Warnings: Soulmate au, eraserdeku, selective mute Izuku, depressed izuku, abusive Inko Midoriya

The single quality that is common across every living creature on this planet, is fear. It's funny then that as common as fear is, we so easily underestimate its power.

"Speaking"

:Thoughts:

'Sign'

Aizawa's POV

He should have been more careful. It was something that he had been trying to beat into his students for years. Those with potential had learned the lesson and moved onto the second year. No one for this past year would make it to their second year.

He had expelled them all within the first week. There wasnt a single one that had potential. While other teachers would have let some of them pass he couldnt. The chance that they could be killed in the line of duty. His conscience would not allow such a thing.

Most of the time Shouta was able to stay aware of his surroundings. In his exhaustion preparing for the new school year he had been caught off guard by an attack. Several villains had attacked him from behind.

The first thing they had done was kick him into a wall. This stunned him preventing him from attacking back immediately. In the few second it took him to recover one had taken a bite out of his shoulder. He had a wolf mutation quirk that made him look like a grey wolf.

Shouta had to bite back a cry of pain as he tore himself away. The second was a female that had some kind of nail growth quirk. He was able to activate Eraser just in time to stop her from scratching him across the face.

That however did not stop the third person from bear tackling him. They must have a strength enhancing quirk. His ribs were being crushed a few second later. The other two jumped in on the action half a second later. No matter what he tried he couldn't gain his feet and get away from them.

The bones in his right arm creaked and then broke a few moments later. Shouta had to grit his teeth against the pain. Stars danced across his vision as he struggled against them.

Then a sharp whistle came from the the alleyway exit. The criminals stopped their attack and turned to face the intruder. Shouta kicked the wolf man in between the legs causing him to howl in pain. This allowed Shouta to painfully get to his feet.

A shiver of fear went down his spine as he looked at the figure. Thanks to his training as a hero he was able to push it away. The criminals were not so lucky however. All three were shaking from head to toe as they stared at the newest addition.

The figure was wearing an all black hoodie with the hood pulled up. A cowl was pulled up to cover the lower half of his face and black combat boots. There was a knife sheathed at his side. The way the person held themself spoke of confidence.

The wolf quirked man said unsteadily as he questioned, "Fear what the fuck? What the fuck are you doing here?"

The figure, Fear, seemed to glare at them and fear coursed through Shouta even harder. It took his breath away, he was barely able to push the fear away a second time. Criminals were not as stupid as they seemed though. Instead of sticking around they turned and ran away. This left Shouta alone with this unknown person.

The fear retreated from him almost making him sigh in relief. The approached cautiously his hands held out away from his knife. Shouta watched him carefully with a frown.

Hands moved slowly allowing Shouta to read the sign even in the low light, 'Are you okay? Do you need medical attention?'

Shouta pointed to his ear and Fear nodded. So he could hear good. While he could sign it would make it easier if one of them spoke. In the low light it would be next to impossible communicate through sign alone.

"I am the Pro Hero Eraserhead," Shouta said in a calm tone, "I haven't heard of you before, Fear. Are you a newly graduated hero?"

There seemed to be amusement coming off of Fear as he approached. Out of the other's jacket came bandages. Green eyes stared at him a question in them. Carefully the hero nodded. Efficiently, Fear bandaged his shoulder and other wounds the best he could.

Once he finished Fear pulled out their phone and sent off a message. Then they moved as to leave. With his good arm Shouta grabbed Fear by the bicep. There was another flash of fear through him and on instinct Shouta activated his own quirk and the fear retreated.

Shouta said firmly, "You need to stay here until the detective on duty arrives. We need to give our report on what happened."

Fear signed, 'I think not, Eraserhead. Tell Tsukauchi, Fear says hi.'

"Wait!"

But as like he was never there the other disappeared. With a broken arm he was unable to follow. Shouta had the strangest feeling that he was missing something.

It didnt take long for Tsukauchi to arrive even better was that he wasn't alone. Medics had come with him and immediately began to treat him for his broken arm and the other wounds. Debriefing was short and to the point, right up until he mentioned Fear.

Tsukauchi's face went deathly pale at the name. Beside him the medic didnt look much better.

"Fear is back," breathed Tsukauchi looking as if he wanted to punch the wall and throw up at the same time.

Not understanding Shouta questioned, "What is so bad about this? Heroes come and go all the time. Surely he was just recovering from an injury."

Tsukauchi said with a shake of his head, "I dont think you understand, Eraser. Fear is not a hero, he's a vigilante. One who by all accounts should be dead."

"Wait, what?"

Seeing his questions that wanted to come forth Tsukauchi said, "Listen when you're healed come by the station. I'll let you look at the file. You're not going to believe this."

Izuku's POV

Izuku checked over his bag one last time ensuring he had everything he needed for the exams. It was the day of the UA entrance exams. He like so many others hoped that he would be accepted into the school as a hero course student. When he arrived he would have to check in his support gear. They wouldnt allow him to take it into the written exam room but that was fine.

For as long as Izuku could remember he wanted to be a hero. He and Katsuki Bakugo dreamed of becoming the top heros. The tried to envision what quirks they would have. Nothing could have prepared Izuku for what his was.

When he was four like all children his quirk came in. It was nothing like his mother's mild telekinesis or his father's fire breathing. Instead it was the manifestation of fear in those around him.

From the day his quirk came in he knew he could only trust Katsuki and himself. That his villain's quirk would forever define him as someone to be feared. The only person who continued to believe in him was Katsuki.

When he was 10 Izuku decided he couldnt wait on becoming a hero. Not after one stood by and did nothing while he was being chased by criminals. They had wanted to kidnap him for his quirk. In the heroes eyes he was just another eventual villain. That he wasnt worth saving.

So he became Fear, a vigilante who patrolled the eastern side of Musutafu. It was the poor side of town that everyone wanted to forget existed. Izuku would not allow it to be forgotten. And the citizens loved him for it.

For the better part of four years Izuku as the vigilante Fear hit the streets. The only thing the police and heroes had on him was his height and eye color. No one knew for sure if he was male or female and he never spoke.

It was a little more than a year ago now that he had been attacked by a new group. A man with a disintegration quirk and another with a warp gate quirk had tried and nearly succeeded in killing him. Izuku fought them off forcing them to retreat but had been severely wounded in the process.

There was a massive scar across his right side and another smaller one on his throat. Blood loss had been the factor that nearly killed him. It was only thanks to his emergency beacon that he survived. Katsuki had retrieved him from the alleyway and patched him up.

It took Izuku nearly two days to wake up and another month and a half to recover. Katsuki had insisted on giving more time for the situation to cool down before heading out again. As a distraction he mentioned sending heroes analysis of their quirks and how to improve.

This in turn birthed the analyst Verdant. In a span of a few short months he had become well known throughout the community. Especially the underground. They sought him out to help on cases where they needed an extra pair of eyes. More than once he was asked if he wanted to assist onsight. Something he declined every time. Izuku doubted they would want his help if they knew the truth.

Last night had been the first time he went out on patrol. Things were starting to get bad again on the east side. Rumors of his death had made the criminals bold.

The unexpected encounter with the Pro Hero Eraserhead had been interesting. If Izuku hadnt arrived when he did the man surely would have died. New and old criminals alike knew his sharp whistle. A sign that Fear had returned. Word would spread that he was back. To be honest he was surprised that no one contacted him for support on the hero side of things. Then again it had only been a few hours there was still time.

Once the final checks on his bag was done he hefted it over his shoulder and walked out of his room. He was wearing black sweats carefully ensuring that they covered his soulmarks. It wasnt that he was ashamed of them but he didnt like advertising them.

Especially the large one across the right side of his neck. It was one of two soulparent marks he bore. A black jaguar stretched out from under his jaw to where his neck met his shoulder. It was rare for a soulmark of any kind to be so large. Supposedly the larger the mark the more impact they had on your life.

Izuku didnt believe it. Maybe at one time he had but years of living with his mother made him cynical. He doubted his soulparents would ever want him.

The other soulparent mark was on his left forearm. It was a blond wolf with light green eyes. This mark was one he and Katsuki surprisingly shared. They didnt know who it belonged to but Katsuki wanted to find them.

His soulmate mark was something different entirely. It was a black cat with red eyes curled protectively around his heart. When he saw it that morning he felt as if he should know it. But the memory wouldnt come to him leaving him frustrated.

In the hallway he could hear the loud snores of his mother. A scowl crossed his face at the thought. Most likely she was sleeping off a hangover. Ever since his father abandoned them all she seemed to do was drink.

Inko Midoriya refused to believe her son had a villainous quirk. In her eyes he was quirkless, useless to the world. She had bribed the doctor's and officials to have his papers deem him quirkless. Only he and Katsuki knew the truth.

For the most part she ignored his existence but on occasion she would yell or hit him. Most of the time it happened when she was drunk. Izuku got used to sneaking out of the apartment during these days. He would go and stay with Katsuki. Not at his home unfortunately. They stayed more often than not at a local internet cafe.

As much as he'd love to stay with his only friend all the time, he couldnt. Katsuki wasnt in much better shape than himself. Mitsuki Bakugo was more verbally abusive than physically. She constantly told him that he was useless and that Katsuki was well on his way to being a villain. Essentially neither home was a place he could stay at.

Shaking his head Izuku left the apartment and found Katsuki on the street outside. The ash blond haired boy greeted, "Good morning, Zuku."

Izuku signed, 'Morning, Katsuki. How are you?'

"I'm good," replied Katsuki as they went to the train station, "Are you ready for the exams?"

Izuku nodded. His green eyes searched the crowds warily. Nothing was jumping out at him but it didnt hurt to be careful. Katsuki was kept himself between Izuku and the crowd. Only when they were on the train did they relax slightly.

It took twenty minutes for them to reach UA. The security guard checked their ids and bags. Izuku for his part was led to a gym room where he dropped off his support gear. Then he was led to the testing room. Thankfully Izuku was sat right next to Katsuki. After a brief explanation on how the test worked they were told to begin.