"Could you refill this with water, Eri?" asks Inko, as she hands an empty pitcher to the white-haired five-year old girl.
The child only nods eagerly, taking the container as she runs off to the kitchen, always happy to lend a helping hand.
"What an obedient little daughter you have," commented an old lady, who was waiting for her order at the counter.
Inko subtly nods her head in agreement, "She takes after her parents," she jokes, smiling.
Ever since Izuku and Eri stumbled upon their café four years ago, the Midoriya couple took it upon themselves to raise them as if they were their own. At first, it didn't seem such a good idea since they barely knew them, alongside the fact that they have little to no information regarding the two, but damn them if they were to turn their backs on defenseless children, and a baby nonetheless. Luckily, it didn't take long for all of them to get used to their new situation, especially since she and Hisashi were planning to have a child of their own for quite some time.
"One Swiss Panini, and a cup of Espresso, ready for take-out." Hisashi shouts from the kitchen as he places the food on the service window.
Inko smiles at her husband and grabs the meal, placing it on a paper bag. "Here you go Ma'am. Thank you for waiting, and please do come again."
By the time the customer waves goodbye, Eri comes back from the kitchen, carrying an overly filled pitcher, one that made Inko chuckle.
"Why thank you, Eri." She smiles, as Eri happily returns to her school work behind the counter.
Eri was a kindhearted little girl who always does what she's told, always eager to learn something new and appreciate the little things that comes her way, so it was always easy to look after her.
On the other hand, Izuku…well, the ten-year old boy seems to be responsible and independent on his own; often times insisting on doing hard work or buying groceries alone, despite her own protests. Occasionally, Inko would find him helping Hisashi—whether he's cooking in the kitchen or fixing up the family car—to which gives her enough reason to believe that the boy is just trying to find ways to repay them for their kindness, even though she doesn't think it's necessary.
Of course, despite all of the good things that has happened to all of them, it doesn't mean it didn't come without its own share of problems. One of which was Izuku's previous hesitation on having any authorities involved, neither hero nor police; as a result, it was impossible to provide them education without any official documents and registrations. Fortunately, he quickly grew out of that mindset for whatever reason—maybe being exposed to the hero customers helped—now they were not only able to send them to school, but also officially be their legal guardians.
Speaking of the green-haired boy,
"Hi, Inko-san. I bought the groceries." Izuku enters the café, paper bags in hand.
"Thank you dear, just leave them in the kitchen with Hisashi. How was school by the way?" She asks, watching Izuku reach for something inside one of the paper bags.
"It's the same as always, although they did ask us about our plans for the future."
"Oh, and what did you say?" She smiles to herself the moment she sees him pull out a familiar treat.
"I just said I wanted a decent paying job. Dunno why they were so surprised about it though." He shrugs, approaching Eri, hiding the gift behind his back. "Hey Eri, I have something for you," the curious expression of the little girl was instantly replaced by giddiness the moment he shows her the treat: A candy apple.
"Thank you, Izu-chan!" She eagerly accepts the gift with a cheerful expression, making the green-haired boy smile underneath the silver scarf he's wearing.
"Alright, I'll take these groceries to the kitchen now," Izuku waves goodbye to them, receiving a nod from Inko as she goes back to work.
-0-
The moment the kitchen door swung open, Hisashi already knew who it was because of the commotion outside. "Done with the groceries, Izuku?" He asks, without looking away from the vegetables he's chopping.
"Yep," Izuku replies, opening the fridge, making sure to not forget to place all the cold meat into the freezer. After finishing the task, he takes notice of the written orders on the counter. "Do you need any help with the cooking, Hisashi-san?"
"Hmm? Oh, sure! Have at it, kiddo." He smiles as he watches Izuku light up the old family stove with his quirk.
It's been such a long time since they found out about Izuku's quirk. It's actually quite surprising that he would have the same quirk as him, Fire Breath. Poor Inko thought he had an affair or something—hell, he was worried too—but after a few medical and quirk examinations, it proved that the green-haired boy was in no way connected to them. Despite that fact, he feels quite happy to know Izuku had the same quirk as him.
It filled him with a sense of pride.
"Um, Hisashi-san?" Izuku spoke suddenly, without looking away from the warm water on the heated pot.
"Hm? What's wrong kiddo?"
"Have you ever heard of the name, Eraserhead?"
The adult lifts an eyebrow, confused at the random question. "Eraserhead? Now where did you hear that?" The way the green-haired boy scrunched his eyebrows made Hisashi feel as if he said the wrong thing. "It's been a while since I've heard of that name."
"So you know about him," Izuku glances at him, eagerly waiting for his response.
Hisashi just dumbly stares back, confused. "Him?"
"Yeah...the hero, named Eraserhead."
"Oh, I thought you were talking about some kind of metal band." He nervously scratches his head, then suddenly notice the already boiling water. Quickly, he turns down the stove. "Sorry kiddo, I guess I don't know anything about the Eraserhead you're talking about."
"Ah, well...nevermind," Izuku just shakes his head and left the room, leaving Hisashi with an empty expression, staring at nothing.
~~0~~
The sound of an empty can hitting a rusty pipe echoes throughout the darkened alley.
"Hey, Katsuki. Let's go to that arcade that just opened."
"Oh, yeah! They're giving out freebies during its opening. We should definitely-"
"Couldn't the two of you think of anything else to do than waste my time?" the irritated blonde shouted, earning an annoying whine from the other two kids.
"What? C'mon, its the weekend. Even you should have some time to chill ou-"
A hand immediately covered his mouth, as Tsubasa shakes his head in nervousness.
Katsuki looks at the two of them, not too happy at what he would have said, but didn't bother to care. Since what do those two know. They're not going to be striving for the top like him.
As they continued on their way in the alley, they ended up turning a corner, finding three strangers in the distance. One of them is wearing a beige coat and fedora, a clipboard in hand. The second one is sporting an all black attire, except for the scarf—bandages?—being used to detain the third person, who seems to be knocked out but still breathing.
The moment tired eyes darts towards them, a feeling of unease fills the atmosphere.
"Move along, kids." Says the black-clad stranger.
The two nervous children would have immediately left the scene if it weren't for Katsuki, standing his ground. An unspoken question, communicated through glaring ruby eyes.
The fedora wearing stranger just sighed at his arrogance. "This is just a hero and police case," he shows his detective badge. "Me and Eraserhead here were investigating a crime. If you didn't see anyone else who may have been involved, then please, be on your way so we can continue our investigation."
Katsuki stares at the two of them, silent for a moment. "Haven't seen anyone."
The two adults glances at one another, a single nod coming from the detective.
"C'mon Katsuki. Let's get out of here," Tsubasa insisted, worriedly.
"Tsk, whatever. None of my business anyways." The blonde turns around, leaving. His lackeys in tow.
As soon as they left the area, the two boys immediately went into hysteria.
"Man, that was terrifying! Do you guys really believe they're the real deal?. I mean, I have never even seen that hero before."
"And he looks more of a stranger than a hero entirely. Do you think they might have been a villain," Tsubasa whispers.
"Idiot, don't say that who knows what could have happened to us."
Katsuki, who's had enough of their annoying exchange, stopped and glared at them. "Will the two of you just shut up already. None of that was our business; and if they were faking it, it's nothing on us."
"Yeah, but even someone with a powerful quirk as you, Katsuki, would have also been scared of facing actual villains."
"and didn't the detective guy said there could have been another person. What if that guy is still around here. What if he's the villain!" Tsubasa exclaims, receiving a nudge from the other.
"Shit, don't even think about that."
Katsuki was really getting tired of the two idiots. All they do is nothing but whine to him. "Didn't I told the two of you to shut up. If we ever run into that person, I'll personally kill them; it'll be practice for me when I get to UA anyways." Sparks flickers from his palm.
"UA! That's a really tough school to get to, Katsuki!"
"And I can't believe you're already thinking about that, we aren't even in Junior High right now."
"Shut up! That just means more time for me to train my quirk and-"
The three of them stopped.
A lone figure in the distance stands across, looking at them, unmoving.
The person looks as if they're the same age, but the only noticeable feature to prove that was how short the person was; everything else was hidden by baggy clothes, paper bags, and a silver scarf, being used as cowl, covering the person's facial features.
The tense silence between the two parties press on, until suddenly, a flock of birds pass by, casting a brief shadow on the unmoving figure.
Eventually, the mysterious figure turns around, walking onwards.
Katsuki and his lackeys were a bit hesitant to continue moving, wondering if they should wait for the person to be far ahead before taking another step. Unfortunately for them, Katsuki leads on with a blank expression, forcing them to follow.
The walk was silent now, that is until the person turns a corner, one that diverges from the group's original path. By the time they pass by said corner, they were wide-eyed, witnessing no pathway, only a dead end. No windows, doors, or even a way up.
Just a complete dead-end.
The buzzing of insects emphasize their deafening silence.
~~0~~
"The only info we have on him is that he's a part of a criminal organization known as the Villain Factory. He goes by the name, No. 6, or Scarred Man," says the detective.
"Well, that tells us how much anybody would want the guy arrested. The culprit is probably a vigilante." Eraserhead looks down on the knocked out convict. "What about his quirk?"
"His quirk is…" the detective searches through the database. "Acceleration: A quirk that allows the user to move at extreme speed, to the point of making it seem as if the user is teleporting. Luckily there's a limit to how long it can be used." He shows him his phone.
"Hmm. That's enough time for anyone to get away."
