You Taste Good

"You're really going to a new school?" Himiko's golden eyes were wide.

Izuku's green eyes were wobbly with tears that were streaming down his face. He nodded.

"Is it because of your rib?" She asked, gesturing towards his chest.

"Yes," Izuku told her. His Dad had made the decision just after that. "I'm going to miss you," he cried. He still missed Minato and Ochaco so he knew what it was like. And he wasn't even sure if he could see them this Summer for his Birthday because his dad hadn't decided where they would be living yet.

Himiko's face settling into an expression of sadness. Even her hair buns appeared to be down. Usually the messy strands that escaped gave the impression of playfulness but now they were subdued. "Me too," she agreed. "What about your birthday?" she asked.

"I don't know," Izuku told her.

"You're moving? House, as well as school." Himiko corrected.

He nodded. "Dad moves around a lot for work," he explained. "I don't know when we are moving this time."

She nodded slowly. "So this is your last day?"

"Yes," Izuku said, not wanting to agree.

Himiko's expression became thoughtful. "Can I taste you?"

Izuku hadn't been expecting that. His confusion showed on his face.

"For my quirk."

"Oh!" Even with the sadness he felt, he couldn't help but feel slightly excited about that. Himiko had told him about her quirk but he'd never seen it demonstrated. "What do you need? How do we do this? Do we need a needle, or a knife?" Izuku didn't like the idea of bleeding but the opportunity to see Himiko's quirk put a different spin on the matter.

"No, I'll do it!" Himiko seemed buoyed by the opportunity as well. She grinned at him and for the first time Izuku noticed how sharp her canines were. She grabbed his hand and before Izuku could object, it was dragged towards her mouth. He felt a sharp stab of pain in his forefinger.

Himiko's mouth was warm. He felt her tongue lick at his finger before she pulled back and lowered his hand. Himiko swallowed. "Yummy!"

Izuku watched as she actually closed her eyes and quivered. He wondered if that was part of her quirk or something else. While he didn't like the taste of blood, if Himiko's quirk was dependent on it, it would make sense she would. But could she get sick from it? If someone had a disease, could she catch it from the blood?

Himiko's gold eyes opened and she smiled at him. "You taste good, Izuku!" she told him.

"That's your quirk," he told her. "All blood tastes good, right?"

"Yep!" she nodded and Izuku watched as she seemed to melt. Her clothes remained the same but her hair darkened and curled into the mess that was his hair. Her eyes changed, until they were bright green. She became a bit shorter too.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Izuku asked. His broken rib had hurt. It wasn't what he'd call a blinding pain but it had been there all the time. From the looks of things, Himiko's bones were shifting as she changed into him.

It didn't take long before he was looking at a perfect image of himself. Except, dressed in Himiko's uniform. He didn't think he looked good in a dress.

"It doesn't hurt," she told him. "But you do taste good. Better than others."

Izuku gave her a smile at that.

"I'll remember it," Himiko even sounded like him!

"You can remember different blood?" Izuku asked. His fingers were twitching. He wanted to add this to Himiko's page in his notebook.

"Of course I can!" She gave him a big grin. It looked odd on his face but Izuku could see Himiko even if she was wearing his form. "I always remember the blood of the ones I love!"

Izuku blushed and Himiko laughed. "Izu!" She chirped and even in the shortening of his name he could hear her returned sadness. "I'm going to really, really miss you."

He sniffed. He didn't need the reminder. "I will too," he replied. "I really, really will." He swallowed against the tears he could feel forming in his eyes.

Himiko shifted back into her own form and suddenly Izuku was pulled into a hug. "We'll always be friends, right, Izuku. Promise me."

That was the easiest thing in the world to promise. "Always!" Izuku said.

"Good."

They held each other for a few moments longer before they had to pull back.

"I promise," Izuku repeated.

"I know."

That was enough.

-ted-

"Happy Birthday, my Little Dragon!" Hisashi greeted his son.

Izuku gave him a giant grin and ran over for a hug. Hisashi was happy to comply. This was another birthday Izuku would spend without his friends. They had moved from Niigata down to Saitama. The living arrangement was slightly different this time. There was, of course, a bar for Kurogiri but instead of having rooms at the back for them to live in, there was a large apartment in the building above. He'd already had Kurogiri take the children out to see the sights of Tokyo. He was thankful Izuku was so accepting, but All For One knew that for proper socialisation, he'd have to make sure that Izuku got to experience having other children over. His sixth birthday didn't really count. His son would probably not remember that. He remembered it now but when he was older, he'd only remember that childhood was good. But the experiences had to be built upon.

"What do you want for breakfast?" he asked.

Izuku looked at him, confused. "I can cook, you know!" Hisashi told his son with a snort of laughter. He was not a great chef but he could cook something that would please his son.

"Muffins!" Izuku yelled.

He'd expected pancakes but Hisashi figured he could handle muffins. "What type?" he asked for clarification.

"Chocolate chip!"

"I think I can manage that!" All For One told his son as they walked to the kitchen. He'd ordered Kurogiri to get a variety of ingredients for today so he could make whatever Izuku wanted, and the misty man had taken Tomura out for the day already. The teen had gone with minimal grumbling. He'd spent the day with Tomura on his birthday so the teen knew better than to complain.

"I've got presents for you after breakfast," Hisashi told his son, as he sat Izuku down at the table.

"Presents?" Izuku's eyes went wide with happiness. It might be his birthday but what he loved the most about it was that he got to spend the entire day with his dad. Presents were just a bonus!

"Yes, presents. Two of them," All For One said as he levitated the cooking book to Izuku, open to the page with choc chip muffins on it. "Read me the ingredients?" he asked.

Izuku grinned at him and then pulled the book close. He looked at the ingredients. He recognised some of the kanji and those he didn't had hiragana on them. He began reading.

As Izuku named each ingredient, Hisashi levitated it from the cupboard or the fridge, as required. He'd already put the oven on so that it would be preheated when the batter was mixed. Izuku watched with wide happy eyes as he demonstrated his levitation quirk. "This is one of my quirks, my Little Dragon."

"Is it lik-" Izuku stopped the sentence.

Hisashi knew where he was going. "It's not like your Mother's quirk," he said, not mentioning how Izuku had paused but he was pleased. "Your mother's quirk simply brought things to her. This one lets me do more." He demonstrated by pushing the packet of chocolate chips towards his son. Then he pulled it back and made it dance in the air. It was good practice for him to work on his fine control.

Izuku watched as he mixed the ingredients together. "Daddy, where do you get your quirks from?" he asked finally.

All For One had been expecting this question for a while. With everything that had happened though he rather thought that Izuku had been distracted from asking him.

"I get them from people, Izuku," he said, unconcerned with the answer.

"But people don't like having their quirk taken," Izuku objected, with a note of worry in his voice. Izuku knew that people wouldn't like having their quirk taken. He'd learned that with Tomura.

"I still get them from people," Hisashi repeated. "Sometimes people don't like their quirk, or can't control their quirk," he began explaining. "I help them out by taking their quirk."

He saw Izuku's green curls nod at the explanation and he waited for the obvious objection. "But then they'd be quirkless!" the new eight year old realised.

Hisashi looked at his son and nodded. "That's one of the reasons I was so upset with what happened to you. Society doesn't understand that sometimes, those who give up their quirk have done it for the good of everyone, especially if they can't control it."

Izuku's expression became thoughtful. Hisashi knew his son was wavering with his thoughts on heroes and by the end of a day he planned on having that waver to be full wave of doubt.

"Some of those who can't control their quirks are quite old," he added. He focused mostly on the younger generation now when he was seeking a quirk because they were more developed. The older generation tended to have less developed quirks, but with Izuku's ability to merge quirks, his son could potentially make use of many partial quirks to make one very powerful ability. And, taking a quirk from an older person, who wouldn't miss it as much would be a good way of easing Izuku into the thought of taking them.

That wouldn't be for a few years, but it was best to start the seed of those thoughts early.

He put the muffins in the oven and set the timer before he came back to sit with Izuku. "Now, for the first of your presents," he announced.

That perked Izuku right up, breaking him out of the thoughts of how he got the quirks. And what better way to have him even further distracted than by giving him another quirk? "Reach out," Hisashi instructed.

Green eyes became huge but Izuku complied. Hisashi held out two quirks. One was orange and the other was a colour that simply couldn't be described.

"Both?" Izuku asked uncertainly.

"Both," Hisashi confirmed.

If anything, Izuku's eyes went wider but All For One felt his son gently take the offered quirks. He actually shivered with delight when they settled in him.

"What do they do?" Izuku asked sensibly. It was far better for him to ask than to randomly try out the quirks.

"The orange one is fire proofing," he told his son. Fire proofing was a passive quirk. It was active all the time which was good because Izuku would be able to use Fire Breath without fear of injuring himself from now on. That quirk came with an implied heat proofing too.

"Really?" Izuku gasped.

"Really," Hisashi grinned. "The other one is something else. The quirk is named Kilo," he said. He'd taken it from a stupid model who liked to brag that she didn't weigh more than 60 pounds, which frankly, even for a stick thin woman was a ridiculous weight. She was using her quirk to lighten her body. But that was only half her quirk. She could also make herself heavier. Not that the idiot ever did.

Izuku would have far more use for the quirk. As a dragon, he could be light enough to fly but heavy enough to guard his treasure. There was another aspect of Kilo that Hisashi had deliberately held back from testing to let Izuku discover it. There did seem to be a certain level of imperviousness that came with the quirk. The model had kept her weight low, but that usually meant weaker yet she never seemed to have any scratches or scrapes. He was curious to know that if Izuku made himself heavier, if that meant he'd be physically tougher. If so, well, that was definitely keeping with the dragon theme.

This is why he loved quirks! By combining just the right ones you could achieve so much! Izuku didn't have that many. Just these four now, plus his original and Hisashi could already see his potential.

All For One watched with his quirk as his son poked at the quirk. He got the distinct impression that the quirk wasn't sure what to do and he chuckled. Izuku wasn't distracted though. He kept probing at the quirk and Hisashi saw the moment that Izuku activated it. The quirk flared and then spread out over Izuku's body.

He looked at this son. Izuku was looking at his hand with a thoughtful expression. Even his freckles looked thoughtful. He waved his hand back and forth, trying to work out what the quirk was doing. All For One held out his hand and Izuku took it. Izuku had made himself lighter. That was probably what the quirk was more familiar with. "Lift yourself with Caeli Imperium," he instructed.

Green eyes were startled but Izuku obeyed and then a delighted smile spread across his features as he rose into the air. He stopped quickly and resettled on to the chair. "Don't try the other one yet," Hisashi warned. "We'll go to the practice room later," he added.

Izuku grinned at that. "Thank you, Daddy!"

Hisashi got up to check the muffins. "That was only your first present," he said, taking the tray out of the oven.

Izuku looked like he was about to burst from happiness and for a few moments, there was silence in the kitchen before Izuku composed himself enough to ask. "What's my other present?"

"After lunch," Hisashi said, bringing over a plate of steaming muffins. "You'll get it after lunch!" Izuku grabbed for one and then paused. "Give it a go," he encouraged.

The little hand reached out and tentatively touched the hot muffin. They were cooling down quickly but Izuku's face lit up with delight as he handled the hot muffin.

"Yummy!" He took a bite from it.

"And no burned mouth?"

"N o ur'd uth!" came Izuku's rather garbled reply as he chewed on the muffin.

"Excellent!" Hisashi chuckled. "Now, at your new school, you will be saying that your quirk makes you fire proof."

Izuku dramatically swallowed his bite of muffin. "Why do I have to do that, Daddy?"

All For One allowed himself to look sad. "I wish you could tell the world what your quirk is, Izuku, I really do. But if you do, then the bad people will find you, and they'll find me."

Green eyes went impossibly wide at that. "I don't want that to happen!" Izuku announced.

"I know you don't," Hisashi said calmly. "That's why you will have a different surname again."

Izuku looked subdued.

"That's what I'm working on Izuku. I want you to be able to tell the world about your quirk. I want people to be seen for who they are, so that they don't want to be afraid."

"Daddy is helping people?" Izuku asked, fascinated.

That was one way of looking at it. "I try," All For One replied. "Now, enough of that talk, and more muffins!"

"Muffins!" Izuku shrieked, easily distracted.

Hisashi smiled indulgently as Izuku had another muffin. Things were going well.