"In my defense, he could have really hurt someone." Sanyu said simply.
Tao sighed heavily. "We don't have damage control here, San. You can't do stuff like that.".
"I've been here longer, why are you telling me this?" Sanyu shot back. Tao raised an eyebrow.
"尊重你的长辈, 小子." The purple and black haired man cautioned. Sanyu raised an eyebrow right back.
"强迫我." He replied.
Tao looked absolutely scandalized. "What'd you two just say?" Keigo asked, completely clueless.
"I told him to respect his elders and he said 'force me to'! He basically said 'make me'!" Tao cried, outraged. "Being around other teenagers isn't good for you. I should homeschool you, this isn't working. I'm finding a way back to our world.".
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Keigo said, trying to keep the peace. "But seriously Sanyu, broken glass? You could have seriously hurt yourself or that man.".
The boy nodded understanding. "I'll be careful from now on." He said, "I don't want to hurt anybody.".
"We know kiddo." Keigo said, ruffling the boy's hair. "This is an adjustment, but it's important that you know what's expected of you while out in the field here.".
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"You're never getting over those cyborg rumors, are you?" Mirio joked when he saw Sanyu's full suit. He shrugged his jacket over his shoulders.
"I am a cyborg." The boy said. "I looked up the definition a little while ago. Technically people with insulin pumps and hearing aids are also cyborgs.".
"Huh." The older teen said, "The standards for a cyborg are lower than I thought. But have you ever thought about sprucing up your costume a bit?".
"Sprucing up...?" Sanyu repeated, confused.
"Yeah, like adding some colour. You are called Supernova after all. They're all sorts of colours!" He said with a wide smile.
He'd never thought about it before. His suit was functional. Just there to easy the strain on his body from how much energy was inside him. That's why it was plain black with some glowing accents. It was just functional.
Colour....he'd have to think about it.
Their first patrol was a straightforward one, Nighteye informed them. "The only catch is we'll be splitting up." The hero explained.
"Why?" Midoriya could never stop himself from asking.
"Sir's on a classified mission!" Bubble Girl said excitedly. Her boss glared at her. "Oops. Classified. My bad." She said, shrinking away from his gaze.
"We're trying to track the movements of several members of the Shie Hassaikai. They're a local yakuza clan that's been making some strange movements these past few days." He showed a few photos of people in plague masks. "That's Chisaki Kai, their leader.".
"Villains like that are unusual these days." Midoriya observed. Nighteye nodded in agreement.
"They're a fading breed. It seems Chisaki is trying to turn that around." The pro hero explained, "Now, no funny business while you're on shift alone.". He looked right at Sanyu as he said that. The kid at least had the decency to look a bit embarrassed about it.
"It won't happen again." He said resolutely.
------- -------- -------- ------- -------- -------- -------- ---------
It was about to happen again.
To backtrack a little bit, they were just passing by an alleyway when a girl ran right into Midoriya's leg.
She was thin. Unnaturally so. Her limbs were covered in bandages and wounds. They looked like they hadn't been changed in a while too. Her cuts were bleeding through and drying brown. Her dress was plain and filthy, like it had been made from a t-shirt. Her long white hair parted around the singular horn on her head and was obviously filthy and unbrushed.
On top of that she wasn't wearing shoes.
"That's quite the tumble you took there." Midoriya said, "Can I help you up?". He put his arms under the girl's armpits to lift her but she tensed up so much he pulled back. His expression was worried. Midoriya was aware that something was wrong about this.
"You should be more careful." A voice said. A man appeared from the darkness. "We don't want to cause trouble for the heroes now do we.".
And there, exactly as he looked in the pictures, was Chisaki Kai.
"Sorry about my daughter, heroes." The man said, smiling beneath his mask. "She's very active and loves to run off while playing.".
Suddenly Mirio stepped in front of Midoriya and yanked his mask over his head. "Your mask keeps slipping off." He said with a laugh, "Maybe the sizing is off?".
Well now the villain knew they were all together. In all honesty though, Sanyu didn't care much. Mirio still stepped in front of him though, protecting his unmasked face at least a little. Should he be wearing a mask? Wasn't he more trustworthy without it?
"It's my first time seeing you three heroes." Overhaul said, his voice sending tingles down Sanyu's spine in the worst way. He talked in that controlling way the commanders and trainers always did. He didn't like it. Not one bit.
"Ah, that makes sense. We're grand spanking new rookies!" Mirio said with an exaggerated gesture.
"What agency are you with?". "Oh, we're students. We wouldn't dare claim an agency as ours just yet, sir.".
Chisaki hummed.
Then something strange happened. Eri looked up at Midoriya and seemed to be frightened by his mask.
Quickly she stumbled less than a foot forward and latched onto Sanyu's prosthetic. He knew the moment she touched it that she knew something was off about his leg. But the girl seemed reassured by his lack of a mask and maybe even by the falseness of his leg.
"D-don't go..." She whispered, desperately clutching the leg. Tears welled in her bright red eyes that were wide with fear. All eyes were on Sanyu now.
Sanyu had seen children like this before.
He had seen them many times.
He simply bent down in front of her and looked her over quickly.
"Um....your daughter seems scared." Midoriya said blankly.
Chisaki's eyes flashed dangerously and Sanyu felt bile rise in his throat. People like this...logically he knew that people like this existed everywhere but Chisaki was the first he had seen in this world.
"My daughter Eri often falls down. She's just being dramatic." The man said, attempting to wave away their concerns.
"For such a small child to be trembling without making a single sound..." Midoriya said, his expression determined yet nervous beneath the mask. "I don't think that's normal.".
"Don't judge other people off your normal, hero. You're all so sensitive to these things." Chisaki said. There was a bit of a stand off before the man sighed under his breath. When the heroes didn't budge, he spoke again. "Very Well. People are watching, will you follow me?".
The trio exchanged glances and Mirio nodded.
"Can I pick you up?" Sanyu whispered to the girl. He knew just how to pose his body and quiet his words so Chisaki couldn't hear or see a thing. The man seemed to notice too. Eri nodded quickly and Sanyu obliged.
Her whole body was trembling against his as she held on for dear life. The stiff material of his suit was crumpled under her strong grip. Her breathing was quick and shallow.
"I've actually had problems with Eri recently." The man said as he led them through the alley. "She keeps disobeying me when I tell her to do something...".
"Yes, children are hard to understand." The man concluded, like he was a normal father complaining about parenting. "They feel they can be something...." He trailed off and looked back at the girl, Eri. "They honestly think that...".
He didn't need to finish his statement before Eri was twitching against Sanyu, trying to get free. The boy didn't want to let go just yet though.
"Come on Eri." The man said, his eyes threatening. "Be a good girl.".
Good girl.
Good boy.
Sanyu's posture went stiff and he held Eri closer to him even as she struggled more. But her hand still gripped his suit and her eyes were still filled with fear. She didn't want to let go, she just didn't want to get hurt. Sanyu was pretty sure he was scared too, but he couldn't quite think straight.
All he could think was 'no'.
"Eri, come with me." Chisaki said, his tone even more threatening.
"No." Sanyu muttered under his breath in English, voicing his thoughts. The situation grew tense until Mirio put his hand on Sanyu's shoulder and tugged him backwards. The touch startled him enough that he loosened his grip on Eri.
She leapt from his arms and ran to the other side of the alley to take Overhaul's hand.
"Sorry for troubling you with my problems, heroes. I'll see you around the neighborhood." The man said as he disappeared into the darkness.
For one horrifying second as they watched the pair walk away Sanyu's hand hovered over where the gun sat in his left leg. His hero suit didn't have much of a pant leg on that side, he could grab it whenever he needed. Then he realized what he was doing and was disgusted with himself.
The feeling overwhelmed him for a moment, mixing with the nausea of Chisaki's words.
While Mirio and Midoriya exchanged meaningful glances, Sanyu staggered back and gagged. Nothing, nothing had felt that close to being around one of the trainers before. He used to throw up when they'd do this too.
'Oh-', he realized.
He let go of the girl.
She was gone.
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Second day on the job didn't go so well 😅
Eri being a little scared of masks isn't meant to hinder her relationship with Midoriya and Mirio btw, just to add an extra dimension to the plot.
Eri's whole arc ties surprisingly closely to Sanyu's own when it comes to the abuse he endured.
Obviously their situations are different, but they developed similar mentalities. To do what people ask out of fear. And they both received a hollow, creepy sort of praise for it that only serves to make them feel more guilty.
There's a lot they can relate to each other on.
As for the adding colour to Sanyu's hero suit, I was looking at photoshopped pictures of supernovas and realized most of them were bi pride flag coloured, so I considered changing his suit to that at some point. Do you guys have any colour preferences?
Now, this is completely unrelated to this chapter, but I want to ask now:
If Sanyu were to get a boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other who would you like it to be?
That's right! I'm looking for ship ideas! 🙌 Please comment so I can have as many opinions as possible! You can also dm me if you want to!
(Also remember that none of this is certain, its all about the direction the fic goes in. But if inspiration strikes I'd like to be ready, u know?👌 )