The Emperor's Dragon II

Age Is A Factor

Izuku wanted to collapse the moment he was out of sight but he couldn't. Himiko didn't need to see such weakness and Kurogiri... He'd been put in charge of Tomura and probably thought he'd failed by letting him die, so he couldn't disappoint the warper. He took a deep breath to steady himself and then looked at Kurogiri. "I'm sorry," he told the misty man.

"Sorry?"

"I won't say I didn't mean to kill Tomura, because in that moment, I did," Izuku told him. "But when you brought me here, I only meant to give him a dressing down," he explained. "It was seeing him with Dad's quirk that changed that."

Kurogiri looked at him. Izuku wasn't sure what the other man was looking for. He wasn't going to apologise any further for killing Tomura. He was vaguely sorry but at the same time... it was an odd feeling. Yes, he should have been told about his Father's plan but he knew why he wasn't. Except, if that was his Father's plan then Tomura shouldn't have been putting him in danger like that. Even if it wasn't his Father's plan, Tomura knew better than to put him in danger.

Himiko came over before anything else could be said. She shoved her face into Izuku's but said nothing. He got the impression she was examining him for something. She frowned as she pulled back. "You can show it," Himiko told him.

"Show what?" Izuku asked.

"You are better than me, Izu! You've always been better than me," Himiko told him. "You feel bad about your first kill and you can show it," she added. Himiko cocked her head at him. "You'll recover. Just take your time and don't worry about them," she said, gesturing back to the warehouse. "Even if they decide to go, I won't!"

He looked at her, and then nodded. He wasn't going to show any weakness. He couldn't but it was nice that she thought he could. The fact that it would take time to recover sounded reasonable but he knew he wasn't going to forgive himself for removing his Father's chance to heal. And he couldn't delude himself that he'd find another way. If the Doctor hadn't in the years since then...

How was he going to face his dad?

He couldn't think of that now. He had to be strong for Himiko and Kurogiri and-

A beep... two beeps interrupted his thought. Izuku had left his phone with the Doctor and so gave Himiko and Kurogiri an amused look.

The misty man pulled out his phone and looked at the screen. Izuku saw him blink as he read what was there. Then the warper offered his phone to Izuku while Himiko giggled at what she was reading. It must be a news story, Izuku realised as he took Kurogiri's phone. He looked at the screen and froze.

"Oh," he murmured and then snorted.

The Yaoyorozu's wanted their daughter's quirk back, and they were prepared to pay. Apparently they were hosting a news conference.

"We should watch," Izuku said.

Himiko giggled. "Are you going to give it back?"

Izuku thought about it for a few moments before he shook his head. "I doubt they'd be able to pay my coin," he decided.

She chuckled and Kurogiri nodded. It seemed approving but Izuku knew better than to assume that. "Should we invite the others to watch?" he asked.

"I'll set up a screen for them, but I think it best that you give them distance," the misty man advised.

Izuku nodded and the warper opened into a portal. It was probably back to the Doctor's and Izuku went through it after grabbing Himiko's hand to pull her through. Kurogiri was right. The others who had followed Tomura would need time. He just hoped they'd... There were other villains out there who could be brought into to work for him but these ones had been picked for a reason and thus... he hoped they would work with him.