Shouta Aizawa never particularly cared for children. He didn't hate children. He just wasn't a fan of children. They were loud, cried way too much for his liking, high maintenance, thrived on attention, and were sticky. Always so sticky. It was for these reasons that he figured he'd never have children of his own and he was okay with that.

Who needs kids when you have four needy cats? They were practically the same thing.

Aizawa was sure of this when one of his cats woke him by smothering his face. How this cat hadn't killed him yet was beyond him. "Mornin' Sora…" He reached up with both of his hands and pulled his black ghost striped cat off of his face. The moment he spoke: his other three cats immediately jumped up onto his bed and started to cry for his attention.

Tora, a fluffy orange tabby, came up and tried to push Sora out of his way. This caused the two of them to start play-fighting with each other on the side of Aizawa.

Miso, an orange, white, and black calico, just jumped over her brothers and landed directly on Aizawa's face. "Oof!" Aizawa couldn't suppress his grunt. Miso rubbed herself under his chin and happily smacked him in the face with her fluffy tail.

Finally came Chobi. A rarity that Shouta was proud to find. A black, gray, and orange Tortoiseshell male cat. Chobi, unlike the others, didn't immediately run to Aizawa. He, instead, chose to lay down and started to play with the edge of a blanket.

"Okay, I'm up." He grunted before finally sitting up fully. Snatching his phone up from his nightstand. Aizawa rubbed his tired eyes to look at the time. He knew it had to be early in the morning by the lack of sunlight streaming through his window. So, it didn't shock him when his phone read: 5:48 in the morning. "Hey, five hours of sleep. Not bad." Aizawa stretched his arms over his head before reaching up to pet Miso under the chin. "Okay, gremlins, let me get my coffee and then I'll feed you." He told his cats before he got to his feet and stalked for the kitchen.

Instantly all four cats raced after him to the kitchen. Tora jumped on to the counter, Miso and Chobi both stayed by his feet, crying needily like they haven't been fed in eons, and Sora decided now would be a good time to slide across the kitchen tiles like it was an ice rink.

Aizawa started the coffee pot, and while that was brewing he reached under the sink for the cat food. Tiny war cries filled his kitchen and drowned out the sound of his dripping coffee pot. All the cats rushed to their food bowls; which Aizawa happily filled for them.

Finally, once the last bowl was filled, silence. Except for happy munching.

Aizawa put the cat food back and pulled out a mug to start pouring himself a cup of coffee. Aizawa sat at his kitchen table and just enjoyed the time spent with himself. He was living his best life right now. With just him and his cats in a little one bedroom apartment and a job that… would be considered too dangerous for most.

Speaking of his job.

Aizawa looked at his phone for the time. Only twenty minutes passed. 'I'll finish this cup and go on an early morning patrol.' He decided fairly quickly. Eventually he finished his cup and got dressed and ready for the day. He said goodbye to his cats and locked the apartment door behind him. He put his goggles over his eyes and took off for the alleyways nearest him.

While the pro-hero's patrolled the main streets and stayed in the public eye, underground heros, like himself, stuck to the alleyways and backstreets. Which he was happy for. He hated being scrutinized by the public for his every move.

Using his capture weapon, a scarf made out of steel wire alloy and interwoven with nanofibers. It was flexible and did its job well. Never once did this scarf fail him. Using the scarf to latch on to a flag rod on the side of the building, Aizawa propelled himself up to the corner of a rooftop and perched himself there.

He had a pretty good view spread out before him in the early morning hours as the sun was just starting to creep up over the horizon and turn the sky a baby blue. He always loved this view. Even if he, himself, looked like a gargoyle on the roof.

Aizawa squatted down and silently observed the view below. His eyes scanned the intersecting alleyways below him for any suspicious movements. When he saw nothing after a few moments, Aizawa jumped from the rooftop. He used his scarf to wrap around a light pole and take him to another roof.

'Is it too soon for a cigarette break?' He half-joked when he saw nothing of interest as he rested his arms on his knees to watch down below him. Of course he didn't smoke… much. Smoking would be illogical for a hero who has to keep in top physical shape for the job, that being said sometimes a cigarette is needed to pass time.

For roughly the next ten minutes Aizawa bounced from rooftop to rooftop looking for anything that would garner his attention. For a moment he thought maybe he would be lucky enough to have a slow and easy morning, but it soon seemed that wouldn't be the case.

It was maybe thirty or so minutes into his patrol and he finally spotted something.

It almost seemed like nothing. Just two guys snooping around an alleyway like they've lost something important. They were looking behind trash cans, kicking boxes out of their way, and even opening dumpsters. If they were just looking around the ground it might not have gotten Aizawa's attention but they were making a lot of noise.

Aizawa let out a yawn before quietly jumping down to a lower roof so he could assess the men a little better.

He stood perched on the edge of the rooftop and looked down at the men below. The duo stayed close to one another while they looked for their missing item.

The first male that was currently digging through the dumpster, looked to be of average height and build. If he had a quirk it wasn't visible. His hair was pink in color cut just below the nape of his neck. He didn't look too muscular. The only thing about him that was raising any flags to Aizawa was the fact that he was wearing a white coat. A lab coat.

The other guy honestly wasn't any different, say for his brown hair. He was maybe two or three inches taller than his counterpart, but all the same he too was frantically looking for something by knocking over trash cans and boxes all the same.

As the seconds ticked on the men were both growing increasingly more frustrated to the point that the one with brown hair suddenly exclaimed out "This is bullshit!" as he kicked over a trash can so hard that it clattered so loudly that it scared a few stray raccoons.

Aizawa was ready to turn around and look for something else to entertain him when the man with pink hair hissed out: "Be quiet! You'll draw someone to our location!"

'Interesting.'

Aizawa took this moment to stealthily and quietly jump down from the rooftop and into the alleyway. Neither male heard him as he started to approach. It wasn't until he was ten or so feet from them did he speak. "Lose something?" He inquired. Both men quickly turned to face him. Aizawa kept his hands in his pockets as he watched the two men carefully behind his goggles.

Both men looked nervous, and now that Aizawa was face to face with them he noticed something particular. The one with pink hair had brown eyes while the one with brown hair had pink eyes and they looked identical facial wise.

It was the one with pink hair who spoke up: "You a hero?" There was a tone in his voice that didn't sit right with Aizawa.

"Maybe." Aizawa answered flatley. "Should I be worried?" He decided to answer back.

This time the one with brown hair spoke up swiftly. "No! Forgive my brother." He stepped in between the two of them and laughed nervously at Aizawa. "I'm Dr. Kiku Isa, and my brother there is Dr. Tashiro Isa. You see, this is embarrassing, but we work for the clinic up the street there-." Kiku pointed towards where the Alley ended and Aizawa looked to see that there was a small clinic just up the street within walking distance.

"-And two little boys managed to escape."

"Excuse me?" Aizawa turned back around in shock.

"I know! Completely embarrassing it was our fault we left the door open and they ran because they were getting a shot." Kiku quickly explained in a frantic voice. "We checked the cameras and we know they ran in this direction. It was less than five minutes ago and if you could help us find them we would be… just so so grateful!"

Aizawa almost wanted to chuckle at this situation. 'Children.' he thought while being mildly amused. "Of course. Just point me in the direction you think they went."

"If you could look down that way-" Kiku pointed to the alley to their left that split off into two different directions. "We'd appreciate it."

Without another word Aizawa started walking towards the alley in question. "... are you sure?" Aizawa heard Kiku- no… that had to be Tashiro asking. They sounded so alike it was almost scary. It made Aizawa's heckles start to rise. 'They're hiding something.' he decided fairly quickly.

Aizawa stopped walking and turned back towards the brothers. Both of them had moved on away from him and he was tempted to return to them to see what-

-Feeling eyes on the back of his head, Aizawa turned his head back around to where the alley split off to the right. He saw a glimpse of something purple and narrowed his eyes behind his goggles. Aizawa didn't walk towards the alley. Instead he used his scarf to grab on to a corner of the building and propelled himself up. When he was on the side of the building he then looked down.

Sure enough. There were two little boys hiding in the alley. If he had to guess on the spot they looked to both be around five or six years in age. One had wild lilac colored hair and the other had a mop of green curls on his head. The one with green hair looked to be unconscious and that both boys were wearing plain white shirts and shorts and had no shoes on.

Aizawa used his scarf to wrap the middle of a power line and hung himself upside down. From there he slowly lowered himself upside. This kept his movements quiet as he got closer to the boys without startling them.

The closer he got the more he was able to see. Like how the purple haired boy was covered in scratches, most healed,but there was one his neck that looked pretty deep and was still bleeding.

The unconscious one didn't have a scratch on him. Which was odd.

When he got even closer he saw the boy with green hair was littered in freckles, but his pale face was flushed red and his breathing looked labored. Aizawa figured it out pretty quick. 'He's sick.'

Finally, Aizawa got down to his scarf's limit almost directly behind the purple haired boy who had the green haired boy laying in his lap. "We just have to hope he gives up, Zuchan…"

"Me? Or the doctor?"

The boy yelped and jumped quickly. He wrapped his arms around 'Zuchan' holding the other boy closer to him in an attempt to protect him. "Crap!" The little boy cried out as he was now attempting to carry Zuchan. Aizawa lowered himself to the ground while the purple haired boy tried to run away all while dragging the other around. It was almost pitiful to watch if it weren't also slightly tragic. 'He could get away faster if he weren't carrying the other one.' Aizawa thought before he simply used his scarf to wrap around the little boys and tried to pull them back.

The kid with the purple hair wasn't letting up though as he tried to fight against the scarf, but it did nothing but tug on Aizawa's neck a little.

The little purple haired kid started to whine and cry. "I don't want to go back! You can't make me!" This didn't sound like a child afraid of getting a shot or seeing the doctor. This sounded like a kid scared for his life.

"Calm down-" Aizawa slowly approached.

The kid spun to look Aizawa in the eye. His own face is now tear stained and filled with horror. "No!"

Aizawa stopped as his mind suddenly felt blank. 'Let us go, turn around, and stay there-' The little boy's voice resounded through his head. Aizawa's body moved on its own, he had no control over his movements as he unraveled his scarf from around the boys.

'What am I doing?' Aizawa thought as he retracted his scarf so it was back around his neck.

Instantly the boy tried to take off again, Aizawa turned his body and started to walk away from the boys until he was facing the wall completely. 'What am I doing? Why am I just standing here… I can't move.'

"There you are!"

There was a sharp scream from the purple haired boy. "No! I won't go back!"

"Thanks for getting rid of that hero for me! Makes this a whole lot easier-" There was another scream of duress from the child and Aizawa was just standing there with his back to the action.

There were grunts and the sound of a scuffle. "Damn-" There was a sudden high pitched scream from the man. "He's biting me!"

Aizawa had to assume it was the purple haired kid that was making almost animalistic noises as he was digging his teeth deep into this guy. "Help us!" the voice suddenly called and fluttered around Aizawa's brain before his mind was freed completely.

Aizawa wasted no time, he turned, charged, and jumped immediately for Tashiro as his assumption was right. The purple haired kid had the guy's arm in his mouth and was biting down hard. So hard that his teeth were sunk into Tashiro's arm and blood was splattered on the floor around them while Tashiro shrieked in pain. His boot made contact with Tashiro face. Tashiro flew back as did the purple haired kid.

Thankfully the kid didn't land with Tashrio. Instead he landed just a few feet away. "They took Zuchan! You have to stop them please!" The kid pointed down the alley before he got to his feet and started running in the same direction he was pointing. "Zuchan!"

"Whoa-!" Aizawa, being swift, used his scarf to bring the kid back to him before he could run head first into danger. "-Stay here. I'll get your friend back. Okay?"

"...Okay… but you should- That doctor- His quirk... well… the one with pink hair. That one." The kid pointed to the unconscious doctor. "Isn't the real doctor! It's his quirk. I can't explain it, but he can only make two of himself and each time they look a little different and they act slightly different as well."

"So, the one with brown hair is the real deal and Tashiro is the clone?"

"Yes… look. He's already got rid of Kiku."

True to what the kid said, when Aizawa looked Tashiro Isa was no more than just a pile of ash. Even his clothes were gone. "So, be careful. Odds are he'll make another clone of himself."

"Thanks for the warning, Kid. I'll get Zuchan back for you and then I want an explanation."

Aizawa didn't wait for a response as he took off running towards where the kid had pointed him too. 'I knew something wasn't right with those two men! I should have listened to my gut and used erasure on them; it would have exposed their quirk right away. Hopefully, I won't be too late.' Aizawa ran up a wall in record time. He just needed a low rooftop to see his surroundings.

Aizawa perched himself on the corner of the roof, and lifted his goggles off of his head to get a better unobstructed view of his surroundings.

'There!' Aizawa saw movement in a nearby alley intersection and saw Kiku making a break for the main street. He put his goggles back on his face and leapt off of the rooftop and to the next one. 'Don't think I'll stop if you make this public, asshole!' Aizawa snarled as he darted across the rooftop at an alarming speed.

Kiku was thankfully still in the alley by the time Aizawa finally caught up to him, he did have Zuchan in his arms. The kid was out cold and curled up against the man's chest like a prize he wanted to protect.

Aizawa leapt from the building and in mid-air used his scarf to wrap around Kiku upper arms, but he didn't stop there. He kept erasure on and stared Kiku down so he couldn't make a clone of himself. Aizawa then came down, wrapping his legs around Kiku upper body and twisting his lower body so Kiku was forced to let go of the child while he was slammed into the ground.

Aizawa slapped one hand on Kiku's head and kept his knees planted into the middle of Kiku back, keeping him pinned to the asphalt.

"Who are you and what do you want with these kids!?"

"I'm…" Kiku seemed to grimace in pain as he started to sweat. "Dammit. I'm just a pediatrician! The boys got scared and ran off-"

"-Bullshit." Aizawa snarled as he dug his knee deeper into the man's back. Kiku gasped in pain. "That's a clinic, not a children's hospital for starters and if you were really concerned about these boys you would have involved the cops. So, I'm going to ask again, and if you give me an answer I don't like, I'm going to smash your face into the asphalt over and over again." Aizawa threatened as he tightened his grip on Kiku hair.

"Who are you? And what do you want with these kids!"

"I-... I was paid okay! I never met the guy. I was paid to watch over these brats-" Aizawa smashed the man's face into the asphalt like promised. Kiku let out a grunt of pain at the sound of a sickening crack coming from his nose.

"We're getting somewhere now, aren't we? But I want the truth and nothing less!"

"Okay! I was paid to watch them. I swear. I never met the boss, but it's some big underground lab! The boys got out. I wanted to get them back before anyone noticed."

Aizawa picked the man's head up and smashed it into the asphalt yet again. This time the man screamed in pain. "What did they want with them!?"

"I don't know. I swear! Please-" Kiku started to cough and there was a small clatter. Aizawa saw blood and bits of white- several of his teeth chipped from the impact and that's what Aizawa was seeing. "Please believe me! I was just paid to watch and make sure the boys got from point A to point B!"

Aizawa felt his hands tremble lightly. He wanted to smash Kiku face in just one more time for good measure, but ultimately decided against it. Underground hero or not, it wouldn't look good. "Fine, I'll leave the rest of the cops to ask, then. In the meantime-" It was a swift jab to the face that knocked Kiku out cold. "Stay down."

Finally, Aizawa was able to blink. "Jesus, that has to be a record." Aizawa could only grumble as he lifted his goggles from his face and pulled out eye drops from his pocket. Lifting his head up, he allowed the drops to fall into his eyes and grant him relief. Once he was sure he would be okay, Aizawa dialed for the cops and gave them information on where to find him and the boys

It was in the middle of this important phone call did he suddenly feel something tug on his pant leg.

"Yeah, the villain has been restrained and I'm watching him, and- I- Uh…" Aizawa looked down to see the curly haired boy was now up and on his feet. Zuchan looked up at Aizawa with the most innocent green eyes. His face was still flushed and he looked feverish. "-Uh. Have two little boys with me, so if you could get here quickly. I'd appreciate it." Aizawa hung up fairly quickly after that.

Aizawa was never one for children. But he wasn't heartless. "Hey there, buddy." He slowly crouched down so they were eye to eye. The boy said nothing for a moment as he wrapped his arms around Aizawa's leg.

"Is Hichan okay?" Zuchan whispered, it was almost borderline inaudible and if Aizawa wasn't focusing on the boy he might not have even heard him.

"Hichan, I take it that's the little purple haired boy?" Aizawa inquired as he automatically planted his hand into this kid's thick green curls. The little feverish boy lethargically nodded against Aizawa's leg and sniffled before he started softly sobbing. 'Poor kid is scared and sick on top of it.'

"Don't cry, okay? The police are going to come and bring you back to your mom and dad."

The little boy sniffled and rubbed at his eyes with one hand while he clung to Aizawa's leg with his free hand. "C'mon…" Aizawa offered the little boy his hand and the boy took it. "Lets go and find Hichan and get you two reunited. We'll figure out where to go from there."