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?
At first, Aizawa wasn't at all suspicious or alarmed by the increased attempts at his arrest. Most of them were either by Heroes not fond of him, Vigilantes in general or Heroes who've never met or worked with him before, so he wasn't surprised they'd go after him even if he'd done 90% of their job for them. It wasn't anything out of the norm of the past fifteen years of his life and besides, at thirty and still a Vigilante that's never once been caught, there wasn't even much left that could surprise him out in the streets.
He figured it would probably take something like All Might himself coming out to hunt for him for Shouta to even be slightly confused at this point. Not after the weird life he'd lived.
But then, he got a bit confused when Manual actually fired a stream of water at him. His aim was way off, but it was only the two of them around on the crime scene. No other Heroes, especially not the anti-Vigilante kind, not even any civilians besides the unconscious victim that's nearly been kidnapped, no press and no police officers. Just Manual and Eraserhead. He escaped the scene as swiftly as he usually would but that interaction, or actual lack of, kept tickling at him, something - his survival instincts and bullshit-dar, probably - inside that alerted him that something was wrong.
Then he didn't see Midnight nor Mic for a whole month. That, also, wasn't all that surprising, as a new school year was starting at UA soon, therefore they had to prepare for the entrance exam and then the first days of school, which were always hectic for both students and teachers. Aizawa tried his hardest not to remember his own very short stay at UA, because those were not overly happy memories and definitely not something he should be thinking about while out on patrol when his usual Hero ... 'friendlies' were acting so strange. He figured they'd get back on the scene once the entrance exams were over and the new Hero-hopefuls have been chosen. He mentally wished all the kids luck and moved on from such thoughts, instead focusing on his Vigilantism at night and his Quirk Theory major at Musutafu University during the day.
His main source of income was renting the two spare rooms of the quaint little house he lived in just fifteen minutes away from the main commute towards the city center, so he has enough money in his pocket every day, not even taking into account just how he had the money to even buy that house in the first place. It certainly wasn't his parents', not that those fuckers would ever want to have anything to do with him again. He tried not to think about them, either, as it was counterproductive to his focus on more important things.
Aizawa Shouta wasn't overly concerned with anything, choosing to take life one step at a time relying on logic and reason instead of emotions and impulses, taking everything at his own pace and never caring about something so much that its absence from his life could cause him pain or inconveniences. He may be one of his class' top students and his professors were all trying to get him to be their mentee as that would mean their name would end up on his almost revolutionary Quirk Theory thesis as his mentor when none of them had done zilch for that paper, but he didn't actually care about getting that diploma. It would just be a fancy piece of paper. And he definitely didn't want recognition or fame. He'd enrolled in the course for no other reason than to broaden his own understanding of Quirks in an attempt to understand how his had come into being. It's unheard of for a kid of parents who both have physical mutation-based Quirks to get an emitter mental-like power, especially not one with his particular ability.
In fact, he wanted to see if his Quirk was truly the first of its kind and the likeliness of Quirks similar to his emerging further down the evolutionary line of humanity and Quirks.
Some of the things he's discovered along the way were simply too interesting not to write about and somehow it turned into a whole Thing where everyone wanted to put a name on a halfhearted work by a man too tired to give a fuck about academic awards and recognition and the type of status and callings this could all give him. He'd seen what status and the such did to people. He'd met two people like that and he'd rather not end up like either of them.
So, no, he didn't care about many things.
He did care about people, though. He could count on two hands the amount of people he'd consider himself close to and whom he'd die for in an instant if need be, even if he would never admit it.
So he very much cared when, after the entrance exams ended and all the students have been sufficiently placed in their respective classes, with only two weeks until school starts, Nemuri and Hizashi were still nowhere to be found on their usual patrol routes, as is the usual since the two eccentric extroverts that have declared themselves his friends have started teaching at UA about six years ago. He didn't yet get worried, as they were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, but their absence did put him more on alert.
It allowed him to notice certain Heroes he usually ran into on patrol have switched routes, going farther away from him. Ms Joke had even moved her route all the way to the area around the school she teaches at when she usually likes to loiter just within the circle Aizawa has claimed as 'his', even though only his friends seem to notice the pattern to his patrols, even if only vaguely. He always goes outside of that circle twice a month to throw people off, going to random wards and also definitely visiting Naruhata and Tasomiya before going back to how things usually were. Fat Gum had also retreated slightly from where he could usually be found and Tensei had relocated to Hosu altogether.
If theirs was a normal friendship, he'd start worrying he'd done something wrong to scare them off.
But then, one night, just as he was tying up a villain, it happened.
It being the only thing that could possibly surprise him at this point.
Meaning, All Might appeared, landing before him in all his flash and glory and Shouta felt like just sinking into the ground and never crawling back out ever again. And maybe gauging his own eyes out, because the man was dressed in the ugliest eyesore of a suit that matched Aizawa's sleeping bag in color and he was standing there, proud and practically preening, as if he were wearing the sexiest outfit in the world. It was causing him a headache, honestly, just looking at the thing.
It also nearly distracted him enough that All Might finished some cliche 'Stop, felon!' speech or something because the next thing he knew, the big oaf was making a lunge for him and Shouta didn't even think as he pulled out pepper spray from one of the compartments on his utility belt and sprayed it all over the Number One Hero's face.
And then he just wanted to die, because that was embarrassing!
All Might started yelling and flailing around just as police sirens sounded in the distance. Given the situation and just how weird everything has been the past couple of weeks, for the first time in fifteen years, Shouta didn't leave an incident report for the police to find. He's sure All Might can fill them in. as for himself, Eraserhead simply had to get out of there, pronto.
He wanted to think it a one-off thing, but two nights later, at almost the same time but in a completely different ward, Best Jeanist tried to take control of his capture weapon. The shock on the blond's face - or the part he could see, anyway - was priceless, because obviously the man had not expected the scarf-looking item to be something he couldn't control. Aizawa knew how soft and warm it felt, but that didn't change the fact it was made out of a special, one of a kind steel wire alloy woven with carbon nanofibers, making a material that can be cut only by a knife made of a specific multi-metal alloy and with an exact sharpness and edge profile. The thing was otherwise nearly indestructible. It was fire, water and electricity resistant and was made for dexterity as well as having an incredible traction strength. Aizawa had once tied a falling three story building to another stable, bigger building with a single capture weapon to hold it while he evacuated civilians from underneath the falling rubble and it hadn't started fraying. He'd had to replace it only twice, though he had plenty of spares from his old mentor of sorts.
(The old man worried too much. He wasn't that old. He won't hit the bucket for at least another ten years. Shouta will make sure he's taking care of himself properly to achieve that.)
Then, half an hour after he'd escaped Jeanist, he ran into Endeavor, who loudly boasted about being the one to take him in. He was way easier to deal with than Jeanist because Jeanist had impeccable self-control, though this time, Shouta thanked Endeavor's tendencies to announce his actions that will 'make him the Number One Hero', as he finally learned what was going on.
His heart warmed just that bit more at the thought of his friends trying to stay as far away from him so they won't have to try to arrest him.
Even Manual didn't loiter around Musutafu and instead promptly returned to Hosu since he was no longer needed unless Eraser goes to his agency's ward.
Shouta now knew he had to be way more careful, even more so than usual.
He was an active target now and he can't afford to be caught.
Not after all the years he's spent on the run.
He met All Might a second time two days before the school year was supposed to start. Shouta figured that, once it did, he'd at least be free of the menace that is the Symbol of Peace, given there were rumors he'll be teaching at UA as of this year. There were many speculations as to why he would make such a move but Shouta had a feeling he knew.
Not even All Might can fight forever, after all.
All Heroes must, at some point, put down the cape.
Their second meeting nearly started off the same way as the first, only this time, Shouta had a kid in his arms, a boy snatched up by a tug working for a child trafficking ring. The boy was so terrified, most probably going into shock, that not even All Might's sudden familiar booming voice proclaiming "I am here!" was enough to make him unclench his fists from Shouta's black jumpsuit. Eraser made sure to duck his head so more of the lower half of his face would remain hidden by his capture weapon even as he tried to sooth the boy with shushing noises and comforting words spoken gently as he cautiously walked towards the Symbol of Peace. He hoped All Might will prioritize the boy over capturing him. He seemed like the type, anyway, but one can never be certain. Shouta himself usually seemed like the type that would be shit with children but was actually a natural.
He tried not to think about that, too, and the first person who ever told him he should consider being a teacher or a daycare worker.
He had a lot of things he did his best not to think about.
"Here, you should take him. I'm sure his parents are worried sick," he told the taller, bigger man gruffly, doing his best to speak just loud enough for the blond to hear him, but also low enough that he won't be able to recognize his voice should they ever bump into each other when he's out of his Eraserhead gear, as unlikely as that was to happen. He also spoke softly so as to not further frighten the boy.
Which still ended up being futile, as the boy whimpered and panicked the second All Might tried to take him from Eraser's arms. The kid had a strong grip, his hands even going as far as transforming into bird-like claws, meaning he basically had a raptor stress grip on Shouta, which was not fun, by the way. Not when the kid accidentally pricked him right over his clavicle. He was just thankful that his clothes were black, because he's sure All Might would tell the police the kid may now have some of his DNA stuck under his nails and the kid would never get home until they took all the samples so they can try and find something out about him.
Not that it would work. Shouta hasn't just been on the run most of his life. He no longer even used his actual last name, the one he got at birth, but rather an identity he'd constructed when he was eight. The government itself had made sure there are no traces of him in any database. Boy did they regret losing their best possible pawn. But they weren't the first ones he'd escaped.
He had quite the track record with that, actually.
Eraserhead sighed as All Might started panicking when the boy wouldn't stop panicking until the blond was at least a good ten feet away from him and his rescuer. Only then did he retract his Quirk, at least. Shouta allowed the boy to bury his face into his capture weapon as though to block out the rest of the world before turning his attention back to the befuddled Hero. "Listen, I'll take the kid home. You wait here for the police to arrive and give the report. The guy works for a child trafficking ring that deals in Japan, China, Mexico and America. No, I don't know where their 'hideout' is, but I am working on that. Call the parents and tell them that their kid is on the way home."
"Do you know why they've taken the boy in the first place?" The older man asked, voice sounding as though he was both surprised and impressed, a reaction Aizawa typically gets from Heroes and police officers that are exposed to how he works for the first time. He's been told time and again that he would have been a marvelous Underground Hero. Shouta knows that, but he's chosen his path, even if it wasn't all completely by his choice alone. Life can be a bitch.
"From what I've seen of this trafficking ring, they're dealing in kids with powerful Quirks. This boy obviously has some form of manifestation Quirk, probably similar to UA's Suneater in some way or form," he says with a meaningful nod towards the child in his arms, or rather his hands, which were still gripping him tightly even though he wasn't using his Quirk anymore. "Though his seems to be centered around emotions. I have to go now. Call his parents."
"Excuse me if I offend you, but how can I trust you will do as you say?" The Hero asks and Shouta wishes he could just pull his goggles off and glare at the man for even suggesting he could be a danger to a child. But, then again, this is the first time All Might has actually interacted with him. He's never seen him work before, nor has he had the time Mic, Midnight, Ingenium, Joke, Fat Gum and some other Heroes have had to get to know him enough as a character. He's actually acting like a good Hero should, worrying about the well-being of an already traumatized boy. He can respect that.
So he pulls out his custom-made phone, taps in a certain code and has to hide a smirk when he hears the familiar beep. The sound startles All Might, as it is coming from some hidden pocket or something that really shouldn't be possible to exist on that skin-tight body suit but still somehow does - David Shield seems to know what he's doing, alright - and the huge man immediately takes it out, brow furrowing in confusion when he no doubt sees the unfamiliar number saved on his phone and a tracking app.
"It's a one time thing. You can track my movements through that," he explains when the older man looks at him, nodding down at the surprisingly standardized phone in the Heroes big hands. "Though it will shut off when I reach my destination and deactivate it. My phone also changes its number every two hours-" Not entirely true, but he wasn't about to tell All Might all about his hacking skills. No one needs to know about those. It will actually give them a good reason to arrest him. "So don't think you can use it to track me again. For the trust you're giving me in getting this boy to safety, I in turn am giving you enough trust to give you a way to contact me should you ever need my particular skill set."
"Didn't you just say your number changes every two hours?"
"It's complicated," he says with a sigh. "If you try to call that number from any other device, you won't get a signal. And even if you call from that phone, my phone has been programmed to screen all incoming calls. I'll see who's calling and I can choose the message you'll receive if I don't want to pick up: anything from being unavailable to the number no longer being in function. What I gave you might look like a phone number but is, in all actuality, a code that allows you to contact me should you need me. Several other Heroes have it, too, though don't be so sure I'll be answering any calls from now on. I won't fall into any traps, All Might-san. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get the kiddo home. I think he's been through enough."
With that, without bothering to wait for an answer or any more questions, Eraserhead swung up with the help of his capture weapon to the top of the nearest building, using the rooftops to get as fast and as far away from the Number One Hero as he possibly could. He didn't want to tempt fate. All Might was, after all, one of the Heroes most likely actually able to capture Eraserhead and that could be disastrous for everyone involved in more ways than one.
Shouta didn't want to be the one to snuff out what little is left of All Might's Quirk.