After the meeting, I follow Eraserhead around the building. He has me wait in a hallway for a few minutes while he speaks to a few other heroes before we enter an elevator to leave.
I go over the mission in my head, analyzing the logistics before glancing up when the elevator doors open. Trailing behind the pro, I spot the other interns sitting at a table. Eraser nods to them.
"Are you guys holding a wake or something?"
"Sensei..."
He wanders up to the table lazily. "Ah, just call me Eraserhead outside of class please. Oh, by the way... I had originally planned to suspend all of your internships today..."
Kirishima jumps up. "What?! Why now, of all times? What about [L/n]?!"
Eraserhead turns his gaze to the redhead. "You all heard that there's a possibility that the League is involved. That changes things. And [L/n]'s involvement is due to specifics left between the two of us."
He crouches down to be at eye level with Midoriya.
"But you know... Midoriya... you still haven't restored my trust in you yet... Unfortunately, I have the reason to believe that if I were to stop you right now, you'd just jump out in the midst of things again.
I'm watching you. If you act again, we'll go by the formal procedures this time around Midoriya..."
He snatches his tie. "Got it, problem child?"
My attention is torn when Amajiki mumbles quietly. "Mirio... could you lift your head please?"
The older girl, Nejire, nods. "Hey, hey, Togata, you know what? Even if you're feeling regret and getting down over it, there's nothing you can do about it. You know that, right?!"
"...Yeah."
Eraser sighs. "Let me tell you something... that hand of yours that just barely missed rescuing her... I'll bet that she felt something other than despair. So keep looking forward and go on... is what I want to say, but aside from the Big 3, whose activities are equivalent to, or even exceed, a pro's... I think your roles will be fairly small."
He glances around to the rest of them. "And Uraraka, Asui, Kirishima. You three aren't even necessarily here out of your own freewill. What do you want to do?"
Uraraka stands up. "After hearing that story, you can't tell me I can't go!"
"If you're not going to say I can't, Eraser... I would like to be allowed to assist. We can't let those who would hurt a little girl get away with it." Asui chimes in quietly.
Amajiki speaks up as well. "Seeing as they've already let them participate in the meeting, I think... the heroes have already recognized the freshmen's abilities. Actually, in comparison to someone like me, these freshmen are considerably more brilliant..."
Kirishima poses dramatically. "If my strength will help save a little kid even a little, I'll do it Eraserhead!!"
The teacher nods once. "I simply wanted to confirm your convictions. As long as you understand, that's fine. This time, our goal is ultimately the liberation and protection of the child, Eri. Don't overstep that boundary.
Our greatest concern is the shadow of the League of Villains. From police observations as well as those from Nighteye and his staff, they don't seem to have a particularly cooperative relationship... Judging by the recent search of the premises, it looks like the possibility of them being in the same place is low.
However, in the worst case scenario, if they were off the mark... and the League is also present and we can't complete our objective... you'll stop right there. It also goes without saying, none of you can speak of this. Not even to each other."
"Understood."
He watches them for a second before nodding. "[L/n], lets go."
I hesitantly wave to the others before following after him. Once we're a ways off from the building, I speak up quietly. "Er-Eraser... what did you mean earlier? That my involvement is due to specifics left between us?"
He sighs before slowing his stride so I'm no longer behind him. "Your quirk. I believe that, in the worst case scenario, you can get her away immediately. A last resort."
"...what's the worst case scenario?"
A tense pause.
"Heroes start dying."
I'm silent for a moment. Thinking. The thought of the little girl, hurt and alone, makes me feel angrier than I've ever felt before. Determination over comes me and I find myself nodding. "Whatever I need to do. I'll do it."
Eraser hums before speeding up again. "I thought you'd say that. We've got some work to do."
Instead of going back to the campus, we head for the other side of town. We walk for nearly an hour before stopping. I'm confused but decide to stay quiet, waiting for the hero to explain. Eventually, he does.
"You remember what U.A. looks like? Can you imagine my office?"
The question catches me off guard. "Uh... maybe. Y-you want me to pop us there? If I had my recall lenses-"
He shakes his head, holding out his hand expectantly. "Just in case, you need to practice without them. Use your quirk to get us to my office."
I take his hand nervously. Closing my eyes, I imagine his office. The picture is dark from my most recent memory. A few minutes pass in a tense silence when suddenly- it clarifies.
Less than a second passes when the air is pulled from my lungs and I land far steadier than expected. A sharp pain sears behind my eyes before fading in the same moment. A quick glance around the room shows it is definitely his office and I drop his hand.
I'm startled when he pats my head. Looking up, I see the shadow of a smile on his features. "...That took less time than expected... Now go finish your homework. We have patrol tonight and you can't afford to fall behind in class."
"Yes, sir."
I head back to the dorms, the case weighing heavily on my mind. I manage to avoid my peers on the way to my room. As I begin my work, I struggle to push my worries aside. One thought refuses to budge.
I will do everything in my power to save that little girl...
As the week went on, I continued training and found my combat skills growing. While I don't want to have to fight, it feels good to know that I can if I need to. Ironically, I also learn to get naps whenever and wherever I can. It makes me feel like Eraserhead and I can't tell if thats a good thing.
Eraser takes our patrols as far from U.A. as he can only to make me teleport us back to campus afterwards. One patrol in particular leads to me taking down two villains on my own while Eraser was preoccupied with their boss.
Afterwards, I get to see one of his rare smiles. A smile, not a grin. It's less purposeful, more soft and genuine. I'm not even sure he knows he does it. We get the villains into police custody and end up walking back to the school.
It's quiet for a while until Eraserhead speaks up. "We won't be going on patrol for the next few days. I have a feeling that it'll be time soon."
As it turns out, his feeling was right. The next night, I received a text. I ran downstairs and found Midoriya, Kirishima, Asui, and Uraraka had gotten the same text. The date we were to carry out the plan.
The next day, we all meet up at Nighteye's agency again.
"She's at home?! What's with that?! You saying that our investigations were a waste of time?!?"
Nighteye shakes his head. "No, we did receive new intelligence from them."
"How did you confirm it?!"
The future-seeing hero goes on to recount how he confirmed her location by using his quirk on a man in a department store.
"Thanks to our stakeout, we were right on the money regarding the time frame the scoundrel resides at home."
"And we've got our warrant to boot. All that's left is..."
I send a text.
To: Bakugou
You're in charge of the kitten
for the next few days.
---
I tried to write in an idea someone gave me but I couldn't figure out how to fit it in the already written chapter so I'm sorry :(
Thank you for reading!!!