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?
When all the villains Quirks suddenly stopped working, All Might couldn't help but fear both dread and relief. By this point, All Might knew practically only one person possessed the power to make something like that happen and while he would usually be glad for the assist, he also knew just how bad of an idea it was to expose Eraserhead to the risk of All For One taking a Quirk like that for himself.
In a world dominated by Quirks, where practically everyone relied on them for even the smallest day to day inconveniences, let alone major fights for one's life, Erasure was, indeed, the most dangerous power one may possess, especially if that someone's a piece of work wanting world domination like All For One.
Still, the relief was overwhelming. The kids had been surrounded, outnumbered, especially Midoriya-shounen and Bakugo-shounen. While the others were somehow making do, at the very least staying uninjured, the clones of Shigaraki, Dabi and Mr Compress would have been too much for the two boys after their previous ordeals. He doubted either of the boys had properly recovered after the intense training at their summer camp gone wrong, nor the fights they'd had to battle that night. Not to mention Bakugo-shounen had been kidnapped and Midoriya-shounen had somehow managed to use One For All at 1, 000, 000% power, something Toshinori would have honestly thought impossible if he didn't know just how insane the Quirk itself was. One For All was all about breaking expectations and going far and beyond, Plus Ultra!
Not that that was what was important right now. He'll scold his successor at another time, if they all make it out alive tonight. (He prays to the previous wielders of their Quirk that they will. That the students, at the very least, will. But now Aizawa-kun was there so perhaps that's insurance enough for their rescue and safety. He'll take it. Even if it might mean that he will take the same role as his master had and let himself die so Midoriya Izuku, Deku, may live.)
For now, he should focus on taking down All For One while Eraserhead still held his Quirk back. No one really knew how his Quirk worked, but from what Yamada-kun had said during that one meeting after the Sports Festival, it came from his eyes. And from previous experiences of various people, their Quirk could be gone from either a few seconds to a handful of minutes. Then there was the half an hour at the Sports Festival ... All Might couldn't know how long Eraserhead could hold someone's Quirk back, so he ought to move fast. For his own sake, too. His own time was running out. He was nearing his limit.
He had to beat All For One now so Midoriya-shounen wouldn't need to worry about him in the future!
"So it is you," All For One breathed before Toshinori could move to take him down, surprising everyone close enough to hear him. Considering he was speaking loudly enough in hopes of his words reaching the Vigilante whose form his gaze - even though he no longer had actual eyes to speak of - had not strayed for one second, it was everyone down on the ground. Toshinori looked back to the younger man, whose hair was standing on end, capture weapon also seeming to be lifted along for the ride of power, the yellow goggles in place. "I had feared you lost to death that day. The Hero Commission surely isn't famous for their proper treatment of powerful Quirks."
"Neither are you," Eraserhead called down, voice calm and collected on the surface but Yagi could swear he heard undercurrents of boiling rage just underneath.
'Well, that answers some questions about his disappearance.'
All For One seemed to focus in on the thing Aizawa-kun had brought with him. "I see you've managed to track down and capture my dear old friend."
"I just thought that the good old doctor should receive his just deserts at the same time as his dear old friend."
And, indeed, the thing ensnared and dangling from his capture weapon seemed to be a short, frail, ancient looking man in a lab coat. He was apparently unconscious, as he made no move to struggle or panic at the treatment he was receiving.
"Oi, oi! How the hell did you find that rat in the sewers doctor!?" Shigaraki called out, sounding pissed off and incredulous.
"That's actually very impressive," praised the oldest man present, even going as far as to start clapping even as a grin entered his voice. "He was well hidden."
"If you think that is impressive," the Vigilante said, bringing a hand up, something held in it. A phone, Yagi believes. The phone, the one Eraserhead had shown him when he'd sent Yagi a code by which they could communicate after their first real interaction! The phone that he now realized must have been custom made for the hacker Eraserhead secretly was. A phone worthy of Hal's own adopted son. "Then this will blow your mind." And with what appeared to be a press of a button, several explosions all over the city shook the ground, the blaze reaching towards the sky flaring and lighting up the night. Hell, the building the other team had been raiding also blew sky high and All Might was just thankful that the fighting had taken them away from it or else the explosion would have hit them, too!
He took notice that the children took this chance to disengage safely from their opponents and retreat, towards the building where Eraserhead was standing. Hair still up, body unmoving. As though he had no care in the world for just destroying what, if Toshinori's guess was right, were definitely several if not all hideouts, labs and bases All For One had had in Musutafu. (By morning, he'll learn that Eraserhead had, with that one button click, actually blown up all the hideouts, labs, Nomu factories and bases All For One had in the whole of Japan and the emergency services had been forced to call on the local Pros to help them ensure the safety of the sites, even though everything found there was very much dead.)
Looking back at his nemesis, the blond saw he was no longer clapping.
Shigaraki seemed to be gawking.
Strike one for Eraserhead.
"Let this be initiative," Eraserhead said in the most menacing voice All Might had ever heard the man produce. "To not touch a fucking strand of hair on my kids' heads."
Instead of raging, All For One suddenly boomed with laughter. "Truly, you are as marvelous as I'd always thought you would be, Shouta-kun!" All Might stiffened at hearing the Vigilante's name fall so casually from the villains lips. The 1-A students did, too. Eraserhead, though, just casually stood up with lethal grace, balancing on the edge of the rooftop as though he did this all the time. And he did, didn't he? For fifteen years. "Too bad you've chosen to be a goody two-shoes! And not even a proper one! Though, that is a bit surprising."
"Don't act so innocent," the Vigilante retorted. "I know it was you who was behind that fucking idiot's actions fifteen years ago. The question is, how did you figure out it was me?"
All For One stopped laughing. Just stopped altogether. "Wait, that was really you? Not Hal's brat?"
"Can't it be both?" Mocked Eraserhead. "I can't believe this. And after all the trouble I went through to make me as unrecognizable to the likes of you as I could. Do you realize you've ruined my life three times over?"
"... I'm afraid I must ask after the third one, as the first two are understandable but I have no recollection of how I could have possibly done you damage of any sort the third time."
"Wait, what is going on here, exactly?" Dabi asked, clearly not understanding the little showdown the most infamous Vigilante and the Symbol of Evil were having at this moment. Yagi sort of agreed, but at least he'd managed to put together some of Aizawa-kun's story together so he at least had some idea about what these two were discussing. A glance over at the kids showed that they had no idea, either, though Midoriya-shounen's eyes sparkled in that way that said he recognized a name. No doubt he finally realized whose surname his beloved Sensei actually shares. Then again, Hal's cyber-reign and eventual arrest had been well before their time, not to mention that the governments of the world had done their best to keep his existence a secret in hopes of one day convincing him to use his skills for their own ends. Japan even had first dibs!
"Does it matter? Just watch Eraser, Dabi! The second his hair goes down, burn him to a crisp!" Shirgaraki Tomura ordered and the fire villain readied himself, but Eraser only snorted and All For One actually looked ... panicked in his body language.
"If you think it's such a good idea for me to blink-"
"Wait, Tomura! If he blinks, all of our Quirks will be erased forever!"
"WHAT!?" All Might was pretty sure they all shouted at the same time, but then he didn't have the time to contemplate how such a Quirk had remained unregistered for so long because suddenly, something tickled at his memories, something he had sort of forgotten over the years as he worried about his career, his dream to become the Symbol of Peace, fighting All For One and then finding a successor to his Quirk. He immediately looked towards his old teacher, who had a stupefied expression on his face, clearly recalling the same thing they had pushed to the back of their minds until they had all but forgotten all about it.
"I see you didn't update your little puppets on the dangers of facing my Erasure," Eraserhead said and then casually jumped right off the roof, his capture weapon acting as an elevator of sorts to prevent him from smacking into the ground and hurting or killing himself. "Dabi, AKA Todoroki Touya-" Said young man went absolutely still, his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide, clearly taken by surprise at this new information dump. "Quirk: Cremation, eldest son of the Number Two Pro Hero Endeavor and his wife Rei." Toshinori actually wanted to curse at that. Hadn't he heard, several years ago, that Endeavor had to hold a funeral for one of his children? That it'd been an accident or something involving the boy's Quirk? "Shigaraki Tomura, AKA Shimura Tenko-" All Might's eyes widened upon hearing that last name and Gran Torino cursed like a sailor. But surely it couldn't be! "Quirk: Decay, eldest child of Shimura Kotaro-"
"Stop."
"-and his wife Shimura Nao, younger brother of Shimura Hana-"
"Stop!" Shigaraki thundered the second time, unlike the first, almost strangled whisper as he reached up to grip at his hair.
"And grandson of Shimura Nana, Seventh holder of One For All."
"One for what now?" Spinner asked but was ignored by all involved as Eraserhead casually came to stand in front of the children, not even looking at them - probably for their own good - as he took on a casual but protective stance.
"How do you know that?" All For One asked and Aizawa-kun just snorted, clearly unimpressed and so done with this situation.
"I fucking hacked your systems, that's how. It was easy. If you're really going to use Hal's programs and handmade, original operating systems, then you should consider updating them-"
"Why do you think we tried to kidnap his kid!?"
"Isn't that dude in jail?" Mange asked.
"You are truly naive if you think a technopath needs to be in contact with technology in order to hack it." Well, that was news to All Might! Here he thought they had a detailed enough description of how the man's Quirk functions and then something like this comes out of the left field. "That man could escape any time he wants, yet he chooses to waste away in Tartarus like a common birdbrained criminal," All For One sneered and Eraserhead lifted his goggles off of his eyes, for the first time in fifteen years in the presence of anyone as far as anyone knew, and grinned one of the most terrifying grins All Might had ever seen and he'd looked the greatest evil of this century in the eye, twice.
"Why do you think that is? Hal has never made it a secret that once he found someone to be a worthy successor to him, he will let that person turn him in. Seeing as he trained me in hacking so I'd be worthy of the Aizawa name and could always have something to defend myself with outside of combat, it is only logical that he's content to stay where he is. No one can target him in Tartarus lightly. Think of it as long earned retirement. I know he does. Now, to get back on topic, shall we?"
The capture weapon suddenly slashed through the air, whipping around until it wrapped around all of the members of the League of Villains except the still downed Mr Compress and Kurogiri and All For One, who was further away, still in fighting distance of Toshinori. Struggling was futile, that much was obvious. Eraser had them wrapped tight and the capture weapon did not give under Toga's or Spinner's blades. If All Might remembered correctly, Kronos had said that only one knife exists that can cut through it, so any attempts by these blades were utterly useless. And seeing as the others can't activate their Quirks, well ...
"Shall I be so nice as to list every instance when you've destroyed my life, Shigaraki Hisashi?"
"How do you-"
"Remember the name, bitch. It's not that hard." That shut the evil mastermind right up. Toshinori's not sure if he's ever seen something so hot before. "Now then, number one: when you took me and tried to groom me into whatever the hell Shimura is supposed to be now-"
"I saved you from Dr Quirk-"
"-only to treat me in a similar manner. I'll give it to you that you've been better than those fuckers working for the government and the Hero Commission, but not by much. Part of one is also the fact that you've killed the woman who actually saved me from your clutches and severely injured her successor, who had taken me away from your destruction."
"Oh sweet heavens, it is him!" Gran Torino breathed, collapsing onto his behind in shock and maybe relief and Yagi completely agreed. For years, they had wondered what had happened to the boy from that fateful night. The child with the ability to erase Quirks, though he had lacked control. Now, it seems, he has it. "How have we not connected the dots sooner?" He agreed with that sentiment, too. Some Number One Hero he was. Shouta-kun was Aizawa-kun and Aizawa-kun was Eraserhead. And Eraserhead had been in front of him this whole damn time. Even after hearing about Aizawa-kun's Quirk, even after figuring out Eraserhead had that same Quirk and was as such that missing boy now grown up, it had never even occurred to him that he may be that boy he'd saved with Nana and Gran Torino that night, the boy whose trail was lost not long afterwards so completely they could never find him again.
'I'm so sorry, Shishou. We've failed you. Shouta-kun has suffered because of our negligence and carelessness.'
But he was alive. Despite it all, he was alive and that was already more than Toshinori could have ever asked for. One of his biggest regrets had been resolved and now he can move on to making it up to the man. Starting by making his landlady fucking let him keep a as many cats as he wants in his apartment.
"The second time you ruined my life," continued Aizawa Shouta, starting to walk towards where All For One and All Might were still ready to continue their fight at a second's notice. "Is when you dared order my kidnapping. I don't care for the fucking reason. My mentor, my teacher, the one adult in this godforsaken life that I trusted so completely I considered him family within less than a week, a wonderful Hero ... Kronos-sensei lost his eyes because of you! The government was onto me again because of you. I had to give up UA after breaking an astonishing record by winning the Sports Festival over arrogant Hero Course students. Ever since that night, since Nana-san and All Might-san and Gran Torino-san saved me, all I've ever wanted to be was a Hero. So I can protect people the way they have protected me, so I can stop monsters like you. So that I will get the time I need to erase Quirks enough to stop villains in their tracks. I've brought my eyes to near ruin dozens of times while trying to gain control, to seal away the parts that make Erasure devastating. You ruined it. For what? Greed?"
Eraserhead was now standing just in front of the unconscious warpgate user, mere feet away from the two powerhouses. All For One clenched his fists, the only thing he could do, really. He had no Quirk left to fall back on. Toshinori wondered how it felt to be Quirkless when you'd always had access to any number of Quirks you could possibly want. A taste of his own medicine. A taste that only Eraserhead could give.
"And finally ... Fourteen years ago. Tasomiya. I'm sure you remember the incident."
Tasomiya.
"Now, Shouta-kun-"
"I don't care what you wanted there, what you thought you would get by sending that villain Garvey, but that day ... That day, I lost my first friend."
"Shouta-ku-"
"And now I'm getting him back."
"Wha-"
Before anyone could actually question what that was supposed to mean, Eraserhead let his eyes - burning gold up until that moment - turn into a wicked looking red before he closed them in a blink and his hair fell down.
"NO!"
Aizawa-kun didn't seem to pay mind to the raging villain and casually ignored him. He instead looked down at Kurogiri. In the darkness of the night, it was easy to see his eyes light up gold once more - and wasn't that just the most nostalgic color Yagi had ever seen? - and suddenly, the mist making up Kurogiri's body started shifting, parting, drifting away ... Until all that was left was the body of a man. The only misty part left was on his hair, but it looked like hair now. The metal body piece Kurogiri wore around his neck fell away. 'Oh gods,' he realized. 'He was a Nomu!' Toshinori, for a moment, feared he was staring down at a corpse, as the base of the Nomu from USJ had, indeed, been the body of a dead man. But even in this bad lighting, he could see the chest moving up and down. Breathing.
"KUROGIRI! KUROGIRI! You bastard, what have you done to Kurogiri!?" Shigarak- No, Shimura Tenko, screamed, anguished, at Eraserhead, trashing violently in the hold of the capture weapon but Aizawa-kun just tugged on the cloth in his hand and the young man was wrapped up even more, and more tightly, than before.
"I've erased the effects of the All For One Quirk, taking away everything that suppressed Shirakumo Oboro but leaving everything that keeps him alive." The Vigilante's voice was different now. Relieved. Fond. Desperately happy. The look on his face as he deactivated his Quirk for the second time that night was one Toshinori had seen on his own face after having fought All For One for the first time, six years ago, despite the hole in his side that he now spourted. It was the face of someone who finally achieved a goal long thought impossible.
Just like he'd thought it impossible to fulfill his master's and all the previous One For All holders' will, avenge his Shishou and finally rid the world of its greatest evil was near impossible and probably the one thing that he'd die for in order to achieve, it would seem Aizawa-kun had thought the same for the possibility of fulfilling this, saving his friend, one way or another. Only Aizawa-kun's motive and MO were far more virtuous than Yagi's. Aizawa-kun has not set out to kill. Aizawa-kun's revenge was not death but punishment the likes of which All For One perhaps deserved even more than death: being Quirkless.
"So you have taken justice in your own hands? Are you sure you are worthy of even the consideration of being a Hero?"
"What the fuck did you just say, you bastard!?" Bakugo-shounen thundered, the other kids protesting, too. All Might wanted to as well, but Eraserhead didn't seem the least bit fazed as he turned to look at All For One again, but with the most bored, deadpan and unimpressed expression Toshinori had ever seen in his life, and he knew Gran Torino when he'd been younger and Nana was still training him as her successor and then he'd worked for years with Sasaki, who- if you're not All Might, was not easily impressed, at all.
"I only temporarily erased your Quirk. All of your Quirks. With the amount of time I've been looking at you, it should last about three months, which is more than long enough to get you all nice and settled in Tartarus and even for you to find out that, despite your infamy, you won't be on the top of the food chain." The dangerous grin from before returned, only this time it held a healthy dose of gleeful amusement. "That position, apparently, goes to the guy who can arrange for you to exchange emails with your family, broadcast sport games and place bets in your name and, above all else, get you porn. And you've pissed him off before even meeting him in person." The grin, if possibly, spread another notch. "That's right. Hal runs Tartarus' inmate community and unless you can suddenly pull an internet cable out of your ass, all the inmates will turn on you at a single word from their entertainment and news from the outside provider. And you tried to kidnap his kid."
"I thought you only saw Kronos as your parental figure."
Aizawa-kun waved the villain off as though he was a bothersome fly. "Perhaps, but no one said others haven't come to consider me family."
"You tell 'im, Shou," a wrecked, tired voice said and that had everyone's attention snapping to the previously warpgate Nomu, who was apparently finally conscious and far too tired to move besides turn his face to the side and raise a fist in a supporting/encouraging manner. "Ow."
"Alright, time to wrap it up," the Vigilante said with a sigh, turning towards the students, once again completely ignoring the criminal mastermind he'd just stripped of all of his powers, caught his associate ( and old friend, apparently), his heir and his fledgling new villain organization, along with destroying(?) his most loyal servant. "Yaoyorozu, call the emergency responders. I want you all checked out by doctors and you're all going to give statements if you're already here. I'm sure All Might-san will have no qualms about vouching for you. Someone should call your parents, too. They must be worried-"
"No need, felon," a new voice said and Toshinori cursed when he saw Enji had finally caught up with them, his flaming beard lighting up the 'clearing' he and All For One had made in their clash. "I am already here to take care of my rebellious son-"
"Sons," Aizawa muttered to himself but not loudly enough for the monologuing Number Two to hear. Looking over to 'Dabi' - or, apparently, Todoroki Touya, Endeavor's long lost and thought to be dead eldest child - Yagi wondered if that was perhaps for the best, that Endeavor did not know this villain was his son. Not for the man's oh so precious reputation, but because Dabi already looks unhinged enough that he doesn't need more provocation to truly descend into the terrifying sort of madness that leaves fields of bodies in his wake.
"-clean up All Might's failings as a teacher-"
"Did he just-?"
"Oh, I'm going to fuck him up!"
Endeavor ignored Midoriya-shounen's and Bakugo-shounen's little, well, two cents and continued on as though he was the one that had defeated - or even fought - the Symbol of Evil when he'd only just come to the scene. "-and finally capture you and bring you to justice, Eraserhead. There's no more use to hiding. I know what you look like."
"And people are just going to take your word for it?" Eraserhead asked, cocking an eyebrow. "You have no evidence, the children I know for sure won't back you up, All Might can plead plausible deniability as he was busy with the greatest evil mastermind of the Quirk-society since the dawn of Quirks and I'm pretty sure the League of Villains would rather cut out their own tongues than support a child and wife abuser."
The elder/eldest Todoroki's flames flared threateningly in his outrage. "WHAT DID YOU JUST ACCUSE ME OF , SCUM?!"
The man's (two) son(s), on the other hand, were staring at Eraserhead as though he's a miracle sent down from the heavens and that left a bitter taste in Toshinori's mouth. He'd had his suspicions since the Sports Festival that Todoroki-shounen didn't exactly have the best upbringing or home life, but he would have never guessed it went as far as abuse. How had no one noticed before? It was actually a bit obvious, now that he thinks back on it. It was in the way Todoroki-shounen acted sometimes or the way the simplest concepts that are not stated plainly could confuse him because he takes them literally. How had he not noticed before that one of his students was not safe or happy?
How did Eraserhead notice when he could have talked to the boy in person only a handful of times since they'd first met back during the USJ Incident?
"Of your crimes," Aizawa-kun stated plainly. "Of the things you have, indeed, done and that I can get proof of with a single click of a button."
"Are you threatening me?" The flame Hero asked in a dangerous voice, the air around him betting hotter and hotter before, all of a sudden, they were once again shrouded in the darkness of the industrial district of Kamino. "Wha-"
"I am telling you things as they are," the younger man replied as his hair danced around his head, eyes burning crimson in the shadows of the night. "I will not resist arrest when the police arrive, as I am currently the only one capable of detaining this group of villains until and after they come and my long lost best friend has to be checked over by a doctor after fifteen years of being Nomufied with no real will of his own. I need to give my statement and hand over the droves of information I've gathered so that the police and Heroes may work together to, once and for all, thoroughly dismantle All For One's two hundred years old empire. I have all of my affairs settled and my Problem Children are all safe and accounted for. And with so many people now knowing my identity, to run would mean to leave Japan altogether and I can't do that. My kids need me, my old mentor needs me, my friends need me. Hell, the Hero community needs me because all of you share two brain cells between you all and they both belong to Nezu." More than one person had to choke back laughter at that, including Toshinori himself, even if he was part of the critiqued group himself. Aizawa-kun's humor had always been something he couldn't resist, ever since first meeting the man. "Whatever the justice system may decide for me, as long as the Hero Commission stays the fuck away from me, I'll accept it. I've worked hard for fifteen years. I've done and achieved more than I had ever thought I will be able to. Whatever awaits me next, I will accept it with open arms. That, however, does not mean I won't take down any and all corrupt politicians, figureheads and Heroes before I go down myself. So you have two options: give custody of your children over to your wife or oldest daughter or watch as I ruin you with a click of a button. Your choice."
"Okay, can I just give myself up peacefully? Because I want to see this shit go down," Dabi said in the ensuing silence and that was the last thing anyone got to say or comment before the sound of sirens filled the air, getting closer and closer. All Might took the distraction to swiftly and securely handcuff a surprisingly cooperative and unresisting All For One. Aizawa-kun turned his back on all three Heroes and the captured villains, instead finally getting a proper chance to check his students for any injuries. From what he could see from way over here, it seemed that there were none, but Aizawa-kun seemed deeply displeased by, what he guessed, the news of Midoriya-shounen's new arm fragility after having fought Muscular during the attack on the Training Camp.
News choppers were circling above now that the fighting seems to have stopped and he knew at least one of those had been there to see Aizawa-kun - or Eraserhead, really - stop the battle in its tracks, by still not at all obvious means. Police choppers came soon enough, too, as did ground vehicles. Tsukauchi was one of the first to brave the crater-like landscape, before even the medics dared to step into the disaster zone, and then everyone else followed. Heroes were checked over, the villains were more thoroughly secured, the former-Kurogiri was placed in Quirk-surpassing handcuffs and into a separate vehicle that Gran Torino immediately boarded to ensure he wouldn't disappear, the doctor hanging from the building also taken down and arrested and then Tsukauchi, after checking up on Toshinori and being incredulous at his relatively good state, turned to the students, only to stop in his tracks as he finally came face to face with Eraserhead, with Aizawa Shouta.
Who, without preamble, extended his wrists towards the detective after having made sure the students would need no immediate medical attention besides Bakugo maybe being given some proper food.
"Wha-"
But the kids were there, in front of their beloved Sensei in an instant, blocking the black-clad Vigilante from Naomasa's reach. "You're not taking him," Todoroki-shounen was the first one to assert, both hands at the ready to use either fire or ice to attack/defend/deflect and give the adult behind him and his classmates a chance to run, despite Aizawa-kun having made it clear he will do no such thing. Not this time.
After fifteen years of pursuit, Eraserhead would finally be put in handcuffs and escorted to the police station and it was only happening because the man himself was giving himself over.
"I know Eraserhead is a Vigilante, but we would all be dead several times over if not for him!" Iida-shounen added, for once not doing those weird hand-chopping motions, instead standing perfectly still, clearly ready to launch into action at the slightest hint that such a thing was needed.
"Please, you can't take him away! Not after everything Eraserhead has done for the people, for the Heroes! All For One wouldn't have been brought in so easily if it wasn't for him!" Midoriya-shounen pleaded, looking between both his mentor and the police officer.
"That's not manly at all, bro! You can't thank someone by arresting them!" Kirishima-shounen said, looking just as distressed as the other children.
"Please, All Might, Detective Tsukauchi! Please don't take him away! The League of Villains could have still been at large had he not been here to stop their escape! Bakugo-san could have gotten hurt when they'd tried to take him this time because they weren't holding back! We could have lost our classmate had it not been for him!" Yaoyorozu-shoujo cried, looking distraught and even on the verge of tears until a hand landed on her shoulder. Before Aizawa-kun could say anything, though, the final of the present Class 1-A students had already spoken up, accented by the explosions going off on his palms.
"Like hell are we letting you take Sensei! You expect us to just stand to the side while he's taken away when motherfuckers like him," insert rude finger pointed at Endeavor standing a few feet away to the side, who bristled and fumed at that, his Quirk now returned and hissing in rage as it crackled like a forest fire. "Get to call themselves Heroes? No! Fuck no! I don't care what anyone else says: Sensei is a Hero and one of the damned best I've ever seen and I'm sure the damned nerd can agree with me! So back the fuck off or else I'm going to-"
"Bakugo, that's enough." Bakugo-shouen stiffened, snarled angrily but backed off immediately. Just like that. Just those three words, spoken in the same intonation and at the same volume that the man always used anyway, and the most explosive and agressive of UA's Hero students had forced himself to calm down. Just like that, Aizawa-kun had displayed why these kids call him Sensei, the respect each and every one of them held for him, like it was nothing when Bakugo-shounen didn't obey even All Might like this.
A hand came to rest on the ashy blond's head even as Aizawa-kun gently pushed his way through his young defenders to once again stand in front of the police officer and his friend, the Number One Hero. The kids tried to protest but Aizawa-kun just shushed them.
"I have already said that I will give myself up to the police in order to help this thing get shut down once and for all. All these years, all the things that I've done, it was all meant to lead to something like this. As long as the Hero Commission doesn't get involved, I am not opposed to whatever sentence may await me, as long as it is rational and in actual accordance to the crimes I might have committed or the laws I may have broken. To fight now would be irrational, as it would only hinder your future careers as Heroes. Heroes that I can see, even now, will create a better and more just society. Take what you've learned from me, both today and in the past, and use it. Work together to save this world from itself. And be sure to drop by to visit me, every once in a while." The last was said with a small smile. "I, after all, want to see how my first ever students fare on the rankings and how quickly it will take you to take them over completely."
Ah, shit, the kids were crying. Hell, Toshinori felt like crying, too. How were they supposed to arrest the man now?! Not that he'd ever wanted to in the first place, but Aizawa-kun had put the goggles back on his face and had taken back his capture weapon once the villains had been properly secured according to protocol and so now everyone could see Eraserhead handing himself in, so they couldn't ignore it. He shared a glance with Naomasa who looked equally ill at ease at these proceedings, only for both men to have their attention drawn back to Eraserhead when the Vigilante spoke up.
"Just do it, Tsukauchi. You don't even need to read me my rights, I already know them. Just ... Don't let it become a media spectacle, please?"
The detective nodded, swallowing hard. "I'll do my best."
"That's all I can ask."
All Might stayed behind with the children as they tried to hold back tears as Tsukauchi escorted Eraserhead into a police car, hands cuffed behind his back and - Shit! - getting filmed in the process as the media caught sight of the elusive Vigilante finally being taken in for justice, swarming the car like vultures as they've yet to catch sight of All Might in all of that destruction. Perhaps it was for the best, as not a second later, he lost control of his Quirk and turned back into skinny ol' Yagi Toshinori, scaring the crap out of his students and nearly getting blown to bits or deep-frozen by two of them. Shit, seems like he'll have a lot of explaining to do, but that can wait.
No, he first has to deal with the Eraserhead situation. He can't let Aizawa-kun get arrested - or, well, get charged, really, or go to jail - or let the Hero Commission get their hands on the Erasure user, not after everything they seem to have already put him through. He can't let the man be taken away for years at a time when there was a sweet, traumatized, only just recovering little girl no doubt waiting for him to return home. Not when there was a cat cafe that awaited the return of their no doubt favorite customer. Not when all those poor kitties all around the city still needed their semi-regular pampering sessions. Not when the students of Class 1-A clearly still needed the Vigilante to be their hero. Not when Present Mic still felt regret over Aizawa Shouta and cared so much about Eraserhead that this might break his heart. Not when the retired Time Hero: Kronos might be awaiting his return. Not when Shirakumo Oboro will need his friend by his side as he acclimates to the new world he was going to have to live in after being a slave for so long.
Not when Toshinori and Sorahiko have finally found the boy Nana had risked her life for, twenty four years ago.
Not when Toshinori had only just started to really get to know him, the man behind the yellow goggles.
Not when Eraserhead still has so much more to give to the world, to do for it, to change it.
Not when Aizawa Shouta still had so much more to give than just his Quirk.
So he'll save the explanations to his students for later.
Right now, he needed to call Nezu.