Chapter Text
Meeting Him
He was five when Shouta first met him. Beaten, and battered, lying worryingly limp on the soil of the playground. Now, Shouta was a pro-hero (albeit a new one), and was known for having minimum to no emotion shown outwardly. But even he couldn’t help but visibly panic when he saw the kid on the ground. He sprinted from where he stood, a few meters away from the playground, and crossed the road without looking anywhere apart from where the kid was lying. The way he was eerily unmoving, with eyes open and staring at the sky, made him think of the worst. But once he was close enough, he noticed minimal rise and fall of the kid’s chest. Some of the tension unwinded from his shoulders, and he allowed himself to take a breath before he approached the kid.
Knowing the kid wasn’t dead surely was a relief. But he noticed the injuries, and the worry came back anyway. Apart from the very prominent bruises against his pale skin, his shirt was signed around the collar, and a few tufts of his green hair were burnt as well.
“Hey, kid.” Shouta awkwardly (and stupidly) nudged the boy’s arm with his knuckle. Why? Why am I like this?
The kind, thankfully, blinked, and slowly turned his head towards him. Shouta noticed how painfully dull his eyes were. And the bags around his eyes as well. But the moment the boy’s eyes fell on him, he gasped quietly, and some shine returned to his eyes.
“E-Eraserhead?”
Shouta blue screened for a hot second. Because, one, most of the aboveground hero’s didn’t know him. Second, civilians didn’t know him at all. Third, a fucking kid of all people recognized him by just one look.
Shouta suppressed the mini-tornado of confusion and panic in his mind within a fraction of a second, and focused on attending to the injured kid.
“Yeah, that’s me, kiddo. Now tell me, can you get up?”
“Nggh.” The boy made visible efforts to push himself off the ground, but failed as tears started brimming his eyes, as his lips wobbled, “I-I can’t. I’m sorry- ”
“Hey, hey, hey now.” Shouta rushed. He isn’t good with children. Much less crying children. He was half tempted to whip out his phone and call his best friend, Hizashi, for this. But his best friend would be patrolling around the city right about now, and he didn’t think it was a good idea to make him come all the way here, just for this. Something he should be able to do. He was a competent adult after all. Or at least supposed to be.
“It’s okay, don’t cry. Can you tell me where it hurts?” He asked, trying to keep his voice as gentle as he could without sounding fake. He imagined the little boy in front of him to be a kitten in order to help it.
“ Everywhere .” The kid whined.
Oh, that was not a good sign. And Shouta hoped the only reason he was hurting everywhere was because his muscles were exhausted beyond limit. “Okay, I’ll try to pick you up. If it hurts let me know right then, and I’ll stop, okay?”
“O-Okay.”
Putting down the grocery bag he was carrying, Shouta reached out to the kid, lifting his head gently before he snuck his other hand underneath his knees. Then, slowly he lifted him off the ground.
“Does it hurt?” He asked, letting his arms over a few centimeters above ground.
The boy stayed silent for a second, before shaking his head, “It just feels….weird. Like jelly.”
Exhausted muscles, then. “Alright, okay. I’ll help you get home first, you parents must be worried. Then, they can take you to the hospital.”
“Nggh— No-No hospital.” The boy croaked, “Won-Won’t help.”
Shouta frowned, “What do you mean?”
“‘M Quirkless.” The boy whimpered.
Shouta almost, almost, made the mistake of freezing in his spot. But he had always been quick at making decisions, theorizing, analyzing, and deciding, when required. His quirk made him fight essentially quirkless during his patrols. And in order to minimize his injuries, he had to learn how to make split second decisions as well. Plus, he had trained himself for years to gain almost complete control over his body.
But then, the first half of the boy’s reply hit him, and he almost activated his quirk from rage. He knew Quirk discrimination was a huge thing in the current society. 80% of the entire’s world is awakened with quirks. And while 20% sounded like a lot, it wasn’t. Not in Japan, that is. Because what was 20% for the world, was only 5% in Japan. And even from that 5%, a minimum of 4% were old people from back when Quirks first started out.
Quirklessness in current times is extremely rare. And therefore, ostracized.
Suddenly, the image of the kid lying limp in the playground for god knows how long, while the other adults ignored him like he wasn’t even there, made so much sense. And the clearer the image was in his head, the more furious he became.
He cursed quietly under his breath, and shook his head, “Alright then kid. Gimme your address so I can take you home.”
Shouta was a patient person, and listened patiently as the kid mumbled out his address, while walking pace. And as soon as he got the full address, Shouta was running. He positioned the boy in his arms so that he didn’t jerk him too much while he was running. It took ten minutes to reach the residential complex.
When he knocked on the door, he was met with a woman, and anyone with a pair of working eyes would know she was the kid’s mother. Green hair wasn't really common. Naturally, that is. She looked surprised at first to see him, but then her eyes fell on the boy in his arms, and she gasped. Eyes going wide in shock and surprise, and hands flying to her mouth.
“What happened?” She almost shrieked.
“I found him, like this, in the park. I offered to take him to the hospital but he didn’t agree with me. So, I brought him home as quickly as I could.” Shouta quickly explained.
“ Baby! ” The mother gasped, gently taking the boy from his arms. Shouta pressed his lips in a thin line, suddenly feeling awkward as he stood at the doorway. What was he supposed to do? Leave? He was a little worried about the kid. But in most cases, that involved kids, he left as soon as the kid was handed over to the required authority. He did that for all cases, to be honest. Job done. Good bye.
“Um-” Shouta felt a sudden tug on his shirt, and paused. He noticed the mother looking in his direction with a stern glare and a finger pointed towards him. Please, don’t tell me she thinks I’ve involved in some way-
“I need to know what happened, sir. So please, come in.” She said instead.
“Er… okay…” Shouta watched as the woman hurried inside, while he removed his boots. He hesitated for a few seconds before walking in. As soon as the mother noticed him standing around the corner, she said-
“Can you help? Hold the ice packs for me. I’ll go grab the first aid kit, and a washcloth.
Shouta nodded dumbly as he took the ice pack he was handed, and sat down on the couch where the boy was lying. Gently, he pressed the eye pack on his black eye, first. The boy whined in response. I know it’s too cold, but trust me, it’ll help me.”
The mother came back, with rushed footsteps before kneeling down in front of the couch, and fishing out a bottle of rubbing alcohol, some cotton, a pair of tweezers, and several hero themed band aids.
“You’re a little too trusting, ma’am.” Shouta said. The woman looked up at him with furrowed brows, and a confused expression. He lowered the ice pack from the kid’s eyes, to his jaw, and continued, “I’m Eraserhead, a pro-hero.” He added and then continued to explain, “I found him, lying in the ground like this. I would say he had a fight with his friends, but the injuries look too severe for that.” He stopped, and tugged at the hem of the kid’s shirt, “Kid, I need to check if you have any more bruises, so I’m going to have to take off your shirt, is that okay with you?”
“Ye-Yeah.” The boy sniffled.
With a nod, Shouta looked to his flustered looking mother, who nodded a beat later and carefully removed the shirt. He frowned when he was met with the sight of two huge bruises forming on his chest, and stomach.
“I suggest taking him to the hospital just to make sure he doesn’t have any broken bones. And I’d advise just a cold bath, filled with ice as well. It’ll help with the bruising.”
The woman nodded, breaking out of her previous daze, and quickly worked to clean the cuts. The kid, to his credit, didn’t complain about the sting from the alcohol. Only scrunching up his face, and whining each time his mother tapped the cotton against his skin.
“Kid, who did this?” Shouta asked.
“Du-Dunno.” The kid answered. Shouta frowned. “Never met them before…”
“You mean, some random kids did this to you?” Shouta asked.
The kid nodded, “Kacchan and his friends were fighting with some other kids. And I tried to stop them because the other kids were older than Kacchan. But then Kacchan got mad, and left. And the other kids hurt me.”
His mother’s gaze steeled. Shouta prayed for the kid’s if they ever came across this woman.
Once all the injuries were cleaned and covered, the woman stood up and bowed to him. “Thank you so much for helping us, Eraserhead.”
Shouta stood up, and waved his hand dismissively, “It’s fine ma’am. You don’t need to thank me. I’m just doing my job.” He turned to the kid, and gave what he hoped was a non-scary smile. “You, kid, take care. And try not to get in more fights. If you see other people fighting, ask some adults for help. Or throw something at them, and then run.”
The kid snickered and nodded, “Thank you, Eraserhead!”
It wasn’t until he left that Shouta realized he forgot to ask the kid how he recognized him.
***
It’s called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. A frequency illusion in which, after noticing something for the first time, there is a tendency to notice it more often, leading someone to believe that it is present everywhere.
Like the one time, Shouta saw this one black cat, with white patches and green eyes. And then he started seeing it everywhere, to the point he wondered if the cat had quirks too, and was following him.
Anyways, this time, it’s the green haired little kid from two weeks back. It’s probably because they are in the same neighborhood that it happens. But in the last week, he had spotted the kid eleven times from the corner of his eyes. (Shouta recently moved to this district. He liked to keep his work as far away from his house as he can. )
The second time Shouta met the kid was three weeks after the first time. It was raining heavily. He had been walking down the street when he saw him. He stopped right away. His eyes focused on the kid, crouched underneath the shade of a shop, soaked wet, and trembling.
He was about to leave, wanting to get back home as quickly as he could before the rain got worse, but the kid was shivering, and he looked so small like that; All alone in front of the closed shop and he was a pro-hero. With a sigh, he jogged over to the kid. As soon as he got close, the kid looked up, and blinked. Then, a smile spread on his face.
“Eraserhead!”
“Hey kid,” Shouta replied nonchalantly and crouched down next to the kid, “Whatcha doing out in the rain?”
“Went to play.” The kid answered, “but then it started raining.”
Shouta hummed, “Want me to take you home?”
He nodded his head, “Sure!”
“You’re too trusting, kid. You shouldn’t just go with anyone, you know.” Shouta replied, standing up.
“But you’re not anyone! You’re Eraserhead! A Hero!” The boy answered, “Plus, we’ve already met once, and you helped me!”
Oh how naive and innocent a child’s thinking was, Shouta thought to himself. He was almost a little jealous of it. With a sigh, he held out his hand for the kid to take, before they started walking.
Shouta didn’t have to go all the way to their apartment before they met Ms. Midoriya. Her face lit up with relief the moment she saw her son, and rushed over.
“Oh my, Izuku. I’m so sorry for being late.” She apologized crouching down to her son.
“It’s fine, mama!” Her son replied enthusiastically.
“Eraserhead! Thank you for helping my son, again.” Ms. Midoriya smiled, bowing slightly.
“It’s fine, ma’am. And please call me Aizawa.” Shouta replied. He would rather not have unwanted ears figure out his civilian identity. The kid tugged on his mother’s skirt, and when she crouched down, he quickly whispered something in her ears. The mother smiled and nodded before standing up once again.
“Would you like to come with us, Aizawa-san?” She asked politely.
“Um-”
“ Please?” The boy pleaded. Big, doe, green eyes looking up at him.
“Er….”
“Pretty please?” He almost whined. His eyes widening even more, in a much softer and pleading look if that was possible. Shouta swallowed.
“Erm, Okay.” Fuck.
***
“Here, have some coffee.” Ms. Midoriya said, pushing forward a white cup full of steaming coffee. “Would you like some milk, and sugar?”
“No, thank you. I prefer black.” Shouta replied. He had to patrol in 4 hours anyways. Honestly, Shout had expected, spending time here, until the rain stopped, to be awkward. However, it was anything but so far. Shouta had no idea how though.
Ms. Midoriya smiled at him kindly before heading back to the kitchen. In the meanwhile, the kid waddled up to him, a paper clutched tightly in hand. He held it up with a shy yet proud smile. Shouta raised an eyebrow, and took a sip from the cup before putting it down and taking the sheet of paper.
From some of his co-workers who were married, he had often overheard them talking about their children showing them their painting, and them being ridiculously proud of it. Shouta had expected a drawing as well. Because from his (painfully limited) knowledge about toddlers, that’s what he knew. But instead, what he got was… an Hero analysis… of him.
The long black floating hair, red circles for eyes, gray ringlets around his neck, all black costume… yeah, it was hard to miss. His Hero name was scribbled messily on top with bright red marker. And alongside the crude drawing of him, were several notes written with black glitter pen. The sentences were incomplete. The handwriting was illegible at worst, and messy at best. The notes were scattered haphazardly all over the paper. But, this was a hero analysis by a five year old.
Who
Easer
is Eraserhead? An
Unner
- Underground Hero.
What is his quirk? Dunno for sure. Erasing quirks? He is a really good fighter.
Like that, the kid wrote his own questions and answered them. From the difference in handwriting, he assumed they were written at different times.
“Ever since he had met you, he looked for your videos all over Internet for hours. Couldn’t get him to stop until he was satisfied with his little report.” Ms. Midoriya said with a chuckle. “He was so upset when I told him that as an Underground Hero, there won’t be that many videos on you. Gave me silent treatment for a whole hour. His previous record was thirty minute when I told him he couldn’t get the All Might Lunch box.”
Shouta turned back to the kid, lips twitching, and raised an eyebrow. The boy blushed furiously, and ducked his head. Letting out a quiet ‘eek’ sound.
“You like heroes, kid?” Shouta asked, handing back the paper.
“Yeah! I love them! They’re so cool. All of them.” The boy chirped. God his smile was big, Shouta could feel his own cheek ache. But then, for some reason, his smile dropped and he once again ducked his head. But this time, all the previous excitement was suddenly gone, and instead his shoulders dropped as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt.
“Aizawa-san…. Can-can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, kid.” Shouta replied, taking a quick glance at his mother. He assumed Ms. Midoriya knew what question her son was going to ask, given the forlorn look on her face.
“Can I… Can I become a hero, too?” He asked, in a voice so hesitant and anxious, it didn’t suit the kid’s age. It felt like a physical blow to him, so see a child, who should be jumping with excitement at the prospect of becoming future heroes, questioning his worth. “Even though… I’m Quirkless…”
“Kid,” Shouta started. Collecting the words in his mind carefully so as to not unintentionally break the kid’s heart. “Having a quirk isn’t what makes someone a hero.”
The way the boy looked up at him, like he was sharing the answer to some age old mystery, honestly startled him. He wasn’t used to such pure admiration, and awe. Swallowing, he continued, “Quirks are only tools. Some have better tools. Some don’t. But depending on how they use them, the better they become. You get it?”
The kid nodded his head earnestly. So fast, Shouta felt the urge to stop him lest it fell off his shoulder.
“Sure having a strong quirk as a hero makes the job easier. But just because you have a weak quirk, or no quirk doesn’t mean you can’t be a hero. It just means you have some disadvantages. But you can always get over it with hard work, and determination.”
“So, I-I-I can be a he-hero?” The kid asked, Big doe eyes glazing over with unshed tears, as his lips quivered.
Shouta never liked lying. So he said: “Yeah.”
Then, before he knew it, the kid barreled into him, wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. Sobbing, he babbled, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! ”
Shouta threw a glance towards his mother once again. And found her looking at them, hand clasped over her mouth, and eyes teary. When she noticed him looking her way, she removed her hand from her mouth and smiled. Then, she quietly whispered, ‘thank you’.
And that’s when it started: Shouta slowly and gradually being pulled into the Midoriya family. Until he became one of them.
***