Walking through the hospital was like walking down memory lane. His walking stick generates a soft thumping sound that echoes in the quiet.
He could hear the loud hum of the electrical current, flowing through the walls. Slithering through the cracks on the tiled floor, effectively lighting his world on fire. Bright lights sewn into the very ground in a web of flowing energy. Raw and alive, as if connecting him to the very essence of the hospital.
It also brought back unwanted memories.
Memories of a time that would haunt him until the very end. The day when he lost a part of himself.
When he lost everything.
Shaking away the resurfacing thoughts, he focuses on the people he could feel around him. Over time, and with great practice, he learned to focus his powers. He'd latch onto the thing he was searching for and would try and concentrate all his senses on that one thing.
So, following the rhythmic beating of one particular engine user's heart. He pinpointed his location.
Now, that he had changed into his normal attire, it was safe to scope out the hero's condition.
So, here he was, walking through the hospital's sterilized hallways. The omnipresent scent of antiseptics making his head hurt. He tried to shut it out though. It was also probably due to the aching in his shoulder. He had hastily patched himself up. Wanting to see if his effort ended up actually doing some good. Ingenium was a good hero, a great one even. Failing him would be too much.
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He spots the hero through a slight crack in the door. The man is sitting up on the bed, back braced against the headrest. A woman and a boy sit by his side. Soft murmurs resonate across the room as they talk in hushed voices. Izuku thinks that the boy might be his age.
The setting is domestic, almost intimate and Izuku immediately feels like he's intruding on something that he shouldn't be intruding on. It reminds him of a time long gone. A time when he had someone to come home to. Someone to call out for when he crossed the doorway.
Memories of quiet Sunday mornings spent with his mother. Watching the morning news cuddled up under a blanket and hunched over two bowls of cereal. His mom would let him go on and on forever. Analyzing and discussing the latest hero fights or debuts.
Hospitals really weren't the best place for Izuku to be in these days.
Shaking the oppressive feelings of want and longing, he walks away.
Relief flooding his system as his worries subside. No longer scared for the hero's well-being.
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He gets the call roughly in the last few matches of the sports festival.
It's sudden and vague but by the end of the call, Iida Tenya is excused from attending the rest of the award ceremony.
It's only when the festival comes to a close that he gets to sit down and register just what had occurred.
Stain, the Hero Killer had gone after Ingenium after encountering him in Hosu city.
According to Tsukauchi, the man would be either paralyzed or worst, if not for the intervention of one, particularly problematic vigilante.
Aizawa knows he should feel angry right now. The kid keeps putting himself in danger. Keeps getting into trouble. However, a part of him is glad to hear from the vigilante at all.
After the USJ incident, he wasn't sure if the kid was even still alive.
He remembers the fear and worry that gnawed at him when Shadow wasn't spotted for the first week.
By the time the second week had passed, the despair and grief had started to set in. Making it hard to keep his mind off of the problem child.
He was glad that both his friend and the kid were okay.
Although, he promised he would berate the kid for his recklessness once he saw him again. However, only after he thanked him for saving his students at the USJ. Despite the disapproval he felt at the kid's actions. He doesn't want to think about what would've happened if he hadn't shown up when he had.
He later decides to visit his friend at the hospital. They've been friends for a long time, Tensei, Nemuri, Yamada and him. He wouldn't admit it in front of them, but Aizawa really did care about them.
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Aizawa briskly makes his way towards the hospital building, head staring straight ahead as he walks in long strides along the sidewalk. He has patrol later today so he doesn't have a lot of time.
There's a flow of people around him. A steady stream of movements surrounding him. Everyone has a place to go to and they all know where they're heading. It's easy to get lost in the mass. However, there's one person who seems to stand out amongst the others.
It's not the person's look that makes Aizawa notice him. It's more the empty space that surrounds the boy. As if the people around him are subconsciously making way for him. He doesn't realize why until he passes right in front of him.
The cane and the glasses give it away.
The kid's blind.
Now, usually, that wouldn't be too strange to see. However, what makes him pause, despite knowing that he should be going on his way if he doesn't want to be late for work, is the boy's shirt.
It's a plain dark grey T-shirt that has the words 'See you never' on it. Normally, Aizawa would be slightly amused by the t-shirt. However, the bloodstain that's currently growing on the kid's left shoulder makes it harder for him to focus on anything else.
His mind immediately goes into high alert. Red flags instantly presenting themselves in many different ways.
For one, the kid seems to have a slight, almost unnoticeable limp, not to mention the slowly darkening bruise on the right side of his face.
Despite his usual indifferent demeanor. Aizawa can't, with a clear conscience, overlook these flags.
So, he does what any self-respecting hero would do.
"Hey, kid! Wait!" He calls out, walking back up to the kid. To his credit, the boy doesn't show any reaction. He just calmly turns around, finding Aizawa with impressive accuracy despite the cane that's sitting motionless in his hold. He even manages sidesteps a fire hydrant blocking his path.
"Uhm... Are you talking to me?" The boy seems slightly surprised, a hint of worry in his tone. Getting a closer look at the teen, he realizes that the kid seems familiar to him. As if he's seen him before. He can't remember where though, despite his distinguished green hair.
"Yeah, you're bleeding." Okay, so maybe he should have led up to it more. But it seemed like being blunt right now wasn't a bad call.
This gets a reaction out of the teen. It's not what he expected though.
He expected fear, maybe surprise. What he wasn't ready for was the look of annoyance and resignation that washed over the kid's features.
He thinks he hears him say something about his favorite shirt but he can't be sure with all the noise coming from the crowd around them.
He waits for an explanation, but the kid just keeps muttering under his breath.
"How did you get hurt?" He tries to be casual about it but fails miserably. He's never been the comforting, reassuring type. Besides, this kid didn't know him. For all he knew, he was just some weird stranger who talked to him on the street.
"I-uh tripped earlier, I can be really clumsy sometimes. You don't have to worry!" The excuse would have been believable if he hadn't seen the kid avoid perfectly understandable hurdles in his way.
Another red flag.
"You tripped..." He deadpans slowly, knowing he must sound so done with the world right now.
Sighing heavily, Aizawa decides on a new course of action. "Look, kid, I'm a hero so if someone is hurting you at home or if your parents are-"
He doesn't get to finish his inquiry before he's interrupted. As if a click had been switched, the kid's whole demeanor changes. His shoulders seem to lose some of their previous tension and his back straightens up, giving him a few additional inches to his height.
His voice is cold when he speaks. "I'm fine. Please don't make assumptions Era- Mister Hero. I need to go now so..." With that, the kid walks away. Not even looking back when Aizawa tries to call out to him.
Aizawa thinks, as he watches the kid walk away from him, that he just made a mistake.
His mind already forming multiple scenarios that could explain the kid's injuries.
He should have gone after him.
Looking at his wristwatch, he decides to head straight for patrol. He'll have to visit Iida some other time.
He does, however, take out his phone on the way. Electing to talk to Tsukauchi about his earlier encounter and find something more about the kid he spoke to.
Maybe, that way he can also find out why the kid seemed so familiar to him.
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He tries to ignore the paranoid thoughts screaming at him that he messed up. That he let his emotions take over him and that he made Aizawa suspicious.
Focusing on the smaller, rational part in his mind that tells him to calm down. Aizawa was probably just being a concerned hero. Trying to help a blind injured child.
Yeah. That was it. It had to be.
That's what he tells himself as he steps into the warehouse, not all that surprised to find Shinsou sitting on the window sill. Waiting for him.
The purple-haired teen seems to perk up at his entrance. Immediately turning to greet him.
Izuku vaguely notes the smell of smoke and ash surrounding the boy. He decides to chalk it up to a Sports festival occupational hazard.
"Hey, Zuku!" Shinsou greets him, way too cheerfully for his usual bored demeanor. "How was your day?" He asks, swaying from foot to foot. Izuku can already tell that his friend is dying to tell him about the sports festival.
"Uneventful, just the usual." He decides to say. Taking pity on his excited companion. Shinsou seems ready to burst anyway. So he gives him a nudge towards the anticipated subject. "How was the sport's festival?"
Shinsou tries to respond casually at first. The teen almost succeeds in sounding uninterested. However, the more he talks the more excited he gets. Soon enough the words are tumbling from his mouths at a speed that rivals Izuku's own muttering.
Shinsou apparently got first in the obstacle course. Electing to go through it quirkless. The teen goes into a tirade about the landmines he used in order to give him a boost. "I actually got the idea from our training at the beach!" He says.
He then proceeds to tell Izuku about the hell-ish second round. Which he barely managed to survive thanks to the target they put on his back. Ten million points. Izuku can't imagine the pressure the teen must have felt.
He's glad he got through it though.
Eventually, they get to the one on one matches and Shinsou tells him that he got eliminated in his second match.
His first was against Kaminari Denki. An electric type quirk user that gravely underestimated Shinsou's powers.
Izuku isn't surprised though. Not many students had intensive training prior to their acceptance at UA. He's kind of proud of his work.
Finally, Shinsou tells him about his loss in the second round. However, despite everything, the teen still sounds as cheerful as he did before.
He was pitted against Todoroki Shouto. Telling Izuku about the boy's insistence on only using his ice. "It just made me feel so angry. You know... I don't know why I did it. But I really wanted him to give it his all." Shinsou speaks quietly, voice low and determined. "He'd told me something personal about him earlier that day and I just- I just wanted him to realize how stupid he was being..." The boy sighs heavily as he continues. "One thing led to another and I... I actually managed to convince him Izuku. He used his fire and it was amazing!" He says earnestly, real happiness shining in his lavender eyes "I'm just proud of myself you know? I mean, I didn't win yeah... but I feel like I did some real change back there."
Pride swells in him at his friend's growth. The teen sitting in front of him has come a long way from the closed-in, spiteful boy he met in what feels like ages ago.
"I'm glad." Is the only thing he says. A soft smile forming on his face.
Knowing that the boy understood the deeper meaning behind his words. Without even having to say them.
I'm proud of you.
It's a couple of hours later, when they're both distracted by their phones that Shinsou suddenly speaks up.
"YO! You lied to me! You told me that your day was uneventful!" The teen accuses indignantly. "What's this news article about Shadow saving Ingenium from the hero killer huh?!"
Ah. Busted.
"That's... my kind of normal?"
He spends the rest of the night apologizing while Shinsou fusses over him. Demanding every single detail about the fight.
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Later that night, Eraserhead sluggishly opens the door to his apartment. His other hand holding his phone up to his ear. Listening for any new messages he got while he was working.
One particular message stands out.
It's from the Detective.
"Hey Eraser, I got your message. I've got the kid's file right here. It didn't take long to find it since there aren't many green-haired blind kids registered in Musutafu. I'll think you'll want to come see this..."