Devil's Bargain - MHA Various X M!Reader

Two - Proposal

TW: Self harm and suicidal thinking

Aizawa breathed in a sigh through his nose, going over his encounter with Recluse last week while he walked through the halls of Tartarus, flanked by three prison guards. The fluorescent lights were blinding on the pristine white floor, causing the male to pinch the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes, feeling slightly nauseous.

Soon enough, the group stopped in front of what seemed to be an empty wall. However, with the click of a button on a handheld remote control, a one-way mirror was revealed. In the solitary room displayed was the vigilante, sitting on the ground, back against the wall, nonchalantly flipping a coin. A shimmer of metal was perceptible around his ankle; it was a chain securing him to a pole anchored on the strong wall of the cell. Guns and cameras pointed at him menacingly, ignored by his disinterested gaze.

"He's been like this since he got here," Aizawa nodded is head to the guards words, prompting him to go on. "He doesn't eat or sleep and as he's an S-rank villain, none of us are permitted to enter his cell without a pro-hero. The warden has been busy recently with the capture of another high-rank who has fled to Korea and no matter how much our interrogation team has tried, they haven't gotten him to talk yet. After two days following his arrival, we just left him in here for monitoring."

The insomniac sighed again as he assessed the enclosure.

"Don't worry. You did your job well."

Suddenly, a shiver ran up his spine. He activated his quirk by instinct.

The image of the white room gave the illusion of burning away as the mirage of Recluse faded away into ashes, revealing the boy hidden behind the deception.

The child's once healthy frame was reduced to no more than a mere corpse, eye bags rivaling those of the pro-hero. He sat hunched against the walls, knees up to his chest in fetal position. His face, maskless once more, held no expression and his black hair seemed dull under the sickening light. Aizawa's red eyes narrowed at the bundle of chains piled up next to the boy along with the blood splattered across the floor and smeared on the walls.

The shine of steel caught his eye; the pole used to restrain him to the wall was twisted apart and on the sharp ends were blood, dripping off the edge and onto the white metal. A further look revealed the numerous deep cuts along his inner forearms, littered in scars, old and new, and visible in the blood-covered white short sleeve he wore, a contrast to the long black Recluse would usually don. The scarring was jagged and some cuts looked infected.

The guards around Aizawa stilled, unsure of how to react. The pro-hero couldn't blame them— after all, they could never have expected this; heck, he didn't even expect it.

Recluse looked up, sensing the absence of his quirk-generated illusion. Though impeded by the one-way glass, he still managed to stare straight into Aizawa's eyes. A single black orb, the left covered by his hair, challenged the ferocious crimson staring back at him. It was almost as if he was testing the hero— beckoning Aizawa to try and save him, a villain. The blackette in turn steeled himself as he took the keys from a guard wordlessly and made his way to the door. As he touched his fingers on the handle, the guard grabbed his arm, shaken from his frozen stupor.

"Wait, Eraserhead. This is a dangerous villain with a weapon in hand. Do you really think it's safe for you to even go in, lay alone by yourself? Plus, the precautionary guns showed no signs of firing, but with you inside..."

"I appreciate your concern but I think it's best if enter alone. If the guns haven't fired yet then I'm sure he somehow disabled them with his quirk or otherwise... furthermore, I seriously doubt he is in a good enough physical or mental condition to fight me and even if he did try, I'm quite confident in my ability to apprehend him. Trust me; I know how he works."