Nepotism and Other Extreme Crimes

"Little Dragon!" Ochaco squealed and Izuku braced as he was glomped by his friend. "When you told me you had a surprise for me I never thought it would be this!"

Izuku grinned. "Surprise!" He said superfluously. They were in different classes, so he'd managed to avoid her this morning, making their lunchtime reunion all the more poignant.

"I can't believe you're here!" Ochaco said as she released him.

"We moved back two days ago!" Izuku told her, which also explained why she hadn't been invited to his birthday. He had managed to see Hitoshi for his birthday and had given him the notes he'd taken on his quirk all year, and a single scale from the quirk his dad had given him. Izuku had gotten Kurogiri to put a hole in the scale so it could be worn as a pendant. He had one himself. And he was working on one for Himiko. Dad had promised him that he would get a proper birthday party next year. He'd even hinted that all his friends could come.

Ochaco grinned at him. "You've still got Kurogiri's bento?" She asked, looking down at his lunch.

"Yep," Izuku agreed. The bento was wrapped in a cold bag. That was new. It was a flexible, gel filled bag that kept his lunch cool, especially in the heat of summer. "Kurogiri makes the best bento's!" He reminded her. "Your mum made yours?"

Ochaco nodded, as Izuku looked around.

"Is Kazue here?" he asked.

She shook her head. "She moved away," Ochaco told him.

"Oh," Izuku replied, remembering that she had told him that. There wasn't much more that could be said. "Minato?"

Uraraka pointed. Izuku followed her gaze to see his old friend Minato. With the way he was sitting, he could tell he hadn't even noticed him here. He was sitting with Arata and Gatarui.

"Never mind," Izuku said, shaking his head. He knew what they were like and he knew exactly how they'd treat him. They'd proven that enough. Having had the experience of what it was like to be quirkless, he understood now why they were segregated. Except another thought came to him. "You haven't been alone?" He asked Ochaco desperately. She was way too nice to have been alone!

Thankfully she shook her head, but Izuku could detect a hint of sadness there. It hadn't been as good as it should have been.

"I'm here now!" Izuku declared. He knew it was cheesy. He knew that just because Ochaco was a girl that she didn't need protection but his declaration was to say that he was her friend. "And you won't need to pay to send me a letter," he added.

Izuku didn't get the reaction he expected.

Ochaco burst into tears. They weren't quiet either. The class looked at them, and then turned away. Izuku started for a few moments before abandoning his lunch and moving to comfort her.

"I didn't mean it that way!" Izuku said hastily. It was meant to be a joke. Something to reassure her that he was back and here and was her friend.

"It's okay," Ochaco calmed quickly but the freckled boy could see that she was still crying. He knew crying. He knew it could be silent.

"It's not okay," Izuku whispered to her. "I'm sorry," he added. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"It's okay," Ochaco said again, breathing hard. "It's okay. It's just-" She grimaced.

"It's just?" Izuku prompted gently after a few moments. He transferred the croquette Kurogiri had put into his lunch into Ochaco's bento. It said a lot that she didn't even notice.

She sighed. "I just want to give back to them. They do so much for me that I want them to have an easy life, so I was thinking of trying to become a hero."

Izuku almost spat out the onigiri he'd just bitten into. "You want to support your parents?" He asked.

Ochaco nodded.

He could understand that. He wanted to help his dad but… Given what he knew about Heroes, he really didn't want Ochaco trying that. They would be mean to her. They would be cruel. She didn't deserve that. None of his friends did. "There are other ways to support them," he said carefully.

"There are but-" she paused, and looked down at her bento, and still didn't see the croquette. "Heroes earn a lot of money. Even a side kick does." Ochaco shook her head. "They don't want me to know but I know they aren't getting enough jobs."

Izuku could see the way Ochaco was almost crying again. "Your parents are in construction, right?" he asked.

She nodded.

He hadn't understood everything his dad did when he went to work with him but he knew that his dad's company did do some construction. There had been plans that had to be approved by his Dad, so maybe he could help. Izuku smiled supportively. "It'll work out," he said.

That's what his dad said. Things would work out.

-ted-

"How was the first day of school, my Little Dragon?" Hisashi asked his son. "Did your friends remember you?"

It was a calculated risk letting Izuku return to his first Elementary School but it was useful for other means. There were two resources here that Garaki found useful. The segregated quirkless students and the resource of quirked children. Both were attractive and Izuku knew what he was getting into. Forcing him into a new school for the third time, when he knew people here would not have been for the best.

They hadn't returned to their old address. Kurogiri still had a bar, but unlike the previous Mie residence, the living quarters were above the bar. And there were offices above that. It was still small and relatively suburban but it was in a business part. The building was concrete and someone had remodelled the living quarters kitchen at least once. All of those were features the realtor had been eager to point out. Hisashi looked at the building, seen that it was sound, had the facilities he needed, was in a reasonable part of Mie Prefecture and accepted it. People paid fair too much attention to the facade.

He watched as Izuku's face fell. "Kazue has moved away," he said.

"What about Minato?" All For One asked. He had taken a look at one of Izuku's earlier notebooks to remind himself of his son's friends' names.

At that, Izuku looked even more miserable, if that was possible. "He didn't even say hello," the green haired boy admitted.

"So only Ochaco?" Hisashi asked. He knew Izuku had been maintaining correspondence with the girl for the last two years.

Izuku nodded.

"Wasn't it good to see her?"

"It was but-" His son sighed. There was a story there.

Hisashi moved to embrace his son. "What happened? Didn't she want to talk to you?" That was a possibility. He remembered enough about this school to know that his son had been branded a sympathiser. It was possible that his friends had gone along with that and now wouldn't talk to him.

"She's still my friend," Izuku told him. "But her parents have been having a really hard time lately," the green-eyed boy continued.

All For One began marshalling arguments. He was not getting involved in a domestic dispute.

"She was saying she wanted to become a Hero to help them out."

Not quite the problem he'd been expecting. "Does that bother you?" Hisashi probed.

"Ochaco would be a good hero but-" Izuku paused. All For One sensed his son was trying to figure out how to put his feelings into words. "They would be cruel to her. I don't want that to happen," he continued.

"That would be bad," Hisashi humoured Izuku. He didn't care. If she became a Hero then, she was just another enemy. Her quirk was interesting but not that interesting.

"It would be," Izuku agreed. "Can you help?"

He should have seen that coming. "How can I help her, Izuku?" Hisashi asked seriously. "Ochaco has good control over her quirk," he reminded his son. That's how his son thought he helped people.

Izuku shook his head. "Not like that. Ochaco doesn't need help with her quirk. Her parents are in construction and I remember your business does construction too. Couldn't you help them out that way?"

All For One almost burst out laughing. Never mind quirk stealing, his Little Dragon was going straight to nepotism! Except nepotism was a dangerous form of criminal activity. It led to far too much dependence and substandard work.

But as his Little Dragon's first baby steps into the underworld, it was something to be embraced. Hisashi allowed a smile to come to his features. It was a comforting smile. "I think I can do something," he told his son before holding up one hand. "But don't mention it!"

He did owe the girl slightly. It wasn't anything she'd recognise as being owed for but he did owe her. She was one of the people who had helped Izuku accept that his mother was gone, and she had always supported his son. He could send a bit of coin to her parents.

Izuku nodded seriously but Hisashi could tell he was pleased.

They both were.

-ted-

7th August

Himiko held up the pendant Izu had sent her. It was iridescent green and reminded her of his eyes. Little rainbows of green colour were visible when she held it up to the light. It was beautiful and she loved it. Izu didn't say where he'd got it from, just that he wanted her to have it. There was a hole in the top she could thread a chain or string through.

She was definitely going to wear it.

There was a letter accompanying it and it felt like there was a card in it. Himiko unfolded the letter and frowned. It wasn't a birthday card. It looked like a birthday card but it was cardboard and there were two red-brown splotches on it.

Yellow eyes stretched wide. She knew that colour. She knew that colour better than she knew any other colour. It was the most glorious colour in the world. Himiko lifted the cardboard and sniffed at it.

Izu! She grinned. He was too good to her! His presents were the best. He sent her a gem and blood! What more could a girl want?

Himiko held the pendant and cardboard to her chest as she danced happily. This was the best birthday! She'd never gotten blood before. And this was Izu's blood! She knew from the smell. That was extra nice.

"You should read the letter," her mother said gently. Having someone write to her was normal enough and while Himiko could tell that she didn't like the bloody cardboard, it was… clean, yes, that was the right word. It was clean enough for her mother. It wasn't normal but with the letter it was normal enough.

Himiko looked to her mother. "Could you find me a string? I want to wear the pendant," she explained.

Her mother nodded. "I'll find you something now," she told her daughter.

Himiko nodded and unfolded the letter. It was in Izu's neat handwriting. He was younger than her but he wrote so well!

Happy Birthday Himiko! I hope your day is fantastic!

I have moved back to Mie Prefecture! I'm back at my old school and that's been going okay. One of my old friends has moved away and the other is like Kenta. Why are people like that? I hope you haven't been having any problems.

Dad said I could have a proper birthday party next year! And he said that I could invite whoever I wanted! I will invite you, and Hitoshi and Ochaco! I want you all to meet. It will be so much fun.

I'll talk to you soon. I hope you like my presents!

Izuku

Himiko grinned and grabbed her phone. She loved his presents! She always loved his presents. Granted, Izu hadn't sent her anything else but that was beside the point. She loved this.

It made her birthday special. She smiled, looking down at the pendant and the cardboard. Izu really was the best.

-ted-

Sir Nighteye wanted to sleep. Mirai resisted the urge to rub at his eyes.

He was still looking into the Education Department, searching for leads on All For One's supposed son. It was a long shot. He knew that but right at the moment, a long shot was better than nothing and they literally had nothing else to go on. But it was like every lead they had on All For One, convoluted and difficult to follow.

The bureaucracy didn't help either but he was getting the hang of that. Being a Pro-Hero helped but Mirai suspected that it was the name All Might that was opening doors. He'd take it. Anything that helped was to be embraced.

Most of the stuff he'd waded through had nothing to do with All For One. There were millions of school children across Japan after all. They generated a lot of paperwork. He was looking for anomalies and praying that the child was too young for All For One to have completely changed his name. Surname yes, but Mirai was hoping that the given name would be the same.

He leaned forward, pulling at his hair. It was such a slender hope he almost felt stupid pursuing it but there were only a few more things to look at before he could honestly declare that this lead was like the others - a bust.

Mirai tapped his computer, opening another communication. In his search of the records of records, he'd found out that there were various forms of communication. The ones he wanted were the personal ones, which were the harder ones to get. But he'd persisted and now he was having to go through them.

This was a report of suspected child abuse. Usually there was a form for that but this had been written as a letter. He read the first few lines. Wait… there had been a form.

Sir Nighteye blinked. If there had been a form why was there a letter as well? He shook his head and continued reading. It didn't matter if this wasn't anything to do with him. He looked at the identifying tags. It was from a Principal of an Elementary School in Niigata. It was from a year ago too so it wasn't new.

How old was the child? Mirai skimmed through the letter but before he found the age, his eyes settled on the name.

Izuku.

Tiredness vanished. He felt a trickle of nerves in his stomach. Could this really be a lead? An honest to god lead? Mirai felt sick as he went back to the beginning of the letter.

He read each word carefully, forcing himself to actually read it and not skip any detail.

It was suspected child abuse and the report had been submitted but only at the lowest urgency. The letter was to explain the circumstances.

A quirkless student, named Izuku Kawa had been withdrawn from an Elementary in Niigata and re-enrolled in an Elementary school in Saitama.

Under a new name. That was the key. The new name was Izuku Inpei.

Mirai suppressed a shiver. The enrollment in Saitama had listed a quirk as well. Fire Proofing. He took a deep breath, and re-read the words. Hisashi Midoriya's quirk was meant to be Fire Breath. Fire Proofing was one of those quirks that could be said to have come from that.

And it was a quirk that couldn't be proved without attempting to burn a child, Mirai's mind supplied. It was one of those invisible quirks that you could prove existed but the proof wouldn't come up in everyday life.

He bit his lip and looked to the signature.

Mrs Shuyona. Principal Shuyona.

There wasn't enough information here but… It could be something. There were too many coincidences here. It was worth checking. Izuku was the right name. He was supposedly quirkless, just like Izuku Midoriya and more importantly he was the right age. The change in name could be a way All For One was keeping him hidden.

Sir Nighteye blew out a breath, suppressing any excitement he felt.

It might be nothing. It might be everything.

He had to tread carefully.