The Emperor's Dragon

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."