Paths Of A Hero
Summary: Hero or Vigilante? What is the difference? It used to be black and white, a boundary so sharp cut that many have found themselves in pieces just for approaching it. So why is it blurring now, as Eraserhead tries to keep his head low while unwittingly gaining 20+ kids, at least three Pro Hero friends and seems to have caught the eye of All Might himself, all the while his past is persistently trying to catch up to him?
"This is outrageous!" The Police Commissioner of Musutafu exclaimed as he glared down at the offending file that had him calling this meeting with Pro Heroes and policemen in the first place. Almost every detective working closely with Heroes in Musutafu and a good chunk of the top ranking Heroes themselves had been gathered in the biggest conference room the National Public Safety Commission HQ had to offer.
It was sorely needed, as even with all that space, it was still so crowded the bigger Heroes were bumping into each other.
Though the discomfort circulating the room certainly wasn't caused by a mere lack of personal space, but rather the topic they were all being chewed up over.
"Fifteen years, hundreds of appearances practically every night and over two hundred Heroes just in this city alone and yet a single potentially Quirkless Vigilante can't be brought in?! Do you have any idea how this looks!? What it says about our competence?! How can the citizens of this fine city sleep in peace when a single man can evade all of our combined forces for fifteen years!? And the worst part is, even the mayor doesn't care! Meanwhile, on the other hand, I have the Hero Public Safety Commission breathing down my neck because a nameless Vigilante is still out on the streets, causing mayhem and disorder!"
"Actually, chief," a naturally loud and attention-catching voice spoke up, causing everyone in the room to look to the stupid and/or brave speaker, who just so happened to be none other than the blond, bold Voice Hero: Present Mic, also known as Yamada Hizashi to his friends and fellow UA teachers. Clad in his black leather, with orange sunglasses on and his directional speaker snug around his neck, the radio host/teacher/Pro Hero looked rather laid back despite the tense air permeating the room. "He goes by Eraserhead for, like, almost fourteen years now, almost since his 'debut', if you will. And Eraserhead's not known for causing trouble; he's usually the one that prevents chaos from spreading. Even faster than some Heroes, might I add."
Endeavor, sensing the slight against him, glared at the shorter, slighter man, but out of the two of them, it was quite possible Present Mic had the more dangerous Quirk. As in, from this distance, Yamada could make his head blow with his voice before Endeavor could shoot a single fireball at the blond.
"Besides, it's not even like Eraser causes property damage or beats up his targets. He just ties him up, notifies the police and leaves them somewhere they can pick them up like pretty packages."
The higher ranking police officers present couldn't help but nod. Despite the man being a Vigilante, which would usually leave him in the same ball field as if he were an outright criminal that robbed banks or vandalized property or sometimes even categorized him into villainy, almost no one from the police could find it in themselves to dislike him. Eraserhead wasn't like other Vigilantes. He never went overboard. His targets/victims (the actual criminals and villains) were barely worse for wear when they would inevitably pick them up from the locations Eraser left for them. The worst injury they've found so far is a broken arm on a serial rapist with enough hard evidence against the man as well as his last would-be-victim willing to testify against him that they could put him behind bars for life.
And, as if his unusually 'gentle' and/or efficient approach to vigilantism wasn't enough, the man left them reports! Actual incident reports! More detailed than almost any Hero in Musutafu bothered! All written in an almost deadpan neat scrawl that they had first thought was typing until they realized no font matched. It was impossible to find a match for the handwriting anywhere in the system, so the police knew Eraserhead must have trained himself to write this way for the sake of protecting his identity.
Though how the man managed to do that with just a pair of weird yellow goggles, an even weirder scarf-thingy that seemed to have a mind of its own and his messy hair for fifteen years was probably one of the biggest mysteries about the black-clad Vigilante. Eraserhead didn't want attention. He kept to the shadows than the best Underground Heroes any of them had ever worked with and wore secrecy like a cape. He was almost like that fictional hero from Pre-Quirk comic books, Batman, protecting Musutafu by night, working with the police while being, technically, chased by them, only they all doubted Eraserhead was an angsty, traumatized, orphaned rich playboy that had too much money and too much time on his hands.
Besides, Eraserhead didn't seem to be out for revenge. He didn't want recognition. He hadn't even had a name until fledgling Hero, Present Mic, had met him for the first time about thirteen years ago and declared him to be Eraserhead. The name only started to stick when Eraser ended up helping more and more the loud blond and his fellow Heroes overheard and the name stuck.
Other than 'his' name, no one knew anything about him, not for sure. Even his black hair had been reported, by several different would-be-victims and witnesses from all over Musutafu, to be blond, ginger, red like fire, dark purple or even snow white, and they can't tell if Eraser's just occasionally dying his hair for the hell of it or if he wears wigs. It had even taken them a while before they realized that the rest of the description of what happened from the witnesses matched up with an already overly familiar MO.
Though, they noticed that the residents of Naruhata and Tsumiya Wards seemed more defensive whenever they were asked questions about their rescues. Then again, Naruhata was well known for the vigilantism that thrives there, as rare few Heroes patrol the more rural areas like that. Fat Gum was usually the only one who bothered and even that had happened because Eraser had provided the police with evidence and clues as to the Trigger drug distribution going on there.
Tsumiya Wards' reason for being almost protective of Eraserhead was even more of a given, considering what he had done for them during his almost legendary, at this point, 'debut'.
Many police officers outright mourned that Eraserhead was a mere Vigilante and not a licensed Hero. He's been such a help to the force since he became active that they couldn't help but wonder why someone so scarily talented didn't apply for a Hero Course. He was almost UA quality.
Though, given how little they knew about him, it is possible that he is Quirkless. No one has solid evidence of him using a Quirk, which has actually given most Heroes the excuse to give him leeway as vigilantism by itself wasn't against the law; unlicensed Quirk usage, however, was. This little loophole allowed certain, more lenient Heroes to make friends - or as much as one can be friends with a person who won't even give them their name, that is - with the Vigilante.
Present Mic had been the very first, starting even before he got his license, and Midnight was quick to follow given the two were close friends from their high school days. Ingenium, eventually, was also somehow drawn into the unlikely circle of friends and while the four can't exactly hand out, they had a strong bond of friendship that was practically infamous in the police and lesser-ranked Hero circuits. Villain circuits, too. More than once has someone tried to use one of the three Heroes to draw Eraserhead out, but they were usually overwhelmed by the three even before the message actually reached Eraserhead through whatever means it is that they use.
Fat Gum, Manual and even Edgeshot also seem to be fairly well acquainted with the man. Kamui Woods, too, because the Vigilante had actually watched out for him whenever he took late night patrols in his beginner days. Native knew to not try and get in the man's way when he finishes his business and tries to get away and Death Arms has decided to ignore the man's existence for plausible deniability reasons.
The Wild Wild Pussycats, though, were known for trying to lure him out for 'play-dates' at cat cafes, they were that close. Also that stubborn and tactless. Even Present Mic knew that a Vigilante trying to hide his identity wouldn't actually go out with a bunch of heroes anyway, though rumors say that Eraser always looked like he was suffering when he denied them. Go figure the terrifyingly efficient and logical man would have a soft spot for the picky animals.
The rest of the Hero community, though, never missed a chance to attempt to arrest the Vigilante.
And they always failed.
The Police Commissioner really was right. It was ridiculous at this point. In fifteen years, never once has any Hero or group of Heroes been able to pin Eraserhead down, to arrest him and just be done with it. The man was slippery, shadows were his friends and allies and they have all stopped trying to catch him in Naruhata and Tasomiya, knowing it was pointless as the man seemed to be some sort of local hero there. No trap seems to work. He's always on guard, he doesn't leave fingerprints anywhere. The guy may as well be a black ghost in the night, if not for the fact that at least Endeavor has felt the reinforced heel of his booth during his attempts to stop the Vigilante's escapes.
In fifteen years, Eraserhead has remained uncatchable and, to be honest, most of the police force didn't even bother to try. They didn't have direct orders to arrest him and he's never once given them a good enough reason to even really consider it. He wasn't violent. He wasn't destructive. He could be dangerous, as he was that skilled, but he didn't use said skills for anything other than catching and knocking out various criminals and villains. It was with Eraserhead's help that they've stopped three human trafficking rings, five major drug cartels and arrested two of the biggest weapons dealers in Japan in the past ten years since they've finally accepted that Eraserhead should just be left alone unless they're ordered otherwise.
Yes, it is slightly morally ambiguous to just let a 'felon' run around and do as he pleases, but that didn't stop any of them from sleeping at night, especially not given their knowledge that Eraser was working with them, not against them.
(They all had this terrifying feeling that Erase would be an enemy one should never make.)
Certain Heroes and police officers also know that, more than once, the Hero Public Safety Commission has tried to approach Eraser and bring him in to work directly for them. Hawks, who is directly affiliated with the Hero Commission, actually has plenty of stories he shares fondly and in good humor of the many different ways Eraserhead has rejected him and how that ended in the current Number Three Hero hanging from various and oftentimes hilarious places. Hawks' own favorite was some poor woman's laundry line, even though he nearly had all of his feathers plucked when she got scared and freaked out upon just seeing him hanging there.
This has all been going on for years.
No one knew why, all of a sudden, the Hero Commission was making a fuss about it now.
And why even the Number One Hero, All Might himself, has been brought in for this.
"Don't mouth off at me, Present Mic! This Vigilante," the Commissioner spat the word like a curse. "And the Hero Commission is contributing to my current migraine just fine!"
"Just sayin', yo," the Hero himself said with a shrug, leaning back in his seat with crossed arms and a bored expression.
"If I may ask, Sir," Chief Tsuragamae spoke up respectfully. "This has been going on for a very long time and neither NPSC nor HPSC have made a big deal out of it until now. So, to put it bluntly, why now?"
Almost unnoticeably, All Might twitched. But everyone was too focused on the two high ranking police officers to notice. Besides, only one other person in that room would actually know what that brief moment of tension in the Symbol of Peace actually meant and Detective Tsukaushi Naomasa knew better than to say anything about it.
"You think I have the clearance to ask that? You clearly think too highly of me," the Commissioner said tiredly, rubbing a hand over his forehead to try and massage away the headache. "Look, the why now doesn't really matter. What does matter is that it is high time Eraserhead," he said sarcastically with a pointed glare at the voice Hero, who huffed at him just as irritably, only settling down when Midnight placed a soothing hand on his shoulder. "Has been brought in and answered some questions. So, effective immediately, all Pro Heroes, Sidekicks and Heroes-in-training with a provisional license are under direct orders to arrest Eraserhead on sight. Failure to do so will not only cost you your license, but you will be charged with obstruction of justice and considered a criminal accomplice. No exceptions."
"Uh, excuse me if I may seem a bit ignorant," All Might spoke up, raising his hand like a school boy waiting to be called out by his teacher to have a word. "But doesn't this seem a bit ... excessive for a single Vigilante? One who may not even possess a Quirk?"
"He may be Quirkless," Rock Lock begins a bit irritably. "But the man most certainly has something that disrupts Quirk usage."
"What do you mean?" The larger hero asks, perplexed. "Do such things even exist?!"
"Drugs that mess with Quirks do. Like Trigger," Fat Gum supplies, even though he seems reluctant to implicate the Vigilante to be using something so illegal and dangerous.
"Or it could be a support gadget. It doesn't matter," the green and yellow dressed Hero waves it off. "What does matter is that, whether we like it or not, Eraserhead is in possession of something that stops us from using our Quirks, which allows for a clean getaway for him. And if one of us tries fighting him, well," he gestures at Endeavor, who scowls darkly in obvious rage and probably humiliation. "He makes fools of us, one way or the other."
"Even if Eraserhead's only solid charge is evasion of arrest and not Quirk-misuse, we can't discount the fact that he does, indeed, have unregistered support items that can easily be classified as dangerous," Death Arms commented, crossing his arms. "Even that scarf thing of his. It's not a fashion accessory; I've seen him bind Mt Lady with that thing and topple her over as though it was easy as breathing. I've also borne witness to its use enough times to tell you that it's fire resistant. That's a high quality material right there and we can't be sure if it's a support item or a part of his Quirk."
"As for the possibility that he's using a drug to stop us from using Quirks," Centipeder spoke up. "That can be really dangerous. Quirks are deeply rooted into our DNA and there is no telling what a drug like that could do to our long term health."
"But what if it's not a drug?" All Might mused. "I don't mean to doubt your words, my friend, but has anyone actually seen how he does it? How he takes away Quirks?" No one said anything. Because no, no one has, ever. "What if ... Could it be possible that that is his Quirk? An ability to stop other Quirks? I mean, he does go by Eraserhead, right?"
"Actually, the name was a joke," Midnight interrupted before they could start on the Quirk thing. "Mic started it when Eraser, still unnamed back then, started pecking him with the eraser head on his pencil when he had been writing a report for the police after capturing a villain. It's only later that we caught on to the fact that he could block our Quirks, even if it's temporarily, though the means were as unknown then as they are now."
"And seriously? A Quirk that can, what, erase other Quirks?" Endeavor scoffed, finding the whole concept hilarious and entirely unlikely. "Impossible."
All Might, had his face not been frozen in his perpetual wide grin, might have arched an almost condescending eyebrow at the Number Two Hero. "Would it really be that surprising? Our very own Ryukyu has the ability to transform into an actual dragon, but you draw the line at a Quirk that, even temporarily, takes away other's Quirks? It is actually not as unlikely as you may believe."
Only Midnight noticed Mic stiffen and that was only because she still had a hand on his shoulder. The R-Rated Hero glanced at her long time friend and found a contemplative expression on his face, one that was mixed with nostalgia and an effort to recall an old memory. Kayama Nemuri has known Hizashi for fourteen going on fifteen years now, but there were still things they didn't talk about, so she had absolutely no idea what it was that All Might had said to trigger this reaction in the DJ.
"Yes, but, All Might," the dragon Hero herself countered. "Quirks like mine aren't really that rare, even if the shape I change into is. I have a friend in China and he can turn into a hydra and another in Portugal who can turn into a phoenix. A Quirk that deletes Quirks just seems like ... fiction. No offense."
All Might, for a second, looked like he might argue but then he just let out his characteristic booming laugh and assured her that he wasn't offended.
"So," Vlad King, another teacher from UA, eventually asked. "What's the plan?" He had never personally interacted with Eraserhead, so he didn't really have any specific reservations about arresting him. The only thing he had to judge the Vigilante was the thick file that got passed around for everyone to at least vaguely familiarize themselves with the man they will be hunting.
Mic and Midnight purposefully kept the file in their own hands for way longer than is needed, trying to keep as much information about Eraser from spreading. Because that's what best friends do.
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Meanwhile, halfway across the city, a dark figure stared down at the streets, watching, waiting, black hair whipping around in the wind.
Eraserhead, one Aizawa Shouta, had no idea about the chaos coming his way.
But he will learn, soon enough.