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?
He was cold.
Things were on fire but it was cold. It would have been snowing had the fight that had started not begun with the two powerhouses colliding in a strong enough clash to literally force the clouds to part. The newcomer, a woman, had been flung away while that ... monster or whatever it was that he actually was remained standing, laughing as he set more things on fire. The night was lit with the fire and the sky was blocked out by smoke and ash.
He had tons of it in his hair, clinging to his clothes and skin. The wind was still somehow very cold despite the heat that surrounded him.
He was hiding, the only thing he could do. He couldn't let that monster have his Quirk or trick him into using it against whatever Hero had come to stop him. He had to keep hidden. Maybe ... Maybe he could escape? But how? There was nowhere to go. The battlefield was determined by fallen buildings, upturned tarmac - which was slowly melting under the head, creating pools that would burn alive anyone who was unlucky enough to step into them - and the new wall of flames.
There were only two, no three people besides himself and him. One was further away and didn't shine as bright. The other two shared a similar shine. The same Quirk. Only one was slowly fading away, losing its light. It was the woman. The other Hero - he looked like a teenager - he had that same light, but brighter, possibly brighter than the woman had ever had hers before. And it wasn't like how it is when kids inherit their parent's Quirk; it was the same Quirk, somehow passed on from that woman to the younger Hero. He'd not yet gotten a good look at him, but he was tall and muscular. He'd even mistaken him for an adult until he'd caught sight of his face and it seemed far too youthful.
Somehow, these two people had, at one point, possessed the same Quirk and there was this feeling ... Like they weren't the first ones, perhaps? But he'd never heard of something like that. That crazy doctor didn't ever mention that it was possible for people to share Quirks. But, then again ... No one had heard of Quirk that can take and give Quirks as the user wishes, so a Quirk that can be passed on like a torch didn't seem all too strange.
Hell, he was the strange one here. No one else could possibly be as strange as him.
Dr Quirk had said it, hadn't he. "That boy's unnatural! A monster, an abomination! Just kill him! Kill him before he kills us all!" He kind of wished the bad man had killed him. He'd never thought his power would lead to him having this sort of life. He hadn't asked for it, okay? He didn't want it! In fact, he was almost tempted to give it away at this point! It's only ever brought him pain and misery! His own parents sold him to that stupid mean doctor over it, as though he could control how he was born! The doctor had held him for months, running tests on him, using different Quirks on him, making him use his Quirk. When he'd realized he was immune to Quirks that don't do direct, straightforward, physical, external damage - fire, mechanical damage done to the body, electricity, acids - he'd started testing out the limits of that immunity and it had started to evolve. It also soon reached a point where it was constantly active to prevent further damage coming to him or it.
He didn't need to blink his eyes anymore. They can't get dry, they don't ache. He's fairly certain that he can't even cry anymore. Any damage done too close to his eyes was also instantly healed, it didn't matter what kind of damage it was or what had caused it. He was immune. It started affecting every kind of Quirk, too, to prevent those with super-strength or mutations that can hurt him from doing so. It was disturbing to see the mutant ones simply lose control over a limb or over their entire body, falling limp before him.
He'd once made a mistake to blink in front of a mutant. Her horns had fallen off, her scales had peeled off, revealing normal human skin she'd never had before. She'd gone blind because her eyes had been a part of her Quirk.
He himself was starting to lose control the longer the tests went on. Dr Quirk wanted to find out everything he could about it, about Erasure. His tests lead to an auxiliary quirk being developed to prevent things from touching his skin. It was weaker further away from his body, but it could protect the surface of his skin even against the strongest Quirk attacks.
They had started making him wear specialized blindfolds so he can't see, can't prevent them from doing their tests. Erasure evolved once again, granting him a special kind of vision. It allowed him to see Quirks themselves, even if his eyes are closed, even though objects. He can't erase them like this, but he could see even when the rest of the world was nothing but darkness.
It's how he first saw him. The villain kingpin, the greatest evil since the dawn of Quirks, apparently. All For One.
He'd gotten word Dr Quirk had gotten his hands on an interesting new, never before seen Quirk. He'd wanted it. He'd destroyed that research facility and everyone on it to get his hands on him.
After months and months of being a lab rat, Shouta, for the first time, got to breathe fresh air.
He wasn't as much of a lab rat for All For One, but he was a prisoner. Shouta honestly had no idea what the man wanted from him. All For One at times let him take the blindfolds off. He didn't abuse him. Shouta knows that the man had tried to take Erasure, but even if it wasn't constantly active, Shouta was now immune to Quirk influences. Especially if he still had no real control.
All For One had breakfast and dinner with him each and every day, for some reason. Shouta didn't trust it, didn't trust him. The villain wanted Erasure - everyone wants Erasure, for one reason or another - but Shouta wasn't going to give it to him.
He met another doctor/scientist. He did blood tests, DNA tests, Quirk tests, but he never hurt Shouta except to take that one dose of blood in the beginning. He, of course, found that Erasure had evolved yet again. All traces of the Quirk's existence, well, erased themselves from his DNA the second it left his body. Erasure could exist, apparently, exclusively within Shouta. Doctor Garaki even theorized that Shouta's kids, should he have any, would be Quirkless instead of inheriting a Quirk from him. Erasure was apparently so one of a kind that it will stay one of a kind. Shouta was one of a kind.
Shouta got the impression that the two ancient villains were trying to win him over to their side. As though Shouta would ever allow himself to be their puppet, Erasure their tool.
It's why he'd ran the second All For One had teleported them to this place. He hadn't even properly started wrecking chaos when Shouta had forced him with his auxiliary Telekinesis to let go of him and had run off to hide. Shouta didn't want to hurt anyone and Erasure could hurt. He'd seen it. Not everyone can live without their Quirk and Erasure takes them away so completely that some people literally start falling apart. The lady Hero had thankfully arrived almost as soon as All For One had made his presence known and then the two were fighting.
Shouta debated between running and hiding.
If he stayed in one place, someone could find him or the fire could catch up on him.
If he ran, the debris might kill him like it already had a few unfortunate people and All For One had greater chances of finding him, even as focused as he was on the fight.
Shouta was almost tempted to run in front of a flying giant piece of debris just to end himself, to end everyone's misery. He was, by far, the most dangerous Quirk wielder in this field of ruin and destruction and chaos. He won't go back with All For One. He won't. It would be better if he just disappeared and let Erasure go with him.
But then the woman was knocked down near where he was and she spotted him, hiding in the shadows of an overturned giant piece of concrete, thankfully stable on the crushed cars it was laying on. Shouta's eyes widened and he immediately closed his eyes. It hadn't been too long, right? It hadn't been five seconds, right? He hadn't erased the struggling flame still lit within her. Shouta couldn't help but sigh in relief when he saw it so merrily flickering, despite its struggle to stay lit. He hadn't erased it.
"Hello, little one," the woman said in a kind voice, somehow calm despite the hell raging on all around them. They were hidden from All For One's view here, the reason Shouta had chosen this particular hiding place. "Are you alright?" He nodded. "Are you hurt?" This time, he shook his head in a negative. "Can you walk?" Another nod. "I need you to run away from here to somewhere safe. It's very dangerous here."
"Can't. He'll come after me."
He could just imagine the frown or the confusion on her face at that one. Adults were often confused by kids. "Do you know maybe why?"
"My Quirk," Shouta replied. "It erases other people's Quirks. It can work as only a temporary cancellation if I blink or look away before five seconds are up of looking at someone, but if I blink after five seconds then the Quirk will be gone for good." He turned his head away, despite not even looking at the woman because his eyes were close. He'd had to throw away the blindfold in order to navigate the world besides avoiding other humans. Cars, debris, objects, fires ... He needed actual eyes to see those. "They called it an Anti-Quirk."
"Who did?"
"Everyone who ever saw it. Dr Quirk, Doctor Garaki, All For One. I'm an abomination. You should just leave me here to die and save yourself. Your Quirk is flickering out."
A pause. "How do you know?"
"I see Quirks, whether my eyes are closed or not, through objects. I can tell what they are, what they do. Yours was a stockpiling type but you had another one, too. Something that made you float."
"That's right. You have a very useful Quirk, little one. What's your name?"
"Shouta."
"Well, Shouta," the female Hero had said as her hands reached out for him and Shouta tried to back away from her hands but he had nowhere to go. His hiding place was dark but shallow. He was trapped. He hadn't considered that before. "My name is Shimura Nana and I am here to rescue you. I'll make sure All For One never sets his hands on you again."
"But your Quirk is flickering! It will go out soon!" And the momentary Quirklessness from Shouta looking at her hadn't passed yet. "You should just let me go! There's no need to save this monstrous Quirk! The world will be better off without me!"
"Don't you ever say that, Shouta-kun," Nana-san had scolded him. "Every life is precious, power or no power and no matter the power. And your Quirk is a very good one. Think of all the people you could save if you were to become a Hero or a cop or a firefighter! Quirk accidents would be solved in seconds thanks to you! You are more than worth saving, Shouta-kun, and I promise I will teach you that. But for now, I must get you to my apprentice. You and he should leave this place. This is not your battle to fight."
With that, Shouta allowed her to scoop him up but it was at that moment that All For One appeared behind them, his voice sounding amused as they taunted them both. "So this is where you'd run off to hide. How very amusing." Then the man's cruel eyes had zeroed in on Shouta, who was clenching his eyes tightly shut so he wouldn't accidentally erase Nana-san's Quirk. "Time to hand over Shouta-kun to me, Shimura. I may even let your little successor walk away if you do so now."
A hand came to cradle Shouta's head closer to Nana-san's shoulder, turning his head away from the villain. "You know I won't be doing that, All For One. Not now and not in a million years. Not even over my cold, dead body. So just give it up and get it over with."
Could she feel that her Quirk wasn't in her reach yet? Did she regret finding Shouta? He wished he had control over his Quirk, but a lifetime of abuse made it impossible to fight its practically instinctive need to keep Shouta safe, to keep itself safe. Shouta sometimes thought it had a mind of its own but knew it was just survival instincts kicking in. (It would keep him safe for a long time afterwards. Save his life, a few times, even, in the years to come.)
Maybe the monster will kill them both, taking away Erasure with Shouta's life? That would keep others safe, right?
He clenched his eyes tighter and waited for the blow to come.
It never did.
Instead, a strong gust of wind whipped both Shouta's and Nana-san's hair around as a loud yell of "SMASH!" filled the air and All For One was catapulted halfway across the battlefield. Turning around, eyes still closed, Shouta's 'inner eye' was assaulted with that light like Nana-san's but so much brighter. The person holding this power was taller, broader, male no doubt and, apparently, a far more suitable vessel for the Quirk these two had shared. Beneath that, though, unlike with Nana-san and her floating Quirk, there was nothing. This person was Quirkless at birth.
(Shouta will never learn how to explain the things he saw when he used Erasure in that state. Everything had been so much different back then, or any time he used it afterwards and even after years of researching Quirks in hopes of understanding and explaining away his 'Anti-Quirk', he never did find the answer. Wasn't even close to it. Erasure was, apparently, meant to stay a mystery. Even from its wielder himself.)
"Good timing, Toshinori," Nana-san praised, sounding fond and proud and thankful. "Or should I say All Might?" And that sounded ... teasing? Has Shouta ever been teased good naturally? He can't remember. He couldn't even remember his parents' faces, not that he tried all that hard. They didn't want him so he didn't need them. Not like they'd ever actually been there for him before, either.
"Are you alright, Shishou?" The other asked in a deep but young voice, sounding genuinely concerned and even relieved. Probably from seeing that Nana-san was relatively okay despite the devastating battle that's been going on. "Who's this?"
"We're both fine," the woman reassured before hoisting Shouta up a little higher in her arms. "And this is Shouta-kun. All For One held him prisoner because of his Quirk-erasing Quirk. We need to get him out of here and somewhere safe where that man can't find him."
"The special forces have already set up a perimeter. I'm sure one of them can take him."
"Then get him to them," Nana-san said and at this Shouta's head snapped up in alarm. No, he didn't want to go with anyone anywhere. He wanted to stay with Nana-san! She'd sounded sincere about keeping him safe and away from All For One! She wasn't scared of him or hated him because of his Quirk. He didn't want to leave her!
"It's alright," the newcomer said soothingly and something about their tone of voice made Shouta want to look, to see who this person was. Just for a second. Surely his Quirk will come back soon if it's just one peek, right? "Why? Because we are here!"
Shouta gave into the temptation and dared to crack open his eyes. Just the smallest amount, just for a second. Then he closed his eyes again and nodded his acceptance to be handed over to the newcomer. But in that one second where he'd dared let himself look, he'd been met with a youthful face and golden hair and really pretty blue eyes. (Eyes that will never fade from his mind. Eyes he will admire as he grows up. Eyes he will one day meet as they stand as equals, discussing philosophies, students, cats, life, anything and everything, both as themselves and the heroes they strive to be. Eyes that will forever make him feel safe.) Big hands take him from Nana-san's hold and this Toshinori-san presses him securely against his barrel chest, all hard muscle. The strong beat of his heart underneath Shouta's ear was far too calming for the situation they were currently in. Shouta felt like he could take a nap right here, in these strong arms, and be content.
When was the last time he'd slept without fearing what the next day may bring?
"Go! All Might!" Nana-san ordered and then Shouta felt air pressure fighting against them as they flew(?) away from Nana-san. He heard an enraged snarl come from behind them and, for some reason, didn't hesitate to unbury his face from Toshinori-san's chest, instead fighting to look over his shoulder. That's right, look. What he saw was All For One descending on Nana-san and the two of them starting a fight of even more epic proportions than before the woman had found him, but All For One was no longer toying with her. The light of his Quirk, that seemed related to the Quirk of the two Heroes, was swirling with his emotions and all of them were different forms of rage. He was coming down on Nana-san harder than her own flickering flame could hold up against, mostly trying to dodge his attacks and just keep his attention away from the two boys under her care as the older of the two took them away at truly astonishing speeds.
But then All For One started faltering and Shouta saw his fire, his Quirk, slowly decreasing in size and strength. Shouta blinked and the Quirk stayed that size, growing smaller as Shouta once again looked at it. Blinked again. Erasure was doing what it was meant to - erasing Quirks. This man, somehow, due to his own Quirk, had dozens of others, but under Shouta's golden gaze, his true Quirk was being bared more and more. The longer Shouta looked, the more Quirks were stripped away and the bigger Nana-san's chances were. And then, the second he blinked, those Quirks he'd stripped away were gone for good.
All For One was slowing down.
All For One was growing weaker.
'Just a little longer!'
But then they were taking a turn behind some more or less stable building and Shouta no longer had the villain in sight. He closed his eyes and focused with his 'inner eye' on where Nana-san and that monster had been fighting. Both of their powers had drastically decreased. Nana-san's Quirk was fading fast. All For One had lost most of his power, too, though. And, somehow, some way, that was Shouta's doing. He'd helped a Hero. Nana-san would be dead had he not been there.
His Quirk had finally done something good!
"Toshinori!" A new, older male voice called and Toshinori-san came to a stop as he met up with the third Hero Shouta had 'seen' earlier. This one had some sort of jet propulsion from the soles of his feet. He was fast; faster than Toshinori-san. "Where's Shimura?"
"Still fighting!" Toshinori-san's voice sounded urgent now, distressed. Worried. His Quirk was swirling with it, too. Then Shouta was suddenly being shuffled in his hold before he was thrust into yet another stranger's arms. "You need to get the boy to safety, Gran Torino! His Quirk is erasing other's Quirks and All For One wants him!"
"Shit!"
"I know! Take him to safety! I'm going back to help Shishou!" And then Toshinori-san was rushing back into the fight despite Nana-san clearly not wanting that. But then Shouta didn't have time to be concerned as suddenly they were flying again, sort of properly flying now through the use of this Gran Torino's Quirk. Shouta had to hold on to the older man because he hadn't taken the time to properly rearrange him the way Toshinori-san had for maximum comfort and protection and security.
"Shit! That damned fool! Both of them! Sorry, but you're gonna have to hold on, boy. We're moving fast."
Soon afterwards, Gran Torino landed behind the perimeter line police and special forces units and even government enforcers had set up. The night was even colder here, especially after the two flights Shouta had just suffered through. It was darker, too, despite the many bright lights they'd set up so they can properly see any danger that might come at them. There were no other Heroes around, apparently, which was bad. Nana-san and Toshinori-san were out there fighting that monster all on their own! But then Gran Torino was handing him over to a random government agent and rushing away to help the other two Heroes - one only a Hero-in-training, actually - with barely any explanation besides a warning to keep him safe and be careful of his Quirk because of its power.
That's about the time Shouta blacked out, due to the exhaustion, stress and the smoke he'd inhaled.
He didn't realize that he was, once again, walking into a new hell until he woke up, only to find himself not in the presence of Nana-san and Toshinori-san and Gran Torino-san, but in an all white room with no windows and a hidden door, the only furniture around the very bed he was lying in and a small segment of the room set up as a 'bathroom', separated only by a curtain from the rest of the room. He was dressed in all white pj-like clothes with short sleeves so that the devices around his arms could comfortably be accessed as they monitored his vitals.
It didn't take long at all for Shouta to realize he'd ended up as a lab rat once more.
He's not sure how much time has passed since Nana-san's fight with All For One. In fact, he lost all track of time due to a lack of windows. He only measured time by the meals they brought him, the scientists, doctors and Quirk specialists that came in trying to talk to him, to research Erasure. They all left reasonably shaken when a single one-second glance left them Quirkless for hours at a time. They didn't put a blindfold on him, though. Instead, they came in one day, covered from head to toe, in suits usually used to clean out nuclear reactors or things that had once contained toxic waste. Shouta could see them but couldn't see them, not one part of them. That, apparently, as enough to stop Erasure's effects.
This fascinated the scientists and Quirk specialists. The doctors were more concerned and fascinated by the fact that no matter how long he didn't blink, his eyes never got dry or tired or stressed. The doctors might have been the worst. They did experiments on his eyes. They actually blinded him, once. Slashed his pupils and let them ooze out. They hadn't even given him sedatives, had let him feel all of that pain. Erasure had exploded at that. Had left him in a wave of power that rendered the entire facility Quirkless in seconds and then restored his eyes so there were no traces of damage ever done to them. This violence done to him brought his auxiliary Telekinesis back into full defense mode and no one could touch his skin from then on. They would be met with a four inch barrier that could not be broken. The Quirk specialists kicked the doctors out and the scientists were soon to follow when they suggested trying to dissect him.
The Quirk specialists did much the same things Dr Quirk and Doctor Garaki and All For One did - they brought in people of various Quirk types to see how Erasure would affect them. Shouta, after being tricked thrice in three different ways, refused to open his eyes again. He was used to living without eyesight. He'd spent a long time without it when he'd been Dr Quirk's guinea pig. Erasure adapted, once again. It gave him bare outlines of objects so he wouldn't stumble over them but that proved insufficient. So instead of Erasure evolving once again, Telekinesis did. As long as one part of him was touching a surface, he could feel everything else connected to it. Shouta stopped wearing slippers and started moving around his room relying on his Quirks rather than sight.
That only fascinated people more and, soon enough, the agents working for the government came to visit him. The government, especially the Hero Public Safety Commission, was interested in him, in making him into their agent, their puppet, their tool, their weapon. (Like they would do with Hawks just a few years later.)
"His Quirk keeps evolving," one of the Quirk specialists had said. "The more we expose him to, the more it reacts. It's powerful enough now that it can affect this entire facility if his eyes are endangered. People lose their Quirks for hours on end! And if he looks at you for longer than five seconds, that's it. The next time he blinks, your Quirk is gone. What's more, the scientists and doctors have determined that, once the Quirk is erased, every trace of it is, too! Even in the DNA! It's as though the person had been born without a gene to carry the Quirk factor! As though they were a kid of two Quirkless parents! Not even that! Even the Quirkless possess the gene that can bear a Quirk, they just don't have the gene that actually possesses a special mutation that creates the powers we all possess. If this kid looks at you and blinks, then all of that is erased. It's why even those with mutation Quirks are affected. Also why some people die. That gene that carries the Quirk gene is what allows our body to properly adapt to bear our Quirks."
"This boy is the natural enemy of Quirks," a doctor had said. "Like a virus. One look is all he needs to bring Quirk society down."
The scientists had had an even more fascinating view on him and Erasure. "He is nature's response to the Quirk phenomenon. He is the balance. Today, about only 20% of the population is Quirkless, which means about 80% possesses a power, a trait we can call 'shared'. A species has evolved to a certain level without disruption and now nature is taking it's usual course: it's curbing the excess. It's introducing a predator to the top of the food chain. It's creating balance. And while this boy's Quirk looks like it can't exist outside of his own body, more Quirks like his may start appearing. Ladies and gentlemen, we humans have reached the peak of our evolution as a Quirked society and now we were introduced with our predator."
"He will be a good asset," the Hero Commission representatives had commented. "We just need to train him and then we will possess the greatest power in a Quirk-based society. We can make everyone bend the knee."
"He's dangerous," a government representative had countered. "He needs to be controlled. Culled, maybe. That power possesses too much potential for villainy. To kill him would probably be the best option."
"He's a one of a kind specimen," the scientists, doctors and Quirk specialists had argued. "We need to properly study him. Something as unique as him and his Anti-Quirk cannot just be killed. How are we to know how to deal with the possible repeat of this phenomenon?"
They argued, right there, in front of Shouta, within his little white cell. But, for once, there were no guards stationed by the door, as was the norm when he had any sort of visitors. It was just some squabbling adults and Shouta and a mirror he'd managed to swipe from one of the women that occasionally brought him food, one so clearly disinterested in him and what he was that she didn't even care that she wasn't supposed to bring anything into his room.
Shouta was alone a lot of the time. He'd had a lot of time to think, to plan, to theorize. And if what everyone said was true, if his own experiences were anything to go by, Erasure defends itself, defends him. And Erasure erases. So, if he were to look into a mirror, one of two things would happen: he would either erase his Quirk and finally have some peace or Erasure will ... Well, who knows how Erasure will retaliate.
Either way, those options were way better than living the rest of his life like he had for the past two years.
So Shouta didn't hesitate to take the little hand mirror out and let himself meet his own eyes in it.
The boom of the tidal wave of power was actually enough to shake the entire building, up and down, as though an earthquake had hit them. The wave spread for miles and miles, as he'd later learn. Affected everyone. Disoriented almost everyone. Knocked them over. Including the cold, uncaring, sick people occupying his 'room'.
Erasure just flashed stronger and Shouta, for the first time in his life, felt his eyes go dry as the Quirk finally, finally deactivated. He had to blink a couple of times and actually got scared for his Quirk when he considered what if both had happened, but the second he focused on his Quirk, it came back. Only, now, he could control it. Somewhat. He still had more control than ever before. He used it - and his Telekinesis - to escape that room,that facility, that utter bullshit. No one was in the right state to stop him. And anyone who tried got backhanded by Telekinesis. Seems his Quirks were just as sick of this place as he was.
When Shouta finally made it outside and out of the bounds of the facility, he realized he was way too far from a normal settlement. He had miles to walk but he hadn't let that discourage him. He'd finally escaped that hellhole and he had decided he was sick and tired of adults. He was keeping Erasure a secret from now on.
On his way to civilization, Shouta thought through his escape, the way his (Anti-)Quirk had acted. It was still as strong as ever. He still had all the additional abilities it had evolved to have. It still made his eyes glow golden when he used it but now he could actually deactivate it. It allowed him to see his eyes for the very first time since he'd visited the Quirk specialist that will become known as Dr Quirk almost two years ago. They were so dark they looked black. His hair was in disarray, but it wasn't as long as he remembered it being from glimpses caught every now and then when he'd been with All For One for about a month. They'd cut his hair off, apparently. Whatever. It will grow back out.
He spent the long trek back to civilization by finding random berries here and there to sustain himself and he'd even found a water source, once. Most of the time while he walked he'd spent with the mirror in front of his face but his eyes not really looking at it as he trained his Quirk. If he wanted to disappear, he'd have to get rid of the gold his eyes glowed with and the overwhelming power they contained and channeled. It would take him another two months after finally getting into town and finding that one bakery that didn't mind giving him some of their pastries to make it through day by day before he finally, somehow, managed to downgrade Erasure with sheer will power.
Now, Erasure acted as an ordinary Quirk. It 'erased' Quirks in the sense that it canceled their effects for as long as he was looking at the wielder and maybe lingering like that for some moments later. It put a strain on his eyes, though, and because he's suppressing what he's come to refer to as 'Gold' - which was, in all actuality, the true Erasure - it can't heal him, so now he suffered from chronic dry eye. He did his best not to use Erasure all that much while he'd lived on the streets because he couldn't afford eye drops, but that worry didn't last long as he eventually met and saved Hal, or Aizawa Ashou. He became Aizawa Shouta and lived two years with the hacker, learning how to hack himself. Then he turned the man in and ran, living his own life with his own identity.
One thing didn't change, though, even as everything else did. Even as he got himself a place to live, eventually moved, applied for middle school and then a high school. Ever since he'd met Nana-san and Toshinori-san, Shouta wanted to become a Hero like them, so that he may help them fight All For One and stop him once and for all. He wanted to help people, to make sure no one ever went through the same things as he had, to never have to see children like him suffer.
So he applied for UA and didn't manage to get into the Hero Course. He got into Gen Eds, though. He knew he had another chance at the Sports Festival, so he trained his ass off. Failure was not an option. He met Kronos-sensei, too. Made friends with him. Somehow developed a father-son relationship in just the couple of weeks he'd known him. Won the Festival. Got kidnapped again just before he was supposed to transfer and start his journey as a Hero. Escaped, used Gold for the first time in seven years. Returned to UA only to find out the government had found out about him, suspected Aizawa Shouta to be their escaped experiment. Ran away again. Became a Vigilante, nameless for about a year.
Met a bright boy from the Hero Course, made friends with him. Oboro Shirakumo, Hero name Loud Cloud. He was the first friend Shouta ever had. He didn't judge him about his choice. Didn't hate him for stealing the spotlight in the Sports Festival. In fact, Shirakumo and another friend of his - Yamada Hizashi - had been planning on befriending him once he'd transferred, but it had never happened. So instead Shirakumo looked after him now as they fought together, brought Villains and criminals in.
When Shouta was sixteen, he lost that first, precious friend. He lost him that summer, when a big Villain with a Quirk-power stockpiling Quirk started destroying Tasomiya. Shirakumo had been out on patrol and Shouta had gone with him. A building collapsed. Loud Cloud saved a bunch of kindergartners and their teacher. The Villain raged on. A group of Heroes had already been felled by the Villain. Shirakumo's mentor, His Purple Highness, too.
There was no one else to fight. Only Shouta.
And Shouta had fought.
Shouta had won.
That was the birth of the Vigilante that would soon enough be named Eraserhead.
The birth of his resolve.
There were several casualties that day. Several funerals that will have to be held soon.
Shouta discreetly attended Shirakumo's funeral, hiding in the crowd. Watching as the casket was slowly lowered into the ground. His eyes were hurting. He hadn't stopped crying since that day, which was a considerable feat given how dry his eyes were these days. He wasn't even aware of doing it,but suddenly he was using Gold. Erasure, in its truest form. The form that allowed him to clearly see Quirks.
It, apparently, worked even on corpses because Shouta could see that that was not Shirakumo's cloud Quirk! That was not Shirakumo in the casket. They weren't burying a hero. They were burying a decoy.
Shouta left the funeral and never came to the fake grave. Instead, he searched and researched. Found some strange men had come and stolen Shirakumo's true body by hacking the hospital's security cameras. For years, even as he moved on with life in general, made new friends among aspiring/Pro Heroes, became both famous and infamous as Eraserhead, stopped crime left and right, Shouta tried to find out what had happened with his friend's body. He'd found nothing, even as he'd dived into the deepest depths of the criminal underworld's underground, the darkest place with the cruelest of evils.
Only tonight, after taking a second plunge into that dark, dark sea of human depravity, Shouta got some answers. Got a lead that led him to visit a certain Doctor Ujuma Daruma who turned out to really be Doctor Garaki Kyudai, All For One's little friend and personal physician. Found his little Nomu lab underneath the Jaku Hospital where he 'worked' at, hacked his computers there, accessed all the other Nomu factories and storehouses, prepared a self-destruct sequence and connected them all to his phone. Then he wrapped the now wrinkled monster up in his capture weapon just as he finally received word from one of his kids.
Bakugo's location.
Creati, Ingenium, Red Riot, Shoto and Deku needed assistance to get Dynamight to safety while All Might fought what appeared to be the true leader behind the League of Villains.
By the time Aizawa arrived at the scene, the kids seemed to be in a pickle and All For One was keeping All Might too busy to help them. And between the clones and the League themselves, the UA students were truly outnumbered and outclassed. If Shouta were anyone else, he would have been next to useless in this situation unless he had another One For All.
But he wasn't anyone else and he had something much better than One For All or All For One.
So he let his eyes bleed into gold and watched the fires of the villains Quirks slowly snuff out.
It would seem tonight is the night Eraserhead finally dealt with all of his demons.