The Emperor's Dragon II

Dreams of the Future

Izuku blinked as he came awake. That had been such a weird dream. He rubbed his temples. He couldn't remember a lot of the dream but for some reason the Yakuza had been there. He'd dreamed of Kai before but in that dream, the man had been on a crucifix. This time, he was standing with his head hanging as Saisho Kijo yelled at him. It was funny, because while Saisho was formidable, there was no way she could have stood up to the Yakuza in combat.

Yet the man was definitely subdued in her presence. And standing at Saisho's side was a little girl. She had long grey hair and red eyes and a horn coming from her forehead. She was miming what Saisho was doing. The two women were fearless, as if they knew there was nothing to fear from the Yakuza and Izuku couldn't remember much more of the dream except for the absolute certainty that the two were safe.

If the Yakuza had tried to hurt them then... Something far worse than the crucifix awaited.

He shook his head slightly and dug his fingertips in. Sometimes... His dreams just made no sense.

Izuku yawned and then looked at the clock. It said 0730... He groaned. Usually, he'd have been up already but with the interrogations last night, he'd been up late and had obviously slept a little bit longer. It wasn't enough.

He was tempted to just crash back into bed and return to sleep but...

There was so much to do.

Before he'd gone to bed last night, he'd given Kurogiri three handwritten notes to deliver and hopefully their recipients would be happy with the message. He should check on that and then... He had to think of the plan for Tartarus.

Last night he'd realised that they would need a distraction, and the best distraction was probably going to be an attack that got the Number One Hero's attention. Dabi would be... If he tried to make Dabi go on the Tartarus mission, then the man would likely betray him again. So... Dabi would lead the distraction.

Izuku needed to talk to Yakuni.

With a sigh, he got up and flipped the covers back on his bed. It wasn't made, but at least the blankets weren't open and inviting. Hopefully Kurogiri was up... if not Unten... was probably still asleep. Izuku sighed again... Yakuni might be asleep too.

So... If he couldn't figure out a way to get to Yakuni's place, he'd find out if Gigantomachia wanted to spar or if there was any news on Garaki. There had been some news when the Doctor had been arrested but then there had been nothing.

Izuku went down to the bar. It was empty but just as he was considering going back to bed, Dabi appeared.

"You are up early," Izuku commented.

The fire villain started but then looked at him. "Later than you," he countered.

Izuku cocked his head slightly to acknowledge that point as they walked behind the bar, into the small kitchen that was behind it. Izuku grabbed some cereal while Dabi blinked at the coffee machine. It was a small machine, one that used pods. Kurogiri occasionally got a request for an espresso martini and while it wasn't, strictly speaking, correct to make it with pod coffee, it was much more cost effective.

"Do you want me to make you coffee?" Izuku asked. From the way the villain was looking at the machine, it was obvious that Izuku was far more awake.

Dabi looked annoyed but he nodded.

Izuku looked around for the pods as Dabi sat down at the little table. Izuku found them and checked the water in the machine. Thankfully it was full. He turned it on and while it heated, he grabbed the cereal box from the bench and put it on the table with two bowls. He got the impression Dabi would just eat the cereal from the box, but the villain took the hint and poured himself some. Izuku ran a rinse through the machine, using the water to heat a cup he'd found, before he discarded that and popped the pod in. A few moments later the kitchen filled with the aroma of coffee and Izuku put the cup in front of Dabi, before he fetched the milk from the fridge, grabbed two spoons from the drawer and sat at the table.