(ᵗʷ: ᵐᵉⁿᵗⁱᵒⁿˢ ᵒᶠ ˢᵘⁱᶜⁱᵈᵉ)
Tiger:
Matcha! I sent you the film of that kid you asked for!
Did I do a good job?
ᕙ('▽')ᕗ
Zihao:
You did great.
'Time to see what he found.' Moving the mouse of his laptop he hovered over the play button. 'Do I really want to watch this?'
'Eh it'll be fine.' He thought while he pressed play and watched the events unfold. In the first clip it showed a certain student being attacked by a sludge monster until he was saved by All Might. Who then slapped him on the face? Zihao was honestly surprised to see that he was attacked that day as well. The media only covered Bakugo's attack.
The clip ended there and moved onto the next scene which showed a roof top where All Might transformed into a smaller version of himself. Zihao checked the room to make sure no one was around and turned off the volume. Turning on the captions he hit play.
'So, All Might really is weaker than before. That explains the lack of involvement he has had recently in villain affairs.'
What Zihao heard next rattled him to the bones. Who was All Might to tell a kid they couldn't be a hero, and on top of that he left the kid on the roof? He could've been suicidal for all he knew. What if he jumped? What then.
Zihao respected All Might as a hero, but he personally never admired the man. He was more of a prop for hero society than anything. All Might caused way too much damage to buildings and often times stole the spotlight. While it was understandable for him to become a symbol in society, he was too flashy for majority of missions that didn't occur in public eyes. If he even stepped foot onto the scene the villains would know he was there, and the press seemed to always follow him. This meant that heroes who did work in the shadows didn't receive any praise for their work. Weren't they all risking their lives equally?
But after knowing that All Might not only left a child after being attacked, but he also slapped him, crushed his dreams, left him on a roof and on top of that let a villain escape. How? Because he trapped him in a fucking water bottle. 'Great going All Might.'
He finally made it to the last clip. Inhaling a large amount of smoke, he closed his eyes and exhaled. Since he couldn't do the same with oxygen, he found himself copying the action with smoke to relieve tension.
He pressed play and after thirty seconds he was ready to break his laptop. 'Why in the fucking hell would he say that in public? What would happen if I worked for the villain side, huh?! He is lucky I had Hu delete all traces of this evidence. Dumbass bitch.'
Livid was only the beginning of describing how L/n felt. The part that ticked him off the most was All Might handling Midoriya's dreams. All Might flat out discriminated against him. Just because he has a quirk doesn't mean he can't be a hero. A lot of heroes fight without their quirk. And there is more than one type of hero; He could've been a rescue hero or even an underground hero like Aizawa.
Zihao knew how much discrimination could hurt. Which is a part of the reason he asked Shinsou to train under him. The boy was probably badly bullied as a child and never had a support system. His quirk could easily be taken for having ill intent.
Zihao grabbed a pillow from his bed and screamed into it, trying to release his frustration. Throwing it across the room he let his face go blank as if nothing had happened.
'Thats one way to get pumped up for work.' Placing his laptop to the side he got prepared to leave. Hu had told him of an illegal drug trade that was going on at night. Apparently, they were testing out a new type of pill that could manipulate quirks. Hu didn't have very much information to give so Zihao would have to go in blind for most of the part.
'We'll focus on stealth today so think light.' He disregarded his metal knee pads that he uses in fighting and put on a soft cushion one instead. Checking to make sure his turtleneck and pants were secured he clipped on his belt. Two lighters, one box of matches, four smoke grenades and his old hearing aids. Everything was accounted for.
He strapped on his shoes and made his way out the window. He didn't want to risk the camera by the front of the door picking up on any movement. Sure, he could have Hu delete any film that's recorded, but he was pretty sure Nezu would catch on.
Giving one last look at the room he put on his black mask and closed the window.
--------------------
"Principle Nezu, why did you want to see me so late in the day?"
"Please take a seat Eraserhead." The chimera says as he motions towards an open couch. Once the male is seated, he continues. "As you know the students will be picking where they intern tomorrow. I would like Zihao to watch over a select few." His tone was calm, almost as if he knew how angry the teacher would become.
Aizawa took a moment to register what the mouse was suggesting before he blew up in a small fit of rage. "WHY HIM?! Of all people, why him?! We have some perfectly capable people who can handle any situation!"
Nezu drank his tea normally as he listened to Aizawa's concerns. He understood that he didn't fully trust the teenager, and with the recent threats it was normal that he would lash out in a fit. After all he is a hero as well as a teacher.
"Before you make a choice, read this file." Nezu hands him a yellow folder filled with a couple pieces of paper. Confused Aizawa took the folder, typically these were used for students, so why was Nezu handing him one?
He opened the folder, taking the papers out he placed them on top of the folder and began to read.
Student's Name: L/N ZIHAO
Age during enrollment: 15
Quirk: Smoke Lungs
Class: 1-A
Graduated: ----
He looked at the paper dumbfounded. How could Zihao possibly have been a student at UA, it was unknown for a student to become a vigilant. His thoughts began to run a million miles per minute. He was trying to find a reasonable meaning behind this, but he couldn't.
Parents:
Mother- deceased.
Father- unknown.
Nezu placed his cup of tea down. He watched as curiosity and cluelessness danced around in Aizawa's mind. Sitting in silence he allowed the male to fully comprehend the information.
"He would've been a second or third year. But this makes no sense?! Why did he leave?!" The lack of answers caused the raven-haired male to become irritated. Suddenly remembering what Zihao asked him before the sports festival he became silent.
"Now that you've calmed down. I'll explain. Zihao dropped out at the end of his first year. The full reason, I don't even know. " Standing up to take the file, Nezu stared at the photo of a younger Zihao on the first page. "I suppose he was looking for help, yet no one could offer him any, so he left. He received his hero permit before leaving. I asked him to come back because I know how skilled he is. Honestly if he became a hero, he might have made the top ten."
All of his previous anger was long gone. All he could do was question everything. If Zihao left the school, then they failed him somehow, not the other way around. But how did he not know him then? If he was a student, then he was bound to have seen him at some point. "How come I n-"
"You never saw him because you slept." The principle said, cutting him off with a smile.
The teacher was about to protest before he just nodded his head. He probably was asleep, and during that year he would've been teaching the third years. Once he remembered the topic at hand his rapid-fire questions came to a halt. "Why do you want him to watch the students intern?
A devilish grin fell on his face as he heard the question. Thanks to his quirk he already had a vague idea of where Iida will try to intern. And if his hunch is right there might be some problems. If he sent a pro-hero with them, there could be serious consequences that his students will have to face. Which could ruin their career. But if 'Smog' was the one who dealt with the situation then nothing could be done. As long as he isn't caught of course. Besides if nothing does go wrong then Aizawa's trust in the boy will increase as a result.
"No reason, just extra security measures!" He chirped innocently as he began to brew a new cup of tea. There was no need for Aizawa to know, after all it is just a hunch. He could find out for himself.
👀 finally getting closer to Zihao's back story