5

Izuku was 12 when his father didn't come home from work one night.

Sure, his father came home a little late sometimes, but Izuku was getting worried. His mother had started helping behind the scenes at the agency once it moved nearby, so she wasn't home either. He would have been home alone, but Uncle Masaru was over to babysit. His father told him that they were going to be home late tonight, but it was nearly midnight and they still hadn't even heard from them.

Katsuki and he were both trying not to fall asleep. Izuku didn't want to sleep while his parents were still gone, and Katsuki wasn't going to fall asleep while his friend stayed up, while Masaru tried to hide his own worry, reading a book to calm his nerves. All three of them nearly jumped out of their skin when Masaru's phone rang.

"Inko? Where are you?" Masaru hastily asked when he finally answered. The two boys noticed the color quickly drain from his face, causing them to shoot a concerned glance at each other. "A-All right. We'll be there as soon as we can."

This definitely had the boys worried. He stood up, looking grim. "Izuku, your father is in the hospital. Your mother didn't tell me how he's doing, but he's going into emergency surgery soon. Now, I'm sure he'll be fine, but you boys need to get ready, we're leaving right now."

The boys sprang into action, not speaking a word. Truth be told, Izuku had expected something like this. His father was a top ten hero, and the slight nervousness he detected when they left that morning let him know that something was happening. He knew how dangerous being a hero could be, but no child is ever truly ready for their parent to be hurt.

The car ride over to the hospital was silent. Izuku doubted he would have heard them if either Bakugou said anything, anyway. He was too deep in thought and worry. He was scanning through every news app he had on his phone, looking for any report of Stormclaw, but he found nothing, not even a sighting. That was his second clue.

They arrived at the emergency department entrance and Masaru couldn't stop the boys before they jumped out of the car and dashed inside. They skidded to a stop once they got inside, looking frantically around for anyone they knew or any way to find Izuku's father.

"Boys!" The boys whipped around just in time to get crushed in a great hug from Inko. After a few seconds she let them go, before looking around. "Did you run off without Masaru?"

"W-well, we were worried!" Izuku responded. He looked at his mother, the traces of dried tears were still present on her face, although it looked like she had tried to clean them off. He knew his mother was just as emotional as he was, if not more so. He guessed that she wasn't crying now simply because she was out of tears for the moment.

They waited a few seconds for an out-of-breath Masaru to jog into the building. He looked around quickly for the boys, calming down when he spotted them standing next to Inko.

"Masaru," Inko stood up to greet him properly, "thank you for bringing them so quickly. Let's head up." A smile attempted to make its way across her face, but failed.

"He's doing okay. He'll be okay." She sounded like she was reassuring herself just as much as them.

They stepped inside and let the doors close as Inko selected the 4th floor button. The elevator ride was silent other than the odd sniffle from Inko. They stepped out of the elevator and began walking down a hallway. The hospital was eerily quiet and had a faint chemical smell that permeated everything.

"One more thing, before we go in." She seemed to be uncomfortable with her words, as if she was coming to terms with them herself. She turned to face the three boys, stopping them in their tracks. "They did what they could, and he's doing great, all things considered, but they-" She took a deep breath, preparing herself, "They couldn't save his left arm."

The three gasped. Katsuki recovered first and turned to look at his friend, who was still stunned, eyes wide and staring into space. After a few more seconds he jostled the boy, bringing him back to earth. "Hey. Nothing like that is gonna keep him down. Uncle 'Sashi is tough as hell."

Izuku slowly nodded his head and the four of them continued walking. The only reason he wasn't crying is that he was still too shocked to properly process what was going on.

"So, we're clear on the story?" The man wearing a light suit asked, peering through his spectacles.

"We are. But I'm telling you, he won't buy it." Hisashi laughed, which hurt. He was laying in a hospital bed, his chest covered in bandages. He was trying not to think about the limb he was now missing.

"Just let me do the talking, then. I'm sure you understand why we were told to keep this secret."

"I understand completely, but I'm telling you that it's gonna be hard to try and trick him like this."

The thin man sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose. "And what do you suggest instead?"

"He'll understand if we tell him it's a secret. Give him a little bite, something that will satisfy his worry, but not endanger what we did today." Hisashi coughed a bit; he was exhausted.

"I'll take it under consideration. Forgive me if I doubt the intuition of a twelve-year-old."

Hisashi laughed once, then hissed from the pain. "Just remember, I warned you."

Inko knocked on the door and led her son into the room. He waved a short goodbye to Katsuki and his father as he left them to wait outside. Izuku immediately noted the tall, thin man sitting in the corner of the room, but ran over to his father first.

"Dad!" Izuku was crying, finally. Seeing his father in person brought him back to reality, and it brought his emotions back with him. He flew forward into his father's arm, careful not to touch his chest.

"Hey, kiddo." His father's voice was a little raspy, and a lot exhausted.

"Are you going to be okay Mom told me you were fine but I want to hear it from you I was so worried and there was nothing on the news please tell me you're okay." Hisashi tried not to laugh a bit as his son's worried words flew from his mouth. If he hadn't gotten used to it over the years, he probably wouldn't have been able to understand him.

"I'll be okay after a few days' rest, I'd imagine." Hisashi caught his son stealing a glance at his left side and knew what question Izuku wanted to ask. "Your old man isn't done yet."

"You m-mean…" Izuku had wanted to ask, but he thought it wasn't the time.

"I'm not retiring, no. I'll have to take it easier, but Stormclaw isn't finished." He smiled as much as he could, causing his son to bury his face in his remaining arm and really begin to cry.

His tears and shaking shoulders gradually slowed over the next few minutes as Izuku cried himself out and calmed down.

He finally pulled his head back, wiping tears from his face. "Okay…" He said shakily. He glanced at the man with the spotted tie in the corner and then at the missing arm. He took a deep breath and took a few seconds to collect his thoughts. "What happened?"

Before anyone else could speak up, Izuku began to speak with a speed that was only rivaled by his deepest muttering sprees. "And don't tell me that it was an accident or anything like that. I know that Sir Nighteye - hello Sir, by the way," He bowed politely. "I would love to have your autograph if you can find the time- I know that Sir Nighteye wouldn't be here if it wasn't something big. Sir being here means All Might was probably involved, and if All Might was involved and you were involved, then that means that it was something really big."

Sir Nighteye raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised that this child knew who he was. Izuku kept his satisfaction at that reaction to himself.

"And if it was something big enough for both Stormclaw and All Might to be involved, and I assume other top heroes as well, and if Sir Nighteye is here to, I assume, lie to me to help cover it up, then I know it's probably bigger than anything else that I've ever heard of, bigger than Terrorflame or anything else."

Inko was half-mortified and half-proud with her son. She put a hand to her face, trying to contain her nervous laughter.

"And if it's that big and that important to have all those heroes involved and to keep it so secret that there's not even a mention of it on any of the news outlets, then it's obviously too important to let me know about it." Izuku finally took a breath. "So, I guess I answered my own question, unless I'm wrong?"

He turned to Sir Nighteye as he finished his rapid speech. Sir stared at him for a few seconds and blinked once. The boy hadn't even given him a chance to speak yet. "Very astute, young man."

He put his hand to his chin as he made a sound that sounded a little like a chuckle. He turned and looked at Hisashi, who was just grinning.

"Hey, I didn't say anything."

"Indeed."

Hisashi turned back to his son, placing his hand on his head. "Son, you know there are things we can't tell you. It's for your own safety."

"I know, Dad." He nodded softly. "I'm just glad you're okay. I won't say anything."

"What I can tell you," Izuku noticed Sir Nighteye tense up slightly, "is that I know you would be proud of what I did. And for what it's worth, I would do it again."

Izuku's eyes shook with emotion as he buried his head into his father's arm again.

Sir Nighteye relaxed, then stood up, causing Izuku to look at him. "As long as you understand that we cannot speak at all about the matter, then I am no longer needed here." He shot a glance at the boy as he walked towards the door.

Izuku understood the glance and backed out of his father's arm. He pulled out a notebook from, well, none of the adults in the room were quite sure from where, holding a blank page up to Sir Nighteye. The stoic man quickly penned his signature and left, giving a small bow to Inko as he did so.

The boy ran outside to let the other visitors into the room. As he waved them in, Katsuki noticed a much happier look on his friend's face. "Was that Sir Nighteye?" He asked, curious and hoping to raise Izuku's mood.

"Yeah!" Izuku held up the signature. "I got his autograph, too!"

"Woah… that's like, super rare." Katsuki was in awe. It helped that his enthusiasm cheered up his friend as well.

After Masaru spoke to Hisashi for a while ("Sorry, Masaru, I guess I'll have to cancel next week's round of golf.") and Katsuki was also assured that he was okay and that Stormclaw was not going to be retiring, the boys and Inko went home. As soon as their adrenaline died down, the boys' bodies abruptly reminded them that it was nearly two in the morning. They had barely started the drive home before they both fell asleep.

Once home, Inko carried her sleeping boy inside, silently waving as Masaru drove away. She took him to his bedroom and laid him down, running her hand through his messy hair and giving him a loving kiss on the forehead before leaving him to sleep. She looked back at him as she left the room, worrying about the future like she often did. She took a deep breath and closed the door quietly behind her.

'No matter how big you get, you'll always be my baby boy, Izuku.'

Hisashi stared out the window of the porch, thinking about the past few days, and what the future held.

He wound up taking a couple months off to recuperate. The damage he received to his chest was bad enough without him also losing an arm, so Inko forced him to rest for longer than he hoped. He knew that when he finally did go back to work, he was going to have to take it easier. He was only 40, he thought, it's a shame that he was on the decline already.

On the other hand, he figured his injury was a blessing in disguise in some ways. It would allow him to spend more time with his son, for starters. He still had seven good years to train and teach his son before he got shipped off to UA, after all, and he was going to use them. Izuku had made great strides in the recent years with his quirk physically and he hadn't had another 'incident' since he knocked that kid out four years ago.

However, Hisashi knew that things were about to start changing. Izuku was starting puberty, which meant that his instincts were going to get stronger. He was hoping to put this off for a little bit longer, to let Izuku keep his innocence as long as he could, but especially with him having a brush with death, he couldn't justify that any longer.

It was time for the talk.

Hisashi guessed that most fathers didn't have to have this kind of talk.

Instead of waiting any longer, Hisashi decided to tear the bandage off right that moment. He called for Izuku, who came quickly.

"Yeah, dad?" Izuku was attentive, but cautious. He was expecting to be asked for help from his newly-handicapped father but didn't want to assume his father needed more assistance than what he asked for. He didn't want to insult him, after all.

"We're going out to the beach. It's time we have a talk about our quirks." Hisashi said, his nerves made him sound grimmer than he had intended.

Izuku looked understandably worried, but quickly followed his father outside. They walked along the beach in silence for a few minutes until they arrived at a rocky outcropping that they had often used as natural chairs. They sat down and listened to the waves lapping at the beach for a while, breathing in the fresh sea air. Finally, after Izuku looked like he was about to fidget out of his skin, Hisashi spoke.

"Do you remember the talk we had four years ago? Right after you got suspended?"

Izuku cringed slightly at the memory, but then nodded. "You told me that it was my quirk that gives me those weird impulses, like the one that made me lash out when those students hit Kacchan."

"Exactly. And I can't tell you enough how proud I am that you've been able to keep in control since then." His son smiled at the praise. "But I'm afraid there is a change going on in your life right now."

Izuku blanched and his eyes went wide. "Uhhh, Dad if this is about the birds and the bees then it's okay you don't have to-"

"No, no! It's about your quirk!" Hisashi interrupted his son before he melted down.

"Oh." He sighed, relieved.

"Well, you were partially right," he held up a hand to stop Izuku from sputtering more, "our quirks become more...assertive during puberty."

Izuku quieted down and thought for a moment before speaking, "So, what does that mean for me?"

"I'm not sure, honestly. My father was the same type of dragon as me, so he could help me quite a bit, but there hasn't been a green dragon in our family for a long time." Hisashi cleared his throat. "But I have some idea. Izuku, we've talked about this before, about the difference between chromatic and metallic dragons, right?"

Izuku nodded, fear in his eyes.

"I suspect it will be something like that. Look at Terrorflame, or Fulgurite, or even Frostheart. You're a smart kid, extrapolate."

Hisashi saw his son's brain go to work. He began to mutter, eyes darting along the ground as he considered what his father said. Then Izuku's face fell and Hisashi realized that he had messed up. Izuku started to tear up, a note of betrayal in his voice. "Ar-Are you s-saying you think I'm gonna be a v-v-villain?"

Hisashi's eyes went wide, mentally slapping himself for being an idiot. "No! No, no, no, no, nothing like that." Izuku sniffled. "Izuku. Son. I don't think I could stop you from being a hero if I tried." He reached out with his remaining arm and placed it on his son's shaking shoulder. "I would never say that. I'm sorry that I let you even think that for a moment."

His son breathed deep, trying to calm himself. "S-so, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that it's not going to be easy." He gave him a kind, reassuring smirk. "Think of it as a challenge. Nobody is going to have to try harder than you, which means when you finally succeed, you're going to be better than everyone else."

Izuku laughed a bit; a victory for his father. "Kacchan isn't going to take that lying down."

"I'm counting on it." Hisashi gave his son a reassuring jostle before releasing his shoulder. "But I didn't just bring you out here to accidentally devastate and then encourage you." Another small laugh from Izuku. "We are here to talk about your plan to deal with these things. We call them instincts, if you remember."

"I just have to ignore them, right? That's what I've been doing." Izuku began counting something on his fingers, his father didn't know what. "Whenever I've felt something weird like that time I knocked that kid out, I reason it away or remove myself from the situation. You want me to keep doing that?"

"Well, that might work for a while, but now that you're getting older, it's going to be much harder." Izuku looked fearful again, so Hisashi quickly continued. "We have a little trick that we've picked up to help us out whenever our quirk acts up like that. You have to give it what it wants, but in a way that works for you."

Izuku was a little upset he'd never thought of that before. He just stared back at his father.

"Let me give you an example. Your old man isn't as much of a saint as you might think. Whenever I do a job, such as saving someone or defeating a villain, my instincts demand that I be compensated for it." Izuku kept thinking, not reacting in horror as his father feared. "So, instead of demanding or taking payment from the people I save, what do I do?"

"You take a paycheck from the government." Izuku was catching on. "So, instead of letting your desire make you a villain, you use it to keep yourself in line and be the best hero you can be, to keep from losing that paycheck and to try and get a bigger one."

"Exactly!" he said proudly. Even after all these years, Izuku often impressed him.

"So, whenever you feel something start to pull at you, think about how you can make it work for you, rather than against you." Hisashi was a little proud of his adlib adage. "What's something you feel sometimes? Let's work on what you can do."

Izuku thought for only a moment, rubbing his chin once. "How about the basic one; the first one I remember. I really like to manipulate people. It feels really satisfying when I get someone to change their mind or actions."

"So, as I said earlier, ignoring that desire will only cause you suffering once you can't contain it any longer." Hisashi pointed at him. "So how can you make that work for you?"

"Well, what if I convince them of something good? Like I can talk down criminals or calm victims." Izuku postulated.

"That's it. Find positive outlets!" He tried to slam his fist into the open palm of his left hand but found it impossible. "There's nothing that's inherently evil. Everything is about intent. The difference between a hero and a villain is a matter of perspective." Izuku nodded along to his father's words. "I'm sure that I'm the villain in the stories of the people I defeat. If you play your cards right and use that big brain of yours," Hisashi poked his son in the forehead, "you can be the hero in a lot of stories."

He moved his hand down to hold the boy's shoulder again. "You're the smartest boy I know, and I know that you can and will figure this out. Nothing's gonna stop you unless you let it. Remember that."

Izuku smiled wide. "I will. Thanks, Dad." He paused, before throwing his arms around his father's chest. "I love you."

"I love you too, Son. You make me so damn proud every day." Hisashi said softly into his son's hair, smile growing on his face. "Hey, how about I teach you something new today? I think you're ready for it."

Izuku's happy tears dried instantly as they were replaced with a look of excitement. He jumped off the rock and into a wide, ready stance. "Yes, sir!"

Notes:

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought in the comments.

See you all next chapter!