1. A New Beginning
Author's note:
bold - events that happened before storyline
normal - main storyline
italics - thoughts
Chapters have two parts, so to speak (past, present).
This is my first attempt at fanfiction, because I like this series a whole lot. My story take place in the Boku no Hero Academia universe, starting after the Battle Trial arc. Some events may have been changed and the timeline is a bit different too. The main character is my original one (probably not very original, Idk).
Hope you enjoy! Feel free to share and comment if you do! :)
An article in the local newspaper read: "An unidentified quirk user attacked and destroyed the entire Sanohara premises and surrounding buildings this afternoon in the Yomakura district, injuring fifteen civilians and causing the death of two. All Might and other heroes arrived promptly at the scene and apprehended the offender. Additional information will be available shortly."
What the aforementioned article doesn't mention: "The offender was a six-year-old girl, who lost control of her ability following a tantrum. After being 'apprehended', she was legally, but secretly placed in the care of one of the people present who would be able to stop her from going down a path of evil."
A gust of wind lifted the leaves and carried them away, making them swirl in some places as Aizawa was moseying through Kobuki Park after the school hours ended. Dry leaves crunched and crumbled under his boots and heavy stare.
Those kids rarely quiet down, they are stubborn and they are trouble-magnets. How are we supposed to shape them into reliable heroes when they don't listen? I should have expelled some of them at the beginning of the year. I suppose now that they've proven themselves, it would be weirdly out of place...
An audacious leaf which hit him in the face made him raise his head and his gaze settled on an even weirder occurrence. On the children's playground, in the sandbox sat a teenaged girl who appeared to be trying to build a castle and failing when half of it kept collapsing.
Aizawa approached her quietly and got no reaction; she kept scooping the dry sand with her hands and dropping it on the still-standing structure and she looked intent as she continued her futile task.
"You know, you need water to build sandcastles. It acts as binding agent. Otherwise, the sand doesn't stick and keeps slipping."
The girl tilted her head as if considering the advice, but kept her head down and gave no response.
"Aren't you too old for the playground anyway? It's irrational..." said Aizawa already turning to leave.
"The only irrational element you would be right to ask about is how one half is intact, while the other keeps falling" the girl finally answered in a powerful, yet melodic voice.
This prompted the hero to return, look more closely and, indeed, part of the structure was sturdy, he even hit it to test it. It was still soft because of the sand, but something hard was keeping it together.
At the smaller distance, Aizawa could also see that the girl's eyes were covered with a blindfold and every time she released the grains, an almost imperceptible mist appeared and was absorbed into them.
"Hmm, so this isn't just some recreational activity. You're using your quirk, training it probably. But why the blindfold and why aren't you doing this at school, where you are supposed to learn such things?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
The girl showed a tiny smile. "It is usually harder to perform a task without an essential sense like sight, so I want to enhance the others and hone skills like space and movement perception. I'm surprised you had to ask, hero..."
With the blindfold on, she missed the startled look on his face, but registered that he stood up and took a step back.
"It is practically impossible to make an assumption like that based only on sound and smell. And you didn't answer the other question."
"I didn't? Well, there aren't many schools that train students' quirks, UA being the great exception, of course. And to get in, you need piles of paperwork filled in, not to mention pass all the entrance tests, neither of which is possible without a legal representative, a parent or tutor, who can guide you. Is this a satisfactory answer?" the girl said with an empty smile.
Aizawa nodded, took his leave and let the girl return to her strange exercise. The next day, he passed through the park again, not deliberately, but a bit curious about the kid. She wasn't in the sandbox and he rebuked himself for expecting it. He was making him way back when an "Over here, mister" was heard. The girl from the day before, with her dark hair and covered eyes, was on a seesaw, waving at him.
"Don't you dare make any assumptions...", he growled, embarrassed at being caught.
"I wouldn't. Though you have to agree that meeting you by accident on consecutive days is improbable, especially since you don't usually come to this park. I've been out here for close to a month, so I'd have known. You sought me out, didn't you?" she said with a smug grin and teasing tone.
Aizawa didn't continue the conversation, but instead watched the girl perform the different routine. She was walking up and down the beam between the two seats with grace and confidence without letting either side touch the ground.
Some people find it hard to walk on a flat surface without seeing and she's doing acrobatics. On cue, she did a cartwheel while maintaining the device balanced. Okay, now she's just showing off. Or is she? This could very well be a determined kid, training hard for... something.
"What is this exercise supposed to teach you to do?" he asked after checking all the possibilities.
"Balance, for one. Also, being flexible when it comes to change. Multitasking and quirk control, too, because I'm drawing in the dirt there" she said pointing to a spot nearby where engraved in the ground lay the misshapen but still recognizable sketches of a food bowl, a simplistic cat, a train and the almost finished one of a car.
I have to admit this is something to be admired, her ability, her determination. I'm not sure what her quirk is though... or why she wants to strengthen it... I wouldn't want to nullify it, she'd notice and that would ruin the atmosphere.
They spent a few minutes in silence, with only the seesaw creaking now and then. Aizawa was sitting on the plastic slide deep in some thought, watching the girl do her self-imposed task diligently. If only my students showed potential more like this... Suddenly, he snapped out of his daze and posed the question that had been bugging him.
"Why is it you train?" Silence. "You said you've been doing it for at least a month and a regime that encompasses both quirk usage and physical development is bound to make you stronger. It's not a fast process, but still. What sort of challenge are you preparing for?"
The oscillations of the seesaw stopped briefly. "Life" she spit out bitterly.
Aizawa waited for an explanation which didn't come. Annoyance was clear in his voice when he said "Was that meant to make you sound wise and experienced? You fell short, kid."
"Yes, I am preparing for life" the girl said with a sigh, but continuing her pacing "Life is today's society centers around power. Power struggles take place between the two designated sides, the good and the bad, the heroes and the villains. You become something when you apply yourself in one of those directions. I have no interest in being a villain, although I have been told I might be a good one. I would like to be a hero like someone I knew"
She paused to clear her throat and started pacing faster "and save people, help them, but with all the competition it would be difficult to really get far and stand out, especially when you don't come from a great, supportive environment. Becoming a hero now is out of the picture for me, but I train anyway" her voice broke "so that nobody would see me as an easy target, a weakling and maybe one day I'll be able to contribute with my skills." she ended quietly with her head tilted towards a clenched fist.
A heavy silence followed her soliloquy, only to be broken by Aizawa.
"Would you take the chance to go to school like UA?" he said, following a half formed idea.
"I'd lose a limb for a chance like that!" she said passionately. "It is what I train and hope for."
"You need to rely on yourself to get anywhere" he was talking to himself.
"What do you think I've been doing?!" she yells. "By myself is what I've been for a couple of years, so don't you lecture about being independent!" After a deep breath that brought her composure, the girl said with finality "It's just like me, telling my life story to a stranger. This conversation is over anyway." She leaped off the seesaw with feline grace and went to her bag for some water, which she swigged down while facing away from him.
Aizawa took the hint and left. As unexpected as her mood switch had been, it confirmed some elements, which led him to put a plan into action. Over the following few days, he still went to Kobuki Park, but didn't approach the strange child, just observed from a distance, giving her space and time to cool down. After a week, he return and went straight to her. The girl was in the jungle gym, hanging upside down from her legs. Her hair almost brushed the ground as she turned her head in his general direction.
"You're back" she said in a monotone "Since you're here, I'd like to apologize for my outburst the other day, it was inappropriate of me."
"No need for apologies. I guess I was provoking you intentionally." he replied as he climbed so that he was mirroring her position, also upside down.
"Is this you trying to see from my perspective?" the girl said, amused.
"I don't think you see much right now, but yes. How are you not dizzy with so much blood going to your head?"
"My circulation changes depending on my activity. I want to be able to stay like this longer, because one fighting style I'm trying out involves movements on all axes."
For a while, neither spoke and just as Aizawa was preparing to, he noticed that the loose shirt she was wearing revealed some bandages wrapped around her lower neck and torso too probably.
He asked, slightly stunned, "You use bandages too?"
"What do you mean, 'you too'?" she answered. "Whaaat?" she jumped off the bar and a couple of meters away inhumanly fast. Tearing off the blindfold, she asked incredulously "You're Eraser Head?! All this time I've been talking to Eraser Head?!"
Blue eyes met black ones as Aizawa regained an upright position. He was secretly amused by her reaction, but couldn't tell if the surprise was good or bad...
"On that first say you did assume I was a hero and I didn't deny it. My real name is Aizawa Shota and yes, I am Eraser Head."
Despite the dark clothes, black hair and obviously identical capture weapon, she said through gritted teeth "I'm not buying it"
"Wait until you hear what I'm selling" he replied with hands deep in his pockets. When she glared at him, but didn't speak, he continued "As you might or might not know, I am one of the teachers at UA high school and given my status and reputation, I was able to propose something to the principal and get him to accept. All that's left is your decision: will you join the hero course and thrive there?"