People Are Cruel

The tail end of summer was still hot so Izuku was thankful that he had managed to snag a place in the shade to sit at lunch. Ochaco was with him and they were waiting for Minato and Kazue to come from their class. They weren't in the same class this year, but that was okay, since they were all still at the same school.

Ochaco called to the others when they emerged from the building and they both hurried over.

"Izuku! Ochaco!" Minato greeted them.

Kazue nodded at them both as the two sat down. They all unpacked their lunches.

"And again, Little Dragon has a bento from Kurogiri!" Ochaco teased.

"It was so nice to meet him!" Kazue said. "Thank you for inviting me to your birthday!" She added.

"Yeah! It was great!" Minato said.

"The air-conditioning was divine!" Ochaco sighed as if it had been the most luxurious thing she'd experienced.

The others nodded.

Izuku grinned. "We'll turn it up next year!" He joked.

That got a giggle.

"Little Dragon, does Gigantomachia really work for your dad?" Ochaco asked.

"Yes, he's my dad's bodyguard," Izuku said.

As they were only six, none of them really knew what the word bodyguard meant and what it entailed.

"He's huge!"

"I think it has something to do with his quirk."

"What is his Quirk?" Kazue asked.

Izuku shook his head. "I don't know," he replied because he realised he didn't. He'd never actually written notes on Gigantomachia before, so he didn't know what the man's quirk was.

"It's gotta be something rock related," Minato said as he ate his sandwich.

Izuku nodded but there were so many rock related quirks. Which type did Gigantomachia have?

"And Kurogiri," Kazue said. "I don't think I've ever seen someone with a quirk like that!"

"He can create warp gates," Izuku said.

"Warp what?" Ochaco was confused.

"Warp gates," he confirmed. "Sometimes, instead of taking the train, or the car, we get Kurogiri to take us places," Izuku added.

"What?" Minato shared Ochaco's confusion.

"It's Kurogiri's quirk," Izuku said.

"Little Dragon, Kurogiri has a transport quirk?" Ochaco asked, eyes wide.

Izuku nodded.

"Do you have any idea how rare that is?"

He nodded again. Transport quirks were about as rare as healing quirks and anyone with one could do almost anything they wanted. "Dad says it's necessary," Izuku shrugged.

"You said Kurogiri takes care of Tomura?" Kazue asked.

"He does. That's what he does most days."

Kazue looked to Ochaco, and then to Minato and then the three of them shrugged.

"What?" Izuku demanded.

Minato and Kazue looked to Ochaco and the other girl sighed, realising she'd been nominated to be the one to tell Izuku. "Tomura wasn't very nice," she said softly.

"Oh." Izuku took a few breaths, taking the time to eat one of the grapes Kurogiri had decorated his bento with. "Tomura is like that," he said diplomatically.

"He probably wanted to be with his friends," Minato said.

Izuku thought it best not to point out that Tomura didn't have any friends. At least none that he knew about.

"Well, I can't wait until next year! But you'll all have to come to my party first," Ochaco said brightly.

Kazue looked away. "I don't think I'll be able to," she said softly, looking at her near empty bento.

"What do you mean?" Minato asked as Izuku slipped a cherry tomato into Kazue's lunch box.

She gulped. "Dad says I can't talk to you anymore," she whispered and Izuku could see tears forming in her eyes.

"What? Why?" Ochaco demanded.

Kazue burst into tears. "I don't know!" She wailed. "He said that you're a bad influence!" She added, still crying.

The three of them looked at each other. Izuku shook his head, as did Minato.

"Was it something one of us did?" Izuku asked. "Can we apologise?"

"He won't change his mind," she sobbed. "I can't talk to you anymore."

"How will he know?" Minato asked. He might only be six, but he was already showing the instincts that his mother had as a lawyer.

"He'll know! I'm sorry, I can't," she bawled.

"That's not fair!" Ochaco growled.

"I know!" Kazue agreed. "But he'll know and I can't!"

Izuku moved over to give Kazue a hug but she flinched back from him. He just stared at her, green eyes wide as she continued to cry.

They all stared at Kazue, not knowing what to do until the bell to end lunch rang. Kazue jerked and quickly packed up the remains of her lunch. The others did the same.

"We'll think of something!" Ochaco declared as they hurried back into the building.

But none of them could.

-ted-

"Did something happen, my Little Dragon?" Hisashi asked his son, when Kurogiri dropped him off that night. Izuku seemed down.

"Kazue said she can't talk to us anymore," his son said.

It took Hisashi a moment to remember who she was. It answered one question for him. One of the parents had decided to be stupid. "Oh, Izuku," Hisashi breathed, holding out his arms. His son took the opportunity and rushed up to him, throwing his smaller arms around his chest as All For One held his son close.

"I don't know why," Izuku said, tears falling.

Hisashi rocked Izuku back and forth, crooning slightly. It was not a sight anyone who knew Hisashi in a professional aspect - above or below ground - would expect.

"I don't know what I did wrong!" Izuku continued.

"You did nothing wrong," Hisashi was quick to reassure his son.

"Then why can't Kazue talk to us?" Izuku made the almost instantaneous demand for knowledge.

He was silent for a few moments, just comforting Izuku, before he sighed. "Do you remember last year, my Little Dragon, on your first day of school when you asked about the Quirkless children?"

He wasn't expecting his son to nod after a moment of thought. It wouldn't matter if Izuku didn't, Hisashi had reinforced that lesson several times through the year and now, with the new school year, he had a new opportunity. "People are cruel, my Little Dragon. People are prejudiced and stupid and bitter."

"But Kazue's not. So why can't she talk to us?"

"It's not Kazue," Hisashi said. "Who told her that she can't talk to you?" He probed, already knowing the answer.

"Her dad," Izuku answered immediately.

"He's afraid, my Little Dragon. He's afraid, and that is making him cruel."

"What is he afraid of?"

"You."

That broke through Izuku's tears. His son jerked back to stare at him. "What?" Green eyes were incredulous.

"He's afraid of you," Hisashi repeated, his eyes serious.

He could tell Izuku didn't know how to respond to that. A six year old was not someone to be afraid of.

"When you asked questions last year about the quirkless kids, you weren't doing it because you are a sympathiser," Hisashi began to explain. "You were doing it because you wanted to know. Because you were seeking knowledge, yes?"

Izuku nodded, but there was still a confused air about him.

"That's why he's afraid."

"Because I asked about the quirkless kids?"

Hisashi gave Izuku a soft smile. "Not just that," he told his son. "Because you seek the truth out. Because you aren't afraid of the truth. Kazue's dad is afraid of the truth."

"But why?" Izuku's voice was plaintive.

"Because Kazue's dad is like most people, weak and unable to think for themselves," Hisashi said. "When people are afraid they are cruel, and if they are afraid of the truth, then they are prejudiced," he explained.

Izuku's face became thoughtful. All For One watched and waited for his son to work through some of his knew Izuku wouldn't understand this, not completely but he would remember the tone. He would remember the meaning. "So for Kazue to talk to us again, her dad has to not be afraid?" He asked the oddly worded question.

Hisashi nodded. From a child's point of view that is what had to happen. Or Kazue just had to defy her father, which is not something he thought would happen.

Izuku thought for a little longer, and then he nodded, green curls bouncing with the movement. His face took on a serious visage, or as serious as his soft, freckled features could be. "Then I'll become a hero! So that Kazue's dad doesn't have to be afraid."

"That's goo-" Wait, what? All For One ran the last line through his mind again. It didn't change. Izuku had just said he'd become a hero. He thought Izuku had begun to grow out of that phase and now it appeared he'd plunged headlong back into it.

"How will that help?" Hisashi asked instead, not going back to his previous sentence.

"Kazue's dad is afraid," Izuku explained. "Heroes make it so that people aren't afraid. So if I'm a hero, Kazue's dad won't need to be afraid and she can talk to us again."

"I think that might be a little slow," Hisashi told his son. "You have to grow up before you can be a hero," he added, cringing a little at the quasi validation that sentence gave his son.

Izuku frowned.

"You'll have to wait years before you can speak to Kazue if you have to become a hero first," he continued. Timelines weren't, after all, a six year old's strength.

"Oh," Izuku said slowly, nodding and HIsashi knew his mind was still working at the problem. It was one of the things that was good about Izuku, even when a solution was not obvious, and sometimes when there was no solution, he continued to think about the problem, continued to come up with ways of solving it.

This was one problem he wouldn't be able to solve though and it would be a difficult lesson.

"Besides," All For One continued before Izuku could fully process his words. "There are heroes already," he pointed out. "And Kazue's dad is still afraid."

That information screwed up little Izuku's face again as he tried to reconcile that with what he thought. Eventually Izuku frowned. "Why is that, Daddy?" He asked.

Hisashi let Izuku feel the deep breath he took and he made sure his face displayed his regret. "Because Heroes are people, my Little Dragon and people are cruel."

"Not Heroes!" His son objected.

"Even Heroes," Hisashi corrected.

He could tell that Izuku didn't like that conclusion but his son wasn't someone who ran from the truth. "Even All Might?" Izuku asked in a whisper.

Hisashi bit the inside of his lip to avoid saying 'Especially All Might'. Instead he nodded slowly, affecting an air of sadness. "Even All Might," he told Izuku in a return whisper.

He could see the way Izuku's lip trembled, as if he was about to cry but his son held back the tears and Hisashi was pleased that he did not get any argument. He let his words stand for several minutes in which Izuku was silent before he took another deep breath.

"Let's go practice your quirks, my Little Dragon," All For One made the offer to his son.

Izuku immediately perked up and wriggled to drop down from his lap. "Let's go!"

-ted-

"Well, my Little Dragon, if pushing the air towards your Fire Breath extinguishes the flame, what do you think pulling it away will do?" All For One asked his son who was looking a little dejected at how the latest test to combine Fire Breath and Caeli Imperium was going. He wasn't surprised. He hadn't yet told Izuku that his quirk wasn't actually air control but nitrogen control. Pushing that much nitrogen towards Fire Breath would naturally extinguish it. At least Izuku had learned that he could put out fires with Caeli Imperium though. Now it was time to show him that he could do the opposite.

Izuku frowned. Hisashi could see that his son didn't think it would make a difference.

"Just give it a try," he encouraged and his unspoken words were that you must always experiment. Maybe Izuku should spend some more time with the Doctor? He wasn't afraid to experiment.

All For One watched as Izuku took a deep breath, the freckles on his face shifting as he concentrated. For his own part, Hisashi had already layered Izuku with some protection quirks and he was thinking about getting Izuku a quirk that made him fire-proof. While Fire Breath was not necessarily the strongest quirk, as Izuku's first quirk, apart from his own, it would be one he relied upon. He should be immune to its effects.

Izuku blew out, creating a small flame and Hisashi saw the exact moment, Izuku pulled the 'air' away from it. There was a spark and then the flame grew, forming a ball that was rolled upwards in the air away from his son. It was only a moment, because the fire startled Izuku and broke his concentration but it was enough.

"Did you see that?" Izuku asked excitedly.

Hisashi grinned and nodded. "I did, my Little Dragon!" He praised. "Why don't you try it again? But this time, pull the air away from your breath at a bit more of a distance?"

Izuku looked confused for a moment before he understood. Then his concentration face came back and Hisashi watched as Izuku pushed out a small tongue of flame again. This was more directed, going out from his son. Izuku shook his head. "Not that one," he muttered and took another breath to try again. Another tongue of flame came out of his mouth and this time, Hisashi watched as near the end of it, it changed shape, and then raced along an invisible line only Izuku could see.

He clapped his hands! "Perfect! Now you are a Little Dragon!" Hisashi laughed delightedly.

Izuku was pleased as well. "Do you think I can make shapes? Or a rope? Or a huge fireball?" He asked.

"I'm sure you will be able to do all of them," All For One replied. "Let's practice with just Caeli Imperium now," he added.

For a moment Izuku looked disappointed but from experience, Izuku knew he quickly got exhausted if he used both quirks together too much and so he nodded. "You can think of more things to try for next time," Hisashi consoled him. "For now, I want to see how much you can lift!"

That brightened Izuku up immediately and Izuku rushed over to the weight. They were small but then Izuku was small as well! Hisashi had explained to his son that practicing with a quirk would make it stronger, so while Izuku could only lift a modest 10 kilos now, in time, with practice, he'd be able to lift much more, and maybe himself. His friend Ochaco had served as a great example there. Izuku knew she could only lift about 40 kilos now and that was up from the 20 she used to be able to manage.

He was taking it as a challenge to try to catch up as fast as he could.

"Let's start with the small one," Hisashi instructed and watched as Izuku focused on the 1 kilo weight. After a few moments, it rose into the air. He grinned and clapped before gesturing to the next weight.

Izuku would work his way up on the weights, and then, All For One knew, what could be lifted, could also be dropped, or squashed, or cut or… the list was almost endless of what you could do, even if you couldn't modify the chemical composition of nitrogen.

Caeli Imperium might not have been the quirk he thought it was, but in his son's hands, it was going to serve him well.