Chapter Text
Izuku sneezed.
“Are you ok?” All Might asked, immediately showing his concern for the young hatchling.
“I think so? I guess Da—All for One is still coming after us,” he said, though it felt like he was forgetting something.
Kacchan huffed from where he rested. “Honestly it’s probably a good thing Miss Inko isn’t here, cause I know she would flip out over two dragons trying to parent you.”
Izuku only blinked. “Who’s Inko?”
“Your mom.”
That only confused Izuku further. “But…I don’t have a mom? There’s Dad and Pops,” he said, only to groan when he accidentally called All for One a parental name again.
But it’s not like he could bring himself to hate the dragon who did take him in.
Kacchan stared at Izuku with wide eyes before turning towards All Might. “He forgot!?”
“Ah yes, that’s actually normal for hatchlings. When they form a parent-bond with a dragon they eventually forget their human life and even their human parents. If Izuku were to see his mother again, he wouldn’t recognize her as his mother and just see her as another human. The process goes faster if a hatchling has two dragon parents—” All Might stopped and froze. “By my tail. It’s a co-parent bond.”
“Spit it out!” Katsuki barked. “What’s wrong?”
All Might swallowed, a giant green Adam’s apple bobbing in his draconic throat. “I used a spell strictly for emergencies, to break a bond if a parent mistreats a baby dragon. It only works if the child has negative feelings toward the parent. I just assumed…that you would only feel hatred toward All for One.”
“I do hate him!” Izuku shrieked.
“But apparently that’s not your only emotion. You must also have some degree of attachment and trust for him. Thus, the spell instead made both of us into your parents.” All Might coughed. “This is my fault. I should have been more careful. I don’t blame you one bit. All for One can be very charming.”
“Really?” Izuku grumbled. “I don’t see it.”
Distantly, trees ripped and toppled to the ground. A faint dragon’s roar echoed through the forest. “Izuku! Where are you, Izuku?”
All Might raised his head. “How did he manage to find us so quickly? I know I shielded this place. He’s following the bond. I’ll hold him off.” The massive golden dragon rose up into the air.
Snarling, All for One shot forward and snapped for All Might’s neck. The golden dragon dodged, but the blow left a score of blood down his side.
Izuku screamed and collapsed to the ground. A mass of emotions overwhelmed him: Dads fighting! Scary! Stop! Please, stop!
All Might retaliated with a blast of fire. For some reason, his flames sputtered and died before touching All for One. Torn by irrational feelings of fear, Izuku screamed even louder.
Katsuki leapt in front. “Stop it! You two are hurting him!” The unicorn rocked back. “Whoa, I suddenly feel extremely protective of Deku. Weird. Do we have a bond now too, through All Might?”
All Might shouted, “We can’t fight! We both have a parental bond with him!”
A wave of darkness washed off All for One, but it dissipated before it touched All Might. “My magic can’t harm you?” All for One snarled. “What have you done?”
“It’s a safeguard to protect dragons with bonds to two parents.” All Might landed next to Izuku and nuzzled him. “I’m so sorry.”
Izuku gasped for breath, his senses starting to return.
“If I hurt you, it hurts Izuku. Then I can’t even send Tomura to assassinate you?” All for One recoiled. “How could you create such a twisted bond, All Might? To think that you portray yourself as a savior!”
All Might flinched. “It was an accident.”
“A careless, cruel accident that hurt my beloved child.”
“Hey!” Izuku stood up. “You tricked me into a bond with you, and All Might asked. You don’t get to criticize him.” All for One flinched. Izuku continued, “Yeah, I found out about that! Did you really think I wouldn’t? Now you and All Might are going to have to make this work, because your fight is making my head hurt so much that I’m ready to kill you both.”
“Partial custody? With that thing?” All for One recoiled.
All Might said, “Young Midoriya can live with me, and you can occasionally visit.”
All for One snorted. “How about I live with my hatchling and you occasionally write letters?”
Izuku clutched his head. “Ow! No fighting!”
Katsuki growled, “Can’t you see you’re hurting him?”
All for One eyed Katsuki like a turd on his shoe. “What’s this thing?”
All Might said, “I also have a bond with young Bakugou, which seems to have connected him to young Midoriya.”
All for One recoiled. “You adopted a unicorn? And you haven’t yet died of shame? What a disgrace!”
“You’re the only disgrace in this family,” All Might growled.
All for One fixed Katsuki with a murderous glare. “Unicorn, you are not related to me. You have no connection to me. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t even exist. You are like air.”
Katsuki pawed the ground. “Who wants to be related to an ugly white lizard?”
As promised, All for One pretended that the unicorn hadn’t spoken. “Sadly, it appears this wretched bond will require us both to spend time with my hatchling. Preferably at different times, because I refuse to have you in my cave.”
“The feeling is mutual,” All Might said. “We’ll have to work out split custody.”
Katsuki shouted, “Hey! What about Miss Inko? Izuku is her son!”
Izuku blinked. “I don’t have a mom.”
“Of course you do,” Katsuki said. “Everyone has a mother.”
“Yes, but mine is…” Izuku wanted to say dead, but he had no memories of his mother dying. He had no memories of her being alive, either. “I have a mom?”
Katsuki said, “Yes, she’s been traveling the world for her job while you were at boarding school.”
A tear trickled down Izuku’s cheek. “I don’t remember her.” But he felt a gap inside him. Unbearable sadness rose up.
“Oh, no.” All Might shook his head. “The hatchling bond pushes out memories of previous parents, supposedly for the sake of smoother bonding with the draconic parent.” He glared at All for One. “Especially if someone doesn’t use magic to prevent that from happening.”
Katsuki stared at Izuku. “You really forgot Miss Inko?”
Izuku shuddered. He tried to dig up a single memory. Or even a hole where memories might be missing. But he felt nothing. “This is all your fault!” he screamed at All for One.
All for One took a step backwards. “It’s a natural part of the transformation. I didn’t anything.”
“You didn’t do anything to stop it either.” All Might glared. “I think you should leave. You’re upsetting him. We’ll settle our custody agreement from a distance, since that’s the only way we can tolerate each other’s presence.”
All for One did not look like a happy dragon. Steam rose from his nostrils and his tail lashed. However, he left. With one last demand that All Might contact him to discuss custody arrangements as soon as possible, the massive dragon took to the sky and faded off into the distance.
“Huh,” All Might said.
“What do you mean by that?” Katsuki demanded. “Do you think he’ll fly back and attack us from behind?” The unicorn spun around in a circle, hooves clattering nervously.
“No, I think he was sincere,” All Might said. “How strange. I never thought All for One would back off for fear of hurting another person. He doesn’t have enough empathy for that.” All Might cast Izuku a considering look. “He must be very attached to you.”
Izuku didn’t have the energy to care about All for One. He had greater priorities. “Where is my mom? I have to find her! She must be worried sick about me!” Izuku might not remember his mother, but he had a mother, and that changed everything.
Reacting to the hatchling’s distress, All Might started to curve a tail around him. Izuku winced.
All Might leapt backward, bashing over several trees with his bulk. “Oh, no. As long as I’m at odds with All for One, my touch hurts you, too. I really am going to have to make peace with that arrogant lizard as soon as possible.” The golden dragon did not look the slightest bit happy about this. “I have a unicorn friend named Shouta Aizawa. He has a strong information network among magical creatures. I’ll ask for his help finding news of your mother, Young Midoriya.”
“Thank you,” Izuku croaked, lowering his head to the ground to combat his headache.
“Young Bakugou, please stay with him. I’ll return soon.” All Might’s tone gentled. “I’ll find your mother. I promise.”
All Might was true to his word. Within the hour, he had news that Inko Midoriya had been transformed into a unicorn and kidnapped. All Might opened a portal to Inko’s location and let them through, carefully avoiding touching Izuku. Izuku hopped through the portal with Katsuki at his side. All Might stood behind them, careful not to get too close but ready to help rescue Inko. He’d told Izuku all about the attempted foal-napping of Katsuki.
A gaggle of unicorns stood together around a pool, chatting. Upon seeing a unicorn with rainbow hair, Katsuki screamed and pointed, “You!”
Celestabellebethabelle gasped. “Lady Inko! The kidnapping dragon is here with your very violent son.”
A small green unicorn stepped through the crowd. From the way the other unicorns parted before her, she seemed to command their respect. If this was “Lady Inko” then did that make her Izuku’s mother? Pawing the ground, she screamed, “Charge!”
The unicorns leapt on All Might, pummeling him with their hooves and stabbing with their horns. It was like watching kittens attack an elephant. Their hooves bounced off and at least one horn got bent. Glittering magic danced around the unicorns, but it was also deflected by All Might’s shields.
All Might bellowed, “Ladies, if you would calm down and listen to me, this is all a misunderstanding. Ow!” He winced as a horn caught him in the ear. Standing up and spreading his wings, he shook the unicorns off him. They fell in a spray of glitter.
“Retrieve the foal!” Celestabellebethabelle started toward Katsuki, but he lowered his horn threateningly, then she backed away.
“This is all a misunderstanding.” Izuku ran toward Inko. “I haven’t been kidnapped, Mom! I’ll explain everything.”
Inko knocked Izuku to the ground and then put her horn at his throat. “Hand over my son or the dragon hatchling gets it!”
Everyone in the clearing froze. “Mom?” Izuku asked weakly. “Uh, do you think that Kacchan is your son?” It made sense if Inko had lost her memories too. Only one of them looked like a unicorn foal, and it wasn’t Izuku.
Inko glared. “Silence! I hate dragons. One of them stole my beloved child from me, even if I can’t remember him.” Her voice twisted as if in pain and her hooves shook on the ground.
Celestabellebethabelle gestured with her hoof. “It was the evil dragon All Might, definitely! He’s the kidnapper! He savaged me during my rescue attempt.”
Katsuki protested, “Hey, I’m the one who beat you up, and I’m proud of it.” He slowly approached Inko. “Miss, you’re currently stepping on your son.”
Inko sniffed the air around Katsuki. “You don’t smell like my foal. You can leave.” She looked down at Izuku. “I don’t see how I could be related to a dragon…”
Izuku didn’t know how to make her believe him without his memories. This unicorn was his mother? His own instincts told him that it wasn’t possible. Her magic smelled leafy, sparkly, and entirely foreign to a dragon. But that was his instincts talking. Once he had been human, and so had this woman in front of him.
Looking down at him, Inko muttered, “Those eyes. I remember those eyes. My baby’s eyes.” She sniffed the air. Her eyes widened. She stepped off him. “My baby! I looked for you so hard, but you found me first.”
Just like that, Izuku knew. His mother still remembered him on some level, even after her transformation. His eyes welled up with tears. “That’s me. Mom, uh…I’m your son. From back when you were human.”
Inko made a sound between a shriek and a high-pitched whinny. Then she lunged at him. For a moment Izuku thought he was about to be attacked again. Instead she nuzzled him all over his scales.
Izuku couldn’t remember anything, but he couldn’t help tearing up at her display of affection. A dragon couldn’t exactly hug a unicorn, but he buried his nose in her mane. “Mom, All Might didn’t kidnap me. That was a different dragon. All Might rescued me and helped me find you again.”
Celestabellebethabelle said, “A dragon son is very irregular, but compared to that bad-tempered brute—” she pointed her nose at Katsuki “—you traded up.”
“Don’t be rude,” Inko said. “We did just attack them unjustly.” She lowered her horn at All Might. “I’m sorry. You apologize, too.”
“I’m sorry,” Celestabellebethabelle mumbled reluctantly.
“Very good,” Inko said warmly. Celestabellebethabelle perked up.
“No harm done,” All Might said, shaking glitter off his snout.
Izuku was a little impressed that his mother had taken charge so fast. “Mom, what should we do now? I don’t know if I’ll ever remember you.” He started sobbing against his will. “But maybe we can work on rebuilding our bond slowly.”
“Yes, please.” Inko sniffled, then sobbed out tears made of rainbows and glitter.
That got Izuku crying even harder until they’d flooded the clearing and sent all the other unicorns running away.
Izuku’s first family dinner was a massive picnic. They’d picked a clearing large enough to accommodate both unicorns and dragons. A huge blanket spread out over the grass.
Based on the custody agreement, Izuku spent a third of his time with All for One, a third with All Might, and a third with Inko. However, today his dads had promised to teach him how to become human again for the first time. Izuku would be able to return to school, assuming it all went well. Past encounters between his parents had gone poorly. All Might and All for One hated each other. Inko blamed them both for stealing her child. Especially All for One, who kept getting glitter bombs in his nest.
Izuku really wanted this dinner to be a success, because it would be much easier for him to go to school and spend his weekends with his family if they could all meet up for meals without trying to murder each other. He still got nasty headaches whenever his dads bit, clawed, or otherwise drew the other’s blood.
Tomura crouched next to a spit, roasting meat with his fire breath. Next to him, Inko’s horn levitated as she added spices to the meat.
All for One and All Might were setting the table, except they seemed to have turned it into a contest. All Might put down a golden plate, so All for One added a giant goblet encrusted with rubies and emeralds, then All Might started using magic to gild the napkins.
Izuku’s dragon instincts relaxed, feeling a positive feeling from watching his dads work together (however reluctantly.) When they got along, it made him feel safer. Even if he knew it was merely a hatchling impulse, he still relaxed on the grass and sighed contentedly.
All Might sneered. “I recognize that goblet. You stole it from the Bat Wizard after burning down his tower!”
“Still holding onto grudges from centuries ago.” All for One sighed.
“That was last year!”
“I see you brought out your prize cup from the last Battle Mage tournament.” All for One nudged the silver cup with his snout. “Do you think they still would have given it to you if they knew you were a dragon? Are you ashamed of your kind? Or afraid your adoring fans would turn on you?”
“Dragons like you make people distrust all of us,” All Might growled.
“Then you could come out publicly as a dragon, but no, you’d rather hide your identity like a coward. You’re a sellout.”
As the two continued to bicker, Izuku felt another wave of relaxation. Huh, his dragon instincts were very optimistic about the so-called cooperation between his dads. Apparently just having them in the same place without physically fighting helped.
Katsuki nudged Izuku’s side with his horn. “I can’t wait to be human again! Finally we’ll have hands!”
Izuku laughed. “Yeah, I’ve missed hands.”
Katsuki lowered his horn and nudged the ground. “So, uh, about what happened when I first saw you…I didn’t realize it was you…”
Izuku blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, good, you’ve already forgotten.” Katsuki whinnied nervously. “Never mind!”
On the other side of the clearing, All Might said, “I’ve put up wanted posters for the vile brute who attacked our hatchling.”
All for One snorted. “I’ve assigned all my spies to look for the human who tried to kill *my* hatchling.”
“Oh, that,” Izuku said. He turned to look at Katsuki, who had hidden his face in shame. “Are they talking about back when I first transformed into a dragon and you tried to kill me?”
Katsuki’s ears flicked back. “Kill is a very strong word. You might have survived the burning and impaling.”
Izuku said, “You should have just told All Might the truth. He would cut a child more slack. Then he wouldn’t be sticking up wanted posters looking for you, and he wouldn’t have told All for One.”
Meanwhile, All Might said, “I hate you, but I’ll work with you long enough to find the murderer before he can harm more hatchlings.”
All for One said, “A truce, then, at least until we get our revenge.”
Katsuki lowered his voice. “Please don’t tell them! Please! I’ll let you take any ingredients you want from my laboratory.”
Izuku grinned, baring his full set of dragon teeth. Katsuki had a very well-stocked laboratory. Furthermore, it was in Izuku’s best interests to maintain the All for One-All Might truce. “Deal.”
