The Emperor's Dragon

First Lesson

All For One sat as he thought. He tapped one finger on his jaw bone as he reviewed his conversation with Izuku. He would not dignify it by calling it a fight. He did not fight with eleven year olds.

He thought he had headed off this particular discussion when he had informed Izuku that he could not contact his friends but obviously his son had thought that was for a far shorter term than he meant. Kurogiri had blocked Izuku's phone and since he controlled the account, it should mean that Izuku couldn't contact his friends until it was safe to do so.

As intelligent as his son was, All For One didn't believe Izuku had the knowledge to hack through that. He was equally sure Izuku could learn but he was almost completely positive Izuku didn't have a particularly strong interest in that sort of thing.

However... it still bothered him that it had come to this.

Izuku was usually... He was not placid but accepting of their situation. That grasp of reality was to be admired but...

All For One sighed. He cast his mind back but couldn't remember if he had a similar disposition when he was eleven. Life had been different then. He'd been fighting almost every day then..

This bothered him. With Tomura he'd... what would he do? He'd have hoped that Kurogiri would have dealt with it or he would let Tomura go out. Tomura didn't have friends, not in the way Izuku did. He had some he teamed up with to play games but Tomura quickly got tired of them and changed. They never had the sheer amount of time the teen had to play.

Why did Izuku's show of spirit bother him? His son was an essential piece in his plan but he had been prepared for other outcomes when he sired him. Gender hadn't been a concern but the quirk had. If Izuku had gotten a copy of his mother's quirk, he would have left. If he got his own quirk, he would have taken it, even if he got the combination. It was the fact that Izuku got some of his brother's quirk as well that had shifted his plans. Now was not the time to find out if Izuku had gotten more from his brother's quirk...

And even if he had, would that change anything now?

All For One took several deep breaths, timing them with the respirator. The Doctor had indicated he could go to a simpler oxygen feed soon which would be a relief. But... if Izuku could give him his quirk would that change anything?

No.

Not now.

Six years ago it would have but not now. Six years ago he would have had Izuku give him his quirk, then probably given him Fire Breath, altered his memory slightly and walked away. Now he wouldn't.

What had changed? Time? Izuku's intelligence? His fight with All Might? He had a thought that there were several factors. But was that so unusual? He deactivated his sight quirk, leaving himself in darkness as he thought.

No, it wasn't unusual. Izuku was his son. It was normal to feel worried for him. To be concerned. But Izuku was going to serve him.

An odd memory came to him. It was one from before quirks. He remembered watching military parades. The soldiers marched in step past their General so that he could inspect them. Now, he recognised the message the state was giving out but then... he'd been too young to really know what to think but he remembered feeling pride. He remembered feeling slightly jealous of the troops who preened under their General's gaze.

It was something like that. He was a General with a prized soldier. He had invested a lot of time and money to ensure Izuku was great, so of course it was natural that he would feel some attachment. It had happened before. He had invested time into his Commanders back in the war, and it had hurt when they were killed. He invested time into Gigantomachia and the man was trusted.