch of scales, quickly growing until his entire hand was covered. It was slightly elongated and enlarged, with dark claws on his fingertips. He held up his claw proudly. Inko saw the dark green scales, but she didn't react like Hisashi had. His mother just kept smiling at him, pride and joy swelling in her heart. He quickly let the transformation end, not wanting to tire himself out again.

"I'm so proud of you, Izuku. You're going to be a great hero, just like your father." Inko smiled warmly.

"No, he'll be even better." Hisashi ruffled his son's hair again, causing the boy's smile to widen further. "I actually have another surprise for you, son." He looked down at the big, green eyes staring at him in wonder. "Your mom and I have been talking...and I'll be moving my agency nearby. I'll be home almost every day once it gets finalized."

If any more excitement was dumped on Izuku that day, he might have actually exploded. The boy let out a loud "Woah! Really!?!" and threw his arms around his dad's legs. The boy barely came up to his father's waist. Tears of happiness were pouring from his eyes.

"Yes, really." Hisashi clamped his hand on his son's back, returning the hug. "Now, eat up, son. You don't want your mother's hard work to get cold.

After inhaling his food in a way that Inko usually only saw Hisashi do after a particularly tough day of work, her son was asking for seconds, and then thirds. The woman wasn't exactly sure where he was keeping all that food, but she figured it had to do with how exhausted the boy was. Before Izuku could ask for a fourth serving, the door rang.

"I'll get it!" The boy was streaking across the kitchen towards the front door before his parents could react. He skidded to a stop in front of the door and flung it open. "Auntie!" Izuku beamed up as Mitsuki Bakugou looked down at him.

"Heya, kiddo." She ruffled his hair. Why did people like doing that so much?

Katsuki stepped out from behind her, his confident smile on his face. Red eyes met green as Izuku smiled. "Kacchan!" Mitsuki smiled at the excitable boy. He had been calling her son that since he could talk. His quirk caused some unusual tooth growth, and he had kept biting his tongue whenever he tried to say 'Katsuki'. She figured he would have figured out the teething situation by now, but maybe Izuku just liked the nickname.

"Hey, Izuku." Katsuki responded. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, come on!" He gestured to the boy to come inside. He ran through the house to the backdoor, Katsuki on his heels. "I got something I wanna show you!"

"No running in the house!" Inko called after the boys, but they were too far gone to listen. She had come to the door to properly greet her high school friend. "Come on in, Mitsuki. I'll put some tea on."

The two boys ran outside to play on the beach. They ran around and climbed up the rocks around the beach, laughing and competing to see who could run the fastest and jump the farthest. Katsuki was naturally competitive and his drive was contagious, stoking that same drive in Izuku.

"Come on, Izuku!" Katsuki yelled behind him. "How are you gonna be a hero if you can't keep up!" Izuku put a determined look on his face and started to catch up, causing Katsuki to try harder too. Eventually the two boys collapsed into the sand right in view of the house, panting.

"You're slower than usual. What's up?" Katsuki was an observant one, just as quick-witted as Izuku.

"I've actually already ran around a lot today…" Izuku paused for dramatic effect. "And I learned how to do something new with my quirk!"

Katsuki's eyes got an excited glint in them upon hearing those words. "Oh yeah, you said you had something to show me, right? Don't keep me waiting!"

Izuku concentrated on his hand and held it up so Kacchan could see him. The scales were easier to pull on every time he tried, and they quickly formed along his hand. The blonde stared at the claw in moderate amazement. He reached out and grabbed his friend's hand, examining the claw.

"Woah, green scales." Katsuki kept turning the hand over. "Those look cool. What's with these claws, though? They're not very pointy." He poked the claws with his finger to confirm.

"I don't know, I've only done this a couple times." Izuku responded.

"It's your quirk, try to sharpen them!" Katsuki encouraged him.

"Okay, I'll try." Izuku always worked better with friends than by himself. He focused on maintaining the transformation, but also on trying to sharpen the claws. Slowly, they started to elongate slightly, sharpening. With a gasp, he released both the breath he was holding and his transformation.

"You got closer." Katsuki observed. "You'll get it. Then we gotta see what you can cut with it."

Izuku caught his breath. "Yeah, that sounds cool! But there is one other thing I wanted to check out." He looked into his friend's red eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"What are you thinking?" Katsuki responded, intrigued.

"Hit me in the arm with an explosion." Izuku saw the blonde begin to hesitate. "Come on, you won't hurt me. I promise! It's for science."

"Fine, but if I get in trouble for this, you're giving me the candy in your lunchbox for a week." He held up his hand a few inches away from Izuku and let out a small blast. Izuku recoiled slightly in pain, a red mark showing up on his arm.

"Ouch!" Izuku said, waving his arm around, but quickly regaining his composure. "Yeah, that hurt." He held his other arm up to the boy, before focusing on his quirk. He focused the pull down further from his hand. His forearm was quickly covered in his dark green scales. "Now hit me again."

Katsuki saw what Izuku was getting at and quickly obliged. He let out another explosion on the boy's arm, trying to keep the blast the same strength. Izuku recoiled instinctually from the loud noise, but then quickly began smiling. He held up the hand, letting the transformation end. There was no mark on his arm at all. "I barely felt that!"

The boys began to excitedly chat about the possibilities of both of their quirks. They fantasized about being heroes and all the cool things they would do once they were the best heroes in the world. They ran around for a couple more hours, laughing and generally enjoying life. Neither of the boys noticed the worried look that Mitsuki was giving them out the porch window as she conversed with Hisashi and Inko.

Notes:

I am absolutely blown away with the support this story has received. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as you enjoyed the first.