The Emperor's Dragon

Still Childish

Izuku sat at one of the tables in the bar. He was going over his new school supplies. He had new coloured pencils and a school notebook. It was different from the notebook he used to record quirks in. This one had little boxes on it and Kurogiri had told him that it was for practicing his kanji and hiragana. Izuku hoped they moved to kanji quickly because he already knew his hiragana and the katakana!

He was drawing in his Quirk Notebook and drawing a picture of Kurogiri. The first entry was his mother, the second was his father, and then him! There was an entry from a boy he used to know. Kacchan and a couple of others but he didn't know them well, so hadn't had a chance to get a lot of details about their quirks. Instead, the entry for Tomura, Kurogiri and Doctor Garaki were much more detailed. He was wondering if he should start a new book for himself? If he could get more quirks, then he would need more space but that seemed arrogant and Izuku didn't want to take quirks unless they were offered, like the ones Daddy gave him. Since he only had Fire Breath, it was a question for another day.

It was too early for the bar to be open and Kurogiri was cleaning glassware but he looked up as the door opened.

"Yo! Kurogiri," the woman who walked in greeted the misty villain.

"Juhin," he said, quickly putting the glass down. "You're early."

From the tone, Izuku knew he wasn't meant to have seen the woman, or the young man who trailed behind her. He might be five but he wasn't stupid. He shrank back in the seat, trying to hide in the non-existent shadows.

"Brought someone to meet you," Juhin waved away the complaint.

"What's a kid doing here?" The young man who'd accompanied her asked.

That brought Juhin's attention and Izuku felt her eyes fall upon him. They were unusual. Bright red with crossed pupils.

"I thought you only had that Tomura kid," she said to Kurogiri. .

Izuku could tell from the way Kurogiri stiffened that he didn't want to speak about it but the woman didn't appear to be dangerous. She sounded curious. Izuku wasn't sure what he should do so he sat there watching.

"It's not your-"

"Business," the woman interrupted Kurogiri's statement before she laughed. "Don't worry about it, old man," she told the bartender. "Who you have in your bar is up to you," she added with a casual shrug.

Izuku got the impression that she would remember him though, even as she turned away, back to Kurogiri. He remained still. The young man with her examined him. Izuku looked back. The man had pink eyes and grey hair. He was dressed in a shirt with a dark blue jacket.

The green eyed boy could tell that Kurogiri was still nervous but he looked back at the woman. "How may I help you today, Juhin?" he asked with that stiff formality he adopted when he wasn't happy.

The woman grinned. "This is Giran," she introduced the man. "He's going to be helping me out with supplies."

The young man turned back to the bartender and bowed. "It's good to meet you," he said.

Kurogiri's expression couldn't be seen but Izuku could tell he was examining the man carefully. "You trust him, Juhin?" he asked pointedly.

"I wouldn't be bringing him here if I didn't," she replied honestly.

"Very well," he accepted her words. There was silence between the group for a few moments before Kurogiri moved back to the bar.

"Do you need anything at the moment?" Juhin asked with a broad grin. "Kahlua, Bundy, colouring books?" She added the last with a snort.