Return
"A promise of safe return: I delivered,
But the ocean is wider than I first guessed.
When roads disappeared, I followed the rivers,
But somehow got in over my head,
So a deep breath I'm taking."
- Wait for Me (Rise Against)
The train to Hosu was quiet. There could've been a million people crammed in the seats, all chatting and yelling at the tops of their voices, and yet it still would've been a silent journey for the three pro-heroes. Of course, they weren't really heroes at that moment, for they were all dressed in their civilian attire. It wouldn't be right to see Tensei while they were in costume since…
They exited together at the stop closest to the Hosu General Hospital, but now the need for silence no longer felt necessary, especially when the sky rumbled overhead.
"Toshinori wanted to come," Hizashi said at last as he fiddled with the headphones around his neck. "I know they bonded at game night," - their monthly get together - "but I think we're already pressin' the people at having three non-family in to visit. Besides, we were lucky UA let us three have the day off."
Nemuri nodded, her heels clicking across the well kept pavement. "He can see him later, once Tensei is feeling up to it. He's awake at least, but we don't want to overload him. He's still in a bad condition."
Hizashi nodded, but felt his skin crawl. He thought he was being watched, but quickly quelled the thought - he could breathe, so it wasn't Eraserhead… He hoped. Above, clouds were growing darker, and he figured it would rain soon, although only Nemuri had brought an umbrella.
"We'll do what we can to support him," Kan said, his lispy voice sounding tougher than Hizashi would've liked.
They headed inside the hospital, and after a lot of wandering and quick questions with several different nurses, they were finally in Tensei's room. His family (minus Tenya) had been with him, but they stepped out to give them some privacy.
Hizashi's chest dropped at the sight of his friend, plugged into so many different cables and sockets, with an oxygen mask around his mouth. His bed was kept flat, which spoke volumes about the damage he must've sustained.
Despite everything, Tensei Iida smiled when he saw them. "Hey," he said, voice hoarse and muffled through the oxygen mask, "sorry you had to come out this far…"
"[Well,]" Hizashi said as he put his hands on his hips, "[at least this place is quieter than Tokyo, yo!]" However, the chirpy act didn't last long as he exhaled away the tension, and his face fell. "We're glad you're awake..."
Tensei turned his head to glance away. "...Did they tell you?"
Hizashi hadn't really considered how lucky he was to have survived the USJ attack with only a few scars. Meanwhile, Ingenium had fought a single attacker and… His spine had been badly damaged.
Tensei Iida would never be a pro-hero again.
Nemuri nodded. "Tenya has big shoes to fill… But I support him taking on your name. The students were gonna choose them today, but I've just left them a brainstorming lesson and they can decide tomorrow."
"Don't want him to be forced into it," Tensei said softly. "It should be Tenya's decision."
"...Was it really the Hero Killer who did this to you?" All eyes fell on Hizashi: even Tensei's. Mic swallowed and forced out the next question, knowing he needed answers, whether he liked what he heard or not. "Or do you think Eraserhead was involved?"
Tensei's expression softened, despite the numerous tubes, and his mask grew foggy with each deep exhale. "It was the Hero Killer… If someone else was there, I didn't… notice."
Hizashi's shoulders slumped, although there was still the possibility Stain was somehow linked to Eraserhead and All for One. He swallowed and gently placed his hand on Tensei's shoulder. "Hey… I'm…. sorry for all the dumb shit I did in the past," he whispered as he fought to keep his body from trembling. "I know it's not a great time to bring it up, but… If it brings ya any solace, then…"
The ex-hero looked at him, and for just a moment he looked completely lost. However, that didn't last long. "Like at game night? You should be… All those times you cheated at Mahjong."
Hizashi blinked in surprise, but was successfully kicked from the self-pity spiral. Right, now wasn't the time for apologies. That wouldn't bring Tensei any peace. "Oi, I've never once cheated at Mahjong! You all just suck! [Too bad, so sad!] And don't think we're gonna go easy on you next time!"
Nemuri snorted. "I still think we should play strip poker again."
Kan rolled his eyes. "Last time we did, you kept losing on purpose."
"Only you morons would get upset over seeing my glorious body in all its R-rated glory!"
"I vote for karaoke!" Hizashi said, gesticulating some finger guns.
Tensei laughed, although the delightful sound was followed by a few hacking coughs that instantly dampened the atmosphere again. "Think we'll have to … call off game night," he said once he was able to. "I'll be out for a while…"
"Yeah," Hizashi said as he scratched at the scar on his cheek. "How 'bout we come up with a new game each? Then when we get together again, it'll be a crazy night! No, we'll make it a full day of games! [Super crazy!]"
"We'd have to put up with your voice for an entire day?" Nemuri asked with a pointed grin. "No thanks."
"Huh?" Hizashi squeaked. "My voice is crazy cool! [You're lucky you hear it so much!]" The others laughed, and despite the tension, and the sounds of beeping and ventilation, and the number of cords and the occasional hacking cough, things felt a little lighter.
-x-
They bowed politely to Tensei's family before they left, but Nemuri caught them by surprise when she said, "I should talk with them about what's happened; see how they think Tenya's handling it. Go on without me."
Hizashi wasn't sure if he should stay to check on the student as well, but he decided it wouldn't be right. Nemuri was Tenya's homeroom teacher, so she had a far closer relationship with him than Mic did, so he left it to her. Even so, he debated waiting, but Vlad was already heading for the door, giving him the impression of a man on a mission.
"Maybe Shouta will be at the next game night," the blond said hopefully as he followed Kan out the hospital.
Vlad, however, didn't look convinced. "Did I ever tell you about how the fight ended? When I fought Eraserhead in the warehouse." Mic was silent, but the Blood Hero continued. "We'd both lost a lot of blood. I was worse off by the end of our fight, but I'd managed to pin him to the floor. Was planning to wait for his Erasure to end so I could drain more of his blood, force him to pass out, but… Well, the lights went out and your guitar had stopped." Kan started walking along the street, but it wasn't towards the train station. Even so, Hizashi didn't hesitate to follow. "His Quirk ended soon after, and I was draining his blood to weaken him..."
"Shouta's type B as well," Hizashi said, just to have some input in the talk. "The only blood type you can control, right?"
Vlad grunted in agreement. "He activated his Erasure again without warning. All the blood I'd been gathering from him covered the floor, and that was when he really struggled… The amount of blood we'd both lost was ridiculous, but the sudden strength he showed then… Eraser won the struggle because he was more worried about you, than I was determined to stop him. He purposefully sacrificed his blood to make the ground slippery, and he used it to knock me over. I was disorientated… He could've easily killed me, but… I think, by that point, you were the only thing he had on his mind…"
Hizashi swallowed. "Thank you for telling me…"
"I hope he hasn't changed," Kan said, more slowly, "but I also hope he has…"
"Where're we going?" He glanced up at the dark clouds, and wondered whether he should've asked Nemuri for her umbrella. The first few drops were starting to fall, but Kan only walked faster. Hizashi pulled his headphones over his ears, although they were silent - they would protect his hearing-aids from any water damage.
"We're checking out the alley where Tensei was attacked."
Hizashi nodded, but tugged a little at his outfit. "Hero work in civilian clothes? If we run into Stain, we'll be at a disadvantage, yo. [Plus my shirt would get totally wrecked.]"
"He only attacks heroes in costume, and he doesn't usually attack them when they're in a group, unless cornered. As much as I'd like to, we aren't here to capture him, or to get vengeance for Tensei."
"...You wanna see if Shouta was there…"
"It's not that I don't trust Tensei," he said slowly, "I just don't trust Eraserhead. I can detect blood with my nose, and if I've controlled a person's blood before I can single out who it belongs to. If Eraser was there, he might've bled, and there might be traces of his blood."
"Right, I almost forgot about that," Hizashi said with a forced laugh. "It's how you found out who I was that night… Who Eraser and I were…"
"I'm hoping I don't find it, but if I do we'll at least have a lead about his whereabouts. Gotta check before the rain washes the scene." Mic nodded as they turned left into an alleyway, and started walking through the dimly lit areas. The rain was starting to run through his hair, and Hizashi thought he heard something above, but when he glanced around, they were alone.
Despite that, the feeling they were being watched never once relented. "You feel it too?" Hizashi whispered while throwing his Voice beside Kan's ear, and the hero nodded in agreement. He reached out and took Hizashi's hand, and he understood the reason why: they were in civilian clothes. If the Hero Killer was following them, then he'd be tricked into thinking they were simply two lovebirds taking a shortcut.
This was the area Tensei had been found, with a few lines of police tape still set up, although the investigation had ended already. The duo slipped over the yellow caution lines, but didn't wait around. The rain was starting to pick up, and soon they would be drenched.
"So spooky," Hizashi said in a fabricated voice as he took Vlad's entire arm. Just an act… Just an act…
The alleyway intersected directly with another, creating a four-way intersection, and a gust of wind swept over them, bringing with it a rush of raindrops, and...
"Fuck," Vlad said and grabbed Hizashi, pushing him against a wall.
The blond hissed as his head hit the bricks, but any questions he might've voiced were interrupted by the sound of metal chiming against the pavement. The Hero Killer?
He heard footsteps approaching from the alley, slow and precise, but before he could see who it was, he was wrenched away from the wall. Kan kept him safe behind his back, but his bulky body also blocked his view. His eyes turned to the floor where a throwing knife rested in a forming puddle, having missed its intended prey.
"You smell of blood," Vlad King said, never moving from his protective shield stance. "Your own blood."
For a moment, Hizashi thought he was talking to him, but he quickly realised how stupid the thought was when another knife flew at them. Although Kan could've dodged it, he purposefully moved his arm in the way, catching the blade in his flesh. He grunted in pain, but was quick to pull it out and allow hot blood to roll down his sleeve.
Right, Vlad didn't have his glove, so he needed a wound to work with.
Despite the dripping red, Kan did nothing with it: he didn't turn it into a weapon, or even crystallise the open wound.
No… He couldn't.
Because…
Hizashi couldn't help himself. He ducked beneath Sekijiro's arm and came face to face with their attacker. His breath caught in his throat.
The man was walking towards them. Despite the downpour of rain, his long black hair stood tall. Ribbons of spiked material floated about his body, giving the impression of writhing snakes, and his mask was illuminated by two red circles of light.
It was Sho-... No.
It was Eraserhead.
Why was he here? Was he really involved with the Hero Killer? Had he stolen Tensei's dream of heroism, just as his had been stolen long ago?
Why was he attacking them?
Hizashi tried to call out, but those red eyes were on them both.
Vlad grabbed him again and shoved him back, shielding him with his body so Hizashi could breathe. "Eraserhead," called the Blood Hero, "you bastard! You leave for eight years, and now this?"
"You," said the voice of Shouta, although it was pained and wary. He sounded like a wounded dog. "Don't… Touch."
Hizashi's heart missed a beat. Those words…
You don't get to touch him.
Shouta's words to Vlad from a lifetime ago, somehow still there, but this time they didn't make Hizashi grin. Once again, the man he so desperately wanted to save was right there, and yet…
"He's after you," Hizashi murmured while he could. "Must still see you as an enemy from the warehouse fight." He swallowed and when next he spoke, he was calling out, "Shouta! It's okay! He's not our enemy!"
"Don't you get it, Mic?" Kan growled, falling into a fighting stance. "Nothing'll get through to him - except maybe a good beating. He's a villain, whether he wants to be or not, and it's our job to bring him down."
"But the-..." He cut himself off.
"This is what you needed, right? Guess I'll get my rematch after all…"
-x-
Eraserhead was boiling with rage.
He'd found Hizashi, the one spot of colour in his red world, and he'd followed him here, only to find his light was being held hostage by the enemy. The one word chattered around his mind like a chorus, only growing louder and louder, until it was a cacophony.
Enemy. Enemy. Enemy. Stealing away his Home, Home, Home.
Eraser pulled a knife from one of the many sheaths that dotted his costume, listening to the crisp sound it made as metal was drawn. Then it began. He threw his scarf forward like tendrils, but Vlad King avoided the barbs as he leapt away with Hizashi under his arm. He watched the blond's body stiffen as Erasure fell on him too, but it wasn't enough to make Eraserhead relent in his Quirk.
He'd save Hizashi Yamada from this enemy.
Eraser ran. His body sliced through the rain like a knife. Vlad dodged into one of the intersecting alleys to block line of sight, but if the hero had thought himself safe from Erasure, he was wrong.
In his mind, Eraserhead could still see him clearly.
In fact, he could currently see six images, although two were-
Hizashi grabbed something from his back pocket and threw it at the ground: a sparking phone. It was quickly followed by Vlad's. One had fallen with the camera face-down against the pavement, but the other now showed him a tent of sky, just above the alley.
"My Quirk's still erased!" he heard Vlad growl, voice clear despite the downpour. From one of the windows in his mind, he could see the Hero preparing to lash out once he moved around the corner. Eraser hooked his scarf to a fire escape above and launched himself off the ground.
He swung around the corner, surprising Vlad as he caught his head with his boot. There was a sharp crunch as Eraser's heel directly collided with one of his oversized teeth, but it held. In fact, Vlad managed to grab hold of his ankle, but that only meant Eraser had a close target as his scarf unhooked from the fire escape.
The barbed folds wrapped around Vlad's arm. The spikes ripped right through the thin civilian shirt and hooked into his thick flesh, but the hero didn't hesitate as he slammed Eraser into the pavement. For a moment, his camera Erasure faltered. He was still recovering from his accidental over shoot on the day of the Sports Festival, after all.
"Shouta!" called Hizashi's voice between loud inhales. "We're not your enemy!"
They'd brainwashed Hizashi.
Eraser had to save him. Heroes couldn't be trusted.
Eraserhead pulled his capture weapon and Vlad's body toppled towards him, but the villain was ready. He caught the hero's weight on the soles of his feet and shifted his centre of gravity to his shoulders. Vlad's body rolled over him and Eraser kicked out, sending the Blood Hero flying through the alleyway.
Eraserhead was up in moments, dragging on his scarf to prematurely end Vlad King's exit. The hero cried in agony as he hit the ground, and several hooks were ripped out.
"STOP!" The Voice Quirk threw Eraser's body against the bricks, catching him off-guard. "IT'S THE CAMERAS!" Hizashi called to Vlad. "He can erase your Quirk if he can see you through a camera!"
Eraser pulled himself from the wall and managed to reactivate his full Quirk, re-opening the six windows to the world. Hizashi was effectively silenced, although the villain's head was ringing. "Hizashi…" he managed to say as he took a step towards his Home.
"Mic!" Vlad called, but through the cameras, Eraser had seen the large hero lining up the attack long before it had even come close to reaching him. With his capture weapon still tightly hooked around Vlad's arm, it was easy enough to grab hold of the material and swing, but the hero managed to resist him.
Vlad took hold of the scarf, despite the agony that would've come from the barbed points slicing into his palm, and pulled on it with all his strength. Eraser's boots lost place on the pavement as he went flying towards the Blood Hero, but the villain wasn't worried.
Moments before Vlad's fist collided with his mask, Eraserhead swung his own body to dodge beneath the larger man. The knife he'd drawn earlier made a satisfactory squelch as it sunk into Vlad's abdomen.
Eraser didn't stop there, however. With the momentum, he used his leg to swipe Vlad's footing out from under him, sending the large man crashing to the ground, knife still embedded in his flesh. With the enemy downed, Eraser pulled the rest of his scarf away from the man's arm, leaving him with more deep lacerations.
He could've finished him off, but Eraserhead had more pressing matters to attend to. He'd saved Hizashi. The man turned to face his Home.
The blond could still hold his breath with ease. Was Father watching right now? Would Eraserhead get punished…? Oh. He had a solution. Father would be happy, and Eraserhead would have his Home. Father would fix him: Father would fix whatever brainwashing the heroes had done to his splash of colour.
Eraserhead would take Hizashi Yamada to Father.
He stepped towards him, but the blond stepped back… and fell into a fighting stance.
The man had no costume, no technology, and what muscle he had was nothing compared to Eraserhead's strength. Right now, Hizashi couldn't even speak, and yet he was planning to fight him?
His Home would be home soon enough.
Just as he took another step, he noticed a shadow through one of the six eye-windows: the phone that faced the sky. Eraserhead leapt back in time to avoid a deadly flourish of blades as a new contender landed between him and his Home.
Along with the steel, he could see flares of red and white cloth, ragged around the edges of the fabric. From the different angles, he automatically started to list off the number and class of the annoyance's weapons, but his view was interrupted when the man threw a knife back at the camera behind Hizashi.
He heard his Home breathe, his Erasure blocked by the new intruder's bulk as he stood between them, unflinching.
However, the man who stood in his way wasn't a hero. No…
He was the Hero Killer.
"You," growled Stain, his voice akin to a rabid animal, "won't harm All-Might's chosen one!"