Chapter Text
A hulking beast blots out the sun but not light as a mass of swirling green and yellow lightning pummels it. The fight is very much not one-sided as the misshapen monster made of concrete, metal, and human flesh strikes back with slower but devastating moves while the shooting star keeps just out of its reach. From the unknowing eye it may look like a clash of the titans but they all know the truth.
The Shie Hissaikai was a large villain group, an honorless Yakuza organization that they found was experimenting on a little girl to make quirk-erasing bullets. Sir Nighteye had been digging into the group for months but with this newfound information along with the knowledge that the quirk-erasing bullets were slowly but surely progressing to be able to destroy a person's quirk factor entirely, inhibiting them from ever using their superhuman ability again, plans had been moved ahead of schedule. A team had been gathered consisting of people who had direct contact with either members of the Yakuza group or the bullets with some additional heroes that were just available to assist. Unfortunately, this team had consisted of four of his students. He knew this is what they'd been training for but it shouldn't be, not yet at least. This is something they should be learning in their second year but life and villains don't wait for you to grow up so things had been rushed and now one of his students was going toe to toe with what is quite possibly Japan's most dangerous free villain all with a six-year-old girl on his back.
It was a terrifying sight to witness because from so far away there was nothing he could do without risking the safety of the two children and there was nothing any other hero on the scene could do due to the raw power of the fight. It may be their job to fight in situations like this but the few who could even get to the fight were more likely to be slaughtered and possibly added to Overhaul's mass of strength than accomplish anything truly useful.
Shouta can only watch as the sun-like light being produced by the quirks of two children grows and the beast begins to falter with the blows. He can only watch until his student wraps around the villain where he can't even catch a glimpse of the young hero in training and he's left to hope the kid can make it out on top. His eyes were already glued to the fight as were many other but the few that weren't whip their heads at the sound of a tired yet powerful scream just in time to witness Overhaul's false body being hurled to the ground.
The beast lands with a thundering boom and most of the standing heroes run to restrain the hopefully unconscious villain but Shouta's sights are set on the still glowing children who'd landed far from the fight. He'd expected to see the light die down as the duo landed but if anything it grows brighter. It's difficult but through it he can see his student attempt to untie LeMillion's torn cape which he'd used to carry his young passenger but with violently shaking hands his fingers can't catch the knot. He can see both children's mouths move but can't make out any sound coming from them; however, judging by Eri's distressed demeanor and Midoriya's pained expression, well hidden from the child he holds but obvious to a seasoned pro, he can tell this isn't something they can handle themselves.
Calling upon his quirk Shouta closes his eyes and in the moment before he can open them again there's a blood-curdling and pained scream. He opens his eyes, a dimly glowing red suddenly cutting off the starlight and without it two small children collapse from exhaustion. One of his most cool-headed students, Asui, ducks under his arm and supports him, something he appreciates as it takes weight off his throbbing leg and lessens his hobbling walk.
Before they even meet the duo he can tell there's more wrong than he'd originally thought. When the two went down he'd seen Midoriya's smaller stature and the stark difference in his hair color which had been concerning in and of itself but looking at him now it's like he's an entirely different person. His hair is snow white and while he is bigger than Eri, a girl he'd seen very little of but can still recognize laying beside the young boy, he drowns in the fabric of his hero costume.
Midoriya suddenly shoots up exposing another two drastic differences in his appearance, one being bright red eyes and the other an array of scars covering his face and neck. It's too many scars for a child his size and he finds it unlikely that the rest of his body doesn't at least somewhat resemble what he can see now. He has questions about it all and from the way she rears back ever so slightly he can tell Asui does as well, however, before either of them can ask anything the kid shoves Eri off himself and tries to put distance between them but he's quickly caught on the excess fabric surrounding him.
"Who are you? Where am I?" the boy demands but his voice shakes in fear making it sound more like a desperate question.
Instincts built after years of this job allow him to easily shove his questions aside and focus on getting these two children checked out by paramedics as soon as possible. With the boy so obviously terrified Shouta pulls out of his student's helpful hold and squats down to the kid's level. "I'm a pro-hero-" he starts but those few words seems to make the situation worse as scared eyes morph into ones of horror.
"No. No, I'm not allowed to be around heroes," Midoriya cries but the tears wetting his eyes don't fall, something that stands out as one of the biggest red flags he's seen with how open his student usually is with his emotions. "He's going to be so mad."
Midoriya's breathing beings to quicken with each one bringing him closer to hyperventilation. His entire body shakes as his eyes wildly flit to their surroundings but largely fixate on Shouta and the girl behind him. He's beginning to think that terrified might not even cover the state the kid is in. "Who will be mad, Midoriya?"
"Who's Midoriya?" The kid asks but it doesn't seem avoidantly.
"You are," Shouta answers calmly but receives a wildly shaking head in response to his claim.
"That's not my name."
"Then what can I call you?" He asks, trying to fish out anything they'll be able to use to figure out this situation once things have settled.
"Nothing, you can't call me anything, he'll know," the boy says cryptically and begins to back away, this time more mindful of his suit. Shouta wants to stop him but with how flighty the kid seems that is quite possibly the worst course of action he could take.
"I know you're scared but we can help you if you tell us who 'he' is."
"No, no one can help," Midoriya denies as his retreat speeds up. Shouta tries to raise his hands up to show he's not a threat and won't hurt the kid but in that same moment Eri starts to wake. The dual movement startles the boy who whips his own hands up in defense and somehow the action causes a splitting pain to shoot through his eyes and radiate into his brain. Shouta can hear both Eri and Asui cry out in pain but Asui's are the loudest of the two despite being further away from what is undoubtedly the cause.
He knows Midoriya's quirk is enhanced strength but right now a quirk seems to be the only explanation for the sudden pain so Shouta does what he does best; he blinks and pulls upon his quirk only to find a void, an emptiness inside him he's never felt before. His quirk is gone.
In his shock Shouta doesn't even have time to react when Midoriya finally bolts down the rubble-filled street faster than average yet without any sign of green lightning coating his body. As the young boy darts behind a distant building Shouta finally processes it all, his student was gone and with him, Erasure.