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?
Aizawa wasn't even sure how he was still conscious. Or how his goggles were somehow still in place, still in one piece. He could feel the lower frame of the right one scraping painfully against his cheekbone, but that hardly mattered now.
No, what mattered was getting that fucking brain-guy off of him, now!
Even as it held his injured elbow hostage, Shouta turned his head around and allowed Erasure to flare to life, red light flashing from within the dark safety of his yellow goggles, but all it earned him was more mocking from the villain and the thing - Nomu, was it? - shattering the bones of his other arm as though they were nothing but twigs.
The pain was excruciating. He could feel his mind trying to shut down in a desperate attempt to keep him sane from all that agony coursing through almost every inch of his upper body. His head now ached from more than overusing his eyes and he has never been more grateful towards the geniuses behind support gear as he is now. Without the incredible integrity of his goggles, not only would have his eye sockets been in direct danger, but his identity would have been revealed, too.
Who cares if he dies here? As long as the only name they can write on the tombstone is 'Eraserhead', then he'll be able to rest in peace. His old teacher won't know he has to mourn and all those monsters from his past won't know where to dig to dissect his body in search for answers.
But he knows he can't die yet. Not until backup comes, real backup. Pro Hero backup.
Preferably, All Might, for his incomparable power, or maybe Midnight, so she can put all of these bastards right to sleep and end it.
Just as long as those kids were okay. They were too young for this shit.
He would know.
He'd been in pretty much the same shitty situation when he'd been their age, not even a month into their first year at high school.
But now was not the time to think of burning smoke, of blood and debris, of not being able to see, of hearing the only adult who he's ever been able to trust in his whole childhood fighting desperately to catch up, to reach him. Not that it ever was. He can't think about any of that without going straight into a panic attack and losing control and no one can afford for him to lose control right now.
He has to stay conscious.
"Canceling out Quirks? Pretty cool but nothing special." (Had he been in the right state of mind, he probably would have snorted. Half of his life drama was caused by Erasure.) "Up against crazy strength, you might as well be Quirkless." (If only!)
If only this bastard would shut up, it'd be much easier.
But he has to focus, to stay awake.
He has to wait for All Might to get here-
"By the way, what do you think of the bioengineered villain? The Anti-Symbol of Peace, though we just call him Nomu."
Okay, scratch that. Not All Might.
But if not All Might, then who!? Who could possibly fight against the thing that was, apparently, created to fight the strongest Hero alive?
Again, he thinks of Midnight and her ability to put people to sleep.
Nomu seems pretty male. Even if he's a strange creature that doesn't even resemble humanity anymore.
Nemuri would probably be able to put him to sleep.
Mic's voice Quirk might also be enough to literally make that exposed brain explode.
This brain-guy was definitely stronger than the one he'd fought that had actually led him to being here in the first place. Would such simple tactics work on this one?
There's one thing that would undoubtedly work, but it has been ages since he'd done it last. He'd promised himself he wouldn't use it unless the situation was absolutely dire. It was something that should be buried and forgotten about, for it is gold and gold always causes greed and power-hunger. Shouta refuses to be anyone's puppet or source of profit. He knew it can't be used for anything but ending society as they know it and he's no anarchist. Every system has its flaws, but so much more harm would be done if that was unleashed on the world.
Humans no longer knew how to live without Quirks, after all. Even just a momentary loss of a Quirk unbalances people so much that a single untrained child could break in or out of the most secure and well-guarded facilities in the country.
But when he catches sight of three kids - two green haired, a boy and a girl, and one smaller boy with purple hair(?) - in the lake just behind Handsy McMike, he knows he can't let this continue. The second these villains are done with him, they'll notice the kids and Shouta doesn't know their Quirks, their skills, doesn't know if they can keep themselves alive just long enough for the Pros to arrive already damn it!
So he tosses caution into the wind and twists his head, glaring at Nomu through the slits of his goggles.
He's nearly blinded for a second - the pain in his eyes lessening, yes, but he can now see the-
And then he has to blink as he cries out in pain when the villain twists his shoulder out of alignment forcefully and forces his head against the pavement with one big hand. Aizawa can't fight it, not without proper leverage, but he doesn't care.
Even a second is enough.
Even just one second is enough. It was always enough.
It should have been enough to give these kids a fighting chance, because something had given.
It won't last long, he hadn't looked at the creature nearly long enough, but even five minutes is enough. Even one minute could be enough.
"Oi, oi, oi, you're too persistent, Eraserhead. Why are you even here? I know you're not a Pro Hero, no matter how often you're seen working with some. Though I guess it ultimately doesn't matter." Handsy McMike comes to stand before him, staring down at him, a hand even reaching towards his head. "You're in my way."
But before he can be disintegrated, Warpgate-san returns, stopping Handsy McMike in his tracks. "Shigaraki Tomura."
'Well, at least I now have a name to hunt. If I survive, that is.'
"Kurogiri." And another name! Lucky day ... "Is Thirteen dead?"
Oh gods, please no!
"They're incapacitated-" Yes! Thank you! "But ... " And here Kurogiri hesitates for but a second before continuing. "There were some students I couldn't warp away. And one of them escaped."
"Oh?" Oh, yeah, Shigaraki sounded unhinged and pissed. But Shouta couldn't give a fuck. One of the students, at the very least, was perfectly safe. One kid would survive, at the very least. Not everyone will die. Thirteen was injured, but they won't die, either. Not now. Not yet. And clearly these Hero-hopefuls were fighting back, which means that probably all the other kids are relatively fine, too! That's enough, right? Shouta's done enough. Can he sleep now? Whoever it is that's run out is hopefully fast and will, at least, be able to tell the story, to reinforce Shouta's reason for calling backup from all the Heroes he personally knows and trusts. He hopes they get here soon. He's getting a bit dizzy. Some sleep would ... really be ... really nice ... "We're leaving."
'Leaving?' He couldn't help but echo in his mind. He'd kind of spaced out, but he was sure Shigaraki was having an anxiety attack just a moment ago about other Pros arriving at the scene. Which means that they really weren't nearly as prepared as he'd feared. Was that guy an actual fucking child in an adult's body? How can you so easily give up when you're haughty enough to declare you'll kill the Symbol of Peace? Where's the drive?
No, something wasn't right here. Don't get him wrong, he's happy they're leaving, but something simply doesn't add up. Shigaraki's goal was, supposedly, to kill All Might, but the first second something doesn't go his way, he's all pouts and temper tantrums? He doesn't care about the dozens of villains that he's leaving behind that can easily identify him, all he cares about is that things didn't go according to plan? A shitty plan at that. One Vigilante was able to mess it up like no one's business just by being there and, honestly, Shouta's presence was an accident at best. A group of untrained kids could mess it up!
Why would Giran get involved with a guy like this? It affects his own reputation within the underworld if he's associated with guys like this, all bark no bite.
Shigaraki is acting like he was sent here to do one thing but was allowed to do whatever he pleases as long as he accomplishes the ultimate goal. That goal being to kill the Number One Hero, while Shigaraki seems to be in it for the destruction he can cause.
These villains had all bragged that they'd be famous for killing Heroes and defeating All Might.
Low-tier villains as cannon fodder.
A connection with Giran and the money to afford it.
A goal that does not seem to be personal at all but is followed through nonetheless.
No, Shigaraki definitely isn't the 'final boss'. He's no less a pawn than the cannon fodder Shouta's been fighting just minutes ago.
Something bigger is at hand here and Shouta had, somehow, found himself in the middle of it the second he'd decided to track Giran and first saw Shigaraki and Kurogiri.
Shit.
"But before that," those words and that tone had Shouta focusing back to the present faster than Ingenium can run. He didn't like it. 'Open your eyes. Come on, eyes; open!' He had a bad feeling about this. "Let's leave a few dead kids," Shouta nearly choked on his own blood that was running down his throat from his broken nose. He'd been right. 'Eyes, open!' He managed to crack his eyes open, yes! Now, he just needs to ... "To wound the pride of the Symbol of Peace!"
He's going for the kids! The kids in the lake!
Shouta's eyes are open but he needs to lift his head!
But Nomu was pushing him down and he didn't have the strength to fight him. He didn't have the leverage, not with both of his arms in the state that they were. Those kids are going to die and he wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it!
"You got this, Shouta! You can do it, Shouta! You're the only one who can protect everyone! It's alright, you've got this! You have what it takes! If you put your mind to it, you can do anything! Because I know you're strong! You won't lose!"
He managed to, somehow, through some means, to find the strength to lift his head. He doesn't know where it came from, but he doesn't care. He just ... He needs to look at Shigaraki before he touches that girl's face!
The outstretched hand lands, everything stops.
Nothing happens.
Shouta can barely feel his hair levitating around his head, sneaking in between Nomu's thick fingers. He can barely feel his face, actually, nor his arms. Perhaps it's better that way, because he knows the alternative is unbearable pain. But that's alright. This is simply like Tasomiya. Erasure is the key.
Erasure just saved the green-haired girl what's-her-face and most probably the kids with her, too.
He can see Shigaraki sigh in annoyance and exasperation, but the words that come from him are laden with begrudging respect. "You ... really are pretty cool, Eraserhead." Aizawa was gritting his teeth to stay conscious and keep his eyes open.
He can't use it.
Not now that Shigaraki has moved and left the students in his line of sight. They're Hero-hopefuls. He can't end their careers before they even start. Kids' obviously have potential if they've made it through all of this shit this far. The world needs competent Heroes, not more Endeavors!
He just has to keep focusing on Shigaraki, to keep his eyes open-
The hand on his skull tightens and then he's slammed, harder than ever before, into the concrete and the last thing he truly feels before darkness takes him is his goggles digging into his right cheekbone, the bone beneath it shattering and he has but a second to use it to save his eyes from fatal damage before he has to shut it off lest he passes out with it left uncontrolled.
Everything after that feels like he's stuck in limbo.
He hears something that sounds like an explosion coming from what he thinks is the direction of the entrance.
He feels a gust of wind.
He thinks he hears a familiar voice apologizing to him, though he's not sure anymore what's happening so he doesn't know why.
He feels warm and secure, for a second, and he thinks it might not be a nightmare but a dream, a resurfaced memory from when he was so small and was being taken away from the fire of an ongoing war zone highlighted in gold.
He hears childish voices arguing over whether they should remove his goggles. He vaguely hopes they don't. They might further damage his eyes.
He hears fighting.
He hears more kids.
Then a familiar yell. Mic.
The Pros were finally here.
After that, there's nothing and by the time he wakes up, he's sure he's dead.
Instead, he finds himself in an infirmary he's not seen in fifteen years when he just barely manages to open his eyes through the bandages covering his whole face and head, though he hisses when the light assaults his poor, poor, oversensitive, painfully dry eyes.
"Stop that," a familiar voice says and Shouta tenses. "You need your rest and your eyes need it especially! Honestly! Do you actually see anything? Because it'd be a right miracle if you weren't blind."
"I see fine," he answers quietly, not moving his mouth too much, not yet sure of the full damage. He feels numb, which means he's on the good meds. Which would also explain why he's currently not freaking out about someone knowing his identity, possibly. "What happened?"
"What's the last thing you remember?"
The kids, was his instinctive answer. The children he'd done his best to protect. The random bunch of teenagers he's never met and who will, most probably, in three years time do their goddamned best to put him behind bars.
Before he can answer, there's a loud knock on the door. "Recovery Girl! Is Eraserhead awake yet!? We want to see him!" More voices sound agreements and complaints from the other side and Shouta tries to do a headcount by distinguishing their pitches alone. He sighs heavily in relief when he discovers twenty. Twenty kids. All twenty kids. He almost wants to cry. And curse at the medication for making him so irrational.
Shouta turns to finally look at Recovery Girl, finding the motion not nearly as painful as he'd feared it to be. She's glaring at the door, then she looks at him and glares at him, too, before wobbling over to let the kids in. They blink in surprise before they register the bandaged man resting on the bed, eyes boring into them. Shouta is alarmed to see a good half of them immediately get tears in their eyes as they almost trample the small woman in their rush to get to his bedside. They're surrounding him in seconds, all twenty of them, though some hold back a little.
A spiky haired boy with red eyes looks, on the outside, like he'd rather be anywhere but here, but there is something like respect and wonder in his eyes. He stays. Shouta recognizes the youngest Todoroki child also holding back, though his expression is even harder to read. A tall student with multiple arms is also holding back, but that might be because he can see over the others' heads while he would have blocked their view if he were in the front. A kid with the head of a raven or something is also putting up a bit of a distance, but he stays, too.
The ones closest to him were the green haired boy and girl and the purple grape-hair kid that he'd saved at the last second. All three of them have tears in their eyes. A kid with red spiky hair is also crying, declaring how utterly manly Eraserhead was, though he's not entirely sure what that's supposed to mean. Standing besides Ingenium's younger brother was a brunette girl with round cheeks and she also seemed to be crying. So was a girl with pink hair and skin, a tall boy that seems to have a face shaped like a rock, he thinks an invisible girl might be crying, too, and a girl he recognizes must be from the Yaoyorozu family also looks on the verge of tears.
So many tears, but for what? Him? Why?
The rest are beaming at him. He can see awe on their young faces, in their eyes.
Again, why? What was so great about him? Was it because he fought for them? That's illogical. Any Hero would fight for them-
But he wasn't a Hero, was he?
"We're so glad you're okay, Eraserhead-sensei!" Now that brought his attention back to the group, because seriously? Sensei?
But, seeing the looks on their faces, he decided he can let it slide.
Just this once.