~ Five years ago ~


Aizawa looks in the rear view mirror of his car. Kurono hasn't said much since he found her last night. It's about six in the evening now; since then, he and the police have gathered a group of heroes to discuss what to do with the girl.

They're driving to the police station now. Kurono is just staring out the window, watching the sun set behind the skyline, dressed in a pair of jeans and a baggy t-shirt bought this morning. The rags she was found in weren't adequate in any way. They're in the bag in the boot, now possible evidence.


"I've never seen a sunset before," she finally says. "It's pretty."

It's true. There are a few clouds strewn across the sky that are coloured purple, the sky behind them a beautiful array of yellows, oranges, reds and pinks. Behind them, a set of dark clouds are beginning to loom over the city.

"Where are we going?"

"The police station. We need to find out where you came from - no, not the evil place you ran away from, stop panicking - who your family is, where they are."

"Oh. Okay."

"When get we get there, some officers will take you off to observe you and ask you some questions, to see how much you remember and how much help you're going to need. Then us heroes, and the detective leading this investigation, will decide what to do with you."

"Don't take me back there!" she growls.

"We won't! We don't even know where you came from, there's no way we'd be taking you back that horrible place."

She relaxes a little and brings her knees up to her chest.


She looks better than when she was first found: having had a bath and some food, that was to be expected. Her long blonde hair is still a semi-tangled mess though, she wouldn't let Aizawa near her when he offered to brush it and so attempted to herself. He now needs more conditioner and a new hairbrush.

He had to be careful what he fed her too. It hadn't occurred to him, but her diet of the last however-many years was completely inadequate. Her stomach couldn't digest the chicken and vegetable meal he'd made and she threw up. Rice seems to be the way to go until she can eat properly again.

She hasn't slept since she got back either. Bags have formed under her bright blue eyes, but it's as if she's stopping herself from sleeping.

Kurono's not letting her guard down.


It's reasonably dark once they arrive at the station, partly due to the setting sun, but also to the clouds that now cover most of the sky.

Kurono gets herself out of the car, on the other side to where Aizawa is holding the door open, and walks towards the door, hands as fists, hidden in her pockets.

"Hi there," a kind police woman with dark hair says as they walk in.

"The kid's with me," Aizawa says, then continues to briefly explain why they're here.

"Oh right, right this way then. Mr Eraserhead, you can leave if you like, your meeting doesn't start for another three hours."

"I'll wait here, thanks." He looks down to Kurono, who's standing shyly behind him. "You want to go with the lady?"

There's brief hesitation before Kurono steps forwards.

"Hello there," the officer says softly. "How are you today?"

"I'm not a child!" Kurono growls with sudden hostility. "You don't need to use that baby-voice on me."

The woman laughs. "Okay, I'll remember that. I'm Sergeant Tanaka. Tell me, what's your name?"


Aizawa's eyes widen in shock as he watches something snap in Kurono. Despite being on edge, her demeanour has suddenly switched to pure aggression as all the muscles in her body tense up and lock in place. No, this isn't aggression, this is fear.

Kurono suddenly screams; her breathing quickens as her eyes lock onto the sergeant.

"No, NO!" The rooms darkens as all the shadows start to twist around the floor where the sergeant is standing. Two jagged pillars suddenly jut out the floor in her direction. There would've been more if Aizawa hadn't erased her Quirk.

In a matter of seconds, Kurono is restrained by the scarf and on the floor, kicking and screaming. The officers in the area look both terrified and confused as Aizawa scoops her up in his arms, eventually calming her down.

"I don't know what's she's been through, but whatever it was, it's left a mark." He starts walking down the corridor. "I'll take her to wherever she needs to go."


Three hours and a short doze later, Aizawa makes his way to the room the meeting is being held. 'Detective Inspector Noriko', he's the guy who's running Kurono's investigation. A man slightly shorter than Aizawa, he has dark, curly hair that has receded far back across his scalp, with wrinkles starting to show across his forehead and around his eyes.

Aizawa doesn't like him.

The meeting room is reasonably large. Tables are arranged into a U-shape, with the two ends facing a dark, glass wall. There's also a desk with a control panel in the back corner by the glass wall.

The two parallel rows sit three people, and the row connecting the two sit four. On the row closest to the door, name tags show that Kayama, Gunhead and Endeavour are to sit there, from left to right. On Kayama's side, the row of four seats Principal Nezu, Best Jeanist, Snipe and Ingenium respectively. Then at the back, next to Ingenium, sits Aizawa, Yamada and Ryukyu. All Might should've been here, but he had other matters to deal with. He's still weak after his fight with All for One as well.

First to arrive, Aizawa takes his seat and waits.


Before long, the room is filled. Brief formalities are exchanged before everyone settles down, ready to begin. Despite the circumstances, it's a nice reminder to see that Yamada is capable of acting like an adult.

"As you all know," Noriko begins. "We are here to discuss what to do with the girl Eraserhead found yesterday. She's about ten years old, has no memory of who her family is, all she remembers is the place she ran from, and even then she has no idea where that was. From our interviews, we have found that whatever place she was out put her through torture and experimentation. She is very mentally unstable, her Quirk is extremely dangerous and…" he pauses. "And she has an overwhelming desire to kill."

"It's obvious what we should do!" Endeavour projects loudly. Of course he'd try to take control of the conversation. "The girl is a danger to society and is clearly too far gone to help. Imprisonment is the only option."

"Imprisonment?!" Ryukyu exclaims. "Of course you'd be that rash. She's only a child, the same age as your son."

"And my brother," Ingenium adds.

"And you'd really want him around that monster?" Endeavour argues. "If she went to school she could kill every child there, the second they asked her name." He then shoots a look to Aizawa. "That is what almost happened to the sergeant, isn't it?"

"Then perhaps sending her straight off to school isn't the best idea either," Gunhead says. "But then, no one was suggesting it was."

"I would agree that an education is important," Nezu adds. "But she clearly isn't ready to go into society just yet."

Yamada draws the attention to him. "Let's not forget that we're talking about a ten-year-old girl here, not a serial killer."


The conversation bounces around the room, making no apparent progress. The detective mostly listens, providing extra information when required.

"What I'm saying is that brat is a danger."

"Kurono," Aizawa finally says. "Her name is Kurono."

Endeavour sneers. "Oh, so you've named her now?"

"Well she can't go around being called 0687, now, can she?"

"What is it you've got against her anyway?" Yamada puts in.

"Yeah," Snipe says. "You've been all about getting rid of her since the second you got in."

"You should all probably see this." Noriko is now wandering over to the desk in the corner and pushes a button. The black glass now lightens to show an unlit room, almost as dark as it was previously. "In here, is Kurono."


"What?!" Aizawa exclaims angrily.

"Why are you keeping the kid in a dark room like this?" Kayama asks in a similar tone.

"That's insane!"

"What do you think you're doing?"

"You call yourself a police officer."

"Shut up!" Noriko snaps. "Shut up and watch. You will be able to see for yourselves what sort of condition she's in."

"Why didn't you show us this to start with?" Ryukyu asks.

"Because I didn't want to disturb her, that's why. It's only because you so-called 'Pros' are squabbling like idiots that I'm doing this because we all want to get to a result."

The Pros fall silent and watch.

Noriko sighs. "This is something you all need to understand. We are dealing with the fate of a very scared, very broken, little girl."


Bonjour my lovelies. What a convenient time for a flashback, oh well :)))))))

Just a reminder that there is a strawpoll on chapter 48 for those new character Quirks, and questions for the Christmas Q&A are very much accepted.

Thanks for reading (and leave a review on your thoughts so far thanks :])