Midoriya groggily opened his eyes. Sleep was usually appreciated by most people, but when it's constantly plagued by nightmares it becomes a liability at the least.
Staring at a ceiling he didn't recognise, Midoriya let all the memories flow back to him, temporarily replacing the dreams of a poisoned sleep.
All of a sudden, a purple head invaded Izuku's line of vision and his mouth moved on its own, exclaiming, "Ah! Purple-haired peasant?!" A bitter moment of silence followed and Izuku focused on the person, shocked and embarrassed at his own statement.
The face of said purple-haired person was, in fact, a very confused Hitoshi Shinsou. The tense silence was short-lived, sliced by a booming laugh. A second person walked up and the small boy paled significantly. Hajime Shinsou smiled and patted his son on the head.
"So, when the medication wears off, you've got to explain those injuries." The adult stated. Izuku sat for a moment, his brain suddenly confusing fact for fantasy as he looked at the purple-haired pair.
•
"It was a disaster! What should I do?!" Present Mic wailed. He promptly dropped his head into his hands while the other UA staff stared at him with worry etched into their expressions.
Kayama was the first to speak up. "Well... Shouta is searching for him now isn't he?"
"Yeah but that's not the point! The kid's been missing for four days! He was bleeding all over the place and he'd been hurt by this guy with a sleep paralysis quirk." Yamada put air quotes on 'sleep paralysis'. "He could have been caught by a vill- he could've been killed by now!"
Ectoplasm clicked his tongue, "That does sound serious..."
Nezu stood up on his chair. The teacher's lounge was more than big enough for all the teachers, but the animal principal was still significantly shorter than the other occupants, being the centre of attention was hard work for him. "Now, Mic. I'm sure he's figured something out. That boy's scent was saturated in determination when we last met. He isn't dead, there are plenty of people who could have helped him." The principal smiled, confidence glaring in his startlingly bright grin.
"Anyway, I also have news regarding Wolf Spider. I'm sure we all know of the injuries the boy sustained during the USJ attack, and we all remember about Tsukauchi's part in this right?" The teachers nodded, some cringing at the memories of the boy's bloodied body and failed escape. "Well, the detective called a few minutes ago actually, just before this meeting took place." Nezu grinned, the long scar on his eye stretching with the size of his smile. "They have no idea who he is."
The principal was met with stunned silence, before Snipe raised his hand like a scared student. "But... they got a facial scan of him right?" The mammal let out a chuff of laughter before placing a smaller, more sane smile on his face. No words were spoken as the animal principal poured himself a cup of tea and sat down.
"The case of this vigilante is a very tricky one," Nezu stated, taking a sip of his drink before continuing. "Sure, we saw his face through the grime of the leftover paint that he uses as a mask, and the leftover blood, but we never really saw what he actually looked like." No matter how riddle-ish that sounded, Nezu knew the heroes understood. "The child is very strange. I have encountered him numerous times now, and all of them he became even more of a mystery. It appears that he lacks the sense of self-preservation and clearly doesn't have the same mindset as you all do."
Nezu sighed, ears drooping slightly. "The first encounter I had was when a student was around, he seemed a lot wearier with that boy around, eyeing the surroundings so subtly that I could have missed it. He spotted Aizawa probably within the first five minutes and even tackled another vigilante to hide her civilian identity." Nezu locked eyes with Yamada, nose twitching. "After the USJ, when the boy was hospitalised, he was discovered to have more injuries than were given to him during the event. Aizawa tried to talk to the boy about it because he wasn't reported to have brought in any villains the previous two days and he is still only a child. The wounds were serious, consisting of burns and muscle damage."
Yamada stared at Nezu, somewhat spooked and asked, "So, you think there is something wrong with his health? And that he has a heightened sense of his surroundings which is how he's so aware of things?" The voice hero sounded nervous and uncertain, "Shouldn't we be talking about this with Shota?"
Nezu simply held up the phone that had been sat on the table this entire time.
Yamada and Kayama seemed genuinely shocked, "He's been silent this entire time?" The heroine hissed. "That probably isn't a good sign."
Suddenly, a hushed but serious voice sounded out, "Fill me in later." And was followed by the beeping of an ended call. Nezu glanced up, "Oh, and just to change the subject, who wants to watch the video of Wolf Spider and Yamada fighting villains so we can assess the damage?!" The principal didn't even wait for a reply and promptly turned on the TV, and wired a computer to it.
"When did he put a camera in my costume?" Yamada whispered fearfully.
•
Aizawa was out on patrol. The rain was hurtling down, a loud thrumming rhythm echoing in the dead of night.
"Did you know large drops of rain generally fall at twenty miles an hour?" Nezu's voice played through his earpiece.
The pro grunted in response. He had an hour left, the time is 11.30 pm. Aizawa had requested a shorter shift today in order to rest for the upcoming UA Sports Festival, which was likely to give him a migraine.
Nezu had obviously reached the staff room, there was a wailing screech with sealed it. Eraserhead paused, listening to the cry of guilt from his husband. He continued. Leaping down from a three-story building, landing on a tiled roof. His feet skidded on the slippery surface and he quickly slid to the street below, landing in a crouch before righting himself.
The other teachers had struck up a conversation, and Aizawa paid attention when he gained the cover of a bike station.
"He could have been caught by a vill- he could've been killed by now!" That yell belonged to Mic.
The erasure hero scanned his surroundings, trying to shake the water out of his messy black hair.
The was a click then a "That does sound serious..." Aizawa pulled his goggles off of his face for a moment, squeezing eye drops into his tired eyes.
The rain had increased slightly, the saturated soil in the park already flooding. "Now, Mic. I'm sure he's figured something out. That boy's scent was saturated in determination when we past met. He isn't dead, there are plenty of people who could have helped him." Nezu claimed.
"Anyway, I also have news regarding Wolf Spider. I'm sure we all know of the injuries the boy sustained during the USJ attack, and we all remember about Tsukauchi's part in this right?" Aizawa paused again. There was silence after the principal's statement, and he wasn't going to break it.
"Well, the detective called a few minutes ago actually, just before this meeting took place." There was another eerie silence, suggesting that Nezu was being scary. "They have no idea who he is."
"But... they got a facial scan of him right?" Snipe was obviously spooked, and a small laugh explained why. The underground hero emerged from the bike shelter, only to get pummeled in the face by a cascade of rain cutting off whatever conversation that was going on. He realized just how unlikely it was that any villain would be out in this weather.
"-This vigilante is a very tricky one," is what Aizawa caught. Quickly hiding under a leaky fire escape, he let the stray drops of water drip from his arms. "Sure, we saw his face through the grime of the leftover paint that he uses as a mask, and the leftover blood, but we never really saw what he actually looked like." Pause. "The child is very strange. I have encountered him numerous times now, and all of them he became even more of a mystery. It appears that he lacks the sense of self-preservation and clearly doesn't have the same mindset as you all do." The pro hero glanced at his surroundings, Nezu had some sort of knowledge to his voice that Aizawa had heard before.
Nezu sighed, stress lacing his glitchy voice through the speaker of Aizawa's earpiece. "The first encounter I had was when a student was around, he seemed a lot wearier with that boy around, eyeing the surroundings so subtly that I could have missed it. He spotted Aizawa probably within the first five minutes and even tackled another vigilante to hide her civilian identity." Aizawa realised something.
"After the USJ, when the boy was hospitalised, he was discovered to have more injuries than were given to him during t-" Tap-tap-tap-splash. Erasure head glanced up, tugging his goggles back onto the bridge of his nose. "-tried to talk to the boy about it because he wasn't reported to have brought in any villains the previous two days and he is still only a child. The wounds were serious, consisting of burns and muscle damage."
"So, you think there is something wrong with his health? And that he has a heightened sense of his surroundings which is how he's so aware of things?" Yamada's voice rose in the background. The underground hero strained his sight, seeing a figure stumbling around through the haze and rain. He didn't hear whatever was said next.
The person, who Aizawa thought he recognized, suddenly flopped onto the bench under a small tree in the area. Something was clearly wrong. He tapped the button on his earpiece, muttering out a quick, "Fill me in later." Pressing the button again, he turned off the device.
Veering towards the individual, he walked through the rain, barely making a sound except for the slight, inevitable splash when he stepped on the flooded grit footpath.
As Aizawa wandered closer, he realized just how small this person was, though he did not rush. Rushing to the possible drunk, delirious, injured person (or short villain, in this case) could determine life or death.
A rumble of thunder boomed across the city, and the person didn't move. About a meter away, the pro could finally see what the possible-civilian was wearing; a stained and drenched black hoodie, faded blue jeans, dirty grey trainers and a white mask. The gears in Aizawa's brain we're turning as he stepped directly in front of the hooded person. They felt shockingly familiar.
He opened his eyes at Aizawa and the gears snapped. Dull green eyes. Wolf Spider was sat in front of the hero. "What are you doing out in this rain?" Aizawa asked while sitting on the cold metal bench and letting the rain lash against his back.
The boy pulled some paper out of his pocket, along with a pen in a futile attempt to write a message to the hero. Due to the rain, the paper crinkled and tore instantly. He put the pen back in his hoodie pocket and grabbed a flip-phone from a pocket on his belt. Aizawa watched, concerned as the vigilante typed a message.
The boy showed his phone to the hero. 'Patrolling the neighbourhood', the text read.
This made the man even more uncertain and uneasy. Placing his gold goggles around his neck, Erasure Head studied the boy. He was leaning more towards his right shoulder and dark hair peeked beneath the hood. The main concern for Aizawa though was the barely visible graze just above his mask and below the eye paint. "Why aren't you talking? Are you okay after that fight with the sleep paralysis villain?" Aizawa didn't like the dullness in the boy's eyes.
Wolf Spider used his free hand to try and shield his phone from the downpour, typing something with the same hand he held the device in. Then the boy turned, Aizawa shifted slightly and squinted through the shower, the rain easing up slightly. 'I think I dislocated/broke my jaw."
Aizawa hissed, "What happened? Actually, nevermind! Come on, we'll go to my apartment and fix it up." The hero stated, the vigilante looking up in shock. "Come on, you know where we're going." The black-haired hero stood up, rain slapping his face.
The boy shook his head in panic while Aizawa sighed in exasperation. "Come on, or else I'll drag you there myself." At this, Wolf Spider reluctantly stood up and followed behind the hero in the pelting rain.
Aizawa tapped his headset, calling Hizashi. Waiting for the first two rings before a hello scream answered, Aizawa walked in line with the injured vigilant, keeping a wary eye on him. "Hey Zashi, can you get out the first aid kit and call Recovery Girl. I've found the kid, and he needs medical attention for a broken or dislocated jaw. He doesn't really know." The pair turned a street, approaching the more urban section of the city in the slowing rain.
"WHAT?! Ah, oh wait! Yeah, I'll get those done! How far away are you?!" The tired hero's husband startled.
"'Bout five walking minutes away. I haven't checked the severity of the injury yet, we're just trying to get out of the rain."
"Okay! Is he alright? Tell me everything when you get inside!" Hizashi yelled over the earpiece. Erasure Head was really regretting calling Yamada first. He tapped the earpiece, ending the call.
"Okay kid, how you feeling?" Aizawa asked. Upon hearing this, the vigilant paused and placed his hand on his heart with twinkling eyes. "Don't you start." Aizawa groaned. "Okay, point to where it hurts the most, maybe we can get an idea on how serious it is." The pro shook some water out of his hair, raising his capture weapon on his shoulders and shaking it to get the small cascade of water out.
The boy next to him lit up as they passed the lamp post. His hoodie was dark, and the hair that peeked out had a tinge of moss green. Has he dyed his hair? I thought it was brown and black... The mask he was wearing was actually a bloody white bandana. The bandana hid the look of a hanging jaw, which is probably why he didn't notice in the first place.
Aizawa was shoved out of his thoughts by a movement to his right, Wolf lifted his left hand and pointed to the area between his left ear and the temporomandibular joint, displaying the exact location of the joint connecting the mandible to the cranium. Aizawa just prayed the issue wasn't too serious, he hated to admit it but he was starting to care for the kid.
After that, they travelled in comfortable silence. Aizawa kept checking if the boy was still there and his heart faltered whenever he saw the boy two steps behind, but they reached his area in the town quickly.
Finally, Aizawa relaxed. His apartment was in view and the lights were on.
~
YO, sorry I haven't updated for a while.
So I originally made this chapter over 4000 words long, but I decided some of you would maybe prefer a two-part version instead (and some of you probably wouldn't have the time to read it in one go).
Anyway, try and get some more questions up cause I'm gonna delete the Q & A tomorrow!
Bye! Be safe Everyone!