Chapter Three
So you wanna be a hero kid?
AN: Updates will likely come on a weekly basis every Tuesday starting now to help me get a little ahead. Likely earlier in the day, edited to reflect perspective change.
Rain continued to fall from the night sky, the tinkle of it hitting the metal around us was nearly drowned out by the shrill alarm going off down the street. Though I was soaked and shivering, I didn't know if it was from the adrenaline that had been pumping through my veins or the cold that was gripping my bones. Besides the alarm and the rain, it was all but silent as the dark eyes of the tired-looking man glanced up at me warily. Of course, he would be wary of the image I gave off. It was probably enough to send any civilian running, blood dripping down from my mouth and off my still extended claws, clothing dirty and torn, hair raised and fur bristled from the night's excitement. How the rest of me looked, I honestly had no clue, and though I did want to know, that was something for when I was safe. Though with Aizawa here now, safety was probably close by.
"You okay kid?" His voice shook me out of the frozen state I was in and made me mentally take stock of myself, eyes shifting away from him in thought before quickly returning. The needle in my leg radiated pain and made the limb feel tight and tense, there was also maybe a bruise or two here and there but I was better than expected, especially considering I died earlier today. I let my body relax slightly out of its offensive position, nails retracting, as my head dipped in response to him. The man looked comparably younger than how I'd remembered him from the anime so maybe I was dropped earlier on into the timeline then? 'This is all so confusing'
"My leg really hurts," my voice came out high and small, nothing like I was used to it sounding 'God, I really must be a kid.', A little whimper slipped out and I let myself sink to the ground, tail curling around my body protectively. Whether from pain or the inner emotional turmoil and thoughts I had been trying to suppress, tears started to leak out, "I think I'm okay though. Most of the blood on me is from that weird arms guy." I shifted my eyes back from the needle in my leg to Aizawa and the three bound men. Now that I had a little more time to process their appearance, the one whose arms could stretch and weave about so oddly had longer arms than the normal person which made him look quite creepy. The scruffy sensei nodded and approached as the sound of the sirens drew closer. I could see that he heard them now as he glanced briefly in their direction before returning his eyes to my own as he kneeled to inspect my leg.
"You did some damage to him, good job." He checked the injury before he looked up at me once more, "Got a name kid? Someone I can have the cops call for you once they get here to take this lot away?" My ears pinned back at his low voice. What could I say? 'No, I'm actually a twenty-one-year-old trapped in the body of a child after dying in a place where your life is just entertainment for us. I've got nowhere to go but you and the people you will care for later are important to me so I'd like to stay with you!' Yeah, that would go over well, I settled for just slowly shaking my head. I could at least give him something small, "Madalyn," I said quietly, another shiver wracking your body, "I don't have anyone…. Or anywhere to go. I think."
His tired eyes scanned my body, likely trying to asses not only my physical state but my emotional one and the validity behind my words. Sirens and lights came around the corner, making us glance over and watch as four squad cars pulled in front of the burgled building and the captured criminals. I almost jumped out of my skin, tail bushing and ears shooting up, as Aizawa gently picked me up and cradled me in his arms before beginning to walk towards the officers exiting their vehicles.
As I lay there listening to him talk to the officers and give them a breakdown of what occurred, I felt my eyelids begin to droop. While the cool rain was still falling softly over the city and myself, the warmth of being in the underground hero's arms and the rumble of his voice as he spoke started lulling me closer to oblivion. From what Aizawa had said and my own observations, I was just a kid after all and this was a lot. As my eyes finally drifted shut for the last time, I heard the man holding me mumble one last thing before sleep laid its claim, "Don't worry about it, I've got her."
The little girl that sat in front of the mirror had dark, almost navy blue long hair and a pair of ice blue eyes that seemed to shine happily as she played with the little dolls in front of her. A woman that looked like an older version of the girl but with light blue hair stood behind the child and ran a brush through the dark blue locks. She giggled at the child as she thrust the All Might and Endeavor dolls together making crashing and explosion noises.
"Hold still sweetie, I don't want to snag a tangle. The faster we get this done, the more free time you can have before bed."
The child's large eyes looked up at her mother, her lower lip pushing out slightly in a small pout before switching to a small grin.
"Okay mommy, do you think I'll get to see daddy tonight?" The brush stilled in the young girl's hair but she didn't seem to notice as she continued playing with the toys in her hand.
"Maybe love, you know daddy works late but maybe he will be here to play with you in the morning." The smile on the mother's face was forced but went unnoticed by the girl.
A loud slam and the cracking of wood had the pair of girls flinching, eyes turning towards the noise.
The room was silent except for the rhythmic and steady beeping coming from somewhere nearby. The smell of disinfectant and other chemicals made my nose twitch in irritation, the sensitive organ disagreeing with all the strong scents. 'Hospital,' my mind briefly supplied, gathering all the provided information and comparing it to past experiences. My breathing came steadily and I mentally processed the state of my body. Happily, I found that my leg no longer throbbed or hurt at all, in fact, I felt great. A tightness in my forearm, however, told me that I probably had an IV in but other than that and, what I think is, a pulse o2 monitor on my finger I seemed to be in good condition. 'I'm getting really sick and tired of coming in and out of consciousness, not on my own accord. Hopefully, that's the last of it for at least a week.'
Groaning I opened my eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the bright lights before sitting up and looking around. Suspicions were confirmed as I surveyed the white walls decorated with different charts and diagrams. My eyes landed on my little bedside table where a little stuffed black cat sat there, staring at me with bright green eyes. Picking it up I brought it to my chest and hugged it, part of me taking comfort in the small toy as I tried to get my bearings. 'Okay, so apparently I am somehow in BNHA thanks to Chesh. I died, and now I'm a kid. Who was the kid I was dreaming about? Was that me or someone else?' I brought a few strands of hair in front of my face, dark navy blue was pinched between my fingers making my lips pull down. Looking around I saw a mirror sitting above the sink in the room and pushed myself up off the bed. The tug of the monitor and IV had me pausing in my pursuit, lips and nose scrunching up in distaste. 'I hate hospitals.'
A few seconds later everything was removed, the beep of the monster stopped and I pulled the IV out of my arm with a grimace as I pressed my palm to the wound. The pain subsided almost instantly but I had seen what could happen if one didn't apply pressure to where an IV was removed so I didn't remove my hand. Walking over to the sink I quickly hopped onto the counter easily, perching perfectly crouched on the edge, tail hovering out to keep myself balanced. The sight that greeted me in the mirror was much like the dream. Dark navy hair on a similar, if not a bit older, face the only few differences were the cat ears and tail and the fact that I still had the same bright green eyes as I did in my previous life. They were the same as mothers so seeing them did bring me some small relief. By my best guess, I was probably around five years old or so but couldn't be sure exactly.
The sound of quick footfalls coming down the hall had my ears twitching and rotating towards the door behind me. I dragged my eyes away from the reflection just as the door opened to reveal a concerned-looking doctor and Aizawa. Seeing me perched up on the counter the doctor quickly moved over as the hero's dark eyes moved to the stuffed cat I had hanging from my free hand.
"Easy there little miss, you shouldn't be exerting yourself so soon. You may feel okay but I'd like to go through a few tests with you to make sure. Could you come down from there?" The doctor stood there passively about a foot away from me, hand outstretched and palm facing upwards. I considered him for a moment, he was relatively young from what I could tell, probably in his mid to late twenties, with short brown hair and green eyes. What caught my attention most was the two brown-furred pointed appendages sticking out of his head and the one swaying behind him. Seeing my line of sight directed at his ears and tail he cocked his head before bringing up his other hand to scratch at his neck with a sheepish smile.
"We figured having someone else with another cat quirk might make you more comfortable since we didn't have much to go on." I dipped my head in acknowledgment and saw his eyes flicker to the hand that still held my arm, "Does your arm hurt? Would you like me to take a look at it?"
"The IV.." I started to say as I removed my hand from the spot to show him only to see that there was no hole, no bleeding, and no bruising that I had expected to see, "never-mind." With a shrug I hopped off the table, ignoring the doctor's hand. His arms shot out forward in an attempt to catch me if I fell, it was sweet but unnecessary as I felt completely fine. I made my way back over to the bed before taking a seat and bringing the little stuffed cat up to my chest. I didn't miss the way Aizawa's eyes followed me the entire time as he stood leaning by the door, his dark clothing harsh against the bight room.
The doctor, whose name I learned was Dr. Ito Akihiro, proceeded in giving me a small quiz on how I was feeling, checking if I felt any pain, asking me to do a few simple exercises, and then checking my vitals. Through the whole process, Aizawa watched the two of us with seemingly disinterested eyes, occasionally checking a phone and reading something before typing out a response to whatever message he'd received.
"It looks like you are in good health little one, exceptional even. I did kind of expect as much with how quickly you healed after we pulled that needle out of you, the rapid healing must be part of your quirk." He marked a few things off the chart he held out in front of himself, eyebrows pulling together in thought. "Do you know the full nature of your quirk, or maybe your parents do? We could contact them for you."
Now that I was confirmed okay, the questioning began. Unfortunately for them, and maybe myself, I didn't have any information to give them really. Shaking my head I played the part of the innocent little girl, clutching the stuffed cat a little tighter, "No, I don't remember. I don't know anything about my quirk, except maybe that I can react a little faster and maybe hear and smell a little better than others. I can't remember my parents either. I just woke up in an alley all alone. The only thing I remember is my name." Both Aizawa and the doctor listened intently, each marking down something in their respective notation devices.
Aizawa spoke up then, "Where were you headed when you ran into those villains?" My green eyes slid over to the dark-haired man before looking down at the cat in my arms.
"I was looking for a hero or police station since I didn't know where else to go." My voice was small, and I let the stress and overwhelming emotion of the past day seep through causing it to shake as I pushed out my lower lip. It was easy enough to appear the distressed child, some part of me, in fact, was exactly that and as the time ticked on it felt like that part of me was growing. The adult portion of my brain, the 'me' part, was still there and in control at the moment but it was easy enough to take a step back. Chesh's warning about losing memories of my previous life rang in the back of my head. I would need to find a diary or something soon to write down what I had wanted to remember, I didn't know how much I would actually forget and how soon that would happen.
"We tried looking her up on the missing person databases," Aizawa relayed to Dr. Ito, "No one matching her name or description came up. There are a few children with animal-based quirks on the list, and one with a cat quirk but the pictures and information don't add up." Dr. Ito frowned and you looked between the two men.
"So what's going to happen to me? Where am I gonna go?" I let a few tears slip out as the two men shared a look.
"Well, normally you would go to a government-controlled orphanage. The one you would attend out here would be Dolores." Aizawa started, and I immediately stilled. That place wouldn't give me any chance or advantage to put myself in the position I would need to be in.
"But I want to be a hero! Can I do that there?!" The tired eyes of the underground hero sharpened a little as Dr. Ito raised his hands in a calming gesture.
"I'm sure it will be possible little one! After all, all your basic needs will be," Aizawa stopped the doctor up, standing and scoffing.
"Dolores orphanage is known as 'the home of bad seeds' doctor, we send all of the children of villains and those that are killed by villains there. Barely anyone adopt kids from there because of that and that means it's overcrowded and underfunded." The doctor and I looked at him, tears coming down my face and concern filling the doctor's eyes.
"It can't be that bad, the government wouldn't," Aizawa's eyes slid over to him, an eyebrow raised as if challenging the statement before it could be asked. Dr. Ito's fist clenched as he looked down in resignation.
"So you want to be a hero kid? Why? What makes you think you have what it takes?" Dark eyes bored into your own green ones, measuring you. That was an easy question.
"I want to save people!" My chin lifted and I clenched my little fists and the stuffed animal as determination filled me. "I want to keep the people I love safe and prevent what happened to me from happening to others."
Aizawa's eyebrow lifted, "I thought you couldn't remember anything?" I shook my head, navy hair swishing rapidly with the movement as my gray tail flicked in agitation.
"I can't, but I'm alone and I can't imagine anything good happening to cause me to end up how I was." The staring contest between the two of us continued as the doctor shifted his eyes between you both. His own tail was flicking out of nerves as it seemed the two in front of him were in some battle of will.
"All right kid," Aizawa finally let out, "I'll give you a chance. You have thirty days to prove to me you have the resolve to become a hero. If you can't, I'll find new accommodations for you. Sound fair?" I straightened up as he spoke, a determined glint in my eye.
"I only need two weeks!" I bit out, 'Why did I say that, shut up mouth!'. The crazy and awkward smile that spread across his mouth at my response had me inwardly shrinking down as I compared it to so many other times I had seen it across the screen. I didn't know what I was getting myself into really. I had no clue the extent of my quirk or how to control it, and I didn't know how my changing conscious mind would affect my progress. What I did know was that I had a new life in a place where characters, people, I cared about would go through traumatic life and death situations in the coming years and you had the ability to stop them. You weren't going to fail at saving someone again.