The Emperor's Dragon II

Thankful For Normality

Izuku sat on Ochaco's bed as his friends talked. He let the sound wash over him. It was nice and he felt relaxed. He was content just to listen as they spoke about normal things, but he knew he wasn't the only one who knew things had changed. It couldn't be completely normal when Ochaco was no longer in UA... when he was no longer there.

But it was nice... not to pretend, because they weren't pretending that things were normal but just to be able to chat without having to focus on larger issues. Mei had lots of ideas for babies and was working with a couple of companies to bring them to life. She was also looking out for Hitoshi and was making him a new costume now, one that included a voice modulator so that he could make himself sound like anyone! That was going to be so useful for him.

Hitoshi was training with Aizawa and had participated in several hero class activities, even if he was still officially enrolled in General Studies.

"What's this new class they made?" Ochaco asked.

Izuku was interested in that. He hadn't been paying attention to UA so this was new information.

Hitoshi snorted. Izuku recognised it as the sound he made when he was going to be cynical. "With the students losing their quirks, UA had to do something to divert attention, so they came up with some sort of inter-school training."

"They invited people from every hero school in the country," Mei elaborated.

Izuku said nothing but he was listening attentively. Hitoshi might call it some joint training session and to the public it probably was that. To him it sounded like an activity to give All Might a chance to assess young heroes and find a successor.

"Has anyone stood out?" Ochaco asked. Izuku was thankful. He wanted to know but... while his friends had accepted him turning villain, they probably wouldn't understand his desire to have All Might's quirk. He had to take it slow. That's why he hadn't mentioned the...

They had to know he'd killed the Principal of his school in Niigata, right? The heroes had spread that around... Hadn't they?

He decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Not yet. Instead Izuku stretched his senses... He couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary, so he didn't think Ochaco, Mei or Hitoshi had told the heroes he'd be here. That ... That shouldn't make him feel relieved. That should be normal! He shouldn't doubt them!

"They kicked out a whole bunch of them initially," Hitoshi shrugged. "And made some extra classes. There's class 1X, 2X and Y and 3X, Y and Z. I don't think anyone has reall-" Hitoshi stopped, and he cocked his head slightly. "Wait," he murmured before looking at Izuku.

"I met Inasa," Hitoshi announced.

"You did?" Izuku was surprised. He hadn't thought about Inasa for a while. The last time he had, it was with sadness because he didn't believe Inasa would understand what he was doing. When they had met up for quirk use days, they'd focused on flying and having fun, not talking about the way the world was.

"I did," Hitoshi confirmed.

"Is he doing well?" Izuku asked.

The purple haired teen nodded.

"Why haven't we heard about Inasa?" Ochaco half demanded, though her tone was playful.

Izuku adopted an apologetic look. "I only met up with him for quirk use days," he explained. "So, I didn't talk to him all the time. Not like I did with Mei," he explained.

Ochaco laughed at his serious explanation, and he knew she hadn't really wanted it.

"He's in class 1X," Hitoshi told him. "His whirlwind is a pain in the behind."